diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 36041-8.txt | 8877 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 36041-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 185623 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 36041-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 189496 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 36041-h/36041-h.htm | 9111 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 36041.txt | 8877 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 36041.zip | bin | 0 -> 185610 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
9 files changed, 26881 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36041-8.txt b/36041-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fe335e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/36041-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8877 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Corse de Leon, Volume I (of 2), by G. P. R. +James + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Corse de Leon, Volume I (of 2) + or, The Brigand; a Romance + + +Author: G. P. R. James + + + +Release Date: May 6, 2011 [eBook #36041] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CORSE DE LEON, VOLUME I (OF 2)*** + + +E-text prepared by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Mary Meehan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +CORSE DE LEON: + +Or, + +The Brigand. + +A Romance. + +by + +G. P. R. JAMES, ESQ. + +Author of "The Robber," "The Gentleman of the Old School," etc. + +In Two Volumes. + +VOL. I. + + + + + + + +New-York: Published by Harper & Brothers, No. 82 Cliff-Street. +1841. + + + + +CORSE DE LEON; + +OR, + +THE BRIGAND. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +There are a thousand small and apparently accidental circumstances, +which, in our course through life, bring a temporary gloom upon us, +render our expectations from the future fearful and cheerless, and +diminish our confidence in all those things whereon man either rashly +relies or builds his reasonable trusts. Strength, youth, wealth, power, +the consciousness of rectitude, the providence of God: all these will +occasionally lose their sustaining influence, even upon the most hopeful +mind, from causes too slight to justify such an effect. + +These accidental circumstances, these mental clouds, resemble much those +other clouds which sometimes, at the close of a bright day, come over a +landscape previously warm and shining, cast a gray shade over its rich +hues, shut out the redoubled glory of the setting sun, and make gloom +and shadow spread over the summer scene. Though nothing is changed but +the light in which things dwell, though the colour of the tree and the +form of the rock are the same, yet the brightness of the whole is +departed, and the lustre gone out as if for ever. + +There are times, however, when a gloom, which seems to have no +counterpart in the physical world, comes over the mind; when all has +gone fairly with us; when every object around is full of brightness and +hope; when the horses of Fortune's car have never once even stumbled on +the way; and not a sorrow rough enough to rub the down from the wing of +a butterfly has fallen upon our hearts for years; and yet a deep and +shadowy despondence steals over our spirits, as if the immortal within +us were telling the mortal of anxieties, and griefs, and dangers +approaching--discovered by the fine sympathies of the higher part of our +being with things undiscovered by the mere material creature. + +Cares, sorrows, and perils, corporeal agony, and anguish of the heart, +are often but as the fire which tempers the pure iron into the fine +steel, at once proving and strengthening the spirit. The last grand +lesson which leads generous youth to vigorous manhood, which confirms +our powers, and gives the great man's mastery over Fate, is to endure; +and I am inclined to believe that such sudden and unaccountable feelings +of despondency--I do not mean the ordinary fits of gloom that haunt a +moody and a wayward spirit, but, on the contrary, the dark impression, +the heavy shadow that once or twice, in the midst of a bright lifetime, +comes irresistibly upon a gay or placid mind--I am inclined to think, I +say, that such despondence is only given to the highminded and the +great: a prophetic voice, announcing, not to the ear, but to the heart, +that the day of trial comes: the trumpet of Fate, calling on a champion, +dauntless and strong, to rouse him to the battle, and arm his spirit for +some awful strife. + +The day had been as bright and beautiful as a summer day in the south of +Europe can be, and yet it had spared the traveller and the labourer many +of the inconveniences and discomforts which those beautiful days of the +south sometimes bring along with them: for the year was yet young, and +with all the brightness of youth it had all the tenderness too. There +had been a fresh breeze in the sky during the hotter part of the day; +and one would have felt that it blew from the cool tops of snowy +mountains, even had one not seen, from time to time, some of the distant +peaks of the high Alps towering white over the greener hills below. + +There was also a world of streams, and rivulets, and cascades about, +which gave additional freshness and life to the air that blew heavy with +the perfume of the flowers upon the banks; and the high swelling of the +mountains round still gave a pleasant shade to one side of the valley. +Each sense had something to delight it; and there was over every object +which nature presented that aspect of peaceful enjoyment which is the +greatest soother of man's heart. + +The spot was in the extreme verge of Savoy, bordering upon France. It +would little benefit the reader to say exactly where, for the aspect of +the land has changed: the towns of that age and their laborious denizens +would not be recognised by their successors of the present day; the +castle, the fortress, and the palace are ruined and swept away, and even +the roads themselves now wind through other valleys or climb over other +hills. It was somewhere between Nice and St. Jean de Maurienne: that +space is surely limited enough to afford the reader a definite idea of +the scene. Let him take a map and a pair of compasses, he will find it +but a span; and in reality it is less--with a universe around it. + +Nevertheless, it was a very lovely scene, as I have said, with the hills +tall and blue, and the snowy mountains looking down upon one through the +long defiles; with the valleys green and fresh, and the streams bright +and sparkling. Here and there, too, upon some rocky height which +commanded the entrance of the gorges of the mountain, a feudal castle +would raise its battlements, gray, and stern, and warlike; and either in +the open plain--where such a thing was found--or in the warm valleys in +the hills, were seen the villages and small towns of Savoy, with their +grayish white walls and their graceful church towers crowning the +loveliness of the whole with the aspect of human life. The period of the +world's history whereof I speak was one of gorgeous pageantry, and gay +wit and deeds of arms: a period when chivalry and the feudal system, +just about to be extinguished for ever, blazed with a dying flame. +Montmorency still lived, though Bayard and Francis had left the busy +scene but a few years before, and Henry the Second had not yet closed +his career in the last tournament which Europe was destined to witness. +The songs of Marot and the wit of Rabelais still rang in the ear, and +Ronsard, Dorat, and Montaigne were entering gayly upon the path of +letters. + +It was in the year 1558, then, and towards the close of the day, that a +small party of horsemen wound along through the bright scenery of which +we have spoken. It consisted only of four persons, two of whom were +merely armed servants, such as usually attended upon a cavalier of those +times, not exactly acting the part of soldier on ordinary occasions, but +very well fitted so to do when any particular exigency required the +exertion of the strong hand. The third was a youth of no very remarkable +appearance, in the garb of a page; but the fourth was evidently the +leader of the whole, and, as such, the person who merits the most +accurate description. I will attempt to paint him to the eye of the +reader, as I have myself seen him represented by the hand of an unknown +artist in one of the palaces on the banks of the Brenta. + +He was in person about the middle height, rather above it than below, +and at this period was not more than twenty-three years of age. His +forehead was broad and fine, with short dark hair curling round it: his +features were small, except the eye and brow, the former of which was +large and full, and the latter strongly marked. The mouth was very +handsome, showing, when half open in speaking, the brilliant white +teeth, and giving to the whole countenance a look of playful gayety; +but, when shut, there was an expression of much thoughtfulness, +approaching perhaps to sternness, about it, which the rounded and +somewhat prominent chin confirmed. The upper lip was very short; but on +either side, divided in the middle, was a short black mustache, not +overhanging the mouth, but raised above it; and the beard, which was +short and black like the hair, was only suffered to grow in such a +manner as to ornament, but not to encumber, the chin. + +In form the cavalier was muscular, and powerfully made, his breadth of +chest and shoulders giving the appearance of a more advanced period of +life than that at which he had yet arrived. He was evidently a soldier, +for he was fully armed, as if having lately been or being still in +scenes of strife and danger; and, to say the truth, a man fully armed in +those days was certainly more loaded with weapons, offensive and +defensive, than was probably ever the case before or since. + +The picture I have spoken of represents him with not only the complete +armour which was then still used to encase the person, with the long, +heavy sword, the dagger, and the large pistols, but also with four short +carbines--at least such they appear to be--one at each corner of the +saddle. His head, indeed, is seen unencumbered by the steel cap, which +usually completed the armour, but which is borne by the page at his +saddlebow, while the cavalier himself appears wearing upon his head the +somewhat cooler covering of a black velvet cap, without feather or any +other ornament. + +The horse that carried him, which was a tall, powerful charger, fared +better in some respects than his master; for before this epoch, the +heavy armour with which steed as well as man used at one time to be +encumbered was lightened in favour of the quadruped, and the horse which +bore the young gentleman of whom we speak was only covered with such +pieces as might protect his head and chest in the shock of the charge. + +The day, I have said, had been bright and sweet, and all nature had been +as fresh and happy as a young heart upon a holyday. Similar, too, had +been the mood of Bernard de Rohan as he rode along; not so much that the +scene and its charms created, as that they found, sympathetic feelings +in his bosom; for his disposition was naturally cheerful and bright, +full of gay thoughts and happy enthusiasms. He was returning, too, from +another country--from the midst of strangers, and perils, and +fatigues--to enjoy an interval of tranquillity in his own bright land, +and the society of those he loved. + +France was within his sight; the tongues that he heard around him spoke +nearly the same language as that which he had used from infancy; and, +though the nominal frontier of Savoy lay some fifteen miles before him, +yet, in all but the name, he was in his own country. There was little of +that cold restraint about him which is either acquired by harsh dealings +with evil men, or is natural from some inward pravity of the heart, and +the cheerful mood of his mind found its way forth in many an outward +sign. From time to time he had turned round to speak to the page or to +one of the servants with some light jest or gay inquiry. Now he would +point out a distant spot in the landscape as they stood upon some +beetling point half way up the mountain, and ask if they recognised this +or that town in Dauphiné; now he would pat the proud crest of his stout +horse, and talk to the noble animal as if he expected an answer; and now +would even break forth into a snatch of song. His heart, in short, was +as a fountain, so filled with happiness that it welled over, and the +waters sparkled as they overflowed the brim. + +The servants smiled to see their lord so gay, especially an elder one, +who, commenting with the other, remarked that he might well look happy, +bearing back home such glory as he had won. + +Thus passed the earlier part of the day's journey; but towards the +evening the mood of Bernard de Rohan changed. His open brow did not grow +cloudy, it is true, but there came a look of gloom upon it: the lips no +longer opened with a bland smile, and the teeth were shut together with +that stern expression we have already noticed. His eyes gazed on upon +the scene, but with somewhat of a vacant aspect, and everything told +that the spirit was busy in its tabernacle dealing with high thoughts. +Nor could any one who looked upon him suppose those thoughts were other +than sad ones. Intense they certainly were, and certainly they were not +gay. + +Yet Bernard de Rohan had no remembered grief. Fate had indeed once +struck him severely, but ever after had spared him altogether; had +plucked not a flower from his bosom, nor cast a shadow on his path. + +In early years he had lost both his parents, but that was the only +misfortune which had befallen him, and it was long ago. He scarcely +remembered them; and all that remained was a soft memory, affectionate +but not painful. Since then his course had been from one bright thing to +another. Wise and tender friends, the amusements, the sports, the +studies of youth, virtue and honour, wealth and station, praise, +success, and glory had been his. He had no thirst for power: so what +could he want more? Had any one asked him that question, he would have +replied, Nothing: nothing but what he might well hope to attain; and +yet, about an hour before the sun reached the edge of the sky, a fit of +gloom fell upon him, dark, vague, unaccountable, like one of those mists +that in mountain lands suddenly surround the wayfarer, shutting out the +beauty and the brightness, and leaving all around dull, chilly, vague, +uncertain, and confused. + +For nearly half an hour he gave way to the sensations that oppressed +him. They seemed at first too mighty to be struggled with. It was what, +in the language of Northern poetry, is called "having the cloud upon +him," and he could not cast it off; till at length it seemed to rise +gradually, and the power returned, first, of arguing with himself upon +the unreasonableness of such feelings, and then of smiling--though with +a mingled smile--at his own weakness in giving way to them. + +The effect wore off; but he was still communing with himself on the +sensations he had just experienced, when the page called his attention +to the clouds that were gathering round the mountains. With that quick +transition so common to hill countries, especially in the south, the sky +was becoming rapidly obscured. The lurid masses of stormy vapour writhed +themselves round the peaks; and, although beneath their dark canopy a +gleam of intense red light was seen marking the far western sky on the +side of France, the whole heaven above was soon covered with a thick +expanse of deep gray cloud. At a considerable distance, in the more open +part of the country, which lay beyond the mouth of the defile, +stretching in long lines of dark purple towards the sunset, appeared a +large square tower, with some other neighbouring buildings, cutting with +their straight lines the rounded forms of the trees. + +"That must be Voiron," said the cavalier, as if in answer to his page's +observation regarding the coming storm. "We must quicken our pace and +reach shelter, or we shall have to pass half the night in cleaning our +arms, if yonder frowning cloud fulfil one half its menaces." + +"Voiron must be ten leagues off, sir," replied one of the attendants; +"we shall not reach it this night." + +"Then we must find some other covering," replied the master, gayly; +"but, at all events, put to your spurs, for the battle has already +begun." + +Even as he spoke the large drops fell slowly and heavily, denting the +dusty covering of the road. Bernard de Rohan and his followers rode on +at full speed, though the descent was steep, the way bad, and the gray +twilight creeping over the scene. Five minutes more brought them to a +turn where they could obtain a wider view; but, alas! no place of refuge +was to be seen, except where the same tall dark tower rose heavily +across the streaks of red light in the west, marking the place of some +distant town or village. The attendants, who had pictured to themselves +during the morning's ride all the comforts of the cheerful inn, the good +rich wine of Dauphiné, the stretching forth at ease of the strong, +laborious limb, the easy gossip with the village girls, the +light-hearted song in the porch, and all the relaxing joys of an hour's +idleness, now begun to think of the long and tedious task of cleaning +arms and clothing, and spending many an hour in rubbing the cold steel; +and, to say sooth, their lord also would have been better pleased with +fairer weather. + +The road, as such roads ever must do, wound its way round many a turn +and angle of the rock, so that it was very possible for several persons +to be within a short distance of each other, without the one who +followed ever seeing him who was but a few hundred yards before him. At +the spot which we have mentioned, Bernard de Rohan paused for a moment +to look round for some place of shelter, and the road before him seemed +perfectly clear and free. He could see completely into the valley on his +right, and across the plains beyond, while the path which he was +following could be traced along the side of the hill, round two or three +sharp angles of the rock, about two hundred yards apart from each other. +All at first was clear, as I have said, when suddenly there emerged, at +the salient point which cut that part of the sky where the light still +lingered, the figure of a human being, which was lost again round the +turn almost as soon as it was seen. + +"There is a peasant on a mule," exclaimed the cavalier, gladly. "We +cannot be far from some village." + +"It looks more like a priest on an ass, my lord," replied the attendant +who had spoken before. + +"Well, well," said his master, "we shall find the better lodgings." + +"And the better wine," rejoined his follower; "but, perhaps, not the +better welcome." + +"Oh, they are good men, these priests of Savoy," replied Bernard de +Rohan, spurring on; "but we must not lose him again." + +In a few minutes they again caught sight of the object of their pursuit. +He was now much nearer, but still it was somewhat difficult to +distinguish whether he were priest or peasant, till, coming up with him +by dint of hard riding--for his long-eared charger was bearing him on at +a rapid pace--they found that he was, as the attendant had supposed, a +jovial priest; not, indeed, extravagantly fat, as but too many were in +that day, but in good case of body, and bearing a countenance rosy with +health, and apparently sparkling with a cheerful disposition. He seemed, +indeed, to be of a character somewhat eccentric; for, contrary to all +clerical rule, he had covered his head with one of the large straw hats +of the peasantry, which accorded but ill with the rest of his +habiliments. His features, which the young cavalier thought he had seen +somewhere before, were good, with an expression of much sharpness; and, +though undoubtedly he heard the tramp of horses' feet behind him, in a +land and in times not famous for safe travelling, either his conscience +or his courage were so good, that he turned not his head to see who +followed him thus closely, but kept his ass at the same brisk canter, +while the young cavalier rode up to his side, and gave him the ordinary +salutation of the day. + +"A good-evening to you, father!" said Bernard de Rohan, riding between +him and the edge of the precipice. + +"Pray let us have it quickly, my son," replied the priest; "for the one +we have got seems likely to be as bad a one as ever I saw, at present." + +"Indeed it is," answered the young gentleman, smiling at his somewhat +cynical reply; "I am heartily glad to have met with you, my good father, +for I trust you can show us some place of shelter." + +"Good faith," replied the priest, turning for a moment to look at the +cavalier's followers, "I cannot say I am so glad of the encounter; for +where I am going we cannot be sure of finding too many of the good +things of this life, and the lion's portion is always sure to go to the +fighting men." + +"Nay, nay! we will share alike!" rejoined Bernard. + +"Ay! but I am a king in those matters," answered the priest; "I do not +like to share at all. But come on, come on; I am only jesting. We shall +find plenty, I doubt not; for, when last I passed that little inn, there +was good meat and wine enough to have fed a refectory for a week, or an +army for a year. Come on quick, I say, for yon foul-mouthed railer at +the top of the hill is beginning to roar at us as well as spit at us. We +have still far to go, and a storm in these mountains is like a dull +jest, I can tell you, young gentleman; for one never knows what may come +next." + +"Why, what can come next," demanded the cavalier, "but fine weather +after the storm?" + +"A rock upon your head," replied the priest, "or an avalanche at your +heels, which would smother you in your steel case like a lobster in his +shell. Come on! come on! Sancta Maria! why, my small ass will out-run +your tall charger now!" and, bestowing a buffet with his straw hat upon +the flank of his bearer, the beast quickened his pace still more, and, +with a malicious whisk of the tail and fling with his hind feet, set off +into a gallop. But we must pause to change the scene, and precede the +travellers on their way. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +There are few situations in life which convey to the mind of man more +completely the sensations of comfort, security, and repose, than when, +after a long day's ride, he sits at ease by a glowing fire, and +hears--while all the ready service of a well-conducted inn is in +bustling activity to minister to his wants or satisfy his appetite--the +rain patter and the tempest roar without. Nor is it from any selfish +comparison of their own fate with that of others less happy that men +derive this sensation, notwithstanding the dictum of the most selfish of +would-be philosophers. It is, on the contrary, from a comparison of +their own situation at the moment with what that situation sometimes has +been, or might even then be, that the good and the generous experience +such feelings; and, though the thought of others exposed to the tempest +must naturally cross their minds, yet that thought is mixed with pity +and regret. + +The little inn towards which Bernard de Rohan and his companions were +proceeding, under the guidance of the priest, when last we left them, +though the village in which it stood contained not above nine or ten +cottages, was good for the time and the country. Its only sitting-room, +of course, was the great kitchen, into which the door opened from the +road; but that kitchen was well fenced from the wind and rain; the +windows were small, and cased in stone; the door was sheltered by a deep +porch, where host and travellers sat and amused themselves in the summer +daytime; and, as it was the first house met with after passing some of +the steepest mountains between France and Piedmont, everything was done +to make it attractive in the eyes of weary wayfarers. + +The thunder had passed, the air had become cold and raw, the night was +as dark as a bad man's thoughts, a fierce wind was blowing, and the +heavy rain dashed in gusts against the clattering casements; but all +those indications of the harsh and boisterous state of the weather +without did but serve to make the scene within seem more comfortable to +the eyes of a traveller, who sat in one of the large seats within the +sheltering nook of the chimney, watching the busy hostess prepare more +than one savoury mess for his supper on the bright wood fire that blazed +upon the hearth. In the mean time, several attendants of various kinds +might be seen in different parts of the wide kitchen, cleaning and +drying harness, clothes, baldrics, and weapons, or preparing other +matters for the service of their lord, with all the devices of courtly +luxury. + +Those attendants, however, were not the attendants of Bernard de Rohan, +nor was the traveller that cavalier himself; he being yet upon his way +thither, and enduring all the fury of the storm. + +The one of whom I now speak was a man of about the same age, but rather +older. He was decidedly a handsomer man also: his features were all +finer in form; he was taller; his complexion was fairer, without, +however, being effeminate; and it was evident, too, that he knew his +personal advantages, and was somewhat vain of them. He was dressed with +much splendour, according to the fashion of that day; and, though he +seemed to have met with some part of the storm, it was clear that he had +not been long exposed to it. + +In short, as he sat there, he might well be pronounced one of the +handsomest and most splendid cavaliers of his day; but there was a +something which a closely-observing eye might detect in the hanging brow +and curling lip that was not altogether pleasant. It could scarcely be +called a sneer; yet there was something supercilious and contemptuous in +it too. Nor was it altogether haughty, though pride undoubtedly had its +share. It was a dark and yet not gloomy expression. It seemed as if the +heart beneath was full of many an unfathomable idea, and proud of its +impenetrability. The thoughts might be good or bad; but it was evidently +a countenance of much thought under a mask of lightness: a deep lake +beneath a ripple. + +The stranger had, as we have said, been looking on while the hostess, +with a bustling maid, prepared manifold dishes for his supper; and he +added, from time to time, a gay jest to either of them upon the progress +of the work. His tone was familiar and easy; but it might be remarked +that his jest always arose from something that came beneath his eye, and +that, in general, he took no notice whatever of the reply, scarcely +seeming to hear that any one else spoke, and making no rejoinder, but +letting the matter drop till he thought fit to jest again. + +At length, however, he said, "I prithee, dame, double yon portion of +steaks from the roe-deer, and add me some twenty eggs to the omelet. You +will have more visiters shortly." + +The good woman started up with a look of some surprise, and might, +perhaps, have thought her guest a conjuror, had not his words been +followed so closely by the noise of horses' feet, that the source of his +knowledge was evident at once. A moment after voices were heard calling, +and the aubergiste, who had been aiding some of the servants at the +other side of the kitchen, opened the door carefully and looked forth. +The cold wind rushed in fiercely, like a besieging army into a stormed +city, and the yellow wax flambeau which the host carried to the door, +and which, in that land of bees, was in those days common to every +country inn, was extinguished in a moment, notwithstanding the fierce +flame wherewith it burned. + +All on that side of the wide, dingy room was now in darkness; but voices +were heard as of many persons speaking, with cries for horseboys and +hostlers, in the easily-distinguished tongues of attendants, while the +landlord assured the travellers again and again that he would bestow +upon them a thousand-fold better accommodation and entertainment than +there was the least chance of their obtaining in reality. + +At the same time, a full, rich, merry voice was heard chuckling at the +boasts of mine host, and exclaiming, "Ay, ay, landlord! is it not so? We +shall have dolphins and mullets, ortolans and beccaficos, musk sherbet +from Constantinople, true Roman Falernian mingled with honey, and, to +crown all, a Pythagorean peacock! Nothing less will serve us in this +cold night; though, methinks, a good capon and a tankard of mulled +Avignon claret[1] would warm me well, were it but ready this minute." + +[Footnote 1: The first time I ever find the word claret used, it is +applied to the wine of Avignon.] + +While the jovial priest, whom I have described in the first chapter of +this true history, descended from his ass, joking at every movement with +the host, Bernard de Rohan, smiling at his new companion's merriment, +sprang to the ground and entered the kitchen of the inn, leaving his +attendants to lead round the horses to the stables at the back of the +building. It might not, it is true, be very satisfactory to him to find +that the inn was so fully tenanted as he soon saw that it was; but he +was one of those who fail not to enjoy what may fall to their lot as far +as possible; and, as he advanced towards the fire, he thanked Heaven for +a place of shelter from the rude buffeting of the storm. + +In the mean while, the first occupant of the inn continued, with that +air of self-satisfied indifference which has been a part of the +affectation of the pampered and insolent in all ages, to look at nothing +but the proceedings of some rebellious sticks upon the hearth, which +resisted all the soft persuasions of the woman whom the hostess had left +to tend the savoury messes at the fire, while she herself aided her +husband in receiving, like Hope, her new visiters with false promises. +The occupant of the chimney-corner looked neither to the right nor to +the left; and, to have judged by his countenance, one would have +supposed that he heard not one sound of all the many that were stirring +around him, nor had a greater interest in anything on earth than in the +cooking of a steak of roe venison. Even when Bernard de Rohan advanced +with his arms jingling as he trod, and, after a momentary glance at him, +laid hold of his arm with a friendly smile, the stranger merely turned +round, with a look of perfect unconcern, to see who it was that, either +in enmity or good-fellowship, thus called his attention. + +When he saw who it was, however, he became more animated, and, rising +with a smile, shook hands with him warmly. "Ha! Bernard de Rohan!" he +exclaimed, "I can hardly believe my eyes. Why, baron, who would have +thought to meet you thus in a Savoyard inn? Have you then quitted Italy +to follow Guise, and meet the enemy in the North? You have not thrown by +the spear and sword, I see! But, in a word, say what do you here?" + +"Why, to say truth," replied the other, "nothing is now to be done +beyond the Apennines; and though, as you might well know, after all that +occurred at Civita, I am as little likely to follow Guise as a greyhound +is to hunt in company with a lion, yet there is no use in staying behind +when he has not only left the field himself, but taken all his forces +with him. I am tired of this warfare, too! I long for some repose. I +have now been three years absent from France, and I have a yearning to +see my own land once more." + +"Yes, and some fair dame therein," rejoined his companion. "Is it not +so, De Rohan? I remember well you seemed to have but small delight in +the bright eyes of the young Italians, and I often thought that it must +be some remembered love of the past that kept you thus heart-whole." + +"It may be so, count," replied Bernard, gayly. "What man is there +without a lady-love? If there be one, he is neither fit for war nor +peace: he wants the great excitement to glory, and courtesy, and great +deeds. But, even had it not been for that, Meyrand," he added, more +seriously, "I love the ladies of my own land best. Bright looks are +little to me without true hearts, and beauty but a frail substitute for +goodness." + +"Pshaw, Sir Moralizer!" cried his companion; "beauty is a woman's best +possession till she be old; and then, when she has done with the Graces, +let her take up with the Virtues, or the Muses, or anything else she +likes." + +"Let her take up with anything, in short," said the jolly priest, coming +forward to the fire, and shaking his gown to dry it; "let her take up +with anything but a libertine, a fop, or a courtier. Let her bear age, +or ugliness, or anything but children to fools--so shall she do well in +this world and the next! Is it not so, gay sir?" + +The Count de Meyrand stared at him with a look of haughty surprise; but +he found that the priest was as indifferent as he could be, and he +relapsed for a minute or two into silence, while the page of Bernard de +Rohan came up to disarm his lord. The operation was somewhat long, and, +by the time it was accomplished, the trestles had been brought forth +from their corner, the long wooden boards which, joined up the middle, +served for a table, had been taken from the wall against which they +stood and laid upon those trestles, and over all a fine white tablecloth +had been spread, with the salt in the midst. + +Plate after plate of well-cooked viands, emitting an odour most savoury +to hungry men, was next placed on the board by the neat hostess, and the +count, with Bernard de Rohan in the buff jerkin he had worn under his +armour, moved to take their seats at the head of the table. The priest +sat down beside his young travelling companion, while a sneering smile +curled the lip of Meyrand, and he could not refrain from saying, in a +low but not inaudible voice, "Why, baron, what a princely youth you have +become, to travel with your fool, and in canonicals too." + +Bernard did not reply; and the priest, though he heard every word, said +nothing till, the attendants having all ranged themselves at the lower +end of the table, together with the host and hostess, he proceeded to +bless the meat. He had scarcely concluded, however, when the door of the +inn suddenly opened, and a person rushed in in the garb of a servant. He +was without hat or cloak, and there was a cut, though but a slight one, +upon his forehead. "Help! help!" he cried, gazing eagerly around the +circle; "help! help! they are carrying away my Lord of Masseran and my +young lady to murder them in the mountains." + +These words produced a very different effect upon the persons who heard +them. The Count of Meyrand sat perfectly still and indifferent, +listening with his usual air of cool self-possession to all that the man +said, and never ceasing to carve with his dagger the meat that was +before him, on which he had just commenced when the interruption took +place. + +On the other hand, Bernard de Rohan and each of his servants, as if +moved by the same impulse, started up at once. The young gentleman's +left hand fell naturally to grasp the scabbard of his sword, and, before +the man had done speaking, he had taken three steps towards the door of +the inn. + +Two or three circumstances, however, occurred to interrupt him for a +moment. There were various confused movements on the part of many +persons present, and a clamour of several tongues all speaking at once. + +At the same time the count exclaimed, "Stay one moment, baron! Stay and +drink one cup of wine with me before you go out in this sweet stormy +night to help one of the greatest scoundrels that Savoy can produce, or +France either. Stay, stay one moment! Well," he added, seeing Bernard de +Rohan turn from him with a look of impatience, "well, go and help +Masseran, if you will! Heaven send the rogues may have cut his throat +before you reach them!" + +"Your horse, my lord!" cried one of the attendants. + +"Your armour, sir!" said another. + +"No, no, on foot! on foot!" cried Bernard de Rohan; "on foot as we are! +Time is everything. Lead on, fellow! lead on! Send us out torches, mine +host!" + +The jovial priest had started up almost at the same time as his +travelling companion. "By our Lady, I will go with you!" he cried, "to +shrive the dying. It is a part of a priest's trade; though, I confess, +if I were knight, and noble and gallant cavalier, I would stay where I +am, like this brave count, and exercise my chivalry upon venison and +tankards of wine." + +While he was speaking, there drew out from some dark corner of the +inn-kitchen--where he had remained unnoticed by any one--a tall, thin, +gaunt man, with a straw hat on his head, and a large, coarse brown cloak +enveloping almost the whole of his figure. He took three steps forward +into the full light, and certainly there had seldom been seen a more +striking, if not a more handsome countenance, or a more remarkable and +even graceful bearing, than that which the stranger presented. He was a +man apparently about five-and-thirty years of age, with aquiline +features, large, black, flashing eyes, the bronze of sun, and wind, and +storm upon his face, and five or six deep scars upon his cheek and brow. +He was remarkably erect in person, and, though certainly meager, was +broad-shouldered and muscular, or rather, perhaps, I may say, sinewy; +for the hand that grasped his cloak, and the part of the arm and wrist +seen above it, displayed the strong markings of the muscles like cords +under the skin. + +He came directly in the way of Bernard de Rohan as the young cavalier +advanced towards the door; and it must be confessed that there was +something strange and startling in the sudden apparition of the +stranger, which made the other pause, and, with an involuntary motion, +advance his right hand towards the hilt of his sword. + +He drew it back again instantly, however, somewhat ashamed of the +movement, while the new personage thus brought upon the stage said, in a +deep but melodious voice, "I will go with you too, young gentleman, and +may do you better service than our good friend the priest here." + +"But, Master Leon," exclaimed the landlord of the inn, advancing towards +him with an entreating look. + +"Hush!" cried the stranger, holding up his hand; and, at the same +moment, the jovial priest turned also upon the host, exclaiming, "Fry +your eggs, fry your eggs, Gandelot, and leave other people to fry +theirs. Don't be afraid! we'll not toss the omelet into the fire, nor +spill the grease, nor set the chimney in a blaze. You know me and I know +him; and, though he is the last man that should say I can't do good +service when I like it, yet I will go with him without a quarrel!" + +When every one is speaking at once, a conversation which would be +otherwise long is very rapidly brought to a conclusion; and though, as +we have seen, there were here two or three interlocutors, all that we +have described scarcely interrupted Bernard de Rohan half a minute. +"Lead on, lead on, then!" he exclaimed impatiently, addressing the +servant who had made the appeal for assistance, and to whom the Count de +Meyrand had been addressing a few words in a low tone. "Lead on, I say, +quick!" and in another moment they were all beyond the door of the inn, +and standing upon the mountain-side in the cold air of night. + +The count remained at the table; and, shaping their conduct upon that of +their lord, not one of his servants attempted to move. Meyrand, however, +did not, upon the whole, seem particularly well satisfied with what had +taken place. Perhaps he might not be quite contented with the inactive +part he was playing; and it is certain he asked himself whether Bernard +de Rohan could attribute his conduct to want of courage. He recollected, +however, that they had mounted to the assault of many a well-defended +breach together, and he felt sure that there could be no doubt of that +kind on his companion's mind. He remained in thought, however, for a +minute or two longer, forgetting even the supper that was before him, +and the air of indifference which he usually bore; but at length he +beckoned one of his men to his side, and spoke a few words to him in a +very low tone, only suffering the last two to be heard: they were, "You +understand!" + +The man bowed his head in reply, called three of his companions away +from the table, sought hastily in the different corners of the inn +kitchen for various offensive weapons, and then left the place, as if to +follow and assist Bernard de Rohan and his party. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +It had nearly ceased raining, but the night, as we have said, was cold +and chilly, the sky was still covered with thick clouds, and the air was +full of thick darkness; to use the expressive words of Scripture, a +darkness that could be felt. Bernard de Rohan and his companions paused +for a moment before the door of the little inn, listening to catch any +sounds of the conflict from which the servant seemed so freshly to have +come. + +All was silent, however. The rushing sound of the mountain torrents, +swelled by the late rains; the sighing of the night winds among the +gorges of the mountains and through the deep pine forests; the distant +cry of a wolf, and the whirring scream of the night-hawk, as it flitted +by, were all heard distinctly; but no human voice mingled with the other +sounds. + +This silence, however, gave no assurance to the heart of Bernard de +Rohan that the persons for whom the servant had appealed to his chivalry +had escaped from their assailants. It was well known at that time that +every part of Savoy was infested with bands of brigands, which had +rather increased than diminished in number since France had taken +possession of the country; so that, unable to put them down, the famous +Maréchal de Brissac, in order to restrain their indiscriminate ravages +in some degree, had been obliged to give them occasional employment with +his own forces. When not thus employed, however, they were known to lay +wait in all the principal passes, both of Piedmont and Savoy, and take +toll of all travellers with a strong hand. Enormous barbarities were +from time to time charged against them; and, if one might judge from +general rumour, no scheme was too wild, no act too violent and desperate +for them to devise and execute. The only conclusion, therefore, which +Bernard de Rohan drew from the absence of all sounds of conflict was, +that the banditti had prevailed, and either murdered their victims or +carried them off. + +"Quick! quick!" he cried, after that momentary pause. "Lead on, lead on, +good fellow! Where are your lord and lady? Which is the way?" + +"This way, noble sir, this way," cried the man, advancing at once along +the road which led more immediately into the mountains. "They cannot +have gone far: I could hear the voices of the brigands from the inn +door." + +Thus saying, he led the way onward with great speed; but, as Bernard de +Rohan followed with the same quick pace, the clear, deep voice of the +man whom the host had called Master Leon sounded in his ear, saying, +"There is some mistake here, and I think some villany; but fear not." + +"Fear!" replied Bernard de Rohan, turning his head towards him. "Do you +suppose I fear?" + +"No, I suppose not," replied the man; "but yet there was no common +interest in your eye, good youth, when this knave talked of his young +mistress, and one may fear for others, though not for themselves. But +hark! I hear a noise on before. Voices speaking. Some one complaining, I +think. Quick, quick! Run, Sir Varlet, run!" + +At the rapid pace at which they now proceeded they soon heard the sounds +more distinctly before them. There was a noise of horses, and a jingling +as of the bells of mules. The murmuring of a number of voices, too, came +borne upon the air down the pass, and some four or five hundred yards +farther up the servant, who was now running on as fast as possible, +stumbled over a wounded man, who uttered a cry of pain. But the young +man and his companions slackened not their pace, for by this time they +could plainly hear some sharp and angry voices pouring forth oaths and +imprecations, and urging what seemed to be a band of prisoners to hurry +forward more rapidly. At the same time the light of a torch, or more +than one, was seen gleaming upon the gray rocks and green foliage, and +on one occasion it threw upon the flat face of a crag on the other side +of the ravine the shadow of a large body of men with horses and other +beasts of burden. + +"Now out with your swords," cried the personage named Leon, in a tone of +authority, "for we are gaining on them quick, and I doubt not shall have +stout resistance." + +Bernard de Rohan's sword was already in his hand before the other spoke, +and, hurrying on, the next moment he reached an angle of the rock, from +which he could plainly discern the whole party that he was pursuing. He +paused for an instant as he saw them, and well might that sight make him +do so, for the torchlight displayed to his eyes a body of at least +fifteen or sixteen armed men, some of them mounted, some of them on +foot, driving on in the midst of them two or three loaded horses, and +seven or eight men and women, several of them apparently having their +hands tied. The party was about two hundred yards in advance; and, +though the torchlight was sufficient to show him the particulars which +we have mentioned, yet it did no more than display the gleaming of the +arms and the fluttering of the women's garments, without at all giving +any indication of the rank or station to which the prisoners belonged. + +The young cavalier, it must be remembered, was accompanied by only five +persons, and the greater part of those five were, like himself, but +lightly armed. His momentary pause, however, was only to reconnoitre the +enemy, without the slightest hesitation as to what his own conduct was +to be. He knew the effect of a sudden and unexpected attack, and +calculated upon some assistance also from the prisoners themselves; but, +had he had nothing but his own courage in his favour, his conduct would +have been the same. He was again hurrying on, when the powerful grasp of +the man named Leon was laid upon his arm, and stayed him. + +"Hush!" he said: "do not be too quick! Do you not see that these men are +no brigands, as you thought?" + +"How should I see that?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, turning sharply upon +him. "Who but brigands would commit an act like this?" + +"Think you that brigands would have torches with them?" said his +companion, calmly. "Pause a moment, pause a moment: let them get round +yon point of the rock; for, if they hear us coming, and see how few we +are, we shall be obliged to do things that we had better not. Beyond the +rock they will be cooped up in a little basin of the hills, where they +can be attacked with advantage." + +"You seem to know the country well," said Bernard de Rohan, gazing upon +him with some suspicion, as the light of the torches, faintly reflected +from the other side of the valley, served partially to display his dark +but fine countenance. + +"Ay! I do know it well!" replied the other: "so well, that from the foot +of that rock which they are now turning, I will guide you up by a path +over the shoulder of the hill till we meet them in front, at the same +time that some of your people attack them in the rear." + +Bernard de Rohan did now hesitate, but it was only for a moment. His +mind was not naturally a suspicious one; and, of course, had the +proposal been made by any one whom he knew, the advantages of such a +plan would have instantly struck him, and he would have followed it at +once. But the man who suggested it was unknown to him: nay, more, there +was something in his tone, his manner, in his whole appearance, which, +to say the best, was strange and unusual. His garb, as far as it had +been seen, was unlike that of the peasantry of Savoy; and, in short, +there was that about him which naturally tended to create a doubt as to +his ordinary pursuits and occupations. + +Bernard de Rohan hesitated then, but it was with the hesitation of only +one moment. He had been accustomed to deal with and to command fierce +and reckless men; and, though his years were not sufficient to have +given what may be called the _insight of experience_, he had by nature +that clear discernment of the human character which is the meed of some +few, and may be called the _insight of instinct_. + +During his momentary pause, then, he saw that the dark eye of his +companion was fixed upon him as if reading what was passing in his mind. +The jovial priest also seemed to penetrate his thoughts, and said, in a +low voice, "You may trust him! You may trust him! He never betrayed any +one." + +"I do trust him," cried Bernard de Rohan, turning round and grasping the +stranger's hand; "I trust him entirely. You and I," he continued, "will +go over the hill alone. If I judge right, we have both been in many a +hot day's strife, and can keep that narrow road without much assistance. +It is better that there should be a show of more people behind." + +As he spoke, the faint flash of the receding torches showed him a smile +upon his companion's countenance. "Come on slowly," said Corse de Leon, +"and keep near the rock; we shall soon get up with them, for they are +encumbered, and we are free." + +Thus saying, he led the way, remaining, as far as possible, under the +shadow of the crags till the last of the party before them had turned +the angle beyond, and the whole valley was again in darkness. The +cavalier and those who were with him then hurried their pace till they +reached a spot where a point of rock jutted out into the valley. There +the stranger paused, bidding the attendants of the young nobleman pursue +their way along the road till they came up with the rear of the other +party, and then attack them as suddenly and vehemently as possible. +"Make all speed," he said, "for we shall be there before you, cutting +off the corner of the hill. Here, priest!" he continued, "here's a +pistol and a dagger for you. You'll need something to work with. Now +quick on your way, for the moon will be out in a few minutes, if one may +judge by the paleness of that cloud's edge, and her light would betray +our scanty numbers. Follow me, baron! Here! Upon this rock! Catch by +that bough! Another step, and you are in the path!" + +As he spoke, he himself sprang up, seeming well acquainted with every +stock and every stone in the way; Bernard de Rohan followed with less +knowledge of the path, but all the agility of youth and strength, and +they had soon nearly reached the brow of the hill. + +"Out upon the pale moon!" cried Bernard de Rohan's companion, pausing +and gazing up towards the sky. "She shines at the very moment she should +not. See how she is casting away those clouds, as if she were opening +the hangings of her tent! We may go slow, for we shall be far before +them." + +He now led the way onward with a slower pace; and, after ascending for +somewhat more than a quarter of a mile, the path began to descend again +as if to rejoin the road. Every step was now clear, for the moon was +shining brightly; and though no one, probably, could see Bernard de +Rohan and his companion as they took their way among the rhododendrons +and junipers which were thickly mingled with the fragments of rock +around, yet they themselves, from time to time, caught a distinct view +of the valley. An occasional flash of light upon their left hand, too, +but a good deal in the rear, soon showed Bernard de Rohan that his guide +had told him the truth in regard to the shortness of the path he had +taken, though he could not absolutely see the road, or those who were +travelling along it. At length, however, they reached a spot where the +path which they were following wound along within ten yards of the chief +road itself, and, choosing a small break nearly surrounded with tall +shrubs and broken masses of crag, Corse de Leon stopped, saying, "It +will be well to stay for their coming here. They will take full ten +minutes to reach this place. You wait for them here; I will climb a +little farther up, to watch them as they come, and will be back again in +time." + +If Bernard de Rohan entertained any suspicion in regard to his guide's +purposes, he knew that it would be vain to show it, and therefore he +made no opposition to the plan that his companion proposed, but let him +depart without a word; and then, choosing a spot among the trees where +he could see without being seen, he gazed down into the little basin +formed by the surrounding hills. The clear light of the moon was now +streaming bright and full into the valley, only interrupted from time to +time for a single moment by fragments of the clouds driven across by the +wind; but at first Bernard de Rohan could see nothing of the party which +he was pursuing; for the road, as usual, wound in and out along the +irregular sides of the mountain, being raised upon a sort of terrace +some two hundred feet above the bottom of the valley. In a moment or +two, however, he caught sight of them again, coming slowly on, but with +their torches now extinguished, and presenting nothing but a dark mass, +brightened here and there by the reflection of the moon's light from +some steel cap or breastplate. + +The time seemed long, and their advance slow, to Bernard de Rohan; for, +although he had lain in many an ambush against the foe, and had taken +part in many an encounter where the odds against him were scarcely less +than those which were now presented, yet, of course, he could not but +feel some emotion in awaiting the result--that deep and thrilling +interest, in fact, which has nothing to do with fear, and approaches +perhaps even nearer to joy--the interest which can only be felt in the +anticipation of a fierce but noble strife, where, knowing the amount of +all we risk, we stake life and all life's blessings upon the success of +some great and generous endeavour. He felt all this, and all the +emotions which such a state must bring with it; and thus, longing to +throw the die, he found the moments of expectation long. + +Now seen and now lost to his sight, the party continued to advance, and +yet his strange companion did not make his appearance. The young +nobleman judged that he could not be far, indeed, for once or twice he +heard the bushes above him rustle, while a stone or two rolled down into +the bottom of the valley; and he thought he distinguished Leon's voice +murmuring also, as if talking to himself. At length there was a clear +footfall heard coming down the steepest part of the mountain, and in +another moment the stranger stood once more by Bernard de Rohan's side. +As he came near, he threw off the cloak which he had hitherto worn, and +cast it into one of the bushes, saying to it as he did so, "I shall find +you, if I want you, after this is over." + +His appearance now, however, left Bernard de Rohan scarcely a doubt in +regard to the nature of his usual occupation. When his cloak was thus +thrown off, his chest and shoulders were seen covered with that peculiar +sort of corslet or brigantine, which originally gave name to the bands +called Brigands. His arms were free, and unencumbered with any defensive +armour; and over his right shoulder hung a buff baldric, suspending his +long, heavy sword. This was not all, however; another broad leather belt +and buckle went round his waist, containing, in cases made on purpose +for them, a store of other weapons if his sword blade should chance to +fail; among which were those long and formidable knives which, in the +wars of the day, were often employed by foot soldiers to kill the +chargers of their mounted adversaries. Daggers of various lengths were +there also, together with the petronel or large horse pistol, which was +so placed, however, as to give free room for his hand to reach the hilt +of his sword. + +In this guise he approached Bernard de Rohan, saying, "You see, baron, I +am better prepared for this encounter than you are. You have nothing but +your sword: you had better take one of these," and he laid his finger +upon the butt of a petronel. + +"My sword will not fail me," replied Bernard de Rohan, with a smile. "I +see, indeed, you were better qualified to judge whether these were +brigands or not than I was." + +"They are no brigands," replied the other; "brigands know better what +they are about;" and, as he spoke, he threw away his hat, and tied up +his long black hair, which fell over his ears and shoulders, with a +piece of riband. "I cannot very well understand," he continued, in the +same low tone, "what has become of your people and the priest: I could +see nothing of them from the height, and I almost fear that these +villains, fearing pursuit, have broken down the little wooden bridge +behind them, at what we call the Pas de Suzzette, where the stream falls +into the river." + +"Hark!" said Bernard de Rohan. "They are coming up;" and, grasping his +sword, he took a step forward. + +"Wait," said the brigand, laying hold of his arm. "Give your people the +last minute to attack them in the rear. By Heavens, they ought to have +been here by this time." + +The sound of horses' feet and human voices now became distinct from +below, and oaths and imprecations were still heard loud and vehemently, +as the captors hurried on their prisoners. + +"Get you on, get you on!" exclaimed one voice: "don't you see how +quietly your lord is going." + +"He is not my lord," cried another, in a faint tone. "I am wounded and +hurt, and cannot go faster." + +"Get on, get on, villain!" reiterated the other voice. "You would fain +keep us till the fools behind mend the bridge and come up with us. Get +on, I say! If he do not walk faster, prick him with your dagger, +Bouchart. We will skin him alive when we get to the end of the march! +Drive it into him!" + +A sharp cry succeeded: Bernard de Rohan could bear no more, but, +bursting away from the hand of the brigand, he sprang into the road. +Leon followed him at once; but, even before he was down, the young +cavalier's sword had stretched one of the advancing party on the ground, +and was crossed with that of another. + +"Hold, hold!" shouted the loud voice of the brigand. "Hold, and throw +down your arms! Villains, you are surrounded on all sides!" + +For a moment their opponents had drawn back; but the scanty number of +the assailants was seen before Corse de Leon uttered what seemed so +empty a boast. + +"Cut him down," cried a voice from behind, "cut him down!" and one of +the horsemen spurred on towards him. Another, at the same moment, aimed +a blow at the head of Bernard de Rohan from behind, which struck him on +the shoulder and brought him on his knee, while a shot was fired at the +brigand, which struck his cuirass, but glanced off harmless. + +"It is time we should have help," said Corse de Leon, in a cool tone; +and while, with his right hand, he drew a pistol from his girdle, +levelled it at the head of one of those who were contending with Bernard +de Rohan, fired, and saw the man fall over into the valley below, with +the left he applied a small instrument to his lips, producing a loud, +long, shrill whistle, which those who have heard it will never forget. +It is like the scream of a bird of prey, but infinitely louder; and the +moment it proceeded from the lips of the brigand, similar sounds echoed +round and round from twenty different points above, below, and on the +opposite side. + +When Bernard de Rohan staggered up from his knee, the scene was +completely changed. Corse de Leon stood no longer alone, but with three +stout men by his side armed to the teeth. The fragments of rock and +large stones that were rolling from above showed that rapid footsteps +were coming down the side of the mountain. Up from the rocky bed of the +stream five or six other men were seen climbing with the activity of the +chamois or the izzard, and, to complete the whole, the whistle was still +heard prolonged up the valley, while, from the same side, the ear could +distinguish the galloping of horse coming down with furious speed. + +The party of the adversary, however, was large. All were well armed; all +evidently accustomed to strife and danger; and had all apparently made +up their minds to struggle to the last. They accordingly made a fierce +charge along the road, in order to force their way on; and the strife +now became hand to hand, and man to man, while, above the contest, the +loud voice of the brigand leader was heard shouting, "Tie them! Tie +them! Do not kill them if you can help it!" + +Nor was his assumption of certain success unjustified. Every moment +fresh numbers were added to the party of Corse de Leon. The adversaries +were driven back along the road, dragging the prisoners with them some +way, but were stopped by fresh opponents, dropping, as it were, from the +mountains, and cutting them off in their retreat. They were still +struggling, however, when at length eight or nine horsemen, the sound of +whose approach had been heard before, reached the scene of combat; and +then, seeing that farther resistance was vain, several of them uttered a +cry of "Quarter! quarter! We will throw down our arms." + +"Here, take my sword, Doland," said the brigand leader to one of his +men. "Wipe it well, and go back for my hat and cloak, which I left among +the bushes by the cross of St. Maur. Well, baron," he continued, turning +to Bernard de Rohan, "I am afraid you have to regret the want of your +armour: that was a bad blow on your head." + +"No, it struck my shoulder," replied Bernard de Rohan, "where my buff +coat is doubled. There is no great harm done." + +"You had better keep behind," continued Corse de Leon, in a low voice. +"I wished not to have displayed my men at all had it been possible to +avoid it, but it could not be helped. However, you had better not show +yourself with us. It may make mischief." + +"But the lady," said Bernard de Rohan, "the lady: let me go and speak to +her and set her free: I have no fear of being seen." + +"Leave it to me, leave it to me," said the brigand. "You shall have +opportunity enough to speak with her, and she shall know who is her +deliverer. Will you not trust me after all this night's work?" + +"Entirely," replied Bernard de Rohan; "but it is natural, when one aids +a lady in scenes like these, to wish to speak with her, to sooth and +tranquillize her." + +"Especially when one loves her," replied the brigand, laughing. "But you +shall speak with her in a moment, only keep back for the present." + +Bernard de Rohan had neither the will nor the power to resist. The +brigand, indeed, might well assume the tone of command, for at that +moment there could be no successful opposition to his will; but, besides +this consideration, there were other feelings in the bosom of the young +cavalier which inclined him to yield at once. + +Everything that he had seen was calculated to surprise and perplex him. +The knowledge which his strange companion seemed to have of his history +and circumstances; the state of active preparation in which he had found +him, as if he had been aware, long before, of all that was about to +occur, and had taken measures to meet every contingency; the interest +which he had shown in an enterprise that seemed not to concern him at +all, and the active and vehement opposition he had evinced to persons +apparently engaged in the same trade of violence with himself, were all +unaccountable to Bernard de Rohan; and he paused with some anxiety to +see what would be the next act in the strange drama in which he himself +was bearing a part. + +While the brief conversation which I have narrated took place between +the brigand and the young cavalier, the successful party had drawn +closer and closer round their adversaries, and were busily disarming and +tying them. This operation, being carried on with great dexterity and +rapidity, had advanced considerably, when Leon again strode forward into +the midst of them to give farther directions. + +"Not so tight! not so tight, Antoine!" he said: "you'll cut his wrists +with those thongs. Take off his corslet, Pierre. You cannot get it off +when his arms are tied. If he resists, pitch him over into the stream. +That horse will break away and be lost. Some of you come and untie my +Lord of Masseran and his people. Noble signior," he continued, and +Bernard de Rohan thought that he heard a good deal of bitter mockery in +his tone, "I pray you tell me what is to be done with these insolent +villains, who have dared to lay violent hands upon you and your lady +wife's fair daughter. Shall we either put them to death on the +spot--which, perhaps, would be the wisest plan, as the dead are very +silent--or shall we send them, bound hand and foot, to your chateau, +that you may give them your own directions as to what they are to say +and do?" + +These words were addressed to a tall, graceful man, somewhere between +forty and fifty years of age, who had appeared as one among the +prisoners of the party just overthrown. He seemed not particularly well +pleased with the brigand's speech, and replied in a tone somewhat +sullen, "You must do with them as you please, sir, and with us also, +though from your words I suppose that you mean us good and not evil." + +"Oh, certainly, my good lord," replied the other; "I am here to free +you, and you shall be safely conducted by my people to your own abode. +Am I, by your authority, then, to treat these men as they deserve?" + +The Lord of Masseran seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then replied +sharply, "By all means! By all means! They well deserve punishment." + +"Oh! spare them! spare them!" cried a lady's voice. "They have done +evil, certainly; but they might have treated us worse. Do not hurt them, +sir." + +"Lady," replied the brigand, "I will only punish them as they deserve, +and you yourself shall hear the sentence. Strip off every man's coat. +Take off the bridles of their horses, and therewith flog them down the +valley to Gandelot's inn. When they are there, they will know what to do +with themselves. Now, lady, this is but small measure of retribution for +bad acts. Quick, my men, quick. You must take them over the hill, for +the bridge is broken." + +He then spoke a few words to one of his companions in a low tone; after +which he returned once more to Bernard de Rohan, who had remained +behind, asked particularly after the wounds he had received, and +inquired whether he were fit to escort a lady some two leagues that +night. He spoke with a smile, and there was no hesitation in the young +cavalier's reply. Before their short conversation was ended, the +brigand's orders in regard to his prisoners were in the act of +execution; and certain it is that the discipline to which they were +subjected was sufficiently severe, if one might judge by many a piteous +cry which echoed up the valley for some minutes after they were driven +in a crowd down the road. The young lady covered her eyes with her hands +and remained silent; but a grim smile came upon the countenance of the +Lord of Masseran, as if there was something pleasant to him in the music +of human suffering. + +There were still some ten or twelve of Leon's band around, and their +next task was to untie the hands of such of the Lord of Masseran's +people as were still bound. "Now, sir," continued the brigand, as soon +as this was accomplished, "you shall have good escort back to your +chateau. But we must go in separate parties. You and your four servants +under the careful protection of Elois here, by the mountain path you +know of. The young lady I myself will escort by the longer, but the +smoother road." + +"Nay! nay!" exclaimed the Lord of Masseran, quickly. "Why separate us? +If you mean well by her, why not let--" + +"Because it pleases me not," replied the brigand, in a stern tone. "Who +is lord here upon the side of the mountain but I? You are lord in your +chateau, and none dare answer you. But I am lord in the moonlight and on +the hillside, and none shall answer me." + +"Oh! in pity, in pity!" exclaimed the young lady, holding out her hands +with a gesture of entreaty. But the brigand advanced to her horse's +side, and spoke a word to her in a low tone. She let her hands drop +again without reply, and Bernard de Rohan, who had remained in the +shade, while the moonlight fell full upon her, could see her eyes +suddenly turn towards the spot where he stood. + +"Lead on the Lord of Masseran, Elois," said the voice of Corse de Leon. +"Leave that poor fellow who seems wounded with the lady, and take the +rest with you." + +There was no reply, and the Savoyard nobleman, with his companions, was +led on by a strong party of the brigands up the valley, and then across +the stream. As he passed Bernard de Rohan, he fixed his eyes upon him +for a moment, but made no observation; and, at the same time, the +brigand held up his finger to the young cavalier, as if directing him +still to forbear for a time. + +As soon as the hill hid the other party from their sight, Bernard de +Rohan, unable to bear the restraint any longer, sprang forward to the +lady's side, and threw his arms around her. His head was bare, and, as +he looked up towards her, the moonlight fell full upon his face. As if +still doubtful, however, she gazed wildly and eagerly upon him; parted +the curls of his hair with her hands back from his forehead; then threw +her arms round his neck, and, bending her head, wept upon his shoulder. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +"At length! at length! Bernard," said the voice of the young lady; and +the heart of Bernard de Rohan echoed the words "At length! at length!" +as he pressed her hand in his. + +"At length! at length! Bernard," she said, "you have come back to me." + +"Did you not send me from you yourself, Isabel?" he said, thinking there +was something almost reproachful in her tone. "And have I not returned +the moment you told me I might; the moment you called me to aid, and, I +trust, to deliver you? Would I ever have quitted you but at your own +word?" + +"It is true! it is all true!" she said, in a gentle tone: "but I knew +not, dear Bernard, all that was to befall me; all the painful, the +anxious circumstances in which I was to be placed. We were then too +young, far too young, for me to press my father's promise. I had no +right to rob you of so many years of glory. My brother, too, wanted +protection and guidance in the field. At that time, everything looked +bright, and I thought that you, Bernard, would lead him forth to honour +and bring him back in safety. I knew you would, and you have done it. +But in those days I little dreamed that my mother, in her widowhood, +would willingly wed a stranger, and make her hand the hire of this +Savoyard, to serve the cause of France against his native prince. But +you have returned to me, Bernard," she continued, in a more joyful tone; +"you have returned to me, and all will be well again." + +So ever thinks the inexperienced heart of youth, when, even for a single +moment, the dark clouds break away, and a ray of sunshine, however +transient, brightens up a day of storms. + +"Be not too sure of that, lady!" said the deep voice of the brigand; "be +not too sure of that! There have been more dangers around you already +than you know of. They have not yet passed away, and, perchance, may +fall upon him as well as you." + +"Heaven forbid!" she cried, turning her eyes first upon the countenance +of the man who spoke, and then with a softer and a tenderer look upon +her lover. "If it is to be so, I shall wish you back again, Bernard." + +"Not so," said the brigand, "not so! We are fools to think that life is +to be a bright day, uncheckered with storms or misfortunes. There is but +one summer in the year, lady: the winter is as long; the autumn has its +frosts and its sear leaves; and the spring its cold winds and its +weeping skies. In the life of any one the bright portion is but small, +and he must have his share of dangers and sorrows as well as the rest. +They will be lighter if you share them, and if he shares yours. Let us +go forward on our way, however. Will you mount one of these horses, +baron, or walk by the lady's side? Oh, walk, will you? Then follow the +onward path. We will come on some hundred yards behind, near enough to +guard you, but not to interrupt." + +Bernard de Rohan and the lady proceeded on their way. Nor did they fail +to take advantage of the moments thus afforded for conversing alone, +though no one in such circumstances does take sufficient advantage of +the moments. Our minds are so full of thoughts, our hearts so full of +feelings, that they crowd and confuse each other in seeking to make +their way forth. But a small part is ever spoken of that which might be +spoken; and, had the time of their journey been more than doubled, there +would still have been questions to ask, and plans to arrange, and hopes, +and wishes, and fears to express; and Love, too, would have had a world +to tell and to hear; and many a caress would have remained to be given, +and many a vow would yet have required to be renewed. + +Thus, when at length, after advancing for nearly two hours, several +distant lights were seen upon the side of a dark hill beyond, as if +issuing from the windows of some building, they found that they had not +said half that they might have said, and wished that the minutes could +come over again. It is not, indeed, in such circumstances alone that man +casts away opportunities. It is all his life long, and every moment of +his life. Those opportunities are like the beautiful wild flowers that +blossom in every meadow and in every hedge, while, heedless or careless, +unseeing or unknowing, man passes them by continually, or walks upon his +way, and tramples them under his feet. + +When they reached that spot, however, and the castle of Masseran was +before their eyes, the brigand came up at a quick pace, saying, "Let us +pause a moment, and see whether our companions have arrived before us. +It might be dangerous for his deliverers to come too near the Lord of +Masseran's gates without sufficient numbers." + +As he thus spoke, he put the peculiar whistle which he carried to his +lips, producing a lower sound than before, but sufficiently loud to be +heard around, and call forth many an answer up to the very gates of the +castle itself. + +"They are here," continued the brigand, "and the good lord is in his +hold. Now, lady, you have doubtless promised things which you may find +it difficult to perform. You have promised to see this noble cavalier, +and give him--if needs must be, by stealth--the happiness of your +presence; but I know better than you do how things will befall you. You +will be watched; you will never be suffered to leave that castle's gates +without a train, which will cut you off from speaking with any one. The +gardens of the castle, however, will doubtless be free, for the walls +are high, the gates securely locked, and the way up to them watched. +Nevertheless, there is the small postern in the corner of the lowest +terrace, hid by a tall yew-tree: lay your hand upon the handle of the +lock at any time of the day you please. If it open not at the first +trial, wait a moment, and try it again. You shall never try it three +times without finding that door give way to your hand." + +"But he tells me," said the lady, speaking more directly to what was +passing in the brigand's thoughts than to what he actually expressed, +"but he tells me that he is actually on his way to visit my mother's +husband, charged with messages of import to him from the noble Marquis +of Brissac, and that to-morrow morning he will be there, openly +demanding admittance." + +"See him in the evening also, lady, whatever befall," replied the other. +"There are more dangers round you than you wot of. But I will speak to +him farther as we return. Now you had better go on." + +A few minutes more brought them nearly to the gates of the castle. The +brigand had remained behind to wait the coming up of his people. Bernard +de Rohan turned to see if they were approaching; but he could now +perceive no one upon the road but a single figure coming slowly on at +some distance, and leading a horse by the bridle. It was a moment not to +be lost. Once more he threw his arms round the lady beside him, and she +bent her head till their lips met. There were no farther words between +them but a few unconnected names of tenderness, and in a minute or two +after they were joined by the wounded servant, who had remained behind +with the lady and those who accompanied her when the Lord of Masseran +and the rest were sent on. + +"Ah! my lord," he said, looking wistfully in the face of the young +cavalier, "you have forgotten me, but I have not forgotten you; and if +it had not been for my love and duty to my young mistress, I would have +been with you in Italy long ago, especially when the countess sold +herself to her stranger husband." + +"No, indeed, Henriot, I have not forgotten you," replied Bernard de +Rohan; "and I beseech you, for love of me as well as your young +mistress, stay with her still, and be ever near her. I much doubt this +Lord of Masseran, and have heard no little evil of him. She may want +help in moments of need, and none can give her better aid than yourself; +but I fear you have been much hurt," he added, "for you walk feebly even +now." + +"It will soon pass, my lord," replied the man; "but I see a light at the +gate: we had better go on quickly, if, as I judge, you would not be +recognised." + +Bernard de Rohan took one more embrace, and then parted with her he +loved. He paused upon the road till, by the light which still shone from +the gate of the castle, he saw her and her follower enter and disappear +beneath the low-browed arch. He then turned away, and retrod his steps +along the side of the hill. He was left to do so for some way in +solitude, though he doubted not that the hillside and the valley below +him were both much more replete with human life than they seemed to be. +At the distance of little more than half a mile from the castle he was +forced to pause, for the moon had now sunk behind the mountain, and +there were two roads, one branching to either hand. + +"Keep to the right," said a deep voice near him, as he stopped to choose +his path; and the next moment the brigand, coming forth from the bushes +among which he had been sitting, walked on upon his way beside him. + +"Ours is a busy life, you see," he said; "but yet it is not every night +that we have so much business to do as we have had lately." + +"Nor, I should think," replied Bernard de Rohan, "is it every night that +you have upon your hands business which can leave so much satisfaction +behind." + +"I know not," answered the brigand, "and yet, in some sort, what you say +is true. For I have had pleasure in what I have done: I have had +pleasure in serving that bright lady; why, it matters not: I have had +pleasure in serving you; why, it matters not: I have had pleasure in +frustrating a base and villanous scheme; why, it matters not. But you +must not think, baron, that in the ordinary business of my everyday life +there are any of those weak thoughts about me which poison its +enjoyments and make the memory of each day bitter. You and I are +different beings, born for a different course." + +"We are both men," said Bernard de Rohan. + +"Ay!" answered the brigand; "and so are the dove and falcon both birds. +As well might that dove think that the life of the falcon must be +miserable because it is a bird of prey, as you judge of my feelings by +your own. I am a bird of prey; I am the brother of the eagle on the +rock. Our joys and our pursuits are the same; and they leave no more +regret with me than they do with that eagle, when he folds his wings in +his eyrie after the day's chase is done." + +The comparison was one which, as Bernard de Rohan very well understood, +was pleasant and satisfactory to his companion's feelings, but he could +not admit its justice to any great extent. He cared not to point out, +however, where it failed, and merely replied, "But there is a difference +between men and brutes. Man has his reason to guide him, and must be +governed by laws. The eagle has no law but the instinct which God has +given him." + +"Is not God's law the best?" exclaimed the brigand. "God gave the eagle +his law, and therefore that law is right. It is because man's law is not +God's law that I stand here upon the mountain. Were laws equal and just, +there would be few found to resist them. While they are unequal and +unjust, the poor-hearted may submit and tremble; the powerless may yield +and suffer: the bold, the free, the strong, and the determined fall back +upon the law of God, and wage war against the injustice of man. If you +and I, baron," he continued, growing excited with the heat of his +argument, "if you and I were to stand before a court of human justice, +as it is called, pleading the same cause, accused of the same acts, +would our trial be the same, our sentence, our punishment? No! all would +be different; and why? Because you are Bernard de Rohan, a wealthy baron +of the land, and I am none. A name would make the difference. A mere +name would bring the sword on my head and leave yours unwounded. If so +it be, I say--if such be the world's equity, I set up a retribution for +myself. I raise a kingdom in the passes of these mountains: a kingdom +where all the privileges of earth are reversed. Here, under my law, the +noble, and the rich, and the proud are those that must bow down and +suffer; the poor, and the humble, and the good those that have +protection and immunity. Go ask in the peasant's cottage: visit the good +pastor's fireside: inquire of the shepherd of the mountain, or the +farmer on the plains. Go ask them, I say, if under the sword of Corse de +Leon they lose a sheep from their flock or a sheaf from their field. Go +ask them if, when the tyrant of the castle--the lawless tyrant; or the +tyrant of the city--the lawful tyrant, plunders their property, insults +their lowliness, grinds the face of the poor, or wrings the heart of the +meek, ask them, I say, if there is not retribution to be found in the +midnight court of Corse de Leon, if there is not punishment and justice +poured forth even upon the privileged heads above." + +Bernard de Rohan felt that it would be useless to argue with him; for it +was evident that he was not one of those who are doubtful or wavering in +the course they pursue. There was some truth, too, in what the man said: +truth which Bernard de Rohan ventured to admit to his own heart, even in +that age, when such sentiments could only be looked upon as treasonable. +He was silent, then, considering how to reply, when the brigand himself +went on. + +"Think not," he continued, "that I have chosen my part without deep +thought. There are some--and perhaps you think me one of them--who are +driven by circumstances, led by their passions, or their follies, or +their vices, to a state of opposition with the rest of mankind, and who +then, when cast out from society, find a thousand specious reasons for +warring against it. But such is not my case. Ever since my youth have +such things been dwelling in my mind. I had pondered them long. I had +fully made up my mind as to what was right and what was wrong, years +before injustice and iniquity--years before the insolence of privileged +tyranny drove me forth to practise what I had long proposed. Here I +exercise the right that is in man. I take the brown game upon the +mountain, which is mine as much as that of any noble in the land. I pay +no tax to king or to collector. There is no duty on the wine I drink. +There is no toll upon the roads I follow. You will say that I do more +than this: that I take from others what is not mine and what is theirs; +but I have told you why I do so. They have taken from me what was not +theirs; and I wage war against a world which first waged war against me; +in which, even among themselves, the hand of every one is against his +brother; in which, whether it be in camp, or court, or city, or mart, or +church, injustice and iniquity are striving to snatch from one another +the rod of oppression, and keep the humble beneath their own yoke." + +"I cannot think," replied Bernard de Rohan, willing to answer as +generally as possible, "I cannot think that the state of society is so +terrible as you represent it. There may be occasional instances of +corruption and oppression, and doubtless there are. I have seen some +myself, and endeavoured to prevent them; but still these things are by +no means general." + +"Not general!" exclaimed the brigand, turning upon him almost fiercely. +"Sir Baron, I say they are universal. There are one or two exceptions, +it is true. You are one of those exceptions yourself. You are one of +those who deserve to be convinced; and I can convince you. I can show +you men who pretend to be holy, and humble, and good, oppressing most +basely those who are in their power. I can show you tyranny and +injustice at every step and in every station throughout the earth, from +the tradesman's shop to the monarch's throne. I can show it to you in +every garb, and in every profession, and in every place. I can, ay, and +will show it to you, within these twelve months, in such forms of +cruelty and blood that you shall say the brigand on the hillside is mild +compared with the man of courts or the man of refectories; that he may +be an eagle, but that these are vultures." + +"I see not," replied Bernard de Rohan, with a smile, "I see not how you +can show me all this. You forget that we shall most likely part here in +Savoy. That, as soon as I can rescue Mademoiselle de Brienne from the +situation in which she is placed, I shall hasten onward to my own +country, and we shall most likely never meet again." + +"Not so, not so," replied the brigand. "We shall meet again. Either with +her or without her, you must, as you say, go thither soon. My steps are +bound likewise towards France; for think not that I dwell always here, +or appear always thus: were it so, my head would soon be over the gate +of Chamberry. I will find means to show you a part of what I have said, +perhaps to give you some assistance likewise, when you most need and +least expect it. But remember," he added, "if misfortunes should befall +me, or danger threaten me, it is a part of our compact that you do not +strive to give me any aid; that you neither raise your voice nor your +arm in my behalf." + +"Nay, nay," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I cannot promise that. I must +ever remember the generous assistance you have afforded me this night, +and must do my best to prove that I am grateful for it." + +"The best way of proving it," replied the brigand, "is by doing what I +ask you. You are held wise for a young man: now ask yourself if you can +judge so well of what is for my advantage as I can judge myself. I tell +you that I have many means of deliverance which you know nothing of; +and, therefore, any attempt to aid me, without my asking you, might ruin +me and ruin yourself likewise." + +"If you will ask me," replied Bernard de Rohan, "when aid can be +serviceable to you, I shall be contented." + +"I will, I will," answered the brigand; "and now tell me, What have you +arranged with fair Isabel of Brienne? for I take an interest in your +fate and hers." + +"You seem indeed to do so," replied the young cavalier; "and yet I know +not why it should be so, for I cannot remember that we ever met before." + +"Once," replied the brigand, "only once. Several years ago we were side +by side, but for a moment. You and I, and that fair girl, and her +brother--her brother, the young Count Henry, who is now in Paris. It was +but for a moment, but that moment was one by me never to be forgotten." + +"I cannot recall it," replied Bernard de Rohan. "It is strange, too, if +it was a moment of such importance. But you say that her brother is in +Paris: I wrote to Henry to meet me in Grenoble, and I think he must be +there by this time." + +"Oh! he is in Paris still," replied the other. "He is a good youth; but +he is weak and young--ay, younger than his years. He will be easily +persuaded to stay in Paris, and flutter in bright silks, and flaunt at +tournaments, run at the ring, or fence at Moors' heads upon a turning +pole. He is at Paris still, depend upon it; and, if you count upon his +coming ere you claim the lady's hand, you must seek him in the capital, +and bring him with you." + +"I shall demand her hand at once," replied Bernard de Rohan; "but we +doubt that there will be opposition from one who has no right to make +it; and, to bear down that opposition, Henry de Brienne must be with me. +He is the guardian of his father's promise solemnly given to me before I +first went to Italy. But I will write to him as soon as day breaks +to-morrow. Hark! do you not hear voices coming up the pass?" + +"Most likely your servants and the priest," replied the brigand. + +"I wonder they have not joined us before," replied Bernard de Rohan. "We +should have fared ill if their assistance had been all we had to trust +to." + +"They could not do better," replied the brigand. "The other party had +caught a sight of us when you stood to argue with me at the corner of +the rock, and they broke down the little wooden bridge behind them. Your +servants know none of the paths; the priest knows not that which we +took; so doubtless, by this time, they think that we are hewed into +mincemeat. However, remember at that spot, by the broken bridge, a loud +halloo, a blast of your horn, or a whistle thrice repeated, will at any +time bring some one to you who can lead you to me should you want my +assistance. Now, jolly priest, now," he added, raising his voice, "here +we are safe, though no great thanks to you." + +"If you are safe, and sound, and sober," said the priest, coming up with +the attendants of Bernard de Rohan, "it is more than I expected; for we +could not reach you for our lives; and as we were scrambling over the +hills, and each losing his way according to his fancy, we heard as much +noise as at a boor's wedding, though the concert was somewhat different. +But now let us hasten back as fast as possible: why, we are a league and +a half from the inn, and I shall be so hoarse with shouting and the +night air that I shall not be able to sing matins." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +The Count de Meyrand was awake early, and dressed with the most +scrupulous exactness of appearance, without a riband tumbled or a point +out of place. He descended slowly about seven of the clock from the +chamber in which he had passed the night, by the long black +double-railed staircase, that led at once from the rooms above into the +kitchen, which, as I have said before, served also as the saloon of the +inn. His air and his countenance bore the same appearance of +indifference which they usually displayed, and he made no inquiry +whatsoever regarding the events of the preceding evening, although he +had retired to rest more than an hour before Bernard de Rohan had +returned to the inn. His servants came and went, seeking directions +concerning this thing and that, and communicating with him, from time to +time, in a low tone. The aubergiste, with many a lowly reverence, asked +his distinguished guest manifold questions concerning his breakfast; but +still the Count de Meyrand was not heard to ask any questions either +regarding the fate of his friend, or the somewhat remarkable events +which had lately taken place. + +At length, however, the jovial priest made his appearance; and whether +it was that the count was in a better humour for raillery than on the +night before, or whether he remarked, by the keen twinkling of the +other's eye, that he was about to commence an attack upon him, which +would not easily cease, he chose to be the first to open the encounter, +saying, "Well, good father, though I know it is not an easy thing to +cool a priest's courage, yet I trust your last night's expedition has +rather diminished your chivalrous ardour." + +"Not a whit," replied the priest. "Everything depends upon how much a +man's courage wants cooling. Yours, noble count, seems not of a quality +very likely to boil over; and, doubtless, ten steps from the door of the +inn would have sent you home shivering. Mine carried me, however, a +little farther." + +"Ay, doubtless," interrupted the count, "up to the point where you met +with these rogues; and then you waited behind a great stone to see who +had the best of the fray. Is it not so? I see you have brought home no +desperate wounds with you." + +"None," replied the priest, "that I cannot bear as tranquilly and well +as you, my noble lord, could bear the sorrow of your best friend. My +trade, however, is not bloodshed; I love not hard blows, and shall +always keep out of their way as far as I can. So my confession is made; +but here comes one who has a greater liking for wounds and bruises than +I have; and now Heaven send us all as good food as I have a good +stomach. Mine host! mine host! that omelet will be overdone, and the sin +of burned eggs is one to which I refuse absolution. By Hercules! as the +Romans used to say--Body of Bacchus! as the Italians say--Dame! as we +say in France, did ever mortal man see such a basket of fine trouts? +Why, it is a gift for an abbot! Look! my noble baron, look!" he +continued, turning to Bernhard de Rohan, who now made his appearance; +"did you ever see such fair river-gods in your life? Put them upon the +ashes, host, put them upon the ashes!" + +Bernard de Rohan did not pay so much attention to the fishes as the +priest, by his commendation, seemed to think they deserved; but, turning +to his friend, he shook him by the hand, saying, "Well, Meyrand, you +certainly always were a very unaccountable sort of personage, or I +should be inclined seriously to quarrel with you for suffering me to go +last night without assistance, at the imminent risk of getting my throat +cut for want of your help." + +"If you risked getting your throat cut, De Rohan," replied his +companion, "that was your fault; I had nothing to do with that; I even +deviated so far from my usual habits as to ask you to stay, and not do +it. I have always a reason for everything I do, good Sir Bernard, and I +take it for granted that other people have a reason too. I supposed that +you had some motive for going and getting your throat cut, and therefore +did not in the least blame you for doing so, if you chose; but I had no +reason for anything of the kind, and therefore I stayed where I was. +Indeed, I had every reason in the world not to go: I was warm and +comfortable, and had good wine and good viands before me; I was tired +with a long day's hunting, and had got my boots off. Then what to me was +the Lord of Masseran, that I should try to save his life or liberty? I +had no motive for serving him: indeed, quite the contrary. Every one +knows him to be an egregious scoundrel, and at this moment he owes me +thirty thousand crowns, which he will never pay, and which I have no +chance of getting, unless some honest brigand should cut his throat, +when the King of France would doubtless take possession of his lands and +pay his creditors." + +"Good faith, you are better acquainted with him than I am," replied +Bernard de Rohan. "Pray let me know something of his history; for I +never heard anything of him till some six months ago, when letters from +France informed me that the widowed Countess of Brienne, the mother of +my friend and comrade, Henry of Brienne, was about to be married to a +Marquis of Masseran." + +"Oh! his history is told in a few words," replied the Count de Meyrand, +laughing; "but serve the breakfast, my good host, and do not stand with +your mouth open listening to the venerable character of your noble lord, +for I take it we are here upon his domain." + +"No, no!" replied the host, "he is no lord of mine, noble sir; this is +ducal domain we stand upon." + +"It matters not," answered the count; "this Lord of Masseran, then, +Bernard, though his mother was a Frenchwoman, was born on the other side +of those Alps, a Piedmontese vagabond; half Frenchman, half Italian; a +sort of water-snake, neither adder nor eel; though a sort of third-size +sovereign, an underling of the Duke of Savoy. He who would have been +beggarly for a French gentleman, was ten times more beggarly for a +prince; and thus, in all probability, he would have gone on +living--filled with all the small Italian vices of our day; sharing, it +is said, with the brigands who take refuge on the territories of such +small lords; and employing the stiletto or the drug when it suited his +purpose to get rid of troublesome friends--thus, I say, he would have +gone on living what is considered in Italy a very respectable, quiet, +insignificant life, had a fancy not suddenly come into the head of our +worthy king to take possession of the dominions of his friend and +cousin, the Duke of Savoy, which fancy at once raises this Lord of +Masseran into a person of importance. He has, it seems, upon his lands +one or two small towns and one or two small castles; but these towns and +these castles are so situated as to command several passes and defiles +valuable to France. Now my Lord of Masseran is a conscientious man, and, +of course, nothing would ever induce him to take part with any one who +could not pay him for the same. From the poor Duke of Savoy not a livre +tournois was to be expected. The King of France himself, though a +perfect Croesus in promises, was known to be somewhat threadbare in +the treasury. He, however, was the more hopeful speculation of the two, +for he had power if he had not money, and there was a probability of his +paying one friend out of what he pillaged from another. With him, then, +my Lord of Masseran chose to deal, and promised to give free passage to +the troops of France upon certain conditions, which are, of course, a +secret. One thing, however, is evident; my Lord of Masseran did with the +king as some of our followers do when they take service of us. He asked, +in short, for something in hand. Now the worthy monarch of France had +nothing to give but the hand of a fair widow in her fortieth year. With +that hand, however, went a dowry of some twenty thousand crowns a year, +and the Lord of Masseran came to Paris and opened the campaign against +the widow's heart. She has the repute, as you should know better than +any one, of being somewhat hard and stern in her purpose, and cutting +with her tongue. She was inconsolable, too, for the death of her noble +husband; always wore black, like the mother of the late king, and looked +the picture of widowhood. My Lord of Masseran, however, with his +Piedmontese eloquence, found means to win the widow, with the support of +the king. The lady thought, it would seem, to spend her days in Paris; +but that city soon became a residence unsuited to the health of her new +husband. There were strange stories current regarding him; but there was +one thing certain, namely, that he was marvellously fond of those small, +square, spotted pieces of mischief, which have the art of conveying so +many fortunes from hand to hand. He played largely; he won generally; +and his fortune seemed immense. One night, at the Louvre, he borrowed +from me the large sum I have named, with a promise to repay it the next +morning; but it would seem that, after I left the hall, either fortune +went against him, or he took an irresistible longing for Savoy. His lady +raved and raged, we are told: but she found that she had now to do with +one, upon whose dull ear the sweet sounds of a woman's tongue, raised to +ever so high a pitch, had no effect. The Lord of Masseran paid not the +least attention to anything that she said; he did not seem to hear her; +but, with the most kind courtesy and ceremonious respect, handed her to +the carriage which was prepared to bear her away; and she found herself +on the road to Savoy before she could arrange any scheme for resistance. +This is his history; mine is soon told: I choose not so easily to +abandon my hold of my Lord of Masseran; and I am here hunting his game, +riding through his woods, and visiting his castle gate; for he seems to +me to be as deaf to my sweet solicitations for repayment as he showed +himself to the melodious intonations of his lady's voice. Now, priest, +though your clerical appetite may be good, do not devour all the trout +in the dish, for I am hungry as well as you, and have told a long +story." + +"And a good one too," replied the priest, laughing, and putting over the +dish to the count; but he suddenly added, "Have you never got within the +gates of his castle, then, my noble lord?" and he fixed his eyes full +upon the face of the Count de Meyrand. + +A very slight change of colour took place on the count's cheek; but he +replied at once, "Oh yes, I have been within, but to no purpose." + +"He must be an obdurate man indeed," said the priest, "if your +persuasions, my noble lord, can have no effect upon him. I wonder what +mine would have! Perhaps he might listen to the voice of the Church: I +will go up and try." + +"Why what hast thou to do with him?" demanded the count, suddenly +turning his eyes sharply upon the priest. "On what pretext wilt thou go +thither?" + +"To exercise my calling," replied the priest, with a sly smile; "to +exercise my calling in one of its various ways." + +"I knew not that your calling had various ways," replied the count, his +usual air of indifference verging into a look of supercilious contempt. + +"Oh yes it has," replied the priest, well pleased, as it seemed to +Bernard de Rohan, that he had piqued the count out of his apathy. "Our +calling has various ways of exercising itself. We address ourselves to +all grades and classes. If I convert not the Lord of Masseran, I may +convert his cook, you know. My efforts for the good of his soul may +prove for the benefit of my own body; and the discourse that is held +over venison and capons comes with a fervour and an unction which is +marvellously convincing." + +There was a sly and jocular smile upon the priest's countenance, +especially while addressing the Count de Meyrand, that somewhat puzzled +Bernard de Rohan, and evidently annoyed the count himself. It was not +difficult to see that, in the most serious things he said--though, +indeed, there were few that he did say which were serious at all--there +was a lurking jest, that seemed pointed at something which the hearer +did not clearly see, but which might or might not be something in his +own character, purposes, or pursuits. + +The significance of his tone towards the Count de Meyrand, however, did +not pass without that gentleman's observation; and, after listening to +him for several minutes more, while the party concluded their breakfast, +he turned towards him as he rose, saying, "It seems to me, priest, that +you would fain be insolent. Now let me tell you, that, though you are +very reverend personages in Savoy, and men meddle with you warily, in +France we have a way of curing clerical insolence, which is a good +scourging with hunting-whips. Perhaps you do not know that this is the +way French gentlemen treat those who are insolent." + +"I know it well," replied the priest, turning upon him sharply, "I know +it well, as I happen to be a French gentleman myself." + +He instantly changed his tone, however, and added, with his wonted +smile, "Nay, but now, Heaven forbid! that I should be insolent to the +noble Count de Meyrand. He being a generous and well-bred gentleman, +and, like every other gentleman, indifferent to all things upon earth, +can never take offence where no offence is meant; but, as he looks +furious, I will take myself out of harm's way. The blessing of a whole +skin is great. Adieu, my son! adieu! We shall meet some time again, when +I shall find you, I trust, restored to temper, and as lamb-like and meek +as myself." + +While he thus spoke, the priest gradually made his way to the door and +issued forth; while the Count of Meyrand, calling one of his attendants +to him, whispered something which Bernard de Rohan construed into an +order unfavourable to the safety of the jovial priest's shoulders. + +"Nay, nay, Meyrand," he said, "let him have his jest, for pity's sake. +Recollect he is a priest." + +"His gown sha'n't save him," replied the count. "Those priests have too +much immunity already in all parts of the world. But what do you now, de +Rohan? Will you hunt with me to-day, and we will drive this Lord of +Masseran's deer from one end of Savoy to the other? or do you go on to +Paris at once, and deny me your good company?" + +"I write to Paris," replied the cavalier, "and send off a messenger +immediately. But I myself go up to seek this Lord of Masseran. I have +despatches for him from the Maréchal de Brissac, and also some orders to +give by word of mouth." + +"I hope they are not disagreeable orders," replied the count, turning +towards the door of the inn; "for he is not one of those whom I should +like to offend in his own castle." + +"Oh no, I shall say nothing that should offend him," replied Bernard de +Rohan. "But, besides that, I shall not go till after the arrival of the +rest of my men, who come across the mountain this morning; and he might +find it rather dangerous to do me harm." + +"His ways of dealing with troublesome friends are various," replied the +count. "I should love neither to dine nor to sleep in his dwelling. A +word to the wise, good friend, a word to the wise! Now, my men, quick! +quick! get ready the horses, bring out the dogs. You will not be +tempted, De Rohan?" + +"I cannot now," replied his friend. "Another day, if I stay so long. I +wish you sport, I wish you good sport;" and, turning towards his +chamber, he caused a table to be brought, and materials for writing to +be placed before him. He there remained for nearly an hour and a half, +busily tracing upon paper those small black characters which, since some +man--whether Cadmus, who, if he did it, may well be said to have sown +dragons' teeth and reaped a harvest of strife, or whoever else the +learned world may have it--those black characters, I say, which, since +some man, not contented with what mischief the tongue can do, invented +writing for the propagation thereof, have worked more of wo and +mischief, as well as of happiness and prosperity, than any other +invention that the prolific mind of man ever brought forth. At length +the sound of a trumpet coming down the hill saluted his ear, and in a +few minutes after it was announced to him that the rest of his train had +arrived. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +We must now conduct the reader at once to the entrance of the castle of +Masseran. The gate itself was shut, though the drawbridge was down and +the portcullis was up. There was a little wicket, indeed, left ajar, +showing the long, dark perspective of the heavy archway under the gate +tower, gloomy and prison-like, and the large square court beyond, with +its white stones glistening in the sun; while the gray walls of the +castle and part of a window, as well as the door of the keep, appeared +at the opposite side. On either side, under the archway, but scarcely to +be seen in its gloomy shadow, was a long bench, and on the left hand a +low door leading up to the apartments in the gate tower. The right-hand +bench was occupied by one of the soldiers of the place, and at the door +was the warder's wife talking to him, while our friend, the jovial +priest, who had escaped without harm or hinderance, notwithstanding the +threats of the Count de Meyrand, was waiting at the wicket, from time to +time looking through into the court, and from time to time turning round +and gazing upon the mountains, humming an air which was certainly not a +canticle. + +After a pause of some ten or fifteen minutes, the warder himself +appeared, a heavy man, past the middle age, and dressed in rusty gray. +"He won't see you, Father Willand," he said. "He's walking in the inner +court, and in a dangerous sort of mood. I would rather not be the man to +cross him now." + +"Poh! nonsense," replied Father Willand, laughing. "Go in again to him, +good warder: tell him I have business of importance with him, and I know +that this refusal is only one of his sweet jokes. He will see me, +soft-hearted gentleman! Go and tell him--go and tell him, warder!" + +"Faith, not I," replied the warder. "That business of last night seems +to have galled him sorely, and he is just in the humour to fire a man +out of a culverin, as we know his father once did; but in these days it +won't do: culverins make too loud a report, you know. I will not go near +him again." + +"Then I will go myself," replied the priest. "He won't hurt me. Nay, +warder, you would not squeeze the Church in the wicket gateway! By +Heaven--or, as I should say less profanely, by the blessed rood--if you +pinch my stomach one moment more you will pinch forth an anathema, which +will leave you but a poor creature all your life." + +"Well, be it on your head," cried the warder, with a grim smile; "though +a two-inch cudgel or a fall from the battlements is the best thing to be +hoped for you." + +The priest was not to be deterred, however; and, making his way onward, +he crossed the outer court, turned to the right, and, passing through a +long stone passage, feeling damp and chilly after the bright sunshine, +he entered a colonnade or sort of cloister which surrounded the inner +court. It was a large, open space of ground, with tall buildings +overshadowing it on all sides. The sun seldom reached it; and there was +a coldness and stillness about its aspect altogether--its gray stones, +its small windows, its low-arched cloisters, its sunless air, and the +want of even the keen activity of the mountain wind--which made most +people shudder when they entered it. + +But there was nothing the least chilly in the nature of Father Willand. +His heart was not easily depressed, his spirits not easily damped; and +when he entered the cloister, and saw the Lord of Masseran walking up +and down in the court, an irresistible inclination to laugh seized him, +notwithstanding all the warder had said of his lord's mood at that +moment. + +It is true--although, from the description of the worthy officer of +bolts and bars, one would have expected to see the Lord of Masseran +acting some wild scene of passion--he was, on the contrary, walking +calmly and slowly backward and forward across the court, with his eyes +bent on the ground, indeed, but with his countenance perfectly tranquil. +It was nothing in his demeanour, however, that gave the priest a desire +to laugh, for he was very well aware that the passions of the Lord of +Masseran did not take the same appearances as those of other men, and he +saw clearly that he was at that moment in a state of sullen fury, which +might, very likely, have conducted any other man to some absurd excess. +His personal appearance, also, had nothing in it to excite mirth in any +degree. He was a tall, thin, graceful-looking man of the middle age, +with a nose slightly aquiline, eyes calm and mild, lips somewhat thin +and pale, and a complexion, very common in the northern part of Italy, +of a sort of clear, pale olive. His dress was handsome, but not +ostentatious; and, on the whole, he looked very much the nobleman and +the man of the world of those times. The priest, however, laughed when +he saw him; and, though he tried to smother it under the merry +affectation of a cough, yet the effects were too evident upon his +countenance to escape the eye of the Lord of Masseran as he approached. + +"Ha! Father Willand," said the marquis, as their eyes met, "I told the +warder to say that I did not wish to see you to-day." + +"Ah, but, my excellent good lord," replied the priest, bowing his head +low, with an air of mock humility and reverence, "it was I who wanted to +see your lordship; so I e'en ventured to make my way in, though the +warder--foul fall the villain--has so squeezed my stomach in the wicket, +that, like a bruised tin pot, it will never again hold so much as it did +before." + +"You are somewhat of a bold man," said the marquis, with a cold, bitter, +sidelong look at the priest; "you are somewhat of a bold man to make +your way in here when I bid you stay out. You may come in once too +often, Father Willand." + +"Heaven forbid, my lord," replied the priest; "I shall never think it +too often to serve your lordship, even though it should be at your +funeral: a sad duty that, my lord, which we must perform very often for +our best friends." + +"I should imagine, priest," replied the marquis, somewhat sternly, "you +would laugh at the funeral of your best friends." + +"I will promise your lordship one thing," replied the priest, "to laugh +at my own, if death will but let me. But surely, my lord, this is a time +for merriment and gayety! Why, I came to congratulate your lordship upon +your escape from those who attacked you last night--Ugh! ugh! ugh!" + +While the priest, unable to restrain himself, thus laughed aloud, the +marquis bit his lip, and eyed him askance, with a look which certainly +boded no great good to the merry ecclesiastic. They were at that moment +close to a spot where a door opened from one of the masses of building +into the cloister, and the Lord of Masseran, raising his voice a little, +exclaimed, in a sweet Italian tone, "Geronimo!" + +For a moment the priest laughed more heartily than before; but, seeing +the marquis about to repeat his call, he recovered himself, and, laying +his finger on the nobleman's arm, said, "Stay a moment, my lord, stay a +moment before you call him. First, because the sweet youth must not +exercise his ministry upon me. It would make too much noise, you know, +and every one in the valley is aware that I have come hither. Next, +because there are certain friends of mine looking for me at the bottom +of the slope, and expecting me within half an hour, so that I cannot +enjoy your Geronimo's conversation--" + +"It is, in general, very short," said the marquis. + +"And, thirdly," continued the priest, "because I have come up to tell +you two or three things which require no witnesses. I am here upon a +friendly errand, my good lord, and you are such a niggard that you +refuse me my laugh. However, I must have it, be it at you, at myself, or +at any one else; and now, if you behave well and civilly, I will tell +you tidings that you may like well to hear. If you don't want to hear +them, I will take myself away again, and then neither priest nor warder +is much to blame. Shall I go?" + +He spoke seriously now, and the Lord of Masseran replied, in a somewhat +more placable tone, a moment's reflection showing him that the priest, +in all probability, would not have come thither except upon some +important errand: "No, do not go," he said, "but speak to me, at least, +seriously." He looked down upon the ground for a moment, and then added, +"You may well think that I am angry, after all that took place last +night; for you, who hear everything, have doubtless heard of that also." + +As he spoke, he suddenly raised his keen dark eyes to the countenance of +the priest, as if inquiring how much he really did know of the matter in +question. + +"Oh yes," replied Father Willand, "I do hear everything, my good lord, +and I knew all that had happened to you last night before I sat down to +my breakfast this morning: I heard of your happy deliverance, too, from +the hands of the daring villains who captured you, for which gracious +interposition I trust that you will keep a candle burning perpetually +before the shrine of Saint Maurice." + +The priest spoke in a serious tone, but still there was an expressive +grin upon his countenance; and, after pausing for a moment or two more, +he added, as the marquis was about to reply, "You think I am jesting, or +that I do not understand what I am talking about; but I know the whole +business as well as you do yourself, and somewhat better. I tell you, +therefore, that it is a great deliverance that you have met with, though +perhaps you think it less a deliverance than an interruption." + +The priest paused as if for the marquis to reply; but the Lord of +Masseran was silent also, regarding his companion with a quiet, sly, +inquiring air, which, perhaps, could be assumed by no other countenance +upon earth than that of an Italian. It might be interpreted to say, "You +are more in my secrets than I thought. A new bond of fellowship is +established between us." + +As he remained actually silent, however, the priest went on to say, +"What I come to talk to you about is this very matter; for you may +chance be outwitted, my good lord, even where you are putting some +trust. But what I have to say," he continued, "had better not be said +among so many windows and doors." + +"Come with me! come with me!" said the Lord of Masseran; and leading the +way through the cloisters, he thridded several long and intricate +passages, none of them more than dimly lighted, and many of them +profoundly dark. He was followed by the priest, who kept his hand in the +bosom of his robe, and, if the truth must be said, grasped somewhat +firmly the hilt of a dagger, never feeling perfectly sure what was to be +the next of the Marquis of Masseran's sweet courtesies. Nothing +occurred, however, to interrupt him in his course, and at length the +lord of the castle stopped opposite to a doorway, over which a +glimmering light found its way. As soon as it was opened, the bright +beams of the day rushed in, and the marquis led the way into a wide +garden, which sloped down the side of the hill, and lay between the +walls of the castle itself and an outwork thrown forward to command one +of the passes of the mountain. It was walled on all sides, and nothing +could be seen beyond it; but in itself it offered a beautiful contrast +to the wild scenery round, being cultivated with great care and +neatness, and arranged in the Italian style of gardening, which was then +very little known in France, where it had been first introduced some +years before by Catharine de Medicis. Long and broad terraces, connected +together by flights of steps, formed the part of the garden nearest to +the chateau, while below appeared many a formal walk, sheltered, even in +that mountain scene, by rows of tall cypresses and hedges of other +evergreen plants. + +"Here we can speak undisturbed," said the marquis, as soon as he had +taken a few steps in advance. "Now what is it you have to tell me, +priest?" + +"Did you ever hear of such a person as Bernard de Rohan?" demanded the +priest, fixing his eyes upon the countenance of the Lord of Masseran. + +"I have--I have heard of him," replied the marquis, turning somewhat +pale. "What of him? what of him? Is he not still beyond the Alps?" + +"He is within a few leagues of your dwelling," answered the priest. + +"I thought so, I thought so," exclaimed the Lord of Masseran, striking +his brow with his hand. "But he shall find he has come too soon." + +"You must take heed what you do," replied the priest, grinning. "Did you +ever hear how the fox vowed vengeance against the lion, and was wroth, +and forgot his cunning, and flew at the lion's muzzle, and the lion put +his paw upon him, and squeezed the breath out of the poor fox's body? My +very good lord, you do not know that this Bernard de Rohan has +men-at-arms at his back, and despatches to you from the Maréchal de +Brissac, which may not be pleasant for you to receive; and, moreover, he +is a great friend of a certain Count de Meyrand, and they have been +conferring earnestly together both last night and this morning, and the +name of the Lord of Masseran was more than once mentioned. So now, my +son, you see what is going forward, and must take your measures +accordingly." + +The wily Piedmontese sunk back into himself as he heard the unpalatable +tidings communicated to him. From the few significant words which the +priest had spoken, it was evident enough to the Lord of Masseran that, +by some means or another, all the plans and purposes in which he was +engaged in at the time were nearly as well known to the personage with +whom he was then conversing as to himself, and yet he could not bring +himself to speak with him freely thereupon. He wanted advice. He wanted +assistance. The priest appeared to know more than he said; and, to +arrive at certainty upon that point, the Marquis of Masseran now applied +himself with all the skill and shrewdness of which he was master; but in +good Father Willand he met with more than his match; for, with equal +dexterity and shrewdness, the ecclesiastic had resources which the Lord +of Masseran himself had not. He could evade a question by a laugh, or a +jest, or a figure, or a pun, and never did diplomatist more skilfully +turn and double in a conference than he did in his conversation with the +Marquis of Masseran. + +At length, driven to speak more clearly, the marquis paused suddenly on +the terrace across which they were walking, and, fronting the priest, +demanded abruptly and sternly, "Tell me, then--tell me what is this +situation in which you say I am placed, which you always allude to and +never explain. Tell me this, and tell me how I shall meet the danger, +or, by the powers of Heaven and hell, you shall never quit this place +alive." + +"A pretty and a sweet persuasion," exclaimed the priest, laughing +heartily; "but, my dear son, I am not so easily killed, even if such +parricidal thoughts were anything more than a jest. You know not what a +tough morsel an old priest is: hard of mastication for even stronger +teeth than yours. Nay, nay, think of tenderer food! In other terms, ask +me pleasantly and civilly, my good son, and you may then chance to +receive an answer. If you were to kill me forty times over it would do +you no good. My secrets are like the goose's golden eggs: not to be got +at by slaughter." + +"There is something that you want, priest," replied the marquis, in the +same abrupt tone. "Quick! tell me what it is; if it be anything in +reason, you shall have it." + +The priest smiled with a meaning look, but thought for a moment or two +before he replied; for, to say the truth, he had not, in his own mind, +fixed upon that which he was to demand as his recompense. He had, it is +true, an object in view, and the chief means of attaining that object +was to persuade the Marquis of Masseran that he dealt with him truly and +sincerely. Now he well knew that the mind of the worthy lord was so +constituted that it could by no means be brought to conceive that any +man dealt honestly with another, unless he had some personal object to +gain by so doing, and, therefore, the priest determined to assign such +an object, although he was, in reality, without one. "Well," he said, +"well, you shall promise me, most solemnly, first, not to tell any one +what I reveal to you; and also, if you find that what I tell you is +true, and if the way that I point out to you prove successful, you shall +give the priest of the church of Saint John of Bonvoison a fat buck in +August every year when he chooses to send for it; you shall also give +him a barrel of wine of your best vintage, and five silver pieces for +alms to the poor, and this in perpetuity." + +"Fy, now, fy!" replied the Lord of Masseran; "for your own life were +quite enough; but in perpetuity, that is more than I can engage for: it +is owning your vassalage, good father." + +"It must be even so, though," replied the priest, "or you have not my +secret. I care not for venison, sinner that I am, it is the good of the +Church I think of." + +"Well! well!" answered the Lord of Masseran, "most disinterested father, +I give my promise; and now be quick, for I expect a visiter full soon, +my dealings with whom may depend upon your words: what is it that I +should fear?" + +"That Adrian, count of Meyrand," said the priest, "and Bernard, baron de +Rohan, laying their heads together for their own special purposes--" + +"That can never be, that can never be," cried the marquis, with a scoff. +"They both love the same woman. They both seek her. They can as soon +unite as oil and water. No, no, that is all vain!" and he turned away +with a sneer. + +"Suppose," said the priest, smiling in a way that again shook the +Marquis of Masseran's feelings of security, "suppose that the one should +love her money and the other herself, and they should agree to settle it +thus: We will prove to the King of France that the Lord of Masseran +holds secret communication with the Duke of Savoy and the Emperor +Ferdinand. Suppose this were the case, I say, do you think, my son, that +there would be any chance of their really proving it? Could the noble +Count of Meyrand say boldly that, to his knowledge, the Lord of Masseran +conspired secretly with some troops of Savoy, to carry off, as if by +force, himself, the Lord of Masseran, and Mademoiselle de Brienne, for +special purposes of his own, somewhat treasonable towards France, only +that the scheme was defeated by an accident? Could Bernard de Rohan say +that he had seen the Lord of Masseran in the hands of his captors, going +along with no great signs of unwillingness, and showing no great signs +of gratitude to those who set him free." + +"Was he there?" exclaimed the Lord of Masseran, eagerly. "What, a youth +in a buff coat? By Heaven, his eyes have been haunting me all night. He +seemed to look through me." + +"The same person," replied the priest, with a loud laugh; "and he did +see through you, my son. You have been very transparent lately. I ask no +questions, but put it to yourself whether these two gentlemen can say +these things to the King of France. Then may not the one say, 'Sire, I +love this girl, and have got her father's promise for her hand; here is +her brother, too, consents to our marriage: I claim as my reward your +good-will and approbation.' Then may not the other say, 'Sire, the Lord +of Masseran, as I have showed you, betrays your trust. He has fair +castles and fortresses, beautiful lands and lordships, vineyards, +olive-grounds, cornfields: I pray you, in return for having discovered +his dealings with the empire, put me in possession of his lands and his +lordships till your majesty shall think fit to conclude a peace.'" + +The Lord of Masseran looked moodily down upon the ground; and though, to +say the truth, he did not yet put great faith in the priest's sincerity, +he asked briefly, "Well, what remedy? How is this to be avoided?" + +"That," replied the priest, "for certain I cannot tell you; but I can +tell you what I would do were you Father Willand and I Marquis of +Masseran. I would order horses to be saddled and grooms to be prepared, +and by the most silent, secret, and sudden way, I would betake myself to +Paris, cast myself at the king's feet, accuse this Count of Meyrand of +seeking to corrupt me, tell him that Savoy had offered me bribes, and, +failing there, had striven to carry me off. I would do all this, and +then--" + +"Hush!" said the Lord of Masseran, "hush! here is some one coming to +seek me:" and, leaving the priest, he advanced a few steps towards a +servant who now approached from the house. The marquis asked a question +in a low tone, to which the other replied, loud enough for Father +Willand to hear, + +"He will not come within the gates, sir, but desires to speak with you +for a moment without: he says he is but in his hunting-garb, and +unfitted to enter your halls." + +"How many men has he with him?" demanded the Lord of Masseran. + +"No one but a page, my lord, near the gates," replied the man. "The rest +I saw gathered together about a mile down the road, on the other side of +the valley." + +"I will come!" said the Lord of Masseran, "I will come!" and he added, +in a lower tone, some words which the priest did not hear, but which he +judged had reference to himself, from perceiving the eyes of the +speakers turned more than once shrewdly towards him. "I will be back +again in a few minutes, good father," the Lord of Masseran continued. +"Wait for me, for we have yet much to speak of." + +"I will wait, I will wait," replied the priest; "only be not long, my +good son; for, though I have much to say to you, I have little time to +spare." + +The Lord of Masseran gave him every assurance that he would return +speedily; and then left the garden, followed by the attendant who had +summoned him. The priest looked after them and listened; and, being +someway connected with the race of that gentleman called in history +Fine-ear, he distinctly heard the door by which he and the marquis had +entered the garden locked after the latter had quitted it. "There is +another door," he muttered to himself, with a smile, looking towards one +of the archways upon the terrace leading to the chateau. + +The next instant, however, there was a sound from that quarter also, as +if somebody turned the key there likewise; but the priest continued to +smile notwithstanding, and, proceeding slowly along the terraces, as if +merely to amuse himself by a walk, he approached the thick wall of the +garden, and stopped at the entrance of one of those little guerites, or +watch-towers, with which the whole enclosure was studded from place to +place. Up the narrow staircase in the stone he made his way, and then +looked carefully out through the loophole which was turned towards the +chief entrance of the chateau. No living object, however, was to be seen +in the immediate neighbourhood of the castle itself; though, as the +attendant had said, about a mile down the road which passed through the +valley was a group of men, and horses, and dogs gathered together in +various listless attitudes, while two large eagles were seen whirling in +immense circles high up above the tops of the mountains, upon the lower +part of whose tall sides a flock of sheep appeared feeding in peaceful +tranquillity. + +"I may as well go," said the priest to himself, as he gazed out upon +this quiet scene. "I have said all that it is necessary to say, and this +sweet lord may not have done all that he may think it necessary to do. I +like not his whisperings, so I may as well go." + +But, as the priest thus murmured to himself, he looked out again in the +same direction, when two persons came slowly forth from behind an angle +of one of the towers, and, taking their way under the garden wall, +approached the very spot where Father Willand stood. There was no +difficulty in recognising the Lord of Masseran and the Count de Meyrand. +"Now what would I give," murmured the priest to himself, "for one of +those famous inventions--those ear-trumpets--those sound-catchers--which +we read about in old histories." + +The good priest, however, possessed none such; and though his ears, as +we have said, were very sharp; though he thrust his head as far as he +could into the loophole; though the count and his companion, thinking +that no one observed them, spoke loudly and vehemently; and though they +passed directly under the turret where the priest stood, nevertheless, +the words that he could catch were very few. "Well, my good lord, well," +said the Lord of Masseran, "you blame me without cause. I have done my +best, and am as disappointed as you are." + +"I do not blame you," replied the other; "I only tell you what must be +the result if the plans you have proposed cannot be carried through +immediately." + +"Not that I have proposed, not that I have proposed," replied the other; +"the suggestion was your own." + +"Indeed!" said the Count de Meyrand, "this is something new to me. All I +know is, that I have got the whole of your scheme drawn out in your own +hand; the names false, indeed, or written in cipher, but for that we +will soon find a key. What I asked was this, either that you should pay +me the large debt you owe, or that you should give me such assistance in +my suit to Mademoiselle de Brienne as would enable me to call her my +wife within two months. Those two months have now wellnigh expired, and +I will be trifled with no more." + +The latter part of this sentence was lost to the ear of the priest; but +he guessed what it must be; and certainly the slight portion that he had +heard gave him a very strong inclination to hear more. He paused, then, +to consider whether this could be accomplished by any possible means, +but it was evident that such could not be the case; for, even while he +turned the matter in his mind, the little path along which the Marquis +de Masseran and his companion walked led them farther and farther from +the wall of the garden. We must now, however, follow the two noblemen, +and leave the priest to his fate, which we shall very speedily see. + +"Well, well, my good friend," replied the Marquis de Masseran, in answer +to the last observation of the count, "the time has not yet fully +expired, and it shall be your own fault if my promise is not completely +fulfilled." + +"How can it be my fault?" said the count. "I have nothing to do with the +fulfilment of your promise." + +"Yes, you have," answered the Marquis of Masseran: "I will give you the +means; but if any pitiful scruple, any lady-like hesitation upon your +part, prevents you from employing them, the fault is your own." + +"Mark me now, my good lord," replied the count: "it was understood +between us that I was to have no share in anything contrary to my +allegiance to the crown of France. With your own plans I had nothing to +do. If you chose to give the agents of the empire an opportunity of +making you a prisoner, and taking possession of your fortresses for +reasons and with purposes best known to yourself, I had nothing to do +with that: that was your own affair; I would be in no degree implicated +with it; I would receive no bribes from Savoy or Austria," he continued, +with a sneer; "all I agreed to do was to rescue the lady, if, on any +occasion, I were informed that she was travelling as a prisoner between +Fort Covert and Brianzone. This I promised to do, and I should have had +no scruple then to use my opportunities to the best advantage." + +The Lord of Masseran smiled with a meaning look, which his companion +easily interpreted. The count added with a frown, "You mistake me: I +would have done her no wrong, sir! Though I would have taken care to +keep her so long with me that she could give her hand to no one else, I +would have treated her with all honour." + +"Doubtless, doubtless," replied the Lord of Masseran; "but what I mean +now, my lord count, is, that if I again, at a great risk to myself, give +you good opportunity, you will have no hesitation in using a little +gentle force to compel this lady's union with yourself. We have priests +enough who will perform the ceremony with a deaf ear to the +remonstrances that her reluctance and maiden modesty may suggest; but +when we have carried the matter so far as that, remember that my safety, +nay, my life itself, may be compromised if you yield to any weak +supplications. Once commit ourselves, and our only safety is in her +being your wife! Then she will be silent for her own sake." + +"By Heavens," said the count, in a deep, low tone, "she shall be my wife +if it be but in revenge for the scorn with which she treated me in +Paris. If it costs the lives of her and me, and all our kin, she shall +be mine, Lord of Masseran." + +"So be it, then," replied the marquis; "but, to accomplish my new +scheme, I must be absent some few days." + +The count gazed upon him somewhat suspiciously. "Some few days?" he +said. "What! long enough, marquis, to go to Paris or Vienna?" + +"Neither," replied the Marquis of Masseran, coolly. "Three days will +suffice, if well used. In three days I will be back again." + +"And in those three days," replied the count, "this Bernard de Rohan, +whom we were talking about just now, will have fair opportunity of +visiting the bright lady, and even, perhaps, by the connivance of her +fair mother, may carry her within the French frontier, and plead her +father's promise at the court of the king." + +"Not by her mother's connivance," replied the marquis. "Her mother loves +him as little as you do; and, even were he at the court of France +to-morrow, her protest against the marriage would be sufficient to stop +it. But, to guard against all danger, and, if possible, to put the mind +of a suspicious man at ease, I will tell you that one great cause of my +going hence is to prevent this Bernard de Rohan from setting foot within +my walls. I know his coming: I know why he comes far better than you do. +I have heard his motives and his views within this hour from one who is +well acquainted with them, and, if he present himself at my gates, he +will find a stern refusal till I return. Then I must see him, but I +shall then be prepared. Will this satisfy you? If it do so, tell me at +once; for it is high time that I should mount my horse, and quit this +place without delay." + +Though, in reality, anything but satisfied, the Count de Meyrand +expressed his consent to the proposal, determined in his own mind to +watch all the proceedings of a confederate whom he could so little +trust, even in the dark and tortuous schemes in which their interests +were combined. He tried, as he parted from the marquis, to conceal his +doubts lest they should betray his purposes; but that worthy gentleman +was far too practised a reader of the human heart and human countenance +to be so deceived; and when they separated, it was with the full +conviction that each would endeavour to deceive and circumvent the +other, unless some strong necessity continued to bind them together. + +"Now," thought the Marquis de Masseran, as he paused for a moment +looking after the Count de Meyrand, "now for this priest. I must have +more information from him: more full, more complete. Then what is to be +done with him? It might be dangerous to confine him; and yet it were +easy to say that he had held treasonable discourses. A fall from the +walls might be as good as anything. I will speak with Geronimo about +it." + +He had been standing with his back towards the castle and his eyes fixed +upon the ground while he thus held parley with himself. On the other +side of the valley, which was there profound, rose up the mountain, with +the road into Piedmont winding along it, at the distance of perhaps a +quarter of a mile, to use the ordinary expression, as the crow flies, +but fully a mile by the road; and, as he ended his murmuring soliloquy, +the Marquis of Masseran looked up in that direction. To his utter +surprise and consternation when he did so, he beheld the figure of the +priest walking quietly along the highway towards the lower ground of +Savoy. + +He hastened back to the castle; but he was assured at the gates by all +the several persons who were standing there that no one had passed. On +examining the doors of the garden, every one of them was found to be +closed; and the Marquis of Masseran came to a conclusion, which was not +pleasant for a man engaged in his peculiar pursuits, namely, that he was +deceived and betrayed by some one of his own household. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +The observation may seem trite, that to every period of life is assigned +by the Almighty and Munificent Being, who at our creation adapted to +each part of our material form the functions that it was to execute and +the labours it was to sustain, either peculiar powers of endurance or +counterbalancing feelings, which render the inevitable cares and sorrows +apportioned to every epoch of our being lighter and more easy to be +borne. The woes of childhood are, in themselves, speedily forgotten. The +pains are soon succeeded by pleasures, and care, gnawing care, the rack +of after-life, is then unknown. Boyhood, eager, enthusiastic, hopeful +boyhood, the age of acquisition and expectation, though it may know from +time to time a bitter pang, scarcely less in its degree than those that +afflict mature life, has so many compensating enjoyments, its own +sunshine is so bright, the light that shines upon it from the future is +so dazzling, that the griefs serve but as a preparation and a warning, +too little remembered when once they are past. Old age, with its decay, +with the extinction of earthly hopes, with the prospect of the tomb, has +also dulled sensibilities that allow us not to feel many of the more +painful things of early years. The blunted edge of appetite may not give +so keen a zest to pleasure; but the apathy which accompanies it extends +to griefs as well as joys, and, if wisely used, is one of the best +preparations for a resignation of that state of being which we have +tried in the balance of experience and have found wanting; wanting in +all that can satisfy a high and ethereal spirit; wanting in all things +but its grand purpose of trial for a life to come. But, besides all +this, unto that period of old age, thus prepared and admonished for +another state, God himself has also given comfort and consolation, a +promise and a hope: a promise brighter than all the promises of youth, a +hope brighter than all those that have withered away upon our path of +life. + +There is still another age, however; an age the most perilous, often the +most full of pains; an age when the eager aspirations of youth reach out +the hand towards fruition; when the great truths of disappointment break +upon us; when we first learn the bitter lesson that hope has told us +idle tales, that fortune is of fickle favour, that friendships are too +often false, that our own hearts do ourselves wrong, that enjoyment +itself is often a vanity and often a vision, that we must suffer, and +grieve, and repent in the midst of a world which, shortly before, we +fancied was composed of nothing but brightness, and beauty, and +happiness. I speak of the time of life when we first put on manhood, and +meet all its sorrows at the moment when we expect nothing but its joys. +For that period, too, there is a bright compensation given, there is a +sustaining principle implanted in our breast, common to the highest and +the lowest, the savage and the civilized; a principle that furnishes a +balm for many wounds, that surrounds us with an atmosphere of +consolation, hope, and joy, and enables us to live on in one splendid +dream, even in the midst of hard and dark realities. + +That principle is love; and that principle was warm and strong in the +bosom of Bernard de Rohan, as, on the day after that in which the +conversations we have mentioned in our last chapter took place, he +stood, a few minutes before the setting of the sun, under a group of +tall fir-trees that had pitched themselves upon a pinnacle of the rock, +about ten yards distant from the farther angle of the garden attached to +the chateau of Masseran. The trees grew very close together; and, what +between scanty soil and the mountain winds, their large trunks had +contorted themselves into manifold strange shapes. From this group two +or three rows of the same kind of firs ran down the side of the hill +into the valley. One would have supposed that they were the remains of +some old avenue had the lines been but a little more regular. + +The shadow of those trees completely concealed any one who stood beneath +them, and the eyes must have been very near that could have perceived +Bernard de Rohan as he leaned against one of them, gazing upon a +particular part of the garden wall immediately under one of the small +watch-turrets. He thus waited some time, with an eagerness of +expectation, it is true, which in no other situation or circumstance had +he ever known before; but, at the same time, with sweet thoughts, and +hopes, and happy memories, which cheered the moments, and made even the +impatience that he felt appear like some of those drinks which man has +invented to satisfy his thirst, and which are at once pungent and +grateful to the taste. He had waited some time, we have said, when at +length, as a distant snowy peak began to change its hue and turn rosy +with the rays of the setting sun, the small postern door on which his +eyes were fixed was seen to move upon its hinges, and then stood ajar. +Bernard de Rohan sprang forward, passed the small open space in a +moment, and, pushing back the door more fully, stood within the garden +of the castle of Masseran. + +Scarce a step from the gate, with her hand pressed upon her heart, as if +to stop the palpitation of fear and agitation, stood a lady, perhaps of +twenty years of age. She was certainly not more; and her beauty, like +the morning sun, seemed to have the promise of a long, bright race +before it. She was very graceful and very beautiful. The whole form +seemed to breathe of a bright and high spirit; but even had it not been +that her person so perfectly harmonized with her mind, and was, in +fact--as nature probably intended should be the case--an earthly type of +the soul within, yet Bernard de Rohan would still have loved her as +deeply, as tenderly as he did, for he knew that spirit to be bright and +beautiful; he knew the heart to be tender, and devoted, and +affectionate; he knew the mind to be pure and high, and fixed in all its +purposes of right. + +He had been brought up with her from youth; her father had been his +guardian, and a parent to him when his own parents were no more. She had +fancied herself a sister to him till the hearts of both told them it was +happy she was not so. No disappointments had ever befallen them in the +course of their affection; no obstacles had been thrown in their way +till that time; and yet, though neither opposed, nor troubled, nor +disappointed, they loved each other with true and constant hearts, and +feared not the result of any hour of trial. + +She was very beautiful, certainly. It was not alone that all the +features of her face were fine, but it was also that the form of the +face itself was beautiful, and the way that the head was placed upon the +neck, and the neck rose from the shoulders, all gave a peculiarity of +expression, a grace, which is only to be compared to that of some +ancient statue from a master's hand. The eyes, too, were very, very +lovely, deep blue, and full of liquid light; with dark black eyelashes +that curtained them like a dark cloud fringing the edge of the western +sky, but leaving a space for the bright light of evening to gush through +upon the world. Her complexion was a clear, warm brown; but now, as she +stood, there was something, either in the agitation of the moment or in +the cold light of the hour, which made her look as pale as marble. + +She was pressing her hand upon her heart, and leaning slightly forward, +with an eager look towards the door, as if prepared to fly should any +one appear whom she did not expect. The instant she saw Bernard de +Rohan, however, her whole face was lighted up with a glad smile, and she +sprang forward to meet him with the unchecked joy of pure and high +affection. They were in a moment in each other's arms. + +"My Isabel! my beloved!" he said. "I thought that this man had +determined to shut me out from beholding you again." + +"And so he would," replied the lady. "So he would if he had the power. +But oh! Bernard, I fear him--I fear him in every way: I fear him on my +own account, I fear him on yours." + +"Oh! fear not, fear not, Isabel," replied Bernard de Rohan. "He can but +bring evil upon his own head if he attempts to wrong either you or me. +Already has he placed himself in danger. But tell me, my beloved, tell +me, is he really absent from the castle, or was it but a pretence to +avoid seeing me when I came yesterday?" + +"No, he is absent," replied Isabel de Brienne. "In that, at least, there +is no deception, for I saw him ride out with but a few horses yesterday +towards midday. He took the small covered way by the back of the castle +and by the other side of the gardens. I saw him from the window of my +chamber in the keep, and I do not believe that he has since returned." + +"It must have been to avoid me," said Bernard de Rohan, thoughtfully; +"and yet, how could he know that I was here? Did he ever hint at such +knowledge, my Isabel?" + +"Not to me," she answered; "but I have scarcely seen him since that +terrible night. I have been in my mother's sick chamber, to which his +cruelty and brutality have brought her. Nor would he ever, even if I had +seen him, nor would he ever mention your name to me. He would fain have +me forget it, Bernard; but on that score I have much to tell you too." + +"I know that I judge your heart right, dear Isabel," replied Bernard de +Rohan, "when I say he would find it hard to make you forget that name; +and yet I have had warnings within the last two days of many a dark and +evil scheme, it would seem, against your peace and mine. A vague hint +has been given me that one whom I know to be brave, and whom the world +holds to be honest; one who was once my particular friend, and my +comrade in many a day of difficulty, and strife, and peril; one who, I +know, must be well aware, from many things that I have casually said in +thoughtless freedom of heart, that you and I are linked together by +promises that can never be broken, has been labouring hard to supplant +me in your affection. Yet I will not believe them, Isabel; I will not +believe, in the first place, that you would hear one word on such a +score from any man. Neither will I believe--though he has certainly +lingered strangely away from the army; though he has changed, I may say, +marvellously, and from a gay, rash, thoughtless youth, become a +cautious, calculating, somewhat impenetrable man--I will not believe +that Adrian de Meyrand would do me wrong. No, no, I will trust him +still." + +"Trust him not, Bernard! trust him not!" replied Isabel. "Trust him not, +Bernard! I, at least, know what he is. You say that your Isabel," she +continued, gazing on him tenderly, "would not hear one word of love +spoken by any other lips than your own. You do her right, dear Bernard. +She would not, if she could help it; and even when against her will, +against remonstrance and anger, she has been forced to hear such words, +she has scarce forgiven herself for what she could not avoid, and has +reproached herself for that which was forced upon her. Do you, too, +reproach her, Bernard?" + +"Oh no," he replied, holding her to his heart, and gazing into the pure +bright eyes, which seemed, as they were, deep wells of innocence and +truth. "Oh no, dear Isabel; what was done unwillingly needs no reproach: +but how was this? Tell me all! De Meyrand, then, has wronged me?" + +"If he knew of your love for me, he has," replied Isabel de Brienne; +"but promise me, Bernard, that no rash or hasty act will make me regret +having spoken to you openly, and I will tell you all." + +"None shall, my Isabel," replied her lover. "It is only dangerous +rivals, or insolent ones, that require the sword of a brave man. De +Meyrand is not the one, and probably may never be the other. Speak, dear +one! I must hear all." + +"Well, then," she answered, "before we quitted the court, I remarked +that this Count of Meyrand paid me assiduous court; and though certainly +he was very attentive also to my mother and her new husband, still I +avoided him, for there was something in his look and his manner that did +not please me. I remarked, however, that many of the nobles of the +court--nay, even the king himself--seemed so to smooth the way and +remove all obstacles, that he was frequently near me. One day he +followed me through the crowded halls of the Louvre by my mother's side, +and, when I could not avoid him, poured into my ears a tale of love +which I speedily cut short. I told him at once that my heart was given +and my hand plighted to another; and I besought my mother to confirm +what I said, and stop all farther importunity. He had fascinated her, +Bernard; and though she did what I requested, it was but coldly. He left +me for the time; but the very next day, while I was alone in my mother's +chamber, he came in and pursued the same theme. Then, Bernard, I fear I +acted ill. He aroused my anger. I was indignant that he should thus +persecute me after what I had said. I treated him with some scorn. I +told him cuttingly, in answer to a question which he should not have +asked, that, even were I not plighted in faith and bound by affection to +another, I should never have felt for him aught but cold indifference. +He lost his temper at length, though it was long ere he would leave me; +and as he did at length quit the room, I could hear something muttered +between his teeth which sounded very much like a menace. Since then I +have only seen him three times. Once more at the court; but by that time +my brother had returned from Italy. He was with me, and the count did +not come near. I have twice seen him here, when I have been forced out +by the Lord of Masseran upon the pretence of a hunting-party. He comes +not near the castle, however; and, when we did meet, he was distant and +stately in his manner, but still there was something in his eyes that +made me shudder." + +"For the last two days he has been in the same small inn with myself," +replied Bernard de Rohan. "I will speak to him to-night, my Isabel, +calmly and gently, I promise you; but he must learn to yield this suit +if he still entertains it. Nay, look not grieved, dear one. I will keep +my promise faithfully, and forgive the past so he offend not in the +future." + +"I grieve and apprehend, dear Bernard," she replied, "but think not that +I would strive to stay you from any course that you yourself judge +right. I know you are moderate and just, and that you will not think, as +some might do, that you prove your love for me by fiery haste to expose +a life on which hangs all my hopes of happiness. Your honour is to me +far more than life; but oh, Bernard, judge but the more calmly, I +beseech you, of what that honour requires, by thinking that not your +life and happiness alone are the stake, but mine also. Having told you +all truly, as I ever will through life, I must scarce venture a word +more to persuade or dissuade; and yet I cannot think honour can call +upon you even to speak angry or reproachful words, when this man himself +was not told, by me at least, that it was his friend he was trying to +supplant." + +Bernard de Rohan's brow was somewhat cloudy, though he smiled. "I fear, +my Isabel," he said, "that he knew the fact too well. I can call many a +time to my mind when I have dropped words concerning you which he could +not mistake. However, I have said I will pass over all that is gone, and +now let us think of other brighter things." + +"I know not," she replied, "I know not why, Bernard, but a dark shadow +seems to overhang me, which prevents my thinking of brighter things. +Within the last year, so much has happened to cause apprehension and +anxiety, so much to give birth to pain and grief, that my spirit has +sunk; and, whereas everything used to seem full of brightness and hope, +all is now full of despondency." + +"Cheer thee, cheer thee, Isabel," replied Bernard, adding those caresses +that cheer far more than words; "I will take thee from the midst of the +sad things that must surround thee here. I know, dear Isabel, that thy +mother was often harsh and always cold, and, since I and your brother +have left you, you have had no support or comfort under the pain which +her behaviour must have given." + +"Oh, it was not her harshness nor her coldness, Bernard," replied Isabel +Brienne; "I could have borne that easily; but when I recollected my dear +father--when I remembered all his high and noble qualities--his +kindness, his tenderness to her, and saw her again stand at the altar to +give her hand to another so unlike him in everything, dark, treacherous, +avaricious, and deceitful, it was then I first felt that I really wanted +aid and consolation. It was then that I wanted help, I wanted protection +and support; and even at that time I would have written to you to come +to me with all speed if it had not been for some foolish feelings of +shame." + +"They were indeed wrong, my Isabel," replied Bernard; "for surely, +Isabel, with our faith plighted by your own father's will, with a long, +dear intimacy from childhood until now, if you could not repose full, +unhesitating trust and confidence in me, where, where could you place +it, Isabel?" + +"I know it was foolish," she replied, "I know it was very foolish, +Bernard; but yet, even now," and she looked down blushing upon the +ground, "but yet, even now, the same foolish hesitation makes me scruple +to tell you what I firmly believe is the best, nay, is the only plan by +which we could hope to avoid the dangers that surround us." + +"Nay, Isabel, nay," replied Bernard de Rohan, "after saying so much, you +must say more. You must tell me all, freely, candidly. The brightest +part of love is its confidence. It is that perfect, that unhesitating +reliance, that interchange of every idea and every feeling, that perfect +community of all the heart's secrets and the mind's thoughts, which +binds two beings together more closely, more dearly than the dearest of +human ties: more than the vow of passion or the oath of the altar. It is +that confidence which, did we not deny its sway, would give to earthly +love a permanence that we find but seldom in this world. Oh, Isabel, you +must not, indeed you must not, have even a thought that is not mine." + +"Nor will I, Bernard," she replied, "nor will I; though I may blush to +say what I was going to say, I will not hesitate to say it. It is this, +then, Bernard: You must take me hence without delay." + +"Oh, how gladly," he cried, throwing his arms round her, and kissing the +glowing cheek that rested on his shoulder; "oh, how gladly, Isabel! I +waited but for the arrival of your brother to propose that step to you +myself. If this Lord of Masseran chooses to refuse me admission, I +cannot force my way in, and you may be subject to every kind of grief +and pain before I receive such authority from the king or from Brissac +as will force him to give you up." + +"That is not all, Bernard, that is not all," replied the lady. "This man +is deceitful to all. Suppose but for a moment that, finding the King of +France obliged to withdraw his troops from Italy, as I hear has been the +case, he resolves to betray the trust that has been reposed in him, to +submit himself again to the Duke of Savoy, to receive the troops of the +emperor. Suppose, Bernard, he removes me and my mother beyond the limits +of Savoy, beyond the power of the king of our own country, beyond your +reach, Bernard, what would be the consequences then? I should be but a +mere slave in his hands. But listen to me still, dear Bernard; there is +more, more to be said; I have good reason to believe and know that all +these dangers are not merely imaginary, but that he is actually dealing +with the empire. I have seen couriers come and go, and heard them +converse long with him in the German tongue. I have seen officers who +spoke neither French nor Italian surveying the castle, and consulting +with him over plans of other fortresses. Twice, also, when I have +hesitated to ride forth with him, fearing dangers--I did not well know +what--my mother, who is already his complete slave, has held out vague +threats to me of removing me to far-distant lands, where my obedience +would be more prompt and unhesitating. Now, even now, Bernard," she +continued, "I believe that he is gone on some errand of this kind, and +it would in no degree surprise me, ere three days are over, to see this +place filled with German soldiers." + +"Then, dear Isabel," exclaimed Bernard de Rohan, "we must lose no time. +I wrote to your brother to meet me at Grenoble, and I have sent off +messengers to him there and at Paris. But we must not wait for his +coming. Your father's written consent will justify us, and the king is +already aware that this man's faith and adherence to France is insecure. +It would have been better, indeed, if your brother had been here, for +then he might, in the first place, have openly demanded you at the hands +of this man." + +"Oh no, no, Bernard," she replied; "I rejoice greatly that Henry is not +here. I feel a sort of terror at the idea of his falling into the hands +of this Lord of Masseran. You know that Henry's death would place great +wealth at the disposal of my mother; and, though it is dreadful to say, +yet I do fear there is no act at which this Italian would hesitate to +obtain wealth or power, or any of the objects for which men strive on +earth. I would not for the world that Henry should put himself into the +hands of one so treacherous. If Henry be at Grenoble, we can fly to him +at once, and be united there." + +"Better, far better, dear Isabel," replied her lover, "that we should be +united before we go. There is a priest here who seems to have some +regard for me, and who lingers still at the inn, I know not why. He will +be easily persuaded to unite our hands, as our hearts are already +united, and then my right to protect and defend you will bear no denial. +Let it be soon, too, my Isabel. Why not to-morrow night?" + +She replied not for a moment or two. Not that she hesitated, not that +there was a doubt in her own mind of what her answer must be; but yet +she paused, with her hand clasped in that of Bernard de Rohan, and her +eyes hid upon his shoulder, while he went on to persuade her, though +there needed no persuasion. + +"Consider, dear Isabel," he said, "the secret of this postern door is +one that may be discovered at any time. He might return within a day. If +we were to meet often, our meeting might be discovered. What it is +necessary to do, it is necessary to do at once." + +It need not be said that Bernard de Rohan's entreaties were successful. +Isabel promised to be there at the same hour on the following night, +prepared for flight; and Bernard de Rohan undertook to have the contract +of their marriage drawn up by some neighbouring notary, and a priest +ready and willing to unite them. + +"In four or five hours," he said, "we shall be within the pale of +France, and, as you saw the other night, we shall have plenty of willing +guards thither, dear Isabel. Besides that wilder retinue, too, my own +train is down at the hamlet; but, of course, I must bring few people +with me, for fear of attracting attention. Have you anybody in the +castle, dear Isabel, besides good Henriot, who can give you aid and +assistance?" + +"Oh yes," replied the lady; "there is the maid who conveyed to you the +note to-day. I can trust her." + +"She seemed sullen or stupid," replied Bernard de Rohan: "I could not +induce her to utter more than one or two words, and those I did not +distinctly hear." + +"She is very silent," replied Isabel, "but is not so dull as she looks. +Give her but one thing to think of, and one object to attend to, and she +will execute what she is directed to do well enough; and perhaps it is +all the better that she observes nothing which passes round her, and is +so sparing of her words." + +"Hush!" said Bernard de Rohan. "There is a light upon the terrace, near +the castle, and some one seems coming hither. Adieu! dear Isabel, adieu! +Though the evening is too dim for them to see us, it is better that I +should leave you till to-morrow. But forget not, dear one; and oh! be +rather before than after the hour." + +Thus saying, he pressed her to his bosom for a moment, and then passed +through the postern door. He closed it not entirely, however, for some +vague apprehension concerning the sweet girl he had just left behind +caused him to pause and listen, till he had assured himself that the +person whom he had seen approaching was no unfriendly one. In a few +minutes he heard another female voice saying distinctly to Isabel, "Your +lady mother, mademoiselle, desires that you would come and play to her +on the lute." + +"I come, I come, good Maddelene," replied the voice of Isabel de +Brienne; and in the clear evening air Bernard de Rohan could hear the +sound of receding footsteps. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +"Has not the Count de Meyrand returned?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, as +he re-entered the kitchen of the little inn, and saw it tenanted only by +one or two of his own attendants, the host and hostess, and a +waiting-boy. + +"He has not only returned, my lord," replied the landlord, "but has gone +away again, and, sorry I am to say, gone away altogether. He came back, +and departed in great haste, paying for all that he had like a prince." + +"This is strange!" replied Bernard de Rohan. "Did he leave no message +for me?" + +"No message, my lord," replied the host; "he gave your man, Master +Martin, a note for you, however; but he has just gone up the hill, and +taken the note with him." + +"Do you know where the count has gone to?" demanded the young nobleman. + +"Oh, to Pont Beauvoisin, on his way to Paris," the landlord answered; +"he has been gone wellnigh two hours." + +It is a very common piece of policy on the part of hosts, aubergistes, +landlords, and others of the same class and character, by whatsoever +denomination they may be known, to laud up to the skies the guest just +departed, praising in him those especial virtues which they wish to +inculcate upon the guest who happens to be their listener. Thus the +landlord was proceeding to paint in high colours the generosity and +careless liberality of the Count de Meyrand, when some persons speaking, +and a loud, rich, buttery laugh, merry in every tone, announced that the +good priest, Father Willand, was approaching the auberge with some +companion. + +"We shall live like clerks now he is gone, we shall live like clerks," +exclaimed the voice of the priest. "By the holy mass, he was not content +with eating more than his own share of everything, but his very look +changed everything that he did not eat, and turned it bad. His aspect +was so cold that it chilled the pottage; his look so sharp that it +turned the wine sour. I will make a new prayer night and morning: May I +never again meet such a companion at an inn as this Count de Meyrand." + +Bernard de Rohan found, on the entrance of the priest, that it was his +own attendant, Martin, with whom Father Willand had been conversing. The +attendant immediately produced the Count de Meyrand's note, which his +master read attentively, and with an appearance of satisfaction. "So my +friend De Meyrand has gone on business of importance to Paris," he said +aloud. + +"Ay, as the fox is said to go to his hole," replied the priest. + +"I dare say, indeed," replied the young cavalier, "that there are many +foxes in that hole, my good father; but still your comparison is not a +very pleasant one for the good count." + +"The comparison was more aimed at his way of going to Paris than at +either Paris or himself," replied the priest. "I repeat, he is gone to +Paris as a fox is said to go to his hole; that is, back foremost." + +"Nay," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I never yet saw fox so stupid. Why +should a fox go back foremost?" + +"To hide the way he goes," answered the priest; "to make the footsteps +point out of the hole instead of into it. So the good peasants tell +one." + +"But how can this apply to the Count de Meyrand?" asked Bernard de +Rohan, with his curiosity now considerably excited. + +"Because he tells you," replied the priest, "that he is going to Paris, +and we watched him from the top of the hill, and saw him turn quite the +other way before he got two leagues out into the plain." + +"Strange enough!" replied Bernard de Rohan, not choosing to appear as +much interested as he really was; "strange enough; but he may well have +some friends to see--some town to visit in the way. Come, my good host! +come, let us have supper speedily, and give us more light, for the night +is growing dark and sombre. Good priest," he continued, turning to +Father Willand, and speaking in a low voice, "I have a word for your +private ear by-and-by; somewhat to consult upon, regarding which I need +sound discretion and good counsel. I beseech you, therefore, pause at +the end of the first stoup of wine." + +"My son, my son," replied the priest, "men have always made a mistake +with regard to the abode of truth. Truth and my brains lie together at +the bottom of the second pottle pot, for most men are sure to tell the +truth when they get to that pitch; and my brains are never clear, clean, +and neat till they have been washed in that quantity at least. Fear not, +fear not, I will be careful; though, if you are going to confess +yourself, you ought to wish me as drunk as possible, for the penances I +enjoin are always light when my knees feel like an unstarched ruff. Were +it not better, however, to talk this matter over first, while my good +host prepares the supper, and then we can consider it in our cups, you +know?" + +"It may indeed be as well," replied Bernard de Rohan. "Follow to my +chamber, good priest, then. Go on, Martin, with a light;" and, taking +his way up the dingy staircase, Bernard de Rohan led the priest to the +large square, lofty bedroom which had been assigned him as his place of +repose, and which no one would have imagined that lowly and +humble-looking inn could boast of. The moment the door was closed and +the attendant gone, the priest's eyes assumed a shrewder, but more +serious expression, and he said, "Know you that I have been here twice +yesterday, and three times to-day, seeking you?" + +"In truth, I did not," replied the young cavalier. "On what account did +you seek me?" + +"To tell you to make good use of your time," answered the priest. "The +Lord of Masseran is absent. He, I doubt not, is really gone to Paris; +gone to justify himself to the king against accusations which he hears +are to be made against him. You have, therefore, time to do all that you +would, and nothing is required but to be diligent, quick, and secret." + +"I have been all three," replied Bernard de Rohan. "And I just come from +the postern by the fir-trees." + +"Then you have seen Corse de Leon," said the priest, abruptly. "When and +where? For I could not find him, neither yesterday nor to-day." + +"I met him this morning," replied Bernard; "I met him this morning, and +took him for an old drover, so completely had he disguised himself." + +"Then have you seen the lady also?" asked the priest. + +"I have, my good friend," answered the young cavalier, somewhat +surprised to find how completely his proceedings were divined. "I have +seen the lady; and it is in regard to that interview that I wished to +speak with you. May I trust to you to do for me to-morrow night one of +the offices of your holy function, and--" + +"Marry you, in short," replied the priest, "marry you to this fair +Isabel of Brienne. Well, my son, I see no impediment--no harm therein. +If you have well considered the matter," he added with a laugh, "and +have determined to take upon yourself the holy estate of matrimony, far +be it from me to prevent you, although I must say, that it was in +gracious consideration and providence for our temporal as well as +spiritual happiness that our holy church exacted from us an oath not to +enter into the condition you so much covet; however, I will put the +couples round your necks, and then you must run along the road together +as you can; but where shall it be?" he continued. "Tell me the whens and +the hows, for that is very needful." + +Bernard de Rohan explained to him as much as he judged needful. Indeed, +what he was obliged to explain put his plans completely in the power of +the priest. Nevertheless, he did not anticipate any evil on that +account. All of us, wise and simple alike, are more or less guided in +our dealings with our fellow-creatures by various other principles than +the dictates of mere reason. The most suspicious man, the most cautious +man, will, from time to time, place confidence where it is least +deserved, from some motives to which his judgment would refuse its +assent. The calm and deliberate politician, who has frustrated many of +the cabinet knaves of Europe, and concealed his thoughts from the +penetrating eye of diplomacy, has often betrayed his secret to a pretty +face, and sometimes let it fall into possession of a roguish valet. + +But Bernard de Rohan was neither a very cautious nor a very suspicious +man. His nature was frank and confiding; and, wherever he showed himself +reserved, he was rendered so by the effect of reason and deliberate +consideration. In the present instance he was forced to trust the +priest, and he trusted him without regret or hesitation; for there was +something in good Father Willand's face and demeanour which was frank +and kindly, and, to say sooth, Bernard de Rohan had conceived a +prepossession in his favour, which might or might not be justified. He +thought, too, that, although his own memory of the good priest's +features might have faded in the lapse of many years, and though those +features themselves must have been much changed by time since he had +seen them--he thought, too, that they were not wholly without some +corresponding traces on the tablets of remembrance. Memory has her +instincts, too; and often, though we cannot recollect the why or the +wherefore, the time or the circumstances regarding an object suddenly +presented to us, we feel that it is connected with pleasant or +unpleasant things in the past; that there have been causes to love, or +hate, or fear a person whose very name and being we have forgotten. Thus +was it with Bernard de Rohan and Father Willand; for, though he knew not +where they had met before, though he was not sure that they ever had +met, he was sure that if they had, there had existed good cause to hold +the priest in some esteem. + +When all the arrangements for the succeeding night had been made between +the priest and the young cavalier, the latter turned to a point +connected with the same subject which pressed somewhat heavily upon his +mind. + +"And now, my good Father Willand," he said, "you must tell me, sincerely +and candidly, whether you have reason to be perfectly certain that this +Lord of Masseran has betaken himself to the court of France." + +"My dear son," replied the priest, "there is nothing upon the earth or +under the earth that we have any reason to be perfectly certain of. And, +now that you put it in my head," he added, pausing thoughtfully for a +moment or two, "now that you put it into my head, there are several +reasons for believing that this Savoyard devil has not gone to Paris. In +the first place, I advised him to go, which is a strong reason for +supposing he would not; he being one of those who think that no man can +be sincere in anything. I was so far sincere, however, that I told him +what is really the only way of saving his neck from the gripe of the +King of France; but I had another object, too, which was to clear the +place of his uncomfortable presence. At the same time, there is a second +reason for believing that he is not gone to the court of France--" + +"There are a thousand," interrupted Bernard de Rohan. + +"Ay, but there is one," rejoined the priest, "which, though not one out +of your thousand, is stronger than all the rest, namely, that the worthy +and truth-loving Lord of Masseran told some of his servants, and those +not the most confidential ones, that he had gone to Paris. Now, as he +was never known to tell truth in his life when a lie would do as well, +this is a second strong reason for believing that he has not gone to +Paris. But then, again, on the other hand, we have to recollect that it +is very possible he might for once tell the truth, in the hope and +expectation that, from his known character, it might be mistaken for a +lie, and deceive his dear friends that way. In short, the matter is +doubtful; for every saying of the Lord of Masseran is, like one of the +learned propositions of the schools on which we dispute so learnedly, +compounded of so much lie, that if there be a grain of truth therein, +the finest head in France will not separate it in a year. But let me +hear, my son, let me hear, what reasons have you to bring forward on the +one side or the other?" + +"None of very great weight, indeed," replied Bernard de Rohan, unable to +divulge the orders, written or verbal, that he bore from the Maréchal de +Brissac. "A report, indeed, has reached us in Italy," he continued, +"that this man is playing a double part between the courts of France and +Austria; and, when I did hear of his departure, I certainly suspected +that the end of his journey might be Milan rather than Paris." + +"I will soon learn that," cried the priest, "I will soon learn that. +What you suspect is anything but improbable. And although--knowing well +the object of your journey--he might give out that he went to Paris to +clear himself before he saw you, yet the whole may be false together, +and he himself be within ten miles of his castle at the present time. +One thing, however, is clear, my son, no time is to be lost; and, in the +mean time, I will ascertain beyond all doubt what road he took." + +"But can you ascertain?" demanded Bernard de Rohan; "is it possible to +learn exactly in such a labyrinth-like country as this?" + +The priest laughed. "Beyond all doubt, my son, beyond all doubt," he +said. "The past we can always ascertain. The future is God's," he added, +more reverently; "the future is God's, and must rest in his dark council +chamber. But do you not know, have you not yourself seen, that though +the peasant and the traveller wander along the sides of these mountains +without beholding anything but the gray stone, and the clear stream, and +the green bush; though he might whistle all the lays of France and Italy +together, and blow all the horns that ever were winded from Naples to +the far North, without rousing anything but a roebuck or an eagle, there +are particular sounds, to be uttered by particular voices, which would +call every bush into life, and change every rock into an armed man? My +good friend, my good friend, the mountain is full of eyes; and the Lord +of Masseran himself, though he knows it is so, does not know to what +extent. There is only one being under the blue eye of heaven that sees +it all, and that is the man whom I met with you the other night." + +"He is certainly a very extraordinary being," replied Bernard de Rohan, +"and I would fain know more of him." + +"In all probability you will know more," replied the priest. "But you +may meet with thousands like him in various parts of the world. There +are three places where you generally find the great rogues +congregate--the court, the court of law, and the refectory. The honest +man has only two places that I know of--the mountain-side and the +highway. There are exceptions, you know; for instance, there is a very +honest priest, who has the care of the poor souls in the parish of Saint +John of Bonvoisin, just across the frontier line in France. Sinner that +I am! what should he be doing here, using his time no better than his +patron, Saint Anthony, used his head? Why should he be here, I say, +preaching to the stones upon this mountain, when his reverend +predecessor preached to fishes and petted a pig? However, the king, a +blessing on his good-humoured head, sent the said priest to Bonvoisin to +keep him out of harm's way; for that boisterous heretic, Clement Marot, +threatened to drive his dagger into him for throwing back some of his +ribald poetry on his own head. Then, again, the grave and serious +admiral felt aggrieved at his preaching, one Saint Anthony's day, upon +the subject of herrings, which he vowed was a satire upon the tax he had +laid on the fishery. However, there the good priest is--or, rather, +there he is not, but ought to be--one of the honestest men in all +France, if you will take his own word for it; a great rogue according to +some men, and a good soul according to others. There may be two or three +like him in other parts of France; and depend upon it, wherever they +are, you will find the poor speak well of them, the widows and the +maidens over forty shake their heads and disparage them when they +compare them with their reverend predecessor; while some very grave men +in the parish look wise and suspect them to be heretics, without being +able to prove it." + +Bernard de Rohan smiled; but, wishing to hear somewhat more of Father +Willand's acquaintance with his friend Corse de Leon, he replied, "I +thought that this same good priest you mention, if not a Savoyard by +birth, had a Savoyard cure, and that the first of his penitents was our +good friend Corse de Leon." + +"You are mistaken, my son," replied the ecclesiastic, "you are mistaken +altogether. He has no cure in Savoy, though he may have business there; +and as to Corse de Leon being a penitent, he is very impenitent indeed. +I remember now," he continued, in a thoughtful way, "it is some five or +six years since, when I was travelling through a little village called +Pommieres, not far from the foot of Mount Rosa, that the people called +me to confess a young man who had been crushed under an earth-slip of +the mountain. It was difficult to get him to confess at all; and one +priest from Saint Maurice had left him. But I set about the matter in a +different way; told him I did not think he would die, and had great +hopes of his not being damned if he did. He said he would rather die +than not; but I argued him out of that, and in the end got him to make a +full confession. What he did confess is no business of yours, my son; +but I found him to be a man who had suffered many wrongs, and had +endured bitter griefs; but one who was naturally as kind of heart as he +was bold, fearless, and determined, and as noble and generous in his +purposes as he was sometimes wild, fierce, and intemperate in their +execution. I sat by his bedside for six weeks, for the three first of +which he fluttered between life and death. At the end of that time he +recovered, and his frame, like iron tempered in the fire, seemed to +become but the stronger and more active for what it had undergone. Two +or three years elapsed ere I met him again, and by that time he had +become Corse de Leon. The cause of his quitting his native country, +France, which was just before I first met with him, was that, on his +return from the army, where he had served his king for years, he found +his sister injured, insulted, and disgraced by the intendant of a high +nobleman who was lately dead. He first sought for justice, but could not +obtain it. He then visited the deathbed of the poor girl, and found her +head supported by the daughter of that very high noble, and her lips +moistened by the hand of--_Bernard de Rohan_. He turned away as soon as +Death had done his work, and, mad for revenge, had sought the house of +the intendant. But the generous spirit of two high youths, Bernard de +Rohan and Henry de Brienne, had been beforehand with him, and had driven +forth with ignominy the oppressor whom he sought. Still, however, the +thing rankled on his mind, and the injustice which he had once suffered +and but too often seen, turned a portion of his blood to bitterness. But +hark! there is mine host knocking at the door to tell us that supper is +ready; and what is all human nature compared with supper?" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The evening was dark and somewhat stormy; and, though the hour was the +same as that in which Bernard de Rohan had met Isabel on the preceding +day, so much less light was there now in the heavens that he could +scarcely see the postern gate, while with a beating heart he watched it +from the small clump of fir-trees of which we have already spoken. +Although a hollow and whistling wind blew sharp and strong among the +mountains, the heavy vapours hung unmoved around the peaks; and though +there was a reddish glare upon the edges of some of the clouds in the +western sky, no light was derived from any lingering rays of the sun. +Everything was gloomy, and dark, and cheerless; and yet the heart of +Bernard de Rohan beat high with love, with joy, with expectation. + +She was to be his, the being whom he had so long, so deeply, so tenderly +loved. Within one short hour she was to be his own, bound to him by that +indissoluble bond, to which he looked forward all the more joyfully, +because it was to be eternal. Whose heart would not beat high at the +fulfilment of the dream of years? + +At length he thought he saw the door move, and, darting forward, he +opened it gently. Isabel was waiting within with the faithful Henriot +and her silent maid; and though she trembled very much as Bernard threw +his arms around her, it was agitation, not fear, which moved her. The +Lord of Masseran was still absent: there was no one likely to interrupt +them; and when her lover strove to sooth and to encourage her, telling +her that his own men were within sound of his horn, and many more +unseen, surrounding them on all sides, she replied by assuring him in a +low voice that she had no apprehension, and was ready to follow him +whithersoever he would. Still, however, he saw that she was agitated; +and, as he led her forth, he poured many a soothing and a tender word +into her ear, drawing her nearer to his heart, and seeming to assure +her, by every action as well as by every word, that the love and the +protection which he was about to vow was as tender, as unchangeable, as +the brightest dream of hope and expectation could picture it. + +"Do you know the chapel down in the valley, my Isabel?" he asked, as he +led her onward down a narrow path that wound along the side of the hill, +as close under the walls of the castle as might be. "We have obtained +the keys, and the priest is waiting." + +"But at this hour," demanded Isabel, eagerly; "can he perform the +service at this hour?" + +"He has procured full authority," replied Bernard, in the same low tone. +"Nothing, dear girl, has been left undone." + +"Hark!" said Isabel, stopping. "Did you not hear some voices above?" + +He paused and listened, but no sound met his ear. "The echo of our own +voices," he answered; "though we speak low, they catch the angles of the +rock, and are given back again to our own ears. But let us hasten +onward, dearest. Once thou art mine, such apprehensions will cease." + +Nothing occurred to interrupt them. Step by step, over the rough and +encumbered path, they pursued their way, till at length, in the lowest +part of the valley, shut in between the small river and the rock on +which the castle stood, appeared an old Gothic chapel. The pinnacles, +the towers, the mouldings of the little building, in all their rich +tracery, were fully visible; for, as the party descended, the chapel lay +exactly between them and a clear part of the stream, so that the +glistening surface of the water formed a background to the dark lines of +the building, though none of the surrounding scenery, except the bold +masses of some adjacent rocks, could be distinguished. + +Thither, by another path, which, being cut through the rock, gave +admission to the castle at once, had Isabel often come to attend the +service on Sundays and on holydays; but all seemed changed as she now +approached it; as much, indeed, in regard to the feelings with which she +revisited it, as to the aspect of the place itself. Through the windows +on the side which they approached, a small ray of light stole forth from +the altar like a pure and holy religion in the midst of ages of +darkness, and, guided onward by that, they were soon at the door of the +chapel. It yielded easily to the hand, and Isabel, half led, half +supported by Bernard de Rohan, found herself approaching that altar +where the last vow of maiden love was to be spoken. On one side of that +altar stood the good priest, Father Willand; but on the other, to the +surprise both of Bernard de Rohan and of Isabel de Brienne, appeared the +ordinary priest of the place, pale, somewhat agitated, and looking from +time to time round the building with a wild and fearful glance. + +"Quick!" cried Father Willand, as the party approached; "you have been +very long, my children. Let us despatch this business speedily, and put +out the lights." + +"I am forced," said the other priest, "by commands that I dare not +disobey, to be here this night; but I call you all to witness that it is +against my will that I am here; and, in case the Lord of Masseran--" + +"Pooh, pooh!" exclaimed Father Willand, "we don't want you to be here at +all, my good friend. All we want is the chapel. I will read the service, +brother. Approach, my children, approach;" and, taking up the book, he +commenced at once, and in the most abridged form that the Church +allowed, the marriage service between Bernard de Rohan and Isabel de +Brienne. + +The latter needed support not a little; but the quiet maid, who was the +only woman that accompanied her, was far too inanimate and statue-like +to afford her any. It was in no ordinary circumstances that poor Isabel +was placed. True, indeed, she was not called upon to give her hand to +one who was nearly a stranger to her, as is but too often the case; +true, that with her all the sweet and delicate feelings which surround +the heart of woman from her youth were not to be rudely plucked away +without preparation, like flowers torn by a harsh and reckless hand, +which, while it takes, injures the plant which bore them; true, that she +was giving herself to one whom she had long known and deeply loved, and +towards whom she had ever looked as to her promised husband; but still +she was becoming his bride suddenly, secretly; she was flying with him +in darkness and in concealment, with the presence of none of those bound +to her by the ties of blood to sanction the new bonds that she was +taking upon her. + +The fear, too, of discovery and pursuit was superadded to all the other +feelings which such circumstances might well produce. She knew that it +might not, and probably would not, be long before her mother--who had +been left evidently as a sort of spy upon her actions and a jailer of +her person, rather than a friend, a protector, and an adviser--might +send to make sure that the harsh commands of the Lord of Masseran were +strictly observed, and that she did not quit the walls of the castle for +a moment during his absence; and she was well aware that the discovery +of her flight would produce instant pursuit. Thus, though generally she +kept her eyes either bent down upon the ground, or raised with a look of +confidence and affection towards Bernard de Rohan, yet from time to time +she cast a hasty glance over her shoulder towards the door of the +chapel; and, as she did so, she remarked that the same fears seemed also +to possess the waiting woman, whose eyes were generally turned in the +same direction. + +No interruption took place, however. The words, the irrevocable words +that bound her and Bernard de Rohan together, were spoken in a low but a +firm voice. The ring was upon her finger. The benediction was +pronounced, and for a moment, for one short moment, she was clasped as a +bride in the arms of him she loved, when there came suddenly a noise as +of something thrown down in the small vestry on the right-hand side of +the altar. + +The priest instantly put out the lights. Bernard de Rohan still held her +close to his heart with his left arm, but, at the same time, laid his +right hand upon his sword. Before he could draw it, however, three men +sprang upon him, two from the vestry itself, and one from a window +behind him, through which several had forced a way. + +All was now darkness and confusion in the chapel; but it was evident +that the number of persons it contained increased every moment. The +young cavalier strove violently to free himself, and, by an exertion of +his great strength, dragged his assailants hither and thither; but still +they clung to him; still, twining round his arms, they prevented him +from grasping either sword or dagger, and from reaching the small +hunting-horn which he carried at his side, and which he knew, could he +but blow it, would bring assistance speedily. Frustrated in his attempt +to lift it to his lips, he raised his voice and shouted loudly; but +fresh assailants poured upon him; a scarf was tied over his mouth; his +hands were pinioned behind, and he found himself irretrievably a +prisoner. + +All was darkness, as I have said; not the least light appeared in the +chapel, and no words were spoken aloud by any one; so that all Bernard +de Rohan could hear was the moving of many feet; a low, murmuring +whisper, as if of consultation or direction; and the sobbing of a bosom +which he knew too well to be that of her he loved best on earth. At one +time a voice was raised somewhat louder than the rest, and he thought he +distinguished the tones of Adrian de Meyrand. The next moment another +voice that he did not know replied, "No, not that way. Keep that door +shut. There is another here which leads us thither more quickly." + +Now completely overpowered--although his heart burned within him, and he +longed for the strength of him who cast down the temple of Gaza to burst +the bonds upon his hands--Bernard de Rohan strove no longer with those +who held him, for he felt that to struggle was utterly vain. +Nevertheless, it was not without rude violence that they dragged him +along through the vestry, and from thence by a small door into the open +air. The scarf was still over his mouth, so that he could not speak, and +could scarcely breathe; but, as there was some slight increase of light, +he looked eagerly around him. Isabel, however, was not to be seen. There +were some dark, scattered groups here and there, but he could +distinguish no one clearly, and was dragged on towards the rock on which +the castle of Masseran stood. + +Into whose power he had now fallen there was no doubt. The character of +the man was well known; and, had Bernard de Rohan thought at that moment +of his own probable fate, he could have anticipated nothing but the +darkest and most atrocious termination of the act which had been just +committed. At that moment, however, he thought alone of Isabel de +Brienne; and he remembered, with grief and agony that will not bear +description, what might be the consequences to her of falling into the +hands of the Lord of Masseran under such circumstances, and beyond the +pale of her native country. + +They dragged him on, however, across the short space which lay between +the rock on which the castle stood and the chapel, to a spot where a +doorway presented itself, hewn in the solid stone, under the arch of +which appeared a soldier with a light. Into his hands those who brought +him thither consigned the young French gentleman, pushing him forward, +and saying, "There, take him, and put him where my lord told you." + +The man with the light replied nothing, but with another, who had been +standing behind him, received the prisoner from the hands of his +comrades, and, with somewhat more gentleness than they had shown, led +him onward. The moment he had taken a step or two forward, a large, +oblong mass of solid rock, which, turning upon a pivot, served the +purpose of a door, and, when shut, blocked up the whole passage that led +under ground to the castle, rolled slowly to behind him. He went on +patiently, for it was clear that no effort of his own could effect +anything towards his deliverance; and when he had gone on some way and +ascended a small flight of steps, he found another armed man standing +with a light at a door plated with iron. Those who followed told him to +go in, and he found himself in a dungeon, of which he was evidently not +the first tenant, for there was a crust of bread covered with long green +mould upon the table, and a broken water-pitcher in one corner of the +room. There was a bed, too, with some straw, at one side of the door, +and a single chair; but besides these necessaries there appeared hanging +from the wall, to which they were attached by a stanchion imbedded in +the solid masonry, a large, heavy ring, and some strong linked fetters. +At these Bernard de Rohan gazed for a moment fiercely, and then turned +his eyes to one of his jailers, who had been removing the mouldy crust +from the table and the broken water-cruise from the corner of the +dungeon. + +The man seemed to understand the look at once. "No!" he said, "no! They +are not for you unless you are violent. But we may let you speak now as +much as you like;" and he untied the scarf from Bernard de Rohan's lips. +The young cavalier drew a deep breath, and then demanded, "What is this? +Why am I here? Take notice, and remember that I am an officer of Henry +the Second, king of France, now actually on his service; that I came +hither from the Maréchal de Brissac, with despatches and messages to the +Lord of Masseran; and that bitter will be the punishment of all those +who injure or detain me." + +The man heard him to the end with the most perfect composure, and then +replied, "We neither know nor care, young gentleman, who or what you +are, or in whose service you are. We obey the commands of our own lord; +and, if you are inclined to give up all resistance and be quiet, we will +untie your arms, and let you have the free use of your limbs and tongue. +There is only one thing necessary for you to tell us. Will you be quiet +and peaceable, or will you not?" + +"I have no choice," replied Bernard de Rohan, in a bitter tone. "As you +have wrongfully and unjustly made me a prisoner, I have no power of +resisting whatsoever you choose to do with me." + +"That is talking sensibly," replied the man; "but, in the first place, +if you please, we will take away all these pleasant little things from +you, as I would rather have them in my hand than my throat." And he +deliberately stripped the prisoner of all his weapons, to keep them, as +he said, with a laugh, for his use at a future time. He then untied his +arms, which were benumbed with the tight straining of the cords with +which they had bound him, and saying, "I will bring you some food," he +moved towards the door where his companions stood. + +"I want no food," replied Bernard de Rohan, gloomily; and in his heart +he asked himself if any human being could find appetite to eat in such +an abode as that. + +"You will come to it, young gentleman, you will come to it," replied the +man; "before you get out, you will come to it well enough. I have seen +many a one who thought of nothing else all the day long but the time for +eating and drinking. Why, it was the only thing they had to do with +life. They might as well have been a stone in the wall if it had not +been for that." + +With this awful sermon upon the imprisonment that awaited him, the +jailer set down the lamp he held in his hand and went away. He returned +in a minute or two, however, with some food, which he placed upon the +table before which the young cavalier was still standing, exactly as the +other had left him. The man gave him a cold look, as if merely to see +how he bore it, and then once more quitted the dungeon, turning the key +in the heavy lock. + +Bernard de Rohan remained long in that same attitude, and filled with +the same dark and melancholy thoughts. Still, still they pressed upon +his brain, although he sought to banish them and to bear his condition +with his usual equanimity and fortitude. He was not one ever to give way +to despair where any opportunity existed for active exertion; but here +he could do nothing. With his own hand he could not right himself. With +his own voice he could not plead his cause. Talent or genius he might +possess, but all in vain. Vigour and courage were useless. There was but +one thing left--endurance; a species of courage which the very bravest +do not always possess. Bernard de Rohan strove to summon it to his aid. +It came but slowly, however; and, when he thought of Isabel of Brienne, +his own sweet, beautiful bride, snatched from him in the very first +moment that he could call her so, resolution forsook him, and in agony +of heart he cast himself down upon the straw in his dungeon. Was that +his bridal bed? + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +"Now, then, have I not kept faith with you?" said a voice in the chapel. + +"Yes, in truth you have," replied a second voice; "but I fear we have +been too late. The falling of that accursed horse has lost us the five +minutes--the important five minutes on which all success in life so +often depends." + +"You should not bring fine-pampered Barbary steeds into these wild +mountains, count," replied the other voice; "but a bold man is never too +late. The lover is safe enough for a long time to come, and you can--" + +"Hush! hush!" said the other, as if fearful that their conversation, +though the tone in which they spoke was little louder than a whisper, +should reach the ears of some one near. + +"Oh! she has fainted," said the other. "She sank back upon my arm a +minute or two ago. Here! Forli, bring me a lantern!" + +A lantern was soon brought, and, one side being opened, the light was +suffered to stream full upon the face of Isabel de Brienne. The +beautiful eyes were closed; the long, dark lashes rested on the fair +cheek; the lips themselves were pale; and there was no indication that +the heavy, senseless sleep in which she lay was not the slumber of death +itself, except a slight movement of the fingers, as if the cord that +tied her wrists caused some corporeal pain, which was felt even through +the swoon in which she lay. It was upon her face and form alone that the +full light shone, but the feeble rays which found their way around +dispelled in some degree, though but slightly, the profound darkness +that before had filled the whole building. No one could be seen so as to +be recognised; but in various parts of the chapel appeared groups of +dark figures, all holding aloof from the spot where the unhappy girl +lay, with her head resting upon the upper step of the altar, except two +tall and powerful men, who stood close to her, and another, who knelt +down, holding the lantern to her face. + +"Were it not better to take her away at once?" said one of the voices. + +"There is the ring upon her finger!" said the other, without answering +the question. "Accursed be that brute for thus delaying us! I will shoot +him with my own hand when I get back." He paused a moment, and then +continued: "So, he thinks that there is no charm which can ever get that +ring off again. But I will find one; and, if I mistake not, there is +even now a mighty magician in the Louvre preparing the counterspell. No, +no, my good lord, we will not change our plan. I must appear as the +deliverer, not as the offender. The time is gone by when ladies fell in +love with their ravishers; but where shall it be? Up towards La +Chapelle?" + +"No, no!" replied the other, "that will not do. You might say I was +going to join the emperor. No, better in the valley just above Les +Echelles. There, too, my good friend, we shall be free from those who +stopped us in our last attempt. It will take us till daylight to get +there, and that will be just the time." + +"Hush! she is waking!" said the other. "Quick, close the lantern!" and, +after a few words more, spoken in a still lower tone, there was a +considerable movement in the chapel. Several persons came and went; and +Isabel de Brienne, gradually waking again to a consciousness of her +unhappy situation, heard the stern tones of the Marquis of Masseran, now +speaking in a loud voice, and giving various orders to the people that +surrounded him. + +"Is the litter not come yet?" he said. "Go, some one, and hasten it: I +will take care that no such plots as these are carried on again. Have +you got the priest? I trust you have not let him escape." + +"He is safe enough," replied one of the others; "he is safe enough, and +up at the castle by this time. Here is the litter, my lord." + +"Come, fair madam," said the Lord of Masseran, "if you cannot walk, we +must have you borne forth. But surely a lady sufficiently active to +deceive her own mother, and to find her way hither on such a night as +this, may very well walk to the chapel door." + +"My lord," said Isabel, faintly, "I did not deceive my mother. It was +only one prisoner who concealed her plan of escape from another, +compelled--I trust and believe unwillingly--to act the part of a spy and +a jailer. I call every one to witness," she added, speaking as loud as +her feeble state would permit, "that I protest against your removing me +anywhere but to the court of the King of France, my native sovereign." + +"Who said we were going to take you anywhere but to his court?" rejoined +the Lord of Masseran. "Come, madam, come! Cease arguments and protests; +I am your mother's husband, your guardian for the time, and that +guardianship you shall not break through very easily." Thus saying, he +raised her rudely by the arm, and, half leading, half dragging her, +conveyed her to the door of the chapel, and placed her in a horse-litter +which stood near. Some farther delay took place while the men around +were mounting their horses and arranging the order of their march. When +this was completed, however, the Lord of Masseran put himself at the +head of his troop, and proceeded at a slow pace, taking a road that led +away from the castle. + +Isabel, unable to move, lay in the litter and wept; but she remarked +that, from time to time, single horsemen passed from the rear to the +front, and from the front to the rear, and that manifold were the orders +and directions given to the different persons of whom the party was +composed. No one, however, spoke a word to her; but it was some +consolation to see, as day began to break upon their weary journey +onward, that there was the form of another woman among the troopers on +before. Isabel thought, too, that she had once heard, during the night, +the voice of her maid speaking in a somewhat complaining tone; and the +idea of having her society in the state of captivity she was doomed to +suffer was no slight alleviation. + +It was just at that moment, while the sky was still gray with night, but +the rocks, and trees, and mountains round about growing every instant +more clear and defined, that a good deal of bustle and agitation became +evident in the party of the Marquis of Masseran. A minute or two +afterward he halted on the edge of the hill, and was seen speaking +eagerly with some of his followers. At the same time the sound of a +trumpet was heard, and Isabel thought she could distinguish the +galloping of horse. She then saw a number of the Lord of Masseran's +followers, who were on before her, dismount, and, unslinging their +firearms, fire a shot or two into the valley. A loud volley of musketry +from some distant spot was heard immediately afterward, and the marquis, +apparently in great haste and agitation, ordered the litter to be +brought on with all speed, and driven forward in advance of the party. +The discharges of musketry, however, both from his own attendants and +from those who seemed to be pursuing him, grew more and more frequent +every moment; the smoke drifted down the valley in long white wreaths, +enveloping the litter, and making all the objects more indistinct than +before; while the galloping of horse was now clearly heard, together +with loud voices giving orders. Then came the clashing of swords, and +two or three men on horseback were driven fiercely past the litter, +contending with others hand to hand. After a short scene of tumult and +confusion, the sound of the firing appeared to come from a greater +distance. The two men on horseback who were guarding the litter suddenly +stopped, gazed around them, and galloped away at full speed. The actual +driver slipped down the rocks into the valley below, and seemed to hide +himself among the bushes; while Isabel remained alone, with her hands +tied, and unable to quit the vehicle in which she had been placed. + +A number of voices talking aloud, however, soon met her ear, and a gay +and gallant party, somewhat soiled with dust and smoke, rode up to the +spot were she lay. The leader of the victorious body sprang from his +horse at once; and, while one of his followers caught the reins of the +horses in the litter, the Count de Meyrand approached Isabel's side, +exclaiming, in a tone of much pity and commiseration, "I fear, indeed, +Mademoiselle de Brienne, that you must have suffered terribly. Good +God!" he continued, "the villain has actually tied her hands;" and on +the spot, with his own dagger, he cut the cords, which had left a deep +print on the small, delicate wrists that they had bound. At the same +time, he added many a soothing word, but still with a tone of deference +and respect, which made Isabel feel that deliverance by his hand was +not, as she had at first been inclined to think, more painful than her +former captivity. She spoke a few words of thanks for his assistance and +attention; and, with an eagerness that waited not to be questioned, +Adrian of Meyrand went on to tell her "that he had heard, late on the +preceding night, that some violence had been shown to her, in +consequence of an attempt she had made to escape from the castle of +Masseran, and that her mother's husband was carrying her away far into +Savoy. + +"I have good reason to know," continued the count, "that this man has +secret communications with the enemies of France, and I doubt not that +his purpose was to remove you for ever from the neighbourhood of your +friends and connexions, from your native country, and from the +protection of the king. Although," he added, with a sigh, "I was not +sure that my assistance would be acceptable, yet I could not resist my +inclination to follow and offer you deliverance. I was afraid of +offending you; but these bonds upon your hands, sweet lady, evidently +show that you were carried away against your will, and, therefore, what +I have done has not been in vain." + +His words agreed so well with the suspicions which Isabel de Brienne had +before entertained regarding the views and purposes of the Lord of +Masseran, that they taught her to put more faith in the count than she +might otherwise have been inclined to do. The respectful tone which he +assumed, too, removed, as we have said, many anxieties from her mind, +and she again expressed her thanks for the service he had rendered her, +but still looked bewildered in his face, as if inquiring what was to be +done next. + +The Count de Meyrand skilfully read that look, and, knowing that her +situation placed her entirely in his power for the time, he determined +to leave her the utmost appearance of unrestrained liberty so long as +she could use it to no effect. He said not a word then in regard to +where her steps should be turned, but stood beside the litter with his +cap in his hand, and the feather trailing on the ground, as if waiting +for her commands. + +Isabel was embarrassed: she could have wished to tell him all that had +occurred; she could have wished to say, "I am Bernard de Rohan's wife. +Protect me for the sake of your friend and companion." But there was a +hesitation, a doubt, an apprehension: she had known and she had seen, +with a woman's clear insight into all those things that appertain to +love, how strong and dangerous was the passion which the Count de +Meyrand had conceived for her; and, though timidity had certainly some +share in making her hesitate to acknowledge at once her union with +Bernard de Rohan, yet an apprehension of endangering him, of making his +imprisonment more severe, of putting his very life in peril if she +acknowledged her union with him to his rival, confirmed her resolution +of taking time to think ere she so acted. What she was next to do, +however, was the immediate question; and, after a long and embarrassing +pause, she said, half as a question to herself and half to the count, +"Where can I go to, and what can I do?" + +That question was what Meyrand expected and what he desired. "If I might +advise," he said, in an humble tone, "Mademoiselle de Brienne would at +once proceed to the court of the King of France, and put herself under +the protection of her own sovereign, who is the person best qualified to +guide and guard her. She will there also have the counsel and assistance +of her brother, and will consequently be restored to that situation of +freedom, comfort, and, I trust, peace, of which I must think she was +deprived by her mother's marriage with this unprincipled Savoyard." + +"But there are many things," said Isabel, in a low tone, "but there are +many things, Monsieur de Meyrand--" and, as she spoke, the thought came +across her of leaving the man to whom she had so lately given her hand +in danger, in grief, perhaps in misery, and of putting many hundreds of +miles between them within a few hours after they had pledged themselves +to each other to remain together for life. + +The Count de Meyrand, however, cut her short. "At all events, dear +lady," he said, "it is necessary, very necessary, for us to pass the +French frontier immediately. It is at no great distance; and a few hours +will place us in our native land. Depend upon it, this good Lord of +Masseran will not lose his prize so easily. Every man I have in Savoy is +with me here. He can call hundreds to his aid, and, I fear, might +overwhelm me in spite of all resistance. If, indeed, you wish to remain +in Savoy, I will do my best to protect you; but I fear much the +consequences, and I would advise, nay, persuade you, to take the road to +France at once. You can determine upon your future conduct afterward, +when we are once across the frontier; for, though France holds this +country by armed force, still it is not our own; and, while we keep the +fortresses, we are obliged to leave the open country to its fate. Ha!" +he continued, gazing along the road, down which a party of his +attendants were now leading a horse, bearing the poor, quiet +_soubrette_, who had followed her mistress through that eventful night. +"Ha! here come some of my people, seemingly with a woman servant. If she +be any one you can depend upon, it may be a great comfort for you to +have her with you." + +"She is my own maid," replied the lady, "and I think, my lord, as you +do, that we had better, in the first instance, make our way into France +direct, if the distance be not great to the frontier." + +"It is but a few hours' ride," replied the count. "But we must lose no +time lest the enemy be upon us." + +Though Isabel was fatigued and exhausted with sorrow, agitation, and +want of rest, she signified her readiness to proceed at once, and the +horses in her litter were turned in the direction of the frontier. Her +maid, too, weary with the long journey on horseback, took her place +beside her mistress in the more easy conveyance; and the Count de +Meyrand, riding close to the vehicle, continued to offer to Isabel de +Brienne every kindly and soothing attention. Nor was his manner marked +by any such signs of admiration or affection as could give her pain; +but, at the same time, it must be confessed, she would have been much +better satisfied to have been left to a communion with her own thoughts. +The mere necessity of travelling any distance under the guidance and +protection of a man whose love she had been forced to reject, and who +had pressed it upon her in a way that she had felt to be insulting, was +painful in the highest degree; and the prospect of having to proceed far +in such circumstances was so grievous, that she resolved at all risks to +avoid it. What plan she was to form for this purpose was a question +which required much thought to answer; but the count took care that she +should have no time either for calm consideration or for discussing her +future prospects with the woman who accompanied her, and who was, in +fact, the only one now with her whom she had known long and well. + +Ere three hours were over, they passed the frontier into France; and +Isabel could not help thinking it strange that, if the Lord of +Masseran's purpose had been to throw himself into the hands either of +the emperor or of Philip of Spain, he should thus have approached within +a few leagues of the French territory. There were other circumstances +also, in all that had passed, which puzzled her; but she had no means of +accounting for any of these matters, and could not lull to sleep the +suspicions which they occasioned. + +At the first village which they came to, it was found necessary to pause +for the purpose of refreshing the horses of the litter; and everything +that could be procured for her comfort and convenience was ordered with +prompt and careful attention by the Count of Meyrand. When he had seen +that a chamber had been prepared for her in the little inn, where she +could repose for an hour or two, and that refreshments of various kinds +were in active preparation, he ordered his horse to be brought round +again, much to her surprise, saying, "It will be better for me now to +leave you, Mademoiselle de Brienne. You will be in security here till my +return; but I must go and scour the country towards Chambery, to make +sure that none of this man's parties have crossed the frontier, and are +watching for you on your onward way." + +Isabel was anxious to put the best interpretation on her companion's +conduct, and it seemed to her that this might merely be a delicate +excuse to leave her for the time. She was willing to imagine that such +an explanation had taken place between the count and Bernard de Rohan as +to deprive the former of all hope of obtaining her hand, and she fancied +that Adrian de Meyrand's conduct in the present instance might be guided +by a wish to show that his purposes were only those of friendship and +honourable courtesy. She would not, however, banish the suspicions to +which woman's instinctive insight into the passion of which she is the +object gave rise, and, for fear of being mistaken, she would not say one +word to prevent his going, although she felt that it was scarcely +courteous of her not to do so, and though she thought that there was an +expression of disappointment on his face at the cold indifference with +which she heard the announcement. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +The Count de Meyrand and his horsemen wound slowly away from the door of +the little cabaret, leaving Isabel de Brienne and her maid the only +tenants of the place. Both were extremely tired; and the lady herself +would have desired to lie down to rest at once rather than wait for the +preparation of any kind of food, but that she was also anxious to +converse over her situation with her attendant, and to see if, between +them, they could not devise some plan of future conduct which might +obviate the difficulties which surrounded her. She, therefore, did not +even propose to take rest, and began the conversation at once; but, +taciturn as the woman always was, she was at present more so than ever. +There was not only a sort of sullenness in her manner, which somewhat +displeased Isabel, but she spoke rather in the tone of one who had been +injured than in compassion for the greater sufferings of her mistress. +In answer to all inquiries regarding what had been done in the chapel +after her lady had lost the power of observing what was passing, she +replied merely that she had been as frightened as anybody, and thought +of nobody but herself. + +"You seem to be grieved, Marguerite," said Isabel de Brienne, after this +sort of conduct had proceeded some time, "you seem to be grieved, +Marguerite, that you have aided me in this business, and so brought some +inconveniences upon yourself." + +"No, mademoiselle," she said, shortly, "but I am very tired." + +"Then I think you had better go to bed," replied Isabel; "I shall not +want you for some hours." + +"I will, presently, mademoiselle," replied the maid; "but I am very +hungry." + +Isabel had not the heart to smile, as she might have done on another +occasion; for selfishness is, perhaps, less offensive when it stands out +in its plain simplicity than when it is discovered through a +hypocritical disguise. In fact, like ugliness, it is more ugly when +painted. Almost as the soubrette spoke, however, the good woman of the +house, who was a widow, brought in with her own hands and the hands of a +maid-servant--which were exactly like another pair of her own, for they +enacted nothing without her orders--several dishes for the morning meal, +which were placed with all due reverence before Isabel de Brienne. The +young lady tried to eat; but, as she did so, the thought of many painful +things, of the probable situation of him she loved best, and of the dark +fate that might be hanging over him, came across her mind; and, to use +the homely but expressive words of old John Hall, when describing the +conduct of the first famous Duke of Buckingham between his arrest and +his execution, "The meat would not down." + +The soubrette, however, made up for her mistress's want of appetite, and +ate plentifully of all that was set before her. When she had done, +Isabel bade her retire to rest, and, at the same time, ordered the food +to be taken away. The soubrette at once obeyed, and left the room; and +the kind-hearted hostess remarking that the young lady had taken +nothing, was pressing her at least to drink some wine, for the +excellence of which she vouched, when Isabel de Brienne, whose face was +towards the window, gave a slight start, and replied almost immediately, +"No, my good dame; the first thing that will do me good is a little +quiet reflection. I think," she added, "that I saw just now a good monk, +seemingly a pilgrim by the scallop on his shoulder pass close to the +window, as if to sit down on the bench at the door. Give him that dish +of meat, and tell him a lady sent it who begs a prayer of him, as she +has been in some trouble since last night." + +The worthy dame of the cabaret gladly took up the dish with her own +hands and carried it forth to the wanderer. She then returned to remove +some other things, and Isabel asked, somewhat eagerly, "What did he +say?" + +"Oh! madam, he sent you thanks," replied the hostess, "and took out a +rosary, which he said had hung up at Loretto for many years, and began +immediately to repeat as many paters and aves as would cost a score of +crowns from our parish priest." + +"Did he say nothing else?" asked Isabel, with a somewhat disappointed +look. + +The hostess replied in the negative, and shortly after left the young +lady alone to repose. A deeper shade of melancholy then came over her. +She sat and leaned her head upon her hand, and again and again the +thoughts of her own situation, and that of him she loved, came across +her mind with the painful, fruitless reiteration which is the most +wearying, perhaps, of all the forms of care. To know and feel that +activity and exertion are absolutely necessary; to have hope only just +sufficient to deprive one of the courage of despair; to believe that +there is a possibility of changing our situation, yet not to know how +that change can be by any means effected, how exertion should be +directed, or where hope would guide; such is the state into which, from +time to time, we fall in our passage through life, and stand like men in +one of those thick, impervious mists which are not absolutely darkness, +but which are worse than darkness itself, from not being, like it, +dissolvable by light. + +She thought not, indeed, so much of herself as of another. She thought +of Bernard de Rohan with deep, with strong, with tender affection; and, +after some minutes of vague and wild inquiries as to what she could do +next, she was obliged to turn to chance and fortune to find a footing +for hope to rest upon--no, not to chance and fortune, but to the +beneficence and mercy of God. There, then, her hope fixed, ay, and +seemed to refresh itself. "Could she not," she asked herself, "could she +not be, by some means, instrumental in aiding him she loved, let his +situation be what it might?" + +She had gathered from the struggle that had taken place in the chapel, +from the want of all sounds of clashing steel or other indications of +actual combat, and also from the manner in which she had been herself +dealt with, that her lover had been overpowered and made a prisoner +before he could resist. She did not believe that the Lord of Masseran +would dare to attempt his life. The risk, she thought, would be far too +great for the object to be attained; for, in truth, she knew not what +that object was, and believed it to be less than it really was, and far +different. If, then, he were a captive in the chateau of Masseran, could +she not, she asked herself, find means to procure his deliverance? She +had heard of such things being done--ay, in the very age and times in +which she lived. She had heard of woman's weak hand and persevering +affection executing what man's strength and wisdom had failed to +perform, and hers was a heart which, though gentle, kind, and yielding +in the moment of happiness and security, was conscious of fortitude, and +strength, and courage, when danger and evil assailed those that she +loved. + +"My father's spirit," she said, "the spirit of him who endured the whole +wrath and indignation of a despotic king sooner than abandon the friend +of his youth, will bear me up through any trials, while I have the +object of delivering him I love." + +But how, how? was the question; what means could she take, what +stratagems could she employ, while she was watched by the eyes of Adrian +de Meyrand? Should she confide her purposes to him? Should she appeal to +his courtesy--to his friendship for her lover--to his generosity? Should +she confide in him? Dared she to do so? + +As she asked herself these questions, something darkened the light, as +if passing across the window. She looked up. It was all clear again. The +day was bright and sunshiny, and the rays pouring in from the southwest. +The window was a narrow cottage lattice, in a stone frame, divided into +three partitions. It might have been a branch of the honeysuckle that +climbed around it, which had been blown across by the wind, and caused +the shadow. It might have been but a cloud passing over the sun; and she +bent her head again, and fell once more into thought. The instant after, +the shadow came again, and a voice said, "Are you quite alone?" + +Isabel looked up. The pilgrim, whom she had before seen, was standing +near the window, leaning on his staff, not exactly turned towards her, +but standing with his shoulder towards the open lattice, and his eyes +apparently bent onward towards Savoy. There was something in his air +familiar to her, though she could not tell in what it consisted. It had +struck her before as he passed: even more, perhaps, in that momentary +glance than it did now, when she saw him fully; and she could scarcely +think that it was the pilgrim who spoke, or, if so, that it was to her +that he addressed himself. After a moment, however, he turned his face +again for an instant towards the window, repeating, + +"Are you quite alone?" + +"Quite!" replied Isabel. + +"Then come near the window," said the same voice: "sit in the +window-seat as if you were looking out. I will rest on this +stepping-stone hard by. Let our words be short, and few, and low in +tone; each word well pondered before it is spoken, and your eyes upon +the door of the room from time to time." + +The view which Isabel had of his face had shown her the features of an +old man, somewhat sharp and keen, though they were much hidden under his +hood, which was formed like that of a Capuchin. His beard, which was +very white, was not so long as that of the generality of monks, and she +concluded that it had been only suffered to grow during the period of +his pilgrimage. He was a venerable-looking man, however; and, as it was +evident that he knew something of her situation, she imagined that he +bore her some message, and hastened to follow his directions. The moment +she had taken her place at the window, he sat down on one of the +stepping-stones placed to aid travellers in mounting their horses, and +there, with his face still turned away from her, commenced the +conversation by asking, "Do you not know me?" + +"Your voice and your air," she said, "are familiar to me, but I know +nothing more." + +"I am Father Willand," said the pilgrim, "who baptized you in your +infancy, watched you for the first nine years of your life, till your +father procured me what he thought advancement in Paris, and who united +you last night to the man for whom that father had ever destined you." + +"Good Heaven!" exclaimed Isabel; "I thought you had fallen into the +power of that evil Piedmontese; for I could not conceive it possible, +when we were all so completely surrounded, that you should make your way +out." + +"They caught the other priest instead of me," replied Father Willand, +"and I lay hid behind the altar till they were all dispersed and gone. +Your husband, lady, however, has fallen into the power of one enemy, and +you into the power of another, or, what is worse than an enemy, a +daring, treacherous, unhesitating lover." + +"Call him not so, Father Willand! call him not so!" replied Isabel. +"Love elevates, ennobles, and purifies--" + +"Do not let us discuss love, lady," replied the priest; "I have nothing +to do with it, but yet understand it, perhaps, better than you do. Love +is applied to a thousand different things, and what is its right meaning +were of long argument. All I know is, that you must not remain with this +man an hour longer than you can help." + +"Tell me how I can escape from him," said Isabel, in the same low tone. +"Nothing I desire more! But still let me do him justice: he has this day +behaved well and kindly towards me; perilled his life to save me, and +treated me with respect and delicacy." + +"Perilled his life!" said Father Willand; "guns fired without balls, +lady! swords drawn without bloodshed! a farce that would not have +deceived a child! They knew you to be but a child, or they would not +have tried it! Did you see one man fall or fallen? Did you see one drop +of blood shed for all the powder expended?" + +"But still," said Isabel, though she had certainly neither seen wounds +nor death follow the apparently smart encounter between the Count de +Meyrand and the Lord of Masseran, "but still, he has been gentle and +kind, and professes to leave me entirely to decide upon my own conduct." + +"Try him, try him," said the priest: "use the liberty he professes to +give, and you will find yourself a stricter prisoner than you were when +in the castle of Masseran. Hearken," he continued, "for I must not be +here long. I have followed you from last night till now; taking shorter +paths than you have been led by, it is true; but still, lady, I am +somewhat old and somewhat fat: and, though of the quick tribe, an old +greyhound will not run as long as a young one. I must have some repose; +but to-night I shall be ready to give you aid wherever you may then be. +When it comes, take it at a moment's warning; and, in the mean time, to +make yourself sure of what you are about, exercise this liberty that you +think you have. The Count de Meyrand judges you are about to set out for +Paris to-morrow morning direct; tell him to-night that you have +considered, and determined upon going to Grenoble to meet your brother +Harry. Then see what he says. If he agree thereunto honestly, well and +good; trust him! If, on the contrary, he teach you to feel that his will +must be your law, then trust me, and come with me whithersoever I shall +guide you!" + +Isabel paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Not to Grenoble," she said at +length; "I must not go to Grenoble yet! That is too far; but if any one +would convey intelligence to my brother of where I am, and bid him join +me instantly at Latour, then, indeed, I might succeed--" + +"Succeed in what?" demanded the priest. + +"In freeing him," replied Isabel; and, though the blood rose up in her +cheek as she said it, she added, the more resolutely from a slight smile +that came from the priest's countenance as he turned for an instant +towards her, "in freeing my husband." + +"Oh, fear not, fear not, pretty one!" replied the priest. "We'll get +your bird out of the cage yet, never fear. Indeed, I did not come hither +without taking care that those should have information of where he is, +and how he is, who may best contrive the means for his escape." + +"Still," replied Isabel, "I would rather not be far absent from the spot +until I see him free." + +"If you fancy, child," replied the priest, "that I want you to go to +Grenoble, you must fancy a fox to be a more stupid beast than a sheep. I +only told you to propose it, that you may try this fair Count of +Meyrand. Trust him in nothing, child, till you see a dove drop her eggs +in a hawk's nest, or till the sweet days come back again when the lamb +lies down with the lion! The nature of the wolf does not change, and he +who would insult you one day would not protect you the next! Mark my +words, then, lady, and follow my counsel: lie down and take rest even +now, so that your mind may be quick and prompt, and your limbs free and +active this night. When this count returns, go on with him to Latour, +then tell him your intention is to turn aside to Grenoble. You will see +in a moment whether you may trust him or me. Decide between us at once +when you have so tried him; and, after that, do not lay down your head +upon your pillow till you have seen me and given me a reply." + +"But how shall I see you?" demanded Isabel; "how shall I know where--" + +"I will find the means," replied the priest, interrupting her. "We must +use bad things to good ends, lady; and a brown gown, which, between +Paris and Loretto, covers more sin and wickedness, year after year, than +all the pope's indulgences can well clear away, will carry me into many +a house where no other key could gain me entrance. If you should satisfy +yourself that you are in danger where you are, be prepared to follow me +at a moment's notice. I will at least set you free to go where you will, +and will help you in all good purposes if I can. But, above all, be as +secret, my child, as the grave; utter not a word of this to any one. I +have heard by tradition that a woman once kept a secret four-and-twenty +hours: all I ask of you is to keep one six; and now farewell, for we +must talk together no more." + +Thus saying, he left her; and Isabel continued to gaze from the window, +pondering thoughtfully over all that had been said. It is a terrible +question, the first time that man has to put it to his own heart, Whom +can we trust? But this, alas! was not the first time that Isabel had to +ask herself that painful and bitter thing. With her, as with every one +in advancing into life, the question had been often and sadly repeated, +and the bounds of the reply had become narrow and more narrow. Oh, how +few are there throughout all existence that we can trust--fully, +entirely, confidently trust! The faith of one; the wisdom of another; +the courage of a third; the resolution of a fourth; the activity, the +energy, the zeal of others; all! all! may be doubtful; and, alas! in +looking back through life, the sad and terrible summing up will ever be, +that our confidence has been far too often misplaced than wrongly +withheld. + +The question, however, which Isabel had now to address to herself was +more limited in its nature and character. It was only, Which of these +two men shall I choose to trust? that she had now to ask herself. Those +she had to choose between were limited to two. One of those two she had +already had occasion to doubt and dislike, to fear and to avoid; and she +could not but feel that, over all he had since done to remove the first +evil impression of his conduct, there was a tinge of suspicion which she +could not remove. Of the other, indeed, she knew little; but that little +seemed to prove his attachment to herself and to him whom she loved. +Acts that have made us very happy leave behind them a sort of tender but +imperishable light, which invests all who have had any share in them, +and brings them all out in brightness to the eye of memory from the +twilight gloom of the past, like those salient objects in an evening +landscape upon which we still catch the rays of a sun that has long set +to our own eyes. Not only the willing agents of our happiness, but those +that bore an uninterested part therein--objects animate or inanimate +alike--the spot, the accessories, the very scene itself, all still +retain a portion of that light, and shine to remembrance when other +things are forgotten. + +The priest with whom she had just spoken, however, had not only borne a +willing, but an active part in uniting her to Bernard de Rohan. For that +reason she believed that she might trust him; but, besides this, he had +referred to former years; and though there was a long lapse of time +between, spreading a dimness like a light sea-mist between herself and +the objects of those days, yet there were vague and pleasant +recollections which attached themselves by the fine links of association +to the tones of the old man's voice, to his manner, even to the rough +and somewhat reckless jests which he mingled with his discourse. She +remembered such a person a frequent guest in her father's house; she +remembered that father's often-repeated commendations of his honesty of +purpose, of his sincerity of heart, of his zeal and disinterestedness; +and whether it was that she herself strove to find some excuse for +anything that seemed harsh or irreverent in his manner, or that her +father had really pronounced such words, she thought that she remembered +his having said that Father Willand's abhorrence of hypocrisy had driven +him into an opposite extreme. It is true that she could not have +recalled his features sufficiently to recognise him under any other +circumstances; but, when once told who he was, they seemed to grow more +and more familiar to her, and she determined to trust him, let the +result of the trial which he had suggested for the Count de Meyrand be +what it would. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +In one of the sweetest situations that it is possible to conceive--with +green sloping hills, covered with the richest vegetation, rising on the +four sides thereof, and forming, as it were, a beautiful basin, with +four long valleys, each of which bears onward its stream of clear and +sparkling water--is the little town of Bourgoin, which was at that time, +as now, neat, clean, and fresh-looking, with perhaps fewer inhabitants +than it can at present boast, but without any of the manufactories which +have since somewhat diminished its beauty, if they have increased its +wealth. + +It was the custom in those days for the signs to hang out far from the +doors of the inn; and often at each side of the doorway was placed the +name of the landlord, with a long recommendation of the fare and lodging +to be found within, with the price of the various meals which were to be +furnished to a visiter. A bench was there also, and a wide door, giving +entrance to a courtyard. + +Such was not, however, altogether the aspect of the little auberge at +Bourgoin. The village was too small to have a regular inn, or _gîte_, +and the homely symbol of a bush, suspended from a long pole, thrust +forth horizontally from the front of the building, was the only sign +that it could boast. The landlord and landlady were in their green old +age, and were what they term in France _bonasse_, though that word has +been applied to a beast who, if one may judge by his look, is of a very +opposite sort of disposition to that which I wish to describe. They +were, in short, good-humoured, honest country-people; and when the +landlady beheld a considerable company of horsemen draw in their bridles +at her door, with a young lady and her maid in a litter in the midst, +her first thought was really not of self-interest, but of what she could +best do to make her fair guest happy and comfortable during the time +that she was about to stay in her dwelling. + +The Count de Meyrand sprang to the side of the litter which contained +Isabel de Brienne; and, as if with an instinctive insight into their +lord's wishes, all his attendants but one, who was holding back the +curtain, and one at the head of the nearest horse, kept aloof while the +lady descended. + +"Monsieur de Meyrand," said Isabel de Brienne, as she quitted the +litter, "I cannot help repeating again that it is much against my +inclination I have come hither. If you did not choose to conduct me, as +I asked you, on the direct road to Grenoble, you might, at least, have +suffered me to remain for the night at Latour." + +"Indeed, dear lady," replied the count, still with an air of perfect +deference, "it would have been dangerous for you to do so. There, but a +few leagues from Chambery, and still less from Beauvoisin, we should +have been entirely at the mercy of the enemy. In regard to Grenoble, I +only besought you to pause till you could hear my reasons. You are too +much fatigued to attend to them now; but, ere you set out to-morrow, you +shall hear them at full." + +"Your politeness, my good lord," replied Isabel de Brienne, with an air +of grief and vexation, "is somewhat compulsory." Thus saying, she +advanced towards the landlady, who had kept back at a sign from one of +the count's attendants, but not so far as to prevent her from noting all +that had passed; the ears of aubergistes and aubergistes' wives +acquiring by long and peculiar practice a facility of hearing everything +and not hearing anything, according to circumstances, which is truly +astonishing. + +The Count de Meyrand bowed low, and, following to the door, he ordered +apartments immediately to be prepared for his fair charge, and then took +leave of her for the night, while a slight smile played upon his lip as +he turned away, and he said in his heart, "If I could trust this man of +Masseran, I would humour the girl, and see what might be done by +softness. She smiled upon me this morning, and made me almost forget her +former insolence. It were as well, however, to bring down this high +temper; and, now the storm is somewhat roused, it may as well go on. No +one can say I do her wrong in using some gentle force to bring her to +Paris to the presence of her lawful king, who will soon judge whether +that ring be to remain upon her finger or not." + +As he thus thought, he pictured to his own imagination the marriage of +fair Isabel de Brienne with Bernard de Rohan annulled by the royal +authority. He fancied his own claim to her hand heard and conceded. He +thought of how her travelling alone with him by slow journeys across the +whole of France might render her own consent a matter more of necessity +than choice; and, with inward satisfaction, he revolved the air of cool +indifference with which he would treat the whole proceedings, as if +there were absolutely nothing on earth worth the attention of so high a +gentleman. + +In the mean while Isabel de Brienne was led to her chamber by the +hostess, who asked many a kindly question, not directly pertinent to the +conversation which she had overheard, but tending to elicit the cause of +that anxiety and distress of mind which she witnessed. Isabel did not +satisfy her, it is true; but she replied so sweetly and gently, that the +good woman went away with her mind made up that she was the most amiable +young lady she had ever seen, and that she was, moreover, very much ill +used by some one. Who that was she could not very well satisfy herself; +but, nevertheless, she looked with no very favourable eye upon the Count +de Meyrand, and made but short replies to the various questions which he +asked her when she came down again. + +After giving various directions to the soubrette, to which that taciturn +person replied less than ever, Isabel seated herself near the window in +melancholy thought. Removed almost by force from Latour, where the good +priest, Father Willand, expected to find her, and having been now fully +convinced, by the conduct of this Count de Meyrand, that she was little +better than a prisoner in his hands, she knew not whence to hope for +succour or deliverance. There was many a dark and painful point in her +situation on which we must not dwell; many a present and many a future +danger to herself, to him she loved, and to their mutual happiness. The +thoughts connected with these points mingled with the chief strain of +her reflections, and rendered them, bitter as they were, still more +bitter and grievous to be borne. + +As she thus sat and gazed out of the window--at some distance from it, +indeed, so that those who were immediately beneath did not see where she +was placed--she suddenly saw a small body of horsemen come over the brow +of the gentle hill opposite, and ride down into the village. Isabel +instinctively drew back; for, though her actual situation was painful in +no slight degree, yet among those horsemen she recognised the colours of +the Lord of Masseran, and it seemed to her that it would be even more +terrible to fall into his power than to remain in that of the Count de +Meyrand. The men came on at a quick rate, some four or five in number, +and were passing by the door of the little auberge without pausing, when +she heard the voice of the Count de Meyrand call to them, and bid them +stop to speak with him. The first questions which he asked were put in a +low voice, but the man whom he addressed spoke louder in reply, and +Isabel heard the latter say distinctly, "Yes, my lord, he is gone on +with all speed to Paris, and we are following him as fast as we can. We +hope to come up with him at Lyons." + +"By my faith, this is somewhat strange," answered the count; and then +again what he said farther was lost to the ear. + +In a few minutes the Count de Meyrand suffered the horsemen to go on; +but he seemed much moved by what he had heard, saying aloud, "This man +will never be honest. We must not let him be long in advance. The horses +must be ready by daybreak to-morrow, Matthew. Pierre, put your foot in +the stirrup, and ride after those men: I saw one of them turn away from +the road just now, by the clump of trees on the top of the hill. If they +put their hand into the wolf's mouth, they must bear a bite." + +Before the daylight failed, the man to whom he last spoke returned, +informing him that, as far as he could discover, the whole party had +gone on towards Lyons; and the count, better satisfied, turned once more +into the inn, and sat himself down to supper in a musing mood. He sent +up, indeed, an humble entreaty that the fair lady whom he had the honour +to escort, as he termed it, would join him at the evening meal; but the +reply returned was, that Mademoiselle de Brienne had retired to rest. + +The count soon after sought his pillow himself; but, accustomed by old +habits to wake at any particular hour assigned, he started up with the +first gleam of daylight, and gave instant orders for preparing to set +out. There were few persons yet up in the inn; but the good landlady was +roused, unwillingly, from her bed, and ordered instantly to wake +Mademoiselle de Brienne, and give her notice that it was time to depart. +The count himself stood at the bottom of the stairs, with his arms +folded upon his chest, in that gloomy frame of mind to which +dissatisfaction with ourselves is even more sure to give birth than +dissatisfaction with the things around us. But he was roused from his +revery by hearing some bustle and anxious exclamations above, the voice +of the hostess raised to the tones of wonder and astonishment, the +tongue of the silent maid heard at a considerably louder pitch than was +at all usual, and other indications so decided of something having gone +wrong as to induce the Count de Meyrand himself to quit his usual calm +deliberation, and spring up the stairs with a quick step and an angry +brow. + +He found the door of the room which had been assigned to Mademoiselle de +Brienne unclosed, the hostess standing a few steps within, the soubrette +near the bedside, the window wide open, with the morning air sighing +quietly through the lattice, and Isabel herself nowhere to be seen. + +"Where is your mistress?" demanded the count, furiously, fixing his eyes +upon the soubrette. + +"I know not, sir," replied the woman. + +"Her bed has never been slept in all night," replied the hostess. "Her +sweet cheek has never rested on that pillow, poor thing. She must have +got out of the window, that is clear; and, if any ill have happened to +her, somebody is to blame for it, I am sure." + +"Silence!" said the count, looking at her sternly. "Did you not +undertake," he continued, turning to the soubrette, "never to lose sight +of her?" + +"I can't sleep with my eyes open," replied the woman. + +"This is that scoundrel Masseran's doing," said the count: "but he shall +find himself deceived, for I will be in Paris as soon as he is. You, +madam, will be good enough to come along with me; so put your dress in +some better array, and lose no time." + +He looked as if he could have said a great deal more, but he restrained +himself; and, though the anger that he felt at heart found relief in a +bitter and sneering smile, unaccompanied by any words, he turned upon +his heel, walked down to the inn door, and remained for a few minutes +looking forth upon the morning as if nothing had happened. In a minute +or two after, seeing one of his men pass, he beckoned to him, spoke a +word or two in his ear, and suffered him to depart. The man returned in +a few minutes, and replied, "They are all ignorant of anything of the +kind, sir. It is evident none of the people of the place know aught +about it." + +"Have you seen the landlord?" demanded the count. + +"No!" + +"Go and make inquiries regarding him." + +The man did as he was bid, and the reply was, "That the landlord had +gone away towards the market of St. Laurent an hour or two before +daybreak, as was always his custom." + +"That is sufficient," said the count, with a sneer. "Quick with the +horses; let us mount and go on." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +The great tamers of strong spirits, the quellers of the rebellious +heart, the conquerors of the obdurate, the determined, and the enduring, +Silence and Solitude, were upon Bernard de Rohan. To know nothing of +what is passing without; to have no marker of the steps of time; to see +no sun rise or set; to have not even the moving shadow upon the wall to +tell us that another lapse of the wearisome hours has taken place; to +have nothing, in short, to link us on to human destinies, and to show us +that we are wending on our way with our fellow-beings--nothing but the +dull beatings of the heavy heart, and the grinding succession of bitter +thoughts--this, surely, is not life; and if it be not death, it is +something worse. Where there is no change of anything to mark its +passing, time seems, in truth, to sink back into that ocean from which +it was called at first, Eternity: and, wanting all means of calculating +its flight, Bernard de Rohan did indeed feel each moment to be an age. +Actual pain would have been almost a relief to the despairing vacuity of +that which must have been the second day of his confinement. We can +scarcely doubt that the punishment of Prometheus would have been more +complete, had he been left in the solitude of the frowning heavens, +without the vulture as his companion, though his tormentor. + +No one came near the young cavalier throughout the whole day. The food +which had been left for him was just sufficient for the four-and-twenty +hours: more than sufficient, as it proved, indeed, for he tasted it not; +and when, at the end of that period, it was renewed, so quick was the +passing in and out of him who brought the fresh supply, that the young +cavalier scarcely saw the man's entrance ere the door was again closed, +and he was once more alone. + +It seemed to him several hours after this brief visitation had been +made--and true it is, he had gone through so many ranges of painful +thought, that they might well have furnished occupation and bitterness +for more than one long day--when he heard a sound at the door of the +dungeon, as if some one endeavoured, with an unaccustomed hand, to draw +back the heavy bolts and turn a key in the lock. At the same time, he +heard a low, deep voice murmur, "The fool should have left a lamp!" "Ay, +that is right!" and the next moment the key turned, the lock gave way, +and the door was thrown open. + +The lamp which had been left with Bernard de Rohan burned but dimly, for +it had been long untrimmed, so that at first the young cavalier did not +recognise the person who entered. The next instant, however, his visiter +spoke, and the deep but melodious voice instantly brought to the +prisoner's recollection his wild companion, Corse de Leon. + +"Ah! Monsieur de Rohan," said the brigand, looking around him as he +entered, "I have not forgotten you you see. Out upon that scoundrel! How +dared he put you in such a place as this? He might have given you a +befitting chamber, at all events." + +Bernard de Rohan grasped his hand; and, needing no words to assure him +that the brigand came to set him free, he thanked him again and again, +but mingled, however, his thanks with some marvellings to see him within +the chateau of Masseran. + +The brigand smiled. "There is nothing wonderful in it, Monsieur de +Rohan," he replied. "There is not a door in this castle that does not +open to me as readily as to its lord. All these things are easily +explained. Some of the poor people with whom I have to do think me half +a magician, and it is not worth while to undeceive them, though I seek +not for any such reputation. Truth is marvellous enough, without trying +to make it more wonderful," he continued, in a musing tone; "and all +that I do which seems strange may, nine times out of ten, be explained +by a single word. I believe that it is so, too, with the wonders of +creation. We gaze with surprised and astonished eyes upon thousands of +things that seem miracles to our earthly nature: we are, ourselves, +miracles to ourselves; but I do believe that all the wonders that we +see, the marvel of our very existence, the linking of fates together, +and the long network of events and their causes, from the beginning of +all things to eternity, might all be explained to us by some simple word +which God's good pleasure now withholds; by some short, brief +explanation, which is not fitted for this mass of moving clay to +receive." + +As he spoke, he sat himself quietly down on the edge of the bed, took up +the lamp, trimmed it in a careless manner, and then added abstractedly, +"We must wait a few minutes, Monsieur de Rohan, for the horses are not +come yet, and it is as well to stay here as upon the hillside." + +"But is there no danger of our being stopped?" demanded Bernard de +Rohan. + +Corse de Leon smiled. "It were difficult to stop me," he said; "but +nobody will try to do it. You know the Lord of Masseran is gone to +Paris?" + +"No, indeed," replied the young cavalier; "I know nothing, and I have +heard nothing, since I have been a prisoner in this dreary place. He +has, of course, taken, my Isabel with him?" + +"Oh, no," replied the brigand. "He set out for Paris with great speed +for several reasons: first, because he knew suspicions are entertained +of him in regard to his dealings with the King of Spain; next, because +he feared that inquiry would be made as to what has become of you, and +he wished to justify himself; and, next, because he did not choose to +trust your goodly friend, the Count of Meyrand, in anything, but +especially--" + +"But where, then, is Isabel?" demanded the young cavalier. + +"Ay, who can say!" rejoined Corse de Leon. + +Bernard de Rohan started up eagerly. "Let us seek for her at once, +then," he said. "If, as you say, all the doors of this castle open to +you as easily as to their lord, let us seek her through every room in +the place, and take her with us when we go. In Heaven's name leave her +not here!" + +"She is not here, wherever she is," replied the brigand; "and I trust +that by this time she is free; but I will tell you more by-and-by, for I +hear the clock striking one, and we shall have just time to reach the +hillside before the horses arrive. Come, Monsieur de Rohan, come. They +have taken your arms from you, I see. Well, we must find you others." + +Thus saying, he raised the lamp, and led the way towards the door. As he +went, however, the light fell upon the fetters which hung against the +wall, and he paused, gazing upon them and frowning heavily. "Ah, ah, +accursed implements of tyranny!" he muttered, "When, when will the time +come that ye shall be no longer known! God of Heaven! even then it must +be remembered that such things have been. It must be written in books. +It must be told in tradition, that men were found to chain their +fellow-creatures with heavy bars of iron, to make them linger out the +bright space given them for activity and enjoyment in dungeons and in +fetters, till the dull flame was extinguished, and dust returned to +dust. Would to Heaven that there were no such thing as history, to +perpetuate, even unto times when man shall have purified his heart from +the filthy baseness of these days, the memory of such enormous deeds as +fetters like that record! Out upon it! Was it for this that man learned +to dig the ore from the mine, and forge the hard metal in the fire? But +come, come! I am forgetting myself;" and he led the way forth along the +same path by which Bernard de Rohan had been brought from the chapel. +The ponderous doors in the solid rock were all open; but the young +cavalier remarked that Corse de Leon closed them one by one behind him, +till at length they stood in the open air at the foot of the hill. + +It were difficult, nay, impossible, to describe the sensations which the +first breath of that free air produced in Bernard de Rohan. It would +require to have been a captive, and yet full of the spirit of freedom, +to have contemplated long imprisonment, and to be suddenly set free, +even to comprehend what he then felt. His sensations, however, found +vent but in one exclamation. "Thank God!" he said, and followed his +companion, who now, with rapid strides, climbed the opposite side of the +hill, till he reached the spot where he had waited for Bernard de Rohan +on the night when first they met. No horses were there, however, and +Corse de Leon seated himself on a point of the crag, and seemed about to +fall into one of his fits of revery; but his young companion was not +disposed to rest satisfied without some farther information. + +"Now," he said, "now! You promised to tell me more--you promised to tell +me more concerning Isabel. With whom is she? In whose hands is she, if +not in those of the Lord of Masseran?" + +"She was," replied Corse de Leon, "she was in the hands of your bright +friend, the Count de Meyrand." + +Bernard de Rohan's hand grasped for the hilt of his sword, but it was +gone; and he only muttered the words "Villain, villain! I thought I +heard that treacherous voice. Who shall one depend upon in this world?" + +"Upon none of those," replied Corse de Leon, "whom men are accustomed to +depend upon. Not upon the gay companion of the winecup, who aids us +pleasantly to spend our wealth or to squander our more precious time: +not upon him, not upon him, young gentleman! Not upon the smooth-spoken +and the plausible adviser, who counsels with us on things where our own +interest and his are combined, and who uses our exertions and our means +to share in our fortune and our success: not upon him, I say, not upon +him! Not upon the sweet flatterer, who either dexterously insinuates how +virtuous, and great, and good and wise we are, or who boldly overloads +us with praise, in the hope of some, at least, being received: not upon +him, I say. Not upon the pander to our vices or our follies, even though +he sell his soul to pamper us with gratification: not upon him. Not upon +the light wanton, who yields us what she should refuse, vowing that it +is love for us which conquers, when love for many another has gone +before: not upon her. Neither on the priest that preaches virtue without +practising it; neither upon the soft hypocrite, nor upon the rude +hypocrite; neither upon the one who assumes sleek sanctity, nor upon the +other who builds the reputation of honesty upon a rough outside. There +are some that will weep with you, and some that will laugh with you; +some that will discourse, and some that will sport with you; but trust +in none but him that you have tried, but him whom you know to be honest +to himself, and who has proved himself honest to you. We were speaking +of the Count de Meyrand. That he has betrayed you and deceived you most +shamefully is his fault, not yours; for, though you believed him honest, +you did not weakly trust him. It were well, when you find him, to nail +his ears to the doorpost; but still you have nothing to reproach +yourself with. I trust, however, that sweet and good lady is by this +time freed from his hands, for one who loves her very well has +undertaken that part of the task." + +"But how," exclaimed Bernard de Rohan, "how came she in his power at +all?" + +Corse de Leon replied briefly, but with sufficient detail to show his +hearer at one glance all that had taken place in regard to Isabel de +Brienne since he had seen her. The deep and bitter indignation that +gathered at the young cavalier's heart as his companion went on, was not +of a nature that wasted itself in many words. "This must be looked to!" +he said; "this must be looked to! And now, my friend, to think of this +dear girl's escape. Can we trust to good Father Willand? Not his faith, +I mean, but his power. He is there, it would seem, alone, unaided, +unsupported, to cope with a man artful, rich, powerful, and numerously +followed." + +"We may trust him, I am sure," replied the other. "This count's art, +like all pitiful art, will help to deceive himself; and in quiet wisdom +he cannot compete with the good priest. Besides, Father Willand is not +so unsupported as you think. It may seem strange to you to hear, but +many of your own men, nay, I believe all, are with him or round about +him." + +"No," replied Bernard de Rohan, "that surprises me not. Most of them +were born within sight of the lands of Brienne--most of them have often +seen and know her well, and there is none who has seen her that would +not willingly sacrifice life to serve her." + +Corse de Leon smiled with somewhat of a melancholy expression. In life, +when we have lost any of those sweet delusions which, like the radiant +colours of the morning sky, clothe, at the dawning of our youth, thin +air itself and unsubstantial vapours, nay, perhaps even the cloudy home +of the future storm, with loveliness and radiance, and the most glowing +hues of Heaven's own golden treasury--when we have lost those sweet +delusions, I say, and any one with whom they still remain speaks of the +reality of things whose emptiness we have proved, how sad, how +profoundly sad, is the contrast suddenly presented to us, of what we +were and what we are! how melancholy is the conviction of the emptiness +of our dream-like life! And yet there is something sweet which mingles +even with our sadness, to see others enjoying and believing what we can +no longer enjoy or believe; something ennobling and elevating that +shares in our melancholy, if the feeling of how unreal are life's best +joys lead us to sigh for those that are more true and lasting. + +Bernard de Rohan saw not the expression upon the countenance of his +companion, although the night was clear and bright, and sufficient light +remained in the heavens to make even small objects visible; but his +eyes were at that moment fixed upon the castle of Masseran, and +more especially upon one of the outstanding towers to the northeast, +separated from the rest of the building by a space of two or +three hundred yards, and only attached to it by walls and minor +fortifications. In that tower there appeared a great light, at first +streaming through some of the upper loopholes only. After a moment or +two, however, it became brighter and brighter, and poured through all +the windows of the story below. Bernard de Rohan could almost have +imagined that, as he gazed, he saw flames come forth and lick the dark +stonework of the tower; and he was soon confirmed in the belief that it +was so, by the wreaths of pale white smoke which began to ascend into +the dark air, and in a minute or two formed a cloud above the tower, +acquiring a red and ominous hue as the fire below increased. + +"Look there! look there!" he exclaimed, catching Corse de Leon's arm; +but, even as he spoke, the roof of the tower fell in, and a pyramid of +flame shot upward into the sky. + +"Yes, I see," replied Corse de Leon; "but here come the horses! and we +must go quick to the spot where I trust we shall find her whom you seek +for. Then, get you across the frontier into France as soon as may be. +Your own men will be sufficient to protect you, and will be glad to see +you; for, notwithstanding that they may, as you think, love your fair +Isabel well, they would not have gone unless we had put a light deceit +upon them, and had left them to think, more than told them it was so, +that you and the lady were together. Those I have with me here dare not +set foot within that land, and the other friends I have are far distant. +That was the reason I did not make her free myself, and punish that +slight traitor as he deserves." + +While he spoke, three or four horsemen appeared, leading two other +horses, and, without taking any farther notice of the conflagration, +Corse de Leon put his foot in the stirrup, and, springing into the +saddle, rode on towards the little inn which we have often before had +occasion to mention. + +The young cavalier followed his example; but, before they had gone a +hundred yards, a loud explosion took place, which shook the rocks +around, and echoed afar through the valley. Their horses started at the +sound, and Bernard and his companion turned their eyes towards the +castle of Masseran. The burning tower had now lost all shape and form, +though part of the walls still remained, with the fire clinging to them +in various places. + +"Do you know what that is?" demanded Corse de Leon; and, ere Bernard de +Rohan could reply, he went on. "It is an act of folly worthy of a king +or a prime minister. There are people in that castle," he said, "who, +knowing of my coming and of your escape, have done the act, the effects +of which you see flaming yonder, in order that the tower may fall in and +crush the dungeon into which they had thrust you, solely to prevent the +Lord of Masseran from discovering how you have escaped. Thus it is with +the world; every one act of weakness, of folly, or of crime, we judge +must be followed by another, to conceal or to justify it. Let men or +ministers place themselves in a dangerous situation by some capital +fault, and then they think expediency requires them to commit another to +obviate the effects of the first, forgetting that each fault is written +down in the two eternal books--the Book of Fate, God's servant, and the +Book of God himself; and that there must be a reckoning, a terrible +reckoning, for the whole amount, in this world and in the next. Let us +ride on." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +We must now entirely change the scene. The spot is no longer the +same--the actors different. From the mountains of Savoy, the feudal +castle, the lonely chapel, and the humble inn, let us turn to the +capital of France, her stately palaces, and the gay and glittering hall +where laughed and revelled the bright, the brave, the fair, and the +witty of that splendid epoch which began with Francis the First, and +ended with his immediate successor. The personages, too, have changed +with the scene. The young warrior and his fair bride, the wily Italian +and the supercilious and unprincipled Count de Meyrand, are no longer +before us. Even good Father Willand himself is left behind, and one for +whom we owe no slight affection, Corse de Leon, is, for the time, off +the stage. + +At the door--or rather, we may say, beyond the door, for they were not +actually in the chamber--stood two of the king's guard, with their +halberds resting on their shoulders, embroidered on which appeared the +well-known cognisance of the salamander. They were there merely to +perform the place of a living gate, barring the way against any who +would enter, till such time as the orders of the king threw open the +halls of the Louvre. + +Henry himself, in the prime of his years, graceful, handsome, vigorous, +with a countenance full of fire, but still kindly and good-humoured, +stood at the farther end of the large and nearly vacant reception room, +close to one of the windows, which looked out upon the river Seine, +speaking with a lady, on whose appearance we may well be expected to +pause for a moment. That lady was the celebrated Diana of Poitiers; and, +though the period had by this time passed by when her dazzling beauty +captivated all eyes as well as those of her royal lover, she was +certainly still very handsome. But she had also in her countenance an +expression of power and resolution, of quickness of understanding and of +sparkling vivacity, which at once displayed many of the chief points of +her character. As one stood and looked at her, and saw the play of her +fine features, the rapid changes, the sudden lighting up of the eyes, +the occasional look of intense eagerness, the shade of momentary +meditation, succeeded by the bright smile, the gay laugh, the eyes cast +up to heaven, it was easy to understand what manifold powers of charming +and persuading lay beneath, and to perceive that, whatever might have +been at any time the mere beauty of feature and expression, the chief +loveliness of that lovely countenance must ever have been in its +wonderful variety. + +What was it that moved her now? What was the eager scheme that she was +urging upon the king with such a host of wiles, and charms, and graces, +that it was hardly possible to expect that he should resist? Lo! how she +hangs upon his arm with those two fair hands, and gazes up into his face +with those speaking eyes! Now comes a shade of vexation over her brow. +One hand drops from his arm. Her head is partly turned away: a tear dims +the eye for an instant, then leaves it brighter than before. Now, again, +how merrily she laughs, with the clear, joyous, ringing laugh that we so +seldom hear but from the lips of infancy; and then, again, that look of +bright and eloquent thoughtfulness, while with her extended hand she +argues with the monarch on some mighty theme, and carries high +conviction on her lofty brow! What a wonderful picture does she form +there, even at this very moment, changing by her words the destinies of +Europe, and with smiles, and tears, and laughter, and high thoughts, all +mingled in a wondrous antidote, curing one of those spoiled children of +fortune that we call kings of that venomous and pestilential sickness, +the love of war! + +"Well," said the king, "well, you have triumphed. He shall have the +powers, although it goes against my soul to yield anything to that cold +and haughty Spaniard. What though Fortune have, with all her fickleness, +left at the last a momentary balance in the scale against France, have +we not already retrieved much, and are we not daily retrieving?" + +"True, sire, true," replied Diana of Poitiers, "your armies are +retrieving all that was once lost. But your country, sire, alas! your +country is not. France suffers, France groans even, while Spain is +wounded, and each blow that you strike at the enemy but injures yourself +far more." + +The king was about to reply, but she stopped him eagerly: "I am foolish +to argue with you," she continued; "You have said I have triumphed, you +have said I shall have the powers; and, though he may conquer me in +argument, my Henry's word is never broken. Besides," she added, "have I +not a private suit to be heard and granted also?" + +"Ha!" said the king, after pausing thoughtfully for a moment or two, as +if he were still unconvinced, and unwilling to leave the subject on +which they had just been conversing, "ha! I had forgot! You did mention +some private suit--what, I remember not now, sweet Diana. But yet it is +hard even to hear of peace after defeat. Were we just hot from +victory--were we flushed with triumph, and our enemy reduced to lowly +supplication--then, indeed, then we might hear of terms of peace, and +grant them liberally and willingly. But after this accursed battle of +St. Laurence; after so total, so signal, and terrible a defeat--the +constable himself taken, one half of the nobility of the land wounded or +slain, our soldiers scattered, and our provinces, invaded--it is bitter +indeed to hear the name of peace." + +"As bitter to Henry's heart," replied the lady, "as the sound of war to +many another man. But you have promised, sire. You have promised +Montmorency the full powers, and--you have forgotten my petition." + +"Well, well," said the king, with a sigh, "what is your petition? I know +that you have no private interest in this matter, Diana, You never were +a friend to Montmorency." + +The lady coloured slightly, but replied at once. "I never was his +friend, sire, while haughty fortune smiled upon him, and when he urged +measures harsh and injurious to the country upon your majesty; but I +will own that I am his friend now, when, bearing his adversity with +calmness and with dignity, he would fain persuade your majesty to that +which is most necessary for the safety of your realm. So much, indeed, +am I his friend, your majesty, now, that I have promised to mingle our +families together by the marriage of our sweet Henrietta with his son +Damville. Nay, start not, sire, I told you of this before." + +"Did you?" exclaimed the king, "did you? I recollect it not. Yet now +methinks I do remember something thereof; but I must have been thinking +of other things. How can I consent to such a contract?" continued the +king. "Recollect, dear lady! Is there not a story current of Damville, +like his brother, having bound himself by a secret marriage to an +Italian woman?" + +"There is some tale of the kind, sire," replied the Duchess of +Valentinois, "but I believe without foundation. Even were it so, +however, sire," she continued, eagerly, "what matters it, in truth? The +connexion has long ceased: the pope will annul the marriage instantly; +and, not many months ago, your majesty vowed that you would give an +edict rendering clandestine marriages of no effect, and declaring all +illegal but such as have the full consent of the nearest surviving +relative of both parties, always under your majesty's good pleasure." + +"I recollect," replied the king. "The edict was drawn up, but never +signed, because, as it deeply affected ecclesiastical matters, it was +thought best to have the sanction of our holy father in Rome, and he +made manifold objections. But that edict, even had it issued, could not +affect the past." + +"Your majesty will pardon me," replied the lady. "It had a clause which +rendered it retrospective--at least I am so informed, in a letter which +I received not many hours ago from your faithful subject the good Count +of Meyrand, whom you intrusted to carry the edict to Rome. Had it not +that retrospective sense," she added, eagerly, "the hopes and +expectations of Montmorency and myself would both be very bitterly +disappointed." + +The king's brow grew somewhat cloudy, and she added suddenly, "Not for +myself, sire! I speak not for myself, and with no reference to this +proposed marriage between Henriette de la Mark and the young Damville. +But there is one thing for which I know the good constable has long +sighed. The duke, his eldest son, is more ambitious than your majesty +dreams of." + +"Indeed!" said the king, with a slight smile. "What do you mean, fair +lady? Is his ambition dangerous to the state?" + +"Nay, nay, sire, not so," replied the duchess, with a smile, seeing that +the king, while affecting ignorance, in reality understood what she +meant. "There is a certain lovely lady bearing the same name as my more +humble self, and somewhat near to the affections of your royal +person--near, even as a daughter, some men say. She has now wept for +some time in widowhood; and the young Duke of Montmorency, daringly +priding himself upon the royal blood that flows also in his veins, has +ventured to sigh for this fair lady's hand. But the great impediment is +that fatal contract which he signed with Mademoiselle de Pienne, without +his father's knowledge and consent." + +"I have heard something of this before," said the king, to whom the idea +of uniting his natural daughter to the high race of Montmorency was not +a little grateful. "But does the constable desire this marriage for his +son? If so, why did he not speak long since?" + +"Most humbly, sire, does he desire it," replied the lady, "and has +commissioned me to sue, by every means of persuasion and entreaty, that +your majesty would condescend to grant your consent to the union of his +son with Madame de Farnese. He overrates my means, I know; but he does +calculate that your majesty has some affection still for me, as well as +some regard and esteem for him." + +"Much, much for both, dear lady," replied the king; and then, falling +into a fit of thought, he added, as if speaking to himself, "This +marriage is most unfortunate. But that a rash boy should pay, by a whole +life of celibacy and regret, for the idle folly of signing his name to a +promise extracted from him by an artful woman, is indeed too much. I +would fain see the draught of the edict which was proposed." + +"Here is the chancellor, sire, hard by," replied the lady, pointing to a +group of three or four persons who had followed her into the hall at her +first entrance, but who had remained gathered together in a group at the +other end of the chamber, conversing in a low voice. "Here is the +chancellor, sire: perhaps he may have a copy of the edict with him now." + +"Perchance he may, fair dame," replied the king, laying his hand fondly +upon her shoulder, and smiling, at the same time, at the evident +preparation of the whole affair, "perchance he may. Ho! my good +chancellor, we would fain speak with you here a while." + +At the very first word the king addressed to him, a tall and somewhat +meager man, in the rich and gorgeous habit of one of the princes of the +Roman Church, took a step forward from the rest of the group, and, +bowing low, advanced towards the king. He was dark and pale in +countenance, and his features were of an Italian cast, while a look of +shrewd, calm cunning, which that cast is so well calculated to assume, +was the predominant expression. + +"His majesty, my Lord Cardinal," said the duchess, addressing the famous +John Bertrandi, and having marked well the shrewd smile upon the king's +countenance, "his majesty, my Lord Cardinal, would fain see a copy of +that edict referring to clandestine marriages, which was drawn up some +months ago, but never signed. I besought you this morning to seek for +it: has it been found?" + +"I have it here, madam," replied the chancellor at once, opening a +portfolio which he carried under his arm; "may I present it to your +majesty:" and, selecting from among a number of papers which the +portfolio contained the one that was required at the moment, he put it +into the hands of Henry the Second. + +The king took and read it attentively. "And is this, my lord," he +demanded, "in all due form, and ready for promulgation?" + +"It is, sire," replied the chancellor: "wanting nothing but your +majesty's signature and the seal." + +Henry paused thoughtfully. "And is it," he asked, "and is it altogether, +and in all parts, in strict accordance with the laws of France?" + +"_Que veut le roi, veut le loi_," replied the chancellor. "What the king +wills, the law wills;" and, with that tyrannical axiom, the attempted +enforcement of which, in France, has caused more bloodshed than perhaps +any other line that ever was written, John Bertrandi satisfied his +conscience in sanctioning that which was contrary to the true spirit of +all law. + +Henry himself, however, was not satisfied! Although it is so easy for +base counsellors--on whom be eternal shame--to find specious arguments +in favour of those things which monarchs wish, however evil; and +although it certainly was the case that the King of France himself, +eagerly desiring the marriage of his natural daughter with the heir of +Montmorency, had potent tempters in his own bosom to second the words of +Bertrandi, still he was not satisfied that the retrospective act +proposed to him was right. He looked first at the cardinal; next turned +his eyes for a moment to the countenance of Diana of Poitiers; smiled +doubtfully, and then said, "Put it up, my Lord Cardinal, put it up! I +will take one day more to consider of it. Nay, look not grieved, fair +dame, it shall have favourable consideration. Forget not that both our +wishes run in the same way. Now let us speak of other things, Diana. Do +you come to our gay hall to-night? Nay, you must not be absent," he +added, seeing that the duchess looked down somewhat mournfully; +"Henriette de la Mark must dance a gaillarde with her lover Damville." + +"But can her lover ever be her husband?" demanded Diana, gazing +reproachfully in the king's face; and then adding, with consummate skill +in the management of that monarch, "It matters not! Since I have +accomplished what I sought for the good of the country, even if I have +failed in what I sought for my own pleasure, it matters not! My good +Lord Chancellor, the king has been pleased to promise that powers shall +be immediately granted to the noble constable of Montmorency to treat +with Spain and with the empire for a good and perfect peace. Let it be +said that this has been obtained by the solicitations of one who could +obtain nothing for herself! but still, not to her honour let it be, but +to the king's, inasmuch as he overcame in his own heart the love of +glory and the thirst of victory for the sake of his good land of France. +Will you, sire," she continued, "will you not order the chancellor at +once to expedite the powers for the good constable? It cannot be done +too rapidly." + +"Why so?" demanded Henry. "There is, surely, no such haste." + +"Because, sire," replied the lady, "there are two great and fortunate +men, whose first wish must be to change your majesty's counsels in this +regard. The conqueror of Calais may well have a say in matters of peace +and war. The Cardinal of Lorraine is still at your majesty's ear. The +purpose may evaporate and pass away, war be continued gloriously and +long, and France be ruined." + +"Nay, nay," replied the king, looking at the duchess reproachfully, "I +am not so vacillating in my purposes. The Guises have not the influence +you think." + +"They have had the influence, sire," replied Diana, boldly, "they have +had the influence to delay, for months, that very edict, drawn up by the +orders of the king himself, for the security and protection of the +French people, and to guard against the evils under which half of the +noble families of France now smart, from alliances contracted in wild +youth with races of inferior blood." + +"The Guises had nothing to do with that--have nothing to do with it," +replied the king, impatiently. "What interest have they in this matter? +I remember, it is true, the Cardinal of Lorraine did oppose the edict, +but upon motives of general justice. What interest had he, or his +brother either, for or against the edict?" + +"To keep down the house of Montmorency," replied Diana of Poitiers. "To +blast the expectations of the young duke, in the hopes which he, perhaps +presumptuously, had entertained." + +"I believe that it is so, indeed, sire," said the chancellor. "There is +much reason to think that the opposition of our holy father the pope was +raised up by the instigations of the Cardinal of Lorraine. You are well +aware, sire, that a messenger from the cardinal outstripped even the +Count de Meyrand, and that the latter gentleman found the holy father +already prepared to oppose the edict." + +"I will think of the matter," said the king again. "If the opposition be +but factious, we will give it no head; but I would fain, before I +promulgate the edict, have some cause before me to justify it, in which +my own personal wishes, and yours, fair lady, are not interested. I must +have time for thought upon it. Now let the doors be opened, for we have +kept our court too long without." + +The doors of the anteroom were accordingly thrown open. The guards, with +their halberds, drew back, and in a few minutes the great hall of +reception was crowded with the nobles of France. While the king, with +affable condescension, received his subjects, spoke with many of them, +and smiled upon all, and the buzz of voices, steps, and rustling +garments raised a sort of whispering murmur through the halls, the +chancellor was seen speaking, in a low voice, to the Duchess of +Valentinois; and some one who was passing heard the latter say, "Not +only that, my lord, but the abbey of St. Martin also, if we succeed. The +revenues are twelve thousand crowns a year." + +The chancellor bowed low, with an humble and obsequious smile, and the +duchess turned to speak to some one else. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +Before a mirror of the most beautiful polish that it was possible to +conceive, and a toilet table covered with all the most costly essences +and perfumes which could be procured from the four quarters of the +globe, appeared the Duchess of Valentinois, seated in a large armchair +of rich velvet, towards nine o'clock in the evening of the day whereof +we have just been speaking. She was clothed in a dressing-gown of silver +tissue, and all the stately and somewhat cumbrous apparel of the day had +been put off, while, with three maids all busy about her person, she was +dressing for the assembly of the court, which was to be held that +evening. Nor did she appear in the least the less lovely that she was +without any of the additions that dress and ornament sometimes make to +beauty; nor, strange to say, did she appear less young when thus +unassisted by art, than even when dressed in the most sumptuous mode of +the court. The eye of the woman who was combing her long, rich, +luxuriant brown hair, detected not one silver thread marking the passing +of years among the rest. The teeth were as white and pearly as those of +youth. The brow and neck without a furrow ploughed by the hand of time. + +On a footstool at the lady's feet sat a very lovely girl, bearing in her +countenance a slight resemblance to herself. She was already dressed +with great splendour, and sat looking up in the face of the duchess, as +if admiring and wondering at the beauty which seemed to set even the +great destroyer of all things at defiance. + +The duchess, upon her part, looked down at her with pleasure and +affection, calling her "Ma belle Henriette," and, parting the hair +farther away from her brows with her own hands, she said, "You must look +your loveliest to-night, Henrietta; for you must do much in the way of +captivation." + +The girl smiled playfully, and replied, "No, no! that were bad policy; I +would rather not look so lovely now as afterward. His love, at present, +I can count upon. But I must try and be more captivating hereafter, to +keep it when he is my husband." + +The duchess smiled in turn: "Ah, my Henrietta," she said, "the love of +man is not so difficult to keep, if woman do but use the same efforts to +retain it that she does to win it. We often make men fickle who would be +faithful, thinking that to captivate them once is all-sufficient. How +many do I daily see, Henrietta, who take all imaginable pains to win +affection; who are gay and cheerful, courteous and kind, willing to +please and ready to be pleased; robing themselves, as it were, in small +graces and sweet allurements; and who, when the object is attained, cast +away, at once, every effort; are dull and cheerless, exacting, sullen, +and harsh, and then wonder that the won heart is lost more quickly than +it was gained! When children catch flies, my Henrietta, they put not +down a drop of honey, which the insects can eat and fly away. There must +be enough honey to keep them, my child." + +"It is a lesson that I will remember," replied Henriette de la Mark. +"But, as I have always thought, dear lady, that it is happiness we seek, +and not admiration, I trust I should never have forgotten that the same +means must be taken to keep affection that are used to win it. But hark! +there are manifold sounds below. Surely the guests are not arriving +already?" + +The question was soon answered; for, a moment after, one of the female +attendants was called to the door, and returned to tell the duchess that +two gentleman had arrived in haste, and anxiously desired to speak with +her. She turned towards the woman with somewhat of angry scorn in her +countenance, asking if they had been told that she was at her toilet. +The woman replied in the affirmative; but that they had, nevertheless, +urged the important nature of their business. + +"Bid them send me their names," replied the duchess, after thinking for +a moment. "Meyrand's letter declared that he would soon be here. Perhaps +he has come himself." + +It was as she thought. But the other name which the servant brought back +was that of the Lord of Masseran. + +"Bid them wait but a moment," replied the duchess. "I will not be long. +Tie up my hair, Laurette, in a large knot. Any how, any how; but be +quick." + +Then, drawing the dressing-gown more closely round her, and preceded by +one of her women bearing a light, she descended to a saloon below, +making a sign to Henriette de la Mark to remain till she returned. + +Standing near a table in the room which Diana of Poitiers now entered, +appeared the tall and graceful Count de Meyrand, and the dark-looking +and subtle Marquis of Masseran. Each, to a certain degree, retained his +usual aspect, though neither could entirely banish from his countenance +the varied emotions which were busy at his heart. Graceful and dignified +in demeanour Meyrand still was. Indeed, it was so much a matter of habit +with him to act with ease and calm self-possession, that they could +never be entirely lost; but still his usual air of indifference was +gone, and there was an eager impatience in his eye which marked that +strong and busy passions were agitating him within. On the other hand, +the look of calm subtlety, which was the reigning expression of the +countenance of the Lord of Masseran, but which we have already seen, on +more than one occasion, give way to fiercer passions, had now yielded to +an expression of restless disquietude, while his eye turned sharp and +flashing at every sound. + +On the appearance of Madame de Valentinois, the count advanced with +signs of low and humble homage, and raised the hand which she proffered +him respectfully to his lips. The Lord of Masseran came a step behind, +and then a momentary pause took place. It was broken, however, by the +duchess herself, who was much too impatient to learn the cause of their +sudden arrival to wait till it was explained in the course of +conversation. + +"Welcome to Paris, Monsieur de Meyrand!" she said. "But say, what is it +that brings you here at this hour? It must be business of importance, I +am sure." + +"Nothing but business of immediate moment, madam, would have induced me +thus to trespass upon you," replied the count; "but I have myself +arrived within this half hour in the capital. I came, I confess, with +some wrongful suspicions of my good friend the Marquis of Masseran here, +in regard to the lady of whom I wrote to you. I fancied that he had been +instrumental in preventing me from executing my purpose of bringing her +with all speed to the presence of the king. His manner, and his solemn +assurances, however, madam, both show me that I was mistaken; and it +would appear--" + +"But stay, stay, Monsieur de Meyrand," said the duchess; "first tell me +exactly what is the case, and how you and Monsieur de Masseran are +interested in the business. I remember well Mademoiselle de Brienne, of +whom you speak, and a sweet girl she was, well fitted to set any +cavalier's heart on fire, so that I can easily conceive that yours was +touched, Monsieur de Meyrand, with that same flame of love. But, if all +friends agree, the lady surely can never have such great objections to +yourself as not to be won by less forcible means than those you seem to +have been using. I will speak with her: I will see what can be done. Let +me thank you, my good lord, for the tidings you sent me concerning the +edict: I have turned them this day to good advantage. But still the king +is not easily won in this matter." + +"By Heaven! madam," replied Meyrand, vehemently, "he must be won, and +that right soon, or all will go wrong with us. But hear me, dearest +lady! hear me out. You have a faint and very wrong idea of all this +affair. We are all deeply concerned; and, pardon me for saying it, but +your own wishes and excellent views are closely and intimately connected +with our objects and purposes. You ask for a frank and candid +explanation: you shall have it in a very few words. The Lord of Masseran +and I are equally, but somewhat differently, interested in this matter. +I am moved in some degree, as you are pleased to say, by love. Yes!" he +added, "it is so! by love the most strong and passionate; and yet, I +know not why or how, but something very like hatred mingles with it: +deep and bitter indignation at having been made the sport of a mere +girl, and determination to force her to be mine or die--" + +He paused and bit his lip, and a shade of dissatisfaction came over the +brow of Diana of Poitiers as she listened; but the next moment the count +went on, with a slight sneer. + +"The Lord of Masseran is affected otherwise. He, madam, as you know, +married the mother of this fair dame; and to this bright Isabel descend, +at that mother's death, certain fair estates close to the frontier line +of France and Savoy." + +"I understand, I understand," replied Diana of Poitiers, interrupting +him. "The Count of Meyrand may be easy in his dealings about those +estates, if he but obtain the hand of the fair lady. Is it not so, my +good lords?" + +"Something of the kind, madam," replied the count. + +"A treaty of partition! ha?" continued the lady. "Now for the obstacle, +and for the manner in which this affects me?" + +"The obstacles are somewhat difficult to be encountered, madam," joined +in the Lord of Masseran, "especially as this noble count is somewhat of +a suspicious nature. But, to make a long tale short, madam, there was, +it seems, in years long past, a promise made by the old Count of Brienne +that his daughter should marry a certain young nobleman named Bernard de +Rohan. That promise was foolishly committed to writing; but I hold that +it was of course conditional, and requires to be confirmed by the +consent of the mother. The young gentleman we speak of has been long +warring with the armies in Italy; but, called thence, as I believe, by +the young lady herself, who has a marvellous love for her own way, he +appeared in Savoy some short time ago. I absented myself for a few days +from my own home, making a pretence of coming to Paris, in order to see +what would take place. But, although I had good information of all that +passed, what between the young lady's wit and the youth's impudence, +they had very nearly won the race. Myself and Monsieur de Meyrand, here, +surprised them in the very celebration of a clandestine marriage." + +"Were they married? Were they married?" demanded the duchess, eagerly; +for, whatever be her own views, woman's heart is rarely without interest +in a tale of love. + +"There was a ring upon the young lady's finger," replied the Marquis of +Masseran, while the Count de Meyrand stood silent and bit his lip; +"farther we know not." + +"What did you do next?" exclaimed the lady, with an impatient look, +which neither of her two companions thought very favourable to their +cause. + +"Why," replied the Lord of Masseran, "we separated them, of course; and +I carried the young lady some way through the mountains, arranging, in +fact, a little sort of drama or mystery with my good friend the count, +wherein he played the part of deliverer, rescued the young lady from my +hands, and, according to our agreement, was bringing her here to Paris, +in the trust that you, from wise motives which the count knew you to +possess, would support the right of the mother to dispose of her +daughter's hand to whom she pleased." + +The marquis, in delivering this account, had paused and hesitated +several times, and Diana of Poitiers had remarked that he avoided +carefully all mention of the after-fate of Bernard de Rohan. + +"What has become," she asked at length, interrupting him, and fixing her +eye full upon his face, "what has become of the young Baron de Rohan, +sir?" + +The Lord of Masseran turned his look to the Count de Meyrand without +answering; but the duchess went on sternly and impetuously, "I insist +upon knowing, sir, what was done in regard to Monsieur de Rohan? You +surprised him at the very altar, you say! You have gone too far not to +say more!" + +"Why, of course, madam, it was necessary to separate them," replied the +Count de Meyrand. "Monsieur de Rohan was carried into the chateau of my +friend, Monsieur de Masseran, who kindly and liberally undertakes to +provide the young gentleman with board and lodging for a certain time. +No evil was done him, though the very act that he was performing might +well have justified more violence than was used." + +"In short, sir," said the duchess, addressing the Lord of Masseran +sternly, "in short, sir, you have imprisoned one of the king's very best +officers and most faithful subjects--the right hand of the Maréchal de +Brissac--and one who has rendered himself famous in the wars of Italy, +and without whose assistance the difficulties which surround the marshal +in Piedmont would be terribly augmented." + +"Madam," replied the Count de Meyrand, with a slight sneer, which no +prudence could repress, at the reputed tenderness of the duchess towards +Brissac, "had we known that Monsieur de Rohan was so absolutely +necessary to your graceful friend, we would have sent him under a strong +escort across the mountains, for time was all that we wanted." + +"He must speedily be set at liberty," answered the duchess; "for I cannot +have it said that anything in which I take a share is connected with a +transaction so detrimental to the service of the king; and now, Monsieur +de Meyrand, show me in what way you think I am interested in this +affair." + +"Why, madam, you must clearly see--" said the count. + +"It matters not what I clearly see, my lord," exclaimed the duchess, +interrupting him. "Give me your own showing of the matter." + +"Why thus it is," replied the count. "Since I had the honour of bearing +to Rome the copy of an edict proposed by the king, you have three or +four times done me the great favour of writing to me, and consulting +with me in regard to the opposition made to that edict, and to the best +means of inducing the king to promulgate it. Now, madam, one clause in +that edict annuls all existing marriages which have been contracted +without the consent of parents or guardians; and you did me the honour +to reveal to me that such a clause was absolutely necessary to the +proposed marriage of the Duke of Montmorency and the king's daughter, +Madame de Farnese, and to that between the constable's second son, the +Duc Damville, and your fair relation, Mademoiselle de la Mark. That +clause is equally necessary to me and to Monsieur de Masseran, in order +that, the clandestine marriage of Mademoiselle de Brienne with the Baron +de Rohan being annulled, she may, with her mother's consent, give her +hand to me. Thus, madam, what I pray and beseech you to do is, as the +views of both tend absolutely to the same point, to give us the most +zealous aid and co-operation in persuading the king to promulgate this +edict at once." + +Diana of Poitiers paused for a moment in intense thought ere she +answered, while the two noblemen stood gazing upon her in silence. "I +will do so," she replied at length; "but, in the first place, Monsieur +de Rohan must be set at liberty." + +"Madam, that is impossible," exclaimed the Lord of Masseran. "Were he +set at liberty, all our plans and prospects are at an end together. His +very first act would be to seek this rash, imprudent girl, who thinks +herself fully justified by her father's written consent; and, depend +upon it, he would soon find means of discovering her, though we cannot." + +"Why, in the name of Heaven, where is she?" demanded the duchess. "Why, +you said but now, Monsieur de Masseran, that you left her in the count's +hands, that he might bring her to Paris." + +"Ay, but she escaped from his hands, madam," replied the Lord of +Masseran. "Whether the count is quite innocent of all knowledge of +female wiles, or whether he had been somewhat harsh and importunate with +her, I cannot tell; but at the end of the very first day's journey she +contrived to escape from him, how or when no one can discover. I had +come on to Paris in order to justify the detention of Bernard de Rohan, +and, in fact, to give an account of my whole conduct to the king; but +the good count, thinking that I must have some hand in the lady's +flight, followed me hither as rapidly as possible, without taking +sufficient time to inquire after her on the spot." + +The duchess heard him to an end, but her mind had run on far before her; +and she was gazing thoughtfully upon the ground, with various feelings +contending more strongly in her bosom than her two companions imagined. +Bernard de Rohan, she well knew, was the dearest friend of one who +certainly possessed her highest esteem--perhaps her highest +affection--the Maréchal de Brissac, and she loved not to take any share +in injuring or grieving him. We must say even more. Not being naturally +of a harsh or unkindly disposition, she was anything but disposed to +abet such machinations against two people who loved each other; and she +could not but feel at her heart that there existed between the Lord of +Masseran and the Count de Meyrand a dark and shameless conspiracy for +frustrating the intentions of the Count de Brienne, and thwarting the +affections of his daughter. All these considerations opposed themselves +to the very thought of aiding them in their purposes; but yet her own +views, her own dearest objects, were to be obtained by the same means +which tended to promote theirs; and she clearly saw that, if without +exposing, as she might do, the real views and purposes of the parties +concerned, she were to bring this case before the king as a new instance +of a marriage in opposition to the parent's consent, she would instantly +obtain the promulgation of the edict which was so necessary to her own +designs. She paused, then, and thought, considering, in the first place, +the opposing motives which led her this way and that, and afterward +asking herself whether she could not combine the two; whether it was not +possible to use the fact of this clandestine marriage in order to obtain +the king's signature to the edict, without ultimately separating the +hands of Bernard de Rohan and Isabel de Brienne. A few moments convinced +her that she could do so. The edict would, of course, annul their +marriage; but then she thought, "the great services of this young +cavalier, the friendship of Brissac, the support of Montmorency, the +father's written consent, will surely be enough to obtain for him +afterward the hand of this fair girl from the king himself; at least, my +management shall render these things sufficient;" and, trusting that it +would be so, she resolved upon that evil policy of employing bad means +in the hope of directing them to good results; a policy which has +seldom, if ever, yet failed to end in misery and ruin. + +"What says the mother?" demanded the duchess, after this long pause. + +"Oh, she says the same as myself, of course," replied the Lord of +Masseran. + +"Of course!" replied the lady, her lip curling slightly as she spoke. "I +had forgotten! Is she in Paris?" + +"She is here," replied the Lord of Masseran; "and not only ready, but +eager, to declare that this marriage has been against her will." + +"Indeed!" said the duchess: "and the brother? There is a youth I have +seen about the court, a gay, thoughtless, high-spirited lad, who gained +some renown under this very Baron de Rohan: what says he to the +marriage?" + +"Oh! he is too young and thoughtless," replied the Count de Meyrand. "He +has been asked nothing on the subject, though there is reason to fear, +we must not deny, that he would give his voice in favour of his old +companion." + +"But one thing is clear and certain," added the Lord of Masseran. "His +consent was not asked to the marriage; therefore it was without his +approbation and against the mother's." + +"So far so good," replied Diana of Poitiers. "Now mark me, gentlemen, +you must leave the whole conduct of this business to me; and if you +pledge yourselves to act exactly as I am about to dictate, I, on my +part, will pledge myself to obtain the promulgation of an edict +annulling this marriage within twelve hours from this time." + +A glad smile lighted up the face of the Count de Meyrand. But the Lord +of Masseran asked in a low, sweet tone, "Pray what are the conditions, +madam?" + +"These," replied the duchess at once. "And remember, gentlemen, that I +am one who will not be trifled with; so that, if you fail to perform +exactly your part, you shall find your whole schemes fall about your +heads, and perhaps crush you in the ruins thereof. The very moment that +I have obtained that edict, Monsieur de Masseran, without the loss of a +single hour, you shall depart from Paris, and set this young cavalier, +Bernard de Rohan, at liberty. Do not interrupt me! This is +indispensable. You can leave the marchioness behind. In the next place, +to guard against the evil consequences which I see you anticipate, you +shall engage the young Count of Brienne to set off instantly in search +of his sister, in order to bring her at once to Paris to the presence of +the king. You, Monsieur de Meyrand, shall not make the slightest attempt +to seek for her yourself, nor shall you at present quit Paris. But this +young gentleman, instructed that this edict annuls the clandestine +marriage, and is upon the very point of being signed, shall go as the +guardian of his sister's honour, and, at the same time, as the friend of +Monsieur de Rohan, to bring her safely back to the protection of her +mother and of his majesty. His own sense of what is right, under such +circumstances, will be a sufficient guarantee that he do not suffer his +sister to remain an hour with a man who is not her husband; and now--" + +"But, madam," said the Count de Meyrand, "if you will pardon me for thus +rudely interrupting you, I would point out one slight obstacle to the +arrangement you propose, which renders it absolutely impossible, and may +make it expedient that I should go myself. Henry of Brienne is at +Grenoble, I understand." + +"Well, then, sir," said the duchess, imperiously, "some one else must +go. _You_ must not! Were the other the lowest valet in my household, he +is more fit than you are to bring this lady to Paris." + +The Lord of Masseran had remained silent till the duchess's answer was +made, but he then joined in the conversation again, in one of his +sweetest tones, saying, "The count is mistaken, dear madam; Henry of +Brienne is in Paris. He thought of going to Grenoble, but did not go. He +was with his sweet mother not an hour ago." + +"Well, then, hear me!" said the duchess. "Do you undertake, Monsieur de +Meyrand, not to set out upon this search at all?" The count laid his +hand upon his heart, bowed with mock humility, and replied, "Who ever +yet resisted your commands? Nay, I am not jesting! I give you my +promise, madam." + +"Then, my Lord of Masseran," continued the duchess, "all I have to say +is this: Wait here for five minutes till I write a note above. Give it +to Henry of Brienne: afford him every direction and hint for finding his +sister, and bringing her at once to Paris. As soon as he has set out, +come with your fair lady to the palace to offer your complaint regarding +this clandestine marriage to his majesty. I will take care that you +shall have an immediate hearing, and I pledge myself that the edict +shall be signed this night. To-morrow morning, at daybreak, you depart +alone, posthaste, to liberate Bernard de Rohan. Is it not so?" and she +fixed her keen eye firm upon him. + +"It is, madam," replied the Lord of Masseran, better pleased at the +arrangement than she knew. + +"As for you, Meyrand," she added, with a smile, "take my advice: come +also to the court, appear totally unconcerned in this whole business, +and press your suit upon the king, if you so please, when the edict is +signed." + +"A woman's policy is always the best, madam," replied the count, "and in +this instance I shall follow it to the letter." + +"I must now leave you," said the lady, "for I am already late. Wait here +for the note, and then let us to our several parts with all speed." + +In less than the time that she had specified, a servant brought in an +open note, which contained these words: + + "Diana, duchess of Valentinois, to Henry, count of Brienne, + greeting: + + "These are to inform you that your sister Isabel de Brienne has + contracted a clandestine marriage with Bernard, baron de Rohan; + and that, inasmuch as this night an edict will be signed + annulling all marriages of the sort, it is absolutely necessary + to your own honour and to that of your sister that you should + immediately proceed to find and bring her to Paris till the + farther pleasure of the king be known. The Baron de Rohan + having been arrested the moment that the marriage was + celebrated, will be set at liberty immediately; but it is + requisite that you should prevent all communication between him + and your sister until it be authorized by his majesty." + +The Lord of Masseran made no scruple of reading the contents and showing +them to the Count de Meyrand, who marked them with a smile, and adding, +"We must make quite sure of the youth, however," led the way from the +apartments of the duchess. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +In the great hall of the Louvre, the princes, the nobles, and the ladies +of France--all who had a right, from their rank and station, to be +present at the great festivals of the court, and all who could by any +means obtain an invitation from the king himself--were assembled before +the hour of ten at night, on that occasion to which reference has been +made in the last chapter. The monarch himself had not yet appeared; but +one of those services which Henry principally required from his great +officers was to entertain with affability and kindness those whom the +etiquette of his court obliged him to keep waiting; and, on the night of +which we speak, the famous Marquis de Vieilleville in fact, though not +ostensibly, represented the king, and, aided by a number of other +gentlemen and officers commissioned so to do, received the court, and +endeavoured to make the time of expectation ere the sovereign's arrival +pass lightly. + +Everything had been done that could be done to give splendour to the +apartments, and many of those ornaments and decorations which we +attribute to the taste of modern days, but which, in fact, have but come +back again in the constant revolutions of fashion, were displayed on +this occasion to render the scene of royal festivity bright and +exciting. Some of the rooms were blazing with light, and covered with +every sort of ornament of gold and silver: rich draperies were hanging +from the walls, banners waving over head, garlands festooning the +cornices, and music floating on the air. In others, again, by some +means, a green hue had been given to the light, and it had been shaded +and kept down to a kind of soft twilight by flowers and green branches; +while a cool wind found its way in through open casements and +well-watered plants, and a stillness reigned upon the air only broken by +the far-off sound of the music, the murmur of distant voices, and the +sighing of the night air through the gardens. + +We shall pause no more, however, on the decorations of that gay scene, +inasmuch as so to do would be merely to give description without an +object; for we have no reason to assign why the reader should bear any +part thereof in mind. It is principally with the great hall we have to +do, but more especially still with the people that were in it. Shortly +after ten the king himself, with his queen, the famous Catharine de +Medicis, several of his children--among whom were three destined to be +kings, and two queens of mighty nations--entered the hall, and took his +place towards the head of the room. + +It was very customary in those times to give the balls of the court in +open day; and, though it certainly would strike us as somewhat strange +to see dancing take place except by candlelight--unless, indeed, it were +upon the greensward, where the smiling look of Nature herself seems to +justify and to call for that exuberant life which she first taught in +the world's young days--yet then as gay and as merry dances as any that +we now behold, took place in the painted saloons, under the somewhat too +bright and searching eye of the sun. The whole of that morning, however, +had been spent in either business or in festivities of another kind, and +the present was one of those more rare occasions selected, as we have +said, for a ball at night. + +Shortly after the king entered the room, he spoke a few words to the +young Count Duilly, then celebrated for his skill and grace in the +dance, and he, making his way to the spot where the musicians were +placed, communicated to them the orders of the king. What was called the +_Danse Royale_ was then played; and Henry himself, graceful and +distinguished in every sport and exercise, opened the ball in person. +Shortly after, another dance was played; and all who were, or believed +themselves to be, the most skilful of the court, hastened to figure in +the galliarde. Upon the execution of that marvellous performance, the +galliarde, however, perhaps the less we say the better; for it is to be +acknowledged that the various names of the wonderful steps danced--the +desportes, capriolles, turns and returns, fleurettes, close and +dispersed gamberottes, &c.--convey as little definite idea of what was +really done to our own mind as they would to the minds of most of our +readers. It was all very successful, no doubt; and there is much reason +to believe, from the account which Monsieur de Vieilleville himself +wrote on the occasion, that many a young lady's heart was pierced +through and through by the graces of particular cavaliers. + +The king himself took part in the dance, as we have said, but it was a +dignified part; and, having set the example, he retired from it as +speedily as possible. When he had done he looked round, as if searching +for some face he had missed, and his eye soon fell upon the fair Duchess +of Valentinois, whom he had not beheld before; for, to say the truth, +she had just entered, taking advantage of the general movement round the +galliarde to come in without attracting much attention. Her countenance +bore an expression of such unusual gravity, that Henry himself, ere he +resumed the place in the saloon where he usually stood on such +occasions, paused and spoke to her; first playfully scolding Henrietta +de la Mark for not having joined the dancers, and then asking the +duchess, in a lower tone, if anything had gone amiss. + +Diana smiled, and replied, "No, sire, nothing exactly amiss; but I have +had visiters this evening at an unusual hour, and they have been +pressing me to obtain for them an audience of your majesty on this very +night, regarding matters of much importance." + +"Nay, why should that cloud your fair brow?" said the king, in the same +low tone: "I will give them audience ere I go to bed, if my so doing +will please you, bright queen of night. If they can put it off, however, +let them come to-morrow, and your name shall open the doors of the +cabinet to them, be they the lowliest in the land." + +"That they are not, sire," replied Diana. "They are high enough to +present themselves here this night even unbidden; but I fear that +to-morrow will not do; for, upon your majesty's reply to them, a courier +must depart at once for the South. Still let me say, ere they come +forward--for I see them entering now--that it is not their requested +audience that makes me somewhat grave; no, nor their pressing for it at +an unseasonable hour, but it is that they come to urge upon your majesty +the selfsame suit I urged this morning; and, as I then saw that for the +first time I was doubted and suspected of art, in trying to lead rather +than to argue with my king, it may now be thought I have some share in +their coming, when, Heaven is my witness, it could take no one more by +surprise than myself." + +"Nay, but what is all this?" demanded the king, in a soothing tone; and +then, suddenly turning to Mademoiselle de la Mark, he exclaimed, "Lo! +Henriette--belle Henriette! here comes Damville, all love and ambergris, +to claim your fair hand--for the dance. Go with him, lady! Now, Diana, +what is this that agitates you thus? Faith, I suspect you not, and never +have suspected. I did but smile this morning at your eagerness, though +natural enough, and to see how we kings find soft leading, and all +things prepared to bring us to that which wise or fair counsellors judge +is for our good; it is the vice of power, my Diana, it is the vice of +power! As men by years reach childhood again, so kings by power fall +into weakness. But that matters not; your wishes were for the best; and, +if there was a little management in the matter, there could be but small +offence." + +"With one so placable as you are, sire," rejoined the duchess, gazing in +his face with a smile; "but the matter is this: There came to me this +night the Lord of Masseran--one of your majesty's faithful adherents in +Savoy--beseeching that I would obtain for him and for his fair lady +immediate audience of your majesty on matters that brook no delay. He, +judging wrongly that I had some little credit or influence with you, +besought me to urge upon your majesty the immediate promulgation of the +edict, so long delayed and often spoken of, concerning clandestine +marriages, and besought me to tell you the cause of his application. All +this I refused to do, telling him that on the subject of the edict I had +already done my best; that I had pleaded for myself; that I had even +pleaded in behalf of what I thought your majesty's best interest; and +that, having done so, I could not say a word for any other being on the +earth. Thus, sire, all I have to request is, that you would hear him and +judge for yourself." + +The expression of Henry's face while she was speaking puzzled not a +little Diana of Poitiers. The king's brow became for a time dark and +heavy, and his eye flashed angrily. But then, again, when he saw that +the lady seemed somewhat alarmed by his look, he smiled upon her kindly, +as if to mark that any feelings of dissatisfaction which he experienced +were not directed towards herself. His real feelings were explained, +however, immediately, by his replying in the same low tone, "He is, I +believe, a most consummate villain, this Lord of Masseran; and there is +good reason to suppose he has been playing false both to France and +Savoy. He has the very look of a handsome wolf," the king continued, +turning his frowning brow to the part of the room towards which the eyes +of Diana of Poitiers directed his in search of the Lord of Masseran: "I +will speak with him presently, however. Let him be taken into the white +chamber, next to that in which they serve the confectionery. Send +likewise for Bertrandi. He is in my closet. I will join you there in a +quarter of an hour. A guard, too, may be wanted before we have done. So, +as you pass, bid Beaujolais keep near the door." + +Thus saying, the king turned away and occupied himself with other +matters, speaking to the most distinguished persons present, and +laughing gayly with many a fair dame as he passed along. The duchess +remained for a short time where he had left her, not only for the +purpose of preventing her long conversation with the king from +connecting itself in the suspicions of those around with whatever might +take place regarding the Lord of Masseran, but also because she had some +doubts as to whether she should herself be present or not at the +interview between the Savoyard nobleman and the king. Henry had +certainly implied that she was to be present. But she had doubts and +fears in regard to meddling too much with the matter; and, if she could +have trusted to the Lord of Masseran, she certainly would have stayed +away. + +Trust him, however, she could not; for there was something in his whole +aspect, demeanour, and tone which at once inspired suspicion. Indeed, he +did not try to avoid it; for, looking upon skill, cunning, and acuteness +as the greatest of human qualities, he made no pretence whatever to +either frankness or sincerity. She still hesitated, however, when the +Count de Meyrand, dressed in the most splendid, and, at the same time, +the most tasteful habit that perhaps the whole court that night +displayed, passed by her as he retired from the dance. He bowed as he +did so with lowly reverence, but, at the same time, with a meaning +glance of the eye towards the spot where the Lord of Masseran stood. + +"I must watch what takes place myself," thought the duchess: "I will +take no part in the matter unless there be great need; but I will watch +all that is said and done." + +She accordingly drew herself gradually back from the circle, and, +choosing a moment when some change in the dance produced a momentary +confusion, she retired to the room which the king had named. + +A minute or two after, an attendant passed through the ballroom and +whispered a few words to the Lord of Masseran, who instantly followed +the servant, accompanied by a lady who had continued to stand beside him +since his entrance, but to whom he had not addressed more than one or +two words during the evening. She was a tall and handsome woman, and in +her countenance there was certainly some degree of resemblance to the +fair Isabel de Brienne. The features, however, though still fine, were +all larger and harsher except the eyes, which were small and of a +different colour from those of Isabel, being of a keen, eager black. She +was pale, and looked somewhat out of health; and, mingling with an air +of sternness which sat upon her brow, there was an expression of anxiety +and grief which made her countenance a painful one to look upon. It +seemed to bear written upon it, in very legible lines, the history of a +haughty spirit broken. + +When the Lord of Masseran and his wife reached the chamber to which the +royal servant conducted them, the Duchess of Valentinois was there +alone. She received them affably, but with somewhat of regal state, and +begged the marchioness to seat herself, acting in all things as if the +palace were her own. + +"Is that note for me, Monsieur de Masseran?" she inquired, after having +announced that the king would join them in a few minutes, and asked some +questions of common courtesy regarding the health of the Marchioness of +Masseran. "Is that note which you hold in your hand for me?" + +"It is, madam," replied the other. "It is from Monsieur de Brienne, whom +we left booted and spurred, with his horses at the door, ready to mount +at a moment's notice." + +The duchess took the note and read. "Madame," it ran, "I am ready +promptly to set out for the frontier of Savoy as soon as my errand is +clearly ascertained. My dear sister Isabel is either the wife of my +earliest friend Bernard de Rohan, to whom she was promised by my father, +and to whom it is my first wish she should be united, or the marriage +which I understand has taken place is null. If she be his wife, Heaven +forbid that I should make even an attempt to separate them, which I am +sure De Rohan would instantly and justly resist. If, however, the king, +by an edict which I must not dare to impugn, has thought fit, as I am +told, to declare such marriages void, whether past or future, it, of +course, becomes my duty immediately to seek my sister, and to keep her +with me till such time as we obtain his majesty's permission for her +final union to my friend. But I must first be positively certified that +such an edict has been signed. If I can show this to De Rohan, I know +him too well to doubt his conduct; but, if I cannot show it to him, I +must not and dare not attempt measures towards him which he would +infallibly resist. At the same time, madam, let me tell you, with all +respect, that I find I have been trifled with; that false information +regarding De Rohan's movements has been given me, in order to prevent my +joining him at Grenoble, as he wished; and that I am certain my sister +Isabel has been driven to give her hand thus suddenly to her promised +husband by circumstances of which we are not aware." + +"More good sense than I gave him credit for," said the duchess, musing. + +"May I be permitted, madam, to see the note which has excited your +admiration?" inquired the Lord of Masseran, with a quiet sneer. + +"Nay, Monsieur de Masseran," answered the duchess, "it was not written +for the public benefit." + +"And, doubtless," continued the Lord of Masseran, "as the young +gentleman was not in the sweetest of moods, it was not written for my +private benefit either?" + +"He never mentions your name, my lord," replied the duchess, "nor speaks +of you in any way. But here comes my good lord the chancellor: the king +will not be long." + +Her prediction was verified, for Bertrandi had scarcely entered the room +when Henry himself appeared, accompanied by his son, afterward Francis +the Second, and followed by a page, who placed himself at the door to +prevent any one from entering without permission. Every one present drew +back as the king appeared, and bowed low; while, with a frowning brow, +he crossed the cabinet, and seated himself at a small table. The dauphin +then took a place upon his father's right hand, and the chancellor, +after a deprecatory bow to the Duchess of Valentinois, advanced to the +king's left. + +"I grieve, madam," said Henry, addressing the Marchioness de Masseran, +in a courteous tone, "I grieve to see you apparently so much altered in +health. It would seem that the air of Savoy--that pure, fine air--suits +not your constitution. We must keep you more with us in Paris." + +"I have been suffering some anxiety and grief, sire," replied the lady, +while the eyes of the Lord of Masseran were bent keenly and fiercely +upon her. + +"Most sorry am I to hear it," replied the king. "We believed that, in +providing for you so noble and high a husband as the Lord of Masseran, +we should have moved grief and anxiety from you altogether. We trust +that we have not been deceived in this noble lord," continued the king, +gazing sternly upon the Savoyard. + +"Your majesty has, I believe, been mistaken in what this dear and +excellent lady said," replied the Lord of Masseran; "I discovered no +charge against myself in her words. Was there any, dear lady?" + +"Oh, no," replied the lady, quickly, and, it seemed, fearfully; "none, +none; I spoke alone of the grief and anxiety which, as you know, I came +hither to lay before his majesty, if we were fortunate enough to find +audience." + +"Then I will beg you, madam," said the king, "to lay it before me at +once, and fully, confiding in me entirely as you would in a brother, and +remembering that, whoever be the offender, you have in the king one who +can protect as well as punish, and who will protect wherever he sees +wrong offered or evil suffered." + +The lady gave a momentary glance at her husband, as if of timid inquiry. +It was like a child saying its lesson, and looking up for a word of +direction or encouragement. "I thank your majesty much," she said, "for +your gracious promise, and I come to you with full confidence, feeling +that you will grant me redress for what I consider a great injury. My +complaint is this: that a gentleman of high rank and station, connected +with some of the highest families of this realm, a distinguished soldier +also, and one who has hitherto borne a high character--has, while +pretending to carry on the war in Piedmont, and commanding certain +bodies of your majesty's troops--has, I say, clandestinely carried away +my daughter, Isabel de Brienne, during the temporary absence of my +husband, Monsieur de Masseran. He had even induced a priest to perform +the marriage ceremony between him and her, when the fortunate return of +my husband at the very moment enabled him to seize them at the altar. I +say, sire, that this is my complaint, and for this I beg redress; the +more so, indeed, inasmuch as this very gentleman who has so acted was +well aware that your majesty had expressed yourself strongly against +such clandestine marriages, and had even proposed an edict declaring +them void and of no effect." + +"Pray who is this gentleman?" demanded the king, in a stern tone. "By +your showing, madam, he has acted bitterly wrong, and, unless some +extenuations appear, he shall be most severely punished; nor shall that +punishment be the less on account of his rank, distinction, and +services, as he could neither plead ignorance, inexperience, nor folly." + +The features of the Lord of Masseran relaxed into a dark smile; and the +lady replied, "His name, sire, was once dear and familiar to me and +mine--it is Bernard, baron de Rohan." + +"What! our good friend and daring captain?" exclaimed the king; "this is +indeed too bad. Monsieur de Rohan ought to have known that he had +nothing to do but to apply to ourself, not only at once to obtain our +royal permission, but also to induce us to use every argument with such +of the lady's family as might be opposed to his wishes." + +"Sire," replied the lady, taking advantage of a pause in the king's +answer, "this gentleman has acted ill in all respects. He neither put +confidence in your majesty nor in me; he never even applied for my +consent; he has never seen me since he crossed the Alps." + +"This is altogether amiss," replied the king. "You say they are +separated," he continued, in a musing tone; "where is the young lady? I +would fain see and speak with her." + +Such communication would not have suited the purposes of the Lord of +Masseran, even had it been possible to produce Isabel of Brienne; and +now, having seen his wife make her formal complaint exactly as he could +have wished, he took the rest of the business out of her hands, fearful +lest she might make some rash admission. "Alas! sire," he said, "it is +impossible that your majesty's commands can be complied with; not only +is the lady not with us in Paris, but she has escaped from the hands of +those into whose charge I gave her. Where she is, and what doing, we +know not; and it is under these circumstances that we come to your +majesty, not so much for redress as for aid." + +"This complicates the matter, indeed," said Henry; "have you, then, +reason to suppose that she has rejoined him?" + +"No, sire," replied the Lord of Masseran, "not so at all; for I ventured +to take a step which--although, of course, on my own territories I am +free and independent, as lord and sovereign--I would not have done, had +I not been aware that your majesty is as just as you are powerful. I +found one of your majesty's subjects upon my territories committing an +unlawful act, for which I would have punished any of my own vassals with +death, and I ventured--" + +"You did not kill him?" exclaimed the king, starting. + +"Oh no, sire, no," replied the Savoyard; "I never dreamed of such a +thing. I ventured to arrest and imprison him, in order to prevent the +evil being carried farther; and, having done so, I set out immediately +to cast myself at your majesty's feet, to inform you exactly how I had +acted, to beg your forgiveness for having imprisoned one of your +subjects, and to place the decision of his fate entirely in the hands of +your majesty." + +"You have acted well and wisely," replied the king; "and, such being the +case, you shall not only have aid, but redress. The edict which renders +such clandestine marriages null and void shall be signed this instant, +and shall be registered by our Parliament to-morrow. My lord the +cardinal, we trust that you come as well prepared this afternoon as you +were this morning. Have you the edict with you now?" + +"I have not, your majesty," replied Bertrandi; "but it is in your +majesty's cabinet." + +"Let it be brought instantly," said the king. "This new example of the +fault which it is destined to amend, not only fully justifies the act, +but also peremptorily requires the clause which remedies the evil just +committed. Nor shall this be the only punishment which shall fall upon +the head of him who has so far neglected what was due to himself and to +us. He must be summoned to Paris immediately; and, in the mean time, +means must also be taken to bring this refractory girl also to our +court. Be quick, good cardinal, for we must not be long absent from the +hall." + +The dauphin listened to his father in silence, and with an air of deep +reverence. "I trust, sire," he said, at length, as soon as he perceived +that the king, having given his orders, was turning once more to address +the Marquis of Masseran, "I trust that there are some circumstances in +the case of Monsieur de Rohan which may mitigate your majesty's anger +when known. It seems to me that Monsieur de Masseran has not been +completely explicit on one or two subjects; may I presume to ask him a +few questions in your majesty's presence?" + +"Certainly, Francis," replied the king. "It gives me always pleasure to +see you exercise your judgment and powers of mind on subjects of +importance." + +The young prince bowed with an ingenuous blush, while the Marquis of +Masseran turned a shade paler than usual, and bent down his eyes upon +the ground before the boy of sixteen, who now advanced a step to +question him. "You tell us, Monsieur le Marquis," he said, "that the +Baron de Rohan did not even apply for the consent of your fair lady: may +I ask if he ever presented himself at your palace, or chateau, or +whatever it may be, for the purpose of so doing?" + +"It was the marchioness who said so, not I," replied the Lord of +Masseran: "I was absent at the time." + +"At what time?" demanded the prince, sharply; and, seeing the Savoyard +hesitate, he added, "Did or did not Monsieur de Rohan come to your +gates? and was he or was he not refused admission?" + +"I believe he did," said the Marquis of Masseran, "I believe he did +present himself at the gates when I was absent." + +"He himself believed that you were not absent," replied the youth, with +royal sternness, while the king felt no little surprise to find that his +son had so intimate a knowledge of the facts in question; and the +Marquis of Masseran, still more surprised, concealed his astonishment +less skilfully than the monarch. "On my word, your highness," he said, +"on my life, I was absent." + +"But yet, Monsieur de Masseran," continued the prince, "you were +perfectly well aware that Monsieur de Rohan presented himself at your +gates, demanding to speak with yourself, in the first place, and then, +in your absence, with this fair lady your wife, who certainly was within +the chateau; and yet you suffered her--unconsciously upon her part, no +doubt--to lead his majesty to believe that her approbation had not been +sought and was utterly contemned. This was not right, sir, for it was +misleading the king." + +"You speak well and wisely, Francis," said his father: "go on, my dear +boy, go on, if you have anything more to ask." + +"One or two things more, may it please your majesty," he replied, with a +look of pride in his father's approbation, but keeping his eyes still +fixed upon the Lord of Masseran. "My next question is: as the young lady +has a brother, who is her next male relation, did he or did he not give +his consent to the marriage of Monsieur de Rohan with his sister?" + +"In regard to that, sir, I can say nothing," replied the Lord of +Masseran. "Monsieur de Brienne, your highness, is not under my charge +and guidance. All I have to say is, that his mother most positively +refused her consent." + +"It might be more straightforward, sir," replied the prince, "to say +whether, to your knowledge, Monsieur de Brienne consented or not." + +"I think, monseigneur," said Diana of Poitiers, taking a step forward, +"I think I may reply fully to your question, which Monsieur de Masseran +seems not inclined to do. Henry de Brienne always has approved of his +sister's marriage to Bernard de Rohan, and Monsieur and Madame de +Masseran are amply aware of the fact." + +"I do not deny it," said Madame de Masseran, sharply. "He is a +headstrong and unruly boy." + +"One question more," said the prince, "and I have done. Is not Bernard +de Rohan justified, to a certain degree, in that which he has done, by a +written promise of Mademoiselle de Brienne's hand, given to him by her +own father shortly before the good count's death? I ask you, madam, is +not this the case?" + +"It is the case that he has such a promise," replied Madame de Masseran, +in the same shrewish tone, "but not that he is justified by it, your +highness. That promise never had either my consent or approbation; +though the late Monsieur de Brienne, who was his guardian and brought +him up, was foolishly fond of this boy, and thought that he was +everything great and noble, I had always different views for my +daughter, and never either directly or indirectly countenanced that +promise." + +"I am in no way interested in this business, sire," said the dauphin, +turning towards his father, "not being personally acquainted in the +slightest degree with Monsieur de Rohan; but I thought it necessary to +ask these few questions in your majesty's presence, in consequence of +information I had received in a somewhat circuitous manner. Having thus +far elicited the truth, which was at first evidently concealed from you, +your majesty's wisdom must decide the rest--" + +"This is the edict, sire," said the Cardinal Bertrandi, re-entering the +chamber; "it wants but your royal signature and the great seal. May I +offer you the pen?" and, thus saying, he spread the parchment on the +table before the king. + +Henry took the pen, paused for a moment, and then turned his eyes upon +the Duchess of Valentinois. She looked down upon the ground, however, +and uttered not a word. The king dipped the pen in the ink and wrote his +name at the bottom of the edict. The chancellor countersigned it, and +raised it from the table. + +"Now, Diana," said Henry, in a low voice, turning to the duchess, "what +think you?" + +"That your majesty has done perfectly right," replied the lady, in the +same low tone. "Not that this poor Bernard de Rohan, it would appear, is +really to blame." + +"I do not know," replied the king, "I do not know; but we shall soon +see. The question must be inquired into," he added, in a louder voice. +"I will hear all parties, and then decide. For the present, the marriage +is annulled. Monsieur de Masseran, hasten back to Savoy, and instantly +set the Baron de Rohan at liberty. Let some one proceed immediately--her +brother will be the best, the fittest, the only fit person. Let him +immediately proceed to seek for Mademoiselle de Brienne, and bring her +to Paris without loss of time. You, Monsieur de Masseran, will command +De Rohan, in our name, to present himself in the capital within fourteen +days from the date of his liberation by your hand. You will do well also +to come hither yourself as speedily as may be; for our good friend +Brissac, who is somewhat of a sanguinary person to deal with, has +conceived an objection to the frequent passing of couriers through your +part of the country. It were well to keep out of Brissac's way. My good +Lord Cardinal, see that all things requisite be done, and also that the +edict be duly registered in the Parliament to-morrow. Come, Francis, +come. We shall have all the world marvelling at our absence." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +What would life be without its varieties? + +I forget where I have met with it--whether in the works of Kant and his +disciples, or in the thoughts and imaginations attributed to Zoroaster, +or in some of the lucubrations of Plato, or in the fragments of +Epicurus, whose doubtful philosophy has left the world at war as to his +tendency towards good or evil, virtue or vice: certainly it was not in +Pyrrho, who had nothing good in him, or in Confucius, the great teacher +of the tea-growing nation--I forget where I have met with it; but among +the many speculations, wise and foolish, learned and ignorant, fanciful +and earthly, with which we children of the lower sphere from time to +time have amused ourselves, sometimes reverently, sometimes impiously, +sometimes with humility, sometimes audaciously, there is to be found a +theory--perhaps it merely deserves the name of an hypothesis--which +attributes to the Deity, almost as an attribute, but, at all events, as +a necessity, the endless variety of creations, and a satisfaction, if we +may use the term, in viewing the infinite multiplicity of his own works. + +Without presuming, however, to raise our eyes to scan things that are +hidden from us, or to reason upon any attributes of God except such as +he has deigned to reveal to us; without daring to lay down limits to +infinity, or, like the stupid idolaters of ancient times, the Greek and +Roman inventors of the most barbarous worship that ever, perhaps, was +devised, who, after making to themselves gods, and clothing those gods +with all the most infamous of human passions, ended by enchaining their +very deities themselves, under the law of a necessity which bound all +things, and left Godhead as impotent as humanity; without such audacity +or such foolishness, we may well look round upon the universe exposed to +our eyes, and, seeing that God has been pleased to render his creations +infinite, we may at least feel certain that the varieties which he has +displayed are in themselves excellent and beautiful, each deriving +propriety from the other, and all forming a grand scheme in which the +diversity of the parts is only one admirable feature. Our own eyes and +our own senses, our own hearts and our own feelings, convince us of it +every moment; and, from the glorious mountain to the minute blade of +grass which grows by its side, from the boundless ocean to the small, +bright, glistening drop that dashes in spray upon the rocks that bound +it, every variety contributes visibly to our delight, and to the beauty +of the wonderful scene in which we dwell. + +Variety, then, forms a part of enjoyment; but let it not be supposed +that the admission of this fact--derived, as we derive it, from the +works of God himself--can ever have a tendency to produce evil, to +generate the licentious desire of multiplying and changing pleasures, or +to create the fickle and fluttering inconstancy which ranges +dissatisfied from object to object. In the works of God, though the +varieties be infinite, and the contrasts sometimes immense, there is +still a general and beautiful harmony, a fine and exact adaptation of +every part to the other. Each change and each variation has its end and +object, each step has its purpose, and each contrast ends in some grand +result. + +By the same rules, however, must the search for variety be guided, as +the condition of producing happiness. Means of varying our pleasures, +almost to infinity, have been given us by the Almighty, within the +limits which he has himself assigned to us. The enjoyment of His own +works, the contemplation of His goodness, the devotion to His service, +were alone sufficient, were man rightly wise, to afford more varied +exercise to the human mind than would fill many a long life, even if the +Almighty had not loaded our pathway with opportunities of a thousand +other gratifications, innocent in themselves, and endless in their +combinations. In fact, the variety which we seek in our way through life +must be framed, not partially, but entirely, upon the model of that +which we see in creation. Each new endeavour, each alteration of +pursuit, must have its high object, and in itself be good; and, as we +and our existence are but parts of a great system, so must each change +be part of the great system of our life. + +In an humbler and in a lesser way, he who sits down to tell a +tale--intended not alone to while away an idle hour for himself or for +others, but also to do some good while it amuses--may well indulge in +following every work of nature, and every page in the book of human +life, and change the scene continually, varying the characters, the +personages, the events which he depicts; but he must also bear in mind +that each is a part of one general scheme, each tends to one particular +and distinct object. + +From the court of France and the gay scenes of the capital we must once +more travel back to the rugged mountain passes among which our tale +began, and to those in whose fate, to say sooth, we are the most +interested. Although we are ourselves somewhat anxious to discover what +has become of the fair Isabel of Brienne--how her escape has been +effected--where she is now wandering--how she is guided, guarded, and +protected--we must, nevertheless--though we suspect that her path was +dangerous, thorny, and sorrowful--return to Baron de Rohan, and leave +him no longer upon the side of the mountain. + +The young cavalier rode on, accompanied by Corse de Leon, with as much +speed as the rough and tortuous nature of the road would admit. The men +who brought the horses followed quickly after; and, in about twenty +minutes, they reached the spot in the valley where the two roads +divided, which we have already mentioned more than once. Here Corse de +Leon was about to proceed at the same pace up the shorter road, leaving +upon the left hand that by which, upon a former night, he had brought +back Isabel de Brienne to the castle of Masseran. One of his followers, +however, instantly shouted to him: "Ho! signior, ho! you cannot go by +that road except on foot. It was that which kept us so long. The stream +is swelled, and the bridge is gone again, and we were obliged to come +round the other way." + +"The stream swelled!" said Corse de Leon, in a thoughtful tone. "There +must be something going on farther up in the mountains. The snows must +be melting, or some glacier breaking up! However, let us go on by this +other road. One of you remain here and see if we are followed," he +continued, turning to the men behind him; "let the other go down to the +cross, and tell Pinchesne and the rest to come over the hill. Let them +leave one or two in the valley in case they should be wanted. Now let us +on!" and he rode forward more slowly than before, though the left-hand +road which he pursued was the longer of the two. He seemed, however, in +one of those moody fits during which bitter memories continually mingled +with a natural current of powerful abstract thoughts, changing their +character from the calm reasoning of a man of acute and high-toned mind +and intelligence, to morose and misanthropical ponderings, wherein all +the images were gloomy and harsh. At such times his whole conduct and +demeanour varied according to the mood of the moment: even his corporeal +gestures, the quickness or slowness of his pace, as well as his look and +his tone of voice, were all affected by what passed in his mind. When on +his guard, indeed, no one was more deliberate, thoughtful, and measured, +in every look, word, and gesture; but that was a matter of habit and +acquired self-command. By nature he was one of those whose whole +corporeal frame is, as it were unconsciously, the quick and ready slave +of the spirit. + +A change had come over him since they had mounted their horses, and such +was, in reality, the secret of his riding more slowly. He might be +actuated, indeed, in some degree, by consideration for the animal on +which he was mounted; for the way, as we have before said, was nearly +two leagues longer, and the night was excessively hot and oppressive, so +that the white foam was already about the horse's neck and bridle. The +sky was clear of all clouds, however, and the stars were shining bright, +though they seemed smaller and farther off than usual. As they turned, +the distant pointed summit of an icy mountain was seen towering over one +of the passes, white and glittering in the starlight, while around it, +without any visible clouds, there played occasionally bright +coruscations as of faint summer lightning. For some way Corse de Leon +did not speak; but at length he said, putting his hand to his brow, +"Were there any clouds in the sky, I should think there would be a storm +to-night. It seldom happens that the elements, as is the case with human +life, give us storms without clouds. We have generally some warning of +the tempest." + +"There is a moaning sound in the hills," said Bernard de Rohan, "and yet +I feel no wind. But do you not think," he continued, reverting to what +his companion had said, "do you not think that it generally happens in +human life we have some forewarning of the storms that befall us?" + +"Not from external things," replied Corse de Leon, "not from external +things. Often, often without the slightest cause to fear a change, +suddenly a thousand adverse circumstances combine to overwhelm us. It is +true, indeed it is true, that there may be other indications of a +different kind." + +"Ay," answered Bernard de Rohan, "that is what I mean. Do you not think +that when we have no external omens of what is coming--when no cloud +blackens the sky--when no red sun announces the tempest of the following +day--do you not think that even then, within us, there may be a warning +voice which tells us of the storm that we see not, and bids us seek some +shelter from its fury?" + +"Like that low murmuring that we hear even now," said Corse de Leon. + +"I remember," continued Bernard de Rohan, without marking his words +particularly, "that, not many days ago, as I was crossing the mountains +to come hither, a fit of gloom fell upon me: I knew not why; for all was +bright and cheerful in the prospect before me. I could not shake it off +for some time; and in vain I tried to scoff at my own feelings. They +would have way: I felt as if some misfortunes were about to befall me; +and, though not one of all the things which have since occurred could by +any chance have been divined at the time, yet you see that misfortunes +did assail me even within a few days." + +"Do you call these misfortunes?" demanded Corse de Leon. "You are +younger in heart than I even thought you were. But what you say is +worthy of memory; if what you felt were really a presentiment of coming +evils, take my word for it, they are scarcely yet begun: you will want +watching and assistance," he added, thoughtfully; "you will need aid and +help with a strong hand; I have not forgotten my promise, and I will +keep it. But quick, let us ride on! Our horses feel that there is +something coming, and I would fain reach Gandelot's inn before it +comes." + +"I should suppose," replied Bernard de Rohan, "that it offers very +inefficient shelter. It is built so completely at the foot of the +mountain, that I wonder the snows in winter do not overwhelm it." + +"It has twice been crushed under an avalanche," replied his companion, +"and they still build it up again on the same spot; but what the house +has to fear is as much the water as the snow; and it is because it is no +place of shelter that I would fain be there." + +Bernard de Rohan understood him in a moment; and the thought of Isabel +de Brienne was quite sufficient to make him spur on eagerly. About half +a league farther, the road turned a projection of the mountain, and, +shortly after they had passed the angle of the rock, the spray of a +cataract dashed in their faces, while an immense volume of water rushed +furiously down from a spot some hundred yards above them, looking in +that dim hour like some vast giant robed in white and leaning against +the mountain. The torrent itself gushed across the road, and Bernard de +Rohan turned his eyes upon his companion, not recollecting such an +obstruction in their way. + +"Some four or five hours ago," said Corse de Leon, "when I passed by +that spot, there was scarcely water enough to quench the thirst of a +wolf, and now it is a torrent. There is some great commotion above +there. But perhaps it is all past, and these may be the results. We must +try and force our horses through, however; keep as close to the face of +the rock as possible." + +So saying, he spurred on; but it was with the greatest difficulty that +either he or his companion compelled their horses to make the attempt to +pass the torrent. The pattering of the spray and the roaring of the +stream terrified and bewildered them; and when, at length, urged +forward, partly by chiding, partly by gentleness, they did dash on, the +animals bore their riders through the midst of the current, where the +ground was rough and insecure. Twice the charger which bore Bernard de +Rohan stumbled, and nearly fell, and twice, though drenched with the +pouring of the water on his head, and gasping for breath under the +rushing weight upon him, he aided the horse up with heel and hand till +he reached the other side and stood on firm ground. + +Wellnigh stunned and bewildered, he turned to look for Corse de Leon. +The brigand was standing beside him dismounted from the horse, and +holding the animal by the rein with one hand, while he raised the other +towards the sky with a look of eager, yet solemn attention. The next +instant he grasped the young cavalier's hand, exclaiming, "Stir not a +step! It is coming, it is coming! Now, as ever, we stand in God's good +will to live or die; but death is very near us." + +At the same moment there came a roar as of distant cannon; many shot off +at once; then a murmuring pause; then a roar again; and, as it came on, +the deafening sound of the thunder itself would have been as nothing to +the terrific rushing noise that echoed through the hollow valleys. It +seemed as if a thousand sounds were mingled; for the howling of the wind +still continued, as if imitating the screams and wailing of people in +pain; while the crash of rocks falling upon rocks, and of the stout +trees of the forest rent into shivers, and of rolling masses of earth +and snow, crags and cliffs, with one half the mountain itself, was alone +overpowering by the very sound that beat upon the ear, even had it not +been accompanied by an awful pressure of the air which took away the +breath, and a sense of coming annihilation which seemed to check the +beating of the heart even before death had stilled it with his icy hand. + +There was time for but one short prayer to Him on high, and one thought +of her he loved, before the crumbling ruin came down into the valley, +sweeping close, past the very place where Bernard de Rohan stood. Rocks +and stones rushed on before it, and one immense mass struck his horse on +the knees and chest, threw him backward on his haunches, and beast and +rider rolled over the edge into the stream. For an instant he lost his +consciousness; and then, waking to life, found himself in the valley +below, dashed by the torrent against the rocky banks. + +He had been thrown free, however, from the horse; and, though to swim +was impossible, from the crags, the trees, the projecting stones, and +the fierce struggling of the torrent, yet he contrived to grasp a rugged +branch that hung over the water, swung himself to the bank, and sprang +upon the land. It was all impulse, for he hardly knew how he found the +bough or reached the firm ground. Even when there, he was fain to cast +himself down, and press his hands upon his forehead, for everything swam +round with him: the earth seemed to shake beneath his feet; and the roar +of falling rocks and crags still mingled with the loud voice of the +turbulent waters from which he had just escaped. The mightier sound, +however, had passed away--that awful rushing noise, unlike anything else +on earth--and gradually, the others ceased also, till at length nothing +was heard but the flowing of the river, as it foamed and struggled with +the obstacles in its course. + +When Bernard de Rohan could rise and look around him everything was +dark, except where in the sky appeared the twinkling myriads of the +night, beginning, he fancied, to look pale at the approach of morning. +He listened in the hopes of hearing some voice; but, if there was any, +it was drowned in the noise of the waters. + +With a thousand painful apprehensions in his heart, with no way of +relieving his anxiety, with nothing left but to wait for the return of +daylight, he cast himself down again, after having called once or twice +aloud upon Corse de Leon without receiving any answer. He could not +distinguish whither he had been borne. He could see some large trees +still standing near him, and some enormous black masses of rock lifting +their heads around. The shadow of the giant mountain, too, rose up +before him; but its form seemed changed, and he gazed as if to ascertain +in what features it was altered. + +Gradually the summit of the hill, warmed into a dusky brown, caught some +of the rays of the rising sun, and--while every moment it assumed a +brighter hue, till it crowned itself, and decorated the mists which +surrounded it with gold--a sober twilight crept into the valley; and +Bernard de Rohan found himself standing in the gray morning with a world +of ruin and desolation around him, without a trace of road or human +habitation, and with the narrow pass along which his way had been bent +completely blocked up by the huge masses of the fallen mountain. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +With that strange, dizzy sensation which we feel when awaking from the +first stunning effects of any great catastrophe, Bernard de Rohan +continued to gaze around him for some minutes, as the morning rose +brighter and brighter upon the wild scene of destruction in the midst of +which he stood. He was himself much bruised and injured: blood was upon +various parts of his garments; his strong, muscular arm would scarcely +support him as he leaned against the rock, and his brain still reeled +giddily from time to time with the fall and the blows he had received: +but his own corporeal pain engaged less of his attention than the +terrible picture which the rising light displayed. Everywhere appeared +vestiges of the desolating phenomenon of the preceding night. The order +of all things around him, and especially to the northeast, seemed to +have been entirely broken up and changed. The granite rocks from the +higher summits of the mountain were now piled up in immense masses +below, mingled with vast tracts of the most dissimilar substances, +slate, and sandstone, and common vegetable earth, with here and there a +thick layer of snow protruding through the chasms, marked in long +streaks by the various kinds of earth over which it had passed. Shivered +fir-trees, and immense fragments of oak, with their green foliage still +waving in the air, stuck out here and there in scattered disarray from +the tumbled chaos of rock, and sand, and earth; and the fragments of a +cottage roof, which lay reversed high up the side of the mountainous +pile that now blocked up the valley, showed that the sweeping +destruction had, at all events, reached one of the homes of earth's +children. + +Such was the scene towards the northeast: but it was evident that the +fallen masses had not yet firmly fixed themselves in the position which +they were probably to bear for ages afterward. From time to time a rock +rolled over, but slowly, making its way down into the valley with +increasing speed, sometimes pausing and fixing itself in a new bed part +of the way down. None of these, however, in their descent, reached the +spot where Bernard de Rohan stood, for he was at least three hundred +yards from the base of the mountain which had thus been produced during +the night. As it came down, indeed, the immense body had been +accompanied by the fall of large masses of stone, which were scattered +on all sides, so that the green bosom of the valley--which, on the +preceding day, had been carpeted by soft and equal turf, only broken +here and there by a tall tree, or clumps of shrubs and bushes, or else +by large fantastic lumps of rock or stone, fallen immemorial ages +before, and clothed by the hand of time with lichens or creeping +plants--was now thickly spotted with fresh fragments, which from space +to space had shivered the trees in their descent, and in other places +was soiled with long tracks of various-coloured earths, which had +showered down like torrents as the great mass descended farther on. + +The stream, swollen, turbid, and furious, was rushing on amid the rocks +in the middle of the valley; but the traces of where it had lately been +evidently showed that it was rapidly decreasing in volume, and had +already much diminished. Bernard de Rohan traced it up with his eye to +the spot where it descended from the hill, crossing the road, which ran +along the top of a steep bank on the opposite side. The cataract through +which he had forced his horse the night before was there visible, and +still showed a large column of rushing water, though it, too, was +greatly lessened. This waterfall, however, gave the young cavalier some +mark by which to judge of the distances; and he found that he must have +been carried down the stream nearly three hundred yards before he +recovered himself and got to land. He thus perceived how near the chief +mass of falling mountain must have passed to the spot where he had been +standing, and he felt that the detached rock, which had struck his horse +and cast him down into the stream before the whole fell, had probably +saved his life. + +But what had become of his companion? he asked himself. What had become +of that being who, strange, and wild, and erring as he doubtless was, +had contrived, not only to fix himself strongly upon his affections, but +to excite, in a considerable degree, his admiration and esteem? Had he +perished in that awful scene? Had he closed his wild and turbulent +existence in the tremendous convulsion which had taken place? He feared +it might be so; and yet, when he looked up and saw distinctly +that--though ploughed up by the heavy stones that had fallen, and thus, +in many places, rendered impassable--the road was still to be traced by +the eye for some thirty yards beyond the cascade, he did hope--though +the hope was but faint--that Corse de Leon might have escaped. + +If so, traces of him and of the way that he had taken might yet be +found. But another possibility soon presented itself to the mind of +Bernard de Rohan, The brigand might have been thrown over the precipice +by some of the falling rocks, like the young cavalier himself, and might +even then be lying mutilated and in agony not far off. Without a +moment's delay, Bernard proceeded to search along the course of the +stream, which was far too much swollen to permit of his passing it. + +Nothing of Corse de Leon could he see, however; not a vestige, not a +track; but a few yards from the spot where the cascade, after striking +the road, bounded down again into the valley below, he found, in the bed +of the stream, crushed and mangled in an awful manner, the carcass of +the poor horse which he had himself so lately ridden. The size of the +animal had caused it to be entangled sooner among the rocks in the bed +of the stream than he had been, but it had evidently been killed by the +blow of the first fragment of stone which struck it, for its two front +legs were broken, and its chest actually dashed in. + +It was a painful and a sickening spectacle in the midst of a scene so +wild, so awful, and extraordinary; but one additional horror which might +well have been there was wanting. The vultures, which are said to be +scared from their pursuit of prey by no portent, had, nevertheless, not +approached as yet; and Bernard de Rohan, with his arms crossed upon his +chest, remained for a moment looking at the dead body of the animal, as +it lay half out of the water and half hidden by the rushing stream, with +many a dark and gloomy association crossing his mind, though vaguely and +unencouraged. + +As he stood and gazed, a small bird upon an opposite tree, which had +escaped uninjured throughout the late catastrophe, burst out in a wild +and somewhat melancholy song; and Bernard de Rohan, with his heart +heavier than before, turned and retrod his steps, in the hopes of +finding some place where he could cross the torrent farther down the +valley. In this expectation he was disappointed; the stream only grew +larger, and deeper, and more impetuous, swelled by the different +rivulets that were pouring down the sides of the mountains; and at +length, after wandering on more than three miles, it plunged through a +deep chasm in the rock, which left no footing for the young cavalier to +make his way farther on that side of the valley. Could he have passed +the waters, it would have been easy to have made his way up to the +little mountain road by which he had passed the preceding night, and +which was now before his eyes. But he was shut in between the torrent on +one side and the high mountain on the other; and, although he saw some +sheep-paths and other tracks, he knew not where they led to, but had +only the certainty that they must take him to a distance from the spot +which he wished to reach immediately, in order to relieve the darkest +anxiety of all the many that were at his heart. Turning back, then, he +made a desperate, but ineffectual effort to pass the masses of the +mountains which had been thrown down, and by midday he was forced to +retread his steps nearly to the same spot where he had found himself in +the morning. + +In much pain from the bruises he had received, and exhausted with +exertion and want of food, he sat down for a time to rest, and drank of +the waters of the stream, although they were still troubled. He then +took the resolution of endeavouring to climb the mountains which formed +that side of the valley where he then was, trusting that he might find +some one to show him the nearest way to the inn on the eastern slope of +the hills. The path was rugged and winding, the mountain bleak and arid, +and several hours elapsed while he wandered on, before he heard the +sound of any living creature, or saw any moving thing, except when once +or twice some object of the chase started away from his path, and when +the golden lizards, basking in the sun, turned round their snake-like +heads to gaze on the unwonted human form that passed them. + +At length, however, towards five o'clock in the evening, completely +tired out, without having tasted food, and with no drink whatsoever but +that one draught from the stream, he heard--as may well be supposed, +with joy--the barking of a dog; and, looking up, he saw upon a point of +the crag above a noble animal of the Alpine breed, baying fiercely at +the step of a stranger. + +Bernard de Rohan went on; and, following the dog as it retreated before +him, he soon heard the bleating of some sheep, and, in a minute or two +after, beheld a small white wreath of smoke rising in the clear mountain +air, with the roof of a little cottage in a sheltered nook of the hill. +It was as poor a habitation as can be conceived; but the sight was a +glad one to the young cavalier, and he approached the little low-walled +yard, which served as a sort of fold, with feelings of infinite joy. + +The barking of the dog brought forth the shepherd, holding a large pot +of boiling ewe-milk in his hand. He was a small, plain-featured man, not +very intelligent, who, notwithstanding his solitary life, had not +acquired that desire of knowing more of his fellow-creatures which is so +constantly the result of voluntary seclusion in monasteries. He was, +however, hospitable and kind-hearted, and received the young stranger +with a gladdening welcome. He set before him, in the very first place, +the best of all he had; and asked, with some eagerness, of news from the +valley; for he was already aware of what had occurred during the +preceding night, and, indeed, knew far more than Bernard de Rohan +himself. + +The young cavalier told him all that he had to tell, and then questioned +him rapidly and anxiously in turn. His first question, as may be easily +supposed, referred to Gandelot's inn; and oh! how much more freely did +he seem to breathe when the old-man replied, "Oh, that is quite safe! +The fall did not come within half a league of it." + +"Are you sure, quite sure?" demanded Bernard de Rohan. + +"My son was down there to-day with cheeses," answered the man, "and saw +them all. He will be home with the rest of the sheep presently, and will +tell you more about it." + +"Was there a young lady there?" Bernard de Rohan inquired, with as much +calmness as he could command. + +"Yes, he talked of a stranger lady from France," replied the shepherd, +"with a number of soldiers and attendants belonging to some French lord, +for whom they were all grieving and weeping bitterly, because he had +been killed somehow." + +"How long will it be ere your son returns?" asked Bernard de Rohan, +eager, notwithstanding all the fatigues that he had suffered, to reach +the inn that night. + +The answer he received was one of those vague and indefinite replies +which are always given on such occasions by persons to whom, as to the +shepherd, time seems of little or no value. He said that the lad would +be back very soon; but hour after hour passed, and he did not appear. + +The young cavalier became impatient; and, finding that it was +impossible, from any direction the old man could give, to learn the path +which he ought to pursue, he urged him, with many promises of reward, to +conduct him to Gandelot's small hostelry himself. + +Had he proposed to the good shepherd, however, a pilgrimage to +Jerusalem, it would not have seemed more impracticable. He declared that +it was perfectly out of the question; that, now his wife was dead, there +was nobody to remain in his cottage; that the distance was fully four +leagues, and that it would take them as many hours to go. "It will be +dark in half an hour," he continued, "and we should but break our necks +over the rocks and precipices." + +Bernard de Rohan found that it was impossible to move him; the son did +not come home till the evening was beginning to grow gray, and the young +cavalier was obliged, unwillingly, to resign all hopes of rejoining his +bride before the next day. + +With the shepherd and his son, the use of any other light but that of +the broad sun was unknown except in the depth of the winter; and, though +Bernard de Rohan could have sat up for many an hour questioning the +younger man upon all he had seen and heard at the inn, but a short +period was allowed him for so doing ere they retired to repose. + +The information that he obtained was but little, for neither the elder +nor the younger mountaineer was very intelligent or very communicative. +The latter, indeed, seemed to divine at once, what had never struck the +old man, that the young cavalier who had become their accidental guest +was no other than the person by whose supposed death the lady whom he +had seen at the inn had been plunged into such deep grief. + +"She will be mighty glad to see you," he said, taking the matter for +granted; "and, if we set off by daylight to-morrow, you will just catch +her as she wakes, for you nobles are sad lie-abeds." + +"Pray tell me, however, before we sleep," said Bernard de Rohan, "how +the lady obtained information of the danger I have so fortunately +escaped. Was it from Corse de Leon?" + +The young man started, and gazed earnestly in his face by the dim light +which still found its way into the cottage. "Corse de Leon!" he said, +"Corse de Leon! that is a name we never mention in these parts of the +country. No! no! I know nothing about Corse de Leon, though they do say +that he has as many poor men's prayers as rich men's curses." + +Bernard de Rohan found that that name had effectually closed the young +shepherd's mouth, and not a word more upon the subject could be obtained +from him. + +He interrupted their habits of early sleep no longer, but made the best +of such means of repose as they could give him, and, wearied out with +long exertion, soon fell asleep, with the happy certainty that she whom +he loved was free, and corporeally well, while the mental anguish which +he knew she must be suffering he had the means of joyfully removing on +the succeeding day. + +The pain of the bruises which he had received woke the young cavalier as +soon as excessive fatigue had been in some degree relieved. But the +nights were at that season short; daylight soon appeared; the shepherds +rose with the first ray of the sun; and, without other breakfast than a +draught of warm milk, Bernard and his guide set off across the +mountains. The time occupied by their journey was fully as much as the +old man had said; for mountain leagues are generally long ones, and the +road was rough and difficult to tread. + +At length the view of a plainer country broke upon the eye; and as they +descended a steep hill by a footway upon the open mountain side, Bernard +de Rohan saw before him the rich lands towards Chambery, and, at the +distance of about half a mile, the little inn of Gandelot, seated +quietly at the foot of the passes. It looked tranquil and happy in the +morning light; but why or wherefore the young gentleman could not tell, +a feeling of uneasiness took possession of him at the very quietness +which the whole scene displayed. There were none of his people hanging +about the door, passing a morning half hour in listless idleness. There +were none at the gates of the stables rubbing down horses or cleaning +trappings and arms. There was no busy bustling about of attendants and +stable-boys. There was nothing, in short, to be seen, but one or two +domestic animals at the entrance of the farmyard, and the servant of the +auberge, in a bright-coloured petticoat, cleaning some culinary utensils +at the door of the inn. + +The young cavalier hurried his pace, and, getting before the guide, +advanced close to the girl before she saw him. She looked up at the +approaching step, and then uttered a loud scream, which Bernard de Rohan +easily understood to be her comment upon seeing the dead alive again. He +passed on at once, however, through the half-opened door into the +kitchen, but, to his dismay, it presented the complete picture of an inn +after guests have departed. Everything had been put in order, and looked +cold and vacant. The neatly-swept hearth possessed not more fire than +might have lain in the hollow of one's hand, and over it the hostess was +cooking a mess for the breakfast of herself and her husband; while the +aubergiste stood at a well-washed table, counting some money, which he +covered over with his hand at the girl's scream, and looked anxiously +towards the door. + +The surprise of good Gandelot seemed scarcely less than that of the +servant, although it only took the outward form and expression of a +deadly paleness. He recovered himself in a moment, however, and then, +with a look of honest joy and satisfaction, in spite of all difference +of rank and habitual restraint, he seized Bernard de Rohan by the hand, +exclaiming, "Jesu Maria! Well, there have been many tears shed to no +purpose. Why, bless my soul, how happy the poor lady's heart will be!" + +"Where is she?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, eagerly. "Where is she? It +seems as though there were nobody here." + +"No, indeed," replied Gandelot. "What you say is very true. There is +nobody here but your lordship's humble servant and his good wife. Why, +what a pity that you came not yesterday at this hour! You would have +saved the poor lady many a weary minute." + +"Where is she, then! Where is she?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, more +eagerly than ever. "When did she go? Where is she gone to? Where are my +servants, too, and my men-at-arms?" + +"Alack, and a well-a-day, sir!" replied the host, "they have all taken +wing, and are scattered away like a flock of plovers. Here the lady +arrived at the inn, with good Father Willand and some ten or twelve of +your men, on the day before yesterday, late in the evening; and then +there were consultations after consultations as to what was to be done, +for every one knew and had heard by that time that you were a prisoner +in the castle of Masseran; and the gentleman who came at the head of +your men--not the servants, but the men-at-arms that came after +you--vowed that he would attack the castle, and blow open the gates with +a petard, and set you free. But when he had talked very high in this way +for some time, Father Willand told him to hold his tongue; for, in the +first place, the walls of the castle of Masseran were made of stones +hard enough to break his teeth, and, in the next, as he had got no +petard to blow the gates open with but the one in his mouth, it would be +of very little service. With that there came not long afterward a +messenger from one whom I must not name, telling the lady and the priest +and all to keep as quiet as might be, for that you would be liberated +before daylight on the next morning; and, as his word never fails, they +all did keep quiet, but we sat up and watched to see what would come of +it. A terrible night you know it was; but we were to have a more +terrible morning, for by daylight news came up the valley--" + +"That I was killed in the land-slip," said Bernard de Rohan, +interrupting him. + +"No, no," replied the aubergiste, "not that at all; but that the tower +which was called the prison-tower of the castle of Masseran had taken +fire and fallen, crushing the dungeon in which you had been placed, and +you along with it, in the ruins. The lady went half-distracted, though +she would not believe that it was true till Father Willand himself went +up near the castle, with a body of your men to prevent any of the +Masseran people from taking him, and then came back and told her it was +all too sure. He told her, besides, that the people of the castle vowed +it was some one on her part seeking to deliver you who had set fire to +the tower, and the good priest advised her to get across the frontier +with all speed. But she was so cast down with grief that she seemed to +care little more about herself in this world, and lay, my wife said, +partly kneeling by her bedside, partly lying upon it, with her face +buried in the clothes, and the sobs coming so thick and hard that it was +painful to hear. She could not be got to speak or answer a word to any +one; and in the midst of all this came in some one whom you know." + +"Who? who?" demanded Bernard de Rohan. + +The aubergiste whispered, in a scarcely audible voice, the name of Corse +de Leon; and the young cavalier exclaimed, with feelings of as much joy +as he could feel at that moment, "Then he is safe, at least; that is +some satisfaction." + +"Ay, so far safe," replied the man, "that he is not killed as he might +have been. But when he came here his left shoulder was out, and would +have been useless for ever if he had not made four of us pull it in by +main force, and never winked his eyes or uttered a word till it went in +with a great start, and then only shut his teeth close." + +"But he could have told them," exclaimed Bernard de Rohan, "he could +have told that I had escaped before the tower took fire." + +"I don't know how it is," replied the landlord; "but, sure enough, he +thinks you dead as well as they do. He had a long conversation apart +with Father Willand in that little room, out of the corner there, which +you have never seen, and, mayhap, did not know of, for the door is in +the dark, behind the closet and the chimney. What they talked about I +don't know, but in the end I heard him say, 'Tell her nothing about it +till she can bear to hear more. As he is dead, it matters not much how +it happened.' Then the priest went to the lady, and, with great +persuasion, got her down from her chamber, and made her take some wine, +and, in the end, got her to set off, with some eight or ten of your +people accompanying them. That was about twelve o'clock yesterday +morning; and, in an hour or two after, the rest of your people went away +over the mountains to join the good Maréchal de Brissac, by the +directions of the person you know." + +"This is unfortunate," said Bernard de Rohan, musing, "this is most +unfortunate. Do you know which way the lady has taken?" + +"She went first to Bonvoisin," replied the host; "but whither she was to +turn her steps after that, I know not." + +"And I am left here alone," continued the young gentleman, "without +horse or arms, at the moment I need them most. Can you furnish me with a +horse, good Gandelot?" + +"Faith, I have none to give, sir," answered the man, "or I would +willingly trust you, if you did not pay me till this time twelvemonth." + +"Nay," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I wanted not to be your debtor, +Gandelot. Money, thank God, I have with me, but my resource must be +Corse de Leon. Where can he be found?" + +"Hush! hush!" exclaimed the aubergiste, terrified at the loud tone in +which his companion pronounced the name of the brigand. "Hush! hush! for +Heaven's sake. There is somebody talking all this time to the girl +outside the door." + +"It is but the shepherd who guided me hither," replied the young +cavalier. "But answer my question, good Gandelot: where is he to be +found?" + +"If you will sit here for an hour or two," replied the other, "my wife +shall get you something ready to break your fast, and I will go up the +side of the hill to see after the person you mention." + +"But I wish to proceed immediately," exclaimed Bernard de Rohan. "If I +could but get a horse, I would set out at once." + +"There is no one who can get you either horse or arms within five +leagues," replied the aubergiste, "except the man we were talking of. He +can do both, and more too, for he can tell you where the lady is to be +found, which I can't. So you have nothing for it but to confer with him. +However, it will be better to send this shepherd back at once to his own +place, and for you either to go into that little room there to the left, +or up the stairs into your room above, for it would be a sad thing to be +stopped again; and, although we stand on free land here, yet this Lord +of Masseran's people are no ways scrupulous into whose face they poke +their fist, or into whose soup they dip their spoon." + +Though feeling sick at heart with impatience, the young cavalier saw +that the plan suggested was the only one he could follow. Having +rewarded the shepherd for his trouble in guiding him thither, he allowed +the good aubergiste to lead him to his place of concealment; and, urging +him in the strongest terms to lose no time, he sat himself down to while +away the hours as best he might, with all the checkered thoughts of the +past and the future. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +Bernard de Rohan waited long; and, though his imagination was not an +active one in regard to difficulties or dangers in his own case, yet, +when he thought of Isabel de Brienne, nurtured with care, and +tenderness, and softness, never having known during life the want of +protection, or the necessity of acting for herself, never having been an +hour without protection--when he thought that she must now go forward to +Paris alone, without any one loved or known to sooth and guide her; +without any other protection but that of a few menials; with the bitter +thought of having lost him she loved for ever, as the chief recollection +of the past, and with the expectation of meeting her mother, who had +been always harsh, and her stepfather, who had treated her with +treachery and baseness, as the chief anticipation of the future--his +heart burned to speed on, without the loss of a single moment, to +protect, to console, and to relieve her from the deep sorrow which he +knew too well must overshadow her. + +Still one hour passed after another, the sun began to decline from the +meridian, and the good hostess only visited him on two occasions. In the +first place, to tell him that a party of travellers who stopped for half +an hour at the inn were only peasants from a neighbouring village; and, +in the next place, to beseech him not to go near the windows, or to show +himself in any way, as a party of the Lord of Masseran's men had just +passed, and another was speedily to follow. + +At length the aubergiste himself appeared, heated and dusty, and, +closing the door carefully, told him that he had found the man he went +to seek, and had brought back with him a few words written on a strip of +leather. They were deciphered with difficulty, but were to the following +effect: "I thought you gone for ever. But, as you are still destined to +remain with the rest of us, so let it be. I will visit you to-night, and +you shall soon find the lady; but on no account go on till you have seen +me! By so doing you will endanger her, endanger yourself, and delay your +meeting." + +Bernard de Rohan gazed upon the writing, and then turned a dissatisfied +look towards the sky. "This is trifling," he thought: "I must be across +the frontier as speedily as possible. Well might Isabel think me cruel +if I remained here an hour longer, knowing that she is in danger, +sorrow, and anxiety." + +"Have you heard aught of a horse, my good Gandelot?" he said: "I cannot +wait as he requires me. How far is it to the frontier?" + +"Two hours' journey on horseback," replied the host, "and four or five +afoot. But there is no horse to be found, and you must not think of +trying it on foot, my noble lord. You do not know that the people from +the castle are scouring the whole road between this and Bonvoisin." + +"But they do not know me," answered Bernard de Rohan. "There is scarce +one among them that has ever seen me. Five hours? that is long, indeed! +But I could buy a horse at Chambery." + +"Not before nightfall," replied the host; "and you had a great deal +better wait here to see one who can help you more speedily than anybody +else." + +"Why cannot I go to him?" demanded Bernard de Rohan. "If you can find +him, so can I." + +"Oh, surely," replied Gandelot, "but you run a great risk of being +taken." + +"If that be all," answered the young cavalier, "I should think that +there was less chance of being taken on the hillside than here. +Something must be risked, at all events, Gandelot. Get me a peasant's +frock, good friend, and a large hat: my own I lost in the fall, you see. +When I am so dressed, I shall pass unknown, I'll warrant, should it be +through the midst of this Lord of Masseran's men." + +"I must show you the way, however," replied the innkeeper. "But stay a +minute, and I'll get what you want: it is no bad plan." + +Thus saying, Gandelot left him; but the aubergiste was not long before +he returned, bringing with him a peasant's frock and belt, and a large +straw hat, such as we have mentioned in describing the dress of good +Father Willand at the beginning of this true history. The very act of +putting them on was a relief to the mind of Bernard de Rohan; for, to a +man accustomed to action, inactivity adds an almost insupportable burden +to grief and anxiety. When the frock, however, was cast over his +shoulders, and his head was covered with the hat, Gandelot gazed upon +him with a smile, saying, "I must take care, my lord, that I don't +mistake you for a peasant, and ask you to sell me eggs. Well, I did not +know how much the dress made the man before." + +Passing over the bad compliment of his host without notice, Bernard de +Rohan only expressed his eagerness to set out; and Gandelot, after +having gone down to look round the inn on every side, and to ascertain +that no one was watching, returned in a few minutes, carrying in his +hand a short sword and dagger, such as were worn commonly by what were +called the New Bands, warring in Piedmont for the service of France. + +"Nobody can tell what may happen, my lord," he said, "so you had better +tuck those up under your gown; but don't draw the belt too tight, or the +hilt will appear." + +Bernard de Rohan grasped the weapon as he would the hand of an old +friend, and, concealing it carefully under the frock, he followed the +innkeeper, who led him out through the back court of the auberge upon +the side of the mountain, where a steep pathway led up between the +rocks, and over the lower part of the hill, into one of the valleys, +which, without plunging deep into the alpine scenery around, led through +a softer but still uncultivated country, in the direction of Albens. The +innkeeper strolled on, and the young nobleman followed, both keeping a +profound silence till the inn and all the neighbouring objects were out +of sight. + +When they had fully plunged into the valley, however, good Gandelot +spoke, but still in a low voice, saying, "We are pretty safe here; the +danger was up yonder." + +Bernard de Rohan made no direct reply, but asked whether the road they +were taking did not lead him farther from that which he had afterward to +travel. Assured, however, by the good innkeeper that it did not, he went +on in silence, finding by the length of way that his companion had lost +no time upon the previous journey he had made during the morning. At +length Gandelot turned a little towards the north, up a smaller valley, +which, winding away with many bends and angles, never exposed more than +one or two hundred yards of hillside to the view at once. At the end of +about a quarter of an hour after entering this dell, a solitary house +presented itself, as desolate in appearance as well might be. It was +old, and built of cold gray stone, with a roof of slates; and a low +garden wall which surrounded it enclosed a space of ground amounting to +perhaps an acre or an acre and a half, but in no degree impeded the view +of the house. + +The hills in that spot were quite bare: much lower, indeed, than the +scenery from which Bernard de Rohan had just come, but far more naked +and arid. Not a shrub, not a tree was to be seen. Nothing but scanty +turf, broken by scattered stones, with occasional crags here and there, +covered the slopes; and, had it not been for those thin, short blades of +grass, one might have fancied one's self in the world before the +vegetable creation had been called into being. + +"You will find him there, my good young lord," said Gandelot, pointing +forward to the house: "I will stay here. But you had better whistle, as +you know how, when you go up, that he may know you are coming. If you +find that you are not likely to come back before night--and it is +getting somewhat late now--send me out word, and I will hie me home." + +"Nay, leave me, leave me, good Gandelot," replied the young cavalier. "I +will find my way back: I never forget a path I have once trodden." + +Thus saying, he advanced towards the desolate-looking house which stood +before him, and, at a short distance from it, imitated, as well as he +could, that peculiar whistle which he had heard more than once among the +companions of Corse de Leon. The sounds had scarcely issued from his +lips ere the brigand himself appeared at the door, and, apparently +without the slightest apprehension or hesitation, walked forward to meet +him. He was habited in the same large cloak and hat which he had worn on +the night when Bernard de Rohan first beheld him, so that the young +nobleman could plainly see he bore his left arm supported by a bandage +from his neck. + +The moment they met he grasped Bernard warmly by the hand, saying, "So +you are living! you are living! I never thought we should see each other +again in this world, though I did think we might meet in that where the +compensations are reserved to confound the workings of the great bad +spirit to whom this earth is given up for evil. But I fell into a sad +mistake, and have let your sweet lady go away in the belief that you are +dead." + +"It is on that account," said Bernard de Rohan, "that I am so eager to +set out, in order to put her mind at ease; but I know not where she is +to be found, or which road she has taken. Neither have I horse nor arms, +nor, I fear, enough in my purse both to buy them and carry me on my way +also." + +"And you come to me for all!" said Corse de Leon, with a smile: "who +would ever have thought this, some seven or eight years ago, when the +young Lord of Rohan struck down to the earth the intendant of the +Countess of Brienne for wronging the sister of a poor soldier far away +fighting for his country? Who would have thought that the poor soldier +would ever have been able to aid the young lord in marrying her he +loved, or to furnish him with horse, and arms, and money, in an hour of +need? There is a retribution in this world! Ay, there is a retribution +even here! But come, my lord, I am your humble servant; but, perhaps, a +truer friend than any whom you meet with in your own rank and class. Let +us into the house, and rest you for the remainder of the day. You will +travel quicker, better, more safely in the night. Ere the sun goes down +you shall have all that you want; and between this and tomorrow's +nightfall you may well overtake the lady." + +Corse de Leon saw that, notwithstanding the reasons he gave, Bernard de +Rohan was not well pleased with even the short delay that he proposed. +He was not one who loved long explanations of any kind, but he could +feel for an impatient disposition; and he added, as if in reply to his +companion's look, "It cannot be otherwise: I have had to send a four +hours' journey for the horses, and they cannot be here till night, +though the messenger has been absent now near two hours. You would make +no greater speed by going back to the inn. Come in, sit down, then, rest +you, and bear what is unavoidable as patiently as may be; for, though +half the difference between great men and little ones in this world lies +in their judgment of what can be done and what cannot be done, and +though half the things men despair of are as easy as to drink from a +stream, yet, nevertheless, there are things that are impossible, and in +those cases it is useless to struggle." + +Thus saying, he led the young nobleman into the house, the door of which +had remained unclosed. Though Bernard de Rohan could hear several voices +speaking in one of the rooms as he walked along the passage, it was into +a small vacant chamber, on the left-hand side, that Corse de Leon +conducted him. The windows commanded a view down a considerable part of +the valley, but still the aspect of the whole place was so undefended +and unguarded, that the young cavalier, knowing the state of hostility +with the great and powerful in which Corse de Leon lived, could not help +feeling some surprise at his choosing such an abode. + +"Are you not," he said, gazing from the window, "are you not in a +sadly-exposed situation here? Why, the Lord of Masseran, or any other of +those small tyrants, could attack you at any time without the +possibility of your escape." + +"You are mistaken," replied Corse de Leon, shortly: "before he came +within two leagues of me, I should know his whole proceedings, and +either scatter over the hill, and reach coverts which it were wiser to +search for the deer or the chamois than for Corse de Leon, or else offer +the good lord some hospitality on his coming which he might neither be +willing to receive nor able to return. We have resources that you are +not aware of, and neither he nor any one else knows more of them than to +make him fear." + +"That you yourself have infinite resources in your activity and +experience," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I can easily believe; but, +depend upon it, if you were to trust the guidance of such hazardous +matters to other men, they would soon be overthrown." + +"Not so, not so," replied his companion; "I know the contrary. Twice, +for ends and objects of my own, I have traversed all France, leaving my +men behind me; and, though perhaps not quite so busy as when I am +here--ay, and somewhat cruel and disorderly when left to their own +course--no evil has happened to themselves. I am now about to do the +same, and I do it in all confidence." + +"Do you propose to go soon?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, in some +surprise. + +"Ay," replied the brigand, "soon enough to meet you in Paris some day, +perchance, or even to overtake you on the road; and, as we now talk +about those things, let me caution you never to speak to me unless I +speak to you: then take the tone that I take, whether it be one of +strangeness or of former acquaintance. Recollect, too, that there is no +such person as Corse de Leon beyond the frontiers of Savoy; but that, in +many a part of France, the Chevalier Lenoir is known, and not badly +esteemed." + +"I will be careful," replied the young lord. "But now, my good friend, +tell me whither has my poor Isabel directed her steps." + +"First to Grenoble," replied Corse de Leon, "in the hope of finding her +brother there; but, should she not meet with him, she goes thence at +once to throw herself at the feet of the king." + +"But are you perfectly certain," demanded Bernard de Rohan, "that she +has escaped from the pursuit of this base man who has married her +mother?" + +"Perfectly," replied Corse de Leon: "I saw her across the frontier +yesterday. Besides, as I told you before, the Lord of Masseran himself +is absent, carried by fears regarding the discovery of his own treachery +into the very jaws of the lion, power. Power is the only true basilisk. +Its eyes are those alone in this world which can fascinate the small +things hovering round it to drop into its mouth. But the lady is safe. +Be satisfied, and you can well overtake her ere she reaches Grenoble. I +bade them send back a man to tell me if she found not her brother there; +for, as I am going to Paris also, I thought perchance it might be better +to keep near her on the road, and bring her help in case she needed it. +But your own men are enough, I do not doubt, and I can but take few with +me, if any." + +"But is it not dangerous," said the young nobleman, "for you to travel +immediately after receiving so severe an injury?" + +"Dangerous!" said Corse de Leon; "oh, there is no danger in such things. +I do believe these mountains that I love will crush me at last; for +twice have I escaped almost by a miracle. But it is this injury, as you +call it, that has determined me to go now. I can be of but little active +use here till I can climb a rock again, and use this left arm as well as +the right. No man has a title to remain an hour in idleness, whatever be +his calling. Sleep itself I do not rightly understand: it is a lapse in +the active exertion of our being which is very strange, a sort of calm +pool in the midst of a torrent: I suppose it is solely for the body's +sake. There could have been no sleep before death came into the world; +for, not being subject to decay, the earthly frame could require no +refreshment any more than the spirit. However, as I was saying, idle and +inactive drones pretend that they must have rest and pause: if the head +aches or the hand is hurt, they declare that they can neither think nor +labour; but the wise man and the energetic man makes his spirit like +that monstrous serpent which I have heard of, and which, when one head +was smitten off, produced at once another. If a man cannot walk, he can +ride; if a man's right arm be broken, let him use his left; if his eyes +be put out, his ears will hear but the better--let him use them. Our +manifold senses are but manifold capabilities; and if the mind is +debarred from using one of its tools, it must use another. No man need +want employment for the senses, the limbs, and the means that he has +left, if he chooses to seek for it. For a while I shall be of no good +upon the mountain, and therefore I am going to the city. Some time or +another I must go, and therefore I may as well go now. But here comes +the old woman with my mess of food. You must take some with me. No one +knows better than she does how to cook the chamois, or the venison, or +to roast the shining trout in the ashes, or the snow-fowl over the fire; +and as for wine, the cellar of an archbishop or of a prior of a +monastery could not give you better than this lonely house can produce. +Nay, nay, shake not your head; you must eat and drink, let your +impatience be what it may: every man needs strength; and that we should +take food is a condition of our flesh and blood." + +In conversation of this kind passed away the hours, Bernard de Rohan and +his strange companion remaining almost altogether alone, though once two +young men, dressed like herdsmen, came to the door of the room, and, +leaning against the doorposts, addressed to Corse de Leon a few words, +apparently of no great import, and upon ordinary subjects, but to which +Bernard de Rohan imagined some occult meaning was attached. + +At length, much to the satisfaction of the young cavalier, a perceptible +shade of twilight came over the valley, along which the shadows of the +hills had been creeping for some time. The twilight grew grayer and more +gray, and Bernard de Rohan rose and walked to the window, with his +impatience for the arrival of the horses increasing every moment. Corse +de Leon was looking at him with a slight smile when he turned round; +but, in a few minutes after, the brigand rose, left the room, and +returned with the two young men whom Bernard de Rohan had seen before. +They were now loaded, however, with various kinds of arms and +habiliments of different sorts, which seemed to have been gathered from +many a quarter of the earth. These were spread out, some upon the table +and some on the floor; and this being performed without a word, those +who bore them retired, only appearing again to furnish the chamber with +a light. + +Corse de Leon glanced his eye to the young cavalier, and then gazed upon +the pile with a somewhat cynical smile. + +"This seems to be an abundant harvest," said Bernard de Rohan, whose +doubts as to the means employed to procure such rich habiliments were +many. + +"You say true," replied the brigand; "but you must remember, we are many +reapers. This has been going on, too, for very many years, so that you +will find here garments of various ages and of different nations. Look +here," he continued, taking up a black velvet surtout richly embroidered +with gold; "this is a coat cut in the fashion of forty or fifty years +ago, and belonged to some fat Englishman, who doubtless came over to +France with that arch heretic and blood monger Henry, who has not been +many years dead. Then, depend upon it, he would see foreign countries, +and go to Italy, and has left part of his fine wardrobe here behind him +in the mountains." + +"An unwilling legacy, I should think," replied Bernard de Rohan. + +"Yes," answered the brigand; "but that is not a shot-hole you are +looking at so curiously. Our traditions say, I believe--for we have our +traditions--that the good gentleman got safe home, though somewhat +thinner of purse and scantier in apparel than when he came away. +However, choose yourself out some quiet suit that will not attract +attention, for you must not go riding through France like a Savoyard +peasant. There, that black hat and feather, which would become some +sober student of Padua, making his first effort to look the cavalier. +Then there is that stout buff coat I would recommend, with black loops +and borders. Ay, it is somewhat heavy, but there is a secret in that: +dagger or sword point will not well make its way through the jacked +doublings of those hides, and a pistol-ball would strike but faintly, +even if it did pass. Then there are those horseman's boots: they will be +no bad addition to the rest. That long sharp sword, too, in the black +sheath, will suit the hat, and none the less fit the hand. It is true +Toledo. Now seek for two daggers somewhat like it, and a pair of pistols +for the saddlebow. By the Lord that lives, if the horse they bring be +but a gray Spanish charger, with a tail longer than ordinary, they will +take you for some one who has been studying the black art at Salamanca, +or perhaps for some lay officer of the Inquisition in disguise. Is the +coat large enough? Oh, ay! it fits well. Now for a cloak to match." + +With the assistance of his companion, Bernard de Rohan fitted himself +with new garments, which somewhat disguised, but did not ill become his +powerful form. After he had done, the brigand opened the mouth of a +little sack which had been brought with the rest, saying, "Take what you +will: you can repay me hereafter." + +The young cavalier, however, took no more of the gold pieces which +appeared shining within than was absolutely necessary, replying to the +remonstrance of Corse de Leon that, as he approached nearer to Paris, +there were many who would be willing to assist him. + +"Well, well," replied the brigand, "it matters not. I shall not be far +from you. But now let us away. I hear the horses, and you are impatient +to be gone. We can meet them, therefore, as they come." + +Though Bernard de Rohan heard nothing of the sounds which his +companion's fine ear had discovered, he gladly followed him out to the +mountain-road, and walked on with him for some way before the horses +appeared. Their feet were soon heard, however; and at length a man, +mounted on a charger and leading another, was seen coming rapidly +towards them. The animal he led was powerful, and yet apparently swift: +some short time was spent in adjusting the arms and the stirrups; and +then, after offering many thanks to his strange companion for all that +he had done, Bernard de Rohan grasped his hand, sprang into the saddle, +and rode away in the direction of Chambery. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +It was in a small cabinet in the princely chateau of Fontainebleau, some +eight days after the grand entertainment at the Louvre which we have +before mentioned, that Henry the Second of France was seated, conversing +with one of his most trusted servants and most faithful friends, the +well-known Maréchal de Vieilleville. The cabinet, the ceiling of which +was of dark black oak, carved and ornamented with small stars of gold, +was hung with rich but very ancient tapestry, still beautiful, though +the colours had faded in the passing of years. The dark green which +formed the principal hue was no longer enlivened by the gorgeous red and +yellow draperies which had once ornamented the principal figures, and a +dim and melancholy hue pervaded the room, to which the fact of the light +passing through some leafy trees without did not a little contribute. + +It was not, however, the peculiar colouring of the hangings, nor the +light passing through the green trees, that gave an unusual paleness to +the countenance of the king, as, laying down the pen with which he had +been writing, he gazed up in the face of Vieilleville, "What is it you +tell me, maréchal?" he said. "Dead? Crushed under one of the towers of +the castle? The very best and most promising soldier France could +produce! The dear friend of Brissac--lauded even by Montmorency! Heaven +and earth! Did you say he was returned, this Lord of Masseran? Send for +him instantly. Let a messenger be despatched to the capital at once. By +my crown, if I thought that he had any hand in this, I would have his +head off in the court before tomorrow's sun set. Send off a messenger +for him, I say!" + +"Sire, he is even now in the palace," replied the maréchal. "It was +seeing him pass along the court, in order to crave an audience, that +made me intrude upon your majesty just now. I heard this sad business +last night by a letter from Brissac; but I would not tell your majesty, +lest it should spoil your rest after so bustling a day." + +"What, you are one of those, Vieilleville, are you," said the king, with +a slight smile, "who can believe that the death of a faithful subject +may chase slumber from even a royal pillow? However, these despatches +must be written. Leave me for an hour, and then bring hither this Lord +of Masseran. Keep a good eye upon him, for he is as deceitful as a cat: +but he shall find that I am not to be trifled with." + +"I will venture to beseech you, sire," said the statesman, "in all that +you do with this man, to recollect that he is himself a sovereign +prince; for, were you to forget it, the example might be dangerous." + +"If I make him an example, it shall be for good, not for evil, +Vieilleville," replied the king. "Some of these petty princes need an +example how they may be punished for treachery and double-dealing. I +have heard more of him since he last set out for Savoy than I ever did +before, and I much doubted that he would return to France again. But +watch him well, good Vieilleville, and bring him hither in an hour. I +shall have finished ere that." + +The maréchal withdrew; and, ere the hour was expired, a page sought him +again from the king, requiring his presence, with that of the Lord of +Masseran, whom Vieilleville, on quitting the cabinet, had informed that +Henry could not yet receive him. + +The angry spot was still upon the king's brow when they entered; but he +spoke to the Lord of Masseran in a courteous tone, saying, "Well, my +good lord, this is somewhat unexpected. I knew not that you could go to +Savoy and return so quickly. How is it that you have shortened the way +so well?" + +"A melancholy interruption, sire," replied the Savoyard, "a melancholy +interruption caused me to return ere half my journey was complete. +Somewhat on this side of Lyons, I met a messenger coming with all speed +to seek me, and bearing this letter, which I beg to lay at your +majesty's feet." + +The king took it and read, examining every line as he did so, in order +to see whether it bore about it the marks of truth and authenticity. +There was nothing, however, to make him doubt it. It seemed simply a +letter from some seneschal or other officer, left behind by the Lord of +Masseran to command during his absence, announcing to him that the +prison tower of the castle had taken fire and fallen, crushing under its +ruins the chamber in which the young Baron de Rohan had been confined. +It went on to state that works had been already Commenced to supply its +place in the walls, and gave some account of the probable expense which +those works would occasion. + +"That would be dear," muttered Henry, in a low voice, and between his +teeth. "That would be dear payment to get rid of a troublesome friend. I +rather suspect it can be done cheaper in Savoy. Have you no news, +Monsieur de Masseran," he said aloud, "of how this terrible catastrophe +occurred?" + +"I have shown your majesty all the information I have received," replied +the Marquis of Masseran. "I returned to Paris with all speed after +having met with the messenger, and, not finding you there, came hither." + +"What say you, De Vieilleville?" said the king: "you had letters last +night, methinks, from some one in that neighbourhood." + +"They bear the same sad news, sire," replied the Maréchal de +Vieilleville. "But they add, that everybody in that country marvelled +much how this event could have occurred in a tower detached from the +castle, built almost entirely of stone, and doubtless intrusted to a +faithful guard." + +"It is, indeed, most strange," said the Marquis of Masseran, +thoughtfully. "There must have been some base neglect." + +"This must be inquired into," said the king, "this must be inquired +into. My good Lord of Vieilleville, call the page for these despatches. +It behooves you, my Lord of Masseran, to make strict and immediate +inquiry into the whole of this affair, in which you shall be aided and +assisted by a commissary on our part. There are the despatches, boy. Why +wait you? What is it now?" + +"May it please your majesty," replied the page, "there is a lady without +craving earnestly to see you. She calls herself the sister of the Count +of Brienne, and I remember her well at the court some months ago. She +seems in much grief, and--" + +"Give her admission," said the king, "give her instant admission. She +may throw some light upon all this affair, my good Lord of Masseran." + +The marquis turned somewhat pale; for the appearance of Isabel of +Brienne in the king's presence was not at all what he wished or +calculated upon. He had hoped for an opportunity of telling his own +tale, and causing his wife to tell hers so as to corroborate all he +said, without the actual appearance of Isabel herself. He knew that the +Count de Meyrand, though apparently taking no part in all that occurred +since their arrival in Paris, had been continually and skilfully +preparing the way for the development of his part in the transaction; +had been labouring to make friends and gain supporters among those who +possessed the king's ear, and had been apparently not a little +successful, even with the fair Duchess of Valentinois herself. + +It must not be supposed, however, that good Monsieur de Masseran was +moved by any personal love or regard for the Count de Meyrand: there was +but one tie between them, the tie of interest; and the moment that the +Lord of Masseran saw that more was to be lost or risked by the Count de +Meyrand than to be gained, that instant he was prepared to put an end to +his affection for his noble friend. He was, however, as we have seen, in +various respects, in the count's power; and he had trusted that their +united operations would be sufficient to induce the king to act without +listening to the fair girl herself. He had, moreover, believed, when he +heard of the death of Bernard de Rohan, that one great obstacle being +removed, the rest would be comparatively easy. The arrival of Isabel, +however, was most inopportune; for he saw that, in the king's angry mood +at the moment, the disclosure of all that had taken place within the +last few weeks might be ruinous in another way, and not only overthrow +his future schemes with regard to Mademoiselle de Brienne herself, but +bring punishment on his head for what had occurred before. + +As the interview, however, could be prevented by no means within his +reach, he sought eagerly in his mind for excuses and defences for his +conduct: but he had hardly time to arrange any plan ere Isabel herself +entered, supported by the arm of one whom he felt far more inclined to +fear than even herself. That person was good Father Willand; and his +surprise and dismay were not a little increased by seeing the king +receive the priest with a gracious smile as an old acquaintance, and, +grasping his arm familiarly, ask him what had made him return from +banishment. + +"Why, to bring this poor lamb back to your majesty's fold," replied +Father Willand, in his usual gay and unceremonious tone. "By my faith, +sire, if all shepherds were like you, and mistook the wolf for the +watch-dog, mutton would soon be dear in France." + +"How so? how so, good father?" demanded Henry, laughing; and, at the +same time, taking Isabel's hand in his own, he prevented her, with a +kindly gesture, from throwing herself at his feet. "Cheer up, fair +lady," he said, "cheer up. The king will protect you, and be a father to +you. But how now, bold priest? How have I been so unwise a shepherd as +to mistake the wolf for the watch-dog?" + +"Why," answered Father Willand, boldly, and looking full in the face of +the Lord of Masseran, "by giving one of the best of your flock"--and he +pointed with his hand to Isabel--"into the care of a Savoyard wolf." + +"Hush! hush! my good father," cried the king. "By Heavens! if you use +such language, you will get yourself into a worse scrape, in your cure +of Saint John of Bonvoisin, than that for which I was obliged to send +you away from Paris, to keep your ears out of the way of knives. On my +soul, we must find a bridle for that tongue of yours." + +"Indeed, sire," exclaimed the Lord of Masseran, marking with pleasure a +slight frown that had come upon the king's brow, "indeed, sire, such a +bridle is most necessary; for that tongue is not only insolent, but +mendacious." + +"Hush, sir!" exclaimed the king, sternly; "you speak of one of the +honestest men in France;" and he held out his hand to Father Willand, +who kissed it respectfully. "Would that we had many such!" the king went +on: "for the men who tell truth in the cabinet as well as in the pulpit, +are those that are very needful here: albeit," he added, with a smile, +"they may occasionally, in their hatred of hypocrites and knaves, give +their tongue some license, and their conduct too. However, my good +father, you will never be wise, so that I fear some day I shall have to +make you a bishop, merely to keep you out of the way of strong fists and +crabsticks. Now let us turn to the case of this young lady. The page +told me, fair one, that you were anxious to see me immediately. What is +it you would have?" + +"Protection, sire," replied Isabel de Brienne, raising her fair face +towards the king, filled with an expression of deep and hopeless grief, +which touched the kind heart of the monarch, and made his tone even more +kindly than it was before as he replied, + +"And you shall have it, lady. But let me hear how it is that protection +is needed: have you not a mother and a brother to protect and help you?" + +"Alas! sire," replied Isabel of Brienne, "my mother is no more my +father's wife nor my father's widow. She is now the wife of one to whose +will she shows all dutiful obedience; but unto me the mother's care and +tenderness are at an end." + +"Fair lady," said the king, "the time that I can spare you is but short, +and it may save you both trouble and grief, and, perhaps, from one cause +or another, may likewise spare you a blush, if I tell you that I know +the past. Lest you should suspect that my ears have been wronged and +your conduct falsely told, the brief history of the facts is this: You +have loved and been beloved by a very gallant gentleman, one who has +served his king and country well and faithfully; and your mother, not +holding him as dearly and highly as we may do or you have done, has +opposed your marriage with the man of your choice, and endeavoured, as +far as may be, to separate you from him. He, in the somewhat indiscreet +eagerness of love, persuaded you, it would seem, to fly with him +secretly, and unite your fate to his by a clandestine marriage, which, +upon every principle of law and reason, must be null and void. However, +at the very altar, I am told, your worthy stepfather here present +surprised and separated you from this bold gentleman, took means to +ensure that you should not meet again, and was bringing or sending you +to Paris, when you contrived to escape. Thus far we know; what is there +more? The tale that we have heard is very simple." + +As the king ended, he looked round with a slight smile, which certainly +might be interpreted either "This matter is very clear," or else "I know +there is another version." + +The person who answered it first, however, was the good priest. "That is +the story, sire," he said. "'Tis a most excellent piece of goods, but +smells somewhat of the manufacturer." + +"How so, sir? But let the lady speak, and say if this be true or not." + +"True, sire," replied Isabel de Brienne, much to the surprise of the +Lord of Masseran. "It is all true; but there is much besides to be said, +and some things which I must say, but which, perhaps, I cannot prove, +especially now, when deep grief masters me. As your majesty has +said--and no blush will stain my cheek while I do own it--I loved and +was beloved by as noble a gentleman as ever graced this land; but I +trust that I loved him wisely too, for to that love I have been plighted +since my fifteenth year. My father--my good father, sire, who in times +past has stricken in many a battle by your side, and also in many +another well-fought field--joined my hand to his with promises which I, +his daughter, was but too willing to fulfil. My mother, it is true, +always looked somewhat coldly on him I loved, ever since he struck to +the ground a base man, her intendant, for wronging an unprotected girl; +but still my mother was present when we were plighted to each other; +still she was present when my father, on his deathbed, made me promise +that I would wed the man whom he had chosen. Oh, how willingly I +promised! oh, how gladly I would have kept that promise! but they have +rendered it vain;" and, unable to restrain herself, the tears burst +forth, and she wept bitterly. + +Henry had carried his eyes from her to the countenance of the Lord of +Masseran from time to time while she spoke, and now, taking her hand +kindly, he said, "Be comforted, dear lady, be comforted. This changes +the matter greatly. What else have you to add?" + +"Oh, much, much, sire," replied Isabel, wiping the tears from her eyes; +"but I will be brief, sire; indeed I will be brief, and not waste your +most precious time. Bernard de Rohan, my promised husband, went to serve +his king in Italy--" + +"And did serve him there right well," said the king. "But go on." + +"He had been absent some time," she continued, "and I was longing for +his return, when a nobleman of your majesty's court sought my hand, to +my great surprise, with my mother's countenance. Thinking that he had +been deceived, I told him the whole truth, but still he pursued his +suit. I wish, sire, that it were not needful for me to give his name, +but I fear I must." + +"The Count de Meyrand," said the king. "He has already urged his suit to +us. What more of him, fair lady?" + +"He urged it upon me, sire," she answered, "after he knew that my heart +was given and my hand was promised to another, that other being his own +friend. He sought me, sire, he persecuted me, he used words that I will +not repeat, nay, menaces, all with the countenance of my mother, who +acted, I believe--nay, I know--under the commands of her new husband. I +was in hopes of some relief when my Lord of Masseran here took us so +suddenly to Savoy, but we were soon followed by the gentleman you have +named. I was now told to think no more of Bernard de Rohan. I was +informed that my hand was destined for the man whom, by this time, I +detested, and that means would be found to make me obey. Vague and +terrible fears came over me; but I obtained an opportunity of writing +one letter to him I loved. Would that I had never done so! for that +letter has killed him." + +"Methinks, sire, it would have been better," said the Lord of Masseran, +in a sneering tone, "if the fair lady was so tyrannically used in my +poor dwelling, to write to her brother in the capital." + +"I did," replied Isabel of Brienne, "often and most sorrowfully." + +"But did you ever ask him to come to you?" demanded the Lord of +Masseran. "He says not." + +"Never," replied Isabel of Brienne. "On the contrary, I besought him not +to come. I concealed half my grief, the daily anguish of witnessing my +mother's sorrow, the taunts, the sneers, the bitterness, which, like the +Egyptian pestilence, made our very food swarm with reptiles; I concealed +much, much that I might have told, and still besought him not to come." + +"May I ask why, madam?" said the king, with evident surprise. "De +Vieilleville, there is something under this. I must hear the whole," he +added, seeing her hesitate. "Lady, it must be told." + +"It was, sire," said Isabel de Brienne, in a low but distinct voice, "it +was that I feared, if brother and sister should be in the same house +beyond the pale of your majesty's realm--in a place where few questions +are asked, and secret acts do not easily transpire--I feared, I say, I +feared much for my brother's safety." + +"I understand," said the king, "I understand. But there must be great +objects for such doings." + +"Everything reverts, sire," said Vieilleville, addressing the king in a +low voice, "everything reverts to the mother in case of the death of the +son and daughter without children." + +"These, sire, however," said Isabel, "were but suspicions, and perhaps +were unjust--" + +"Oh, most unjust, I do assure your majesty," said the Lord of Masseran, +who had more than once shown a disposition to break in, but had been +restrained by a gesture from the king. "Such base designs never entered +my mind." + +"Perhaps such suspicions were unjust, sire," continued Isabel; "but to +speak of facts. I had been forced out more than once to hunting-parties +where the Count of Meyrand joined us; and at length, on one occasion, I +was told that I must needs go forth with my Lord of Masseran to visit a +house of his farther in the mountains. I went with fear, sire, on many +accounts. First, the hour he chose was strange, just before sunset; +next, my mother was not with us; and next, the train appointed to +accompany us was smaller than usual. Scarcely had night fallen, when we +were suddenly attacked and overpowered by a large body of men--" + +"Was this with violence?" demanded the king. "Was any one killed or +hurt?" + +"None but some of the old and faithful servants of my family," replied +the young lady, "who forgot where they were, and how situated, and +defended their young mistress with their lives. One of them escaped, and +fled to a little inn for help; but, in the mean time, we were, as I have +said, overpowered and carried off farther into the hills, my Lord of +Masseran as well as myself; though I cannot help thinking that he went +somewhat willingly, for certainly among the assailants there was one, if +not more, of the attendants of his good friend the Count de Meyrand. +When we had gone some way--a long way, indeed, it seemed to me--a +cavalier who had been found at the inn, none other than Monsieur de +Rohan, came to our rescue, having gathered together a number of persons +sufficient to deliver us--" + +"A number of brigands!" said the Lord of Masseran, interrupting her: +"brigands, you mean, young lady! brigands!" + +"Ha! ha!" cried the priest, "wonderfully good! That bolt was smartly +shot, my good Lord of Masseran. But, as you have put a word to the +lady's story, I will put another; she says 'persons,' you say +'brigands,' I say anybody he could get. I was one of the number: there +were other people from the inn, and the brigands, it is very true, came +and joined us; not liking, as your majesty may easily conceive, that the +good Lord of Masseran, or any other lord, should take the trade out of +their hands. However, we refused no help where we could get it. The +Chevalier de Meyrand, who was at the inn when the man came crying for +aid, remained at the table with the capons and the bottles of wine, not +liking, as may well be supposed, to frustrate his own schemes or fight +against his own people; and Bernard de Rohan, with what assistance he +could get, set free the young lady, ay, and the Lord of Masseran to +boot." + +"Then there were, in truth, brigands with you, my good father," said the +king. + +"In sooth were there, sire," replied the priest; "some of the best +brigands between this and Naples; and I have a shrewd notion that Corse +de Leon was there himself." + +"Indeed!" said the king, with a smile; "then I wish I had been there +also: I would give half a province to see that man, who seems to have +been born for a general, and become a brigand by accident." + +"Brissac writes me word, sire," said the Maréchal de Vieilleville, "that +Corse de Leon has served you better in Piedmont than any three captains +in your service." + +"That may well be," said the king; "but yet we must not too openly +favour such gentry. Now, lady, we have interrupted you too long." + +"I have but little more to say, sire," replied Isabel de Brienne: "as +those who had delivered us were carrying us back to the castle in +safety, I had full opportunity--the first time for years--of speaking +with my promised husband, who informed me that he came, not only to seek +my hand, but to bear despatches from Monsieur de Brissac to my Lord of +Masseran there. What I have to tell farther is not altogether of my own +knowledge; but let him deny the facts if he can, for there are persons +who can prove them if he does deny them. He received intelligence that +Monsieur de Rohan brought him despatches and directions of an unpleasant +kind, and he left the chateau that he might not receive them. He also +ordered that admittance should be refused both to my mother and myself; +and I had reason to believe that a new scheme was formed for compelling +me to wed the Count de Meyrand. In these circumstances, your majesty, I +saw no chance of escape but in doing as I did do. I was far from your +protecting arm; I was, in fact, in the power and at the disposal, not of +my mother, but of a stranger to our house and nation; and I knew that if +I delayed or hesitated, even for a few days, I was likely to be borne +far away beyond the power of rescue or deliverance. I held that my +father's will and wishes justified me in what, at other times, might +have been a rash, perhaps an improper act; and, having the opportunity +both of seeing him I loved and escaping with him, I did not hesitate; +our purpose being immediately to seek your presence, and cast ourselves +at your majesty's feet, entreating your gracious pardon. We were +afterward seized at the altar, as your majesty has been told; and I was +then carried away, as if with the purpose of taking me to some remote +place, but, in reality, to give the opportunity of a mock deliverance by +the Count of Meyrand;" and she gave a brief account of what had taken +place after the count came apparently to her rescue. "I doubt not that +he was carrying me to Paris," she continued, "and might ultimately have +brought me to your majesty's presence; but I neither chose to be +entirely in his power and at his disposal after all that had happened, +nor to quit that part of the country where I had reason to believe my +brother was or might soon be, and where my husband--yes, sire, my +husband, for a vow had been spoken which nothing but death could do +away--where my husband lay a captive in the hands of that dangerous man. +With the aid of Father Willand here I made my escape; but alas! alas! it +was only to find that he who had loved me well and truly was no longer +in life to protect and guide me. I found, sire, that he had died a +horrible death in the castle of Masseran, by the falling of the tower +under which he was confined." + +She spoke, to all appearance, calmly; even the last words were distinct, +though low; but she kept her eyes bent down, and, closing them for a +moment, the drops of tears broke through the long black lashes like a +crushed diamond. + +"I grieve for you, dear lady," said the king, "and I sympathize with you +also; for I loved this young gentleman well. But tell me, have you any +suspicion that his death was brought about unfairly?" + +"No, sire, no," she replied; "I have no cause to suppose so. I know +nothing farther than that it is as I have told you." + +"You see, sire," said the Lord of Masseran, "that she exculpates me from +blame in this matter." + +"No, my lord, no," replied the king. "Of the manner of this gentleman's +death she knows nothing, but in regard to your preceding conduct she +does anything but exculpate you. She says, or I am mistaken, that she +had good reason to know a scheme had been formed for compelling her to +marry the Count de Meyrand, and also for bearing her far away beyond the +possibility of rescue or deliverance. Call you this exculpating you?" + +"But I deny that this is the case, sire," replied the Lord of Masseran. +"How could she tell what were my schemes or what were my plans? These +are but vague suspicions, engendered by disappointment and anger." + +"No, my lord, they are not," replied Isabel de Brienne. "They are not +vague suspicions: they are certainties which I have never yet fully told +to any one, no, not even to him I loved, because you are my mother's +husband; but may I put you in mind of a German courier who was with you +secretly on the twenty-ninth of last month--not the first that came that +day--ay, and of the Spaniard who came two days afterward--" + +The Lord of Masseran turned paler than his ruff, and clasped his hands +together as if about to pray for mercy; but Isabel went on, "With his +majesty's permission, I will first tell you in your ear, my lord, what I +know of those couriers. Then, if you will have it so, and still deny the +fact, I will speak aloud, and call on those who can prove it." + +The king bowed his head in token of consent; and, while Isabel spoke for +a few moments with the Lord of Masseran apart, he said to Vieilleville, +with a thoughtful look, "You see Brissac's information was good." + +"Might it not be better, sire," said Vieilleville, "to send this man for +a few days to the Bastile, in order to ascertain how the case now +stands?" + +"It is not worth while," replied the king, in the same under voice; "the +treaty will so soon be concluded that he can do no mischief, especially +while we keep him about the court. On the contrary, Vieilleville, I hope +and trust he will not drive this poor girl to say any more; for I +suspect, if she were to tell all, I should be obliged to punish him; and +that same sword of justice is the heaviest and most unpleasant one to +wield I know. Well, fair lady, does your penitent admit the facts?" + +"He does not deny, my lord," replied Isabel de Brienne, "that I had good +cause for suspicion; and he has moreover promised me, both in his own +name and in that of my mother, that I shall never be farther pressed to +give my hand to any one, but shall be permitted to do the only thing +that now remains for me to do in life--to retire from a world where I +have known little but sorrow, and vow myself to the altar for ever." + +"Nay, nay," said the king. "Not so, fair lady, not so. We will have you +think of this better. Such charms as yours were never made for the +cloister. At all events, let the first shadow of this grief pass away: +you know not what may happen to change your views." + +"Nothing can ever do so, sire," replied Isabel de Brienne. "Your majesty +must not forget, that with him who is gone I have been brought up all my +life. The sweet years of childhood, the happiest period that I have ever +known, are in remembrance full of him and of his affection. To him all +my thoughts have been given, all my wishes linked from childhood until +now: the thoughts so nurtured have become part of my being. His glory I +have felt as my glory, his happiness I have prayed for before my own, +and his praise has been to my heart the most tuneful of all sounds. I +can never think otherwise than I have thought, sire; and I will beseech +your majesty not to give this good Lord of Masseran any motive to +withdraw the word that he has plighted to me." + +"Nay, I will not do that," replied the king. "I will hold him bound by +that word, that neither he nor your mother shall offer any opposition to +your wishes in this respect; but still, at the king's request, you must +delay the execution of such a scheme, at least for a short time." + +"I fear, sire," said the Lord of Masseran, "that it will be in vain. As +your majesty well knows, and as I do not scruple to confess, I had other +views and wishes for her; but I know that she is of so fixed and +determined a nature, that when, believing she is right, she has made up +her mind to a certain course of action, nothing will move her to abandon +it." + +"We shall see, we shall see," said the king. "I would fain not lose one +of the brightest ornaments of our court. Vieilleville," he continued, +"unto your care I will commend this young lady. Take her with you to the +apartments of your daughter and of my daughter Claude. Bid the princess +love her and sooth her, and consult with the queen where she can best be +placed in the chateau, so as to have comfort, and ease, and repose, with +as little of the bustle and gayety of a court as may be, for the time. +Such things will be harsh to you, I know, young lady. Monsieur de +Masseran, we will be father and mother also to her for a while. Father +Willand, let me see you at nightfall: I have somewhat to say to you, my +good friend." + +"I shall make the almoner in waiting jealous," said Father Willand; "but +I hope your majesty will order me some dinner: for I doubt much if, in +your whole palace, I should find any one charitable enough to bestow an +alms on a poor wandering priest like myself." + +"You are mistaken, good father," said Vieilleville. "You will find your +cover at my table: come with me; we must no farther occupy his majesty's +time." + +Thus saying, he led Isabel de Brienne to the door; but, before he had +gone out, the king called him back, and said in a low voice, "Do not let +the Savoyard quit the court. Should need be, tell him I require his +presence the day after to-morrow. Discourage these ideas of nunneries. +Poor Meyrand is madly in love with this girl; and it is strange to see +how passion mixes itself up with his supercilious air of indifference. +Perhaps she may be brought to yield." + +"I think not, sire," replied Vieilleville, bluntly; and, with a low bow, +he left the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +The horse was strong and fresh, and Bernard de Rohan rode on rapidly. +The stars came out brighter and brighter as the night deepened, and the +clear, deep, lustrous purple of those fair southern skies became mingled +with yellow light, as the moon, looking large and defined, rose over the +deep black summits of the eastern hills. It was not long before the +French frontier was passed; and in those days, as Savoy was completely +in the occupation of the French, no guards watched upon the way to stop +or question the stranger coming from the neighbouring land. + +Judging the distance which Isabel must have gone, even at a slow pace, +to be considerable, Bernard de Rohan did not think fit to pause at any +of the first towns or villages which he met with, but, avoiding man's +habitation as far as possible, went on till his horse's speed began to +flag, and he found it necessary to stop for repose and refreshment. He +had now gone on, however, for about five hours, so that it was by this +time the middle of the night, and with difficulty he made himself heard +in a small hamlet on the rode to Grenoble. He procured, at length, some +refreshment for himself and for his horse, but no tidings whatsoever +which could lead him to judge whether Isabel and his servants had or had +not taken the same road which he himself was following. He remained, +however, for two hours, to allow the horse time to rest, and then, once +more putting his foot in the stirrup, rode onward at a slower pace. + +About an hour after, the day once more began to dawn, and he found +himself winding in and out among the beautiful hills which border the +Isere. Everything was rich, and fertile, and picturesque, and upon those +scenes the eye of Bernard de Rohan could have rested with infinite +pleasure at any other time; but now anxious eagerness hurried him on, +scarcely remarking the objects around for any other purpose than to +judge where he was, and how far from Grenoble. A little after five in +the morning he passed through the small village of Montbonnat, and heard +with gladness the assurance of the people of the place that he was not +much more than two leagues from Grenoble. + +After giving his horse a draught of water, he went on his way again +through that beautiful district of streams and mountains, constantly +ascending and descending, till at length, not far from the hamlet of +Imfray, he saw before him a single horseman coming slowly on, the first +person, in fact, whom he had met upon the road since he had set out the +night before. + +When the young cavalier first perceived him, the man was at the distance +of some two hundred yards; but it was with no small pleasure that +Bernard de Rohan at once recognised one of his own servants, named +Pierre Millort, an honest but somewhat weak man, who had been born upon +his own estates, and had served him for many years. He now felt certain +of obtaining speedy news of Isabel de Brienne, and rode directly towards +the other horseman, expecting that the man would remember his lord's +person at once. The young nobleman, however, dressed in the habit which +had been given him by Corse de Leon, bore not at all his usual aspect, +and good Pierre Millort also devoutly believed him to be dead. It is not +to be wondered at, therefore, that he looked upon the person who +approached him as a complete stranger; and, fancying that there was +something in his appearance of a very doubtful nature, he drew his sword +a little forward as he saw the strange cavalier riding directly up to +him, and prepared to defend himself, in case of need, as well as might +be. + +When Bernard de Rohan called him by his name, however, asking if he did +not recollect him, astonishment, not a little mingled with superstitious +fear, made the man nearly fall from his horse, and he felt strongly +inclined to argue the matter with his young master, in order to persuade +him that he was really dead. At length, becoming fully convinced that +such was not the case, and that Bernard himself, in a bodily and +corporeal form, was before his eyes, he gave him the information which +he desired regarding Isabel de Brienne, though that information was by +no means satisfactory to the young cavalier. + +The lady had arrived at Grenoble, he said, on the very same day that she +had set out from Gandelot's inn; but, finding that her brother was not +there, and had not sent any notice of his coming to the house in the +city where she expected to hear of him, she had taken her departure on +the following morning, in order to reach the capital and throw herself +upon the protection of the king as speedily as possible. She hoped to +arrive at Vienne in one day, the man continued, and had sent him off at +once to convey intelligence of her route to somebody he was to meet at +Gandelot's inn. + +"Then how happened you not to be there last night?" demanded Bernard de +Rohan. "Had you pursued your journey, you would have saved me the +trouble of coming to Grenoble, and would have enabled me to cut across +the country and join her at Vienne this morning. Now she will be two +whole days in advance of me." + +"And not a horse will you get in Grenoble with which to pursue your +way," replied the man; "for that's the reason, sir, why I did not come +on at once." + +"Had you not your own horse?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, somewhat +angrily. + +"Yes, sir," answered the servant, "I had; but a sad accident happened to +him, poor fellow. I left Grenoble at the very same moment that the lady +set out for Vienne; but I had not got far beyond La Tronche, when, the +road being covered with loose stones which had rolled down from the +hill, my horse slipped and fell, cutting both his knees to pieces. I was +obliged to lead him back into the town, and no horse could I get for +love or money, till at length I made a bargain with a peasant from +Bachat to change with me, he taking my fine beast on the chance of +curing him, and giving me this wretched animal in his stead, to enable +me to go on my way. It is not, however, an hour since he brought the +beast in. So you see, Sir, I have lost no time." + +"That is enough," said Bernard de Rohan, thoughtfully, "that is enough. +I must go on to Grenoble now, however. Come with me; you will not be +wanted at Gandelot's inn;" and, thus saying, he rode on to the town, +where it was necessary to give his own horse a long time to rest, for +the distance which he had come was more than fifty miles, and the road +steep, difficult, and fatiguing. + +Judging by the rate at which Isabel was proceeding, it was clear that +she must reach Lyons before that day closed; for, though she might not +accomplish her purpose of arriving at Vienne on the day before, yet the +distance to Lyons itself was but two easy days' journey. + +Every means that long military experience suggested was employed by +Bernard de Rohan to refresh and invigorate his horse more speedily, and +those means were very successful, although some of them may appear to +us, in this age, somewhat fantastic. Balls of spice were given to the +animal, his feet and pasterns were bathed in red wine, and various other +proceedings of the same kind were adopted with a similar view. It was +impossible, however, to go on till towards the evening, and even then +the young cavalier found that it was in vain to seek Vienne that night, +as neither his own horse nor that of his attendant could accomplish the +distance. They proceeded as far as possible, however, so as to leave a +moderate day's journey between them and Lyons; and on the succeeding +evening Bernard de Rohan had the pleasure of seeing the fair city of the +Rhone spread out before his eyes, and of knowing that there could not +well be more than one day's journey between him and her he loved. + +The great difficulty, however, now was to discover at what inn Isabel +had lodged on the preceding night, in order to ascertain what route she +had followed on her farther journey. Lyons, even at that time, was a +very large and important city, filled with inns of every sort and +description; and, as in those days despotic suspicion had not invented +the fetter-lock of passports; as there was no tyrannical police, no +licensed spies to whom the abode of every citizen, the sleeping-place of +every traveller, the movements of every being in the realm were known, +as is now the case in France, Bernard de Rohan had no other means of +ascertaining the resting-place of Isabel during the preceding night than +his own conjectures or inquiries made at all the principal places of +public reception. + +When he had himself passed through Lyons some time before, he had been +in command of a considerable body of soldiers, and had lodged at an inn +in the suburb of La Guillotiere. That suburb was not so large in those +days as at present; but it possessed at that period one of the best inns +which Lyons could boast of; and, as the servants who now accompanied +Isabel de Brienne were then with him, and he had remained for several +days there, he judged it not at all unlikely that they might have +conducted his fair bride to the resting-place where they had previously +lodged. He rode, then, directly to the same inn, which was surrounded by +its own court and gardens; but the faces that presented themselves were +strange to him; for, among all the mutable things of this earth, there +are few more mutable than the servants of an inn. + +In general, at all the auberges on the road, a man on horseback was sure +to meet with attention and good treatment; but, in such a city as Lyons, +luxury had of course brought fastidious notions along with it; and the +frequent visits of persons with large trains, ladies in immense rumbling +carriages or clumsy horse-litters, made the horseman with his single +attendant and weary horses an object of very little importance in the +eyes of the drawers and ostlers. + +Perceiving some slackness of civility, the young cavalier ordered the +host to be sent to him, and the landlord of the Checkers--for so the inn +was called--presented himself, gazing upon the young gentleman at first +as a perfect stranger. A moment after, however, the face of the Baron de +Rohan came to his remembrance, at first connecting itself vaguely with +considerable sums of money received, and numerous expensive attendants, +horses, arms, banners, _et cetera_; so that his satellites were very +soon surprised by seeing various low and profound inclinations of his +head, as he welcomed "his lordship" back to Lyons; hoped that the +campaign had gone well with him. Gradually recollecting more of the +circumstances, he recalled even his visiter's name itself, and, in tones +of indignant haste, bade the stable-boys take Monseigneur de Rohan's +horses, and the chamberlain show monseigneur himself to the best +apartments of the inn, while he followed, bowing lowly every time the +young cavalier turned round. + +Bernard de Rohan's first inquiries were for Isabel de Brienne; but the +good host was far too wise and practised in his profession to satisfy +the young gentleman fully before he had fixed him at his own inn. Oh +yes, undoubtedly, he said, such a lady had been there, and had set off +that very morning, with just such attendants as monseigneur described. +He would come back and tell him more, he continued, in one minute, when +he had merely given orders for a nice little supper to be sent up, and +had seen that the horses were properly cared for. But, when he at length +made his appearance, after being absent till the supper he talked of was +nearly ready, and the young gentleman actually sent for him, it then +turned out, of course, that the lady he spoke of was quite a different +person, some forty years of age, and the widow of some famous marshal +dead many years before. + +Bernard de Rohan was disappointed, but he did not suffer his equanimity +to be disturbed at finding some little want of sincerity in an +innkeeper. He partook but lightly, however, of the good host's supper; +and then, directing the attendant who accompanied him to make inquiries +at all the inns in the suburb where they then were, he himself set out +on foot, and, passing the bridge, pursued the search throughout the town +of Lyons. That search, however, proved vain; and not the slightest +tidings of Isabel and her train had Bernard de Rohan been able to find +before the sun went down. + +He was preparing to return to the inn, in the hope that his servant +might have been more successful than himself, when, in passing down one +of the long, narrow streets which led from the great square, he was met +by a crowd of people so dense that he found it would be absolutely +impossible to traverse it, and he accordingly turned (little caring what +had caused the assemblage) in order to pass round by the Church of the +Feuillans, and make his way homeward by another street. + +The pavement of the good town of Lyons is by no means pleasant or easy +to walk upon in the present day, being entirely composed of round, +slippery stones, on which the feet seem to have no hold. In those times +it was even worse, for it was irregular in construction as well as bad +in material; and Bernard de Rohan himself, though strong and active, +found it no easy task to outwalk, even by a pace or two, a crowd of +persons better accustomed to tread those streets than himself. He had +contrived to get a few steps in advance, however, and had reached the +long, narrow street which passes round by the side of the church, when +he was stopped, just as he was about to pass down it, by another crowd +as dense as the first, by which he was forcibly borne along. The two +currents, meeting in the more open street he had just quitted, carried +him forward in the midst of them; and, finding it impossible to escape, +he gave himself up for the time, and, turning to a lad who was near, +inquired what was the occasion which called so many persons together. + +"Why, where do you come from, seigneur," said the young man, "that you +don't know all this business?" + +"I come from Italy," replied Bernard de Rohan, "where I have been with +the army; but, once again, what is all this about?" + +"Why, I should have thought it might have reached there," replied the +lad. "But don't you know they are bringing along Jamets, the great +heretic printer, to burn him in the Place de Terreaux?" + +"Indeed!" said Bernard de Rohan. "Pray what has he done to merit such a +terrible punishment?" + +"What has he done?" cried the young man, with a look of indignation. "He +is a heretic; is not that enough? Don't they all mock the holy mass? +What has he done? I should not wonder if you were a heretic yourself." + +"No, no, my good youth," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I certainly am not +that. But they were not so strict about these matters a year or two ago, +when I went with the army into Italy." + +"There is much need they should be strict now," replied the boy, who, as +usual, thought it manly to outdo the follies of his elders, "for the +poisonous vermin have infected the whole place. Don't push so, Peter," +he continued, speaking to one of those behind him, who was urging him +forward exactly in the same manner that he was pressing on those before +him. + +"Get on! get on! or we shall not see the sight," cried the other. "They +have taken him on through the lane." + +In a few minutes the crowd began to issue forth into the Place de +Terreaux; and, before he could disengage himself, the terrible +preparations for burning one of the unfortunate victims of superstition +were before the eyes of Bernard de Rohan. A space was railed off in the +centre of the square, and kept clear by guards; but in the midst +thereof, at the distance of about thirty yards from the young cavalier, +appeared an elderly man, with a fine and intelligent countenance, pale +as ashes, and evidently fully sensible of all the agonies of the death +he was about to endure. He was chained upright to an enormous post or +stake driven into the ground, and one of the brutal executioners was +seen fastening the chain tighter round his neck, though another had by +this time lighted the fagots which had been piled up underneath and +around his feet. From time to time the victim closed his eyes, and his +lips moved as if murmuring forth a prayer; at other moments he cast a +wild and fearful glance round upon the people; but, in general, he +remained still and quiet, as if striving within himself to subdue the +natural repugnance of the flesh to the endurance of pain and death. + +Bernard de Rohan loved not such sights nor such acts; and as in that +open space the crowd was thinner around him, he was turning away once +more to pursue his path homeward, when a capuchin friar approached the +unfortunate man, and, holding up a crucifix, seemed to exhort him to +abandon his faith. At that point, however, all the firmness which had +supported him through imprisonment and trial came back, and, waving his +hand indignantly, he turned away his head with a gesture of disgust. + +The capuchin raised both his arms towards the sky; and a roar of furious +exultation burst from the people, as the flames, almost at the same +moment, were seen to rise up round the unfortunate victim, and the +convulsive gasp of agony distorted his countenance. + +Bernard de Rohan forced his way on; but, as he did so, some one touched +his arm from behind, evidently intentionally, and, looking in that +direction, he beheld, to his great surprise, the countenance of Corse de +Leon. + +The brigand gazed upon him for a moment, but without speaking, then +turned his head away; and, recollecting the warning which he had +received, not to notice him unless spoken to by him, Bernard de Rohan +made his way out through the people, and reached the inn just as it was +growing dark. He now found that his attendant had been as little +successful as himself in the search for Isabel de Brienne; but the +landlord informed him that a gentleman named the Chevalier Lenoir had +been there to inquire for him; and Bernard de Rohan, trusting that Corse +de Leon might possess some better means of information than himself +concerning the course which Isabel had taken, waited impatiently for the +brigand's return. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +Bernard de Rohan waited for nearly an hour before the person whom he +wished to see made his appearance. At length, however, the aubergiste +entered; and--with a face of so much mystery and importance as almost to +make the young gentleman believe that he was acquainted with the +character and pursuits of the brigand--he announced that the Chevalier +Lenoir had called again to know if the Baron de Rohan had returned. In a +minute or two after, Corse de Leon himself entered the room; and Bernard +could not but feel some surprise at the manner in which the wild, bold, +vehement rover of the mountain side conformed to the usages of society, +and bent down his energies, if we may so say, to the customary trammels +of an artificial mode of life. + +He shook hands with Bernard de Rohan as an old friend, put down his hat +upon the table by his side, remarked that the dust had soiled his plume, +spoke of the heat of the past day, and with such empty nothings carried +on the interview till the aubergiste had retired and closed the large +oaken door behind him. + +The moment he was gone, however, the brigand said abruptly, "I came +hither before, to lead you to the scene whither it seems you had gone +without me. Is not that a lovely sport?" he continued, with a curling +lip and a flashing eye; "is not that a lovely sport for keen, sleek +priests, after feasting in the refectory? Is not that a sweet amusement +for these holy and gentle pastors to go to, with the grease of their +patties still sticking upon their lips? Pastors! why our pastors of the +Alps would teach them better than that: they take the wool and use the +milk, but they roast not the lambs of their flock, as the people of the +plains do. By Heaven, it would do my soul good to make yon bloodthirsty +capuchin eat the flesh he has cooked this night. They call us lawless +brigands," he continued. "Pray God that we may ever be lawless, so long +as there are such laws as these. I came to show you this spectacle, for +I once told you I would make you witness such things, but you had gone +without me." + +"I went not willingly," replied Bernard de Rohan. "I was caught in the +crowd, and could not disentangle myself. I hate and abhor such sights, +and think that these acts are disgraceful and ruinous to our religion. +If anything could justify heresy, such persecution surely would do it." + +"Think not, think not," cried Corse de Leon, eagerly, "think not that +this is a crime of our religion alone, or of any other. It is man, and +man's infamous laws, and the foul vice of that strange compact which +rogue has made with rogue, and villain with villain, and tyrant with +tyrant, and fool with fool, in order that the cunning may have the best +means of outwitting the strong; that the criminal may torture and +destroy the innocent, and the virtuous be for ever the prey of the +vicious. Catholic or Protestant, heretic, infidel, Turk, it is all the +same: man is bound together, not by a league for mutual defence, but by +a league for mutual destruction and corruption. Here you yourself have a +friend and comrade, who fights by your side, and whom you trust. What is +the first thing that he does! Betrays you--seeks to injure you in the +darkest way--plots--contrives--cabals--" + +"There is a day of reckoning coming," replied Bernard de Rohan. + +"Ay, and it may come soon," answered Corse de Leon, "for that very man +is now in Lyons." + +Bernard de Rohan started up and laid his hand upon his sword, which he +had thrown down upon a chair beside him; but the brigand went on, +saying, "Not to-night, not to-night. Let it be in the open day; and it +were better, too, before the whole court of France." + +"I will not wait for that," replied Bernard de Rohan. "Where I find him, +there will I punish him. But, as you say, it must be in the open day. +Yet I must not let him escape me; I will write to him this instant." + +"The way of all others to make him escape you," replied Corse de Leon. +"He might, on this occasion, refuse to meet you hand to hand; he +might--" + +"No," answered Bernard de Rohan, "no, he dare not. There is no French +gentleman who dares to be a coward. To those whom he has wronged he must +make reparation, even though it were with life. Besides, this is not a +man to turn away from the sword's point." + +"I know not," answered Corse de Leon, "for I am not one of you; but +methinks--though there is nothing upon all the earth now living that +could make me turn aside from my path--there would be something very +terrible to me in a wronged friend. However, this man may have an excuse +you know not of to refuse you that which you desire: he may say that the +matter is before the king, which, as I learn, it is. Be persuaded: wait +till to-morrow: then let him be narrowly watched: meet him alone; and, +when your sword is drawn upon him, then, as you say, he cannot well +evade you." + +"He shall not," answered Bernard de Rohan. "But still it is not him that +I now seek, it is my own dear Isabel; and here, in this town of Lyons, I +have lost all trace of her, though she must have been here last night." + +"Perhaps not," replied the brigand. "I have no certain tidings of her +any more than you have; but listen to what I do know. I reached this +place in haste to-day; and during the morning, at the inn called the +Dolphin, near the old church by the river, I saw a man who had been with +this Meyrand in Savoy, his guide, and assistant, and confidential knave. +He knew me not, and indeed, perhaps, had never seen me; for I see many, +but am seen by few. I made inquiries, however, and I found that this man +had preceded his lord from Paris on business, it was said, of mighty +moment. He was preparing rooms for him, gaining intelligence, and, in +fact, making all things ready for whatever knavery so skilful a master +might have in hand. I inquired farther, and found that yesterday, +shortly after the man's arrival, a lady and her train had paused for +some moments at the same inn; that one of his servants had spoken to +this serviceable villain, and that, without descending from her litter, +she had gone on, it was said, towards Geneva. To-day I waited and +watched for the arrival of your enemy, and the moment he did come, he +was closeted with his knave. A minute after, the host was summoned, and +much inquiry made for fresh horses to go towards Geneva. By this time, +however, it was late; none but tired beasts could be found, and the +journey was put off till daybreak to-morrow morning." + +"We will travel the same road," said Bernard de Rohan, "we will travel +the same road. But what can have induced Isabel to take the way to +Geneva?" + +"We know not that this lady was the same," replied Corse de Leon; "but, +supposing her to be so, forget not that she believes you to be dead. I +have told you that the matter is before the king; and she may fear that, +as this Count de Meyrand is a known intimate of a woman all too powerful +in this land of France, some constraint may be laid upon her will in +order to make her give her hand to him." + +"They shall find," replied Bernard de Rohan, "that there is one whose +claim upon her hand is not so easily to be cast off; and, even were I +dead, I am full sure that to the last day of her existence she would +look on one who could betray his friend with nothing but abhorrence and +disgust." + +"It may be so," replied the brigand; "but you have yet one thing to +learn. Your claim upon her hand is already disallowed. On that the +king's decision has gone forth three days ago. An edict, which has just +reached Lyons, was then registered in the Parliament of Paris, rendering +all clandestine marriages, past or future, null and void. This was aimed +at you, depend upon it, for both the wily Italian and the artful +Frenchman were then at the court of France." + +Bernard de Rohan covered his eyes with his hand, and paused thoughtfully +without reply. "All this," he said at length, "all this shows, my +friend, the absolute need there is of my being speedily in Paris. +Wherever Isabel may turn her steps, she will soon hear that I am living +if I appear before the king; and in another point of view, also, my +speedy appeal to Henry himself may do good. There is one whom you have +mentioned who does certainly possess much power--far too much for any +subject in the realm; but yet I judge not of her so harshly as you +perhaps may do. She has a noble spirit, and I think would not willingly +do wrong. Besides all this, she is the trusted friend of one who loves +me well--the Maréchal de Brissac; therefore I do believe that especially +she would not wish to injure me. When I have seen her, she has always +seemed to regard me highly; and I will own--although I must regret that +any one should hold such authority in the land of France as often to +overrule the king's wisest ministers--I do believe that, for her own +personal advantage, she would in no degree seek what is unjust to +another, or do that which might be dangerous to her country. I have no +doubt that one of her first wishes is to promote, in every way, such +plans as she considers just and wise; and although, of course, she may +from time to time be biased, like every other person, by blinding mists +of prejudice or of self-interest, yet I do think that she is less so +than any other being who ever yet filled a situation of splendid +disgrace and ill-bought authority. I believe, then, that with her, as +with the king, a few plain words of remonstrance and explanation will +win that support which is alone needful to my just claims." + +"Then go thither at once," said Corse de Leon, with a dissatisfied air. +"If you will still trust to those whom you have not tried, go thither, +and encounter whatever the consequence may be. Were I you, my conduct +would be different." + +"What would you do, then?" asked Bernard de Rohan. "I do not propose to +go to the court _at once_, but merely after I have done all that I can +to trace my Isabel on the road that she has taken. Say! what would you +do were you situated as I am?" + +"It matters little," replied Corse de Leon, "for we are differently +formed. You are like the stately warhorse, doubtless strong and full of +fire, but broken down to the bit and rein of custom, and trained to pace +hither and thither, as the great riding-master called society wills. +Your affections may be vehement, your courage high, your heart sincere, +but you are not fitted and formed for the wild life of freedom, or for a +desperate and deadly struggle against the trammels of habit, and the +lash and spur of opinion. I, on the contrary, am the lion--or, if you +will, the tiger, or the wolf. No hand tames me and goads me on--my mouth +knows no bit and curb--the desert is my home--solitude my society--my +own will my law--and they who strive to take and chain me, to break me +down to the world's habits, or to bind me by man's opinions, will either +rue the bite of the free wild beast, or see him die before the hunters, +in silence and despair. If you would know what I would do, I would take +my revenge of that bad man; I would seek the lady till I found her; I +would tell her that dangers, obstructions, impediments, and the vain +idleness of a world's laws were before us if we did not trample upon +that world's judgments; I would ask her to cast off for me and with me +the prejudices of country and connexions; I would make my native place +of the first land of freedom I could find; I would find my friends and +my relations among the brave, and the free, and the good, wherever I met +them; I would press out from the grape of liberty the wine of my own +happiness, and I would drink of the cup that my own hand had prepared. +But such counsels are not for you; such things are not parts of your +nature." + +"I believe not," replied Bernard de Rohan; "but still the first part of +your advice I shall follow, and at daybreak to-morrow will set out to +meet this man upon the way, and bid him draw his sword where there is +none to interrupt us." + +"Should he refuse?" said the brigand. "He is well accompanied--has many +men with him, and some who seem to bear a high rank and station. He may +refuse to draw his sword, and say that the matter is before the king: +what then?" + +"I will spurn him as a cur," replied Bernard de Rohan. "I will strike +him in the midst of his people; call him a coward as well as a knave, +and send him back with the brand of shame upon his brow. It matters not +to me who are with him! If gentlemen be there, so much the better; +Bernard de Rohan's name is not unknown, Bernard de Rohan's honour bears +no stain; and they shall hear his treachery and baseness blazoned in the +open day by a tongue unknown to falsehood." + +Corse de Leon gazed upon him for a moment with a grave, perhaps one +might call it a pitying smile. "You have forgotten," he said, "or never +fully known, the court of France. There has there risen up," he added, +"within my memory, a habit, an affectation of indifference, if you like +to call it so, to all things on this earth; which indifference is born +of a corrupt and a degraded heart, and of sated and exhausted appetites. +To a high mind, furnished with keen and vigorous faculties, nothing on +earth can be indifferent; for acuteness of perception--a quality which, +in its degree, assimilates us to the Divine nature--weighs all +distinctions. As God himself sees all the qualities of everything, +whether minute or great, and gives them their due place, so, the grander +and the more expansive the intellect may be, the more accurately it +feels, perceives, and estimates the good or evil of each individual +thing. The low and the base, the palled taste of luxury, the satiated +sense of licentiousness, the callous heart of selfishness, the blunted +sensibilities of lust, covetousness, gluttony, effeminacy, and idleness, +take refuge in indifference, and call it to their aid, lest vanity--the +weakest, but the last point to become hardened in the heart of +man--should be wounded. They take for their protection the shield of a +false and tinsel wit, the answer of a sneer, the argument of a +supercilious look, and try to gloze over everything, to themselves and +others, with a contemptuous persiflage which confounds all right and +wrong. Thus will this count and his companions meet you; and you will +gain neither answer nor satisfaction, but a jest, a sneer, or a look of +pity." + +"It matters not," replied Bernard de Rohan, "it matters not! There are +some things that men cannot laugh away! Honour, and courage, and virtue +are not columns planted so loosely that a light gale can blow them down; +and I will mark his brow with such disgrace that an ocean of laughter +and light jests will never wash the stain off again. When I have done +that, I will seek my Isabel, and by her own wishes shall our future +conduct be guided. You have reasoned like a learned scholar, my good +friend; but yet you see you have not converted me to your thoughts, +though I will own that it much surprises me to find you have such varied +knowledge of courts, and, I should think, of schools also." + +"I have of both," replied Corse de Leon: "the one I have seen, though in +an humble sphere; the other in my youth I frequented, and gained there +knowledge which those who taught me did not know that they communicated. +However, I wished not to convince you or to overrule your determination, +for that determination is not wrong. I only desired that you should go +to its execution with a full knowledge of all that you might meet with. +Follow your plan, therefore, as you have laid it down, and in executing +it I will not be far from you in case of need. There is no knowing what +a bad man may do, and you ride too slightly attended to offer much +resistance in case they sought to do you wrong." + +"Oh, I fear not, I fear not," replied Bernard de Rohan. "Here, on the +soil of France, I have no fear of any acts of violence, such as that +from which I suffered in Savoy." + +"Have you not seen to-night," said his companion, "have you not seen +this night what wrongs are daily done, even here? However, as I have +said, I will not be far from you; so, for the present, farewell, and let +not daylight see you a lingerer in this dark city." + +Thus saying, he turned and left his young companion, who remained for +some time plunged in deep thought; and, though the light of bright hope +continued still unextinguished before him, mists and clouds came across +the flame from time to time, making it wavering, uncertain, and obscure. + + +END OF VOL. I. + + + + +NEW AND IMPORTANT WORKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS + + +NOVELS. + +NIGHT AND MORNING. By Sir E. L. Bulwer, Bart. + +THE HOUR AND THE MAN. By Miss Harriet Martineau. + +THE BUDGET OF THE BUBBLE FAMILY. By Lady LYTTON BULWER. + +THE MAN-AT-ARMS; or, Henry de Cerons. By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq. + +GODOLPHIN. By Sir E. L. Bulwer, Bart. + + +STANDARD WORKS. + +KEIGHTLEY'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. + +SELECTIONS FROM BRITISH POETS. By Fitz-Greene Halleck. + +SELECTIONS FROM AMERICAN POETS. By W. C. Bryant. + +ELEMENTS OF MENTAL PHILOSOPHY; embracing the two Departments of the +Intellect and Sensibilities. By Thos. C. Upham, Professor of Mental and +Moral Philosophy in Bowdoin College. + +A PHILOSOPHICAL AND PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE WILL. By Thomas C. Upham. + +LIFE AND WORKS OF DR. JOHNSON. By the Rev. Wm. P. Page. + +HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. By the Hon. S. Hale. + +RELIGION IN ITS RELATION TO THE PRESENT LIFE. In a Series of Lectures, +delivered before the Young Men's Association of Utica, by A. B. Johnson, +and published at their request. + +THE LIFE AND WORKS OF DR. OLIVER GOLDSMITH. By Washington Irving. + + +NOVELS, ROMANCES, ETC. + + +MISS SEDGWICK'S WORKS. + +The Linwoods; or, Sixty Years since in America. + +The Poor Rich Man and the Rich Poor Man. + +Live and let Live; or, Domestic Service Illustrated. + +A Love Token for Children. + + +BULWER'S WORKS. + +Pelham; or, the Adventures of a Gentleman. + +The Disowned; a Tale. + +Devereux. + +Paul Clifford; a Tale. + +Eugene Aram. + +The Last Days of Pompeii. + +The Student; a Series of Papers. + +Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes. + +Ernest Maltravers. + +Alice; or, the Mysteries. + +Calderon, the Courtier. + +Leila; or, the Siege of Grenada. + +Falkland; a Tale. + +The Pilgrims of the Rhine. + +The Rebel, and other Tales. + +The Siamese Twins; a Satirical Tale of the Times, &c. + +Richelieu; or, the Conspiracy. A Play. With Historical Odes. + +The Lady of Lyons. A Play. + +The Sea-Captain; or, the Birthright. A Play. + +England and the English. + +Athens: its Rise and Fall. + + +PAULDING's WORKS. + +Salmagundi; or, the Whim-whams and Opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, +Esq., and others. + +Letters from the South. + +Koningsmarke; or, Old Times in the New World. + +The Diverting History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan. + +Tales of the Good Woman. + +The Dutchman's Fireside. + +Westward Ho! + +The Book of St. Nicholas. + +New Pilgrim's Progress. + +The Three Wise Men of Gotham. + +John Bull in America. + +Winter Nights' Entertainments. + +The Atlantic Club-book. By Paulding and others. + +Tales of Glauber Spa. By Paulding and others. + +A Life of Washington. + +Slavery in the United States. + + +JAMES'S WORKS. + +Richelieu; a Tale of France. + +Darnley; or, the Field of the Cloth of Gold. + +De l'Orme. + +Philip Augustus; or, the Brothers in Arms. + +Henry Masterton; or, the Young Cavalier. + +Mary of Burgundy; or, the Revolt of Ghent. + +The Adventures of John Marston Hall. + +The Gipsy; a Tale. + +One in a Thousand; or, the Days of Henry Quatre. + +The Desultory Man. + +Attila; a Romance. + +The Robber. + +The Huguenot; a Tale of the French Protestants. + +Charles Tyrrell; or, the Bitter Blood. + +The Gentleman of the Old School. + +Henry of Guise; or, the States of Blois. + +The King's Highway. + +The String of Pearls. + +The Club-book. By James, and others. + +History of Chivalry and the Crusades. + +History of Charlemagne + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CORSE DE LEON, VOLUME I (OF 2)*** + + +******* This file should be named 36041-8.txt or 36041-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/6/0/4/36041 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/36041-8.zip b/36041-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac4298d --- /dev/null +++ b/36041-8.zip diff --git a/36041-h.zip b/36041-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b31f6ed --- /dev/null +++ b/36041-h.zip diff --git a/36041-h/36041-h.htm b/36041-h/36041-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad22358 --- /dev/null +++ b/36041-h/36041-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9111 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Corse de Leon, Volume I (of 2), by G. P. R. James</title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.linenum { + position: absolute; + top: auto; + left: 4%; +} /* poetry number */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.sidenote { + width: 20%; + padding-bottom: .5em; + padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; + padding-right: .5em; + margin-left: 1em; + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; + color: black; + background: #eeeeee; + border: dashed 1px; +} + +.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + +.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + +.bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + +.br {border-right: solid 2px;} + +.bbox {border: solid 2px;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.u {text-decoration: underline;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: + 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i2 { + display: block; + margin-left: 2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i4 { + display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Corse de Leon, Volume I (of 2), by G. P. R. +James</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Corse de Leon, Volume I (of 2)</p> +<p> or, The Brigand; a Romance</p> +<p>Author: G. P. R. James</p> +<p>Release Date: May 6, 2011 [eBook #36041]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CORSE DE LEON, VOLUME I (OF 2)***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Mary Meehan,<br /> + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h1>CORSE DE LEON:</h1> + +<h3>OR,</h3> + +<h1>THE BRIGAND.</h1> + +<h3>A ROMANCE.</h3> + +<h2>BY G. P. R. JAMES, ESQ.</h2> + +<h3>AUTHOR OF "THE ROBBER," "THE GENTLEMAN OF THE OLD SCHOOL," ETC.</h3> + +<h3>IN TWO VOLUMES.</h3> + +<h3>VOL. I.</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h3>NEW-YORK: PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NO. 82 CLIFF-STREET.</h3> + +<h3>1841.</h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</a><br /><br /> +<a href="#NEW_AND_IMPORTANT_WORKS_RECENTLY_PUBLISHED_BY_HARPER_BROTHERS">PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS</a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CORSE DE LEON;</h2> + +<h3>OR,</h3> + +<h2>THE BRIGAND.</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + + +<p>There are a thousand small and apparently accidental circumstances, +which, in our course through life, bring a temporary gloom upon us, +render our expectations from the future fearful and cheerless, and +diminish our confidence in all those things whereon man either rashly +relies or builds his reasonable trusts. Strength, youth, wealth, power, +the consciousness of rectitude, the providence of God: all these will +occasionally lose their sustaining influence, even upon the most hopeful +mind, from causes too slight to justify such an effect.</p> + +<p>These accidental circumstances, these mental clouds, resemble much those +other clouds which sometimes, at the close of a bright day, come over a +landscape previously warm and shining, cast a gray shade over its rich +hues, shut out the redoubled glory of the setting sun, and make gloom +and shadow spread over the summer scene. Though nothing is changed but +the light in which things dwell, though the colour of the tree and the +form of the rock are the same, yet the brightness of the whole is +departed, and the lustre gone out as if for ever.</p> + +<p>There are times, however, when a gloom, which seems to have no +counterpart in the physical world, comes over the mind; when all has +gone fairly with us; when every object around is full of brightness and +hope; when the horses of Fortune's car have never once even stumbled on +the way; and not a sorrow rough enough to rub the down from the wing of +a butterfly has fallen upon our hearts for years; and yet a deep and +shadowy despondence steals over our spirits, as if the immortal within +us were telling the mortal of anxieties, and griefs, and dangers +approaching—discovered by the fine sympathies of the higher part of our +being with things undiscovered by the mere material creature.</p> + +<p>Cares, sorrows, and perils, corporeal agony, and anguish of the heart, +are often but as the fire which tempers the pure iron into the fine +steel, at once proving and strengthening the spirit. The last grand +lesson which leads generous youth to vigorous manhood, which confirms +our powers, and gives the great man's mastery over Fate, is to endure; +and I am inclined to believe that such sudden and unaccountable feelings +of despondency—I do not mean the ordinary fits of gloom that haunt a +moody and a wayward spirit, but, on the contrary, the dark impression, +the heavy shadow that once or twice, in the midst of a bright lifetime, +comes irresistibly upon a gay or placid mind—I am inclined to think, I +say, that such despondence is only given to the highminded and the +great: a prophetic voice, announcing, not to the ear, but to the heart, +that the day of trial comes: the trumpet of Fate, calling on a champion, +dauntless and strong, to rouse him to the battle, and arm his spirit for +some awful strife.</p> + +<p>The day had been as bright and beautiful as a summer day in the south of +Europe can be, and yet it had spared the traveller and the labourer many +of the inconveniences and discomforts which those beautiful days of the +south sometimes bring along with them: for the year was yet young, and +with all the brightness of youth it had all the tenderness too. There +had been a fresh breeze in the sky during the hotter part of the day; +and one would have felt that it blew from the cool tops of snowy +mountains, even had one not seen, from time to time, some of the distant +peaks of the high Alps towering white over the greener hills below.</p> + +<p>There was also a world of streams, and rivulets, and cascades about, +which gave additional freshness and life to the air that blew heavy with +the perfume of the flowers upon the banks; and the high swelling of the +mountains round still gave a pleasant shade to one side of the valley. +Each sense had something to delight it; and there was over every object +which nature presented that aspect of peaceful enjoyment which is the +greatest soother of man's heart.</p> + +<p>The spot was in the extreme verge of Savoy, bordering upon France. It +would little benefit the reader to say exactly where, for the aspect of +the land has changed: the towns of that age and their laborious denizens +would not be recognised by their successors of the present day; the +castle, the fortress, and the palace are ruined and swept away, and even +the roads themselves now wind through other valleys or climb over other +hills. It was somewhere between Nice and St. Jean de Maurienne: that +space is surely limited enough to afford the reader a definite idea of +the scene. Let him take a map and a pair of compasses, he will find it +but a span; and in reality it is less—with a universe around it.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, it was a very lovely scene, as I have said, with the hills +tall and blue, and the snowy mountains looking down upon one through the +long defiles; with the valleys green and fresh, and the streams bright +and sparkling. Here and there, too, upon some rocky height which +commanded the entrance of the gorges of the mountain, a feudal castle +would raise its battlements, gray, and stern, and warlike; and either in +the open plain—where such a thing was found—or in the warm valleys in +the hills, were seen the villages and small towns of Savoy, with their +grayish white walls and their graceful church towers crowning the +loveliness of the whole with the aspect of human life. The period of the +world's history whereof I speak was one of gorgeous pageantry, and gay +wit and deeds of arms: a period when chivalry and the feudal system, +just about to be extinguished for ever, blazed with a dying flame. +Montmorency still lived, though Bayard and Francis had left the busy +scene but a few years before, and Henry the Second had not yet closed +his career in the last tournament which Europe was destined to witness. +The songs of Marot and the wit of Rabelais still rang in the ear, and +Ronsard, Dorat, and Montaigne were entering gayly upon the path of +letters.</p> + +<p>It was in the year 1558, then, and towards the close of the day, that a +small party of horsemen wound along through the bright scenery of which +we have spoken. It consisted only of four persons, two of whom were +merely armed servants, such as usually attended upon a cavalier of those +times, not exactly acting the part of soldier on ordinary occasions, but +very well fitted so to do when any particular exigency required the +exertion of the strong hand. The third was a youth of no very remarkable +appearance, in the garb of a page; but the fourth was evidently the +leader of the whole, and, as such, the person who merits the most +accurate description. I will attempt to paint him to the eye of the +reader, as I have myself seen him represented by the hand of an unknown +artist in one of the palaces on the banks of the Brenta.</p> + +<p>He was in person about the middle height, rather above it than below, +and at this period was not more than twenty-three years of age. His +forehead was broad and fine, with short dark hair curling round it: his +features were small, except the eye and brow, the former of which was +large and full, and the latter strongly marked. The mouth was very +handsome, showing, when half open in speaking, the brilliant white +teeth, and giving to the whole countenance a look of playful gayety; +but, when shut, there was an expression of much thoughtfulness, +approaching perhaps to sternness, about it, which the rounded and +somewhat prominent chin confirmed. The upper lip was very short; but on +either side, divided in the middle, was a short black mustache, not +overhanging the mouth, but raised above it; and the beard, which was +short and black like the hair, was only suffered to grow in such a +manner as to ornament, but not to encumber, the chin.</p> + +<p>In form the cavalier was muscular, and powerfully made, his breadth of +chest and shoulders giving the appearance of a more advanced period of +life than that at which he had yet arrived. He was evidently a soldier, +for he was fully armed, as if having lately been or being still in +scenes of strife and danger; and, to say the truth, a man fully armed in +those days was certainly more loaded with weapons, offensive and +defensive, than was probably ever the case before or since.</p> + +<p>The picture I have spoken of represents him with not only the complete +armour which was then still used to encase the person, with the long, +heavy sword, the dagger, and the large pistols, but also with four short +carbines—at least such they appear to be—one at each corner of the +saddle. His head, indeed, is seen unencumbered by the steel cap, which +usually completed the armour, but which is borne by the page at his +saddlebow, while the cavalier himself appears wearing upon his head the +somewhat cooler covering of a black velvet cap, without feather or any +other ornament.</p> + +<p>The horse that carried him, which was a tall, powerful charger, fared +better in some respects than his master; for before this epoch, the +heavy armour with which steed as well as man used at one time to be +encumbered was lightened in favour of the quadruped, and the horse which +bore the young gentleman of whom we speak was only covered with such +pieces as might protect his head and chest in the shock of the charge.</p> + +<p>The day, I have said, had been bright and sweet, and all nature had been +as fresh and happy as a young heart upon a holyday. Similar, too, had +been the mood of Bernard de Rohan as he rode along; not so much that the +scene and its charms created, as that they found, sympathetic feelings +in his bosom; for his disposition was naturally cheerful and bright, +full of gay thoughts and happy enthusiasms. He was returning, too, from +another country—from the midst of strangers, and perils, and +fatigues—to enjoy an interval of tranquillity in his own bright land, +and the society of those he loved.</p> + +<p>France was within his sight; the tongues that he heard around him spoke +nearly the same language as that which he had used from infancy; and, +though the nominal frontier of Savoy lay some fifteen miles before him, +yet, in all but the name, he was in his own country. There was little of +that cold restraint about him which is either acquired by harsh dealings +with evil men, or is natural from some inward pravity of the heart, and +the cheerful mood of his mind found its way forth in many an outward +sign. From time to time he had turned round to speak to the page or to +one of the servants with some light jest or gay inquiry. Now he would +point out a distant spot in the landscape as they stood upon some +beetling point half way up the mountain, and ask if they recognised this +or that town in Dauphiné; now he would pat the proud crest of his stout +horse, and talk to the noble animal as if he expected an answer; and now +would even break forth into a snatch of song. His heart, in short, was +as a fountain, so filled with happiness that it welled over, and the +waters sparkled as they overflowed the brim.</p> + +<p>The servants smiled to see their lord so gay, especially an elder one, +who, commenting with the other, remarked that he might well look happy, +bearing back home such glory as he had won.</p> + +<p>Thus passed the earlier part of the day's journey; but towards the +evening the mood of Bernard de Rohan changed. His open brow did not grow +cloudy, it is true, but there came a look of gloom upon it: the lips no +longer opened with a bland smile, and the teeth were shut together with +that stern expression we have already noticed. His eyes gazed on upon +the scene, but with somewhat of a vacant aspect, and everything told +that the spirit was busy in its tabernacle dealing with high thoughts. +Nor could any one who looked upon him suppose those thoughts were other +than sad ones. Intense they certainly were, and certainly they were not +gay.</p> + +<p>Yet Bernard de Rohan had no remembered grief. Fate had indeed once +struck him severely, but ever after had spared him altogether; had +plucked not a flower from his bosom, nor cast a shadow on his path.</p> + +<p>In early years he had lost both his parents, but that was the only +misfortune which had befallen him, and it was long ago. He scarcely +remembered them; and all that remained was a soft memory, affectionate +but not painful. Since then his course had been from one bright thing to +another. Wise and tender friends, the amusements, the sports, the +studies of youth, virtue and honour, wealth and station, praise, +success, and glory had been his. He had no thirst for power: so what +could he want more? Had any one asked him that question, he would have +replied, Nothing: nothing but what he might well hope to attain; and +yet, about an hour before the sun reached the edge of the sky, a fit of +gloom fell upon him, dark, vague, unaccountable, like one of those mists +that in mountain lands suddenly surround the wayfarer, shutting out the +beauty and the brightness, and leaving all around dull, chilly, vague, +uncertain, and confused.</p> + +<p>For nearly half an hour he gave way to the sensations that oppressed +him. They seemed at first too mighty to be struggled with. It was what, +in the language of Northern poetry, is called "having the cloud upon +him," and he could not cast it off; till at length it seemed to rise +gradually, and the power returned, first, of arguing with himself upon +the unreasonableness of such feelings, and then of smiling—though with +a mingled smile—at his own weakness in giving way to them.</p> + +<p>The effect wore off; but he was still communing with himself on the +sensations he had just experienced, when the page called his attention +to the clouds that were gathering round the mountains. With that quick +transition so common to hill countries, especially in the south, the sky +was becoming rapidly obscured. The lurid masses of stormy vapour writhed +themselves round the peaks; and, although beneath their dark canopy a +gleam of intense red light was seen marking the far western sky on the +side of France, the whole heaven above was soon covered with a thick +expanse of deep gray cloud. At a considerable distance, in the more open +part of the country, which lay beyond the mouth of the defile, +stretching in long lines of dark purple towards the sunset, appeared a +large square tower, with some other neighbouring buildings, cutting with +their straight lines the rounded forms of the trees.</p> + +<p>"That must be Voiron," said the cavalier, as if in answer to his page's +observation regarding the coming storm. "We must quicken our pace and +reach shelter, or we shall have to pass half the night in cleaning our +arms, if yonder frowning cloud fulfil one half its menaces."</p> + +<p>"Voiron must be ten leagues off, sir," replied one of the attendants; +"we shall not reach it this night."</p> + +<p>"Then we must find some other covering," replied the master, gayly; +"but, at all events, put to your spurs, for the battle has already +begun."</p> + +<p>Even as he spoke the large drops fell slowly and heavily, denting the +dusty covering of the road. Bernard de Rohan and his followers rode on +at full speed, though the descent was steep, the way bad, and the gray +twilight creeping over the scene. Five minutes more brought them to a +turn where they could obtain a wider view; but, alas! no place of refuge +was to be seen, except where the same tall dark tower rose heavily +across the streaks of red light in the west, marking the place of some +distant town or village. The attendants, who had pictured to themselves +during the morning's ride all the comforts of the cheerful inn, the good +rich wine of Dauphiné, the stretching forth at ease of the strong, +laborious limb, the easy gossip with the village girls, the +light-hearted song in the porch, and all the relaxing joys of an hour's +idleness, now begun to think of the long and tedious task of cleaning +arms and clothing, and spending many an hour in rubbing the cold steel; +and, to say sooth, their lord also would have been better pleased with +fairer weather.</p> + +<p>The road, as such roads ever must do, wound its way round many a turn +and angle of the rock, so that it was very possible for several persons +to be within a short distance of each other, without the one who +followed ever seeing him who was but a few hundred yards before him. At +the spot which we have mentioned, Bernard de Rohan paused for a moment +to look round for some place of shelter, and the road before him seemed +perfectly clear and free. He could see completely into the valley on his +right, and across the plains beyond, while the path which he was +following could be traced along the side of the hill, round two or three +sharp angles of the rock, about two hundred yards apart from each other. +All at first was clear, as I have said, when suddenly there emerged, at +the salient point which cut that part of the sky where the light still +lingered, the figure of a human being, which was lost again round the +turn almost as soon as it was seen.</p> + +<p>"There is a peasant on a mule," exclaimed the cavalier, gladly. "We +cannot be far from some village."</p> + +<p>"It looks more like a priest on an ass, my lord," replied the attendant +who had spoken before.</p> + +<p>"Well, well," said his master, "we shall find the better lodgings."</p> + +<p>"And the better wine," rejoined his follower; "but, perhaps, not the +better welcome."</p> + +<p>"Oh, they are good men, these priests of Savoy," replied Bernard de +Rohan, spurring on; "but we must not lose him again."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes they again caught sight of the object of their pursuit. +He was now much nearer, but still it was somewhat difficult to +distinguish whether he were priest or peasant, till, coming up with him +by dint of hard riding—for his long-eared charger was bearing him on at +a rapid pace—they found that he was, as the attendant had supposed, a +jovial priest; not, indeed, extravagantly fat, as but too many were in +that day, but in good case of body, and bearing a countenance rosy with +health, and apparently sparkling with a cheerful disposition. He seemed, +indeed, to be of a character somewhat eccentric; for, contrary to all +clerical rule, he had covered his head with one of the large straw hats +of the peasantry, which accorded but ill with the rest of his +habiliments. His features, which the young cavalier thought he had seen +somewhere before, were good, with an expression of much sharpness; and, +though undoubtedly he heard the tramp of horses' feet behind him, in a +land and in times not famous for safe travelling, either his conscience +or his courage were so good, that he turned not his head to see who +followed him thus closely, but kept his ass at the same brisk canter, +while the young cavalier rode up to his side, and gave him the ordinary +salutation of the day.</p> + +<p>"A good-evening to you, father!" said Bernard de Rohan, riding between +him and the edge of the precipice.</p> + +<p>"Pray let us have it quickly, my son," replied the priest; "for the one +we have got seems likely to be as bad a one as ever I saw, at present."</p> + +<p>"Indeed it is," answered the young gentleman, smiling at his somewhat +cynical reply; "I am heartily glad to have met with you, my good father, +for I trust you can show us some place of shelter."</p> + +<p>"Good faith," replied the priest, turning for a moment to look at the +cavalier's followers, "I cannot say I am so glad of the encounter; for +where I am going we cannot be sure of finding too many of the good +things of this life, and the lion's portion is always sure to go to the +fighting men."</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay! we will share alike!" rejoined Bernard.</p> + +<p>"Ay! but I am a king in those matters," answered the priest; "I do not +like to share at all. But come on, come on; I am only jesting. We shall +find plenty, I doubt not; for, when last I passed that little inn, there +was good meat and wine enough to have fed a refectory for a week, or an +army for a year. Come on quick, I say, for yon foul-mouthed railer at +the top of the hill is beginning to roar at us as well as spit at us. We +have still far to go, and a storm in these mountains is like a dull +jest, I can tell you, young gentleman; for one never knows what may come +next."</p> + +<p>"Why, what can come next," demanded the cavalier, "but fine weather +after the storm?"</p> + +<p>"A rock upon your head," replied the priest, "or an avalanche at your +heels, which would smother you in your steel case like a lobster in his +shell. Come on! come on! Sancta Maria! why, my small ass will out-run +your tall charger now!" and, bestowing a buffet with his straw hat upon +the flank of his bearer, the beast quickened his pace still more, and, +with a malicious whisk of the tail and fling with his hind feet, set off +into a gallop. But we must pause to change the scene, and precede the +travellers on their way.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + + +<p>There are few situations in life which convey to the mind of man more +completely the sensations of comfort, security, and repose, than when, +after a long day's ride, he sits at ease by a glowing fire, and +hears—while all the ready service of a well-conducted inn is in +bustling activity to minister to his wants or satisfy his appetite—the +rain patter and the tempest roar without. Nor is it from any selfish +comparison of their own fate with that of others less happy that men +derive this sensation, notwithstanding the dictum of the most selfish of +would-be philosophers. It is, on the contrary, from a comparison of +their own situation at the moment with what that situation sometimes has +been, or might even then be, that the good and the generous experience +such feelings; and, though the thought of others exposed to the tempest +must naturally cross their minds, yet that thought is mixed with pity +and regret.</p> + +<p>The little inn towards which Bernard de Rohan and his companions were +proceeding, under the guidance of the priest, when last we left them, +though the village in which it stood contained not above nine or ten +cottages, was good for the time and the country. Its only sitting-room, +of course, was the great kitchen, into which the door opened from the +road; but that kitchen was well fenced from the wind and rain; the +windows were small, and cased in stone; the door was sheltered by a deep +porch, where host and travellers sat and amused themselves in the summer +daytime; and, as it was the first house met with after passing some of +the steepest mountains between France and Piedmont, everything was done +to make it attractive in the eyes of weary wayfarers.</p> + +<p>The thunder had passed, the air had become cold and raw, the night was +as dark as a bad man's thoughts, a fierce wind was blowing, and the +heavy rain dashed in gusts against the clattering casements; but all +those indications of the harsh and boisterous state of the weather +without did but serve to make the scene within seem more comfortable to +the eyes of a traveller, who sat in one of the large seats within the +sheltering nook of the chimney, watching the busy hostess prepare more +than one savoury mess for his supper on the bright wood fire that blazed +upon the hearth. In the mean time, several attendants of various kinds +might be seen in different parts of the wide kitchen, cleaning and +drying harness, clothes, baldrics, and weapons, or preparing other +matters for the service of their lord, with all the devices of courtly +luxury.</p> + +<p>Those attendants, however, were not the attendants of Bernard de Rohan, +nor was the traveller that cavalier himself; he being yet upon his way +thither, and enduring all the fury of the storm.</p> + +<p>The one of whom I now speak was a man of about the same age, but rather +older. He was decidedly a handsomer man also: his features were all +finer in form; he was taller; his complexion was fairer, without, +however, being effeminate; and it was evident, too, that he knew his +personal advantages, and was somewhat vain of them. He was dressed with +much splendour, according to the fashion of that day; and, though he +seemed to have met with some part of the storm, it was clear that he had +not been long exposed to it.</p> + +<p>In short, as he sat there, he might well be pronounced one of the +handsomest and most splendid cavaliers of his day; but there was a +something which a closely-observing eye might detect in the hanging brow +and curling lip that was not altogether pleasant. It could scarcely be +called a sneer; yet there was something supercilious and contemptuous in +it too. Nor was it altogether haughty, though pride undoubtedly had its +share. It was a dark and yet not gloomy expression. It seemed as if the +heart beneath was full of many an unfathomable idea, and proud of its +impenetrability. The thoughts might be good or bad; but it was evidently +a countenance of much thought under a mask of lightness: a deep lake +beneath a ripple.</p> + +<p>The stranger had, as we have said, been looking on while the hostess, +with a bustling maid, prepared manifold dishes for his supper; and he +added, from time to time, a gay jest to either of them upon the progress +of the work. His tone was familiar and easy; but it might be remarked +that his jest always arose from something that came beneath his eye, and +that, in general, he took no notice whatever of the reply, scarcely +seeming to hear that any one else spoke, and making no rejoinder, but +letting the matter drop till he thought fit to jest again.</p> + +<p>At length, however, he said, "I prithee, dame, double yon portion of +steaks from the roe-deer, and add me some twenty eggs to the omelet. You +will have more visiters shortly."</p> + +<p>The good woman started up with a look of some surprise, and might, +perhaps, have thought her guest a conjuror, had not his words been +followed so closely by the noise of horses' feet, that the source of his +knowledge was evident at once. A moment after voices were heard calling, +and the aubergiste, who had been aiding some of the servants at the +other side of the kitchen, opened the door carefully and looked forth. +The cold wind rushed in fiercely, like a besieging army into a stormed +city, and the yellow wax flambeau which the host carried to the door, +and which, in that land of bees, was in those days common to every +country inn, was extinguished in a moment, notwithstanding the fierce +flame wherewith it burned.</p> + +<p>All on that side of the wide, dingy room was now in darkness; but voices +were heard as of many persons speaking, with cries for horseboys and +hostlers, in the easily-distinguished tongues of attendants, while the +landlord assured the travellers again and again that he would bestow +upon them a thousand-fold better accommodation and entertainment than +there was the least chance of their obtaining in reality.</p> + +<p>At the same time, a full, rich, merry voice was heard chuckling at the +boasts of mine host, and exclaiming, "Ay, ay, landlord! is it not so? We +shall have dolphins and mullets, ortolans and beccaficos, musk sherbet +from Constantinople, true Roman Falernian mingled with honey, and, to +crown all, a Pythagorean peacock! Nothing less will serve us in this +cold night; though, methinks, a good capon and a tankard of mulled +Avignon claret<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> would warm me well, were it but ready this minute."</p> + +<p>While the jovial priest, whom I have described in the first chapter of +this true history, descended from his ass, joking at every movement with +the host, Bernard de Rohan, smiling at his new companion's merriment, +sprang to the ground and entered the kitchen of the inn, leaving his +attendants to lead round the horses to the stables at the back of the +building. It might not, it is true, be very satisfactory to him to find +that the inn was so fully tenanted as he soon saw that it was; but he +was one of those who fail not to enjoy what may fall to their lot as far +as possible; and, as he advanced towards the fire, he thanked Heaven for +a place of shelter from the rude buffeting of the storm.</p> + +<p>In the mean while, the first occupant of the inn continued, with that +air of self-satisfied indifference which has been a part of the +affectation of the pampered and insolent in all ages, to look at nothing +but the proceedings of some rebellious sticks upon the hearth, which +resisted all the soft persuasions of the woman whom the hostess had left +to tend the savoury messes at the fire, while she herself aided her +husband in receiving, like Hope, her new visiters with false promises. +The occupant of the chimney-corner looked neither to the right nor to +the left; and, to have judged by his countenance, one would have +supposed that he heard not one sound of all the many that were stirring +around him, nor had a greater interest in anything on earth than in the +cooking of a steak of roe venison. Even when Bernard de Rohan advanced +with his arms jingling as he trod, and, after a momentary glance at him, +laid hold of his arm with a friendly smile, the stranger merely turned +round, with a look of perfect unconcern, to see who it was that, either +in enmity or good-fellowship, thus called his attention.</p> + +<p>When he saw who it was, however, he became more animated, and, rising +with a smile, shook hands with him warmly. "Ha! Bernard de Rohan!" he +exclaimed, "I can hardly believe my eyes. Why, baron, who would have +thought to meet you thus in a Savoyard inn? Have you then quitted Italy +to follow Guise, and meet the enemy in the North? You have not thrown by +the spear and sword, I see! But, in a word, say what do you here?"</p> + +<p>"Why, to say truth," replied the other, "nothing is now to be done +beyond the Apennines; and though, as you might well know, after all that +occurred at Civita, I am as little likely to follow Guise as a greyhound +is to hunt in company with a lion, yet there is no use in staying behind +when he has not only left the field himself, but taken all his forces +with him. I am tired of this warfare, too! I long for some repose. I +have now been three years absent from France, and I have a yearning to +see my own land once more."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and some fair dame therein," rejoined his companion. "Is it not +so, De Rohan? I remember well you seemed to have but small delight in +the bright eyes of the young Italians, and I often thought that it must +be some remembered love of the past that kept you thus heart-whole."</p> + +<p>"It may be so, count," replied Bernard, gayly. "What man is there +without a lady-love? If there be one, he is neither fit for war nor +peace: he wants the great excitement to glory, and courtesy, and great +deeds. But, even had it not been for that, Meyrand," he added, more +seriously, "I love the ladies of my own land best. Bright looks are +little to me without true hearts, and beauty but a frail substitute for +goodness."</p> + +<p>"Pshaw, Sir Moralizer!" cried his companion; "beauty is a woman's best +possession till she be old; and then, when she has done with the Graces, +let her take up with the Virtues, or the Muses, or anything else she +likes."</p> + +<p>"Let her take up with anything, in short," said the jolly priest, coming +forward to the fire, and shaking his gown to dry it; "let her take up +with anything but a libertine, a fop, or a courtier. Let her bear age, +or ugliness, or anything but children to fools—so shall she do well in +this world and the next! Is it not so, gay sir?"</p> + +<p>The Count de Meyrand stared at him with a look of haughty surprise; but +he found that the priest was as indifferent as he could be, and he +relapsed for a minute or two into silence, while the page of Bernard de +Rohan came up to disarm his lord. The operation was somewhat long, and, +by the time it was accomplished, the trestles had been brought forth +from their corner, the long wooden boards which, joined up the middle, +served for a table, had been taken from the wall against which they +stood and laid upon those trestles, and over all a fine white tablecloth +had been spread, with the salt in the midst.</p> + +<p>Plate after plate of well-cooked viands, emitting an odour most savoury +to hungry men, was next placed on the board by the neat hostess, and the +count, with Bernard de Rohan in the buff jerkin he had worn under his +armour, moved to take their seats at the head of the table. The priest +sat down beside his young travelling companion, while a sneering smile +curled the lip of Meyrand, and he could not refrain from saying, in a +low but not inaudible voice, "Why, baron, what a princely youth you have +become, to travel with your fool, and in canonicals too."</p> + +<p>Bernard did not reply; and the priest, though he heard every word, said +nothing till, the attendants having all ranged themselves at the lower +end of the table, together with the host and hostess, he proceeded to +bless the meat. He had scarcely concluded, however, when the door of the +inn suddenly opened, and a person rushed in in the garb of a servant. He +was without hat or cloak, and there was a cut, though but a slight one, +upon his forehead. "Help! help!" he cried, gazing eagerly around the +circle; "help! help! they are carrying away my Lord of Masseran and my +young lady to murder them in the mountains."</p> + +<p>These words produced a very different effect upon the persons who heard +them. The Count of Meyrand sat perfectly still and indifferent, +listening with his usual air of cool self-possession to all that the man +said, and never ceasing to carve with his dagger the meat that was +before him, on which he had just commenced when the interruption took +place.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, Bernard de Rohan and each of his servants, as if +moved by the same impulse, started up at once. The young gentleman's +left hand fell naturally to grasp the scabbard of his sword, and, before +the man had done speaking, he had taken three steps towards the door of +the inn.</p> + +<p>Two or three circumstances, however, occurred to interrupt him for a +moment. There were various confused movements on the part of many +persons present, and a clamour of several tongues all speaking at once.</p> + +<p>At the same time the count exclaimed, "Stay one moment, baron! Stay and +drink one cup of wine with me before you go out in this sweet stormy +night to help one of the greatest scoundrels that Savoy can produce, or +France either. Stay, stay one moment! Well," he added, seeing Bernard de +Rohan turn from him with a look of impatience, "well, go and help +Masseran, if you will! Heaven send the rogues may have cut his throat +before you reach them!"</p> + +<p>"Your horse, my lord!" cried one of the attendants.</p> + +<p>"Your armour, sir!" said another.</p> + +<p>"No, no, on foot! on foot!" cried Bernard de Rohan; "on foot as we are! +Time is everything. Lead on, fellow! lead on! Send us out torches, mine +host!"</p> + +<p>The jovial priest had started up almost at the same time as his +travelling companion. "By our Lady, I will go with you!" he cried, "to +shrive the dying. It is a part of a priest's trade; though, I confess, +if I were knight, and noble and gallant cavalier, I would stay where I +am, like this brave count, and exercise my chivalry upon venison and +tankards of wine."</p> + +<p>While he was speaking, there drew out from some dark corner of the +inn-kitchen—where he had remained unnoticed by any one—a tall, thin, +gaunt man, with a straw hat on his head, and a large, coarse brown cloak +enveloping almost the whole of his figure. He took three steps forward +into the full light, and certainly there had seldom been seen a more +striking, if not a more handsome countenance, or a more remarkable and +even graceful bearing, than that which the stranger presented. He was a +man apparently about five-and-thirty years of age, with aquiline +features, large, black, flashing eyes, the bronze of sun, and wind, and +storm upon his face, and five or six deep scars upon his cheek and brow. +He was remarkably erect in person, and, though certainly meager, was +broad-shouldered and muscular, or rather, perhaps, I may say, sinewy; +for the hand that grasped his cloak, and the part of the arm and wrist +seen above it, displayed the strong markings of the muscles like cords +under the skin.</p> + +<p>He came directly in the way of Bernard de Rohan as the young cavalier +advanced towards the door; and it must be confessed that there was +something strange and startling in the sudden apparition of the +stranger, which made the other pause, and, with an involuntary motion, +advance his right hand towards the hilt of his sword.</p> + +<p>He drew it back again instantly, however, somewhat ashamed of the +movement, while the new personage thus brought upon the stage said, in a +deep but melodious voice, "I will go with you too, young gentleman, and +may do you better service than our good friend the priest here."</p> + +<p>"But, Master Leon," exclaimed the landlord of the inn, advancing towards +him with an entreating look.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" cried the stranger, holding up his hand; and, at the same +moment, the jovial priest turned also upon the host, exclaiming, "Fry +your eggs, fry your eggs, Gandelot, and leave other people to fry +theirs. Don't be afraid! we'll not toss the omelet into the fire, nor +spill the grease, nor set the chimney in a blaze. You know me and I know +him; and, though he is the last man that should say I can't do good +service when I like it, yet I will go with him without a quarrel!"</p> + +<p>When every one is speaking at once, a conversation which would be +otherwise long is very rapidly brought to a conclusion; and though, as +we have seen, there were here two or three interlocutors, all that we +have described scarcely interrupted Bernard de Rohan half a minute. +"Lead on, lead on, then!" he exclaimed impatiently, addressing the +servant who had made the appeal for assistance, and to whom the Count de +Meyrand had been addressing a few words in a low tone. "Lead on, I say, +quick!" and in another moment they were all beyond the door of the inn, +and standing upon the mountain-side in the cold air of night.</p> + +<p>The count remained at the table; and, shaping their conduct upon that of +their lord, not one of his servants attempted to move. Meyrand, however, +did not, upon the whole, seem particularly well satisfied with what had +taken place. Perhaps he might not be quite contented with the inactive +part he was playing; and it is certain he asked himself whether Bernard +de Rohan could attribute his conduct to want of courage. He recollected, +however, that they had mounted to the assault of many a well-defended +breach together, and he felt sure that there could be no doubt of that +kind on his companion's mind. He remained in thought, however, for a +minute or two longer, forgetting even the supper that was before him, +and the air of indifference which he usually bore; but at length he +beckoned one of his men to his side, and spoke a few words to him in a +very low tone, only suffering the last two to be heard: they were, "You +understand!"</p> + +<p>The man bowed his head in reply, called three of his companions away +from the table, sought hastily in the different corners of the inn +kitchen for various offensive weapons, and then left the place, as if to +follow and assist Bernard de Rohan and his party.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + + +<p>It had nearly ceased raining, but the night, as we have said, was cold +and chilly, the sky was still covered with thick clouds, and the air was +full of thick darkness; to use the expressive words of Scripture, a +darkness that could be felt. Bernard de Rohan and his companions paused +for a moment before the door of the little inn, listening to catch any +sounds of the conflict from which the servant seemed so freshly to have +come.</p> + +<p>All was silent, however. The rushing sound of the mountain torrents, +swelled by the late rains; the sighing of the night winds among the +gorges of the mountains and through the deep pine forests; the distant +cry of a wolf, and the whirring scream of the night-hawk, as it flitted +by, were all heard distinctly; but no human voice mingled with the other +sounds.</p> + +<p>This silence, however, gave no assurance to the heart of Bernard de +Rohan that the persons for whom the servant had appealed to his chivalry +had escaped from their assailants. It was well known at that time that +every part of Savoy was infested with bands of brigands, which had +rather increased than diminished in number since France had taken +possession of the country; so that, unable to put them down, the famous +Maréchal de Brissac, in order to restrain their indiscriminate ravages +in some degree, had been obliged to give them occasional employment with +his own forces. When not thus employed, however, they were known to lay +wait in all the principal passes, both of Piedmont and Savoy, and take +toll of all travellers with a strong hand. Enormous barbarities were +from time to time charged against them; and, if one might judge from +general rumour, no scheme was too wild, no act too violent and desperate +for them to devise and execute. The only conclusion, therefore, which +Bernard de Rohan drew from the absence of all sounds of conflict was, +that the banditti had prevailed, and either murdered their victims or +carried them off.</p> + +<p>"Quick! quick!" he cried, after that momentary pause. "Lead on, lead on, +good fellow! Where are your lord and lady? Which is the way?"</p> + +<p>"This way, noble sir, this way," cried the man, advancing at once along +the road which led more immediately into the mountains. "They cannot +have gone far: I could hear the voices of the brigands from the inn +door."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, he led the way onward with great speed; but, as Bernard de +Rohan followed with the same quick pace, the clear, deep voice of the +man whom the host had called Master Leon sounded in his ear, saying, +"There is some mistake here, and I think some villany; but fear not."</p> + +<p>"Fear!" replied Bernard de Rohan, turning his head towards him. "Do you +suppose I fear?"</p> + +<p>"No, I suppose not," replied the man; "but yet there was no common +interest in your eye, good youth, when this knave talked of his young +mistress, and one may fear for others, though not for themselves. But +hark! I hear a noise on before. Voices speaking. Some one complaining, I +think. Quick, quick! Run, Sir Varlet, run!"</p> + +<p>At the rapid pace at which they now proceeded they soon heard the sounds +more distinctly before them. There was a noise of horses, and a jingling +as of the bells of mules. The murmuring of a number of voices, too, came +borne upon the air down the pass, and some four or five hundred yards +farther up the servant, who was now running on as fast as possible, +stumbled over a wounded man, who uttered a cry of pain. But the young +man and his companions slackened not their pace, for by this time they +could plainly hear some sharp and angry voices pouring forth oaths and +imprecations, and urging what seemed to be a band of prisoners to hurry +forward more rapidly. At the same time the light of a torch, or more +than one, was seen gleaming upon the gray rocks and green foliage, and +on one occasion it threw upon the flat face of a crag on the other side +of the ravine the shadow of a large body of men with horses and other +beasts of burden.</p> + +<p>"Now out with your swords," cried the personage named Leon, in a tone of +authority, "for we are gaining on them quick, and I doubt not shall have +stout resistance."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan's sword was already in his hand before the other spoke, +and, hurrying on, the next moment he reached an angle of the rock, from +which he could plainly discern the whole party that he was pursuing. He +paused for an instant as he saw them, and well might that sight make him +do so, for the torchlight displayed to his eyes a body of at least +fifteen or sixteen armed men, some of them mounted, some of them on +foot, driving on in the midst of them two or three loaded horses, and +seven or eight men and women, several of them apparently having their +hands tied. The party was about two hundred yards in advance; and, +though the torchlight was sufficient to show him the particulars which +we have mentioned, yet it did no more than display the gleaming of the +arms and the fluttering of the women's garments, without at all giving +any indication of the rank or station to which the prisoners belonged.</p> + +<p>The young cavalier, it must be remembered, was accompanied by only five +persons, and the greater part of those five were, like himself, but +lightly armed. His momentary pause, however, was only to reconnoitre the +enemy, without the slightest hesitation as to what his own conduct was +to be. He knew the effect of a sudden and unexpected attack, and +calculated upon some assistance also from the prisoners themselves; but, +had he had nothing but his own courage in his favour, his conduct would +have been the same. He was again hurrying on, when the powerful grasp of +the man named Leon was laid upon his arm, and stayed him.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" he said: "do not be too quick! Do you not see that these men are +no brigands, as you thought?"</p> + +<p>"How should I see that?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, turning sharply upon +him. "Who but brigands would commit an act like this?"</p> + +<p>"Think you that brigands would have torches with them?" said his +companion, calmly. "Pause a moment, pause a moment: let them get round +yon point of the rock; for, if they hear us coming, and see how few we +are, we shall be obliged to do things that we had better not. Beyond the +rock they will be cooped up in a little basin of the hills, where they +can be attacked with advantage."</p> + +<p>"You seem to know the country well," said Bernard de Rohan, gazing upon +him with some suspicion, as the light of the torches, faintly reflected +from the other side of the valley, served partially to display his dark +but fine countenance.</p> + +<p>"Ay! I do know it well!" replied the other: "so well, that from the foot +of that rock which they are now turning, I will guide you up by a path +over the shoulder of the hill till we meet them in front, at the same +time that some of your people attack them in the rear."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan did now hesitate, but it was only for a moment. His +mind was not naturally a suspicious one; and, of course, had the +proposal been made by any one whom he knew, the advantages of such a +plan would have instantly struck him, and he would have followed it at +once. But the man who suggested it was unknown to him: nay, more, there +was something in his tone, his manner, in his whole appearance, which, +to say the best, was strange and unusual. His garb, as far as it had +been seen, was unlike that of the peasantry of Savoy; and, in short, +there was that about him which naturally tended to create a doubt as to +his ordinary pursuits and occupations.</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan hesitated then, but it was with the hesitation of only +one moment. He had been accustomed to deal with and to command fierce +and reckless men; and, though his years were not sufficient to have +given what may be called the <i>insight of experience</i>, he had by nature +that clear discernment of the human character which is the meed of some +few, and may be called the <i>insight of instinct</i>.</p> + +<p>During his momentary pause, then, he saw that the dark eye of his +companion was fixed upon him as if reading what was passing in his mind. +The jovial priest also seemed to penetrate his thoughts, and said, in a +low voice, "You may trust him! You may trust him! He never betrayed any +one."</p> + +<p>"I do trust him," cried Bernard de Rohan, turning round and grasping the +stranger's hand; "I trust him entirely. You and I," he continued, "will +go over the hill alone. If I judge right, we have both been in many a +hot day's strife, and can keep that narrow road without much assistance. +It is better that there should be a show of more people behind."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, the faint flash of the receding torches showed him a smile +upon his companion's countenance. "Come on slowly," said Corse de Leon, +"and keep near the rock; we shall soon get up with them, for they are +encumbered, and we are free."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, he led the way, remaining, as far as possible, under the +shadow of the crags till the last of the party before them had turned +the angle beyond, and the whole valley was again in darkness. The +cavalier and those who were with him then hurried their pace till they +reached a spot where a point of rock jutted out into the valley. There +the stranger paused, bidding the attendants of the young nobleman pursue +their way along the road till they came up with the rear of the other +party, and then attack them as suddenly and vehemently as possible. +"Make all speed," he said, "for we shall be there before you, cutting +off the corner of the hill. Here, priest!" he continued, "here's a +pistol and a dagger for you. You'll need something to work with. Now +quick on your way, for the moon will be out in a few minutes, if one may +judge by the paleness of that cloud's edge, and her light would betray +our scanty numbers. Follow me, baron! Here! Upon this rock! Catch by +that bough! Another step, and you are in the path!"</p> + +<p>As he spoke, he himself sprang up, seeming well acquainted with every +stock and every stone in the way; Bernard de Rohan followed with less +knowledge of the path, but all the agility of youth and strength, and +they had soon nearly reached the brow of the hill.</p> + +<p>"Out upon the pale moon!" cried Bernard de Rohan's companion, pausing +and gazing up towards the sky. "She shines at the very moment she should +not. See how she is casting away those clouds, as if she were opening +the hangings of her tent! We may go slow, for we shall be far before +them."</p> + +<p>He now led the way onward with a slower pace; and, after ascending for +somewhat more than a quarter of a mile, the path began to descend again +as if to rejoin the road. Every step was now clear, for the moon was +shining brightly; and though no one, probably, could see Bernard de +Rohan and his companion as they took their way among the rhododendrons +and junipers which were thickly mingled with the fragments of rock +around, yet they themselves, from time to time, caught a distinct view +of the valley. An occasional flash of light upon their left hand, too, +but a good deal in the rear, soon showed Bernard de Rohan that his guide +had told him the truth in regard to the shortness of the path he had +taken, though he could not absolutely see the road, or those who were +travelling along it. At length, however, they reached a spot where the +path which they were following wound along within ten yards of the chief +road itself, and, choosing a small break nearly surrounded with tall +shrubs and broken masses of crag, Corse de Leon stopped, saying, "It +will be well to stay for their coming here. They will take full ten +minutes to reach this place. You wait for them here; I will climb a +little farther up, to watch them as they come, and will be back again in +time."</p> + +<p>If Bernard de Rohan entertained any suspicion in regard to his guide's +purposes, he knew that it would be vain to show it, and therefore he +made no opposition to the plan that his companion proposed, but let him +depart without a word; and then, choosing a spot among the trees where +he could see without being seen, he gazed down into the little basin +formed by the surrounding hills. The clear light of the moon was now +streaming bright and full into the valley, only interrupted from time to +time for a single moment by fragments of the clouds driven across by the +wind; but at first Bernard de Rohan could see nothing of the party which +he was pursuing; for the road, as usual, wound in and out along the +irregular sides of the mountain, being raised upon a sort of terrace +some two hundred feet above the bottom of the valley. In a moment or +two, however, he caught sight of them again, coming slowly on, but with +their torches now extinguished, and presenting nothing but a dark mass, +brightened here and there by the reflection of the moon's light from +some steel cap or breastplate.</p> + +<p>The time seemed long, and their advance slow, to Bernard de Rohan; for, +although he had lain in many an ambush against the foe, and had taken +part in many an encounter where the odds against him were scarcely less +than those which were now presented, yet, of course, he could not but +feel some emotion in awaiting the result—that deep and thrilling +interest, in fact, which has nothing to do with fear, and approaches +perhaps even nearer to joy—the interest which can only be felt in the +anticipation of a fierce but noble strife, where, knowing the amount of +all we risk, we stake life and all life's blessings upon the success of +some great and generous endeavour. He felt all this, and all the +emotions which such a state must bring with it; and thus, longing to +throw the die, he found the moments of expectation long.</p> + +<p>Now seen and now lost to his sight, the party continued to advance, and +yet his strange companion did not make his appearance. The young +nobleman judged that he could not be far, indeed, for once or twice he +heard the bushes above him rustle, while a stone or two rolled down into +the bottom of the valley; and he thought he distinguished Leon's voice +murmuring also, as if talking to himself. At length there was a clear +footfall heard coming down the steepest part of the mountain, and in +another moment the stranger stood once more by Bernard de Rohan's side. +As he came near, he threw off the cloak which he had hitherto worn, and +cast it into one of the bushes, saying to it as he did so, "I shall find +you, if I want you, after this is over."</p> + +<p>His appearance now, however, left Bernard de Rohan scarcely a doubt in +regard to the nature of his usual occupation. When his cloak was thus +thrown off, his chest and shoulders were seen covered with that peculiar +sort of corslet or brigantine, which originally gave name to the bands +called Brigands. His arms were free, and unencumbered with any defensive +armour; and over his right shoulder hung a buff baldric, suspending his +long, heavy sword. This was not all, however; another broad leather belt +and buckle went round his waist, containing, in cases made on purpose +for them, a store of other weapons if his sword blade should chance to +fail; among which were those long and formidable knives which, in the +wars of the day, were often employed by foot soldiers to kill the +chargers of their mounted adversaries. Daggers of various lengths were +there also, together with the petronel or large horse pistol, which was +so placed, however, as to give free room for his hand to reach the hilt +of his sword.</p> + +<p>In this guise he approached Bernard de Rohan, saying, "You see, baron, I +am better prepared for this encounter than you are. You have nothing but +your sword: you had better take one of these," and he laid his finger +upon the butt of a petronel.</p> + +<p>"My sword will not fail me," replied Bernard de Rohan, with a smile. "I +see, indeed, you were better qualified to judge whether these were +brigands or not than I was."</p> + +<p>"They are no brigands," replied the other; "brigands know better what +they are about;" and, as he spoke, he threw away his hat, and tied up +his long black hair, which fell over his ears and shoulders, with a +piece of riband. "I cannot very well understand," he continued, in the +same low tone, "what has become of your people and the priest: I could +see nothing of them from the height, and I almost fear that these +villains, fearing pursuit, have broken down the little wooden bridge +behind them, at what we call the Pas de Suzzette, where the stream falls +into the river."</p> + +<p>"Hark!" said Bernard de Rohan. "They are coming up;" and, grasping his +sword, he took a step forward.</p> + +<p>"Wait," said the brigand, laying hold of his arm. "Give your people the +last minute to attack them in the rear. By Heavens, they ought to have +been here by this time."</p> + +<p>The sound of horses' feet and human voices now became distinct from +below, and oaths and imprecations were still heard loud and vehemently, +as the captors hurried on their prisoners.</p> + +<p>"Get you on, get you on!" exclaimed one voice: "don't you see how +quietly your lord is going."</p> + +<p>"He is not my lord," cried another, in a faint tone. "I am wounded and +hurt, and cannot go faster."</p> + +<p>"Get on, get on, villain!" reiterated the other voice. "You would fain +keep us till the fools behind mend the bridge and come up with us. Get +on, I say! If he do not walk faster, prick him with your dagger, +Bouchart. We will skin him alive when we get to the end of the march! +Drive it into him!"</p> + +<p>A sharp cry succeeded: Bernard de Rohan could bear no more, but, +bursting away from the hand of the brigand, he sprang into the road. +Leon followed him at once; but, even before he was down, the young +cavalier's sword had stretched one of the advancing party on the ground, +and was crossed with that of another.</p> + +<p>"Hold, hold!" shouted the loud voice of the brigand. "Hold, and throw +down your arms! Villains, you are surrounded on all sides!"</p> + +<p>For a moment their opponents had drawn back; but the scanty number of +the assailants was seen before Corse de Leon uttered what seemed so +empty a boast.</p> + +<p>"Cut him down," cried a voice from behind, "cut him down!" and one of +the horsemen spurred on towards him. Another, at the same moment, aimed +a blow at the head of Bernard de Rohan from behind, which struck him on +the shoulder and brought him on his knee, while a shot was fired at the +brigand, which struck his cuirass, but glanced off harmless.</p> + +<p>"It is time we should have help," said Corse de Leon, in a cool tone; +and while, with his right hand, he drew a pistol from his girdle, +levelled it at the head of one of those who were contending with Bernard +de Rohan, fired, and saw the man fall over into the valley below, with +the left he applied a small instrument to his lips, producing a loud, +long, shrill whistle, which those who have heard it will never forget. +It is like the scream of a bird of prey, but infinitely louder; and the +moment it proceeded from the lips of the brigand, similar sounds echoed +round and round from twenty different points above, below, and on the +opposite side.</p> + +<p>When Bernard de Rohan staggered up from his knee, the scene was +completely changed. Corse de Leon stood no longer alone, but with three +stout men by his side armed to the teeth. The fragments of rock and +large stones that were rolling from above showed that rapid footsteps +were coming down the side of the mountain. Up from the rocky bed of the +stream five or six other men were seen climbing with the activity of the +chamois or the izzard, and, to complete the whole, the whistle was still +heard prolonged up the valley, while, from the same side, the ear could +distinguish the galloping of horse coming down with furious speed.</p> + +<p>The party of the adversary, however, was large. All were well armed; all +evidently accustomed to strife and danger; and had all apparently made +up their minds to struggle to the last. They accordingly made a fierce +charge along the road, in order to force their way on; and the strife +now became hand to hand, and man to man, while, above the contest, the +loud voice of the brigand leader was heard shouting, "Tie them! Tie +them! Do not kill them if you can help it!"</p> + +<p>Nor was his assumption of certain success unjustified. Every moment +fresh numbers were added to the party of Corse de Leon. The adversaries +were driven back along the road, dragging the prisoners with them some +way, but were stopped by fresh opponents, dropping, as it were, from the +mountains, and cutting them off in their retreat. They were still +struggling, however, when at length eight or nine horsemen, the sound of +whose approach had been heard before, reached the scene of combat; and +then, seeing that farther resistance was vain, several of them uttered a +cry of "Quarter! quarter! We will throw down our arms."</p> + +<p>"Here, take my sword, Doland," said the brigand leader to one of his +men. "Wipe it well, and go back for my hat and cloak, which I left among +the bushes by the cross of St. Maur. Well, baron," he continued, turning +to Bernard de Rohan, "I am afraid you have to regret the want of your +armour: that was a bad blow on your head."</p> + +<p>"No, it struck my shoulder," replied Bernard de Rohan, "where my buff +coat is doubled. There is no great harm done."</p> + +<p>"You had better keep behind," continued Corse de Leon, in a low voice. +"I wished not to have displayed my men at all had it been possible to +avoid it, but it could not be helped. However, you had better not show +yourself with us. It may make mischief."</p> + +<p>"But the lady," said Bernard de Rohan, "the lady: let me go and speak to +her and set her free: I have no fear of being seen."</p> + +<p>"Leave it to me, leave it to me," said the brigand. "You shall have +opportunity enough to speak with her, and she shall know who is her +deliverer. Will you not trust me after all this night's work?"</p> + +<p>"Entirely," replied Bernard de Rohan; "but it is natural, when one aids +a lady in scenes like these, to wish to speak with her, to sooth and +tranquillize her."</p> + +<p>"Especially when one loves her," replied the brigand, laughing. "But you +shall speak with her in a moment, only keep back for the present."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan had neither the will nor the power to resist. The +brigand, indeed, might well assume the tone of command, for at that +moment there could be no successful opposition to his will; but, besides +this consideration, there were other feelings in the bosom of the young +cavalier which inclined him to yield at once.</p> + +<p>Everything that he had seen was calculated to surprise and perplex him. +The knowledge which his strange companion seemed to have of his history +and circumstances; the state of active preparation in which he had found +him, as if he had been aware, long before, of all that was about to +occur, and had taken measures to meet every contingency; the interest +which he had shown in an enterprise that seemed not to concern him at +all, and the active and vehement opposition he had evinced to persons +apparently engaged in the same trade of violence with himself, were all +unaccountable to Bernard de Rohan; and he paused with some anxiety to +see what would be the next act in the strange drama in which he himself +was bearing a part.</p> + +<p>While the brief conversation which I have narrated took place between +the brigand and the young cavalier, the successful party had drawn +closer and closer round their adversaries, and were busily disarming and +tying them. This operation, being carried on with great dexterity and +rapidity, had advanced considerably, when Leon again strode forward into +the midst of them to give farther directions.</p> + +<p>"Not so tight! not so tight, Antoine!" he said: "you'll cut his wrists +with those thongs. Take off his corslet, Pierre. You cannot get it off +when his arms are tied. If he resists, pitch him over into the stream. +That horse will break away and be lost. Some of you come and untie my +Lord of Masseran and his people. Noble signior," he continued, and +Bernard de Rohan thought that he heard a good deal of bitter mockery in +his tone, "I pray you tell me what is to be done with these insolent +villains, who have dared to lay violent hands upon you and your lady +wife's fair daughter. Shall we either put them to death on the +spot—which, perhaps, would be the wisest plan, as the dead are very +silent—or shall we send them, bound hand and foot, to your chateau, +that you may give them your own directions as to what they are to say +and do?"</p> + +<p>These words were addressed to a tall, graceful man, somewhere between +forty and fifty years of age, who had appeared as one among the +prisoners of the party just overthrown. He seemed not particularly well +pleased with the brigand's speech, and replied in a tone somewhat +sullen, "You must do with them as you please, sir, and with us also, +though from your words I suppose that you mean us good and not evil."</p> + +<p>"Oh, certainly, my good lord," replied the other; "I am here to free +you, and you shall be safely conducted by my people to your own abode. +Am I, by your authority, then, to treat these men as they deserve?"</p> + +<p>The Lord of Masseran seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then replied +sharply, "By all means! By all means! They well deserve punishment."</p> + +<p>"Oh! spare them! spare them!" cried a lady's voice. "They have done +evil, certainly; but they might have treated us worse. Do not hurt them, +sir."</p> + +<p>"Lady," replied the brigand, "I will only punish them as they deserve, +and you yourself shall hear the sentence. Strip off every man's coat. +Take off the bridles of their horses, and therewith flog them down the +valley to Gandelot's inn. When they are there, they will know what to do +with themselves. Now, lady, this is but small measure of retribution for +bad acts. Quick, my men, quick. You must take them over the hill, for +the bridge is broken."</p> + +<p>He then spoke a few words to one of his companions in a low tone; after +which he returned once more to Bernard de Rohan, who had remained +behind, asked particularly after the wounds he had received, and +inquired whether he were fit to escort a lady some two leagues that +night. He spoke with a smile, and there was no hesitation in the young +cavalier's reply. Before their short conversation was ended, the +brigand's orders in regard to his prisoners were in the act of +execution; and certain it is that the discipline to which they were +subjected was sufficiently severe, if one might judge by many a piteous +cry which echoed up the valley for some minutes after they were driven +in a crowd down the road. The young lady covered her eyes with her hands +and remained silent; but a grim smile came upon the countenance of the +Lord of Masseran, as if there was something pleasant to him in the music +of human suffering.</p> + +<p>There were still some ten or twelve of Leon's band around, and their +next task was to untie the hands of such of the Lord of Masseran's +people as were still bound. "Now, sir," continued the brigand, as soon +as this was accomplished, "you shall have good escort back to your +chateau. But we must go in separate parties. You and your four servants +under the careful protection of Elois here, by the mountain path you +know of. The young lady I myself will escort by the longer, but the +smoother road."</p> + +<p>"Nay! nay!" exclaimed the Lord of Masseran, quickly. "Why separate us? +If you mean well by her, why not let—"</p> + +<p>"Because it pleases me not," replied the brigand, in a stern tone. "Who +is lord here upon the side of the mountain but I? You are lord in your +chateau, and none dare answer you. But I am lord in the moonlight and on +the hillside, and none shall answer me."</p> + +<p>"Oh! in pity, in pity!" exclaimed the young lady, holding out her hands +with a gesture of entreaty. But the brigand advanced to her horse's +side, and spoke a word to her in a low tone. She let her hands drop +again without reply, and Bernard de Rohan, who had remained in the +shade, while the moonlight fell full upon her, could see her eyes +suddenly turn towards the spot where he stood.</p> + +<p>"Lead on the Lord of Masseran, Elois," said the voice of Corse de Leon. +"Leave that poor fellow who seems wounded with the lady, and take the +rest with you."</p> + +<p>There was no reply, and the Savoyard nobleman, with his companions, was +led on by a strong party of the brigands up the valley, and then across +the stream. As he passed Bernard de Rohan, he fixed his eyes upon him +for a moment, but made no observation; and, at the same time, the +brigand held up his finger to the young cavalier, as if directing him +still to forbear for a time.</p> + +<p>As soon as the hill hid the other party from their sight, Bernard de +Rohan, unable to bear the restraint any longer, sprang forward to the +lady's side, and threw his arms around her. His head was bare, and, as +he looked up towards her, the moonlight fell full upon his face. As if +still doubtful, however, she gazed wildly and eagerly upon him; parted +the curls of his hair with her hands back from his forehead; then threw +her arms round his neck, and, bending her head, wept upon his shoulder.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + + +<p>"At length! at length! Bernard," said the voice of the young lady; and +the heart of Bernard de Rohan echoed the words "At length! at length!" +as he pressed her hand in his.</p> + +<p>"At length! at length! Bernard," she said, "you have come back to me."</p> + +<p>"Did you not send me from you yourself, Isabel?" he said, thinking there +was something almost reproachful in her tone. "And have I not returned +the moment you told me I might; the moment you called me to aid, and, I +trust, to deliver you? Would I ever have quitted you but at your own +word?"</p> + +<p>"It is true! it is all true!" she said, in a gentle tone: "but I knew +not, dear Bernard, all that was to befall me; all the painful, the +anxious circumstances in which I was to be placed. We were then too +young, far too young, for me to press my father's promise. I had no +right to rob you of so many years of glory. My brother, too, wanted +protection and guidance in the field. At that time, everything looked +bright, and I thought that you, Bernard, would lead him forth to honour +and bring him back in safety. I knew you would, and you have done it. +But in those days I little dreamed that my mother, in her widowhood, +would willingly wed a stranger, and make her hand the hire of this +Savoyard, to serve the cause of France against his native prince. But +you have returned to me, Bernard," she continued, in a more joyful tone; +"you have returned to me, and all will be well again."</p> + +<p>So ever thinks the inexperienced heart of youth, when, even for a single +moment, the dark clouds break away, and a ray of sunshine, however +transient, brightens up a day of storms.</p> + +<p>"Be not too sure of that, lady!" said the deep voice of the brigand; "be +not too sure of that! There have been more dangers around you already +than you know of. They have not yet passed away, and, perchance, may +fall upon him as well as you."</p> + +<p>"Heaven forbid!" she cried, turning her eyes first upon the countenance +of the man who spoke, and then with a softer and a tenderer look upon +her lover. "If it is to be so, I shall wish you back again, Bernard."</p> + +<p>"Not so," said the brigand, "not so! We are fools to think that life is +to be a bright day, uncheckered with storms or misfortunes. There is but +one summer in the year, lady: the winter is as long; the autumn has its +frosts and its sear leaves; and the spring its cold winds and its +weeping skies. In the life of any one the bright portion is but small, +and he must have his share of dangers and sorrows as well as the rest. +They will be lighter if you share them, and if he shares yours. Let us +go forward on our way, however. Will you mount one of these horses, +baron, or walk by the lady's side? Oh, walk, will you? Then follow the +onward path. We will come on some hundred yards behind, near enough to +guard you, but not to interrupt."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan and the lady proceeded on their way. Nor did they fail +to take advantage of the moments thus afforded for conversing alone, +though no one in such circumstances does take sufficient advantage of +the moments. Our minds are so full of thoughts, our hearts so full of +feelings, that they crowd and confuse each other in seeking to make +their way forth. But a small part is ever spoken of that which might be +spoken; and, had the time of their journey been more than doubled, there +would still have been questions to ask, and plans to arrange, and hopes, +and wishes, and fears to express; and Love, too, would have had a world +to tell and to hear; and many a caress would have remained to be given, +and many a vow would yet have required to be renewed.</p> + +<p>Thus, when at length, after advancing for nearly two hours, several +distant lights were seen upon the side of a dark hill beyond, as if +issuing from the windows of some building, they found that they had not +said half that they might have said, and wished that the minutes could +come over again. It is not, indeed, in such circumstances alone that man +casts away opportunities. It is all his life long, and every moment of +his life. Those opportunities are like the beautiful wild flowers that +blossom in every meadow and in every hedge, while, heedless or careless, +unseeing or unknowing, man passes them by continually, or walks upon his +way, and tramples them under his feet.</p> + +<p>When they reached that spot, however, and the castle of Masseran was +before their eyes, the brigand came up at a quick pace, saying, "Let us +pause a moment, and see whether our companions have arrived before us. +It might be dangerous for his deliverers to come too near the Lord of +Masseran's gates without sufficient numbers."</p> + +<p>As he thus spoke, he put the peculiar whistle which he carried to his +lips, producing a lower sound than before, but sufficiently loud to be +heard around, and call forth many an answer up to the very gates of the +castle itself.</p> + +<p>"They are here," continued the brigand, "and the good lord is in his +hold. Now, lady, you have doubtless promised things which you may find +it difficult to perform. You have promised to see this noble cavalier, +and give him—if needs must be, by stealth—the happiness of your +presence; but I know better than you do how things will befall you. You +will be watched; you will never be suffered to leave that castle's gates +without a train, which will cut you off from speaking with any one. The +gardens of the castle, however, will doubtless be free, for the walls +are high, the gates securely locked, and the way up to them watched. +Nevertheless, there is the small postern in the corner of the lowest +terrace, hid by a tall yew-tree: lay your hand upon the handle of the +lock at any time of the day you please. If it open not at the first +trial, wait a moment, and try it again. You shall never try it three +times without finding that door give way to your hand."</p> + +<p>"But he tells me," said the lady, speaking more directly to what was +passing in the brigand's thoughts than to what he actually expressed, +"but he tells me that he is actually on his way to visit my mother's +husband, charged with messages of import to him from the noble Marquis +of Brissac, and that to-morrow morning he will be there, openly +demanding admittance."</p> + +<p>"See him in the evening also, lady, whatever befall," replied the other. +"There are more dangers round you than you wot of. But I will speak to +him farther as we return. Now you had better go on."</p> + +<p>A few minutes more brought them nearly to the gates of the castle. The +brigand had remained behind to wait the coming up of his people. Bernard +de Rohan turned to see if they were approaching; but he could now +perceive no one upon the road but a single figure coming slowly on at +some distance, and leading a horse by the bridle. It was a moment not to +be lost. Once more he threw his arms round the lady beside him, and she +bent her head till their lips met. There were no farther words between +them but a few unconnected names of tenderness, and in a minute or two +after they were joined by the wounded servant, who had remained behind +with the lady and those who accompanied her when the Lord of Masseran +and the rest were sent on.</p> + +<p>"Ah! my lord," he said, looking wistfully in the face of the young +cavalier, "you have forgotten me, but I have not forgotten you; and if +it had not been for my love and duty to my young mistress, I would have +been with you in Italy long ago, especially when the countess sold +herself to her stranger husband."</p> + +<p>"No, indeed, Henriot, I have not forgotten you," replied Bernard de +Rohan; "and I beseech you, for love of me as well as your young +mistress, stay with her still, and be ever near her. I much doubt this +Lord of Masseran, and have heard no little evil of him. She may want +help in moments of need, and none can give her better aid than yourself; +but I fear you have been much hurt," he added, "for you walk feebly even +now."</p> + +<p>"It will soon pass, my lord," replied the man; "but I see a light at the +gate: we had better go on quickly, if, as I judge, you would not be +recognised."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan took one more embrace, and then parted with her he +loved. He paused upon the road till, by the light which still shone from +the gate of the castle, he saw her and her follower enter and disappear +beneath the low-browed arch. He then turned away, and retrod his steps +along the side of the hill. He was left to do so for some way in +solitude, though he doubted not that the hillside and the valley below +him were both much more replete with human life than they seemed to be. +At the distance of little more than half a mile from the castle he was +forced to pause, for the moon had now sunk behind the mountain, and +there were two roads, one branching to either hand.</p> + +<p>"Keep to the right," said a deep voice near him, as he stopped to choose +his path; and the next moment the brigand, coming forth from the bushes +among which he had been sitting, walked on upon his way beside him.</p> + +<p>"Ours is a busy life, you see," he said; "but yet it is not every night +that we have so much business to do as we have had lately."</p> + +<p>"Nor, I should think," replied Bernard de Rohan, "is it every night that +you have upon your hands business which can leave so much satisfaction +behind."</p> + +<p>"I know not," answered the brigand, "and yet, in some sort, what you say +is true. For I have had pleasure in what I have done: I have had +pleasure in serving that bright lady; why, it matters not: I have had +pleasure in serving you; why, it matters not: I have had pleasure in +frustrating a base and villanous scheme; why, it matters not. But you +must not think, baron, that in the ordinary business of my everyday life +there are any of those weak thoughts about me which poison its +enjoyments and make the memory of each day bitter. You and I are +different beings, born for a different course."</p> + +<p>"We are both men," said Bernard de Rohan.</p> + +<p>"Ay!" answered the brigand; "and so are the dove and falcon both birds. +As well might that dove think that the life of the falcon must be +miserable because it is a bird of prey, as you judge of my feelings by +your own. I am a bird of prey; I am the brother of the eagle on the +rock. Our joys and our pursuits are the same; and they leave no more +regret with me than they do with that eagle, when he folds his wings in +his eyrie after the day's chase is done."</p> + +<p>The comparison was one which, as Bernard de Rohan very well understood, +was pleasant and satisfactory to his companion's feelings, but he could +not admit its justice to any great extent. He cared not to point out, +however, where it failed, and merely replied, "But there is a difference +between men and brutes. Man has his reason to guide him, and must be +governed by laws. The eagle has no law but the instinct which God has +given him."</p> + +<p>"Is not God's law the best?" exclaimed the brigand. "God gave the eagle +his law, and therefore that law is right. It is because man's law is not +God's law that I stand here upon the mountain. Were laws equal and just, +there would be few found to resist them. While they are unequal and +unjust, the poor-hearted may submit and tremble; the powerless may yield +and suffer: the bold, the free, the strong, and the determined fall back +upon the law of God, and wage war against the injustice of man. If you +and I, baron," he continued, growing excited with the heat of his +argument, "if you and I were to stand before a court of human justice, +as it is called, pleading the same cause, accused of the same acts, +would our trial be the same, our sentence, our punishment? No! all would +be different; and why? Because you are Bernard de Rohan, a wealthy baron +of the land, and I am none. A name would make the difference. A mere +name would bring the sword on my head and leave yours unwounded. If so +it be, I say—if such be the world's equity, I set up a retribution for +myself. I raise a kingdom in the passes of these mountains: a kingdom +where all the privileges of earth are reversed. Here, under my law, the +noble, and the rich, and the proud are those that must bow down and +suffer; the poor, and the humble, and the good those that have +protection and immunity. Go ask in the peasant's cottage: visit the good +pastor's fireside: inquire of the shepherd of the mountain, or the +farmer on the plains. Go ask them, I say, if under the sword of Corse de +Leon they lose a sheep from their flock or a sheaf from their field. Go +ask them if, when the tyrant of the castle—the lawless tyrant; or the +tyrant of the city—the lawful tyrant, plunders their property, insults +their lowliness, grinds the face of the poor, or wrings the heart of the +meek, ask them, I say, if there is not retribution to be found in the +midnight court of Corse de Leon, if there is not punishment and justice +poured forth even upon the privileged heads above."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan felt that it would be useless to argue with him; for it +was evident that he was not one of those who are doubtful or wavering in +the course they pursue. There was some truth, too, in what the man said: +truth which Bernard de Rohan ventured to admit to his own heart, even in +that age, when such sentiments could only be looked upon as treasonable. +He was silent, then, considering how to reply, when the brigand himself +went on.</p> + +<p>"Think not," he continued, "that I have chosen my part without deep +thought. There are some—and perhaps you think me one of them—who are +driven by circumstances, led by their passions, or their follies, or +their vices, to a state of opposition with the rest of mankind, and who +then, when cast out from society, find a thousand specious reasons for +warring against it. But such is not my case. Ever since my youth have +such things been dwelling in my mind. I had pondered them long. I had +fully made up my mind as to what was right and what was wrong, years +before injustice and iniquity—years before the insolence of privileged +tyranny drove me forth to practise what I had long proposed. Here I +exercise the right that is in man. I take the brown game upon the +mountain, which is mine as much as that of any noble in the land. I pay +no tax to king or to collector. There is no duty on the wine I drink. +There is no toll upon the roads I follow. You will say that I do more +than this: that I take from others what is not mine and what is theirs; +but I have told you why I do so. They have taken from me what was not +theirs; and I wage war against a world which first waged war against me; +in which, even among themselves, the hand of every one is against his +brother; in which, whether it be in camp, or court, or city, or mart, or +church, injustice and iniquity are striving to snatch from one another +the rod of oppression, and keep the humble beneath their own yoke."</p> + +<p>"I cannot think," replied Bernard de Rohan, willing to answer as +generally as possible, "I cannot think that the state of society is so +terrible as you represent it. There may be occasional instances of +corruption and oppression, and doubtless there are. I have seen some +myself, and endeavoured to prevent them; but still these things are by +no means general."</p> + +<p>"Not general!" exclaimed the brigand, turning upon him almost fiercely. +"Sir Baron, I say they are universal. There are one or two exceptions, +it is true. You are one of those exceptions yourself. You are one of +those who deserve to be convinced; and I can convince you. I can show +you men who pretend to be holy, and humble, and good, oppressing most +basely those who are in their power. I can show you tyranny and +injustice at every step and in every station throughout the earth, from +the tradesman's shop to the monarch's throne. I can show it to you in +every garb, and in every profession, and in every place. I can, ay, and +will show it to you, within these twelve months, in such forms of +cruelty and blood that you shall say the brigand on the hillside is mild +compared with the man of courts or the man of refectories; that he may +be an eagle, but that these are vultures."</p> + +<p>"I see not," replied Bernard de Rohan, with a smile, "I see not how you +can show me all this. You forget that we shall most likely part here in +Savoy. That, as soon as I can rescue Mademoiselle de Brienne from the +situation in which she is placed, I shall hasten onward to my own +country, and we shall most likely never meet again."</p> + +<p>"Not so, not so," replied the brigand. "We shall meet again. Either with +her or without her, you must, as you say, go thither soon. My steps are +bound likewise towards France; for think not that I dwell always here, +or appear always thus: were it so, my head would soon be over the gate +of Chamberry. I will find means to show you a part of what I have said, +perhaps to give you some assistance likewise, when you most need and +least expect it. But remember," he added, "if misfortunes should befall +me, or danger threaten me, it is a part of our compact that you do not +strive to give me any aid; that you neither raise your voice nor your +arm in my behalf."</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I cannot promise that. I must +ever remember the generous assistance you have afforded me this night, +and must do my best to prove that I am grateful for it."</p> + +<p>"The best way of proving it," replied the brigand, "is by doing what I +ask you. You are held wise for a young man: now ask yourself if you can +judge so well of what is for my advantage as I can judge myself. I tell +you that I have many means of deliverance which you know nothing of; +and, therefore, any attempt to aid me, without my asking you, might ruin +me and ruin yourself likewise."</p> + +<p>"If you will ask me," replied Bernard de Rohan, "when aid can be +serviceable to you, I shall be contented."</p> + +<p>"I will, I will," answered the brigand; "and now tell me, What have you +arranged with fair Isabel of Brienne? for I take an interest in your +fate and hers."</p> + +<p>"You seem indeed to do so," replied the young cavalier; "and yet I know +not why it should be so, for I cannot remember that we ever met before."</p> + +<p>"Once," replied the brigand, "only once. Several years ago we were side +by side, but for a moment. You and I, and that fair girl, and her +brother—her brother, the young Count Henry, who is now in Paris. It was +but for a moment, but that moment was one by me never to be forgotten."</p> + +<p>"I cannot recall it," replied Bernard de Rohan. "It is strange, too, if +it was a moment of such importance. But you say that her brother is in +Paris: I wrote to Henry to meet me in Grenoble, and I think he must be +there by this time."</p> + +<p>"Oh! he is in Paris still," replied the other. "He is a good youth; but +he is weak and young—ay, younger than his years. He will be easily +persuaded to stay in Paris, and flutter in bright silks, and flaunt at +tournaments, run at the ring, or fence at Moors' heads upon a turning +pole. He is at Paris still, depend upon it; and, if you count upon his +coming ere you claim the lady's hand, you must seek him in the capital, +and bring him with you."</p> + +<p>"I shall demand her hand at once," replied Bernard de Rohan; "but we +doubt that there will be opposition from one who has no right to make +it; and, to bear down that opposition, Henry de Brienne must be with me. +He is the guardian of his father's promise solemnly given to me before I +first went to Italy. But I will write to him as soon as day breaks +to-morrow. Hark! do you not hear voices coming up the pass?"</p> + +<p>"Most likely your servants and the priest," replied the brigand.</p> + +<p>"I wonder they have not joined us before," replied Bernard de Rohan. "We +should have fared ill if their assistance had been all we had to trust +to."</p> + +<p>"They could not do better," replied the brigand. "The other party had +caught a sight of us when you stood to argue with me at the corner of +the rock, and they broke down the little wooden bridge behind them. Your +servants know none of the paths; the priest knows not that which we +took; so doubtless, by this time, they think that we are hewed into +mincemeat. However, remember at that spot, by the broken bridge, a loud +halloo, a blast of your horn, or a whistle thrice repeated, will at any +time bring some one to you who can lead you to me should you want my +assistance. Now, jolly priest, now," he added, raising his voice, "here +we are safe, though no great thanks to you."</p> + +<p>"If you are safe, and sound, and sober," said the priest, coming up with +the attendants of Bernard de Rohan, "it is more than I expected; for we +could not reach you for our lives; and as we were scrambling over the +hills, and each losing his way according to his fancy, we heard as much +noise as at a boor's wedding, though the concert was somewhat different. +But now let us hasten back as fast as possible: why, we are a league and +a half from the inn, and I shall be so hoarse with shouting and the +night air that I shall not be able to sing matins."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + + +<p>The Count de Meyrand was awake early, and dressed with the most +scrupulous exactness of appearance, without a riband tumbled or a point +out of place. He descended slowly about seven of the clock from the +chamber in which he had passed the night, by the long black +double-railed staircase, that led at once from the rooms above into the +kitchen, which, as I have said before, served also as the saloon of the +inn. His air and his countenance bore the same appearance of +indifference which they usually displayed, and he made no inquiry +whatsoever regarding the events of the preceding evening, although he +had retired to rest more than an hour before Bernard de Rohan had +returned to the inn. His servants came and went, seeking directions +concerning this thing and that, and communicating with him, from time to +time, in a low tone. The aubergiste, with many a lowly reverence, asked +his distinguished guest manifold questions concerning his breakfast; but +still the Count de Meyrand was not heard to ask any questions either +regarding the fate of his friend, or the somewhat remarkable events +which had lately taken place.</p> + +<p>At length, however, the jovial priest made his appearance; and whether +it was that the count was in a better humour for raillery than on the +night before, or whether he remarked, by the keen twinkling of the +other's eye, that he was about to commence an attack upon him, which +would not easily cease, he chose to be the first to open the encounter, +saying, "Well, good father, though I know it is not an easy thing to +cool a priest's courage, yet I trust your last night's expedition has +rather diminished your chivalrous ardour."</p> + +<p>"Not a whit," replied the priest. "Everything depends upon how much a +man's courage wants cooling. Yours, noble count, seems not of a quality +very likely to boil over; and, doubtless, ten steps from the door of the +inn would have sent you home shivering. Mine carried me, however, a +little farther."</p> + +<p>"Ay, doubtless," interrupted the count, "up to the point where you met +with these rogues; and then you waited behind a great stone to see who +had the best of the fray. Is it not so? I see you have brought home no +desperate wounds with you."</p> + +<p>"None," replied the priest, "that I cannot bear as tranquilly and well +as you, my noble lord, could bear the sorrow of your best friend. My +trade, however, is not bloodshed; I love not hard blows, and shall +always keep out of their way as far as I can. So my confession is made; +but here comes one who has a greater liking for wounds and bruises than +I have; and now Heaven send us all as good food as I have a good +stomach. Mine host! mine host! that omelet will be overdone, and the sin +of burned eggs is one to which I refuse absolution. By Hercules! as the +Romans used to say—Body of Bacchus! as the Italians say—Dame! as we +say in France, did ever mortal man see such a basket of fine trouts? +Why, it is a gift for an abbot! Look! my noble baron, look!" he +continued, turning to Bernhard de Rohan, who now made his appearance; +"did you ever see such fair river-gods in your life? Put them upon the +ashes, host, put them upon the ashes!"</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan did not pay so much attention to the fishes as the +priest, by his commendation, seemed to think they deserved; but, turning +to his friend, he shook him by the hand, saying, "Well, Meyrand, you +certainly always were a very unaccountable sort of personage, or I +should be inclined seriously to quarrel with you for suffering me to go +last night without assistance, at the imminent risk of getting my throat +cut for want of your help."</p> + +<p>"If you risked getting your throat cut, De Rohan," replied his +companion, "that was your fault; I had nothing to do with that; I even +deviated so far from my usual habits as to ask you to stay, and not do +it. I have always a reason for everything I do, good Sir Bernard, and I +take it for granted that other people have a reason too. I supposed that +you had some motive for going and getting your throat cut, and therefore +did not in the least blame you for doing so, if you chose; but I had no +reason for anything of the kind, and therefore I stayed where I was. +Indeed, I had every reason in the world not to go: I was warm and +comfortable, and had good wine and good viands before me; I was tired +with a long day's hunting, and had got my boots off. Then what to me was +the Lord of Masseran, that I should try to save his life or liberty? I +had no motive for serving him: indeed, quite the contrary. Every one +knows him to be an egregious scoundrel, and at this moment he owes me +thirty thousand crowns, which he will never pay, and which I have no +chance of getting, unless some honest brigand should cut his throat, +when the King of France would doubtless take possession of his lands and +pay his creditors."</p> + +<p>"Good faith, you are better acquainted with him than I am," replied +Bernard de Rohan. "Pray let me know something of his history; for I +never heard anything of him till some six months ago, when letters from +France informed me that the widowed Countess of Brienne, the mother of +my friend and comrade, Henry of Brienne, was about to be married to a +Marquis of Masseran."</p> + +<p>"Oh! his history is told in a few words," replied the Count de Meyrand, +laughing; "but serve the breakfast, my good host, and do not stand with +your mouth open listening to the venerable character of your noble lord, +for I take it we are here upon his domain."</p> + +<p>"No, no!" replied the host, "he is no lord of mine, noble sir; this is +ducal domain we stand upon."</p> + +<p>"It matters not," answered the count; "this Lord of Masseran, then, +Bernard, though his mother was a Frenchwoman, was born on the other side +of those Alps, a Piedmontese vagabond; half Frenchman, half Italian; a +sort of water-snake, neither adder nor eel; though a sort of third-size +sovereign, an underling of the Duke of Savoy. He who would have been +beggarly for a French gentleman, was ten times more beggarly for a +prince; and thus, in all probability, he would have gone on +living—filled with all the small Italian vices of our day; sharing, it +is said, with the brigands who take refuge on the territories of such +small lords; and employing the stiletto or the drug when it suited his +purpose to get rid of troublesome friends—thus, I say, he would have +gone on living what is considered in Italy a very respectable, quiet, +insignificant life, had a fancy not suddenly come into the head of our +worthy king to take possession of the dominions of his friend and +cousin, the Duke of Savoy, which fancy at once raises this Lord of +Masseran into a person of importance. He has, it seems, upon his lands +one or two small towns and one or two small castles; but these towns and +these castles are so situated as to command several passes and defiles +valuable to France. Now my Lord of Masseran is a conscientious man, and, +of course, nothing would ever induce him to take part with any one who +could not pay him for the same. From the poor Duke of Savoy not a livre +tournois was to be expected. The King of France himself, though a +perfect Cr[oe]sus in promises, was known to be somewhat threadbare in +the treasury. He, however, was the more hopeful speculation of the two, +for he had power if he had not money, and there was a probability of his +paying one friend out of what he pillaged from another. With him, then, +my Lord of Masseran chose to deal, and promised to give free passage to +the troops of France upon certain conditions, which are, of course, a +secret. One thing, however, is evident; my Lord of Masseran did with the +king as some of our followers do when they take service of us. He asked, +in short, for something in hand. Now the worthy monarch of France had +nothing to give but the hand of a fair widow in her fortieth year. With +that hand, however, went a dowry of some twenty thousand crowns a year, +and the Lord of Masseran came to Paris and opened the campaign against +the widow's heart. She has the repute, as you should know better than +any one, of being somewhat hard and stern in her purpose, and cutting +with her tongue. She was inconsolable, too, for the death of her noble +husband; always wore black, like the mother of the late king, and looked +the picture of widowhood. My Lord of Masseran, however, with his +Piedmontese eloquence, found means to win the widow, with the support of +the king. The lady thought, it would seem, to spend her days in Paris; +but that city soon became a residence unsuited to the health of her new +husband. There were strange stories current regarding him; but there was +one thing certain, namely, that he was marvellously fond of those small, +square, spotted pieces of mischief, which have the art of conveying so +many fortunes from hand to hand. He played largely; he won generally; +and his fortune seemed immense. One night, at the Louvre, he borrowed +from me the large sum I have named, with a promise to repay it the next +morning; but it would seem that, after I left the hall, either fortune +went against him, or he took an irresistible longing for Savoy. His lady +raved and raged, we are told: but she found that she had now to do with +one, upon whose dull ear the sweet sounds of a woman's tongue, raised to +ever so high a pitch, had no effect. The Lord of Masseran paid not the +least attention to anything that she said; he did not seem to hear her; +but, with the most kind courtesy and ceremonious respect, handed her to +the carriage which was prepared to bear her away; and she found herself +on the road to Savoy before she could arrange any scheme for resistance. +This is his history; mine is soon told: I choose not so easily to +abandon my hold of my Lord of Masseran; and I am here hunting his game, +riding through his woods, and visiting his castle gate; for he seems to +me to be as deaf to my sweet solicitations for repayment as he showed +himself to the melodious intonations of his lady's voice. Now, priest, +though your clerical appetite may be good, do not devour all the trout +in the dish, for I am hungry as well as you, and have told a long +story."</p> + +<p>"And a good one too," replied the priest, laughing, and putting over the +dish to the count; but he suddenly added, "Have you never got within the +gates of his castle, then, my noble lord?" and he fixed his eyes full +upon the face of the Count de Meyrand.</p> + +<p>A very slight change of colour took place on the count's cheek; but he +replied at once, "Oh yes, I have been within, but to no purpose."</p> + +<p>"He must be an obdurate man indeed," said the priest, "if your +persuasions, my noble lord, can have no effect upon him. I wonder what +mine would have! Perhaps he might listen to the voice of the Church: I +will go up and try."</p> + +<p>"Why what hast thou to do with him?" demanded the count, suddenly +turning his eyes sharply upon the priest. "On what pretext wilt thou go +thither?"</p> + +<p>"To exercise my calling," replied the priest, with a sly smile; "to +exercise my calling in one of its various ways."</p> + +<p>"I knew not that your calling had various ways," replied the count, his +usual air of indifference verging into a look of supercilious contempt.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes it has," replied the priest, well pleased, as it seemed to +Bernard de Rohan, that he had piqued the count out of his apathy. "Our +calling has various ways of exercising itself. We address ourselves to +all grades and classes. If I convert not the Lord of Masseran, I may +convert his cook, you know. My efforts for the good of his soul may +prove for the benefit of my own body; and the discourse that is held +over venison and capons comes with a fervour and an unction which is +marvellously convincing."</p> + +<p>There was a sly and jocular smile upon the priest's countenance, +especially while addressing the Count de Meyrand, that somewhat puzzled +Bernard de Rohan, and evidently annoyed the count himself. It was not +difficult to see that, in the most serious things he said—though, +indeed, there were few that he did say which were serious at all—there +was a lurking jest, that seemed pointed at something which the hearer +did not clearly see, but which might or might not be something in his +own character, purposes, or pursuits.</p> + +<p>The significance of his tone towards the Count de Meyrand, however, did +not pass without that gentleman's observation; and, after listening to +him for several minutes more, while the party concluded their breakfast, +he turned towards him as he rose, saying, "It seems to me, priest, that +you would fain be insolent. Now let me tell you, that, though you are +very reverend personages in Savoy, and men meddle with you warily, in +France we have a way of curing clerical insolence, which is a good +scourging with hunting-whips. Perhaps you do not know that this is the +way French gentlemen treat those who are insolent."</p> + +<p>"I know it well," replied the priest, turning upon him sharply, "I know +it well, as I happen to be a French gentleman myself."</p> + +<p>He instantly changed his tone, however, and added, with his wonted +smile, "Nay, but now, Heaven forbid! that I should be insolent to the +noble Count de Meyrand. He being a generous and well-bred gentleman, +and, like every other gentleman, indifferent to all things upon earth, +can never take offence where no offence is meant; but, as he looks +furious, I will take myself out of harm's way. The blessing of a whole +skin is great. Adieu, my son! adieu! We shall meet some time again, when +I shall find you, I trust, restored to temper, and as lamb-like and meek +as myself."</p> + +<p>While he thus spoke, the priest gradually made his way to the door and +issued forth; while the Count of Meyrand, calling one of his attendants +to him, whispered something which Bernard de Rohan construed into an +order unfavourable to the safety of the jovial priest's shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay, Meyrand," he said, "let him have his jest, for pity's sake. +Recollect he is a priest."</p> + +<p>"His gown sha'n't save him," replied the count. "Those priests have too +much immunity already in all parts of the world. But what do you now, de +Rohan? Will you hunt with me to-day, and we will drive this Lord of +Masseran's deer from one end of Savoy to the other? or do you go on to +Paris at once, and deny me your good company?"</p> + +<p>"I write to Paris," replied the cavalier, "and send off a messenger +immediately. But I myself go up to seek this Lord of Masseran. I have +despatches for him from the Maréchal de Brissac, and also some orders to +give by word of mouth."</p> + +<p>"I hope they are not disagreeable orders," replied the count, turning +towards the door of the inn; "for he is not one of those whom I should +like to offend in his own castle."</p> + +<p>"Oh no, I shall say nothing that should offend him," replied Bernard de +Rohan. "But, besides that, I shall not go till after the arrival of the +rest of my men, who come across the mountain this morning; and he might +find it rather dangerous to do me harm."</p> + +<p>"His ways of dealing with troublesome friends are various," replied the +count. "I should love neither to dine nor to sleep in his dwelling. A +word to the wise, good friend, a word to the wise! Now, my men, quick! +quick! get ready the horses, bring out the dogs. You will not be +tempted, De Rohan?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot now," replied his friend. "Another day, if I stay so long. I +wish you sport, I wish you good sport;" and, turning towards his +chamber, he caused a table to be brought, and materials for writing to +be placed before him. He there remained for nearly an hour and a half, +busily tracing upon paper those small black characters which, since some +man—whether Cadmus, who, if he did it, may well be said to have sown +dragons' teeth and reaped a harvest of strife, or whoever else the +learned world may have it—those black characters, I say, which, since +some man, not contented with what mischief the tongue can do, invented +writing for the propagation thereof, have worked more of wo and +mischief, as well as of happiness and prosperity, than any other +invention that the prolific mind of man ever brought forth. At length +the sound of a trumpet coming down the hill saluted his ear, and in a +few minutes after it was announced to him that the rest of his train had +arrived.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + + +<p>We must now conduct the reader at once to the entrance of the castle of +Masseran. The gate itself was shut, though the drawbridge was down and +the portcullis was up. There was a little wicket, indeed, left ajar, +showing the long, dark perspective of the heavy archway under the gate +tower, gloomy and prison-like, and the large square court beyond, with +its white stones glistening in the sun; while the gray walls of the +castle and part of a window, as well as the door of the keep, appeared +at the opposite side. On either side, under the archway, but scarcely to +be seen in its gloomy shadow, was a long bench, and on the left hand a +low door leading up to the apartments in the gate tower. The right-hand +bench was occupied by one of the soldiers of the place, and at the door +was the warder's wife talking to him, while our friend, the jovial +priest, who had escaped without harm or hinderance, notwithstanding the +threats of the Count de Meyrand, was waiting at the wicket, from time to +time looking through into the court, and from time to time turning round +and gazing upon the mountains, humming an air which was certainly not a +canticle.</p> + +<p>After a pause of some ten or fifteen minutes, the warder himself +appeared, a heavy man, past the middle age, and dressed in rusty gray. +"He won't see you, Father Willand," he said. "He's walking in the inner +court, and in a dangerous sort of mood. I would rather not be the man to +cross him now."</p> + +<p>"Poh! nonsense," replied Father Willand, laughing. "Go in again to him, +good warder: tell him I have business of importance with him, and I know +that this refusal is only one of his sweet jokes. He will see me, +soft-hearted gentleman! Go and tell him—go and tell him, warder!"</p> + +<p>"Faith, not I," replied the warder. "That business of last night seems +to have galled him sorely, and he is just in the humour to fire a man +out of a culverin, as we know his father once did; but in these days it +won't do: culverins make too loud a report, you know. I will not go near +him again."</p> + +<p>"Then I will go myself," replied the priest. "He won't hurt me. Nay, +warder, you would not squeeze the Church in the wicket gateway! By +Heaven—or, as I should say less profanely, by the blessed rood—if you +pinch my stomach one moment more you will pinch forth an anathema, which +will leave you but a poor creature all your life."</p> + +<p>"Well, be it on your head," cried the warder, with a grim smile; "though +a two-inch cudgel or a fall from the battlements is the best thing to be +hoped for you."</p> + +<p>The priest was not to be deterred, however; and, making his way onward, +he crossed the outer court, turned to the right, and, passing through a +long stone passage, feeling damp and chilly after the bright sunshine, +he entered a colonnade or sort of cloister which surrounded the inner +court. It was a large, open space of ground, with tall buildings +overshadowing it on all sides. The sun seldom reached it; and there was +a coldness and stillness about its aspect altogether—its gray stones, +its small windows, its low-arched cloisters, its sunless air, and the +want of even the keen activity of the mountain wind—which made most +people shudder when they entered it.</p> + +<p>But there was nothing the least chilly in the nature of Father Willand. +His heart was not easily depressed, his spirits not easily damped; and +when he entered the cloister, and saw the Lord of Masseran walking up +and down in the court, an irresistible inclination to laugh seized him, +notwithstanding all the warder had said of his lord's mood at that +moment.</p> + +<p>It is true—although, from the description of the worthy officer of +bolts and bars, one would have expected to see the Lord of Masseran +acting some wild scene of passion—he was, on the contrary, walking +calmly and slowly backward and forward across the court, with his eyes +bent on the ground, indeed, but with his countenance perfectly tranquil. +It was nothing in his demeanour, however, that gave the priest a desire +to laugh, for he was very well aware that the passions of the Lord of +Masseran did not take the same appearances as those of other men, and he +saw clearly that he was at that moment in a state of sullen fury, which +might, very likely, have conducted any other man to some absurd excess. +His personal appearance, also, had nothing in it to excite mirth in any +degree. He was a tall, thin, graceful-looking man of the middle age, +with a nose slightly aquiline, eyes calm and mild, lips somewhat thin +and pale, and a complexion, very common in the northern part of Italy, +of a sort of clear, pale olive. His dress was handsome, but not +ostentatious; and, on the whole, he looked very much the nobleman and +the man of the world of those times. The priest, however, laughed when +he saw him; and, though he tried to smother it under the merry +affectation of a cough, yet the effects were too evident upon his +countenance to escape the eye of the Lord of Masseran as he approached.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Father Willand," said the marquis, as their eyes met, "I told the +warder to say that I did not wish to see you to-day."</p> + +<p>"Ah, but, my excellent good lord," replied the priest, bowing his head +low, with an air of mock humility and reverence, "it was I who wanted to +see your lordship; so I e'en ventured to make my way in, though the +warder—foul fall the villain—has so squeezed my stomach in the wicket, +that, like a bruised tin pot, it will never again hold so much as it did +before."</p> + +<p>"You are somewhat of a bold man," said the marquis, with a cold, bitter, +sidelong look at the priest; "you are somewhat of a bold man to make +your way in here when I bid you stay out. You may come in once too +often, Father Willand."</p> + +<p>"Heaven forbid, my lord," replied the priest; "I shall never think it +too often to serve your lordship, even though it should be at your +funeral: a sad duty that, my lord, which we must perform very often for +our best friends."</p> + +<p>"I should imagine, priest," replied the marquis, somewhat sternly, "you +would laugh at the funeral of your best friends."</p> + +<p>"I will promise your lordship one thing," replied the priest, "to laugh +at my own, if death will but let me. But surely, my lord, this is a time +for merriment and gayety! Why, I came to congratulate your lordship upon +your escape from those who attacked you last night—Ugh! ugh! ugh!"</p> + +<p>While the priest, unable to restrain himself, thus laughed aloud, the +marquis bit his lip, and eyed him askance, with a look which certainly +boded no great good to the merry ecclesiastic. They were at that moment +close to a spot where a door opened from one of the masses of building +into the cloister, and the Lord of Masseran, raising his voice a little, +exclaimed, in a sweet Italian tone, "Geronimo!"</p> + +<p>For a moment the priest laughed more heartily than before; but, seeing +the marquis about to repeat his call, he recovered himself, and, laying +his finger on the nobleman's arm, said, "Stay a moment, my lord, stay a +moment before you call him. First, because the sweet youth must not +exercise his ministry upon me. It would make too much noise, you know, +and every one in the valley is aware that I have come hither. Next, +because there are certain friends of mine looking for me at the bottom +of the slope, and expecting me within half an hour, so that I cannot +enjoy your Geronimo's conversation—"</p> + +<p>"It is, in general, very short," said the marquis.</p> + +<p>"And, thirdly," continued the priest, "because I have come up to tell +you two or three things which require no witnesses. I am here upon a +friendly errand, my good lord, and you are such a niggard that you +refuse me my laugh. However, I must have it, be it at you, at myself, or +at any one else; and now, if you behave well and civilly, I will tell +you tidings that you may like well to hear. If you don't want to hear +them, I will take myself away again, and then neither priest nor warder +is much to blame. Shall I go?"</p> + +<p>He spoke seriously now, and the Lord of Masseran replied, in a somewhat +more placable tone, a moment's reflection showing him that the priest, +in all probability, would not have come thither except upon some +important errand: "No, do not go," he said, "but speak to me, at least, +seriously." He looked down upon the ground for a moment, and then added, +"You may well think that I am angry, after all that took place last +night; for you, who hear everything, have doubtless heard of that also."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, he suddenly raised his keen dark eyes to the countenance of +the priest, as if inquiring how much he really did know of the matter in +question.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes," replied Father Willand, "I do hear everything, my good lord, +and I knew all that had happened to you last night before I sat down to +my breakfast this morning: I heard of your happy deliverance, too, from +the hands of the daring villains who captured you, for which gracious +interposition I trust that you will keep a candle burning perpetually +before the shrine of Saint Maurice."</p> + +<p>The priest spoke in a serious tone, but still there was an expressive +grin upon his countenance; and, after pausing for a moment or two more, +he added, as the marquis was about to reply, "You think I am jesting, or +that I do not understand what I am talking about; but I know the whole +business as well as you do yourself, and somewhat better. I tell you, +therefore, that it is a great deliverance that you have met with, though +perhaps you think it less a deliverance than an interruption."</p> + +<p>The priest paused as if for the marquis to reply; but the Lord of +Masseran was silent also, regarding his companion with a quiet, sly, +inquiring air, which, perhaps, could be assumed by no other countenance +upon earth than that of an Italian. It might be interpreted to say, "You +are more in my secrets than I thought. A new bond of fellowship is +established between us."</p> + +<p>As he remained actually silent, however, the priest went on to say, +"What I come to talk to you about is this very matter; for you may +chance be outwitted, my good lord, even where you are putting some +trust. But what I have to say," he continued, "had better not be said +among so many windows and doors."</p> + +<p>"Come with me! come with me!" said the Lord of Masseran; and leading the +way through the cloisters, he thridded several long and intricate +passages, none of them more than dimly lighted, and many of them +profoundly dark. He was followed by the priest, who kept his hand in the +bosom of his robe, and, if the truth must be said, grasped somewhat +firmly the hilt of a dagger, never feeling perfectly sure what was to be +the next of the Marquis of Masseran's sweet courtesies. Nothing +occurred, however, to interrupt him in his course, and at length the +lord of the castle stopped opposite to a doorway, over which a +glimmering light found its way. As soon as it was opened, the bright +beams of the day rushed in, and the marquis led the way into a wide +garden, which sloped down the side of the hill, and lay between the +walls of the castle itself and an outwork thrown forward to command one +of the passes of the mountain. It was walled on all sides, and nothing +could be seen beyond it; but in itself it offered a beautiful contrast +to the wild scenery round, being cultivated with great care and +neatness, and arranged in the Italian style of gardening, which was then +very little known in France, where it had been first introduced some +years before by Catharine de Medicis. Long and broad terraces, connected +together by flights of steps, formed the part of the garden nearest to +the chateau, while below appeared many a formal walk, sheltered, even in +that mountain scene, by rows of tall cypresses and hedges of other +evergreen plants.</p> + +<p>"Here we can speak undisturbed," said the marquis, as soon as he had +taken a few steps in advance. "Now what is it you have to tell me, +priest?"</p> + +<p>"Did you ever hear of such a person as Bernard de Rohan?" demanded the +priest, fixing his eyes upon the countenance of the Lord of Masseran.</p> + +<p>"I have—I have heard of him," replied the marquis, turning somewhat +pale. "What of him? what of him? Is he not still beyond the Alps?"</p> + +<p>"He is within a few leagues of your dwelling," answered the priest.</p> + +<p>"I thought so, I thought so," exclaimed the Lord of Masseran, striking +his brow with his hand. "But he shall find he has come too soon."</p> + +<p>"You must take heed what you do," replied the priest, grinning. "Did you +ever hear how the fox vowed vengeance against the lion, and was wroth, +and forgot his cunning, and flew at the lion's muzzle, and the lion put +his paw upon him, and squeezed the breath out of the poor fox's body? My +very good lord, you do not know that this Bernard de Rohan has +men-at-arms at his back, and despatches to you from the Maréchal de +Brissac, which may not be pleasant for you to receive; and, moreover, he +is a great friend of a certain Count de Meyrand, and they have been +conferring earnestly together both last night and this morning, and the +name of the Lord of Masseran was more than once mentioned. So now, my +son, you see what is going forward, and must take your measures +accordingly."</p> + +<p>The wily Piedmontese sunk back into himself as he heard the unpalatable +tidings communicated to him. From the few significant words which the +priest had spoken, it was evident enough to the Lord of Masseran that, +by some means or another, all the plans and purposes in which he was +engaged in at the time were nearly as well known to the personage with +whom he was then conversing as to himself, and yet he could not bring +himself to speak with him freely thereupon. He wanted advice. He wanted +assistance. The priest appeared to know more than he said; and, to +arrive at certainty upon that point, the Marquis of Masseran now applied +himself with all the skill and shrewdness of which he was master; but in +good Father Willand he met with more than his match; for, with equal +dexterity and shrewdness, the ecclesiastic had resources which the Lord +of Masseran himself had not. He could evade a question by a laugh, or a +jest, or a figure, or a pun, and never did diplomatist more skilfully +turn and double in a conference than he did in his conversation with the +Marquis of Masseran.</p> + +<p>At length, driven to speak more clearly, the marquis paused suddenly on +the terrace across which they were walking, and, fronting the priest, +demanded abruptly and sternly, "Tell me, then—tell me what is this +situation in which you say I am placed, which you always allude to and +never explain. Tell me this, and tell me how I shall meet the danger, +or, by the powers of Heaven and hell, you shall never quit this place +alive."</p> + +<p>"A pretty and a sweet persuasion," exclaimed the priest, laughing +heartily; "but, my dear son, I am not so easily killed, even if such +parricidal thoughts were anything more than a jest. You know not what a +tough morsel an old priest is: hard of mastication for even stronger +teeth than yours. Nay, nay, think of tenderer food! In other terms, ask +me pleasantly and civilly, my good son, and you may then chance to +receive an answer. If you were to kill me forty times over it would do +you no good. My secrets are like the goose's golden eggs: not to be got +at by slaughter."</p> + +<p>"There is something that you want, priest," replied the marquis, in the +same abrupt tone. "Quick! tell me what it is; if it be anything in +reason, you shall have it."</p> + +<p>The priest smiled with a meaning look, but thought for a moment or two +before he replied; for, to say the truth, he had not, in his own mind, +fixed upon that which he was to demand as his recompense. He had, it is +true, an object in view, and the chief means of attaining that object +was to persuade the Marquis of Masseran that he dealt with him truly and +sincerely. Now he well knew that the mind of the worthy lord was so +constituted that it could by no means be brought to conceive that any +man dealt honestly with another, unless he had some personal object to +gain by so doing, and, therefore, the priest determined to assign such +an object, although he was, in reality, without one. "Well," he said, +"well, you shall promise me, most solemnly, first, not to tell any one +what I reveal to you; and also, if you find that what I tell you is +true, and if the way that I point out to you prove successful, you shall +give the priest of the church of Saint John of Bonvoison a fat buck in +August every year when he chooses to send for it; you shall also give +him a barrel of wine of your best vintage, and five silver pieces for +alms to the poor, and this in perpetuity."</p> + +<p>"Fy, now, fy!" replied the Lord of Masseran; "for your own life were +quite enough; but in perpetuity, that is more than I can engage for: it +is owning your vassalage, good father."</p> + +<p>"It must be even so, though," replied the priest, "or you have not my +secret. I care not for venison, sinner that I am, it is the good of the +Church I think of."</p> + +<p>"Well! well!" answered the Lord of Masseran, "most disinterested father, +I give my promise; and now be quick, for I expect a visiter full soon, +my dealings with whom may depend upon your words: what is it that I +should fear?"</p> + +<p>"That Adrian, count of Meyrand," said the priest, "and Bernard, baron de +Rohan, laying their heads together for their own special purposes—"</p> + +<p>"That can never be, that can never be," cried the marquis, with a scoff. +"They both love the same woman. They both seek her. They can as soon +unite as oil and water. No, no, that is all vain!" and he turned away +with a sneer.</p> + +<p>"Suppose," said the priest, smiling in a way that again shook the +Marquis of Masseran's feelings of security, "suppose that the one should +love her money and the other herself, and they should agree to settle it +thus: We will prove to the King of France that the Lord of Masseran +holds secret communication with the Duke of Savoy and the Emperor +Ferdinand. Suppose this were the case, I say, do you think, my son, that +there would be any chance of their really proving it? Could the noble +Count of Meyrand say boldly that, to his knowledge, the Lord of Masseran +conspired secretly with some troops of Savoy, to carry off, as if by +force, himself, the Lord of Masseran, and Mademoiselle de Brienne, for +special purposes of his own, somewhat treasonable towards France, only +that the scheme was defeated by an accident? Could Bernard de Rohan say +that he had seen the Lord of Masseran in the hands of his captors, going +along with no great signs of unwillingness, and showing no great signs +of gratitude to those who set him free."</p> + +<p>"Was he there?" exclaimed the Lord of Masseran, eagerly. "What, a youth +in a buff coat? By Heaven, his eyes have been haunting me all night. He +seemed to look through me."</p> + +<p>"The same person," replied the priest, with a loud laugh; "and he did +see through you, my son. You have been very transparent lately. I ask no +questions, but put it to yourself whether these two gentlemen can say +these things to the King of France. Then may not the one say, 'Sire, I +love this girl, and have got her father's promise for her hand; here is +her brother, too, consents to our marriage: I claim as my reward your +good-will and approbation.' Then may not the other say, 'Sire, the Lord +of Masseran, as I have showed you, betrays your trust. He has fair +castles and fortresses, beautiful lands and lordships, vineyards, +olive-grounds, cornfields: I pray you, in return for having discovered +his dealings with the empire, put me in possession of his lands and his +lordships till your majesty shall think fit to conclude a peace.'"</p> + +<p>The Lord of Masseran looked moodily down upon the ground; and though, to +say the truth, he did not yet put great faith in the priest's sincerity, +he asked briefly, "Well, what remedy? How is this to be avoided?"</p> + +<p>"That," replied the priest, "for certain I cannot tell you; but I can +tell you what I would do were you Father Willand and I Marquis of +Masseran. I would order horses to be saddled and grooms to be prepared, +and by the most silent, secret, and sudden way, I would betake myself to +Paris, cast myself at the king's feet, accuse this Count of Meyrand of +seeking to corrupt me, tell him that Savoy had offered me bribes, and, +failing there, had striven to carry me off. I would do all this, and +then—"</p> + +<p>"Hush!" said the Lord of Masseran, "hush! here is some one coming to +seek me:" and, leaving the priest, he advanced a few steps towards a +servant who now approached from the house. The marquis asked a question +in a low tone, to which the other replied, loud enough for Father +Willand to hear,</p> + +<p>"He will not come within the gates, sir, but desires to speak with you +for a moment without: he says he is but in his hunting-garb, and +unfitted to enter your halls."</p> + +<p>"How many men has he with him?" demanded the Lord of Masseran.</p> + +<p>"No one but a page, my lord, near the gates," replied the man. "The rest +I saw gathered together about a mile down the road, on the other side of +the valley."</p> + +<p>"I will come!" said the Lord of Masseran, "I will come!" and he added, +in a lower tone, some words which the priest did not hear, but which he +judged had reference to himself, from perceiving the eyes of the +speakers turned more than once shrewdly towards him. "I will be back +again in a few minutes, good father," the Lord of Masseran continued. +"Wait for me, for we have yet much to speak of."</p> + +<p>"I will wait, I will wait," replied the priest; "only be not long, my +good son; for, though I have much to say to you, I have little time to +spare."</p> + +<p>The Lord of Masseran gave him every assurance that he would return +speedily; and then left the garden, followed by the attendant who had +summoned him. The priest looked after them and listened; and, being +someway connected with the race of that gentleman called in history +Fine-ear, he distinctly heard the door by which he and the marquis had +entered the garden locked after the latter had quitted it. "There is +another door," he muttered to himself, with a smile, looking towards one +of the archways upon the terrace leading to the chateau.</p> + +<p>The next instant, however, there was a sound from that quarter also, as +if somebody turned the key there likewise; but the priest continued to +smile notwithstanding, and, proceeding slowly along the terraces, as if +merely to amuse himself by a walk, he approached the thick wall of the +garden, and stopped at the entrance of one of those little guerites, or +watch-towers, with which the whole enclosure was studded from place to +place. Up the narrow staircase in the stone he made his way, and then +looked carefully out through the loophole which was turned towards the +chief entrance of the chateau. No living object, however, was to be seen +in the immediate neighbourhood of the castle itself; though, as the +attendant had said, about a mile down the road which passed through the +valley was a group of men, and horses, and dogs gathered together in +various listless attitudes, while two large eagles were seen whirling in +immense circles high up above the tops of the mountains, upon the lower +part of whose tall sides a flock of sheep appeared feeding in peaceful +tranquillity.</p> + +<p>"I may as well go," said the priest to himself, as he gazed out upon +this quiet scene. "I have said all that it is necessary to say, and this +sweet lord may not have done all that he may think it necessary to do. I +like not his whisperings, so I may as well go."</p> + +<p>But, as the priest thus murmured to himself, he looked out again in the +same direction, when two persons came slowly forth from behind an angle +of one of the towers, and, taking their way under the garden wall, +approached the very spot where Father Willand stood. There was no +difficulty in recognising the Lord of Masseran and the Count de Meyrand. +"Now what would I give," murmured the priest to himself, "for one of +those famous inventions—those ear-trumpets—those sound-catchers—which +we read about in old histories."</p> + +<p>The good priest, however, possessed none such; and though his ears, as +we have said, were very sharp; though he thrust his head as far as he +could into the loophole; though the count and his companion, thinking +that no one observed them, spoke loudly and vehemently; and though they +passed directly under the turret where the priest stood, nevertheless, +the words that he could catch were very few. "Well, my good lord, well," +said the Lord of Masseran, "you blame me without cause. I have done my +best, and am as disappointed as you are."</p> + +<p>"I do not blame you," replied the other; "I only tell you what must be +the result if the plans you have proposed cannot be carried through +immediately."</p> + +<p>"Not that I have proposed, not that I have proposed," replied the other; +"the suggestion was your own."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" said the Count de Meyrand, "this is something new to me. All I +know is, that I have got the whole of your scheme drawn out in your own +hand; the names false, indeed, or written in cipher, but for that we +will soon find a key. What I asked was this, either that you should pay +me the large debt you owe, or that you should give me such assistance in +my suit to Mademoiselle de Brienne as would enable me to call her my +wife within two months. Those two months have now wellnigh expired, and +I will be trifled with no more."</p> + +<p>The latter part of this sentence was lost to the ear of the priest; but +he guessed what it must be; and certainly the slight portion that he had +heard gave him a very strong inclination to hear more. He paused, then, +to consider whether this could be accomplished by any possible means, +but it was evident that such could not be the case; for, even while he +turned the matter in his mind, the little path along which the Marquis +de Masseran and his companion walked led them farther and farther from +the wall of the garden. We must now, however, follow the two noblemen, +and leave the priest to his fate, which we shall very speedily see.</p> + +<p>"Well, well, my good friend," replied the Marquis de Masseran, in answer +to the last observation of the count, "the time has not yet fully +expired, and it shall be your own fault if my promise is not completely +fulfilled."</p> + +<p>"How can it be my fault?" said the count. "I have nothing to do with the +fulfilment of your promise."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you have," answered the Marquis of Masseran: "I will give you the +means; but if any pitiful scruple, any lady-like hesitation upon your +part, prevents you from employing them, the fault is your own."</p> + +<p>"Mark me now, my good lord," replied the count: "it was understood +between us that I was to have no share in anything contrary to my +allegiance to the crown of France. With your own plans I had nothing to +do. If you chose to give the agents of the empire an opportunity of +making you a prisoner, and taking possession of your fortresses for +reasons and with purposes best known to yourself, I had nothing to do +with that: that was your own affair; I would be in no degree implicated +with it; I would receive no bribes from Savoy or Austria," he continued, +with a sneer; "all I agreed to do was to rescue the lady, if, on any +occasion, I were informed that she was travelling as a prisoner between +Fort Covert and Brianzone. This I promised to do, and I should have had +no scruple then to use my opportunities to the best advantage."</p> + +<p>The Lord of Masseran smiled with a meaning look, which his companion +easily interpreted. The count added with a frown, "You mistake me: I +would have done her no wrong, sir! Though I would have taken care to +keep her so long with me that she could give her hand to no one else, I +would have treated her with all honour."</p> + +<p>"Doubtless, doubtless," replied the Lord of Masseran; "but what I mean +now, my lord count, is, that if I again, at a great risk to myself, give +you good opportunity, you will have no hesitation in using a little +gentle force to compel this lady's union with yourself. We have priests +enough who will perform the ceremony with a deaf ear to the +remonstrances that her reluctance and maiden modesty may suggest; but +when we have carried the matter so far as that, remember that my safety, +nay, my life itself, may be compromised if you yield to any weak +supplications. Once commit ourselves, and our only safety is in her +being your wife! Then she will be silent for her own sake."</p> + +<p>"By Heavens," said the count, in a deep, low tone, "she shall be my wife +if it be but in revenge for the scorn with which she treated me in +Paris. If it costs the lives of her and me, and all our kin, she shall +be mine, Lord of Masseran."</p> + +<p>"So be it, then," replied the marquis; "but, to accomplish my new +scheme, I must be absent some few days."</p> + +<p>The count gazed upon him somewhat suspiciously. "Some few days?" he +said. "What! long enough, marquis, to go to Paris or Vienna?"</p> + +<p>"Neither," replied the Marquis of Masseran, coolly. "Three days will +suffice, if well used. In three days I will be back again."</p> + +<p>"And in those three days," replied the count, "this Bernard de Rohan, +whom we were talking about just now, will have fair opportunity of +visiting the bright lady, and even, perhaps, by the connivance of her +fair mother, may carry her within the French frontier, and plead her +father's promise at the court of the king."</p> + +<p>"Not by her mother's connivance," replied the marquis. "Her mother loves +him as little as you do; and, even were he at the court of France +to-morrow, her protest against the marriage would be sufficient to stop +it. But, to guard against all danger, and, if possible, to put the mind +of a suspicious man at ease, I will tell you that one great cause of my +going hence is to prevent this Bernard de Rohan from setting foot within +my walls. I know his coming: I know why he comes far better than you do. +I have heard his motives and his views within this hour from one who is +well acquainted with them, and, if he present himself at my gates, he +will find a stern refusal till I return. Then I must see him, but I +shall then be prepared. Will this satisfy you? If it do so, tell me at +once; for it is high time that I should mount my horse, and quit this +place without delay."</p> + +<p>Though, in reality, anything but satisfied, the Count de Meyrand +expressed his consent to the proposal, determined in his own mind to +watch all the proceedings of a confederate whom he could so little +trust, even in the dark and tortuous schemes in which their interests +were combined. He tried, as he parted from the marquis, to conceal his +doubts lest they should betray his purposes; but that worthy gentleman +was far too practised a reader of the human heart and human countenance +to be so deceived; and when they separated, it was with the full +conviction that each would endeavour to deceive and circumvent the +other, unless some strong necessity continued to bind them together.</p> + +<p>"Now," thought the Marquis de Masseran, as he paused for a moment +looking after the Count de Meyrand, "now for this priest. I must have +more information from him: more full, more complete. Then what is to be +done with him? It might be dangerous to confine him; and yet it were +easy to say that he had held treasonable discourses. A fall from the +walls might be as good as anything. I will speak with Geronimo about +it."</p> + +<p>He had been standing with his back towards the castle and his eyes fixed +upon the ground while he thus held parley with himself. On the other +side of the valley, which was there profound, rose up the mountain, with +the road into Piedmont winding along it, at the distance of perhaps a +quarter of a mile, to use the ordinary expression, as the crow flies, +but fully a mile by the road; and, as he ended his murmuring soliloquy, +the Marquis of Masseran looked up in that direction. To his utter +surprise and consternation when he did so, he beheld the figure of the +priest walking quietly along the highway towards the lower ground of +Savoy.</p> + +<p>He hastened back to the castle; but he was assured at the gates by all +the several persons who were standing there that no one had passed. On +examining the doors of the garden, every one of them was found to be +closed; and the Marquis of Masseran came to a conclusion, which was not +pleasant for a man engaged in his peculiar pursuits, namely, that he was +deceived and betrayed by some one of his own household.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + + +<p>The observation may seem trite, that to every period of life is assigned +by the Almighty and Munificent Being, who at our creation adapted to +each part of our material form the functions that it was to execute and +the labours it was to sustain, either peculiar powers of endurance or +counterbalancing feelings, which render the inevitable cares and sorrows +apportioned to every epoch of our being lighter and more easy to be +borne. The woes of childhood are, in themselves, speedily forgotten. The +pains are soon succeeded by pleasures, and care, gnawing care, the rack +of after-life, is then unknown. Boyhood, eager, enthusiastic, hopeful +boyhood, the age of acquisition and expectation, though it may know from +time to time a bitter pang, scarcely less in its degree than those that +afflict mature life, has so many compensating enjoyments, its own +sunshine is so bright, the light that shines upon it from the future is +so dazzling, that the griefs serve but as a preparation and a warning, +too little remembered when once they are past. Old age, with its decay, +with the extinction of earthly hopes, with the prospect of the tomb, has +also dulled sensibilities that allow us not to feel many of the more +painful things of early years. The blunted edge of appetite may not give +so keen a zest to pleasure; but the apathy which accompanies it extends +to griefs as well as joys, and, if wisely used, is one of the best +preparations for a resignation of that state of being which we have +tried in the balance of experience and have found wanting; wanting in +all that can satisfy a high and ethereal spirit; wanting in all things +but its grand purpose of trial for a life to come. But, besides all +this, unto that period of old age, thus prepared and admonished for +another state, God himself has also given comfort and consolation, a +promise and a hope: a promise brighter than all the promises of youth, a +hope brighter than all those that have withered away upon our path of +life.</p> + +<p>There is still another age, however; an age the most perilous, often the +most full of pains; an age when the eager aspirations of youth reach out +the hand towards fruition; when the great truths of disappointment break +upon us; when we first learn the bitter lesson that hope has told us +idle tales, that fortune is of fickle favour, that friendships are too +often false, that our own hearts do ourselves wrong, that enjoyment +itself is often a vanity and often a vision, that we must suffer, and +grieve, and repent in the midst of a world which, shortly before, we +fancied was composed of nothing but brightness, and beauty, and +happiness. I speak of the time of life when we first put on manhood, and +meet all its sorrows at the moment when we expect nothing but its joys. +For that period, too, there is a bright compensation given, there is a +sustaining principle implanted in our breast, common to the highest and +the lowest, the savage and the civilized; a principle that furnishes a +balm for many wounds, that surrounds us with an atmosphere of +consolation, hope, and joy, and enables us to live on in one splendid +dream, even in the midst of hard and dark realities.</p> + +<p>That principle is love; and that principle was warm and strong in the +bosom of Bernard de Rohan, as, on the day after that in which the +conversations we have mentioned in our last chapter took place, he +stood, a few minutes before the setting of the sun, under a group of +tall fir-trees that had pitched themselves upon a pinnacle of the rock, +about ten yards distant from the farther angle of the garden attached to +the chateau of Masseran. The trees grew very close together; and, what +between scanty soil and the mountain winds, their large trunks had +contorted themselves into manifold strange shapes. From this group two +or three rows of the same kind of firs ran down the side of the hill +into the valley. One would have supposed that they were the remains of +some old avenue had the lines been but a little more regular.</p> + +<p>The shadow of those trees completely concealed any one who stood beneath +them, and the eyes must have been very near that could have perceived +Bernard de Rohan as he leaned against one of them, gazing upon a +particular part of the garden wall immediately under one of the small +watch-turrets. He thus waited some time, with an eagerness of +expectation, it is true, which in no other situation or circumstance had +he ever known before; but, at the same time, with sweet thoughts, and +hopes, and happy memories, which cheered the moments, and made even the +impatience that he felt appear like some of those drinks which man has +invented to satisfy his thirst, and which are at once pungent and +grateful to the taste. He had waited some time, we have said, when at +length, as a distant snowy peak began to change its hue and turn rosy +with the rays of the setting sun, the small postern door on which his +eyes were fixed was seen to move upon its hinges, and then stood ajar. +Bernard de Rohan sprang forward, passed the small open space in a +moment, and, pushing back the door more fully, stood within the garden +of the castle of Masseran.</p> + +<p>Scarce a step from the gate, with her hand pressed upon her heart, as if +to stop the palpitation of fear and agitation, stood a lady, perhaps of +twenty years of age. She was certainly not more; and her beauty, like +the morning sun, seemed to have the promise of a long, bright race +before it. She was very graceful and very beautiful. The whole form +seemed to breathe of a bright and high spirit; but even had it not been +that her person so perfectly harmonized with her mind, and was, in +fact—as nature probably intended should be the case—an earthly type of +the soul within, yet Bernard de Rohan would still have loved her as +deeply, as tenderly as he did, for he knew that spirit to be bright and +beautiful; he knew the heart to be tender, and devoted, and +affectionate; he knew the mind to be pure and high, and fixed in all its +purposes of right.</p> + +<p>He had been brought up with her from youth; her father had been his +guardian, and a parent to him when his own parents were no more. She had +fancied herself a sister to him till the hearts of both told them it was +happy she was not so. No disappointments had ever befallen them in the +course of their affection; no obstacles had been thrown in their way +till that time; and yet, though neither opposed, nor troubled, nor +disappointed, they loved each other with true and constant hearts, and +feared not the result of any hour of trial.</p> + +<p>She was very beautiful, certainly. It was not alone that all the +features of her face were fine, but it was also that the form of the +face itself was beautiful, and the way that the head was placed upon the +neck, and the neck rose from the shoulders, all gave a peculiarity of +expression, a grace, which is only to be compared to that of some +ancient statue from a master's hand. The eyes, too, were very, very +lovely, deep blue, and full of liquid light; with dark black eyelashes +that curtained them like a dark cloud fringing the edge of the western +sky, but leaving a space for the bright light of evening to gush through +upon the world. Her complexion was a clear, warm brown; but now, as she +stood, there was something, either in the agitation of the moment or in +the cold light of the hour, which made her look as pale as marble.</p> + +<p>She was pressing her hand upon her heart, and leaning slightly forward, +with an eager look towards the door, as if prepared to fly should any +one appear whom she did not expect. The instant she saw Bernard de +Rohan, however, her whole face was lighted up with a glad smile, and she +sprang forward to meet him with the unchecked joy of pure and high +affection. They were in a moment in each other's arms.</p> + +<p>"My Isabel! my beloved!" he said. "I thought that this man had +determined to shut me out from beholding you again."</p> + +<p>"And so he would," replied the lady. "So he would if he had the power. +But oh! Bernard, I fear him—I fear him in every way: I fear him on my +own account, I fear him on yours."</p> + +<p>"Oh! fear not, fear not, Isabel," replied Bernard de Rohan. "He can but +bring evil upon his own head if he attempts to wrong either you or me. +Already has he placed himself in danger. But tell me, my beloved, tell +me, is he really absent from the castle, or was it but a pretence to +avoid seeing me when I came yesterday?"</p> + +<p>"No, he is absent," replied Isabel de Brienne. "In that, at least, there +is no deception, for I saw him ride out with but a few horses yesterday +towards midday. He took the small covered way by the back of the castle +and by the other side of the gardens. I saw him from the window of my +chamber in the keep, and I do not believe that he has since returned."</p> + +<p>"It must have been to avoid me," said Bernard de Rohan, thoughtfully; +"and yet, how could he know that I was here? Did he ever hint at such +knowledge, my Isabel?"</p> + +<p>"Not to me," she answered; "but I have scarcely seen him since that +terrible night. I have been in my mother's sick chamber, to which his +cruelty and brutality have brought her. Nor would he ever, even if I had +seen him, nor would he ever mention your name to me. He would fain have +me forget it, Bernard; but on that score I have much to tell you too."</p> + +<p>"I know that I judge your heart right, dear Isabel," replied Bernard de +Rohan, "when I say he would find it hard to make you forget that name; +and yet I have had warnings within the last two days of many a dark and +evil scheme, it would seem, against your peace and mine. A vague hint +has been given me that one whom I know to be brave, and whom the world +holds to be honest; one who was once my particular friend, and my +comrade in many a day of difficulty, and strife, and peril; one who, I +know, must be well aware, from many things that I have casually said in +thoughtless freedom of heart, that you and I are linked together by +promises that can never be broken, has been labouring hard to supplant +me in your affection. Yet I will not believe them, Isabel; I will not +believe, in the first place, that you would hear one word on such a +score from any man. Neither will I believe—though he has certainly +lingered strangely away from the army; though he has changed, I may say, +marvellously, and from a gay, rash, thoughtless youth, become a +cautious, calculating, somewhat impenetrable man—I will not believe +that Adrian de Meyrand would do me wrong. No, no, I will trust him +still."</p> + +<p>"Trust him not, Bernard! trust him not!" replied Isabel. "Trust him not, +Bernard! I, at least, know what he is. You say that your Isabel," she +continued, gazing on him tenderly, "would not hear one word of love +spoken by any other lips than your own. You do her right, dear Bernard. +She would not, if she could help it; and even when against her will, +against remonstrance and anger, she has been forced to hear such words, +she has scarce forgiven herself for what she could not avoid, and has +reproached herself for that which was forced upon her. Do you, too, +reproach her, Bernard?"</p> + +<p>"Oh no," he replied, holding her to his heart, and gazing into the pure +bright eyes, which seemed, as they were, deep wells of innocence and +truth. "Oh no, dear Isabel; what was done unwillingly needs no reproach: +but how was this? Tell me all! De Meyrand, then, has wronged me?"</p> + +<p>"If he knew of your love for me, he has," replied Isabel de Brienne; +"but promise me, Bernard, that no rash or hasty act will make me regret +having spoken to you openly, and I will tell you all."</p> + +<p>"None shall, my Isabel," replied her lover. "It is only dangerous +rivals, or insolent ones, that require the sword of a brave man. De +Meyrand is not the one, and probably may never be the other. Speak, dear +one! I must hear all."</p> + +<p>"Well, then," she answered, "before we quitted the court, I remarked +that this Count of Meyrand paid me assiduous court; and though certainly +he was very attentive also to my mother and her new husband, still I +avoided him, for there was something in his look and his manner that did +not please me. I remarked, however, that many of the nobles of the +court—nay, even the king himself—seemed so to smooth the way and +remove all obstacles, that he was frequently near me. One day he +followed me through the crowded halls of the Louvre by my mother's side, +and, when I could not avoid him, poured into my ears a tale of love +which I speedily cut short. I told him at once that my heart was given +and my hand plighted to another; and I besought my mother to confirm +what I said, and stop all farther importunity. He had fascinated her, +Bernard; and though she did what I requested, it was but coldly. He left +me for the time; but the very next day, while I was alone in my mother's +chamber, he came in and pursued the same theme. Then, Bernard, I fear I +acted ill. He aroused my anger. I was indignant that he should thus +persecute me after what I had said. I treated him with some scorn. I +told him cuttingly, in answer to a question which he should not have +asked, that, even were I not plighted in faith and bound by affection to +another, I should never have felt for him aught but cold indifference. +He lost his temper at length, though it was long ere he would leave me; +and as he did at length quit the room, I could hear something muttered +between his teeth which sounded very much like a menace. Since then I +have only seen him three times. Once more at the court; but by that time +my brother had returned from Italy. He was with me, and the count did +not come near. I have twice seen him here, when I have been forced out +by the Lord of Masseran upon the pretence of a hunting-party. He comes +not near the castle, however; and, when we did meet, he was distant and +stately in his manner, but still there was something in his eyes that +made me shudder."</p> + +<p>"For the last two days he has been in the same small inn with myself," +replied Bernard de Rohan. "I will speak to him to-night, my Isabel, +calmly and gently, I promise you; but he must learn to yield this suit +if he still entertains it. Nay, look not grieved, dear one. I will keep +my promise faithfully, and forgive the past so he offend not in the +future."</p> + +<p>"I grieve and apprehend, dear Bernard," she replied, "but think not that +I would strive to stay you from any course that you yourself judge +right. I know you are moderate and just, and that you will not think, as +some might do, that you prove your love for me by fiery haste to expose +a life on which hangs all my hopes of happiness. Your honour is to me +far more than life; but oh, Bernard, judge but the more calmly, I +beseech you, of what that honour requires, by thinking that not your +life and happiness alone are the stake, but mine also. Having told you +all truly, as I ever will through life, I must scarce venture a word +more to persuade or dissuade; and yet I cannot think honour can call +upon you even to speak angry or reproachful words, when this man himself +was not told, by me at least, that it was his friend he was trying to +supplant."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan's brow was somewhat cloudy, though he smiled. "I fear, +my Isabel," he said, "that he knew the fact too well. I can call many a +time to my mind when I have dropped words concerning you which he could +not mistake. However, I have said I will pass over all that is gone, and +now let us think of other brighter things."</p> + +<p>"I know not," she replied, "I know not why, Bernard, but a dark shadow +seems to overhang me, which prevents my thinking of brighter things. +Within the last year, so much has happened to cause apprehension and +anxiety, so much to give birth to pain and grief, that my spirit has +sunk; and, whereas everything used to seem full of brightness and hope, +all is now full of despondency."</p> + +<p>"Cheer thee, cheer thee, Isabel," replied Bernard, adding those caresses +that cheer far more than words; "I will take thee from the midst of the +sad things that must surround thee here. I know, dear Isabel, that thy +mother was often harsh and always cold, and, since I and your brother +have left you, you have had no support or comfort under the pain which +her behaviour must have given."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it was not her harshness nor her coldness, Bernard," replied Isabel +Brienne; "I could have borne that easily; but when I recollected my dear +father—when I remembered all his high and noble qualities—his +kindness, his tenderness to her, and saw her again stand at the altar to +give her hand to another so unlike him in everything, dark, treacherous, +avaricious, and deceitful, it was then I first felt that I really wanted +aid and consolation. It was then that I wanted help, I wanted protection +and support; and even at that time I would have written to you to come +to me with all speed if it had not been for some foolish feelings of +shame."</p> + +<p>"They were indeed wrong, my Isabel," replied Bernard; "for surely, +Isabel, with our faith plighted by your own father's will, with a long, +dear intimacy from childhood until now, if you could not repose full, +unhesitating trust and confidence in me, where, where could you place +it, Isabel?"</p> + +<p>"I know it was foolish," she replied, "I know it was very foolish, +Bernard; but yet, even now," and she looked down blushing upon the +ground, "but yet, even now, the same foolish hesitation makes me scruple +to tell you what I firmly believe is the best, nay, is the only plan by +which we could hope to avoid the dangers that surround us."</p> + +<p>"Nay, Isabel, nay," replied Bernard de Rohan, "after saying so much, you +must say more. You must tell me all, freely, candidly. The brightest +part of love is its confidence. It is that perfect, that unhesitating +reliance, that interchange of every idea and every feeling, that perfect +community of all the heart's secrets and the mind's thoughts, which +binds two beings together more closely, more dearly than the dearest of +human ties: more than the vow of passion or the oath of the altar. It is +that confidence which, did we not deny its sway, would give to earthly +love a permanence that we find but seldom in this world. Oh, Isabel, you +must not, indeed you must not, have even a thought that is not mine."</p> + +<p>"Nor will I, Bernard," she replied, "nor will I; though I may blush to +say what I was going to say, I will not hesitate to say it. It is this, +then, Bernard: You must take me hence without delay."</p> + +<p>"Oh, how gladly," he cried, throwing his arms round her, and kissing the +glowing cheek that rested on his shoulder; "oh, how gladly, Isabel! I +waited but for the arrival of your brother to propose that step to you +myself. If this Lord of Masseran chooses to refuse me admission, I +cannot force my way in, and you may be subject to every kind of grief +and pain before I receive such authority from the king or from Brissac +as will force him to give you up."</p> + +<p>"That is not all, Bernard, that is not all," replied the lady. "This man +is deceitful to all. Suppose but for a moment that, finding the King of +France obliged to withdraw his troops from Italy, as I hear has been the +case, he resolves to betray the trust that has been reposed in him, to +submit himself again to the Duke of Savoy, to receive the troops of the +emperor. Suppose, Bernard, he removes me and my mother beyond the limits +of Savoy, beyond the power of the king of our own country, beyond your +reach, Bernard, what would be the consequences then? I should be but a +mere slave in his hands. But listen to me still, dear Bernard; there is +more, more to be said; I have good reason to believe and know that all +these dangers are not merely imaginary, but that he is actually dealing +with the empire. I have seen couriers come and go, and heard them +converse long with him in the German tongue. I have seen officers who +spoke neither French nor Italian surveying the castle, and consulting +with him over plans of other fortresses. Twice, also, when I have +hesitated to ride forth with him, fearing dangers—I did not well know +what—my mother, who is already his complete slave, has held out vague +threats to me of removing me to far-distant lands, where my obedience +would be more prompt and unhesitating. Now, even now, Bernard," she +continued, "I believe that he is gone on some errand of this kind, and +it would in no degree surprise me, ere three days are over, to see this +place filled with German soldiers."</p> + +<p>"Then, dear Isabel," exclaimed Bernard de Rohan, "we must lose no time. +I wrote to your brother to meet me at Grenoble, and I have sent off +messengers to him there and at Paris. But we must not wait for his +coming. Your father's written consent will justify us, and the king is +already aware that this man's faith and adherence to France is insecure. +It would have been better, indeed, if your brother had been here, for +then he might, in the first place, have openly demanded you at the hands +of this man."</p> + +<p>"Oh no, no, Bernard," she replied; "I rejoice greatly that Henry is not +here. I feel a sort of terror at the idea of his falling into the hands +of this Lord of Masseran. You know that Henry's death would place great +wealth at the disposal of my mother; and, though it is dreadful to say, +yet I do fear there is no act at which this Italian would hesitate to +obtain wealth or power, or any of the objects for which men strive on +earth. I would not for the world that Henry should put himself into the +hands of one so treacherous. If Henry be at Grenoble, we can fly to him +at once, and be united there."</p> + +<p>"Better, far better, dear Isabel," replied her lover, "that we should be +united before we go. There is a priest here who seems to have some +regard for me, and who lingers still at the inn, I know not why. He will +be easily persuaded to unite our hands, as our hearts are already +united, and then my right to protect and defend you will bear no denial. +Let it be soon, too, my Isabel. Why not to-morrow night?"</p> + +<p>She replied not for a moment or two. Not that she hesitated, not that +there was a doubt in her own mind of what her answer must be; but yet +she paused, with her hand clasped in that of Bernard de Rohan, and her +eyes hid upon his shoulder, while he went on to persuade her, though +there needed no persuasion.</p> + +<p>"Consider, dear Isabel," he said, "the secret of this postern door is +one that may be discovered at any time. He might return within a day. If +we were to meet often, our meeting might be discovered. What it is +necessary to do, it is necessary to do at once."</p> + +<p>It need not be said that Bernard de Rohan's entreaties were successful. +Isabel promised to be there at the same hour on the following night, +prepared for flight; and Bernard de Rohan undertook to have the contract +of their marriage drawn up by some neighbouring notary, and a priest +ready and willing to unite them.</p> + +<p>"In four or five hours," he said, "we shall be within the pale of +France, and, as you saw the other night, we shall have plenty of willing +guards thither, dear Isabel. Besides that wilder retinue, too, my own +train is down at the hamlet; but, of course, I must bring few people +with me, for fear of attracting attention. Have you anybody in the +castle, dear Isabel, besides good Henriot, who can give you aid and +assistance?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes," replied the lady; "there is the maid who conveyed to you the +note to-day. I can trust her."</p> + +<p>"She seemed sullen or stupid," replied Bernard de Rohan: "I could not +induce her to utter more than one or two words, and those I did not +distinctly hear."</p> + +<p>"She is very silent," replied Isabel, "but is not so dull as she looks. +Give her but one thing to think of, and one object to attend to, and she +will execute what she is directed to do well enough; and perhaps it is +all the better that she observes nothing which passes round her, and is +so sparing of her words."</p> + +<p>"Hush!" said Bernard de Rohan. "There is a light upon the terrace, near +the castle, and some one seems coming hither. Adieu! dear Isabel, adieu! +Though the evening is too dim for them to see us, it is better that I +should leave you till to-morrow. But forget not, dear one; and oh! be +rather before than after the hour."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, he pressed her to his bosom for a moment, and then passed +through the postern door. He closed it not entirely, however, for some +vague apprehension concerning the sweet girl he had just left behind +caused him to pause and listen, till he had assured himself that the +person whom he had seen approaching was no unfriendly one. In a few +minutes he heard another female voice saying distinctly to Isabel, "Your +lady mother, mademoiselle, desires that you would come and play to her +on the lute."</p> + +<p>"I come, I come, good Maddelene," replied the voice of Isabel de +Brienne; and in the clear evening air Bernard de Rohan could hear the +sound of receding footsteps.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + + +<p>"Has not the Count de Meyrand returned?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, as +he re-entered the kitchen of the little inn, and saw it tenanted only by +one or two of his own attendants, the host and hostess, and a +waiting-boy.</p> + +<p>"He has not only returned, my lord," replied the landlord, "but has gone +away again, and, sorry I am to say, gone away altogether. He came back, +and departed in great haste, paying for all that he had like a prince."</p> + +<p>"This is strange!" replied Bernard de Rohan. "Did he leave no message +for me?"</p> + +<p>"No message, my lord," replied the host; "he gave your man, Master +Martin, a note for you, however; but he has just gone up the hill, and +taken the note with him."</p> + +<p>"Do you know where the count has gone to?" demanded the young nobleman.</p> + +<p>"Oh, to Pont Beauvoisin, on his way to Paris," the landlord answered; +"he has been gone wellnigh two hours."</p> + +<p>It is a very common piece of policy on the part of hosts, aubergistes, +landlords, and others of the same class and character, by whatsoever +denomination they may be known, to laud up to the skies the guest just +departed, praising in him those especial virtues which they wish to +inculcate upon the guest who happens to be their listener. Thus the +landlord was proceeding to paint in high colours the generosity and +careless liberality of the Count de Meyrand, when some persons speaking, +and a loud, rich, buttery laugh, merry in every tone, announced that the +good priest, Father Willand, was approaching the auberge with some +companion.</p> + +<p>"We shall live like clerks now he is gone, we shall live like clerks," +exclaimed the voice of the priest. "By the holy mass, he was not content +with eating more than his own share of everything, but his very look +changed everything that he did not eat, and turned it bad. His aspect +was so cold that it chilled the pottage; his look so sharp that it +turned the wine sour. I will make a new prayer night and morning: May I +never again meet such a companion at an inn as this Count de Meyrand."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan found, on the entrance of the priest, that it was his +own attendant, Martin, with whom Father Willand had been conversing. The +attendant immediately produced the Count de Meyrand's note, which his +master read attentively, and with an appearance of satisfaction. "So my +friend De Meyrand has gone on business of importance to Paris," he said +aloud.</p> + +<p>"Ay, as the fox is said to go to his hole," replied the priest.</p> + +<p>"I dare say, indeed," replied the young cavalier, "that there are many +foxes in that hole, my good father; but still your comparison is not a +very pleasant one for the good count."</p> + +<p>"The comparison was more aimed at his way of going to Paris than at +either Paris or himself," replied the priest. "I repeat, he is gone to +Paris as a fox is said to go to his hole; that is, back foremost."</p> + +<p>"Nay," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I never yet saw fox so stupid. Why +should a fox go back foremost?"</p> + +<p>"To hide the way he goes," answered the priest; "to make the footsteps +point out of the hole instead of into it. So the good peasants tell +one."</p> + +<p>"But how can this apply to the Count de Meyrand?" asked Bernard de +Rohan, with his curiosity now considerably excited.</p> + +<p>"Because he tells you," replied the priest, "that he is going to Paris, +and we watched him from the top of the hill, and saw him turn quite the +other way before he got two leagues out into the plain."</p> + +<p>"Strange enough!" replied Bernard de Rohan, not choosing to appear as +much interested as he really was; "strange enough; but he may well have +some friends to see—some town to visit in the way. Come, my good host! +come, let us have supper speedily, and give us more light, for the night +is growing dark and sombre. Good priest," he continued, turning to +Father Willand, and speaking in a low voice, "I have a word for your +private ear by-and-by; somewhat to consult upon, regarding which I need +sound discretion and good counsel. I beseech you, therefore, pause at +the end of the first stoup of wine."</p> + +<p>"My son, my son," replied the priest, "men have always made a mistake +with regard to the abode of truth. Truth and my brains lie together at +the bottom of the second pottle pot, for most men are sure to tell the +truth when they get to that pitch; and my brains are never clear, clean, +and neat till they have been washed in that quantity at least. Fear not, +fear not, I will be careful; though, if you are going to confess +yourself, you ought to wish me as drunk as possible, for the penances I +enjoin are always light when my knees feel like an unstarched ruff. Were +it not better, however, to talk this matter over first, while my good +host prepares the supper, and then we can consider it in our cups, you +know?"</p> + +<p>"It may indeed be as well," replied Bernard de Rohan. "Follow to my +chamber, good priest, then. Go on, Martin, with a light;" and, taking +his way up the dingy staircase, Bernard de Rohan led the priest to the +large square, lofty bedroom which had been assigned him as his place of +repose, and which no one would have imagined that lowly and +humble-looking inn could boast of. The moment the door was closed and +the attendant gone, the priest's eyes assumed a shrewder, but more +serious expression, and he said, "Know you that I have been here twice +yesterday, and three times to-day, seeking you?"</p> + +<p>"In truth, I did not," replied the young cavalier. "On what account did +you seek me?"</p> + +<p>"To tell you to make good use of your time," answered the priest. "The +Lord of Masseran is absent. He, I doubt not, is really gone to Paris; +gone to justify himself to the king against accusations which he hears +are to be made against him. You have, therefore, time to do all that you +would, and nothing is required but to be diligent, quick, and secret."</p> + +<p>"I have been all three," replied Bernard de Rohan. "And I just come from +the postern by the fir-trees."</p> + +<p>"Then you have seen Corse de Leon," said the priest, abruptly. "When and +where? For I could not find him, neither yesterday nor to-day."</p> + +<p>"I met him this morning," replied Bernard; "I met him this morning, and +took him for an old drover, so completely had he disguised himself."</p> + +<p>"Then have you seen the lady also?" asked the priest.</p> + +<p>"I have, my good friend," answered the young cavalier, somewhat +surprised to find how completely his proceedings were divined. "I have +seen the lady; and it is in regard to that interview that I wished to +speak with you. May I trust to you to do for me to-morrow night one of +the offices of your holy function, and—"</p> + +<p>"Marry you, in short," replied the priest, "marry you to this fair +Isabel of Brienne. Well, my son, I see no impediment—no harm therein. +If you have well considered the matter," he added with a laugh, "and +have determined to take upon yourself the holy estate of matrimony, far +be it from me to prevent you, although I must say, that it was in +gracious consideration and providence for our temporal as well as +spiritual happiness that our holy church exacted from us an oath not to +enter into the condition you so much covet; however, I will put the +couples round your necks, and then you must run along the road together +as you can; but where shall it be?" he continued. "Tell me the whens and +the hows, for that is very needful."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan explained to him as much as he judged needful. Indeed, +what he was obliged to explain put his plans completely in the power of +the priest. Nevertheless, he did not anticipate any evil on that +account. All of us, wise and simple alike, are more or less guided in +our dealings with our fellow-creatures by various other principles than +the dictates of mere reason. The most suspicious man, the most cautious +man, will, from time to time, place confidence where it is least +deserved, from some motives to which his judgment would refuse its +assent. The calm and deliberate politician, who has frustrated many of +the cabinet knaves of Europe, and concealed his thoughts from the +penetrating eye of diplomacy, has often betrayed his secret to a pretty +face, and sometimes let it fall into possession of a roguish valet.</p> + +<p>But Bernard de Rohan was neither a very cautious nor a very suspicious +man. His nature was frank and confiding; and, wherever he showed himself +reserved, he was rendered so by the effect of reason and deliberate +consideration. In the present instance he was forced to trust the +priest, and he trusted him without regret or hesitation; for there was +something in good Father Willand's face and demeanour which was frank +and kindly, and, to say sooth, Bernard de Rohan had conceived a +prepossession in his favour, which might or might not be justified. He +thought, too, that, although his own memory of the good priest's +features might have faded in the lapse of many years, and though those +features themselves must have been much changed by time since he had +seen them—he thought, too, that they were not wholly without some +corresponding traces on the tablets of remembrance. Memory has her +instincts, too; and often, though we cannot recollect the why or the +wherefore, the time or the circumstances regarding an object suddenly +presented to us, we feel that it is connected with pleasant or +unpleasant things in the past; that there have been causes to love, or +hate, or fear a person whose very name and being we have forgotten. Thus +was it with Bernard de Rohan and Father Willand; for, though he knew not +where they had met before, though he was not sure that they ever had +met, he was sure that if they had, there had existed good cause to hold +the priest in some esteem.</p> + +<p>When all the arrangements for the succeeding night had been made between +the priest and the young cavalier, the latter turned to a point +connected with the same subject which pressed somewhat heavily upon his +mind.</p> + +<p>"And now, my good Father Willand," he said, "you must tell me, sincerely +and candidly, whether you have reason to be perfectly certain that this +Lord of Masseran has betaken himself to the court of France."</p> + +<p>"My dear son," replied the priest, "there is nothing upon the earth or +under the earth that we have any reason to be perfectly certain of. And, +now that you put it in my head," he added, pausing thoughtfully for a +moment or two, "now that you put it into my head, there are several +reasons for believing that this Savoyard devil has not gone to Paris. In +the first place, I advised him to go, which is a strong reason for +supposing he would not; he being one of those who think that no man can +be sincere in anything. I was so far sincere, however, that I told him +what is really the only way of saving his neck from the gripe of the +King of France; but I had another object, too, which was to clear the +place of his uncomfortable presence. At the same time, there is a second +reason for believing that he is not gone to the court of France—"</p> + +<p>"There are a thousand," interrupted Bernard de Rohan.</p> + +<p>"Ay, but there is one," rejoined the priest, "which, though not one out +of your thousand, is stronger than all the rest, namely, that the worthy +and truth-loving Lord of Masseran told some of his servants, and those +not the most confidential ones, that he had gone to Paris. Now, as he +was never known to tell truth in his life when a lie would do as well, +this is a second strong reason for believing that he has not gone to +Paris. But then, again, on the other hand, we have to recollect that it +is very possible he might for once tell the truth, in the hope and +expectation that, from his known character, it might be mistaken for a +lie, and deceive his dear friends that way. In short, the matter is +doubtful; for every saying of the Lord of Masseran is, like one of the +learned propositions of the schools on which we dispute so learnedly, +compounded of so much lie, that if there be a grain of truth therein, +the finest head in France will not separate it in a year. But let me +hear, my son, let me hear, what reasons have you to bring forward on the +one side or the other?"</p> + +<p>"None of very great weight, indeed," replied Bernard de Rohan, unable to +divulge the orders, written or verbal, that he bore from the Maréchal de +Brissac. "A report, indeed, has reached us in Italy," he continued, +"that this man is playing a double part between the courts of France and +Austria; and, when I did hear of his departure, I certainly suspected +that the end of his journey might be Milan rather than Paris."</p> + +<p>"I will soon learn that," cried the priest, "I will soon learn that. +What you suspect is anything but improbable. And although—knowing well +the object of your journey—he might give out that he went to Paris to +clear himself before he saw you, yet the whole may be false together, +and he himself be within ten miles of his castle at the present time. +One thing, however, is clear, my son, no time is to be lost; and, in the +mean time, I will ascertain beyond all doubt what road he took."</p> + +<p>"But can you ascertain?" demanded Bernard de Rohan; "is it possible to +learn exactly in such a labyrinth-like country as this?"</p> + +<p>The priest laughed. "Beyond all doubt, my son, beyond all doubt," he +said. "The past we can always ascertain. The future is God's," he added, +more reverently; "the future is God's, and must rest in his dark council +chamber. But do you not know, have you not yourself seen, that though +the peasant and the traveller wander along the sides of these mountains +without beholding anything but the gray stone, and the clear stream, and +the green bush; though he might whistle all the lays of France and Italy +together, and blow all the horns that ever were winded from Naples to +the far North, without rousing anything but a roebuck or an eagle, there +are particular sounds, to be uttered by particular voices, which would +call every bush into life, and change every rock into an armed man? My +good friend, my good friend, the mountain is full of eyes; and the Lord +of Masseran himself, though he knows it is so, does not know to what +extent. There is only one being under the blue eye of heaven that sees +it all, and that is the man whom I met with you the other night."</p> + +<p>"He is certainly a very extraordinary being," replied Bernard de Rohan, +"and I would fain know more of him."</p> + +<p>"In all probability you will know more," replied the priest. "But you +may meet with thousands like him in various parts of the world. There +are three places where you generally find the great rogues +congregate—the court, the court of law, and the refectory. The honest +man has only two places that I know of—the mountain-side and the +highway. There are exceptions, you know; for instance, there is a very +honest priest, who has the care of the poor souls in the parish of Saint +John of Bonvoisin, just across the frontier line in France. Sinner that +I am! what should he be doing here, using his time no better than his +patron, Saint Anthony, used his head? Why should he be here, I say, +preaching to the stones upon this mountain, when his reverend +predecessor preached to fishes and petted a pig? However, the king, a +blessing on his good-humoured head, sent the said priest to Bonvoisin to +keep him out of harm's way; for that boisterous heretic, Clement Marot, +threatened to drive his dagger into him for throwing back some of his +ribald poetry on his own head. Then, again, the grave and serious +admiral felt aggrieved at his preaching, one Saint Anthony's day, upon +the subject of herrings, which he vowed was a satire upon the tax he had +laid on the fishery. However, there the good priest is—or, rather, +there he is not, but ought to be—one of the honestest men in all +France, if you will take his own word for it; a great rogue according to +some men, and a good soul according to others. There may be two or three +like him in other parts of France; and depend upon it, wherever they +are, you will find the poor speak well of them, the widows and the +maidens over forty shake their heads and disparage them when they +compare them with their reverend predecessor; while some very grave men +in the parish look wise and suspect them to be heretics, without being +able to prove it."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan smiled; but, wishing to hear somewhat more of Father +Willand's acquaintance with his friend Corse de Leon, he replied, "I +thought that this same good priest you mention, if not a Savoyard by +birth, had a Savoyard cure, and that the first of his penitents was our +good friend Corse de Leon."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken, my son," replied the ecclesiastic, "you are mistaken +altogether. He has no cure in Savoy, though he may have business there; +and as to Corse de Leon being a penitent, he is very impenitent indeed. +I remember now," he continued, in a thoughtful way, "it is some five or +six years since, when I was travelling through a little village called +Pommieres, not far from the foot of Mount Rosa, that the people called +me to confess a young man who had been crushed under an earth-slip of +the mountain. It was difficult to get him to confess at all; and one +priest from Saint Maurice had left him. But I set about the matter in a +different way; told him I did not think he would die, and had great +hopes of his not being damned if he did. He said he would rather die +than not; but I argued him out of that, and in the end got him to make a +full confession. What he did confess is no business of yours, my son; +but I found him to be a man who had suffered many wrongs, and had +endured bitter griefs; but one who was naturally as kind of heart as he +was bold, fearless, and determined, and as noble and generous in his +purposes as he was sometimes wild, fierce, and intemperate in their +execution. I sat by his bedside for six weeks, for the three first of +which he fluttered between life and death. At the end of that time he +recovered, and his frame, like iron tempered in the fire, seemed to +become but the stronger and more active for what it had undergone. Two +or three years elapsed ere I met him again, and by that time he had +become Corse de Leon. The cause of his quitting his native country, +France, which was just before I first met with him, was that, on his +return from the army, where he had served his king for years, he found +his sister injured, insulted, and disgraced by the intendant of a high +nobleman who was lately dead. He first sought for justice, but could not +obtain it. He then visited the deathbed of the poor girl, and found her +head supported by the daughter of that very high noble, and her lips +moistened by the hand of—<i>Bernard de Rohan</i>. He turned away as soon as +Death had done his work, and, mad for revenge, had sought the house of +the intendant. But the generous spirit of two high youths, Bernard de +Rohan and Henry de Brienne, had been beforehand with him, and had driven +forth with ignominy the oppressor whom he sought. Still, however, the +thing rankled on his mind, and the injustice which he had once suffered +and but too often seen, turned a portion of his blood to bitterness. But +hark! there is mine host knocking at the door to tell us that supper is +ready; and what is all human nature compared with supper?"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + + +<p>The evening was dark and somewhat stormy; and, though the hour was the +same as that in which Bernard de Rohan had met Isabel on the preceding +day, so much less light was there now in the heavens that he could +scarcely see the postern gate, while with a beating heart he watched it +from the small clump of fir-trees of which we have already spoken. +Although a hollow and whistling wind blew sharp and strong among the +mountains, the heavy vapours hung unmoved around the peaks; and though +there was a reddish glare upon the edges of some of the clouds in the +western sky, no light was derived from any lingering rays of the sun. +Everything was gloomy, and dark, and cheerless; and yet the heart of +Bernard de Rohan beat high with love, with joy, with expectation.</p> + +<p>She was to be his, the being whom he had so long, so deeply, so tenderly +loved. Within one short hour she was to be his own, bound to him by that +indissoluble bond, to which he looked forward all the more joyfully, +because it was to be eternal. Whose heart would not beat high at the +fulfilment of the dream of years?</p> + +<p>At length he thought he saw the door move, and, darting forward, he +opened it gently. Isabel was waiting within with the faithful Henriot +and her silent maid; and though she trembled very much as Bernard threw +his arms around her, it was agitation, not fear, which moved her. The +Lord of Masseran was still absent: there was no one likely to interrupt +them; and when her lover strove to sooth and to encourage her, telling +her that his own men were within sound of his horn, and many more +unseen, surrounding them on all sides, she replied by assuring him in a +low voice that she had no apprehension, and was ready to follow him +whithersoever he would. Still, however, he saw that she was agitated; +and, as he led her forth, he poured many a soothing and a tender word +into her ear, drawing her nearer to his heart, and seeming to assure +her, by every action as well as by every word, that the love and the +protection which he was about to vow was as tender, as unchangeable, as +the brightest dream of hope and expectation could picture it.</p> + +<p>"Do you know the chapel down in the valley, my Isabel?" he asked, as he +led her onward down a narrow path that wound along the side of the hill, +as close under the walls of the castle as might be. "We have obtained +the keys, and the priest is waiting."</p> + +<p>"But at this hour," demanded Isabel, eagerly; "can he perform the +service at this hour?"</p> + +<p>"He has procured full authority," replied Bernard, in the same low tone. +"Nothing, dear girl, has been left undone."</p> + +<p>"Hark!" said Isabel, stopping. "Did you not hear some voices above?"</p> + +<p>He paused and listened, but no sound met his ear. "The echo of our own +voices," he answered; "though we speak low, they catch the angles of the +rock, and are given back again to our own ears. But let us hasten +onward, dearest. Once thou art mine, such apprehensions will cease."</p> + +<p>Nothing occurred to interrupt them. Step by step, over the rough and +encumbered path, they pursued their way, till at length, in the lowest +part of the valley, shut in between the small river and the rock on +which the castle stood, appeared an old Gothic chapel. The pinnacles, +the towers, the mouldings of the little building, in all their rich +tracery, were fully visible; for, as the party descended, the chapel lay +exactly between them and a clear part of the stream, so that the +glistening surface of the water formed a background to the dark lines of +the building, though none of the surrounding scenery, except the bold +masses of some adjacent rocks, could be distinguished.</p> + +<p>Thither, by another path, which, being cut through the rock, gave +admission to the castle at once, had Isabel often come to attend the +service on Sundays and on holydays; but all seemed changed as she now +approached it; as much, indeed, in regard to the feelings with which she +revisited it, as to the aspect of the place itself. Through the windows +on the side which they approached, a small ray of light stole forth from +the altar like a pure and holy religion in the midst of ages of +darkness, and, guided onward by that, they were soon at the door of the +chapel. It yielded easily to the hand, and Isabel, half led, half +supported by Bernard de Rohan, found herself approaching that altar +where the last vow of maiden love was to be spoken. On one side of that +altar stood the good priest, Father Willand; but on the other, to the +surprise both of Bernard de Rohan and of Isabel de Brienne, appeared the +ordinary priest of the place, pale, somewhat agitated, and looking from +time to time round the building with a wild and fearful glance.</p> + +<p>"Quick!" cried Father Willand, as the party approached; "you have been +very long, my children. Let us despatch this business speedily, and put +out the lights."</p> + +<p>"I am forced," said the other priest, "by commands that I dare not +disobey, to be here this night; but I call you all to witness that it is +against my will that I am here; and, in case the Lord of Masseran—"</p> + +<p>"Pooh, pooh!" exclaimed Father Willand, "we don't want you to be here at +all, my good friend. All we want is the chapel. I will read the service, +brother. Approach, my children, approach;" and, taking up the book, he +commenced at once, and in the most abridged form that the Church +allowed, the marriage service between Bernard de Rohan and Isabel de +Brienne.</p> + +<p>The latter needed support not a little; but the quiet maid, who was the +only woman that accompanied her, was far too inanimate and statue-like +to afford her any. It was in no ordinary circumstances that poor Isabel +was placed. True, indeed, she was not called upon to give her hand to +one who was nearly a stranger to her, as is but too often the case; +true, that with her all the sweet and delicate feelings which surround +the heart of woman from her youth were not to be rudely plucked away +without preparation, like flowers torn by a harsh and reckless hand, +which, while it takes, injures the plant which bore them; true, that she +was giving herself to one whom she had long known and deeply loved, and +towards whom she had ever looked as to her promised husband; but still +she was becoming his bride suddenly, secretly; she was flying with him +in darkness and in concealment, with the presence of none of those bound +to her by the ties of blood to sanction the new bonds that she was +taking upon her.</p> + +<p>The fear, too, of discovery and pursuit was superadded to all the other +feelings which such circumstances might well produce. She knew that it +might not, and probably would not, be long before her mother—who had +been left evidently as a sort of spy upon her actions and a jailer of +her person, rather than a friend, a protector, and an adviser—might +send to make sure that the harsh commands of the Lord of Masseran were +strictly observed, and that she did not quit the walls of the castle for +a moment during his absence; and she was well aware that the discovery +of her flight would produce instant pursuit. Thus, though generally she +kept her eyes either bent down upon the ground, or raised with a look of +confidence and affection towards Bernard de Rohan, yet from time to time +she cast a hasty glance over her shoulder towards the door of the +chapel; and, as she did so, she remarked that the same fears seemed also +to possess the waiting woman, whose eyes were generally turned in the +same direction.</p> + +<p>No interruption took place, however. The words, the irrevocable words +that bound her and Bernard de Rohan together, were spoken in a low but a +firm voice. The ring was upon her finger. The benediction was +pronounced, and for a moment, for one short moment, she was clasped as a +bride in the arms of him she loved, when there came suddenly a noise as +of something thrown down in the small vestry on the right-hand side of +the altar.</p> + +<p>The priest instantly put out the lights. Bernard de Rohan still held her +close to his heart with his left arm, but, at the same time, laid his +right hand upon his sword. Before he could draw it, however, three men +sprang upon him, two from the vestry itself, and one from a window +behind him, through which several had forced a way.</p> + +<p>All was now darkness and confusion in the chapel; but it was evident +that the number of persons it contained increased every moment. The +young cavalier strove violently to free himself, and, by an exertion of +his great strength, dragged his assailants hither and thither; but still +they clung to him; still, twining round his arms, they prevented him +from grasping either sword or dagger, and from reaching the small +hunting-horn which he carried at his side, and which he knew, could he +but blow it, would bring assistance speedily. Frustrated in his attempt +to lift it to his lips, he raised his voice and shouted loudly; but +fresh assailants poured upon him; a scarf was tied over his mouth; his +hands were pinioned behind, and he found himself irretrievably a +prisoner.</p> + +<p>All was darkness, as I have said; not the least light appeared in the +chapel, and no words were spoken aloud by any one; so that all Bernard +de Rohan could hear was the moving of many feet; a low, murmuring +whisper, as if of consultation or direction; and the sobbing of a bosom +which he knew too well to be that of her he loved best on earth. At one +time a voice was raised somewhat louder than the rest, and he thought he +distinguished the tones of Adrian de Meyrand. The next moment another +voice that he did not know replied, "No, not that way. Keep that door +shut. There is another here which leads us thither more quickly."</p> + +<p>Now completely overpowered—although his heart burned within him, and he +longed for the strength of him who cast down the temple of Gaza to burst +the bonds upon his hands—Bernard de Rohan strove no longer with those +who held him, for he felt that to struggle was utterly vain. +Nevertheless, it was not without rude violence that they dragged him +along through the vestry, and from thence by a small door into the open +air. The scarf was still over his mouth, so that he could not speak, and +could scarcely breathe; but, as there was some slight increase of light, +he looked eagerly around him. Isabel, however, was not to be seen. There +were some dark, scattered groups here and there, but he could +distinguish no one clearly, and was dragged on towards the rock on which +the castle of Masseran stood.</p> + +<p>Into whose power he had now fallen there was no doubt. The character of +the man was well known; and, had Bernard de Rohan thought at that moment +of his own probable fate, he could have anticipated nothing but the +darkest and most atrocious termination of the act which had been just +committed. At that moment, however, he thought alone of Isabel de +Brienne; and he remembered, with grief and agony that will not bear +description, what might be the consequences to her of falling into the +hands of the Lord of Masseran under such circumstances, and beyond the +pale of her native country.</p> + +<p>They dragged him on, however, across the short space which lay between +the rock on which the castle stood and the chapel, to a spot where a +doorway presented itself, hewn in the solid stone, under the arch of +which appeared a soldier with a light. Into his hands those who brought +him thither consigned the young French gentleman, pushing him forward, +and saying, "There, take him, and put him where my lord told you."</p> + +<p>The man with the light replied nothing, but with another, who had been +standing behind him, received the prisoner from the hands of his +comrades, and, with somewhat more gentleness than they had shown, led +him onward. The moment he had taken a step or two forward, a large, +oblong mass of solid rock, which, turning upon a pivot, served the +purpose of a door, and, when shut, blocked up the whole passage that led +under ground to the castle, rolled slowly to behind him. He went on +patiently, for it was clear that no effort of his own could effect +anything towards his deliverance; and when he had gone on some way and +ascended a small flight of steps, he found another armed man standing +with a light at a door plated with iron. Those who followed told him to +go in, and he found himself in a dungeon, of which he was evidently not +the first tenant, for there was a crust of bread covered with long green +mould upon the table, and a broken water-pitcher in one corner of the +room. There was a bed, too, with some straw, at one side of the door, +and a single chair; but besides these necessaries there appeared hanging +from the wall, to which they were attached by a stanchion imbedded in +the solid masonry, a large, heavy ring, and some strong linked fetters. +At these Bernard de Rohan gazed for a moment fiercely, and then turned +his eyes to one of his jailers, who had been removing the mouldy crust +from the table and the broken water-cruise from the corner of the +dungeon.</p> + +<p>The man seemed to understand the look at once. "No!" he said, "no! They +are not for you unless you are violent. But we may let you speak now as +much as you like;" and he untied the scarf from Bernard de Rohan's lips. +The young cavalier drew a deep breath, and then demanded, "What is this? +Why am I here? Take notice, and remember that I am an officer of Henry +the Second, king of France, now actually on his service; that I came +hither from the Maréchal de Brissac, with despatches and messages to the +Lord of Masseran; and that bitter will be the punishment of all those +who injure or detain me."</p> + +<p>The man heard him to the end with the most perfect composure, and then +replied, "We neither know nor care, young gentleman, who or what you +are, or in whose service you are. We obey the commands of our own lord; +and, if you are inclined to give up all resistance and be quiet, we will +untie your arms, and let you have the free use of your limbs and tongue. +There is only one thing necessary for you to tell us. Will you be quiet +and peaceable, or will you not?"</p> + +<p>"I have no choice," replied Bernard de Rohan, in a bitter tone. "As you +have wrongfully and unjustly made me a prisoner, I have no power of +resisting whatsoever you choose to do with me."</p> + +<p>"That is talking sensibly," replied the man; "but, in the first place, +if you please, we will take away all these pleasant little things from +you, as I would rather have them in my hand than my throat." And he +deliberately stripped the prisoner of all his weapons, to keep them, as +he said, with a laugh, for his use at a future time. He then untied his +arms, which were benumbed with the tight straining of the cords with +which they had bound him, and saying, "I will bring you some food," he +moved towards the door where his companions stood.</p> + +<p>"I want no food," replied Bernard de Rohan, gloomily; and in his heart +he asked himself if any human being could find appetite to eat in such +an abode as that.</p> + +<p>"You will come to it, young gentleman, you will come to it," replied the +man; "before you get out, you will come to it well enough. I have seen +many a one who thought of nothing else all the day long but the time for +eating and drinking. Why, it was the only thing they had to do with +life. They might as well have been a stone in the wall if it had not +been for that."</p> + +<p>With this awful sermon upon the imprisonment that awaited him, the +jailer set down the lamp he held in his hand and went away. He returned +in a minute or two, however, with some food, which he placed upon the +table before which the young cavalier was still standing, exactly as the +other had left him. The man gave him a cold look, as if merely to see +how he bore it, and then once more quitted the dungeon, turning the key +in the heavy lock.</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan remained long in that same attitude, and filled with +the same dark and melancholy thoughts. Still, still they pressed upon +his brain, although he sought to banish them and to bear his condition +with his usual equanimity and fortitude. He was not one ever to give way +to despair where any opportunity existed for active exertion; but here +he could do nothing. With his own hand he could not right himself. With +his own voice he could not plead his cause. Talent or genius he might +possess, but all in vain. Vigour and courage were useless. There was but +one thing left—endurance; a species of courage which the very bravest +do not always possess. Bernard de Rohan strove to summon it to his aid. +It came but slowly, however; and, when he thought of Isabel of Brienne, +his own sweet, beautiful bride, snatched from him in the very first +moment that he could call her so, resolution forsook him, and in agony +of heart he cast himself down upon the straw in his dungeon. Was that +his bridal bed?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + + +<p>"Now, then, have I not kept faith with you?" said a voice in the chapel.</p> + +<p>"Yes, in truth you have," replied a second voice; "but I fear we have +been too late. The falling of that accursed horse has lost us the five +minutes—the important five minutes on which all success in life so +often depends."</p> + +<p>"You should not bring fine-pampered Barbary steeds into these wild +mountains, count," replied the other voice; "but a bold man is never too +late. The lover is safe enough for a long time to come, and you can—"</p> + +<p>"Hush! hush!" said the other, as if fearful that their conversation, +though the tone in which they spoke was little louder than a whisper, +should reach the ears of some one near.</p> + +<p>"Oh! she has fainted," said the other. "She sank back upon my arm a +minute or two ago. Here! Forli, bring me a lantern!"</p> + +<p>A lantern was soon brought, and, one side being opened, the light was +suffered to stream full upon the face of Isabel de Brienne. The +beautiful eyes were closed; the long, dark lashes rested on the fair +cheek; the lips themselves were pale; and there was no indication that +the heavy, senseless sleep in which she lay was not the slumber of death +itself, except a slight movement of the fingers, as if the cord that +tied her wrists caused some corporeal pain, which was felt even through +the swoon in which she lay. It was upon her face and form alone that the +full light shone, but the feeble rays which found their way around +dispelled in some degree, though but slightly, the profound darkness +that before had filled the whole building. No one could be seen so as to +be recognised; but in various parts of the chapel appeared groups of +dark figures, all holding aloof from the spot where the unhappy girl +lay, with her head resting upon the upper step of the altar, except two +tall and powerful men, who stood close to her, and another, who knelt +down, holding the lantern to her face.</p> + +<p>"Were it not better to take her away at once?" said one of the voices.</p> + +<p>"There is the ring upon her finger!" said the other, without answering +the question. "Accursed be that brute for thus delaying us! I will shoot +him with my own hand when I get back." He paused a moment, and then +continued: "So, he thinks that there is no charm which can ever get that +ring off again. But I will find one; and, if I mistake not, there is +even now a mighty magician in the Louvre preparing the counterspell. No, +no, my good lord, we will not change our plan. I must appear as the +deliverer, not as the offender. The time is gone by when ladies fell in +love with their ravishers; but where shall it be? Up towards La +Chapelle?"</p> + +<p>"No, no!" replied the other, "that will not do. You might say I was +going to join the emperor. No, better in the valley just above Les +Echelles. There, too, my good friend, we shall be free from those who +stopped us in our last attempt. It will take us till daylight to get +there, and that will be just the time."</p> + +<p>"Hush! she is waking!" said the other. "Quick, close the lantern!" and, +after a few words more, spoken in a still lower tone, there was a +considerable movement in the chapel. Several persons came and went; and +Isabel de Brienne, gradually waking again to a consciousness of her +unhappy situation, heard the stern tones of the Marquis of Masseran, now +speaking in a loud voice, and giving various orders to the people that +surrounded him.</p> + +<p>"Is the litter not come yet?" he said. "Go, some one, and hasten it: I +will take care that no such plots as these are carried on again. Have +you got the priest? I trust you have not let him escape."</p> + +<p>"He is safe enough," replied one of the others; "he is safe enough, and +up at the castle by this time. Here is the litter, my lord."</p> + +<p>"Come, fair madam," said the Lord of Masseran, "if you cannot walk, we +must have you borne forth. But surely a lady sufficiently active to +deceive her own mother, and to find her way hither on such a night as +this, may very well walk to the chapel door."</p> + +<p>"My lord," said Isabel, faintly, "I did not deceive my mother. It was +only one prisoner who concealed her plan of escape from another, +compelled—I trust and believe unwillingly—to act the part of a spy and +a jailer. I call every one to witness," she added, speaking as loud as +her feeble state would permit, "that I protest against your removing me +anywhere but to the court of the King of France, my native sovereign."</p> + +<p>"Who said we were going to take you anywhere but to his court?" rejoined +the Lord of Masseran. "Come, madam, come! Cease arguments and protests; +I am your mother's husband, your guardian for the time, and that +guardianship you shall not break through very easily." Thus saying, he +raised her rudely by the arm, and, half leading, half dragging her, +conveyed her to the door of the chapel, and placed her in a horse-litter +which stood near. Some farther delay took place while the men around +were mounting their horses and arranging the order of their march. When +this was completed, however, the Lord of Masseran put himself at the +head of his troop, and proceeded at a slow pace, taking a road that led +away from the castle.</p> + +<p>Isabel, unable to move, lay in the litter and wept; but she remarked +that, from time to time, single horsemen passed from the rear to the +front, and from the front to the rear, and that manifold were the orders +and directions given to the different persons of whom the party was +composed. No one, however, spoke a word to her; but it was some +consolation to see, as day began to break upon their weary journey +onward, that there was the form of another woman among the troopers on +before. Isabel thought, too, that she had once heard, during the night, +the voice of her maid speaking in a somewhat complaining tone; and the +idea of having her society in the state of captivity she was doomed to +suffer was no slight alleviation.</p> + +<p>It was just at that moment, while the sky was still gray with night, but +the rocks, and trees, and mountains round about growing every instant +more clear and defined, that a good deal of bustle and agitation became +evident in the party of the Marquis of Masseran. A minute or two +afterward he halted on the edge of the hill, and was seen speaking +eagerly with some of his followers. At the same time the sound of a +trumpet was heard, and Isabel thought she could distinguish the +galloping of horse. She then saw a number of the Lord of Masseran's +followers, who were on before her, dismount, and, unslinging their +firearms, fire a shot or two into the valley. A loud volley of musketry +from some distant spot was heard immediately afterward, and the marquis, +apparently in great haste and agitation, ordered the litter to be +brought on with all speed, and driven forward in advance of the party. +The discharges of musketry, however, both from his own attendants and +from those who seemed to be pursuing him, grew more and more frequent +every moment; the smoke drifted down the valley in long white wreaths, +enveloping the litter, and making all the objects more indistinct than +before; while the galloping of horse was now clearly heard, together +with loud voices giving orders. Then came the clashing of swords, and +two or three men on horseback were driven fiercely past the litter, +contending with others hand to hand. After a short scene of tumult and +confusion, the sound of the firing appeared to come from a greater +distance. The two men on horseback who were guarding the litter suddenly +stopped, gazed around them, and galloped away at full speed. The actual +driver slipped down the rocks into the valley below, and seemed to hide +himself among the bushes; while Isabel remained alone, with her hands +tied, and unable to quit the vehicle in which she had been placed.</p> + +<p>A number of voices talking aloud, however, soon met her ear, and a gay +and gallant party, somewhat soiled with dust and smoke, rode up to the +spot were she lay. The leader of the victorious body sprang from his +horse at once; and, while one of his followers caught the reins of the +horses in the litter, the Count de Meyrand approached Isabel's side, +exclaiming, in a tone of much pity and commiseration, "I fear, indeed, +Mademoiselle de Brienne, that you must have suffered terribly. Good +God!" he continued, "the villain has actually tied her hands;" and on +the spot, with his own dagger, he cut the cords, which had left a deep +print on the small, delicate wrists that they had bound. At the same +time, he added many a soothing word, but still with a tone of deference +and respect, which made Isabel feel that deliverance by his hand was +not, as she had at first been inclined to think, more painful than her +former captivity. She spoke a few words of thanks for his assistance and +attention; and, with an eagerness that waited not to be questioned, +Adrian of Meyrand went on to tell her "that he had heard, late on the +preceding night, that some violence had been shown to her, in +consequence of an attempt she had made to escape from the castle of +Masseran, and that her mother's husband was carrying her away far into +Savoy.</p> + +<p>"I have good reason to know," continued the count, "that this man has +secret communications with the enemies of France, and I doubt not that +his purpose was to remove you for ever from the neighbourhood of your +friends and connexions, from your native country, and from the +protection of the king. Although," he added, with a sigh, "I was not +sure that my assistance would be acceptable, yet I could not resist my +inclination to follow and offer you deliverance. I was afraid of +offending you; but these bonds upon your hands, sweet lady, evidently +show that you were carried away against your will, and, therefore, what +I have done has not been in vain."</p> + +<p>His words agreed so well with the suspicions which Isabel de Brienne had +before entertained regarding the views and purposes of the Lord of +Masseran, that they taught her to put more faith in the count than she +might otherwise have been inclined to do. The respectful tone which he +assumed, too, removed, as we have said, many anxieties from her mind, +and she again expressed her thanks for the service he had rendered her, +but still looked bewildered in his face, as if inquiring what was to be +done next.</p> + +<p>The Count de Meyrand skilfully read that look, and, knowing that her +situation placed her entirely in his power for the time, he determined +to leave her the utmost appearance of unrestrained liberty so long as +she could use it to no effect. He said not a word then in regard to +where her steps should be turned, but stood beside the litter with his +cap in his hand, and the feather trailing on the ground, as if waiting +for her commands.</p> + +<p>Isabel was embarrassed: she could have wished to tell him all that had +occurred; she could have wished to say, "I am Bernard de Rohan's wife. +Protect me for the sake of your friend and companion." But there was a +hesitation, a doubt, an apprehension: she had known and she had seen, +with a woman's clear insight into all those things that appertain to +love, how strong and dangerous was the passion which the Count de +Meyrand had conceived for her; and, though timidity had certainly some +share in making her hesitate to acknowledge at once her union with +Bernard de Rohan, yet an apprehension of endangering him, of making his +imprisonment more severe, of putting his very life in peril if she +acknowledged her union with him to his rival, confirmed her resolution +of taking time to think ere she so acted. What she was next to do, +however, was the immediate question; and, after a long and embarrassing +pause, she said, half as a question to herself and half to the count, +"Where can I go to, and what can I do?"</p> + +<p>That question was what Meyrand expected and what he desired. "If I might +advise," he said, in an humble tone, "Mademoiselle de Brienne would at +once proceed to the court of the King of France, and put herself under +the protection of her own sovereign, who is the person best qualified to +guide and guard her. She will there also have the counsel and assistance +of her brother, and will consequently be restored to that situation of +freedom, comfort, and, I trust, peace, of which I must think she was +deprived by her mother's marriage with this unprincipled Savoyard."</p> + +<p>"But there are many things," said Isabel, in a low tone, "but there are +many things, Monsieur de Meyrand—" and, as she spoke, the thought came +across her of leaving the man to whom she had so lately given her hand +in danger, in grief, perhaps in misery, and of putting many hundreds of +miles between them within a few hours after they had pledged themselves +to each other to remain together for life.</p> + +<p>The Count de Meyrand, however, cut her short. "At all events, dear +lady," he said, "it is necessary, very necessary, for us to pass the +French frontier immediately. It is at no great distance; and a few hours +will place us in our native land. Depend upon it, this good Lord of +Masseran will not lose his prize so easily. Every man I have in Savoy is +with me here. He can call hundreds to his aid, and, I fear, might +overwhelm me in spite of all resistance. If, indeed, you wish to remain +in Savoy, I will do my best to protect you; but I fear much the +consequences, and I would advise, nay, persuade you, to take the road to +France at once. You can determine upon your future conduct afterward, +when we are once across the frontier; for, though France holds this +country by armed force, still it is not our own; and, while we keep the +fortresses, we are obliged to leave the open country to its fate. Ha!" +he continued, gazing along the road, down which a party of his +attendants were now leading a horse, bearing the poor, quiet +<i>soubrette</i>, who had followed her mistress through that eventful night. +"Ha! here come some of my people, seemingly with a woman servant. If she +be any one you can depend upon, it may be a great comfort for you to +have her with you."</p> + +<p>"She is my own maid," replied the lady, "and I think, my lord, as you +do, that we had better, in the first instance, make our way into France +direct, if the distance be not great to the frontier."</p> + +<p>"It is but a few hours' ride," replied the count. "But we must lose no +time lest the enemy be upon us."</p> + +<p>Though Isabel was fatigued and exhausted with sorrow, agitation, and +want of rest, she signified her readiness to proceed at once, and the +horses in her litter were turned in the direction of the frontier. Her +maid, too, weary with the long journey on horseback, took her place +beside her mistress in the more easy conveyance; and the Count de +Meyrand, riding close to the vehicle, continued to offer to Isabel de +Brienne every kindly and soothing attention. Nor was his manner marked +by any such signs of admiration or affection as could give her pain; +but, at the same time, it must be confessed, she would have been much +better satisfied to have been left to a communion with her own thoughts. +The mere necessity of travelling any distance under the guidance and +protection of a man whose love she had been forced to reject, and who +had pressed it upon her in a way that she had felt to be insulting, was +painful in the highest degree; and the prospect of having to proceed far +in such circumstances was so grievous, that she resolved at all risks to +avoid it. What plan she was to form for this purpose was a question +which required much thought to answer; but the count took care that she +should have no time either for calm consideration or for discussing her +future prospects with the woman who accompanied her, and who was, in +fact, the only one now with her whom she had known long and well.</p> + +<p>Ere three hours were over, they passed the frontier into France; and +Isabel could not help thinking it strange that, if the Lord of +Masseran's purpose had been to throw himself into the hands either of +the emperor or of Philip of Spain, he should thus have approached within +a few leagues of the French territory. There were other circumstances +also, in all that had passed, which puzzled her; but she had no means of +accounting for any of these matters, and could not lull to sleep the +suspicions which they occasioned.</p> + +<p>At the first village which they came to, it was found necessary to pause +for the purpose of refreshing the horses of the litter; and everything +that could be procured for her comfort and convenience was ordered with +prompt and careful attention by the Count of Meyrand. When he had seen +that a chamber had been prepared for her in the little inn, where she +could repose for an hour or two, and that refreshments of various kinds +were in active preparation, he ordered his horse to be brought round +again, much to her surprise, saying, "It will be better for me now to +leave you, Mademoiselle de Brienne. You will be in security here till my +return; but I must go and scour the country towards Chambery, to make +sure that none of this man's parties have crossed the frontier, and are +watching for you on your onward way."</p> + +<p>Isabel was anxious to put the best interpretation on her companion's +conduct, and it seemed to her that this might merely be a delicate +excuse to leave her for the time. She was willing to imagine that such +an explanation had taken place between the count and Bernard de Rohan as +to deprive the former of all hope of obtaining her hand, and she fancied +that Adrian de Meyrand's conduct in the present instance might be guided +by a wish to show that his purposes were only those of friendship and +honourable courtesy. She would not, however, banish the suspicions to +which woman's instinctive insight into the passion of which she is the +object gave rise, and, for fear of being mistaken, she would not say one +word to prevent his going, although she felt that it was scarcely +courteous of her not to do so, and though she thought that there was an +expression of disappointment on his face at the cold indifference with +which she heard the announcement.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + + +<p>The Count de Meyrand and his horsemen wound slowly away from the door of +the little cabaret, leaving Isabel de Brienne and her maid the only +tenants of the place. Both were extremely tired; and the lady herself +would have desired to lie down to rest at once rather than wait for the +preparation of any kind of food, but that she was also anxious to +converse over her situation with her attendant, and to see if, between +them, they could not devise some plan of future conduct which might +obviate the difficulties which surrounded her. She, therefore, did not +even propose to take rest, and began the conversation at once; but, +taciturn as the woman always was, she was at present more so than ever. +There was not only a sort of sullenness in her manner, which somewhat +displeased Isabel, but she spoke rather in the tone of one who had been +injured than in compassion for the greater sufferings of her mistress. +In answer to all inquiries regarding what had been done in the chapel +after her lady had lost the power of observing what was passing, she +replied merely that she had been as frightened as anybody, and thought +of nobody but herself.</p> + +<p>"You seem to be grieved, Marguerite," said Isabel de Brienne, after this +sort of conduct had proceeded some time, "you seem to be grieved, +Marguerite, that you have aided me in this business, and so brought some +inconveniences upon yourself."</p> + +<p>"No, mademoiselle," she said, shortly, "but I am very tired."</p> + +<p>"Then I think you had better go to bed," replied Isabel; "I shall not +want you for some hours."</p> + +<p>"I will, presently, mademoiselle," replied the maid; "but I am very +hungry."</p> + +<p>Isabel had not the heart to smile, as she might have done on another +occasion; for selfishness is, perhaps, less offensive when it stands out +in its plain simplicity than when it is discovered through a +hypocritical disguise. In fact, like ugliness, it is more ugly when +painted. Almost as the soubrette spoke, however, the good woman of the +house, who was a widow, brought in with her own hands and the hands of a +maid-servant—which were exactly like another pair of her own, for they +enacted nothing without her orders—several dishes for the morning meal, +which were placed with all due reverence before Isabel de Brienne. The +young lady tried to eat; but, as she did so, the thought of many painful +things, of the probable situation of him she loved best, and of the dark +fate that might be hanging over him, came across her mind; and, to use +the homely but expressive words of old John Hall, when describing the +conduct of the first famous Duke of Buckingham between his arrest and +his execution, "The meat would not down."</p> + +<p>The soubrette, however, made up for her mistress's want of appetite, and +ate plentifully of all that was set before her. When she had done, +Isabel bade her retire to rest, and, at the same time, ordered the food +to be taken away. The soubrette at once obeyed, and left the room; and +the kind-hearted hostess remarking that the young lady had taken +nothing, was pressing her at least to drink some wine, for the +excellence of which she vouched, when Isabel de Brienne, whose face was +towards the window, gave a slight start, and replied almost immediately, +"No, my good dame; the first thing that will do me good is a little +quiet reflection. I think," she added, "that I saw just now a good monk, +seemingly a pilgrim by the scallop on his shoulder pass close to the +window, as if to sit down on the bench at the door. Give him that dish +of meat, and tell him a lady sent it who begs a prayer of him, as she +has been in some trouble since last night."</p> + +<p>The worthy dame of the cabaret gladly took up the dish with her own +hands and carried it forth to the wanderer. She then returned to remove +some other things, and Isabel asked, somewhat eagerly, "What did he +say?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! madam, he sent you thanks," replied the hostess, "and took out a +rosary, which he said had hung up at Loretto for many years, and began +immediately to repeat as many paters and aves as would cost a score of +crowns from our parish priest."</p> + +<p>"Did he say nothing else?" asked Isabel, with a somewhat disappointed +look.</p> + +<p>The hostess replied in the negative, and shortly after left the young +lady alone to repose. A deeper shade of melancholy then came over her. +She sat and leaned her head upon her hand, and again and again the +thoughts of her own situation, and that of him she loved, came across +her mind with the painful, fruitless reiteration which is the most +wearying, perhaps, of all the forms of care. To know and feel that +activity and exertion are absolutely necessary; to have hope only just +sufficient to deprive one of the courage of despair; to believe that +there is a possibility of changing our situation, yet not to know how +that change can be by any means effected, how exertion should be +directed, or where hope would guide; such is the state into which, from +time to time, we fall in our passage through life, and stand like men in +one of those thick, impervious mists which are not absolutely darkness, +but which are worse than darkness itself, from not being, like it, +dissolvable by light.</p> + +<p>She thought not, indeed, so much of herself as of another. She thought +of Bernard de Rohan with deep, with strong, with tender affection; and, +after some minutes of vague and wild inquiries as to what she could do +next, she was obliged to turn to chance and fortune to find a footing +for hope to rest upon—no, not to chance and fortune, but to the +beneficence and mercy of God. There, then, her hope fixed, ay, and +seemed to refresh itself. "Could she not," she asked herself, "could she +not be, by some means, instrumental in aiding him she loved, let his +situation be what it might?"</p> + +<p>She had gathered from the struggle that had taken place in the chapel, +from the want of all sounds of clashing steel or other indications of +actual combat, and also from the manner in which she had been herself +dealt with, that her lover had been overpowered and made a prisoner +before he could resist. She did not believe that the Lord of Masseran +would dare to attempt his life. The risk, she thought, would be far too +great for the object to be attained; for, in truth, she knew not what +that object was, and believed it to be less than it really was, and far +different. If, then, he were a captive in the chateau of Masseran, could +she not, she asked herself, find means to procure his deliverance? She +had heard of such things being done—ay, in the very age and times in +which she lived. She had heard of woman's weak hand and persevering +affection executing what man's strength and wisdom had failed to +perform, and hers was a heart which, though gentle, kind, and yielding +in the moment of happiness and security, was conscious of fortitude, and +strength, and courage, when danger and evil assailed those that she +loved.</p> + +<p>"My father's spirit," she said, "the spirit of him who endured the whole +wrath and indignation of a despotic king sooner than abandon the friend +of his youth, will bear me up through any trials, while I have the +object of delivering him I love."</p> + +<p>But how, how? was the question; what means could she take, what +stratagems could she employ, while she was watched by the eyes of Adrian +de Meyrand? Should she confide her purposes to him? Should she appeal to +his courtesy—to his friendship for her lover—to his generosity? Should +she confide in him? Dared she to do so?</p> + +<p>As she asked herself these questions, something darkened the light, as +if passing across the window. She looked up. It was all clear again. The +day was bright and sunshiny, and the rays pouring in from the southwest. +The window was a narrow cottage lattice, in a stone frame, divided into +three partitions. It might have been a branch of the honeysuckle that +climbed around it, which had been blown across by the wind, and caused +the shadow. It might have been but a cloud passing over the sun; and she +bent her head again, and fell once more into thought. The instant after, +the shadow came again, and a voice said, "Are you quite alone?"</p> + +<p>Isabel looked up. The pilgrim, whom she had before seen, was standing +near the window, leaning on his staff, not exactly turned towards her, +but standing with his shoulder towards the open lattice, and his eyes +apparently bent onward towards Savoy. There was something in his air +familiar to her, though she could not tell in what it consisted. It had +struck her before as he passed: even more, perhaps, in that momentary +glance than it did now, when she saw him fully; and she could scarcely +think that it was the pilgrim who spoke, or, if so, that it was to her +that he addressed himself. After a moment, however, he turned his face +again for an instant towards the window, repeating,</p> + +<p>"Are you quite alone?"</p> + +<p>"Quite!" replied Isabel.</p> + +<p>"Then come near the window," said the same voice: "sit in the +window-seat as if you were looking out. I will rest on this +stepping-stone hard by. Let our words be short, and few, and low in +tone; each word well pondered before it is spoken, and your eyes upon +the door of the room from time to time."</p> + +<p>The view which Isabel had of his face had shown her the features of an +old man, somewhat sharp and keen, though they were much hidden under his +hood, which was formed like that of a Capuchin. His beard, which was +very white, was not so long as that of the generality of monks, and she +concluded that it had been only suffered to grow during the period of +his pilgrimage. He was a venerable-looking man, however; and, as it was +evident that he knew something of her situation, she imagined that he +bore her some message, and hastened to follow his directions. The moment +she had taken her place at the window, he sat down on one of the +stepping-stones placed to aid travellers in mounting their horses, and +there, with his face still turned away from her, commenced the +conversation by asking, "Do you not know me?"</p> + +<p>"Your voice and your air," she said, "are familiar to me, but I know +nothing more."</p> + +<p>"I am Father Willand," said the pilgrim, "who baptized you in your +infancy, watched you for the first nine years of your life, till your +father procured me what he thought advancement in Paris, and who united +you last night to the man for whom that father had ever destined you."</p> + +<p>"Good Heaven!" exclaimed Isabel; "I thought you had fallen into the +power of that evil Piedmontese; for I could not conceive it possible, +when we were all so completely surrounded, that you should make your way +out."</p> + +<p>"They caught the other priest instead of me," replied Father Willand, +"and I lay hid behind the altar till they were all dispersed and gone. +Your husband, lady, however, has fallen into the power of one enemy, and +you into the power of another, or, what is worse than an enemy, a +daring, treacherous, unhesitating lover."</p> + +<p>"Call him not so, Father Willand! call him not so!" replied Isabel. +"Love elevates, ennobles, and purifies—"</p> + +<p>"Do not let us discuss love, lady," replied the priest; "I have nothing +to do with it, but yet understand it, perhaps, better than you do. Love +is applied to a thousand different things, and what is its right meaning +were of long argument. All I know is, that you must not remain with this +man an hour longer than you can help."</p> + +<p>"Tell me how I can escape from him," said Isabel, in the same low tone. +"Nothing I desire more! But still let me do him justice: he has this day +behaved well and kindly towards me; perilled his life to save me, and +treated me with respect and delicacy."</p> + +<p>"Perilled his life!" said Father Willand; "guns fired without balls, +lady! swords drawn without bloodshed! a farce that would not have +deceived a child! They knew you to be but a child, or they would not +have tried it! Did you see one man fall or fallen? Did you see one drop +of blood shed for all the powder expended?"</p> + +<p>"But still," said Isabel, though she had certainly neither seen wounds +nor death follow the apparently smart encounter between the Count de +Meyrand and the Lord of Masseran, "but still, he has been gentle and +kind, and professes to leave me entirely to decide upon my own conduct."</p> + +<p>"Try him, try him," said the priest: "use the liberty he professes to +give, and you will find yourself a stricter prisoner than you were when +in the castle of Masseran. Hearken," he continued, "for I must not be +here long. I have followed you from last night till now; taking shorter +paths than you have been led by, it is true; but still, lady, I am +somewhat old and somewhat fat: and, though of the quick tribe, an old +greyhound will not run as long as a young one. I must have some repose; +but to-night I shall be ready to give you aid wherever you may then be. +When it comes, take it at a moment's warning; and, in the mean time, to +make yourself sure of what you are about, exercise this liberty that you +think you have. The Count de Meyrand judges you are about to set out for +Paris to-morrow morning direct; tell him to-night that you have +considered, and determined upon going to Grenoble to meet your brother +Harry. Then see what he says. If he agree thereunto honestly, well and +good; trust him! If, on the contrary, he teach you to feel that his will +must be your law, then trust me, and come with me whithersoever I shall +guide you!"</p> + +<p>Isabel paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Not to Grenoble," she said at +length; "I must not go to Grenoble yet! That is too far; but if any one +would convey intelligence to my brother of where I am, and bid him join +me instantly at Latour, then, indeed, I might succeed—"</p> + +<p>"Succeed in what?" demanded the priest.</p> + +<p>"In freeing him," replied Isabel; and, though the blood rose up in her +cheek as she said it, she added, the more resolutely from a slight smile +that came from the priest's countenance as he turned for an instant +towards her, "in freeing my husband."</p> + +<p>"Oh, fear not, fear not, pretty one!" replied the priest. "We'll get +your bird out of the cage yet, never fear. Indeed, I did not come hither +without taking care that those should have information of where he is, +and how he is, who may best contrive the means for his escape."</p> + +<p>"Still," replied Isabel, "I would rather not be far absent from the spot +until I see him free."</p> + +<p>"If you fancy, child," replied the priest, "that I want you to go to +Grenoble, you must fancy a fox to be a more stupid beast than a sheep. I +only told you to propose it, that you may try this fair Count of +Meyrand. Trust him in nothing, child, till you see a dove drop her eggs +in a hawk's nest, or till the sweet days come back again when the lamb +lies down with the lion! The nature of the wolf does not change, and he +who would insult you one day would not protect you the next! Mark my +words, then, lady, and follow my counsel: lie down and take rest even +now, so that your mind may be quick and prompt, and your limbs free and +active this night. When this count returns, go on with him to Latour, +then tell him your intention is to turn aside to Grenoble. You will see +in a moment whether you may trust him or me. Decide between us at once +when you have so tried him; and, after that, do not lay down your head +upon your pillow till you have seen me and given me a reply."</p> + +<p>"But how shall I see you?" demanded Isabel; "how shall I know where—"</p> + +<p>"I will find the means," replied the priest, interrupting her. "We must +use bad things to good ends, lady; and a brown gown, which, between +Paris and Loretto, covers more sin and wickedness, year after year, than +all the pope's indulgences can well clear away, will carry me into many +a house where no other key could gain me entrance. If you should satisfy +yourself that you are in danger where you are, be prepared to follow me +at a moment's notice. I will at least set you free to go where you will, +and will help you in all good purposes if I can. But, above all, be as +secret, my child, as the grave; utter not a word of this to any one. I +have heard by tradition that a woman once kept a secret four-and-twenty +hours: all I ask of you is to keep one six; and now farewell, for we +must talk together no more."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, he left her; and Isabel continued to gaze from the window, +pondering thoughtfully over all that had been said. It is a terrible +question, the first time that man has to put it to his own heart, Whom +can we trust? But this, alas! was not the first time that Isabel had to +ask herself that painful and bitter thing. With her, as with every one +in advancing into life, the question had been often and sadly repeated, +and the bounds of the reply had become narrow and more narrow. Oh, how +few are there throughout all existence that we can trust—fully, +entirely, confidently trust! The faith of one; the wisdom of another; +the courage of a third; the resolution of a fourth; the activity, the +energy, the zeal of others; all! all! may be doubtful; and, alas! in +looking back through life, the sad and terrible summing up will ever be, +that our confidence has been far too often misplaced than wrongly +withheld.</p> + +<p>The question, however, which Isabel had now to address to herself was +more limited in its nature and character. It was only, Which of these +two men shall I choose to trust? that she had now to ask herself. Those +she had to choose between were limited to two. One of those two she had +already had occasion to doubt and dislike, to fear and to avoid; and she +could not but feel that, over all he had since done to remove the first +evil impression of his conduct, there was a tinge of suspicion which she +could not remove. Of the other, indeed, she knew little; but that little +seemed to prove his attachment to herself and to him whom she loved. +Acts that have made us very happy leave behind them a sort of tender but +imperishable light, which invests all who have had any share in them, +and brings them all out in brightness to the eye of memory from the +twilight gloom of the past, like those salient objects in an evening +landscape upon which we still catch the rays of a sun that has long set +to our own eyes. Not only the willing agents of our happiness, but those +that bore an uninterested part therein—objects animate or inanimate +alike—the spot, the accessories, the very scene itself, all still +retain a portion of that light, and shine to remembrance when other +things are forgotten.</p> + +<p>The priest with whom she had just spoken, however, had not only borne a +willing, but an active part in uniting her to Bernard de Rohan. For that +reason she believed that she might trust him; but, besides this, he had +referred to former years; and though there was a long lapse of time +between, spreading a dimness like a light sea-mist between herself and +the objects of those days, yet there were vague and pleasant +recollections which attached themselves by the fine links of association +to the tones of the old man's voice, to his manner, even to the rough +and somewhat reckless jests which he mingled with his discourse. She +remembered such a person a frequent guest in her father's house; she +remembered that father's often-repeated commendations of his honesty of +purpose, of his sincerity of heart, of his zeal and disinterestedness; +and whether it was that she herself strove to find some excuse for +anything that seemed harsh or irreverent in his manner, or that her +father had really pronounced such words, she thought that she remembered +his having said that Father Willand's abhorrence of hypocrisy had driven +him into an opposite extreme. It is true that she could not have +recalled his features sufficiently to recognise him under any other +circumstances; but, when once told who he was, they seemed to grow more +and more familiar to her, and she determined to trust him, let the +result of the trial which he had suggested for the Count de Meyrand be +what it would.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + + +<p>In one of the sweetest situations that it is possible to conceive—with +green sloping hills, covered with the richest vegetation, rising on the +four sides thereof, and forming, as it were, a beautiful basin, with +four long valleys, each of which bears onward its stream of clear and +sparkling water—is the little town of Bourgoin, which was at that time, +as now, neat, clean, and fresh-looking, with perhaps fewer inhabitants +than it can at present boast, but without any of the manufactories which +have since somewhat diminished its beauty, if they have increased its +wealth.</p> + +<p>It was the custom in those days for the signs to hang out far from the +doors of the inn; and often at each side of the doorway was placed the +name of the landlord, with a long recommendation of the fare and lodging +to be found within, with the price of the various meals which were to be +furnished to a visiter. A bench was there also, and a wide door, giving +entrance to a courtyard.</p> + +<p>Such was not, however, altogether the aspect of the little auberge at +Bourgoin. The village was too small to have a regular inn, or <i>gîte</i>, +and the homely symbol of a bush, suspended from a long pole, thrust +forth horizontally from the front of the building, was the only sign +that it could boast. The landlord and landlady were in their green old +age, and were what they term in France <i>bonasse</i>, though that word has +been applied to a beast who, if one may judge by his look, is of a very +opposite sort of disposition to that which I wish to describe. They +were, in short, good-humoured, honest country-people; and when the +landlady beheld a considerable company of horsemen draw in their bridles +at her door, with a young lady and her maid in a litter in the midst, +her first thought was really not of self-interest, but of what she could +best do to make her fair guest happy and comfortable during the time +that she was about to stay in her dwelling.</p> + +<p>The Count de Meyrand sprang to the side of the litter which contained +Isabel de Brienne; and, as if with an instinctive insight into their +lord's wishes, all his attendants but one, who was holding back the +curtain, and one at the head of the nearest horse, kept aloof while the +lady descended.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur de Meyrand," said Isabel de Brienne, as she quitted the +litter, "I cannot help repeating again that it is much against my +inclination I have come hither. If you did not choose to conduct me, as +I asked you, on the direct road to Grenoble, you might, at least, have +suffered me to remain for the night at Latour."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, dear lady," replied the count, still with an air of perfect +deference, "it would have been dangerous for you to do so. There, but a +few leagues from Chambery, and still less from Beauvoisin, we should +have been entirely at the mercy of the enemy. In regard to Grenoble, I +only besought you to pause till you could hear my reasons. You are too +much fatigued to attend to them now; but, ere you set out to-morrow, you +shall hear them at full."</p> + +<p>"Your politeness, my good lord," replied Isabel de Brienne, with an air +of grief and vexation, "is somewhat compulsory." Thus saying, she +advanced towards the landlady, who had kept back at a sign from one of +the count's attendants, but not so far as to prevent her from noting all +that had passed; the ears of aubergistes and aubergistes' wives +acquiring by long and peculiar practice a facility of hearing everything +and not hearing anything, according to circumstances, which is truly +astonishing.</p> + +<p>The Count de Meyrand bowed low, and, following to the door, he ordered +apartments immediately to be prepared for his fair charge, and then took +leave of her for the night, while a slight smile played upon his lip as +he turned away, and he said in his heart, "If I could trust this man of +Masseran, I would humour the girl, and see what might be done by +softness. She smiled upon me this morning, and made me almost forget her +former insolence. It were as well, however, to bring down this high +temper; and, now the storm is somewhat roused, it may as well go on. No +one can say I do her wrong in using some gentle force to bring her to +Paris to the presence of her lawful king, who will soon judge whether +that ring be to remain upon her finger or not."</p> + +<p>As he thus thought, he pictured to his own imagination the marriage of +fair Isabel de Brienne with Bernard de Rohan annulled by the royal +authority. He fancied his own claim to her hand heard and conceded. He +thought of how her travelling alone with him by slow journeys across the +whole of France might render her own consent a matter more of necessity +than choice; and, with inward satisfaction, he revolved the air of cool +indifference with which he would treat the whole proceedings, as if +there were absolutely nothing on earth worth the attention of so high a +gentleman.</p> + +<p>In the mean while Isabel de Brienne was led to her chamber by the +hostess, who asked many a kindly question, not directly pertinent to the +conversation which she had overheard, but tending to elicit the cause of +that anxiety and distress of mind which she witnessed. Isabel did not +satisfy her, it is true; but she replied so sweetly and gently, that the +good woman went away with her mind made up that she was the most amiable +young lady she had ever seen, and that she was, moreover, very much ill +used by some one. Who that was she could not very well satisfy herself; +but, nevertheless, she looked with no very favourable eye upon the Count +de Meyrand, and made but short replies to the various questions which he +asked her when she came down again.</p> + +<p>After giving various directions to the soubrette, to which that taciturn +person replied less than ever, Isabel seated herself near the window in +melancholy thought. Removed almost by force from Latour, where the good +priest, Father Willand, expected to find her, and having been now fully +convinced, by the conduct of this Count de Meyrand, that she was little +better than a prisoner in his hands, she knew not whence to hope for +succour or deliverance. There was many a dark and painful point in her +situation on which we must not dwell; many a present and many a future +danger to herself, to him she loved, and to their mutual happiness. The +thoughts connected with these points mingled with the chief strain of +her reflections, and rendered them, bitter as they were, still more +bitter and grievous to be borne.</p> + +<p>As she thus sat and gazed out of the window—at some distance from it, +indeed, so that those who were immediately beneath did not see where she +was placed—she suddenly saw a small body of horsemen come over the brow +of the gentle hill opposite, and ride down into the village. Isabel +instinctively drew back; for, though her actual situation was painful in +no slight degree, yet among those horsemen she recognised the colours of +the Lord of Masseran, and it seemed to her that it would be even more +terrible to fall into his power than to remain in that of the Count de +Meyrand. The men came on at a quick rate, some four or five in number, +and were passing by the door of the little auberge without pausing, when +she heard the voice of the Count de Meyrand call to them, and bid them +stop to speak with him. The first questions which he asked were put in a +low voice, but the man whom he addressed spoke louder in reply, and +Isabel heard the latter say distinctly, "Yes, my lord, he is gone on +with all speed to Paris, and we are following him as fast as we can. We +hope to come up with him at Lyons."</p> + +<p>"By my faith, this is somewhat strange," answered the count; and then +again what he said farther was lost to the ear.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes the Count de Meyrand suffered the horsemen to go on; +but he seemed much moved by what he had heard, saying aloud, "This man +will never be honest. We must not let him be long in advance. The horses +must be ready by daybreak to-morrow, Matthew. Pierre, put your foot in +the stirrup, and ride after those men: I saw one of them turn away from +the road just now, by the clump of trees on the top of the hill. If they +put their hand into the wolf's mouth, they must bear a bite."</p> + +<p>Before the daylight failed, the man to whom he last spoke returned, +informing him that, as far as he could discover, the whole party had +gone on towards Lyons; and the count, better satisfied, turned once more +into the inn, and sat himself down to supper in a musing mood. He sent +up, indeed, an humble entreaty that the fair lady whom he had the honour +to escort, as he termed it, would join him at the evening meal; but the +reply returned was, that Mademoiselle de Brienne had retired to rest.</p> + +<p>The count soon after sought his pillow himself; but, accustomed by old +habits to wake at any particular hour assigned, he started up with the +first gleam of daylight, and gave instant orders for preparing to set +out. There were few persons yet up in the inn; but the good landlady was +roused, unwillingly, from her bed, and ordered instantly to wake +Mademoiselle de Brienne, and give her notice that it was time to depart. +The count himself stood at the bottom of the stairs, with his arms +folded upon his chest, in that gloomy frame of mind to which +dissatisfaction with ourselves is even more sure to give birth than +dissatisfaction with the things around us. But he was roused from his +revery by hearing some bustle and anxious exclamations above, the voice +of the hostess raised to the tones of wonder and astonishment, the +tongue of the silent maid heard at a considerably louder pitch than was +at all usual, and other indications so decided of something having gone +wrong as to induce the Count de Meyrand himself to quit his usual calm +deliberation, and spring up the stairs with a quick step and an angry +brow.</p> + +<p>He found the door of the room which had been assigned to Mademoiselle de +Brienne unclosed, the hostess standing a few steps within, the soubrette +near the bedside, the window wide open, with the morning air sighing +quietly through the lattice, and Isabel herself nowhere to be seen.</p> + +<p>"Where is your mistress?" demanded the count, furiously, fixing his eyes +upon the soubrette.</p> + +<p>"I know not, sir," replied the woman.</p> + +<p>"Her bed has never been slept in all night," replied the hostess. "Her +sweet cheek has never rested on that pillow, poor thing. She must have +got out of the window, that is clear; and, if any ill have happened to +her, somebody is to blame for it, I am sure."</p> + +<p>"Silence!" said the count, looking at her sternly. "Did you not +undertake," he continued, turning to the soubrette, "never to lose sight +of her?"</p> + +<p>"I can't sleep with my eyes open," replied the woman.</p> + +<p>"This is that scoundrel Masseran's doing," said the count: "but he shall +find himself deceived, for I will be in Paris as soon as he is. You, +madam, will be good enough to come along with me; so put your dress in +some better array, and lose no time."</p> + +<p>He looked as if he could have said a great deal more, but he restrained +himself; and, though the anger that he felt at heart found relief in a +bitter and sneering smile, unaccompanied by any words, he turned upon +his heel, walked down to the inn door, and remained for a few minutes +looking forth upon the morning as if nothing had happened. In a minute +or two after, seeing one of his men pass, he beckoned to him, spoke a +word or two in his ear, and suffered him to depart. The man returned in +a few minutes, and replied, "They are all ignorant of anything of the +kind, sir. It is evident none of the people of the place know aught +about it."</p> + +<p>"Have you seen the landlord?" demanded the count.</p> + +<p>"No!"</p> + +<p>"Go and make inquiries regarding him."</p> + +<p>The man did as he was bid, and the reply was, "That the landlord had +gone away towards the market of St. Laurent an hour or two before +daybreak, as was always his custom."</p> + +<p>"That is sufficient," said the count, with a sneer. "Quick with the +horses; let us mount and go on."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + + +<p>The great tamers of strong spirits, the quellers of the rebellious +heart, the conquerors of the obdurate, the determined, and the enduring, +Silence and Solitude, were upon Bernard de Rohan. To know nothing of +what is passing without; to have no marker of the steps of time; to see +no sun rise or set; to have not even the moving shadow upon the wall to +tell us that another lapse of the wearisome hours has taken place; to +have nothing, in short, to link us on to human destinies, and to show us +that we are wending on our way with our fellow-beings—nothing but the +dull beatings of the heavy heart, and the grinding succession of bitter +thoughts—this, surely, is not life; and if it be not death, it is +something worse. Where there is no change of anything to mark its +passing, time seems, in truth, to sink back into that ocean from which +it was called at first, Eternity: and, wanting all means of calculating +its flight, Bernard de Rohan did indeed feel each moment to be an age. +Actual pain would have been almost a relief to the despairing vacuity of +that which must have been the second day of his confinement. We can +scarcely doubt that the punishment of Prometheus would have been more +complete, had he been left in the solitude of the frowning heavens, +without the vulture as his companion, though his tormentor.</p> + +<p>No one came near the young cavalier throughout the whole day. The food +which had been left for him was just sufficient for the four-and-twenty +hours: more than sufficient, as it proved, indeed, for he tasted it not; +and when, at the end of that period, it was renewed, so quick was the +passing in and out of him who brought the fresh supply, that the young +cavalier scarcely saw the man's entrance ere the door was again closed, +and he was once more alone.</p> + +<p>It seemed to him several hours after this brief visitation had been +made—and true it is, he had gone through so many ranges of painful +thought, that they might well have furnished occupation and bitterness +for more than one long day—when he heard a sound at the door of the +dungeon, as if some one endeavoured, with an unaccustomed hand, to draw +back the heavy bolts and turn a key in the lock. At the same time, he +heard a low, deep voice murmur, "The fool should have left a lamp!" "Ay, +that is right!" and the next moment the key turned, the lock gave way, +and the door was thrown open.</p> + +<p>The lamp which had been left with Bernard de Rohan burned but dimly, for +it had been long untrimmed, so that at first the young cavalier did not +recognise the person who entered. The next instant, however, his visiter +spoke, and the deep but melodious voice instantly brought to the +prisoner's recollection his wild companion, Corse de Leon.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Monsieur de Rohan," said the brigand, looking around him as he +entered, "I have not forgotten you you see. Out upon that scoundrel! How +dared he put you in such a place as this? He might have given you a +befitting chamber, at all events."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan grasped his hand; and, needing no words to assure him +that the brigand came to set him free, he thanked him again and again, +but mingled, however, his thanks with some marvellings to see him within +the chateau of Masseran.</p> + +<p>The brigand smiled. "There is nothing wonderful in it, Monsieur de +Rohan," he replied. "There is not a door in this castle that does not +open to me as readily as to its lord. All these things are easily +explained. Some of the poor people with whom I have to do think me half +a magician, and it is not worth while to undeceive them, though I seek +not for any such reputation. Truth is marvellous enough, without trying +to make it more wonderful," he continued, in a musing tone; "and all +that I do which seems strange may, nine times out of ten, be explained +by a single word. I believe that it is so, too, with the wonders of +creation. We gaze with surprised and astonished eyes upon thousands of +things that seem miracles to our earthly nature: we are, ourselves, +miracles to ourselves; but I do believe that all the wonders that we +see, the marvel of our very existence, the linking of fates together, +and the long network of events and their causes, from the beginning of +all things to eternity, might all be explained to us by some simple word +which God's good pleasure now withholds; by some short, brief +explanation, which is not fitted for this mass of moving clay to +receive."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, he sat himself quietly down on the edge of the bed, took up +the lamp, trimmed it in a careless manner, and then added abstractedly, +"We must wait a few minutes, Monsieur de Rohan, for the horses are not +come yet, and it is as well to stay here as upon the hillside."</p> + +<p>"But is there no danger of our being stopped?" demanded Bernard de +Rohan.</p> + +<p>Corse de Leon smiled. "It were difficult to stop me," he said; "but +nobody will try to do it. You know the Lord of Masseran is gone to +Paris?"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed," replied the young cavalier; "I know nothing, and I have +heard nothing, since I have been a prisoner in this dreary place. He +has, of course, taken, my Isabel with him?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," replied the brigand. "He set out for Paris with great speed +for several reasons: first, because he knew suspicions are entertained +of him in regard to his dealings with the King of Spain; next, because +he feared that inquiry would be made as to what has become of you, and +he wished to justify himself; and, next, because he did not choose to +trust your goodly friend, the Count of Meyrand, in anything, but +especially—"</p> + +<p>"But where, then, is Isabel?" demanded the young cavalier.</p> + +<p>"Ay, who can say!" rejoined Corse de Leon.</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan started up eagerly. "Let us seek for her at once, +then," he said. "If, as you say, all the doors of this castle open to +you as easily as to their lord, let us seek her through every room in +the place, and take her with us when we go. In Heaven's name leave her +not here!"</p> + +<p>"She is not here, wherever she is," replied the brigand; "and I trust +that by this time she is free; but I will tell you more by-and-by, for I +hear the clock striking one, and we shall have just time to reach the +hillside before the horses arrive. Come, Monsieur de Rohan, come. They +have taken your arms from you, I see. Well, we must find you others."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, he raised the lamp, and led the way towards the door. As he +went, however, the light fell upon the fetters which hung against the +wall, and he paused, gazing upon them and frowning heavily. "Ah, ah, +accursed implements of tyranny!" he muttered, "When, when will the time +come that ye shall be no longer known! God of Heaven! even then it must +be remembered that such things have been. It must be written in books. +It must be told in tradition, that men were found to chain their +fellow-creatures with heavy bars of iron, to make them linger out the +bright space given them for activity and enjoyment in dungeons and in +fetters, till the dull flame was extinguished, and dust returned to +dust. Would to Heaven that there were no such thing as history, to +perpetuate, even unto times when man shall have purified his heart from +the filthy baseness of these days, the memory of such enormous deeds as +fetters like that record! Out upon it! Was it for this that man learned +to dig the ore from the mine, and forge the hard metal in the fire? But +come, come! I am forgetting myself;" and he led the way forth along the +same path by which Bernard de Rohan had been brought from the chapel. +The ponderous doors in the solid rock were all open; but the young +cavalier remarked that Corse de Leon closed them one by one behind him, +till at length they stood in the open air at the foot of the hill.</p> + +<p>It were difficult, nay, impossible, to describe the sensations which the +first breath of that free air produced in Bernard de Rohan. It would +require to have been a captive, and yet full of the spirit of freedom, +to have contemplated long imprisonment, and to be suddenly set free, +even to comprehend what he then felt. His sensations, however, found +vent but in one exclamation. "Thank God!" he said, and followed his +companion, who now, with rapid strides, climbed the opposite side of the +hill, till he reached the spot where he had waited for Bernard de Rohan +on the night when first they met. No horses were there, however, and +Corse de Leon seated himself on a point of the crag, and seemed about to +fall into one of his fits of revery; but his young companion was not +disposed to rest satisfied without some farther information.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, "now! You promised to tell me more—you promised to tell +me more concerning Isabel. With whom is she? In whose hands is she, if +not in those of the Lord of Masseran?"</p> + +<p>"She was," replied Corse de Leon, "she was in the hands of your bright +friend, the Count de Meyrand."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan's hand grasped for the hilt of his sword, but it was +gone; and he only muttered the words "Villain, villain! I thought I +heard that treacherous voice. Who shall one depend upon in this world?"</p> + +<p>"Upon none of those," replied Corse de Leon, "whom men are accustomed to +depend upon. Not upon the gay companion of the winecup, who aids us +pleasantly to spend our wealth or to squander our more precious time: +not upon him, not upon him, young gentleman! Not upon the smooth-spoken +and the plausible adviser, who counsels with us on things where our own +interest and his are combined, and who uses our exertions and our means +to share in our fortune and our success: not upon him, I say, not upon +him! Not upon the sweet flatterer, who either dexterously insinuates how +virtuous, and great, and good and wise we are, or who boldly overloads +us with praise, in the hope of some, at least, being received: not upon +him, I say. Not upon the pander to our vices or our follies, even though +he sell his soul to pamper us with gratification: not upon him. Not upon +the light wanton, who yields us what she should refuse, vowing that it +is love for us which conquers, when love for many another has gone +before: not upon her. Neither on the priest that preaches virtue without +practising it; neither upon the soft hypocrite, nor upon the rude +hypocrite; neither upon the one who assumes sleek sanctity, nor upon the +other who builds the reputation of honesty upon a rough outside. There +are some that will weep with you, and some that will laugh with you; +some that will discourse, and some that will sport with you; but trust +in none but him that you have tried, but him whom you know to be honest +to himself, and who has proved himself honest to you. We were speaking +of the Count de Meyrand. That he has betrayed you and deceived you most +shamefully is his fault, not yours; for, though you believed him honest, +you did not weakly trust him. It were well, when you find him, to nail +his ears to the doorpost; but still you have nothing to reproach +yourself with. I trust, however, that sweet and good lady is by this +time freed from his hands, for one who loves her very well has +undertaken that part of the task."</p> + +<p>"But how," exclaimed Bernard de Rohan, "how came she in his power at +all?"</p> + +<p>Corse de Leon replied briefly, but with sufficient detail to show his +hearer at one glance all that had taken place in regard to Isabel de +Brienne since he had seen her. The deep and bitter indignation that +gathered at the young cavalier's heart as his companion went on, was not +of a nature that wasted itself in many words. "This must be looked to!" +he said; "this must be looked to! And now, my friend, to think of this +dear girl's escape. Can we trust to good Father Willand? Not his faith, +I mean, but his power. He is there, it would seem, alone, unaided, +unsupported, to cope with a man artful, rich, powerful, and numerously +followed."</p> + +<p>"We may trust him, I am sure," replied the other. "This count's art, +like all pitiful art, will help to deceive himself; and in quiet wisdom +he cannot compete with the good priest. Besides, Father Willand is not +so unsupported as you think. It may seem strange to you to hear, but +many of your own men, nay, I believe all, are with him or round about +him."</p> + +<p>"No," replied Bernard de Rohan, "that surprises me not. Most of them +were born within sight of the lands of Brienne—most of them have often +seen and know her well, and there is none who has seen her that would +not willingly sacrifice life to serve her."</p> + +<p>Corse de Leon smiled with somewhat of a melancholy expression. In life, +when we have lost any of those sweet delusions which, like the radiant +colours of the morning sky, clothe, at the dawning of our youth, thin +air itself and unsubstantial vapours, nay, perhaps even the cloudy home +of the future storm, with loveliness and radiance, and the most glowing +hues of Heaven's own golden treasury—when we have lost those sweet +delusions, I say, and any one with whom they still remain speaks of the +reality of things whose emptiness we have proved, how sad, how +profoundly sad, is the contrast suddenly presented to us, of what we +were and what we are! how melancholy is the conviction of the emptiness +of our dream-like life! And yet there is something sweet which mingles +even with our sadness, to see others enjoying and believing what we can +no longer enjoy or believe; something ennobling and elevating that +shares in our melancholy, if the feeling of how unreal are life's best +joys lead us to sigh for those that are more true and lasting.</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan saw not the expression upon the countenance of his +companion, although the night was clear and bright, and sufficient light +remained in the heavens to make even small objects visible; but his eyes +were at that moment fixed upon the castle of Masseran, and more +especially upon one of the outstanding towers to the northeast, +separated from the rest of the building by a space of two or three +hundred yards, and only attached to it by walls and minor +fortifications. In that tower there appeared a great light, at first +streaming through some of the upper loopholes only. After a moment or +two, however, it became brighter and brighter, and poured through all +the windows of the story below. Bernard de Rohan could almost have +imagined that, as he gazed, he saw flames come forth and lick the dark +stonework of the tower; and he was soon confirmed in the belief that it +was so, by the wreaths of pale white smoke which began to ascend into +the dark air, and in a minute or two formed a cloud above the tower, +acquiring a red and ominous hue as the fire below increased.</p> + +<p>"Look there! look there!" he exclaimed, catching Corse de Leon's arm; +but, even as he spoke, the roof of the tower fell in, and a pyramid of +flame shot upward into the sky.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see," replied Corse de Leon; "but here come the horses! and we +must go quick to the spot where I trust we shall find her whom you seek +for. Then, get you across the frontier into France as soon as may be. +Your own men will be sufficient to protect you, and will be glad to see +you; for, notwithstanding that they may, as you think, love your fair +Isabel well, they would not have gone unless we had put a light deceit +upon them, and had left them to think, more than told them it was so, +that you and the lady were together. Those I have with me here dare not +set foot within that land, and the other friends I have are far distant. +That was the reason I did not make her free myself, and punish that +slight traitor as he deserves."</p> + +<p>While he spoke, three or four horsemen appeared, leading two other +horses, and, without taking any farther notice of the conflagration, +Corse de Leon put his foot in the stirrup, and, springing into the +saddle, rode on towards the little inn which we have often before had +occasion to mention.</p> + +<p>The young cavalier followed his example; but, before they had gone a +hundred yards, a loud explosion took place, which shook the rocks +around, and echoed afar through the valley. Their horses started at the +sound, and Bernard and his companion turned their eyes towards the +castle of Masseran. The burning tower had now lost all shape and form, +though part of the walls still remained, with the fire clinging to them +in various places.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what that is?" demanded Corse de Leon; and, ere Bernard de +Rohan could reply, he went on. "It is an act of folly worthy of a king +or a prime minister. There are people in that castle," he said, "who, +knowing of my coming and of your escape, have done the act, the effects +of which you see flaming yonder, in order that the tower may fall in and +crush the dungeon into which they had thrust you, solely to prevent the +Lord of Masseran from discovering how you have escaped. Thus it is with +the world; every one act of weakness, of folly, or of crime, we judge +must be followed by another, to conceal or to justify it. Let men or +ministers place themselves in a dangerous situation by some capital +fault, and then they think expediency requires them to commit another to +obviate the effects of the first, forgetting that each fault is written +down in the two eternal books—the Book of Fate, God's servant, and the +Book of God himself; and that there must be a reckoning, a terrible +reckoning, for the whole amount, in this world and in the next. Let us +ride on."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + + +<p>We must now entirely change the scene. The spot is no longer the +same—the actors different. From the mountains of Savoy, the feudal +castle, the lonely chapel, and the humble inn, let us turn to the +capital of France, her stately palaces, and the gay and glittering hall +where laughed and revelled the bright, the brave, the fair, and the +witty of that splendid epoch which began with Francis the First, and +ended with his immediate successor. The personages, too, have changed +with the scene. The young warrior and his fair bride, the wily Italian +and the supercilious and unprincipled Count de Meyrand, are no longer +before us. Even good Father Willand himself is left behind, and one for +whom we owe no slight affection, Corse de Leon, is, for the time, off +the stage.</p> + +<p>At the door—or rather, we may say, beyond the door, for they were not +actually in the chamber—stood two of the king's guard, with their +halberds resting on their shoulders, embroidered on which appeared the +well-known cognisance of the salamander. They were there merely to +perform the place of a living gate, barring the way against any who +would enter, till such time as the orders of the king threw open the +halls of the Louvre.</p> + +<p>Henry himself, in the prime of his years, graceful, handsome, vigorous, +with a countenance full of fire, but still kindly and good-humoured, +stood at the farther end of the large and nearly vacant reception room, +close to one of the windows, which looked out upon the river Seine, +speaking with a lady, on whose appearance we may well be expected to +pause for a moment. That lady was the celebrated Diana of Poitiers; and, +though the period had by this time passed by when her dazzling beauty +captivated all eyes as well as those of her royal lover, she was +certainly still very handsome. But she had also in her countenance an +expression of power and resolution, of quickness of understanding and of +sparkling vivacity, which at once displayed many of the chief points of +her character. As one stood and looked at her, and saw the play of her +fine features, the rapid changes, the sudden lighting up of the eyes, +the occasional look of intense eagerness, the shade of momentary +meditation, succeeded by the bright smile, the gay laugh, the eyes cast +up to heaven, it was easy to understand what manifold powers of charming +and persuading lay beneath, and to perceive that, whatever might have +been at any time the mere beauty of feature and expression, the chief +loveliness of that lovely countenance must ever have been in its +wonderful variety.</p> + +<p>What was it that moved her now? What was the eager scheme that she was +urging upon the king with such a host of wiles, and charms, and graces, +that it was hardly possible to expect that he should resist? Lo! how she +hangs upon his arm with those two fair hands, and gazes up into his face +with those speaking eyes! Now comes a shade of vexation over her brow. +One hand drops from his arm. Her head is partly turned away: a tear dims +the eye for an instant, then leaves it brighter than before. Now, again, +how merrily she laughs, with the clear, joyous, ringing laugh that we so +seldom hear but from the lips of infancy; and then, again, that look of +bright and eloquent thoughtfulness, while with her extended hand she +argues with the monarch on some mighty theme, and carries high +conviction on her lofty brow! What a wonderful picture does she form +there, even at this very moment, changing by her words the destinies of +Europe, and with smiles, and tears, and laughter, and high thoughts, all +mingled in a wondrous antidote, curing one of those spoiled children of +fortune that we call kings of that venomous and pestilential sickness, +the love of war!</p> + +<p>"Well," said the king, "well, you have triumphed. He shall have the +powers, although it goes against my soul to yield anything to that cold +and haughty Spaniard. What though Fortune have, with all her fickleness, +left at the last a momentary balance in the scale against France, have +we not already retrieved much, and are we not daily retrieving?"</p> + +<p>"True, sire, true," replied Diana of Poitiers, "your armies are +retrieving all that was once lost. But your country, sire, alas! your +country is not. France suffers, France groans even, while Spain is +wounded, and each blow that you strike at the enemy but injures yourself +far more."</p> + +<p>The king was about to reply, but she stopped him eagerly: "I am foolish +to argue with you," she continued; "You have said I have triumphed, you +have said I shall have the powers; and, though he may conquer me in +argument, my Henry's word is never broken. Besides," she added, "have I +not a private suit to be heard and granted also?"</p> + +<p>"Ha!" said the king, after pausing thoughtfully for a moment or two, as +if he were still unconvinced, and unwilling to leave the subject on +which they had just been conversing, "ha! I had forgot! You did mention +some private suit—what, I remember not now, sweet Diana. But yet it is +hard even to hear of peace after defeat. Were we just hot from +victory—were we flushed with triumph, and our enemy reduced to lowly +supplication—then, indeed, then we might hear of terms of peace, and +grant them liberally and willingly. But after this accursed battle of +St. Laurence; after so total, so signal, and terrible a defeat—the +constable himself taken, one half of the nobility of the land wounded or +slain, our soldiers scattered, and our provinces, invaded—it is bitter +indeed to hear the name of peace."</p> + +<p>"As bitter to Henry's heart," replied the lady, "as the sound of war to +many another man. But you have promised, sire. You have promised +Montmorency the full powers, and—you have forgotten my petition."</p> + +<p>"Well, well," said the king, with a sigh, "what is your petition? I know +that you have no private interest in this matter, Diana, You never were +a friend to Montmorency."</p> + +<p>The lady coloured slightly, but replied at once. "I never was his +friend, sire, while haughty fortune smiled upon him, and when he urged +measures harsh and injurious to the country upon your majesty; but I +will own that I am his friend now, when, bearing his adversity with +calmness and with dignity, he would fain persuade your majesty to that +which is most necessary for the safety of your realm. So much, indeed, +am I his friend, your majesty, now, that I have promised to mingle our +families together by the marriage of our sweet Henrietta with his son +Damville. Nay, start not, sire, I told you of this before."</p> + +<p>"Did you?" exclaimed the king, "did you? I recollect it not. Yet now +methinks I do remember something thereof; but I must have been thinking +of other things. How can I consent to such a contract?" continued the +king. "Recollect, dear lady! Is there not a story current of Damville, +like his brother, having bound himself by a secret marriage to an +Italian woman?"</p> + +<p>"There is some tale of the kind, sire," replied the Duchess of +Valentinois, "but I believe without foundation. Even were it so, +however, sire," she continued, eagerly, "what matters it, in truth? The +connexion has long ceased: the pope will annul the marriage instantly; +and, not many months ago, your majesty vowed that you would give an +edict rendering clandestine marriages of no effect, and declaring all +illegal but such as have the full consent of the nearest surviving +relative of both parties, always under your majesty's good pleasure."</p> + +<p>"I recollect," replied the king. "The edict was drawn up, but never +signed, because, as it deeply affected ecclesiastical matters, it was +thought best to have the sanction of our holy father in Rome, and he +made manifold objections. But that edict, even had it issued, could not +affect the past."</p> + +<p>"Your majesty will pardon me," replied the lady. "It had a clause which +rendered it retrospective—at least I am so informed, in a letter which +I received not many hours ago from your faithful subject the good Count +of Meyrand, whom you intrusted to carry the edict to Rome. Had it not +that retrospective sense," she added, eagerly, "the hopes and +expectations of Montmorency and myself would both be very bitterly +disappointed."</p> + +<p>The king's brow grew somewhat cloudy, and she added suddenly, "Not for +myself, sire! I speak not for myself, and with no reference to this +proposed marriage between Henriette de la Mark and the young Damville. +But there is one thing for which I know the good constable has long +sighed. The duke, his eldest son, is more ambitious than your majesty +dreams of."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" said the king, with a slight smile. "What do you mean, fair +lady? Is his ambition dangerous to the state?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay, sire, not so," replied the duchess, with a smile, seeing that +the king, while affecting ignorance, in reality understood what she +meant. "There is a certain lovely lady bearing the same name as my more +humble self, and somewhat near to the affections of your royal +person—near, even as a daughter, some men say. She has now wept for +some time in widowhood; and the young Duke of Montmorency, daringly +priding himself upon the royal blood that flows also in his veins, has +ventured to sigh for this fair lady's hand. But the great impediment is +that fatal contract which he signed with Mademoiselle de Pienne, without +his father's knowledge and consent."</p> + +<p>"I have heard something of this before," said the king, to whom the idea +of uniting his natural daughter to the high race of Montmorency was not +a little grateful. "But does the constable desire this marriage for his +son? If so, why did he not speak long since?"</p> + +<p>"Most humbly, sire, does he desire it," replied the lady, "and has +commissioned me to sue, by every means of persuasion and entreaty, that +your majesty would condescend to grant your consent to the union of his +son with Madame de Farnese. He overrates my means, I know; but he does +calculate that your majesty has some affection still for me, as well as +some regard and esteem for him."</p> + +<p>"Much, much for both, dear lady," replied the king; and then, falling +into a fit of thought, he added, as if speaking to himself, "This +marriage is most unfortunate. But that a rash boy should pay, by a whole +life of celibacy and regret, for the idle folly of signing his name to a +promise extracted from him by an artful woman, is indeed too much. I +would fain see the draught of the edict which was proposed."</p> + +<p>"Here is the chancellor, sire, hard by," replied the lady, pointing to a +group of three or four persons who had followed her into the hall at her +first entrance, but who had remained gathered together in a group at the +other end of the chamber, conversing in a low voice. "Here is the +chancellor, sire: perhaps he may have a copy of the edict with him now."</p> + +<p>"Perchance he may, fair dame," replied the king, laying his hand fondly +upon her shoulder, and smiling, at the same time, at the evident +preparation of the whole affair, "perchance he may. Ho! my good +chancellor, we would fain speak with you here a while."</p> + +<p>At the very first word the king addressed to him, a tall and somewhat +meager man, in the rich and gorgeous habit of one of the princes of the +Roman Church, took a step forward from the rest of the group, and, +bowing low, advanced towards the king. He was dark and pale in +countenance, and his features were of an Italian cast, while a look of +shrewd, calm cunning, which that cast is so well calculated to assume, +was the predominant expression.</p> + +<p>"His majesty, my Lord Cardinal," said the duchess, addressing the famous +John Bertrandi, and having marked well the shrewd smile upon the king's +countenance, "his majesty, my Lord Cardinal, would fain see a copy of +that edict referring to clandestine marriages, which was drawn up some +months ago, but never signed. I besought you this morning to seek for +it: has it been found?"</p> + +<p>"I have it here, madam," replied the chancellor at once, opening a +portfolio which he carried under his arm; "may I present it to your +majesty:" and, selecting from among a number of papers which the +portfolio contained the one that was required at the moment, he put it +into the hands of Henry the Second.</p> + +<p>The king took and read it attentively. "And is this, my lord," he +demanded, "in all due form, and ready for promulgation?"</p> + +<p>"It is, sire," replied the chancellor: "wanting nothing but your +majesty's signature and the seal."</p> + +<p>Henry paused thoughtfully. "And is it," he asked, "and is it altogether, +and in all parts, in strict accordance with the laws of France?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Que veut le roi, veut le loi</i>," replied the chancellor. "What the king +wills, the law wills;" and, with that tyrannical axiom, the attempted +enforcement of which, in France, has caused more bloodshed than perhaps +any other line that ever was written, John Bertrandi satisfied his +conscience in sanctioning that which was contrary to the true spirit of +all law.</p> + +<p>Henry himself, however, was not satisfied! Although it is so easy for +base counsellors—on whom be eternal shame—to find specious arguments +in favour of those things which monarchs wish, however evil; and +although it certainly was the case that the King of France himself, +eagerly desiring the marriage of his natural daughter with the heir of +Montmorency, had potent tempters in his own bosom to second the words of +Bertrandi, still he was not satisfied that the retrospective act +proposed to him was right. He looked first at the cardinal; next turned +his eyes for a moment to the countenance of Diana of Poitiers; smiled +doubtfully, and then said, "Put it up, my Lord Cardinal, put it up! I +will take one day more to consider of it. Nay, look not grieved, fair +dame, it shall have favourable consideration. Forget not that both our +wishes run in the same way. Now let us speak of other things, Diana. Do +you come to our gay hall to-night? Nay, you must not be absent," he +added, seeing that the duchess looked down somewhat mournfully; +"Henriette de la Mark must dance a gaillarde with her lover Damville."</p> + +<p>"But can her lover ever be her husband?" demanded Diana, gazing +reproachfully in the king's face; and then adding, with consummate skill +in the management of that monarch, "It matters not! Since I have +accomplished what I sought for the good of the country, even if I have +failed in what I sought for my own pleasure, it matters not! My good +Lord Chancellor, the king has been pleased to promise that powers shall +be immediately granted to the noble constable of Montmorency to treat +with Spain and with the empire for a good and perfect peace. Let it be +said that this has been obtained by the solicitations of one who could +obtain nothing for herself! but still, not to her honour let it be, but +to the king's, inasmuch as he overcame in his own heart the love of +glory and the thirst of victory for the sake of his good land of France. +Will you, sire," she continued, "will you not order the chancellor at +once to expedite the powers for the good constable? It cannot be done +too rapidly."</p> + +<p>"Why so?" demanded Henry. "There is, surely, no such haste."</p> + +<p>"Because, sire," replied the lady, "there are two great and fortunate +men, whose first wish must be to change your majesty's counsels in this +regard. The conqueror of Calais may well have a say in matters of peace +and war. The Cardinal of Lorraine is still at your majesty's ear. The +purpose may evaporate and pass away, war be continued gloriously and +long, and France be ruined."</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay," replied the king, looking at the duchess reproachfully, "I +am not so vacillating in my purposes. The Guises have not the influence +you think."</p> + +<p>"They have had the influence, sire," replied Diana, boldly, "they have +had the influence to delay, for months, that very edict, drawn up by the +orders of the king himself, for the security and protection of the +French people, and to guard against the evils under which half of the +noble families of France now smart, from alliances contracted in wild +youth with races of inferior blood."</p> + +<p>"The Guises had nothing to do with that—have nothing to do with it," +replied the king, impatiently. "What interest have they in this matter? +I remember, it is true, the Cardinal of Lorraine did oppose the edict, +but upon motives of general justice. What interest had he, or his +brother either, for or against the edict?"</p> + +<p>"To keep down the house of Montmorency," replied Diana of Poitiers. "To +blast the expectations of the young duke, in the hopes which he, perhaps +presumptuously, had entertained."</p> + +<p>"I believe that it is so, indeed, sire," said the chancellor. "There is +much reason to think that the opposition of our holy father the pope was +raised up by the instigations of the Cardinal of Lorraine. You are well +aware, sire, that a messenger from the cardinal outstripped even the +Count de Meyrand, and that the latter gentleman found the holy father +already prepared to oppose the edict."</p> + +<p>"I will think of the matter," said the king again. "If the opposition be +but factious, we will give it no head; but I would fain, before I +promulgate the edict, have some cause before me to justify it, in which +my own personal wishes, and yours, fair lady, are not interested. I must +have time for thought upon it. Now let the doors be opened, for we have +kept our court too long without."</p> + +<p>The doors of the anteroom were accordingly thrown open. The guards, with +their halberds, drew back, and in a few minutes the great hall of +reception was crowded with the nobles of France. While the king, with +affable condescension, received his subjects, spoke with many of them, +and smiled upon all, and the buzz of voices, steps, and rustling +garments raised a sort of whispering murmur through the halls, the +chancellor was seen speaking, in a low voice, to the Duchess of +Valentinois; and some one who was passing heard the latter say, "Not +only that, my lord, but the abbey of St. Martin also, if we succeed. The +revenues are twelve thousand crowns a year."</p> + +<p>The chancellor bowed low, with an humble and obsequious smile, and the +duchess turned to speak to some one else.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + + +<p>Before a mirror of the most beautiful polish that it was possible to +conceive, and a toilet table covered with all the most costly essences +and perfumes which could be procured from the four quarters of the +globe, appeared the Duchess of Valentinois, seated in a large armchair +of rich velvet, towards nine o'clock in the evening of the day whereof +we have just been speaking. She was clothed in a dressing-gown of silver +tissue, and all the stately and somewhat cumbrous apparel of the day had +been put off, while, with three maids all busy about her person, she was +dressing for the assembly of the court, which was to be held that +evening. Nor did she appear in the least the less lovely that she was +without any of the additions that dress and ornament sometimes make to +beauty; nor, strange to say, did she appear less young when thus +unassisted by art, than even when dressed in the most sumptuous mode of +the court. The eye of the woman who was combing her long, rich, +luxuriant brown hair, detected not one silver thread marking the passing +of years among the rest. The teeth were as white and pearly as those of +youth. The brow and neck without a furrow ploughed by the hand of time.</p> + +<p>On a footstool at the lady's feet sat a very lovely girl, bearing in her +countenance a slight resemblance to herself. She was already dressed +with great splendour, and sat looking up in the face of the duchess, as +if admiring and wondering at the beauty which seemed to set even the +great destroyer of all things at defiance.</p> + +<p>The duchess, upon her part, looked down at her with pleasure and +affection, calling her "Ma belle Henriette," and, parting the hair +farther away from her brows with her own hands, she said, "You must look +your loveliest to-night, Henrietta; for you must do much in the way of +captivation."</p> + +<p>The girl smiled playfully, and replied, "No, no! that were bad policy; I +would rather not look so lovely now as afterward. His love, at present, +I can count upon. But I must try and be more captivating hereafter, to +keep it when he is my husband."</p> + +<p>The duchess smiled in turn: "Ah, my Henrietta," she said, "the love of +man is not so difficult to keep, if woman do but use the same efforts to +retain it that she does to win it. We often make men fickle who would be +faithful, thinking that to captivate them once is all-sufficient. How +many do I daily see, Henrietta, who take all imaginable pains to win +affection; who are gay and cheerful, courteous and kind, willing to +please and ready to be pleased; robing themselves, as it were, in small +graces and sweet allurements; and who, when the object is attained, cast +away, at once, every effort; are dull and cheerless, exacting, sullen, +and harsh, and then wonder that the won heart is lost more quickly than +it was gained! When children catch flies, my Henrietta, they put not +down a drop of honey, which the insects can eat and fly away. There must +be enough honey to keep them, my child."</p> + +<p>"It is a lesson that I will remember," replied Henriette de la Mark. +"But, as I have always thought, dear lady, that it is happiness we seek, +and not admiration, I trust I should never have forgotten that the same +means must be taken to keep affection that are used to win it. But hark! +there are manifold sounds below. Surely the guests are not arriving +already?"</p> + +<p>The question was soon answered; for, a moment after, one of the female +attendants was called to the door, and returned to tell the duchess that +two gentleman had arrived in haste, and anxiously desired to speak with +her. She turned towards the woman with somewhat of angry scorn in her +countenance, asking if they had been told that she was at her toilet. +The woman replied in the affirmative; but that they had, nevertheless, +urged the important nature of their business.</p> + +<p>"Bid them send me their names," replied the duchess, after thinking for +a moment. "Meyrand's letter declared that he would soon be here. Perhaps +he has come himself."</p> + +<p>It was as she thought. But the other name which the servant brought back +was that of the Lord of Masseran.</p> + +<p>"Bid them wait but a moment," replied the duchess. "I will not be long. +Tie up my hair, Laurette, in a large knot. Any how, any how; but be +quick."</p> + +<p>Then, drawing the dressing-gown more closely round her, and preceded by +one of her women bearing a light, she descended to a saloon below, +making a sign to Henriette de la Mark to remain till she returned.</p> + +<p>Standing near a table in the room which Diana of Poitiers now entered, +appeared the tall and graceful Count de Meyrand, and the dark-looking +and subtle Marquis of Masseran. Each, to a certain degree, retained his +usual aspect, though neither could entirely banish from his countenance +the varied emotions which were busy at his heart. Graceful and dignified +in demeanour Meyrand still was. Indeed, it was so much a matter of habit +with him to act with ease and calm self-possession, that they could +never be entirely lost; but still his usual air of indifference was +gone, and there was an eager impatience in his eye which marked that +strong and busy passions were agitating him within. On the other hand, +the look of calm subtlety, which was the reigning expression of the +countenance of the Lord of Masseran, but which we have already seen, on +more than one occasion, give way to fiercer passions, had now yielded to +an expression of restless disquietude, while his eye turned sharp and +flashing at every sound.</p> + +<p>On the appearance of Madame de Valentinois, the count advanced with +signs of low and humble homage, and raised the hand which she proffered +him respectfully to his lips. The Lord of Masseran came a step behind, +and then a momentary pause took place. It was broken, however, by the +duchess herself, who was much too impatient to learn the cause of their +sudden arrival to wait till it was explained in the course of +conversation.</p> + +<p>"Welcome to Paris, Monsieur de Meyrand!" she said. "But say, what is it +that brings you here at this hour? It must be business of importance, I +am sure."</p> + +<p>"Nothing but business of immediate moment, madam, would have induced me +thus to trespass upon you," replied the count; "but I have myself +arrived within this half hour in the capital. I came, I confess, with +some wrongful suspicions of my good friend the Marquis of Masseran here, +in regard to the lady of whom I wrote to you. I fancied that he had been +instrumental in preventing me from executing my purpose of bringing her +with all speed to the presence of the king. His manner, and his solemn +assurances, however, madam, both show me that I was mistaken; and it +would appear—"</p> + +<p>"But stay, stay, Monsieur de Meyrand," said the duchess; "first tell me +exactly what is the case, and how you and Monsieur de Masseran are +interested in the business. I remember well Mademoiselle de Brienne, of +whom you speak, and a sweet girl she was, well fitted to set any +cavalier's heart on fire, so that I can easily conceive that yours was +touched, Monsieur de Meyrand, with that same flame of love. But, if all +friends agree, the lady surely can never have such great objections to +yourself as not to be won by less forcible means than those you seem to +have been using. I will speak with her: I will see what can be done. Let +me thank you, my good lord, for the tidings you sent me concerning the +edict: I have turned them this day to good advantage. But still the king +is not easily won in this matter."</p> + +<p>"By Heaven! madam," replied Meyrand, vehemently, "he must be won, and +that right soon, or all will go wrong with us. But hear me, dearest +lady! hear me out. You have a faint and very wrong idea of all this +affair. We are all deeply concerned; and, pardon me for saying it, but +your own wishes and excellent views are closely and intimately connected +with our objects and purposes. You ask for a frank and candid +explanation: you shall have it in a very few words. The Lord of Masseran +and I are equally, but somewhat differently, interested in this matter. +I am moved in some degree, as you are pleased to say, by love. Yes!" he +added, "it is so! by love the most strong and passionate; and yet, I +know not why or how, but something very like hatred mingles with it: +deep and bitter indignation at having been made the sport of a mere +girl, and determination to force her to be mine or die—"</p> + +<p>He paused and bit his lip, and a shade of dissatisfaction came over the +brow of Diana of Poitiers as she listened; but the next moment the count +went on, with a slight sneer.</p> + +<p>"The Lord of Masseran is affected otherwise. He, madam, as you know, +married the mother of this fair dame; and to this bright Isabel descend, +at that mother's death, certain fair estates close to the frontier line +of France and Savoy."</p> + +<p>"I understand, I understand," replied Diana of Poitiers, interrupting +him. "The Count of Meyrand may be easy in his dealings about those +estates, if he but obtain the hand of the fair lady. Is it not so, my +good lords?"</p> + +<p>"Something of the kind, madam," replied the count.</p> + +<p>"A treaty of partition! ha?" continued the lady. "Now for the obstacle, +and for the manner in which this affects me?"</p> + +<p>"The obstacles are somewhat difficult to be encountered, madam," joined +in the Lord of Masseran, "especially as this noble count is somewhat of +a suspicious nature. But, to make a long tale short, madam, there was, +it seems, in years long past, a promise made by the old Count of Brienne +that his daughter should marry a certain young nobleman named Bernard de +Rohan. That promise was foolishly committed to writing; but I hold that +it was of course conditional, and requires to be confirmed by the +consent of the mother. The young gentleman we speak of has been long +warring with the armies in Italy; but, called thence, as I believe, by +the young lady herself, who has a marvellous love for her own way, he +appeared in Savoy some short time ago. I absented myself for a few days +from my own home, making a pretence of coming to Paris, in order to see +what would take place. But, although I had good information of all that +passed, what between the young lady's wit and the youth's impudence, +they had very nearly won the race. Myself and Monsieur de Meyrand, here, +surprised them in the very celebration of a clandestine marriage."</p> + +<p>"Were they married? Were they married?" demanded the duchess, eagerly; +for, whatever be her own views, woman's heart is rarely without interest +in a tale of love.</p> + +<p>"There was a ring upon the young lady's finger," replied the Marquis of +Masseran, while the Count de Meyrand stood silent and bit his lip; +"farther we know not."</p> + +<p>"What did you do next?" exclaimed the lady, with an impatient look, +which neither of her two companions thought very favourable to their +cause.</p> + +<p>"Why," replied the Lord of Masseran, "we separated them, of course; and +I carried the young lady some way through the mountains, arranging, in +fact, a little sort of drama or mystery with my good friend the count, +wherein he played the part of deliverer, rescued the young lady from my +hands, and, according to our agreement, was bringing her here to Paris, +in the trust that you, from wise motives which the count knew you to +possess, would support the right of the mother to dispose of her +daughter's hand to whom she pleased."</p> + +<p>The marquis, in delivering this account, had paused and hesitated +several times, and Diana of Poitiers had remarked that he avoided +carefully all mention of the after-fate of Bernard de Rohan.</p> + +<p>"What has become," she asked at length, interrupting him, and fixing her +eye full upon his face, "what has become of the young Baron de Rohan, +sir?"</p> + +<p>The Lord of Masseran turned his look to the Count de Meyrand without +answering; but the duchess went on sternly and impetuously, "I insist +upon knowing, sir, what was done in regard to Monsieur de Rohan? You +surprised him at the very altar, you say! You have gone too far not to +say more!"</p> + +<p>"Why, of course, madam, it was necessary to separate them," replied the +Count de Meyrand. "Monsieur de Rohan was carried into the chateau of my +friend, Monsieur de Masseran, who kindly and liberally undertakes to +provide the young gentleman with board and lodging for a certain time. +No evil was done him, though the very act that he was performing might +well have justified more violence than was used."</p> + +<p>"In short, sir," said the duchess, addressing the Lord of Masseran +sternly, "in short, sir, you have imprisoned one of the king's very best +officers and most faithful subjects—the right hand of the Maréchal de +Brissac—and one who has rendered himself famous in the wars of Italy, +and without whose assistance the difficulties which surround the marshal +in Piedmont would be terribly augmented."</p> + +<p>"Madam," replied the Count de Meyrand, with a slight sneer, which no +prudence could repress, at the reputed tenderness of the duchess towards +Brissac, "had we known that Monsieur de Rohan was so absolutely +necessary to your graceful friend, we would have sent him under a strong +escort across the mountains, for time was all that we wanted."</p> + +<p>"He must speedily be set at liberty," answered the duchess; "for I cannot +have it said that anything in which I take a share is connected with a +transaction so detrimental to the service of the king; and now, Monsieur +de Meyrand, show me in what way you think I am interested in this +affair."</p> + +<p>"Why, madam, you must clearly see—" said the count.</p> + +<p>"It matters not what I clearly see, my lord," exclaimed the duchess, +interrupting him. "Give me your own showing of the matter."</p> + +<p>"Why thus it is," replied the count. "Since I had the honour of bearing +to Rome the copy of an edict proposed by the king, you have three or +four times done me the great favour of writing to me, and consulting +with me in regard to the opposition made to that edict, and to the best +means of inducing the king to promulgate it. Now, madam, one clause in +that edict annuls all existing marriages which have been contracted +without the consent of parents or guardians; and you did me the honour +to reveal to me that such a clause was absolutely necessary to the +proposed marriage of the Duke of Montmorency and the king's daughter, +Madame de Farnese, and to that between the constable's second son, the +Duc Damville, and your fair relation, Mademoiselle de la Mark. That +clause is equally necessary to me and to Monsieur de Masseran, in order +that, the clandestine marriage of Mademoiselle de Brienne with the Baron +de Rohan being annulled, she may, with her mother's consent, give her +hand to me. Thus, madam, what I pray and beseech you to do is, as the +views of both tend absolutely to the same point, to give us the most +zealous aid and co-operation in persuading the king to promulgate this +edict at once."</p> + +<p>Diana of Poitiers paused for a moment in intense thought ere she +answered, while the two noblemen stood gazing upon her in silence. "I +will do so," she replied at length; "but, in the first place, Monsieur +de Rohan must be set at liberty."</p> + +<p>"Madam, that is impossible," exclaimed the Lord of Masseran. "Were he +set at liberty, all our plans and prospects are at an end together. His +very first act would be to seek this rash, imprudent girl, who thinks +herself fully justified by her father's written consent; and, depend +upon it, he would soon find means of discovering her, though we cannot."</p> + +<p>"Why, in the name of Heaven, where is she?" demanded the duchess. "Why, +you said but now, Monsieur de Masseran, that you left her in the count's +hands, that he might bring her to Paris."</p> + +<p>"Ay, but she escaped from his hands, madam," replied the Lord of +Masseran. "Whether the count is quite innocent of all knowledge of +female wiles, or whether he had been somewhat harsh and importunate with +her, I cannot tell; but at the end of the very first day's journey she +contrived to escape from him, how or when no one can discover. I had +come on to Paris in order to justify the detention of Bernard de Rohan, +and, in fact, to give an account of my whole conduct to the king; but +the good count, thinking that I must have some hand in the lady's +flight, followed me hither as rapidly as possible, without taking +sufficient time to inquire after her on the spot."</p> + +<p>The duchess heard him to an end, but her mind had run on far before her; +and she was gazing thoughtfully upon the ground, with various feelings +contending more strongly in her bosom than her two companions imagined. +Bernard de Rohan, she well knew, was the dearest friend of one who +certainly possessed her highest esteem—perhaps her highest +affection—the Maréchal de Brissac, and she loved not to take any share +in injuring or grieving him. We must say even more. Not being naturally +of a harsh or unkindly disposition, she was anything but disposed to +abet such machinations against two people who loved each other; and she +could not but feel at her heart that there existed between the Lord of +Masseran and the Count de Meyrand a dark and shameless conspiracy for +frustrating the intentions of the Count de Brienne, and thwarting the +affections of his daughter. All these considerations opposed themselves +to the very thought of aiding them in their purposes; but yet her own +views, her own dearest objects, were to be obtained by the same means +which tended to promote theirs; and she clearly saw that, if without +exposing, as she might do, the real views and purposes of the parties +concerned, she were to bring this case before the king as a new instance +of a marriage in opposition to the parent's consent, she would instantly +obtain the promulgation of the edict which was so necessary to her own +designs. She paused, then, and thought, considering, in the first place, +the opposing motives which led her this way and that, and afterward +asking herself whether she could not combine the two; whether it was not +possible to use the fact of this clandestine marriage in order to obtain +the king's signature to the edict, without ultimately separating the +hands of Bernard de Rohan and Isabel de Brienne. A few moments convinced +her that she could do so. The edict would, of course, annul their +marriage; but then she thought, "the great services of this young +cavalier, the friendship of Brissac, the support of Montmorency, the +father's written consent, will surely be enough to obtain for him +afterward the hand of this fair girl from the king himself; at least, my +management shall render these things sufficient;" and, trusting that it +would be so, she resolved upon that evil policy of employing bad means +in the hope of directing them to good results; a policy which has +seldom, if ever, yet failed to end in misery and ruin.</p> + +<p>"What says the mother?" demanded the duchess, after this long pause.</p> + +<p>"Oh, she says the same as myself, of course," replied the Lord of +Masseran.</p> + +<p>"Of course!" replied the lady, her lip curling slightly as she spoke. "I +had forgotten! Is she in Paris?"</p> + +<p>"She is here," replied the Lord of Masseran; "and not only ready, but +eager, to declare that this marriage has been against her will."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" said the duchess: "and the brother? There is a youth I have +seen about the court, a gay, thoughtless, high-spirited lad, who gained +some renown under this very Baron de Rohan: what says he to the +marriage?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! he is too young and thoughtless," replied the Count de Meyrand. "He +has been asked nothing on the subject, though there is reason to fear, +we must not deny, that he would give his voice in favour of his old +companion."</p> + +<p>"But one thing is clear and certain," added the Lord of Masseran. "His +consent was not asked to the marriage; therefore it was without his +approbation and against the mother's."</p> + +<p>"So far so good," replied Diana of Poitiers. "Now mark me, gentlemen, +you must leave the whole conduct of this business to me; and if you +pledge yourselves to act exactly as I am about to dictate, I, on my +part, will pledge myself to obtain the promulgation of an edict +annulling this marriage within twelve hours from this time."</p> + +<p>A glad smile lighted up the face of the Count de Meyrand. But the Lord +of Masseran asked in a low, sweet tone, "Pray what are the conditions, +madam?"</p> + +<p>"These," replied the duchess at once. "And remember, gentlemen, that I +am one who will not be trifled with; so that, if you fail to perform +exactly your part, you shall find your whole schemes fall about your +heads, and perhaps crush you in the ruins thereof. The very moment that +I have obtained that edict, Monsieur de Masseran, without the loss of a +single hour, you shall depart from Paris, and set this young cavalier, +Bernard de Rohan, at liberty. Do not interrupt me! This is +indispensable. You can leave the marchioness behind. In the next place, +to guard against the evil consequences which I see you anticipate, you +shall engage the young Count of Brienne to set off instantly in search +of his sister, in order to bring her at once to Paris to the presence of +the king. You, Monsieur de Meyrand, shall not make the slightest attempt +to seek for her yourself, nor shall you at present quit Paris. But this +young gentleman, instructed that this edict annuls the clandestine +marriage, and is upon the very point of being signed, shall go as the +guardian of his sister's honour, and, at the same time, as the friend of +Monsieur de Rohan, to bring her safely back to the protection of her +mother and of his majesty. His own sense of what is right, under such +circumstances, will be a sufficient guarantee that he do not suffer his +sister to remain an hour with a man who is not her husband; and now—"</p> + +<p>"But, madam," said the Count de Meyrand, "if you will pardon me for thus +rudely interrupting you, I would point out one slight obstacle to the +arrangement you propose, which renders it absolutely impossible, and may +make it expedient that I should go myself. Henry of Brienne is at +Grenoble, I understand."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, sir," said the duchess, imperiously, "some one else must +go. <i>You</i> must not! Were the other the lowest valet in my household, he +is more fit than you are to bring this lady to Paris."</p> + +<p>The Lord of Masseran had remained silent till the duchess's answer was +made, but he then joined in the conversation again, in one of his +sweetest tones, saying, "The count is mistaken, dear madam; Henry of +Brienne is in Paris. He thought of going to Grenoble, but did not go. He +was with his sweet mother not an hour ago."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, hear me!" said the duchess. "Do you undertake, Monsieur de +Meyrand, not to set out upon this search at all?" The count laid his +hand upon his heart, bowed with mock humility, and replied, "Who ever +yet resisted your commands? Nay, I am not jesting! I give you my +promise, madam."</p> + +<p>"Then, my Lord of Masseran," continued the duchess, "all I have to say +is this: Wait here for five minutes till I write a note above. Give it +to Henry of Brienne: afford him every direction and hint for finding his +sister, and bringing her at once to Paris. As soon as he has set out, +come with your fair lady to the palace to offer your complaint regarding +this clandestine marriage to his majesty. I will take care that you +shall have an immediate hearing, and I pledge myself that the edict +shall be signed this night. To-morrow morning, at daybreak, you depart +alone, posthaste, to liberate Bernard de Rohan. Is it not so?" and she +fixed her keen eye firm upon him.</p> + +<p>"It is, madam," replied the Lord of Masseran, better pleased at the +arrangement than she knew.</p> + +<p>"As for you, Meyrand," she added, with a smile, "take my advice: come +also to the court, appear totally unconcerned in this whole business, +and press your suit upon the king, if you so please, when the edict is +signed."</p> + +<p>"A woman's policy is always the best, madam," replied the count, "and in +this instance I shall follow it to the letter."</p> + +<p>"I must now leave you," said the lady, "for I am already late. Wait here +for the note, and then let us to our several parts with all speed."</p> + +<p>In less than the time that she had specified, a servant brought in an +open note, which contained these words:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Diana, duchess of Valentinois, to Henry, count of Brienne, +greeting:</p> + +<p>"These are to inform you that your sister Isabel de Brienne has +contracted a clandestine marriage with Bernard, baron de Rohan; +and that, inasmuch as this night an edict will be signed +annulling all marriages of the sort, it is absolutely necessary +to your own honour and to that of your sister that you should +immediately proceed to find and bring her to Paris till the +farther pleasure of the king be known. The Baron de Rohan +having been arrested the moment that the marriage was +celebrated, will be set at liberty immediately; but it is +requisite that you should prevent all communication between him +and your sister until it be authorized by his majesty."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The Lord of Masseran made no scruple of reading the contents and showing +them to the Count de Meyrand, who marked them with a smile, and adding, +"We must make quite sure of the youth, however," led the way from the +apartments of the duchess.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + + +<p>In the great hall of the Louvre, the princes, the nobles, and the ladies +of France—all who had a right, from their rank and station, to be +present at the great festivals of the court, and all who could by any +means obtain an invitation from the king himself—were assembled before +the hour of ten at night, on that occasion to which reference has been +made in the last chapter. The monarch himself had not yet appeared; but +one of those services which Henry principally required from his great +officers was to entertain with affability and kindness those whom the +etiquette of his court obliged him to keep waiting; and, on the night of +which we speak, the famous Marquis de Vieilleville in fact, though not +ostensibly, represented the king, and, aided by a number of other +gentlemen and officers commissioned so to do, received the court, and +endeavoured to make the time of expectation ere the sovereign's arrival +pass lightly.</p> + +<p>Everything had been done that could be done to give splendour to the +apartments, and many of those ornaments and decorations which we +attribute to the taste of modern days, but which, in fact, have but come +back again in the constant revolutions of fashion, were displayed on +this occasion to render the scene of royal festivity bright and +exciting. Some of the rooms were blazing with light, and covered with +every sort of ornament of gold and silver: rich draperies were hanging +from the walls, banners waving over head, garlands festooning the +cornices, and music floating on the air. In others, again, by some +means, a green hue had been given to the light, and it had been shaded +and kept down to a kind of soft twilight by flowers and green branches; +while a cool wind found its way in through open casements and +well-watered plants, and a stillness reigned upon the air only broken by +the far-off sound of the music, the murmur of distant voices, and the +sighing of the night air through the gardens.</p> + +<p>We shall pause no more, however, on the decorations of that gay scene, +inasmuch as so to do would be merely to give description without an +object; for we have no reason to assign why the reader should bear any +part thereof in mind. It is principally with the great hall we have to +do, but more especially still with the people that were in it. Shortly +after ten the king himself, with his queen, the famous Catharine de +Medicis, several of his children—among whom were three destined to be +kings, and two queens of mighty nations—entered the hall, and took his +place towards the head of the room.</p> + +<p>It was very customary in those times to give the balls of the court in +open day; and, though it certainly would strike us as somewhat strange +to see dancing take place except by candlelight—unless, indeed, it were +upon the greensward, where the smiling look of Nature herself seems to +justify and to call for that exuberant life which she first taught in +the world's young days—yet then as gay and as merry dances as any that +we now behold, took place in the painted saloons, under the somewhat too +bright and searching eye of the sun. The whole of that morning, however, +had been spent in either business or in festivities of another kind, and +the present was one of those more rare occasions selected, as we have +said, for a ball at night.</p> + +<p>Shortly after the king entered the room, he spoke a few words to the +young Count Duilly, then celebrated for his skill and grace in the +dance, and he, making his way to the spot where the musicians were +placed, communicated to them the orders of the king. What was called the +<i>Danse Royale</i> was then played; and Henry himself, graceful and +distinguished in every sport and exercise, opened the ball in person. +Shortly after, another dance was played; and all who were, or believed +themselves to be, the most skilful of the court, hastened to figure in +the galliarde. Upon the execution of that marvellous performance, the +galliarde, however, perhaps the less we say the better; for it is to be +acknowledged that the various names of the wonderful steps danced—the +desportes, capriolles, turns and returns, fleurettes, close and +dispersed gamberottes, &c.—convey as little definite idea of what was +really done to our own mind as they would to the minds of most of our +readers. It was all very successful, no doubt; and there is much reason +to believe, from the account which Monsieur de Vieilleville himself +wrote on the occasion, that many a young lady's heart was pierced +through and through by the graces of particular cavaliers.</p> + +<p>The king himself took part in the dance, as we have said, but it was a +dignified part; and, having set the example, he retired from it as +speedily as possible. When he had done he looked round, as if searching +for some face he had missed, and his eye soon fell upon the fair Duchess +of Valentinois, whom he had not beheld before; for, to say the truth, +she had just entered, taking advantage of the general movement round the +galliarde to come in without attracting much attention. Her countenance +bore an expression of such unusual gravity, that Henry himself, ere he +resumed the place in the saloon where he usually stood on such +occasions, paused and spoke to her; first playfully scolding Henrietta +de la Mark for not having joined the dancers, and then asking the +duchess, in a lower tone, if anything had gone amiss.</p> + +<p>Diana smiled, and replied, "No, sire, nothing exactly amiss; but I have +had visiters this evening at an unusual hour, and they have been +pressing me to obtain for them an audience of your majesty on this very +night, regarding matters of much importance."</p> + +<p>"Nay, why should that cloud your fair brow?" said the king, in the same +low tone: "I will give them audience ere I go to bed, if my so doing +will please you, bright queen of night. If they can put it off, however, +let them come to-morrow, and your name shall open the doors of the +cabinet to them, be they the lowliest in the land."</p> + +<p>"That they are not, sire," replied Diana. "They are high enough to +present themselves here this night even unbidden; but I fear that +to-morrow will not do; for, upon your majesty's reply to them, a courier +must depart at once for the South. Still let me say, ere they come +forward—for I see them entering now—that it is not their requested +audience that makes me somewhat grave; no, nor their pressing for it at +an unseasonable hour, but it is that they come to urge upon your majesty +the selfsame suit I urged this morning; and, as I then saw that for the +first time I was doubted and suspected of art, in trying to lead rather +than to argue with my king, it may now be thought I have some share in +their coming, when, Heaven is my witness, it could take no one more by +surprise than myself."</p> + +<p>"Nay, but what is all this?" demanded the king, in a soothing tone; and +then, suddenly turning to Mademoiselle de la Mark, he exclaimed, "Lo! +Henriette—belle Henriette! here comes Damville, all love and ambergris, +to claim your fair hand—for the dance. Go with him, lady! Now, Diana, +what is this that agitates you thus? Faith, I suspect you not, and never +have suspected. I did but smile this morning at your eagerness, though +natural enough, and to see how we kings find soft leading, and all +things prepared to bring us to that which wise or fair counsellors judge +is for our good; it is the vice of power, my Diana, it is the vice of +power! As men by years reach childhood again, so kings by power fall +into weakness. But that matters not; your wishes were for the best; and, +if there was a little management in the matter, there could be but small +offence."</p> + +<p>"With one so placable as you are, sire," rejoined the duchess, gazing in +his face with a smile; "but the matter is this: There came to me this +night the Lord of Masseran—one of your majesty's faithful adherents in +Savoy—beseeching that I would obtain for him and for his fair lady +immediate audience of your majesty on matters that brook no delay. He, +judging wrongly that I had some little credit or influence with you, +besought me to urge upon your majesty the immediate promulgation of the +edict, so long delayed and often spoken of, concerning clandestine +marriages, and besought me to tell you the cause of his application. All +this I refused to do, telling him that on the subject of the edict I had +already done my best; that I had pleaded for myself; that I had even +pleaded in behalf of what I thought your majesty's best interest; and +that, having done so, I could not say a word for any other being on the +earth. Thus, sire, all I have to request is, that you would hear him and +judge for yourself."</p> + +<p>The expression of Henry's face while she was speaking puzzled not a +little Diana of Poitiers. The king's brow became for a time dark and +heavy, and his eye flashed angrily. But then, again, when he saw that +the lady seemed somewhat alarmed by his look, he smiled upon her kindly, +as if to mark that any feelings of dissatisfaction which he experienced +were not directed towards herself. His real feelings were explained, +however, immediately, by his replying in the same low tone, "He is, I +believe, a most consummate villain, this Lord of Masseran; and there is +good reason to suppose he has been playing false both to France and +Savoy. He has the very look of a handsome wolf," the king continued, +turning his frowning brow to the part of the room towards which the eyes +of Diana of Poitiers directed his in search of the Lord of Masseran: "I +will speak with him presently, however. Let him be taken into the white +chamber, next to that in which they serve the confectionery. Send +likewise for Bertrandi. He is in my closet. I will join you there in a +quarter of an hour. A guard, too, may be wanted before we have done. So, +as you pass, bid Beaujolais keep near the door."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, the king turned away and occupied himself with other +matters, speaking to the most distinguished persons present, and +laughing gayly with many a fair dame as he passed along. The duchess +remained for a short time where he had left her, not only for the +purpose of preventing her long conversation with the king from +connecting itself in the suspicions of those around with whatever might +take place regarding the Lord of Masseran, but also because she had some +doubts as to whether she should herself be present or not at the +interview between the Savoyard nobleman and the king. Henry had +certainly implied that she was to be present. But she had doubts and +fears in regard to meddling too much with the matter; and, if she could +have trusted to the Lord of Masseran, she certainly would have stayed +away.</p> + +<p>Trust him, however, she could not; for there was something in his whole +aspect, demeanour, and tone which at once inspired suspicion. Indeed, he +did not try to avoid it; for, looking upon skill, cunning, and acuteness +as the greatest of human qualities, he made no pretence whatever to +either frankness or sincerity. She still hesitated, however, when the +Count de Meyrand, dressed in the most splendid, and, at the same time, +the most tasteful habit that perhaps the whole court that night +displayed, passed by her as he retired from the dance. He bowed as he +did so with lowly reverence, but, at the same time, with a meaning +glance of the eye towards the spot where the Lord of Masseran stood.</p> + +<p>"I must watch what takes place myself," thought the duchess: "I will +take no part in the matter unless there be great need; but I will watch +all that is said and done."</p> + +<p>She accordingly drew herself gradually back from the circle, and, +choosing a moment when some change in the dance produced a momentary +confusion, she retired to the room which the king had named.</p> + +<p>A minute or two after, an attendant passed through the ballroom and +whispered a few words to the Lord of Masseran, who instantly followed +the servant, accompanied by a lady who had continued to stand beside him +since his entrance, but to whom he had not addressed more than one or +two words during the evening. She was a tall and handsome woman, and in +her countenance there was certainly some degree of resemblance to the +fair Isabel de Brienne. The features, however, though still fine, were +all larger and harsher except the eyes, which were small and of a +different colour from those of Isabel, being of a keen, eager black. She +was pale, and looked somewhat out of health; and, mingling with an air +of sternness which sat upon her brow, there was an expression of anxiety +and grief which made her countenance a painful one to look upon. It +seemed to bear written upon it, in very legible lines, the history of a +haughty spirit broken.</p> + +<p>When the Lord of Masseran and his wife reached the chamber to which the +royal servant conducted them, the Duchess of Valentinois was there +alone. She received them affably, but with somewhat of regal state, and +begged the marchioness to seat herself, acting in all things as if the +palace were her own.</p> + +<p>"Is that note for me, Monsieur de Masseran?" she inquired, after having +announced that the king would join them in a few minutes, and asked some +questions of common courtesy regarding the health of the Marchioness of +Masseran. "Is that note which you hold in your hand for me?"</p> + +<p>"It is, madam," replied the other. "It is from Monsieur de Brienne, whom +we left booted and spurred, with his horses at the door, ready to mount +at a moment's notice."</p> + +<p>The duchess took the note and read. "Madame," it ran, "I am ready +promptly to set out for the frontier of Savoy as soon as my errand is +clearly ascertained. My dear sister Isabel is either the wife of my +earliest friend Bernard de Rohan, to whom she was promised by my father, +and to whom it is my first wish she should be united, or the marriage +which I understand has taken place is null. If she be his wife, Heaven +forbid that I should make even an attempt to separate them, which I am +sure De Rohan would instantly and justly resist. If, however, the king, +by an edict which I must not dare to impugn, has thought fit, as I am +told, to declare such marriages void, whether past or future, it, of +course, becomes my duty immediately to seek my sister, and to keep her +with me till such time as we obtain his majesty's permission for her +final union to my friend. But I must first be positively certified that +such an edict has been signed. If I can show this to De Rohan, I know +him too well to doubt his conduct; but, if I cannot show it to him, I +must not and dare not attempt measures towards him which he would +infallibly resist. At the same time, madam, let me tell you, with all +respect, that I find I have been trifled with; that false information +regarding De Rohan's movements has been given me, in order to prevent my +joining him at Grenoble, as he wished; and that I am certain my sister +Isabel has been driven to give her hand thus suddenly to her promised +husband by circumstances of which we are not aware."</p> + +<p>"More good sense than I gave him credit for," said the duchess, musing.</p> + +<p>"May I be permitted, madam, to see the note which has excited your +admiration?" inquired the Lord of Masseran, with a quiet sneer.</p> + +<p>"Nay, Monsieur de Masseran," answered the duchess, "it was not written +for the public benefit."</p> + +<p>"And, doubtless," continued the Lord of Masseran, "as the young +gentleman was not in the sweetest of moods, it was not written for my +private benefit either?"</p> + +<p>"He never mentions your name, my lord," replied the duchess, "nor speaks +of you in any way. But here comes my good lord the chancellor: the king +will not be long."</p> + +<p>Her prediction was verified, for Bertrandi had scarcely entered the room +when Henry himself appeared, accompanied by his son, afterward Francis +the Second, and followed by a page, who placed himself at the door to +prevent any one from entering without permission. Every one present drew +back as the king appeared, and bowed low; while, with a frowning brow, +he crossed the cabinet, and seated himself at a small table. The dauphin +then took a place upon his father's right hand, and the chancellor, +after a deprecatory bow to the Duchess of Valentinois, advanced to the +king's left.</p> + +<p>"I grieve, madam," said Henry, addressing the Marchioness de Masseran, +in a courteous tone, "I grieve to see you apparently so much altered in +health. It would seem that the air of Savoy—that pure, fine air—suits +not your constitution. We must keep you more with us in Paris."</p> + +<p>"I have been suffering some anxiety and grief, sire," replied the lady, +while the eyes of the Lord of Masseran were bent keenly and fiercely +upon her.</p> + +<p>"Most sorry am I to hear it," replied the king. "We believed that, in +providing for you so noble and high a husband as the Lord of Masseran, +we should have moved grief and anxiety from you altogether. We trust +that we have not been deceived in this noble lord," continued the king, +gazing sternly upon the Savoyard.</p> + +<p>"Your majesty has, I believe, been mistaken in what this dear and +excellent lady said," replied the Lord of Masseran; "I discovered no +charge against myself in her words. Was there any, dear lady?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," replied the lady, quickly, and, it seemed, fearfully; "none, +none; I spoke alone of the grief and anxiety which, as you know, I came +hither to lay before his majesty, if we were fortunate enough to find +audience."</p> + +<p>"Then I will beg you, madam," said the king, "to lay it before me at +once, and fully, confiding in me entirely as you would in a brother, and +remembering that, whoever be the offender, you have in the king one who +can protect as well as punish, and who will protect wherever he sees +wrong offered or evil suffered."</p> + +<p>The lady gave a momentary glance at her husband, as if of timid inquiry. +It was like a child saying its lesson, and looking up for a word of +direction or encouragement. "I thank your majesty much," she said, "for +your gracious promise, and I come to you with full confidence, feeling +that you will grant me redress for what I consider a great injury. My +complaint is this: that a gentleman of high rank and station, connected +with some of the highest families of this realm, a distinguished soldier +also, and one who has hitherto borne a high character—has, while +pretending to carry on the war in Piedmont, and commanding certain +bodies of your majesty's troops—has, I say, clandestinely carried away +my daughter, Isabel de Brienne, during the temporary absence of my +husband, Monsieur de Masseran. He had even induced a priest to perform +the marriage ceremony between him and her, when the fortunate return of +my husband at the very moment enabled him to seize them at the altar. I +say, sire, that this is my complaint, and for this I beg redress; the +more so, indeed, inasmuch as this very gentleman who has so acted was +well aware that your majesty had expressed yourself strongly against +such clandestine marriages, and had even proposed an edict declaring +them void and of no effect."</p> + +<p>"Pray who is this gentleman?" demanded the king, in a stern tone. "By +your showing, madam, he has acted bitterly wrong, and, unless some +extenuations appear, he shall be most severely punished; nor shall that +punishment be the less on account of his rank, distinction, and +services, as he could neither plead ignorance, inexperience, nor folly."</p> + +<p>The features of the Lord of Masseran relaxed into a dark smile; and the +lady replied, "His name, sire, was once dear and familiar to me and +mine—it is Bernard, baron de Rohan."</p> + +<p>"What! our good friend and daring captain?" exclaimed the king; "this is +indeed too bad. Monsieur de Rohan ought to have known that he had +nothing to do but to apply to ourself, not only at once to obtain our +royal permission, but also to induce us to use every argument with such +of the lady's family as might be opposed to his wishes."</p> + +<p>"Sire," replied the lady, taking advantage of a pause in the king's +answer, "this gentleman has acted ill in all respects. He neither put +confidence in your majesty nor in me; he never even applied for my +consent; he has never seen me since he crossed the Alps."</p> + +<p>"This is altogether amiss," replied the king. "You say they are +separated," he continued, in a musing tone; "where is the young lady? I +would fain see and speak with her."</p> + +<p>Such communication would not have suited the purposes of the Lord of +Masseran, even had it been possible to produce Isabel of Brienne; and +now, having seen his wife make her formal complaint exactly as he could +have wished, he took the rest of the business out of her hands, fearful +lest she might make some rash admission. "Alas! sire," he said, "it is +impossible that your majesty's commands can be complied with; not only +is the lady not with us in Paris, but she has escaped from the hands of +those into whose charge I gave her. Where she is, and what doing, we +know not; and it is under these circumstances that we come to your +majesty, not so much for redress as for aid."</p> + +<p>"This complicates the matter, indeed," said Henry; "have you, then, +reason to suppose that she has rejoined him?"</p> + +<p>"No, sire," replied the Lord of Masseran, "not so at all; for I ventured +to take a step which—although, of course, on my own territories I am +free and independent, as lord and sovereign—I would not have done, had +I not been aware that your majesty is as just as you are powerful. I +found one of your majesty's subjects upon my territories committing an +unlawful act, for which I would have punished any of my own vassals with +death, and I ventured—"</p> + +<p>"You did not kill him?" exclaimed the king, starting.</p> + +<p>"Oh no, sire, no," replied the Savoyard; "I never dreamed of such a +thing. I ventured to arrest and imprison him, in order to prevent the +evil being carried farther; and, having done so, I set out immediately +to cast myself at your majesty's feet, to inform you exactly how I had +acted, to beg your forgiveness for having imprisoned one of your +subjects, and to place the decision of his fate entirely in the hands of +your majesty."</p> + +<p>"You have acted well and wisely," replied the king; "and, such being the +case, you shall not only have aid, but redress. The edict which renders +such clandestine marriages null and void shall be signed this instant, +and shall be registered by our Parliament to-morrow. My lord the +cardinal, we trust that you come as well prepared this afternoon as you +were this morning. Have you the edict with you now?"</p> + +<p>"I have not, your majesty," replied Bertrandi; "but it is in your +majesty's cabinet."</p> + +<p>"Let it be brought instantly," said the king. "This new example of the +fault which it is destined to amend, not only fully justifies the act, +but also peremptorily requires the clause which remedies the evil just +committed. Nor shall this be the only punishment which shall fall upon +the head of him who has so far neglected what was due to himself and to +us. He must be summoned to Paris immediately; and, in the mean time, +means must also be taken to bring this refractory girl also to our +court. Be quick, good cardinal, for we must not be long absent from the +hall."</p> + +<p>The dauphin listened to his father in silence, and with an air of deep +reverence. "I trust, sire," he said, at length, as soon as he perceived +that the king, having given his orders, was turning once more to address +the Marquis of Masseran, "I trust that there are some circumstances in +the case of Monsieur de Rohan which may mitigate your majesty's anger +when known. It seems to me that Monsieur de Masseran has not been +completely explicit on one or two subjects; may I presume to ask him a +few questions in your majesty's presence?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, Francis," replied the king. "It gives me always pleasure to +see you exercise your judgment and powers of mind on subjects of +importance."</p> + +<p>The young prince bowed with an ingenuous blush, while the Marquis of +Masseran turned a shade paler than usual, and bent down his eyes upon +the ground before the boy of sixteen, who now advanced a step to +question him. "You tell us, Monsieur le Marquis," he said, "that the +Baron de Rohan did not even apply for the consent of your fair lady: may +I ask if he ever presented himself at your palace, or chateau, or +whatever it may be, for the purpose of so doing?"</p> + +<p>"It was the marchioness who said so, not I," replied the Lord of +Masseran: "I was absent at the time."</p> + +<p>"At what time?" demanded the prince, sharply; and, seeing the Savoyard +hesitate, he added, "Did or did not Monsieur de Rohan come to your +gates? and was he or was he not refused admission?"</p> + +<p>"I believe he did," said the Marquis of Masseran, "I believe he did +present himself at the gates when I was absent."</p> + +<p>"He himself believed that you were not absent," replied the youth, with +royal sternness, while the king felt no little surprise to find that his +son had so intimate a knowledge of the facts in question; and the +Marquis of Masseran, still more surprised, concealed his astonishment +less skilfully than the monarch. "On my word, your highness," he said, +"on my life, I was absent."</p> + +<p>"But yet, Monsieur de Masseran," continued the prince, "you were +perfectly well aware that Monsieur de Rohan presented himself at your +gates, demanding to speak with yourself, in the first place, and then, +in your absence, with this fair lady your wife, who certainly was within +the chateau; and yet you suffered her—unconsciously upon her part, no +doubt—to lead his majesty to believe that her approbation had not been +sought and was utterly contemned. This was not right, sir, for it was +misleading the king."</p> + +<p>"You speak well and wisely, Francis," said his father: "go on, my dear +boy, go on, if you have anything more to ask."</p> + +<p>"One or two things more, may it please your majesty," he replied, with a +look of pride in his father's approbation, but keeping his eyes still +fixed upon the Lord of Masseran. "My next question is: as the young lady +has a brother, who is her next male relation, did he or did he not give +his consent to the marriage of Monsieur de Rohan with his sister?"</p> + +<p>"In regard to that, sir, I can say nothing," replied the Lord of +Masseran. "Monsieur de Brienne, your highness, is not under my charge +and guidance. All I have to say is, that his mother most positively +refused her consent."</p> + +<p>"It might be more straightforward, sir," replied the prince, "to say +whether, to your knowledge, Monsieur de Brienne consented or not."</p> + +<p>"I think, monseigneur," said Diana of Poitiers, taking a step forward, +"I think I may reply fully to your question, which Monsieur de Masseran +seems not inclined to do. Henry de Brienne always has approved of his +sister's marriage to Bernard de Rohan, and Monsieur and Madame de +Masseran are amply aware of the fact."</p> + +<p>"I do not deny it," said Madame de Masseran, sharply. "He is a +headstrong and unruly boy."</p> + +<p>"One question more," said the prince, "and I have done. Is not Bernard +de Rohan justified, to a certain degree, in that which he has done, by a +written promise of Mademoiselle de Brienne's hand, given to him by her +own father shortly before the good count's death? I ask you, madam, is +not this the case?"</p> + +<p>"It is the case that he has such a promise," replied Madame de Masseran, +in the same shrewish tone, "but not that he is justified by it, your +highness. That promise never had either my consent or approbation; +though the late Monsieur de Brienne, who was his guardian and brought +him up, was foolishly fond of this boy, and thought that he was +everything great and noble, I had always different views for my +daughter, and never either directly or indirectly countenanced that +promise."</p> + +<p>"I am in no way interested in this business, sire," said the dauphin, +turning towards his father, "not being personally acquainted in the +slightest degree with Monsieur de Rohan; but I thought it necessary to +ask these few questions in your majesty's presence, in consequence of +information I had received in a somewhat circuitous manner. Having thus +far elicited the truth, which was at first evidently concealed from you, +your majesty's wisdom must decide the rest—"</p> + +<p>"This is the edict, sire," said the Cardinal Bertrandi, re-entering the +chamber; "it wants but your royal signature and the great seal. May I +offer you the pen?" and, thus saying, he spread the parchment on the +table before the king.</p> + +<p>Henry took the pen, paused for a moment, and then turned his eyes upon +the Duchess of Valentinois. She looked down upon the ground, however, +and uttered not a word. The king dipped the pen in the ink and wrote his +name at the bottom of the edict. The chancellor countersigned it, and +raised it from the table.</p> + +<p>"Now, Diana," said Henry, in a low voice, turning to the duchess, "what +think you?"</p> + +<p>"That your majesty has done perfectly right," replied the lady, in the +same low tone. "Not that this poor Bernard de Rohan, it would appear, is +really to blame."</p> + +<p>"I do not know," replied the king, "I do not know; but we shall soon +see. The question must be inquired into," he added, in a louder voice. +"I will hear all parties, and then decide. For the present, the marriage +is annulled. Monsieur de Masseran, hasten back to Savoy, and instantly +set the Baron de Rohan at liberty. Let some one proceed immediately—her +brother will be the best, the fittest, the only fit person. Let him +immediately proceed to seek for Mademoiselle de Brienne, and bring her +to Paris without loss of time. You, Monsieur de Masseran, will command +De Rohan, in our name, to present himself in the capital within fourteen +days from the date of his liberation by your hand. You will do well also +to come hither yourself as speedily as may be; for our good friend +Brissac, who is somewhat of a sanguinary person to deal with, has +conceived an objection to the frequent passing of couriers through your +part of the country. It were well to keep out of Brissac's way. My good +Lord Cardinal, see that all things requisite be done, and also that the +edict be duly registered in the Parliament to-morrow. Come, Francis, +come. We shall have all the world marvelling at our absence."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + + +<p>What would life be without its varieties?</p> + +<p>I forget where I have met with it—whether in the works of Kant and his +disciples, or in the thoughts and imaginations attributed to Zoroaster, +or in some of the lucubrations of Plato, or in the fragments of +Epicurus, whose doubtful philosophy has left the world at war as to his +tendency towards good or evil, virtue or vice: certainly it was not in +Pyrrho, who had nothing good in him, or in Confucius, the great teacher +of the tea-growing nation—I forget where I have met with it; but among +the many speculations, wise and foolish, learned and ignorant, fanciful +and earthly, with which we children of the lower sphere from time to +time have amused ourselves, sometimes reverently, sometimes impiously, +sometimes with humility, sometimes audaciously, there is to be found a +theory—perhaps it merely deserves the name of an hypothesis—which +attributes to the Deity, almost as an attribute, but, at all events, as +a necessity, the endless variety of creations, and a satisfaction, if we +may use the term, in viewing the infinite multiplicity of his own works.</p> + +<p>Without presuming, however, to raise our eyes to scan things that are +hidden from us, or to reason upon any attributes of God except such as +he has deigned to reveal to us; without daring to lay down limits to +infinity, or, like the stupid idolaters of ancient times, the Greek and +Roman inventors of the most barbarous worship that ever, perhaps, was +devised, who, after making to themselves gods, and clothing those gods +with all the most infamous of human passions, ended by enchaining their +very deities themselves, under the law of a necessity which bound all +things, and left Godhead as impotent as humanity; without such audacity +or such foolishness, we may well look round upon the universe exposed to +our eyes, and, seeing that God has been pleased to render his creations +infinite, we may at least feel certain that the varieties which he has +displayed are in themselves excellent and beautiful, each deriving +propriety from the other, and all forming a grand scheme in which the +diversity of the parts is only one admirable feature. Our own eyes and +our own senses, our own hearts and our own feelings, convince us of it +every moment; and, from the glorious mountain to the minute blade of +grass which grows by its side, from the boundless ocean to the small, +bright, glistening drop that dashes in spray upon the rocks that bound +it, every variety contributes visibly to our delight, and to the beauty +of the wonderful scene in which we dwell.</p> + +<p>Variety, then, forms a part of enjoyment; but let it not be supposed +that the admission of this fact—derived, as we derive it, from the +works of God himself—can ever have a tendency to produce evil, to +generate the licentious desire of multiplying and changing pleasures, or +to create the fickle and fluttering inconstancy which ranges +dissatisfied from object to object. In the works of God, though the +varieties be infinite, and the contrasts sometimes immense, there is +still a general and beautiful harmony, a fine and exact adaptation of +every part to the other. Each change and each variation has its end and +object, each step has its purpose, and each contrast ends in some grand +result.</p> + +<p>By the same rules, however, must the search for variety be guided, as +the condition of producing happiness. Means of varying our pleasures, +almost to infinity, have been given us by the Almighty, within the +limits which he has himself assigned to us. The enjoyment of His own +works, the contemplation of His goodness, the devotion to His service, +were alone sufficient, were man rightly wise, to afford more varied +exercise to the human mind than would fill many a long life, even if the +Almighty had not loaded our pathway with opportunities of a thousand +other gratifications, innocent in themselves, and endless in their +combinations. In fact, the variety which we seek in our way through life +must be framed, not partially, but entirely, upon the model of that +which we see in creation. Each new endeavour, each alteration of +pursuit, must have its high object, and in itself be good; and, as we +and our existence are but parts of a great system, so must each change +be part of the great system of our life.</p> + +<p>In an humbler and in a lesser way, he who sits down to tell a +tale—intended not alone to while away an idle hour for himself or for +others, but also to do some good while it amuses—may well indulge in +following every work of nature, and every page in the book of human +life, and change the scene continually, varying the characters, the +personages, the events which he depicts; but he must also bear in mind +that each is a part of one general scheme, each tends to one particular +and distinct object.</p> + +<p>From the court of France and the gay scenes of the capital we must once +more travel back to the rugged mountain passes among which our tale +began, and to those in whose fate, to say sooth, we are the most +interested. Although we are ourselves somewhat anxious to discover what +has become of the fair Isabel of Brienne—how her escape has been +effected—where she is now wandering—how she is guided, guarded, and +protected—we must, nevertheless—though we suspect that her path was +dangerous, thorny, and sorrowful—return to Baron de Rohan, and leave +him no longer upon the side of the mountain.</p> + +<p>The young cavalier rode on, accompanied by Corse de Leon, with as much +speed as the rough and tortuous nature of the road would admit. The men +who brought the horses followed quickly after; and, in about twenty +minutes, they reached the spot in the valley where the two roads +divided, which we have already mentioned more than once. Here Corse de +Leon was about to proceed at the same pace up the shorter road, leaving +upon the left hand that by which, upon a former night, he had brought +back Isabel de Brienne to the castle of Masseran. One of his followers, +however, instantly shouted to him: "Ho! signior, ho! you cannot go by +that road except on foot. It was that which kept us so long. The stream +is swelled, and the bridge is gone again, and we were obliged to come +round the other way."</p> + +<p>"The stream swelled!" said Corse de Leon, in a thoughtful tone. "There +must be something going on farther up in the mountains. The snows must +be melting, or some glacier breaking up! However, let us go on by this +other road. One of you remain here and see if we are followed," he +continued, turning to the men behind him; "let the other go down to the +cross, and tell Pinchesne and the rest to come over the hill. Let them +leave one or two in the valley in case they should be wanted. Now let us +on!" and he rode forward more slowly than before, though the left-hand +road which he pursued was the longer of the two. He seemed, however, in +one of those moody fits during which bitter memories continually mingled +with a natural current of powerful abstract thoughts, changing their +character from the calm reasoning of a man of acute and high-toned mind +and intelligence, to morose and misanthropical ponderings, wherein all +the images were gloomy and harsh. At such times his whole conduct and +demeanour varied according to the mood of the moment: even his corporeal +gestures, the quickness or slowness of his pace, as well as his look and +his tone of voice, were all affected by what passed in his mind. When on +his guard, indeed, no one was more deliberate, thoughtful, and measured, +in every look, word, and gesture; but that was a matter of habit and +acquired self-command. By nature he was one of those whose whole +corporeal frame is, as it were unconsciously, the quick and ready slave +of the spirit.</p> + +<p>A change had come over him since they had mounted their horses, and such +was, in reality, the secret of his riding more slowly. He might be +actuated, indeed, in some degree, by consideration for the animal on +which he was mounted; for the way, as we have before said, was nearly +two leagues longer, and the night was excessively hot and oppressive, so +that the white foam was already about the horse's neck and bridle. The +sky was clear of all clouds, however, and the stars were shining bright, +though they seemed smaller and farther off than usual. As they turned, +the distant pointed summit of an icy mountain was seen towering over one +of the passes, white and glittering in the starlight, while around it, +without any visible clouds, there played occasionally bright +coruscations as of faint summer lightning. For some way Corse de Leon +did not speak; but at length he said, putting his hand to his brow, +"Were there any clouds in the sky, I should think there would be a storm +to-night. It seldom happens that the elements, as is the case with human +life, give us storms without clouds. We have generally some warning of +the tempest."</p> + +<p>"There is a moaning sound in the hills," said Bernard de Rohan, "and yet +I feel no wind. But do you not think," he continued, reverting to what +his companion had said, "do you not think that it generally happens in +human life we have some forewarning of the storms that befall us?"</p> + +<p>"Not from external things," replied Corse de Leon, "not from external +things. Often, often without the slightest cause to fear a change, +suddenly a thousand adverse circumstances combine to overwhelm us. It is +true, indeed it is true, that there may be other indications of a +different kind."</p> + +<p>"Ay," answered Bernard de Rohan, "that is what I mean. Do you not think +that when we have no external omens of what is coming—when no cloud +blackens the sky—when no red sun announces the tempest of the following +day—do you not think that even then, within us, there may be a warning +voice which tells us of the storm that we see not, and bids us seek some +shelter from its fury?"</p> + +<p>"Like that low murmuring that we hear even now," said Corse de Leon.</p> + +<p>"I remember," continued Bernard de Rohan, without marking his words +particularly, "that, not many days ago, as I was crossing the mountains +to come hither, a fit of gloom fell upon me: I knew not why; for all was +bright and cheerful in the prospect before me. I could not shake it off +for some time; and in vain I tried to scoff at my own feelings. They +would have way: I felt as if some misfortunes were about to befall me; +and, though not one of all the things which have since occurred could by +any chance have been divined at the time, yet you see that misfortunes +did assail me even within a few days."</p> + +<p>"Do you call these misfortunes?" demanded Corse de Leon. "You are +younger in heart than I even thought you were. But what you say is +worthy of memory; if what you felt were really a presentiment of coming +evils, take my word for it, they are scarcely yet begun: you will want +watching and assistance," he added, thoughtfully; "you will need aid and +help with a strong hand; I have not forgotten my promise, and I will +keep it. But quick, let us ride on! Our horses feel that there is +something coming, and I would fain reach Gandelot's inn before it +comes."</p> + +<p>"I should suppose," replied Bernard de Rohan, "that it offers very +inefficient shelter. It is built so completely at the foot of the +mountain, that I wonder the snows in winter do not overwhelm it."</p> + +<p>"It has twice been crushed under an avalanche," replied his companion, +"and they still build it up again on the same spot; but what the house +has to fear is as much the water as the snow; and it is because it is no +place of shelter that I would fain be there."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan understood him in a moment; and the thought of Isabel +de Brienne was quite sufficient to make him spur on eagerly. About half +a league farther, the road turned a projection of the mountain, and, +shortly after they had passed the angle of the rock, the spray of a +cataract dashed in their faces, while an immense volume of water rushed +furiously down from a spot some hundred yards above them, looking in +that dim hour like some vast giant robed in white and leaning against +the mountain. The torrent itself gushed across the road, and Bernard de +Rohan turned his eyes upon his companion, not recollecting such an +obstruction in their way.</p> + +<p>"Some four or five hours ago," said Corse de Leon, "when I passed by +that spot, there was scarcely water enough to quench the thirst of a +wolf, and now it is a torrent. There is some great commotion above +there. But perhaps it is all past, and these may be the results. We must +try and force our horses through, however; keep as close to the face of +the rock as possible."</p> + +<p>So saying, he spurred on; but it was with the greatest difficulty that +either he or his companion compelled their horses to make the attempt to +pass the torrent. The pattering of the spray and the roaring of the +stream terrified and bewildered them; and when, at length, urged +forward, partly by chiding, partly by gentleness, they did dash on, the +animals bore their riders through the midst of the current, where the +ground was rough and insecure. Twice the charger which bore Bernard de +Rohan stumbled, and nearly fell, and twice, though drenched with the +pouring of the water on his head, and gasping for breath under the +rushing weight upon him, he aided the horse up with heel and hand till +he reached the other side and stood on firm ground.</p> + +<p>Wellnigh stunned and bewildered, he turned to look for Corse de Leon. +The brigand was standing beside him dismounted from the horse, and +holding the animal by the rein with one hand, while he raised the other +towards the sky with a look of eager, yet solemn attention. The next +instant he grasped the young cavalier's hand, exclaiming, "Stir not a +step! It is coming, it is coming! Now, as ever, we stand in God's good +will to live or die; but death is very near us."</p> + +<p>At the same moment there came a roar as of distant cannon; many shot off +at once; then a murmuring pause; then a roar again; and, as it came on, +the deafening sound of the thunder itself would have been as nothing to +the terrific rushing noise that echoed through the hollow valleys. It +seemed as if a thousand sounds were mingled; for the howling of the wind +still continued, as if imitating the screams and wailing of people in +pain; while the crash of rocks falling upon rocks, and of the stout +trees of the forest rent into shivers, and of rolling masses of earth +and snow, crags and cliffs, with one half the mountain itself, was alone +overpowering by the very sound that beat upon the ear, even had it not +been accompanied by an awful pressure of the air which took away the +breath, and a sense of coming annihilation which seemed to check the +beating of the heart even before death had stilled it with his icy hand.</p> + +<p>There was time for but one short prayer to Him on high, and one thought +of her he loved, before the crumbling ruin came down into the valley, +sweeping close, past the very place where Bernard de Rohan stood. Rocks +and stones rushed on before it, and one immense mass struck his horse on +the knees and chest, threw him backward on his haunches, and beast and +rider rolled over the edge into the stream. For an instant he lost his +consciousness; and then, waking to life, found himself in the valley +below, dashed by the torrent against the rocky banks.</p> + +<p>He had been thrown free, however, from the horse; and, though to swim +was impossible, from the crags, the trees, the projecting stones, and +the fierce struggling of the torrent, yet he contrived to grasp a rugged +branch that hung over the water, swung himself to the bank, and sprang +upon the land. It was all impulse, for he hardly knew how he found the +bough or reached the firm ground. Even when there, he was fain to cast +himself down, and press his hands upon his forehead, for everything swam +round with him: the earth seemed to shake beneath his feet; and the roar +of falling rocks and crags still mingled with the loud voice of the +turbulent waters from which he had just escaped. The mightier sound, +however, had passed away—that awful rushing noise, unlike anything else +on earth—and gradually, the others ceased also, till at length nothing +was heard but the flowing of the river, as it foamed and struggled with +the obstacles in its course.</p> + +<p>When Bernard de Rohan could rise and look around him everything was +dark, except where in the sky appeared the twinkling myriads of the +night, beginning, he fancied, to look pale at the approach of morning. +He listened in the hopes of hearing some voice; but, if there was any, +it was drowned in the noise of the waters.</p> + +<p>With a thousand painful apprehensions in his heart, with no way of +relieving his anxiety, with nothing left but to wait for the return of +daylight, he cast himself down again, after having called once or twice +aloud upon Corse de Leon without receiving any answer. He could not +distinguish whither he had been borne. He could see some large trees +still standing near him, and some enormous black masses of rock lifting +their heads around. The shadow of the giant mountain, too, rose up +before him; but its form seemed changed, and he gazed as if to ascertain +in what features it was altered.</p> + +<p>Gradually the summit of the hill, warmed into a dusky brown, caught some +of the rays of the rising sun, and—while every moment it assumed a +brighter hue, till it crowned itself, and decorated the mists which +surrounded it with gold—a sober twilight crept into the valley; and +Bernard de Rohan found himself standing in the gray morning with a world +of ruin and desolation around him, without a trace of road or human +habitation, and with the narrow pass along which his way had been bent +completely blocked up by the huge masses of the fallen mountain.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + + +<p>With that strange, dizzy sensation which we feel when awaking from the +first stunning effects of any great catastrophe, Bernard de Rohan +continued to gaze around him for some minutes, as the morning rose +brighter and brighter upon the wild scene of destruction in the midst of +which he stood. He was himself much bruised and injured: blood was upon +various parts of his garments; his strong, muscular arm would scarcely +support him as he leaned against the rock, and his brain still reeled +giddily from time to time with the fall and the blows he had received: +but his own corporeal pain engaged less of his attention than the +terrible picture which the rising light displayed. Everywhere appeared +vestiges of the desolating phenomenon of the preceding night. The order +of all things around him, and especially to the northeast, seemed to +have been entirely broken up and changed. The granite rocks from the +higher summits of the mountain were now piled up in immense masses +below, mingled with vast tracts of the most dissimilar substances, +slate, and sandstone, and common vegetable earth, with here and there a +thick layer of snow protruding through the chasms, marked in long +streaks by the various kinds of earth over which it had passed. Shivered +fir-trees, and immense fragments of oak, with their green foliage still +waving in the air, stuck out here and there in scattered disarray from +the tumbled chaos of rock, and sand, and earth; and the fragments of a +cottage roof, which lay reversed high up the side of the mountainous +pile that now blocked up the valley, showed that the sweeping +destruction had, at all events, reached one of the homes of earth's +children.</p> + +<p>Such was the scene towards the northeast: but it was evident that the +fallen masses had not yet firmly fixed themselves in the position which +they were probably to bear for ages afterward. From time to time a rock +rolled over, but slowly, making its way down into the valley with +increasing speed, sometimes pausing and fixing itself in a new bed part +of the way down. None of these, however, in their descent, reached the +spot where Bernard de Rohan stood, for he was at least three hundred +yards from the base of the mountain which had thus been produced during +the night. As it came down, indeed, the immense body had been +accompanied by the fall of large masses of stone, which were scattered +on all sides, so that the green bosom of the valley—which, on the +preceding day, had been carpeted by soft and equal turf, only broken +here and there by a tall tree, or clumps of shrubs and bushes, or else +by large fantastic lumps of rock or stone, fallen immemorial ages +before, and clothed by the hand of time with lichens or creeping +plants—was now thickly spotted with fresh fragments, which from space +to space had shivered the trees in their descent, and in other places +was soiled with long tracks of various-coloured earths, which had +showered down like torrents as the great mass descended farther on.</p> + +<p>The stream, swollen, turbid, and furious, was rushing on amid the rocks +in the middle of the valley; but the traces of where it had lately been +evidently showed that it was rapidly decreasing in volume, and had +already much diminished. Bernard de Rohan traced it up with his eye to +the spot where it descended from the hill, crossing the road, which ran +along the top of a steep bank on the opposite side. The cataract through +which he had forced his horse the night before was there visible, and +still showed a large column of rushing water, though it, too, was +greatly lessened. This waterfall, however, gave the young cavalier some +mark by which to judge of the distances; and he found that he must have +been carried down the stream nearly three hundred yards before he +recovered himself and got to land. He thus perceived how near the chief +mass of falling mountain must have passed to the spot where he had been +standing, and he felt that the detached rock, which had struck his horse +and cast him down into the stream before the whole fell, had probably +saved his life.</p> + +<p>But what had become of his companion? he asked himself. What had become +of that being who, strange, and wild, and erring as he doubtless was, +had contrived, not only to fix himself strongly upon his affections, but +to excite, in a considerable degree, his admiration and esteem? Had he +perished in that awful scene? Had he closed his wild and turbulent +existence in the tremendous convulsion which had taken place? He feared +it might be so; and yet, when he looked up and saw distinctly +that—though ploughed up by the heavy stones that had fallen, and thus, +in many places, rendered impassable—the road was still to be traced by +the eye for some thirty yards beyond the cascade, he did hope—though +the hope was but faint—that Corse de Leon might have escaped.</p> + +<p>If so, traces of him and of the way that he had taken might yet be +found. But another possibility soon presented itself to the mind of +Bernard de Rohan, The brigand might have been thrown over the precipice +by some of the falling rocks, like the young cavalier himself, and might +even then be lying mutilated and in agony not far off. Without a +moment's delay, Bernard proceeded to search along the course of the +stream, which was far too much swollen to permit of his passing it.</p> + +<p>Nothing of Corse de Leon could he see, however; not a vestige, not a +track; but a few yards from the spot where the cascade, after striking +the road, bounded down again into the valley below, he found, in the bed +of the stream, crushed and mangled in an awful manner, the carcass of +the poor horse which he had himself so lately ridden. The size of the +animal had caused it to be entangled sooner among the rocks in the bed +of the stream than he had been, but it had evidently been killed by the +blow of the first fragment of stone which struck it, for its two front +legs were broken, and its chest actually dashed in.</p> + +<p>It was a painful and a sickening spectacle in the midst of a scene so +wild, so awful, and extraordinary; but one additional horror which might +well have been there was wanting. The vultures, which are said to be +scared from their pursuit of prey by no portent, had, nevertheless, not +approached as yet; and Bernard de Rohan, with his arms crossed upon his +chest, remained for a moment looking at the dead body of the animal, as +it lay half out of the water and half hidden by the rushing stream, with +many a dark and gloomy association crossing his mind, though vaguely and +unencouraged.</p> + +<p>As he stood and gazed, a small bird upon an opposite tree, which had +escaped uninjured throughout the late catastrophe, burst out in a wild +and somewhat melancholy song; and Bernard de Rohan, with his heart +heavier than before, turned and retrod his steps, in the hopes of +finding some place where he could cross the torrent farther down the +valley. In this expectation he was disappointed; the stream only grew +larger, and deeper, and more impetuous, swelled by the different +rivulets that were pouring down the sides of the mountains; and at +length, after wandering on more than three miles, it plunged through a +deep chasm in the rock, which left no footing for the young cavalier to +make his way farther on that side of the valley. Could he have passed +the waters, it would have been easy to have made his way up to the +little mountain road by which he had passed the preceding night, and +which was now before his eyes. But he was shut in between the torrent on +one side and the high mountain on the other; and, although he saw some +sheep-paths and other tracks, he knew not where they led to, but had +only the certainty that they must take him to a distance from the spot +which he wished to reach immediately, in order to relieve the darkest +anxiety of all the many that were at his heart. Turning back, then, he +made a desperate, but ineffectual effort to pass the masses of the +mountains which had been thrown down, and by midday he was forced to +retread his steps nearly to the same spot where he had found himself in +the morning.</p> + +<p>In much pain from the bruises he had received, and exhausted with +exertion and want of food, he sat down for a time to rest, and drank of +the waters of the stream, although they were still troubled. He then +took the resolution of endeavouring to climb the mountains which formed +that side of the valley where he then was, trusting that he might find +some one to show him the nearest way to the inn on the eastern slope of +the hills. The path was rugged and winding, the mountain bleak and arid, +and several hours elapsed while he wandered on, before he heard the +sound of any living creature, or saw any moving thing, except when once +or twice some object of the chase started away from his path, and when +the golden lizards, basking in the sun, turned round their snake-like +heads to gaze on the unwonted human form that passed them.</p> + +<p>At length, however, towards five o'clock in the evening, completely +tired out, without having tasted food, and with no drink whatsoever but +that one draught from the stream, he heard—as may well be supposed, +with joy—the barking of a dog; and, looking up, he saw upon a point of +the crag above a noble animal of the Alpine breed, baying fiercely at +the step of a stranger.</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan went on; and, following the dog as it retreated before +him, he soon heard the bleating of some sheep, and, in a minute or two +after, beheld a small white wreath of smoke rising in the clear mountain +air, with the roof of a little cottage in a sheltered nook of the hill. +It was as poor a habitation as can be conceived; but the sight was a +glad one to the young cavalier, and he approached the little low-walled +yard, which served as a sort of fold, with feelings of infinite joy.</p> + +<p>The barking of the dog brought forth the shepherd, holding a large pot +of boiling ewe-milk in his hand. He was a small, plain-featured man, not +very intelligent, who, notwithstanding his solitary life, had not +acquired that desire of knowing more of his fellow-creatures which is so +constantly the result of voluntary seclusion in monasteries. He was, +however, hospitable and kind-hearted, and received the young stranger +with a gladdening welcome. He set before him, in the very first place, +the best of all he had; and asked, with some eagerness, of news from the +valley; for he was already aware of what had occurred during the +preceding night, and, indeed, knew far more than Bernard de Rohan +himself.</p> + +<p>The young cavalier told him all that he had to tell, and then questioned +him rapidly and anxiously in turn. His first question, as may be easily +supposed, referred to Gandelot's inn; and oh! how much more freely did +he seem to breathe when the old-man replied, "Oh, that is quite safe! +The fall did not come within half a league of it."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure, quite sure?" demanded Bernard de Rohan.</p> + +<p>"My son was down there to-day with cheeses," answered the man, "and saw +them all. He will be home with the rest of the sheep presently, and will +tell you more about it."</p> + +<p>"Was there a young lady there?" Bernard de Rohan inquired, with as much +calmness as he could command.</p> + +<p>"Yes, he talked of a stranger lady from France," replied the shepherd, +"with a number of soldiers and attendants belonging to some French lord, +for whom they were all grieving and weeping bitterly, because he had +been killed somehow."</p> + +<p>"How long will it be ere your son returns?" asked Bernard de Rohan, +eager, notwithstanding all the fatigues that he had suffered, to reach +the inn that night.</p> + +<p>The answer he received was one of those vague and indefinite replies +which are always given on such occasions by persons to whom, as to the +shepherd, time seems of little or no value. He said that the lad would +be back very soon; but hour after hour passed, and he did not appear.</p> + +<p>The young cavalier became impatient; and, finding that it was +impossible, from any direction the old man could give, to learn the path +which he ought to pursue, he urged him, with many promises of reward, to +conduct him to Gandelot's small hostelry himself.</p> + +<p>Had he proposed to the good shepherd, however, a pilgrimage to +Jerusalem, it would not have seemed more impracticable. He declared that +it was perfectly out of the question; that, now his wife was dead, there +was nobody to remain in his cottage; that the distance was fully four +leagues, and that it would take them as many hours to go. "It will be +dark in half an hour," he continued, "and we should but break our necks +over the rocks and precipices."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan found that it was impossible to move him; the son did +not come home till the evening was beginning to grow gray, and the young +cavalier was obliged, unwillingly, to resign all hopes of rejoining his +bride before the next day.</p> + +<p>With the shepherd and his son, the use of any other light but that of +the broad sun was unknown except in the depth of the winter; and, though +Bernard de Rohan could have sat up for many an hour questioning the +younger man upon all he had seen and heard at the inn, but a short +period was allowed him for so doing ere they retired to repose.</p> + +<p>The information that he obtained was but little, for neither the elder +nor the younger mountaineer was very intelligent or very communicative. +The latter, indeed, seemed to divine at once, what had never struck the +old man, that the young cavalier who had become their accidental guest +was no other than the person by whose supposed death the lady whom he +had seen at the inn had been plunged into such deep grief.</p> + +<p>"She will be mighty glad to see you," he said, taking the matter for +granted; "and, if we set off by daylight to-morrow, you will just catch +her as she wakes, for you nobles are sad lie-abeds."</p> + +<p>"Pray tell me, however, before we sleep," said Bernard de Rohan, "how +the lady obtained information of the danger I have so fortunately +escaped. Was it from Corse de Leon?"</p> + +<p>The young man started, and gazed earnestly in his face by the dim light +which still found its way into the cottage. "Corse de Leon!" he said, +"Corse de Leon! that is a name we never mention in these parts of the +country. No! no! I know nothing about Corse de Leon, though they do say +that he has as many poor men's prayers as rich men's curses."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan found that that name had effectually closed the young +shepherd's mouth, and not a word more upon the subject could be obtained +from him.</p> + +<p>He interrupted their habits of early sleep no longer, but made the best +of such means of repose as they could give him, and, wearied out with +long exertion, soon fell asleep, with the happy certainty that she whom +he loved was free, and corporeally well, while the mental anguish which +he knew she must be suffering he had the means of joyfully removing on +the succeeding day.</p> + +<p>The pain of the bruises which he had received woke the young cavalier as +soon as excessive fatigue had been in some degree relieved. But the +nights were at that season short; daylight soon appeared; the shepherds +rose with the first ray of the sun; and, without other breakfast than a +draught of warm milk, Bernard and his guide set off across the +mountains. The time occupied by their journey was fully as much as the +old man had said; for mountain leagues are generally long ones, and the +road was rough and difficult to tread.</p> + +<p>At length the view of a plainer country broke upon the eye; and as they +descended a steep hill by a footway upon the open mountain side, Bernard +de Rohan saw before him the rich lands towards Chambery, and, at the +distance of about half a mile, the little inn of Gandelot, seated +quietly at the foot of the passes. It looked tranquil and happy in the +morning light; but why or wherefore the young gentleman could not tell, +a feeling of uneasiness took possession of him at the very quietness +which the whole scene displayed. There were none of his people hanging +about the door, passing a morning half hour in listless idleness. There +were none at the gates of the stables rubbing down horses or cleaning +trappings and arms. There was no busy bustling about of attendants and +stable-boys. There was nothing, in short, to be seen, but one or two +domestic animals at the entrance of the farmyard, and the servant of the +auberge, in a bright-coloured petticoat, cleaning some culinary utensils +at the door of the inn.</p> + +<p>The young cavalier hurried his pace, and, getting before the guide, +advanced close to the girl before she saw him. She looked up at the +approaching step, and then uttered a loud scream, which Bernard de Rohan +easily understood to be her comment upon seeing the dead alive again. He +passed on at once, however, through the half-opened door into the +kitchen, but, to his dismay, it presented the complete picture of an inn +after guests have departed. Everything had been put in order, and looked +cold and vacant. The neatly-swept hearth possessed not more fire than +might have lain in the hollow of one's hand, and over it the hostess was +cooking a mess for the breakfast of herself and her husband; while the +aubergiste stood at a well-washed table, counting some money, which he +covered over with his hand at the girl's scream, and looked anxiously +towards the door.</p> + +<p>The surprise of good Gandelot seemed scarcely less than that of the +servant, although it only took the outward form and expression of a +deadly paleness. He recovered himself in a moment, however, and then, +with a look of honest joy and satisfaction, in spite of all difference +of rank and habitual restraint, he seized Bernard de Rohan by the hand, +exclaiming, "Jesu Maria! Well, there have been many tears shed to no +purpose. Why, bless my soul, how happy the poor lady's heart will be!"</p> + +<p>"Where is she?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, eagerly. "Where is she? It +seems as though there were nobody here."</p> + +<p>"No, indeed," replied Gandelot. "What you say is very true. There is +nobody here but your lordship's humble servant and his good wife. Why, +what a pity that you came not yesterday at this hour! You would have +saved the poor lady many a weary minute."</p> + +<p>"Where is she, then! Where is she?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, more +eagerly than ever. "When did she go? Where is she gone to? Where are my +servants, too, and my men-at-arms?"</p> + +<p>"Alack, and a well-a-day, sir!" replied the host, "they have all taken +wing, and are scattered away like a flock of plovers. Here the lady +arrived at the inn, with good Father Willand and some ten or twelve of +your men, on the day before yesterday, late in the evening; and then +there were consultations after consultations as to what was to be done, +for every one knew and had heard by that time that you were a prisoner +in the castle of Masseran; and the gentleman who came at the head of +your men—not the servants, but the men-at-arms that came after +you—vowed that he would attack the castle, and blow open the gates with +a petard, and set you free. But when he had talked very high in this way +for some time, Father Willand told him to hold his tongue; for, in the +first place, the walls of the castle of Masseran were made of stones +hard enough to break his teeth, and, in the next, as he had got no +petard to blow the gates open with but the one in his mouth, it would be +of very little service. With that there came not long afterward a +messenger from one whom I must not name, telling the lady and the priest +and all to keep as quiet as might be, for that you would be liberated +before daylight on the next morning; and, as his word never fails, they +all did keep quiet, but we sat up and watched to see what would come of +it. A terrible night you know it was; but we were to have a more +terrible morning, for by daylight news came up the valley—"</p> + +<p>"That I was killed in the land-slip," said Bernard de Rohan, +interrupting him.</p> + +<p>"No, no," replied the aubergiste, "not that at all; but that the tower +which was called the prison-tower of the castle of Masseran had taken +fire and fallen, crushing the dungeon in which you had been placed, and +you along with it, in the ruins. The lady went half-distracted, though +she would not believe that it was true till Father Willand himself went +up near the castle, with a body of your men to prevent any of the +Masseran people from taking him, and then came back and told her it was +all too sure. He told her, besides, that the people of the castle vowed +it was some one on her part seeking to deliver you who had set fire to +the tower, and the good priest advised her to get across the frontier +with all speed. But she was so cast down with grief that she seemed to +care little more about herself in this world, and lay, my wife said, +partly kneeling by her bedside, partly lying upon it, with her face +buried in the clothes, and the sobs coming so thick and hard that it was +painful to hear. She could not be got to speak or answer a word to any +one; and in the midst of all this came in some one whom you know."</p> + +<p>"Who? who?" demanded Bernard de Rohan.</p> + +<p>The aubergiste whispered, in a scarcely audible voice, the name of Corse +de Leon; and the young cavalier exclaimed, with feelings of as much joy +as he could feel at that moment, "Then he is safe, at least; that is +some satisfaction."</p> + +<p>"Ay, so far safe," replied the man, "that he is not killed as he might +have been. But when he came here his left shoulder was out, and would +have been useless for ever if he had not made four of us pull it in by +main force, and never winked his eyes or uttered a word till it went in +with a great start, and then only shut his teeth close."</p> + +<p>"But he could have told them," exclaimed Bernard de Rohan, "he could +have told that I had escaped before the tower took fire."</p> + +<p>"I don't know how it is," replied the landlord; "but, sure enough, he +thinks you dead as well as they do. He had a long conversation apart +with Father Willand in that little room, out of the corner there, which +you have never seen, and, mayhap, did not know of, for the door is in +the dark, behind the closet and the chimney. What they talked about I +don't know, but in the end I heard him say, 'Tell her nothing about it +till she can bear to hear more. As he is dead, it matters not much how +it happened.' Then the priest went to the lady, and, with great +persuasion, got her down from her chamber, and made her take some wine, +and, in the end, got her to set off, with some eight or ten of your +people accompanying them. That was about twelve o'clock yesterday +morning; and, in an hour or two after, the rest of your people went away +over the mountains to join the good Maréchal de Brissac, by the +directions of the person you know."</p> + +<p>"This is unfortunate," said Bernard de Rohan, musing, "this is most +unfortunate. Do you know which way the lady has taken?"</p> + +<p>"She went first to Bonvoisin," replied the host; "but whither she was to +turn her steps after that, I know not."</p> + +<p>"And I am left here alone," continued the young gentleman, "without +horse or arms, at the moment I need them most. Can you furnish me with a +horse, good Gandelot?"</p> + +<p>"Faith, I have none to give, sir," answered the man, "or I would +willingly trust you, if you did not pay me till this time twelvemonth."</p> + +<p>"Nay," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I wanted not to be your debtor, +Gandelot. Money, thank God, I have with me, but my resource must be +Corse de Leon. Where can he be found?"</p> + +<p>"Hush! hush!" exclaimed the aubergiste, terrified at the loud tone in +which his companion pronounced the name of the brigand. "Hush! hush! for +Heaven's sake. There is somebody talking all this time to the girl +outside the door."</p> + +<p>"It is but the shepherd who guided me hither," replied the young +cavalier. "But answer my question, good Gandelot: where is he to be +found?"</p> + +<p>"If you will sit here for an hour or two," replied the other, "my wife +shall get you something ready to break your fast, and I will go up the +side of the hill to see after the person you mention."</p> + +<p>"But I wish to proceed immediately," exclaimed Bernard de Rohan. "If I +could but get a horse, I would set out at once."</p> + +<p>"There is no one who can get you either horse or arms within five +leagues," replied the aubergiste, "except the man we were talking of. He +can do both, and more too, for he can tell you where the lady is to be +found, which I can't. So you have nothing for it but to confer with him. +However, it will be better to send this shepherd back at once to his own +place, and for you either to go into that little room there to the left, +or up the stairs into your room above, for it would be a sad thing to be +stopped again; and, although we stand on free land here, yet this Lord +of Masseran's people are no ways scrupulous into whose face they poke +their fist, or into whose soup they dip their spoon."</p> + +<p>Though feeling sick at heart with impatience, the young cavalier saw +that the plan suggested was the only one he could follow. Having +rewarded the shepherd for his trouble in guiding him thither, he allowed +the good aubergiste to lead him to his place of concealment; and, urging +him in the strongest terms to lose no time, he sat himself down to while +away the hours as best he might, with all the checkered thoughts of the +past and the future.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + + +<p>Bernard de Rohan waited long; and, though his imagination was not an +active one in regard to difficulties or dangers in his own case, yet, +when he thought of Isabel de Brienne, nurtured with care, and +tenderness, and softness, never having known during life the want of +protection, or the necessity of acting for herself, never having been an +hour without protection—when he thought that she must now go forward to +Paris alone, without any one loved or known to sooth and guide her; +without any other protection but that of a few menials; with the bitter +thought of having lost him she loved for ever, as the chief recollection +of the past, and with the expectation of meeting her mother, who had +been always harsh, and her stepfather, who had treated her with +treachery and baseness, as the chief anticipation of the future—his +heart burned to speed on, without the loss of a single moment, to +protect, to console, and to relieve her from the deep sorrow which he +knew too well must overshadow her.</p> + +<p>Still one hour passed after another, the sun began to decline from the +meridian, and the good hostess only visited him on two occasions. In the +first place, to tell him that a party of travellers who stopped for half +an hour at the inn were only peasants from a neighbouring village; and, +in the next place, to beseech him not to go near the windows, or to show +himself in any way, as a party of the Lord of Masseran's men had just +passed, and another was speedily to follow.</p> + +<p>At length the aubergiste himself appeared, heated and dusty, and, +closing the door carefully, told him that he had found the man he went +to seek, and had brought back with him a few words written on a strip of +leather. They were deciphered with difficulty, but were to the following +effect: "I thought you gone for ever. But, as you are still destined to +remain with the rest of us, so let it be. I will visit you to-night, and +you shall soon find the lady; but on no account go on till you have seen +me! By so doing you will endanger her, endanger yourself, and delay your +meeting."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan gazed upon the writing, and then turned a dissatisfied +look towards the sky. "This is trifling," he thought: "I must be across +the frontier as speedily as possible. Well might Isabel think me cruel +if I remained here an hour longer, knowing that she is in danger, +sorrow, and anxiety."</p> + +<p>"Have you heard aught of a horse, my good Gandelot?" he said: "I cannot +wait as he requires me. How far is it to the frontier?"</p> + +<p>"Two hours' journey on horseback," replied the host, "and four or five +afoot. But there is no horse to be found, and you must not think of +trying it on foot, my noble lord. You do not know that the people from +the castle are scouring the whole road between this and Bonvoisin."</p> + +<p>"But they do not know me," answered Bernard de Rohan. "There is scarce +one among them that has ever seen me. Five hours? that is long, indeed! +But I could buy a horse at Chambery."</p> + +<p>"Not before nightfall," replied the host; "and you had a great deal +better wait here to see one who can help you more speedily than anybody +else."</p> + +<p>"Why cannot I go to him?" demanded Bernard de Rohan. "If you can find +him, so can I."</p> + +<p>"Oh, surely," replied Gandelot, "but you run a great risk of being +taken."</p> + +<p>"If that be all," answered the young cavalier, "I should think that +there was less chance of being taken on the hillside than here. +Something must be risked, at all events, Gandelot. Get me a peasant's +frock, good friend, and a large hat: my own I lost in the fall, you see. +When I am so dressed, I shall pass unknown, I'll warrant, should it be +through the midst of this Lord of Masseran's men."</p> + +<p>"I must show you the way, however," replied the innkeeper. "But stay a +minute, and I'll get what you want: it is no bad plan."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, Gandelot left him; but the aubergiste was not long before +he returned, bringing with him a peasant's frock and belt, and a large +straw hat, such as we have mentioned in describing the dress of good +Father Willand at the beginning of this true history. The very act of +putting them on was a relief to the mind of Bernard de Rohan; for, to a +man accustomed to action, inactivity adds an almost insupportable burden +to grief and anxiety. When the frock, however, was cast over his +shoulders, and his head was covered with the hat, Gandelot gazed upon +him with a smile, saying, "I must take care, my lord, that I don't +mistake you for a peasant, and ask you to sell me eggs. Well, I did not +know how much the dress made the man before."</p> + +<p>Passing over the bad compliment of his host without notice, Bernard de +Rohan only expressed his eagerness to set out; and Gandelot, after +having gone down to look round the inn on every side, and to ascertain +that no one was watching, returned in a few minutes, carrying in his +hand a short sword and dagger, such as were worn commonly by what were +called the New Bands, warring in Piedmont for the service of France.</p> + +<p>"Nobody can tell what may happen, my lord," he said, "so you had better +tuck those up under your gown; but don't draw the belt too tight, or the +hilt will appear."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan grasped the weapon as he would the hand of an old +friend, and, concealing it carefully under the frock, he followed the +innkeeper, who led him out through the back court of the auberge upon +the side of the mountain, where a steep pathway led up between the +rocks, and over the lower part of the hill, into one of the valleys, +which, without plunging deep into the alpine scenery around, led through +a softer but still uncultivated country, in the direction of Albens. The +innkeeper strolled on, and the young nobleman followed, both keeping a +profound silence till the inn and all the neighbouring objects were out +of sight.</p> + +<p>When they had fully plunged into the valley, however, good Gandelot +spoke, but still in a low voice, saying, "We are pretty safe here; the +danger was up yonder."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan made no direct reply, but asked whether the road they +were taking did not lead him farther from that which he had afterward to +travel. Assured, however, by the good innkeeper that it did not, he went +on in silence, finding by the length of way that his companion had lost +no time upon the previous journey he had made during the morning. At +length Gandelot turned a little towards the north, up a smaller valley, +which, winding away with many bends and angles, never exposed more than +one or two hundred yards of hillside to the view at once. At the end of +about a quarter of an hour after entering this dell, a solitary house +presented itself, as desolate in appearance as well might be. It was +old, and built of cold gray stone, with a roof of slates; and a low +garden wall which surrounded it enclosed a space of ground amounting to +perhaps an acre or an acre and a half, but in no degree impeded the view +of the house.</p> + +<p>The hills in that spot were quite bare: much lower, indeed, than the +scenery from which Bernard de Rohan had just come, but far more naked +and arid. Not a shrub, not a tree was to be seen. Nothing but scanty +turf, broken by scattered stones, with occasional crags here and there, +covered the slopes; and, had it not been for those thin, short blades of +grass, one might have fancied one's self in the world before the +vegetable creation had been called into being.</p> + +<p>"You will find him there, my good young lord," said Gandelot, pointing +forward to the house: "I will stay here. But you had better whistle, as +you know how, when you go up, that he may know you are coming. If you +find that you are not likely to come back before night—and it is +getting somewhat late now—send me out word, and I will hie me home."</p> + +<p>"Nay, leave me, leave me, good Gandelot," replied the young cavalier. "I +will find my way back: I never forget a path I have once trodden."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, he advanced towards the desolate-looking house which stood +before him, and, at a short distance from it, imitated, as well as he +could, that peculiar whistle which he had heard more than once among the +companions of Corse de Leon. The sounds had scarcely issued from his +lips ere the brigand himself appeared at the door, and, apparently +without the slightest apprehension or hesitation, walked forward to meet +him. He was habited in the same large cloak and hat which he had worn on +the night when Bernard de Rohan first beheld him, so that the young +nobleman could plainly see he bore his left arm supported by a bandage +from his neck.</p> + +<p>The moment they met he grasped Bernard warmly by the hand, saying, "So +you are living! you are living! I never thought we should see each other +again in this world, though I did think we might meet in that where the +compensations are reserved to confound the workings of the great bad +spirit to whom this earth is given up for evil. But I fell into a sad +mistake, and have let your sweet lady go away in the belief that you are +dead."</p> + +<p>"It is on that account," said Bernard de Rohan, "that I am so eager to +set out, in order to put her mind at ease; but I know not where she is +to be found, or which road she has taken. Neither have I horse nor arms, +nor, I fear, enough in my purse both to buy them and carry me on my way +also."</p> + +<p>"And you come to me for all!" said Corse de Leon, with a smile: "who +would ever have thought this, some seven or eight years ago, when the +young Lord of Rohan struck down to the earth the intendant of the +Countess of Brienne for wronging the sister of a poor soldier far away +fighting for his country? Who would have thought that the poor soldier +would ever have been able to aid the young lord in marrying her he +loved, or to furnish him with horse, and arms, and money, in an hour of +need? There is a retribution in this world! Ay, there is a retribution +even here! But come, my lord, I am your humble servant; but, perhaps, a +truer friend than any whom you meet with in your own rank and class. Let +us into the house, and rest you for the remainder of the day. You will +travel quicker, better, more safely in the night. Ere the sun goes down +you shall have all that you want; and between this and tomorrow's +nightfall you may well overtake the lady."</p> + +<p>Corse de Leon saw that, notwithstanding the reasons he gave, Bernard de +Rohan was not well pleased with even the short delay that he proposed. +He was not one who loved long explanations of any kind, but he could +feel for an impatient disposition; and he added, as if in reply to his +companion's look, "It cannot be otherwise: I have had to send a four +hours' journey for the horses, and they cannot be here till night, +though the messenger has been absent now near two hours. You would make +no greater speed by going back to the inn. Come in, sit down, then, rest +you, and bear what is unavoidable as patiently as may be; for, though +half the difference between great men and little ones in this world lies +in their judgment of what can be done and what cannot be done, and +though half the things men despair of are as easy as to drink from a +stream, yet, nevertheless, there are things that are impossible, and in +those cases it is useless to struggle."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, he led the young nobleman into the house, the door of which +had remained unclosed. Though Bernard de Rohan could hear several voices +speaking in one of the rooms as he walked along the passage, it was into +a small vacant chamber, on the left-hand side, that Corse de Leon +conducted him. The windows commanded a view down a considerable part of +the valley, but still the aspect of the whole place was so undefended +and unguarded, that the young cavalier, knowing the state of hostility +with the great and powerful in which Corse de Leon lived, could not help +feeling some surprise at his choosing such an abode.</p> + +<p>"Are you not," he said, gazing from the window, "are you not in a +sadly-exposed situation here? Why, the Lord of Masseran, or any other of +those small tyrants, could attack you at any time without the +possibility of your escape."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken," replied Corse de Leon, shortly: "before he came +within two leagues of me, I should know his whole proceedings, and +either scatter over the hill, and reach coverts which it were wiser to +search for the deer or the chamois than for Corse de Leon, or else offer +the good lord some hospitality on his coming which he might neither be +willing to receive nor able to return. We have resources that you are +not aware of, and neither he nor any one else knows more of them than to +make him fear."</p> + +<p>"That you yourself have infinite resources in your activity and +experience," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I can easily believe; but, +depend upon it, if you were to trust the guidance of such hazardous +matters to other men, they would soon be overthrown."</p> + +<p>"Not so, not so," replied his companion; "I know the contrary. Twice, +for ends and objects of my own, I have traversed all France, leaving my +men behind me; and, though perhaps not quite so busy as when I am +here—ay, and somewhat cruel and disorderly when left to their own +course—no evil has happened to themselves. I am now about to do the +same, and I do it in all confidence."</p> + +<p>"Do you propose to go soon?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, in some +surprise.</p> + +<p>"Ay," replied the brigand, "soon enough to meet you in Paris some day, +perchance, or even to overtake you on the road; and, as we now talk +about those things, let me caution you never to speak to me unless I +speak to you: then take the tone that I take, whether it be one of +strangeness or of former acquaintance. Recollect, too, that there is no +such person as Corse de Leon beyond the frontiers of Savoy; but that, in +many a part of France, the Chevalier Lenoir is known, and not badly +esteemed."</p> + +<p>"I will be careful," replied the young lord. "But now, my good friend, +tell me whither has my poor Isabel directed her steps."</p> + +<p>"First to Grenoble," replied Corse de Leon, "in the hope of finding her +brother there; but, should she not meet with him, she goes thence at +once to throw herself at the feet of the king."</p> + +<p>"But are you perfectly certain," demanded Bernard de Rohan, "that she +has escaped from the pursuit of this base man who has married her +mother?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly," replied Corse de Leon: "I saw her across the frontier +yesterday. Besides, as I told you before, the Lord of Masseran himself +is absent, carried by fears regarding the discovery of his own treachery +into the very jaws of the lion, power. Power is the only true basilisk. +Its eyes are those alone in this world which can fascinate the small +things hovering round it to drop into its mouth. But the lady is safe. +Be satisfied, and you can well overtake her ere she reaches Grenoble. I +bade them send back a man to tell me if she found not her brother there; +for, as I am going to Paris also, I thought perchance it might be better +to keep near her on the road, and bring her help in case she needed it. +But your own men are enough, I do not doubt, and I can but take few with +me, if any."</p> + +<p>"But is it not dangerous," said the young nobleman, "for you to travel +immediately after receiving so severe an injury?"</p> + +<p>"Dangerous!" said Corse de Leon; "oh, there is no danger in such things. +I do believe these mountains that I love will crush me at last; for +twice have I escaped almost by a miracle. But it is this injury, as you +call it, that has determined me to go now. I can be of but little active +use here till I can climb a rock again, and use this left arm as well as +the right. No man has a title to remain an hour in idleness, whatever be +his calling. Sleep itself I do not rightly understand: it is a lapse in +the active exertion of our being which is very strange, a sort of calm +pool in the midst of a torrent: I suppose it is solely for the body's +sake. There could have been no sleep before death came into the world; +for, not being subject to decay, the earthly frame could require no +refreshment any more than the spirit. However, as I was saying, idle and +inactive drones pretend that they must have rest and pause: if the head +aches or the hand is hurt, they declare that they can neither think nor +labour; but the wise man and the energetic man makes his spirit like +that monstrous serpent which I have heard of, and which, when one head +was smitten off, produced at once another. If a man cannot walk, he can +ride; if a man's right arm be broken, let him use his left; if his eyes +be put out, his ears will hear but the better—let him use them. Our +manifold senses are but manifold capabilities; and if the mind is +debarred from using one of its tools, it must use another. No man need +want employment for the senses, the limbs, and the means that he has +left, if he chooses to seek for it. For a while I shall be of no good +upon the mountain, and therefore I am going to the city. Some time or +another I must go, and therefore I may as well go now. But here comes +the old woman with my mess of food. You must take some with me. No one +knows better than she does how to cook the chamois, or the venison, or +to roast the shining trout in the ashes, or the snow-fowl over the fire; +and as for wine, the cellar of an archbishop or of a prior of a +monastery could not give you better than this lonely house can produce. +Nay, nay, shake not your head; you must eat and drink, let your +impatience be what it may: every man needs strength; and that we should +take food is a condition of our flesh and blood."</p> + +<p>In conversation of this kind passed away the hours, Bernard de Rohan and +his strange companion remaining almost altogether alone, though once two +young men, dressed like herdsmen, came to the door of the room, and, +leaning against the doorposts, addressed to Corse de Leon a few words, +apparently of no great import, and upon ordinary subjects, but to which +Bernard de Rohan imagined some occult meaning was attached.</p> + +<p>At length, much to the satisfaction of the young cavalier, a perceptible +shade of twilight came over the valley, along which the shadows of the +hills had been creeping for some time. The twilight grew grayer and more +gray, and Bernard de Rohan rose and walked to the window, with his +impatience for the arrival of the horses increasing every moment. Corse +de Leon was looking at him with a slight smile when he turned round; +but, in a few minutes after, the brigand rose, left the room, and +returned with the two young men whom Bernard de Rohan had seen before. +They were now loaded, however, with various kinds of arms and +habiliments of different sorts, which seemed to have been gathered from +many a quarter of the earth. These were spread out, some upon the table +and some on the floor; and this being performed without a word, those +who bore them retired, only appearing again to furnish the chamber with +a light.</p> + +<p>Corse de Leon glanced his eye to the young cavalier, and then gazed upon +the pile with a somewhat cynical smile.</p> + +<p>"This seems to be an abundant harvest," said Bernard de Rohan, whose +doubts as to the means employed to procure such rich habiliments were +many.</p> + +<p>"You say true," replied the brigand; "but you must remember, we are many +reapers. This has been going on, too, for very many years, so that you +will find here garments of various ages and of different nations. Look +here," he continued, taking up a black velvet surtout richly embroidered +with gold; "this is a coat cut in the fashion of forty or fifty years +ago, and belonged to some fat Englishman, who doubtless came over to +France with that arch heretic and blood monger Henry, who has not been +many years dead. Then, depend upon it, he would see foreign countries, +and go to Italy, and has left part of his fine wardrobe here behind him +in the mountains."</p> + +<p>"An unwilling legacy, I should think," replied Bernard de Rohan.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered the brigand; "but that is not a shot-hole you are +looking at so curiously. Our traditions say, I believe—for we have our +traditions—that the good gentleman got safe home, though somewhat +thinner of purse and scantier in apparel than when he came away. +However, choose yourself out some quiet suit that will not attract +attention, for you must not go riding through France like a Savoyard +peasant. There, that black hat and feather, which would become some +sober student of Padua, making his first effort to look the cavalier. +Then there is that stout buff coat I would recommend, with black loops +and borders. Ay, it is somewhat heavy, but there is a secret in that: +dagger or sword point will not well make its way through the jacked +doublings of those hides, and a pistol-ball would strike but faintly, +even if it did pass. Then there are those horseman's boots: they will be +no bad addition to the rest. That long sharp sword, too, in the black +sheath, will suit the hat, and none the less fit the hand. It is true +Toledo. Now seek for two daggers somewhat like it, and a pair of pistols +for the saddlebow. By the Lord that lives, if the horse they bring be +but a gray Spanish charger, with a tail longer than ordinary, they will +take you for some one who has been studying the black art at Salamanca, +or perhaps for some lay officer of the Inquisition in disguise. Is the +coat large enough? Oh, ay! it fits well. Now for a cloak to match."</p> + +<p>With the assistance of his companion, Bernard de Rohan fitted himself +with new garments, which somewhat disguised, but did not ill become his +powerful form. After he had done, the brigand opened the mouth of a +little sack which had been brought with the rest, saying, "Take what you +will: you can repay me hereafter."</p> + +<p>The young cavalier, however, took no more of the gold pieces which +appeared shining within than was absolutely necessary, replying to the +remonstrance of Corse de Leon that, as he approached nearer to Paris, +there were many who would be willing to assist him.</p> + +<p>"Well, well," replied the brigand, "it matters not. I shall not be far +from you. But now let us away. I hear the horses, and you are impatient +to be gone. We can meet them, therefore, as they come."</p> + +<p>Though Bernard de Rohan heard nothing of the sounds which his +companion's fine ear had discovered, he gladly followed him out to the +mountain-road, and walked on with him for some way before the horses +appeared. Their feet were soon heard, however; and at length a man, +mounted on a charger and leading another, was seen coming rapidly +towards them. The animal he led was powerful, and yet apparently swift: +some short time was spent in adjusting the arms and the stirrups; and +then, after offering many thanks to his strange companion for all that +he had done, Bernard de Rohan grasped his hand, sprang into the saddle, +and rode away in the direction of Chambery.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + + +<p>It was in a small cabinet in the princely chateau of Fontainebleau, some +eight days after the grand entertainment at the Louvre which we have +before mentioned, that Henry the Second of France was seated, conversing +with one of his most trusted servants and most faithful friends, the +well-known Maréchal de Vieilleville. The cabinet, the ceiling of which +was of dark black oak, carved and ornamented with small stars of gold, +was hung with rich but very ancient tapestry, still beautiful, though +the colours had faded in the passing of years. The dark green which +formed the principal hue was no longer enlivened by the gorgeous red and +yellow draperies which had once ornamented the principal figures, and a +dim and melancholy hue pervaded the room, to which the fact of the light +passing through some leafy trees without did not a little contribute.</p> + +<p>It was not, however, the peculiar colouring of the hangings, nor the +light passing through the green trees, that gave an unusual paleness to +the countenance of the king, as, laying down the pen with which he had +been writing, he gazed up in the face of Vieilleville, "What is it you +tell me, maréchal?" he said. "Dead? Crushed under one of the towers of +the castle? The very best and most promising soldier France could +produce! The dear friend of Brissac—lauded even by Montmorency! Heaven +and earth! Did you say he was returned, this Lord of Masseran? Send for +him instantly. Let a messenger be despatched to the capital at once. By +my crown, if I thought that he had any hand in this, I would have his +head off in the court before tomorrow's sun set. Send off a messenger +for him, I say!"</p> + +<p>"Sire, he is even now in the palace," replied the maréchal. "It was +seeing him pass along the court, in order to crave an audience, that +made me intrude upon your majesty just now. I heard this sad business +last night by a letter from Brissac; but I would not tell your majesty, +lest it should spoil your rest after so bustling a day."</p> + +<p>"What, you are one of those, Vieilleville, are you," said the king, with +a slight smile, "who can believe that the death of a faithful subject +may chase slumber from even a royal pillow? However, these despatches +must be written. Leave me for an hour, and then bring hither this Lord +of Masseran. Keep a good eye upon him, for he is as deceitful as a cat: +but he shall find that I am not to be trifled with."</p> + +<p>"I will venture to beseech you, sire," said the statesman, "in all that +you do with this man, to recollect that he is himself a sovereign +prince; for, were you to forget it, the example might be dangerous."</p> + +<p>"If I make him an example, it shall be for good, not for evil, +Vieilleville," replied the king. "Some of these petty princes need an +example how they may be punished for treachery and double-dealing. I +have heard more of him since he last set out for Savoy than I ever did +before, and I much doubted that he would return to France again. But +watch him well, good Vieilleville, and bring him hither in an hour. I +shall have finished ere that."</p> + +<p>The maréchal withdrew; and, ere the hour was expired, a page sought him +again from the king, requiring his presence, with that of the Lord of +Masseran, whom Vieilleville, on quitting the cabinet, had informed that +Henry could not yet receive him.</p> + +<p>The angry spot was still upon the king's brow when they entered; but he +spoke to the Lord of Masseran in a courteous tone, saying, "Well, my +good lord, this is somewhat unexpected. I knew not that you could go to +Savoy and return so quickly. How is it that you have shortened the way +so well?"</p> + +<p>"A melancholy interruption, sire," replied the Savoyard, "a melancholy +interruption caused me to return ere half my journey was complete. +Somewhat on this side of Lyons, I met a messenger coming with all speed +to seek me, and bearing this letter, which I beg to lay at your +majesty's feet."</p> + +<p>The king took it and read, examining every line as he did so, in order +to see whether it bore about it the marks of truth and authenticity. +There was nothing, however, to make him doubt it. It seemed simply a +letter from some seneschal or other officer, left behind by the Lord of +Masseran to command during his absence, announcing to him that the +prison tower of the castle had taken fire and fallen, crushing under its +ruins the chamber in which the young Baron de Rohan had been confined. +It went on to state that works had been already Commenced to supply its +place in the walls, and gave some account of the probable expense which +those works would occasion.</p> + +<p>"That would be dear," muttered Henry, in a low voice, and between his +teeth. "That would be dear payment to get rid of a troublesome friend. I +rather suspect it can be done cheaper in Savoy. Have you no news, +Monsieur de Masseran," he said aloud, "of how this terrible catastrophe +occurred?"</p> + +<p>"I have shown your majesty all the information I have received," replied +the Marquis of Masseran. "I returned to Paris with all speed after +having met with the messenger, and, not finding you there, came hither."</p> + +<p>"What say you, De Vieilleville?" said the king: "you had letters last +night, methinks, from some one in that neighbourhood."</p> + +<p>"They bear the same sad news, sire," replied the Maréchal de +Vieilleville. "But they add, that everybody in that country marvelled +much how this event could have occurred in a tower detached from the +castle, built almost entirely of stone, and doubtless intrusted to a +faithful guard."</p> + +<p>"It is, indeed, most strange," said the Marquis of Masseran, +thoughtfully. "There must have been some base neglect."</p> + +<p>"This must be inquired into," said the king, "this must be inquired +into. My good Lord of Vieilleville, call the page for these despatches. +It behooves you, my Lord of Masseran, to make strict and immediate +inquiry into the whole of this affair, in which you shall be aided and +assisted by a commissary on our part. There are the despatches, boy. Why +wait you? What is it now?"</p> + +<p>"May it please your majesty," replied the page, "there is a lady without +craving earnestly to see you. She calls herself the sister of the Count +of Brienne, and I remember her well at the court some months ago. She +seems in much grief, and—"</p> + +<p>"Give her admission," said the king, "give her instant admission. She +may throw some light upon all this affair, my good Lord of Masseran."</p> + +<p>The marquis turned somewhat pale; for the appearance of Isabel of +Brienne in the king's presence was not at all what he wished or +calculated upon. He had hoped for an opportunity of telling his own +tale, and causing his wife to tell hers so as to corroborate all he +said, without the actual appearance of Isabel herself. He knew that the +Count de Meyrand, though apparently taking no part in all that occurred +since their arrival in Paris, had been continually and skilfully +preparing the way for the development of his part in the transaction; +had been labouring to make friends and gain supporters among those who +possessed the king's ear, and had been apparently not a little +successful, even with the fair Duchess of Valentinois herself.</p> + +<p>It must not be supposed, however, that good Monsieur de Masseran was +moved by any personal love or regard for the Count de Meyrand: there was +but one tie between them, the tie of interest; and the moment that the +Lord of Masseran saw that more was to be lost or risked by the Count de +Meyrand than to be gained, that instant he was prepared to put an end to +his affection for his noble friend. He was, however, as we have seen, in +various respects, in the count's power; and he had trusted that their +united operations would be sufficient to induce the king to act without +listening to the fair girl herself. He had, moreover, believed, when he +heard of the death of Bernard de Rohan, that one great obstacle being +removed, the rest would be comparatively easy. The arrival of Isabel, +however, was most inopportune; for he saw that, in the king's angry mood +at the moment, the disclosure of all that had taken place within the +last few weeks might be ruinous in another way, and not only overthrow +his future schemes with regard to Mademoiselle de Brienne herself, but +bring punishment on his head for what had occurred before.</p> + +<p>As the interview, however, could be prevented by no means within his +reach, he sought eagerly in his mind for excuses and defences for his +conduct: but he had hardly time to arrange any plan ere Isabel herself +entered, supported by the arm of one whom he felt far more inclined to +fear than even herself. That person was good Father Willand; and his +surprise and dismay were not a little increased by seeing the king +receive the priest with a gracious smile as an old acquaintance, and, +grasping his arm familiarly, ask him what had made him return from +banishment.</p> + +<p>"Why, to bring this poor lamb back to your majesty's fold," replied +Father Willand, in his usual gay and unceremonious tone. "By my faith, +sire, if all shepherds were like you, and mistook the wolf for the +watch-dog, mutton would soon be dear in France."</p> + +<p>"How so? how so, good father?" demanded Henry, laughing; and, at the +same time, taking Isabel's hand in his own, he prevented her, with a +kindly gesture, from throwing herself at his feet. "Cheer up, fair +lady," he said, "cheer up. The king will protect you, and be a father to +you. But how now, bold priest? How have I been so unwise a shepherd as +to mistake the wolf for the watch-dog?"</p> + +<p>"Why," answered Father Willand, boldly, and looking full in the face of +the Lord of Masseran, "by giving one of the best of your flock"—and he +pointed with his hand to Isabel—"into the care of a Savoyard wolf."</p> + +<p>"Hush! hush! my good father," cried the king. "By Heavens! if you use +such language, you will get yourself into a worse scrape, in your cure +of Saint John of Bonvoisin, than that for which I was obliged to send +you away from Paris, to keep your ears out of the way of knives. On my +soul, we must find a bridle for that tongue of yours."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, sire," exclaimed the Lord of Masseran, marking with pleasure a +slight frown that had come upon the king's brow, "indeed, sire, such a +bridle is most necessary; for that tongue is not only insolent, but +mendacious."</p> + +<p>"Hush, sir!" exclaimed the king, sternly; "you speak of one of the +honestest men in France;" and he held out his hand to Father Willand, +who kissed it respectfully. "Would that we had many such!" the king went +on: "for the men who tell truth in the cabinet as well as in the pulpit, +are those that are very needful here: albeit," he added, with a smile, +"they may occasionally, in their hatred of hypocrites and knaves, give +their tongue some license, and their conduct too. However, my good +father, you will never be wise, so that I fear some day I shall have to +make you a bishop, merely to keep you out of the way of strong fists and +crabsticks. Now let us turn to the case of this young lady. The page +told me, fair one, that you were anxious to see me immediately. What is +it you would have?"</p> + +<p>"Protection, sire," replied Isabel de Brienne, raising her fair face +towards the king, filled with an expression of deep and hopeless grief, +which touched the kind heart of the monarch, and made his tone even more +kindly than it was before as he replied,</p> + +<p>"And you shall have it, lady. But let me hear how it is that protection +is needed: have you not a mother and a brother to protect and help you?"</p> + +<p>"Alas! sire," replied Isabel of Brienne, "my mother is no more my +father's wife nor my father's widow. She is now the wife of one to whose +will she shows all dutiful obedience; but unto me the mother's care and +tenderness are at an end."</p> + +<p>"Fair lady," said the king, "the time that I can spare you is but short, +and it may save you both trouble and grief, and, perhaps, from one cause +or another, may likewise spare you a blush, if I tell you that I know +the past. Lest you should suspect that my ears have been wronged and +your conduct falsely told, the brief history of the facts is this: You +have loved and been beloved by a very gallant gentleman, one who has +served his king and country well and faithfully; and your mother, not +holding him as dearly and highly as we may do or you have done, has +opposed your marriage with the man of your choice, and endeavoured, as +far as may be, to separate you from him. He, in the somewhat indiscreet +eagerness of love, persuaded you, it would seem, to fly with him +secretly, and unite your fate to his by a clandestine marriage, which, +upon every principle of law and reason, must be null and void. However, +at the very altar, I am told, your worthy stepfather here present +surprised and separated you from this bold gentleman, took means to +ensure that you should not meet again, and was bringing or sending you +to Paris, when you contrived to escape. Thus far we know; what is there +more? The tale that we have heard is very simple."</p> + +<p>As the king ended, he looked round with a slight smile, which certainly +might be interpreted either "This matter is very clear," or else "I know +there is another version."</p> + +<p>The person who answered it first, however, was the good priest. "That is +the story, sire," he said. "'Tis a most excellent piece of goods, but +smells somewhat of the manufacturer."</p> + +<p>"How so, sir? But let the lady speak, and say if this be true or not."</p> + +<p>"True, sire," replied Isabel de Brienne, much to the surprise of the +Lord of Masseran. "It is all true; but there is much besides to be said, +and some things which I must say, but which, perhaps, I cannot prove, +especially now, when deep grief masters me. As your majesty has +said—and no blush will stain my cheek while I do own it—I loved and +was beloved by as noble a gentleman as ever graced this land; but I +trust that I loved him wisely too, for to that love I have been plighted +since my fifteenth year. My father—my good father, sire, who in times +past has stricken in many a battle by your side, and also in many +another well-fought field—joined my hand to his with promises which I, +his daughter, was but too willing to fulfil. My mother, it is true, +always looked somewhat coldly on him I loved, ever since he struck to +the ground a base man, her intendant, for wronging an unprotected girl; +but still my mother was present when we were plighted to each other; +still she was present when my father, on his deathbed, made me promise +that I would wed the man whom he had chosen. Oh, how willingly I +promised! oh, how gladly I would have kept that promise! but they have +rendered it vain;" and, unable to restrain herself, the tears burst +forth, and she wept bitterly.</p> + +<p>Henry had carried his eyes from her to the countenance of the Lord of +Masseran from time to time while she spoke, and now, taking her hand +kindly, he said, "Be comforted, dear lady, be comforted. This changes +the matter greatly. What else have you to add?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, much, much, sire," replied Isabel, wiping the tears from her eyes; +"but I will be brief, sire; indeed I will be brief, and not waste your +most precious time. Bernard de Rohan, my promised husband, went to serve +his king in Italy—"</p> + +<p>"And did serve him there right well," said the king. "But go on."</p> + +<p>"He had been absent some time," she continued, "and I was longing for +his return, when a nobleman of your majesty's court sought my hand, to +my great surprise, with my mother's countenance. Thinking that he had +been deceived, I told him the whole truth, but still he pursued his +suit. I wish, sire, that it were not needful for me to give his name, +but I fear I must."</p> + +<p>"The Count de Meyrand," said the king. "He has already urged his suit to +us. What more of him, fair lady?"</p> + +<p>"He urged it upon me, sire," she answered, "after he knew that my heart +was given and my hand was promised to another, that other being his own +friend. He sought me, sire, he persecuted me, he used words that I will +not repeat, nay, menaces, all with the countenance of my mother, who +acted, I believe—nay, I know—under the commands of her new husband. I +was in hopes of some relief when my Lord of Masseran here took us so +suddenly to Savoy, but we were soon followed by the gentleman you have +named. I was now told to think no more of Bernard de Rohan. I was +informed that my hand was destined for the man whom, by this time, I +detested, and that means would be found to make me obey. Vague and +terrible fears came over me; but I obtained an opportunity of writing +one letter to him I loved. Would that I had never done so! for that +letter has killed him."</p> + +<p>"Methinks, sire, it would have been better," said the Lord of Masseran, +in a sneering tone, "if the fair lady was so tyrannically used in my +poor dwelling, to write to her brother in the capital."</p> + +<p>"I did," replied Isabel of Brienne, "often and most sorrowfully."</p> + +<p>"But did you ever ask him to come to you?" demanded the Lord of +Masseran. "He says not."</p> + +<p>"Never," replied Isabel of Brienne. "On the contrary, I besought him not +to come. I concealed half my grief, the daily anguish of witnessing my +mother's sorrow, the taunts, the sneers, the bitterness, which, like the +Egyptian pestilence, made our very food swarm with reptiles; I concealed +much, much that I might have told, and still besought him not to come."</p> + +<p>"May I ask why, madam?" said the king, with evident surprise. "De +Vieilleville, there is something under this. I must hear the whole," he +added, seeing her hesitate. "Lady, it must be told."</p> + +<p>"It was, sire," said Isabel de Brienne, in a low but distinct voice, "it +was that I feared, if brother and sister should be in the same house +beyond the pale of your majesty's realm—in a place where few questions +are asked, and secret acts do not easily transpire—I feared, I say, I +feared much for my brother's safety."</p> + +<p>"I understand," said the king, "I understand. But there must be great +objects for such doings."</p> + +<p>"Everything reverts, sire," said Vieilleville, addressing the king in a +low voice, "everything reverts to the mother in case of the death of the +son and daughter without children."</p> + +<p>"These, sire, however," said Isabel, "were but suspicions, and perhaps +were unjust—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, most unjust, I do assure your majesty," said the Lord of Masseran, +who had more than once shown a disposition to break in, but had been +restrained by a gesture from the king. "Such base designs never entered +my mind."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps such suspicions were unjust, sire," continued Isabel; "but to +speak of facts. I had been forced out more than once to hunting-parties +where the Count of Meyrand joined us; and at length, on one occasion, I +was told that I must needs go forth with my Lord of Masseran to visit a +house of his farther in the mountains. I went with fear, sire, on many +accounts. First, the hour he chose was strange, just before sunset; +next, my mother was not with us; and next, the train appointed to +accompany us was smaller than usual. Scarcely had night fallen, when we +were suddenly attacked and overpowered by a large body of men—"</p> + +<p>"Was this with violence?" demanded the king. "Was any one killed or +hurt?"</p> + +<p>"None but some of the old and faithful servants of my family," replied +the young lady, "who forgot where they were, and how situated, and +defended their young mistress with their lives. One of them escaped, and +fled to a little inn for help; but, in the mean time, we were, as I have +said, overpowered and carried off farther into the hills, my Lord of +Masseran as well as myself; though I cannot help thinking that he went +somewhat willingly, for certainly among the assailants there was one, if +not more, of the attendants of his good friend the Count de Meyrand. +When we had gone some way—a long way, indeed, it seemed to me—a +cavalier who had been found at the inn, none other than Monsieur de +Rohan, came to our rescue, having gathered together a number of persons +sufficient to deliver us—"</p> + +<p>"A number of brigands!" said the Lord of Masseran, interrupting her: +"brigands, you mean, young lady! brigands!"</p> + +<p>"Ha! ha!" cried the priest, "wonderfully good! That bolt was smartly +shot, my good Lord of Masseran. But, as you have put a word to the +lady's story, I will put another; she says 'persons,' you say +'brigands,' I say anybody he could get. I was one of the number: there +were other people from the inn, and the brigands, it is very true, came +and joined us; not liking, as your majesty may easily conceive, that the +good Lord of Masseran, or any other lord, should take the trade out of +their hands. However, we refused no help where we could get it. The +Chevalier de Meyrand, who was at the inn when the man came crying for +aid, remained at the table with the capons and the bottles of wine, not +liking, as may well be supposed, to frustrate his own schemes or fight +against his own people; and Bernard de Rohan, with what assistance he +could get, set free the young lady, ay, and the Lord of Masseran to +boot."</p> + +<p>"Then there were, in truth, brigands with you, my good father," said the +king.</p> + +<p>"In sooth were there, sire," replied the priest; "some of the best +brigands between this and Naples; and I have a shrewd notion that Corse +de Leon was there himself."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" said the king, with a smile; "then I wish I had been there +also: I would give half a province to see that man, who seems to have +been born for a general, and become a brigand by accident."</p> + +<p>"Brissac writes me word, sire," said the Maréchal de Vieilleville, "that +Corse de Leon has served you better in Piedmont than any three captains +in your service."</p> + +<p>"That may well be," said the king; "but yet we must not too openly +favour such gentry. Now, lady, we have interrupted you too long."</p> + +<p>"I have but little more to say, sire," replied Isabel de Brienne: "as +those who had delivered us were carrying us back to the castle in +safety, I had full opportunity—the first time for years—of speaking +with my promised husband, who informed me that he came, not only to seek +my hand, but to bear despatches from Monsieur de Brissac to my Lord of +Masseran there. What I have to tell farther is not altogether of my own +knowledge; but let him deny the facts if he can, for there are persons +who can prove them if he does deny them. He received intelligence that +Monsieur de Rohan brought him despatches and directions of an unpleasant +kind, and he left the chateau that he might not receive them. He also +ordered that admittance should be refused both to my mother and myself; +and I had reason to believe that a new scheme was formed for compelling +me to wed the Count de Meyrand. In these circumstances, your majesty, I +saw no chance of escape but in doing as I did do. I was far from your +protecting arm; I was, in fact, in the power and at the disposal, not of +my mother, but of a stranger to our house and nation; and I knew that if +I delayed or hesitated, even for a few days, I was likely to be borne +far away beyond the power of rescue or deliverance. I held that my +father's will and wishes justified me in what, at other times, might +have been a rash, perhaps an improper act; and, having the opportunity +both of seeing him I loved and escaping with him, I did not hesitate; +our purpose being immediately to seek your presence, and cast ourselves +at your majesty's feet, entreating your gracious pardon. We were +afterward seized at the altar, as your majesty has been told; and I was +then carried away, as if with the purpose of taking me to some remote +place, but, in reality, to give the opportunity of a mock deliverance by +the Count of Meyrand;" and she gave a brief account of what had taken +place after the count came apparently to her rescue. "I doubt not that +he was carrying me to Paris," she continued, "and might ultimately have +brought me to your majesty's presence; but I neither chose to be +entirely in his power and at his disposal after all that had happened, +nor to quit that part of the country where I had reason to believe my +brother was or might soon be, and where my husband—yes, sire, my +husband, for a vow had been spoken which nothing but death could do +away—where my husband lay a captive in the hands of that dangerous man. +With the aid of Father Willand here I made my escape; but alas! alas! it +was only to find that he who had loved me well and truly was no longer +in life to protect and guide me. I found, sire, that he had died a +horrible death in the castle of Masseran, by the falling of the tower +under which he was confined."</p> + +<p>She spoke, to all appearance, calmly; even the last words were distinct, +though low; but she kept her eyes bent down, and, closing them for a +moment, the drops of tears broke through the long black lashes like a +crushed diamond.</p> + +<p>"I grieve for you, dear lady," said the king, "and I sympathize with you +also; for I loved this young gentleman well. But tell me, have you any +suspicion that his death was brought about unfairly?"</p> + +<p>"No, sire, no," she replied; "I have no cause to suppose so. I know +nothing farther than that it is as I have told you."</p> + +<p>"You see, sire," said the Lord of Masseran, "that she exculpates me from +blame in this matter."</p> + +<p>"No, my lord, no," replied the king. "Of the manner of this gentleman's +death she knows nothing, but in regard to your preceding conduct she +does anything but exculpate you. She says, or I am mistaken, that she +had good reason to know a scheme had been formed for compelling her to +marry the Count de Meyrand, and also for bearing her far away beyond the +possibility of rescue or deliverance. Call you this exculpating you?"</p> + +<p>"But I deny that this is the case, sire," replied the Lord of Masseran. +"How could she tell what were my schemes or what were my plans? These +are but vague suspicions, engendered by disappointment and anger."</p> + +<p>"No, my lord, they are not," replied Isabel de Brienne. "They are not +vague suspicions: they are certainties which I have never yet fully told +to any one, no, not even to him I loved, because you are my mother's +husband; but may I put you in mind of a German courier who was with you +secretly on the twenty-ninth of last month—not the first that came that +day—ay, and of the Spaniard who came two days afterward—"</p> + +<p>The Lord of Masseran turned paler than his ruff, and clasped his hands +together as if about to pray for mercy; but Isabel went on, "With his +majesty's permission, I will first tell you in your ear, my lord, what I +know of those couriers. Then, if you will have it so, and still deny the +fact, I will speak aloud, and call on those who can prove it."</p> + +<p>The king bowed his head in token of consent; and, while Isabel spoke for +a few moments with the Lord of Masseran apart, he said to Vieilleville, +with a thoughtful look, "You see Brissac's information was good."</p> + +<p>"Might it not be better, sire," said Vieilleville, "to send this man for +a few days to the Bastile, in order to ascertain how the case now +stands?"</p> + +<p>"It is not worth while," replied the king, in the same under voice; "the +treaty will so soon be concluded that he can do no mischief, especially +while we keep him about the court. On the contrary, Vieilleville, I hope +and trust he will not drive this poor girl to say any more; for I +suspect, if she were to tell all, I should be obliged to punish him; and +that same sword of justice is the heaviest and most unpleasant one to +wield I know. Well, fair lady, does your penitent admit the facts?"</p> + +<p>"He does not deny, my lord," replied Isabel de Brienne, "that I had good +cause for suspicion; and he has moreover promised me, both in his own +name and in that of my mother, that I shall never be farther pressed to +give my hand to any one, but shall be permitted to do the only thing +that now remains for me to do in life—to retire from a world where I +have known little but sorrow, and vow myself to the altar for ever."</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay," said the king. "Not so, fair lady, not so. We will have you +think of this better. Such charms as yours were never made for the +cloister. At all events, let the first shadow of this grief pass away: +you know not what may happen to change your views."</p> + +<p>"Nothing can ever do so, sire," replied Isabel de Brienne. "Your majesty +must not forget, that with him who is gone I have been brought up all my +life. The sweet years of childhood, the happiest period that I have ever +known, are in remembrance full of him and of his affection. To him all +my thoughts have been given, all my wishes linked from childhood until +now: the thoughts so nurtured have become part of my being. His glory I +have felt as my glory, his happiness I have prayed for before my own, +and his praise has been to my heart the most tuneful of all sounds. I +can never think otherwise than I have thought, sire; and I will beseech +your majesty not to give this good Lord of Masseran any motive to +withdraw the word that he has plighted to me."</p> + +<p>"Nay, I will not do that," replied the king. "I will hold him bound by +that word, that neither he nor your mother shall offer any opposition to +your wishes in this respect; but still, at the king's request, you must +delay the execution of such a scheme, at least for a short time."</p> + +<p>"I fear, sire," said the Lord of Masseran, "that it will be in vain. As +your majesty well knows, and as I do not scruple to confess, I had other +views and wishes for her; but I know that she is of so fixed and +determined a nature, that when, believing she is right, she has made up +her mind to a certain course of action, nothing will move her to abandon +it."</p> + +<p>"We shall see, we shall see," said the king. "I would fain not lose one +of the brightest ornaments of our court. Vieilleville," he continued, +"unto your care I will commend this young lady. Take her with you to the +apartments of your daughter and of my daughter Claude. Bid the princess +love her and sooth her, and consult with the queen where she can best be +placed in the chateau, so as to have comfort, and ease, and repose, with +as little of the bustle and gayety of a court as may be, for the time. +Such things will be harsh to you, I know, young lady. Monsieur de +Masseran, we will be father and mother also to her for a while. Father +Willand, let me see you at nightfall: I have somewhat to say to you, my +good friend."</p> + +<p>"I shall make the almoner in waiting jealous," said Father Willand; "but +I hope your majesty will order me some dinner: for I doubt much if, in +your whole palace, I should find any one charitable enough to bestow an +alms on a poor wandering priest like myself."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken, good father," said Vieilleville. "You will find your +cover at my table: come with me; we must no farther occupy his majesty's +time."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, he led Isabel de Brienne to the door; but, before he had +gone out, the king called him back, and said in a low voice, "Do not let +the Savoyard quit the court. Should need be, tell him I require his +presence the day after to-morrow. Discourage these ideas of nunneries. +Poor Meyrand is madly in love with this girl; and it is strange to see +how passion mixes itself up with his supercilious air of indifference. +Perhaps she may be brought to yield."</p> + +<p>"I think not, sire," replied Vieilleville, bluntly; and, with a low bow, +he left the room.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + + +<p>The horse was strong and fresh, and Bernard de Rohan rode on rapidly. +The stars came out brighter and brighter as the night deepened, and the +clear, deep, lustrous purple of those fair southern skies became mingled +with yellow light, as the moon, looking large and defined, rose over the +deep black summits of the eastern hills. It was not long before the +French frontier was passed; and in those days, as Savoy was completely +in the occupation of the French, no guards watched upon the way to stop +or question the stranger coming from the neighbouring land.</p> + +<p>Judging the distance which Isabel must have gone, even at a slow pace, +to be considerable, Bernard de Rohan did not think fit to pause at any +of the first towns or villages which he met with, but, avoiding man's +habitation as far as possible, went on till his horse's speed began to +flag, and he found it necessary to stop for repose and refreshment. He +had now gone on, however, for about five hours, so that it was by this +time the middle of the night, and with difficulty he made himself heard +in a small hamlet on the rode to Grenoble. He procured, at length, some +refreshment for himself and for his horse, but no tidings whatsoever +which could lead him to judge whether Isabel and his servants had or had +not taken the same road which he himself was following. He remained, +however, for two hours, to allow the horse time to rest, and then, once +more putting his foot in the stirrup, rode onward at a slower pace.</p> + +<p>About an hour after, the day once more began to dawn, and he found +himself winding in and out among the beautiful hills which border the +Isere. Everything was rich, and fertile, and picturesque, and upon those +scenes the eye of Bernard de Rohan could have rested with infinite +pleasure at any other time; but now anxious eagerness hurried him on, +scarcely remarking the objects around for any other purpose than to +judge where he was, and how far from Grenoble. A little after five in +the morning he passed through the small village of Montbonnat, and heard +with gladness the assurance of the people of the place that he was not +much more than two leagues from Grenoble.</p> + +<p>After giving his horse a draught of water, he went on his way again +through that beautiful district of streams and mountains, constantly +ascending and descending, till at length, not far from the hamlet of +Imfray, he saw before him a single horseman coming slowly on, the first +person, in fact, whom he had met upon the road since he had set out the +night before.</p> + +<p>When the young cavalier first perceived him, the man was at the distance +of some two hundred yards; but it was with no small pleasure that +Bernard de Rohan at once recognised one of his own servants, named +Pierre Millort, an honest but somewhat weak man, who had been born upon +his own estates, and had served him for many years. He now felt certain +of obtaining speedy news of Isabel de Brienne, and rode directly towards +the other horseman, expecting that the man would remember his lord's +person at once. The young nobleman, however, dressed in the habit which +had been given him by Corse de Leon, bore not at all his usual aspect, +and good Pierre Millort also devoutly believed him to be dead. It is not +to be wondered at, therefore, that he looked upon the person who +approached him as a complete stranger; and, fancying that there was +something in his appearance of a very doubtful nature, he drew his sword +a little forward as he saw the strange cavalier riding directly up to +him, and prepared to defend himself, in case of need, as well as might +be.</p> + +<p>When Bernard de Rohan called him by his name, however, asking if he did +not recollect him, astonishment, not a little mingled with superstitious +fear, made the man nearly fall from his horse, and he felt strongly +inclined to argue the matter with his young master, in order to persuade +him that he was really dead. At length, becoming fully convinced that +such was not the case, and that Bernard himself, in a bodily and +corporeal form, was before his eyes, he gave him the information which +he desired regarding Isabel de Brienne, though that information was by +no means satisfactory to the young cavalier.</p> + +<p>The lady had arrived at Grenoble, he said, on the very same day that she +had set out from Gandelot's inn; but, finding that her brother was not +there, and had not sent any notice of his coming to the house in the +city where she expected to hear of him, she had taken her departure on +the following morning, in order to reach the capital and throw herself +upon the protection of the king as speedily as possible. She hoped to +arrive at Vienne in one day, the man continued, and had sent him off at +once to convey intelligence of her route to somebody he was to meet at +Gandelot's inn.</p> + +<p>"Then how happened you not to be there last night?" demanded Bernard de +Rohan. "Had you pursued your journey, you would have saved me the +trouble of coming to Grenoble, and would have enabled me to cut across +the country and join her at Vienne this morning. Now she will be two +whole days in advance of me."</p> + +<p>"And not a horse will you get in Grenoble with which to pursue your +way," replied the man; "for that's the reason, sir, why I did not come +on at once."</p> + +<p>"Had you not your own horse?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, somewhat +angrily.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," answered the servant, "I had; but a sad accident happened to +him, poor fellow. I left Grenoble at the very same moment that the lady +set out for Vienne; but I had not got far beyond La Tronche, when, the +road being covered with loose stones which had rolled down from the +hill, my horse slipped and fell, cutting both his knees to pieces. I was +obliged to lead him back into the town, and no horse could I get for +love or money, till at length I made a bargain with a peasant from +Bachat to change with me, he taking my fine beast on the chance of +curing him, and giving me this wretched animal in his stead, to enable +me to go on my way. It is not, however, an hour since he brought the +beast in. So you see, Sir, I have lost no time."</p> + +<p>"That is enough," said Bernard de Rohan, thoughtfully, "that is enough. +I must go on to Grenoble now, however. Come with me; you will not be +wanted at Gandelot's inn;" and, thus saying, he rode on to the town, +where it was necessary to give his own horse a long time to rest, for +the distance which he had come was more than fifty miles, and the road +steep, difficult, and fatiguing.</p> + +<p>Judging by the rate at which Isabel was proceeding, it was clear that +she must reach Lyons before that day closed; for, though she might not +accomplish her purpose of arriving at Vienne on the day before, yet the +distance to Lyons itself was but two easy days' journey.</p> + +<p>Every means that long military experience suggested was employed by +Bernard de Rohan to refresh and invigorate his horse more speedily, and +those means were very successful, although some of them may appear to +us, in this age, somewhat fantastic. Balls of spice were given to the +animal, his feet and pasterns were bathed in red wine, and various other +proceedings of the same kind were adopted with a similar view. It was +impossible, however, to go on till towards the evening, and even then +the young cavalier found that it was in vain to seek Vienne that night, +as neither his own horse nor that of his attendant could accomplish the +distance. They proceeded as far as possible, however, so as to leave a +moderate day's journey between them and Lyons; and on the succeeding +evening Bernard de Rohan had the pleasure of seeing the fair city of the +Rhone spread out before his eyes, and of knowing that there could not +well be more than one day's journey between him and her he loved.</p> + +<p>The great difficulty, however, now was to discover at what inn Isabel +had lodged on the preceding night, in order to ascertain what route she +had followed on her farther journey. Lyons, even at that time, was a +very large and important city, filled with inns of every sort and +description; and, as in those days despotic suspicion had not invented +the fetter-lock of passports; as there was no tyrannical police, no +licensed spies to whom the abode of every citizen, the sleeping-place of +every traveller, the movements of every being in the realm were known, +as is now the case in France, Bernard de Rohan had no other means of +ascertaining the resting-place of Isabel during the preceding night than +his own conjectures or inquiries made at all the principal places of +public reception.</p> + +<p>When he had himself passed through Lyons some time before, he had been +in command of a considerable body of soldiers, and had lodged at an inn +in the suburb of La Guillotiere. That suburb was not so large in those +days as at present; but it possessed at that period one of the best inns +which Lyons could boast of; and, as the servants who now accompanied +Isabel de Brienne were then with him, and he had remained for several +days there, he judged it not at all unlikely that they might have +conducted his fair bride to the resting-place where they had previously +lodged. He rode, then, directly to the same inn, which was surrounded by +its own court and gardens; but the faces that presented themselves were +strange to him; for, among all the mutable things of this earth, there +are few more mutable than the servants of an inn.</p> + +<p>In general, at all the auberges on the road, a man on horseback was sure +to meet with attention and good treatment; but, in such a city as Lyons, +luxury had of course brought fastidious notions along with it; and the +frequent visits of persons with large trains, ladies in immense rumbling +carriages or clumsy horse-litters, made the horseman with his single +attendant and weary horses an object of very little importance in the +eyes of the drawers and ostlers.</p> + +<p>Perceiving some slackness of civility, the young cavalier ordered the +host to be sent to him, and the landlord of the Checkers—for so the inn +was called—presented himself, gazing upon the young gentleman at first +as a perfect stranger. A moment after, however, the face of the Baron de +Rohan came to his remembrance, at first connecting itself vaguely with +considerable sums of money received, and numerous expensive attendants, +horses, arms, banners, <i>et cetera</i>; so that his satellites were very +soon surprised by seeing various low and profound inclinations of his +head, as he welcomed "his lordship" back to Lyons; hoped that the +campaign had gone well with him. Gradually recollecting more of the +circumstances, he recalled even his visiter's name itself, and, in tones +of indignant haste, bade the stable-boys take Monseigneur de Rohan's +horses, and the chamberlain show monseigneur himself to the best +apartments of the inn, while he followed, bowing lowly every time the +young cavalier turned round.</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan's first inquiries were for Isabel de Brienne; but the +good host was far too wise and practised in his profession to satisfy +the young gentleman fully before he had fixed him at his own inn. Oh +yes, undoubtedly, he said, such a lady had been there, and had set off +that very morning, with just such attendants as monseigneur described. +He would come back and tell him more, he continued, in one minute, when +he had merely given orders for a nice little supper to be sent up, and +had seen that the horses were properly cared for. But, when he at length +made his appearance, after being absent till the supper he talked of was +nearly ready, and the young gentleman actually sent for him, it then +turned out, of course, that the lady he spoke of was quite a different +person, some forty years of age, and the widow of some famous marshal +dead many years before.</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan was disappointed, but he did not suffer his equanimity +to be disturbed at finding some little want of sincerity in an +innkeeper. He partook but lightly, however, of the good host's supper; +and then, directing the attendant who accompanied him to make inquiries +at all the inns in the suburb where they then were, he himself set out +on foot, and, passing the bridge, pursued the search throughout the town +of Lyons. That search, however, proved vain; and not the slightest +tidings of Isabel and her train had Bernard de Rohan been able to find +before the sun went down.</p> + +<p>He was preparing to return to the inn, in the hope that his servant +might have been more successful than himself, when, in passing down one +of the long, narrow streets which led from the great square, he was met +by a crowd of people so dense that he found it would be absolutely +impossible to traverse it, and he accordingly turned (little caring what +had caused the assemblage) in order to pass round by the Church of the +Feuillans, and make his way homeward by another street.</p> + +<p>The pavement of the good town of Lyons is by no means pleasant or easy +to walk upon in the present day, being entirely composed of round, +slippery stones, on which the feet seem to have no hold. In those times +it was even worse, for it was irregular in construction as well as bad +in material; and Bernard de Rohan himself, though strong and active, +found it no easy task to outwalk, even by a pace or two, a crowd of +persons better accustomed to tread those streets than himself. He had +contrived to get a few steps in advance, however, and had reached the +long, narrow street which passes round by the side of the church, when +he was stopped, just as he was about to pass down it, by another crowd +as dense as the first, by which he was forcibly borne along. The two +currents, meeting in the more open street he had just quitted, carried +him forward in the midst of them; and, finding it impossible to escape, +he gave himself up for the time, and, turning to a lad who was near, +inquired what was the occasion which called so many persons together.</p> + +<p>"Why, where do you come from, seigneur," said the young man, "that you +don't know all this business?"</p> + +<p>"I come from Italy," replied Bernard de Rohan, "where I have been with +the army; but, once again, what is all this about?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I should have thought it might have reached there," replied the +lad. "But don't you know they are bringing along Jamets, the great +heretic printer, to burn him in the Place de Terreaux?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" said Bernard de Rohan. "Pray what has he done to merit such a +terrible punishment?"</p> + +<p>"What has he done?" cried the young man, with a look of indignation. "He +is a heretic; is not that enough? Don't they all mock the holy mass? +What has he done? I should not wonder if you were a heretic yourself."</p> + +<p>"No, no, my good youth," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I certainly am not +that. But they were not so strict about these matters a year or two ago, +when I went with the army into Italy."</p> + +<p>"There is much need they should be strict now," replied the boy, who, as +usual, thought it manly to outdo the follies of his elders, "for the +poisonous vermin have infected the whole place. Don't push so, Peter," +he continued, speaking to one of those behind him, who was urging him +forward exactly in the same manner that he was pressing on those before +him.</p> + +<p>"Get on! get on! or we shall not see the sight," cried the other. "They +have taken him on through the lane."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes the crowd began to issue forth into the Place de +Terreaux; and, before he could disengage himself, the terrible +preparations for burning one of the unfortunate victims of superstition +were before the eyes of Bernard de Rohan. A space was railed off in the +centre of the square, and kept clear by guards; but in the midst +thereof, at the distance of about thirty yards from the young cavalier, +appeared an elderly man, with a fine and intelligent countenance, pale +as ashes, and evidently fully sensible of all the agonies of the death +he was about to endure. He was chained upright to an enormous post or +stake driven into the ground, and one of the brutal executioners was +seen fastening the chain tighter round his neck, though another had by +this time lighted the fagots which had been piled up underneath and +around his feet. From time to time the victim closed his eyes, and his +lips moved as if murmuring forth a prayer; at other moments he cast a +wild and fearful glance round upon the people; but, in general, he +remained still and quiet, as if striving within himself to subdue the +natural repugnance of the flesh to the endurance of pain and death.</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan loved not such sights nor such acts; and as in that +open space the crowd was thinner around him, he was turning away once +more to pursue his path homeward, when a capuchin friar approached the +unfortunate man, and, holding up a crucifix, seemed to exhort him to +abandon his faith. At that point, however, all the firmness which had +supported him through imprisonment and trial came back, and, waving his +hand indignantly, he turned away his head with a gesture of disgust.</p> + +<p>The capuchin raised both his arms towards the sky; and a roar of furious +exultation burst from the people, as the flames, almost at the same +moment, were seen to rise up round the unfortunate victim, and the +convulsive gasp of agony distorted his countenance.</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan forced his way on; but, as he did so, some one touched +his arm from behind, evidently intentionally, and, looking in that +direction, he beheld, to his great surprise, the countenance of Corse de +Leon.</p> + +<p>The brigand gazed upon him for a moment, but without speaking, then +turned his head away; and, recollecting the warning which he had +received, not to notice him unless spoken to by him, Bernard de Rohan +made his way out through the people, and reached the inn just as it was +growing dark. He now found that his attendant had been as little +successful as himself in the search for Isabel de Brienne; but the +landlord informed him that a gentleman named the Chevalier Lenoir had +been there to inquire for him; and Bernard de Rohan, trusting that Corse +de Leon might possess some better means of information than himself +concerning the course which Isabel had taken, waited impatiently for the +brigand's return.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + + +<p>Bernard de Rohan waited for nearly an hour before the person whom he +wished to see made his appearance. At length, however, the aubergiste +entered; and—with a face of so much mystery and importance as almost to +make the young gentleman believe that he was acquainted with the +character and pursuits of the brigand—he announced that the Chevalier +Lenoir had called again to know if the Baron de Rohan had returned. In a +minute or two after, Corse de Leon himself entered the room; and Bernard +could not but feel some surprise at the manner in which the wild, bold, +vehement rover of the mountain side conformed to the usages of society, +and bent down his energies, if we may so say, to the customary trammels +of an artificial mode of life.</p> + +<p>He shook hands with Bernard de Rohan as an old friend, put down his hat +upon the table by his side, remarked that the dust had soiled his plume, +spoke of the heat of the past day, and with such empty nothings carried +on the interview till the aubergiste had retired and closed the large +oaken door behind him.</p> + +<p>The moment he was gone, however, the brigand said abruptly, "I came +hither before, to lead you to the scene whither it seems you had gone +without me. Is not that a lovely sport?" he continued, with a curling +lip and a flashing eye; "is not that a lovely sport for keen, sleek +priests, after feasting in the refectory? Is not that a sweet amusement +for these holy and gentle pastors to go to, with the grease of their +patties still sticking upon their lips? Pastors! why our pastors of the +Alps would teach them better than that: they take the wool and use the +milk, but they roast not the lambs of their flock, as the people of the +plains do. By Heaven, it would do my soul good to make yon bloodthirsty +capuchin eat the flesh he has cooked this night. They call us lawless +brigands," he continued. "Pray God that we may ever be lawless, so long +as there are such laws as these. I came to show you this spectacle, for +I once told you I would make you witness such things, but you had gone +without me."</p> + +<p>"I went not willingly," replied Bernard de Rohan. "I was caught in the +crowd, and could not disentangle myself. I hate and abhor such sights, +and think that these acts are disgraceful and ruinous to our religion. +If anything could justify heresy, such persecution surely would do it."</p> + +<p>"Think not, think not," cried Corse de Leon, eagerly, "think not that +this is a crime of our religion alone, or of any other. It is man, and +man's infamous laws, and the foul vice of that strange compact which +rogue has made with rogue, and villain with villain, and tyrant with +tyrant, and fool with fool, in order that the cunning may have the best +means of outwitting the strong; that the criminal may torture and +destroy the innocent, and the virtuous be for ever the prey of the +vicious. Catholic or Protestant, heretic, infidel, Turk, it is all the +same: man is bound together, not by a league for mutual defence, but by +a league for mutual destruction and corruption. Here you yourself have a +friend and comrade, who fights by your side, and whom you trust. What is +the first thing that he does! Betrays you—seeks to injure you in the +darkest way—plots—contrives—cabals—"</p> + +<p>"There is a day of reckoning coming," replied Bernard de Rohan.</p> + +<p>"Ay, and it may come soon," answered Corse de Leon, "for that very man +is now in Lyons."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan started up and laid his hand upon his sword, which he +had thrown down upon a chair beside him; but the brigand went on, +saying, "Not to-night, not to-night. Let it be in the open day; and it +were better, too, before the whole court of France."</p> + +<p>"I will not wait for that," replied Bernard de Rohan. "Where I find him, +there will I punish him. But, as you say, it must be in the open day. +Yet I must not let him escape me; I will write to him this instant."</p> + +<p>"The way of all others to make him escape you," replied Corse de Leon. +"He might, on this occasion, refuse to meet you hand to hand; he +might—"</p> + +<p>"No," answered Bernard de Rohan, "no, he dare not. There is no French +gentleman who dares to be a coward. To those whom he has wronged he must +make reparation, even though it were with life. Besides, this is not a +man to turn away from the sword's point."</p> + +<p>"I know not," answered Corse de Leon, "for I am not one of you; but +methinks—though there is nothing upon all the earth now living that +could make me turn aside from my path—there would be something very +terrible to me in a wronged friend. However, this man may have an excuse +you know not of to refuse you that which you desire: he may say that the +matter is before the king, which, as I learn, it is. Be persuaded: wait +till to-morrow: then let him be narrowly watched: meet him alone; and, +when your sword is drawn upon him, then, as you say, he cannot well +evade you."</p> + +<p>"He shall not," answered Bernard de Rohan. "But still it is not him that +I now seek, it is my own dear Isabel; and here, in this town of Lyons, I +have lost all trace of her, though she must have been here last night."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not," replied the brigand. "I have no certain tidings of her +any more than you have; but listen to what I do know. I reached this +place in haste to-day; and during the morning, at the inn called the +Dolphin, near the old church by the river, I saw a man who had been with +this Meyrand in Savoy, his guide, and assistant, and confidential knave. +He knew me not, and indeed, perhaps, had never seen me; for I see many, +but am seen by few. I made inquiries, however, and I found that this man +had preceded his lord from Paris on business, it was said, of mighty +moment. He was preparing rooms for him, gaining intelligence, and, in +fact, making all things ready for whatever knavery so skilful a master +might have in hand. I inquired farther, and found that yesterday, +shortly after the man's arrival, a lady and her train had paused for +some moments at the same inn; that one of his servants had spoken to +this serviceable villain, and that, without descending from her litter, +she had gone on, it was said, towards Geneva. To-day I waited and +watched for the arrival of your enemy, and the moment he did come, he +was closeted with his knave. A minute after, the host was summoned, and +much inquiry made for fresh horses to go towards Geneva. By this time, +however, it was late; none but tired beasts could be found, and the +journey was put off till daybreak to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p>"We will travel the same road," said Bernard de Rohan, "we will travel +the same road. But what can have induced Isabel to take the way to +Geneva?"</p> + +<p>"We know not that this lady was the same," replied Corse de Leon; "but, +supposing her to be so, forget not that she believes you to be dead. I +have told you that the matter is before the king; and she may fear that, +as this Count de Meyrand is a known intimate of a woman all too powerful +in this land of France, some constraint may be laid upon her will in +order to make her give her hand to him."</p> + +<p>"They shall find," replied Bernard de Rohan, "that there is one whose +claim upon her hand is not so easily to be cast off; and, even were I +dead, I am full sure that to the last day of her existence she would +look on one who could betray his friend with nothing but abhorrence and +disgust."</p> + +<p>"It may be so," replied the brigand; "but you have yet one thing to +learn. Your claim upon her hand is already disallowed. On that the +king's decision has gone forth three days ago. An edict, which has just +reached Lyons, was then registered in the Parliament of Paris, rendering +all clandestine marriages, past or future, null and void. This was aimed +at you, depend upon it, for both the wily Italian and the artful +Frenchman were then at the court of France."</p> + +<p>Bernard de Rohan covered his eyes with his hand, and paused thoughtfully +without reply. "All this," he said at length, "all this shows, my +friend, the absolute need there is of my being speedily in Paris. +Wherever Isabel may turn her steps, she will soon hear that I am living +if I appear before the king; and in another point of view, also, my +speedy appeal to Henry himself may do good. There is one whom you have +mentioned who does certainly possess much power—far too much for any +subject in the realm; but yet I judge not of her so harshly as you +perhaps may do. She has a noble spirit, and I think would not willingly +do wrong. Besides all this, she is the trusted friend of one who loves +me well—the Maréchal de Brissac; therefore I do believe that especially +she would not wish to injure me. When I have seen her, she has always +seemed to regard me highly; and I will own—although I must regret that +any one should hold such authority in the land of France as often to +overrule the king's wisest ministers—I do believe that, for her own +personal advantage, she would in no degree seek what is unjust to +another, or do that which might be dangerous to her country. I have no +doubt that one of her first wishes is to promote, in every way, such +plans as she considers just and wise; and although, of course, she may +from time to time be biased, like every other person, by blinding mists +of prejudice or of self-interest, yet I do think that she is less so +than any other being who ever yet filled a situation of splendid +disgrace and ill-bought authority. I believe, then, that with her, as +with the king, a few plain words of remonstrance and explanation will +win that support which is alone needful to my just claims."</p> + +<p>"Then go thither at once," said Corse de Leon, with a dissatisfied air. +"If you will still trust to those whom you have not tried, go thither, +and encounter whatever the consequence may be. Were I you, my conduct +would be different."</p> + +<p>"What would you do, then?" asked Bernard de Rohan. "I do not propose to +go to the court <i>at once</i>, but merely after I have done all that I can +to trace my Isabel on the road that she has taken. Say! what would you +do were you situated as I am?"</p> + +<p>"It matters little," replied Corse de Leon, "for we are differently +formed. You are like the stately warhorse, doubtless strong and full of +fire, but broken down to the bit and rein of custom, and trained to pace +hither and thither, as the great riding-master called society wills. +Your affections may be vehement, your courage high, your heart sincere, +but you are not fitted and formed for the wild life of freedom, or for a +desperate and deadly struggle against the trammels of habit, and the +lash and spur of opinion. I, on the contrary, am the lion—or, if you +will, the tiger, or the wolf. No hand tames me and goads me on—my mouth +knows no bit and curb—the desert is my home—solitude my society—my +own will my law—and they who strive to take and chain me, to break me +down to the world's habits, or to bind me by man's opinions, will either +rue the bite of the free wild beast, or see him die before the hunters, +in silence and despair. If you would know what I would do, I would take +my revenge of that bad man; I would seek the lady till I found her; I +would tell her that dangers, obstructions, impediments, and the vain +idleness of a world's laws were before us if we did not trample upon +that world's judgments; I would ask her to cast off for me and with me +the prejudices of country and connexions; I would make my native place +of the first land of freedom I could find; I would find my friends and +my relations among the brave, and the free, and the good, wherever I met +them; I would press out from the grape of liberty the wine of my own +happiness, and I would drink of the cup that my own hand had prepared. +But such counsels are not for you; such things are not parts of your +nature."</p> + +<p>"I believe not," replied Bernard de Rohan; "but still the first part of +your advice I shall follow, and at daybreak to-morrow will set out to +meet this man upon the way, and bid him draw his sword where there is +none to interrupt us."</p> + +<p>"Should he refuse?" said the brigand. "He is well accompanied—has many +men with him, and some who seem to bear a high rank and station. He may +refuse to draw his sword, and say that the matter is before the king: +what then?"</p> + +<p>"I will spurn him as a cur," replied Bernard de Rohan. "I will strike +him in the midst of his people; call him a coward as well as a knave, +and send him back with the brand of shame upon his brow. It matters not +to me who are with him! If gentlemen be there, so much the better; +Bernard de Rohan's name is not unknown, Bernard de Rohan's honour bears +no stain; and they shall hear his treachery and baseness blazoned in the +open day by a tongue unknown to falsehood."</p> + +<p>Corse de Leon gazed upon him for a moment with a grave, perhaps one +might call it a pitying smile. "You have forgotten," he said, "or never +fully known, the court of France. There has there risen up," he added, +"within my memory, a habit, an affectation of indifference, if you like +to call it so, to all things on this earth; which indifference is born +of a corrupt and a degraded heart, and of sated and exhausted appetites. +To a high mind, furnished with keen and vigorous faculties, nothing on +earth can be indifferent; for acuteness of perception—a quality which, +in its degree, assimilates us to the Divine nature—weighs all +distinctions. As God himself sees all the qualities of everything, +whether minute or great, and gives them their due place, so, the grander +and the more expansive the intellect may be, the more accurately it +feels, perceives, and estimates the good or evil of each individual +thing. The low and the base, the palled taste of luxury, the satiated +sense of licentiousness, the callous heart of selfishness, the blunted +sensibilities of lust, covetousness, gluttony, effeminacy, and idleness, +take refuge in indifference, and call it to their aid, lest vanity—the +weakest, but the last point to become hardened in the heart of +man—should be wounded. They take for their protection the shield of a +false and tinsel wit, the answer of a sneer, the argument of a +supercilious look, and try to gloze over everything, to themselves and +others, with a contemptuous persiflage which confounds all right and +wrong. Thus will this count and his companions meet you; and you will +gain neither answer nor satisfaction, but a jest, a sneer, or a look of +pity."</p> + +<p>"It matters not," replied Bernard de Rohan, "it matters not! There are +some things that men cannot laugh away! Honour, and courage, and virtue +are not columns planted so loosely that a light gale can blow them down; +and I will mark his brow with such disgrace that an ocean of laughter +and light jests will never wash the stain off again. When I have done +that, I will seek my Isabel, and by her own wishes shall our future +conduct be guided. You have reasoned like a learned scholar, my good +friend; but yet you see you have not converted me to your thoughts, +though I will own that it much surprises me to find you have such varied +knowledge of courts, and, I should think, of schools also."</p> + +<p>"I have of both," replied Corse de Leon: "the one I have seen, though in +an humble sphere; the other in my youth I frequented, and gained there +knowledge which those who taught me did not know that they communicated. +However, I wished not to convince you or to overrule your determination, +for that determination is not wrong. I only desired that you should go +to its execution with a full knowledge of all that you might meet with. +Follow your plan, therefore, as you have laid it down, and in executing +it I will not be far from you in case of need. There is no knowing what +a bad man may do, and you ride too slightly attended to offer much +resistance in case they sought to do you wrong."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I fear not, I fear not," replied Bernard de Rohan. "Here, on the +soil of France, I have no fear of any acts of violence, such as that +from which I suffered in Savoy."</p> + +<p>"Have you not seen to-night," said his companion, "have you not seen +this night what wrongs are daily done, even here? However, as I have +said, I will not be far from you; so, for the present, farewell, and let +not daylight see you a lingerer in this dark city."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, he turned and left his young companion, who remained for +some time plunged in deep thought; and, though the light of bright hope +continued still unextinguished before him, mists and clouds came across +the flame from time to time, making it wavering, uncertain, and obscure.</p> + + +<h3>END OF VOL. I.</h3> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The first time I ever find the word claret used, it is +applied to the wine of Avignon.</p></div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="NEW_AND_IMPORTANT_WORKS_RECENTLY_PUBLISHED_BY_HARPER_BROTHERS" id="NEW_AND_IMPORTANT_WORKS_RECENTLY_PUBLISHED_BY_HARPER_BROTHERS"></a>NEW AND IMPORTANT WORKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED<br /> BY HARPER & BROTHERS</h2> + + +<h3>NOVELS.</h3> + +<p>NIGHT AND MORNING. By Sir E. L. Bulwer, Bart.</p> + +<p>THE HOUR AND THE MAN. By Miss Harriet Martineau.</p> + +<p>THE BUDGET OF THE BUBBLE FAMILY. By Lady LYTTON BULWER.</p> + +<p>THE MAN-AT-ARMS; or, Henry de Cerons. By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq.</p> + +<p>GODOLPHIN. By Sir E. L. Bulwer, Bart.</p> + + +<h3>STANDARD WORKS.</h3> + +<p>KEIGHTLEY'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND.</p> + +<p>SELECTIONS FROM BRITISH POETS. By Fitz-Greene Halleck.</p> + +<p>SELECTIONS FROM AMERICAN POETS. By W. C. Bryant.</p> + +<p>ELEMENTS OF MENTAL PHILOSOPHY; embracing the two Departments of the +Intellect and Sensibilities. By Thos. C. Upham, Professor of Mental and +Moral Philosophy in Bowdoin College.</p> + +<p>A PHILOSOPHICAL AND PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE WILL. By Thomas C. Upham.</p> + +<p>LIFE AND WORKS OF DR. JOHNSON. By the Rev. Wm. P. Page.</p> + +<p>HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. By the Hon. S. Hale.</p> + +<p>RELIGION IN ITS RELATION TO THE PRESENT LIFE. In a Series of Lectures, +delivered before the Young Men's Association of Utica, by A. B. Johnson, +and published at their request.</p> + +<p>THE LIFE AND WORKS OF DR. OLIVER GOLDSMITH. By Washington Irving.</p> + + +<h3>NOVELS, ROMANCES, ETC.</h3> + + +<h3>MISS SEDGWICK'S WORKS.</h3> + +<p>The Linwoods; or, Sixty Years since in America.</p> + +<p>The Poor Rich Man and the Rich Poor Man.</p> + +<p>Live and let Live; or, Domestic Service Illustrated.</p> + +<p>A Love Token for Children.</p> + + +<h3>BULWER'S WORKS.</h3> + +<p>Pelham; or, the Adventures of a Gentleman.</p> + +<p>The Disowned; a Tale.</p> + +<p>Devereux.</p> + +<p>Paul Clifford; a Tale.</p> + +<p>Eugene Aram.</p> + +<p>The Last Days of Pompeii.</p> + +<p>The Student; a Series of Papers.</p> + +<p>Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes.</p> + +<p>Ernest Maltravers.</p> + +<p>Alice; or, the Mysteries.</p> + +<p>Calderon, the Courtier.</p> + +<p>Leila; or, the Siege of Grenada.</p> + +<p>Falkland; a Tale.</p> + +<p>The Pilgrims of the Rhine.</p> + +<p>The Rebel, and other Tales.</p> + +<p>The Siamese Twins; a Satirical Tale of the Times, &c.</p> + +<p>Richelieu; or, the Conspiracy. A Play. With Historical Odes.</p> + +<p>The Lady of Lyons. A Play.</p> + +<p>The Sea-Captain; or, the Birthright. A Play.</p> + +<p>England and the English.</p> + +<p>Athens: its Rise and Fall.</p> + + +<h3>PAULDING's WORKS.</h3> + +<p>Salmagundi; or, the Whim-whams and Opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, +Esq., and others.</p> + +<p>Letters from the South.</p> + +<p>Koningsmarke; or, Old Times in the New World.</p> + +<p>The Diverting History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan.</p> + +<p>Tales of the Good Woman.</p> + +<p>The Dutchman's Fireside.</p> + +<p>Westward Ho!</p> + +<p>The Book of St. Nicholas.</p> + +<p>New Pilgrim's Progress.</p> + +<p>The Three Wise Men of Gotham.</p> + +<p>John Bull in America.</p> + +<p>Winter Nights' Entertainments.</p> + +<p>The Atlantic Club-book. By Paulding and others.</p> + +<p>Tales of Glauber Spa. By Paulding and others.</p> + +<p>A Life of Washington.</p> + +<p>Slavery in the United States.</p> + + +<h3>JAMES'S WORKS.</h3> + +<p>Richelieu; a Tale of France.</p> + +<p>Darnley; or, the Field of the Cloth of Gold.</p> + +<p>De l'Orme.</p> + +<p>Philip Augustus; or, the Brothers in Arms.</p> + +<p>Henry Masterton; or, the Young Cavalier.</p> + +<p>Mary of Burgundy; or, the Revolt of Ghent.</p> + +<p>The Adventures of John Marston Hall.</p> + +<p>The Gipsy; a Tale.</p> + +<p>One in a Thousand; or, the Days of Henry Quatre.</p> + +<p>The Desultory Man.</p> + +<p>Attila; a Romance.</p> + +<p>The Robber.</p> + +<p>The Huguenot; a Tale of the French Protestants.</p> + +<p>Charles Tyrrell; or, the Bitter Blood.</p> + +<p>The Gentleman of the Old School.</p> + +<p>Henry of Guise; or, the States of Blois.</p> + +<p>The King's Highway.</p> + +<p>The String of Pearls.</p> + +<p>The Club-book. By James, and others.</p> + +<p>History of Chivalry and the Crusades.</p> + +<p>History of Charlemagne</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CORSE DE LEON, VOLUME I (OF 2)***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 36041-h.txt or 36041-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/6/0/4/36041">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/0/4/36041</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution.</p> + + + +<pre> +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license)</a>. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org">http://www.gutenberg.org</a> + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/</a> + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/36041.txt b/36041.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..13597ef --- /dev/null +++ b/36041.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8877 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Corse de Leon, Volume I (of 2), by G. P. R. +James + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Corse de Leon, Volume I (of 2) + or, The Brigand; a Romance + + +Author: G. P. R. James + + + +Release Date: May 6, 2011 [eBook #36041] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CORSE DE LEON, VOLUME I (OF 2)*** + + +E-text prepared by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Mary Meehan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +CORSE DE LEON: + +Or, + +The Brigand. + +A Romance. + +by + +G. P. R. JAMES, ESQ. + +Author of "The Robber," "The Gentleman of the Old School," etc. + +In Two Volumes. + +VOL. I. + + + + + + + +New-York: Published by Harper & Brothers, No. 82 Cliff-Street. +1841. + + + + +CORSE DE LEON; + +OR, + +THE BRIGAND. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +There are a thousand small and apparently accidental circumstances, +which, in our course through life, bring a temporary gloom upon us, +render our expectations from the future fearful and cheerless, and +diminish our confidence in all those things whereon man either rashly +relies or builds his reasonable trusts. Strength, youth, wealth, power, +the consciousness of rectitude, the providence of God: all these will +occasionally lose their sustaining influence, even upon the most hopeful +mind, from causes too slight to justify such an effect. + +These accidental circumstances, these mental clouds, resemble much those +other clouds which sometimes, at the close of a bright day, come over a +landscape previously warm and shining, cast a gray shade over its rich +hues, shut out the redoubled glory of the setting sun, and make gloom +and shadow spread over the summer scene. Though nothing is changed but +the light in which things dwell, though the colour of the tree and the +form of the rock are the same, yet the brightness of the whole is +departed, and the lustre gone out as if for ever. + +There are times, however, when a gloom, which seems to have no +counterpart in the physical world, comes over the mind; when all has +gone fairly with us; when every object around is full of brightness and +hope; when the horses of Fortune's car have never once even stumbled on +the way; and not a sorrow rough enough to rub the down from the wing of +a butterfly has fallen upon our hearts for years; and yet a deep and +shadowy despondence steals over our spirits, as if the immortal within +us were telling the mortal of anxieties, and griefs, and dangers +approaching--discovered by the fine sympathies of the higher part of our +being with things undiscovered by the mere material creature. + +Cares, sorrows, and perils, corporeal agony, and anguish of the heart, +are often but as the fire which tempers the pure iron into the fine +steel, at once proving and strengthening the spirit. The last grand +lesson which leads generous youth to vigorous manhood, which confirms +our powers, and gives the great man's mastery over Fate, is to endure; +and I am inclined to believe that such sudden and unaccountable feelings +of despondency--I do not mean the ordinary fits of gloom that haunt a +moody and a wayward spirit, but, on the contrary, the dark impression, +the heavy shadow that once or twice, in the midst of a bright lifetime, +comes irresistibly upon a gay or placid mind--I am inclined to think, I +say, that such despondence is only given to the highminded and the +great: a prophetic voice, announcing, not to the ear, but to the heart, +that the day of trial comes: the trumpet of Fate, calling on a champion, +dauntless and strong, to rouse him to the battle, and arm his spirit for +some awful strife. + +The day had been as bright and beautiful as a summer day in the south of +Europe can be, and yet it had spared the traveller and the labourer many +of the inconveniences and discomforts which those beautiful days of the +south sometimes bring along with them: for the year was yet young, and +with all the brightness of youth it had all the tenderness too. There +had been a fresh breeze in the sky during the hotter part of the day; +and one would have felt that it blew from the cool tops of snowy +mountains, even had one not seen, from time to time, some of the distant +peaks of the high Alps towering white over the greener hills below. + +There was also a world of streams, and rivulets, and cascades about, +which gave additional freshness and life to the air that blew heavy with +the perfume of the flowers upon the banks; and the high swelling of the +mountains round still gave a pleasant shade to one side of the valley. +Each sense had something to delight it; and there was over every object +which nature presented that aspect of peaceful enjoyment which is the +greatest soother of man's heart. + +The spot was in the extreme verge of Savoy, bordering upon France. It +would little benefit the reader to say exactly where, for the aspect of +the land has changed: the towns of that age and their laborious denizens +would not be recognised by their successors of the present day; the +castle, the fortress, and the palace are ruined and swept away, and even +the roads themselves now wind through other valleys or climb over other +hills. It was somewhere between Nice and St. Jean de Maurienne: that +space is surely limited enough to afford the reader a definite idea of +the scene. Let him take a map and a pair of compasses, he will find it +but a span; and in reality it is less--with a universe around it. + +Nevertheless, it was a very lovely scene, as I have said, with the hills +tall and blue, and the snowy mountains looking down upon one through the +long defiles; with the valleys green and fresh, and the streams bright +and sparkling. Here and there, too, upon some rocky height which +commanded the entrance of the gorges of the mountain, a feudal castle +would raise its battlements, gray, and stern, and warlike; and either in +the open plain--where such a thing was found--or in the warm valleys in +the hills, were seen the villages and small towns of Savoy, with their +grayish white walls and their graceful church towers crowning the +loveliness of the whole with the aspect of human life. The period of the +world's history whereof I speak was one of gorgeous pageantry, and gay +wit and deeds of arms: a period when chivalry and the feudal system, +just about to be extinguished for ever, blazed with a dying flame. +Montmorency still lived, though Bayard and Francis had left the busy +scene but a few years before, and Henry the Second had not yet closed +his career in the last tournament which Europe was destined to witness. +The songs of Marot and the wit of Rabelais still rang in the ear, and +Ronsard, Dorat, and Montaigne were entering gayly upon the path of +letters. + +It was in the year 1558, then, and towards the close of the day, that a +small party of horsemen wound along through the bright scenery of which +we have spoken. It consisted only of four persons, two of whom were +merely armed servants, such as usually attended upon a cavalier of those +times, not exactly acting the part of soldier on ordinary occasions, but +very well fitted so to do when any particular exigency required the +exertion of the strong hand. The third was a youth of no very remarkable +appearance, in the garb of a page; but the fourth was evidently the +leader of the whole, and, as such, the person who merits the most +accurate description. I will attempt to paint him to the eye of the +reader, as I have myself seen him represented by the hand of an unknown +artist in one of the palaces on the banks of the Brenta. + +He was in person about the middle height, rather above it than below, +and at this period was not more than twenty-three years of age. His +forehead was broad and fine, with short dark hair curling round it: his +features were small, except the eye and brow, the former of which was +large and full, and the latter strongly marked. The mouth was very +handsome, showing, when half open in speaking, the brilliant white +teeth, and giving to the whole countenance a look of playful gayety; +but, when shut, there was an expression of much thoughtfulness, +approaching perhaps to sternness, about it, which the rounded and +somewhat prominent chin confirmed. The upper lip was very short; but on +either side, divided in the middle, was a short black mustache, not +overhanging the mouth, but raised above it; and the beard, which was +short and black like the hair, was only suffered to grow in such a +manner as to ornament, but not to encumber, the chin. + +In form the cavalier was muscular, and powerfully made, his breadth of +chest and shoulders giving the appearance of a more advanced period of +life than that at which he had yet arrived. He was evidently a soldier, +for he was fully armed, as if having lately been or being still in +scenes of strife and danger; and, to say the truth, a man fully armed in +those days was certainly more loaded with weapons, offensive and +defensive, than was probably ever the case before or since. + +The picture I have spoken of represents him with not only the complete +armour which was then still used to encase the person, with the long, +heavy sword, the dagger, and the large pistols, but also with four short +carbines--at least such they appear to be--one at each corner of the +saddle. His head, indeed, is seen unencumbered by the steel cap, which +usually completed the armour, but which is borne by the page at his +saddlebow, while the cavalier himself appears wearing upon his head the +somewhat cooler covering of a black velvet cap, without feather or any +other ornament. + +The horse that carried him, which was a tall, powerful charger, fared +better in some respects than his master; for before this epoch, the +heavy armour with which steed as well as man used at one time to be +encumbered was lightened in favour of the quadruped, and the horse which +bore the young gentleman of whom we speak was only covered with such +pieces as might protect his head and chest in the shock of the charge. + +The day, I have said, had been bright and sweet, and all nature had been +as fresh and happy as a young heart upon a holyday. Similar, too, had +been the mood of Bernard de Rohan as he rode along; not so much that the +scene and its charms created, as that they found, sympathetic feelings +in his bosom; for his disposition was naturally cheerful and bright, +full of gay thoughts and happy enthusiasms. He was returning, too, from +another country--from the midst of strangers, and perils, and +fatigues--to enjoy an interval of tranquillity in his own bright land, +and the society of those he loved. + +France was within his sight; the tongues that he heard around him spoke +nearly the same language as that which he had used from infancy; and, +though the nominal frontier of Savoy lay some fifteen miles before him, +yet, in all but the name, he was in his own country. There was little of +that cold restraint about him which is either acquired by harsh dealings +with evil men, or is natural from some inward pravity of the heart, and +the cheerful mood of his mind found its way forth in many an outward +sign. From time to time he had turned round to speak to the page or to +one of the servants with some light jest or gay inquiry. Now he would +point out a distant spot in the landscape as they stood upon some +beetling point half way up the mountain, and ask if they recognised this +or that town in Dauphine; now he would pat the proud crest of his stout +horse, and talk to the noble animal as if he expected an answer; and now +would even break forth into a snatch of song. His heart, in short, was +as a fountain, so filled with happiness that it welled over, and the +waters sparkled as they overflowed the brim. + +The servants smiled to see their lord so gay, especially an elder one, +who, commenting with the other, remarked that he might well look happy, +bearing back home such glory as he had won. + +Thus passed the earlier part of the day's journey; but towards the +evening the mood of Bernard de Rohan changed. His open brow did not grow +cloudy, it is true, but there came a look of gloom upon it: the lips no +longer opened with a bland smile, and the teeth were shut together with +that stern expression we have already noticed. His eyes gazed on upon +the scene, but with somewhat of a vacant aspect, and everything told +that the spirit was busy in its tabernacle dealing with high thoughts. +Nor could any one who looked upon him suppose those thoughts were other +than sad ones. Intense they certainly were, and certainly they were not +gay. + +Yet Bernard de Rohan had no remembered grief. Fate had indeed once +struck him severely, but ever after had spared him altogether; had +plucked not a flower from his bosom, nor cast a shadow on his path. + +In early years he had lost both his parents, but that was the only +misfortune which had befallen him, and it was long ago. He scarcely +remembered them; and all that remained was a soft memory, affectionate +but not painful. Since then his course had been from one bright thing to +another. Wise and tender friends, the amusements, the sports, the +studies of youth, virtue and honour, wealth and station, praise, +success, and glory had been his. He had no thirst for power: so what +could he want more? Had any one asked him that question, he would have +replied, Nothing: nothing but what he might well hope to attain; and +yet, about an hour before the sun reached the edge of the sky, a fit of +gloom fell upon him, dark, vague, unaccountable, like one of those mists +that in mountain lands suddenly surround the wayfarer, shutting out the +beauty and the brightness, and leaving all around dull, chilly, vague, +uncertain, and confused. + +For nearly half an hour he gave way to the sensations that oppressed +him. They seemed at first too mighty to be struggled with. It was what, +in the language of Northern poetry, is called "having the cloud upon +him," and he could not cast it off; till at length it seemed to rise +gradually, and the power returned, first, of arguing with himself upon +the unreasonableness of such feelings, and then of smiling--though with +a mingled smile--at his own weakness in giving way to them. + +The effect wore off; but he was still communing with himself on the +sensations he had just experienced, when the page called his attention +to the clouds that were gathering round the mountains. With that quick +transition so common to hill countries, especially in the south, the sky +was becoming rapidly obscured. The lurid masses of stormy vapour writhed +themselves round the peaks; and, although beneath their dark canopy a +gleam of intense red light was seen marking the far western sky on the +side of France, the whole heaven above was soon covered with a thick +expanse of deep gray cloud. At a considerable distance, in the more open +part of the country, which lay beyond the mouth of the defile, +stretching in long lines of dark purple towards the sunset, appeared a +large square tower, with some other neighbouring buildings, cutting with +their straight lines the rounded forms of the trees. + +"That must be Voiron," said the cavalier, as if in answer to his page's +observation regarding the coming storm. "We must quicken our pace and +reach shelter, or we shall have to pass half the night in cleaning our +arms, if yonder frowning cloud fulfil one half its menaces." + +"Voiron must be ten leagues off, sir," replied one of the attendants; +"we shall not reach it this night." + +"Then we must find some other covering," replied the master, gayly; +"but, at all events, put to your spurs, for the battle has already +begun." + +Even as he spoke the large drops fell slowly and heavily, denting the +dusty covering of the road. Bernard de Rohan and his followers rode on +at full speed, though the descent was steep, the way bad, and the gray +twilight creeping over the scene. Five minutes more brought them to a +turn where they could obtain a wider view; but, alas! no place of refuge +was to be seen, except where the same tall dark tower rose heavily +across the streaks of red light in the west, marking the place of some +distant town or village. The attendants, who had pictured to themselves +during the morning's ride all the comforts of the cheerful inn, the good +rich wine of Dauphine, the stretching forth at ease of the strong, +laborious limb, the easy gossip with the village girls, the +light-hearted song in the porch, and all the relaxing joys of an hour's +idleness, now begun to think of the long and tedious task of cleaning +arms and clothing, and spending many an hour in rubbing the cold steel; +and, to say sooth, their lord also would have been better pleased with +fairer weather. + +The road, as such roads ever must do, wound its way round many a turn +and angle of the rock, so that it was very possible for several persons +to be within a short distance of each other, without the one who +followed ever seeing him who was but a few hundred yards before him. At +the spot which we have mentioned, Bernard de Rohan paused for a moment +to look round for some place of shelter, and the road before him seemed +perfectly clear and free. He could see completely into the valley on his +right, and across the plains beyond, while the path which he was +following could be traced along the side of the hill, round two or three +sharp angles of the rock, about two hundred yards apart from each other. +All at first was clear, as I have said, when suddenly there emerged, at +the salient point which cut that part of the sky where the light still +lingered, the figure of a human being, which was lost again round the +turn almost as soon as it was seen. + +"There is a peasant on a mule," exclaimed the cavalier, gladly. "We +cannot be far from some village." + +"It looks more like a priest on an ass, my lord," replied the attendant +who had spoken before. + +"Well, well," said his master, "we shall find the better lodgings." + +"And the better wine," rejoined his follower; "but, perhaps, not the +better welcome." + +"Oh, they are good men, these priests of Savoy," replied Bernard de +Rohan, spurring on; "but we must not lose him again." + +In a few minutes they again caught sight of the object of their pursuit. +He was now much nearer, but still it was somewhat difficult to +distinguish whether he were priest or peasant, till, coming up with him +by dint of hard riding--for his long-eared charger was bearing him on at +a rapid pace--they found that he was, as the attendant had supposed, a +jovial priest; not, indeed, extravagantly fat, as but too many were in +that day, but in good case of body, and bearing a countenance rosy with +health, and apparently sparkling with a cheerful disposition. He seemed, +indeed, to be of a character somewhat eccentric; for, contrary to all +clerical rule, he had covered his head with one of the large straw hats +of the peasantry, which accorded but ill with the rest of his +habiliments. His features, which the young cavalier thought he had seen +somewhere before, were good, with an expression of much sharpness; and, +though undoubtedly he heard the tramp of horses' feet behind him, in a +land and in times not famous for safe travelling, either his conscience +or his courage were so good, that he turned not his head to see who +followed him thus closely, but kept his ass at the same brisk canter, +while the young cavalier rode up to his side, and gave him the ordinary +salutation of the day. + +"A good-evening to you, father!" said Bernard de Rohan, riding between +him and the edge of the precipice. + +"Pray let us have it quickly, my son," replied the priest; "for the one +we have got seems likely to be as bad a one as ever I saw, at present." + +"Indeed it is," answered the young gentleman, smiling at his somewhat +cynical reply; "I am heartily glad to have met with you, my good father, +for I trust you can show us some place of shelter." + +"Good faith," replied the priest, turning for a moment to look at the +cavalier's followers, "I cannot say I am so glad of the encounter; for +where I am going we cannot be sure of finding too many of the good +things of this life, and the lion's portion is always sure to go to the +fighting men." + +"Nay, nay! we will share alike!" rejoined Bernard. + +"Ay! but I am a king in those matters," answered the priest; "I do not +like to share at all. But come on, come on; I am only jesting. We shall +find plenty, I doubt not; for, when last I passed that little inn, there +was good meat and wine enough to have fed a refectory for a week, or an +army for a year. Come on quick, I say, for yon foul-mouthed railer at +the top of the hill is beginning to roar at us as well as spit at us. We +have still far to go, and a storm in these mountains is like a dull +jest, I can tell you, young gentleman; for one never knows what may come +next." + +"Why, what can come next," demanded the cavalier, "but fine weather +after the storm?" + +"A rock upon your head," replied the priest, "or an avalanche at your +heels, which would smother you in your steel case like a lobster in his +shell. Come on! come on! Sancta Maria! why, my small ass will out-run +your tall charger now!" and, bestowing a buffet with his straw hat upon +the flank of his bearer, the beast quickened his pace still more, and, +with a malicious whisk of the tail and fling with his hind feet, set off +into a gallop. But we must pause to change the scene, and precede the +travellers on their way. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +There are few situations in life which convey to the mind of man more +completely the sensations of comfort, security, and repose, than when, +after a long day's ride, he sits at ease by a glowing fire, and +hears--while all the ready service of a well-conducted inn is in +bustling activity to minister to his wants or satisfy his appetite--the +rain patter and the tempest roar without. Nor is it from any selfish +comparison of their own fate with that of others less happy that men +derive this sensation, notwithstanding the dictum of the most selfish of +would-be philosophers. It is, on the contrary, from a comparison of +their own situation at the moment with what that situation sometimes has +been, or might even then be, that the good and the generous experience +such feelings; and, though the thought of others exposed to the tempest +must naturally cross their minds, yet that thought is mixed with pity +and regret. + +The little inn towards which Bernard de Rohan and his companions were +proceeding, under the guidance of the priest, when last we left them, +though the village in which it stood contained not above nine or ten +cottages, was good for the time and the country. Its only sitting-room, +of course, was the great kitchen, into which the door opened from the +road; but that kitchen was well fenced from the wind and rain; the +windows were small, and cased in stone; the door was sheltered by a deep +porch, where host and travellers sat and amused themselves in the summer +daytime; and, as it was the first house met with after passing some of +the steepest mountains between France and Piedmont, everything was done +to make it attractive in the eyes of weary wayfarers. + +The thunder had passed, the air had become cold and raw, the night was +as dark as a bad man's thoughts, a fierce wind was blowing, and the +heavy rain dashed in gusts against the clattering casements; but all +those indications of the harsh and boisterous state of the weather +without did but serve to make the scene within seem more comfortable to +the eyes of a traveller, who sat in one of the large seats within the +sheltering nook of the chimney, watching the busy hostess prepare more +than one savoury mess for his supper on the bright wood fire that blazed +upon the hearth. In the mean time, several attendants of various kinds +might be seen in different parts of the wide kitchen, cleaning and +drying harness, clothes, baldrics, and weapons, or preparing other +matters for the service of their lord, with all the devices of courtly +luxury. + +Those attendants, however, were not the attendants of Bernard de Rohan, +nor was the traveller that cavalier himself; he being yet upon his way +thither, and enduring all the fury of the storm. + +The one of whom I now speak was a man of about the same age, but rather +older. He was decidedly a handsomer man also: his features were all +finer in form; he was taller; his complexion was fairer, without, +however, being effeminate; and it was evident, too, that he knew his +personal advantages, and was somewhat vain of them. He was dressed with +much splendour, according to the fashion of that day; and, though he +seemed to have met with some part of the storm, it was clear that he had +not been long exposed to it. + +In short, as he sat there, he might well be pronounced one of the +handsomest and most splendid cavaliers of his day; but there was a +something which a closely-observing eye might detect in the hanging brow +and curling lip that was not altogether pleasant. It could scarcely be +called a sneer; yet there was something supercilious and contemptuous in +it too. Nor was it altogether haughty, though pride undoubtedly had its +share. It was a dark and yet not gloomy expression. It seemed as if the +heart beneath was full of many an unfathomable idea, and proud of its +impenetrability. The thoughts might be good or bad; but it was evidently +a countenance of much thought under a mask of lightness: a deep lake +beneath a ripple. + +The stranger had, as we have said, been looking on while the hostess, +with a bustling maid, prepared manifold dishes for his supper; and he +added, from time to time, a gay jest to either of them upon the progress +of the work. His tone was familiar and easy; but it might be remarked +that his jest always arose from something that came beneath his eye, and +that, in general, he took no notice whatever of the reply, scarcely +seeming to hear that any one else spoke, and making no rejoinder, but +letting the matter drop till he thought fit to jest again. + +At length, however, he said, "I prithee, dame, double yon portion of +steaks from the roe-deer, and add me some twenty eggs to the omelet. You +will have more visiters shortly." + +The good woman started up with a look of some surprise, and might, +perhaps, have thought her guest a conjuror, had not his words been +followed so closely by the noise of horses' feet, that the source of his +knowledge was evident at once. A moment after voices were heard calling, +and the aubergiste, who had been aiding some of the servants at the +other side of the kitchen, opened the door carefully and looked forth. +The cold wind rushed in fiercely, like a besieging army into a stormed +city, and the yellow wax flambeau which the host carried to the door, +and which, in that land of bees, was in those days common to every +country inn, was extinguished in a moment, notwithstanding the fierce +flame wherewith it burned. + +All on that side of the wide, dingy room was now in darkness; but voices +were heard as of many persons speaking, with cries for horseboys and +hostlers, in the easily-distinguished tongues of attendants, while the +landlord assured the travellers again and again that he would bestow +upon them a thousand-fold better accommodation and entertainment than +there was the least chance of their obtaining in reality. + +At the same time, a full, rich, merry voice was heard chuckling at the +boasts of mine host, and exclaiming, "Ay, ay, landlord! is it not so? We +shall have dolphins and mullets, ortolans and beccaficos, musk sherbet +from Constantinople, true Roman Falernian mingled with honey, and, to +crown all, a Pythagorean peacock! Nothing less will serve us in this +cold night; though, methinks, a good capon and a tankard of mulled +Avignon claret[1] would warm me well, were it but ready this minute." + +[Footnote 1: The first time I ever find the word claret used, it is +applied to the wine of Avignon.] + +While the jovial priest, whom I have described in the first chapter of +this true history, descended from his ass, joking at every movement with +the host, Bernard de Rohan, smiling at his new companion's merriment, +sprang to the ground and entered the kitchen of the inn, leaving his +attendants to lead round the horses to the stables at the back of the +building. It might not, it is true, be very satisfactory to him to find +that the inn was so fully tenanted as he soon saw that it was; but he +was one of those who fail not to enjoy what may fall to their lot as far +as possible; and, as he advanced towards the fire, he thanked Heaven for +a place of shelter from the rude buffeting of the storm. + +In the mean while, the first occupant of the inn continued, with that +air of self-satisfied indifference which has been a part of the +affectation of the pampered and insolent in all ages, to look at nothing +but the proceedings of some rebellious sticks upon the hearth, which +resisted all the soft persuasions of the woman whom the hostess had left +to tend the savoury messes at the fire, while she herself aided her +husband in receiving, like Hope, her new visiters with false promises. +The occupant of the chimney-corner looked neither to the right nor to +the left; and, to have judged by his countenance, one would have +supposed that he heard not one sound of all the many that were stirring +around him, nor had a greater interest in anything on earth than in the +cooking of a steak of roe venison. Even when Bernard de Rohan advanced +with his arms jingling as he trod, and, after a momentary glance at him, +laid hold of his arm with a friendly smile, the stranger merely turned +round, with a look of perfect unconcern, to see who it was that, either +in enmity or good-fellowship, thus called his attention. + +When he saw who it was, however, he became more animated, and, rising +with a smile, shook hands with him warmly. "Ha! Bernard de Rohan!" he +exclaimed, "I can hardly believe my eyes. Why, baron, who would have +thought to meet you thus in a Savoyard inn? Have you then quitted Italy +to follow Guise, and meet the enemy in the North? You have not thrown by +the spear and sword, I see! But, in a word, say what do you here?" + +"Why, to say truth," replied the other, "nothing is now to be done +beyond the Apennines; and though, as you might well know, after all that +occurred at Civita, I am as little likely to follow Guise as a greyhound +is to hunt in company with a lion, yet there is no use in staying behind +when he has not only left the field himself, but taken all his forces +with him. I am tired of this warfare, too! I long for some repose. I +have now been three years absent from France, and I have a yearning to +see my own land once more." + +"Yes, and some fair dame therein," rejoined his companion. "Is it not +so, De Rohan? I remember well you seemed to have but small delight in +the bright eyes of the young Italians, and I often thought that it must +be some remembered love of the past that kept you thus heart-whole." + +"It may be so, count," replied Bernard, gayly. "What man is there +without a lady-love? If there be one, he is neither fit for war nor +peace: he wants the great excitement to glory, and courtesy, and great +deeds. But, even had it not been for that, Meyrand," he added, more +seriously, "I love the ladies of my own land best. Bright looks are +little to me without true hearts, and beauty but a frail substitute for +goodness." + +"Pshaw, Sir Moralizer!" cried his companion; "beauty is a woman's best +possession till she be old; and then, when she has done with the Graces, +let her take up with the Virtues, or the Muses, or anything else she +likes." + +"Let her take up with anything, in short," said the jolly priest, coming +forward to the fire, and shaking his gown to dry it; "let her take up +with anything but a libertine, a fop, or a courtier. Let her bear age, +or ugliness, or anything but children to fools--so shall she do well in +this world and the next! Is it not so, gay sir?" + +The Count de Meyrand stared at him with a look of haughty surprise; but +he found that the priest was as indifferent as he could be, and he +relapsed for a minute or two into silence, while the page of Bernard de +Rohan came up to disarm his lord. The operation was somewhat long, and, +by the time it was accomplished, the trestles had been brought forth +from their corner, the long wooden boards which, joined up the middle, +served for a table, had been taken from the wall against which they +stood and laid upon those trestles, and over all a fine white tablecloth +had been spread, with the salt in the midst. + +Plate after plate of well-cooked viands, emitting an odour most savoury +to hungry men, was next placed on the board by the neat hostess, and the +count, with Bernard de Rohan in the buff jerkin he had worn under his +armour, moved to take their seats at the head of the table. The priest +sat down beside his young travelling companion, while a sneering smile +curled the lip of Meyrand, and he could not refrain from saying, in a +low but not inaudible voice, "Why, baron, what a princely youth you have +become, to travel with your fool, and in canonicals too." + +Bernard did not reply; and the priest, though he heard every word, said +nothing till, the attendants having all ranged themselves at the lower +end of the table, together with the host and hostess, he proceeded to +bless the meat. He had scarcely concluded, however, when the door of the +inn suddenly opened, and a person rushed in in the garb of a servant. He +was without hat or cloak, and there was a cut, though but a slight one, +upon his forehead. "Help! help!" he cried, gazing eagerly around the +circle; "help! help! they are carrying away my Lord of Masseran and my +young lady to murder them in the mountains." + +These words produced a very different effect upon the persons who heard +them. The Count of Meyrand sat perfectly still and indifferent, +listening with his usual air of cool self-possession to all that the man +said, and never ceasing to carve with his dagger the meat that was +before him, on which he had just commenced when the interruption took +place. + +On the other hand, Bernard de Rohan and each of his servants, as if +moved by the same impulse, started up at once. The young gentleman's +left hand fell naturally to grasp the scabbard of his sword, and, before +the man had done speaking, he had taken three steps towards the door of +the inn. + +Two or three circumstances, however, occurred to interrupt him for a +moment. There were various confused movements on the part of many +persons present, and a clamour of several tongues all speaking at once. + +At the same time the count exclaimed, "Stay one moment, baron! Stay and +drink one cup of wine with me before you go out in this sweet stormy +night to help one of the greatest scoundrels that Savoy can produce, or +France either. Stay, stay one moment! Well," he added, seeing Bernard de +Rohan turn from him with a look of impatience, "well, go and help +Masseran, if you will! Heaven send the rogues may have cut his throat +before you reach them!" + +"Your horse, my lord!" cried one of the attendants. + +"Your armour, sir!" said another. + +"No, no, on foot! on foot!" cried Bernard de Rohan; "on foot as we are! +Time is everything. Lead on, fellow! lead on! Send us out torches, mine +host!" + +The jovial priest had started up almost at the same time as his +travelling companion. "By our Lady, I will go with you!" he cried, "to +shrive the dying. It is a part of a priest's trade; though, I confess, +if I were knight, and noble and gallant cavalier, I would stay where I +am, like this brave count, and exercise my chivalry upon venison and +tankards of wine." + +While he was speaking, there drew out from some dark corner of the +inn-kitchen--where he had remained unnoticed by any one--a tall, thin, +gaunt man, with a straw hat on his head, and a large, coarse brown cloak +enveloping almost the whole of his figure. He took three steps forward +into the full light, and certainly there had seldom been seen a more +striking, if not a more handsome countenance, or a more remarkable and +even graceful bearing, than that which the stranger presented. He was a +man apparently about five-and-thirty years of age, with aquiline +features, large, black, flashing eyes, the bronze of sun, and wind, and +storm upon his face, and five or six deep scars upon his cheek and brow. +He was remarkably erect in person, and, though certainly meager, was +broad-shouldered and muscular, or rather, perhaps, I may say, sinewy; +for the hand that grasped his cloak, and the part of the arm and wrist +seen above it, displayed the strong markings of the muscles like cords +under the skin. + +He came directly in the way of Bernard de Rohan as the young cavalier +advanced towards the door; and it must be confessed that there was +something strange and startling in the sudden apparition of the +stranger, which made the other pause, and, with an involuntary motion, +advance his right hand towards the hilt of his sword. + +He drew it back again instantly, however, somewhat ashamed of the +movement, while the new personage thus brought upon the stage said, in a +deep but melodious voice, "I will go with you too, young gentleman, and +may do you better service than our good friend the priest here." + +"But, Master Leon," exclaimed the landlord of the inn, advancing towards +him with an entreating look. + +"Hush!" cried the stranger, holding up his hand; and, at the same +moment, the jovial priest turned also upon the host, exclaiming, "Fry +your eggs, fry your eggs, Gandelot, and leave other people to fry +theirs. Don't be afraid! we'll not toss the omelet into the fire, nor +spill the grease, nor set the chimney in a blaze. You know me and I know +him; and, though he is the last man that should say I can't do good +service when I like it, yet I will go with him without a quarrel!" + +When every one is speaking at once, a conversation which would be +otherwise long is very rapidly brought to a conclusion; and though, as +we have seen, there were here two or three interlocutors, all that we +have described scarcely interrupted Bernard de Rohan half a minute. +"Lead on, lead on, then!" he exclaimed impatiently, addressing the +servant who had made the appeal for assistance, and to whom the Count de +Meyrand had been addressing a few words in a low tone. "Lead on, I say, +quick!" and in another moment they were all beyond the door of the inn, +and standing upon the mountain-side in the cold air of night. + +The count remained at the table; and, shaping their conduct upon that of +their lord, not one of his servants attempted to move. Meyrand, however, +did not, upon the whole, seem particularly well satisfied with what had +taken place. Perhaps he might not be quite contented with the inactive +part he was playing; and it is certain he asked himself whether Bernard +de Rohan could attribute his conduct to want of courage. He recollected, +however, that they had mounted to the assault of many a well-defended +breach together, and he felt sure that there could be no doubt of that +kind on his companion's mind. He remained in thought, however, for a +minute or two longer, forgetting even the supper that was before him, +and the air of indifference which he usually bore; but at length he +beckoned one of his men to his side, and spoke a few words to him in a +very low tone, only suffering the last two to be heard: they were, "You +understand!" + +The man bowed his head in reply, called three of his companions away +from the table, sought hastily in the different corners of the inn +kitchen for various offensive weapons, and then left the place, as if to +follow and assist Bernard de Rohan and his party. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +It had nearly ceased raining, but the night, as we have said, was cold +and chilly, the sky was still covered with thick clouds, and the air was +full of thick darkness; to use the expressive words of Scripture, a +darkness that could be felt. Bernard de Rohan and his companions paused +for a moment before the door of the little inn, listening to catch any +sounds of the conflict from which the servant seemed so freshly to have +come. + +All was silent, however. The rushing sound of the mountain torrents, +swelled by the late rains; the sighing of the night winds among the +gorges of the mountains and through the deep pine forests; the distant +cry of a wolf, and the whirring scream of the night-hawk, as it flitted +by, were all heard distinctly; but no human voice mingled with the other +sounds. + +This silence, however, gave no assurance to the heart of Bernard de +Rohan that the persons for whom the servant had appealed to his chivalry +had escaped from their assailants. It was well known at that time that +every part of Savoy was infested with bands of brigands, which had +rather increased than diminished in number since France had taken +possession of the country; so that, unable to put them down, the famous +Marechal de Brissac, in order to restrain their indiscriminate ravages +in some degree, had been obliged to give them occasional employment with +his own forces. When not thus employed, however, they were known to lay +wait in all the principal passes, both of Piedmont and Savoy, and take +toll of all travellers with a strong hand. Enormous barbarities were +from time to time charged against them; and, if one might judge from +general rumour, no scheme was too wild, no act too violent and desperate +for them to devise and execute. The only conclusion, therefore, which +Bernard de Rohan drew from the absence of all sounds of conflict was, +that the banditti had prevailed, and either murdered their victims or +carried them off. + +"Quick! quick!" he cried, after that momentary pause. "Lead on, lead on, +good fellow! Where are your lord and lady? Which is the way?" + +"This way, noble sir, this way," cried the man, advancing at once along +the road which led more immediately into the mountains. "They cannot +have gone far: I could hear the voices of the brigands from the inn +door." + +Thus saying, he led the way onward with great speed; but, as Bernard de +Rohan followed with the same quick pace, the clear, deep voice of the +man whom the host had called Master Leon sounded in his ear, saying, +"There is some mistake here, and I think some villany; but fear not." + +"Fear!" replied Bernard de Rohan, turning his head towards him. "Do you +suppose I fear?" + +"No, I suppose not," replied the man; "but yet there was no common +interest in your eye, good youth, when this knave talked of his young +mistress, and one may fear for others, though not for themselves. But +hark! I hear a noise on before. Voices speaking. Some one complaining, I +think. Quick, quick! Run, Sir Varlet, run!" + +At the rapid pace at which they now proceeded they soon heard the sounds +more distinctly before them. There was a noise of horses, and a jingling +as of the bells of mules. The murmuring of a number of voices, too, came +borne upon the air down the pass, and some four or five hundred yards +farther up the servant, who was now running on as fast as possible, +stumbled over a wounded man, who uttered a cry of pain. But the young +man and his companions slackened not their pace, for by this time they +could plainly hear some sharp and angry voices pouring forth oaths and +imprecations, and urging what seemed to be a band of prisoners to hurry +forward more rapidly. At the same time the light of a torch, or more +than one, was seen gleaming upon the gray rocks and green foliage, and +on one occasion it threw upon the flat face of a crag on the other side +of the ravine the shadow of a large body of men with horses and other +beasts of burden. + +"Now out with your swords," cried the personage named Leon, in a tone of +authority, "for we are gaining on them quick, and I doubt not shall have +stout resistance." + +Bernard de Rohan's sword was already in his hand before the other spoke, +and, hurrying on, the next moment he reached an angle of the rock, from +which he could plainly discern the whole party that he was pursuing. He +paused for an instant as he saw them, and well might that sight make him +do so, for the torchlight displayed to his eyes a body of at least +fifteen or sixteen armed men, some of them mounted, some of them on +foot, driving on in the midst of them two or three loaded horses, and +seven or eight men and women, several of them apparently having their +hands tied. The party was about two hundred yards in advance; and, +though the torchlight was sufficient to show him the particulars which +we have mentioned, yet it did no more than display the gleaming of the +arms and the fluttering of the women's garments, without at all giving +any indication of the rank or station to which the prisoners belonged. + +The young cavalier, it must be remembered, was accompanied by only five +persons, and the greater part of those five were, like himself, but +lightly armed. His momentary pause, however, was only to reconnoitre the +enemy, without the slightest hesitation as to what his own conduct was +to be. He knew the effect of a sudden and unexpected attack, and +calculated upon some assistance also from the prisoners themselves; but, +had he had nothing but his own courage in his favour, his conduct would +have been the same. He was again hurrying on, when the powerful grasp of +the man named Leon was laid upon his arm, and stayed him. + +"Hush!" he said: "do not be too quick! Do you not see that these men are +no brigands, as you thought?" + +"How should I see that?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, turning sharply upon +him. "Who but brigands would commit an act like this?" + +"Think you that brigands would have torches with them?" said his +companion, calmly. "Pause a moment, pause a moment: let them get round +yon point of the rock; for, if they hear us coming, and see how few we +are, we shall be obliged to do things that we had better not. Beyond the +rock they will be cooped up in a little basin of the hills, where they +can be attacked with advantage." + +"You seem to know the country well," said Bernard de Rohan, gazing upon +him with some suspicion, as the light of the torches, faintly reflected +from the other side of the valley, served partially to display his dark +but fine countenance. + +"Ay! I do know it well!" replied the other: "so well, that from the foot +of that rock which they are now turning, I will guide you up by a path +over the shoulder of the hill till we meet them in front, at the same +time that some of your people attack them in the rear." + +Bernard de Rohan did now hesitate, but it was only for a moment. His +mind was not naturally a suspicious one; and, of course, had the +proposal been made by any one whom he knew, the advantages of such a +plan would have instantly struck him, and he would have followed it at +once. But the man who suggested it was unknown to him: nay, more, there +was something in his tone, his manner, in his whole appearance, which, +to say the best, was strange and unusual. His garb, as far as it had +been seen, was unlike that of the peasantry of Savoy; and, in short, +there was that about him which naturally tended to create a doubt as to +his ordinary pursuits and occupations. + +Bernard de Rohan hesitated then, but it was with the hesitation of only +one moment. He had been accustomed to deal with and to command fierce +and reckless men; and, though his years were not sufficient to have +given what may be called the _insight of experience_, he had by nature +that clear discernment of the human character which is the meed of some +few, and may be called the _insight of instinct_. + +During his momentary pause, then, he saw that the dark eye of his +companion was fixed upon him as if reading what was passing in his mind. +The jovial priest also seemed to penetrate his thoughts, and said, in a +low voice, "You may trust him! You may trust him! He never betrayed any +one." + +"I do trust him," cried Bernard de Rohan, turning round and grasping the +stranger's hand; "I trust him entirely. You and I," he continued, "will +go over the hill alone. If I judge right, we have both been in many a +hot day's strife, and can keep that narrow road without much assistance. +It is better that there should be a show of more people behind." + +As he spoke, the faint flash of the receding torches showed him a smile +upon his companion's countenance. "Come on slowly," said Corse de Leon, +"and keep near the rock; we shall soon get up with them, for they are +encumbered, and we are free." + +Thus saying, he led the way, remaining, as far as possible, under the +shadow of the crags till the last of the party before them had turned +the angle beyond, and the whole valley was again in darkness. The +cavalier and those who were with him then hurried their pace till they +reached a spot where a point of rock jutted out into the valley. There +the stranger paused, bidding the attendants of the young nobleman pursue +their way along the road till they came up with the rear of the other +party, and then attack them as suddenly and vehemently as possible. +"Make all speed," he said, "for we shall be there before you, cutting +off the corner of the hill. Here, priest!" he continued, "here's a +pistol and a dagger for you. You'll need something to work with. Now +quick on your way, for the moon will be out in a few minutes, if one may +judge by the paleness of that cloud's edge, and her light would betray +our scanty numbers. Follow me, baron! Here! Upon this rock! Catch by +that bough! Another step, and you are in the path!" + +As he spoke, he himself sprang up, seeming well acquainted with every +stock and every stone in the way; Bernard de Rohan followed with less +knowledge of the path, but all the agility of youth and strength, and +they had soon nearly reached the brow of the hill. + +"Out upon the pale moon!" cried Bernard de Rohan's companion, pausing +and gazing up towards the sky. "She shines at the very moment she should +not. See how she is casting away those clouds, as if she were opening +the hangings of her tent! We may go slow, for we shall be far before +them." + +He now led the way onward with a slower pace; and, after ascending for +somewhat more than a quarter of a mile, the path began to descend again +as if to rejoin the road. Every step was now clear, for the moon was +shining brightly; and though no one, probably, could see Bernard de +Rohan and his companion as they took their way among the rhododendrons +and junipers which were thickly mingled with the fragments of rock +around, yet they themselves, from time to time, caught a distinct view +of the valley. An occasional flash of light upon their left hand, too, +but a good deal in the rear, soon showed Bernard de Rohan that his guide +had told him the truth in regard to the shortness of the path he had +taken, though he could not absolutely see the road, or those who were +travelling along it. At length, however, they reached a spot where the +path which they were following wound along within ten yards of the chief +road itself, and, choosing a small break nearly surrounded with tall +shrubs and broken masses of crag, Corse de Leon stopped, saying, "It +will be well to stay for their coming here. They will take full ten +minutes to reach this place. You wait for them here; I will climb a +little farther up, to watch them as they come, and will be back again in +time." + +If Bernard de Rohan entertained any suspicion in regard to his guide's +purposes, he knew that it would be vain to show it, and therefore he +made no opposition to the plan that his companion proposed, but let him +depart without a word; and then, choosing a spot among the trees where +he could see without being seen, he gazed down into the little basin +formed by the surrounding hills. The clear light of the moon was now +streaming bright and full into the valley, only interrupted from time to +time for a single moment by fragments of the clouds driven across by the +wind; but at first Bernard de Rohan could see nothing of the party which +he was pursuing; for the road, as usual, wound in and out along the +irregular sides of the mountain, being raised upon a sort of terrace +some two hundred feet above the bottom of the valley. In a moment or +two, however, he caught sight of them again, coming slowly on, but with +their torches now extinguished, and presenting nothing but a dark mass, +brightened here and there by the reflection of the moon's light from +some steel cap or breastplate. + +The time seemed long, and their advance slow, to Bernard de Rohan; for, +although he had lain in many an ambush against the foe, and had taken +part in many an encounter where the odds against him were scarcely less +than those which were now presented, yet, of course, he could not but +feel some emotion in awaiting the result--that deep and thrilling +interest, in fact, which has nothing to do with fear, and approaches +perhaps even nearer to joy--the interest which can only be felt in the +anticipation of a fierce but noble strife, where, knowing the amount of +all we risk, we stake life and all life's blessings upon the success of +some great and generous endeavour. He felt all this, and all the +emotions which such a state must bring with it; and thus, longing to +throw the die, he found the moments of expectation long. + +Now seen and now lost to his sight, the party continued to advance, and +yet his strange companion did not make his appearance. The young +nobleman judged that he could not be far, indeed, for once or twice he +heard the bushes above him rustle, while a stone or two rolled down into +the bottom of the valley; and he thought he distinguished Leon's voice +murmuring also, as if talking to himself. At length there was a clear +footfall heard coming down the steepest part of the mountain, and in +another moment the stranger stood once more by Bernard de Rohan's side. +As he came near, he threw off the cloak which he had hitherto worn, and +cast it into one of the bushes, saying to it as he did so, "I shall find +you, if I want you, after this is over." + +His appearance now, however, left Bernard de Rohan scarcely a doubt in +regard to the nature of his usual occupation. When his cloak was thus +thrown off, his chest and shoulders were seen covered with that peculiar +sort of corslet or brigantine, which originally gave name to the bands +called Brigands. His arms were free, and unencumbered with any defensive +armour; and over his right shoulder hung a buff baldric, suspending his +long, heavy sword. This was not all, however; another broad leather belt +and buckle went round his waist, containing, in cases made on purpose +for them, a store of other weapons if his sword blade should chance to +fail; among which were those long and formidable knives which, in the +wars of the day, were often employed by foot soldiers to kill the +chargers of their mounted adversaries. Daggers of various lengths were +there also, together with the petronel or large horse pistol, which was +so placed, however, as to give free room for his hand to reach the hilt +of his sword. + +In this guise he approached Bernard de Rohan, saying, "You see, baron, I +am better prepared for this encounter than you are. You have nothing but +your sword: you had better take one of these," and he laid his finger +upon the butt of a petronel. + +"My sword will not fail me," replied Bernard de Rohan, with a smile. "I +see, indeed, you were better qualified to judge whether these were +brigands or not than I was." + +"They are no brigands," replied the other; "brigands know better what +they are about;" and, as he spoke, he threw away his hat, and tied up +his long black hair, which fell over his ears and shoulders, with a +piece of riband. "I cannot very well understand," he continued, in the +same low tone, "what has become of your people and the priest: I could +see nothing of them from the height, and I almost fear that these +villains, fearing pursuit, have broken down the little wooden bridge +behind them, at what we call the Pas de Suzzette, where the stream falls +into the river." + +"Hark!" said Bernard de Rohan. "They are coming up;" and, grasping his +sword, he took a step forward. + +"Wait," said the brigand, laying hold of his arm. "Give your people the +last minute to attack them in the rear. By Heavens, they ought to have +been here by this time." + +The sound of horses' feet and human voices now became distinct from +below, and oaths and imprecations were still heard loud and vehemently, +as the captors hurried on their prisoners. + +"Get you on, get you on!" exclaimed one voice: "don't you see how +quietly your lord is going." + +"He is not my lord," cried another, in a faint tone. "I am wounded and +hurt, and cannot go faster." + +"Get on, get on, villain!" reiterated the other voice. "You would fain +keep us till the fools behind mend the bridge and come up with us. Get +on, I say! If he do not walk faster, prick him with your dagger, +Bouchart. We will skin him alive when we get to the end of the march! +Drive it into him!" + +A sharp cry succeeded: Bernard de Rohan could bear no more, but, +bursting away from the hand of the brigand, he sprang into the road. +Leon followed him at once; but, even before he was down, the young +cavalier's sword had stretched one of the advancing party on the ground, +and was crossed with that of another. + +"Hold, hold!" shouted the loud voice of the brigand. "Hold, and throw +down your arms! Villains, you are surrounded on all sides!" + +For a moment their opponents had drawn back; but the scanty number of +the assailants was seen before Corse de Leon uttered what seemed so +empty a boast. + +"Cut him down," cried a voice from behind, "cut him down!" and one of +the horsemen spurred on towards him. Another, at the same moment, aimed +a blow at the head of Bernard de Rohan from behind, which struck him on +the shoulder and brought him on his knee, while a shot was fired at the +brigand, which struck his cuirass, but glanced off harmless. + +"It is time we should have help," said Corse de Leon, in a cool tone; +and while, with his right hand, he drew a pistol from his girdle, +levelled it at the head of one of those who were contending with Bernard +de Rohan, fired, and saw the man fall over into the valley below, with +the left he applied a small instrument to his lips, producing a loud, +long, shrill whistle, which those who have heard it will never forget. +It is like the scream of a bird of prey, but infinitely louder; and the +moment it proceeded from the lips of the brigand, similar sounds echoed +round and round from twenty different points above, below, and on the +opposite side. + +When Bernard de Rohan staggered up from his knee, the scene was +completely changed. Corse de Leon stood no longer alone, but with three +stout men by his side armed to the teeth. The fragments of rock and +large stones that were rolling from above showed that rapid footsteps +were coming down the side of the mountain. Up from the rocky bed of the +stream five or six other men were seen climbing with the activity of the +chamois or the izzard, and, to complete the whole, the whistle was still +heard prolonged up the valley, while, from the same side, the ear could +distinguish the galloping of horse coming down with furious speed. + +The party of the adversary, however, was large. All were well armed; all +evidently accustomed to strife and danger; and had all apparently made +up their minds to struggle to the last. They accordingly made a fierce +charge along the road, in order to force their way on; and the strife +now became hand to hand, and man to man, while, above the contest, the +loud voice of the brigand leader was heard shouting, "Tie them! Tie +them! Do not kill them if you can help it!" + +Nor was his assumption of certain success unjustified. Every moment +fresh numbers were added to the party of Corse de Leon. The adversaries +were driven back along the road, dragging the prisoners with them some +way, but were stopped by fresh opponents, dropping, as it were, from the +mountains, and cutting them off in their retreat. They were still +struggling, however, when at length eight or nine horsemen, the sound of +whose approach had been heard before, reached the scene of combat; and +then, seeing that farther resistance was vain, several of them uttered a +cry of "Quarter! quarter! We will throw down our arms." + +"Here, take my sword, Doland," said the brigand leader to one of his +men. "Wipe it well, and go back for my hat and cloak, which I left among +the bushes by the cross of St. Maur. Well, baron," he continued, turning +to Bernard de Rohan, "I am afraid you have to regret the want of your +armour: that was a bad blow on your head." + +"No, it struck my shoulder," replied Bernard de Rohan, "where my buff +coat is doubled. There is no great harm done." + +"You had better keep behind," continued Corse de Leon, in a low voice. +"I wished not to have displayed my men at all had it been possible to +avoid it, but it could not be helped. However, you had better not show +yourself with us. It may make mischief." + +"But the lady," said Bernard de Rohan, "the lady: let me go and speak to +her and set her free: I have no fear of being seen." + +"Leave it to me, leave it to me," said the brigand. "You shall have +opportunity enough to speak with her, and she shall know who is her +deliverer. Will you not trust me after all this night's work?" + +"Entirely," replied Bernard de Rohan; "but it is natural, when one aids +a lady in scenes like these, to wish to speak with her, to sooth and +tranquillize her." + +"Especially when one loves her," replied the brigand, laughing. "But you +shall speak with her in a moment, only keep back for the present." + +Bernard de Rohan had neither the will nor the power to resist. The +brigand, indeed, might well assume the tone of command, for at that +moment there could be no successful opposition to his will; but, besides +this consideration, there were other feelings in the bosom of the young +cavalier which inclined him to yield at once. + +Everything that he had seen was calculated to surprise and perplex him. +The knowledge which his strange companion seemed to have of his history +and circumstances; the state of active preparation in which he had found +him, as if he had been aware, long before, of all that was about to +occur, and had taken measures to meet every contingency; the interest +which he had shown in an enterprise that seemed not to concern him at +all, and the active and vehement opposition he had evinced to persons +apparently engaged in the same trade of violence with himself, were all +unaccountable to Bernard de Rohan; and he paused with some anxiety to +see what would be the next act in the strange drama in which he himself +was bearing a part. + +While the brief conversation which I have narrated took place between +the brigand and the young cavalier, the successful party had drawn +closer and closer round their adversaries, and were busily disarming and +tying them. This operation, being carried on with great dexterity and +rapidity, had advanced considerably, when Leon again strode forward into +the midst of them to give farther directions. + +"Not so tight! not so tight, Antoine!" he said: "you'll cut his wrists +with those thongs. Take off his corslet, Pierre. You cannot get it off +when his arms are tied. If he resists, pitch him over into the stream. +That horse will break away and be lost. Some of you come and untie my +Lord of Masseran and his people. Noble signior," he continued, and +Bernard de Rohan thought that he heard a good deal of bitter mockery in +his tone, "I pray you tell me what is to be done with these insolent +villains, who have dared to lay violent hands upon you and your lady +wife's fair daughter. Shall we either put them to death on the +spot--which, perhaps, would be the wisest plan, as the dead are very +silent--or shall we send them, bound hand and foot, to your chateau, +that you may give them your own directions as to what they are to say +and do?" + +These words were addressed to a tall, graceful man, somewhere between +forty and fifty years of age, who had appeared as one among the +prisoners of the party just overthrown. He seemed not particularly well +pleased with the brigand's speech, and replied in a tone somewhat +sullen, "You must do with them as you please, sir, and with us also, +though from your words I suppose that you mean us good and not evil." + +"Oh, certainly, my good lord," replied the other; "I am here to free +you, and you shall be safely conducted by my people to your own abode. +Am I, by your authority, then, to treat these men as they deserve?" + +The Lord of Masseran seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then replied +sharply, "By all means! By all means! They well deserve punishment." + +"Oh! spare them! spare them!" cried a lady's voice. "They have done +evil, certainly; but they might have treated us worse. Do not hurt them, +sir." + +"Lady," replied the brigand, "I will only punish them as they deserve, +and you yourself shall hear the sentence. Strip off every man's coat. +Take off the bridles of their horses, and therewith flog them down the +valley to Gandelot's inn. When they are there, they will know what to do +with themselves. Now, lady, this is but small measure of retribution for +bad acts. Quick, my men, quick. You must take them over the hill, for +the bridge is broken." + +He then spoke a few words to one of his companions in a low tone; after +which he returned once more to Bernard de Rohan, who had remained +behind, asked particularly after the wounds he had received, and +inquired whether he were fit to escort a lady some two leagues that +night. He spoke with a smile, and there was no hesitation in the young +cavalier's reply. Before their short conversation was ended, the +brigand's orders in regard to his prisoners were in the act of +execution; and certain it is that the discipline to which they were +subjected was sufficiently severe, if one might judge by many a piteous +cry which echoed up the valley for some minutes after they were driven +in a crowd down the road. The young lady covered her eyes with her hands +and remained silent; but a grim smile came upon the countenance of the +Lord of Masseran, as if there was something pleasant to him in the music +of human suffering. + +There were still some ten or twelve of Leon's band around, and their +next task was to untie the hands of such of the Lord of Masseran's +people as were still bound. "Now, sir," continued the brigand, as soon +as this was accomplished, "you shall have good escort back to your +chateau. But we must go in separate parties. You and your four servants +under the careful protection of Elois here, by the mountain path you +know of. The young lady I myself will escort by the longer, but the +smoother road." + +"Nay! nay!" exclaimed the Lord of Masseran, quickly. "Why separate us? +If you mean well by her, why not let--" + +"Because it pleases me not," replied the brigand, in a stern tone. "Who +is lord here upon the side of the mountain but I? You are lord in your +chateau, and none dare answer you. But I am lord in the moonlight and on +the hillside, and none shall answer me." + +"Oh! in pity, in pity!" exclaimed the young lady, holding out her hands +with a gesture of entreaty. But the brigand advanced to her horse's +side, and spoke a word to her in a low tone. She let her hands drop +again without reply, and Bernard de Rohan, who had remained in the +shade, while the moonlight fell full upon her, could see her eyes +suddenly turn towards the spot where he stood. + +"Lead on the Lord of Masseran, Elois," said the voice of Corse de Leon. +"Leave that poor fellow who seems wounded with the lady, and take the +rest with you." + +There was no reply, and the Savoyard nobleman, with his companions, was +led on by a strong party of the brigands up the valley, and then across +the stream. As he passed Bernard de Rohan, he fixed his eyes upon him +for a moment, but made no observation; and, at the same time, the +brigand held up his finger to the young cavalier, as if directing him +still to forbear for a time. + +As soon as the hill hid the other party from their sight, Bernard de +Rohan, unable to bear the restraint any longer, sprang forward to the +lady's side, and threw his arms around her. His head was bare, and, as +he looked up towards her, the moonlight fell full upon his face. As if +still doubtful, however, she gazed wildly and eagerly upon him; parted +the curls of his hair with her hands back from his forehead; then threw +her arms round his neck, and, bending her head, wept upon his shoulder. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +"At length! at length! Bernard," said the voice of the young lady; and +the heart of Bernard de Rohan echoed the words "At length! at length!" +as he pressed her hand in his. + +"At length! at length! Bernard," she said, "you have come back to me." + +"Did you not send me from you yourself, Isabel?" he said, thinking there +was something almost reproachful in her tone. "And have I not returned +the moment you told me I might; the moment you called me to aid, and, I +trust, to deliver you? Would I ever have quitted you but at your own +word?" + +"It is true! it is all true!" she said, in a gentle tone: "but I knew +not, dear Bernard, all that was to befall me; all the painful, the +anxious circumstances in which I was to be placed. We were then too +young, far too young, for me to press my father's promise. I had no +right to rob you of so many years of glory. My brother, too, wanted +protection and guidance in the field. At that time, everything looked +bright, and I thought that you, Bernard, would lead him forth to honour +and bring him back in safety. I knew you would, and you have done it. +But in those days I little dreamed that my mother, in her widowhood, +would willingly wed a stranger, and make her hand the hire of this +Savoyard, to serve the cause of France against his native prince. But +you have returned to me, Bernard," she continued, in a more joyful tone; +"you have returned to me, and all will be well again." + +So ever thinks the inexperienced heart of youth, when, even for a single +moment, the dark clouds break away, and a ray of sunshine, however +transient, brightens up a day of storms. + +"Be not too sure of that, lady!" said the deep voice of the brigand; "be +not too sure of that! There have been more dangers around you already +than you know of. They have not yet passed away, and, perchance, may +fall upon him as well as you." + +"Heaven forbid!" she cried, turning her eyes first upon the countenance +of the man who spoke, and then with a softer and a tenderer look upon +her lover. "If it is to be so, I shall wish you back again, Bernard." + +"Not so," said the brigand, "not so! We are fools to think that life is +to be a bright day, uncheckered with storms or misfortunes. There is but +one summer in the year, lady: the winter is as long; the autumn has its +frosts and its sear leaves; and the spring its cold winds and its +weeping skies. In the life of any one the bright portion is but small, +and he must have his share of dangers and sorrows as well as the rest. +They will be lighter if you share them, and if he shares yours. Let us +go forward on our way, however. Will you mount one of these horses, +baron, or walk by the lady's side? Oh, walk, will you? Then follow the +onward path. We will come on some hundred yards behind, near enough to +guard you, but not to interrupt." + +Bernard de Rohan and the lady proceeded on their way. Nor did they fail +to take advantage of the moments thus afforded for conversing alone, +though no one in such circumstances does take sufficient advantage of +the moments. Our minds are so full of thoughts, our hearts so full of +feelings, that they crowd and confuse each other in seeking to make +their way forth. But a small part is ever spoken of that which might be +spoken; and, had the time of their journey been more than doubled, there +would still have been questions to ask, and plans to arrange, and hopes, +and wishes, and fears to express; and Love, too, would have had a world +to tell and to hear; and many a caress would have remained to be given, +and many a vow would yet have required to be renewed. + +Thus, when at length, after advancing for nearly two hours, several +distant lights were seen upon the side of a dark hill beyond, as if +issuing from the windows of some building, they found that they had not +said half that they might have said, and wished that the minutes could +come over again. It is not, indeed, in such circumstances alone that man +casts away opportunities. It is all his life long, and every moment of +his life. Those opportunities are like the beautiful wild flowers that +blossom in every meadow and in every hedge, while, heedless or careless, +unseeing or unknowing, man passes them by continually, or walks upon his +way, and tramples them under his feet. + +When they reached that spot, however, and the castle of Masseran was +before their eyes, the brigand came up at a quick pace, saying, "Let us +pause a moment, and see whether our companions have arrived before us. +It might be dangerous for his deliverers to come too near the Lord of +Masseran's gates without sufficient numbers." + +As he thus spoke, he put the peculiar whistle which he carried to his +lips, producing a lower sound than before, but sufficiently loud to be +heard around, and call forth many an answer up to the very gates of the +castle itself. + +"They are here," continued the brigand, "and the good lord is in his +hold. Now, lady, you have doubtless promised things which you may find +it difficult to perform. You have promised to see this noble cavalier, +and give him--if needs must be, by stealth--the happiness of your +presence; but I know better than you do how things will befall you. You +will be watched; you will never be suffered to leave that castle's gates +without a train, which will cut you off from speaking with any one. The +gardens of the castle, however, will doubtless be free, for the walls +are high, the gates securely locked, and the way up to them watched. +Nevertheless, there is the small postern in the corner of the lowest +terrace, hid by a tall yew-tree: lay your hand upon the handle of the +lock at any time of the day you please. If it open not at the first +trial, wait a moment, and try it again. You shall never try it three +times without finding that door give way to your hand." + +"But he tells me," said the lady, speaking more directly to what was +passing in the brigand's thoughts than to what he actually expressed, +"but he tells me that he is actually on his way to visit my mother's +husband, charged with messages of import to him from the noble Marquis +of Brissac, and that to-morrow morning he will be there, openly +demanding admittance." + +"See him in the evening also, lady, whatever befall," replied the other. +"There are more dangers round you than you wot of. But I will speak to +him farther as we return. Now you had better go on." + +A few minutes more brought them nearly to the gates of the castle. The +brigand had remained behind to wait the coming up of his people. Bernard +de Rohan turned to see if they were approaching; but he could now +perceive no one upon the road but a single figure coming slowly on at +some distance, and leading a horse by the bridle. It was a moment not to +be lost. Once more he threw his arms round the lady beside him, and she +bent her head till their lips met. There were no farther words between +them but a few unconnected names of tenderness, and in a minute or two +after they were joined by the wounded servant, who had remained behind +with the lady and those who accompanied her when the Lord of Masseran +and the rest were sent on. + +"Ah! my lord," he said, looking wistfully in the face of the young +cavalier, "you have forgotten me, but I have not forgotten you; and if +it had not been for my love and duty to my young mistress, I would have +been with you in Italy long ago, especially when the countess sold +herself to her stranger husband." + +"No, indeed, Henriot, I have not forgotten you," replied Bernard de +Rohan; "and I beseech you, for love of me as well as your young +mistress, stay with her still, and be ever near her. I much doubt this +Lord of Masseran, and have heard no little evil of him. She may want +help in moments of need, and none can give her better aid than yourself; +but I fear you have been much hurt," he added, "for you walk feebly even +now." + +"It will soon pass, my lord," replied the man; "but I see a light at the +gate: we had better go on quickly, if, as I judge, you would not be +recognised." + +Bernard de Rohan took one more embrace, and then parted with her he +loved. He paused upon the road till, by the light which still shone from +the gate of the castle, he saw her and her follower enter and disappear +beneath the low-browed arch. He then turned away, and retrod his steps +along the side of the hill. He was left to do so for some way in +solitude, though he doubted not that the hillside and the valley below +him were both much more replete with human life than they seemed to be. +At the distance of little more than half a mile from the castle he was +forced to pause, for the moon had now sunk behind the mountain, and +there were two roads, one branching to either hand. + +"Keep to the right," said a deep voice near him, as he stopped to choose +his path; and the next moment the brigand, coming forth from the bushes +among which he had been sitting, walked on upon his way beside him. + +"Ours is a busy life, you see," he said; "but yet it is not every night +that we have so much business to do as we have had lately." + +"Nor, I should think," replied Bernard de Rohan, "is it every night that +you have upon your hands business which can leave so much satisfaction +behind." + +"I know not," answered the brigand, "and yet, in some sort, what you say +is true. For I have had pleasure in what I have done: I have had +pleasure in serving that bright lady; why, it matters not: I have had +pleasure in serving you; why, it matters not: I have had pleasure in +frustrating a base and villanous scheme; why, it matters not. But you +must not think, baron, that in the ordinary business of my everyday life +there are any of those weak thoughts about me which poison its +enjoyments and make the memory of each day bitter. You and I are +different beings, born for a different course." + +"We are both men," said Bernard de Rohan. + +"Ay!" answered the brigand; "and so are the dove and falcon both birds. +As well might that dove think that the life of the falcon must be +miserable because it is a bird of prey, as you judge of my feelings by +your own. I am a bird of prey; I am the brother of the eagle on the +rock. Our joys and our pursuits are the same; and they leave no more +regret with me than they do with that eagle, when he folds his wings in +his eyrie after the day's chase is done." + +The comparison was one which, as Bernard de Rohan very well understood, +was pleasant and satisfactory to his companion's feelings, but he could +not admit its justice to any great extent. He cared not to point out, +however, where it failed, and merely replied, "But there is a difference +between men and brutes. Man has his reason to guide him, and must be +governed by laws. The eagle has no law but the instinct which God has +given him." + +"Is not God's law the best?" exclaimed the brigand. "God gave the eagle +his law, and therefore that law is right. It is because man's law is not +God's law that I stand here upon the mountain. Were laws equal and just, +there would be few found to resist them. While they are unequal and +unjust, the poor-hearted may submit and tremble; the powerless may yield +and suffer: the bold, the free, the strong, and the determined fall back +upon the law of God, and wage war against the injustice of man. If you +and I, baron," he continued, growing excited with the heat of his +argument, "if you and I were to stand before a court of human justice, +as it is called, pleading the same cause, accused of the same acts, +would our trial be the same, our sentence, our punishment? No! all would +be different; and why? Because you are Bernard de Rohan, a wealthy baron +of the land, and I am none. A name would make the difference. A mere +name would bring the sword on my head and leave yours unwounded. If so +it be, I say--if such be the world's equity, I set up a retribution for +myself. I raise a kingdom in the passes of these mountains: a kingdom +where all the privileges of earth are reversed. Here, under my law, the +noble, and the rich, and the proud are those that must bow down and +suffer; the poor, and the humble, and the good those that have +protection and immunity. Go ask in the peasant's cottage: visit the good +pastor's fireside: inquire of the shepherd of the mountain, or the +farmer on the plains. Go ask them, I say, if under the sword of Corse de +Leon they lose a sheep from their flock or a sheaf from their field. Go +ask them if, when the tyrant of the castle--the lawless tyrant; or the +tyrant of the city--the lawful tyrant, plunders their property, insults +their lowliness, grinds the face of the poor, or wrings the heart of the +meek, ask them, I say, if there is not retribution to be found in the +midnight court of Corse de Leon, if there is not punishment and justice +poured forth even upon the privileged heads above." + +Bernard de Rohan felt that it would be useless to argue with him; for it +was evident that he was not one of those who are doubtful or wavering in +the course they pursue. There was some truth, too, in what the man said: +truth which Bernard de Rohan ventured to admit to his own heart, even in +that age, when such sentiments could only be looked upon as treasonable. +He was silent, then, considering how to reply, when the brigand himself +went on. + +"Think not," he continued, "that I have chosen my part without deep +thought. There are some--and perhaps you think me one of them--who are +driven by circumstances, led by their passions, or their follies, or +their vices, to a state of opposition with the rest of mankind, and who +then, when cast out from society, find a thousand specious reasons for +warring against it. But such is not my case. Ever since my youth have +such things been dwelling in my mind. I had pondered them long. I had +fully made up my mind as to what was right and what was wrong, years +before injustice and iniquity--years before the insolence of privileged +tyranny drove me forth to practise what I had long proposed. Here I +exercise the right that is in man. I take the brown game upon the +mountain, which is mine as much as that of any noble in the land. I pay +no tax to king or to collector. There is no duty on the wine I drink. +There is no toll upon the roads I follow. You will say that I do more +than this: that I take from others what is not mine and what is theirs; +but I have told you why I do so. They have taken from me what was not +theirs; and I wage war against a world which first waged war against me; +in which, even among themselves, the hand of every one is against his +brother; in which, whether it be in camp, or court, or city, or mart, or +church, injustice and iniquity are striving to snatch from one another +the rod of oppression, and keep the humble beneath their own yoke." + +"I cannot think," replied Bernard de Rohan, willing to answer as +generally as possible, "I cannot think that the state of society is so +terrible as you represent it. There may be occasional instances of +corruption and oppression, and doubtless there are. I have seen some +myself, and endeavoured to prevent them; but still these things are by +no means general." + +"Not general!" exclaimed the brigand, turning upon him almost fiercely. +"Sir Baron, I say they are universal. There are one or two exceptions, +it is true. You are one of those exceptions yourself. You are one of +those who deserve to be convinced; and I can convince you. I can show +you men who pretend to be holy, and humble, and good, oppressing most +basely those who are in their power. I can show you tyranny and +injustice at every step and in every station throughout the earth, from +the tradesman's shop to the monarch's throne. I can show it to you in +every garb, and in every profession, and in every place. I can, ay, and +will show it to you, within these twelve months, in such forms of +cruelty and blood that you shall say the brigand on the hillside is mild +compared with the man of courts or the man of refectories; that he may +be an eagle, but that these are vultures." + +"I see not," replied Bernard de Rohan, with a smile, "I see not how you +can show me all this. You forget that we shall most likely part here in +Savoy. That, as soon as I can rescue Mademoiselle de Brienne from the +situation in which she is placed, I shall hasten onward to my own +country, and we shall most likely never meet again." + +"Not so, not so," replied the brigand. "We shall meet again. Either with +her or without her, you must, as you say, go thither soon. My steps are +bound likewise towards France; for think not that I dwell always here, +or appear always thus: were it so, my head would soon be over the gate +of Chamberry. I will find means to show you a part of what I have said, +perhaps to give you some assistance likewise, when you most need and +least expect it. But remember," he added, "if misfortunes should befall +me, or danger threaten me, it is a part of our compact that you do not +strive to give me any aid; that you neither raise your voice nor your +arm in my behalf." + +"Nay, nay," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I cannot promise that. I must +ever remember the generous assistance you have afforded me this night, +and must do my best to prove that I am grateful for it." + +"The best way of proving it," replied the brigand, "is by doing what I +ask you. You are held wise for a young man: now ask yourself if you can +judge so well of what is for my advantage as I can judge myself. I tell +you that I have many means of deliverance which you know nothing of; +and, therefore, any attempt to aid me, without my asking you, might ruin +me and ruin yourself likewise." + +"If you will ask me," replied Bernard de Rohan, "when aid can be +serviceable to you, I shall be contented." + +"I will, I will," answered the brigand; "and now tell me, What have you +arranged with fair Isabel of Brienne? for I take an interest in your +fate and hers." + +"You seem indeed to do so," replied the young cavalier; "and yet I know +not why it should be so, for I cannot remember that we ever met before." + +"Once," replied the brigand, "only once. Several years ago we were side +by side, but for a moment. You and I, and that fair girl, and her +brother--her brother, the young Count Henry, who is now in Paris. It was +but for a moment, but that moment was one by me never to be forgotten." + +"I cannot recall it," replied Bernard de Rohan. "It is strange, too, if +it was a moment of such importance. But you say that her brother is in +Paris: I wrote to Henry to meet me in Grenoble, and I think he must be +there by this time." + +"Oh! he is in Paris still," replied the other. "He is a good youth; but +he is weak and young--ay, younger than his years. He will be easily +persuaded to stay in Paris, and flutter in bright silks, and flaunt at +tournaments, run at the ring, or fence at Moors' heads upon a turning +pole. He is at Paris still, depend upon it; and, if you count upon his +coming ere you claim the lady's hand, you must seek him in the capital, +and bring him with you." + +"I shall demand her hand at once," replied Bernard de Rohan; "but we +doubt that there will be opposition from one who has no right to make +it; and, to bear down that opposition, Henry de Brienne must be with me. +He is the guardian of his father's promise solemnly given to me before I +first went to Italy. But I will write to him as soon as day breaks +to-morrow. Hark! do you not hear voices coming up the pass?" + +"Most likely your servants and the priest," replied the brigand. + +"I wonder they have not joined us before," replied Bernard de Rohan. "We +should have fared ill if their assistance had been all we had to trust +to." + +"They could not do better," replied the brigand. "The other party had +caught a sight of us when you stood to argue with me at the corner of +the rock, and they broke down the little wooden bridge behind them. Your +servants know none of the paths; the priest knows not that which we +took; so doubtless, by this time, they think that we are hewed into +mincemeat. However, remember at that spot, by the broken bridge, a loud +halloo, a blast of your horn, or a whistle thrice repeated, will at any +time bring some one to you who can lead you to me should you want my +assistance. Now, jolly priest, now," he added, raising his voice, "here +we are safe, though no great thanks to you." + +"If you are safe, and sound, and sober," said the priest, coming up with +the attendants of Bernard de Rohan, "it is more than I expected; for we +could not reach you for our lives; and as we were scrambling over the +hills, and each losing his way according to his fancy, we heard as much +noise as at a boor's wedding, though the concert was somewhat different. +But now let us hasten back as fast as possible: why, we are a league and +a half from the inn, and I shall be so hoarse with shouting and the +night air that I shall not be able to sing matins." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +The Count de Meyrand was awake early, and dressed with the most +scrupulous exactness of appearance, without a riband tumbled or a point +out of place. He descended slowly about seven of the clock from the +chamber in which he had passed the night, by the long black +double-railed staircase, that led at once from the rooms above into the +kitchen, which, as I have said before, served also as the saloon of the +inn. His air and his countenance bore the same appearance of +indifference which they usually displayed, and he made no inquiry +whatsoever regarding the events of the preceding evening, although he +had retired to rest more than an hour before Bernard de Rohan had +returned to the inn. His servants came and went, seeking directions +concerning this thing and that, and communicating with him, from time to +time, in a low tone. The aubergiste, with many a lowly reverence, asked +his distinguished guest manifold questions concerning his breakfast; but +still the Count de Meyrand was not heard to ask any questions either +regarding the fate of his friend, or the somewhat remarkable events +which had lately taken place. + +At length, however, the jovial priest made his appearance; and whether +it was that the count was in a better humour for raillery than on the +night before, or whether he remarked, by the keen twinkling of the +other's eye, that he was about to commence an attack upon him, which +would not easily cease, he chose to be the first to open the encounter, +saying, "Well, good father, though I know it is not an easy thing to +cool a priest's courage, yet I trust your last night's expedition has +rather diminished your chivalrous ardour." + +"Not a whit," replied the priest. "Everything depends upon how much a +man's courage wants cooling. Yours, noble count, seems not of a quality +very likely to boil over; and, doubtless, ten steps from the door of the +inn would have sent you home shivering. Mine carried me, however, a +little farther." + +"Ay, doubtless," interrupted the count, "up to the point where you met +with these rogues; and then you waited behind a great stone to see who +had the best of the fray. Is it not so? I see you have brought home no +desperate wounds with you." + +"None," replied the priest, "that I cannot bear as tranquilly and well +as you, my noble lord, could bear the sorrow of your best friend. My +trade, however, is not bloodshed; I love not hard blows, and shall +always keep out of their way as far as I can. So my confession is made; +but here comes one who has a greater liking for wounds and bruises than +I have; and now Heaven send us all as good food as I have a good +stomach. Mine host! mine host! that omelet will be overdone, and the sin +of burned eggs is one to which I refuse absolution. By Hercules! as the +Romans used to say--Body of Bacchus! as the Italians say--Dame! as we +say in France, did ever mortal man see such a basket of fine trouts? +Why, it is a gift for an abbot! Look! my noble baron, look!" he +continued, turning to Bernhard de Rohan, who now made his appearance; +"did you ever see such fair river-gods in your life? Put them upon the +ashes, host, put them upon the ashes!" + +Bernard de Rohan did not pay so much attention to the fishes as the +priest, by his commendation, seemed to think they deserved; but, turning +to his friend, he shook him by the hand, saying, "Well, Meyrand, you +certainly always were a very unaccountable sort of personage, or I +should be inclined seriously to quarrel with you for suffering me to go +last night without assistance, at the imminent risk of getting my throat +cut for want of your help." + +"If you risked getting your throat cut, De Rohan," replied his +companion, "that was your fault; I had nothing to do with that; I even +deviated so far from my usual habits as to ask you to stay, and not do +it. I have always a reason for everything I do, good Sir Bernard, and I +take it for granted that other people have a reason too. I supposed that +you had some motive for going and getting your throat cut, and therefore +did not in the least blame you for doing so, if you chose; but I had no +reason for anything of the kind, and therefore I stayed where I was. +Indeed, I had every reason in the world not to go: I was warm and +comfortable, and had good wine and good viands before me; I was tired +with a long day's hunting, and had got my boots off. Then what to me was +the Lord of Masseran, that I should try to save his life or liberty? I +had no motive for serving him: indeed, quite the contrary. Every one +knows him to be an egregious scoundrel, and at this moment he owes me +thirty thousand crowns, which he will never pay, and which I have no +chance of getting, unless some honest brigand should cut his throat, +when the King of France would doubtless take possession of his lands and +pay his creditors." + +"Good faith, you are better acquainted with him than I am," replied +Bernard de Rohan. "Pray let me know something of his history; for I +never heard anything of him till some six months ago, when letters from +France informed me that the widowed Countess of Brienne, the mother of +my friend and comrade, Henry of Brienne, was about to be married to a +Marquis of Masseran." + +"Oh! his history is told in a few words," replied the Count de Meyrand, +laughing; "but serve the breakfast, my good host, and do not stand with +your mouth open listening to the venerable character of your noble lord, +for I take it we are here upon his domain." + +"No, no!" replied the host, "he is no lord of mine, noble sir; this is +ducal domain we stand upon." + +"It matters not," answered the count; "this Lord of Masseran, then, +Bernard, though his mother was a Frenchwoman, was born on the other side +of those Alps, a Piedmontese vagabond; half Frenchman, half Italian; a +sort of water-snake, neither adder nor eel; though a sort of third-size +sovereign, an underling of the Duke of Savoy. He who would have been +beggarly for a French gentleman, was ten times more beggarly for a +prince; and thus, in all probability, he would have gone on +living--filled with all the small Italian vices of our day; sharing, it +is said, with the brigands who take refuge on the territories of such +small lords; and employing the stiletto or the drug when it suited his +purpose to get rid of troublesome friends--thus, I say, he would have +gone on living what is considered in Italy a very respectable, quiet, +insignificant life, had a fancy not suddenly come into the head of our +worthy king to take possession of the dominions of his friend and +cousin, the Duke of Savoy, which fancy at once raises this Lord of +Masseran into a person of importance. He has, it seems, upon his lands +one or two small towns and one or two small castles; but these towns and +these castles are so situated as to command several passes and defiles +valuable to France. Now my Lord of Masseran is a conscientious man, and, +of course, nothing would ever induce him to take part with any one who +could not pay him for the same. From the poor Duke of Savoy not a livre +tournois was to be expected. The King of France himself, though a +perfect Croesus in promises, was known to be somewhat threadbare in +the treasury. He, however, was the more hopeful speculation of the two, +for he had power if he had not money, and there was a probability of his +paying one friend out of what he pillaged from another. With him, then, +my Lord of Masseran chose to deal, and promised to give free passage to +the troops of France upon certain conditions, which are, of course, a +secret. One thing, however, is evident; my Lord of Masseran did with the +king as some of our followers do when they take service of us. He asked, +in short, for something in hand. Now the worthy monarch of France had +nothing to give but the hand of a fair widow in her fortieth year. With +that hand, however, went a dowry of some twenty thousand crowns a year, +and the Lord of Masseran came to Paris and opened the campaign against +the widow's heart. She has the repute, as you should know better than +any one, of being somewhat hard and stern in her purpose, and cutting +with her tongue. She was inconsolable, too, for the death of her noble +husband; always wore black, like the mother of the late king, and looked +the picture of widowhood. My Lord of Masseran, however, with his +Piedmontese eloquence, found means to win the widow, with the support of +the king. The lady thought, it would seem, to spend her days in Paris; +but that city soon became a residence unsuited to the health of her new +husband. There were strange stories current regarding him; but there was +one thing certain, namely, that he was marvellously fond of those small, +square, spotted pieces of mischief, which have the art of conveying so +many fortunes from hand to hand. He played largely; he won generally; +and his fortune seemed immense. One night, at the Louvre, he borrowed +from me the large sum I have named, with a promise to repay it the next +morning; but it would seem that, after I left the hall, either fortune +went against him, or he took an irresistible longing for Savoy. His lady +raved and raged, we are told: but she found that she had now to do with +one, upon whose dull ear the sweet sounds of a woman's tongue, raised to +ever so high a pitch, had no effect. The Lord of Masseran paid not the +least attention to anything that she said; he did not seem to hear her; +but, with the most kind courtesy and ceremonious respect, handed her to +the carriage which was prepared to bear her away; and she found herself +on the road to Savoy before she could arrange any scheme for resistance. +This is his history; mine is soon told: I choose not so easily to +abandon my hold of my Lord of Masseran; and I am here hunting his game, +riding through his woods, and visiting his castle gate; for he seems to +me to be as deaf to my sweet solicitations for repayment as he showed +himself to the melodious intonations of his lady's voice. Now, priest, +though your clerical appetite may be good, do not devour all the trout +in the dish, for I am hungry as well as you, and have told a long +story." + +"And a good one too," replied the priest, laughing, and putting over the +dish to the count; but he suddenly added, "Have you never got within the +gates of his castle, then, my noble lord?" and he fixed his eyes full +upon the face of the Count de Meyrand. + +A very slight change of colour took place on the count's cheek; but he +replied at once, "Oh yes, I have been within, but to no purpose." + +"He must be an obdurate man indeed," said the priest, "if your +persuasions, my noble lord, can have no effect upon him. I wonder what +mine would have! Perhaps he might listen to the voice of the Church: I +will go up and try." + +"Why what hast thou to do with him?" demanded the count, suddenly +turning his eyes sharply upon the priest. "On what pretext wilt thou go +thither?" + +"To exercise my calling," replied the priest, with a sly smile; "to +exercise my calling in one of its various ways." + +"I knew not that your calling had various ways," replied the count, his +usual air of indifference verging into a look of supercilious contempt. + +"Oh yes it has," replied the priest, well pleased, as it seemed to +Bernard de Rohan, that he had piqued the count out of his apathy. "Our +calling has various ways of exercising itself. We address ourselves to +all grades and classes. If I convert not the Lord of Masseran, I may +convert his cook, you know. My efforts for the good of his soul may +prove for the benefit of my own body; and the discourse that is held +over venison and capons comes with a fervour and an unction which is +marvellously convincing." + +There was a sly and jocular smile upon the priest's countenance, +especially while addressing the Count de Meyrand, that somewhat puzzled +Bernard de Rohan, and evidently annoyed the count himself. It was not +difficult to see that, in the most serious things he said--though, +indeed, there were few that he did say which were serious at all--there +was a lurking jest, that seemed pointed at something which the hearer +did not clearly see, but which might or might not be something in his +own character, purposes, or pursuits. + +The significance of his tone towards the Count de Meyrand, however, did +not pass without that gentleman's observation; and, after listening to +him for several minutes more, while the party concluded their breakfast, +he turned towards him as he rose, saying, "It seems to me, priest, that +you would fain be insolent. Now let me tell you, that, though you are +very reverend personages in Savoy, and men meddle with you warily, in +France we have a way of curing clerical insolence, which is a good +scourging with hunting-whips. Perhaps you do not know that this is the +way French gentlemen treat those who are insolent." + +"I know it well," replied the priest, turning upon him sharply, "I know +it well, as I happen to be a French gentleman myself." + +He instantly changed his tone, however, and added, with his wonted +smile, "Nay, but now, Heaven forbid! that I should be insolent to the +noble Count de Meyrand. He being a generous and well-bred gentleman, +and, like every other gentleman, indifferent to all things upon earth, +can never take offence where no offence is meant; but, as he looks +furious, I will take myself out of harm's way. The blessing of a whole +skin is great. Adieu, my son! adieu! We shall meet some time again, when +I shall find you, I trust, restored to temper, and as lamb-like and meek +as myself." + +While he thus spoke, the priest gradually made his way to the door and +issued forth; while the Count of Meyrand, calling one of his attendants +to him, whispered something which Bernard de Rohan construed into an +order unfavourable to the safety of the jovial priest's shoulders. + +"Nay, nay, Meyrand," he said, "let him have his jest, for pity's sake. +Recollect he is a priest." + +"His gown sha'n't save him," replied the count. "Those priests have too +much immunity already in all parts of the world. But what do you now, de +Rohan? Will you hunt with me to-day, and we will drive this Lord of +Masseran's deer from one end of Savoy to the other? or do you go on to +Paris at once, and deny me your good company?" + +"I write to Paris," replied the cavalier, "and send off a messenger +immediately. But I myself go up to seek this Lord of Masseran. I have +despatches for him from the Marechal de Brissac, and also some orders to +give by word of mouth." + +"I hope they are not disagreeable orders," replied the count, turning +towards the door of the inn; "for he is not one of those whom I should +like to offend in his own castle." + +"Oh no, I shall say nothing that should offend him," replied Bernard de +Rohan. "But, besides that, I shall not go till after the arrival of the +rest of my men, who come across the mountain this morning; and he might +find it rather dangerous to do me harm." + +"His ways of dealing with troublesome friends are various," replied the +count. "I should love neither to dine nor to sleep in his dwelling. A +word to the wise, good friend, a word to the wise! Now, my men, quick! +quick! get ready the horses, bring out the dogs. You will not be +tempted, De Rohan?" + +"I cannot now," replied his friend. "Another day, if I stay so long. I +wish you sport, I wish you good sport;" and, turning towards his +chamber, he caused a table to be brought, and materials for writing to +be placed before him. He there remained for nearly an hour and a half, +busily tracing upon paper those small black characters which, since some +man--whether Cadmus, who, if he did it, may well be said to have sown +dragons' teeth and reaped a harvest of strife, or whoever else the +learned world may have it--those black characters, I say, which, since +some man, not contented with what mischief the tongue can do, invented +writing for the propagation thereof, have worked more of wo and +mischief, as well as of happiness and prosperity, than any other +invention that the prolific mind of man ever brought forth. At length +the sound of a trumpet coming down the hill saluted his ear, and in a +few minutes after it was announced to him that the rest of his train had +arrived. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +We must now conduct the reader at once to the entrance of the castle of +Masseran. The gate itself was shut, though the drawbridge was down and +the portcullis was up. There was a little wicket, indeed, left ajar, +showing the long, dark perspective of the heavy archway under the gate +tower, gloomy and prison-like, and the large square court beyond, with +its white stones glistening in the sun; while the gray walls of the +castle and part of a window, as well as the door of the keep, appeared +at the opposite side. On either side, under the archway, but scarcely to +be seen in its gloomy shadow, was a long bench, and on the left hand a +low door leading up to the apartments in the gate tower. The right-hand +bench was occupied by one of the soldiers of the place, and at the door +was the warder's wife talking to him, while our friend, the jovial +priest, who had escaped without harm or hinderance, notwithstanding the +threats of the Count de Meyrand, was waiting at the wicket, from time to +time looking through into the court, and from time to time turning round +and gazing upon the mountains, humming an air which was certainly not a +canticle. + +After a pause of some ten or fifteen minutes, the warder himself +appeared, a heavy man, past the middle age, and dressed in rusty gray. +"He won't see you, Father Willand," he said. "He's walking in the inner +court, and in a dangerous sort of mood. I would rather not be the man to +cross him now." + +"Poh! nonsense," replied Father Willand, laughing. "Go in again to him, +good warder: tell him I have business of importance with him, and I know +that this refusal is only one of his sweet jokes. He will see me, +soft-hearted gentleman! Go and tell him--go and tell him, warder!" + +"Faith, not I," replied the warder. "That business of last night seems +to have galled him sorely, and he is just in the humour to fire a man +out of a culverin, as we know his father once did; but in these days it +won't do: culverins make too loud a report, you know. I will not go near +him again." + +"Then I will go myself," replied the priest. "He won't hurt me. Nay, +warder, you would not squeeze the Church in the wicket gateway! By +Heaven--or, as I should say less profanely, by the blessed rood--if you +pinch my stomach one moment more you will pinch forth an anathema, which +will leave you but a poor creature all your life." + +"Well, be it on your head," cried the warder, with a grim smile; "though +a two-inch cudgel or a fall from the battlements is the best thing to be +hoped for you." + +The priest was not to be deterred, however; and, making his way onward, +he crossed the outer court, turned to the right, and, passing through a +long stone passage, feeling damp and chilly after the bright sunshine, +he entered a colonnade or sort of cloister which surrounded the inner +court. It was a large, open space of ground, with tall buildings +overshadowing it on all sides. The sun seldom reached it; and there was +a coldness and stillness about its aspect altogether--its gray stones, +its small windows, its low-arched cloisters, its sunless air, and the +want of even the keen activity of the mountain wind--which made most +people shudder when they entered it. + +But there was nothing the least chilly in the nature of Father Willand. +His heart was not easily depressed, his spirits not easily damped; and +when he entered the cloister, and saw the Lord of Masseran walking up +and down in the court, an irresistible inclination to laugh seized him, +notwithstanding all the warder had said of his lord's mood at that +moment. + +It is true--although, from the description of the worthy officer of +bolts and bars, one would have expected to see the Lord of Masseran +acting some wild scene of passion--he was, on the contrary, walking +calmly and slowly backward and forward across the court, with his eyes +bent on the ground, indeed, but with his countenance perfectly tranquil. +It was nothing in his demeanour, however, that gave the priest a desire +to laugh, for he was very well aware that the passions of the Lord of +Masseran did not take the same appearances as those of other men, and he +saw clearly that he was at that moment in a state of sullen fury, which +might, very likely, have conducted any other man to some absurd excess. +His personal appearance, also, had nothing in it to excite mirth in any +degree. He was a tall, thin, graceful-looking man of the middle age, +with a nose slightly aquiline, eyes calm and mild, lips somewhat thin +and pale, and a complexion, very common in the northern part of Italy, +of a sort of clear, pale olive. His dress was handsome, but not +ostentatious; and, on the whole, he looked very much the nobleman and +the man of the world of those times. The priest, however, laughed when +he saw him; and, though he tried to smother it under the merry +affectation of a cough, yet the effects were too evident upon his +countenance to escape the eye of the Lord of Masseran as he approached. + +"Ha! Father Willand," said the marquis, as their eyes met, "I told the +warder to say that I did not wish to see you to-day." + +"Ah, but, my excellent good lord," replied the priest, bowing his head +low, with an air of mock humility and reverence, "it was I who wanted to +see your lordship; so I e'en ventured to make my way in, though the +warder--foul fall the villain--has so squeezed my stomach in the wicket, +that, like a bruised tin pot, it will never again hold so much as it did +before." + +"You are somewhat of a bold man," said the marquis, with a cold, bitter, +sidelong look at the priest; "you are somewhat of a bold man to make +your way in here when I bid you stay out. You may come in once too +often, Father Willand." + +"Heaven forbid, my lord," replied the priest; "I shall never think it +too often to serve your lordship, even though it should be at your +funeral: a sad duty that, my lord, which we must perform very often for +our best friends." + +"I should imagine, priest," replied the marquis, somewhat sternly, "you +would laugh at the funeral of your best friends." + +"I will promise your lordship one thing," replied the priest, "to laugh +at my own, if death will but let me. But surely, my lord, this is a time +for merriment and gayety! Why, I came to congratulate your lordship upon +your escape from those who attacked you last night--Ugh! ugh! ugh!" + +While the priest, unable to restrain himself, thus laughed aloud, the +marquis bit his lip, and eyed him askance, with a look which certainly +boded no great good to the merry ecclesiastic. They were at that moment +close to a spot where a door opened from one of the masses of building +into the cloister, and the Lord of Masseran, raising his voice a little, +exclaimed, in a sweet Italian tone, "Geronimo!" + +For a moment the priest laughed more heartily than before; but, seeing +the marquis about to repeat his call, he recovered himself, and, laying +his finger on the nobleman's arm, said, "Stay a moment, my lord, stay a +moment before you call him. First, because the sweet youth must not +exercise his ministry upon me. It would make too much noise, you know, +and every one in the valley is aware that I have come hither. Next, +because there are certain friends of mine looking for me at the bottom +of the slope, and expecting me within half an hour, so that I cannot +enjoy your Geronimo's conversation--" + +"It is, in general, very short," said the marquis. + +"And, thirdly," continued the priest, "because I have come up to tell +you two or three things which require no witnesses. I am here upon a +friendly errand, my good lord, and you are such a niggard that you +refuse me my laugh. However, I must have it, be it at you, at myself, or +at any one else; and now, if you behave well and civilly, I will tell +you tidings that you may like well to hear. If you don't want to hear +them, I will take myself away again, and then neither priest nor warder +is much to blame. Shall I go?" + +He spoke seriously now, and the Lord of Masseran replied, in a somewhat +more placable tone, a moment's reflection showing him that the priest, +in all probability, would not have come thither except upon some +important errand: "No, do not go," he said, "but speak to me, at least, +seriously." He looked down upon the ground for a moment, and then added, +"You may well think that I am angry, after all that took place last +night; for you, who hear everything, have doubtless heard of that also." + +As he spoke, he suddenly raised his keen dark eyes to the countenance of +the priest, as if inquiring how much he really did know of the matter in +question. + +"Oh yes," replied Father Willand, "I do hear everything, my good lord, +and I knew all that had happened to you last night before I sat down to +my breakfast this morning: I heard of your happy deliverance, too, from +the hands of the daring villains who captured you, for which gracious +interposition I trust that you will keep a candle burning perpetually +before the shrine of Saint Maurice." + +The priest spoke in a serious tone, but still there was an expressive +grin upon his countenance; and, after pausing for a moment or two more, +he added, as the marquis was about to reply, "You think I am jesting, or +that I do not understand what I am talking about; but I know the whole +business as well as you do yourself, and somewhat better. I tell you, +therefore, that it is a great deliverance that you have met with, though +perhaps you think it less a deliverance than an interruption." + +The priest paused as if for the marquis to reply; but the Lord of +Masseran was silent also, regarding his companion with a quiet, sly, +inquiring air, which, perhaps, could be assumed by no other countenance +upon earth than that of an Italian. It might be interpreted to say, "You +are more in my secrets than I thought. A new bond of fellowship is +established between us." + +As he remained actually silent, however, the priest went on to say, +"What I come to talk to you about is this very matter; for you may +chance be outwitted, my good lord, even where you are putting some +trust. But what I have to say," he continued, "had better not be said +among so many windows and doors." + +"Come with me! come with me!" said the Lord of Masseran; and leading the +way through the cloisters, he thridded several long and intricate +passages, none of them more than dimly lighted, and many of them +profoundly dark. He was followed by the priest, who kept his hand in the +bosom of his robe, and, if the truth must be said, grasped somewhat +firmly the hilt of a dagger, never feeling perfectly sure what was to be +the next of the Marquis of Masseran's sweet courtesies. Nothing +occurred, however, to interrupt him in his course, and at length the +lord of the castle stopped opposite to a doorway, over which a +glimmering light found its way. As soon as it was opened, the bright +beams of the day rushed in, and the marquis led the way into a wide +garden, which sloped down the side of the hill, and lay between the +walls of the castle itself and an outwork thrown forward to command one +of the passes of the mountain. It was walled on all sides, and nothing +could be seen beyond it; but in itself it offered a beautiful contrast +to the wild scenery round, being cultivated with great care and +neatness, and arranged in the Italian style of gardening, which was then +very little known in France, where it had been first introduced some +years before by Catharine de Medicis. Long and broad terraces, connected +together by flights of steps, formed the part of the garden nearest to +the chateau, while below appeared many a formal walk, sheltered, even in +that mountain scene, by rows of tall cypresses and hedges of other +evergreen plants. + +"Here we can speak undisturbed," said the marquis, as soon as he had +taken a few steps in advance. "Now what is it you have to tell me, +priest?" + +"Did you ever hear of such a person as Bernard de Rohan?" demanded the +priest, fixing his eyes upon the countenance of the Lord of Masseran. + +"I have--I have heard of him," replied the marquis, turning somewhat +pale. "What of him? what of him? Is he not still beyond the Alps?" + +"He is within a few leagues of your dwelling," answered the priest. + +"I thought so, I thought so," exclaimed the Lord of Masseran, striking +his brow with his hand. "But he shall find he has come too soon." + +"You must take heed what you do," replied the priest, grinning. "Did you +ever hear how the fox vowed vengeance against the lion, and was wroth, +and forgot his cunning, and flew at the lion's muzzle, and the lion put +his paw upon him, and squeezed the breath out of the poor fox's body? My +very good lord, you do not know that this Bernard de Rohan has +men-at-arms at his back, and despatches to you from the Marechal de +Brissac, which may not be pleasant for you to receive; and, moreover, he +is a great friend of a certain Count de Meyrand, and they have been +conferring earnestly together both last night and this morning, and the +name of the Lord of Masseran was more than once mentioned. So now, my +son, you see what is going forward, and must take your measures +accordingly." + +The wily Piedmontese sunk back into himself as he heard the unpalatable +tidings communicated to him. From the few significant words which the +priest had spoken, it was evident enough to the Lord of Masseran that, +by some means or another, all the plans and purposes in which he was +engaged in at the time were nearly as well known to the personage with +whom he was then conversing as to himself, and yet he could not bring +himself to speak with him freely thereupon. He wanted advice. He wanted +assistance. The priest appeared to know more than he said; and, to +arrive at certainty upon that point, the Marquis of Masseran now applied +himself with all the skill and shrewdness of which he was master; but in +good Father Willand he met with more than his match; for, with equal +dexterity and shrewdness, the ecclesiastic had resources which the Lord +of Masseran himself had not. He could evade a question by a laugh, or a +jest, or a figure, or a pun, and never did diplomatist more skilfully +turn and double in a conference than he did in his conversation with the +Marquis of Masseran. + +At length, driven to speak more clearly, the marquis paused suddenly on +the terrace across which they were walking, and, fronting the priest, +demanded abruptly and sternly, "Tell me, then--tell me what is this +situation in which you say I am placed, which you always allude to and +never explain. Tell me this, and tell me how I shall meet the danger, +or, by the powers of Heaven and hell, you shall never quit this place +alive." + +"A pretty and a sweet persuasion," exclaimed the priest, laughing +heartily; "but, my dear son, I am not so easily killed, even if such +parricidal thoughts were anything more than a jest. You know not what a +tough morsel an old priest is: hard of mastication for even stronger +teeth than yours. Nay, nay, think of tenderer food! In other terms, ask +me pleasantly and civilly, my good son, and you may then chance to +receive an answer. If you were to kill me forty times over it would do +you no good. My secrets are like the goose's golden eggs: not to be got +at by slaughter." + +"There is something that you want, priest," replied the marquis, in the +same abrupt tone. "Quick! tell me what it is; if it be anything in +reason, you shall have it." + +The priest smiled with a meaning look, but thought for a moment or two +before he replied; for, to say the truth, he had not, in his own mind, +fixed upon that which he was to demand as his recompense. He had, it is +true, an object in view, and the chief means of attaining that object +was to persuade the Marquis of Masseran that he dealt with him truly and +sincerely. Now he well knew that the mind of the worthy lord was so +constituted that it could by no means be brought to conceive that any +man dealt honestly with another, unless he had some personal object to +gain by so doing, and, therefore, the priest determined to assign such +an object, although he was, in reality, without one. "Well," he said, +"well, you shall promise me, most solemnly, first, not to tell any one +what I reveal to you; and also, if you find that what I tell you is +true, and if the way that I point out to you prove successful, you shall +give the priest of the church of Saint John of Bonvoison a fat buck in +August every year when he chooses to send for it; you shall also give +him a barrel of wine of your best vintage, and five silver pieces for +alms to the poor, and this in perpetuity." + +"Fy, now, fy!" replied the Lord of Masseran; "for your own life were +quite enough; but in perpetuity, that is more than I can engage for: it +is owning your vassalage, good father." + +"It must be even so, though," replied the priest, "or you have not my +secret. I care not for venison, sinner that I am, it is the good of the +Church I think of." + +"Well! well!" answered the Lord of Masseran, "most disinterested father, +I give my promise; and now be quick, for I expect a visiter full soon, +my dealings with whom may depend upon your words: what is it that I +should fear?" + +"That Adrian, count of Meyrand," said the priest, "and Bernard, baron de +Rohan, laying their heads together for their own special purposes--" + +"That can never be, that can never be," cried the marquis, with a scoff. +"They both love the same woman. They both seek her. They can as soon +unite as oil and water. No, no, that is all vain!" and he turned away +with a sneer. + +"Suppose," said the priest, smiling in a way that again shook the +Marquis of Masseran's feelings of security, "suppose that the one should +love her money and the other herself, and they should agree to settle it +thus: We will prove to the King of France that the Lord of Masseran +holds secret communication with the Duke of Savoy and the Emperor +Ferdinand. Suppose this were the case, I say, do you think, my son, that +there would be any chance of their really proving it? Could the noble +Count of Meyrand say boldly that, to his knowledge, the Lord of Masseran +conspired secretly with some troops of Savoy, to carry off, as if by +force, himself, the Lord of Masseran, and Mademoiselle de Brienne, for +special purposes of his own, somewhat treasonable towards France, only +that the scheme was defeated by an accident? Could Bernard de Rohan say +that he had seen the Lord of Masseran in the hands of his captors, going +along with no great signs of unwillingness, and showing no great signs +of gratitude to those who set him free." + +"Was he there?" exclaimed the Lord of Masseran, eagerly. "What, a youth +in a buff coat? By Heaven, his eyes have been haunting me all night. He +seemed to look through me." + +"The same person," replied the priest, with a loud laugh; "and he did +see through you, my son. You have been very transparent lately. I ask no +questions, but put it to yourself whether these two gentlemen can say +these things to the King of France. Then may not the one say, 'Sire, I +love this girl, and have got her father's promise for her hand; here is +her brother, too, consents to our marriage: I claim as my reward your +good-will and approbation.' Then may not the other say, 'Sire, the Lord +of Masseran, as I have showed you, betrays your trust. He has fair +castles and fortresses, beautiful lands and lordships, vineyards, +olive-grounds, cornfields: I pray you, in return for having discovered +his dealings with the empire, put me in possession of his lands and his +lordships till your majesty shall think fit to conclude a peace.'" + +The Lord of Masseran looked moodily down upon the ground; and though, to +say the truth, he did not yet put great faith in the priest's sincerity, +he asked briefly, "Well, what remedy? How is this to be avoided?" + +"That," replied the priest, "for certain I cannot tell you; but I can +tell you what I would do were you Father Willand and I Marquis of +Masseran. I would order horses to be saddled and grooms to be prepared, +and by the most silent, secret, and sudden way, I would betake myself to +Paris, cast myself at the king's feet, accuse this Count of Meyrand of +seeking to corrupt me, tell him that Savoy had offered me bribes, and, +failing there, had striven to carry me off. I would do all this, and +then--" + +"Hush!" said the Lord of Masseran, "hush! here is some one coming to +seek me:" and, leaving the priest, he advanced a few steps towards a +servant who now approached from the house. The marquis asked a question +in a low tone, to which the other replied, loud enough for Father +Willand to hear, + +"He will not come within the gates, sir, but desires to speak with you +for a moment without: he says he is but in his hunting-garb, and +unfitted to enter your halls." + +"How many men has he with him?" demanded the Lord of Masseran. + +"No one but a page, my lord, near the gates," replied the man. "The rest +I saw gathered together about a mile down the road, on the other side of +the valley." + +"I will come!" said the Lord of Masseran, "I will come!" and he added, +in a lower tone, some words which the priest did not hear, but which he +judged had reference to himself, from perceiving the eyes of the +speakers turned more than once shrewdly towards him. "I will be back +again in a few minutes, good father," the Lord of Masseran continued. +"Wait for me, for we have yet much to speak of." + +"I will wait, I will wait," replied the priest; "only be not long, my +good son; for, though I have much to say to you, I have little time to +spare." + +The Lord of Masseran gave him every assurance that he would return +speedily; and then left the garden, followed by the attendant who had +summoned him. The priest looked after them and listened; and, being +someway connected with the race of that gentleman called in history +Fine-ear, he distinctly heard the door by which he and the marquis had +entered the garden locked after the latter had quitted it. "There is +another door," he muttered to himself, with a smile, looking towards one +of the archways upon the terrace leading to the chateau. + +The next instant, however, there was a sound from that quarter also, as +if somebody turned the key there likewise; but the priest continued to +smile notwithstanding, and, proceeding slowly along the terraces, as if +merely to amuse himself by a walk, he approached the thick wall of the +garden, and stopped at the entrance of one of those little guerites, or +watch-towers, with which the whole enclosure was studded from place to +place. Up the narrow staircase in the stone he made his way, and then +looked carefully out through the loophole which was turned towards the +chief entrance of the chateau. No living object, however, was to be seen +in the immediate neighbourhood of the castle itself; though, as the +attendant had said, about a mile down the road which passed through the +valley was a group of men, and horses, and dogs gathered together in +various listless attitudes, while two large eagles were seen whirling in +immense circles high up above the tops of the mountains, upon the lower +part of whose tall sides a flock of sheep appeared feeding in peaceful +tranquillity. + +"I may as well go," said the priest to himself, as he gazed out upon +this quiet scene. "I have said all that it is necessary to say, and this +sweet lord may not have done all that he may think it necessary to do. I +like not his whisperings, so I may as well go." + +But, as the priest thus murmured to himself, he looked out again in the +same direction, when two persons came slowly forth from behind an angle +of one of the towers, and, taking their way under the garden wall, +approached the very spot where Father Willand stood. There was no +difficulty in recognising the Lord of Masseran and the Count de Meyrand. +"Now what would I give," murmured the priest to himself, "for one of +those famous inventions--those ear-trumpets--those sound-catchers--which +we read about in old histories." + +The good priest, however, possessed none such; and though his ears, as +we have said, were very sharp; though he thrust his head as far as he +could into the loophole; though the count and his companion, thinking +that no one observed them, spoke loudly and vehemently; and though they +passed directly under the turret where the priest stood, nevertheless, +the words that he could catch were very few. "Well, my good lord, well," +said the Lord of Masseran, "you blame me without cause. I have done my +best, and am as disappointed as you are." + +"I do not blame you," replied the other; "I only tell you what must be +the result if the plans you have proposed cannot be carried through +immediately." + +"Not that I have proposed, not that I have proposed," replied the other; +"the suggestion was your own." + +"Indeed!" said the Count de Meyrand, "this is something new to me. All I +know is, that I have got the whole of your scheme drawn out in your own +hand; the names false, indeed, or written in cipher, but for that we +will soon find a key. What I asked was this, either that you should pay +me the large debt you owe, or that you should give me such assistance in +my suit to Mademoiselle de Brienne as would enable me to call her my +wife within two months. Those two months have now wellnigh expired, and +I will be trifled with no more." + +The latter part of this sentence was lost to the ear of the priest; but +he guessed what it must be; and certainly the slight portion that he had +heard gave him a very strong inclination to hear more. He paused, then, +to consider whether this could be accomplished by any possible means, +but it was evident that such could not be the case; for, even while he +turned the matter in his mind, the little path along which the Marquis +de Masseran and his companion walked led them farther and farther from +the wall of the garden. We must now, however, follow the two noblemen, +and leave the priest to his fate, which we shall very speedily see. + +"Well, well, my good friend," replied the Marquis de Masseran, in answer +to the last observation of the count, "the time has not yet fully +expired, and it shall be your own fault if my promise is not completely +fulfilled." + +"How can it be my fault?" said the count. "I have nothing to do with the +fulfilment of your promise." + +"Yes, you have," answered the Marquis of Masseran: "I will give you the +means; but if any pitiful scruple, any lady-like hesitation upon your +part, prevents you from employing them, the fault is your own." + +"Mark me now, my good lord," replied the count: "it was understood +between us that I was to have no share in anything contrary to my +allegiance to the crown of France. With your own plans I had nothing to +do. If you chose to give the agents of the empire an opportunity of +making you a prisoner, and taking possession of your fortresses for +reasons and with purposes best known to yourself, I had nothing to do +with that: that was your own affair; I would be in no degree implicated +with it; I would receive no bribes from Savoy or Austria," he continued, +with a sneer; "all I agreed to do was to rescue the lady, if, on any +occasion, I were informed that she was travelling as a prisoner between +Fort Covert and Brianzone. This I promised to do, and I should have had +no scruple then to use my opportunities to the best advantage." + +The Lord of Masseran smiled with a meaning look, which his companion +easily interpreted. The count added with a frown, "You mistake me: I +would have done her no wrong, sir! Though I would have taken care to +keep her so long with me that she could give her hand to no one else, I +would have treated her with all honour." + +"Doubtless, doubtless," replied the Lord of Masseran; "but what I mean +now, my lord count, is, that if I again, at a great risk to myself, give +you good opportunity, you will have no hesitation in using a little +gentle force to compel this lady's union with yourself. We have priests +enough who will perform the ceremony with a deaf ear to the +remonstrances that her reluctance and maiden modesty may suggest; but +when we have carried the matter so far as that, remember that my safety, +nay, my life itself, may be compromised if you yield to any weak +supplications. Once commit ourselves, and our only safety is in her +being your wife! Then she will be silent for her own sake." + +"By Heavens," said the count, in a deep, low tone, "she shall be my wife +if it be but in revenge for the scorn with which she treated me in +Paris. If it costs the lives of her and me, and all our kin, she shall +be mine, Lord of Masseran." + +"So be it, then," replied the marquis; "but, to accomplish my new +scheme, I must be absent some few days." + +The count gazed upon him somewhat suspiciously. "Some few days?" he +said. "What! long enough, marquis, to go to Paris or Vienna?" + +"Neither," replied the Marquis of Masseran, coolly. "Three days will +suffice, if well used. In three days I will be back again." + +"And in those three days," replied the count, "this Bernard de Rohan, +whom we were talking about just now, will have fair opportunity of +visiting the bright lady, and even, perhaps, by the connivance of her +fair mother, may carry her within the French frontier, and plead her +father's promise at the court of the king." + +"Not by her mother's connivance," replied the marquis. "Her mother loves +him as little as you do; and, even were he at the court of France +to-morrow, her protest against the marriage would be sufficient to stop +it. But, to guard against all danger, and, if possible, to put the mind +of a suspicious man at ease, I will tell you that one great cause of my +going hence is to prevent this Bernard de Rohan from setting foot within +my walls. I know his coming: I know why he comes far better than you do. +I have heard his motives and his views within this hour from one who is +well acquainted with them, and, if he present himself at my gates, he +will find a stern refusal till I return. Then I must see him, but I +shall then be prepared. Will this satisfy you? If it do so, tell me at +once; for it is high time that I should mount my horse, and quit this +place without delay." + +Though, in reality, anything but satisfied, the Count de Meyrand +expressed his consent to the proposal, determined in his own mind to +watch all the proceedings of a confederate whom he could so little +trust, even in the dark and tortuous schemes in which their interests +were combined. He tried, as he parted from the marquis, to conceal his +doubts lest they should betray his purposes; but that worthy gentleman +was far too practised a reader of the human heart and human countenance +to be so deceived; and when they separated, it was with the full +conviction that each would endeavour to deceive and circumvent the +other, unless some strong necessity continued to bind them together. + +"Now," thought the Marquis de Masseran, as he paused for a moment +looking after the Count de Meyrand, "now for this priest. I must have +more information from him: more full, more complete. Then what is to be +done with him? It might be dangerous to confine him; and yet it were +easy to say that he had held treasonable discourses. A fall from the +walls might be as good as anything. I will speak with Geronimo about +it." + +He had been standing with his back towards the castle and his eyes fixed +upon the ground while he thus held parley with himself. On the other +side of the valley, which was there profound, rose up the mountain, with +the road into Piedmont winding along it, at the distance of perhaps a +quarter of a mile, to use the ordinary expression, as the crow flies, +but fully a mile by the road; and, as he ended his murmuring soliloquy, +the Marquis of Masseran looked up in that direction. To his utter +surprise and consternation when he did so, he beheld the figure of the +priest walking quietly along the highway towards the lower ground of +Savoy. + +He hastened back to the castle; but he was assured at the gates by all +the several persons who were standing there that no one had passed. On +examining the doors of the garden, every one of them was found to be +closed; and the Marquis of Masseran came to a conclusion, which was not +pleasant for a man engaged in his peculiar pursuits, namely, that he was +deceived and betrayed by some one of his own household. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +The observation may seem trite, that to every period of life is assigned +by the Almighty and Munificent Being, who at our creation adapted to +each part of our material form the functions that it was to execute and +the labours it was to sustain, either peculiar powers of endurance or +counterbalancing feelings, which render the inevitable cares and sorrows +apportioned to every epoch of our being lighter and more easy to be +borne. The woes of childhood are, in themselves, speedily forgotten. The +pains are soon succeeded by pleasures, and care, gnawing care, the rack +of after-life, is then unknown. Boyhood, eager, enthusiastic, hopeful +boyhood, the age of acquisition and expectation, though it may know from +time to time a bitter pang, scarcely less in its degree than those that +afflict mature life, has so many compensating enjoyments, its own +sunshine is so bright, the light that shines upon it from the future is +so dazzling, that the griefs serve but as a preparation and a warning, +too little remembered when once they are past. Old age, with its decay, +with the extinction of earthly hopes, with the prospect of the tomb, has +also dulled sensibilities that allow us not to feel many of the more +painful things of early years. The blunted edge of appetite may not give +so keen a zest to pleasure; but the apathy which accompanies it extends +to griefs as well as joys, and, if wisely used, is one of the best +preparations for a resignation of that state of being which we have +tried in the balance of experience and have found wanting; wanting in +all that can satisfy a high and ethereal spirit; wanting in all things +but its grand purpose of trial for a life to come. But, besides all +this, unto that period of old age, thus prepared and admonished for +another state, God himself has also given comfort and consolation, a +promise and a hope: a promise brighter than all the promises of youth, a +hope brighter than all those that have withered away upon our path of +life. + +There is still another age, however; an age the most perilous, often the +most full of pains; an age when the eager aspirations of youth reach out +the hand towards fruition; when the great truths of disappointment break +upon us; when we first learn the bitter lesson that hope has told us +idle tales, that fortune is of fickle favour, that friendships are too +often false, that our own hearts do ourselves wrong, that enjoyment +itself is often a vanity and often a vision, that we must suffer, and +grieve, and repent in the midst of a world which, shortly before, we +fancied was composed of nothing but brightness, and beauty, and +happiness. I speak of the time of life when we first put on manhood, and +meet all its sorrows at the moment when we expect nothing but its joys. +For that period, too, there is a bright compensation given, there is a +sustaining principle implanted in our breast, common to the highest and +the lowest, the savage and the civilized; a principle that furnishes a +balm for many wounds, that surrounds us with an atmosphere of +consolation, hope, and joy, and enables us to live on in one splendid +dream, even in the midst of hard and dark realities. + +That principle is love; and that principle was warm and strong in the +bosom of Bernard de Rohan, as, on the day after that in which the +conversations we have mentioned in our last chapter took place, he +stood, a few minutes before the setting of the sun, under a group of +tall fir-trees that had pitched themselves upon a pinnacle of the rock, +about ten yards distant from the farther angle of the garden attached to +the chateau of Masseran. The trees grew very close together; and, what +between scanty soil and the mountain winds, their large trunks had +contorted themselves into manifold strange shapes. From this group two +or three rows of the same kind of firs ran down the side of the hill +into the valley. One would have supposed that they were the remains of +some old avenue had the lines been but a little more regular. + +The shadow of those trees completely concealed any one who stood beneath +them, and the eyes must have been very near that could have perceived +Bernard de Rohan as he leaned against one of them, gazing upon a +particular part of the garden wall immediately under one of the small +watch-turrets. He thus waited some time, with an eagerness of +expectation, it is true, which in no other situation or circumstance had +he ever known before; but, at the same time, with sweet thoughts, and +hopes, and happy memories, which cheered the moments, and made even the +impatience that he felt appear like some of those drinks which man has +invented to satisfy his thirst, and which are at once pungent and +grateful to the taste. He had waited some time, we have said, when at +length, as a distant snowy peak began to change its hue and turn rosy +with the rays of the setting sun, the small postern door on which his +eyes were fixed was seen to move upon its hinges, and then stood ajar. +Bernard de Rohan sprang forward, passed the small open space in a +moment, and, pushing back the door more fully, stood within the garden +of the castle of Masseran. + +Scarce a step from the gate, with her hand pressed upon her heart, as if +to stop the palpitation of fear and agitation, stood a lady, perhaps of +twenty years of age. She was certainly not more; and her beauty, like +the morning sun, seemed to have the promise of a long, bright race +before it. She was very graceful and very beautiful. The whole form +seemed to breathe of a bright and high spirit; but even had it not been +that her person so perfectly harmonized with her mind, and was, in +fact--as nature probably intended should be the case--an earthly type of +the soul within, yet Bernard de Rohan would still have loved her as +deeply, as tenderly as he did, for he knew that spirit to be bright and +beautiful; he knew the heart to be tender, and devoted, and +affectionate; he knew the mind to be pure and high, and fixed in all its +purposes of right. + +He had been brought up with her from youth; her father had been his +guardian, and a parent to him when his own parents were no more. She had +fancied herself a sister to him till the hearts of both told them it was +happy she was not so. No disappointments had ever befallen them in the +course of their affection; no obstacles had been thrown in their way +till that time; and yet, though neither opposed, nor troubled, nor +disappointed, they loved each other with true and constant hearts, and +feared not the result of any hour of trial. + +She was very beautiful, certainly. It was not alone that all the +features of her face were fine, but it was also that the form of the +face itself was beautiful, and the way that the head was placed upon the +neck, and the neck rose from the shoulders, all gave a peculiarity of +expression, a grace, which is only to be compared to that of some +ancient statue from a master's hand. The eyes, too, were very, very +lovely, deep blue, and full of liquid light; with dark black eyelashes +that curtained them like a dark cloud fringing the edge of the western +sky, but leaving a space for the bright light of evening to gush through +upon the world. Her complexion was a clear, warm brown; but now, as she +stood, there was something, either in the agitation of the moment or in +the cold light of the hour, which made her look as pale as marble. + +She was pressing her hand upon her heart, and leaning slightly forward, +with an eager look towards the door, as if prepared to fly should any +one appear whom she did not expect. The instant she saw Bernard de +Rohan, however, her whole face was lighted up with a glad smile, and she +sprang forward to meet him with the unchecked joy of pure and high +affection. They were in a moment in each other's arms. + +"My Isabel! my beloved!" he said. "I thought that this man had +determined to shut me out from beholding you again." + +"And so he would," replied the lady. "So he would if he had the power. +But oh! Bernard, I fear him--I fear him in every way: I fear him on my +own account, I fear him on yours." + +"Oh! fear not, fear not, Isabel," replied Bernard de Rohan. "He can but +bring evil upon his own head if he attempts to wrong either you or me. +Already has he placed himself in danger. But tell me, my beloved, tell +me, is he really absent from the castle, or was it but a pretence to +avoid seeing me when I came yesterday?" + +"No, he is absent," replied Isabel de Brienne. "In that, at least, there +is no deception, for I saw him ride out with but a few horses yesterday +towards midday. He took the small covered way by the back of the castle +and by the other side of the gardens. I saw him from the window of my +chamber in the keep, and I do not believe that he has since returned." + +"It must have been to avoid me," said Bernard de Rohan, thoughtfully; +"and yet, how could he know that I was here? Did he ever hint at such +knowledge, my Isabel?" + +"Not to me," she answered; "but I have scarcely seen him since that +terrible night. I have been in my mother's sick chamber, to which his +cruelty and brutality have brought her. Nor would he ever, even if I had +seen him, nor would he ever mention your name to me. He would fain have +me forget it, Bernard; but on that score I have much to tell you too." + +"I know that I judge your heart right, dear Isabel," replied Bernard de +Rohan, "when I say he would find it hard to make you forget that name; +and yet I have had warnings within the last two days of many a dark and +evil scheme, it would seem, against your peace and mine. A vague hint +has been given me that one whom I know to be brave, and whom the world +holds to be honest; one who was once my particular friend, and my +comrade in many a day of difficulty, and strife, and peril; one who, I +know, must be well aware, from many things that I have casually said in +thoughtless freedom of heart, that you and I are linked together by +promises that can never be broken, has been labouring hard to supplant +me in your affection. Yet I will not believe them, Isabel; I will not +believe, in the first place, that you would hear one word on such a +score from any man. Neither will I believe--though he has certainly +lingered strangely away from the army; though he has changed, I may say, +marvellously, and from a gay, rash, thoughtless youth, become a +cautious, calculating, somewhat impenetrable man--I will not believe +that Adrian de Meyrand would do me wrong. No, no, I will trust him +still." + +"Trust him not, Bernard! trust him not!" replied Isabel. "Trust him not, +Bernard! I, at least, know what he is. You say that your Isabel," she +continued, gazing on him tenderly, "would not hear one word of love +spoken by any other lips than your own. You do her right, dear Bernard. +She would not, if she could help it; and even when against her will, +against remonstrance and anger, she has been forced to hear such words, +she has scarce forgiven herself for what she could not avoid, and has +reproached herself for that which was forced upon her. Do you, too, +reproach her, Bernard?" + +"Oh no," he replied, holding her to his heart, and gazing into the pure +bright eyes, which seemed, as they were, deep wells of innocence and +truth. "Oh no, dear Isabel; what was done unwillingly needs no reproach: +but how was this? Tell me all! De Meyrand, then, has wronged me?" + +"If he knew of your love for me, he has," replied Isabel de Brienne; +"but promise me, Bernard, that no rash or hasty act will make me regret +having spoken to you openly, and I will tell you all." + +"None shall, my Isabel," replied her lover. "It is only dangerous +rivals, or insolent ones, that require the sword of a brave man. De +Meyrand is not the one, and probably may never be the other. Speak, dear +one! I must hear all." + +"Well, then," she answered, "before we quitted the court, I remarked +that this Count of Meyrand paid me assiduous court; and though certainly +he was very attentive also to my mother and her new husband, still I +avoided him, for there was something in his look and his manner that did +not please me. I remarked, however, that many of the nobles of the +court--nay, even the king himself--seemed so to smooth the way and +remove all obstacles, that he was frequently near me. One day he +followed me through the crowded halls of the Louvre by my mother's side, +and, when I could not avoid him, poured into my ears a tale of love +which I speedily cut short. I told him at once that my heart was given +and my hand plighted to another; and I besought my mother to confirm +what I said, and stop all farther importunity. He had fascinated her, +Bernard; and though she did what I requested, it was but coldly. He left +me for the time; but the very next day, while I was alone in my mother's +chamber, he came in and pursued the same theme. Then, Bernard, I fear I +acted ill. He aroused my anger. I was indignant that he should thus +persecute me after what I had said. I treated him with some scorn. I +told him cuttingly, in answer to a question which he should not have +asked, that, even were I not plighted in faith and bound by affection to +another, I should never have felt for him aught but cold indifference. +He lost his temper at length, though it was long ere he would leave me; +and as he did at length quit the room, I could hear something muttered +between his teeth which sounded very much like a menace. Since then I +have only seen him three times. Once more at the court; but by that time +my brother had returned from Italy. He was with me, and the count did +not come near. I have twice seen him here, when I have been forced out +by the Lord of Masseran upon the pretence of a hunting-party. He comes +not near the castle, however; and, when we did meet, he was distant and +stately in his manner, but still there was something in his eyes that +made me shudder." + +"For the last two days he has been in the same small inn with myself," +replied Bernard de Rohan. "I will speak to him to-night, my Isabel, +calmly and gently, I promise you; but he must learn to yield this suit +if he still entertains it. Nay, look not grieved, dear one. I will keep +my promise faithfully, and forgive the past so he offend not in the +future." + +"I grieve and apprehend, dear Bernard," she replied, "but think not that +I would strive to stay you from any course that you yourself judge +right. I know you are moderate and just, and that you will not think, as +some might do, that you prove your love for me by fiery haste to expose +a life on which hangs all my hopes of happiness. Your honour is to me +far more than life; but oh, Bernard, judge but the more calmly, I +beseech you, of what that honour requires, by thinking that not your +life and happiness alone are the stake, but mine also. Having told you +all truly, as I ever will through life, I must scarce venture a word +more to persuade or dissuade; and yet I cannot think honour can call +upon you even to speak angry or reproachful words, when this man himself +was not told, by me at least, that it was his friend he was trying to +supplant." + +Bernard de Rohan's brow was somewhat cloudy, though he smiled. "I fear, +my Isabel," he said, "that he knew the fact too well. I can call many a +time to my mind when I have dropped words concerning you which he could +not mistake. However, I have said I will pass over all that is gone, and +now let us think of other brighter things." + +"I know not," she replied, "I know not why, Bernard, but a dark shadow +seems to overhang me, which prevents my thinking of brighter things. +Within the last year, so much has happened to cause apprehension and +anxiety, so much to give birth to pain and grief, that my spirit has +sunk; and, whereas everything used to seem full of brightness and hope, +all is now full of despondency." + +"Cheer thee, cheer thee, Isabel," replied Bernard, adding those caresses +that cheer far more than words; "I will take thee from the midst of the +sad things that must surround thee here. I know, dear Isabel, that thy +mother was often harsh and always cold, and, since I and your brother +have left you, you have had no support or comfort under the pain which +her behaviour must have given." + +"Oh, it was not her harshness nor her coldness, Bernard," replied Isabel +Brienne; "I could have borne that easily; but when I recollected my dear +father--when I remembered all his high and noble qualities--his +kindness, his tenderness to her, and saw her again stand at the altar to +give her hand to another so unlike him in everything, dark, treacherous, +avaricious, and deceitful, it was then I first felt that I really wanted +aid and consolation. It was then that I wanted help, I wanted protection +and support; and even at that time I would have written to you to come +to me with all speed if it had not been for some foolish feelings of +shame." + +"They were indeed wrong, my Isabel," replied Bernard; "for surely, +Isabel, with our faith plighted by your own father's will, with a long, +dear intimacy from childhood until now, if you could not repose full, +unhesitating trust and confidence in me, where, where could you place +it, Isabel?" + +"I know it was foolish," she replied, "I know it was very foolish, +Bernard; but yet, even now," and she looked down blushing upon the +ground, "but yet, even now, the same foolish hesitation makes me scruple +to tell you what I firmly believe is the best, nay, is the only plan by +which we could hope to avoid the dangers that surround us." + +"Nay, Isabel, nay," replied Bernard de Rohan, "after saying so much, you +must say more. You must tell me all, freely, candidly. The brightest +part of love is its confidence. It is that perfect, that unhesitating +reliance, that interchange of every idea and every feeling, that perfect +community of all the heart's secrets and the mind's thoughts, which +binds two beings together more closely, more dearly than the dearest of +human ties: more than the vow of passion or the oath of the altar. It is +that confidence which, did we not deny its sway, would give to earthly +love a permanence that we find but seldom in this world. Oh, Isabel, you +must not, indeed you must not, have even a thought that is not mine." + +"Nor will I, Bernard," she replied, "nor will I; though I may blush to +say what I was going to say, I will not hesitate to say it. It is this, +then, Bernard: You must take me hence without delay." + +"Oh, how gladly," he cried, throwing his arms round her, and kissing the +glowing cheek that rested on his shoulder; "oh, how gladly, Isabel! I +waited but for the arrival of your brother to propose that step to you +myself. If this Lord of Masseran chooses to refuse me admission, I +cannot force my way in, and you may be subject to every kind of grief +and pain before I receive such authority from the king or from Brissac +as will force him to give you up." + +"That is not all, Bernard, that is not all," replied the lady. "This man +is deceitful to all. Suppose but for a moment that, finding the King of +France obliged to withdraw his troops from Italy, as I hear has been the +case, he resolves to betray the trust that has been reposed in him, to +submit himself again to the Duke of Savoy, to receive the troops of the +emperor. Suppose, Bernard, he removes me and my mother beyond the limits +of Savoy, beyond the power of the king of our own country, beyond your +reach, Bernard, what would be the consequences then? I should be but a +mere slave in his hands. But listen to me still, dear Bernard; there is +more, more to be said; I have good reason to believe and know that all +these dangers are not merely imaginary, but that he is actually dealing +with the empire. I have seen couriers come and go, and heard them +converse long with him in the German tongue. I have seen officers who +spoke neither French nor Italian surveying the castle, and consulting +with him over plans of other fortresses. Twice, also, when I have +hesitated to ride forth with him, fearing dangers--I did not well know +what--my mother, who is already his complete slave, has held out vague +threats to me of removing me to far-distant lands, where my obedience +would be more prompt and unhesitating. Now, even now, Bernard," she +continued, "I believe that he is gone on some errand of this kind, and +it would in no degree surprise me, ere three days are over, to see this +place filled with German soldiers." + +"Then, dear Isabel," exclaimed Bernard de Rohan, "we must lose no time. +I wrote to your brother to meet me at Grenoble, and I have sent off +messengers to him there and at Paris. But we must not wait for his +coming. Your father's written consent will justify us, and the king is +already aware that this man's faith and adherence to France is insecure. +It would have been better, indeed, if your brother had been here, for +then he might, in the first place, have openly demanded you at the hands +of this man." + +"Oh no, no, Bernard," she replied; "I rejoice greatly that Henry is not +here. I feel a sort of terror at the idea of his falling into the hands +of this Lord of Masseran. You know that Henry's death would place great +wealth at the disposal of my mother; and, though it is dreadful to say, +yet I do fear there is no act at which this Italian would hesitate to +obtain wealth or power, or any of the objects for which men strive on +earth. I would not for the world that Henry should put himself into the +hands of one so treacherous. If Henry be at Grenoble, we can fly to him +at once, and be united there." + +"Better, far better, dear Isabel," replied her lover, "that we should be +united before we go. There is a priest here who seems to have some +regard for me, and who lingers still at the inn, I know not why. He will +be easily persuaded to unite our hands, as our hearts are already +united, and then my right to protect and defend you will bear no denial. +Let it be soon, too, my Isabel. Why not to-morrow night?" + +She replied not for a moment or two. Not that she hesitated, not that +there was a doubt in her own mind of what her answer must be; but yet +she paused, with her hand clasped in that of Bernard de Rohan, and her +eyes hid upon his shoulder, while he went on to persuade her, though +there needed no persuasion. + +"Consider, dear Isabel," he said, "the secret of this postern door is +one that may be discovered at any time. He might return within a day. If +we were to meet often, our meeting might be discovered. What it is +necessary to do, it is necessary to do at once." + +It need not be said that Bernard de Rohan's entreaties were successful. +Isabel promised to be there at the same hour on the following night, +prepared for flight; and Bernard de Rohan undertook to have the contract +of their marriage drawn up by some neighbouring notary, and a priest +ready and willing to unite them. + +"In four or five hours," he said, "we shall be within the pale of +France, and, as you saw the other night, we shall have plenty of willing +guards thither, dear Isabel. Besides that wilder retinue, too, my own +train is down at the hamlet; but, of course, I must bring few people +with me, for fear of attracting attention. Have you anybody in the +castle, dear Isabel, besides good Henriot, who can give you aid and +assistance?" + +"Oh yes," replied the lady; "there is the maid who conveyed to you the +note to-day. I can trust her." + +"She seemed sullen or stupid," replied Bernard de Rohan: "I could not +induce her to utter more than one or two words, and those I did not +distinctly hear." + +"She is very silent," replied Isabel, "but is not so dull as she looks. +Give her but one thing to think of, and one object to attend to, and she +will execute what she is directed to do well enough; and perhaps it is +all the better that she observes nothing which passes round her, and is +so sparing of her words." + +"Hush!" said Bernard de Rohan. "There is a light upon the terrace, near +the castle, and some one seems coming hither. Adieu! dear Isabel, adieu! +Though the evening is too dim for them to see us, it is better that I +should leave you till to-morrow. But forget not, dear one; and oh! be +rather before than after the hour." + +Thus saying, he pressed her to his bosom for a moment, and then passed +through the postern door. He closed it not entirely, however, for some +vague apprehension concerning the sweet girl he had just left behind +caused him to pause and listen, till he had assured himself that the +person whom he had seen approaching was no unfriendly one. In a few +minutes he heard another female voice saying distinctly to Isabel, "Your +lady mother, mademoiselle, desires that you would come and play to her +on the lute." + +"I come, I come, good Maddelene," replied the voice of Isabel de +Brienne; and in the clear evening air Bernard de Rohan could hear the +sound of receding footsteps. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +"Has not the Count de Meyrand returned?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, as +he re-entered the kitchen of the little inn, and saw it tenanted only by +one or two of his own attendants, the host and hostess, and a +waiting-boy. + +"He has not only returned, my lord," replied the landlord, "but has gone +away again, and, sorry I am to say, gone away altogether. He came back, +and departed in great haste, paying for all that he had like a prince." + +"This is strange!" replied Bernard de Rohan. "Did he leave no message +for me?" + +"No message, my lord," replied the host; "he gave your man, Master +Martin, a note for you, however; but he has just gone up the hill, and +taken the note with him." + +"Do you know where the count has gone to?" demanded the young nobleman. + +"Oh, to Pont Beauvoisin, on his way to Paris," the landlord answered; +"he has been gone wellnigh two hours." + +It is a very common piece of policy on the part of hosts, aubergistes, +landlords, and others of the same class and character, by whatsoever +denomination they may be known, to laud up to the skies the guest just +departed, praising in him those especial virtues which they wish to +inculcate upon the guest who happens to be their listener. Thus the +landlord was proceeding to paint in high colours the generosity and +careless liberality of the Count de Meyrand, when some persons speaking, +and a loud, rich, buttery laugh, merry in every tone, announced that the +good priest, Father Willand, was approaching the auberge with some +companion. + +"We shall live like clerks now he is gone, we shall live like clerks," +exclaimed the voice of the priest. "By the holy mass, he was not content +with eating more than his own share of everything, but his very look +changed everything that he did not eat, and turned it bad. His aspect +was so cold that it chilled the pottage; his look so sharp that it +turned the wine sour. I will make a new prayer night and morning: May I +never again meet such a companion at an inn as this Count de Meyrand." + +Bernard de Rohan found, on the entrance of the priest, that it was his +own attendant, Martin, with whom Father Willand had been conversing. The +attendant immediately produced the Count de Meyrand's note, which his +master read attentively, and with an appearance of satisfaction. "So my +friend De Meyrand has gone on business of importance to Paris," he said +aloud. + +"Ay, as the fox is said to go to his hole," replied the priest. + +"I dare say, indeed," replied the young cavalier, "that there are many +foxes in that hole, my good father; but still your comparison is not a +very pleasant one for the good count." + +"The comparison was more aimed at his way of going to Paris than at +either Paris or himself," replied the priest. "I repeat, he is gone to +Paris as a fox is said to go to his hole; that is, back foremost." + +"Nay," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I never yet saw fox so stupid. Why +should a fox go back foremost?" + +"To hide the way he goes," answered the priest; "to make the footsteps +point out of the hole instead of into it. So the good peasants tell +one." + +"But how can this apply to the Count de Meyrand?" asked Bernard de +Rohan, with his curiosity now considerably excited. + +"Because he tells you," replied the priest, "that he is going to Paris, +and we watched him from the top of the hill, and saw him turn quite the +other way before he got two leagues out into the plain." + +"Strange enough!" replied Bernard de Rohan, not choosing to appear as +much interested as he really was; "strange enough; but he may well have +some friends to see--some town to visit in the way. Come, my good host! +come, let us have supper speedily, and give us more light, for the night +is growing dark and sombre. Good priest," he continued, turning to +Father Willand, and speaking in a low voice, "I have a word for your +private ear by-and-by; somewhat to consult upon, regarding which I need +sound discretion and good counsel. I beseech you, therefore, pause at +the end of the first stoup of wine." + +"My son, my son," replied the priest, "men have always made a mistake +with regard to the abode of truth. Truth and my brains lie together at +the bottom of the second pottle pot, for most men are sure to tell the +truth when they get to that pitch; and my brains are never clear, clean, +and neat till they have been washed in that quantity at least. Fear not, +fear not, I will be careful; though, if you are going to confess +yourself, you ought to wish me as drunk as possible, for the penances I +enjoin are always light when my knees feel like an unstarched ruff. Were +it not better, however, to talk this matter over first, while my good +host prepares the supper, and then we can consider it in our cups, you +know?" + +"It may indeed be as well," replied Bernard de Rohan. "Follow to my +chamber, good priest, then. Go on, Martin, with a light;" and, taking +his way up the dingy staircase, Bernard de Rohan led the priest to the +large square, lofty bedroom which had been assigned him as his place of +repose, and which no one would have imagined that lowly and +humble-looking inn could boast of. The moment the door was closed and +the attendant gone, the priest's eyes assumed a shrewder, but more +serious expression, and he said, "Know you that I have been here twice +yesterday, and three times to-day, seeking you?" + +"In truth, I did not," replied the young cavalier. "On what account did +you seek me?" + +"To tell you to make good use of your time," answered the priest. "The +Lord of Masseran is absent. He, I doubt not, is really gone to Paris; +gone to justify himself to the king against accusations which he hears +are to be made against him. You have, therefore, time to do all that you +would, and nothing is required but to be diligent, quick, and secret." + +"I have been all three," replied Bernard de Rohan. "And I just come from +the postern by the fir-trees." + +"Then you have seen Corse de Leon," said the priest, abruptly. "When and +where? For I could not find him, neither yesterday nor to-day." + +"I met him this morning," replied Bernard; "I met him this morning, and +took him for an old drover, so completely had he disguised himself." + +"Then have you seen the lady also?" asked the priest. + +"I have, my good friend," answered the young cavalier, somewhat +surprised to find how completely his proceedings were divined. "I have +seen the lady; and it is in regard to that interview that I wished to +speak with you. May I trust to you to do for me to-morrow night one of +the offices of your holy function, and--" + +"Marry you, in short," replied the priest, "marry you to this fair +Isabel of Brienne. Well, my son, I see no impediment--no harm therein. +If you have well considered the matter," he added with a laugh, "and +have determined to take upon yourself the holy estate of matrimony, far +be it from me to prevent you, although I must say, that it was in +gracious consideration and providence for our temporal as well as +spiritual happiness that our holy church exacted from us an oath not to +enter into the condition you so much covet; however, I will put the +couples round your necks, and then you must run along the road together +as you can; but where shall it be?" he continued. "Tell me the whens and +the hows, for that is very needful." + +Bernard de Rohan explained to him as much as he judged needful. Indeed, +what he was obliged to explain put his plans completely in the power of +the priest. Nevertheless, he did not anticipate any evil on that +account. All of us, wise and simple alike, are more or less guided in +our dealings with our fellow-creatures by various other principles than +the dictates of mere reason. The most suspicious man, the most cautious +man, will, from time to time, place confidence where it is least +deserved, from some motives to which his judgment would refuse its +assent. The calm and deliberate politician, who has frustrated many of +the cabinet knaves of Europe, and concealed his thoughts from the +penetrating eye of diplomacy, has often betrayed his secret to a pretty +face, and sometimes let it fall into possession of a roguish valet. + +But Bernard de Rohan was neither a very cautious nor a very suspicious +man. His nature was frank and confiding; and, wherever he showed himself +reserved, he was rendered so by the effect of reason and deliberate +consideration. In the present instance he was forced to trust the +priest, and he trusted him without regret or hesitation; for there was +something in good Father Willand's face and demeanour which was frank +and kindly, and, to say sooth, Bernard de Rohan had conceived a +prepossession in his favour, which might or might not be justified. He +thought, too, that, although his own memory of the good priest's +features might have faded in the lapse of many years, and though those +features themselves must have been much changed by time since he had +seen them--he thought, too, that they were not wholly without some +corresponding traces on the tablets of remembrance. Memory has her +instincts, too; and often, though we cannot recollect the why or the +wherefore, the time or the circumstances regarding an object suddenly +presented to us, we feel that it is connected with pleasant or +unpleasant things in the past; that there have been causes to love, or +hate, or fear a person whose very name and being we have forgotten. Thus +was it with Bernard de Rohan and Father Willand; for, though he knew not +where they had met before, though he was not sure that they ever had +met, he was sure that if they had, there had existed good cause to hold +the priest in some esteem. + +When all the arrangements for the succeeding night had been made between +the priest and the young cavalier, the latter turned to a point +connected with the same subject which pressed somewhat heavily upon his +mind. + +"And now, my good Father Willand," he said, "you must tell me, sincerely +and candidly, whether you have reason to be perfectly certain that this +Lord of Masseran has betaken himself to the court of France." + +"My dear son," replied the priest, "there is nothing upon the earth or +under the earth that we have any reason to be perfectly certain of. And, +now that you put it in my head," he added, pausing thoughtfully for a +moment or two, "now that you put it into my head, there are several +reasons for believing that this Savoyard devil has not gone to Paris. In +the first place, I advised him to go, which is a strong reason for +supposing he would not; he being one of those who think that no man can +be sincere in anything. I was so far sincere, however, that I told him +what is really the only way of saving his neck from the gripe of the +King of France; but I had another object, too, which was to clear the +place of his uncomfortable presence. At the same time, there is a second +reason for believing that he is not gone to the court of France--" + +"There are a thousand," interrupted Bernard de Rohan. + +"Ay, but there is one," rejoined the priest, "which, though not one out +of your thousand, is stronger than all the rest, namely, that the worthy +and truth-loving Lord of Masseran told some of his servants, and those +not the most confidential ones, that he had gone to Paris. Now, as he +was never known to tell truth in his life when a lie would do as well, +this is a second strong reason for believing that he has not gone to +Paris. But then, again, on the other hand, we have to recollect that it +is very possible he might for once tell the truth, in the hope and +expectation that, from his known character, it might be mistaken for a +lie, and deceive his dear friends that way. In short, the matter is +doubtful; for every saying of the Lord of Masseran is, like one of the +learned propositions of the schools on which we dispute so learnedly, +compounded of so much lie, that if there be a grain of truth therein, +the finest head in France will not separate it in a year. But let me +hear, my son, let me hear, what reasons have you to bring forward on the +one side or the other?" + +"None of very great weight, indeed," replied Bernard de Rohan, unable to +divulge the orders, written or verbal, that he bore from the Marechal de +Brissac. "A report, indeed, has reached us in Italy," he continued, +"that this man is playing a double part between the courts of France and +Austria; and, when I did hear of his departure, I certainly suspected +that the end of his journey might be Milan rather than Paris." + +"I will soon learn that," cried the priest, "I will soon learn that. +What you suspect is anything but improbable. And although--knowing well +the object of your journey--he might give out that he went to Paris to +clear himself before he saw you, yet the whole may be false together, +and he himself be within ten miles of his castle at the present time. +One thing, however, is clear, my son, no time is to be lost; and, in the +mean time, I will ascertain beyond all doubt what road he took." + +"But can you ascertain?" demanded Bernard de Rohan; "is it possible to +learn exactly in such a labyrinth-like country as this?" + +The priest laughed. "Beyond all doubt, my son, beyond all doubt," he +said. "The past we can always ascertain. The future is God's," he added, +more reverently; "the future is God's, and must rest in his dark council +chamber. But do you not know, have you not yourself seen, that though +the peasant and the traveller wander along the sides of these mountains +without beholding anything but the gray stone, and the clear stream, and +the green bush; though he might whistle all the lays of France and Italy +together, and blow all the horns that ever were winded from Naples to +the far North, without rousing anything but a roebuck or an eagle, there +are particular sounds, to be uttered by particular voices, which would +call every bush into life, and change every rock into an armed man? My +good friend, my good friend, the mountain is full of eyes; and the Lord +of Masseran himself, though he knows it is so, does not know to what +extent. There is only one being under the blue eye of heaven that sees +it all, and that is the man whom I met with you the other night." + +"He is certainly a very extraordinary being," replied Bernard de Rohan, +"and I would fain know more of him." + +"In all probability you will know more," replied the priest. "But you +may meet with thousands like him in various parts of the world. There +are three places where you generally find the great rogues +congregate--the court, the court of law, and the refectory. The honest +man has only two places that I know of--the mountain-side and the +highway. There are exceptions, you know; for instance, there is a very +honest priest, who has the care of the poor souls in the parish of Saint +John of Bonvoisin, just across the frontier line in France. Sinner that +I am! what should he be doing here, using his time no better than his +patron, Saint Anthony, used his head? Why should he be here, I say, +preaching to the stones upon this mountain, when his reverend +predecessor preached to fishes and petted a pig? However, the king, a +blessing on his good-humoured head, sent the said priest to Bonvoisin to +keep him out of harm's way; for that boisterous heretic, Clement Marot, +threatened to drive his dagger into him for throwing back some of his +ribald poetry on his own head. Then, again, the grave and serious +admiral felt aggrieved at his preaching, one Saint Anthony's day, upon +the subject of herrings, which he vowed was a satire upon the tax he had +laid on the fishery. However, there the good priest is--or, rather, +there he is not, but ought to be--one of the honestest men in all +France, if you will take his own word for it; a great rogue according to +some men, and a good soul according to others. There may be two or three +like him in other parts of France; and depend upon it, wherever they +are, you will find the poor speak well of them, the widows and the +maidens over forty shake their heads and disparage them when they +compare them with their reverend predecessor; while some very grave men +in the parish look wise and suspect them to be heretics, without being +able to prove it." + +Bernard de Rohan smiled; but, wishing to hear somewhat more of Father +Willand's acquaintance with his friend Corse de Leon, he replied, "I +thought that this same good priest you mention, if not a Savoyard by +birth, had a Savoyard cure, and that the first of his penitents was our +good friend Corse de Leon." + +"You are mistaken, my son," replied the ecclesiastic, "you are mistaken +altogether. He has no cure in Savoy, though he may have business there; +and as to Corse de Leon being a penitent, he is very impenitent indeed. +I remember now," he continued, in a thoughtful way, "it is some five or +six years since, when I was travelling through a little village called +Pommieres, not far from the foot of Mount Rosa, that the people called +me to confess a young man who had been crushed under an earth-slip of +the mountain. It was difficult to get him to confess at all; and one +priest from Saint Maurice had left him. But I set about the matter in a +different way; told him I did not think he would die, and had great +hopes of his not being damned if he did. He said he would rather die +than not; but I argued him out of that, and in the end got him to make a +full confession. What he did confess is no business of yours, my son; +but I found him to be a man who had suffered many wrongs, and had +endured bitter griefs; but one who was naturally as kind of heart as he +was bold, fearless, and determined, and as noble and generous in his +purposes as he was sometimes wild, fierce, and intemperate in their +execution. I sat by his bedside for six weeks, for the three first of +which he fluttered between life and death. At the end of that time he +recovered, and his frame, like iron tempered in the fire, seemed to +become but the stronger and more active for what it had undergone. Two +or three years elapsed ere I met him again, and by that time he had +become Corse de Leon. The cause of his quitting his native country, +France, which was just before I first met with him, was that, on his +return from the army, where he had served his king for years, he found +his sister injured, insulted, and disgraced by the intendant of a high +nobleman who was lately dead. He first sought for justice, but could not +obtain it. He then visited the deathbed of the poor girl, and found her +head supported by the daughter of that very high noble, and her lips +moistened by the hand of--_Bernard de Rohan_. He turned away as soon as +Death had done his work, and, mad for revenge, had sought the house of +the intendant. But the generous spirit of two high youths, Bernard de +Rohan and Henry de Brienne, had been beforehand with him, and had driven +forth with ignominy the oppressor whom he sought. Still, however, the +thing rankled on his mind, and the injustice which he had once suffered +and but too often seen, turned a portion of his blood to bitterness. But +hark! there is mine host knocking at the door to tell us that supper is +ready; and what is all human nature compared with supper?" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The evening was dark and somewhat stormy; and, though the hour was the +same as that in which Bernard de Rohan had met Isabel on the preceding +day, so much less light was there now in the heavens that he could +scarcely see the postern gate, while with a beating heart he watched it +from the small clump of fir-trees of which we have already spoken. +Although a hollow and whistling wind blew sharp and strong among the +mountains, the heavy vapours hung unmoved around the peaks; and though +there was a reddish glare upon the edges of some of the clouds in the +western sky, no light was derived from any lingering rays of the sun. +Everything was gloomy, and dark, and cheerless; and yet the heart of +Bernard de Rohan beat high with love, with joy, with expectation. + +She was to be his, the being whom he had so long, so deeply, so tenderly +loved. Within one short hour she was to be his own, bound to him by that +indissoluble bond, to which he looked forward all the more joyfully, +because it was to be eternal. Whose heart would not beat high at the +fulfilment of the dream of years? + +At length he thought he saw the door move, and, darting forward, he +opened it gently. Isabel was waiting within with the faithful Henriot +and her silent maid; and though she trembled very much as Bernard threw +his arms around her, it was agitation, not fear, which moved her. The +Lord of Masseran was still absent: there was no one likely to interrupt +them; and when her lover strove to sooth and to encourage her, telling +her that his own men were within sound of his horn, and many more +unseen, surrounding them on all sides, she replied by assuring him in a +low voice that she had no apprehension, and was ready to follow him +whithersoever he would. Still, however, he saw that she was agitated; +and, as he led her forth, he poured many a soothing and a tender word +into her ear, drawing her nearer to his heart, and seeming to assure +her, by every action as well as by every word, that the love and the +protection which he was about to vow was as tender, as unchangeable, as +the brightest dream of hope and expectation could picture it. + +"Do you know the chapel down in the valley, my Isabel?" he asked, as he +led her onward down a narrow path that wound along the side of the hill, +as close under the walls of the castle as might be. "We have obtained +the keys, and the priest is waiting." + +"But at this hour," demanded Isabel, eagerly; "can he perform the +service at this hour?" + +"He has procured full authority," replied Bernard, in the same low tone. +"Nothing, dear girl, has been left undone." + +"Hark!" said Isabel, stopping. "Did you not hear some voices above?" + +He paused and listened, but no sound met his ear. "The echo of our own +voices," he answered; "though we speak low, they catch the angles of the +rock, and are given back again to our own ears. But let us hasten +onward, dearest. Once thou art mine, such apprehensions will cease." + +Nothing occurred to interrupt them. Step by step, over the rough and +encumbered path, they pursued their way, till at length, in the lowest +part of the valley, shut in between the small river and the rock on +which the castle stood, appeared an old Gothic chapel. The pinnacles, +the towers, the mouldings of the little building, in all their rich +tracery, were fully visible; for, as the party descended, the chapel lay +exactly between them and a clear part of the stream, so that the +glistening surface of the water formed a background to the dark lines of +the building, though none of the surrounding scenery, except the bold +masses of some adjacent rocks, could be distinguished. + +Thither, by another path, which, being cut through the rock, gave +admission to the castle at once, had Isabel often come to attend the +service on Sundays and on holydays; but all seemed changed as she now +approached it; as much, indeed, in regard to the feelings with which she +revisited it, as to the aspect of the place itself. Through the windows +on the side which they approached, a small ray of light stole forth from +the altar like a pure and holy religion in the midst of ages of +darkness, and, guided onward by that, they were soon at the door of the +chapel. It yielded easily to the hand, and Isabel, half led, half +supported by Bernard de Rohan, found herself approaching that altar +where the last vow of maiden love was to be spoken. On one side of that +altar stood the good priest, Father Willand; but on the other, to the +surprise both of Bernard de Rohan and of Isabel de Brienne, appeared the +ordinary priest of the place, pale, somewhat agitated, and looking from +time to time round the building with a wild and fearful glance. + +"Quick!" cried Father Willand, as the party approached; "you have been +very long, my children. Let us despatch this business speedily, and put +out the lights." + +"I am forced," said the other priest, "by commands that I dare not +disobey, to be here this night; but I call you all to witness that it is +against my will that I am here; and, in case the Lord of Masseran--" + +"Pooh, pooh!" exclaimed Father Willand, "we don't want you to be here at +all, my good friend. All we want is the chapel. I will read the service, +brother. Approach, my children, approach;" and, taking up the book, he +commenced at once, and in the most abridged form that the Church +allowed, the marriage service between Bernard de Rohan and Isabel de +Brienne. + +The latter needed support not a little; but the quiet maid, who was the +only woman that accompanied her, was far too inanimate and statue-like +to afford her any. It was in no ordinary circumstances that poor Isabel +was placed. True, indeed, she was not called upon to give her hand to +one who was nearly a stranger to her, as is but too often the case; +true, that with her all the sweet and delicate feelings which surround +the heart of woman from her youth were not to be rudely plucked away +without preparation, like flowers torn by a harsh and reckless hand, +which, while it takes, injures the plant which bore them; true, that she +was giving herself to one whom she had long known and deeply loved, and +towards whom she had ever looked as to her promised husband; but still +she was becoming his bride suddenly, secretly; she was flying with him +in darkness and in concealment, with the presence of none of those bound +to her by the ties of blood to sanction the new bonds that she was +taking upon her. + +The fear, too, of discovery and pursuit was superadded to all the other +feelings which such circumstances might well produce. She knew that it +might not, and probably would not, be long before her mother--who had +been left evidently as a sort of spy upon her actions and a jailer of +her person, rather than a friend, a protector, and an adviser--might +send to make sure that the harsh commands of the Lord of Masseran were +strictly observed, and that she did not quit the walls of the castle for +a moment during his absence; and she was well aware that the discovery +of her flight would produce instant pursuit. Thus, though generally she +kept her eyes either bent down upon the ground, or raised with a look of +confidence and affection towards Bernard de Rohan, yet from time to time +she cast a hasty glance over her shoulder towards the door of the +chapel; and, as she did so, she remarked that the same fears seemed also +to possess the waiting woman, whose eyes were generally turned in the +same direction. + +No interruption took place, however. The words, the irrevocable words +that bound her and Bernard de Rohan together, were spoken in a low but a +firm voice. The ring was upon her finger. The benediction was +pronounced, and for a moment, for one short moment, she was clasped as a +bride in the arms of him she loved, when there came suddenly a noise as +of something thrown down in the small vestry on the right-hand side of +the altar. + +The priest instantly put out the lights. Bernard de Rohan still held her +close to his heart with his left arm, but, at the same time, laid his +right hand upon his sword. Before he could draw it, however, three men +sprang upon him, two from the vestry itself, and one from a window +behind him, through which several had forced a way. + +All was now darkness and confusion in the chapel; but it was evident +that the number of persons it contained increased every moment. The +young cavalier strove violently to free himself, and, by an exertion of +his great strength, dragged his assailants hither and thither; but still +they clung to him; still, twining round his arms, they prevented him +from grasping either sword or dagger, and from reaching the small +hunting-horn which he carried at his side, and which he knew, could he +but blow it, would bring assistance speedily. Frustrated in his attempt +to lift it to his lips, he raised his voice and shouted loudly; but +fresh assailants poured upon him; a scarf was tied over his mouth; his +hands were pinioned behind, and he found himself irretrievably a +prisoner. + +All was darkness, as I have said; not the least light appeared in the +chapel, and no words were spoken aloud by any one; so that all Bernard +de Rohan could hear was the moving of many feet; a low, murmuring +whisper, as if of consultation or direction; and the sobbing of a bosom +which he knew too well to be that of her he loved best on earth. At one +time a voice was raised somewhat louder than the rest, and he thought he +distinguished the tones of Adrian de Meyrand. The next moment another +voice that he did not know replied, "No, not that way. Keep that door +shut. There is another here which leads us thither more quickly." + +Now completely overpowered--although his heart burned within him, and he +longed for the strength of him who cast down the temple of Gaza to burst +the bonds upon his hands--Bernard de Rohan strove no longer with those +who held him, for he felt that to struggle was utterly vain. +Nevertheless, it was not without rude violence that they dragged him +along through the vestry, and from thence by a small door into the open +air. The scarf was still over his mouth, so that he could not speak, and +could scarcely breathe; but, as there was some slight increase of light, +he looked eagerly around him. Isabel, however, was not to be seen. There +were some dark, scattered groups here and there, but he could +distinguish no one clearly, and was dragged on towards the rock on which +the castle of Masseran stood. + +Into whose power he had now fallen there was no doubt. The character of +the man was well known; and, had Bernard de Rohan thought at that moment +of his own probable fate, he could have anticipated nothing but the +darkest and most atrocious termination of the act which had been just +committed. At that moment, however, he thought alone of Isabel de +Brienne; and he remembered, with grief and agony that will not bear +description, what might be the consequences to her of falling into the +hands of the Lord of Masseran under such circumstances, and beyond the +pale of her native country. + +They dragged him on, however, across the short space which lay between +the rock on which the castle stood and the chapel, to a spot where a +doorway presented itself, hewn in the solid stone, under the arch of +which appeared a soldier with a light. Into his hands those who brought +him thither consigned the young French gentleman, pushing him forward, +and saying, "There, take him, and put him where my lord told you." + +The man with the light replied nothing, but with another, who had been +standing behind him, received the prisoner from the hands of his +comrades, and, with somewhat more gentleness than they had shown, led +him onward. The moment he had taken a step or two forward, a large, +oblong mass of solid rock, which, turning upon a pivot, served the +purpose of a door, and, when shut, blocked up the whole passage that led +under ground to the castle, rolled slowly to behind him. He went on +patiently, for it was clear that no effort of his own could effect +anything towards his deliverance; and when he had gone on some way and +ascended a small flight of steps, he found another armed man standing +with a light at a door plated with iron. Those who followed told him to +go in, and he found himself in a dungeon, of which he was evidently not +the first tenant, for there was a crust of bread covered with long green +mould upon the table, and a broken water-pitcher in one corner of the +room. There was a bed, too, with some straw, at one side of the door, +and a single chair; but besides these necessaries there appeared hanging +from the wall, to which they were attached by a stanchion imbedded in +the solid masonry, a large, heavy ring, and some strong linked fetters. +At these Bernard de Rohan gazed for a moment fiercely, and then turned +his eyes to one of his jailers, who had been removing the mouldy crust +from the table and the broken water-cruise from the corner of the +dungeon. + +The man seemed to understand the look at once. "No!" he said, "no! They +are not for you unless you are violent. But we may let you speak now as +much as you like;" and he untied the scarf from Bernard de Rohan's lips. +The young cavalier drew a deep breath, and then demanded, "What is this? +Why am I here? Take notice, and remember that I am an officer of Henry +the Second, king of France, now actually on his service; that I came +hither from the Marechal de Brissac, with despatches and messages to the +Lord of Masseran; and that bitter will be the punishment of all those +who injure or detain me." + +The man heard him to the end with the most perfect composure, and then +replied, "We neither know nor care, young gentleman, who or what you +are, or in whose service you are. We obey the commands of our own lord; +and, if you are inclined to give up all resistance and be quiet, we will +untie your arms, and let you have the free use of your limbs and tongue. +There is only one thing necessary for you to tell us. Will you be quiet +and peaceable, or will you not?" + +"I have no choice," replied Bernard de Rohan, in a bitter tone. "As you +have wrongfully and unjustly made me a prisoner, I have no power of +resisting whatsoever you choose to do with me." + +"That is talking sensibly," replied the man; "but, in the first place, +if you please, we will take away all these pleasant little things from +you, as I would rather have them in my hand than my throat." And he +deliberately stripped the prisoner of all his weapons, to keep them, as +he said, with a laugh, for his use at a future time. He then untied his +arms, which were benumbed with the tight straining of the cords with +which they had bound him, and saying, "I will bring you some food," he +moved towards the door where his companions stood. + +"I want no food," replied Bernard de Rohan, gloomily; and in his heart +he asked himself if any human being could find appetite to eat in such +an abode as that. + +"You will come to it, young gentleman, you will come to it," replied the +man; "before you get out, you will come to it well enough. I have seen +many a one who thought of nothing else all the day long but the time for +eating and drinking. Why, it was the only thing they had to do with +life. They might as well have been a stone in the wall if it had not +been for that." + +With this awful sermon upon the imprisonment that awaited him, the +jailer set down the lamp he held in his hand and went away. He returned +in a minute or two, however, with some food, which he placed upon the +table before which the young cavalier was still standing, exactly as the +other had left him. The man gave him a cold look, as if merely to see +how he bore it, and then once more quitted the dungeon, turning the key +in the heavy lock. + +Bernard de Rohan remained long in that same attitude, and filled with +the same dark and melancholy thoughts. Still, still they pressed upon +his brain, although he sought to banish them and to bear his condition +with his usual equanimity and fortitude. He was not one ever to give way +to despair where any opportunity existed for active exertion; but here +he could do nothing. With his own hand he could not right himself. With +his own voice he could not plead his cause. Talent or genius he might +possess, but all in vain. Vigour and courage were useless. There was but +one thing left--endurance; a species of courage which the very bravest +do not always possess. Bernard de Rohan strove to summon it to his aid. +It came but slowly, however; and, when he thought of Isabel of Brienne, +his own sweet, beautiful bride, snatched from him in the very first +moment that he could call her so, resolution forsook him, and in agony +of heart he cast himself down upon the straw in his dungeon. Was that +his bridal bed? + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +"Now, then, have I not kept faith with you?" said a voice in the chapel. + +"Yes, in truth you have," replied a second voice; "but I fear we have +been too late. The falling of that accursed horse has lost us the five +minutes--the important five minutes on which all success in life so +often depends." + +"You should not bring fine-pampered Barbary steeds into these wild +mountains, count," replied the other voice; "but a bold man is never too +late. The lover is safe enough for a long time to come, and you can--" + +"Hush! hush!" said the other, as if fearful that their conversation, +though the tone in which they spoke was little louder than a whisper, +should reach the ears of some one near. + +"Oh! she has fainted," said the other. "She sank back upon my arm a +minute or two ago. Here! Forli, bring me a lantern!" + +A lantern was soon brought, and, one side being opened, the light was +suffered to stream full upon the face of Isabel de Brienne. The +beautiful eyes were closed; the long, dark lashes rested on the fair +cheek; the lips themselves were pale; and there was no indication that +the heavy, senseless sleep in which she lay was not the slumber of death +itself, except a slight movement of the fingers, as if the cord that +tied her wrists caused some corporeal pain, which was felt even through +the swoon in which she lay. It was upon her face and form alone that the +full light shone, but the feeble rays which found their way around +dispelled in some degree, though but slightly, the profound darkness +that before had filled the whole building. No one could be seen so as to +be recognised; but in various parts of the chapel appeared groups of +dark figures, all holding aloof from the spot where the unhappy girl +lay, with her head resting upon the upper step of the altar, except two +tall and powerful men, who stood close to her, and another, who knelt +down, holding the lantern to her face. + +"Were it not better to take her away at once?" said one of the voices. + +"There is the ring upon her finger!" said the other, without answering +the question. "Accursed be that brute for thus delaying us! I will shoot +him with my own hand when I get back." He paused a moment, and then +continued: "So, he thinks that there is no charm which can ever get that +ring off again. But I will find one; and, if I mistake not, there is +even now a mighty magician in the Louvre preparing the counterspell. No, +no, my good lord, we will not change our plan. I must appear as the +deliverer, not as the offender. The time is gone by when ladies fell in +love with their ravishers; but where shall it be? Up towards La +Chapelle?" + +"No, no!" replied the other, "that will not do. You might say I was +going to join the emperor. No, better in the valley just above Les +Echelles. There, too, my good friend, we shall be free from those who +stopped us in our last attempt. It will take us till daylight to get +there, and that will be just the time." + +"Hush! she is waking!" said the other. "Quick, close the lantern!" and, +after a few words more, spoken in a still lower tone, there was a +considerable movement in the chapel. Several persons came and went; and +Isabel de Brienne, gradually waking again to a consciousness of her +unhappy situation, heard the stern tones of the Marquis of Masseran, now +speaking in a loud voice, and giving various orders to the people that +surrounded him. + +"Is the litter not come yet?" he said. "Go, some one, and hasten it: I +will take care that no such plots as these are carried on again. Have +you got the priest? I trust you have not let him escape." + +"He is safe enough," replied one of the others; "he is safe enough, and +up at the castle by this time. Here is the litter, my lord." + +"Come, fair madam," said the Lord of Masseran, "if you cannot walk, we +must have you borne forth. But surely a lady sufficiently active to +deceive her own mother, and to find her way hither on such a night as +this, may very well walk to the chapel door." + +"My lord," said Isabel, faintly, "I did not deceive my mother. It was +only one prisoner who concealed her plan of escape from another, +compelled--I trust and believe unwillingly--to act the part of a spy and +a jailer. I call every one to witness," she added, speaking as loud as +her feeble state would permit, "that I protest against your removing me +anywhere but to the court of the King of France, my native sovereign." + +"Who said we were going to take you anywhere but to his court?" rejoined +the Lord of Masseran. "Come, madam, come! Cease arguments and protests; +I am your mother's husband, your guardian for the time, and that +guardianship you shall not break through very easily." Thus saying, he +raised her rudely by the arm, and, half leading, half dragging her, +conveyed her to the door of the chapel, and placed her in a horse-litter +which stood near. Some farther delay took place while the men around +were mounting their horses and arranging the order of their march. When +this was completed, however, the Lord of Masseran put himself at the +head of his troop, and proceeded at a slow pace, taking a road that led +away from the castle. + +Isabel, unable to move, lay in the litter and wept; but she remarked +that, from time to time, single horsemen passed from the rear to the +front, and from the front to the rear, and that manifold were the orders +and directions given to the different persons of whom the party was +composed. No one, however, spoke a word to her; but it was some +consolation to see, as day began to break upon their weary journey +onward, that there was the form of another woman among the troopers on +before. Isabel thought, too, that she had once heard, during the night, +the voice of her maid speaking in a somewhat complaining tone; and the +idea of having her society in the state of captivity she was doomed to +suffer was no slight alleviation. + +It was just at that moment, while the sky was still gray with night, but +the rocks, and trees, and mountains round about growing every instant +more clear and defined, that a good deal of bustle and agitation became +evident in the party of the Marquis of Masseran. A minute or two +afterward he halted on the edge of the hill, and was seen speaking +eagerly with some of his followers. At the same time the sound of a +trumpet was heard, and Isabel thought she could distinguish the +galloping of horse. She then saw a number of the Lord of Masseran's +followers, who were on before her, dismount, and, unslinging their +firearms, fire a shot or two into the valley. A loud volley of musketry +from some distant spot was heard immediately afterward, and the marquis, +apparently in great haste and agitation, ordered the litter to be +brought on with all speed, and driven forward in advance of the party. +The discharges of musketry, however, both from his own attendants and +from those who seemed to be pursuing him, grew more and more frequent +every moment; the smoke drifted down the valley in long white wreaths, +enveloping the litter, and making all the objects more indistinct than +before; while the galloping of horse was now clearly heard, together +with loud voices giving orders. Then came the clashing of swords, and +two or three men on horseback were driven fiercely past the litter, +contending with others hand to hand. After a short scene of tumult and +confusion, the sound of the firing appeared to come from a greater +distance. The two men on horseback who were guarding the litter suddenly +stopped, gazed around them, and galloped away at full speed. The actual +driver slipped down the rocks into the valley below, and seemed to hide +himself among the bushes; while Isabel remained alone, with her hands +tied, and unable to quit the vehicle in which she had been placed. + +A number of voices talking aloud, however, soon met her ear, and a gay +and gallant party, somewhat soiled with dust and smoke, rode up to the +spot were she lay. The leader of the victorious body sprang from his +horse at once; and, while one of his followers caught the reins of the +horses in the litter, the Count de Meyrand approached Isabel's side, +exclaiming, in a tone of much pity and commiseration, "I fear, indeed, +Mademoiselle de Brienne, that you must have suffered terribly. Good +God!" he continued, "the villain has actually tied her hands;" and on +the spot, with his own dagger, he cut the cords, which had left a deep +print on the small, delicate wrists that they had bound. At the same +time, he added many a soothing word, but still with a tone of deference +and respect, which made Isabel feel that deliverance by his hand was +not, as she had at first been inclined to think, more painful than her +former captivity. She spoke a few words of thanks for his assistance and +attention; and, with an eagerness that waited not to be questioned, +Adrian of Meyrand went on to tell her "that he had heard, late on the +preceding night, that some violence had been shown to her, in +consequence of an attempt she had made to escape from the castle of +Masseran, and that her mother's husband was carrying her away far into +Savoy. + +"I have good reason to know," continued the count, "that this man has +secret communications with the enemies of France, and I doubt not that +his purpose was to remove you for ever from the neighbourhood of your +friends and connexions, from your native country, and from the +protection of the king. Although," he added, with a sigh, "I was not +sure that my assistance would be acceptable, yet I could not resist my +inclination to follow and offer you deliverance. I was afraid of +offending you; but these bonds upon your hands, sweet lady, evidently +show that you were carried away against your will, and, therefore, what +I have done has not been in vain." + +His words agreed so well with the suspicions which Isabel de Brienne had +before entertained regarding the views and purposes of the Lord of +Masseran, that they taught her to put more faith in the count than she +might otherwise have been inclined to do. The respectful tone which he +assumed, too, removed, as we have said, many anxieties from her mind, +and she again expressed her thanks for the service he had rendered her, +but still looked bewildered in his face, as if inquiring what was to be +done next. + +The Count de Meyrand skilfully read that look, and, knowing that her +situation placed her entirely in his power for the time, he determined +to leave her the utmost appearance of unrestrained liberty so long as +she could use it to no effect. He said not a word then in regard to +where her steps should be turned, but stood beside the litter with his +cap in his hand, and the feather trailing on the ground, as if waiting +for her commands. + +Isabel was embarrassed: she could have wished to tell him all that had +occurred; she could have wished to say, "I am Bernard de Rohan's wife. +Protect me for the sake of your friend and companion." But there was a +hesitation, a doubt, an apprehension: she had known and she had seen, +with a woman's clear insight into all those things that appertain to +love, how strong and dangerous was the passion which the Count de +Meyrand had conceived for her; and, though timidity had certainly some +share in making her hesitate to acknowledge at once her union with +Bernard de Rohan, yet an apprehension of endangering him, of making his +imprisonment more severe, of putting his very life in peril if she +acknowledged her union with him to his rival, confirmed her resolution +of taking time to think ere she so acted. What she was next to do, +however, was the immediate question; and, after a long and embarrassing +pause, she said, half as a question to herself and half to the count, +"Where can I go to, and what can I do?" + +That question was what Meyrand expected and what he desired. "If I might +advise," he said, in an humble tone, "Mademoiselle de Brienne would at +once proceed to the court of the King of France, and put herself under +the protection of her own sovereign, who is the person best qualified to +guide and guard her. She will there also have the counsel and assistance +of her brother, and will consequently be restored to that situation of +freedom, comfort, and, I trust, peace, of which I must think she was +deprived by her mother's marriage with this unprincipled Savoyard." + +"But there are many things," said Isabel, in a low tone, "but there are +many things, Monsieur de Meyrand--" and, as she spoke, the thought came +across her of leaving the man to whom she had so lately given her hand +in danger, in grief, perhaps in misery, and of putting many hundreds of +miles between them within a few hours after they had pledged themselves +to each other to remain together for life. + +The Count de Meyrand, however, cut her short. "At all events, dear +lady," he said, "it is necessary, very necessary, for us to pass the +French frontier immediately. It is at no great distance; and a few hours +will place us in our native land. Depend upon it, this good Lord of +Masseran will not lose his prize so easily. Every man I have in Savoy is +with me here. He can call hundreds to his aid, and, I fear, might +overwhelm me in spite of all resistance. If, indeed, you wish to remain +in Savoy, I will do my best to protect you; but I fear much the +consequences, and I would advise, nay, persuade you, to take the road to +France at once. You can determine upon your future conduct afterward, +when we are once across the frontier; for, though France holds this +country by armed force, still it is not our own; and, while we keep the +fortresses, we are obliged to leave the open country to its fate. Ha!" +he continued, gazing along the road, down which a party of his +attendants were now leading a horse, bearing the poor, quiet +_soubrette_, who had followed her mistress through that eventful night. +"Ha! here come some of my people, seemingly with a woman servant. If she +be any one you can depend upon, it may be a great comfort for you to +have her with you." + +"She is my own maid," replied the lady, "and I think, my lord, as you +do, that we had better, in the first instance, make our way into France +direct, if the distance be not great to the frontier." + +"It is but a few hours' ride," replied the count. "But we must lose no +time lest the enemy be upon us." + +Though Isabel was fatigued and exhausted with sorrow, agitation, and +want of rest, she signified her readiness to proceed at once, and the +horses in her litter were turned in the direction of the frontier. Her +maid, too, weary with the long journey on horseback, took her place +beside her mistress in the more easy conveyance; and the Count de +Meyrand, riding close to the vehicle, continued to offer to Isabel de +Brienne every kindly and soothing attention. Nor was his manner marked +by any such signs of admiration or affection as could give her pain; +but, at the same time, it must be confessed, she would have been much +better satisfied to have been left to a communion with her own thoughts. +The mere necessity of travelling any distance under the guidance and +protection of a man whose love she had been forced to reject, and who +had pressed it upon her in a way that she had felt to be insulting, was +painful in the highest degree; and the prospect of having to proceed far +in such circumstances was so grievous, that she resolved at all risks to +avoid it. What plan she was to form for this purpose was a question +which required much thought to answer; but the count took care that she +should have no time either for calm consideration or for discussing her +future prospects with the woman who accompanied her, and who was, in +fact, the only one now with her whom she had known long and well. + +Ere three hours were over, they passed the frontier into France; and +Isabel could not help thinking it strange that, if the Lord of +Masseran's purpose had been to throw himself into the hands either of +the emperor or of Philip of Spain, he should thus have approached within +a few leagues of the French territory. There were other circumstances +also, in all that had passed, which puzzled her; but she had no means of +accounting for any of these matters, and could not lull to sleep the +suspicions which they occasioned. + +At the first village which they came to, it was found necessary to pause +for the purpose of refreshing the horses of the litter; and everything +that could be procured for her comfort and convenience was ordered with +prompt and careful attention by the Count of Meyrand. When he had seen +that a chamber had been prepared for her in the little inn, where she +could repose for an hour or two, and that refreshments of various kinds +were in active preparation, he ordered his horse to be brought round +again, much to her surprise, saying, "It will be better for me now to +leave you, Mademoiselle de Brienne. You will be in security here till my +return; but I must go and scour the country towards Chambery, to make +sure that none of this man's parties have crossed the frontier, and are +watching for you on your onward way." + +Isabel was anxious to put the best interpretation on her companion's +conduct, and it seemed to her that this might merely be a delicate +excuse to leave her for the time. She was willing to imagine that such +an explanation had taken place between the count and Bernard de Rohan as +to deprive the former of all hope of obtaining her hand, and she fancied +that Adrian de Meyrand's conduct in the present instance might be guided +by a wish to show that his purposes were only those of friendship and +honourable courtesy. She would not, however, banish the suspicions to +which woman's instinctive insight into the passion of which she is the +object gave rise, and, for fear of being mistaken, she would not say one +word to prevent his going, although she felt that it was scarcely +courteous of her not to do so, and though she thought that there was an +expression of disappointment on his face at the cold indifference with +which she heard the announcement. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +The Count de Meyrand and his horsemen wound slowly away from the door of +the little cabaret, leaving Isabel de Brienne and her maid the only +tenants of the place. Both were extremely tired; and the lady herself +would have desired to lie down to rest at once rather than wait for the +preparation of any kind of food, but that she was also anxious to +converse over her situation with her attendant, and to see if, between +them, they could not devise some plan of future conduct which might +obviate the difficulties which surrounded her. She, therefore, did not +even propose to take rest, and began the conversation at once; but, +taciturn as the woman always was, she was at present more so than ever. +There was not only a sort of sullenness in her manner, which somewhat +displeased Isabel, but she spoke rather in the tone of one who had been +injured than in compassion for the greater sufferings of her mistress. +In answer to all inquiries regarding what had been done in the chapel +after her lady had lost the power of observing what was passing, she +replied merely that she had been as frightened as anybody, and thought +of nobody but herself. + +"You seem to be grieved, Marguerite," said Isabel de Brienne, after this +sort of conduct had proceeded some time, "you seem to be grieved, +Marguerite, that you have aided me in this business, and so brought some +inconveniences upon yourself." + +"No, mademoiselle," she said, shortly, "but I am very tired." + +"Then I think you had better go to bed," replied Isabel; "I shall not +want you for some hours." + +"I will, presently, mademoiselle," replied the maid; "but I am very +hungry." + +Isabel had not the heart to smile, as she might have done on another +occasion; for selfishness is, perhaps, less offensive when it stands out +in its plain simplicity than when it is discovered through a +hypocritical disguise. In fact, like ugliness, it is more ugly when +painted. Almost as the soubrette spoke, however, the good woman of the +house, who was a widow, brought in with her own hands and the hands of a +maid-servant--which were exactly like another pair of her own, for they +enacted nothing without her orders--several dishes for the morning meal, +which were placed with all due reverence before Isabel de Brienne. The +young lady tried to eat; but, as she did so, the thought of many painful +things, of the probable situation of him she loved best, and of the dark +fate that might be hanging over him, came across her mind; and, to use +the homely but expressive words of old John Hall, when describing the +conduct of the first famous Duke of Buckingham between his arrest and +his execution, "The meat would not down." + +The soubrette, however, made up for her mistress's want of appetite, and +ate plentifully of all that was set before her. When she had done, +Isabel bade her retire to rest, and, at the same time, ordered the food +to be taken away. The soubrette at once obeyed, and left the room; and +the kind-hearted hostess remarking that the young lady had taken +nothing, was pressing her at least to drink some wine, for the +excellence of which she vouched, when Isabel de Brienne, whose face was +towards the window, gave a slight start, and replied almost immediately, +"No, my good dame; the first thing that will do me good is a little +quiet reflection. I think," she added, "that I saw just now a good monk, +seemingly a pilgrim by the scallop on his shoulder pass close to the +window, as if to sit down on the bench at the door. Give him that dish +of meat, and tell him a lady sent it who begs a prayer of him, as she +has been in some trouble since last night." + +The worthy dame of the cabaret gladly took up the dish with her own +hands and carried it forth to the wanderer. She then returned to remove +some other things, and Isabel asked, somewhat eagerly, "What did he +say?" + +"Oh! madam, he sent you thanks," replied the hostess, "and took out a +rosary, which he said had hung up at Loretto for many years, and began +immediately to repeat as many paters and aves as would cost a score of +crowns from our parish priest." + +"Did he say nothing else?" asked Isabel, with a somewhat disappointed +look. + +The hostess replied in the negative, and shortly after left the young +lady alone to repose. A deeper shade of melancholy then came over her. +She sat and leaned her head upon her hand, and again and again the +thoughts of her own situation, and that of him she loved, came across +her mind with the painful, fruitless reiteration which is the most +wearying, perhaps, of all the forms of care. To know and feel that +activity and exertion are absolutely necessary; to have hope only just +sufficient to deprive one of the courage of despair; to believe that +there is a possibility of changing our situation, yet not to know how +that change can be by any means effected, how exertion should be +directed, or where hope would guide; such is the state into which, from +time to time, we fall in our passage through life, and stand like men in +one of those thick, impervious mists which are not absolutely darkness, +but which are worse than darkness itself, from not being, like it, +dissolvable by light. + +She thought not, indeed, so much of herself as of another. She thought +of Bernard de Rohan with deep, with strong, with tender affection; and, +after some minutes of vague and wild inquiries as to what she could do +next, she was obliged to turn to chance and fortune to find a footing +for hope to rest upon--no, not to chance and fortune, but to the +beneficence and mercy of God. There, then, her hope fixed, ay, and +seemed to refresh itself. "Could she not," she asked herself, "could she +not be, by some means, instrumental in aiding him she loved, let his +situation be what it might?" + +She had gathered from the struggle that had taken place in the chapel, +from the want of all sounds of clashing steel or other indications of +actual combat, and also from the manner in which she had been herself +dealt with, that her lover had been overpowered and made a prisoner +before he could resist. She did not believe that the Lord of Masseran +would dare to attempt his life. The risk, she thought, would be far too +great for the object to be attained; for, in truth, she knew not what +that object was, and believed it to be less than it really was, and far +different. If, then, he were a captive in the chateau of Masseran, could +she not, she asked herself, find means to procure his deliverance? She +had heard of such things being done--ay, in the very age and times in +which she lived. She had heard of woman's weak hand and persevering +affection executing what man's strength and wisdom had failed to +perform, and hers was a heart which, though gentle, kind, and yielding +in the moment of happiness and security, was conscious of fortitude, and +strength, and courage, when danger and evil assailed those that she +loved. + +"My father's spirit," she said, "the spirit of him who endured the whole +wrath and indignation of a despotic king sooner than abandon the friend +of his youth, will bear me up through any trials, while I have the +object of delivering him I love." + +But how, how? was the question; what means could she take, what +stratagems could she employ, while she was watched by the eyes of Adrian +de Meyrand? Should she confide her purposes to him? Should she appeal to +his courtesy--to his friendship for her lover--to his generosity? Should +she confide in him? Dared she to do so? + +As she asked herself these questions, something darkened the light, as +if passing across the window. She looked up. It was all clear again. The +day was bright and sunshiny, and the rays pouring in from the southwest. +The window was a narrow cottage lattice, in a stone frame, divided into +three partitions. It might have been a branch of the honeysuckle that +climbed around it, which had been blown across by the wind, and caused +the shadow. It might have been but a cloud passing over the sun; and she +bent her head again, and fell once more into thought. The instant after, +the shadow came again, and a voice said, "Are you quite alone?" + +Isabel looked up. The pilgrim, whom she had before seen, was standing +near the window, leaning on his staff, not exactly turned towards her, +but standing with his shoulder towards the open lattice, and his eyes +apparently bent onward towards Savoy. There was something in his air +familiar to her, though she could not tell in what it consisted. It had +struck her before as he passed: even more, perhaps, in that momentary +glance than it did now, when she saw him fully; and she could scarcely +think that it was the pilgrim who spoke, or, if so, that it was to her +that he addressed himself. After a moment, however, he turned his face +again for an instant towards the window, repeating, + +"Are you quite alone?" + +"Quite!" replied Isabel. + +"Then come near the window," said the same voice: "sit in the +window-seat as if you were looking out. I will rest on this +stepping-stone hard by. Let our words be short, and few, and low in +tone; each word well pondered before it is spoken, and your eyes upon +the door of the room from time to time." + +The view which Isabel had of his face had shown her the features of an +old man, somewhat sharp and keen, though they were much hidden under his +hood, which was formed like that of a Capuchin. His beard, which was +very white, was not so long as that of the generality of monks, and she +concluded that it had been only suffered to grow during the period of +his pilgrimage. He was a venerable-looking man, however; and, as it was +evident that he knew something of her situation, she imagined that he +bore her some message, and hastened to follow his directions. The moment +she had taken her place at the window, he sat down on one of the +stepping-stones placed to aid travellers in mounting their horses, and +there, with his face still turned away from her, commenced the +conversation by asking, "Do you not know me?" + +"Your voice and your air," she said, "are familiar to me, but I know +nothing more." + +"I am Father Willand," said the pilgrim, "who baptized you in your +infancy, watched you for the first nine years of your life, till your +father procured me what he thought advancement in Paris, and who united +you last night to the man for whom that father had ever destined you." + +"Good Heaven!" exclaimed Isabel; "I thought you had fallen into the +power of that evil Piedmontese; for I could not conceive it possible, +when we were all so completely surrounded, that you should make your way +out." + +"They caught the other priest instead of me," replied Father Willand, +"and I lay hid behind the altar till they were all dispersed and gone. +Your husband, lady, however, has fallen into the power of one enemy, and +you into the power of another, or, what is worse than an enemy, a +daring, treacherous, unhesitating lover." + +"Call him not so, Father Willand! call him not so!" replied Isabel. +"Love elevates, ennobles, and purifies--" + +"Do not let us discuss love, lady," replied the priest; "I have nothing +to do with it, but yet understand it, perhaps, better than you do. Love +is applied to a thousand different things, and what is its right meaning +were of long argument. All I know is, that you must not remain with this +man an hour longer than you can help." + +"Tell me how I can escape from him," said Isabel, in the same low tone. +"Nothing I desire more! But still let me do him justice: he has this day +behaved well and kindly towards me; perilled his life to save me, and +treated me with respect and delicacy." + +"Perilled his life!" said Father Willand; "guns fired without balls, +lady! swords drawn without bloodshed! a farce that would not have +deceived a child! They knew you to be but a child, or they would not +have tried it! Did you see one man fall or fallen? Did you see one drop +of blood shed for all the powder expended?" + +"But still," said Isabel, though she had certainly neither seen wounds +nor death follow the apparently smart encounter between the Count de +Meyrand and the Lord of Masseran, "but still, he has been gentle and +kind, and professes to leave me entirely to decide upon my own conduct." + +"Try him, try him," said the priest: "use the liberty he professes to +give, and you will find yourself a stricter prisoner than you were when +in the castle of Masseran. Hearken," he continued, "for I must not be +here long. I have followed you from last night till now; taking shorter +paths than you have been led by, it is true; but still, lady, I am +somewhat old and somewhat fat: and, though of the quick tribe, an old +greyhound will not run as long as a young one. I must have some repose; +but to-night I shall be ready to give you aid wherever you may then be. +When it comes, take it at a moment's warning; and, in the mean time, to +make yourself sure of what you are about, exercise this liberty that you +think you have. The Count de Meyrand judges you are about to set out for +Paris to-morrow morning direct; tell him to-night that you have +considered, and determined upon going to Grenoble to meet your brother +Harry. Then see what he says. If he agree thereunto honestly, well and +good; trust him! If, on the contrary, he teach you to feel that his will +must be your law, then trust me, and come with me whithersoever I shall +guide you!" + +Isabel paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Not to Grenoble," she said at +length; "I must not go to Grenoble yet! That is too far; but if any one +would convey intelligence to my brother of where I am, and bid him join +me instantly at Latour, then, indeed, I might succeed--" + +"Succeed in what?" demanded the priest. + +"In freeing him," replied Isabel; and, though the blood rose up in her +cheek as she said it, she added, the more resolutely from a slight smile +that came from the priest's countenance as he turned for an instant +towards her, "in freeing my husband." + +"Oh, fear not, fear not, pretty one!" replied the priest. "We'll get +your bird out of the cage yet, never fear. Indeed, I did not come hither +without taking care that those should have information of where he is, +and how he is, who may best contrive the means for his escape." + +"Still," replied Isabel, "I would rather not be far absent from the spot +until I see him free." + +"If you fancy, child," replied the priest, "that I want you to go to +Grenoble, you must fancy a fox to be a more stupid beast than a sheep. I +only told you to propose it, that you may try this fair Count of +Meyrand. Trust him in nothing, child, till you see a dove drop her eggs +in a hawk's nest, or till the sweet days come back again when the lamb +lies down with the lion! The nature of the wolf does not change, and he +who would insult you one day would not protect you the next! Mark my +words, then, lady, and follow my counsel: lie down and take rest even +now, so that your mind may be quick and prompt, and your limbs free and +active this night. When this count returns, go on with him to Latour, +then tell him your intention is to turn aside to Grenoble. You will see +in a moment whether you may trust him or me. Decide between us at once +when you have so tried him; and, after that, do not lay down your head +upon your pillow till you have seen me and given me a reply." + +"But how shall I see you?" demanded Isabel; "how shall I know where--" + +"I will find the means," replied the priest, interrupting her. "We must +use bad things to good ends, lady; and a brown gown, which, between +Paris and Loretto, covers more sin and wickedness, year after year, than +all the pope's indulgences can well clear away, will carry me into many +a house where no other key could gain me entrance. If you should satisfy +yourself that you are in danger where you are, be prepared to follow me +at a moment's notice. I will at least set you free to go where you will, +and will help you in all good purposes if I can. But, above all, be as +secret, my child, as the grave; utter not a word of this to any one. I +have heard by tradition that a woman once kept a secret four-and-twenty +hours: all I ask of you is to keep one six; and now farewell, for we +must talk together no more." + +Thus saying, he left her; and Isabel continued to gaze from the window, +pondering thoughtfully over all that had been said. It is a terrible +question, the first time that man has to put it to his own heart, Whom +can we trust? But this, alas! was not the first time that Isabel had to +ask herself that painful and bitter thing. With her, as with every one +in advancing into life, the question had been often and sadly repeated, +and the bounds of the reply had become narrow and more narrow. Oh, how +few are there throughout all existence that we can trust--fully, +entirely, confidently trust! The faith of one; the wisdom of another; +the courage of a third; the resolution of a fourth; the activity, the +energy, the zeal of others; all! all! may be doubtful; and, alas! in +looking back through life, the sad and terrible summing up will ever be, +that our confidence has been far too often misplaced than wrongly +withheld. + +The question, however, which Isabel had now to address to herself was +more limited in its nature and character. It was only, Which of these +two men shall I choose to trust? that she had now to ask herself. Those +she had to choose between were limited to two. One of those two she had +already had occasion to doubt and dislike, to fear and to avoid; and she +could not but feel that, over all he had since done to remove the first +evil impression of his conduct, there was a tinge of suspicion which she +could not remove. Of the other, indeed, she knew little; but that little +seemed to prove his attachment to herself and to him whom she loved. +Acts that have made us very happy leave behind them a sort of tender but +imperishable light, which invests all who have had any share in them, +and brings them all out in brightness to the eye of memory from the +twilight gloom of the past, like those salient objects in an evening +landscape upon which we still catch the rays of a sun that has long set +to our own eyes. Not only the willing agents of our happiness, but those +that bore an uninterested part therein--objects animate or inanimate +alike--the spot, the accessories, the very scene itself, all still +retain a portion of that light, and shine to remembrance when other +things are forgotten. + +The priest with whom she had just spoken, however, had not only borne a +willing, but an active part in uniting her to Bernard de Rohan. For that +reason she believed that she might trust him; but, besides this, he had +referred to former years; and though there was a long lapse of time +between, spreading a dimness like a light sea-mist between herself and +the objects of those days, yet there were vague and pleasant +recollections which attached themselves by the fine links of association +to the tones of the old man's voice, to his manner, even to the rough +and somewhat reckless jests which he mingled with his discourse. She +remembered such a person a frequent guest in her father's house; she +remembered that father's often-repeated commendations of his honesty of +purpose, of his sincerity of heart, of his zeal and disinterestedness; +and whether it was that she herself strove to find some excuse for +anything that seemed harsh or irreverent in his manner, or that her +father had really pronounced such words, she thought that she remembered +his having said that Father Willand's abhorrence of hypocrisy had driven +him into an opposite extreme. It is true that she could not have +recalled his features sufficiently to recognise him under any other +circumstances; but, when once told who he was, they seemed to grow more +and more familiar to her, and she determined to trust him, let the +result of the trial which he had suggested for the Count de Meyrand be +what it would. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +In one of the sweetest situations that it is possible to conceive--with +green sloping hills, covered with the richest vegetation, rising on the +four sides thereof, and forming, as it were, a beautiful basin, with +four long valleys, each of which bears onward its stream of clear and +sparkling water--is the little town of Bourgoin, which was at that time, +as now, neat, clean, and fresh-looking, with perhaps fewer inhabitants +than it can at present boast, but without any of the manufactories which +have since somewhat diminished its beauty, if they have increased its +wealth. + +It was the custom in those days for the signs to hang out far from the +doors of the inn; and often at each side of the doorway was placed the +name of the landlord, with a long recommendation of the fare and lodging +to be found within, with the price of the various meals which were to be +furnished to a visiter. A bench was there also, and a wide door, giving +entrance to a courtyard. + +Such was not, however, altogether the aspect of the little auberge at +Bourgoin. The village was too small to have a regular inn, or _gite_, +and the homely symbol of a bush, suspended from a long pole, thrust +forth horizontally from the front of the building, was the only sign +that it could boast. The landlord and landlady were in their green old +age, and were what they term in France _bonasse_, though that word has +been applied to a beast who, if one may judge by his look, is of a very +opposite sort of disposition to that which I wish to describe. They +were, in short, good-humoured, honest country-people; and when the +landlady beheld a considerable company of horsemen draw in their bridles +at her door, with a young lady and her maid in a litter in the midst, +her first thought was really not of self-interest, but of what she could +best do to make her fair guest happy and comfortable during the time +that she was about to stay in her dwelling. + +The Count de Meyrand sprang to the side of the litter which contained +Isabel de Brienne; and, as if with an instinctive insight into their +lord's wishes, all his attendants but one, who was holding back the +curtain, and one at the head of the nearest horse, kept aloof while the +lady descended. + +"Monsieur de Meyrand," said Isabel de Brienne, as she quitted the +litter, "I cannot help repeating again that it is much against my +inclination I have come hither. If you did not choose to conduct me, as +I asked you, on the direct road to Grenoble, you might, at least, have +suffered me to remain for the night at Latour." + +"Indeed, dear lady," replied the count, still with an air of perfect +deference, "it would have been dangerous for you to do so. There, but a +few leagues from Chambery, and still less from Beauvoisin, we should +have been entirely at the mercy of the enemy. In regard to Grenoble, I +only besought you to pause till you could hear my reasons. You are too +much fatigued to attend to them now; but, ere you set out to-morrow, you +shall hear them at full." + +"Your politeness, my good lord," replied Isabel de Brienne, with an air +of grief and vexation, "is somewhat compulsory." Thus saying, she +advanced towards the landlady, who had kept back at a sign from one of +the count's attendants, but not so far as to prevent her from noting all +that had passed; the ears of aubergistes and aubergistes' wives +acquiring by long and peculiar practice a facility of hearing everything +and not hearing anything, according to circumstances, which is truly +astonishing. + +The Count de Meyrand bowed low, and, following to the door, he ordered +apartments immediately to be prepared for his fair charge, and then took +leave of her for the night, while a slight smile played upon his lip as +he turned away, and he said in his heart, "If I could trust this man of +Masseran, I would humour the girl, and see what might be done by +softness. She smiled upon me this morning, and made me almost forget her +former insolence. It were as well, however, to bring down this high +temper; and, now the storm is somewhat roused, it may as well go on. No +one can say I do her wrong in using some gentle force to bring her to +Paris to the presence of her lawful king, who will soon judge whether +that ring be to remain upon her finger or not." + +As he thus thought, he pictured to his own imagination the marriage of +fair Isabel de Brienne with Bernard de Rohan annulled by the royal +authority. He fancied his own claim to her hand heard and conceded. He +thought of how her travelling alone with him by slow journeys across the +whole of France might render her own consent a matter more of necessity +than choice; and, with inward satisfaction, he revolved the air of cool +indifference with which he would treat the whole proceedings, as if +there were absolutely nothing on earth worth the attention of so high a +gentleman. + +In the mean while Isabel de Brienne was led to her chamber by the +hostess, who asked many a kindly question, not directly pertinent to the +conversation which she had overheard, but tending to elicit the cause of +that anxiety and distress of mind which she witnessed. Isabel did not +satisfy her, it is true; but she replied so sweetly and gently, that the +good woman went away with her mind made up that she was the most amiable +young lady she had ever seen, and that she was, moreover, very much ill +used by some one. Who that was she could not very well satisfy herself; +but, nevertheless, she looked with no very favourable eye upon the Count +de Meyrand, and made but short replies to the various questions which he +asked her when she came down again. + +After giving various directions to the soubrette, to which that taciturn +person replied less than ever, Isabel seated herself near the window in +melancholy thought. Removed almost by force from Latour, where the good +priest, Father Willand, expected to find her, and having been now fully +convinced, by the conduct of this Count de Meyrand, that she was little +better than a prisoner in his hands, she knew not whence to hope for +succour or deliverance. There was many a dark and painful point in her +situation on which we must not dwell; many a present and many a future +danger to herself, to him she loved, and to their mutual happiness. The +thoughts connected with these points mingled with the chief strain of +her reflections, and rendered them, bitter as they were, still more +bitter and grievous to be borne. + +As she thus sat and gazed out of the window--at some distance from it, +indeed, so that those who were immediately beneath did not see where she +was placed--she suddenly saw a small body of horsemen come over the brow +of the gentle hill opposite, and ride down into the village. Isabel +instinctively drew back; for, though her actual situation was painful in +no slight degree, yet among those horsemen she recognised the colours of +the Lord of Masseran, and it seemed to her that it would be even more +terrible to fall into his power than to remain in that of the Count de +Meyrand. The men came on at a quick rate, some four or five in number, +and were passing by the door of the little auberge without pausing, when +she heard the voice of the Count de Meyrand call to them, and bid them +stop to speak with him. The first questions which he asked were put in a +low voice, but the man whom he addressed spoke louder in reply, and +Isabel heard the latter say distinctly, "Yes, my lord, he is gone on +with all speed to Paris, and we are following him as fast as we can. We +hope to come up with him at Lyons." + +"By my faith, this is somewhat strange," answered the count; and then +again what he said farther was lost to the ear. + +In a few minutes the Count de Meyrand suffered the horsemen to go on; +but he seemed much moved by what he had heard, saying aloud, "This man +will never be honest. We must not let him be long in advance. The horses +must be ready by daybreak to-morrow, Matthew. Pierre, put your foot in +the stirrup, and ride after those men: I saw one of them turn away from +the road just now, by the clump of trees on the top of the hill. If they +put their hand into the wolf's mouth, they must bear a bite." + +Before the daylight failed, the man to whom he last spoke returned, +informing him that, as far as he could discover, the whole party had +gone on towards Lyons; and the count, better satisfied, turned once more +into the inn, and sat himself down to supper in a musing mood. He sent +up, indeed, an humble entreaty that the fair lady whom he had the honour +to escort, as he termed it, would join him at the evening meal; but the +reply returned was, that Mademoiselle de Brienne had retired to rest. + +The count soon after sought his pillow himself; but, accustomed by old +habits to wake at any particular hour assigned, he started up with the +first gleam of daylight, and gave instant orders for preparing to set +out. There were few persons yet up in the inn; but the good landlady was +roused, unwillingly, from her bed, and ordered instantly to wake +Mademoiselle de Brienne, and give her notice that it was time to depart. +The count himself stood at the bottom of the stairs, with his arms +folded upon his chest, in that gloomy frame of mind to which +dissatisfaction with ourselves is even more sure to give birth than +dissatisfaction with the things around us. But he was roused from his +revery by hearing some bustle and anxious exclamations above, the voice +of the hostess raised to the tones of wonder and astonishment, the +tongue of the silent maid heard at a considerably louder pitch than was +at all usual, and other indications so decided of something having gone +wrong as to induce the Count de Meyrand himself to quit his usual calm +deliberation, and spring up the stairs with a quick step and an angry +brow. + +He found the door of the room which had been assigned to Mademoiselle de +Brienne unclosed, the hostess standing a few steps within, the soubrette +near the bedside, the window wide open, with the morning air sighing +quietly through the lattice, and Isabel herself nowhere to be seen. + +"Where is your mistress?" demanded the count, furiously, fixing his eyes +upon the soubrette. + +"I know not, sir," replied the woman. + +"Her bed has never been slept in all night," replied the hostess. "Her +sweet cheek has never rested on that pillow, poor thing. She must have +got out of the window, that is clear; and, if any ill have happened to +her, somebody is to blame for it, I am sure." + +"Silence!" said the count, looking at her sternly. "Did you not +undertake," he continued, turning to the soubrette, "never to lose sight +of her?" + +"I can't sleep with my eyes open," replied the woman. + +"This is that scoundrel Masseran's doing," said the count: "but he shall +find himself deceived, for I will be in Paris as soon as he is. You, +madam, will be good enough to come along with me; so put your dress in +some better array, and lose no time." + +He looked as if he could have said a great deal more, but he restrained +himself; and, though the anger that he felt at heart found relief in a +bitter and sneering smile, unaccompanied by any words, he turned upon +his heel, walked down to the inn door, and remained for a few minutes +looking forth upon the morning as if nothing had happened. In a minute +or two after, seeing one of his men pass, he beckoned to him, spoke a +word or two in his ear, and suffered him to depart. The man returned in +a few minutes, and replied, "They are all ignorant of anything of the +kind, sir. It is evident none of the people of the place know aught +about it." + +"Have you seen the landlord?" demanded the count. + +"No!" + +"Go and make inquiries regarding him." + +The man did as he was bid, and the reply was, "That the landlord had +gone away towards the market of St. Laurent an hour or two before +daybreak, as was always his custom." + +"That is sufficient," said the count, with a sneer. "Quick with the +horses; let us mount and go on." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +The great tamers of strong spirits, the quellers of the rebellious +heart, the conquerors of the obdurate, the determined, and the enduring, +Silence and Solitude, were upon Bernard de Rohan. To know nothing of +what is passing without; to have no marker of the steps of time; to see +no sun rise or set; to have not even the moving shadow upon the wall to +tell us that another lapse of the wearisome hours has taken place; to +have nothing, in short, to link us on to human destinies, and to show us +that we are wending on our way with our fellow-beings--nothing but the +dull beatings of the heavy heart, and the grinding succession of bitter +thoughts--this, surely, is not life; and if it be not death, it is +something worse. Where there is no change of anything to mark its +passing, time seems, in truth, to sink back into that ocean from which +it was called at first, Eternity: and, wanting all means of calculating +its flight, Bernard de Rohan did indeed feel each moment to be an age. +Actual pain would have been almost a relief to the despairing vacuity of +that which must have been the second day of his confinement. We can +scarcely doubt that the punishment of Prometheus would have been more +complete, had he been left in the solitude of the frowning heavens, +without the vulture as his companion, though his tormentor. + +No one came near the young cavalier throughout the whole day. The food +which had been left for him was just sufficient for the four-and-twenty +hours: more than sufficient, as it proved, indeed, for he tasted it not; +and when, at the end of that period, it was renewed, so quick was the +passing in and out of him who brought the fresh supply, that the young +cavalier scarcely saw the man's entrance ere the door was again closed, +and he was once more alone. + +It seemed to him several hours after this brief visitation had been +made--and true it is, he had gone through so many ranges of painful +thought, that they might well have furnished occupation and bitterness +for more than one long day--when he heard a sound at the door of the +dungeon, as if some one endeavoured, with an unaccustomed hand, to draw +back the heavy bolts and turn a key in the lock. At the same time, he +heard a low, deep voice murmur, "The fool should have left a lamp!" "Ay, +that is right!" and the next moment the key turned, the lock gave way, +and the door was thrown open. + +The lamp which had been left with Bernard de Rohan burned but dimly, for +it had been long untrimmed, so that at first the young cavalier did not +recognise the person who entered. The next instant, however, his visiter +spoke, and the deep but melodious voice instantly brought to the +prisoner's recollection his wild companion, Corse de Leon. + +"Ah! Monsieur de Rohan," said the brigand, looking around him as he +entered, "I have not forgotten you you see. Out upon that scoundrel! How +dared he put you in such a place as this? He might have given you a +befitting chamber, at all events." + +Bernard de Rohan grasped his hand; and, needing no words to assure him +that the brigand came to set him free, he thanked him again and again, +but mingled, however, his thanks with some marvellings to see him within +the chateau of Masseran. + +The brigand smiled. "There is nothing wonderful in it, Monsieur de +Rohan," he replied. "There is not a door in this castle that does not +open to me as readily as to its lord. All these things are easily +explained. Some of the poor people with whom I have to do think me half +a magician, and it is not worth while to undeceive them, though I seek +not for any such reputation. Truth is marvellous enough, without trying +to make it more wonderful," he continued, in a musing tone; "and all +that I do which seems strange may, nine times out of ten, be explained +by a single word. I believe that it is so, too, with the wonders of +creation. We gaze with surprised and astonished eyes upon thousands of +things that seem miracles to our earthly nature: we are, ourselves, +miracles to ourselves; but I do believe that all the wonders that we +see, the marvel of our very existence, the linking of fates together, +and the long network of events and their causes, from the beginning of +all things to eternity, might all be explained to us by some simple word +which God's good pleasure now withholds; by some short, brief +explanation, which is not fitted for this mass of moving clay to +receive." + +As he spoke, he sat himself quietly down on the edge of the bed, took up +the lamp, trimmed it in a careless manner, and then added abstractedly, +"We must wait a few minutes, Monsieur de Rohan, for the horses are not +come yet, and it is as well to stay here as upon the hillside." + +"But is there no danger of our being stopped?" demanded Bernard de +Rohan. + +Corse de Leon smiled. "It were difficult to stop me," he said; "but +nobody will try to do it. You know the Lord of Masseran is gone to +Paris?" + +"No, indeed," replied the young cavalier; "I know nothing, and I have +heard nothing, since I have been a prisoner in this dreary place. He +has, of course, taken, my Isabel with him?" + +"Oh, no," replied the brigand. "He set out for Paris with great speed +for several reasons: first, because he knew suspicions are entertained +of him in regard to his dealings with the King of Spain; next, because +he feared that inquiry would be made as to what has become of you, and +he wished to justify himself; and, next, because he did not choose to +trust your goodly friend, the Count of Meyrand, in anything, but +especially--" + +"But where, then, is Isabel?" demanded the young cavalier. + +"Ay, who can say!" rejoined Corse de Leon. + +Bernard de Rohan started up eagerly. "Let us seek for her at once, +then," he said. "If, as you say, all the doors of this castle open to +you as easily as to their lord, let us seek her through every room in +the place, and take her with us when we go. In Heaven's name leave her +not here!" + +"She is not here, wherever she is," replied the brigand; "and I trust +that by this time she is free; but I will tell you more by-and-by, for I +hear the clock striking one, and we shall have just time to reach the +hillside before the horses arrive. Come, Monsieur de Rohan, come. They +have taken your arms from you, I see. Well, we must find you others." + +Thus saying, he raised the lamp, and led the way towards the door. As he +went, however, the light fell upon the fetters which hung against the +wall, and he paused, gazing upon them and frowning heavily. "Ah, ah, +accursed implements of tyranny!" he muttered, "When, when will the time +come that ye shall be no longer known! God of Heaven! even then it must +be remembered that such things have been. It must be written in books. +It must be told in tradition, that men were found to chain their +fellow-creatures with heavy bars of iron, to make them linger out the +bright space given them for activity and enjoyment in dungeons and in +fetters, till the dull flame was extinguished, and dust returned to +dust. Would to Heaven that there were no such thing as history, to +perpetuate, even unto times when man shall have purified his heart from +the filthy baseness of these days, the memory of such enormous deeds as +fetters like that record! Out upon it! Was it for this that man learned +to dig the ore from the mine, and forge the hard metal in the fire? But +come, come! I am forgetting myself;" and he led the way forth along the +same path by which Bernard de Rohan had been brought from the chapel. +The ponderous doors in the solid rock were all open; but the young +cavalier remarked that Corse de Leon closed them one by one behind him, +till at length they stood in the open air at the foot of the hill. + +It were difficult, nay, impossible, to describe the sensations which the +first breath of that free air produced in Bernard de Rohan. It would +require to have been a captive, and yet full of the spirit of freedom, +to have contemplated long imprisonment, and to be suddenly set free, +even to comprehend what he then felt. His sensations, however, found +vent but in one exclamation. "Thank God!" he said, and followed his +companion, who now, with rapid strides, climbed the opposite side of the +hill, till he reached the spot where he had waited for Bernard de Rohan +on the night when first they met. No horses were there, however, and +Corse de Leon seated himself on a point of the crag, and seemed about to +fall into one of his fits of revery; but his young companion was not +disposed to rest satisfied without some farther information. + +"Now," he said, "now! You promised to tell me more--you promised to tell +me more concerning Isabel. With whom is she? In whose hands is she, if +not in those of the Lord of Masseran?" + +"She was," replied Corse de Leon, "she was in the hands of your bright +friend, the Count de Meyrand." + +Bernard de Rohan's hand grasped for the hilt of his sword, but it was +gone; and he only muttered the words "Villain, villain! I thought I +heard that treacherous voice. Who shall one depend upon in this world?" + +"Upon none of those," replied Corse de Leon, "whom men are accustomed to +depend upon. Not upon the gay companion of the winecup, who aids us +pleasantly to spend our wealth or to squander our more precious time: +not upon him, not upon him, young gentleman! Not upon the smooth-spoken +and the plausible adviser, who counsels with us on things where our own +interest and his are combined, and who uses our exertions and our means +to share in our fortune and our success: not upon him, I say, not upon +him! Not upon the sweet flatterer, who either dexterously insinuates how +virtuous, and great, and good and wise we are, or who boldly overloads +us with praise, in the hope of some, at least, being received: not upon +him, I say. Not upon the pander to our vices or our follies, even though +he sell his soul to pamper us with gratification: not upon him. Not upon +the light wanton, who yields us what she should refuse, vowing that it +is love for us which conquers, when love for many another has gone +before: not upon her. Neither on the priest that preaches virtue without +practising it; neither upon the soft hypocrite, nor upon the rude +hypocrite; neither upon the one who assumes sleek sanctity, nor upon the +other who builds the reputation of honesty upon a rough outside. There +are some that will weep with you, and some that will laugh with you; +some that will discourse, and some that will sport with you; but trust +in none but him that you have tried, but him whom you know to be honest +to himself, and who has proved himself honest to you. We were speaking +of the Count de Meyrand. That he has betrayed you and deceived you most +shamefully is his fault, not yours; for, though you believed him honest, +you did not weakly trust him. It were well, when you find him, to nail +his ears to the doorpost; but still you have nothing to reproach +yourself with. I trust, however, that sweet and good lady is by this +time freed from his hands, for one who loves her very well has +undertaken that part of the task." + +"But how," exclaimed Bernard de Rohan, "how came she in his power at +all?" + +Corse de Leon replied briefly, but with sufficient detail to show his +hearer at one glance all that had taken place in regard to Isabel de +Brienne since he had seen her. The deep and bitter indignation that +gathered at the young cavalier's heart as his companion went on, was not +of a nature that wasted itself in many words. "This must be looked to!" +he said; "this must be looked to! And now, my friend, to think of this +dear girl's escape. Can we trust to good Father Willand? Not his faith, +I mean, but his power. He is there, it would seem, alone, unaided, +unsupported, to cope with a man artful, rich, powerful, and numerously +followed." + +"We may trust him, I am sure," replied the other. "This count's art, +like all pitiful art, will help to deceive himself; and in quiet wisdom +he cannot compete with the good priest. Besides, Father Willand is not +so unsupported as you think. It may seem strange to you to hear, but +many of your own men, nay, I believe all, are with him or round about +him." + +"No," replied Bernard de Rohan, "that surprises me not. Most of them +were born within sight of the lands of Brienne--most of them have often +seen and know her well, and there is none who has seen her that would +not willingly sacrifice life to serve her." + +Corse de Leon smiled with somewhat of a melancholy expression. In life, +when we have lost any of those sweet delusions which, like the radiant +colours of the morning sky, clothe, at the dawning of our youth, thin +air itself and unsubstantial vapours, nay, perhaps even the cloudy home +of the future storm, with loveliness and radiance, and the most glowing +hues of Heaven's own golden treasury--when we have lost those sweet +delusions, I say, and any one with whom they still remain speaks of the +reality of things whose emptiness we have proved, how sad, how +profoundly sad, is the contrast suddenly presented to us, of what we +were and what we are! how melancholy is the conviction of the emptiness +of our dream-like life! And yet there is something sweet which mingles +even with our sadness, to see others enjoying and believing what we can +no longer enjoy or believe; something ennobling and elevating that +shares in our melancholy, if the feeling of how unreal are life's best +joys lead us to sigh for those that are more true and lasting. + +Bernard de Rohan saw not the expression upon the countenance of his +companion, although the night was clear and bright, and sufficient light +remained in the heavens to make even small objects visible; but his +eyes were at that moment fixed upon the castle of Masseran, and +more especially upon one of the outstanding towers to the northeast, +separated from the rest of the building by a space of two or +three hundred yards, and only attached to it by walls and minor +fortifications. In that tower there appeared a great light, at first +streaming through some of the upper loopholes only. After a moment or +two, however, it became brighter and brighter, and poured through all +the windows of the story below. Bernard de Rohan could almost have +imagined that, as he gazed, he saw flames come forth and lick the dark +stonework of the tower; and he was soon confirmed in the belief that it +was so, by the wreaths of pale white smoke which began to ascend into +the dark air, and in a minute or two formed a cloud above the tower, +acquiring a red and ominous hue as the fire below increased. + +"Look there! look there!" he exclaimed, catching Corse de Leon's arm; +but, even as he spoke, the roof of the tower fell in, and a pyramid of +flame shot upward into the sky. + +"Yes, I see," replied Corse de Leon; "but here come the horses! and we +must go quick to the spot where I trust we shall find her whom you seek +for. Then, get you across the frontier into France as soon as may be. +Your own men will be sufficient to protect you, and will be glad to see +you; for, notwithstanding that they may, as you think, love your fair +Isabel well, they would not have gone unless we had put a light deceit +upon them, and had left them to think, more than told them it was so, +that you and the lady were together. Those I have with me here dare not +set foot within that land, and the other friends I have are far distant. +That was the reason I did not make her free myself, and punish that +slight traitor as he deserves." + +While he spoke, three or four horsemen appeared, leading two other +horses, and, without taking any farther notice of the conflagration, +Corse de Leon put his foot in the stirrup, and, springing into the +saddle, rode on towards the little inn which we have often before had +occasion to mention. + +The young cavalier followed his example; but, before they had gone a +hundred yards, a loud explosion took place, which shook the rocks +around, and echoed afar through the valley. Their horses started at the +sound, and Bernard and his companion turned their eyes towards the +castle of Masseran. The burning tower had now lost all shape and form, +though part of the walls still remained, with the fire clinging to them +in various places. + +"Do you know what that is?" demanded Corse de Leon; and, ere Bernard de +Rohan could reply, he went on. "It is an act of folly worthy of a king +or a prime minister. There are people in that castle," he said, "who, +knowing of my coming and of your escape, have done the act, the effects +of which you see flaming yonder, in order that the tower may fall in and +crush the dungeon into which they had thrust you, solely to prevent the +Lord of Masseran from discovering how you have escaped. Thus it is with +the world; every one act of weakness, of folly, or of crime, we judge +must be followed by another, to conceal or to justify it. Let men or +ministers place themselves in a dangerous situation by some capital +fault, and then they think expediency requires them to commit another to +obviate the effects of the first, forgetting that each fault is written +down in the two eternal books--the Book of Fate, God's servant, and the +Book of God himself; and that there must be a reckoning, a terrible +reckoning, for the whole amount, in this world and in the next. Let us +ride on." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +We must now entirely change the scene. The spot is no longer the +same--the actors different. From the mountains of Savoy, the feudal +castle, the lonely chapel, and the humble inn, let us turn to the +capital of France, her stately palaces, and the gay and glittering hall +where laughed and revelled the bright, the brave, the fair, and the +witty of that splendid epoch which began with Francis the First, and +ended with his immediate successor. The personages, too, have changed +with the scene. The young warrior and his fair bride, the wily Italian +and the supercilious and unprincipled Count de Meyrand, are no longer +before us. Even good Father Willand himself is left behind, and one for +whom we owe no slight affection, Corse de Leon, is, for the time, off +the stage. + +At the door--or rather, we may say, beyond the door, for they were not +actually in the chamber--stood two of the king's guard, with their +halberds resting on their shoulders, embroidered on which appeared the +well-known cognisance of the salamander. They were there merely to +perform the place of a living gate, barring the way against any who +would enter, till such time as the orders of the king threw open the +halls of the Louvre. + +Henry himself, in the prime of his years, graceful, handsome, vigorous, +with a countenance full of fire, but still kindly and good-humoured, +stood at the farther end of the large and nearly vacant reception room, +close to one of the windows, which looked out upon the river Seine, +speaking with a lady, on whose appearance we may well be expected to +pause for a moment. That lady was the celebrated Diana of Poitiers; and, +though the period had by this time passed by when her dazzling beauty +captivated all eyes as well as those of her royal lover, she was +certainly still very handsome. But she had also in her countenance an +expression of power and resolution, of quickness of understanding and of +sparkling vivacity, which at once displayed many of the chief points of +her character. As one stood and looked at her, and saw the play of her +fine features, the rapid changes, the sudden lighting up of the eyes, +the occasional look of intense eagerness, the shade of momentary +meditation, succeeded by the bright smile, the gay laugh, the eyes cast +up to heaven, it was easy to understand what manifold powers of charming +and persuading lay beneath, and to perceive that, whatever might have +been at any time the mere beauty of feature and expression, the chief +loveliness of that lovely countenance must ever have been in its +wonderful variety. + +What was it that moved her now? What was the eager scheme that she was +urging upon the king with such a host of wiles, and charms, and graces, +that it was hardly possible to expect that he should resist? Lo! how she +hangs upon his arm with those two fair hands, and gazes up into his face +with those speaking eyes! Now comes a shade of vexation over her brow. +One hand drops from his arm. Her head is partly turned away: a tear dims +the eye for an instant, then leaves it brighter than before. Now, again, +how merrily she laughs, with the clear, joyous, ringing laugh that we so +seldom hear but from the lips of infancy; and then, again, that look of +bright and eloquent thoughtfulness, while with her extended hand she +argues with the monarch on some mighty theme, and carries high +conviction on her lofty brow! What a wonderful picture does she form +there, even at this very moment, changing by her words the destinies of +Europe, and with smiles, and tears, and laughter, and high thoughts, all +mingled in a wondrous antidote, curing one of those spoiled children of +fortune that we call kings of that venomous and pestilential sickness, +the love of war! + +"Well," said the king, "well, you have triumphed. He shall have the +powers, although it goes against my soul to yield anything to that cold +and haughty Spaniard. What though Fortune have, with all her fickleness, +left at the last a momentary balance in the scale against France, have +we not already retrieved much, and are we not daily retrieving?" + +"True, sire, true," replied Diana of Poitiers, "your armies are +retrieving all that was once lost. But your country, sire, alas! your +country is not. France suffers, France groans even, while Spain is +wounded, and each blow that you strike at the enemy but injures yourself +far more." + +The king was about to reply, but she stopped him eagerly: "I am foolish +to argue with you," she continued; "You have said I have triumphed, you +have said I shall have the powers; and, though he may conquer me in +argument, my Henry's word is never broken. Besides," she added, "have I +not a private suit to be heard and granted also?" + +"Ha!" said the king, after pausing thoughtfully for a moment or two, as +if he were still unconvinced, and unwilling to leave the subject on +which they had just been conversing, "ha! I had forgot! You did mention +some private suit--what, I remember not now, sweet Diana. But yet it is +hard even to hear of peace after defeat. Were we just hot from +victory--were we flushed with triumph, and our enemy reduced to lowly +supplication--then, indeed, then we might hear of terms of peace, and +grant them liberally and willingly. But after this accursed battle of +St. Laurence; after so total, so signal, and terrible a defeat--the +constable himself taken, one half of the nobility of the land wounded or +slain, our soldiers scattered, and our provinces, invaded--it is bitter +indeed to hear the name of peace." + +"As bitter to Henry's heart," replied the lady, "as the sound of war to +many another man. But you have promised, sire. You have promised +Montmorency the full powers, and--you have forgotten my petition." + +"Well, well," said the king, with a sigh, "what is your petition? I know +that you have no private interest in this matter, Diana, You never were +a friend to Montmorency." + +The lady coloured slightly, but replied at once. "I never was his +friend, sire, while haughty fortune smiled upon him, and when he urged +measures harsh and injurious to the country upon your majesty; but I +will own that I am his friend now, when, bearing his adversity with +calmness and with dignity, he would fain persuade your majesty to that +which is most necessary for the safety of your realm. So much, indeed, +am I his friend, your majesty, now, that I have promised to mingle our +families together by the marriage of our sweet Henrietta with his son +Damville. Nay, start not, sire, I told you of this before." + +"Did you?" exclaimed the king, "did you? I recollect it not. Yet now +methinks I do remember something thereof; but I must have been thinking +of other things. How can I consent to such a contract?" continued the +king. "Recollect, dear lady! Is there not a story current of Damville, +like his brother, having bound himself by a secret marriage to an +Italian woman?" + +"There is some tale of the kind, sire," replied the Duchess of +Valentinois, "but I believe without foundation. Even were it so, +however, sire," she continued, eagerly, "what matters it, in truth? The +connexion has long ceased: the pope will annul the marriage instantly; +and, not many months ago, your majesty vowed that you would give an +edict rendering clandestine marriages of no effect, and declaring all +illegal but such as have the full consent of the nearest surviving +relative of both parties, always under your majesty's good pleasure." + +"I recollect," replied the king. "The edict was drawn up, but never +signed, because, as it deeply affected ecclesiastical matters, it was +thought best to have the sanction of our holy father in Rome, and he +made manifold objections. But that edict, even had it issued, could not +affect the past." + +"Your majesty will pardon me," replied the lady. "It had a clause which +rendered it retrospective--at least I am so informed, in a letter which +I received not many hours ago from your faithful subject the good Count +of Meyrand, whom you intrusted to carry the edict to Rome. Had it not +that retrospective sense," she added, eagerly, "the hopes and +expectations of Montmorency and myself would both be very bitterly +disappointed." + +The king's brow grew somewhat cloudy, and she added suddenly, "Not for +myself, sire! I speak not for myself, and with no reference to this +proposed marriage between Henriette de la Mark and the young Damville. +But there is one thing for which I know the good constable has long +sighed. The duke, his eldest son, is more ambitious than your majesty +dreams of." + +"Indeed!" said the king, with a slight smile. "What do you mean, fair +lady? Is his ambition dangerous to the state?" + +"Nay, nay, sire, not so," replied the duchess, with a smile, seeing that +the king, while affecting ignorance, in reality understood what she +meant. "There is a certain lovely lady bearing the same name as my more +humble self, and somewhat near to the affections of your royal +person--near, even as a daughter, some men say. She has now wept for +some time in widowhood; and the young Duke of Montmorency, daringly +priding himself upon the royal blood that flows also in his veins, has +ventured to sigh for this fair lady's hand. But the great impediment is +that fatal contract which he signed with Mademoiselle de Pienne, without +his father's knowledge and consent." + +"I have heard something of this before," said the king, to whom the idea +of uniting his natural daughter to the high race of Montmorency was not +a little grateful. "But does the constable desire this marriage for his +son? If so, why did he not speak long since?" + +"Most humbly, sire, does he desire it," replied the lady, "and has +commissioned me to sue, by every means of persuasion and entreaty, that +your majesty would condescend to grant your consent to the union of his +son with Madame de Farnese. He overrates my means, I know; but he does +calculate that your majesty has some affection still for me, as well as +some regard and esteem for him." + +"Much, much for both, dear lady," replied the king; and then, falling +into a fit of thought, he added, as if speaking to himself, "This +marriage is most unfortunate. But that a rash boy should pay, by a whole +life of celibacy and regret, for the idle folly of signing his name to a +promise extracted from him by an artful woman, is indeed too much. I +would fain see the draught of the edict which was proposed." + +"Here is the chancellor, sire, hard by," replied the lady, pointing to a +group of three or four persons who had followed her into the hall at her +first entrance, but who had remained gathered together in a group at the +other end of the chamber, conversing in a low voice. "Here is the +chancellor, sire: perhaps he may have a copy of the edict with him now." + +"Perchance he may, fair dame," replied the king, laying his hand fondly +upon her shoulder, and smiling, at the same time, at the evident +preparation of the whole affair, "perchance he may. Ho! my good +chancellor, we would fain speak with you here a while." + +At the very first word the king addressed to him, a tall and somewhat +meager man, in the rich and gorgeous habit of one of the princes of the +Roman Church, took a step forward from the rest of the group, and, +bowing low, advanced towards the king. He was dark and pale in +countenance, and his features were of an Italian cast, while a look of +shrewd, calm cunning, which that cast is so well calculated to assume, +was the predominant expression. + +"His majesty, my Lord Cardinal," said the duchess, addressing the famous +John Bertrandi, and having marked well the shrewd smile upon the king's +countenance, "his majesty, my Lord Cardinal, would fain see a copy of +that edict referring to clandestine marriages, which was drawn up some +months ago, but never signed. I besought you this morning to seek for +it: has it been found?" + +"I have it here, madam," replied the chancellor at once, opening a +portfolio which he carried under his arm; "may I present it to your +majesty:" and, selecting from among a number of papers which the +portfolio contained the one that was required at the moment, he put it +into the hands of Henry the Second. + +The king took and read it attentively. "And is this, my lord," he +demanded, "in all due form, and ready for promulgation?" + +"It is, sire," replied the chancellor: "wanting nothing but your +majesty's signature and the seal." + +Henry paused thoughtfully. "And is it," he asked, "and is it altogether, +and in all parts, in strict accordance with the laws of France?" + +"_Que veut le roi, veut le loi_," replied the chancellor. "What the king +wills, the law wills;" and, with that tyrannical axiom, the attempted +enforcement of which, in France, has caused more bloodshed than perhaps +any other line that ever was written, John Bertrandi satisfied his +conscience in sanctioning that which was contrary to the true spirit of +all law. + +Henry himself, however, was not satisfied! Although it is so easy for +base counsellors--on whom be eternal shame--to find specious arguments +in favour of those things which monarchs wish, however evil; and +although it certainly was the case that the King of France himself, +eagerly desiring the marriage of his natural daughter with the heir of +Montmorency, had potent tempters in his own bosom to second the words of +Bertrandi, still he was not satisfied that the retrospective act +proposed to him was right. He looked first at the cardinal; next turned +his eyes for a moment to the countenance of Diana of Poitiers; smiled +doubtfully, and then said, "Put it up, my Lord Cardinal, put it up! I +will take one day more to consider of it. Nay, look not grieved, fair +dame, it shall have favourable consideration. Forget not that both our +wishes run in the same way. Now let us speak of other things, Diana. Do +you come to our gay hall to-night? Nay, you must not be absent," he +added, seeing that the duchess looked down somewhat mournfully; +"Henriette de la Mark must dance a gaillarde with her lover Damville." + +"But can her lover ever be her husband?" demanded Diana, gazing +reproachfully in the king's face; and then adding, with consummate skill +in the management of that monarch, "It matters not! Since I have +accomplished what I sought for the good of the country, even if I have +failed in what I sought for my own pleasure, it matters not! My good +Lord Chancellor, the king has been pleased to promise that powers shall +be immediately granted to the noble constable of Montmorency to treat +with Spain and with the empire for a good and perfect peace. Let it be +said that this has been obtained by the solicitations of one who could +obtain nothing for herself! but still, not to her honour let it be, but +to the king's, inasmuch as he overcame in his own heart the love of +glory and the thirst of victory for the sake of his good land of France. +Will you, sire," she continued, "will you not order the chancellor at +once to expedite the powers for the good constable? It cannot be done +too rapidly." + +"Why so?" demanded Henry. "There is, surely, no such haste." + +"Because, sire," replied the lady, "there are two great and fortunate +men, whose first wish must be to change your majesty's counsels in this +regard. The conqueror of Calais may well have a say in matters of peace +and war. The Cardinal of Lorraine is still at your majesty's ear. The +purpose may evaporate and pass away, war be continued gloriously and +long, and France be ruined." + +"Nay, nay," replied the king, looking at the duchess reproachfully, "I +am not so vacillating in my purposes. The Guises have not the influence +you think." + +"They have had the influence, sire," replied Diana, boldly, "they have +had the influence to delay, for months, that very edict, drawn up by the +orders of the king himself, for the security and protection of the +French people, and to guard against the evils under which half of the +noble families of France now smart, from alliances contracted in wild +youth with races of inferior blood." + +"The Guises had nothing to do with that--have nothing to do with it," +replied the king, impatiently. "What interest have they in this matter? +I remember, it is true, the Cardinal of Lorraine did oppose the edict, +but upon motives of general justice. What interest had he, or his +brother either, for or against the edict?" + +"To keep down the house of Montmorency," replied Diana of Poitiers. "To +blast the expectations of the young duke, in the hopes which he, perhaps +presumptuously, had entertained." + +"I believe that it is so, indeed, sire," said the chancellor. "There is +much reason to think that the opposition of our holy father the pope was +raised up by the instigations of the Cardinal of Lorraine. You are well +aware, sire, that a messenger from the cardinal outstripped even the +Count de Meyrand, and that the latter gentleman found the holy father +already prepared to oppose the edict." + +"I will think of the matter," said the king again. "If the opposition be +but factious, we will give it no head; but I would fain, before I +promulgate the edict, have some cause before me to justify it, in which +my own personal wishes, and yours, fair lady, are not interested. I must +have time for thought upon it. Now let the doors be opened, for we have +kept our court too long without." + +The doors of the anteroom were accordingly thrown open. The guards, with +their halberds, drew back, and in a few minutes the great hall of +reception was crowded with the nobles of France. While the king, with +affable condescension, received his subjects, spoke with many of them, +and smiled upon all, and the buzz of voices, steps, and rustling +garments raised a sort of whispering murmur through the halls, the +chancellor was seen speaking, in a low voice, to the Duchess of +Valentinois; and some one who was passing heard the latter say, "Not +only that, my lord, but the abbey of St. Martin also, if we succeed. The +revenues are twelve thousand crowns a year." + +The chancellor bowed low, with an humble and obsequious smile, and the +duchess turned to speak to some one else. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +Before a mirror of the most beautiful polish that it was possible to +conceive, and a toilet table covered with all the most costly essences +and perfumes which could be procured from the four quarters of the +globe, appeared the Duchess of Valentinois, seated in a large armchair +of rich velvet, towards nine o'clock in the evening of the day whereof +we have just been speaking. She was clothed in a dressing-gown of silver +tissue, and all the stately and somewhat cumbrous apparel of the day had +been put off, while, with three maids all busy about her person, she was +dressing for the assembly of the court, which was to be held that +evening. Nor did she appear in the least the less lovely that she was +without any of the additions that dress and ornament sometimes make to +beauty; nor, strange to say, did she appear less young when thus +unassisted by art, than even when dressed in the most sumptuous mode of +the court. The eye of the woman who was combing her long, rich, +luxuriant brown hair, detected not one silver thread marking the passing +of years among the rest. The teeth were as white and pearly as those of +youth. The brow and neck without a furrow ploughed by the hand of time. + +On a footstool at the lady's feet sat a very lovely girl, bearing in her +countenance a slight resemblance to herself. She was already dressed +with great splendour, and sat looking up in the face of the duchess, as +if admiring and wondering at the beauty which seemed to set even the +great destroyer of all things at defiance. + +The duchess, upon her part, looked down at her with pleasure and +affection, calling her "Ma belle Henriette," and, parting the hair +farther away from her brows with her own hands, she said, "You must look +your loveliest to-night, Henrietta; for you must do much in the way of +captivation." + +The girl smiled playfully, and replied, "No, no! that were bad policy; I +would rather not look so lovely now as afterward. His love, at present, +I can count upon. But I must try and be more captivating hereafter, to +keep it when he is my husband." + +The duchess smiled in turn: "Ah, my Henrietta," she said, "the love of +man is not so difficult to keep, if woman do but use the same efforts to +retain it that she does to win it. We often make men fickle who would be +faithful, thinking that to captivate them once is all-sufficient. How +many do I daily see, Henrietta, who take all imaginable pains to win +affection; who are gay and cheerful, courteous and kind, willing to +please and ready to be pleased; robing themselves, as it were, in small +graces and sweet allurements; and who, when the object is attained, cast +away, at once, every effort; are dull and cheerless, exacting, sullen, +and harsh, and then wonder that the won heart is lost more quickly than +it was gained! When children catch flies, my Henrietta, they put not +down a drop of honey, which the insects can eat and fly away. There must +be enough honey to keep them, my child." + +"It is a lesson that I will remember," replied Henriette de la Mark. +"But, as I have always thought, dear lady, that it is happiness we seek, +and not admiration, I trust I should never have forgotten that the same +means must be taken to keep affection that are used to win it. But hark! +there are manifold sounds below. Surely the guests are not arriving +already?" + +The question was soon answered; for, a moment after, one of the female +attendants was called to the door, and returned to tell the duchess that +two gentleman had arrived in haste, and anxiously desired to speak with +her. She turned towards the woman with somewhat of angry scorn in her +countenance, asking if they had been told that she was at her toilet. +The woman replied in the affirmative; but that they had, nevertheless, +urged the important nature of their business. + +"Bid them send me their names," replied the duchess, after thinking for +a moment. "Meyrand's letter declared that he would soon be here. Perhaps +he has come himself." + +It was as she thought. But the other name which the servant brought back +was that of the Lord of Masseran. + +"Bid them wait but a moment," replied the duchess. "I will not be long. +Tie up my hair, Laurette, in a large knot. Any how, any how; but be +quick." + +Then, drawing the dressing-gown more closely round her, and preceded by +one of her women bearing a light, she descended to a saloon below, +making a sign to Henriette de la Mark to remain till she returned. + +Standing near a table in the room which Diana of Poitiers now entered, +appeared the tall and graceful Count de Meyrand, and the dark-looking +and subtle Marquis of Masseran. Each, to a certain degree, retained his +usual aspect, though neither could entirely banish from his countenance +the varied emotions which were busy at his heart. Graceful and dignified +in demeanour Meyrand still was. Indeed, it was so much a matter of habit +with him to act with ease and calm self-possession, that they could +never be entirely lost; but still his usual air of indifference was +gone, and there was an eager impatience in his eye which marked that +strong and busy passions were agitating him within. On the other hand, +the look of calm subtlety, which was the reigning expression of the +countenance of the Lord of Masseran, but which we have already seen, on +more than one occasion, give way to fiercer passions, had now yielded to +an expression of restless disquietude, while his eye turned sharp and +flashing at every sound. + +On the appearance of Madame de Valentinois, the count advanced with +signs of low and humble homage, and raised the hand which she proffered +him respectfully to his lips. The Lord of Masseran came a step behind, +and then a momentary pause took place. It was broken, however, by the +duchess herself, who was much too impatient to learn the cause of their +sudden arrival to wait till it was explained in the course of +conversation. + +"Welcome to Paris, Monsieur de Meyrand!" she said. "But say, what is it +that brings you here at this hour? It must be business of importance, I +am sure." + +"Nothing but business of immediate moment, madam, would have induced me +thus to trespass upon you," replied the count; "but I have myself +arrived within this half hour in the capital. I came, I confess, with +some wrongful suspicions of my good friend the Marquis of Masseran here, +in regard to the lady of whom I wrote to you. I fancied that he had been +instrumental in preventing me from executing my purpose of bringing her +with all speed to the presence of the king. His manner, and his solemn +assurances, however, madam, both show me that I was mistaken; and it +would appear--" + +"But stay, stay, Monsieur de Meyrand," said the duchess; "first tell me +exactly what is the case, and how you and Monsieur de Masseran are +interested in the business. I remember well Mademoiselle de Brienne, of +whom you speak, and a sweet girl she was, well fitted to set any +cavalier's heart on fire, so that I can easily conceive that yours was +touched, Monsieur de Meyrand, with that same flame of love. But, if all +friends agree, the lady surely can never have such great objections to +yourself as not to be won by less forcible means than those you seem to +have been using. I will speak with her: I will see what can be done. Let +me thank you, my good lord, for the tidings you sent me concerning the +edict: I have turned them this day to good advantage. But still the king +is not easily won in this matter." + +"By Heaven! madam," replied Meyrand, vehemently, "he must be won, and +that right soon, or all will go wrong with us. But hear me, dearest +lady! hear me out. You have a faint and very wrong idea of all this +affair. We are all deeply concerned; and, pardon me for saying it, but +your own wishes and excellent views are closely and intimately connected +with our objects and purposes. You ask for a frank and candid +explanation: you shall have it in a very few words. The Lord of Masseran +and I are equally, but somewhat differently, interested in this matter. +I am moved in some degree, as you are pleased to say, by love. Yes!" he +added, "it is so! by love the most strong and passionate; and yet, I +know not why or how, but something very like hatred mingles with it: +deep and bitter indignation at having been made the sport of a mere +girl, and determination to force her to be mine or die--" + +He paused and bit his lip, and a shade of dissatisfaction came over the +brow of Diana of Poitiers as she listened; but the next moment the count +went on, with a slight sneer. + +"The Lord of Masseran is affected otherwise. He, madam, as you know, +married the mother of this fair dame; and to this bright Isabel descend, +at that mother's death, certain fair estates close to the frontier line +of France and Savoy." + +"I understand, I understand," replied Diana of Poitiers, interrupting +him. "The Count of Meyrand may be easy in his dealings about those +estates, if he but obtain the hand of the fair lady. Is it not so, my +good lords?" + +"Something of the kind, madam," replied the count. + +"A treaty of partition! ha?" continued the lady. "Now for the obstacle, +and for the manner in which this affects me?" + +"The obstacles are somewhat difficult to be encountered, madam," joined +in the Lord of Masseran, "especially as this noble count is somewhat of +a suspicious nature. But, to make a long tale short, madam, there was, +it seems, in years long past, a promise made by the old Count of Brienne +that his daughter should marry a certain young nobleman named Bernard de +Rohan. That promise was foolishly committed to writing; but I hold that +it was of course conditional, and requires to be confirmed by the +consent of the mother. The young gentleman we speak of has been long +warring with the armies in Italy; but, called thence, as I believe, by +the young lady herself, who has a marvellous love for her own way, he +appeared in Savoy some short time ago. I absented myself for a few days +from my own home, making a pretence of coming to Paris, in order to see +what would take place. But, although I had good information of all that +passed, what between the young lady's wit and the youth's impudence, +they had very nearly won the race. Myself and Monsieur de Meyrand, here, +surprised them in the very celebration of a clandestine marriage." + +"Were they married? Were they married?" demanded the duchess, eagerly; +for, whatever be her own views, woman's heart is rarely without interest +in a tale of love. + +"There was a ring upon the young lady's finger," replied the Marquis of +Masseran, while the Count de Meyrand stood silent and bit his lip; +"farther we know not." + +"What did you do next?" exclaimed the lady, with an impatient look, +which neither of her two companions thought very favourable to their +cause. + +"Why," replied the Lord of Masseran, "we separated them, of course; and +I carried the young lady some way through the mountains, arranging, in +fact, a little sort of drama or mystery with my good friend the count, +wherein he played the part of deliverer, rescued the young lady from my +hands, and, according to our agreement, was bringing her here to Paris, +in the trust that you, from wise motives which the count knew you to +possess, would support the right of the mother to dispose of her +daughter's hand to whom she pleased." + +The marquis, in delivering this account, had paused and hesitated +several times, and Diana of Poitiers had remarked that he avoided +carefully all mention of the after-fate of Bernard de Rohan. + +"What has become," she asked at length, interrupting him, and fixing her +eye full upon his face, "what has become of the young Baron de Rohan, +sir?" + +The Lord of Masseran turned his look to the Count de Meyrand without +answering; but the duchess went on sternly and impetuously, "I insist +upon knowing, sir, what was done in regard to Monsieur de Rohan? You +surprised him at the very altar, you say! You have gone too far not to +say more!" + +"Why, of course, madam, it was necessary to separate them," replied the +Count de Meyrand. "Monsieur de Rohan was carried into the chateau of my +friend, Monsieur de Masseran, who kindly and liberally undertakes to +provide the young gentleman with board and lodging for a certain time. +No evil was done him, though the very act that he was performing might +well have justified more violence than was used." + +"In short, sir," said the duchess, addressing the Lord of Masseran +sternly, "in short, sir, you have imprisoned one of the king's very best +officers and most faithful subjects--the right hand of the Marechal de +Brissac--and one who has rendered himself famous in the wars of Italy, +and without whose assistance the difficulties which surround the marshal +in Piedmont would be terribly augmented." + +"Madam," replied the Count de Meyrand, with a slight sneer, which no +prudence could repress, at the reputed tenderness of the duchess towards +Brissac, "had we known that Monsieur de Rohan was so absolutely +necessary to your graceful friend, we would have sent him under a strong +escort across the mountains, for time was all that we wanted." + +"He must speedily be set at liberty," answered the duchess; "for I cannot +have it said that anything in which I take a share is connected with a +transaction so detrimental to the service of the king; and now, Monsieur +de Meyrand, show me in what way you think I am interested in this +affair." + +"Why, madam, you must clearly see--" said the count. + +"It matters not what I clearly see, my lord," exclaimed the duchess, +interrupting him. "Give me your own showing of the matter." + +"Why thus it is," replied the count. "Since I had the honour of bearing +to Rome the copy of an edict proposed by the king, you have three or +four times done me the great favour of writing to me, and consulting +with me in regard to the opposition made to that edict, and to the best +means of inducing the king to promulgate it. Now, madam, one clause in +that edict annuls all existing marriages which have been contracted +without the consent of parents or guardians; and you did me the honour +to reveal to me that such a clause was absolutely necessary to the +proposed marriage of the Duke of Montmorency and the king's daughter, +Madame de Farnese, and to that between the constable's second son, the +Duc Damville, and your fair relation, Mademoiselle de la Mark. That +clause is equally necessary to me and to Monsieur de Masseran, in order +that, the clandestine marriage of Mademoiselle de Brienne with the Baron +de Rohan being annulled, she may, with her mother's consent, give her +hand to me. Thus, madam, what I pray and beseech you to do is, as the +views of both tend absolutely to the same point, to give us the most +zealous aid and co-operation in persuading the king to promulgate this +edict at once." + +Diana of Poitiers paused for a moment in intense thought ere she +answered, while the two noblemen stood gazing upon her in silence. "I +will do so," she replied at length; "but, in the first place, Monsieur +de Rohan must be set at liberty." + +"Madam, that is impossible," exclaimed the Lord of Masseran. "Were he +set at liberty, all our plans and prospects are at an end together. His +very first act would be to seek this rash, imprudent girl, who thinks +herself fully justified by her father's written consent; and, depend +upon it, he would soon find means of discovering her, though we cannot." + +"Why, in the name of Heaven, where is she?" demanded the duchess. "Why, +you said but now, Monsieur de Masseran, that you left her in the count's +hands, that he might bring her to Paris." + +"Ay, but she escaped from his hands, madam," replied the Lord of +Masseran. "Whether the count is quite innocent of all knowledge of +female wiles, or whether he had been somewhat harsh and importunate with +her, I cannot tell; but at the end of the very first day's journey she +contrived to escape from him, how or when no one can discover. I had +come on to Paris in order to justify the detention of Bernard de Rohan, +and, in fact, to give an account of my whole conduct to the king; but +the good count, thinking that I must have some hand in the lady's +flight, followed me hither as rapidly as possible, without taking +sufficient time to inquire after her on the spot." + +The duchess heard him to an end, but her mind had run on far before her; +and she was gazing thoughtfully upon the ground, with various feelings +contending more strongly in her bosom than her two companions imagined. +Bernard de Rohan, she well knew, was the dearest friend of one who +certainly possessed her highest esteem--perhaps her highest +affection--the Marechal de Brissac, and she loved not to take any share +in injuring or grieving him. We must say even more. Not being naturally +of a harsh or unkindly disposition, she was anything but disposed to +abet such machinations against two people who loved each other; and she +could not but feel at her heart that there existed between the Lord of +Masseran and the Count de Meyrand a dark and shameless conspiracy for +frustrating the intentions of the Count de Brienne, and thwarting the +affections of his daughter. All these considerations opposed themselves +to the very thought of aiding them in their purposes; but yet her own +views, her own dearest objects, were to be obtained by the same means +which tended to promote theirs; and she clearly saw that, if without +exposing, as she might do, the real views and purposes of the parties +concerned, she were to bring this case before the king as a new instance +of a marriage in opposition to the parent's consent, she would instantly +obtain the promulgation of the edict which was so necessary to her own +designs. She paused, then, and thought, considering, in the first place, +the opposing motives which led her this way and that, and afterward +asking herself whether she could not combine the two; whether it was not +possible to use the fact of this clandestine marriage in order to obtain +the king's signature to the edict, without ultimately separating the +hands of Bernard de Rohan and Isabel de Brienne. A few moments convinced +her that she could do so. The edict would, of course, annul their +marriage; but then she thought, "the great services of this young +cavalier, the friendship of Brissac, the support of Montmorency, the +father's written consent, will surely be enough to obtain for him +afterward the hand of this fair girl from the king himself; at least, my +management shall render these things sufficient;" and, trusting that it +would be so, she resolved upon that evil policy of employing bad means +in the hope of directing them to good results; a policy which has +seldom, if ever, yet failed to end in misery and ruin. + +"What says the mother?" demanded the duchess, after this long pause. + +"Oh, she says the same as myself, of course," replied the Lord of +Masseran. + +"Of course!" replied the lady, her lip curling slightly as she spoke. "I +had forgotten! Is she in Paris?" + +"She is here," replied the Lord of Masseran; "and not only ready, but +eager, to declare that this marriage has been against her will." + +"Indeed!" said the duchess: "and the brother? There is a youth I have +seen about the court, a gay, thoughtless, high-spirited lad, who gained +some renown under this very Baron de Rohan: what says he to the +marriage?" + +"Oh! he is too young and thoughtless," replied the Count de Meyrand. "He +has been asked nothing on the subject, though there is reason to fear, +we must not deny, that he would give his voice in favour of his old +companion." + +"But one thing is clear and certain," added the Lord of Masseran. "His +consent was not asked to the marriage; therefore it was without his +approbation and against the mother's." + +"So far so good," replied Diana of Poitiers. "Now mark me, gentlemen, +you must leave the whole conduct of this business to me; and if you +pledge yourselves to act exactly as I am about to dictate, I, on my +part, will pledge myself to obtain the promulgation of an edict +annulling this marriage within twelve hours from this time." + +A glad smile lighted up the face of the Count de Meyrand. But the Lord +of Masseran asked in a low, sweet tone, "Pray what are the conditions, +madam?" + +"These," replied the duchess at once. "And remember, gentlemen, that I +am one who will not be trifled with; so that, if you fail to perform +exactly your part, you shall find your whole schemes fall about your +heads, and perhaps crush you in the ruins thereof. The very moment that +I have obtained that edict, Monsieur de Masseran, without the loss of a +single hour, you shall depart from Paris, and set this young cavalier, +Bernard de Rohan, at liberty. Do not interrupt me! This is +indispensable. You can leave the marchioness behind. In the next place, +to guard against the evil consequences which I see you anticipate, you +shall engage the young Count of Brienne to set off instantly in search +of his sister, in order to bring her at once to Paris to the presence of +the king. You, Monsieur de Meyrand, shall not make the slightest attempt +to seek for her yourself, nor shall you at present quit Paris. But this +young gentleman, instructed that this edict annuls the clandestine +marriage, and is upon the very point of being signed, shall go as the +guardian of his sister's honour, and, at the same time, as the friend of +Monsieur de Rohan, to bring her safely back to the protection of her +mother and of his majesty. His own sense of what is right, under such +circumstances, will be a sufficient guarantee that he do not suffer his +sister to remain an hour with a man who is not her husband; and now--" + +"But, madam," said the Count de Meyrand, "if you will pardon me for thus +rudely interrupting you, I would point out one slight obstacle to the +arrangement you propose, which renders it absolutely impossible, and may +make it expedient that I should go myself. Henry of Brienne is at +Grenoble, I understand." + +"Well, then, sir," said the duchess, imperiously, "some one else must +go. _You_ must not! Were the other the lowest valet in my household, he +is more fit than you are to bring this lady to Paris." + +The Lord of Masseran had remained silent till the duchess's answer was +made, but he then joined in the conversation again, in one of his +sweetest tones, saying, "The count is mistaken, dear madam; Henry of +Brienne is in Paris. He thought of going to Grenoble, but did not go. He +was with his sweet mother not an hour ago." + +"Well, then, hear me!" said the duchess. "Do you undertake, Monsieur de +Meyrand, not to set out upon this search at all?" The count laid his +hand upon his heart, bowed with mock humility, and replied, "Who ever +yet resisted your commands? Nay, I am not jesting! I give you my +promise, madam." + +"Then, my Lord of Masseran," continued the duchess, "all I have to say +is this: Wait here for five minutes till I write a note above. Give it +to Henry of Brienne: afford him every direction and hint for finding his +sister, and bringing her at once to Paris. As soon as he has set out, +come with your fair lady to the palace to offer your complaint regarding +this clandestine marriage to his majesty. I will take care that you +shall have an immediate hearing, and I pledge myself that the edict +shall be signed this night. To-morrow morning, at daybreak, you depart +alone, posthaste, to liberate Bernard de Rohan. Is it not so?" and she +fixed her keen eye firm upon him. + +"It is, madam," replied the Lord of Masseran, better pleased at the +arrangement than she knew. + +"As for you, Meyrand," she added, with a smile, "take my advice: come +also to the court, appear totally unconcerned in this whole business, +and press your suit upon the king, if you so please, when the edict is +signed." + +"A woman's policy is always the best, madam," replied the count, "and in +this instance I shall follow it to the letter." + +"I must now leave you," said the lady, "for I am already late. Wait here +for the note, and then let us to our several parts with all speed." + +In less than the time that she had specified, a servant brought in an +open note, which contained these words: + + "Diana, duchess of Valentinois, to Henry, count of Brienne, + greeting: + + "These are to inform you that your sister Isabel de Brienne has + contracted a clandestine marriage with Bernard, baron de Rohan; + and that, inasmuch as this night an edict will be signed + annulling all marriages of the sort, it is absolutely necessary + to your own honour and to that of your sister that you should + immediately proceed to find and bring her to Paris till the + farther pleasure of the king be known. The Baron de Rohan + having been arrested the moment that the marriage was + celebrated, will be set at liberty immediately; but it is + requisite that you should prevent all communication between him + and your sister until it be authorized by his majesty." + +The Lord of Masseran made no scruple of reading the contents and showing +them to the Count de Meyrand, who marked them with a smile, and adding, +"We must make quite sure of the youth, however," led the way from the +apartments of the duchess. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +In the great hall of the Louvre, the princes, the nobles, and the ladies +of France--all who had a right, from their rank and station, to be +present at the great festivals of the court, and all who could by any +means obtain an invitation from the king himself--were assembled before +the hour of ten at night, on that occasion to which reference has been +made in the last chapter. The monarch himself had not yet appeared; but +one of those services which Henry principally required from his great +officers was to entertain with affability and kindness those whom the +etiquette of his court obliged him to keep waiting; and, on the night of +which we speak, the famous Marquis de Vieilleville in fact, though not +ostensibly, represented the king, and, aided by a number of other +gentlemen and officers commissioned so to do, received the court, and +endeavoured to make the time of expectation ere the sovereign's arrival +pass lightly. + +Everything had been done that could be done to give splendour to the +apartments, and many of those ornaments and decorations which we +attribute to the taste of modern days, but which, in fact, have but come +back again in the constant revolutions of fashion, were displayed on +this occasion to render the scene of royal festivity bright and +exciting. Some of the rooms were blazing with light, and covered with +every sort of ornament of gold and silver: rich draperies were hanging +from the walls, banners waving over head, garlands festooning the +cornices, and music floating on the air. In others, again, by some +means, a green hue had been given to the light, and it had been shaded +and kept down to a kind of soft twilight by flowers and green branches; +while a cool wind found its way in through open casements and +well-watered plants, and a stillness reigned upon the air only broken by +the far-off sound of the music, the murmur of distant voices, and the +sighing of the night air through the gardens. + +We shall pause no more, however, on the decorations of that gay scene, +inasmuch as so to do would be merely to give description without an +object; for we have no reason to assign why the reader should bear any +part thereof in mind. It is principally with the great hall we have to +do, but more especially still with the people that were in it. Shortly +after ten the king himself, with his queen, the famous Catharine de +Medicis, several of his children--among whom were three destined to be +kings, and two queens of mighty nations--entered the hall, and took his +place towards the head of the room. + +It was very customary in those times to give the balls of the court in +open day; and, though it certainly would strike us as somewhat strange +to see dancing take place except by candlelight--unless, indeed, it were +upon the greensward, where the smiling look of Nature herself seems to +justify and to call for that exuberant life which she first taught in +the world's young days--yet then as gay and as merry dances as any that +we now behold, took place in the painted saloons, under the somewhat too +bright and searching eye of the sun. The whole of that morning, however, +had been spent in either business or in festivities of another kind, and +the present was one of those more rare occasions selected, as we have +said, for a ball at night. + +Shortly after the king entered the room, he spoke a few words to the +young Count Duilly, then celebrated for his skill and grace in the +dance, and he, making his way to the spot where the musicians were +placed, communicated to them the orders of the king. What was called the +_Danse Royale_ was then played; and Henry himself, graceful and +distinguished in every sport and exercise, opened the ball in person. +Shortly after, another dance was played; and all who were, or believed +themselves to be, the most skilful of the court, hastened to figure in +the galliarde. Upon the execution of that marvellous performance, the +galliarde, however, perhaps the less we say the better; for it is to be +acknowledged that the various names of the wonderful steps danced--the +desportes, capriolles, turns and returns, fleurettes, close and +dispersed gamberottes, &c.--convey as little definite idea of what was +really done to our own mind as they would to the minds of most of our +readers. It was all very successful, no doubt; and there is much reason +to believe, from the account which Monsieur de Vieilleville himself +wrote on the occasion, that many a young lady's heart was pierced +through and through by the graces of particular cavaliers. + +The king himself took part in the dance, as we have said, but it was a +dignified part; and, having set the example, he retired from it as +speedily as possible. When he had done he looked round, as if searching +for some face he had missed, and his eye soon fell upon the fair Duchess +of Valentinois, whom he had not beheld before; for, to say the truth, +she had just entered, taking advantage of the general movement round the +galliarde to come in without attracting much attention. Her countenance +bore an expression of such unusual gravity, that Henry himself, ere he +resumed the place in the saloon where he usually stood on such +occasions, paused and spoke to her; first playfully scolding Henrietta +de la Mark for not having joined the dancers, and then asking the +duchess, in a lower tone, if anything had gone amiss. + +Diana smiled, and replied, "No, sire, nothing exactly amiss; but I have +had visiters this evening at an unusual hour, and they have been +pressing me to obtain for them an audience of your majesty on this very +night, regarding matters of much importance." + +"Nay, why should that cloud your fair brow?" said the king, in the same +low tone: "I will give them audience ere I go to bed, if my so doing +will please you, bright queen of night. If they can put it off, however, +let them come to-morrow, and your name shall open the doors of the +cabinet to them, be they the lowliest in the land." + +"That they are not, sire," replied Diana. "They are high enough to +present themselves here this night even unbidden; but I fear that +to-morrow will not do; for, upon your majesty's reply to them, a courier +must depart at once for the South. Still let me say, ere they come +forward--for I see them entering now--that it is not their requested +audience that makes me somewhat grave; no, nor their pressing for it at +an unseasonable hour, but it is that they come to urge upon your majesty +the selfsame suit I urged this morning; and, as I then saw that for the +first time I was doubted and suspected of art, in trying to lead rather +than to argue with my king, it may now be thought I have some share in +their coming, when, Heaven is my witness, it could take no one more by +surprise than myself." + +"Nay, but what is all this?" demanded the king, in a soothing tone; and +then, suddenly turning to Mademoiselle de la Mark, he exclaimed, "Lo! +Henriette--belle Henriette! here comes Damville, all love and ambergris, +to claim your fair hand--for the dance. Go with him, lady! Now, Diana, +what is this that agitates you thus? Faith, I suspect you not, and never +have suspected. I did but smile this morning at your eagerness, though +natural enough, and to see how we kings find soft leading, and all +things prepared to bring us to that which wise or fair counsellors judge +is for our good; it is the vice of power, my Diana, it is the vice of +power! As men by years reach childhood again, so kings by power fall +into weakness. But that matters not; your wishes were for the best; and, +if there was a little management in the matter, there could be but small +offence." + +"With one so placable as you are, sire," rejoined the duchess, gazing in +his face with a smile; "but the matter is this: There came to me this +night the Lord of Masseran--one of your majesty's faithful adherents in +Savoy--beseeching that I would obtain for him and for his fair lady +immediate audience of your majesty on matters that brook no delay. He, +judging wrongly that I had some little credit or influence with you, +besought me to urge upon your majesty the immediate promulgation of the +edict, so long delayed and often spoken of, concerning clandestine +marriages, and besought me to tell you the cause of his application. All +this I refused to do, telling him that on the subject of the edict I had +already done my best; that I had pleaded for myself; that I had even +pleaded in behalf of what I thought your majesty's best interest; and +that, having done so, I could not say a word for any other being on the +earth. Thus, sire, all I have to request is, that you would hear him and +judge for yourself." + +The expression of Henry's face while she was speaking puzzled not a +little Diana of Poitiers. The king's brow became for a time dark and +heavy, and his eye flashed angrily. But then, again, when he saw that +the lady seemed somewhat alarmed by his look, he smiled upon her kindly, +as if to mark that any feelings of dissatisfaction which he experienced +were not directed towards herself. His real feelings were explained, +however, immediately, by his replying in the same low tone, "He is, I +believe, a most consummate villain, this Lord of Masseran; and there is +good reason to suppose he has been playing false both to France and +Savoy. He has the very look of a handsome wolf," the king continued, +turning his frowning brow to the part of the room towards which the eyes +of Diana of Poitiers directed his in search of the Lord of Masseran: "I +will speak with him presently, however. Let him be taken into the white +chamber, next to that in which they serve the confectionery. Send +likewise for Bertrandi. He is in my closet. I will join you there in a +quarter of an hour. A guard, too, may be wanted before we have done. So, +as you pass, bid Beaujolais keep near the door." + +Thus saying, the king turned away and occupied himself with other +matters, speaking to the most distinguished persons present, and +laughing gayly with many a fair dame as he passed along. The duchess +remained for a short time where he had left her, not only for the +purpose of preventing her long conversation with the king from +connecting itself in the suspicions of those around with whatever might +take place regarding the Lord of Masseran, but also because she had some +doubts as to whether she should herself be present or not at the +interview between the Savoyard nobleman and the king. Henry had +certainly implied that she was to be present. But she had doubts and +fears in regard to meddling too much with the matter; and, if she could +have trusted to the Lord of Masseran, she certainly would have stayed +away. + +Trust him, however, she could not; for there was something in his whole +aspect, demeanour, and tone which at once inspired suspicion. Indeed, he +did not try to avoid it; for, looking upon skill, cunning, and acuteness +as the greatest of human qualities, he made no pretence whatever to +either frankness or sincerity. She still hesitated, however, when the +Count de Meyrand, dressed in the most splendid, and, at the same time, +the most tasteful habit that perhaps the whole court that night +displayed, passed by her as he retired from the dance. He bowed as he +did so with lowly reverence, but, at the same time, with a meaning +glance of the eye towards the spot where the Lord of Masseran stood. + +"I must watch what takes place myself," thought the duchess: "I will +take no part in the matter unless there be great need; but I will watch +all that is said and done." + +She accordingly drew herself gradually back from the circle, and, +choosing a moment when some change in the dance produced a momentary +confusion, she retired to the room which the king had named. + +A minute or two after, an attendant passed through the ballroom and +whispered a few words to the Lord of Masseran, who instantly followed +the servant, accompanied by a lady who had continued to stand beside him +since his entrance, but to whom he had not addressed more than one or +two words during the evening. She was a tall and handsome woman, and in +her countenance there was certainly some degree of resemblance to the +fair Isabel de Brienne. The features, however, though still fine, were +all larger and harsher except the eyes, which were small and of a +different colour from those of Isabel, being of a keen, eager black. She +was pale, and looked somewhat out of health; and, mingling with an air +of sternness which sat upon her brow, there was an expression of anxiety +and grief which made her countenance a painful one to look upon. It +seemed to bear written upon it, in very legible lines, the history of a +haughty spirit broken. + +When the Lord of Masseran and his wife reached the chamber to which the +royal servant conducted them, the Duchess of Valentinois was there +alone. She received them affably, but with somewhat of regal state, and +begged the marchioness to seat herself, acting in all things as if the +palace were her own. + +"Is that note for me, Monsieur de Masseran?" she inquired, after having +announced that the king would join them in a few minutes, and asked some +questions of common courtesy regarding the health of the Marchioness of +Masseran. "Is that note which you hold in your hand for me?" + +"It is, madam," replied the other. "It is from Monsieur de Brienne, whom +we left booted and spurred, with his horses at the door, ready to mount +at a moment's notice." + +The duchess took the note and read. "Madame," it ran, "I am ready +promptly to set out for the frontier of Savoy as soon as my errand is +clearly ascertained. My dear sister Isabel is either the wife of my +earliest friend Bernard de Rohan, to whom she was promised by my father, +and to whom it is my first wish she should be united, or the marriage +which I understand has taken place is null. If she be his wife, Heaven +forbid that I should make even an attempt to separate them, which I am +sure De Rohan would instantly and justly resist. If, however, the king, +by an edict which I must not dare to impugn, has thought fit, as I am +told, to declare such marriages void, whether past or future, it, of +course, becomes my duty immediately to seek my sister, and to keep her +with me till such time as we obtain his majesty's permission for her +final union to my friend. But I must first be positively certified that +such an edict has been signed. If I can show this to De Rohan, I know +him too well to doubt his conduct; but, if I cannot show it to him, I +must not and dare not attempt measures towards him which he would +infallibly resist. At the same time, madam, let me tell you, with all +respect, that I find I have been trifled with; that false information +regarding De Rohan's movements has been given me, in order to prevent my +joining him at Grenoble, as he wished; and that I am certain my sister +Isabel has been driven to give her hand thus suddenly to her promised +husband by circumstances of which we are not aware." + +"More good sense than I gave him credit for," said the duchess, musing. + +"May I be permitted, madam, to see the note which has excited your +admiration?" inquired the Lord of Masseran, with a quiet sneer. + +"Nay, Monsieur de Masseran," answered the duchess, "it was not written +for the public benefit." + +"And, doubtless," continued the Lord of Masseran, "as the young +gentleman was not in the sweetest of moods, it was not written for my +private benefit either?" + +"He never mentions your name, my lord," replied the duchess, "nor speaks +of you in any way. But here comes my good lord the chancellor: the king +will not be long." + +Her prediction was verified, for Bertrandi had scarcely entered the room +when Henry himself appeared, accompanied by his son, afterward Francis +the Second, and followed by a page, who placed himself at the door to +prevent any one from entering without permission. Every one present drew +back as the king appeared, and bowed low; while, with a frowning brow, +he crossed the cabinet, and seated himself at a small table. The dauphin +then took a place upon his father's right hand, and the chancellor, +after a deprecatory bow to the Duchess of Valentinois, advanced to the +king's left. + +"I grieve, madam," said Henry, addressing the Marchioness de Masseran, +in a courteous tone, "I grieve to see you apparently so much altered in +health. It would seem that the air of Savoy--that pure, fine air--suits +not your constitution. We must keep you more with us in Paris." + +"I have been suffering some anxiety and grief, sire," replied the lady, +while the eyes of the Lord of Masseran were bent keenly and fiercely +upon her. + +"Most sorry am I to hear it," replied the king. "We believed that, in +providing for you so noble and high a husband as the Lord of Masseran, +we should have moved grief and anxiety from you altogether. We trust +that we have not been deceived in this noble lord," continued the king, +gazing sternly upon the Savoyard. + +"Your majesty has, I believe, been mistaken in what this dear and +excellent lady said," replied the Lord of Masseran; "I discovered no +charge against myself in her words. Was there any, dear lady?" + +"Oh, no," replied the lady, quickly, and, it seemed, fearfully; "none, +none; I spoke alone of the grief and anxiety which, as you know, I came +hither to lay before his majesty, if we were fortunate enough to find +audience." + +"Then I will beg you, madam," said the king, "to lay it before me at +once, and fully, confiding in me entirely as you would in a brother, and +remembering that, whoever be the offender, you have in the king one who +can protect as well as punish, and who will protect wherever he sees +wrong offered or evil suffered." + +The lady gave a momentary glance at her husband, as if of timid inquiry. +It was like a child saying its lesson, and looking up for a word of +direction or encouragement. "I thank your majesty much," she said, "for +your gracious promise, and I come to you with full confidence, feeling +that you will grant me redress for what I consider a great injury. My +complaint is this: that a gentleman of high rank and station, connected +with some of the highest families of this realm, a distinguished soldier +also, and one who has hitherto borne a high character--has, while +pretending to carry on the war in Piedmont, and commanding certain +bodies of your majesty's troops--has, I say, clandestinely carried away +my daughter, Isabel de Brienne, during the temporary absence of my +husband, Monsieur de Masseran. He had even induced a priest to perform +the marriage ceremony between him and her, when the fortunate return of +my husband at the very moment enabled him to seize them at the altar. I +say, sire, that this is my complaint, and for this I beg redress; the +more so, indeed, inasmuch as this very gentleman who has so acted was +well aware that your majesty had expressed yourself strongly against +such clandestine marriages, and had even proposed an edict declaring +them void and of no effect." + +"Pray who is this gentleman?" demanded the king, in a stern tone. "By +your showing, madam, he has acted bitterly wrong, and, unless some +extenuations appear, he shall be most severely punished; nor shall that +punishment be the less on account of his rank, distinction, and +services, as he could neither plead ignorance, inexperience, nor folly." + +The features of the Lord of Masseran relaxed into a dark smile; and the +lady replied, "His name, sire, was once dear and familiar to me and +mine--it is Bernard, baron de Rohan." + +"What! our good friend and daring captain?" exclaimed the king; "this is +indeed too bad. Monsieur de Rohan ought to have known that he had +nothing to do but to apply to ourself, not only at once to obtain our +royal permission, but also to induce us to use every argument with such +of the lady's family as might be opposed to his wishes." + +"Sire," replied the lady, taking advantage of a pause in the king's +answer, "this gentleman has acted ill in all respects. He neither put +confidence in your majesty nor in me; he never even applied for my +consent; he has never seen me since he crossed the Alps." + +"This is altogether amiss," replied the king. "You say they are +separated," he continued, in a musing tone; "where is the young lady? I +would fain see and speak with her." + +Such communication would not have suited the purposes of the Lord of +Masseran, even had it been possible to produce Isabel of Brienne; and +now, having seen his wife make her formal complaint exactly as he could +have wished, he took the rest of the business out of her hands, fearful +lest she might make some rash admission. "Alas! sire," he said, "it is +impossible that your majesty's commands can be complied with; not only +is the lady not with us in Paris, but she has escaped from the hands of +those into whose charge I gave her. Where she is, and what doing, we +know not; and it is under these circumstances that we come to your +majesty, not so much for redress as for aid." + +"This complicates the matter, indeed," said Henry; "have you, then, +reason to suppose that she has rejoined him?" + +"No, sire," replied the Lord of Masseran, "not so at all; for I ventured +to take a step which--although, of course, on my own territories I am +free and independent, as lord and sovereign--I would not have done, had +I not been aware that your majesty is as just as you are powerful. I +found one of your majesty's subjects upon my territories committing an +unlawful act, for which I would have punished any of my own vassals with +death, and I ventured--" + +"You did not kill him?" exclaimed the king, starting. + +"Oh no, sire, no," replied the Savoyard; "I never dreamed of such a +thing. I ventured to arrest and imprison him, in order to prevent the +evil being carried farther; and, having done so, I set out immediately +to cast myself at your majesty's feet, to inform you exactly how I had +acted, to beg your forgiveness for having imprisoned one of your +subjects, and to place the decision of his fate entirely in the hands of +your majesty." + +"You have acted well and wisely," replied the king; "and, such being the +case, you shall not only have aid, but redress. The edict which renders +such clandestine marriages null and void shall be signed this instant, +and shall be registered by our Parliament to-morrow. My lord the +cardinal, we trust that you come as well prepared this afternoon as you +were this morning. Have you the edict with you now?" + +"I have not, your majesty," replied Bertrandi; "but it is in your +majesty's cabinet." + +"Let it be brought instantly," said the king. "This new example of the +fault which it is destined to amend, not only fully justifies the act, +but also peremptorily requires the clause which remedies the evil just +committed. Nor shall this be the only punishment which shall fall upon +the head of him who has so far neglected what was due to himself and to +us. He must be summoned to Paris immediately; and, in the mean time, +means must also be taken to bring this refractory girl also to our +court. Be quick, good cardinal, for we must not be long absent from the +hall." + +The dauphin listened to his father in silence, and with an air of deep +reverence. "I trust, sire," he said, at length, as soon as he perceived +that the king, having given his orders, was turning once more to address +the Marquis of Masseran, "I trust that there are some circumstances in +the case of Monsieur de Rohan which may mitigate your majesty's anger +when known. It seems to me that Monsieur de Masseran has not been +completely explicit on one or two subjects; may I presume to ask him a +few questions in your majesty's presence?" + +"Certainly, Francis," replied the king. "It gives me always pleasure to +see you exercise your judgment and powers of mind on subjects of +importance." + +The young prince bowed with an ingenuous blush, while the Marquis of +Masseran turned a shade paler than usual, and bent down his eyes upon +the ground before the boy of sixteen, who now advanced a step to +question him. "You tell us, Monsieur le Marquis," he said, "that the +Baron de Rohan did not even apply for the consent of your fair lady: may +I ask if he ever presented himself at your palace, or chateau, or +whatever it may be, for the purpose of so doing?" + +"It was the marchioness who said so, not I," replied the Lord of +Masseran: "I was absent at the time." + +"At what time?" demanded the prince, sharply; and, seeing the Savoyard +hesitate, he added, "Did or did not Monsieur de Rohan come to your +gates? and was he or was he not refused admission?" + +"I believe he did," said the Marquis of Masseran, "I believe he did +present himself at the gates when I was absent." + +"He himself believed that you were not absent," replied the youth, with +royal sternness, while the king felt no little surprise to find that his +son had so intimate a knowledge of the facts in question; and the +Marquis of Masseran, still more surprised, concealed his astonishment +less skilfully than the monarch. "On my word, your highness," he said, +"on my life, I was absent." + +"But yet, Monsieur de Masseran," continued the prince, "you were +perfectly well aware that Monsieur de Rohan presented himself at your +gates, demanding to speak with yourself, in the first place, and then, +in your absence, with this fair lady your wife, who certainly was within +the chateau; and yet you suffered her--unconsciously upon her part, no +doubt--to lead his majesty to believe that her approbation had not been +sought and was utterly contemned. This was not right, sir, for it was +misleading the king." + +"You speak well and wisely, Francis," said his father: "go on, my dear +boy, go on, if you have anything more to ask." + +"One or two things more, may it please your majesty," he replied, with a +look of pride in his father's approbation, but keeping his eyes still +fixed upon the Lord of Masseran. "My next question is: as the young lady +has a brother, who is her next male relation, did he or did he not give +his consent to the marriage of Monsieur de Rohan with his sister?" + +"In regard to that, sir, I can say nothing," replied the Lord of +Masseran. "Monsieur de Brienne, your highness, is not under my charge +and guidance. All I have to say is, that his mother most positively +refused her consent." + +"It might be more straightforward, sir," replied the prince, "to say +whether, to your knowledge, Monsieur de Brienne consented or not." + +"I think, monseigneur," said Diana of Poitiers, taking a step forward, +"I think I may reply fully to your question, which Monsieur de Masseran +seems not inclined to do. Henry de Brienne always has approved of his +sister's marriage to Bernard de Rohan, and Monsieur and Madame de +Masseran are amply aware of the fact." + +"I do not deny it," said Madame de Masseran, sharply. "He is a +headstrong and unruly boy." + +"One question more," said the prince, "and I have done. Is not Bernard +de Rohan justified, to a certain degree, in that which he has done, by a +written promise of Mademoiselle de Brienne's hand, given to him by her +own father shortly before the good count's death? I ask you, madam, is +not this the case?" + +"It is the case that he has such a promise," replied Madame de Masseran, +in the same shrewish tone, "but not that he is justified by it, your +highness. That promise never had either my consent or approbation; +though the late Monsieur de Brienne, who was his guardian and brought +him up, was foolishly fond of this boy, and thought that he was +everything great and noble, I had always different views for my +daughter, and never either directly or indirectly countenanced that +promise." + +"I am in no way interested in this business, sire," said the dauphin, +turning towards his father, "not being personally acquainted in the +slightest degree with Monsieur de Rohan; but I thought it necessary to +ask these few questions in your majesty's presence, in consequence of +information I had received in a somewhat circuitous manner. Having thus +far elicited the truth, which was at first evidently concealed from you, +your majesty's wisdom must decide the rest--" + +"This is the edict, sire," said the Cardinal Bertrandi, re-entering the +chamber; "it wants but your royal signature and the great seal. May I +offer you the pen?" and, thus saying, he spread the parchment on the +table before the king. + +Henry took the pen, paused for a moment, and then turned his eyes upon +the Duchess of Valentinois. She looked down upon the ground, however, +and uttered not a word. The king dipped the pen in the ink and wrote his +name at the bottom of the edict. The chancellor countersigned it, and +raised it from the table. + +"Now, Diana," said Henry, in a low voice, turning to the duchess, "what +think you?" + +"That your majesty has done perfectly right," replied the lady, in the +same low tone. "Not that this poor Bernard de Rohan, it would appear, is +really to blame." + +"I do not know," replied the king, "I do not know; but we shall soon +see. The question must be inquired into," he added, in a louder voice. +"I will hear all parties, and then decide. For the present, the marriage +is annulled. Monsieur de Masseran, hasten back to Savoy, and instantly +set the Baron de Rohan at liberty. Let some one proceed immediately--her +brother will be the best, the fittest, the only fit person. Let him +immediately proceed to seek for Mademoiselle de Brienne, and bring her +to Paris without loss of time. You, Monsieur de Masseran, will command +De Rohan, in our name, to present himself in the capital within fourteen +days from the date of his liberation by your hand. You will do well also +to come hither yourself as speedily as may be; for our good friend +Brissac, who is somewhat of a sanguinary person to deal with, has +conceived an objection to the frequent passing of couriers through your +part of the country. It were well to keep out of Brissac's way. My good +Lord Cardinal, see that all things requisite be done, and also that the +edict be duly registered in the Parliament to-morrow. Come, Francis, +come. We shall have all the world marvelling at our absence." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +What would life be without its varieties? + +I forget where I have met with it--whether in the works of Kant and his +disciples, or in the thoughts and imaginations attributed to Zoroaster, +or in some of the lucubrations of Plato, or in the fragments of +Epicurus, whose doubtful philosophy has left the world at war as to his +tendency towards good or evil, virtue or vice: certainly it was not in +Pyrrho, who had nothing good in him, or in Confucius, the great teacher +of the tea-growing nation--I forget where I have met with it; but among +the many speculations, wise and foolish, learned and ignorant, fanciful +and earthly, with which we children of the lower sphere from time to +time have amused ourselves, sometimes reverently, sometimes impiously, +sometimes with humility, sometimes audaciously, there is to be found a +theory--perhaps it merely deserves the name of an hypothesis--which +attributes to the Deity, almost as an attribute, but, at all events, as +a necessity, the endless variety of creations, and a satisfaction, if we +may use the term, in viewing the infinite multiplicity of his own works. + +Without presuming, however, to raise our eyes to scan things that are +hidden from us, or to reason upon any attributes of God except such as +he has deigned to reveal to us; without daring to lay down limits to +infinity, or, like the stupid idolaters of ancient times, the Greek and +Roman inventors of the most barbarous worship that ever, perhaps, was +devised, who, after making to themselves gods, and clothing those gods +with all the most infamous of human passions, ended by enchaining their +very deities themselves, under the law of a necessity which bound all +things, and left Godhead as impotent as humanity; without such audacity +or such foolishness, we may well look round upon the universe exposed to +our eyes, and, seeing that God has been pleased to render his creations +infinite, we may at least feel certain that the varieties which he has +displayed are in themselves excellent and beautiful, each deriving +propriety from the other, and all forming a grand scheme in which the +diversity of the parts is only one admirable feature. Our own eyes and +our own senses, our own hearts and our own feelings, convince us of it +every moment; and, from the glorious mountain to the minute blade of +grass which grows by its side, from the boundless ocean to the small, +bright, glistening drop that dashes in spray upon the rocks that bound +it, every variety contributes visibly to our delight, and to the beauty +of the wonderful scene in which we dwell. + +Variety, then, forms a part of enjoyment; but let it not be supposed +that the admission of this fact--derived, as we derive it, from the +works of God himself--can ever have a tendency to produce evil, to +generate the licentious desire of multiplying and changing pleasures, or +to create the fickle and fluttering inconstancy which ranges +dissatisfied from object to object. In the works of God, though the +varieties be infinite, and the contrasts sometimes immense, there is +still a general and beautiful harmony, a fine and exact adaptation of +every part to the other. Each change and each variation has its end and +object, each step has its purpose, and each contrast ends in some grand +result. + +By the same rules, however, must the search for variety be guided, as +the condition of producing happiness. Means of varying our pleasures, +almost to infinity, have been given us by the Almighty, within the +limits which he has himself assigned to us. The enjoyment of His own +works, the contemplation of His goodness, the devotion to His service, +were alone sufficient, were man rightly wise, to afford more varied +exercise to the human mind than would fill many a long life, even if the +Almighty had not loaded our pathway with opportunities of a thousand +other gratifications, innocent in themselves, and endless in their +combinations. In fact, the variety which we seek in our way through life +must be framed, not partially, but entirely, upon the model of that +which we see in creation. Each new endeavour, each alteration of +pursuit, must have its high object, and in itself be good; and, as we +and our existence are but parts of a great system, so must each change +be part of the great system of our life. + +In an humbler and in a lesser way, he who sits down to tell a +tale--intended not alone to while away an idle hour for himself or for +others, but also to do some good while it amuses--may well indulge in +following every work of nature, and every page in the book of human +life, and change the scene continually, varying the characters, the +personages, the events which he depicts; but he must also bear in mind +that each is a part of one general scheme, each tends to one particular +and distinct object. + +From the court of France and the gay scenes of the capital we must once +more travel back to the rugged mountain passes among which our tale +began, and to those in whose fate, to say sooth, we are the most +interested. Although we are ourselves somewhat anxious to discover what +has become of the fair Isabel of Brienne--how her escape has been +effected--where she is now wandering--how she is guided, guarded, and +protected--we must, nevertheless--though we suspect that her path was +dangerous, thorny, and sorrowful--return to Baron de Rohan, and leave +him no longer upon the side of the mountain. + +The young cavalier rode on, accompanied by Corse de Leon, with as much +speed as the rough and tortuous nature of the road would admit. The men +who brought the horses followed quickly after; and, in about twenty +minutes, they reached the spot in the valley where the two roads +divided, which we have already mentioned more than once. Here Corse de +Leon was about to proceed at the same pace up the shorter road, leaving +upon the left hand that by which, upon a former night, he had brought +back Isabel de Brienne to the castle of Masseran. One of his followers, +however, instantly shouted to him: "Ho! signior, ho! you cannot go by +that road except on foot. It was that which kept us so long. The stream +is swelled, and the bridge is gone again, and we were obliged to come +round the other way." + +"The stream swelled!" said Corse de Leon, in a thoughtful tone. "There +must be something going on farther up in the mountains. The snows must +be melting, or some glacier breaking up! However, let us go on by this +other road. One of you remain here and see if we are followed," he +continued, turning to the men behind him; "let the other go down to the +cross, and tell Pinchesne and the rest to come over the hill. Let them +leave one or two in the valley in case they should be wanted. Now let us +on!" and he rode forward more slowly than before, though the left-hand +road which he pursued was the longer of the two. He seemed, however, in +one of those moody fits during which bitter memories continually mingled +with a natural current of powerful abstract thoughts, changing their +character from the calm reasoning of a man of acute and high-toned mind +and intelligence, to morose and misanthropical ponderings, wherein all +the images were gloomy and harsh. At such times his whole conduct and +demeanour varied according to the mood of the moment: even his corporeal +gestures, the quickness or slowness of his pace, as well as his look and +his tone of voice, were all affected by what passed in his mind. When on +his guard, indeed, no one was more deliberate, thoughtful, and measured, +in every look, word, and gesture; but that was a matter of habit and +acquired self-command. By nature he was one of those whose whole +corporeal frame is, as it were unconsciously, the quick and ready slave +of the spirit. + +A change had come over him since they had mounted their horses, and such +was, in reality, the secret of his riding more slowly. He might be +actuated, indeed, in some degree, by consideration for the animal on +which he was mounted; for the way, as we have before said, was nearly +two leagues longer, and the night was excessively hot and oppressive, so +that the white foam was already about the horse's neck and bridle. The +sky was clear of all clouds, however, and the stars were shining bright, +though they seemed smaller and farther off than usual. As they turned, +the distant pointed summit of an icy mountain was seen towering over one +of the passes, white and glittering in the starlight, while around it, +without any visible clouds, there played occasionally bright +coruscations as of faint summer lightning. For some way Corse de Leon +did not speak; but at length he said, putting his hand to his brow, +"Were there any clouds in the sky, I should think there would be a storm +to-night. It seldom happens that the elements, as is the case with human +life, give us storms without clouds. We have generally some warning of +the tempest." + +"There is a moaning sound in the hills," said Bernard de Rohan, "and yet +I feel no wind. But do you not think," he continued, reverting to what +his companion had said, "do you not think that it generally happens in +human life we have some forewarning of the storms that befall us?" + +"Not from external things," replied Corse de Leon, "not from external +things. Often, often without the slightest cause to fear a change, +suddenly a thousand adverse circumstances combine to overwhelm us. It is +true, indeed it is true, that there may be other indications of a +different kind." + +"Ay," answered Bernard de Rohan, "that is what I mean. Do you not think +that when we have no external omens of what is coming--when no cloud +blackens the sky--when no red sun announces the tempest of the following +day--do you not think that even then, within us, there may be a warning +voice which tells us of the storm that we see not, and bids us seek some +shelter from its fury?" + +"Like that low murmuring that we hear even now," said Corse de Leon. + +"I remember," continued Bernard de Rohan, without marking his words +particularly, "that, not many days ago, as I was crossing the mountains +to come hither, a fit of gloom fell upon me: I knew not why; for all was +bright and cheerful in the prospect before me. I could not shake it off +for some time; and in vain I tried to scoff at my own feelings. They +would have way: I felt as if some misfortunes were about to befall me; +and, though not one of all the things which have since occurred could by +any chance have been divined at the time, yet you see that misfortunes +did assail me even within a few days." + +"Do you call these misfortunes?" demanded Corse de Leon. "You are +younger in heart than I even thought you were. But what you say is +worthy of memory; if what you felt were really a presentiment of coming +evils, take my word for it, they are scarcely yet begun: you will want +watching and assistance," he added, thoughtfully; "you will need aid and +help with a strong hand; I have not forgotten my promise, and I will +keep it. But quick, let us ride on! Our horses feel that there is +something coming, and I would fain reach Gandelot's inn before it +comes." + +"I should suppose," replied Bernard de Rohan, "that it offers very +inefficient shelter. It is built so completely at the foot of the +mountain, that I wonder the snows in winter do not overwhelm it." + +"It has twice been crushed under an avalanche," replied his companion, +"and they still build it up again on the same spot; but what the house +has to fear is as much the water as the snow; and it is because it is no +place of shelter that I would fain be there." + +Bernard de Rohan understood him in a moment; and the thought of Isabel +de Brienne was quite sufficient to make him spur on eagerly. About half +a league farther, the road turned a projection of the mountain, and, +shortly after they had passed the angle of the rock, the spray of a +cataract dashed in their faces, while an immense volume of water rushed +furiously down from a spot some hundred yards above them, looking in +that dim hour like some vast giant robed in white and leaning against +the mountain. The torrent itself gushed across the road, and Bernard de +Rohan turned his eyes upon his companion, not recollecting such an +obstruction in their way. + +"Some four or five hours ago," said Corse de Leon, "when I passed by +that spot, there was scarcely water enough to quench the thirst of a +wolf, and now it is a torrent. There is some great commotion above +there. But perhaps it is all past, and these may be the results. We must +try and force our horses through, however; keep as close to the face of +the rock as possible." + +So saying, he spurred on; but it was with the greatest difficulty that +either he or his companion compelled their horses to make the attempt to +pass the torrent. The pattering of the spray and the roaring of the +stream terrified and bewildered them; and when, at length, urged +forward, partly by chiding, partly by gentleness, they did dash on, the +animals bore their riders through the midst of the current, where the +ground was rough and insecure. Twice the charger which bore Bernard de +Rohan stumbled, and nearly fell, and twice, though drenched with the +pouring of the water on his head, and gasping for breath under the +rushing weight upon him, he aided the horse up with heel and hand till +he reached the other side and stood on firm ground. + +Wellnigh stunned and bewildered, he turned to look for Corse de Leon. +The brigand was standing beside him dismounted from the horse, and +holding the animal by the rein with one hand, while he raised the other +towards the sky with a look of eager, yet solemn attention. The next +instant he grasped the young cavalier's hand, exclaiming, "Stir not a +step! It is coming, it is coming! Now, as ever, we stand in God's good +will to live or die; but death is very near us." + +At the same moment there came a roar as of distant cannon; many shot off +at once; then a murmuring pause; then a roar again; and, as it came on, +the deafening sound of the thunder itself would have been as nothing to +the terrific rushing noise that echoed through the hollow valleys. It +seemed as if a thousand sounds were mingled; for the howling of the wind +still continued, as if imitating the screams and wailing of people in +pain; while the crash of rocks falling upon rocks, and of the stout +trees of the forest rent into shivers, and of rolling masses of earth +and snow, crags and cliffs, with one half the mountain itself, was alone +overpowering by the very sound that beat upon the ear, even had it not +been accompanied by an awful pressure of the air which took away the +breath, and a sense of coming annihilation which seemed to check the +beating of the heart even before death had stilled it with his icy hand. + +There was time for but one short prayer to Him on high, and one thought +of her he loved, before the crumbling ruin came down into the valley, +sweeping close, past the very place where Bernard de Rohan stood. Rocks +and stones rushed on before it, and one immense mass struck his horse on +the knees and chest, threw him backward on his haunches, and beast and +rider rolled over the edge into the stream. For an instant he lost his +consciousness; and then, waking to life, found himself in the valley +below, dashed by the torrent against the rocky banks. + +He had been thrown free, however, from the horse; and, though to swim +was impossible, from the crags, the trees, the projecting stones, and +the fierce struggling of the torrent, yet he contrived to grasp a rugged +branch that hung over the water, swung himself to the bank, and sprang +upon the land. It was all impulse, for he hardly knew how he found the +bough or reached the firm ground. Even when there, he was fain to cast +himself down, and press his hands upon his forehead, for everything swam +round with him: the earth seemed to shake beneath his feet; and the roar +of falling rocks and crags still mingled with the loud voice of the +turbulent waters from which he had just escaped. The mightier sound, +however, had passed away--that awful rushing noise, unlike anything else +on earth--and gradually, the others ceased also, till at length nothing +was heard but the flowing of the river, as it foamed and struggled with +the obstacles in its course. + +When Bernard de Rohan could rise and look around him everything was +dark, except where in the sky appeared the twinkling myriads of the +night, beginning, he fancied, to look pale at the approach of morning. +He listened in the hopes of hearing some voice; but, if there was any, +it was drowned in the noise of the waters. + +With a thousand painful apprehensions in his heart, with no way of +relieving his anxiety, with nothing left but to wait for the return of +daylight, he cast himself down again, after having called once or twice +aloud upon Corse de Leon without receiving any answer. He could not +distinguish whither he had been borne. He could see some large trees +still standing near him, and some enormous black masses of rock lifting +their heads around. The shadow of the giant mountain, too, rose up +before him; but its form seemed changed, and he gazed as if to ascertain +in what features it was altered. + +Gradually the summit of the hill, warmed into a dusky brown, caught some +of the rays of the rising sun, and--while every moment it assumed a +brighter hue, till it crowned itself, and decorated the mists which +surrounded it with gold--a sober twilight crept into the valley; and +Bernard de Rohan found himself standing in the gray morning with a world +of ruin and desolation around him, without a trace of road or human +habitation, and with the narrow pass along which his way had been bent +completely blocked up by the huge masses of the fallen mountain. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +With that strange, dizzy sensation which we feel when awaking from the +first stunning effects of any great catastrophe, Bernard de Rohan +continued to gaze around him for some minutes, as the morning rose +brighter and brighter upon the wild scene of destruction in the midst of +which he stood. He was himself much bruised and injured: blood was upon +various parts of his garments; his strong, muscular arm would scarcely +support him as he leaned against the rock, and his brain still reeled +giddily from time to time with the fall and the blows he had received: +but his own corporeal pain engaged less of his attention than the +terrible picture which the rising light displayed. Everywhere appeared +vestiges of the desolating phenomenon of the preceding night. The order +of all things around him, and especially to the northeast, seemed to +have been entirely broken up and changed. The granite rocks from the +higher summits of the mountain were now piled up in immense masses +below, mingled with vast tracts of the most dissimilar substances, +slate, and sandstone, and common vegetable earth, with here and there a +thick layer of snow protruding through the chasms, marked in long +streaks by the various kinds of earth over which it had passed. Shivered +fir-trees, and immense fragments of oak, with their green foliage still +waving in the air, stuck out here and there in scattered disarray from +the tumbled chaos of rock, and sand, and earth; and the fragments of a +cottage roof, which lay reversed high up the side of the mountainous +pile that now blocked up the valley, showed that the sweeping +destruction had, at all events, reached one of the homes of earth's +children. + +Such was the scene towards the northeast: but it was evident that the +fallen masses had not yet firmly fixed themselves in the position which +they were probably to bear for ages afterward. From time to time a rock +rolled over, but slowly, making its way down into the valley with +increasing speed, sometimes pausing and fixing itself in a new bed part +of the way down. None of these, however, in their descent, reached the +spot where Bernard de Rohan stood, for he was at least three hundred +yards from the base of the mountain which had thus been produced during +the night. As it came down, indeed, the immense body had been +accompanied by the fall of large masses of stone, which were scattered +on all sides, so that the green bosom of the valley--which, on the +preceding day, had been carpeted by soft and equal turf, only broken +here and there by a tall tree, or clumps of shrubs and bushes, or else +by large fantastic lumps of rock or stone, fallen immemorial ages +before, and clothed by the hand of time with lichens or creeping +plants--was now thickly spotted with fresh fragments, which from space +to space had shivered the trees in their descent, and in other places +was soiled with long tracks of various-coloured earths, which had +showered down like torrents as the great mass descended farther on. + +The stream, swollen, turbid, and furious, was rushing on amid the rocks +in the middle of the valley; but the traces of where it had lately been +evidently showed that it was rapidly decreasing in volume, and had +already much diminished. Bernard de Rohan traced it up with his eye to +the spot where it descended from the hill, crossing the road, which ran +along the top of a steep bank on the opposite side. The cataract through +which he had forced his horse the night before was there visible, and +still showed a large column of rushing water, though it, too, was +greatly lessened. This waterfall, however, gave the young cavalier some +mark by which to judge of the distances; and he found that he must have +been carried down the stream nearly three hundred yards before he +recovered himself and got to land. He thus perceived how near the chief +mass of falling mountain must have passed to the spot where he had been +standing, and he felt that the detached rock, which had struck his horse +and cast him down into the stream before the whole fell, had probably +saved his life. + +But what had become of his companion? he asked himself. What had become +of that being who, strange, and wild, and erring as he doubtless was, +had contrived, not only to fix himself strongly upon his affections, but +to excite, in a considerable degree, his admiration and esteem? Had he +perished in that awful scene? Had he closed his wild and turbulent +existence in the tremendous convulsion which had taken place? He feared +it might be so; and yet, when he looked up and saw distinctly +that--though ploughed up by the heavy stones that had fallen, and thus, +in many places, rendered impassable--the road was still to be traced by +the eye for some thirty yards beyond the cascade, he did hope--though +the hope was but faint--that Corse de Leon might have escaped. + +If so, traces of him and of the way that he had taken might yet be +found. But another possibility soon presented itself to the mind of +Bernard de Rohan, The brigand might have been thrown over the precipice +by some of the falling rocks, like the young cavalier himself, and might +even then be lying mutilated and in agony not far off. Without a +moment's delay, Bernard proceeded to search along the course of the +stream, which was far too much swollen to permit of his passing it. + +Nothing of Corse de Leon could he see, however; not a vestige, not a +track; but a few yards from the spot where the cascade, after striking +the road, bounded down again into the valley below, he found, in the bed +of the stream, crushed and mangled in an awful manner, the carcass of +the poor horse which he had himself so lately ridden. The size of the +animal had caused it to be entangled sooner among the rocks in the bed +of the stream than he had been, but it had evidently been killed by the +blow of the first fragment of stone which struck it, for its two front +legs were broken, and its chest actually dashed in. + +It was a painful and a sickening spectacle in the midst of a scene so +wild, so awful, and extraordinary; but one additional horror which might +well have been there was wanting. The vultures, which are said to be +scared from their pursuit of prey by no portent, had, nevertheless, not +approached as yet; and Bernard de Rohan, with his arms crossed upon his +chest, remained for a moment looking at the dead body of the animal, as +it lay half out of the water and half hidden by the rushing stream, with +many a dark and gloomy association crossing his mind, though vaguely and +unencouraged. + +As he stood and gazed, a small bird upon an opposite tree, which had +escaped uninjured throughout the late catastrophe, burst out in a wild +and somewhat melancholy song; and Bernard de Rohan, with his heart +heavier than before, turned and retrod his steps, in the hopes of +finding some place where he could cross the torrent farther down the +valley. In this expectation he was disappointed; the stream only grew +larger, and deeper, and more impetuous, swelled by the different +rivulets that were pouring down the sides of the mountains; and at +length, after wandering on more than three miles, it plunged through a +deep chasm in the rock, which left no footing for the young cavalier to +make his way farther on that side of the valley. Could he have passed +the waters, it would have been easy to have made his way up to the +little mountain road by which he had passed the preceding night, and +which was now before his eyes. But he was shut in between the torrent on +one side and the high mountain on the other; and, although he saw some +sheep-paths and other tracks, he knew not where they led to, but had +only the certainty that they must take him to a distance from the spot +which he wished to reach immediately, in order to relieve the darkest +anxiety of all the many that were at his heart. Turning back, then, he +made a desperate, but ineffectual effort to pass the masses of the +mountains which had been thrown down, and by midday he was forced to +retread his steps nearly to the same spot where he had found himself in +the morning. + +In much pain from the bruises he had received, and exhausted with +exertion and want of food, he sat down for a time to rest, and drank of +the waters of the stream, although they were still troubled. He then +took the resolution of endeavouring to climb the mountains which formed +that side of the valley where he then was, trusting that he might find +some one to show him the nearest way to the inn on the eastern slope of +the hills. The path was rugged and winding, the mountain bleak and arid, +and several hours elapsed while he wandered on, before he heard the +sound of any living creature, or saw any moving thing, except when once +or twice some object of the chase started away from his path, and when +the golden lizards, basking in the sun, turned round their snake-like +heads to gaze on the unwonted human form that passed them. + +At length, however, towards five o'clock in the evening, completely +tired out, without having tasted food, and with no drink whatsoever but +that one draught from the stream, he heard--as may well be supposed, +with joy--the barking of a dog; and, looking up, he saw upon a point of +the crag above a noble animal of the Alpine breed, baying fiercely at +the step of a stranger. + +Bernard de Rohan went on; and, following the dog as it retreated before +him, he soon heard the bleating of some sheep, and, in a minute or two +after, beheld a small white wreath of smoke rising in the clear mountain +air, with the roof of a little cottage in a sheltered nook of the hill. +It was as poor a habitation as can be conceived; but the sight was a +glad one to the young cavalier, and he approached the little low-walled +yard, which served as a sort of fold, with feelings of infinite joy. + +The barking of the dog brought forth the shepherd, holding a large pot +of boiling ewe-milk in his hand. He was a small, plain-featured man, not +very intelligent, who, notwithstanding his solitary life, had not +acquired that desire of knowing more of his fellow-creatures which is so +constantly the result of voluntary seclusion in monasteries. He was, +however, hospitable and kind-hearted, and received the young stranger +with a gladdening welcome. He set before him, in the very first place, +the best of all he had; and asked, with some eagerness, of news from the +valley; for he was already aware of what had occurred during the +preceding night, and, indeed, knew far more than Bernard de Rohan +himself. + +The young cavalier told him all that he had to tell, and then questioned +him rapidly and anxiously in turn. His first question, as may be easily +supposed, referred to Gandelot's inn; and oh! how much more freely did +he seem to breathe when the old-man replied, "Oh, that is quite safe! +The fall did not come within half a league of it." + +"Are you sure, quite sure?" demanded Bernard de Rohan. + +"My son was down there to-day with cheeses," answered the man, "and saw +them all. He will be home with the rest of the sheep presently, and will +tell you more about it." + +"Was there a young lady there?" Bernard de Rohan inquired, with as much +calmness as he could command. + +"Yes, he talked of a stranger lady from France," replied the shepherd, +"with a number of soldiers and attendants belonging to some French lord, +for whom they were all grieving and weeping bitterly, because he had +been killed somehow." + +"How long will it be ere your son returns?" asked Bernard de Rohan, +eager, notwithstanding all the fatigues that he had suffered, to reach +the inn that night. + +The answer he received was one of those vague and indefinite replies +which are always given on such occasions by persons to whom, as to the +shepherd, time seems of little or no value. He said that the lad would +be back very soon; but hour after hour passed, and he did not appear. + +The young cavalier became impatient; and, finding that it was +impossible, from any direction the old man could give, to learn the path +which he ought to pursue, he urged him, with many promises of reward, to +conduct him to Gandelot's small hostelry himself. + +Had he proposed to the good shepherd, however, a pilgrimage to +Jerusalem, it would not have seemed more impracticable. He declared that +it was perfectly out of the question; that, now his wife was dead, there +was nobody to remain in his cottage; that the distance was fully four +leagues, and that it would take them as many hours to go. "It will be +dark in half an hour," he continued, "and we should but break our necks +over the rocks and precipices." + +Bernard de Rohan found that it was impossible to move him; the son did +not come home till the evening was beginning to grow gray, and the young +cavalier was obliged, unwillingly, to resign all hopes of rejoining his +bride before the next day. + +With the shepherd and his son, the use of any other light but that of +the broad sun was unknown except in the depth of the winter; and, though +Bernard de Rohan could have sat up for many an hour questioning the +younger man upon all he had seen and heard at the inn, but a short +period was allowed him for so doing ere they retired to repose. + +The information that he obtained was but little, for neither the elder +nor the younger mountaineer was very intelligent or very communicative. +The latter, indeed, seemed to divine at once, what had never struck the +old man, that the young cavalier who had become their accidental guest +was no other than the person by whose supposed death the lady whom he +had seen at the inn had been plunged into such deep grief. + +"She will be mighty glad to see you," he said, taking the matter for +granted; "and, if we set off by daylight to-morrow, you will just catch +her as she wakes, for you nobles are sad lie-abeds." + +"Pray tell me, however, before we sleep," said Bernard de Rohan, "how +the lady obtained information of the danger I have so fortunately +escaped. Was it from Corse de Leon?" + +The young man started, and gazed earnestly in his face by the dim light +which still found its way into the cottage. "Corse de Leon!" he said, +"Corse de Leon! that is a name we never mention in these parts of the +country. No! no! I know nothing about Corse de Leon, though they do say +that he has as many poor men's prayers as rich men's curses." + +Bernard de Rohan found that that name had effectually closed the young +shepherd's mouth, and not a word more upon the subject could be obtained +from him. + +He interrupted their habits of early sleep no longer, but made the best +of such means of repose as they could give him, and, wearied out with +long exertion, soon fell asleep, with the happy certainty that she whom +he loved was free, and corporeally well, while the mental anguish which +he knew she must be suffering he had the means of joyfully removing on +the succeeding day. + +The pain of the bruises which he had received woke the young cavalier as +soon as excessive fatigue had been in some degree relieved. But the +nights were at that season short; daylight soon appeared; the shepherds +rose with the first ray of the sun; and, without other breakfast than a +draught of warm milk, Bernard and his guide set off across the +mountains. The time occupied by their journey was fully as much as the +old man had said; for mountain leagues are generally long ones, and the +road was rough and difficult to tread. + +At length the view of a plainer country broke upon the eye; and as they +descended a steep hill by a footway upon the open mountain side, Bernard +de Rohan saw before him the rich lands towards Chambery, and, at the +distance of about half a mile, the little inn of Gandelot, seated +quietly at the foot of the passes. It looked tranquil and happy in the +morning light; but why or wherefore the young gentleman could not tell, +a feeling of uneasiness took possession of him at the very quietness +which the whole scene displayed. There were none of his people hanging +about the door, passing a morning half hour in listless idleness. There +were none at the gates of the stables rubbing down horses or cleaning +trappings and arms. There was no busy bustling about of attendants and +stable-boys. There was nothing, in short, to be seen, but one or two +domestic animals at the entrance of the farmyard, and the servant of the +auberge, in a bright-coloured petticoat, cleaning some culinary utensils +at the door of the inn. + +The young cavalier hurried his pace, and, getting before the guide, +advanced close to the girl before she saw him. She looked up at the +approaching step, and then uttered a loud scream, which Bernard de Rohan +easily understood to be her comment upon seeing the dead alive again. He +passed on at once, however, through the half-opened door into the +kitchen, but, to his dismay, it presented the complete picture of an inn +after guests have departed. Everything had been put in order, and looked +cold and vacant. The neatly-swept hearth possessed not more fire than +might have lain in the hollow of one's hand, and over it the hostess was +cooking a mess for the breakfast of herself and her husband; while the +aubergiste stood at a well-washed table, counting some money, which he +covered over with his hand at the girl's scream, and looked anxiously +towards the door. + +The surprise of good Gandelot seemed scarcely less than that of the +servant, although it only took the outward form and expression of a +deadly paleness. He recovered himself in a moment, however, and then, +with a look of honest joy and satisfaction, in spite of all difference +of rank and habitual restraint, he seized Bernard de Rohan by the hand, +exclaiming, "Jesu Maria! Well, there have been many tears shed to no +purpose. Why, bless my soul, how happy the poor lady's heart will be!" + +"Where is she?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, eagerly. "Where is she? It +seems as though there were nobody here." + +"No, indeed," replied Gandelot. "What you say is very true. There is +nobody here but your lordship's humble servant and his good wife. Why, +what a pity that you came not yesterday at this hour! You would have +saved the poor lady many a weary minute." + +"Where is she, then! Where is she?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, more +eagerly than ever. "When did she go? Where is she gone to? Where are my +servants, too, and my men-at-arms?" + +"Alack, and a well-a-day, sir!" replied the host, "they have all taken +wing, and are scattered away like a flock of plovers. Here the lady +arrived at the inn, with good Father Willand and some ten or twelve of +your men, on the day before yesterday, late in the evening; and then +there were consultations after consultations as to what was to be done, +for every one knew and had heard by that time that you were a prisoner +in the castle of Masseran; and the gentleman who came at the head of +your men--not the servants, but the men-at-arms that came after +you--vowed that he would attack the castle, and blow open the gates with +a petard, and set you free. But when he had talked very high in this way +for some time, Father Willand told him to hold his tongue; for, in the +first place, the walls of the castle of Masseran were made of stones +hard enough to break his teeth, and, in the next, as he had got no +petard to blow the gates open with but the one in his mouth, it would be +of very little service. With that there came not long afterward a +messenger from one whom I must not name, telling the lady and the priest +and all to keep as quiet as might be, for that you would be liberated +before daylight on the next morning; and, as his word never fails, they +all did keep quiet, but we sat up and watched to see what would come of +it. A terrible night you know it was; but we were to have a more +terrible morning, for by daylight news came up the valley--" + +"That I was killed in the land-slip," said Bernard de Rohan, +interrupting him. + +"No, no," replied the aubergiste, "not that at all; but that the tower +which was called the prison-tower of the castle of Masseran had taken +fire and fallen, crushing the dungeon in which you had been placed, and +you along with it, in the ruins. The lady went half-distracted, though +she would not believe that it was true till Father Willand himself went +up near the castle, with a body of your men to prevent any of the +Masseran people from taking him, and then came back and told her it was +all too sure. He told her, besides, that the people of the castle vowed +it was some one on her part seeking to deliver you who had set fire to +the tower, and the good priest advised her to get across the frontier +with all speed. But she was so cast down with grief that she seemed to +care little more about herself in this world, and lay, my wife said, +partly kneeling by her bedside, partly lying upon it, with her face +buried in the clothes, and the sobs coming so thick and hard that it was +painful to hear. She could not be got to speak or answer a word to any +one; and in the midst of all this came in some one whom you know." + +"Who? who?" demanded Bernard de Rohan. + +The aubergiste whispered, in a scarcely audible voice, the name of Corse +de Leon; and the young cavalier exclaimed, with feelings of as much joy +as he could feel at that moment, "Then he is safe, at least; that is +some satisfaction." + +"Ay, so far safe," replied the man, "that he is not killed as he might +have been. But when he came here his left shoulder was out, and would +have been useless for ever if he had not made four of us pull it in by +main force, and never winked his eyes or uttered a word till it went in +with a great start, and then only shut his teeth close." + +"But he could have told them," exclaimed Bernard de Rohan, "he could +have told that I had escaped before the tower took fire." + +"I don't know how it is," replied the landlord; "but, sure enough, he +thinks you dead as well as they do. He had a long conversation apart +with Father Willand in that little room, out of the corner there, which +you have never seen, and, mayhap, did not know of, for the door is in +the dark, behind the closet and the chimney. What they talked about I +don't know, but in the end I heard him say, 'Tell her nothing about it +till she can bear to hear more. As he is dead, it matters not much how +it happened.' Then the priest went to the lady, and, with great +persuasion, got her down from her chamber, and made her take some wine, +and, in the end, got her to set off, with some eight or ten of your +people accompanying them. That was about twelve o'clock yesterday +morning; and, in an hour or two after, the rest of your people went away +over the mountains to join the good Marechal de Brissac, by the +directions of the person you know." + +"This is unfortunate," said Bernard de Rohan, musing, "this is most +unfortunate. Do you know which way the lady has taken?" + +"She went first to Bonvoisin," replied the host; "but whither she was to +turn her steps after that, I know not." + +"And I am left here alone," continued the young gentleman, "without +horse or arms, at the moment I need them most. Can you furnish me with a +horse, good Gandelot?" + +"Faith, I have none to give, sir," answered the man, "or I would +willingly trust you, if you did not pay me till this time twelvemonth." + +"Nay," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I wanted not to be your debtor, +Gandelot. Money, thank God, I have with me, but my resource must be +Corse de Leon. Where can he be found?" + +"Hush! hush!" exclaimed the aubergiste, terrified at the loud tone in +which his companion pronounced the name of the brigand. "Hush! hush! for +Heaven's sake. There is somebody talking all this time to the girl +outside the door." + +"It is but the shepherd who guided me hither," replied the young +cavalier. "But answer my question, good Gandelot: where is he to be +found?" + +"If you will sit here for an hour or two," replied the other, "my wife +shall get you something ready to break your fast, and I will go up the +side of the hill to see after the person you mention." + +"But I wish to proceed immediately," exclaimed Bernard de Rohan. "If I +could but get a horse, I would set out at once." + +"There is no one who can get you either horse or arms within five +leagues," replied the aubergiste, "except the man we were talking of. He +can do both, and more too, for he can tell you where the lady is to be +found, which I can't. So you have nothing for it but to confer with him. +However, it will be better to send this shepherd back at once to his own +place, and for you either to go into that little room there to the left, +or up the stairs into your room above, for it would be a sad thing to be +stopped again; and, although we stand on free land here, yet this Lord +of Masseran's people are no ways scrupulous into whose face they poke +their fist, or into whose soup they dip their spoon." + +Though feeling sick at heart with impatience, the young cavalier saw +that the plan suggested was the only one he could follow. Having +rewarded the shepherd for his trouble in guiding him thither, he allowed +the good aubergiste to lead him to his place of concealment; and, urging +him in the strongest terms to lose no time, he sat himself down to while +away the hours as best he might, with all the checkered thoughts of the +past and the future. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +Bernard de Rohan waited long; and, though his imagination was not an +active one in regard to difficulties or dangers in his own case, yet, +when he thought of Isabel de Brienne, nurtured with care, and +tenderness, and softness, never having known during life the want of +protection, or the necessity of acting for herself, never having been an +hour without protection--when he thought that she must now go forward to +Paris alone, without any one loved or known to sooth and guide her; +without any other protection but that of a few menials; with the bitter +thought of having lost him she loved for ever, as the chief recollection +of the past, and with the expectation of meeting her mother, who had +been always harsh, and her stepfather, who had treated her with +treachery and baseness, as the chief anticipation of the future--his +heart burned to speed on, without the loss of a single moment, to +protect, to console, and to relieve her from the deep sorrow which he +knew too well must overshadow her. + +Still one hour passed after another, the sun began to decline from the +meridian, and the good hostess only visited him on two occasions. In the +first place, to tell him that a party of travellers who stopped for half +an hour at the inn were only peasants from a neighbouring village; and, +in the next place, to beseech him not to go near the windows, or to show +himself in any way, as a party of the Lord of Masseran's men had just +passed, and another was speedily to follow. + +At length the aubergiste himself appeared, heated and dusty, and, +closing the door carefully, told him that he had found the man he went +to seek, and had brought back with him a few words written on a strip of +leather. They were deciphered with difficulty, but were to the following +effect: "I thought you gone for ever. But, as you are still destined to +remain with the rest of us, so let it be. I will visit you to-night, and +you shall soon find the lady; but on no account go on till you have seen +me! By so doing you will endanger her, endanger yourself, and delay your +meeting." + +Bernard de Rohan gazed upon the writing, and then turned a dissatisfied +look towards the sky. "This is trifling," he thought: "I must be across +the frontier as speedily as possible. Well might Isabel think me cruel +if I remained here an hour longer, knowing that she is in danger, +sorrow, and anxiety." + +"Have you heard aught of a horse, my good Gandelot?" he said: "I cannot +wait as he requires me. How far is it to the frontier?" + +"Two hours' journey on horseback," replied the host, "and four or five +afoot. But there is no horse to be found, and you must not think of +trying it on foot, my noble lord. You do not know that the people from +the castle are scouring the whole road between this and Bonvoisin." + +"But they do not know me," answered Bernard de Rohan. "There is scarce +one among them that has ever seen me. Five hours? that is long, indeed! +But I could buy a horse at Chambery." + +"Not before nightfall," replied the host; "and you had a great deal +better wait here to see one who can help you more speedily than anybody +else." + +"Why cannot I go to him?" demanded Bernard de Rohan. "If you can find +him, so can I." + +"Oh, surely," replied Gandelot, "but you run a great risk of being +taken." + +"If that be all," answered the young cavalier, "I should think that +there was less chance of being taken on the hillside than here. +Something must be risked, at all events, Gandelot. Get me a peasant's +frock, good friend, and a large hat: my own I lost in the fall, you see. +When I am so dressed, I shall pass unknown, I'll warrant, should it be +through the midst of this Lord of Masseran's men." + +"I must show you the way, however," replied the innkeeper. "But stay a +minute, and I'll get what you want: it is no bad plan." + +Thus saying, Gandelot left him; but the aubergiste was not long before +he returned, bringing with him a peasant's frock and belt, and a large +straw hat, such as we have mentioned in describing the dress of good +Father Willand at the beginning of this true history. The very act of +putting them on was a relief to the mind of Bernard de Rohan; for, to a +man accustomed to action, inactivity adds an almost insupportable burden +to grief and anxiety. When the frock, however, was cast over his +shoulders, and his head was covered with the hat, Gandelot gazed upon +him with a smile, saying, "I must take care, my lord, that I don't +mistake you for a peasant, and ask you to sell me eggs. Well, I did not +know how much the dress made the man before." + +Passing over the bad compliment of his host without notice, Bernard de +Rohan only expressed his eagerness to set out; and Gandelot, after +having gone down to look round the inn on every side, and to ascertain +that no one was watching, returned in a few minutes, carrying in his +hand a short sword and dagger, such as were worn commonly by what were +called the New Bands, warring in Piedmont for the service of France. + +"Nobody can tell what may happen, my lord," he said, "so you had better +tuck those up under your gown; but don't draw the belt too tight, or the +hilt will appear." + +Bernard de Rohan grasped the weapon as he would the hand of an old +friend, and, concealing it carefully under the frock, he followed the +innkeeper, who led him out through the back court of the auberge upon +the side of the mountain, where a steep pathway led up between the +rocks, and over the lower part of the hill, into one of the valleys, +which, without plunging deep into the alpine scenery around, led through +a softer but still uncultivated country, in the direction of Albens. The +innkeeper strolled on, and the young nobleman followed, both keeping a +profound silence till the inn and all the neighbouring objects were out +of sight. + +When they had fully plunged into the valley, however, good Gandelot +spoke, but still in a low voice, saying, "We are pretty safe here; the +danger was up yonder." + +Bernard de Rohan made no direct reply, but asked whether the road they +were taking did not lead him farther from that which he had afterward to +travel. Assured, however, by the good innkeeper that it did not, he went +on in silence, finding by the length of way that his companion had lost +no time upon the previous journey he had made during the morning. At +length Gandelot turned a little towards the north, up a smaller valley, +which, winding away with many bends and angles, never exposed more than +one or two hundred yards of hillside to the view at once. At the end of +about a quarter of an hour after entering this dell, a solitary house +presented itself, as desolate in appearance as well might be. It was +old, and built of cold gray stone, with a roof of slates; and a low +garden wall which surrounded it enclosed a space of ground amounting to +perhaps an acre or an acre and a half, but in no degree impeded the view +of the house. + +The hills in that spot were quite bare: much lower, indeed, than the +scenery from which Bernard de Rohan had just come, but far more naked +and arid. Not a shrub, not a tree was to be seen. Nothing but scanty +turf, broken by scattered stones, with occasional crags here and there, +covered the slopes; and, had it not been for those thin, short blades of +grass, one might have fancied one's self in the world before the +vegetable creation had been called into being. + +"You will find him there, my good young lord," said Gandelot, pointing +forward to the house: "I will stay here. But you had better whistle, as +you know how, when you go up, that he may know you are coming. If you +find that you are not likely to come back before night--and it is +getting somewhat late now--send me out word, and I will hie me home." + +"Nay, leave me, leave me, good Gandelot," replied the young cavalier. "I +will find my way back: I never forget a path I have once trodden." + +Thus saying, he advanced towards the desolate-looking house which stood +before him, and, at a short distance from it, imitated, as well as he +could, that peculiar whistle which he had heard more than once among the +companions of Corse de Leon. The sounds had scarcely issued from his +lips ere the brigand himself appeared at the door, and, apparently +without the slightest apprehension or hesitation, walked forward to meet +him. He was habited in the same large cloak and hat which he had worn on +the night when Bernard de Rohan first beheld him, so that the young +nobleman could plainly see he bore his left arm supported by a bandage +from his neck. + +The moment they met he grasped Bernard warmly by the hand, saying, "So +you are living! you are living! I never thought we should see each other +again in this world, though I did think we might meet in that where the +compensations are reserved to confound the workings of the great bad +spirit to whom this earth is given up for evil. But I fell into a sad +mistake, and have let your sweet lady go away in the belief that you are +dead." + +"It is on that account," said Bernard de Rohan, "that I am so eager to +set out, in order to put her mind at ease; but I know not where she is +to be found, or which road she has taken. Neither have I horse nor arms, +nor, I fear, enough in my purse both to buy them and carry me on my way +also." + +"And you come to me for all!" said Corse de Leon, with a smile: "who +would ever have thought this, some seven or eight years ago, when the +young Lord of Rohan struck down to the earth the intendant of the +Countess of Brienne for wronging the sister of a poor soldier far away +fighting for his country? Who would have thought that the poor soldier +would ever have been able to aid the young lord in marrying her he +loved, or to furnish him with horse, and arms, and money, in an hour of +need? There is a retribution in this world! Ay, there is a retribution +even here! But come, my lord, I am your humble servant; but, perhaps, a +truer friend than any whom you meet with in your own rank and class. Let +us into the house, and rest you for the remainder of the day. You will +travel quicker, better, more safely in the night. Ere the sun goes down +you shall have all that you want; and between this and tomorrow's +nightfall you may well overtake the lady." + +Corse de Leon saw that, notwithstanding the reasons he gave, Bernard de +Rohan was not well pleased with even the short delay that he proposed. +He was not one who loved long explanations of any kind, but he could +feel for an impatient disposition; and he added, as if in reply to his +companion's look, "It cannot be otherwise: I have had to send a four +hours' journey for the horses, and they cannot be here till night, +though the messenger has been absent now near two hours. You would make +no greater speed by going back to the inn. Come in, sit down, then, rest +you, and bear what is unavoidable as patiently as may be; for, though +half the difference between great men and little ones in this world lies +in their judgment of what can be done and what cannot be done, and +though half the things men despair of are as easy as to drink from a +stream, yet, nevertheless, there are things that are impossible, and in +those cases it is useless to struggle." + +Thus saying, he led the young nobleman into the house, the door of which +had remained unclosed. Though Bernard de Rohan could hear several voices +speaking in one of the rooms as he walked along the passage, it was into +a small vacant chamber, on the left-hand side, that Corse de Leon +conducted him. The windows commanded a view down a considerable part of +the valley, but still the aspect of the whole place was so undefended +and unguarded, that the young cavalier, knowing the state of hostility +with the great and powerful in which Corse de Leon lived, could not help +feeling some surprise at his choosing such an abode. + +"Are you not," he said, gazing from the window, "are you not in a +sadly-exposed situation here? Why, the Lord of Masseran, or any other of +those small tyrants, could attack you at any time without the +possibility of your escape." + +"You are mistaken," replied Corse de Leon, shortly: "before he came +within two leagues of me, I should know his whole proceedings, and +either scatter over the hill, and reach coverts which it were wiser to +search for the deer or the chamois than for Corse de Leon, or else offer +the good lord some hospitality on his coming which he might neither be +willing to receive nor able to return. We have resources that you are +not aware of, and neither he nor any one else knows more of them than to +make him fear." + +"That you yourself have infinite resources in your activity and +experience," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I can easily believe; but, +depend upon it, if you were to trust the guidance of such hazardous +matters to other men, they would soon be overthrown." + +"Not so, not so," replied his companion; "I know the contrary. Twice, +for ends and objects of my own, I have traversed all France, leaving my +men behind me; and, though perhaps not quite so busy as when I am +here--ay, and somewhat cruel and disorderly when left to their own +course--no evil has happened to themselves. I am now about to do the +same, and I do it in all confidence." + +"Do you propose to go soon?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, in some +surprise. + +"Ay," replied the brigand, "soon enough to meet you in Paris some day, +perchance, or even to overtake you on the road; and, as we now talk +about those things, let me caution you never to speak to me unless I +speak to you: then take the tone that I take, whether it be one of +strangeness or of former acquaintance. Recollect, too, that there is no +such person as Corse de Leon beyond the frontiers of Savoy; but that, in +many a part of France, the Chevalier Lenoir is known, and not badly +esteemed." + +"I will be careful," replied the young lord. "But now, my good friend, +tell me whither has my poor Isabel directed her steps." + +"First to Grenoble," replied Corse de Leon, "in the hope of finding her +brother there; but, should she not meet with him, she goes thence at +once to throw herself at the feet of the king." + +"But are you perfectly certain," demanded Bernard de Rohan, "that she +has escaped from the pursuit of this base man who has married her +mother?" + +"Perfectly," replied Corse de Leon: "I saw her across the frontier +yesterday. Besides, as I told you before, the Lord of Masseran himself +is absent, carried by fears regarding the discovery of his own treachery +into the very jaws of the lion, power. Power is the only true basilisk. +Its eyes are those alone in this world which can fascinate the small +things hovering round it to drop into its mouth. But the lady is safe. +Be satisfied, and you can well overtake her ere she reaches Grenoble. I +bade them send back a man to tell me if she found not her brother there; +for, as I am going to Paris also, I thought perchance it might be better +to keep near her on the road, and bring her help in case she needed it. +But your own men are enough, I do not doubt, and I can but take few with +me, if any." + +"But is it not dangerous," said the young nobleman, "for you to travel +immediately after receiving so severe an injury?" + +"Dangerous!" said Corse de Leon; "oh, there is no danger in such things. +I do believe these mountains that I love will crush me at last; for +twice have I escaped almost by a miracle. But it is this injury, as you +call it, that has determined me to go now. I can be of but little active +use here till I can climb a rock again, and use this left arm as well as +the right. No man has a title to remain an hour in idleness, whatever be +his calling. Sleep itself I do not rightly understand: it is a lapse in +the active exertion of our being which is very strange, a sort of calm +pool in the midst of a torrent: I suppose it is solely for the body's +sake. There could have been no sleep before death came into the world; +for, not being subject to decay, the earthly frame could require no +refreshment any more than the spirit. However, as I was saying, idle and +inactive drones pretend that they must have rest and pause: if the head +aches or the hand is hurt, they declare that they can neither think nor +labour; but the wise man and the energetic man makes his spirit like +that monstrous serpent which I have heard of, and which, when one head +was smitten off, produced at once another. If a man cannot walk, he can +ride; if a man's right arm be broken, let him use his left; if his eyes +be put out, his ears will hear but the better--let him use them. Our +manifold senses are but manifold capabilities; and if the mind is +debarred from using one of its tools, it must use another. No man need +want employment for the senses, the limbs, and the means that he has +left, if he chooses to seek for it. For a while I shall be of no good +upon the mountain, and therefore I am going to the city. Some time or +another I must go, and therefore I may as well go now. But here comes +the old woman with my mess of food. You must take some with me. No one +knows better than she does how to cook the chamois, or the venison, or +to roast the shining trout in the ashes, or the snow-fowl over the fire; +and as for wine, the cellar of an archbishop or of a prior of a +monastery could not give you better than this lonely house can produce. +Nay, nay, shake not your head; you must eat and drink, let your +impatience be what it may: every man needs strength; and that we should +take food is a condition of our flesh and blood." + +In conversation of this kind passed away the hours, Bernard de Rohan and +his strange companion remaining almost altogether alone, though once two +young men, dressed like herdsmen, came to the door of the room, and, +leaning against the doorposts, addressed to Corse de Leon a few words, +apparently of no great import, and upon ordinary subjects, but to which +Bernard de Rohan imagined some occult meaning was attached. + +At length, much to the satisfaction of the young cavalier, a perceptible +shade of twilight came over the valley, along which the shadows of the +hills had been creeping for some time. The twilight grew grayer and more +gray, and Bernard de Rohan rose and walked to the window, with his +impatience for the arrival of the horses increasing every moment. Corse +de Leon was looking at him with a slight smile when he turned round; +but, in a few minutes after, the brigand rose, left the room, and +returned with the two young men whom Bernard de Rohan had seen before. +They were now loaded, however, with various kinds of arms and +habiliments of different sorts, which seemed to have been gathered from +many a quarter of the earth. These were spread out, some upon the table +and some on the floor; and this being performed without a word, those +who bore them retired, only appearing again to furnish the chamber with +a light. + +Corse de Leon glanced his eye to the young cavalier, and then gazed upon +the pile with a somewhat cynical smile. + +"This seems to be an abundant harvest," said Bernard de Rohan, whose +doubts as to the means employed to procure such rich habiliments were +many. + +"You say true," replied the brigand; "but you must remember, we are many +reapers. This has been going on, too, for very many years, so that you +will find here garments of various ages and of different nations. Look +here," he continued, taking up a black velvet surtout richly embroidered +with gold; "this is a coat cut in the fashion of forty or fifty years +ago, and belonged to some fat Englishman, who doubtless came over to +France with that arch heretic and blood monger Henry, who has not been +many years dead. Then, depend upon it, he would see foreign countries, +and go to Italy, and has left part of his fine wardrobe here behind him +in the mountains." + +"An unwilling legacy, I should think," replied Bernard de Rohan. + +"Yes," answered the brigand; "but that is not a shot-hole you are +looking at so curiously. Our traditions say, I believe--for we have our +traditions--that the good gentleman got safe home, though somewhat +thinner of purse and scantier in apparel than when he came away. +However, choose yourself out some quiet suit that will not attract +attention, for you must not go riding through France like a Savoyard +peasant. There, that black hat and feather, which would become some +sober student of Padua, making his first effort to look the cavalier. +Then there is that stout buff coat I would recommend, with black loops +and borders. Ay, it is somewhat heavy, but there is a secret in that: +dagger or sword point will not well make its way through the jacked +doublings of those hides, and a pistol-ball would strike but faintly, +even if it did pass. Then there are those horseman's boots: they will be +no bad addition to the rest. That long sharp sword, too, in the black +sheath, will suit the hat, and none the less fit the hand. It is true +Toledo. Now seek for two daggers somewhat like it, and a pair of pistols +for the saddlebow. By the Lord that lives, if the horse they bring be +but a gray Spanish charger, with a tail longer than ordinary, they will +take you for some one who has been studying the black art at Salamanca, +or perhaps for some lay officer of the Inquisition in disguise. Is the +coat large enough? Oh, ay! it fits well. Now for a cloak to match." + +With the assistance of his companion, Bernard de Rohan fitted himself +with new garments, which somewhat disguised, but did not ill become his +powerful form. After he had done, the brigand opened the mouth of a +little sack which had been brought with the rest, saying, "Take what you +will: you can repay me hereafter." + +The young cavalier, however, took no more of the gold pieces which +appeared shining within than was absolutely necessary, replying to the +remonstrance of Corse de Leon that, as he approached nearer to Paris, +there were many who would be willing to assist him. + +"Well, well," replied the brigand, "it matters not. I shall not be far +from you. But now let us away. I hear the horses, and you are impatient +to be gone. We can meet them, therefore, as they come." + +Though Bernard de Rohan heard nothing of the sounds which his +companion's fine ear had discovered, he gladly followed him out to the +mountain-road, and walked on with him for some way before the horses +appeared. Their feet were soon heard, however; and at length a man, +mounted on a charger and leading another, was seen coming rapidly +towards them. The animal he led was powerful, and yet apparently swift: +some short time was spent in adjusting the arms and the stirrups; and +then, after offering many thanks to his strange companion for all that +he had done, Bernard de Rohan grasped his hand, sprang into the saddle, +and rode away in the direction of Chambery. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +It was in a small cabinet in the princely chateau of Fontainebleau, some +eight days after the grand entertainment at the Louvre which we have +before mentioned, that Henry the Second of France was seated, conversing +with one of his most trusted servants and most faithful friends, the +well-known Marechal de Vieilleville. The cabinet, the ceiling of which +was of dark black oak, carved and ornamented with small stars of gold, +was hung with rich but very ancient tapestry, still beautiful, though +the colours had faded in the passing of years. The dark green which +formed the principal hue was no longer enlivened by the gorgeous red and +yellow draperies which had once ornamented the principal figures, and a +dim and melancholy hue pervaded the room, to which the fact of the light +passing through some leafy trees without did not a little contribute. + +It was not, however, the peculiar colouring of the hangings, nor the +light passing through the green trees, that gave an unusual paleness to +the countenance of the king, as, laying down the pen with which he had +been writing, he gazed up in the face of Vieilleville, "What is it you +tell me, marechal?" he said. "Dead? Crushed under one of the towers of +the castle? The very best and most promising soldier France could +produce! The dear friend of Brissac--lauded even by Montmorency! Heaven +and earth! Did you say he was returned, this Lord of Masseran? Send for +him instantly. Let a messenger be despatched to the capital at once. By +my crown, if I thought that he had any hand in this, I would have his +head off in the court before tomorrow's sun set. Send off a messenger +for him, I say!" + +"Sire, he is even now in the palace," replied the marechal. "It was +seeing him pass along the court, in order to crave an audience, that +made me intrude upon your majesty just now. I heard this sad business +last night by a letter from Brissac; but I would not tell your majesty, +lest it should spoil your rest after so bustling a day." + +"What, you are one of those, Vieilleville, are you," said the king, with +a slight smile, "who can believe that the death of a faithful subject +may chase slumber from even a royal pillow? However, these despatches +must be written. Leave me for an hour, and then bring hither this Lord +of Masseran. Keep a good eye upon him, for he is as deceitful as a cat: +but he shall find that I am not to be trifled with." + +"I will venture to beseech you, sire," said the statesman, "in all that +you do with this man, to recollect that he is himself a sovereign +prince; for, were you to forget it, the example might be dangerous." + +"If I make him an example, it shall be for good, not for evil, +Vieilleville," replied the king. "Some of these petty princes need an +example how they may be punished for treachery and double-dealing. I +have heard more of him since he last set out for Savoy than I ever did +before, and I much doubted that he would return to France again. But +watch him well, good Vieilleville, and bring him hither in an hour. I +shall have finished ere that." + +The marechal withdrew; and, ere the hour was expired, a page sought him +again from the king, requiring his presence, with that of the Lord of +Masseran, whom Vieilleville, on quitting the cabinet, had informed that +Henry could not yet receive him. + +The angry spot was still upon the king's brow when they entered; but he +spoke to the Lord of Masseran in a courteous tone, saying, "Well, my +good lord, this is somewhat unexpected. I knew not that you could go to +Savoy and return so quickly. How is it that you have shortened the way +so well?" + +"A melancholy interruption, sire," replied the Savoyard, "a melancholy +interruption caused me to return ere half my journey was complete. +Somewhat on this side of Lyons, I met a messenger coming with all speed +to seek me, and bearing this letter, which I beg to lay at your +majesty's feet." + +The king took it and read, examining every line as he did so, in order +to see whether it bore about it the marks of truth and authenticity. +There was nothing, however, to make him doubt it. It seemed simply a +letter from some seneschal or other officer, left behind by the Lord of +Masseran to command during his absence, announcing to him that the +prison tower of the castle had taken fire and fallen, crushing under its +ruins the chamber in which the young Baron de Rohan had been confined. +It went on to state that works had been already Commenced to supply its +place in the walls, and gave some account of the probable expense which +those works would occasion. + +"That would be dear," muttered Henry, in a low voice, and between his +teeth. "That would be dear payment to get rid of a troublesome friend. I +rather suspect it can be done cheaper in Savoy. Have you no news, +Monsieur de Masseran," he said aloud, "of how this terrible catastrophe +occurred?" + +"I have shown your majesty all the information I have received," replied +the Marquis of Masseran. "I returned to Paris with all speed after +having met with the messenger, and, not finding you there, came hither." + +"What say you, De Vieilleville?" said the king: "you had letters last +night, methinks, from some one in that neighbourhood." + +"They bear the same sad news, sire," replied the Marechal de +Vieilleville. "But they add, that everybody in that country marvelled +much how this event could have occurred in a tower detached from the +castle, built almost entirely of stone, and doubtless intrusted to a +faithful guard." + +"It is, indeed, most strange," said the Marquis of Masseran, +thoughtfully. "There must have been some base neglect." + +"This must be inquired into," said the king, "this must be inquired +into. My good Lord of Vieilleville, call the page for these despatches. +It behooves you, my Lord of Masseran, to make strict and immediate +inquiry into the whole of this affair, in which you shall be aided and +assisted by a commissary on our part. There are the despatches, boy. Why +wait you? What is it now?" + +"May it please your majesty," replied the page, "there is a lady without +craving earnestly to see you. She calls herself the sister of the Count +of Brienne, and I remember her well at the court some months ago. She +seems in much grief, and--" + +"Give her admission," said the king, "give her instant admission. She +may throw some light upon all this affair, my good Lord of Masseran." + +The marquis turned somewhat pale; for the appearance of Isabel of +Brienne in the king's presence was not at all what he wished or +calculated upon. He had hoped for an opportunity of telling his own +tale, and causing his wife to tell hers so as to corroborate all he +said, without the actual appearance of Isabel herself. He knew that the +Count de Meyrand, though apparently taking no part in all that occurred +since their arrival in Paris, had been continually and skilfully +preparing the way for the development of his part in the transaction; +had been labouring to make friends and gain supporters among those who +possessed the king's ear, and had been apparently not a little +successful, even with the fair Duchess of Valentinois herself. + +It must not be supposed, however, that good Monsieur de Masseran was +moved by any personal love or regard for the Count de Meyrand: there was +but one tie between them, the tie of interest; and the moment that the +Lord of Masseran saw that more was to be lost or risked by the Count de +Meyrand than to be gained, that instant he was prepared to put an end to +his affection for his noble friend. He was, however, as we have seen, in +various respects, in the count's power; and he had trusted that their +united operations would be sufficient to induce the king to act without +listening to the fair girl herself. He had, moreover, believed, when he +heard of the death of Bernard de Rohan, that one great obstacle being +removed, the rest would be comparatively easy. The arrival of Isabel, +however, was most inopportune; for he saw that, in the king's angry mood +at the moment, the disclosure of all that had taken place within the +last few weeks might be ruinous in another way, and not only overthrow +his future schemes with regard to Mademoiselle de Brienne herself, but +bring punishment on his head for what had occurred before. + +As the interview, however, could be prevented by no means within his +reach, he sought eagerly in his mind for excuses and defences for his +conduct: but he had hardly time to arrange any plan ere Isabel herself +entered, supported by the arm of one whom he felt far more inclined to +fear than even herself. That person was good Father Willand; and his +surprise and dismay were not a little increased by seeing the king +receive the priest with a gracious smile as an old acquaintance, and, +grasping his arm familiarly, ask him what had made him return from +banishment. + +"Why, to bring this poor lamb back to your majesty's fold," replied +Father Willand, in his usual gay and unceremonious tone. "By my faith, +sire, if all shepherds were like you, and mistook the wolf for the +watch-dog, mutton would soon be dear in France." + +"How so? how so, good father?" demanded Henry, laughing; and, at the +same time, taking Isabel's hand in his own, he prevented her, with a +kindly gesture, from throwing herself at his feet. "Cheer up, fair +lady," he said, "cheer up. The king will protect you, and be a father to +you. But how now, bold priest? How have I been so unwise a shepherd as +to mistake the wolf for the watch-dog?" + +"Why," answered Father Willand, boldly, and looking full in the face of +the Lord of Masseran, "by giving one of the best of your flock"--and he +pointed with his hand to Isabel--"into the care of a Savoyard wolf." + +"Hush! hush! my good father," cried the king. "By Heavens! if you use +such language, you will get yourself into a worse scrape, in your cure +of Saint John of Bonvoisin, than that for which I was obliged to send +you away from Paris, to keep your ears out of the way of knives. On my +soul, we must find a bridle for that tongue of yours." + +"Indeed, sire," exclaimed the Lord of Masseran, marking with pleasure a +slight frown that had come upon the king's brow, "indeed, sire, such a +bridle is most necessary; for that tongue is not only insolent, but +mendacious." + +"Hush, sir!" exclaimed the king, sternly; "you speak of one of the +honestest men in France;" and he held out his hand to Father Willand, +who kissed it respectfully. "Would that we had many such!" the king went +on: "for the men who tell truth in the cabinet as well as in the pulpit, +are those that are very needful here: albeit," he added, with a smile, +"they may occasionally, in their hatred of hypocrites and knaves, give +their tongue some license, and their conduct too. However, my good +father, you will never be wise, so that I fear some day I shall have to +make you a bishop, merely to keep you out of the way of strong fists and +crabsticks. Now let us turn to the case of this young lady. The page +told me, fair one, that you were anxious to see me immediately. What is +it you would have?" + +"Protection, sire," replied Isabel de Brienne, raising her fair face +towards the king, filled with an expression of deep and hopeless grief, +which touched the kind heart of the monarch, and made his tone even more +kindly than it was before as he replied, + +"And you shall have it, lady. But let me hear how it is that protection +is needed: have you not a mother and a brother to protect and help you?" + +"Alas! sire," replied Isabel of Brienne, "my mother is no more my +father's wife nor my father's widow. She is now the wife of one to whose +will she shows all dutiful obedience; but unto me the mother's care and +tenderness are at an end." + +"Fair lady," said the king, "the time that I can spare you is but short, +and it may save you both trouble and grief, and, perhaps, from one cause +or another, may likewise spare you a blush, if I tell you that I know +the past. Lest you should suspect that my ears have been wronged and +your conduct falsely told, the brief history of the facts is this: You +have loved and been beloved by a very gallant gentleman, one who has +served his king and country well and faithfully; and your mother, not +holding him as dearly and highly as we may do or you have done, has +opposed your marriage with the man of your choice, and endeavoured, as +far as may be, to separate you from him. He, in the somewhat indiscreet +eagerness of love, persuaded you, it would seem, to fly with him +secretly, and unite your fate to his by a clandestine marriage, which, +upon every principle of law and reason, must be null and void. However, +at the very altar, I am told, your worthy stepfather here present +surprised and separated you from this bold gentleman, took means to +ensure that you should not meet again, and was bringing or sending you +to Paris, when you contrived to escape. Thus far we know; what is there +more? The tale that we have heard is very simple." + +As the king ended, he looked round with a slight smile, which certainly +might be interpreted either "This matter is very clear," or else "I know +there is another version." + +The person who answered it first, however, was the good priest. "That is +the story, sire," he said. "'Tis a most excellent piece of goods, but +smells somewhat of the manufacturer." + +"How so, sir? But let the lady speak, and say if this be true or not." + +"True, sire," replied Isabel de Brienne, much to the surprise of the +Lord of Masseran. "It is all true; but there is much besides to be said, +and some things which I must say, but which, perhaps, I cannot prove, +especially now, when deep grief masters me. As your majesty has +said--and no blush will stain my cheek while I do own it--I loved and +was beloved by as noble a gentleman as ever graced this land; but I +trust that I loved him wisely too, for to that love I have been plighted +since my fifteenth year. My father--my good father, sire, who in times +past has stricken in many a battle by your side, and also in many +another well-fought field--joined my hand to his with promises which I, +his daughter, was but too willing to fulfil. My mother, it is true, +always looked somewhat coldly on him I loved, ever since he struck to +the ground a base man, her intendant, for wronging an unprotected girl; +but still my mother was present when we were plighted to each other; +still she was present when my father, on his deathbed, made me promise +that I would wed the man whom he had chosen. Oh, how willingly I +promised! oh, how gladly I would have kept that promise! but they have +rendered it vain;" and, unable to restrain herself, the tears burst +forth, and she wept bitterly. + +Henry had carried his eyes from her to the countenance of the Lord of +Masseran from time to time while she spoke, and now, taking her hand +kindly, he said, "Be comforted, dear lady, be comforted. This changes +the matter greatly. What else have you to add?" + +"Oh, much, much, sire," replied Isabel, wiping the tears from her eyes; +"but I will be brief, sire; indeed I will be brief, and not waste your +most precious time. Bernard de Rohan, my promised husband, went to serve +his king in Italy--" + +"And did serve him there right well," said the king. "But go on." + +"He had been absent some time," she continued, "and I was longing for +his return, when a nobleman of your majesty's court sought my hand, to +my great surprise, with my mother's countenance. Thinking that he had +been deceived, I told him the whole truth, but still he pursued his +suit. I wish, sire, that it were not needful for me to give his name, +but I fear I must." + +"The Count de Meyrand," said the king. "He has already urged his suit to +us. What more of him, fair lady?" + +"He urged it upon me, sire," she answered, "after he knew that my heart +was given and my hand was promised to another, that other being his own +friend. He sought me, sire, he persecuted me, he used words that I will +not repeat, nay, menaces, all with the countenance of my mother, who +acted, I believe--nay, I know--under the commands of her new husband. I +was in hopes of some relief when my Lord of Masseran here took us so +suddenly to Savoy, but we were soon followed by the gentleman you have +named. I was now told to think no more of Bernard de Rohan. I was +informed that my hand was destined for the man whom, by this time, I +detested, and that means would be found to make me obey. Vague and +terrible fears came over me; but I obtained an opportunity of writing +one letter to him I loved. Would that I had never done so! for that +letter has killed him." + +"Methinks, sire, it would have been better," said the Lord of Masseran, +in a sneering tone, "if the fair lady was so tyrannically used in my +poor dwelling, to write to her brother in the capital." + +"I did," replied Isabel of Brienne, "often and most sorrowfully." + +"But did you ever ask him to come to you?" demanded the Lord of +Masseran. "He says not." + +"Never," replied Isabel of Brienne. "On the contrary, I besought him not +to come. I concealed half my grief, the daily anguish of witnessing my +mother's sorrow, the taunts, the sneers, the bitterness, which, like the +Egyptian pestilence, made our very food swarm with reptiles; I concealed +much, much that I might have told, and still besought him not to come." + +"May I ask why, madam?" said the king, with evident surprise. "De +Vieilleville, there is something under this. I must hear the whole," he +added, seeing her hesitate. "Lady, it must be told." + +"It was, sire," said Isabel de Brienne, in a low but distinct voice, "it +was that I feared, if brother and sister should be in the same house +beyond the pale of your majesty's realm--in a place where few questions +are asked, and secret acts do not easily transpire--I feared, I say, I +feared much for my brother's safety." + +"I understand," said the king, "I understand. But there must be great +objects for such doings." + +"Everything reverts, sire," said Vieilleville, addressing the king in a +low voice, "everything reverts to the mother in case of the death of the +son and daughter without children." + +"These, sire, however," said Isabel, "were but suspicions, and perhaps +were unjust--" + +"Oh, most unjust, I do assure your majesty," said the Lord of Masseran, +who had more than once shown a disposition to break in, but had been +restrained by a gesture from the king. "Such base designs never entered +my mind." + +"Perhaps such suspicions were unjust, sire," continued Isabel; "but to +speak of facts. I had been forced out more than once to hunting-parties +where the Count of Meyrand joined us; and at length, on one occasion, I +was told that I must needs go forth with my Lord of Masseran to visit a +house of his farther in the mountains. I went with fear, sire, on many +accounts. First, the hour he chose was strange, just before sunset; +next, my mother was not with us; and next, the train appointed to +accompany us was smaller than usual. Scarcely had night fallen, when we +were suddenly attacked and overpowered by a large body of men--" + +"Was this with violence?" demanded the king. "Was any one killed or +hurt?" + +"None but some of the old and faithful servants of my family," replied +the young lady, "who forgot where they were, and how situated, and +defended their young mistress with their lives. One of them escaped, and +fled to a little inn for help; but, in the mean time, we were, as I have +said, overpowered and carried off farther into the hills, my Lord of +Masseran as well as myself; though I cannot help thinking that he went +somewhat willingly, for certainly among the assailants there was one, if +not more, of the attendants of his good friend the Count de Meyrand. +When we had gone some way--a long way, indeed, it seemed to me--a +cavalier who had been found at the inn, none other than Monsieur de +Rohan, came to our rescue, having gathered together a number of persons +sufficient to deliver us--" + +"A number of brigands!" said the Lord of Masseran, interrupting her: +"brigands, you mean, young lady! brigands!" + +"Ha! ha!" cried the priest, "wonderfully good! That bolt was smartly +shot, my good Lord of Masseran. But, as you have put a word to the +lady's story, I will put another; she says 'persons,' you say +'brigands,' I say anybody he could get. I was one of the number: there +were other people from the inn, and the brigands, it is very true, came +and joined us; not liking, as your majesty may easily conceive, that the +good Lord of Masseran, or any other lord, should take the trade out of +their hands. However, we refused no help where we could get it. The +Chevalier de Meyrand, who was at the inn when the man came crying for +aid, remained at the table with the capons and the bottles of wine, not +liking, as may well be supposed, to frustrate his own schemes or fight +against his own people; and Bernard de Rohan, with what assistance he +could get, set free the young lady, ay, and the Lord of Masseran to +boot." + +"Then there were, in truth, brigands with you, my good father," said the +king. + +"In sooth were there, sire," replied the priest; "some of the best +brigands between this and Naples; and I have a shrewd notion that Corse +de Leon was there himself." + +"Indeed!" said the king, with a smile; "then I wish I had been there +also: I would give half a province to see that man, who seems to have +been born for a general, and become a brigand by accident." + +"Brissac writes me word, sire," said the Marechal de Vieilleville, "that +Corse de Leon has served you better in Piedmont than any three captains +in your service." + +"That may well be," said the king; "but yet we must not too openly +favour such gentry. Now, lady, we have interrupted you too long." + +"I have but little more to say, sire," replied Isabel de Brienne: "as +those who had delivered us were carrying us back to the castle in +safety, I had full opportunity--the first time for years--of speaking +with my promised husband, who informed me that he came, not only to seek +my hand, but to bear despatches from Monsieur de Brissac to my Lord of +Masseran there. What I have to tell farther is not altogether of my own +knowledge; but let him deny the facts if he can, for there are persons +who can prove them if he does deny them. He received intelligence that +Monsieur de Rohan brought him despatches and directions of an unpleasant +kind, and he left the chateau that he might not receive them. He also +ordered that admittance should be refused both to my mother and myself; +and I had reason to believe that a new scheme was formed for compelling +me to wed the Count de Meyrand. In these circumstances, your majesty, I +saw no chance of escape but in doing as I did do. I was far from your +protecting arm; I was, in fact, in the power and at the disposal, not of +my mother, but of a stranger to our house and nation; and I knew that if +I delayed or hesitated, even for a few days, I was likely to be borne +far away beyond the power of rescue or deliverance. I held that my +father's will and wishes justified me in what, at other times, might +have been a rash, perhaps an improper act; and, having the opportunity +both of seeing him I loved and escaping with him, I did not hesitate; +our purpose being immediately to seek your presence, and cast ourselves +at your majesty's feet, entreating your gracious pardon. We were +afterward seized at the altar, as your majesty has been told; and I was +then carried away, as if with the purpose of taking me to some remote +place, but, in reality, to give the opportunity of a mock deliverance by +the Count of Meyrand;" and she gave a brief account of what had taken +place after the count came apparently to her rescue. "I doubt not that +he was carrying me to Paris," she continued, "and might ultimately have +brought me to your majesty's presence; but I neither chose to be +entirely in his power and at his disposal after all that had happened, +nor to quit that part of the country where I had reason to believe my +brother was or might soon be, and where my husband--yes, sire, my +husband, for a vow had been spoken which nothing but death could do +away--where my husband lay a captive in the hands of that dangerous man. +With the aid of Father Willand here I made my escape; but alas! alas! it +was only to find that he who had loved me well and truly was no longer +in life to protect and guide me. I found, sire, that he had died a +horrible death in the castle of Masseran, by the falling of the tower +under which he was confined." + +She spoke, to all appearance, calmly; even the last words were distinct, +though low; but she kept her eyes bent down, and, closing them for a +moment, the drops of tears broke through the long black lashes like a +crushed diamond. + +"I grieve for you, dear lady," said the king, "and I sympathize with you +also; for I loved this young gentleman well. But tell me, have you any +suspicion that his death was brought about unfairly?" + +"No, sire, no," she replied; "I have no cause to suppose so. I know +nothing farther than that it is as I have told you." + +"You see, sire," said the Lord of Masseran, "that she exculpates me from +blame in this matter." + +"No, my lord, no," replied the king. "Of the manner of this gentleman's +death she knows nothing, but in regard to your preceding conduct she +does anything but exculpate you. She says, or I am mistaken, that she +had good reason to know a scheme had been formed for compelling her to +marry the Count de Meyrand, and also for bearing her far away beyond the +possibility of rescue or deliverance. Call you this exculpating you?" + +"But I deny that this is the case, sire," replied the Lord of Masseran. +"How could she tell what were my schemes or what were my plans? These +are but vague suspicions, engendered by disappointment and anger." + +"No, my lord, they are not," replied Isabel de Brienne. "They are not +vague suspicions: they are certainties which I have never yet fully told +to any one, no, not even to him I loved, because you are my mother's +husband; but may I put you in mind of a German courier who was with you +secretly on the twenty-ninth of last month--not the first that came that +day--ay, and of the Spaniard who came two days afterward--" + +The Lord of Masseran turned paler than his ruff, and clasped his hands +together as if about to pray for mercy; but Isabel went on, "With his +majesty's permission, I will first tell you in your ear, my lord, what I +know of those couriers. Then, if you will have it so, and still deny the +fact, I will speak aloud, and call on those who can prove it." + +The king bowed his head in token of consent; and, while Isabel spoke for +a few moments with the Lord of Masseran apart, he said to Vieilleville, +with a thoughtful look, "You see Brissac's information was good." + +"Might it not be better, sire," said Vieilleville, "to send this man for +a few days to the Bastile, in order to ascertain how the case now +stands?" + +"It is not worth while," replied the king, in the same under voice; "the +treaty will so soon be concluded that he can do no mischief, especially +while we keep him about the court. On the contrary, Vieilleville, I hope +and trust he will not drive this poor girl to say any more; for I +suspect, if she were to tell all, I should be obliged to punish him; and +that same sword of justice is the heaviest and most unpleasant one to +wield I know. Well, fair lady, does your penitent admit the facts?" + +"He does not deny, my lord," replied Isabel de Brienne, "that I had good +cause for suspicion; and he has moreover promised me, both in his own +name and in that of my mother, that I shall never be farther pressed to +give my hand to any one, but shall be permitted to do the only thing +that now remains for me to do in life--to retire from a world where I +have known little but sorrow, and vow myself to the altar for ever." + +"Nay, nay," said the king. "Not so, fair lady, not so. We will have you +think of this better. Such charms as yours were never made for the +cloister. At all events, let the first shadow of this grief pass away: +you know not what may happen to change your views." + +"Nothing can ever do so, sire," replied Isabel de Brienne. "Your majesty +must not forget, that with him who is gone I have been brought up all my +life. The sweet years of childhood, the happiest period that I have ever +known, are in remembrance full of him and of his affection. To him all +my thoughts have been given, all my wishes linked from childhood until +now: the thoughts so nurtured have become part of my being. His glory I +have felt as my glory, his happiness I have prayed for before my own, +and his praise has been to my heart the most tuneful of all sounds. I +can never think otherwise than I have thought, sire; and I will beseech +your majesty not to give this good Lord of Masseran any motive to +withdraw the word that he has plighted to me." + +"Nay, I will not do that," replied the king. "I will hold him bound by +that word, that neither he nor your mother shall offer any opposition to +your wishes in this respect; but still, at the king's request, you must +delay the execution of such a scheme, at least for a short time." + +"I fear, sire," said the Lord of Masseran, "that it will be in vain. As +your majesty well knows, and as I do not scruple to confess, I had other +views and wishes for her; but I know that she is of so fixed and +determined a nature, that when, believing she is right, she has made up +her mind to a certain course of action, nothing will move her to abandon +it." + +"We shall see, we shall see," said the king. "I would fain not lose one +of the brightest ornaments of our court. Vieilleville," he continued, +"unto your care I will commend this young lady. Take her with you to the +apartments of your daughter and of my daughter Claude. Bid the princess +love her and sooth her, and consult with the queen where she can best be +placed in the chateau, so as to have comfort, and ease, and repose, with +as little of the bustle and gayety of a court as may be, for the time. +Such things will be harsh to you, I know, young lady. Monsieur de +Masseran, we will be father and mother also to her for a while. Father +Willand, let me see you at nightfall: I have somewhat to say to you, my +good friend." + +"I shall make the almoner in waiting jealous," said Father Willand; "but +I hope your majesty will order me some dinner: for I doubt much if, in +your whole palace, I should find any one charitable enough to bestow an +alms on a poor wandering priest like myself." + +"You are mistaken, good father," said Vieilleville. "You will find your +cover at my table: come with me; we must no farther occupy his majesty's +time." + +Thus saying, he led Isabel de Brienne to the door; but, before he had +gone out, the king called him back, and said in a low voice, "Do not let +the Savoyard quit the court. Should need be, tell him I require his +presence the day after to-morrow. Discourage these ideas of nunneries. +Poor Meyrand is madly in love with this girl; and it is strange to see +how passion mixes itself up with his supercilious air of indifference. +Perhaps she may be brought to yield." + +"I think not, sire," replied Vieilleville, bluntly; and, with a low bow, +he left the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +The horse was strong and fresh, and Bernard de Rohan rode on rapidly. +The stars came out brighter and brighter as the night deepened, and the +clear, deep, lustrous purple of those fair southern skies became mingled +with yellow light, as the moon, looking large and defined, rose over the +deep black summits of the eastern hills. It was not long before the +French frontier was passed; and in those days, as Savoy was completely +in the occupation of the French, no guards watched upon the way to stop +or question the stranger coming from the neighbouring land. + +Judging the distance which Isabel must have gone, even at a slow pace, +to be considerable, Bernard de Rohan did not think fit to pause at any +of the first towns or villages which he met with, but, avoiding man's +habitation as far as possible, went on till his horse's speed began to +flag, and he found it necessary to stop for repose and refreshment. He +had now gone on, however, for about five hours, so that it was by this +time the middle of the night, and with difficulty he made himself heard +in a small hamlet on the rode to Grenoble. He procured, at length, some +refreshment for himself and for his horse, but no tidings whatsoever +which could lead him to judge whether Isabel and his servants had or had +not taken the same road which he himself was following. He remained, +however, for two hours, to allow the horse time to rest, and then, once +more putting his foot in the stirrup, rode onward at a slower pace. + +About an hour after, the day once more began to dawn, and he found +himself winding in and out among the beautiful hills which border the +Isere. Everything was rich, and fertile, and picturesque, and upon those +scenes the eye of Bernard de Rohan could have rested with infinite +pleasure at any other time; but now anxious eagerness hurried him on, +scarcely remarking the objects around for any other purpose than to +judge where he was, and how far from Grenoble. A little after five in +the morning he passed through the small village of Montbonnat, and heard +with gladness the assurance of the people of the place that he was not +much more than two leagues from Grenoble. + +After giving his horse a draught of water, he went on his way again +through that beautiful district of streams and mountains, constantly +ascending and descending, till at length, not far from the hamlet of +Imfray, he saw before him a single horseman coming slowly on, the first +person, in fact, whom he had met upon the road since he had set out the +night before. + +When the young cavalier first perceived him, the man was at the distance +of some two hundred yards; but it was with no small pleasure that +Bernard de Rohan at once recognised one of his own servants, named +Pierre Millort, an honest but somewhat weak man, who had been born upon +his own estates, and had served him for many years. He now felt certain +of obtaining speedy news of Isabel de Brienne, and rode directly towards +the other horseman, expecting that the man would remember his lord's +person at once. The young nobleman, however, dressed in the habit which +had been given him by Corse de Leon, bore not at all his usual aspect, +and good Pierre Millort also devoutly believed him to be dead. It is not +to be wondered at, therefore, that he looked upon the person who +approached him as a complete stranger; and, fancying that there was +something in his appearance of a very doubtful nature, he drew his sword +a little forward as he saw the strange cavalier riding directly up to +him, and prepared to defend himself, in case of need, as well as might +be. + +When Bernard de Rohan called him by his name, however, asking if he did +not recollect him, astonishment, not a little mingled with superstitious +fear, made the man nearly fall from his horse, and he felt strongly +inclined to argue the matter with his young master, in order to persuade +him that he was really dead. At length, becoming fully convinced that +such was not the case, and that Bernard himself, in a bodily and +corporeal form, was before his eyes, he gave him the information which +he desired regarding Isabel de Brienne, though that information was by +no means satisfactory to the young cavalier. + +The lady had arrived at Grenoble, he said, on the very same day that she +had set out from Gandelot's inn; but, finding that her brother was not +there, and had not sent any notice of his coming to the house in the +city where she expected to hear of him, she had taken her departure on +the following morning, in order to reach the capital and throw herself +upon the protection of the king as speedily as possible. She hoped to +arrive at Vienne in one day, the man continued, and had sent him off at +once to convey intelligence of her route to somebody he was to meet at +Gandelot's inn. + +"Then how happened you not to be there last night?" demanded Bernard de +Rohan. "Had you pursued your journey, you would have saved me the +trouble of coming to Grenoble, and would have enabled me to cut across +the country and join her at Vienne this morning. Now she will be two +whole days in advance of me." + +"And not a horse will you get in Grenoble with which to pursue your +way," replied the man; "for that's the reason, sir, why I did not come +on at once." + +"Had you not your own horse?" demanded Bernard de Rohan, somewhat +angrily. + +"Yes, sir," answered the servant, "I had; but a sad accident happened to +him, poor fellow. I left Grenoble at the very same moment that the lady +set out for Vienne; but I had not got far beyond La Tronche, when, the +road being covered with loose stones which had rolled down from the +hill, my horse slipped and fell, cutting both his knees to pieces. I was +obliged to lead him back into the town, and no horse could I get for +love or money, till at length I made a bargain with a peasant from +Bachat to change with me, he taking my fine beast on the chance of +curing him, and giving me this wretched animal in his stead, to enable +me to go on my way. It is not, however, an hour since he brought the +beast in. So you see, Sir, I have lost no time." + +"That is enough," said Bernard de Rohan, thoughtfully, "that is enough. +I must go on to Grenoble now, however. Come with me; you will not be +wanted at Gandelot's inn;" and, thus saying, he rode on to the town, +where it was necessary to give his own horse a long time to rest, for +the distance which he had come was more than fifty miles, and the road +steep, difficult, and fatiguing. + +Judging by the rate at which Isabel was proceeding, it was clear that +she must reach Lyons before that day closed; for, though she might not +accomplish her purpose of arriving at Vienne on the day before, yet the +distance to Lyons itself was but two easy days' journey. + +Every means that long military experience suggested was employed by +Bernard de Rohan to refresh and invigorate his horse more speedily, and +those means were very successful, although some of them may appear to +us, in this age, somewhat fantastic. Balls of spice were given to the +animal, his feet and pasterns were bathed in red wine, and various other +proceedings of the same kind were adopted with a similar view. It was +impossible, however, to go on till towards the evening, and even then +the young cavalier found that it was in vain to seek Vienne that night, +as neither his own horse nor that of his attendant could accomplish the +distance. They proceeded as far as possible, however, so as to leave a +moderate day's journey between them and Lyons; and on the succeeding +evening Bernard de Rohan had the pleasure of seeing the fair city of the +Rhone spread out before his eyes, and of knowing that there could not +well be more than one day's journey between him and her he loved. + +The great difficulty, however, now was to discover at what inn Isabel +had lodged on the preceding night, in order to ascertain what route she +had followed on her farther journey. Lyons, even at that time, was a +very large and important city, filled with inns of every sort and +description; and, as in those days despotic suspicion had not invented +the fetter-lock of passports; as there was no tyrannical police, no +licensed spies to whom the abode of every citizen, the sleeping-place of +every traveller, the movements of every being in the realm were known, +as is now the case in France, Bernard de Rohan had no other means of +ascertaining the resting-place of Isabel during the preceding night than +his own conjectures or inquiries made at all the principal places of +public reception. + +When he had himself passed through Lyons some time before, he had been +in command of a considerable body of soldiers, and had lodged at an inn +in the suburb of La Guillotiere. That suburb was not so large in those +days as at present; but it possessed at that period one of the best inns +which Lyons could boast of; and, as the servants who now accompanied +Isabel de Brienne were then with him, and he had remained for several +days there, he judged it not at all unlikely that they might have +conducted his fair bride to the resting-place where they had previously +lodged. He rode, then, directly to the same inn, which was surrounded by +its own court and gardens; but the faces that presented themselves were +strange to him; for, among all the mutable things of this earth, there +are few more mutable than the servants of an inn. + +In general, at all the auberges on the road, a man on horseback was sure +to meet with attention and good treatment; but, in such a city as Lyons, +luxury had of course brought fastidious notions along with it; and the +frequent visits of persons with large trains, ladies in immense rumbling +carriages or clumsy horse-litters, made the horseman with his single +attendant and weary horses an object of very little importance in the +eyes of the drawers and ostlers. + +Perceiving some slackness of civility, the young cavalier ordered the +host to be sent to him, and the landlord of the Checkers--for so the inn +was called--presented himself, gazing upon the young gentleman at first +as a perfect stranger. A moment after, however, the face of the Baron de +Rohan came to his remembrance, at first connecting itself vaguely with +considerable sums of money received, and numerous expensive attendants, +horses, arms, banners, _et cetera_; so that his satellites were very +soon surprised by seeing various low and profound inclinations of his +head, as he welcomed "his lordship" back to Lyons; hoped that the +campaign had gone well with him. Gradually recollecting more of the +circumstances, he recalled even his visiter's name itself, and, in tones +of indignant haste, bade the stable-boys take Monseigneur de Rohan's +horses, and the chamberlain show monseigneur himself to the best +apartments of the inn, while he followed, bowing lowly every time the +young cavalier turned round. + +Bernard de Rohan's first inquiries were for Isabel de Brienne; but the +good host was far too wise and practised in his profession to satisfy +the young gentleman fully before he had fixed him at his own inn. Oh +yes, undoubtedly, he said, such a lady had been there, and had set off +that very morning, with just such attendants as monseigneur described. +He would come back and tell him more, he continued, in one minute, when +he had merely given orders for a nice little supper to be sent up, and +had seen that the horses were properly cared for. But, when he at length +made his appearance, after being absent till the supper he talked of was +nearly ready, and the young gentleman actually sent for him, it then +turned out, of course, that the lady he spoke of was quite a different +person, some forty years of age, and the widow of some famous marshal +dead many years before. + +Bernard de Rohan was disappointed, but he did not suffer his equanimity +to be disturbed at finding some little want of sincerity in an +innkeeper. He partook but lightly, however, of the good host's supper; +and then, directing the attendant who accompanied him to make inquiries +at all the inns in the suburb where they then were, he himself set out +on foot, and, passing the bridge, pursued the search throughout the town +of Lyons. That search, however, proved vain; and not the slightest +tidings of Isabel and her train had Bernard de Rohan been able to find +before the sun went down. + +He was preparing to return to the inn, in the hope that his servant +might have been more successful than himself, when, in passing down one +of the long, narrow streets which led from the great square, he was met +by a crowd of people so dense that he found it would be absolutely +impossible to traverse it, and he accordingly turned (little caring what +had caused the assemblage) in order to pass round by the Church of the +Feuillans, and make his way homeward by another street. + +The pavement of the good town of Lyons is by no means pleasant or easy +to walk upon in the present day, being entirely composed of round, +slippery stones, on which the feet seem to have no hold. In those times +it was even worse, for it was irregular in construction as well as bad +in material; and Bernard de Rohan himself, though strong and active, +found it no easy task to outwalk, even by a pace or two, a crowd of +persons better accustomed to tread those streets than himself. He had +contrived to get a few steps in advance, however, and had reached the +long, narrow street which passes round by the side of the church, when +he was stopped, just as he was about to pass down it, by another crowd +as dense as the first, by which he was forcibly borne along. The two +currents, meeting in the more open street he had just quitted, carried +him forward in the midst of them; and, finding it impossible to escape, +he gave himself up for the time, and, turning to a lad who was near, +inquired what was the occasion which called so many persons together. + +"Why, where do you come from, seigneur," said the young man, "that you +don't know all this business?" + +"I come from Italy," replied Bernard de Rohan, "where I have been with +the army; but, once again, what is all this about?" + +"Why, I should have thought it might have reached there," replied the +lad. "But don't you know they are bringing along Jamets, the great +heretic printer, to burn him in the Place de Terreaux?" + +"Indeed!" said Bernard de Rohan. "Pray what has he done to merit such a +terrible punishment?" + +"What has he done?" cried the young man, with a look of indignation. "He +is a heretic; is not that enough? Don't they all mock the holy mass? +What has he done? I should not wonder if you were a heretic yourself." + +"No, no, my good youth," replied Bernard de Rohan, "I certainly am not +that. But they were not so strict about these matters a year or two ago, +when I went with the army into Italy." + +"There is much need they should be strict now," replied the boy, who, as +usual, thought it manly to outdo the follies of his elders, "for the +poisonous vermin have infected the whole place. Don't push so, Peter," +he continued, speaking to one of those behind him, who was urging him +forward exactly in the same manner that he was pressing on those before +him. + +"Get on! get on! or we shall not see the sight," cried the other. "They +have taken him on through the lane." + +In a few minutes the crowd began to issue forth into the Place de +Terreaux; and, before he could disengage himself, the terrible +preparations for burning one of the unfortunate victims of superstition +were before the eyes of Bernard de Rohan. A space was railed off in the +centre of the square, and kept clear by guards; but in the midst +thereof, at the distance of about thirty yards from the young cavalier, +appeared an elderly man, with a fine and intelligent countenance, pale +as ashes, and evidently fully sensible of all the agonies of the death +he was about to endure. He was chained upright to an enormous post or +stake driven into the ground, and one of the brutal executioners was +seen fastening the chain tighter round his neck, though another had by +this time lighted the fagots which had been piled up underneath and +around his feet. From time to time the victim closed his eyes, and his +lips moved as if murmuring forth a prayer; at other moments he cast a +wild and fearful glance round upon the people; but, in general, he +remained still and quiet, as if striving within himself to subdue the +natural repugnance of the flesh to the endurance of pain and death. + +Bernard de Rohan loved not such sights nor such acts; and as in that +open space the crowd was thinner around him, he was turning away once +more to pursue his path homeward, when a capuchin friar approached the +unfortunate man, and, holding up a crucifix, seemed to exhort him to +abandon his faith. At that point, however, all the firmness which had +supported him through imprisonment and trial came back, and, waving his +hand indignantly, he turned away his head with a gesture of disgust. + +The capuchin raised both his arms towards the sky; and a roar of furious +exultation burst from the people, as the flames, almost at the same +moment, were seen to rise up round the unfortunate victim, and the +convulsive gasp of agony distorted his countenance. + +Bernard de Rohan forced his way on; but, as he did so, some one touched +his arm from behind, evidently intentionally, and, looking in that +direction, he beheld, to his great surprise, the countenance of Corse de +Leon. + +The brigand gazed upon him for a moment, but without speaking, then +turned his head away; and, recollecting the warning which he had +received, not to notice him unless spoken to by him, Bernard de Rohan +made his way out through the people, and reached the inn just as it was +growing dark. He now found that his attendant had been as little +successful as himself in the search for Isabel de Brienne; but the +landlord informed him that a gentleman named the Chevalier Lenoir had +been there to inquire for him; and Bernard de Rohan, trusting that Corse +de Leon might possess some better means of information than himself +concerning the course which Isabel had taken, waited impatiently for the +brigand's return. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +Bernard de Rohan waited for nearly an hour before the person whom he +wished to see made his appearance. At length, however, the aubergiste +entered; and--with a face of so much mystery and importance as almost to +make the young gentleman believe that he was acquainted with the +character and pursuits of the brigand--he announced that the Chevalier +Lenoir had called again to know if the Baron de Rohan had returned. In a +minute or two after, Corse de Leon himself entered the room; and Bernard +could not but feel some surprise at the manner in which the wild, bold, +vehement rover of the mountain side conformed to the usages of society, +and bent down his energies, if we may so say, to the customary trammels +of an artificial mode of life. + +He shook hands with Bernard de Rohan as an old friend, put down his hat +upon the table by his side, remarked that the dust had soiled his plume, +spoke of the heat of the past day, and with such empty nothings carried +on the interview till the aubergiste had retired and closed the large +oaken door behind him. + +The moment he was gone, however, the brigand said abruptly, "I came +hither before, to lead you to the scene whither it seems you had gone +without me. Is not that a lovely sport?" he continued, with a curling +lip and a flashing eye; "is not that a lovely sport for keen, sleek +priests, after feasting in the refectory? Is not that a sweet amusement +for these holy and gentle pastors to go to, with the grease of their +patties still sticking upon their lips? Pastors! why our pastors of the +Alps would teach them better than that: they take the wool and use the +milk, but they roast not the lambs of their flock, as the people of the +plains do. By Heaven, it would do my soul good to make yon bloodthirsty +capuchin eat the flesh he has cooked this night. They call us lawless +brigands," he continued. "Pray God that we may ever be lawless, so long +as there are such laws as these. I came to show you this spectacle, for +I once told you I would make you witness such things, but you had gone +without me." + +"I went not willingly," replied Bernard de Rohan. "I was caught in the +crowd, and could not disentangle myself. I hate and abhor such sights, +and think that these acts are disgraceful and ruinous to our religion. +If anything could justify heresy, such persecution surely would do it." + +"Think not, think not," cried Corse de Leon, eagerly, "think not that +this is a crime of our religion alone, or of any other. It is man, and +man's infamous laws, and the foul vice of that strange compact which +rogue has made with rogue, and villain with villain, and tyrant with +tyrant, and fool with fool, in order that the cunning may have the best +means of outwitting the strong; that the criminal may torture and +destroy the innocent, and the virtuous be for ever the prey of the +vicious. Catholic or Protestant, heretic, infidel, Turk, it is all the +same: man is bound together, not by a league for mutual defence, but by +a league for mutual destruction and corruption. Here you yourself have a +friend and comrade, who fights by your side, and whom you trust. What is +the first thing that he does! Betrays you--seeks to injure you in the +darkest way--plots--contrives--cabals--" + +"There is a day of reckoning coming," replied Bernard de Rohan. + +"Ay, and it may come soon," answered Corse de Leon, "for that very man +is now in Lyons." + +Bernard de Rohan started up and laid his hand upon his sword, which he +had thrown down upon a chair beside him; but the brigand went on, +saying, "Not to-night, not to-night. Let it be in the open day; and it +were better, too, before the whole court of France." + +"I will not wait for that," replied Bernard de Rohan. "Where I find him, +there will I punish him. But, as you say, it must be in the open day. +Yet I must not let him escape me; I will write to him this instant." + +"The way of all others to make him escape you," replied Corse de Leon. +"He might, on this occasion, refuse to meet you hand to hand; he +might--" + +"No," answered Bernard de Rohan, "no, he dare not. There is no French +gentleman who dares to be a coward. To those whom he has wronged he must +make reparation, even though it were with life. Besides, this is not a +man to turn away from the sword's point." + +"I know not," answered Corse de Leon, "for I am not one of you; but +methinks--though there is nothing upon all the earth now living that +could make me turn aside from my path--there would be something very +terrible to me in a wronged friend. However, this man may have an excuse +you know not of to refuse you that which you desire: he may say that the +matter is before the king, which, as I learn, it is. Be persuaded: wait +till to-morrow: then let him be narrowly watched: meet him alone; and, +when your sword is drawn upon him, then, as you say, he cannot well +evade you." + +"He shall not," answered Bernard de Rohan. "But still it is not him that +I now seek, it is my own dear Isabel; and here, in this town of Lyons, I +have lost all trace of her, though she must have been here last night." + +"Perhaps not," replied the brigand. "I have no certain tidings of her +any more than you have; but listen to what I do know. I reached this +place in haste to-day; and during the morning, at the inn called the +Dolphin, near the old church by the river, I saw a man who had been with +this Meyrand in Savoy, his guide, and assistant, and confidential knave. +He knew me not, and indeed, perhaps, had never seen me; for I see many, +but am seen by few. I made inquiries, however, and I found that this man +had preceded his lord from Paris on business, it was said, of mighty +moment. He was preparing rooms for him, gaining intelligence, and, in +fact, making all things ready for whatever knavery so skilful a master +might have in hand. I inquired farther, and found that yesterday, +shortly after the man's arrival, a lady and her train had paused for +some moments at the same inn; that one of his servants had spoken to +this serviceable villain, and that, without descending from her litter, +she had gone on, it was said, towards Geneva. To-day I waited and +watched for the arrival of your enemy, and the moment he did come, he +was closeted with his knave. A minute after, the host was summoned, and +much inquiry made for fresh horses to go towards Geneva. By this time, +however, it was late; none but tired beasts could be found, and the +journey was put off till daybreak to-morrow morning." + +"We will travel the same road," said Bernard de Rohan, "we will travel +the same road. But what can have induced Isabel to take the way to +Geneva?" + +"We know not that this lady was the same," replied Corse de Leon; "but, +supposing her to be so, forget not that she believes you to be dead. I +have told you that the matter is before the king; and she may fear that, +as this Count de Meyrand is a known intimate of a woman all too powerful +in this land of France, some constraint may be laid upon her will in +order to make her give her hand to him." + +"They shall find," replied Bernard de Rohan, "that there is one whose +claim upon her hand is not so easily to be cast off; and, even were I +dead, I am full sure that to the last day of her existence she would +look on one who could betray his friend with nothing but abhorrence and +disgust." + +"It may be so," replied the brigand; "but you have yet one thing to +learn. Your claim upon her hand is already disallowed. On that the +king's decision has gone forth three days ago. An edict, which has just +reached Lyons, was then registered in the Parliament of Paris, rendering +all clandestine marriages, past or future, null and void. This was aimed +at you, depend upon it, for both the wily Italian and the artful +Frenchman were then at the court of France." + +Bernard de Rohan covered his eyes with his hand, and paused thoughtfully +without reply. "All this," he said at length, "all this shows, my +friend, the absolute need there is of my being speedily in Paris. +Wherever Isabel may turn her steps, she will soon hear that I am living +if I appear before the king; and in another point of view, also, my +speedy appeal to Henry himself may do good. There is one whom you have +mentioned who does certainly possess much power--far too much for any +subject in the realm; but yet I judge not of her so harshly as you +perhaps may do. She has a noble spirit, and I think would not willingly +do wrong. Besides all this, she is the trusted friend of one who loves +me well--the Marechal de Brissac; therefore I do believe that especially +she would not wish to injure me. When I have seen her, she has always +seemed to regard me highly; and I will own--although I must regret that +any one should hold such authority in the land of France as often to +overrule the king's wisest ministers--I do believe that, for her own +personal advantage, she would in no degree seek what is unjust to +another, or do that which might be dangerous to her country. I have no +doubt that one of her first wishes is to promote, in every way, such +plans as she considers just and wise; and although, of course, she may +from time to time be biased, like every other person, by blinding mists +of prejudice or of self-interest, yet I do think that she is less so +than any other being who ever yet filled a situation of splendid +disgrace and ill-bought authority. I believe, then, that with her, as +with the king, a few plain words of remonstrance and explanation will +win that support which is alone needful to my just claims." + +"Then go thither at once," said Corse de Leon, with a dissatisfied air. +"If you will still trust to those whom you have not tried, go thither, +and encounter whatever the consequence may be. Were I you, my conduct +would be different." + +"What would you do, then?" asked Bernard de Rohan. "I do not propose to +go to the court _at once_, but merely after I have done all that I can +to trace my Isabel on the road that she has taken. Say! what would you +do were you situated as I am?" + +"It matters little," replied Corse de Leon, "for we are differently +formed. You are like the stately warhorse, doubtless strong and full of +fire, but broken down to the bit and rein of custom, and trained to pace +hither and thither, as the great riding-master called society wills. +Your affections may be vehement, your courage high, your heart sincere, +but you are not fitted and formed for the wild life of freedom, or for a +desperate and deadly struggle against the trammels of habit, and the +lash and spur of opinion. I, on the contrary, am the lion--or, if you +will, the tiger, or the wolf. No hand tames me and goads me on--my mouth +knows no bit and curb--the desert is my home--solitude my society--my +own will my law--and they who strive to take and chain me, to break me +down to the world's habits, or to bind me by man's opinions, will either +rue the bite of the free wild beast, or see him die before the hunters, +in silence and despair. If you would know what I would do, I would take +my revenge of that bad man; I would seek the lady till I found her; I +would tell her that dangers, obstructions, impediments, and the vain +idleness of a world's laws were before us if we did not trample upon +that world's judgments; I would ask her to cast off for me and with me +the prejudices of country and connexions; I would make my native place +of the first land of freedom I could find; I would find my friends and +my relations among the brave, and the free, and the good, wherever I met +them; I would press out from the grape of liberty the wine of my own +happiness, and I would drink of the cup that my own hand had prepared. +But such counsels are not for you; such things are not parts of your +nature." + +"I believe not," replied Bernard de Rohan; "but still the first part of +your advice I shall follow, and at daybreak to-morrow will set out to +meet this man upon the way, and bid him draw his sword where there is +none to interrupt us." + +"Should he refuse?" said the brigand. "He is well accompanied--has many +men with him, and some who seem to bear a high rank and station. He may +refuse to draw his sword, and say that the matter is before the king: +what then?" + +"I will spurn him as a cur," replied Bernard de Rohan. "I will strike +him in the midst of his people; call him a coward as well as a knave, +and send him back with the brand of shame upon his brow. It matters not +to me who are with him! If gentlemen be there, so much the better; +Bernard de Rohan's name is not unknown, Bernard de Rohan's honour bears +no stain; and they shall hear his treachery and baseness blazoned in the +open day by a tongue unknown to falsehood." + +Corse de Leon gazed upon him for a moment with a grave, perhaps one +might call it a pitying smile. "You have forgotten," he said, "or never +fully known, the court of France. There has there risen up," he added, +"within my memory, a habit, an affectation of indifference, if you like +to call it so, to all things on this earth; which indifference is born +of a corrupt and a degraded heart, and of sated and exhausted appetites. +To a high mind, furnished with keen and vigorous faculties, nothing on +earth can be indifferent; for acuteness of perception--a quality which, +in its degree, assimilates us to the Divine nature--weighs all +distinctions. As God himself sees all the qualities of everything, +whether minute or great, and gives them their due place, so, the grander +and the more expansive the intellect may be, the more accurately it +feels, perceives, and estimates the good or evil of each individual +thing. The low and the base, the palled taste of luxury, the satiated +sense of licentiousness, the callous heart of selfishness, the blunted +sensibilities of lust, covetousness, gluttony, effeminacy, and idleness, +take refuge in indifference, and call it to their aid, lest vanity--the +weakest, but the last point to become hardened in the heart of +man--should be wounded. They take for their protection the shield of a +false and tinsel wit, the answer of a sneer, the argument of a +supercilious look, and try to gloze over everything, to themselves and +others, with a contemptuous persiflage which confounds all right and +wrong. Thus will this count and his companions meet you; and you will +gain neither answer nor satisfaction, but a jest, a sneer, or a look of +pity." + +"It matters not," replied Bernard de Rohan, "it matters not! There are +some things that men cannot laugh away! Honour, and courage, and virtue +are not columns planted so loosely that a light gale can blow them down; +and I will mark his brow with such disgrace that an ocean of laughter +and light jests will never wash the stain off again. When I have done +that, I will seek my Isabel, and by her own wishes shall our future +conduct be guided. You have reasoned like a learned scholar, my good +friend; but yet you see you have not converted me to your thoughts, +though I will own that it much surprises me to find you have such varied +knowledge of courts, and, I should think, of schools also." + +"I have of both," replied Corse de Leon: "the one I have seen, though in +an humble sphere; the other in my youth I frequented, and gained there +knowledge which those who taught me did not know that they communicated. +However, I wished not to convince you or to overrule your determination, +for that determination is not wrong. I only desired that you should go +to its execution with a full knowledge of all that you might meet with. +Follow your plan, therefore, as you have laid it down, and in executing +it I will not be far from you in case of need. There is no knowing what +a bad man may do, and you ride too slightly attended to offer much +resistance in case they sought to do you wrong." + +"Oh, I fear not, I fear not," replied Bernard de Rohan. "Here, on the +soil of France, I have no fear of any acts of violence, such as that +from which I suffered in Savoy." + +"Have you not seen to-night," said his companion, "have you not seen +this night what wrongs are daily done, even here? However, as I have +said, I will not be far from you; so, for the present, farewell, and let +not daylight see you a lingerer in this dark city." + +Thus saying, he turned and left his young companion, who remained for +some time plunged in deep thought; and, though the light of bright hope +continued still unextinguished before him, mists and clouds came across +the flame from time to time, making it wavering, uncertain, and obscure. + + +END OF VOL. I. + + + + +NEW AND IMPORTANT WORKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS + + +NOVELS. + +NIGHT AND MORNING. By Sir E. L. Bulwer, Bart. + +THE HOUR AND THE MAN. By Miss Harriet Martineau. + +THE BUDGET OF THE BUBBLE FAMILY. By Lady LYTTON BULWER. + +THE MAN-AT-ARMS; or, Henry de Cerons. By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq. + +GODOLPHIN. By Sir E. L. Bulwer, Bart. + + +STANDARD WORKS. + +KEIGHTLEY'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. + +SELECTIONS FROM BRITISH POETS. By Fitz-Greene Halleck. + +SELECTIONS FROM AMERICAN POETS. By W. C. Bryant. + +ELEMENTS OF MENTAL PHILOSOPHY; embracing the two Departments of the +Intellect and Sensibilities. By Thos. C. Upham, Professor of Mental and +Moral Philosophy in Bowdoin College. + +A PHILOSOPHICAL AND PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE WILL. By Thomas C. Upham. + +LIFE AND WORKS OF DR. JOHNSON. By the Rev. Wm. P. Page. + +HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. By the Hon. S. Hale. + +RELIGION IN ITS RELATION TO THE PRESENT LIFE. In a Series of Lectures, +delivered before the Young Men's Association of Utica, by A. B. Johnson, +and published at their request. + +THE LIFE AND WORKS OF DR. OLIVER GOLDSMITH. By Washington Irving. + + +NOVELS, ROMANCES, ETC. + + +MISS SEDGWICK'S WORKS. + +The Linwoods; or, Sixty Years since in America. + +The Poor Rich Man and the Rich Poor Man. + +Live and let Live; or, Domestic Service Illustrated. + +A Love Token for Children. + + +BULWER'S WORKS. + +Pelham; or, the Adventures of a Gentleman. + +The Disowned; a Tale. + +Devereux. + +Paul Clifford; a Tale. + +Eugene Aram. + +The Last Days of Pompeii. + +The Student; a Series of Papers. + +Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes. + +Ernest Maltravers. + +Alice; or, the Mysteries. + +Calderon, the Courtier. + +Leila; or, the Siege of Grenada. + +Falkland; a Tale. + +The Pilgrims of the Rhine. + +The Rebel, and other Tales. + +The Siamese Twins; a Satirical Tale of the Times, &c. + +Richelieu; or, the Conspiracy. A Play. With Historical Odes. + +The Lady of Lyons. A Play. + +The Sea-Captain; or, the Birthright. A Play. + +England and the English. + +Athens: its Rise and Fall. + + +PAULDING's WORKS. + +Salmagundi; or, the Whim-whams and Opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, +Esq., and others. + +Letters from the South. + +Koningsmarke; or, Old Times in the New World. + +The Diverting History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan. + +Tales of the Good Woman. + +The Dutchman's Fireside. + +Westward Ho! + +The Book of St. Nicholas. + +New Pilgrim's Progress. + +The Three Wise Men of Gotham. + +John Bull in America. + +Winter Nights' Entertainments. + +The Atlantic Club-book. By Paulding and others. + +Tales of Glauber Spa. By Paulding and others. + +A Life of Washington. + +Slavery in the United States. + + +JAMES'S WORKS. + +Richelieu; a Tale of France. + +Darnley; or, the Field of the Cloth of Gold. + +De l'Orme. + +Philip Augustus; or, the Brothers in Arms. + +Henry Masterton; or, the Young Cavalier. + +Mary of Burgundy; or, the Revolt of Ghent. + +The Adventures of John Marston Hall. + +The Gipsy; a Tale. + +One in a Thousand; or, the Days of Henry Quatre. + +The Desultory Man. + +Attila; a Romance. + +The Robber. + +The Huguenot; a Tale of the French Protestants. + +Charles Tyrrell; or, the Bitter Blood. + +The Gentleman of the Old School. + +Henry of Guise; or, the States of Blois. + +The King's Highway. + +The String of Pearls. + +The Club-book. By James, and others. + +History of Chivalry and the Crusades. + +History of Charlemagne + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CORSE DE LEON, VOLUME I (OF 2)*** + + +******* This file should be named 36041.txt or 36041.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/6/0/4/36041 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/36041.zip b/36041.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..adca48d --- /dev/null +++ b/36041.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8603b02 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #36041 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36041) |