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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/36083-8.txt b/36083-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a53a39f --- /dev/null +++ b/36083-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9131 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lady of the Mount, by Frederic S. Isham + +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: The Lady of the Mount + +Author: Frederic S. Isham + +Illustrator: Lester Ralph + +Release Date: May 22, 2011 [EBook #36083] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LADY OF THE MOUNT *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + + +[Frontispiece: My Lady] + + + + + +THE LADY OF THE MOUNT + + +_By_ + +FREDERIC S. ISHAM + + + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY + +LESTER RALPH + + + + +INDIANAPOLIS + +THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY + +PUBLISHERS + + + + +COPYRIGHT 1908 + +THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY + +FEBRUARY + + + + +BY FREDERIC S. ISHAM + +BLACK FRIDAY + Illustrated by Harrison Fisher + 12mo, Cloth $1.50 + + +UNDER THE ROSE + Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy + 12mo, Cloth $1.50 + + +THE STROLLERS + Illustrated by Harrison Fisher + 12mo, Cloth $1.50 + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I A CHANCE ENCOUNTER + II AN ECHO OF THE PAST + III A SUDDEN RESOLUTION + IV A DANCE ON THE BEACH + V AN INTERRUPTION + VI A MESSAGE FOR MY LADY + VII A DISTANT MENACE + VIII THE OLD WATCH-TOWER + IX A DISCOVERY + X THE CLOISTER IN THE AIR + XI THE GOVERNOR IS SURPRISED + XII AT THE COCKLES + XIII THE SEETHING OF THE SEA + XIV THE PILGRIMAGE + XV THE VOICE FROM THE GROUP + XVI THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE PEOPLE + XVII THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE HUNCHBACK + XVIII THE MOUNTEBANK AND MY LADY + XIX THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE GOVERNOR + XX THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE SOLDIER + XXI THE STAIRWAY OF SILVER + XXII THE WHIRLING OF THE WHEEL + XXIII AT THE VERGE OF THE APERTURE + XXIV THE HALL OF THE CHEVALIERS + XXV THE UNDER WORLD + XXVI A NEW ARRIVAL + XXVII A STROLL ON THE STRAND + XXVIII THE HESITATION OF THE MARQUIS + XXIX THE MARQUIS INTERVENES + XXX A SOUND AFAR + XXXI THE ATTACK ON THE MOUNT + XXXII NEAR THE ALTAR + XXXIII ON THE SANDS + XXXIV SOME TIME LATER + + + + +THE LADY OF THE MOUNT + + + +CHAPTER I + +A CHANCE ENCOUNTER + +"Don't you know, boy, you ought not to get in my way?" + +The tide was at its ebb; the boats stranded afar, and the lad addressed +had started, with a fish--his wage--in one hand, to walk to shore, +when, passing into the shadow of the rampart of the Governor's Mount, +from the opposite direction a white horse swung suddenly around a +corner of the stone masonry and bore directly upon him. He had but +time to step aside; as it was, the animal grazed his shoulder, and the +boy, about to give utterance to a natural remonstrance, lifted his eyes +to the offender. The words were not forthcoming; surprised, he gazed +at a tiny girl, of about eleven, perched fairy-like on the broad back +of the heavy steed. + +"Don't you know you ought not to get in my way?" she repeated +imperiously. + +The boy, tall, dark, unkempt as a young savage, shifted awkwardly; his +black eyes, restless enough ordinarily, expressed a sudden shyness in +the presence of this unexpected and dainty creature. + +"I--didn't see you," he half stammered. + +"Well, you should have!" And again the little lady frowned, shook her +disordered golden curls disapprovingly and gazed at him, a look of +censure in her brown eyes. "But perhaps you don't know who I am," she +went on with a lift of the patrician doll-like features. "I don't +think you do, or you wouldn't stand there like a booby, without taking +off your hat." More embarrassed, he removed a worn cap while she +continued to regard him with the reverse of approval. "I am the +Comtesse Elise," she observed; "the daughter of the Governor of the +Mount." + +"Oh!" said the boy, and his glance shifted to the most important and +insistent feature of the landscape. + +Carrying its clustered burden of houses and palaces, a great rock +reared itself from the monotony of the bare and blinding sands. Now an +oasis in the desert, ere night was over he knew the in-rushing waters +would convert it into an island; claim it for the sea! A strange +kingdom, yet a mighty one, it belonged alternately to the land and to +the ocean. With the sky, however, it enjoyed perpetual affiliation, +for the heavens were ever wooing it; now winding pretty ribbons of +light about its air-drawn castles; then kissing it with the tender, +soft red glow of celestial fervor. + +"Yes; I live right on top among the clouds, in a castle, with dungeons +underneath, where my father puts the bad people who don't like the +nobles and King Louis XVI. But where," categorically, "do you live?" + +His gaze turned from the points and turrets and the clouds she spoke +of--that seemed to linger about the lofty summit--to the mainland, +perhaps a mile distant. + +"There!" he said, and specifically indicated a dark fringe, like a +cloud on the lowlands. + +"In the woods! How odd!" She looked at him with faint interest. "And +don't the bears bother you? Once when I wanted to see what the woods +were like, my nurse told me they were filled with terrible bears who +would eat up little girls. I don't have a nurse any more," +irrelevantly, "only a governess who came from the court of Versailles, +and Beppo. Do you know Beppo?" + +"No." + +"I don't like him," she confided. "He is always listening. But why do +you live in the woods?" + +"Because!" The reason failed him. + +"And didn't you ever live anywhere else?" + +A shadow crossed the dark young face. "Once," he said. + +"I suppose the bears know you," she speculated, "and that is the reason +they let you alone. Or, perhaps, they are like the wolf in the +fairy-tale. Did you ever hear of the kind-hearted wolf?" + +He shook his head. + +"My nurse used to tell it to me. Well, once there was a boy who was an +orphan and everybody hated him. So he went to live in the forest and +there he met a wolf. 'Where are you going, little boy?' said the wolf. +'Nowhere,' said the boy; 'I have no home.' 'No home!' said the +kind-hearted wolf; 'then come with me, and you shall share my cave.' +Isn't that a nice story?" + +He looked at her in a puzzled manner. "I don't know," he began, when +she tossed her head. + +"What a stupid boy!" she exclaimed severely. A moment she studied him +tentatively through her curls, from the vantage point of her elevated +seat. "That's a big fish," she remarked, after the pause. + +"Do you want it?" he asked quickly, his face brightening. + +"You can give it to Beppo when he comes," she said, drawing herself up +loftily. "He'll be here soon. I've run away from him!" A sudden +smile replaced her brief assumption of dignity. "He'll be so angry! +He's fat and ugly," more confidentially. "And he's so amusing when +he's vexed! But how much do you ask for the fish?" + +"I didn't mean--to sell it!" + +"Why not?" + +"I--don't sell fish." + +"Don't sell fish!" She looked at the clothes, frayed and worn, the +bare muscular throat, the sunburned legs. "You meant to give it to me?" + +"Yes." + +The girl laughed. "What a funny boy!" + +His cheek flushed; from beneath the matted hair, the disconcerted black +eyes met the mocking brown ones. + +"Of course I can't take it for nothing," she explained, "and it is very +absurd of you to expect it." + +"Then," with sudden stubbornness, "I will keep it!" + +Her glance grew more severe. "Most people speak to me as 'my Lady.' +You seem to have forgotten. Or perhaps you have been listening to some +of those silly persons who talk about everybody being born equal. I've +heard my father, the Governor, speak of them and how he has put some of +them in his dungeons. You'd better not talk that way, or he may shut +you up in some terrible dark hole beneath the castle." + +"I'm not afraid!" The black eyes shone. + +"Then you must be a very wicked boy. It would serve you right if I was +to tell." + +"You can!" + +"Then I won't! Besides, I'm not a telltale!" She tossed her curls and +went on. "I've heard my father say these people who want to be called +'_gentilhomme_' and 'monsieur' are low and ignorant; they can't even +read and write." + +Again the red hue mantled the boy's cheek. "I don't believe you can!" +she exclaimed shrewdly and clapped her hands. "Can you now?" He did +not answer. "'Monsieur'! '_Gentilhomme_'!" she repeated. + +He stepped closer, his face dark; but whatever reply he might have made +was interrupted by the sound of a horse's hoofs and the abrupt +appearance, from the direction the child had come, of a fat, +irascible-looking man of middle age, dressed in livery. + +"Oh, here you are, my Lady!" His tone was far from amiable; as he +spoke he pulled up his horse with a vicious jerk. "A pretty chase +you've led me!" + +She regarded him indifferently. "If you _will_ stop at the inn, +Beppo--" + +The man's irate glance fell. "Who is this?" + +"A boy who doesn't want to sell his fish," said the girl merrily. + +"Oh!" The man's look expressed a quick recognition. "A fine day's +work is this--to bandy words with--" Abruptly he raised his whip. +"What do you mean, sirrah, by stopping my Lady?" + +A fierce gleam in the lad's eyes belied the smile on his lips. "Don't +beat me, good Beppo!" he said in a mocking voice, and stood, alert, +lithe, like a tiger ready to spring. The man hesitated; his arm +dropped to his side. "The very spot!" he said, looking around him. + +A moment the boy waited, then turned on his heel and, without a word, +walked away. Soon an angle in the sea-wall, girdling the Mount, hid +him from view. + +"Why didn't you strike him?" Quietly the child regarded the man. +"Were you afraid?" Beppo's answering look was not one of affection for +his charge. "Who is he?" + +"An idle vagabond." + +"What is his name?" + +"I don't know." + +"Don't you?" + +A queer expression sprang into his eyes. "One can't remember every +peasant brat," he returned evasively. + +She considered him silently; then: "Why did you say: 'The very spot'?" +she asked. + +"Did I? I don't remember. But it's time we were getting back. Come, +my Lady!" And Beppo struck his horse smartly. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AN ECHO OF THE PAST + +Immovable on its granite base, the great rock, or "Mount," as it had +been called for centuries, stood some distance from the shore in a vast +bay on the northwestern coast of France. To the right, a sweep of +sward and marsh stretched seaward, until lost in the distance; to the +left, lay the dense Desaurac forest, from which an arm of land, thickly +wooded, reached out in seeming endeavor to divide the large bay into +two smaller basins. But the ocean, jealous of territory already +conquered, twice in twenty-four hours rose to beat heavily on this dark +promontory, and, in the angry hiss of the waters, was a reminder of a +persistent purpose. Here and there, through the ages, had the +shore-line of the bay, as well as the neighboring curvatures of the +coast, yielded to the assaults of the sea; the Mount alone, solidly +indifferent to blandishment or attack, maintained an unvarying aspect. + +For centuries a monastery and fortress of the monks, at the time of +Louis XVI the Mount had become a stronghold of the government, strongly +ruled by one of its most inexorable nobles. Since his appointment many +years before to the post, my lord, the Governor of the rock, had ever +been regarded as a man who conceded nothing to the people and pursued +only the set tenure of his way. During the long period of his reign he +committed but one indiscretion; generally regarded as a man confirmed +in apathy for the gentler sex, he suddenly, when already past middle +age, wedded. Speculation concerning a step so unlooked for was +naturally rife. + +In hovel and hut was it whispered the bride Claire, only daughter of +the Comtesse de la Mart, had wept at the altar, but that her mother had +appeared complacent, as well she might; for the Governor of the Mount +and the surrounding country was both rich and powerful; his ships swept +far and wide, even to the Orient, while the number of _métayers_, or +petty farmers that paid him tribute, constituted a large community. +Other gossips, bending over peat fires within mud walls, +affirmed--beneath their breath, lest the spies of the well-hated lord +of the North might hear them!--that the more popular, though +impoverished Seigneur Desaurac had been the favored suitor with the +young woman herself, but that the family of the bride had found him +undesirable. The Desaurac fortune, once large, had so waned that +little remained save the rich, though heavily encumbered lands, and, in +the heart of the forest, a time-worn, crumbling castle. + +Thus it came to pass the marriage of the lady to the Governor was +celebrated in the jeweled Gothic church crowning a medley of palaces, +chapels and monastery on the Mount; that the rejected Seigneur +Desaurac, gazing across the strip of water--for the tide was at its +full--separating the rocky fortress from the land, shrugged his +shoulders angrily and contemptuously, and that not many moons later, as +if to show disdain of position and title, took to his home an orphaned +peasant lass. That a simple church ceremony had preceded this step was +both affirmed and denied; hearsay described a marriage at a neighboring +village; more malicious gossip discredited it. A man of rank! A woman +of the soil! Feudal custom forbade belief that the proper sort of +nuptial knot had been tied. + +Be this as it may, for a time the sturdy, dark brown young woman +presided over the Seigneur's fortunes with exemplary care and patience. +She found them in a chaotic condition; lands had either been allowed to +run to waste, or were cultivated by peasants that so long had forgotten +to pay the _métayage_, or owner's due, they had come to regard the +acres as their own--a delusion this practical helpmate would speedily +have dispelled, save that the Seigneur himself pleaded for them and +would not permit of the "poor people" being disturbed. Whereupon she +made the best of an anomalous situation, and all concerned might have +continued to live satisfactorily enough unto themselves, when +unfortunately an abrupt break occurred in the chain of circumstances. +In presenting the Seigneur with a child, half-peasant, half-lord, the +mother gave up her own life for his posterity. + +At first, thereafter, the Seigneur remained a recluse; when, however, a +year or two had gone by, the peasants--who had settled in greater +numbers thereabouts, even to the verge of the forest--noticed that he +gradually emerged from his solitude, ventured into the world at large, +and occasionally was seen in the vicinity of the Mount. This +predilection for lonely walks clearly led to his undoing; one morning +he was found stabbed in the back, on the beach at the foot of the Mount. + +Carried home, he related how he had been set upon by a band of +miscreants, which later, coming to the Governor's ears, led to an +attempt to locate the assailants among the rocky isles to the +northwest, haunts of privateersmen, rogues and those reformers who +already were beginning to undermine the peace of Louis XVI's northern +provinces. In the pursuit of these gentry, the Governor showed himself +in earnest. Perhaps his own sorrow at the rather sudden death of his +lady, occurring about this time, and leaving him, a morose widower, +with a child, a little girl, led him to more relentless activities; +perhaps the character of the crime--a noble stabbed!--incensed him. + +Certainly he revenged himself to the full; not only raked the rocks for +runagates, but dragged peasants, inclined to sullenness, from their +huts; clapped some in dungeons and hanged the rest. In the popular +mind his name became synonymous with cruelty, but, on his high throne, +he continued to exercise his autocratic prerogative and cared not what +the people thought. + +Meanwhile, the Seigneur Desaurac, recovering, became a prey to greater +restlessness; no sooner was he able to get about, than, accompanied by +a faithful servant, Sanchez, he left the neighborhood, and, for a +number of years, led a migratory existence in continental capitals. +The revolt of the colonies in America and the news of the contemplated +departure of the brave Lafayette for the seat of hostilities, offered, +at least, a pretext to break the fetters of a purposeless life. At +once, he placed his sword at Lafayette's disposal, and packed himself +and servitor--a fellow of dog-like fidelity--across the ocean. There, +at the seat of war's alarms, in the great conflict waged in the name of +liberty, he met a soldier's end, far from the fief of his ancestors. +Sanchez, the man, buried him, and, having dutifully performed this last +task, walked away from the grave and out of the army. + +During this while, the son by the peasant woman, intrusted to an old +fishwife who had been allowed to usurp a patch of his father's lands, +received scanty care and attention, even when the stipulated fees for +his maintenance had continued to come; but when, at the Seigneur's +death, they ceased, any slight solicitude on the caretaker's part +soured to acrimony. An offspring of dubious parentage, she begrudged +him his bread; kept him from her own precious brood, and taught them to +address him as "brat," "pauper," or by terms even more forcible. Thus +set upon, frequently he fought; but like young wolves, hunting in +packs, they worried him to the earth, and, when he continued to +struggle, beat him to unconsciousness, if not submission. + +One day, after such an experience at the hands of those who had +partaken of the Seigneur's liberality, the boy, all bruised and aching, +fled to the woods, and, with the instinct of an animal to hide, buried +himself in its deepest recesses. Night came; encompassed by strange +sounds, unknown terrors, he crept to the verge of the forest, and lying +there, looked out across the distance toward the scattered habitations, +visible through the gloom. One tiny yellow dot of light which he +located held his glance. Should he return? That small stone hut, +squalid as it was, had been his only remembered home. But the thought +of the reception that awaited him there made him hesitate; the stars +coming out, seemed to lend courage to his resolution, and, with his +face yet turned toward the low long strip of land, sprinkled with the +faint, receding points of light, he fell asleep. + +The earliest shafts of morn, however, awaking him, sent him quickly +back into the dark forest, where all day he kept to the most shadowy +screens and covers, fearing he should be followed, and, perhaps, +captured. But the second night was like the first, the next like the +second, and the days continued to pass with no signs of pursuit. +Pinched by hunger, certain of the berries and roots he ate poisoned +him, until in time he profited by his sufferings and learned to +discriminate in his choice of the frugal fare about him. Not that his +appetite was ever satisfied, even when he extended his explorations to +the beach at night, digging in the sand with his fingers for cockles, +or prowling about the rocks for mussels. + +Yet, despite all, he hugged to his breast a compensating sense of +liberty; the biting tooth of autumn was preferable to the stripes and +tongue-lashings of the old life; and, if now frugal repasts were the +rule, hunger had often been his lot in the past. So he assimilated +with his surroundings; learned not to fear the animals, and they, to +know him; indeed, they seemed to recognize him by that sharp unsated +glint of the eye as one of their kind. When the days grew bleaker and +the nights colder, he took refuge in a corner within the gray walls of +the moss-grown castle of his ancestors, the old Seigneurs. No cheerful +place, above all at night, when the spirits of the dead seem to walk +abroad, and sobs, moans, and fierce voices fill the air! Then, +creeping closer to the fire he had started in the giant hearth, +wide-eyed he would listen, only at length through sheer weariness to +fall asleep. Nevertheless, it was a shelter, and here, throughout the +winter, the boy remained. + +Here, too, Sanchez, the Seigneur's old servant, returning months later +from long wanderings to the vicinity of the Mount--for no especial +reason, save the desire once more to see the place--had found him. And +at the sight the man frowned. + +In the later days, the Seigneur Desaurac had become somewhat unmindful, +if not forgetful, of his own flesh and blood. It may be that the +absorbing character of the large and chivalrous motives that animated +him left little disposition or leisure for private concerns; at any +rate, he seemed seldom to have thought, much less spoken of, that +"hostage of fortune" he had left behind; an absent-mindedness that in +no wise surprised the servant--which, indeed, met the man's full, +unspoken approval! The Seigneur, his master, was a nobleman of +untarnished ancestry, to be followed and served; the son--Sanchez had +never forgiven the mother her low-born extraction. He was, himself, a +peasant! + + + + +CHAPTER III + +A SUDDEN RESOLUTION + +After his chance encounter with my lady, the Governor's daughter, and +Beppo, her attendant, the boy walked quickly from the Mount to the +forest. His eyes were still bright; his cheeks yet burned, but +occasionally the shadow of a smile played about his mouth, and he threw +up his head fiercely. At the verge of the wood he looked back, stood +for a moment with the reflection of light on his face, then plunged +into the shadows of the sylvan labyrinth. Near the east door of the +castle, which presently he reached, he stopped for an armful of +faggots, and, bending under his load, passed through an entrance, +seared and battered, across a great roofless space and up a flight of +steps to a room that had once been the kitchen of the vast +establishment. As he entered, a man, thin, wizened, though active +looking, turned around. + +"So you've got back?" he said in a grumbling tone. + +"Yes," answered the boy good-naturedly, casting the wood to the +flagging near the flame and brushing his coat with his hand; "the storm +kept us out last night, Sanchez." + +"It'll keep you out for good some day," remarked the man. "You'll be +drowned, if you don't have a care." + +"Better that than being hanged!" returned the lad lightly. + +The other's response, beneath his breath, was lost, as he drew his +stool closer to the pot above the blaze, removed the lid and peered +within. Apparently his survey was not satisfactory, for he replaced +the cover, clasped his fingers over his knees and half closed his eyes. + +"Where's the fish?" + +The boy, thoughtfully regarding the flames, started; when he had left +the child and Beppo, unconsciously he had dropped it, but this he did +not now explain. "I didn't bring one." + +"Didn't bring one?" + +"No," said the boy, flushing slightly. + +"And not a bone or scrap in the larder! Niggardly fishermen! A small +enough wage--for going to sea and helping them--" + +"Oh, I could have had what I wanted. And they are not niggardly! +Only--I forgot." + +"Forgot!" The man lifted his hands, but any further evidence of +surprise or expostulation was interrupted by a sudden ebullition in the +pot. + +Left to his thoughts, the boy stepped to the window; for some time +stood motionless, gazing through a forest rift at the end of which +uprose the top of an Aladdin-like structure, by an optical illusion +become a part of that locality; a conjuror's castle in the wood! + +"The Mount looks near to-night, Sanchez!" + +"Near?" The man took from its hook the pot and set it on the table. +"Not too near to suit the Governor, perhaps!" + +"And why should it suit him?" drawing a stool to the table and sitting +down. + +"Because he must be so fond of looking at the forest." + +"And does that--please him?" + +"How could it fail to? Isn't it a nice wood? Oh, yes, I'll warrant +you he finds it to his liking. And all the lands about the forest that +used to belong to the old Seigneurs, and which the peasants have +taken--waste lands they have tilled--he must think them very fine to +look at, now! And what a hubbub there would be, if the lazy peasants +had to pay their métayage, and fire-tax and road-tax--and all the other +taxes--the way the other peasants do--to him--" + +"What do you mean?" + +"Nothing!" The man's jaw closed like a steel trap. "The porridge is +burned." + +And with no further word the meal proceeded. The man, first to finish, +lighted his pipe, moved again to the fire, and, maintaining a +taciturnity that had become more or less habitual, stolidly devoted +himself to the solace of the weed and the companionship of his own +reflections. Once or twice the boy seemed about to speak and did not; +finally, however, he leaned forward, a more resolute light in his +sparkling black eyes. + +"You never learned to read, Sanchez?" + +At the unexpected question, the smoke puffed suddenly from the man's +lips. "Not I." + +"Nor write?" + +The man made a rough gesture. "Nor sail to the moon!" he returned +derisively. "Read? Rubbish! Write? What for? Does it bring more +fish to your nets?" + +"Who--could show me how to read and write?" + +"You?" Sanchez stared. + +"Why not?" + +"Books are the tools of the devil!" declared Sanchez shortly. "There +was a black man here to-day with a paper--a 'writ,' I think he called +it--or a 'service' of some kind--anyhow, it must have been in Latin," +violently, "for such gibberish, I never heard and--" + +The boy rose. "People who can't read and write are low and ignorant!" + +"Eh? What's come over you?" + +"My father was a gentleman." + +"Your father!--yes--" + +"And a Seigneur!--" + +"A Seigneur truly!" + +"And I mean to be one!" said the boy suddenly, closing his fists. + +"Oh, oh! So that's it?" derisively. "You! A Seigneur? Whose +mother--" + +"Who could teach me?" Determined, but with a trace of color on his +brown cheek, the boy looked down. + +"Who?" The man began to recover from his surprise. "That's not so +easy to tell. But if you must know--well, there's Gabriel Gabarie, for +one, a poet of the people. He might do it--although there's talk of +cutting off his head--" + +"What for?" + +"For knowing how to write." + +The lad reached for his hat. + +"Where are you going?" + +"To the poet's." + +"At this late hour! You are in a hurry!" + +"If what you say is true, there's no time to lose." + +"Well, if you find him writing verses about liberty and equality, don't +interrupt him, or _you'll_ lose _your_ head," shouted the man. + +But when the sound of the boy's footsteps had ceased, Sanchez's +expression changed; more bent, more worn, he got up and walked slowly +to and fro. "A fine Seigneur!" The moldering walls seemed to echo the +words. "A fine Seigneur!" he muttered, and again sat brooding by the +fire. + +In the gathering dusk the lad strode briskly on. A squirrel barked to +the right; he did not look around. A partridge drummed to the left; +usually alert to wood sound or life, to-night he did not heed it. But, +fairly out of the forest and making his way with the same air of +resolution across the sands toward the lowland beyond, his attention, +on a sudden, became forcibly diverted. He had but half completed the +distance from the place where he had left the wood to the objective +point in the curvature of the shore, when to the left through the +gloom, a great vehicle, drawn by six horses, could be seen rapidly +approaching. From the imposing equipage gleamed many lamps; the moon, +which ere this had begun to assert its place in the heavens, made +bright the shining harness and shone on the polished surface of the +golden car. Wondering, the boy paused. + +"What is that?" + +The person addressed, a fisherman belated, bending to the burden on his +shoulders, stopped, and, breathing hard, looked around and watched the +approaching vehicle intently. + +"The Governor's carriage!" he said. "Haven't you ever heard of the +Governor's carriage?" + +"No." + +"That's because he hasn't used it lately; but in her ladyship's day--" + +"Her ladyship?" + +"The Governor's lady--he bought it for her. But she soon got tired of +it--or perhaps didn't like the way the people looked at her!" roughly. +"_Mon dieu!_ perhaps they did scowl a little--for it didn't please +them, I can tell you!--the sight of all that gold squeezed from the +taxes!" + +"Where is he going now?" + +"Nowhere himself--he never goes far from the Mount. But the Lady +Elise, his daughter--some one in the village was saying she was going +to Paris--" + +"Paris!" The lad repeated the word quickly. "What for?" + +"What do all the great lords and nobles send their children there for? +To get educated--married, and--to learn the tricks of the court! Bah!" +With a coarse laugh the man turned; stooping beneath his load, he moved +grumblingly on. + +The boy, however, did not stir; as in a dream he looked first at the +Mount, a dark triangle against the sky, then at the carriage. Nearer +the latter drew, was about to dash by, when suddenly the driver, on his +high seat, uttered an exclamation and at the same time tugged hard at +the reins. The vehicle took a quick turn, lurched dangerously in its +top-heavy pomp, and, almost upsetting, came to a standstill nearly +opposite the boy. + +"Careless dog!" a shrill voice screamed from the inside. "What are you +doing?" + +"The _lises_, your Excellency!" The driver's voice was thick; as he +spoke he swayed uncertainly. + +"_Lises_--quicksands--" + +"There, your Excellency," indicating a gleaming place right in their +path; a small bright spot that looked as if it might have been +polished, while elsewhere on the surrounding sands tiny rippling +parallels caressed the eye with streaks of black and silver. "I saw it +in time!" + +"In time!" angrily. "Imbecile! Didn't you know it was there?" + +"Of course, your Excellency! Only I had misjudged a little, and--" +The man's manner showed he was frightened. + +"Falsehoods! You have been drinking! Don't answer. You shall hear of +this later. Drive around the spot." + +"Yes, your Excellency," was the now sober and subdued answer. + +Ere he obeyed, however, the carriage door, from which the Governor had +been leaning, swung open. "Wait!" he called out impatiently, and tried +to close it, but the catch--probably from long disuse--would not hold, +and, before the liveried servant perched on the lofty carriage behind +had fully perceived the fact and had recovered himself sufficiently to +think of his duties, the boy on the beach had sprung forward. + +"Slam it!" commanded an irate voice. + +The lad complied, and as he did so, peered eagerly into the capacious +depths of the vehicle. + +"The boy with the fish!" exclaimed at the same time a girlish treble +within. + +"Eh?" my lord turned sharply. + +"An impudent lad who stopped the Lady Elise!" exclaimed the fat +man--surely Beppo--on the front seat. + +"Stopped the Lady Elise!" The Governor repeated the words slowly; an +ominous pause was followed by an abrupt movement on the part of the +child. + +"He did not stop me; it was I who nearly ran over him, and it was my +fault. Beppo does not tell the truth--he's a wicked man!--and I'm glad +I'm not going to see him any more! And the boy wasn't impudent; at +least until Beppo offered to strike him, and then, Beppo didn't! +Beppo," derisively, "was afraid!" + +"My lady," Beppo's voice was soft and unctuous, "construes forbearance +for fear." + +"Step nearer, boy!" + +Partly blinded by the lamps, the lad obeyed; was cognizant of a +piercing scrutiny; two hard, steely eyes that seemed to read his inmost +thoughts; a face, indistinguishable but compelling; beyond, something +white--a girl's dress--that moved and fluttered! + +"Who is he?" + +"A poor boy who lives in the woods, papa!" + +But Beppo bent forward and whispered, his words too low for the lad to +catch. Whatever his information, the Governor started; the questioning +glance on an instant brightened, and his head was thrust forward close +to the boy's. A chill seemed to pass over the lad, yet he did not +quail. + +"Good-by, boy!" said the child, and, leaning from the window, smiled +down at him. + +He tried to answer, when a hand pulled her in somewhat over-suddenly. + +"Drive on!" Again the shrill tones cut the air. "Drive on, I tell +you! _Diable_! What are you standing here for!" + +A whip lashed the air and the horses leaped forward. The back wheels +of the vehicle almost struck the lad, but, motionless, he continued +staring after it. Farther it drew away, and, as he remained thus he +discerned, or fancied he discerned, a girl's face at the back--a ribbon +that waved for a moment in the moonlight, and then was gone. + +Eight years elapsed before next he saw her. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A DANCE ON THE BEACH + +The great vernal equinox of April 178-, was the cause of certain +unusual movements of the tide, which made old mariners and +coast-fishermen shake their heads and gaze seaward, out of all +reckoning. At times, after a tempest, on this strange coast, the +waters would rise in a manner and at an hour out of the ordinary, and +then among the dwellers on the shore, there were those who +prognosticated dire unhappiness, telling how the sea had once devoured +two villages overnight, and how, beneath the sands, were homes intact, +with the people yet in their beds. + +Concerned with a disordered social system and men in and out of +dungeons, the Governor had little time and less inclination to note the +caprices of the tide or the vagaries of the strand. The people! The +menacing and mercurial ebb and flow of their moods! The maintenance of +autocratic power on the land, and, a more difficult task, on the +sea--these were matters of greater import than the phenomena of nature +whose purposes man is powerless to shape or curb. My lady, his +daughter, however, who had just returned from seven years' schooling at +a convent and one year at court where the Queen, Marie Antoinette, set +the fashion of gaiety, found in the conduct of their great neighbor, +the ocean, a source of both entertainment and instruction for her +guests, a merry company transported from Versailles. + +"Is it not a sight well worth seeing after your tranquil Seine, my +Lords?" she would say with a wave of her white hand toward the restless +sea. "Here, perched in mid air like eagles, you have watched the +'grand tide,' as we call it, come in--like no other tide--faster than a +horse can gallop! Where else could you witness the like?" + +"Nowhere. And when it goes out--" + +"It goes out so far, you can no longer see it; only a vast beach that +reaches to the horizon, and--" + +"Must be very dangerous?" + +"For a few days, perhaps; later, not at all, when the petites tides are +the rule, and can be depended on. Then are the sands, except for one +or two places very well-known, as safe as your gardens at Versailles. +But remain, and--you shall see." + +Which they did--finding the place to their liking--or their hostess; +for the Governor, who cared not for guests, but must needs entertain +them for reasons of state, left them as much as might be to his +daughter. She, brimming with the ardor and effervescence of eighteen +years, accepted these responsibilities gladly; pending that period she +had referred to, turned the monks' great refectory into a ball-room, +and then, when the gales had swept away, proposed the sands themselves +as a scene for diversion both for her guests and the people. This, +despite the demur of his Excellency, her father. + +"Is it wise," he had asked, "to court the attention of the people?" + +"Oh, I am not afraid!" she had answered. "And they are going to dance, +too!" + +"They!" He frowned. + +"Why not? It is the Queen's own idea. 'Let the people dance,' she has +said, 'and they will keep out of mischief.' Besides," with a prouder +poise of the bright head, "why shouldn't they see, and--like me?" + +"They like nothing except themselves, and," dryly, "to attempt to evade +their just obligations." + +"Can you blame them?" She made a light gesture. "Obligations, _mon +père_, are so tiresome!" + +"Well, well," hastily, "have your own way!" Although he spoke rather +shortly, on the whole he was not displeased with his daughter; her +betrothal with the Marquis de Beauvillers, a nobleman of large +estates,--arranged while she was yet a child!--promised a brilliant +marriage and in a measure offered to his Excellency some compensation +for that old and long-cherished disappointment--the birth of a girl +when his ambition had looked so strongly for an heir to his name as +well as to his estate. + +And so my lady and her guests danced and made merry on the sands below, +and the people came out from the mainland, or down from the houses in +the town at the base of the rock, to watch. A varied assemblage of +gaunt-looking men and bent, low-browed women, for the most part they +stood sullen and silent; though exchanging meaning glances now and then +as if to say: "Do you note all this ostentation--all this glitter and +display? Yes; and some day--" Upon brooding brows, in deep-set eyes, +on furrowed faces a question and an answer seemed to gleam and pass. +Endowed with natural optimism and a vivacity somewhat heedless, my lady +appeared unconscious of all this latent enmity until an unlooked-for +incident, justifying in a measure the Governor's demur, broke in upon +the evening's festivities and claimed her attention. + +On the beach, lighted by torches, a dainty minuet was proceeding gaily, +when through the throng of onlookers, a young man with dark head set on +a frame tall and powerful, worked his way carefully to a point where he +was afforded at least a restricted view of the animated spectacle. +Absorbed each in his or her way in the scene before them, no one +noticed him, and, with hat drawn over his brow, and standing in the +shadow of the towering head-dresses of several peasant women, he seemed +content to attract as little attention to himself as possible. His +look, at first quick and alert, that of a man taking stock of his +surroundings, suddenly became intent and piercing, as, passing in +survey over the lowly spectators to the glittering company, it centered +itself on the young mistress of festivities. + +In costume white and shining, the Lady Elise moved through the graceful +numbers, her slender supple figure now poised, now swaying, from head +to foot responsive to the rhythm of that "pastime of little steps." +Her lips, too, were busy, but such was the witchery of her motion--all +fire and life!--the silk-stockinged cavaliers whom she thus regaled +with wit, mockery, or jest, could, for the most part, respond only with +admiring glances or weakly protesting words. + +"That pretty fellow, her partner," with a contemptuous accent on the +adjective, "is the Marquis de Beauvillers, a kinsman of the King!" said +one of the women in the throng. + +"_Ma foi_! They're well matched. A dancing doll for a popinjay!" + +The young man behind the head-dresses, now nodding viciously, moved +nearer the front. Dressed in the rough though not unpicturesque +fashion of the northern fisherman, a touch of color in his apparel lent +to his bearing a note of romance the bold expression of his swarthy +face did not belie. For a few moments he watched the girl; the +changing eyes and lips, shadowed by hair that shone and flashed like +bright burnished gold; then catching her gaze, the black eyes gleamed. +An instant their eyes lingered; hers startled, puzzled. + +"Where have I seen him?" My lady, in turning, paused to swing over her +shoulders a glance. + +"Whom?" asked her companion in the dance--a fair, handsome nobleman of +slim figure and elegant bearing. + +"That's just what I can't tell you," she answered, sweeping a courtesy +that fitted the rhythm of the music. "Only a face I should remember!" + +"Should?" The Marquis' look followed hers. + +But the subject of their conversation, as if divining the trend of +their talk, had drawn back. + +"Oh, he is gone now," she answered. + +"A malcontent, perhaps! One meets them nowadays." + +"No, no! He did not look--" + +"Some poor fellow, then, your beauty has entrapped?" he insinuated. +"Humble admirer!" + +"Then I would remember him!" she laughed as the dance came to an end. + +Now in a tented pavilion, servants, richly garbed in festal costume, +passed among the guests, circulating trays, bright with golden dishes +and goblets, stamped with the ancient insignia of the Mount, and once +the property of the affluent monks, early rulers of the place. Other +attendants followed, bearing light delicacies, confections and +marvelous frosted towers and structures from the castle kitchen. + +"The patron saint in sugar!" Merry exclamations greeted these examples +of skill and cunning. "Are we to devour the saint?" + +"Ah, no; he is only to look at!" + +"But the Mount in cake--?" + +"You may cut into that--though beware!--not so deep as the dungeons!" + +"A piece of the cloister!" + +"A bit of the abbey!" + +"And you, Elise?" + +The girl reached gaily. "A little of the froth of the sea!" + +Meanwhile, not far distant, a barrel had been broached and wine was +being circulated among the people. There, master of ceremonies, Beppo +dispensed advice with the beverage, his grumbling talk heard above the +light laughter and chatter of the lords and ladies. + +"Drink to his Excellency!" As he spoke, the Governor's man, from the +elevated stand upon which he stood, gazed arrogantly around him. +"Clods! Sponges that sop without a word of thanks! Who only think of +your stomachs! Drink to the Governor, I say!" + +"To the Governor!" exclaimed a few, but it might have been noticed they +were men from the town, directly beneath the shadow of his Excellency's +castle, and now close within reach of the fat factotum's arm. + +"Once more! Had I the ordering of wine, the barrels would all be empty +ones, but her ladyship would be generous, and--" + +Beppo broke abruptly off, his wandering glance, on a sudden, arrested. + +"_Hein!_" he exclaimed, with eyes protruding. + +A moment he stammered a few words of surprise and incredulity, the +while he continued to search eagerly--but now in vain! The object of +his startled attention, illumined, for an instant, on the outskirts of +the throng, by the glare of a torch, was no more to be descried. As +questioning the reality of a fleeting impression, his gaze fixed itself +again near the edge of flickering lights; shifted uncertainly to the +pavilion where servants from the Mount hurried to and fro; then back to +the people around him. His jaw which had dropped grew suddenly firm. + +"Clear a space for the dance!" he called out in tones impatient, +excited. "It is her ladyship's command--so see you step blithely! And +you fellows there, with the _tambourin_ and _hautbois_, come forward!" + +Two men, clad in sheepskin and carrying rude instruments, obediently +advanced, and at once, in marked contrast to the recent tinkling +measures of the orchestra, a wild, half-barbaric concord rang out. + +But the Governor's man, having thus far executed the orders he had +received, did not linger to see whether or not his own injunction, "to +step blithely," was observed; some concern, remote from _gaillarde_, +_gavotte_ or _bourrée_ of the people, caused him hastily to dismount +from his stand and make his way from the throng. As he started at a +rapid pace across the sands, his eyes, now shining with anticipation, +looked back. + +"What could have brought him here? Him!" he repeated. "Ah, my fine +fellow, this should prove a lucky stroke for me!" And quickening his +step, until he almost ran, Beppo hurried toward the tower gate of the +Mount. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +AN INTERRUPTION + +"They seem not to appreciate your _fête champêtre_, my Lady!" At the +verge of the group of peasant dancers, the Lady Elise and the Marquis +de Beauvillers, who had left the other guests to the enjoyment of fresh +culinary surprises, paused to survey a scene, intended, yet failing, to +be festal. For whether these people were too sodden to avail +themselves of the opportunity for merrymaking, or liked not the notion +of tripping together at Beppo's command, their movements, which should +have been free and untrammeled as the vigorous swing of the music, were +characterized only by painful monotony and lagging. In the half-gloom +they came together like shadows; separated aimlessly and cast misshapen +silhouettes--caricatures of frolicking peasants--on the broad surface +of the sands beyond. These bobbing, black spots my lady disapprovingly +regarded. + +"They seem not in the mood, truly!" tapping her foot on the beach. + +"Here--and elsewhere!" he laughed. + +But the Governor's daughter made an impatient movement; memories of the +dance, as she had often seen it, when she was a child at the Mount, +recurred to her. "They seem to have forgotten!" Her eyes flashed. "I +should like to show them." + +"You? My Lady!" + +She did not answer; pressing her red lips, she glanced sharply around. +"Stupid people! Half of them are only looking on! When they can +dance, they won't, and--" She gave a slight start, for near her, +almost at her elbow, stood the young seaman she had observed only a +short time before, when the minuet was in progress. His dark eyes were +bent on her and she surprised on his face an expression half derisory, +half quizzical. Her look changed to one of displeasure. + +"You are not dancing?" severely. + +"No, my Lady." Too late, perhaps, he regretted his temerity--that too +unveiled and open regard. + +"Why not?" more imperiously. + +"I--" he began and stopped. + +"You _can_ dance?" + +"A little, perhaps--" + +"As well as they?" looking at the people. + +"Wooden fantoccini!" said the man, a flicker of bold amusement +returning to his face. + +"Fantoccini?" spoke the girl impatiently. "What know _you_ of them?" + +"We Breton seamen sail far, on occasion." + +"Far enough to gain in assurance!" cried my lady, with golden head +high, surveying him disdainfully through half-closed, sweeping lashes. +"But you shall prove your right." + +"Right?" asked the fellow, his eyes fixed intently upon her. + +"The right of one who does not dance--to criticize those who do!" she +said pointedly, and made, on the sudden, an imperious gesture. + +He gave a start of surprise; audacious though he was, he looked as if +he would draw back. "What? With you, my Lady?" + +A gleam of satisfaction, a little cold and scornful, shone from the +girl's eyes at this evidence of his discomfiture. "Unless," she added +maliciously, "you fear you--can not?" + +"Fear?" His look shot around; a moment he seemed to hesitate; then a +more reckless expression swept suddenly over his dark features and he +sprang to her side. + +"At your Ladyship's command!" + +My lady's white chin lifted. The presumptuous fellow knew the dance of +the Mount--danced it well, no doubt!--else why such ease and assurance? +Her lids veiled a look of disappointment; she was half-minded curtly to +dismiss him, when a few words of low remonstrance and the sight of my +lord's face decided her. She drew aside her skirts swiftly; flashed +back at the nobleman a smile, capricious and wilful. + +[Illustration: The presumptuous fellow knew the dance of the Mount] + +"They," indicating the peasants, "must have an example, my Lord!" she +exclaimed, and stood, with eyes sparkling, waiting the instant to catch +up the rhythm. + +But the Marquis, not finding the reason sufficient to warrant such +condescension, gazed with mute protest and disapproval on the two +figures, so ill-assorted: my lady, in robe of satin, fastened with +tassels of silver--the sleeves, wide and short, trimmed at the elbow +with fine lace of Brussels and drawn up at the shoulder with glistening +knots of diamonds; the other, clad in the rough raiment of a seaman! +The nice, critical sense of the Marquis suffered from this spectacle of +the incongruous; his eyes, seeking in vain those of the Governor's +daughter, turned and rested querulously on the heavy-browed peasants, +most of whom, drawing nearer, viewed the scene with stolid +indifference. In the gaze of only a few did that first stupid +expression suffer any change; then it varied to one of vague wonder, +half-apathetic inquiry! + +"Is he mad?" whispered a clod of this class to a neighbor. + +"Not so loud!" breathed the other in a low tone. + +"But he," regarding with dull awe the young fisherman, "doesn't care! +Look! What foolhardiness! He's going to dance with her!" + +"Witchcraft! That's what I call it!" + +"Hush!" + +My lady extended the tips of her fingers. "Attack well!" runs the old +Gallic injunction to dancers; the partner she had chosen apparently +understood its significance. A lithe muscular hand closed on the small +one; whirled my lady swiftly; half back again. It took away her breath +a little, so forcible and unceremonious that beginning! Then, obeying +the mad rhythm of the movement, she yielded to the infectious measure. +An arm quickly encircled her waist; swept the slender form +here,--there. Never had she had partner so vigorous, yet graceful. +One who understood so well this song of the soil; its wild symbolism; +the ancient music of the hardy Scandinavians who first brought the +dance to these shores. + +More stirring, the melodies resounded--faster--faster. In a rapid +turn, the golden hair just brushed the dark, glowing face. He bent +lower; as if she had been but a peasant maid, the bold eyes looked now +down into hers; nay, more--in their depths she might fancy almost a +warmer sparkle--of mute admiration! And her face, on a sudden, +changed; grew cold. + +"_Certes_, your Ladyship sets them an example!" murmured the audacious +fellow. "Though, _pardi!_--one not easy to imitate!" + +She threw back her head, proudly, imperiously; the brown eyes gleamed, +and certain sharp words of reproof were about to spring from her lips, +when abruptly, above the sound of the music, a trumpet call, afar, rang +out. My lady--not sorry perhaps of the pretext--at once stopped. + +"I thank your Ladyship," said the man and bowed low. + +But the Governor's daughter seemed, or affected, not to hear, regarding +the other dancers, who likewise had come to a standstill--the two +musicians looking up from instruments now silent. A moment yet the +young fisherman lingered; seemed about once more to voice his +acknowledgments, but, catching the dull eye of a peasant, stepped back +instead. + +"_Sapristi_! They might, at least, have waited until the end of the +dance!" he muttered, and, with a final look over his shoulder and a low +laugh, disappeared in the crowd. + +"Where are the enemy?" It was the Marquis who spoke--in accents he +strove to make light and thereby conceal, perhaps, possible annoyance. +Coming forward, he looked around toward the point whence the sound had +proceeded. "If I mistake not," a note of inquiry in his tone, "it +means--a call to arms!" + +My lady bit her lips; her eyes still gleamed with the bright cold light +of a topaz. "Why--a call to arms?" she asked somewhat petulantly, +raising her hand to her hair, a little disarranged in the dance. + +"Perhaps, as a part of the military discipline?" murmured the Marquis +dubiously. "See!" With sudden interest, he indicated a part of the +Mount that had been black against the star-spangled sky, now showing +sickly points of light. "It does mean something! They are coming +down!" + +And even as the Marquis spoke, a clatter of hoofs on the stone pavement +leading from the Mount to the sand ushered a horseman into view. He +was followed by another and yet another, until in somewhat desultory +fashion, owing to the tortuous difficulties of the narrow way that had +separated them above, an array of mounted men was gathered at the base +of the rock. But only for a moment; a few words from one of their +number, evidently in command, and they dispersed; some to ride around +the Mount to the left, others to the right. + +"Perhaps Elise will enlighten us?" Of one accord her guests now +crowded around the girl. + +"Does the Governor intend to take us prisoners?" + +"You imply it is necessary to do that--to keep you?" answered my lady. + +"Then why--" + +Her expression, as perplexed as theirs, answered. + +"Beppo!" She waved her hand. + +The Governor's servitor, who was passing, with an anxious, inquiring +look upon his face, glanced around. + +"Beppo!" she repeated, and beckoned again. + +The man approached. "Your Ladyship wishes to speak with me?" he asked +in a voice he endeavored to make unconcerned. + +"I do." In her manner the old antipathy she had felt toward him as a +child again became manifest. "What do the soldiers want? Why have +they come down?" + +His eyes shifted. "I--my Lady--" he stammered. + +The little foot struck the strand. "Why don't you answer? You heard +my question?" + +"I am sorry, my Lady--" Again he hesitated: "_Le Seigneur Noir_ has +been seen on the beach!" + +"_Le Seigneur Noir?_" she repeated. + +"Yes, my Lady. He was caught sight of among the peasants, at the time +the barrels were opened, in accordance with your Ladyship's command. I +assure your Ladyship," with growing eagerness, "there can be no +mistake, as--" + +"Who," interrupted my lady sharply, "_is_ this Black Seigneur?" + +Beppo's manner changed. "A man," he said solemnly, "his Excellency, +the Governor, has long been most anxious to capture." + +The girl's eyes flashed with impatience, and then she began to laugh. +"Saw you ever, my Lords and Ladies, his equal for equivocation? You +put to him the question direct, and he answers--" + +The loud report of a carbine from the other side of the Mount, followed +by a desultory volley, interrupted her. The laughter died on her lips; +the color left her cheek. + +"What--" The startled look in her eyes completed the sentence. + +Beppo rubbed his hands softly. "His Excellency takes no chances!" he +murmured. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A MESSENGER FOR MY LADY + +"So you failed to capture him, Monsieur le Commandant?" + +The speaker, the Marquis de Beauvillers, leaned more comfortably back +in his chair in the small, rather barely furnished barracks' +sitting-room in which he found himself later that night and languidly +surveyed the florid, irate countenance of the man in uniform before him. + +"No, Monsieur le Marquis," said the latter, endeavoring to conceal any +evidence of mortification or ill humor in the presence of a visitor so +distinguished; "we didn't. But," as if to turn the conversation, with +a gesture toward a well-laden table, "I should feel honored if--" + +"Thank you, no! After our repast on the beach--however, stand on no +ceremony yourself. Nay, I insist--" + +"If Monsieur le Marquis insists!--" The commandant drew up his chair; +then, reaching for a bottle, poured out a glass of wine, which he +offered his guest. + +"No, no!" said the Marquis. "But as I remarked before, stand on no +ceremony!" And daintily opening a snuff-box, he watched his host with +an expression half-amused, half-ironical. + +That person ate and drank with little relish; the wine--so he said--had +spoiled; and the dishes were without flavor; it was fortunate Monsieur +le Marquis had no appetite-- + +Whereupon the Marquis smiled; but, considering the circumstances, in +his own mind excused the commandant, who had only just come from the +Governor's palace, and who, after the interview that undoubtedly had +ensued, could hardly be expected to find the pâté palatable, or the +wine to his liking. This, despite the complaisance of the young +nobleman whom the commandant had encountered, while descending from the +Governor's abode, and who, adapting his step to the other's had +accompanied the officer back to his quarters, and graciously accepted +an invitation to enter. + +"Well, you know the old saying," the Marquis closed the box with a +snap, "'There's many a slip'--but how," airily brushing with his +handkerchief imaginary particles from a long lace cuff, "did he get +away?" + +"He _had_ got away before we were down on the beach. It was a +wild-goose chase, at best. And so I told his Excellency, the +Governor--" + +"A thankless task, no doubt! But the shots we heard--" + +"An imbecile soldier saw a shadow; fired at it, and--" + +"The others followed suit?" laughed the visitor. + +"Exactly!" The commandant's face grew red; fiercely he pulled at his +mustache. "What can one expect, when they make soldiers out of every +dunderpate that comes along?" + +"True!" assented the Marquis. "But this fellow, this Black +Seigneur--why is the Governor so anxious to lay hands on him? Who is +he, and what has he done? I confess," languidly, "to a mild curiosity." + +"He's a privateersman and an outlaw, and has done enough to hang +himself a dozen times--" + +"When you capture him!" interposed the visitor lightly. A moment he +studied the massive oak beams of the ceiling. "Why do they call him +the Black Seigneur? An odd sobriquet!" + +"His father was a Seigneur--the last of the fief of Desaurac. The +Seigneurs have all been fair men for generations, while this fellow--" + +"Then he has noble blood in him?" The Marquis showed surprise. "Where +is the fief?" + +"The woods on the shore mark the beginning of it." + +"But--I don't understand. The father was a Seigneur; the son--" + +Bluntly the commandant explained; the son was a natural child; the +mother, a common peasant woman whom the former Seigneur had taken to +his house-- + +"I see!" The young nobleman tapped his knee. "And that being the +case--" + +"Under the terms of the ancient grant, there being no legal heir, the +lands were confiscated to the crown. His Excellency, however, had +already bought many of the incumbrances against the property, and, in +view of this, and his services to the King, the fief, declared +forfeited by the courts, was subsequently granted and deeded, without +condition, to the Governor." + +"To the Governor!" repeated the Marquis. + +"Who at once began a rare clearing-out; forcing the peasants who for +years had not been paying métayage, to meet this just requirement, +or--move away!" + +"And did not some of them object?" + +"They did; but his Excellency found means. The most troublesome were +arrested and taken to the Mount, where they have had time to +reflect--his Excellency believes in no half-way measures with peasants." + +"A rich principality, no doubt!" half to himself spoke the Marquis. + +"I have heard," blurted the commandant, "he's going to give it to the +Lady Elise; restore the old castle and turn the grounds surrounding it +into a noble park." + +The visitor frowned, as if little liking the introduction of the lady's +name into the conversation. "And what did the Black Seigneur do then," +he asked coldly, "when he found his lands gone?" + +"Claimed it was a plot!--that his mother was an honest woman, though +neither the priest who performed the ceremony nor the marriage records +could be found. He even resisted at first--refused to be turned +out--and, skulking about the forest with his gun, kept the deputies at +bay. But they surrounded him at last; drove him to the castle, and +would have captured him, only he escaped that night, and took to the +high seas, where he has been making trouble ever since!" + +"Trouble?" + +"He has seriously hampered his Excellency's commerce; interfered with +his ships, and crippled his trade with the Orient." + +"But--the Governor has many boats, many men. Why have they failed to +capture him?" + +"For a number of reasons. In the first place he is one of the most +skilful pilots on the coast; when hard pressed, he does not hesitate to +use even the Isles des Rochers as a place of refuge." + +"The Isles des Rochers?" queried the nobleman. + +"A _chevaux-de-frise_ on the sea, my Lord!" continued the commandant; +"where fifty barren isles are fortified by a thousand rocks; frothing +fangs when the tide is low; sharp teeth that lie in wait to bite when +the smiling lips of the treacherous waters have closed above! There, +the Governor's ships have followed him on several occasions, and--few +of them have come back!" + +"But surely there must be times when he can not depend on that retreat?" + +"There are, my Lord. His principal harbor and resort is a little isle +farther north--English, they call it--that offers refuge at any time to +miscreants from France. There may they lie peacefully, as in a cradle; +or go ashore with impunity, an they like. Oh, he is safe enough there. +Home for French exiles, they designate the place. Exiles! Bah! It +was there he first found means to get his ship--sharing his profits, no +doubt, with the islander who built her. There, too, he mustered his +crew--savage peasants who had been turned off the lands of the old +Seigneur; fisher-folk who had become outlaws rather than pay to the +Governor just dues from the sea; men fled from the _banalité_ of the +mill, of the oven, of the wine-press--" + +"Still must he be a redoubtable fellow, to have done what he did +to-night; to have dared mingle with the people, under the Governor's +very guns!" + +"The people! He has nothing to fear from them. An ignorant, low, +disloyal lot! They look upon this fellow as a hero. He has played his +cards well; sends money to the lazy, worthless ones, under pretext that +they are poor, over-taxed, over-burdened. In his company is one +Gabriel Gabarie, a poet of the people, as he is styled, who keeps in +touch with those stirring trouble in Paris. Perhaps they hope for an +insurrection there, and then--" + +"An insurrection?" The Marquis' delicate features expressed ironical +protest; he dismissed the possibility with an airy wave of the hand. +"One should never anticipate trouble, Monsieur le Commandant," he said +lightly and rose. "Good night." + +"Good night, Monsieur le Marquis," returned the officer with due +deference, and accompanied his noble visitor to the door. + +At first, without the barracks, the Marquis walked easily on, but soon +the steepness of the narrow road, becoming more marked as it approached +the commanding structures at the top of the Mount, caused his gait +gradually to slacken; then he paused altogether, at an upper platform. + +From where he stood, by day could be seen, almost directly beneath, the +tiny habitations of men clinging like limpets to the precipitous sides +of the rocks at the base; now was visible only a void, an abysm, out of +which swam the sea; so far below, a boat looked no larger than a gull +on its silver surface; so immense, the dancing waves seemed receding to +a limit beyond the reach of the heavens. + +"You found him?" A girl's clear voice broke suddenly upon him. He +wheeled. + +"Elise! You!" + +"Yes! why not? You found him? The commandant?" + +"At your command, but--" + +"And learned all?" + +"All he could tell." + +"It is reported at the castle that the man escaped!" quickly. + +"It is true. But," in a voice of languid surprise, "I believe you are +glad--" + +"No, no!" She shook her head. "Only," a smile curved her lips, "Beppo +will be so disappointed! Now," seating herself lightly on the low wall +of the giant rampart, "tell me all you have learned about this Black +Seigneur." + +The Marquis, considered; with certain reservations obeyed. At the +conclusion of his narrative, she spoke no word and he turned to her +inquiringly. Her brows were knit; her eyes down-bent. A moment he +regarded her in silence; then she looked up at him suddenly. + +"I wonder," she said, her face bathed in the moonlight, "if--if it was +this Black Seigneur I danced with?" + +"The Black Seigneur!" My lord started; frowned. "Nonsense! What an +absurd fancy! He would not have dared!" + +"True," said the girl quickly. "You are right, my Lord. It is absurd. +He would not have dared." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A DISTANT MENACE + +But guests come and guests go; pastimes draw to a close, and the hour +arrives when the curtain falls on the masque. The friends of my lady, +however reluctantly, were obliged at last to forgo further +holiday-making, depart from the Mount, and return to the court. An +imposing cavalcade, gleaming in crimson and gold, they wended down the +dark rock; laughing ladies, pranked-out cavaliers who waved their +perfumed hands with farewell kisses to the grim stronghold in the +desert, late their palace of pleasure, and to the young mistress +thereof. + +"Good-by, Elise!" The Marquis was last to go. + +"Good-by." + +He took her hand; held it to his lips. On the whole, he was not +ill-pleased. His wooing had apparently prospered; for, although the +marriage had been long arranged, my lady's beauty and capriciousness +had fanned in him the desire to appear a successful suitor for her +heart as well as her hand. If sometimes she laughed and thus failed to +receive his delicate gallantries in the mood in which they were +tendered, the Marquis' vanity only allowed him to conclude that a woman +does not laugh if she is displeased. It was enough that she found him +diverting; he served her; they were friends and had danced and ridden +through the spring days in amicable fashion. + +"Good-by," he repeated. "When are you coming to court again? The +Queen is sure to ask. I understand her Majesty is planning all manner +of brilliant entertainments, yet Versailles--without you, Elise!" + +"Me?" arching her finely penciled brows. "Oh, I'm thinking of staying +here, becoming a nun, and restoring the Mount to its old religious +prestige." + +"Then I'll come back a monk," he returned in the same tone. + +"If you come back at all!" provokingly. "There, go! The others will +soon be out of sight!" + +"I, too--alas, Elise!" + +He touched his horse; rode on, but soon looked back to where, against a +great, grim wall, stood a figure all in white gleaming in the sunshine. +The Marquis stopped; drew from his breast a deep red rose, and, gazing +upward, gracefully kissed the glowing token. Beneath the aureole of +golden hair my lady's proud face rewarded him with a faint smile, and +something--a tiny handkerchief--fluttered like a dove above the +frowning, time-worn rock. At that, with the eloquent gesture of a +troubadour, he threw his arm backward, as if to launch the impress on +the rose to the crimson lips of the girl, and then, plying his spurs, +galloped off. + +And as he went at a pace, headlong if not dangerous and fitting the +exigencies of the moment, my lord smiled. Truly had he presented a +perfect, dainty and gallant figure for any woman's eyes, and the Lady +Elise, he fancied, was not the least discerning of her sex. And had he +seen the girl, when an unkind angle of the wall hid him from sight, his +own nice estimate of the situation would have suffered no change. The +Mount, which formerly had resounded to the life and merriment of the +people from the court, on a sudden to her looked cold, barren, empty. + +"Heigh-ho!" she murmured, stretching her arms toward that point where +he--they--had vanished. "I shall die of ennui, I am sure!" And +thoughtfully retraced her steps to her own room. + +But she did not long stay there; by way of makeshift for gaiety, +substituted activity. The Mount, full of early recollections and +treasure-house mystery, furnished an incentive for exploration, and for +several days she devoted herself to its study; now pausing for an +instant's contemplation of a sculptured thing of beauty, then before +some closed door that held her, as at the threshold of a Bluebeard's +forbidden chamber. + +One day, such a door stood open and her curiosity became cured. She +had passed beneath a machicolated gateway, and climbing a stairway that +began in a watch-tower, found herself unexpectedly on a great platform. +Here several men, unkempt, pale, like creatures from another world, +were walking to and fro; but at sight of her, an order was issued and +they vanished through a trap--all save one, a misshapen dwarf who +remained to shut the iron door, adjust the fastening and turn a +ponderous key. For a moment she stood staring. + +"Why did you do that?" she asked angrily. + +"The Governor's orders," said the man, bowing hideously. "They are to +see no one." + +"Then let them up at once! Do you hear? At once!" + +And as he began to unlock the door, walked off. After that, her +interest in the rock waned; the Mount seemed but a prison; she, +herself, desired only to escape from it. + +"Have my saddle put on Saladin," she said to Beppo the next day, toward +the end of a long afternoon. + +"Very well, my Lady. Who accompanies your Ladyship?" + +"No one!" With slight emphasis. "I ride alone." + +Beppo discretely suppressed his surprise. "Is your Ladyship going far? +If so, I beg to remind that to-night is the change of the moon, and the +'grand,' not the 'little' tide may be coming in." + +"I was already aware of it, and shall keep between the Mount and the +shore. Have my horse sent to the upper gate," she added, and soon +afterward rode down. + +The town was astir, and many looked after her as she passed; not +kindly, but with the varying expressions she had of late begun to +notice. Again was she cognizant of that feeling of secret antagonism, +even from these people whose houses clung to the very foundations of +her own abode, and her lips set tightly. Why did they hate her? What +right had they to hate her? A sensation, almost of relief, came over +her, when passing through the massive, feudal gate, she found herself +on the beach. + +Still and languorous was the day; not a breath stirred above the tiny +ripples of the sand; a calm, almost unnatural, seemed to wrap the world +in its embrace. The girl breathed deeper, feeling the closeness of the +air; her impatient eyes looked around; scanned the shore; to the left, +low and flat--to the right, marked by the dark fringe of a forest. +Which way should she go? Irresolutely she turned in the direction of +the wood. + +Saladin, her horse, seemed in unusually fine fettle, and the distance +separating her from the land was soon covered; but still she continued +to follow the shore, swinging around and out toward a point some +distance seaward. Not until she had reached that extreme projection of +land, where the wooing green crept out from the forest as far as it +might, did she draw rein. Saladin stopped, albeit with protest, +tossing his great head. + +"You might as well make an end of that, sir!" said the girl, and, +springing from the saddle, deftly secured him. Then turning her back +toward the Mount, a shadowy pyramid in the distance, she seated herself +in the grass with her eyes to the woods. + +Not long, however, did my lady remain thus; soon rising, she walked +toward the shadowy depths. At the verge she paused; her brows grew +thoughtful; what was it the woods recalled? Suddenly, she +remembered--a boy she had met the night she left for school so long +ago, had told her he lived in them. She recalled, too, as a child, how +the woman, Marie, who had been maid to her mother, had tried to +frighten her about that sequestered domain, with tales of fierce wild +animals and unearthly creatures, visible and invisible, that roamed +within. + +She had no fear now, though faint rustlings and a pulsation of sound +held her listening. Then, through the leafy interstice, a gleaming and +flashing, as if some one were throwing jewels to the earth, lured her +on to the cause of the seeming enchantment--a tiny waterfall! + +The moment passed; still she lingered. Around the Mount's high top, +her own home, only transcendent silence reigned; here was she +surrounded by babbling voices and all manner of merry creatures--lively +little squirrels; winged insects, romping in the twilight shade; a +portly and well-satisfied appearing green monster who regarded her +amicably from a niche of green. A butterfly, poised and waving its +wings, held her a long time--until she was suddenly aroused by the wood +growing darker. Raising her eyes, she saw through the green foliage +overhead that the bright sky had become sunless. At the same time a +rumbling detonation, faint, far-off, broke in upon the whisperings and +tinklings of that wood nook. Getting up, she stood for a moment +listening; then walked away. + +Near the verge of the sand, Saladin greeted her with impatience, +tossing his head toward the darkening heavens. Nor did he wait until +she was fairly seated before starting back at a rapid gait along the +shore. But the girl offered no protest; her face showed only +enjoyment. A little wild he might be at times, as became one of rugged +ancestry, but never vicious, only headstrong! And she didn't mind +that-- + +Already had he begun to slack that first thundering pace when something +white--a veil, perhaps, dropped from the cavalcade of lords and ladies +some days before on the land and wafted to the beach--fluttered like a +live thing suddenly before him. In his tense mood, Saladin, +affrighted, sprang to one side; then wheeling outright, madly took the +bit in his teeth. Perforce his mistress resigned herself, sitting +straight and sure, with little hands hard and firm at the reins. +Saladin was behaving very badly, but--at least he was superb, worth +conquering, if-- + +A brief thrill of apprehension seized her as, again drawing near the +point of land, he showed no signs of yielding; resisted all her +attempts to turn, to direct him to it. With nostrils thrust forward +and breathing strong, he continued to choose his own course; to whirl +her on; past the promontory; around into the great bay beyond--now a +vast expanse, or desert of sand, broken only, about half-way across, by +the small isle of Casque. Toward this rocky formation, a pygmy to the +great Mount from which it lay concealed by the intervening projection +of land, the horse rushed. + +On, on! In vain she still endeavored to stop him; thinking uneasily of +stories the fishermen told of this neighboring coast; of the sands that +often shifted here, setting pitfalls for the unwary. She saw the sky +grow yet darker, noted the nearer flashings of light, and heard the +louder rumblings that followed. Then presently another danger she had +long been conscious of, on a sudden became real. + +She saw, or thought she saw, a faint streak, like a silver line drawn +across the sky where the yellow sands touched the sombrous horizon. +And Saladin seemed to observe it, too; to detect in it cause for +wonder; reason for hesitation. At any rate, that headlong speed now +showed signs of diminishing; he clipped and tossed the sand less +vigorously, and looked around at his mistress with wild, uneasy eyes. +Again she spoke to him; pulled with all her strength at the reins, and, +at once, he stopped. + +None too soon! Great drops of rain had begun to fall, but the girl did +not notice them. The white line alone riveted her attention! It +seemed to grow broader; to acquire an intangible movement of its own; +at the same time to give out a sound--a strange, low droning that +filled the air. Heard for the first time, a stranger at the Mount +would have found it inexplicable; to the Governor's daughter, the +menacing cadence left no room for doubt as to its origin. + +The girl's cheek paled; her gaze swung in the opposite direction, +toward the point of land, now so distant. Could they reach it? She +did not believe they could; indeed, the "grand" tide coming up behind +on the verge of the storm, faster than any horse could gallop, would +overtake them midway. And Saladin seemed to know it also; beneath her, +he trembled. Yet must they try, she thought, and had tightened the +reins to turn, when looking ahead once more, she discerned a break in +the forbidding cliffs of the little island of Casque, and, back of the +fissure, a shining spot which marked a tiny cove. + +A moment she hesitated; what should she do? Ride toward the isle and +the white danger, or toward the point of mainland and from it? Either +alternative was a desperate one, but the isle lay much nearer; and +quickly, the brown eyes gleaming with sudden courage, she decided; +touched her horse and pressed him forward. + +But fast as she went the "grand" tide came faster; struck with a loud, +menacing sound the seaward side of the isle and swung hungrily around. +My lady cast over her shoulder a quick glance; the cove, however, was +near; only a line of small rocks, jutting from the sand, separated her +from it. If they could but pass, she thought; they had passed, she +told herself joyfully, when of a sudden the horse stumbled; fell. +Thrown violently from his back, a moment was she cognizant of a +deafening roar; a riotous advance of foam; above, a hundred birds that +screamed distractedly; then all these sounds mingled; darkness +succeeded, and she remembered no more. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE OLD WATCH-TOWER + +A wall! A window--a prison-like interior! As her eyes opened, the +Governor's daughter strove confusedly to decipher her surroundings. +The wall seemed real; the narrow window, too, high above, framing, +against a darkening background, a slant of fine rain! Again she closed +her eyes, only to be conscious of a gentle languor; a heaviness like +that of half-sleep; of bodily heat, and also a little bodily pain. For +an indefinite period, really a moment or two, she resigned herself to +that dreamy torpor; then, with an effort, lifted her lashes once more. + +As she gazed before her, something bright seemed leaping back and +forth; a flame--that played on the wall; revealing the joints between +the stones of massive masonry; casting shadows, but to wipe them out; +paling near a small window, the only aperture apparent in the cell-like +place. Turning from the flickerings, her glance quickly sought their +source--a fire in a hearth, before which she lay--or half-sat, propped +against a stone. + +But why? The spot was strange; in her ears sounded a buzzing, like the +murmur of a waterfall. She remembered now; she had lingered before +one--in the woods; and Saladin had run away, madly, across the sands, +until--my lady raised her hand to her brow; abruptly let it fall. In +the shadow on the other side of the hearth some one moved; some one who +had been watching her and who now stepped out into the light. + +"Are you better?" said a voice. + +She stared. On the bold, swarthy features of a young man now standing +and looking down at her, the light flared and gleamed; the open shirt +revealed a muscular throat; the down-turned black eyes were steady, +solicitous. His appearance was unexpected, yet not quite strange; she +had seen him before, but, in the general surprise and perplexity of the +moment, did not ask herself where. The interval between what she last +remembered on the beach--the rush and swirl of water--and what she woke +to, absorbed the hazy workings of her mind. + +The young man stopped; stirred the fire, and after a pause, apparently +to give her time to collect her thoughts, repeated his question: "Are +you better, now?" + +"Oh, yes," she said, with an effort, half sitting up. And then +irrelevantly, with rather a wild glance about her: "Isn't--isn't it +storming outside?" + +"A little--not much--" A smile crossed the dark features. + +"I remember," she added, as if forcing herself to speak, "it had just +begun to, on the beach, when it--the 'grand' tide--" The words died +away; mechanically she lifted her hand, brushed back the shining waves +of hair. + +"Why think of it now?" he interposed gently. + +"But," uncertainly she smoothed her skirt; it was damp and warm; "I +suppose this is the island of Casque?" + +"Yes." + +"And this place?" + +"The old watch-tower." + +"But how--" Then she noticed that his hands, long, brown and +well-formed, were cut and bruised; bore many jagged marks as from a +fierce struggle. "How did you hurt your hands?" + +He thrust them into his pockets. + +"Was it from the rocks--and the waves? How did I get here?" + +"Oh, I was standing on the cliff," he answered carelessly, "and--saw +your horse running away!" + +"You did? And then--came down?" + +"What else was there to do?" he said simply. + +Her gaze returned to the fire. "But the tide was rushing in--rushing! +it was right upon me!" + +[Illustration: "But the tide--it was right upon me!"] + +She looked again toward the pockets into which his hands were thrust; +observed his shirt, torn at the shoulder; then arose unsteadily. "I +know--it was not so easy!" she said. "It was brave of you--" + +"Your Ladyship is no coward!" he interrupted, a sparkle in his eyes. +"When you turned the horse toward the tide, I was watching; hoping you +would dare, and you did!" + +About to reply, she became once more aware she was still very dizzy +from the fall on the sand; the shapely figure swayed and she put out +her hand with a gesture of helplessness. At the same time, the man +reached forward quickly and caught her. A moment was she conscious of +a firm grasp; a dark, anxious gaze bent upon her; then, slid gently +back to the stone seat. + +A brief interval, and gradually she began to see again more +distinctly--a man's face, not far from hers; a face that drew back as +her own look cleared. At a respectful distance he now stood, his +bearing at once erect and buoyant, and more curiously she regarded him. +A distinct type, here pride and intelligence stamped themselves +strongly on the dark, handsome features; courage and daring were +written on the bold, self-reliant brow. And with this realization of +something distinctive, compelling, in his personality, came another. + +"I have seen you--spoken with you before! On the beach--the night of +the dance!" + +The young man turned. "Your Ladyship so far honored me--as to dance +with me!" he said, in his eyes a touch of that brightness that had +caused her to regard him imperiously, as he had swung her to the +measure of the music, on the occasion in question. + +"Started to!" She corrected him, straightening suddenly at the +recollection of that evening, when humility and modesty were virtues +conspicuously wanting in his demeanor. + +"Your Ladyship is right," he said quietly. "An alarm from the Mount +interrupted." + +She glanced at him quickly. His eyes met hers with a look of unconcern. + +"Are you--a fisherman?" she asked abruptly. + +"On occasions." + +"And when you are not one--what are you then?" + +"At times--a hunter." + +"Ah!" Her eye lingered on something bright on the ledge beneath the +window. "And that is the reason you have--pistols?" + +"Exactly, my Lady!" + +She continued to regard the weapons, of finest workmanship, inlaid with +a metal that gleamed dully, like gold, in the light from the fire. His +glance followed hers; she was about to speak, when quickly he +interrupted. + +"Has your Ladyship thought how she is going to get back to the Mount?" + +My lady's questioning, along the line of personal inquiry, ceased; the +Governor's daughter looked a little blank. "No--that is, haven't you a +boat?" + +"Not here." + +"Then you walked over?" + +He neither affirmed, nor denied. + +"And the tide will not be out for hours!" Her look showed +consternation; she glanced toward the opening in the wall. "Isn't it +becoming dark now?" + +"Yes, my Lady." + +"Of course, it was almost sundown when-- But I must return at once! +Don't you understand?" + +He regarded her silently; the beautiful, impatient eyes; the slim, +white fingers that tapped restlessly, one against another. "I will do +what I can!" he said at last slowly. + +"But what?" she demanded. "What can you do?" + +He did not answer; my lady made a gesture. + +"How ridiculous! A prisoner on an island!" + +"There may be a way," he began. + +"My horse?" she said quickly. "What became of him?" + +"He was swept away by the tide!" + +Into the proud eyes came a softer light--of regret, pain. + +"Your Ladyship should remember it might have been worse," he added, in +tones intended to reassure her. "After all, it was only a horse--" + +"Only a horse!" she exclaimed indignantly. "But, I suppose you can't +understand--caring for a horse!" + +"I can understand caring for a ship!" he answered quickly, a flash of +amusement, hardly concealed, in his bold, dark eyes. + +"A ship!" scornfully; "dead wood and iron." + +"Live wood and iron! Beautiful as--" The simile failed him; he looked +at my lady. "Something to be depended on, with a hand to the wheel, +and an eye keen for mad dancings and curvetings." + +"I might appreciate them better," she interrupted dryly, with delicate +brows uplifted, "an they brought me nearer to the Mount. That, and not +idle opinions," in accents that conveyed surprise at the temerity of +one in his position to express them, "is of most moment!" + +He accepted the reproof with a readiness that further surprised her. +"Your Ladyship is right," he said. "I will see what may be done. The +storm has passed. There is yet daylight, and"--an expression, almost +preoccupied, came to his features--"a boat may be sighted." + +"To be sure!" At the prospect, all other considerations passed from my +lady's mind. "A boat may be sighted! Why did you not think of it +before? Come! Too much time has already been lost." And she rose. + +"One moment!" His voice was quiet; respectful; although, she fancied, +constrained. "I had better go alone. The way to the cliff is rough, +and--" + +"I shall not mind that!" + +"Besides, your clothes--" + +"Are dry!" + +"No!" She flushed at the abrupt contradiction. "I mean, I don't see +how they could be!" he went on hurriedly, "and," his tone assumed a +certain obduracy, "I assure your Ladyship, it will be best." + +"Best?" She looked at him more sharply. "Is that your only reason?" + +"Why?" A trace of embarrassment, for an instant, crossed his dark +features. "What other reason, my Lady?" + +"That I know not!" quickly, assured her words had struck home. "Only I +am certain there is one!" + +"Then, if your Ladyship must know," he spoke slowly. "I did not wish +to alarm you. But this is a rough coast, with--many rough people +about--smugglers, privateersmen--" + +"Whom you, perhaps, are expecting?" she cried suddenly. + +"I!" with a careless laugh. "A fisherman! Your Ladyship is +imaginative--" he began, when a sudden, hasty footstep clinked on the +stones without; a hand caught at the fastenings of the door; flung it +open. + +"I thought I should find you here, Seigneur!" exclaimed a voice. +"Since--" + +The young man made a movement and the speaker stopped; caught sight of +my lady, just beyond, in the fading light. And at the picture--her +figure behind that other one--the fine, patrician features, framed by +the disordered golden hair, the widely opened eyes, bright, expectant, +the intruder started back. + +"The Governor's daughter! You, Seigneur!" he stammered, and, raising +his hand, involuntarily crossed himself. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A DISCOVERY + +"Why did you do that?" It was Lady Elise who now spoke, lifting her +head haughtily to regard the new-comer, as she stepped toward him. +"Cross yourself, I mean?" + +"This good fellow, my Lady, is surprised to see you here, and small +wonder he forgets his manners!" said the young man coolly, speaking for +the other. "But he is honest enough--and--intends no disrespect!" + +"None whatever!" muttered the intruder, a thin, wizened, yet still +active-looking person. + +My lady did not reply; her gaze, in which suspicion had become +conviction, again met the young man's, whose black eyes now gleamed +with a sudden, challenging light. + +"With your permission, my Lady, I will speak with this fellow," he +said, and abruptly strode from the tower; walked a short distance away, +followed by the man, when he stopped. + +"_Certes_, your tongue betrayed you that time, Sanchez!" he said +confronting the other. + +The man made a rough gesture. "_C'est vrai_!" regretfully. "But when +I saw you two together I thought I had seen a--" He stopped. "She is +so like--" + +"Nay; I don't blame you; the sight was certainly unexpected! I had +thought to come down and prepare you, but--'tis done!" + +"And I knew what it meant." The old servant looked over his shoulder +toward the tower. + +"Call it magic!" with a short laugh. + +"_Diablerie_!" muttered the other. + +"Well, have your way! Why," abruptly, "did you not meet me here last +night at high tide, as we had planned?" + +"The priest came not in time; fearing he was watched, waited until +night to leave his hiding-place at Verranch." + +"And after missing me last night, you thought to find me here to-day?" + +"I knew you were most anxious to see him; that upon him depended your +chance to undo some of his Excellency, the Governor's, knavery! And, +then, to find you here with the daughter of the man who has wrought you +so much wrong; robbed you of your lands--your right to your name!" A +cloud shadowed the listener's bold brow. "I know not how it came +about, Seigneur, but be assured, no good can come of it!" + +From where she stood, at the distance to the tower, the Governor's +daughter saw now the two men descend; she perceived, also, at a turn in +the path, coming up slowly, as one whose years had begun to tell upon +him, another figure, clad in black; a priest. This last person and the +Black Seigneur accosted each other; stopped, while the other man, who +had crossed himself at sight of her, drew aside. At length, somewhat +abruptly, they separated, the priest and Sanchez going down the hill +and the young man starting to walk up. Then quickly leaving the +ancient, circular structure for observation, she stepped toward the +cliff, not far to the right; and in an attitude of as great unconcern +as she could summon, waited. + +Below the ocean beat around the rock, and her eyes seemed to have +rested an interminable period on the dark surface of the water, when at +length she heard him; near at hand; directly behind. Still she did not +stir; he, too, by the silence, stood motionless. How long? The little +foot moved restlessly; why did he not speak? She knew he was looking +at her--the Governor's daughter who had inadvertently looked into a +forbidden chamber; was possessed of dangerous knowledge. + +Again she made a movement. When was he going to speak? It was +intolerable that he should stand there, studying, deducing! That she, +accustomed to command; to be served; to have her way at court and +Mount, should now be judged, passed upon, disposed of, by--whom? +Quickly she looked around; the flashing brown eyes met the steady black +ones. + +"Well?" + +"The man will take you back." His manner was quiet; composed; implied +a full cognizance of what she knew, and an absence of any further +desire to attempt to disguise the truth. + +"Back! Where?" She could not conceal her surprise. + +"To the Mount." + +For the moment she did not speak; she had not known what to +expect--certainly not that. + +"Why not?" A smile, slightly forced, crossed his face. "Does your +Ladyship think I make war on women? Only, before your Ladyship +departs, it will be necessary for you to agree to a little condition." + +"Condition?" She drew her breath quickly. + +"That you will say nothing to incriminate him. He is an old servant of +mine; has broken none of the _laws_ of the land," with a somewhat +contemptuous accent, "works his bit of ground; pays _métayage_, and a +tax on all the fish he brings in. Only in a certain matter to-day has +he served me." + +"You mean I must say nothing about meeting him? You?" + +"For his sake!" + +"And your own!" + +"Mine?" He made a careless gesture. "I should not presume! For +myself I should exact, or expect, from your Ladyship no promise. +To-night I shall be far away. But this good fellow remains behind; +should be allowed to continue his peaceful, lowly occupation. I would +not have anything happen to him on my account." + +"And if I refuse to promise?" she asked haughtily. "To enter into any +covenant with--you!" + +"But you will not!" he said steadily. "Your Ladyship, for her own +sake, should not force the alternative." + +"Alternative?" + +"Why speak of it?" + +"What is the alternative?" she demanded. + +"If your Ladyship refuses to promise, it will be necessary for the man +to return alone." + +"You mean," in spite of herself, she gave a start, "you would make +me--a prisoner?" + +"It should not be necessary." + +"But you would not dare!" indignantly. + +"Not dare! Your Ladyship forgets--" + +"True!" with a scornful glance. After a pause: "But suppose I _did_ +promise? Are you not reposing a good deal of confidence in me?" + +"Not too much!" + +"I presume," disdainfully, "I should feel flattered in being trusted +by--" She did not finish the sentence. + +But the young man apparently had not heard. "I'll take the chance on +your own words," he added unexpectedly. + +"My words?" + +"That you are no telltale." + +The girl started. "Telltale?" she repeated. + +"You once told me you were not!" + +"I--told you!" She stared at him. + +"Told me you were no telltale," he repeated. "And--when Beppo lied, +you told the truth--about a ragged vagabond of a boy." + +"Beppo!" The look in her eyes deepened; cleared. "I remember now," +she said slowly. "You were the boy with the fish, who said he lived in +the woods. I met you while riding, and again that night, as a child, +leaving for Paris; but I did not know, then, you would become--" + +The young man's face changed. "An outlaw!" he said coolly. + +"Yes; an outlaw," she repeated firmly. Angered by his unflinching +gaze, she went on: "Who dares not fly the flag of his king! Who dares +not come openly into any honest port!" + +She ended, her brown eyes flashing. His own darkened; but he only +remarked coldly; "My Lady, at any rate, dares much!" + +"Oh, I've no doubt you don't care to hear--" + +"From you!" He looked at her oddly, from the golden hair to the small, +dainty foot. "From your Ladyship!" he repeated, as if amused. An +instant he regarded her silently, intently; but his voice when at +length he again spoke was cool and slightly mocking: "My Lady speaks, +of course, from the standpoint of her own world--a very pretty world! +A park of _plaisance_, wherein, I can vouch for it, my Lady dances very +prettily." + +She started; a flush of resentment glowed and faded on her cheek; a +question his words suggested trembled on her lips. + +"Why did you come to the beach that night of the dance? How dared you, +knowing that if--" + +"Why?" His eyes lost their ironical light. "Why?" he repeated; then +laughed with sudden recklessness. "I wished to see your Ladyship." + +"Me?" She shrank back. + +"You!" he repeated, his gaze fastened on the startled, proud face. +"Though I looked not forward to a dance--with your Ladyship!" The +black eyes glowed. "_Pardi_! It was worth the risk." A moment he +waited; then his manner changed. "I will leave your Ladyship now," he +said quietly. "You will have opportunity to consider"--she did not +answer--"whether you will give me your promise, or not," he added, and, +wheeling abruptly, walked away. + +Some time later, in the fast-gathering darkness, from the cove a small +boat put out, with Sanchez, gloomy and sullen, in the stern; at the +bow, the Governor's daughter. As the isle receded and the point of +land loomed bigger before them, the girl gazed straight ahead; but the +man looked back: to the sands of the little cove, a pale simitar in the +dragon-like mouth of the rock; toward the tower, near which he fancied +he could see a figure, turned from them--seaward--where, far out, a +ship might just be discerned, a dim outline on the horizon. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE CLOISTER IN THE AIR + +Irrespective of environment, the cloister of the Mount would have been +a delight to the eye, but, upheld in mid air, with the sky so near and +the sands so far below, it seemed more an inspiration of fancy than a +work of hand. Dainty, delicate, its rose-colored columns of granite +appeared too thin for tangible weight; the tympan's sculptured designs, +fanciful as the carvings in some palace of a poet's dreams. Despite, +however, this first impression of evanescence, it carried a charm +against the ravages of time, and ethereal though it was, had rested +like a crown on the grim head of the rock through the ages. + +Once a place for quiet meditation, the cloister had, through a +whirligig of change, become the favorite resort of the Governor, for +_déjeûner_, or after-dinner dram, and, on occasions, for the +transaction of much profane though necessary labor pertaining to his +office and private concerns. He busied himself there now; or had been +busying himself, but paused to look up from the large book before him, +whose pages were inscribed with items and figures. His finger, +following the mental computation, remained stationary. _Fouage_--tax +upon fires; _banvin_--duties on wine; _vingtain_--the lord's right to +his share of the produce; _minage_--his due from each _mine_ or half +_setier_ of coin--consideration of these usually all-important matters +seemed for the moment to have been forgotten. + +He leaned back, and as he sat thus, the light and shadow playing on +him, the dark, steely eyes looked the more sunken, the hard, cynical +lips beneath the white mustache, the more cruel, the spare figure the +more alert and ready, as if to grapple with some hidden danger. + + "_J'arrive en ce pays + De Basse Normandie--_" + + +At one of the apertures looking out to the barren waste of sand stood +the Lady Elise; the words of the old Norman chant she was singing in +desultory fashion rang softly, oddly, in that spot, where black-clad +brethren for centuries had been wont to tread. Mechanically the +Governor listened, but the voice soon ceased abruptly and again, after +the manner of one of orderly habits, he bent over the big book; once +more the curving finger slid up and down, and parsimony, the vice of +the aged, had begun to shine from his pinched features, when a footstep +rang on the marble pavement. + +"Your Excellency sent for me?" The commandant stood respectfully near. + +The Governor closed the book with deliberation; lifted his eyes. "The +prisoners that were taken last night are safely housed?" + +"Housed? Yes, your Excellency! But we have little room. The upper +cells are all occupied; the dungeons, fairly full! Even the _In-pace_ +and _Les Deux Jumeaux_ have been pressed into service." + +"Hum!" The long hand tapped restlessly a moment; the cold eyes +gleamed, then shot an inquiring look. "There are no new particulars +about last night's encounter with this--Black Seigneur?" + +"None, your Excellency, except," the commandant drew a paper from his +breast pocket, "I have here in writing the detailed account of the +officer in charge of your Excellency's boat, who was wounded himself in +the encounter." + +"Read it." + +The commandant obeyed. "'Our schooner, belonging to his Excellency, +the Governor, was returning last night to the Mount with +troops--reinforcements for the garrison from St. Dalard--when it +happened quite by accident near a ship, maneuvering at a respectful +distance from the island of Casque. The night was dark and cloudy, but +our men got a look at her and suspecting who she was and knowing her +armament, against our will, we felt obliged to bear away. She, having +no reason to think us other than a fishing schooner, or that we were +freighted with troops instead of cod, did not follow and we had passed +out of sight, and were rounding the island when we ran into two small +sail-boats that had just set out from there.'" + +"To join the ship of this outlaw!" interposed the Governor. "Go on!" +shortly. + +"'We hailed; their answer was unsatisfactory; we ordered them to halt, +whereupon they tried to sail away. We followed and overtaking them, +commanded them to surrender. Their leader, who was the Black Seigneur +himself, refused, and we attacked'--" + +"_Bien_! 'We attacked!' But what then? Eh, what then?" + +"'With fury they responded; in spite of their inferiority of numbers +tried to board us. Bravely our men repulsed them; yet still they +persisted; led by their captain, the Black Seigneur, had gained the +deck when a chance shot struck him. As he fell back, the others tried +to escape; one boat was sunk'--" + +"And the other, bearing their leader, got away!" interrupted the +Governor harshly. + +"In the confusion--yes, your Excellency." + +The Governor waved his hand impatiently. + +"'By this time the ship of the Black Seigneur had drawn nearer and our +men put about and made for the Mount with a number of prisoners. +Several shots were sent after us, but we managed to reach port.'" + +"The officer in charge of the troops thinks this fellow, their leader, +was wounded severely--fatally perhaps?" + +"He thinks it most probable, your Excellency." + +For some time the Governor, with frowning brows, sipped silently from a +glass of liquor at his elbow, and, stiff, motionless, the commandant +waited; close at hand, a dove plumed itself on the roof of the cloister +walk; beyond, the girl again began to sing fitfully. + +Out of the corner of his eye the commandant dared look at her, leaning +now against the wall, the clear-cut, white features outlined against an +illimitable blue background. + + "_Les amours--_" + + +Involuntarily he started to raise a hand to his warlike mustache, when +abruptly was his wandering attention recalled. "The man ashore I spoke +to you about, has been taken into custody?" + +"Yes, your Excellency; and is now at the barracks." + +"Send him here. One moment--" The commandant paused, vaguely +conscious the girl had moved away from the wall. "You spoke of there +being a lack of room--these new prisoners must be confined in the +dungeons; if necessary, crowd more of the others in the upper cells, +and--there is still the Devil's Cage." + +"The Devil's Cage?" Through the rose-tinted columns, above the +Governor's head, the commandant could discern the figure of the Lady +Elise, who had approached and now was gazing inquiringly at them. +"Your Excellency would use that? One can neither lie down in it, nor +sit in it, upright?" + +"Well," the cold eyes flashed, "it is not intended for upright people! +But the man you were ordered to arrest!" with sudden sharpness; "the +man from the shore! Send him to me!" + +"At once, your Excellency!" And responding promptly to his superior's +mood, the commandant saluted briskly, and retired. + +"What man?" The drapery of her gown drawn back, the Lady Elise stood +poised on the court's low coping between the fairy-like pillars. + +"No one you know, my dear." + +"Which means--it is none of my concern?" + +"Not at all." His voice was now perfunctory; and his expression, as he +surveyed her, slightly questioning. "You are looking somewhat pale +to-day?" + +"Am I?" carelessly. "I--I feel very well." As she spoke, she went to +him and leaned over the back of his chair. "_Mon père_, won't you do +something for me?" + +"What?" + +"Promise first." With her hand on his shoulder. + +He reached up; the long, cold fingers stroked the shapely, warm ones. +"One should never leap into the dark with a promise," he answered. +"Especially to a woman." + +"Not even when that woman is one's own daughter?" she asked, sliding to +the arm of the chair. + +He regarded the bright face now thoughtful; the lips, usually laughing, +set sensitively. "Is it another trip to the court, or do you wish to +turn this stern old Mount again into a palace of pleasure? To invite +once more the Paris lords and ladies--the King, himself, perhaps? It +would not be the first time a monarch has been entertained at the +Mount--or a Marquis, either, eh? Shall we ask the Marquis?" + +She made an impatient movement. "I want you to promise to break up the +terrible iron cage, and--" + +"Tut!" Jocosely he pinched the fair cheek. "A girl's thoughts should +be of the court and the cavaliers." + +She turned away her head. "You treat me like a child," she said with a +flash in her eyes. + +"No, no! Like a woman," he laughed. "But the Marquis--perhaps he +could not come here; perhaps he is too much concerned with the gaieties +of Paris!" Her figure straightened; she was about to walk away, when-- + +"You ride this afternoon?" he asked. + +"I had not thought of it." + +"If you do I desire that some one accompany you." Her face changed; +she looked at him quickly, and half turned. "Remember Saladin as well, +and--keep closer to the Mount in the future." + +"Poor Saladin!" she breathed, with averted glance. + +"He got his deserts!" answered the Governor harshly. "An ugly trick +that of his--to bolt and leave you stranded at the extreme point of the +mainland where the bay swings around!" + +"The 'grand' tide--it came in so fast--and made so much noise--" + +"It frightened him! Well, fortunate it was, indeed, you were not on +his back; that you had already reached the point, and had had time to +dismount! An unpleasant experience, nevertheless--with the water +separating you from the Mount, and a great curve of land to be walked +before you could arrive at a human habitation!" + +"I--it wasn't a very comfortable feeling," she acknowledged, flushing. + +"And if the fisherman hadn't subsequently seen you and taken you across +in his little boat, you would have been more uncomfortable later. You +rewarded him well, I trust?" + +"He--wouldn't take anything." + +"And you neglected to inquire his name?" + +"I--did not think." + +"You were so glad to get back?" remarked the Governor, regarding her +closely. "What sort of man was he?" abruptly. + +"Old." + +"And--" + +"That--is all I remember." + +"Hum! Not very lucid. No doubt you were too overwrought, my dear, to +be in an observant mood." His voice sank absently; his fingers sought +among the papers, and, as his glance fell, the girl walked away. Again +she leaned on the parapet, and once more regarded the barren waste +below--the figures of the cockle-seekers, mere specks, the shadow of +the Mount, stamped on the sand, with the saint, a shapeless form, +holding up a tapering black line--a sword--at the apex. + +"She is keeping back something. What?" Above an official-looking +document the Governor watched her, his lips compressed, his eyes keen; +then shrugged his shoulders and resumed his occupation. The death-like +hush of an aërial region surrounded them; the halcyon peace of a +seemingly chimerical cloister; until suddenly broken by an indubitable +clangor--harsh, hard!--of a door, opening; shutting. The Governor +lifted his head in annoyance; the dove on the roof of the cloister-walk +flew away, and a short, fat man, breathing hard, appeared. + +"Pardon, your Excellency! But the drafts! They seem sometimes to +sweep up from the very dungeons themselves, and--" + +"Well?" + +Beppo cut short excuse, or explanation. "A prisoner is waiting +without. The man, Sanchez, from the shore! Monsieur le Commandant, +who brought him, told me to inform you." + +The Governor considered a moment with down-bent brows. "You may show +him in, but first," he glanced up with a frown, "I have a question to +put to you." + +"Your Excellency?" + +"This morning you thought fit to apprise me," Beppo looked +uncomfortable, "in view of the events of last night--that you saw +yesterday this fellow, Sanchez, setting out in a sail-boat, accompanied +by a priest--a fact that might have been of great service to me, had I +been aware of it in season!" The Governor paused to allow the full +weight of his disapproval to be felt. "At what hour did you see them +start out?" + +"About dusk, the time of the 'grand' tide," was the crestfallen answer. +"I was following the shore, feeling anxious on account of the Lady +Elise, who, I knew, had gone in the direction of the forest, when I saw +them, some distance out, but not too far to recognize this fellow's +boat and in it two men, one of them in the black robes of a priest. I +attached no importance to the incident until--" + +The Governor interrupted. "You may send the prisoner in," he said +shortly. "No--wait!" Toward the spot where the girl had been standing +the Governor glanced quickly, but that post of observation was now +vacant, and his Excellency more deliberately looked around; caught no +sight of her. "You may send him in here," he said, "alone. I will +speak with the prisoner in private." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE GOVERNOR IS SURPRISED + +But the Lady Elise had not gone. Passing from the cloister through the +great arched doorway leading to the high-roofed refectory, she had +stopped at the sight of a number of people gathered near the entrance. +At first she had merely glanced at them; then started, as, in the +somewhat dim light prevailing there, her eyes became fixed upon one of +their number. + +Obviously a prisoner, he stood in the center of the group, with head +down-bent, a hard, indifferent expression on his countenance. Amazed, +the girl was about to step forward to address him--or the +commandant--when Beppo appeared from the cloister, walked toward the +officer, and, in a low ill-humored tone, said something she could not +hear. Whatever it was, the commandant caused him to repeat it; made a +gesture to the soldiers, who drew back, and spoke himself to the +prisoner. + +The latter did not reply nor raise his eyes, and the commandant laid a +heavy hand on his shoulder, whereupon the prisoner moved forward +mechanically, through the doorway. + +"You are sure his Excellency said 'alone'?" asked the commandant. + +"As sure as I have ears," answered Beppo. "But her ladyship--see! She +is walking after him." + +Beppo shrugged his shoulders. "_She_ always does what she pleases; no +orders apply to her." + +In the shadow of the cloister roof, at a corner where the double row of +pillars met, the girl paused; looked out through the columns, her hand +at her breast. The Governor was unconcernedly writing; not even when +the prisoner stepped forward did he turn from his occupation; at his +leisure dotted an "i" and crossed a "t"; sprinkled sand lightly over +the paper; waited a moment; then tapped the fine particles from the +letter. For his part, the prisoner displayed equal patience, standing +in an attitude of stolid endurance. + +"Your name is Sanchez?" At length the Governor seemed to notice the +other's presence. + +"Yes." + +"And you formerly served the Seigneur Desaurac? Followed him to +America?" + +"As your Excellency knows." The servant's tone was veiled defiance. + +A trace of pink sprang to the Governor's brow, though the eyes he +lifted were impassive. "You will answer 'yes' or 'no'!" He reached +for a stick of wax, held it up to the tiny flame of a lamp; watched the +red drops fall. "When you returned, it was to live in the forest +with--a nameless brat?" + +"My master's son!" + +"By a peasant woman, his--" + +"Wife!" + +The Governor smiled; applying a seal, pressed it hard. "The courts +found differently," he observed in a mild, even voice, as speaking to +himself and extolling the cause of justice. + +"The courts! Because the priest who married them had been driven from +Brittany! Because he could not be found then! Because--" The man's +indignation had got the better of his taciturnity, but he did not +finish the sentence. + +"Either," said the Governor quietly, "you are one of those +simple-minded people who, misguided by loyalty, cherish illusions, or +you are a scheming rogue. No matter which, unfortunately," in crisp +tones, "it is necessary to take time to deal with you." + +"At your Excellency's service!" And the man folded his arms but, again +turning to his table, the Governor apparently found some detail of +employment there of paramount importance; once more kept the prisoner +waiting. + +The silence lengthened; in the dim light of the walk noiselessly the +girl drew nearer; unseen, reached the old abbot's great granite chair +with its sheltering back to the court and close to the Governor's +table. Into the capacious depths of this chilly throne, where once the +high and holy dignitary of the church had been accustomed to recline +while brethren laved his feet from the tiny stone lavatorium before it, +she half sank, her cheek against one of its cold sides; in an attitude +of expectation breathlessly waited. Why was it so still? Why did not +her father speak? She could hear his pen scratch, scratch! + +They were again speaking; more eagerly she bent forward; listened to +the hard, metallic voice of the Governor. + +"You left the castle at once when the decree of the court, ordering it +vacated, was posted in the forest?" + +"My master told me to, pretending he was going, but--" + +"Remained to resist; to kill." The Governor's tones, without being +raised, were sharper. "And when, after the crime against these +instruments of justice, he escaped to the high seas, why did you not go +with him?" + +"He wouldn't have it." + +"Thinking you would be more useful here? A spy?" + +"He said he would be held an outlaw; a price put on him, and--he +dismissed me from his service." + +"Dismissed you? An excellent jest! But," with sudden incisiveness, +"what about the priest, eh? What about the priest?" + +The man straightened. "What priest?" he said in a dogged tone. + +"You are accused of harboring and abetting an unfrocked fellow who has +long been wanted by the government, a scamp of revolutionary +tendencies; you are accused of having taken him to sea," the prisoner +started, "to some rendezvous--a distant isle--to meet some one; to wait +for a ship; to be smuggled away--?" + +The man did not reply; with head sunk slightly, seemed lost in thought. + +"Speak--answer!" + +"Who accuses me?" + +From the stone chair the girl sprang; looked out. Her face white, +excited, peering beneath the delicate spandrils and stone roses, seemed +to come as an answer. + +"Have I not told you--" began the Governor sternly, when-- + +"Bah!" burst from the prisoner violently. "Why should I deny what your +Excellency so well knows? I told my master not to trust her; that she +would play him false; and that once out of his hands--" + +"Her? Whom do you mean?" The Governor's eyes followed the man's; +stopped. "Elise!" + +"I think," her eyes very bright, the girl walked quickly toward them, +"I think this man means me." + +"Elise!" the Governor repeated. + +"Forgive me, _mon père_; I didn't intend to listen, but I couldn't help +it--because--" + +"How long," said the Governor, "have you been there?" + +"Ever since--he came in. I suppose," proudly turning to the man, "it +is useless to say that I did not play this double rôle of which you +accuse me, and that I did keep, in every particular, the promise I +made--" + +"Oh, yes; you could say it, my Lady!" with sneering emphasis. + +"But you reserve to yourself the right not to believe me? That is what +you mean?" The man's stubborn, vindictive look answered. "Then I will +deny nothing to you; nothing! You may think what you will." + +His face half-covered by his hand, the Governor gazed at them; the +girl, straight, slender, inflexibly poised; the prisoner eying her with +dark, unvarying glance. + +"_Dieu!_" he muttered. "What is this?" and concern gave way to a new +feeling. _Her_ concern for something--somebody--held him. A promise! +"You can step back a few moments, my man!" to Sanchez. "A little +farther--to the parapet! I'll let you know when you're wanted." And +the prisoner obeyed, moving slowly away to the wall, where he stood out +of ear-shot, his back to them. "You spoke of a promise?" the Governor +turned to his daughter. "To whom?" + +A suggestion of color swept her face, though she answered at once +without hesitation: "To the Black Seigneur." + +The slight form of the Governor stirred as to the shock of a battery. + +"There is no harm in telling now," hurriedly she went on. "He saved me +from the 'grand' tide--for I was on Saladin's back when he bolted and +ran. I had not dismounted, though I allowed you to infer so, and he +had carried me almost to the island of Casque when we heard and saw the +water coming in. The nearest place was the island--not the point of +the mainland, as I felt obliged to lead you to think, and we started +for it; we might have reached the cove, had not Saladin stumbled and +thrown me. The last I remembered the water came rushing around, and +when I awoke, I was in a watch-tower, with him--the Black Seigneur!" + +The Governor looked at her; did not speak. + +"I--I at first did not know who he was--not until this man came--and +the priest! And when he, the Black Seigneur, saw I had learned the +truth, he asked me to promise--not for himself--but because of this +man!--to say nothing of having met him there, or the others! And I did +promise, and--he sent me back--and that is all--" + +"All!" Did the Governor speak the word? He sat as if he had hardly +comprehended; a deeper flush dyed her cheek. + +"You--you can not blame me--after what he did. He saved me--saved my +life. You are glad of that, mon père, are you not? And it must have +been hard doing it, for his clothes were torn, and his hands were +bleeding--he can't be all bad, _mon père_! He knew who I was, yet +trusted me--trusted!" + +The Governor looked at her; touched a bell; the full-toned note +vibrated far and near. + +"What are you going to do?" Something in his face held her. + +Again the tones startled the stillness. "Remember, it is I who am +responsible for--" + +"Your Excellency?" Across the court appeared Beppo, moving quickly +toward them. "Your Excellency?" + +"One moment!" The servant stepped back; the Governor looked first at +the girl; then toward the entrance of the cloister. + +"You want me to go?" Her voice was low: strained; in it, too, was a +hard, rebellious accent. "But I can't--can't--until--" + +"What?" + +"You promise to set him free! This man who brought me back! Don't you +see you must, _mon père_? Must!" she repeated. + +His thin lips drew back disagreeably; he seemed about to speak; then +reached among the papers and, turned them over absently. "Very well!" +he said at length without glancing up. + +"You promise," her voice expressed relief and a little surprise, "to +set him free?" + +"Have I not said so?" His eyelids veiled a peculiar look. "Yes, he +shall be liberated--very shortly." + +"Thank you, _mon père_." A moment she bent over him; the proud, sweet +lips brushed his forehead. "I will go, then, at once." And she +started toward the door. Near the threshold she paused; looked back to +smile gratefully at the Governor, then quickly went out. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AT THE COCKLES + +A rugged mass of granite, rent by giant fissures, and surrounded by +rocks and whirlpools, the Norman English isle, so-called "Key to the +Channel," one hundred miles, or more, northwest of the Mount, had from +time immemorial offered haven to ships out of the pale of French ports. +Not only a haven, but a home, or that next-best accommodation, an +excellent inn. Perched in the hollow of the mighty cliff and reached +by a flight of somewhat perilous stone stairs, the Cockles, for so the +ancient tavern was called, set squarely toward the sea, and opened wide +its shell, as it were, to all waifs or stormy petrels blown in from the +foamy deep. + +Good men, bad men; Republicans, royalists; French-English, +English-French, the landlord--old Pierre Laroche, retired sea-captain +and owner of a number of craft employed in a dangerous, but profitable, +occupation--received them willingly, and in his solicitude for their +creature comforts and the subsequent reckoning, cared not a jot for +their politics, morals, or social views. It was enough if the visitor +had no lenten capacity; looked the fleshpots in the face and drank of +his bottle freely. + +The past few days the character of old Pierre's guests had left some +room for complaint on that score. But a small number of the crew of +the swift-looking vessel, well-known to the islanders, and now tossing +in the sea-nook below, had, shortly after their arrival toward dusk of +a stormy day, repaired to the inn, and then they had not called for +their brandy or wine in the smart manner of seamen prepared for +unstinted sacrifice to Bacchus. On the contrary, they drank quietly, +talked soberly, and soon prepared to leave. + +"Something has surely gone wrong," thought their host. "Why did not +your captain come ashore?" he asked. "Not see his old friend, Pierre +Laroche, at once! It is most unlike him." + +And on the morrow, the islanders, or English-French, more or less +privateersmen themselves, were equally curious. Where had the ship +come from? Where was it going? And how many tons of wine, bales of +silk and packages of tobacco, or "ptum," as the weed was called, had it +captured? Old Pierre would soon find out, for early that day, despite +the inclemency of the weather, he came down to the beach, and, followed +by a servitor, got into a small boat moored close to the shore. + +"He is going aboard!" + +"Who has a better right? His own vessel!" + +"No; André Desaurac--the Black Seigneur's! They say he long ago paid +for it from prizes wrested from the Governor of the Mount." + +"At any rate, old Pierre entered into a bargain to build the boat for +him--" + +"And added to his wealth by the transaction." + +Later that morning the old man came ashore, but, according to habit, +preserved a shrewd silence; in the afternoon a small number of the crew +landed to take on stores and ammunition--of which there was ever a +plentiful supply at this base; that night, however, all, including +their master, betook themselves to the Cockles. + +"Glad to see you ashore, _mon capitaine_!" Pierre Laroche, standing at +the door, just beyond reach of the fierce driving rain, welcomed the +Black Seigneur warmly; but the young man, one of whose arms seemed +bound and useless, cut short his greetings; tossed bruskly aside his +dark heavy cloak, and called for a room where he might sit in private +with a companion. This person the landlord eyed askance; nevertheless, +with a show of bluff heartiness, he led the way to a small chamber, +somewhat apart, but overlooking the long low apartment, the general +eating and drinking place of the establishment, now filled by the crew +and a number of the islanders. + +"Your _capitaine_ has been hurt? How?" A strapping, handsome girl, +clad in red and of assured mien, passing across the room, paused to +address a man of prodigious girth, who drank with much gusto from a +huge vessel at his elbow. + +"Did not your father, Pierre Laroche, tell you?" + +"He? No; all he thinks of is the money." + +"Then must _le capitaine_ speak for himself, Mistress Nanette." + +"You are not very polite, Monsieur Gabarie," she returned, tossing her +head; "but I suppose there is a reason; you have been beaten. In an +encounter with the Governor's ships? Did you sink any of them? It +would be good news for us islanders." + +"_You_ islanders!" derisively. + +"Yes, islanders!" she answered defiantly. "But tell me; a number of +you wear patches, which make you look very ugly. They were +acquired--how?" + +"In a little clerical argument!" growled the poet. + +She glanced toward the secluded apartment; its occupants--the subject +of their conversation, and a priest, a feeble-looking man of about +seventy, whose delicate, sad face shone white and out-of-keeping in +that adventuresome company. "At any rate, the Black Seigneur hasn't +lost his good looks!" + +"Take care _you_ don't lose your heart!" + +"Bah!" Her strong bold eyes swept back. "Much good it would do me!" + +"And for that reason--" + +"Messieurs!" the landlord's voice broke in upon them; "behold!" it +seemed to say, as pushing through the company, he preceded a lanky lad +who bore by their legs many plucked fowls and birds--woodcock, wild +duck, cliff pigeons--and made his way to the great open fireplace at +one end of the room. There, bending over the glowing embers, the +landlord deliberately stirred and spread them; then, reaching for a bar +of steel, he selected a poulet from the hand of the lanky attendant and +prepared to adjust it; but before doing so, prodded it with his finger, +surveyed it critically, and held it up for admiring attention. + +"Who says old Pierre Laroche doesn't know how to care for his friends? +What think you of it, my masters?" + +"Plump as the King's confessor," muttered the poet. + +"Or your King himself!" said one of the islanders. + +"On with the King! Skewer the King!" exclaimed a fierce voice. + +"And then we'll eat him!" laughed the girl, showing her white teeth. + +"Thoughtless children!" From his place at the table in the small room +adjoining, the priest, attracted by the grim merriment of the +islanders, looked down to regard them; the red fire; the red gown. + +"Here, at least, will you find a safe asylum, Father," said his +companion, the Black Seigneur, in an absent tone; "a little rough, +perhaps, to suit your calling--" + +"The rougher, the more suitable--as I've often had occasion to learn +since leaving Verranch." + +"Since being driven from it, you mean!" shortly. + +"Ah, those revolutionary documents--placed in my garden!" + +"To make you appear--you, Father!--a sanguinary character!" But the +other's laugh rang false. + +"Alas, such wickedness! But I was too content; the rose-covered +cottage too comfortable; its garden, an Eden! It was more meet I +should be driven forth; go out into the highways, where I found--such +misery! I reproached myself I had not sought it sooner--voluntarily. +From north to south peasants dying, women and children starving, no one +to administer the last rites--on every side, work, work for the outcast +priest! For ten years it has occupied him--a blessed privilege--" + +"And then," the young man, who had seemed absorbed in other thoughts, +hardly listening, looked mechanically up, "you came back?" + +"A weakness of age! To see the old place once more! The little +church; God's acre at its side; to stand on the hill at Verranch and +look out a last time over the beautiful vale toward the Mount!" +Briefly he paused. "Yet I am glad I yielded to the temptation; +otherwise should I not have met your old servant, Sanchez; who told me +all--how you had long been looking for me, and arranged our meeting for +that day--on the island of Casque!" + +"But not," the young man's demeanor at once became intent; his eyes +gleamed with sudden fierce lights, "for what followed!" + +The priest sighed. "Shall I ever forget it? The terrible night, the +troop-ship, the killed and wounded. And the poor fellows taken +prisoners! I can not but think of them and their fate. What will it +be?" + +The other did not answer; only impatiently moved his injured arm and, +regarding him, the down-turned, dark countenance, the knit brows, +quickly the priest changed the subject of conversation. + +In the large room some one began to play, and before the fire, where +now the birds were turning and the serving-lad, with a long spoon was +basting, the dark-browed girl started to dance. At the side of the +hearth old Pierre smoked stolidly, gazed at the coals, and +dreamed--perhaps of the past, and dangers he had himself encountered, +or of the present, and his ships scattered--where?--on profitable, if +precarious errands. Somberly, in no freer mood than on the occasion of +their first visit to the inn, the crew looked on; but a tall, +savage-appearing islander soon matched her step; a second took his +place; from one partner to another she passed--wild, reckless men whose +touch she did not shun; yet it might have been noticed her eyes turned +often, through wreaths of smoke, mist-like in the glare and glimmer of +dips and torches, toward the Black Seigneur. + +Why--her gaze seemed to say--did he not join them, instead of sitting +there with a priest? She whirled to the threshold; her flushed face +looked in. "Are you saying a mass for the souls of your men who were +captured?" + +"I see," he returned quietly, "you have been gossiping." + +"A woman's privilege!" she flashed back. "But how did it happen? And +not only your arm," more sharply regarding him, "but your head! I +fancy if I were to push back a few locks of that thick hair I should +discover--it must have been a pretty blow you got, my Seigneur +Solitude!" He made no reply and she went on. "You, who I thought were +never beaten! By a mere handful of troops, too! Did you have to run +away very fast? If I were a man--" + +"Your tongue would be less sharp," he answered coolly, the black eyes +indifferent. + +"Much you care for my tongue!" she retorted. + +"No?" + +"No!" she returned mockingly, when above the din of voices, the +crackling of the fire, and the wild moaning of the wind in the chimney, +a low, but distinct and prolonged call was heard,--from somewhere +without, below. + +"What is that?" Quickly Nanette turned; superstitious, after the +fashion of most of her people, a little of the color left her cheek. +Again was it wafted to them, nearer, plainer! "The voices of dead men +from the sea!" + +"More like some one on the steps who would like to get in--some +fisherman who has just got to shore!" said old Pierre Laroche, waking +up and emptying his pipe. "Throw open the door. The stones are +slippery--the night dark--" + +One of the crew obeyed, and, as the wind entered sharply, and the +lights flickered and grew dim, there half staggered, half rushed from +the gloom, the figure of a man, wild, wet, whose clothes were torn and +whose face was freshly cut and marked with many livid signs of violence. + +"Sanchez!" From his place the Black Seigneur rose. + +The others looked around wonderingly; some with rough pity. "What's +the matter, man?" said one. "You look as if you had had a bad fall." + +"Fall!" Standing in the center of the room, where he had come to a +sudden stop, the man gazed, bewildered, resentful, about him; then +above the circle of questioning faces, his uncertain look lifted; +caught and remained fixed on that of the Black Seigneur. "Fall?" he +repeated, articulating with difficulty. "No; I had--no fall--but I +will speak--with my master--alone!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SEETHING OF THE SEA + +"'I have concluded to deal leniently with you,' said the Governor; 'set +you free!' I could not believe." + +Alone in the little chamber, the door of which now was closed, shutting +them from sight of the company in the general eating and drinking room +adjoining, Sanchez and the Black Seigneur sat together. Before them +the viands that had been placed on the table were untouched; the filled +glasses, untasted. As he spoke, the man bent forward, his words +disjointed; his eyes gleaming. + +"'But,' the Governor added, 'the criminal must be taught not to +forget'; then turned to his soldiers. 'Beat me this fellow from the +Mount!' he commanded." + +"What!" The blood sprang to the dark face of the listener; he half +started from his chair. "And they did! A merry chase, down the +streets, across the sands! I, an old soldier!" His voice choked. +"Beaten like a dog!" + +For some moments the young man looked at him; then again sank back; +stared straight ahead. Without, the laughter and harsh voices of the +islanders had become louder; within the little chamber, the only sound +now was the hard, persistent ticking of the clock on the shelf. + +"But how," at length Desaurac made a movement, "did he--" + +"Learn!" violently. "The way I told you he would!" + +"You mean--" + +"That I was betrayed and you were--by the Lady Elise--" + +"Impossible!" the Black Seigneur exclaimed with sudden violence. + +"Because she has a pretty face!" sneered the other. + +"Silence! Or--" + +"That is it!" The servant's voice rose stridently. "Beaten at one +end, threatened at the other!" + +The arm the young man had reached out fell to his side. "Hush! You're +mad; you don't know what you're saying!" + +"And you did not know what you were doing! Oh, I dare say it--I tell +you now I little liked the task of taking her back; expecting some sort +of treachery, and, when it came, was not surprised! Any more than, +when they had brought me before the Governor, I saw her at the +cloister--watching, hiding--" + +"Hiding!" + +"Behind the coping to listen when he, her father, was questioning me! +And, when I looked up and caught her, she walked out--to show me I +might as well confess!" + +"She did that?" + +"Then tried to cozen me into believing it was not through her," went on +the man bitterly, as if speaking to himself. "But I know the lying +blood--none better--and when she saw it was no use," he paused and +looked up, the marks of the stripes on his face seeming suddenly to +burn and grow livid, "she acknowledged it to my face! 'I won't deny.' +Those were her words! And when she left the place, she turned around +to look back at me--and laugh--" + +"You are not mistaken?" + +"Perhaps," said the man, a venomous light in his obstinate eyes, "it +was all a fancy; or--I am lying!" + +Outside, the wind, blowing sharper, whistled about the eaves, beat at +the window and shook the blinds angrily; far below, a steady monotone +to those other sounds, could be heard the rush and breaking of the surf. + +"Why did I cross myself that day on the island, when I saw her--behind +you?" Sanchez's taciturnity--the reticence of years--suddenly burst +its bonds. "Because she made me think of the former lady of the +Mount--the Governor's wife--who betrayed the Seigneur, your father! I +promised him to keep the secret--he would have it, for the sake of the +lady; but now--to you! Your father was stabbed at the foot of the +Mount by the Governor!--" + +"Stabbed! By him!" + +"It was given out," sourly, "by rogues--again to shield her!" + +"But--" + +"That same day he had a letter--from her. As evening fell he walked +near the Mount--was followed by the Governor, who sprang, struck in the +back and left him for dead! I found him and took him home. But before +he recovered, it was reported my lady had died--" + +"How?" + +"I know not; a punishment, perhaps! She was always delicate--or liked +to be considered such--a white-faced, pretty, smiling thing whose +beauty and treachery this other one, the daughter, inherits. It was +the ghost of herself looking over your shoulder that day on the island, +with the same bright, perfidious eyes--" + +"Enough!" Angrily the Black Seigneur brought down his hand. "I will +hear no more!" + +"Because she has caught your fancy! Because you--" + +"No more, I say! Think you I would not avenge your wrongs at once, +were it possible? That I would not strike for you, on the instant? +But now? My hands are tied. Another matter--of life, or +death--presses first!" + +Sanchez looked at him quickly; said no more; between them, the silence +grew. The servant was the first to move; turning to the table, he +began to eat; at first mechanically; afterward faster, with the +ravenous zest of one who has not tasted food for many hours. The +other, for his part, showed no immediate desire to disturb that +occupation; for some time waited; and it was not until the servant +stopped; reached out his arm for a glass, to drink, that the young man +again spoke. + +"The palace? The plan of the Mount? Did you notice? Tell me +something of it--how it is laid out--" + +Sanchez swallowed; set down the glass hard. "Yes, yes! I saw much--a +great deal!" he answered with eager zest. "Oh, I kept my eyes open, +although I seemed not to, and was mindful of learning all I could!" + +"Here!" From his pocket the young man took a note-book; pencil. "Set +it down; everything! I know something, already, from the old +monks--the rough diagrams in their books. You entered where? Take the +pencil and--" + +The minutes passed and still Sanchez traced; seemed almost to forget +his injuries in his interest in the labor. Plan after plan was made; +torn up; one finally remained in the hand of the Black Seigneur. + +"You think--" Anxiously the servant watched his master's face; but the +latter, straight, erect, with keen eyes fixed, did not answer. + +"You think--" again began the man when the ancient time-piece, beating +harshly the hour, interrupted. + +"Eleven o'clock! High tide!" The Black Seigneur pushed back his chair +and rose. + +"Good!" Sanchez's alacrity indicated a quick comprehension of what the +movement portended. + +"You--had better remain here!" shortly. + +"Me?" said the servant with a hoarse laugh. "Me?" + +"Have you not had enough of my family--my service?" the young Seigneur +demanded bitterly. + +"Bah!" muttered the other. "The dog that's beaten springs at the +chance to bite! You go to rescue your comrades. I--will go with you!" + +"In which case, death--not vengeance--will most likely be your reward!" + +"I care not!" stubbornly. + +A moment the Black Seigneur regarded him; then made a gesture. + +"Well, have your way!" He listened. "The wind is in the west." + +"A little south of west," answered the man. + +"A rough night for your boat to have crossed!" + +"Oh, I was bound to come! And if you hadn't been here, I'd have gone +on, on,--till I found you--" + +The hand of the young man touched the other's shoulder. "Come!" he +said, and threw open the door. + +"You are going in the storm?" The girl, Nanette, intercepted them. + +The Black Seigneur nodded shortly. + +"It must be an important mission to take you to sea on such a night. +Why don't you stay where it's warm and comfortable? Or," with a laugh, +"at least until Monsieur Gabarie," indicating the corpulent figure +intrenched behind a barricade of dishes and bottles on a small table +near the fire, "has finished the little puppet play he is writing." + +"It _is_ finished!" As he spoke, the poet rose. "I had but written +'curtain' when you spoke. Your wine, fair Nanette, hath a rarely +inspiring quality!" + +"Oh, I care not for your compliments!" she returned. "Your +_capitaine_," again studying the Black Seigneur with dark sedulous +eyes, "has not found it so much to his liking! He has neither asked +for more, nor drunk what he ordered; and now would venture out--" + +Unmindful of her words the young man called to old Pierre. + +"Well," she went on, throwing back her head, "if you lose your ship, +come to me, and--I'll see you have another!" + +Above in his chamber at the inn, not long thereafter, the priest, +looking out of the window, saw a line of men file down the narrow +stairs; embark in the small boats from the sheltered nook where they +lay, and later, in the light of the moon, breaking from between +scudding clouds and angry vapors, a ship that got under way--glided +like a phantom craft from the haven and set seaward through the foam. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE PILGRIMAGE + +From far and near the peasants and the people of the towns and +villages, joined in the customary annual descent upon--or ascent +to--the Mount. None was too poor, few too miserable, to undertake the +journey. A pilgrimage, was the occasion called; but although certain +religious ceremonies were duly observed and entered into by some with +fanatical warmth, many there were, who, obliged to pay tithes, +nourished the onerous recollection of the enforced "ecclesiastical +tenth" to the exclusion of any great desire to avail themselves of the +compensating privilege of beholding and bowing before the sacred +relics. To these recalcitrant spirits, license and a rough sort of +merrymaking became the order of the hour. + +Early in the morning the multitude began to arrive--in every manner of +dilapidated vehicle, astride starved-looking donkeys and bony horses, +or on foot. Many who had camped out the night before, by wayside or in +forest, brought with them certain scanty provisions and a kitchen pot +in which to boil thin soup, or some poor makeshift mess; others came +empty-handed, "pilgrims" out at the elbow and shoeless, trusting to +fortune for their sustenance, and looking capable even of having +poached in one of the wide forests they had traversed, despite a +penalty, severe and disproportionate to the offense, for laying hand on +any lord's wild birds or rabbits. + +Savage men; sodden men--good, bad and indifferent! Like ants thronging +about the hill, they straightway streamed to the Mount; took possession +of it, or as much as lay open to them; for around the top, chosen abode +of the Governor, extended a wall; grim, dark and ominous; bristling +with holes which seemed to look blackly down; to watch, to listen and +to frown. Without that pretentious line of encircling masonry, the +usual din, accompaniment to the day and the presence of so many people, +prevailed; within, reigned silence, a solemn hush, unbroken by even a +sentinel's tread. + +"I shall be glad when it's all over!" Standing at the window of her +chamber the Lady Elise had paused in dressing to look out upon the +throng--a thousand clots upon the sand, dark moving masses in the +narrow byways, and motionless ones near the temporary altars. + +"Oh, my Lady!" Her companion, and former nurse, a woman about fifty +years of age, ventured this mild expostulation. + +"There, Marie! You can go!" + +"Yes, your Ladyship--" + +"One moment!" The slender figure turned. "This fastening--" + +In an instant the woman was by her side. + +"Have you heard anything more about the prisoners, Marie?" abruptly. +"Those who were tried, I mean?" + +"Nothing--only Beppo said they are to be hanged day after +to-morrow--when the pilgrimage is over." + +"Day after to-morrow!" The brown eyes looked hard and bright; the +small white teeth pressed her lip. "And the man my fa--the Governor +had--whipped from the Mount--you have heard nothing more of him--where +he has gone?" + +"No, my Lady; he seems to have disappeared completely; fled this +country, perhaps, for those islands where so many like him," half +bitterly, "have gone before!" + +The girl looked up in a preoccupied manner. "Poor Marie! Your only +sister died there, didn't she?" + +"Yes, my Lady; I never saw her after she left France with her husband +and baby girl. He was an unpatriotic fellow--Pierre Laroche!" + +"No doubt," said the Governor's daughter absently, as the other +prepared to leave the room. + +Alone, the girl remained for several moments motionless before the +great Venetian mirror; then mechanically, hardly looking at the +reflection the glass threw back at her, she finished her toilet. This +task accomplished, still she stood with brows closely drawn; afar the +flute-like voices of the choir-boys arose from different parts of the +Mount, but she did not seem to hear them; made a sudden quick gesture +and walked toward the door in the manner of one who has arrived at some +resolution. + +Passing down a corridor, she reached an arched opening whose massive +door swung easily to her touch, and let herself out by a private way, +which had once been the ancient abbot's way, to an isolated corner of a +small secluded platform. From this point a stairway led up to a +passage spanning a great gulf. Below and aside, where the red-tiled +houses clung to the steep slope of the rock, fluttered many flags; yet +the girl did not pause either to contemplate or admire. Only when her +glance passed seaward and rested on the far-away ocean's rim of light, +did she stop for an instant--mid-way on the bridge--then, compressing +her lips, moved on the faster; down the incline on the other side; up +winding stairs between giant columns, reaching, at length, that bright +and grateful opening, the cloister. With an unvarying air of +resolution she stepped forward; looked in; the place was empty--silent +save for the tinkling of the tiny fountain in the center. + +"Are you looking for some one, my Lady?" + +The voice was that of Beppo, who was regarding her from an angle in the +cloister walk. + +"I am looking for his Excellency. I suppose he is--" + +"In the apartments of state, my Lady. But--" + +The girl frowned. + +"But, but!" she said. "But what?" + +"His Excellency has left word--he was expecting a minister from +Paris--that no one else was to be admitted; the matter was so important +that he wished no interruptions." + +She had already turned, however; moved on past him without answer. At +the inner entrance to the "little castle" or châtelet, which presently +she reached, the girl stopped. Here, without, in the shadow of two +huge cylindrical towers, that crowned the feudal gate-house, a number +of soldiers, seated on the steps, clinked their swords and talked; +within, beneath the high-vaulted dome of the guard-room lolled the +commandant and several officers on a bench before a large window. +Immediately on her appearance they rose, but, merely bowing stiffly, +she started toward a portal on the left. Whereupon the commandant +started forward, deferentially would have spoken--stopped her, when at +the same moment, the door she was approaching opened, and the Governor +himself appeared. At the sight of her he started; a shade of annoyance +crossed his thin features, then almost immediately vanished; his cold +eyes met hers expectantly. + +"I have been told you were very busy, yet I must see you; it is very +important--" + +A fraction of a moment he seemed to hesitate; then with an absent air: +"Certainly, I was very busy; nevertheless--" he stepped aside; +permitted her to pass, and softly closed the door. With the same +preoccupied air he walked to his table before one of the large +fireplaces whose pyramidal canopies merged into the ribs of the +vaulting of a noble chamber, and, seating himself in a cushioned chair, +looked down at a few embers. + +"I came," standing, with her fingers straight and stiff on the cold +marble edge of the table, the girl began to speak hurriedly, +constrainedly, "I wanted to see you--about the prisoners--" + +He did not answer. Gently stroking his wrist, as if the dampness from +some subterranean place had got into it, he evinced no sign he had +heard; and this apathy and his apparent disregard of her awoke more +strongly the feeling she had experienced so often since that day in the +cloister, when he had promised to set free the servant of the Black +Seigneur; had kept his word, indeed, but-- + +"Can't you see," she forced herself to continue, "after what the man +Sanchez thought--suspected about me, what he said that day at the +Mount, after what he, the Black Seigneur, did for me"--the Governor +started--"that you, if you care for me at all," he looked at her +strangely, "at least, should--" + +"As I told you the other day," his accents were cold, "why concern +yourself about outlaws and peasants clamoring for 'rights'!" + +"But it _is_ my concern," she said passionately. "Unless--" + +"Neither yours nor mine," he answered in the same tone. "Only the +law's!" + +"The law's!" she returned. "_You_ are the law--" + +"Its servant!" he corrected. + +"But--you could spare their lives! You could deal with them more +mercifully!" + +"The law is explicit. In the King alone rests the power to--" + +"The King! But before word could reach him--" + +"Exactly!" As he spoke, the Governor rose. "And now--" + +"You will not hear me?" + +"If there is anything else--" + +Her figure straightened. "Why do you hate him so?" she asked +passionately. "You have hastened their trial, and would carry out the +sentence before there is time for justice. And the man whom that day +you ordered whipped from the Mount--after letting me think him safe! +After all that his master did for me! Why was he lashed? Because of +him he served or of the old Seigneur before that? I heard you ask +about him--of his having gone to America? Why did you care about that?" + +"You seem to have listened to a great deal!" + +[Illustration: "You seem to have listened to a great deal."] + +"And why did he go to America?" she went on, unheeding. "Did you hate +him, too? What for?" + +"If you have nothing else to talk about--" He glanced at the door. + +"And the lands!" she said. "They were his; now they are yours--" + +"Unjustly, perhaps _you_ think." + +"No, no!" she cried. "I didn't mean--I didn't imply that. Of course +not! Only," putting out her hands, "I try to understand, and--you have +never taken me into your confidence, _mon père_! You have been +indulgent; denied me nothing, but--I don't want to feel the way I have +felt the last week, as if--" quickly she stopped. "No doubt there are +reasons--although I have puzzled; and if I knew! Can't you," abruptly, +"treat me as one worthy of your confidence?" + +"You!" he said with quiet irony. "Who--_listen_!" + +The girl flushed. "I had to, because--" + +"And who misrepresent facts, as in the case of--Saladin!" + +"But--" + +"How long," standing over her, "were you on the island?" + +"I--don't know!" + +"You don't?" His voice implied disbelief. + +"Part of the time I was unconscious--" + +"In the watch-tower with him!" + +She made a gesture. "Would you rather--" + +"What did he say?" + +The girl's eyes, that had been so steadfast, on a sudden wavered. +"Nothing--much." + +"And you? Nothing, too? Then how was the deception devised--the pact +entered into--" + +Her figure stiffened. "There was no pact." + +"Treason, then? The law holds it treason to--" + +"You are cruel; unjust!" she cried. "To me, as you were to him. That +old man you had whipped! I wonder," impetuously, "if you are so to all +of them, the people, the peasants. And if that is the reason they have +only black looks for me--and hatred? As if they would like to curse +us!" + +He turned away. "I am very busy." + +"_Mon père_!" + +He walked to the door. + +"Then you won't--won't spare them?" + +He opened wide the door. Still she did not move, until the sight of +the commandant without, the curious glance he cast in their direction, +decided her. Drawing herself up, she walked toward the threshold, and, +bowing perfunctorily, with head held high, crossed it. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE VOICE FROM THE GROUP + +"No one from the household is allowed through without an order!" + +"You will, however, let me pass." + +"Because you have a pretty face?" The sentinel at the great gate +separating the upper part of the Mount from the town, answered roughly. +"Not you, my girl, or--" + +But she who importuned raised the sides of the ample linen head-dress +and revealed fully her countenance. + +"My Lady!" Half convinced, half incredulous, the soldier looked; +stared; at features, familiar, yet seeming different, with the +rebellious golden hair smoothed down severely above; the figure garbed +in a Norman peasant dress, made for a costume dance when the nobles and +court ladies had visited the Mount. + +"You do not doubt who I am?" Imperiously regarding him. + +"No, my Lady; only--" + +"Then open the gate!" she commanded. + +The man pushed back the ponderous bolts; pressed outward the mass of +oak and iron, and, puzzled, surprised, watched the girl slip through. +Of course it was none of his affair, my lady's caprice, and if she +chose to go masquerading among the people on such a day, when all the +idle vagabonds made pretext to visit the Mount, her right to do so +remained unquestioned; but, as he closed the heavy door, he shook his +head. Think of the risk! Who knew what might happen in the event of +her identity being revealed to certain of those in that heterogeneous +concourse without? Even at the moment through an aperture for +observation in the framework to which he repaired upon adjusting the +fastenings, he could see approaching a procession of noisy fanatics. + +The apprehension of the soldier was, however, not shared by the girl, +who, glad she had found a means to get away from the chilling +atmosphere of her own world, experienced now only a sense of freedom +and relief. In her tense mood, the din--the shouting and unwonted +sounds--were not calculated to alarm; on the contrary, after the +oppressive stillness in the great halls and chambers of the summit, +they seemed welcome. Her pulses throbbed and her face still burned +with the remembrance of the interview with her father, as she eyed +unseeingly the approaching band, led by censer- and banner-bearers. + +"_Vierge notre espérance--_" Caught up as they swept along, she found +herself without warning suddenly a part of that human stream. A +natural desire to get clear from the multitude led her at first to +struggle, but as well contend with the inevitable. Faces fierce, +half-crazed, encompassed her; eyes that looked starved, spiritually and +physically, gleamed on every side. Held as in a vise, she soon ceased +to resist; suddenly deposited on a ledge, like a shell tossed up from +the sea, she next became aware she was looking up toward a temporary +altar, garish with bright colors. + +"_Etends sur nous--_" Louder rose the voices; more uncontrollable +became the demeanor of the people, and quickly, before the unveiling of +the sacred relics had completely maddened them, she managed to +extricate herself from the kneeling or prostrate throng; breathless, +she fled the vicinity. + +Down, down! Into the heart of the village; through tortuous footpaths, +where the pandering, not pietistic, element held sway; where, instead +of shrines and altars, had been erected booths and stands before which +vendors of nondescript viands or poor trumpery vented their loquacity +on the pilgrims: + +"All hot! All hot!" + +"_A la barque_! _A l'écaille_!" + +"_La vie_! Two drinks for a _liard_!" + +"_Voilà le plaisir des dames_!" + +The Mount, in olden times a glorious and sacred place for royal +pilgrimages, where kings came to pray and seek absolution, seemed now +more mart than holy spot. But those whom the petty traders sought to +entice--sullen-looking peasants, or poorly clad fishermen and their +families--for the most part listened indifferently, or with stupid +derision. + +"Bah!" scoffed one of them, a woman dressed in worn-out costume of +inherited holiday finery. "Where think you we can get sous for +gew-gaws?" + +"Or full stomachs with empty pockets?" said another. "The foul fiend +take your Portugals!" + +The nomadic merchants replied and a rough altercation seemed impending, +when, pushing through the crowd, the girl hurried on. + +Down, down, she continued; to the base of the rock where the sand's +shining surface had attracted and yet held many of the people. Thither +they still continued to come--in bands; processions; little streams +that, trickling in, mingled with and augmented the rabble. An +encampment for the hour--until the "_petite_" tide should break it up, +and drive it piecemeal to the shore or up the sides of the Mount--it +spread out and almost around the foundations of the great rock. Only +the shadows it avoided--the chilling outlines of pinnacles and towers; +the cold impress of the saint, holding close to the sunlit strand and +basking in its warmth. + +Some, following the example of their sea-faring fellows, dug +half-heartedly in the sands in the hope of eking out the meager evening +meal with a course, salt-flavored; others, abandoning themselves to +lighter employment, made merry in heavy or riotous fashion, but the +effect of these holiday efforts was only depressing and incongruous. + +"Won't you join?" Some one's arm abruptly seized my lady. + +"No, no!" + +Unceremoniously he still would have drawn her into the ring, but with a +sudden swift movement, she escaped from his grasp. + +"My child!" The voice was that of a wolfish false friar who, seeing +her pass quickly near by, broke off in threat, solicitation and appeal +for sous, to intercept her. "Aren't you in a hurry, my child?" + +"It may be," she answered steadily, with no effort to conceal her +aversion at sight of the gleaming eyes and teeth. "Too much so, to +speak with you, who are no friar!" + +"What mean you?" His expression, ingratiating before, had darkened, +and from his mean eyes shot a malignant look; she met it with fearless +disdain. + +"That you make pretext of this holy day to rob the people--as if they +are not poor enough!" + +"Ban you with bell, book and candle! Your tongue is too sharp, my +girl!" he snarled, but did not linger long, finding the flashing +glance, the contemptuous mien, or the truth of her words, little to his +liking. That he profited not by the last, however, was soon evident, +as with amulets and talismans for a bargain, again he moved among the +crowd, conjuring by a full calendar of saints, real and imaginary, and +professing to excommunicate, in an execrable confusion of monkish +gibberish, where the people could not, or would not, comply with his +demands. + +"So they _are_--poor enough!" Leaning on a stick, an aged fishwife who +had drawn near and overheard part of the dialogue between the thrifty +rogue and the girl, now shook her withered head. "Yet still to be +cozened! Never too poor to be cozened!" she repeated in shrill +falsetto tones. + +"And why," sharply my lady turned to the crone, "why are they so poor? +The lands are rich--the soil fertile." + +"Why?" more shrilly. "You must come from some far-off place not to +know. Why? Don't you, also, have to pay _métayage_ to some great +lord? And _banalité_ here, and _banalité_ there, until--" + +"But surely, if you applied to your great lord, your Governor; if you +told him--" + +"If we told him!" Brokenly the woman laughed. "Yes; yes; of course; +if--" + +"I don't understand," said the Governor's daughter coldly. + +Muttering and chuckling, the woman did not seem to hear; had started to +hobble on, when abruptly the girl stopped her. + +"Where do you live?" + +"There!" A claw-like finger pointed. "On the old Seigneur's lands--a +little distance from the woods--" + +"The old Seigneur? You knew him?" + +"Knew him! Who better?" The whitened head wagged. "And the Black +Seigneur? Wasn't he left, as a child, with me, when the old Seigneur +went to America? And," pursing her thin lips, "didn't I care for him, +and bring him up as one of my own?" + +"But I thought--I heard that he, the Black Seigneur, when a boy, lived +in the woods." + +"That," answered the old creature, "was after. After the years he +lived with us and shared our all! Not that we begrudged--no, no! Nor +he! For once when I sent word, pleading our need, that we were +starving, he forgave--I mean, remembered me--all I had done and," in a +wheedling voice, "sent money--money--" + +"He did?" Swiftly the girl reached for her own purse, only to discover +she had forgotten to bring one. "But of course," in a tone of +disappointment at her oversight, "he couldn't very well forget or +desert one who had so generously befriended him." + +"There are those now among his friends he must needs desert," the crone +cackled, wagging her head. + +A shadow crossed the girl's brow. "Must needs?" she repeated. + +"Aye, forsooth! His comrades--taken prisoners near the island of +Casque? His Excellency will hang them till they're dead--dead, like +some I've seen dangling from the branches in the wood. He, the Black +Seigneur, may wish to save them; but what can he do?" + +"What, indeed?" The girl regarded the Mount almost bitterly. "It is +impregnable." + +"Way there!" At that moment, a deep, strong voice from a little group +of people, moving toward them, interrupted. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE PEOPLE + +In the center walked a man, dressed as a mountebank, who bent forward, +laden with various properties--a bag that contained a miscellany of +spurious medicines and drugs, to be sold from a stand, and various +dolls for a small puppet theater he carried on his back. It was not +for the Governor's daughter, or the old woman, however, his call had +been intended. "Way there!" he repeated to those in front of him. + +But they, yet seeking to detain, called out: "Give the piece here!" + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE PEOPLE + +In the center walked a man, dressed as a mountebank, who bent forward, +laden with various properties--a bag that contained a miscellany of +spurious medicines and drugs, to be sold from a stand, and various +dolls for a small puppet theater he carried on his back. It was not +for the Governor's daughter, or the old woman, however, his call had +been intended. "Way there!" he repeated to those in front of him. + +But they, yet seeking to detain, called out: "Give the piece here!" + +Like a person not lightly turned from his purpose, he, strolling-player +as well as charlatan, pointed to the Mount, and, unceremoniously +thrusting one person to this side and another to that, stubbornly +pushed on. As long as they were in sight the girl watched, but when +with shouts and laughter they had vanished, swallowed by the shifting +host, once more she turned to the crone. That person, however, had +walked on toward the shore, and indecisively the Governor's daughter +gazed after. The woman's name she had not inquired, but could find out +later; that would not be difficult, she felt sure. + +Soon, with no definite thought of where she was going, she began to +retrace her steps, no longer experiencing that earlier over-sensitive +perception for details, but seeing the picture as a whole--a vague +impression of faces; in the background, the Mount--its golden saint +ever threatening to strike!--until she drew closer; when abruptly the +uplifted blade, a dominant note, above color and movement, vanished, +and she looked about to find herself in the shadow of one of the rock's +bulwarks. Near by, a scattering approach of pilgrims from the sands +narrowed into a compact stream directed toward a lower gate, and, +remembering her experience above, she would have avoided the general +current; but no choice remained. At the portals she was jostled +sharply; no respecters of persons, these men made her once more feel +what it was to be one of the great commonalty; an atom in the rank and +file! At length reaching the tower's little square, many of them +stopped, and she was suffered to escape--to the stone steps swinging +sharply upward. She had not gone far, however, when looking down, she +was held by a spectacle not without novelty to her. + +In the shadow of the Tower of the King stood the mountebank she had +seen but a short time before on the sands. Now facing the people +before his little show-house, which he had set up in a convenient +corner, he was calling attention to the entertainment he proposed +giving, by a loud beating on a drum. + +Rub-a-dub-dub! "Don't crowd too close!" Rub-a-dub-dub! "Keep order +and you will see--" + +"Some trumpery miracle mystery!" called out a jeering voice. + +"Or the martyrdom of some saint!" cried another. + +"I don't know anything about any saint," answered the man, +"unless,"--rub-a-dub-dub!--"you mean my lord's lady!" + +And truly the piece, as they were to discover, was quite barren of that +antique religious flavor to which they objected and which still +pervaded many of the puppet plays of the day. _The Petit Masque of the +Wicked Peasant and the Good Noble_, it was called; an odd designation +that at once interested the Lady Elise, bending over the stone +balustrade the better to see. It interested, also, those official +guardians of the peace, a number of soldiers and a few officers from +the garrison standing near, who, unmindful of the girl, divided their +attention between the pasteboard center of interest and the people +gathered around it. + +Circumspectly the little play opened; a scene in which my lord, in a +waistcoat somewhat frayed for one of his station, commands the lazy +peasant to beat the marsh with a stick that the croaking of the frogs +may not disturb at night the rest of his noble spouse, seemed designed +principally to show that obedience, submission and unquestioning fealty +were the great lord's due. On the one hand, was the patrician born to +rule; on the other, the peasant, to serve; and no task, however +onerous, but should be gladly welcomed in behalf of the master, or his +equally illustrious lady. The dialogue, showing the disinclination of +the bad peasant for this simple employment and the good lord's noble +solicitude for the nerves of his high-born spouse, was both nimble and +witty; especially those bits punctuated by a cane, and the sentiment: +"Thus all bad peasants deserve to fare!" and culminating in an +excellent climax to the lesson--a tattoo on the peasant's head that +sent him simultaneously, and felicitously, down with the curtain. + +"What think you of it?" At my lady's elbow one of the officers turned +to a companion. + +"Amusing, but--" And his glance turned dubiously toward the people. +Certainly they did not now show proper appreciation either for the +literary merits of the little piece or the precepts it promulgated in +fairly sounding verse. + +"The mountebank!" From the crowd a number of discontented voices rose. +"Come out, Monsieur Mountebank!" + +"Yes, Monsieur Mountebank, come out; come out!" + +With fast-beating heart the Lady Elise gazed; as in a dream had she +listened--not to the lines of the puppet play; but to a +voice--strangely familiar, yet different--ironical; scoffing; laughing! +She drew her breath quickly; once more studied the head, in its white, +close-fitting clown's covering; the heavy, painted face, with red, +gaping mouth. Then, the next moment, as he bowed himself +back--apparently unmindful of a missile some one threw and which struck +his little theater--the half-closed, dull eyes met hers; passed, +without sign or expression!--and she gave a nervous little laugh. What +a fancy! + +"Act second!" the tinkling of a bell prefaced the announcement, and +once more was the curtain drawn, this time revealing a marsh and the +bad peasant at work, reluctantly beating the water to the _Song of the +Stick_. + + "Beat! beat! + At his lordship's command; + For if there's a croak, + For you'll be the stroke, + From no gentle hand." + + +A merry little tune, it threaded the act; it was soon interrupted, +however, during a scene where a comical-looking devil on a broomstick, +useful both for transportation and persuasion, came for something which +he called the peasant's soul. Again the bad peasant protested; would +cheat even the devil of his due, but his satanic Majesty would not be +set aside. + +"You may rob your master," he said, in effect; "defraud him of +_banalité_, _bardage_ and those other few taxes necessary to his +dignity and position; but you can't defraud _Me_!" Whereupon he +proceeded to wrest what he wanted from the bad peasant by force--and +the aid of the broomstick!--accompanying the rat-a-tat with a +well-rhymed homily on what would certainly happen to every peasant who +sought to deprive his lord of feudal rights. At this point a growing +restiveness on the part of the audience found resentful expression. + +"That for your devil's stick!" + +"To the devil with the devil!" + +"Down with the devil!" + +The cry, once started, was not easy to stop; men in liquor and ripe for +mischief repeated it; in vain the mountebank pleaded: "My poor dolls! +My poor theater!" Unceremoniously they tumbled it and him over; a few, +who had seen nothing out of the ordinary in the little play took his +part; words were exchanged for blows, with many fighting for the sake +of fighting, when into the center of this, the real stage, appeared +soldiers. + +"What does it mean?" Impressive in gold adornment and conscious +authority, the commandant himself came down the steps. "Who dares make +riot on a day consecrated to the holy relics? But you shall pay!" as +the soldiers separated the belligerents. "Take those men into custody +and--who is this fellow?" turning to the mountebank, a mournful figure +above the wreckage of his theater and poor puppets scattered, +haphazard, like victims of some untoward disaster. + +"It was his play that started the trouble," said one of the officers. + +"_Diable!_" the commandant frowned. "What have you to say for +yourself?" + +"I," began the mountebank, "I--" he repeated, when courage and words +alike seemed to fail him. + +The commandant made a gesture. "Up with him! To the top of the Mount!" + +"No, no!" At once the fellow's voice came back to him. "Don't take me +there, into the terrible Mount! Don't lock me up!" + +"Don't lock him up!" repeated some one in the crowd, moved apparently +by the sight of his distress. "It wasn't his fault!" + +"No; it wasn't his fault!" said others. + +"Eh?" Wheeling sharply, the commandant gazed; at the lowering faces +that dared question his authority; then at his own soldiers. On the +beach he might not have felt so secure, but here, where twenty, +well-armed, could defend a pass and a mob batter their heads in vain +against walls, he could well afford a confident front. "Up with you!" +he cried sternly and gave the mountebank a contemptuous thrust. + +For the first time the man's apathy seemed to desert him; his arm shot +back like lightning, but almost at once fell to his side, while an +expression, apologetically abject, as if to atone for that momentary +fierce impulse, overspread his dull visage. "Oh, I'll go," he said in +accents servile. And proceeded hurriedly to gather up the remains of +his theater and dolls. "I'm willing to go." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE HUNCHBACK + +Up the Mount with shambling step, head down-bent and the same stupid +expression on his face, the mountebank went docilely, though not +silently. To one of the soldiers at his side he spoke often, voicing +that dull apprehension he had manifested when first ordered into +custody. + +"Do you think they'll put me in a dungeon?" + +"Dungeon, indeed!" the man answered not ill-naturedly. "For such as +you! No, no! They'll keep the oubliettes, calottes, and all the dark +holes for people of consequence--traitors, or your fine gentry +consigned by _lettres de cachet_." + +"Then what do you think they _will_ do with me?" + +"Wait, and find out!" returned the soldier roughly, and the mountebank +spoke no more for some time; held his head lower, until, regarding him, +his guardian must needs laugh. "Here's a craven-hearted fellow! Well, +if you really want to know, they'll probably lock you up for the night +with the rest of rag-tag," indicating the other prisoners, a short +distance ahead, "in the cellar, or almonry, or _auberge des voleurs_; +and in the morning, if you're lucky and the Governor has time to attend +to such as you, it may be you'll escape with a few stripes and a +warning." + +"The _auberge des voleurs_!--the thieves' inn!" said the man. "What is +that?" + +"Bah! You want to know too much! If now your legs only moved as fast +as your tongue--" And the speaker completed the sentence with a +significant jog on the other's shoulder. Whereupon the mountebank +quickened his footsteps, once more ceased his questioning. It was the +soldier who had not yet spoken, but who had been pondering a good deal +on the way up, who next broke the silence. + +"How did it end, Monsieur Mountebank?--the scene with the devil, I +mean." + +The man who had begun to breathe hard, as one not accustomed to +climbing, or wearied by a long pilgrimage to the Mount, at the question +ventured to stop and rest, with a hand on the granite balustrade of the +little platform they had just reached. "In the death of the peasant, +and a comic chorus of frogs," he answered. + +"A comic chorus!" said the soldier. "That must be very amusing." + +"It is," the mountebank said, at the same time studying, from where he +stood, different parts of the Mount with cautious, sidelong looks; "but +my poor frogs!--all torn! trampled!" + +"Well, well!" said the other not unkindly. "You can mend them when you +get out." + +"'_When_!' If I only knew when that would be! What if I should have +to stay here like some of the others?--_pour être oublié_!--to be +forgotten?" + +"If you don't get on faster," said the soldier who had first spoken, +"you won't be buried alive for some time to come, at least!" + +"Pardon!" muttered the mountebank. "The hill--it is very steep." + +"You look strong enough to climb a dozen hills, and if you're holding +back for a chance to escape--" + +"No, no!" protested the man. "I had no thought--do I not know that if +I tried, your sword--" + +"Quite right. I'd--" + +"There, there!" said the other soldier, a big, good-natured appearing +fellow. "He's harmless enough, and," as once more they moved on, "that +tune of yours, Monsieur Mountebank," abruptly; "it runs in my head. +Let me see--how does it go? The second verse, I mean--" + + "Beat! beat! + Mid marsh-muck and mire, + For if any note + Escapes a frog's throat, + Beware my lord's ire!" + + +"Yes; that's the one. Not bad!" humming-- + + "For if any note + Escapes a frog's throat + Beware my lord's ire!" + + +"Are the verses your own?" + +"Oh, no! I'm only a poor player," said the mountebank humbly. "But an +honest one," he added after a pause, "and this thieves' inn, Monsieur?" +returning to the subject of his possible fate, "this _auberge des +voleurs_--that sounds like a bad place for an honest lodging." + +"It was once under the old monks, who were very merry fellows; but +since the Governor had it restored, it has become a sober and quiet +place. It is true there are iron bars instead of blinds, and you can't +come and go, as they used to, but--" + +"Is that it--up there?" And the mountebank pointed toward a ledge of +rock, with strong flanking buttresses, out jutting beneath a +mysterious-looking wall and poised over a sparsely-wooded bit of the +lower Mount. "The gray stone building you can just see above the +ramparts, and that opening in the cliff to the right, with something +running down--that looks like planking--" + +"Oh, that is for the wheel--" + +"The wheel?" + +"The great wheel of the Mount! It was built in the time of the monks, +and was used for--" + +"Hold your tongue!" said the other soldier, and the trio entered the +great gate, which had opened at their approach, and now closed quickly +behind them. + +For the first time in that isolated domain of the dreaded Governor, the +mountebank appeared momentarily to forget his fears and gazed with +interest around him. On every side new and varying details unfolded to +the eye; structures that from below were etched against the sky in +filmy lines, here resolved themselves into vast, solid, but harmonious +masses. + +Those ribbons of color that had seemed to fall from the wooing sky, to +adorn these heights, proved, indeed, fallacious; more somber effects, +the black touches of age, confronted the eye everywhere, save on one +favored front--that of a newer period, an architectural addition whose +intricate carvings and beautiful roses of stone invited and caught the +warmer rays; whose little balcony held real buds and flowers, bright +spots of pink dangling from, or nestling at, the window's edge. + +"Yonder looks like some grand lady's bower," as he followed his captors +past this more attractive edifice, the mountebank ventured to observe. +"Now, perhaps, lives there--" + +"Hark you, my friend," one of the soldiers bruskly interrupted; "a +piece of advice! His Excellency likes not babblers, neither does he +countenance gossip; and if you'd fare well, keep your tongue to +yourself!" + +"I'll--I'll try to remember," said the mountebank docilely, but as he +spoke, looked back toward the balcony; at the gleaming reflection full +on its windows; then a turn in the way cut off the pleasing prospect, +and only the grim foundations of the lofty, heavier structure on one +hand and the massive masonry of the ramparts on the other greeted the +eye. + +For some distance they continued along the narrow way, the mountebank +bending lower under his load and observing the injunction put upon him, +until the path, broadening, led them abruptly on to a platform where a +stone house of ancient construction barred their further progress. But +two stories in height, this building, an alien edifice amid loftier +piles, stood sturdily perched on a precipitous cliff. The rough +stonework of its front, darkened by time, made it seem almost a part of +the granite itself, although the roof, partly demolished and restored, +imparted to it an anomalous distinctness, the bright new tile prominent +as patches on some dilapidated garment. In its doorway, beneath a +monkish inscription, well-nigh obliterated, stood a dwarf, or +hunchback, who, jingling a bunch of great keys, ill-humoredly regarded +the approaching trio. + +"What now?" The little man's welcome, as mountebank and soldiers came +within earshot, was not reassuring. "Isn't it enough to make prisoners +of all the scamps in Christendom without taking vagabond players into +custody?" + +"Orders, good Jacques!" said one of the soldiers in a conciliatory +tone. "The commandant's!" + +"The commandant!" grumbled the grotesque fellow. "It is all very +well," mimicking: "'Turn them over to Jacques. He'll find room.' If +this keeps on, we'll soon have to make cages of confessionals, or turn +the wine-butts in the old cellar into oubliettes." + +"If any of the ancient flavor lingers in the casks, your guests would +have little reason to complain!" returned the other soldier. "But this +fellow, he'll make no trouble--" + +"Oh, I suppose we'll have to take care of him!" muttered the dwarf. +"In the thieves' inn there's always room for one more!" Obeying the +gesture, at once menacing and imperious, that accompanied these words, +the mountebank, who had been eying his prospective host not without +visible signs of misgiving, reluctantly entered. + +But as he did so, he looked back; toward the soldier who had displayed +half-friendly interest in the play. + +"If you care to know more about the piece--" he began, when the +maledictions and abuse of the misshapen keeper put a stop to further +conversation and sent the mountebank post-haste into the darkness of +the cavern-like hall intersecting the ground floor. + +On either side closed doors, vaguely discerned, hinted at the secrets +of the chambers they guarded; the atmosphere, dark and close, +proclaimed the sunlight long a stranger there. At the end of the hall +the dwarf, who had walked with the assurance of one well acquainted +with that musty interior and all it contained, paused; shot sharply a +bolt and threw open a door. The action was the signal for a chorus of +hoarse voices from within, and the little man stayed not on the order +of his going, but, thrusting the mountebank across the threshold, +leaped nimbly back, slammed hard the door, and locked it. + +Cries of disappointment and rage followed, and, facing the company that +crowded the dingy little room almost to suffocation, the latest comer +found himself confronted by unkempt people who shook their fists +threateningly and execrated in no uncertain manner. A few, formerly +spectators of his little play, inclined again to vent their humor on +him, but he regarded them as if unaware of their feeling; pushed none +too gently to a tiny window, and, depositing his burden on the stone +floor, seated himself on a stool with his back to the wall. + +As a squally gust soon blows itself out, so their temper, mercurial, +did not long endure; from a ragged coat one produced dice, another +cards, and, although there were few sous to exchange hands, the hazard +of tossing and shuffling exercised its usual charm and held them. The +minutes wore away; motionless in his corner, the mountebank now +watched; then with his head on his elbow, seemed sunk in thought. Once +he rose; stood on his stool and looked out between the heavy bars of +the narrow window. + +"Not much chance to get out that way," observed a fellow prisoner. +"What did you see?" + +"Only a chasm and the sands." + +"The sands!" said the man. "Cursed the day I set foot on them!" + +To this malediction the other did not answer; stepped down and, again +seated in his corner, waited, while the light that had grudgingly +entered the narrow aperture grew fainter. With the growing darkness +the atmosphere seemed to become closer, more foul; but although he +breathed with difficulty, the mountebank suffered no sign of impatience +or concern to escape him; only more alertly looked, and listened--to a +night bird cleaving the air without; to muttered sounds, thieves' +patois, or snatches of ribald mirth within; and, ere long, to new +complainings. + +"Our supper! What of our supper?" + +"The foul fiend take the _auberge des voleurs_ and its landlord?" + +"_Vrai dieu_! Here he comes!" as footsteps were heard without. + +And the door, opening, revealed, indeed, in the rushlight, now dimly +illuminating the hall, the hunchback; not laden, however, with the +longed-for creature comforts, but empty-handed; at his back the +commandant and a number of soldiers. + +"You fellow with the dolls!" Blinking in the glare of the torches, the +dwarf peered in. "Where are you? Come along!" as the mountebank rose, +"you are wanted." + +"Wanted?" repeated the player, stepping forward. "Where?" + +"At the palace," said the commandant. + +"The palace!" stopping short. "Who can want me there?" + +"Who?" The dwarf made a grimace. "Who?" he repeated mockingly. + +"Her ladyship," said the commandant, with a reproving glance at the +jailer. + +"Her ladyship!" + +"Haven't you ears, my man?" The commandant frowned and made an +impatient gesture. "Come, bestir yourself! The Governor's daughter +has commanded your presence." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE MOUNTEBANK AND MY LADY + +"The Governor's daughter!" Had the light been stronger they must have +seen the start the mountebank gave. "Impossible!" + +"Eh? What?" Surprised in turn, the officer gazed at him. "You +dare--out with him!" To the soldiers. + +But in a moment had the mountebank recovered his old demeanor, and, +without waiting for the troopers to obey the commandant's order, walked +voluntarily toward the door and into the passage. + +"Our supper! Our supper!" A number of the prisoners, crowding +forward, began once more to call lustily, when again was the +disk-studded woodwork swung unceremoniously to, cutting short the sound +of their lamentations. + +"Dogs!" Malevolently the dwarf gazed back. "To want to gorge +themselves on a holy day!" + +"Pious Jacques!" murmured the commandant. "But I always said you made +a model landlord!" + +"When not interfered with!" grumbled the other. + +"At any rate _he_ doesn't seem to appreciate his good fortune," with a +glance at the mountebank. + +"No," jeering. "A gallant cavalier to step blithely at a great lady's +command! 'Your Ladyship overwhelms me!'" bowing grotesquely. "'Your +Ladyship's condescension'--" + +"Why, then, need you take me?" interposed the mountebank quickly. "Can +you not tell her ladyship I am not fit to appear in her presence--an +uncouth clown--" + +"Bah! I've already done that," answered the commandant. + +"But how came her ladyship to know of me--here--?" + +"How indeed?" + +"And what does she want of me?" + +"That," roughly, "you will find out!" and stepped down the hall, +followed by the soldiers, mountebank and dwarf, the last of whom took +leave of them at the door. + +Clear was the night; the stars, like liquid drops about to fall, +caressed with silvery rays the granite piles. In contrast to the +noisome atmosphere of the prison, faint perfumes, borne from some +flowery slope of the distant shore, swept languorously in and out the +open aisles and passages of the Mount. In such an hour that upper +region seemed to belong entirely to the sky; to partake of its wondrous +stillness; to share its mysteries and its secrets. Like intruders, +penetrating an enchanted spot, now they trod soft shadows; then, +clangorous, beat beneath foot delicate laceworks of light. + +"Here we are!" The officer stopped. At the same time upon a near-by +balcony a nightingale began to sing, tentatively, as if trying the +scope and quality of its voice. "You are to go in!" he announced +abruptly. + +"Such a fine palace! I--I would rather not!" muttered the fellow, as +they crossed an outer threshold and proceeded to mount some polished +stairs. + +"Stubborn dolt! Now in you march," pausing before a door. "But, hark +you! I and my men remain without. So, mind your behavior, or--" + +A look from the commandant completed the sentence. + +Alone, in an apartment of the palace, some moments later, the +mountebank's demeanor underwent a quick change; he glanced hastily +toward the door the commandant had closed in leaving, and then, with +sudden brightening gaze, around him, as if making note of every detail +of his surroundings. Set with columns of warm-hued marble, relieved +with ornate carvings and designs, the spacious chamber presented an +appearance at once graceful and charming. Nor were its furnishings at +variance with its architectural elegance; on every hand soft colors met +the eye, in rugs of ancient pattern; in tapestries, subdued; in the +upholstering of Breton oak. A culminating note was in the center of +the room, where a great bunch of roses opened wide their petals. + +But briefly, however, the clown permitted himself to survey, or study, +these details of refinement and luxury; the swift eager interest that +had shone from the dark eyes gave way to an expression, lack-luster and +stupid; his countenance once more resumed its blank, stolid aspect. As +if unconscious of the anomalous figure he presented, mechanically had +he seated himself; was gazing down, when through a doorway, opposite +the one by which the commandant had left, a slender form appeared. +Under the heavy, whitened lids a slight movement of the clown's eyes +alone betrayed he was aware of that new presence. A moment the girl +stood there, her glance resting on the grotesque, bent figure before +her; then with a quizzical lift of the delicate brows she entered. + +"You believe, no doubt, in making yourself at home?" + +Crossing to the table, once more she stopped; her figure, sheathed in a +gown of brocade of rose, glowed bright and distinct in contrast to the +faint, vari-colored tints of ancient embroideries on the wall. Above, +the light threw a shimmer on the deep-burnished gold of her hair; the +sweeping lashes veiled the half-disdainful, half-amused look in her +brown eyes. "Or, perhaps, you are one of those who think the peasants +will some day sit, while the lords and ladies stand?" + +"I don't know," he managed to answer, but got up, only to appear more +awkward. + +"You do not seem to know very much, indeed!" she returned, her tone +changing to one of cold severity. "Not enough, perhaps, to perceive +the mischief you may cause! That play of yours, which I witnessed +to-day--" + +"You! To-day? Your Ladyship was--" + +"Yes," imperiously, "I was there! And heard and saw the effect it had +on the people; how it stirred all their baser passions! But you, of +course, could not know--or care, thinking only of the sous!--that, +instead of teaching a lesson, the piece would only move them to anger, +or resentment." + +"I--your Ladyship--great lords have commended the play--" + +"Great lords!" she began, but stopped; regarded her listener and +shrugged her shoulders. + +A few moments silence lasted, the fellow apparently not knowing what to +say, or if he was expected to say anything, while, for her part, the +girl no longer looked at him, but at the flowers, taking one, which she +turned in her fingers. + +"Your Ladyship would command me--" + +"To give the play no more!" + +"But--" Expostulation shone from his look. + +"In which event you shall be suffered to go free to-morrow." + +"But my livelihood! What shall I do, if I am forbidden to earn--" + +She gave him a colder look. "I have spoken to the commandant; told him +what I had seen, and that I did not think you intended to make trouble. +Your case will, therefore, not be reported to his Excellency. Only," +with a warning flash, "if you are again caught giving the play, you +must expect to receive your deserts." + +"Of course! If your Ladyship commands!" dejectedly. + +"I do! But, as an offset to the coppers you might otherwise receive, I +will give you a sum of money sufficient to compensate you." + +"Your Ladyship is so generous!" He made an uncouth gesture of +gratitude and covetousness. "May I ask your Ladyship how much--" + +[Illustration: "May I ask your ladyship how much--?"] + +"How much?" scornfully. "But I suppose--" + +The words died away; her glance fell; lingered on the hand he had +extended. Muscular, shapely, it seemed not adapted to the servile +gesture; was most unlike the hand of clod or clown. Moreover, it was +marked with a number of wounds, half-healed, which caught and held her +look. + +"Of course, I am so poor, your Ladyship--" he began, in yet more abject +tone, but stopped, attracted in turn by the direction of her gaze; +then, meeting it, quickly withdrew the hand and thrust it into his +pocket. Not in time, however, to prevent a startled light, a swift +gleam of recollection from springing into her eyes! The very movement +itself--ironically enough!--was not without precedent. + +"You!" She recoiled from him. "The Black--" + +As a man who realizes he has betrayed himself, he bit his lips; but +attempted no further subterfuge. The shambling figure straightened; +the dull eyes grew steady; the bold self-possession she remembered well +on another occasion again marked his bearing. + +"Your Ladyship has discerning eyes," he remarked quietly, but as he +spoke glanced and moved a little toward the window. + +My lady stood as if dazed. He, the Black Seigneur, there, in the +palace! Mechanically she raised her hand to her breast; she was very +pale. On the balcony the nightingale, grown confident, burst into a +flood of variations; a thousand trills and full-throated notes filled +the room. + +"I understand now," at length she found voice, "why that fancy came to +me below, when I was listening to the play on the platform. But why +have you come--to the very Mount itself?" Her voice trembled a little. +"You! On the beach the people tried to stop you--" + +"You saw that, too?" + +"And you _knew_ the play would make trouble! You wanted it to," +quickly. "For what purpose? To get into the upper part of the Mount? +To have them arrest--bring you here?" She looked at him with sudden +terror. "My father! Was it to--" + +A low, distinct rapping at the door she had entered, interrupted them. +She started and looked fearfully around. At the same time the +mountebank stepped back to the side of a great bronze in front of the +balcony, where, standing in the shadow, he was screened. + +"Elise!" a voice called out. + +The flower the girl had been holding, fell to the floor. + +"My--" she began, when the door opened and the Governor stood on the +threshold. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE GOVERNOR + +In his hand the Governor held a paper; his usually austere face wore a +slightly propitiatory expression, while the eyes he turned upon her, as +slowly he entered the room, suggested a respite of differences. +Pausing, he toyed with the missive, turning it around and around in his +fingers, as if something in his thoughts were revolving with it. Had +he been more watchful of her, less bent on some matter uppermost in his +mind, he could not have failed to mark the pallor of her face, or the +agitation written there. As it was, his glance swept without studying. + +"I hoped to find you here," he began complacently; "hoped that you had +not yet retired." + +She made some faint response, but her voice, despite herself, wavered. +Whereupon his look sharpened; then almost immediately relapsed; +constraint on her part could easily be accounted for; not many hours +had elapsed since their last interview. + +"Yes," he continued, "I have here to consider," indicating a paper he +held, "a rather important matter." He waited a moment before adding: +"A matter that concerns--you!" + +"That concerns me?" Her hands tightened. + +"Yes." + +"Since it is important," she said hastily, "would it not--shall we not +leave it until to-morrow? I--I am rather tired to-night, and--" + +"What?" he returned in the same unruffled tone. "Would you postpone +considering the command of the King!" + +"Command!" she repeated nervously. "Of the King?" + +"Or request," he said, "which is the same." + +"But--" she began, and stopped; held by a sound, as of some one moving, +near the window. + +"Shall I read it, or--" + +She had started to look behind her; but abruptly caught herself, and +seemed about to frame some irrelevant response, when his voice went on: +"The King desires to change the date set for your marriage with his +kinsman, the Marquis de Beauvillers." + +"Change?" she echoed. + +"Yes; to hasten it." If the Governor had expected from her hostility, +or perverseness, he was agreeably disappointed; the girl evinced +neither pleasure nor disapproval; only stood in the same attitude of +expectancy, with head half turned. + +"His Majesty's reasons for this step--" + +"Can't we--can't we, at least, postpone considering them?" + +Again he regarded her more closely. "What better time than the +present?" + +"But I don't want--" + +"Elise!" A slight frown appeared on his brow. "His Majesty," once +more looking at the paper, "hints at an important political appointment +he desires to confer on the Marquis de Beauvillers which would take him +abroad; but whether as ambassador, or as governor in the colonies, his +Majesty does not disclose. Obviously, however, the bestowing of the +honor--a high one, no doubt!--depends on his early marriage, and a wife +to grace the position. The letter," weighing it, "is a tentative one; +the courteous precursor of a fuller communication when he has learned +our--your--pleasure." + +She did not at once express it; indeed, at the moment, seemed scarcely +to have comprehended; her glance, which had swept furtively behind when +he was studying the document, returned more uneasily to his, but not +before he had caught the backward look. + +"Well?" he said with a touch of asperity. "Well?" he repeated, when +his gaze, following the direction hers had taken, paused. + +Although well lighted in the center by a great Venetian candelabrum, +the far ends of the spacious hall lay somewhat in obscurity; notably +the space adorned with tropical plants and a life-size bronze before +the entrance to the balcony. It was on this dim recess the Governor +permitted his eye to rest; at first casually; then with a sudden +appearance of interest. + +"Eh?" he muttered, and before my lady could prevent him, if she had +been mindful so to do, walked quickly forward; but as he advanced, a +white figure stepped boldly out from behind that partial screen. With +a sharp exclamation, which found a startled echo from the girl, the +Governor stopped; stepped back as far as the table. + +"What mummery is this?" His lips shaped the words uncertainly; his +hand, reaching out with that first startled instinct of danger, touched +the bell. + +"Your Ladyship rang?" On the opposite side of the room was the door +thrown suddenly open. The look of expectancy on the face of the +commandant, who had so promptly appeared, gave way to one of surprise; +consternation. "His Excellency!" he muttered, and mechanically saluted. + +Over the Governor's visage a faint trace of relief flitted; dryly he +looked from the mountebank, now erect and motionless, to the girl; but +the face was averted and his Excellency could not see the sudden +whiteness of her cheek; again he regarded the officer. + +"You answer our summons with alacrity," he observed to this last +subject of his scrutiny. + +The commandant reddened. "I--your Excellency--the truth is, I was +waiting without, at the door." + +"What you have just stated," returned the Governor, "is patent; what I +should like to know, however," with subtle change of tone, "is _why_ +you were stationed there." + +"To take this mountebank player away, when it pleased her Ladyship to--" + +"Yes; to take him away!" interrupted the lady in hurried tones, the +agitation of which she strove to conceal. "And I was about to call +him, when--" + +The Governor continued to address the commandant. "You brought him +here?" incisively. + +"Yes; your Excellency; a stupid fellow we arrested below for making +trouble with his dolls, and--but with her ladyship's permission--" +awkwardly turning to the Governor's daughter, "I will explain." + +To this appeal the girl, however, made no answer; as if fascinated, +watched them, the commandant, her father, the still, white figure at +one side--not far away! + +"I think," the Governor spoke softly, "you will do that, anyway!" + +"Exactly, your Excellency! It happened in this wise," and not without +evidence of constraint and hesitation, the officer slowly related the +story of the disturbance on the platform; the taking into custody of +the rogues and knaves, and my lady's interest in the vagabond clown +whose play had occasioned the riot. + +"Because it was seditious, designed to set authority at naught?" +interrupted the listener, grimly eying for an instant the motionless +form of the mountebank. + +"On the contrary, your Excellency!" quickly. "Her ladyship assured me +it was the loyal and faithful sentiments of the play that caused the +unruly rascallions to make trouble, and that the clown deserved no +punishment, because he had intended no mischief." + +"Her ladyship?" The Governor's brows went suddenly up. "How," he +asked at length in a voice yet softer, "should her ladyship have known +about the 'loyal and faithful sentiments' of a piece, given in the +town, before a crowd of brawlers?" + +"Because I was a spectator!" said his daughter, a red spot now on her +cheek; changing lights in her eyes. + +"A spectator?" repeated, in mild surprise, the Governor. + +"I will explain--after!" she added in tones, low, constrained. + +"Hum!" His Excellency's glance swept to the commandant. + +"Her ladyship was so good," murmured the latter in some embarrassment +and yet feeling obliged to speak, with that bright insistent gaze of +the high official of the Mount fastened upon him, "as to inform me +that, desiring to mingle with the people, and, knowing it might not be +expedient to do so--in her own proper character--her ladyship saw fit +to assume a humbler costume--that of a Norman peasant maid--" + +From the Governor's lips fell an ejaculation; he seemed about to speak +sternly, but the words failed on his lips; instead, "Continue!" he said +curtly. + +"That, I believe, is all, your Excellency, except that her ladyship +expressed the desire the stupid fellow be set at liberty on the morrow, +as not worth the keeping--and--" + +The mountebank started, as expecting now the Lady Elise to speak; to +denounce him, perhaps; but it was his Excellency who interrupted. + +"You were going to do so? To set him at liberty?" + +"I, your Excellency? The _auberge des voleurs_ is so full of the scum +of the sands, there is hardly room for them to squirm; but if your +Excellency wishes all these paltry ragamuffins and beggars brought +before you--" + +"Well, well!" The Governor looked down; his hand crushed impatiently +the paper he held. "Here is much ado about nothing! Have you," to his +daughter, "aught to add?" + +She lifted her head. Standing in a careless pose, apparently +regardless of what was taking place, the mountebank, at the Governor's +question, shot a quick glance from him to her. Although but an instant +his look met my lady's, in that brief interval she read all that was +lost on the other two; the sudden, desperate purpose, the indubitable +intention, his warning glance conveyed. At the same time she noticed, +or fancied she did, the hand thrust into his breast, as if grasping +some weapon concealed there, draw out a little, while simultaneously, +lending emphasis to the fact, he moved a shade nearer the Governor, her +father! + +"Nothing," said the girl hastily; "nothing!" + +"Then," his Excellency waved a thin, aristocratic hand, "take him away!" + +"And your--her ladyship's instructions?" murmured the commandant. + +"Are to be obeyed, of course!" answered the Governor, complacently +regarding his letter. + +"You hear, fool?" said in a low voice the commandant, as he approached +the clown. "Thank his Excellency! Don't you know enough? Clod! +Dolt!" + +But the man made at first no effort to obey; immovable as a statue, +seemed not to see the speaker, and once more, the officer half +whispered his injunction. + +"Eh?" The Governor turned. + +"I thank your Excellency! Your Excellency is most kind!" said the +mountebank in a loud, emphatic tone. + +"And her ladyship?" prompted the officer. + +The clown looked at the girl; her breath came fast through her parted +lips. + +"Speak, fool! To her ladyship you also owe much." + +"Much!" repeated the clown, a spark in the dull gaze still fastened +upon her. + +"Is that all you can say?" + +"Take him away!" My lady spoke almost wildly. + +"Yes; take him away!" With a querulous gesture his Excellency put an +end to the matter. "Am I to be interrupted in important affairs by +every miserable _farceur_, or buffoon, you pick up on the beach? To +the devil with the fellow!" + +When the door had closed on the mountebank and the commandant, he +turned to his daughter. "A madcap trick!" Frowningly his Excellency +regarded her. "To have gone into the town and mingled with the rabble! +But," shaking his head and then suffering that expression of +disapproval to relax into severity, "say no more about it! Here," +indicating the letter, "is something of greater moment, to be attended +to and answered!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE SOLDIER + +As the mountebank walked out of the apartment of the Governor's +daughter, he drew himself up with an air of expectancy, like a man +preparing for some sudden climax. Once beyond the threshold, his eyes +glanced furtively back at the closed door, and, descending the stairs +to the floor below, he carried his head a little forward, as if intent +to catch unwonted sound or outcry. But no raised voice or unusual +noise reached his ear, and his footsteps, as the party issued forth +into the street, responded briskly to the soldiers' pace. Still with +the same air of strained attention, now mingled with a trace of +perplexity, he followed his guard until called upon to stop. + +"You are to sleep here!" As he spoke, the commandant opened the door +of what seemed a low out-building, not very far from the general +barracks, and motioned the mountebank to enter. The latter, after +glancing quickly at the speaker and the soldiers behind, bent to step +across the dark threshold, and, still stooping, on account of the low +roof, looked around him. By the faint glimmer of light from a lantern +one of the soldiers held, the few details of that squalid place were +indistinctly revealed: A single stall whose long-eared occupant turned +its head inquiringly at the abrupt appearance of a companion lodger; +bits of harness and a number of traps hanging from pegs on the wall, +and, near the door, on the ground, a bundle of grass, rough fodder from +the marshes close by the shore. This last salt-smelling heap, the +officer, peering in with a fastidious sniff, indicated. + +"That's your bed! A softer one than you would have had but for the +Lady Elise!" + +The prisoner returned no answer, and in the voice of a man whose humor +was not of the best, the commandant uttered a brief command. A moment +or two the light continued to pass fitfully about the stable; then it +and the moving shadows vanished; a key grated in the door, and the +sound of the officer's receding footsteps was followed by the +diminishing clatter of men's heels on the flagging stone. Not until +both had fairly died away in the distance and the silence was broken +only by certain indications of restiveness from the stall, did the +prisoner move. + +First, to the door, which he tried and shook; then, avoiding the pile +of fodder, to the wall, where, feeling about the rough masonry with the +energy of one who knew he had no time to spare, his hands, ere long, +encountered the frame of a small window. Any gratification, however, +he might have experienced thereat found its offset in the subsequent +discovery that the window had heavy iron blinds, closed and fastened, +and was further guarded by a single strong bar set in the middle, +dividing the one inconsiderable aperture into two spaces of impassable +dimensions. But as if spurred by obstacles to greater exertions, +fiercely the man grasped the metallic barrier, braced himself, and put +forth his strength. In its setting of old masonry, the rod moved +slightly; then more and more, and the prisoner, breathing a moment +hard, girded himself anew. A wrench, a tug, and the bar, partly +disintegrated, snapped in the middle, and holding the pieces, the +prisoner fell somewhat violently back. Armed now with an implement +that well might serve as a lever, he, nevertheless, paused before +endeavoring to force the formidable fastenings of the blinds; paused to +tear off the tight-fitting clown's cap; to doff the costume of the +mountebank covering the rough, dark garments beneath, and vigorously to +rub his face with some mixture he took from his pocket. He had made +but a few passes to remove the distinguishing marks of paint and +pigment, when a sound without, in the distance, caused him to desist. + +Footsteps, that grew louder, were coming his way, and, gripping his bar +tighter the prisoner grimly waited; but soon his grasp relaxed. The +sound was that of a single person, who now paused before the entrance; +fumbled at the lock, and, with an impatient exclamation, set something +down. At the same time the prisoner dropped his weapon and stooped for +the discarded garments; in the dark, they escaped him and he was still +searching, when the bolt, springing sharply back, caused him to +straighten. + +"Are you there, Monsieur Mountebank?" The door swung open; an +uncertain light cast sickly rays once more within, and beneath the +lantern, raised above his head, innocent of the danger he had just +escaped, the round visage of the good-natured soldier who had escorted +the mountebank to the _auberge des voleurs_ looked amicably and +inquiringly into the darksome hovel. + +"Yes; what do you want?" the answer came more curt than courteous. + +"What do I want?" the fellow repeated with a broad smile. "Now that's +good! Perhaps it would be more to the point to ask what do you want? +And here," indicating a loaf and jug in his hand, "I've got them, +though why the commandant should have cared, and ordered them brought--" + +"He did?" said the prisoner, with a flash of quick surprise. "Well, +I'm not hungry, but you can leave them." + +"Not hungry?" And the soldier, who seemed a little the worse for +liquor, but more friendly in consequence, walked in. "I don't wonder, +though," he went on, closing the door, hanging his lantern above and +placing the jug on the ground; "in such a foul hole! What you need, +comrade, is company, and," touching significantly his breast, +"something warmer than flows from the spring of St. Aubert." + +"I tell you," began the mountebank, when the soldier, staring, got a +fair look at the other for the first time and started back. + +"Eh? What's this?" + +"Oh, I took them off! You don't suppose I'd sleep in my white clothes +in such a dirty--" + +"Right you are, comrade!" returned the other, seating himself before +the door on a three-legged stool he found in a corner. "But for the +moment you gave me a start. I thought you some other person." + +"What--person?" + +"No one in particular. You might," unbuttoning his coat to draw forth +a bottle, "have been any one! But I dare say you have had them off in +worse places than this--which, after all, is not bad, compared to some +of the rooms for guests at the Mount!" + +"You mean?" The mountebank looked first at the closed blinds; then at +the door, and a sudden determination came to his eyes. + +"Those especially prepared for the followers of the Black Seigneur, +taken prisoners near Casque, for example!" + +"They are dungeons?" + +"With Jacques for keeper! The little sexton, we call him, because the +prisoners go generally from the cells to the pit, and the quicklime is +the hunchback's graveyard!" + +"This Jacques--" A growing impatience shone ominously from the +prisoner's glance; his attention, that of a man straining to catch some +expected sound without, focused itself on the speaker. "This +Jacques--what sort of quarters has he?" + +"Oh, he lives anywhere; everywhere! Sometimes at the thieves' inn; +again in one of the storehouses near the wheel. They say, though, he +is not a great hand to sleep, but passes most of his time like a cat, +prowling in and out the black passages and tunnels of the Mount. But," +abruptly breaking off, "the play--that's what I want to know about! +The end! How did it end?" + +"I'm in no mood for talking." + +"Take the bottle, an' it'll loosen your tongue!" + +"No." + +"What! you refuse?" + +"Yes." + +"Then," philosophically, "must I drink alone." + +"Not here!" + +"Eh?" + +"Will you get out, or--" and the mountebank stepped toward the other +with apparently undisguised intention. + +"So that's your game?" Quickly the soldier sprang to his feet. "I +must teach you a little politeness, my friend--how we deal with uncivil +people in the army!" And throwing off his coat, as ready for a bout at +fisticuffs as for an encounter of words, the soldier confronted the +clown. "When I'm done, you'll sing that song of the stick out of the +other side of the mouth, and think your wicked peasant received a +coddling from his master in comparison!" + +But the mountebank did not answer--with words--and the soldier was +still threatening, and painting dire prophetic pictures of what he +intended doing, when a strong arm closed about him; fingers like iron +gripped his throat, and, for some moments thereafter, although of +unusual size and vigor, the man was more concerned in keeping his feet +than in searching his vocabulary for picturesque imagery. Then, in +spite of his struggles and best endeavors to free himself, he felt his +head forced backwards; the grasp on his neck tightened. Still he could +not shake off that deadly hold, and, aware that consciousness was +gradually leaving him, his efforts relaxed. After that, for an +interval, he remembered nothing; but with returning realization and a +vague sense of stiffness in his throat, in a rough sort of way was +prepared to accept defeat; acknowledge the other's supremacy, and seal +that acknowledgment over the bottle. + +Only the mountebank afforded him no opportunity thus to toast the "best +man"; with a long strap of leather snatched from one of the pegs, he +had already bound the hands and feet of his bulky antagonist, and was +just rising to survey his handiwork, when the other opened his eyes. + +"Here! What do you mean?" exclaimed the soldier, when even the power +vocally to express further surprise or indignation was denied him, in +consequence of something soft being thrust between his teeth; and mute, +helpless, he could but express in looks the disgusted inquiry his lips +refused to frame. + +"No! it's no joke," answered the mountebank, rapidly passing an end of +the strap, binding the soldier, about a post of the stall and securing +it, sailor-wise. "A poor return for hospitality, yet needs must, when +the devil drives!" quickly seizing a handful of marsh grass from the +ground and rubbing it over his face. "Anyhow, you'll be none the worse +on the morrow," stepping toward the lantern, "while I--who can say? He +laughs best--" About to blow out the flame, he stopped, attracted by +something his foot had thrust aside; a garment; the soldier's! A +moment he surveyed it; stooped; picked it up. "Unless I am mistaken," +casting aside his own coat, slipping on that of the soldier, and then +donning the latter's cap, which had fallen in the struggle, "we are +about of a size. And this sword," unfastening the belt from the +prostrate jailer, "should go with the coat." A moment his words, +tense, reckless, continued to vibrate in the soldier's ears, then: +"I'll leave you the lantern!" And darkness fell over the place. + +Boldly, a little uncertainly, as the soldier had walked, the +mountebank, now, to all appearance, a man of the ranks in the service +of his Excellency, the Governor, strode down the wide, stone-paved way +separating the outhouses and a number of desultory ancient structures +from the officers' quarters, hard against the ramparts. In the sky's +dome the stars still shone, although a small mottled patch of cloud +obscured the moon; on either side no lights appeared in windows, and +friendly shadows favored him, until he approached at the end of the way +the broad, open entrance between the soldiers' barracks and the +officers' row. There, set in the stone above the key of the time-worn +arch, flared a smoky lamp, dimly revealing the surrounding details; but +the young man did not stop; had drawn quite close to the medieval +structure, when unexpectedly another tread, on the soldiers' side of +the entrance, mingled with his own; rang for a moment in unison; then +jingled out of time. He who approached came to a sudden standstill; +cast a quick glance over his shoulder, only to be brought to an abrupt +realization that it was now too late to retreat. A black silhouette, +suddenly precipitated across the pavement, preceded a dark figure that +stepped quickly out and barred the way, while at the same time, a +voice, loud and incisive, challenged. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE STAIRWAY OF SILVER + +The stillness of the moment that followed was tense; then thickly the +young man answered something irrelevant about a clown, a bottle and a +loaf; with cap drawn down and half-averted face, he lurched a little +forward in the darkness, and the sentinel's weapon fell. "Oh, that's +you, is it, Henri?" he said in a different tone, stepping back. "How +did you leave the fellow?" + +"Eating the bread and calling for more!" As he spoke, the other +stopped, swaying uncertainly; above the arch, the wick, ill-trimmed, +brightened and darkened to the drafts of air through break and slit of +the old lamp; and briefly he awaited a favorable moment, when the flame +blew out until almost extinguished; then with hand near sword-hilt, +somewhat over-briskly, but in keeping with the part, he stepped toward +the arch; through it, and quickly past the sentinel. + +"You seem to have been feasting and drinking a little yourself, +to-night, comrade?" called out the latter after him. "I noticed it +when you went in, and-- But aren't you taking the wrong way?" As the +other, after starting toward the barracks, straightened, and then +abruptly wheeled into the road, running up the Mount. + +"Bah!" A moment the young man paused. "Can't a soldier," articulating +with difficulty, "go to see his sweetheart without--" + +"_Eh bien_!" The sentinel shrugged his shoulders. "It isn't my +business. I think, though, I know where they'll put you to-morrow, +when they find out through the guard at the barracks." + +To this ominous threat the other deigned no response, only, after the +fashion of a man headstrong in insobriety, as well as in affairs of +gallantry, continued his upward way; at first, speedily; afterward, +when beyond hearing of the man below, with more stealth and as little +noise as possible, until the road, taking a sudden angle, brought him +abruptly to an open space at the foot of a great flight of stone stairs. + +Broad, wide, broken by occasional platforms, these steps, reaching +upward in gradual ascent, had designedly, in days gone by, been made +easy for broken-down monarchs or corpulent abbots. Also they had been +planned to satisfy the discerning eye, jealous of every addition or +alteration at the Mount. My lord, the ancient potentate, leisurely +ascending in ecclesiastical gown, while conscious of an earthly power +reaching even into England, could still fancy he was going up a Jacob's +ladder into realms supernal. Saint Louis, with gaze benignly bent +toward the aërial _escalier de dentelle_ of the chapel to the left, +might well exclaim no royal road could compare with this inspiring and +holy way; nor is it difficult to understand a sudden enchantment here, +or beyond, that drew to the rock on three pilgrimages that other Louis, +more sinner than saint, the eleventh of his name to mount the throne of +France. + +But those stones, worn in the past by the footsteps of the illustrious +and the lowly, were deserted now, and, for the moment, only the moon, +which had escaped from the cloud, exercised there the right of way; +looking squarely down to efface time's marks and pave with silver from +top to bottom the flight of stairs. It played, too, on façades, towers +and battlements on either side, and, at the spectacle--the disk +directly before him--the Black Seigneur, about to leave the dark and +sheltering byway, involuntarily paused. Angels might walk unseen up +and down in that effulgence, as, indeed, the old monks stoutly averred +was their habit; but a mortal intrusion on the argent way could be +fraught only with visibility. + +To reach the point he had in mind, however, no choice remained; the +steps had to be mounted, and, lowering his head and looking down, +deliberately he started. As he proceeded his solitary figure seemed to +become more distinct; his presence more obtrusive and his echoing +footsteps to resound louder. No indication he had been seen or heard, +however, reached him; to all appearances espionage of his movements was +wanting, and only the saint with the sword at the top of the +steeple--guardian spirit of the rock--looked down, as if holding high a +gleaming warning of that unwonted intrusion. + +Yet, though he knew it not, mortal eye had long been on him, peering +from a window of the abbot's bridge spanning the way and joining +certain long unused chambers, next to the Governor's palace, with my +lady's abode. Against the somber background of that covered passage of +granite, the face looking out would still have remained unseen, even +had the young man, drawing near, lifted his glance. This, however, he +did not do; his eyes, with the pale reflections dancing in them, had +suddenly fastened themselves lower; toward another person, not far +beyond the bridge; some one who had turned in from a passage on the +other side of the overhead architectural link, and had just begun to +come down. An old man, with flowing beard, from afar the new-comer +looked not unlike one of the ancient Druids that, in days gone by, had +lighted and watched the sacred fires of sacrifice on the rock. He, +too, guarded his light; but one set in the tall, pewter lamp of the +medieval watchman. + +"Twelve o'clock and all's--" he began when his glance, sweeping down, +caught sight of the ascending figure, and, pausing, he leaned on his +staff with one hand and shaded his eyes with the other. + +A half-savage exclamation of disappointment was suppressed on the young +man's lips; had he only been able to attain that parallelogram of +darkness, beneath the abbot's passage, he would have been better +satisfied, his own eyes, looking ahead, seemed to say; then gleamed +with a bolder light. + + "A sword and blade + A drab and a jade; + All's one to the King's men of the army!" + +he began to hum softly, as with a more reckless swing, quickly he went +up in the manner of a man assigned some easy errand. At the same time +the patriarch slowly and rather laboriously resumed his descent, and +just below the bridge, without the bar of shadow, the two came together. + +"Think you it is too late for his Excellency, the Governor, to receive +a message?" at once spoke up the younger, breaking off in that dashing, +but low-murmured, song of the barracks. + +"That you may learn from the guard at the palace," was the deliberate +answer, as, raising his lamp, the watchman held it full in his +questioner's face. + +"Thanks! I was going to inquire." As he answered, at the old abbot's +window in the bridge above, the face, looking out, bent forward more +intently; then quickly drew back. "Good night!" + +But the venerable guardian of the inner precinct was not disposed thus +lightly to part company. "I don't seem to know you, young man," he +observed, the watery, but keen and critical eyes passing deliberately +over the other's features. + +"No?" Unflinching in the bright glare of the lamp, the seeming soldier +smiled. "Do you, then, know _all_ at the Mount--even the soldiers?" + +"I should remember even them," was the quiet reply. + +"Those, too, but lately brought from St. Dalard?" + +"True, true! There may be some of those--" uncertainly. + +"No doubt! So if you will lower your lamp, which smells rather +vilely--" + +"From the miscreants it has smelled out," answered the old man grimly, +but obeyed; stood as if engrossed in the recollections his own response +evoked; then turned; walked on, and, a few moments later, his call, +suddenly remembered, rang, belated, in the drowsy air: "Twelve o'clock +and all's well! A new day, and St. Aubert guard us all!" + + "A sword and a blade; + A drab and a jade--" + +The words, scarcely begun, above his breath, died away on the seeming +soldier's lips, as the watcher on the bridge, looking down to follow +first the departing figure of the old custodian, crossed quickly to the +opposite window, and, from this point of vantage, gazed up after the +young man rapidly vanishing in the track of the moonlight. A moment +the onlooker stood motionless; then, ere the figure, so vividly defined +in shine and shimmer, had reached the top of the stairway, made an +abrupt movement and swiftly left the window and the passage. + +At the head of the steps, which without further incident or +interruption, he reached, the Black Seigneur, stepping to the shadow of +a small bush against the wall, glanced about him; with knit brows and +the resolute manner of one who has come to some definite conclusion, he +left the spot for observation, almost the apex of the Mount, and +plunged diverging to the right. From glint and shimmer to darkness +unfathomable! For some time he could only grope and feel his way, +after the fashion of the blind; fortunately, however, was the path +narrow; although tortuous, fairly well paved, and no serious mishap +befell him, even when he walked forward regardlessly, in feverish +haste, beset with the conviction that time meant all in all, and delay +the closing of the toils and the failure of a desperate adventure. +Several times he struck against the stones; once fell hard, but picked +himself up; went on the faster, only, after what seemed an interminable +period, to stop. + +"Am I, can I be mistaken?" + +But the single star he could see plainest from the bottom of the deep +alley, and to which he looked up, answered not the fierce, +half-muttered question; coldly, enigmatically it twinkled, and, half +running, he continued his way, to emerge over-suddenly into a cooler +well of air, and--what was more to be welcomed!--an outlook whereof the +details were in a measure dimly shadowed forth. + +On one side the low wall obscured not the panorama below--a ghost-like +earth fading into the mist, and nearer, the roof of the _auberge des +voleurs_, a darkened patch on the slope of the rock; but in this +direction the man hardly cast a glance. Certain buildings ahead, +austere, Norman in outline, absorbed his attention to the exclusion of +all else, and toward them, with steps now alert and noiseless, he +stole; past a structure that seemed a small _salle des gardes_ whose +window afforded a view of four men nodding at a table within; across a +space to another passage, and thence to a low door at the far corner of +a little triangular spot, alongside the walk and near a great wall. At +once the young man put out his hand to the door; tried it; pushed it +back and entered. Before him a wide opening looked out at the sky, +framing a multitude of stars, and from the bottom of this aperture ran +a strand, or rope, connecting with an indistinct object--a great wheel, +which stood at one side! + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE WHIRLING OF THE WHEEL + +As old as church or cloister, the massive wheel of the Mount had, in +the past, played prominent part in the affairs of succeeding +communities on the rock. It, or the hempen strand it controlled, had +primarily served as a link between the sequestered dwellers, and the +flesh-pots and material comforts of the lower world. Through its use +had my lord, the abbot, been ever enabled to keep full the mighty +wine-butts of his cellars; to provide good cheer for the tables of the +brethren, and to brighten his cold stone interiors with the fresh +greens of Flemish tapestry, or the sensuous hues of rugs and fabrics +from seraglio or mosque. Times less ancient had likewise claimed its +services, and even in recent years, by direction of his Excellency, the +Governor, had it occasionally been used for the hoisting of goods, +wares, or giant casks, overcumbersome for men or mules. + +Toward this simple monkish contrivance, the summit's rough lift, or +elevator, wherein serfs or henchmen had walked like squirrels in a cage +to bring solace to generations of isolated dwellers, the Black Seigneur +had at first stepped impetuously; then stopped, hardly breathing, to +look over his shoulder at the door that had been left unfastened. An +involuntary question flashing through his brain--the cause of this +seeming carelessness--found almost immediate answer in his mind, and +the certainty that he stood not there alone--a consciousness of some +one else, near, became abruptly confirmed. + +"What are you doing, soldier?" A voice, rough, snarling, drew swiftly +his glance toward a presence, intuitively divined; an undersized, +grotesque figure that had entered the place but a few moments before +and now appeared from behind boxes and casks where he had been about to +retire to his mattress in a corner. + +"What do you want?" repeated this person, the anger and viciousness on +his distorted features, revealed in the moonlight from the large +opening, like that of some animal unwarrantedly disturbed. + +"You, landlord of the thieves' inn!" And inaction giving way to +movement on the intruder's part, a knife that had flashed back in the +hand of the hunchback, with his query, was swiftly twisted from him and +kicked aside, while a scream of mingled pain and rage became abruptly +suppressed. Struggling and writhing like a wildcat, Jacques proved no +mean antagonist; with a strength incredible for one of his size, +supplemented by the well-known agility of his kind, he scratched, +kicked, and had managed to get the other's hand in his mouth, when, +making an effort to throw off that clinging burden, the Black Seigneur +dashed the dwarf's head violently against the wooden support of the +place. At once all belligerency left the hunchback, and, releasing his +hold, he sank to the ground. + +An instant the intruder regarded the inert form; then, going to the +door, latched and locked it with a key he found inside. Having thus in +a measure secured himself from immediate interruption without--for any +one trying the door would conclude the wheel-room vacant, or that the +dwarf slept there or in the store-house beyond--the Black Seigneur +walked to the aperture, and reaching up, began to pay out the rope from +a pulley above. As he did so, with feet braced, he leaned over to +follow in its descent a small car along the almost perpendicular +planking from the mouth of the wheel-room to the rocks, several hundred +feet below. + +A sudden slackening of the rope--assurance that the car, at the end of +the line, had reached the loading-spot below without the +fortifications--and the young man straightened; in an attitude of +attention, stood listening. But the stillness, impregnated only with a +faint underbreath, the far-away murmur of water, or the just audible +droning of insects near the fig-trees on the rocks, continued unbroken. +An impatient frown gathered on his brow; more eagerly he bent forward +to gaze down, when through the air a distant sound--the low, melancholy +hoot of an owl--was wafted upward. + +Upon him at the aperture, this night-call, common to the Mount and its +environs, acted in magical manner, and swiftly had he stepped toward +the wheel, when an object, intervening, stirred; started to stagger to +its feet. At once was the young man's first impelling movement +arrested; but, thus forcibly drawn from his purpose, he did not long +pause to contemplate; his hand, drawing the soldier's sword, held it +quickly at the hunchback's throat. + +"A sound, and you know what to expect!" + +With the bare point at his flesh, Jacques, dully hearing, vaguely +comprehending, could, indeed, guess and the fingers he had +involuntarily raised to push the bright blade aside, fell, while at the +same time any desire to attempt to call out, or arouse the guard, was +replaced by an entirely different emotion in his aching brain. Never +before had he actually felt that sharp touch--the prelude to the final +thrust. At the sting of it, a tremor ran through him, while cowardice, +his besetting quality, long covered by growl and egotism in his +strength and hideousness to terrify, alone shone from his +unprepossessing yellow features. + +"You were brave enough with the soldiers at your beck!" went on a +determined voice whose ironical accents in no wise served to alleviate +his panic. "When you had only a mountebank to deal with! But get up!" +contemptuously. "And," as the hunchback obeyed, his crooked legs +shaking in the support of his misshapen frame, "into the wheel with +you!" + +"The wheel!" stammered the dwarf. "Why--what--" + +"To take a little of your own medicine! _Pardi_! What a voluble +fellow! In with you, or--" + +With no more words the hunchback, staggering, hardly knowing what he +did, entered the ancient abbot's machine for hoisting. But as he +started to walk in the great wheel at the side of his captor, a picture +of the past--the times he, himself, had forced prisoners to the wheel, +stimulating with jeer and whip--arose mockingly before him, and the +incongruous present seemed, in contrast, like a black waking dream. + +That it was no dream, however, and that the awakening would never +occur, he well knew, and malevolently though fearfully he eyed the +rope, coming in over the pulley at the aperture; to be wound around and +around by a smaller wheel, attached to the larger, and--drawing up what? + +An inkling of the sort of merchandise to be expected, under the +circumstances, could but flash through his mind, together with a more +vivid consciousness of the only course open for him--to cry out, +regardless of consequences! Perhaps he might even have done so, but at +that instant--as if the other had read the thought--came the cold touch +of a bare blade on his neck; and with a sudden chill, the brief heroic +impulse passed. + +More stealthily now he began to study his companion in the wheel, while +a question, suddenly occurring, reiterated itself in his brain. This +man--who was he? And what did he know of the mountebank, or his, +Jacques', dealings with the clown? That his captor was no soldier of +the rock, or belonged there, the hunchback felt by this time assured, +and a growing suspicion of the other's identity brought home with new +force to the dwarf the thankless part chance, perhaps, had assigned to +him in that night's work. And at the full realization of the +consequences, should his surmise prove correct--what must ultimately +happen to himself in that event, when unwilling coöperation at the +wheel should become known--almost had he again reached the desperate +point of calling out; but at that moment a turn in the wheel brought to +the level of the aperture, the car. In it, or clinging thereto, were a +number of figures who, as soon as the rope stopped, sprang noiselessly +to the platform. + +"Seigneur, we hardly dared hope--" + +"We obeyed orders, but--" + +Gazing through the spokes of the wheel, and listening to their +whispered exclamations, any lingering doubt as to who his captor was +could no longer be entertained by the hunchback. These new-comers took +no pains to conceal it; even when the dwarf's presence became known to +them and unceremoniously was he dragged forth--they displayed a +contemptuous disregard of him as a factor to interfere, not calculated +to dull the edge of his apprehension! Too late now might he regret +that pusillanimity that had caused him to draw back from an immortal +rôle; already was the car again descending! + +It came up loaded; went down once more, reappeared. On the little +platform now were more than a dozen men assembled, but to Jacques this +force looked multiplied. Amid the confusion of his thoughts, vaguely +could he hear orders given; caught something about the need for quiet, +haste, overpowering the guard; then saw the door open, and the men, +like shadows, go out; leaving him alone. No; with two black figures; +ominous; armed. He could see the glitter of their weapons, and +ventured to move his thick tongue, when, fiercely silenced, he crouched +down; waited, with hands clenched, an interminable period; until +faintly from afar sounded the note of a night-bird. + +Roughly jerked to his feet, between them he walked to the door; heard +it close; stepped out into the night. Many times had he made his way +between wheel-room and guard-house, but now the route seemed strange, +and, looking around near the structures at the entrance to his dungeons +Jacques shook his head as if to rid his brain of some fantasy. But the +scene did not change; the guard-house remained--familiar; unlike, with +unknown faces peering from it, and an imperious voice issuing commands +to him, once unquestioned commander here! + +And comprehending what was being said, he struck his breast violently; +with curses would have answered that the keys were his own; the +dungeons, too, and what they held, and that he would never lead them +there; never open those doors! But this grim, savage, determined band +beat down his arms, and his courage; and, with the shadow of the grave +again before him, the dwarf walked on; past the stable into the +guard-house, where familiar forms once had been seated, and into the +passage leading to the dungeons beyond. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +AT THE VERGE OF THE APERTURE + +The footfall of the Black Seigneur, near the guard-house of the +dungeons, was measured, yet noiseless, as he stepped on the soft earth, +alongside the stone walk, now toward the passage in the direction of +the wheel-room, then back into the little square. That his thoughts, +however, moved not in accord with that deliberate stride, the brows +impatiently knit, and the quick glances he continued to cast over his +shoulder, bore testimony. + +Stopping at length near the Tour Bernard, he looked fixedly down at the +town, wrapped in a stillness that should have reassured him. +Nevertheless he appeared not satisfied; and had stepped out into the +court again, when some sound he heard, or fancied, sent him quickly to +an embrasure in the wall. From this opening--formerly for cannon in +defense of the _fenils_, and the _poulain_, or planking for the +hoisting of goods--he leaned far out, his glance instinctively turning +toward the barracks, some distance to the right and far below. As he +stood thus, that which had first attracted his attention--the sound of +a voice giving orders--was repeated; at the same time where had been +only darkness now shone many windows, while to the left, near the +entrance he had passed after leaving the stable, lights began to dance +like fireflies. + +At these signs of activity and the sounds breaking the general +quietude, an exclamation fell from his lips; then, pausing only a +moment to listen and observe, he sprang toward the guard-house. +Crossing the threshold, defined by a faint glimmer from a distant +corner, he made his way past several motionless forms, into a low +passage beyond. Here he called out impatiently; but from those depths, +leading down into the dungeons where his comrades had gone, no answer +was returned. His voice, hollow, mocking, seemed stifled in a tomb; +more loudly he shouted; walked farther in, when an indistinct response +was followed by a pin-point of light, and, ere long, by the bearer of a +little lamp, Sanchez. + +"The others?" At the head of a dark stairway into which he would +inadvertently have plunged, had he gone farther, the Black Seigneur +confronted the man, as he approached. + +"They will soon be here," said the old servant, springing up the steps +and walking after his master, who had already turned back toward the +guard-room. "Jacques--curse him!"--putting out his light in obedience +to a gesture from the other--"fumbled with the keys; pretended he +couldn't find the right ones! So it took longer to open the doors." + +"The prisoners?" + +"I left our men working at the last dungeon to come on ahead--to let +you know you might soon expect them." + +"Soon," ironically, "may be too late." + +"You mean--?" + +"The hue and cry is out! I have long been expecting it; I do not +understand why it didn't come before; unless a mountebank, locked up, +was considered safe enough for the night--" + +"Then some one knew--?" + +"Some one?" A bitter laugh was quickly suppressed on the young man's +lips. "Hark! Listen!" + +"Sounds below! the soldiers!" exclaimed Sanchez, and started toward the +window to look out, only to fall quickly back. + +"What is it?" With his hand on the other's shoulder, the Black +Seigneur whispered the question. + +"A face! At the window!" + +"So soon? The hounds are quicker than I thought! Or," drawing his +sword, "it may be only one or two in advance. In that case--" + +But no enemy, single or plural, met their view, either in front, or at +the side of the guard-house; only the darkness, void, empty, and the +bare rampart wall winding around the head of the Mount like a monster +guardian dragon, asleep at his post. + +"Here is no one!" + +"No one! Yet am I sure I saw--" + +"A shadow!" answered the other. "And we have nothing worse to fight!" + +"Some one was there, Seigneur," stubbornly, "and fled!" + +"_Eh bien_! He's gone!" + +"He? It looked like a--" + +"Back with you, quick! Is this a time for talk? Call those who can +come--if they would save their necks!" + +"Here they are now," exclaimed the servant, and, as he spoke, the first +of their men, blowing out the light he carried, ran quickly across the +guard-chamber and into the open air. Others hastily followed, until +the gathering, swelled by those brought with them from the dungeons, +stood expectantly before the little stone structure. + +"All the prisoners are here?" + +"All!" + +"To the wheel-house, then!" + +But as they hastened across the square and into the narrow way, the +Black Seigneur again spoke to the man just ahead: + +"The hunchback?" + +"We left him below, locked up in the Devil's Cage!" + +"The Devil's Cage! _Quelle bonne plaisanterie_! Although," looking +back, "it may cost us dear!" + +And indeed, behind the sound of pursuit came nearer; the clatter of +soldiers' feet grew louder, until, reaching the little square and the +guard-house, all tumult suddenly ceased. A momentary silence, strange, +ominous, was broken by a din of voices, as the flaring here and there +of torches threw grotesque reflections high against the grim background +of black masonry. + +To those now within the wheel-room, the cause of that abrupt clamor was +not difficult to divine; his Excellency's soldiers had found the +sentinels overpowered in the guard-house! Would the former stop to +investigate; search first those subterranean passages? Already had the +prisoners, the weaker of the Black Seigneur's men, filled the car, or +hung clinging to the rope above; already was the wheel turning--almost +before the key had turned in the lock at the entrance. + +"Seigneur!" + +"Sanchez?" + +"When we left the wheel-room, we closed the door." + +"When we got back, it--" + +A footfall without interrupted, followed by the sound of a hand at the +door, and other steps drawing near. + +"Jacques!" An expectant voice spoke; waited; called louder. Then +those outside listened; some one exclaimed, and hurried footsteps +retreated toward the guard-house. + +As they died away, in the wheel-room the car came up for the second +time empty, and inquiringly the men there looked from one to the other; +but, even in that moment of danger, not one of them moved, or made sign +of impatience. Some must go; others remain, and stoically they awaited +the word of their leader. + +"Down with all of you! I'll let you out the line," taking a turn with +the rope around a stanchion near the wall, "and then come down myself." + +The command was unexpected; for the first time those that had never +questioned their leader's authority, hesitated, and more sharply was +the order repeated; whereupon they obeyed; all save one. + +"I'll let it out myself," said Sanchez. + +"Get in!" + +"No!" was the obdurate reply, when the Black Seigneur made a sign; +hands reached up, seized Sanchez, and a moment later the car started +down. The line strained; as it played out, now running free about the +stanchion, then stopping with jerks, the man in the wheel-house almost +looked to see it part. The hempen strand, however, proved sound; held +its human freight; but another danger pressed near. + +Scarcely had the car begun its downward journey than an attack, +indications of whose approach had not been wanting, manifested itself +without. Beneath a sudden, savage assault, the door shook; yet +engrossed at the line, every muscle strained, the man at the stanchion +heeded not. Swiftly, mechanically he worked, apparently as unconscious +of the clamorous soldiers without as of a silent presence within--some +one that had been concealed in the little store-room adjoining, opening +into the wheel-house, and now peered out; but at once drew back, as, +with a crash, the door fell in. + +At first, in the comparative darkness, with only the sky at the +aperture staring them in the face, the in-rushing black figures paused, +uncertain; lights soon were pushed forward, however, and then could +they see the great wheel going round, unwinding the rope; the man at +the stanchion. + +"The prisoners! He's letting them down." + +"Cut the line!" + +Some one with a knife rushed forward, severed the strand; but at that +moment the car touched the bottom. Then did the solitary man at the +rope for the first time awaken to his own situation; with a backward +sweep of the arm he struck so fiercely the foremost of those to rush at +him that the fellow fell, hitting hard the stone floor. Those nearest +stumbled, and drawing his sword, with a thrust of point or blow of +hilt, the Black Seigneur, for a moment withstood the first confused +on-coming; then extricated himself and leaped to the narrow space +behind the wheel. Here was he protected behind by the wall; at one +end, by the masonry jutting out, while, at the other, only one or two +could attack at the same time. But in front, through the spokes of the +broad wheel, they might well hope to reach him. + +At once the soldiers sprang forward, when, seizing the wheel, the man +behind, with a savage jerk, set it in motion. The swords thrust at him +were turned aside, one or two of his assailants were caught in the +ponderous mechanism, and, before those attacking him had recovered from +their surprise, the blade of the Black Seigneur shot in and out; to the +right, to the left. Those ahead fell back upon their comrades; two, +however, were unable to withdraw, and sank to the ground before the +wheel. A third, with his hand to his throat and making strange sounds, +staggered back to the wall. + +Momentarily disconcerted, the others hesitated. "In the fiend's name, +fear ye one man?" shouted an authoritative voice. + +"A devil!" + +"'Tis the Black Seigneur! I had a good sight of him." + + "Beat! beat! + 'Mid marsh-muck and mire--" + +came in mocking tones from behind the wheel. + +"The mountebank!" + +"_Sacre tonnerre_! But mountebank, or outlaw, you shall pay! This +way!" And at the unprotected side of the wheel the commandant sought +to bring the issue to a conclusion. One blade the Black Seigneur +struck down, while his own weapon retorted with more effect, though as +it did so, another soldier made a lunge, and his sword entered the +shoulder of the man behind the wheel. A shout of triumph that fell +from the lips of the Governor's trooper was, however, abruptly checked; +lurching forward with the stroke, ere he could recover, something +heavy--a brass hilt--beat like a hammer on his head and he dropped to +his knees. The others pressed closer; but with the desperation of a +man resolved to sell his life dearly, the Black Seigneur fought on; +regardless of cut and thrust, was holding the narrow entrance, when +from the rear, somewhere, came the report of a firearm. + +"Back! Stand back!" + +Those nearest the wheel, not unwilling, perhaps, to desist, drew away; +other detonations followed and smoke filled the place, obscuring the +gaze. In the yellow fog they waited; until first it was swept aside +close to the opposite wall by a draft of air from the aperture of the +adjoining store-room, and the commandant, in an effort to see, moved +impatiently forward. Ere, however, he could reach the wheel, near the +threshold of the store-room, he felt his arm suddenly seized. + +"Look, listen!" + +The warning cry--a girl's voice--rang through the wheel-room; but the +commandant did not at once heed it; at that abrupt touch he had +involuntarily wrested his arm away; he stared, not in the direction she +who had called out pointed, but at her! The white, drawn face, the +eyes dilated-- + +"You, my Lady! Here?" he stammered. But she only made a wild +movement; again grasped, drew him forward. + +"Quick, or--" And suddenly was he brought to a realization of what she +wished him to see: a figure drawing itself along, slowly, painfully, +toward the verge-- + +"Don't you see? Rather than be taken, he's going to throw himself +over!" + +The excited, admonishing sound of her voice aroused the commandant. He +gave a sharp order and the soldiers sprang forward; laid roughly hold +of the prostrate form; drew it back. The Black Seigneur yet struggled, +but not for long! A moment, and his eyes turned to the Governor's +daughter. + +"_Ma foi_! I must needs yield--to your Ladyship! Yet, what matter, +since I have done what I came to do!" + +His gaze, darkly glowing, seemed to envelope the shrinking figure whose +cloak only partly concealed the gay, rich gown beneath; lifted to the +brilliant affrighted brown eyes. "Your Ladyship has bright eyes, +forsooth!" An ironical laugh burst from his lips. "But sharper than +their swords!" He strove to speak further, when a hand holding a +weapon fell heavily. At that a cry escaped the girl's lips. + +"No, no; you shall not!" + +The Black Seigneur lay still. + +"_Ciel_! It's fortunate we got him," ruefully the commandant gazed +around. "It would have made a pretty tale, if--" he turned to the +Governor's daughter, "I have your Ladyship to thank--" he began, and +stopped. + +My lady's figure had at that moment relaxed and fallen to the ground! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE HALL OF THE CHEVALIERS + +The report of the capture of the Black Seigneur spread from Mount to +town; from rock to shore. Pilgrims repeated, peasants circulated it; +many credited; a few disbelieved. Like shadows had his comrades and +the escaped prisoners vanished, leaving no trace, save one--an +over-turned car and severed rope at the foot of the _poulain_, without +the fortifications. And flocking to that point, of greater interest +now than shrine or sanctuary, the pilgrims gazed around; down the +rocks; up the almost perpendicular planking to what looked like a mere +pigeon-hole in the side of the cliff. Then ominous grumblings escaped +them; some shook their fists at the black wall; others scoffed at +distant sounds of priestly hallelujahs. Had the soldiers that day +appeared in the town or on the beach, serious trouble would have +ensued. For the time, however, they remained discreetly housed, while +supplies for pilgrims' needs were, by the commandant's orders, so +curtailed, many of the indigent multitude, urged by pinched stomachs, +began, ere night, to wend their way from strand to shore. But as they +left the vicinity of the Mount, they turned last looks of hatred toward +the rock. + +His Excellency, the Governor, wasted no time considering the humor of +the masses; their resentment, or displeasure, signified nothing; his +own complacency left little room for speculation on that score. He was +undeniably satisfied; even the escape of the prisoners and the loss of +the soldiers at the guard-house, or in the wheel-room, was overshadowed +by the single capture. This contentment, however, he kept to himself; +instigated a rigorous inquiry, and prepared to punish certain +offenders. But the principal of these he could not reach; when +released from the iron cage, the hunchback, knowing he would be called +upon to answer for his part in the night's work, had made the best use +of his short legs to place a long distance between himself and the +Mount. + +The sentinel that allowed the Black Seigneur to pass through the +entrance near the barracks; the watchman encountered on the stairway, +and the soldier that had been overpowered in the stable, his Excellency +could, however, lay hands on, and promptly ordered into custody to +await his official attention. For this last culprit, the +commandant--mindful, perhaps, of bolstering his own +position--interceded; pointing out that the man had to get the gag from +his mouth and give the alarm; also, that the mountebank's appearance +and acting had been calculated to deceive even one of the Governor's +discernment. Which remark his Excellency had received with +sphinx-like, and not altogether reassuring, gravity; had reserved his +verdict, and continued, after his own fashion, to collect the details +of the affair. + +This searching process should have led him almost at once to his +daughter--a puzzling figure in the maze of events; but the Governor +exhibited no haste in approaching that important witness. Only when he +had marshaled his other testimony and put it in order did the scope of +his sifting extend to the girl. And then had his manner been strictly +judicial: maintaining an imperturbable mask, he professed not to notice +the pallor of her face, the unnatural brightness of her glance. + +"When you sent for the mountebank to come to your apartments, did you +know who he was?" the Governor had asked. + +"No." + +"When did you find out?" + +"When you entered the room." + +"Why did you not give the alarm then?" + +"Because," she hesitated; her face changed, "he would have killed you, +I think--if I had!" + +"Was that solicitude for me the only reason?" + +"Why, what other could there be?" + +"What other truly? And after he left with the commandant--why did you +not, then, inform me?" + +"You remember you had something important, from the King, to consider!" +hastily. + +"More important than this?" + +"He was going to be locked up," was the best reply she could make. + +"And in the morning set free!" + +She did not answer. + +"And yet, you gave the word that enabled us to capture him at the +wheel-house! How, by the way, came you there--in the wheel-house?" + +"I saw him from the abbot's bridge; heard him tell the watchman he had +a message to deliver at your palace, and followed." + +"Again feeling solicitude for me?" + +"I did not know--he would dare much; and what does it matter now?" +almost wildly. "You have captured him, shut him up somewhere in some +terrible, deep dungeon, where--" + +"He is safe? True; that is the main consideration." + +Thereafter had the subject of the Black Seigneur been dropped between +them; the pilgrimage over, the Mount resumed its normal aspect, but +only for a little while! One day about a week later, a bright cortége +whose appearance was in marked contrast to that of the beggarly +multitude, late visitors to the rock, came riding down the road through +the forest to the sea; at the verge of the sands, stopped for a first +distant impression of the rock. + +"Noble monument, I salute you!" Smiling, debonair, the Marquis de +Beauvillers removed his hat. + +"And the noble mistress thereof?" suggested one of his train. + +"She, of course!" he said, still surveying a scene different from that +final memory he had carried away with him. Then had the rock reared +itself in all the glamour of a sunny day; now was the sky overcast, +while through a sullen mist the Mount loomed like a shadow itself. + +"A cold place for our gay Elise!" One or two who viewed the sight for +the first time looked disappointed; even the Marquis appeared for the +instant more sober; but immediately regained his lively demeanor. + +"Wait until you have seen it at its best," he retorted carelessly, and +set the pace across the sands. + +Midway, where once on the sands the men of Brittany had engaged in +fierce conflict the ancient abbot's forces, were the new-comers met by +an imposing guard; escorted with due honor through the gates, and up +the narrow street of the town. + +As he climbed the winding highway, my lord, the Marquis, bestowed +approving nod and smile this way and that; it may be that he already +felt a nearer affiliation with these people; for his glance, gracious, +condescending in passing, was that of a man armed with the knowledge +that he, kinsman of the King, might some day be called upon to govern +here. But to these advances, the townspeople responded ill, and the +young noble's brow went delicately up, as if a little amused! _Mon +dieu!_ did not unfriendly eyes peer from every lurking place around the +royal palaces and pleasure grounds near Paris; and had they not +encountered them all the way to the sea? People were the same +everywhere; must be treated like bad children, and, with relays of +troops from the capital to the sea, from the strand to the Mount's high +top, one could afford to smile at their petty humors. Above all, when +one had more momentous matter for consideration! And my lord lifted +his head higher, toward a rampart, where some one had once bid him _au +revoir_, and where he might yet in fancy see a fluttering ribbon wave a +bright adieu! + +But to-day my lady, the Princess of the Rock, was not there; waited +above, with her father, to receive him--then--in the great Hall of the +Chevaliers. Until that morning she had not known of the coming of the +Marquis, an impatient suitor, following the courier and the perfumed +missive acquainting her with the noble's near approach. Certainly had +she shown surprise; but whether she was pleased or not, his Excellency +could not tell. + +He was still uncertain; standing, near the raised gallery, in the +ancient _salle des chevaliers_, from time to time regarded her +furtively! Often had she looked from one of the round windows, +commanding a view of the shore and the sands; many times turned away. +At first sight of the company on the beach, the Governor had seen the +girl's face alter and noted the involuntary start she had given. +Whereupon, moving toward one of the giant fireplaces, had he sought for +the sake of diplomacy and the end in view, to turn their conversation +into a channel that should have interested her; spoke of plans to be +made; preparations for festivities and merrymaking commensurate with +the circumstances. But to these suggestions of gaieties, the prelude +to a stately ceremony, had she hardly listened; paused absently before +the blazing logs; once or twice seemed about to say something and +stopped. + +She was silent now, a slender figure beneath that great canopy of stone +designed for the shelter of a score of knights; nervously twining and +intertwining her fingers, she looked out at the shadows moving between +the columns, playing around the bases, or melting in the vaulting. + +"They should be almost here now," observed his Excellency, again +seeking to break that spell of constraint, when suddenly she stepped to +him. + +"_Mon père_," her voice sounded strained, unnatural, "it was you who +wanted this marriage?" + +"Yes," he had answered in some surprise; "yes." + +"And I have not opposed you--the King--" + +"Opposed? No! Of course not!" + +"Then," more hurriedly, "must you do something in return for me! I do +not want my--the wedding festivities--marred by anything unpleasant! +Promise that nothing will happen to him, the Black Seigneur, until +after--" + +"Impossible!" The sudden virulence her unexpected request awoke could +not be concealed. + +"Very well!" Before the anger in his gaze, her own eyes flashed like +steel. "In that case, you can send the Marquis back! For I will not +see him--to-day, to-morrow or any time again!" + +Long he looked at her; the white face; the tightly compressed lips; the +eyes that would not flinch! They reminded him of another's--were of +the same hue--so like, and yet so different! Unlike, in bespeaking a +will he could not break! What he said, matters not; his face wore an +ashy shade. She did not answer in words; but he felt, with strange +bitterness, a revulsion; she seemed almost suddenly to have become +hostile to him. + +Gay voices sounded without; nearer; she walked to a door opposite the +entrance their visitors were approaching. An instant, and she would +have passed out, when the Governor spoke. + +But the Marquis, stepping quickly in a few moments later, noted nothing +amiss between them. "Your Excellency!" With filial respect he greeted +the Governor. "My Lady!" Gaily, approvingly, his eye passed over her; +then in that hall dedicated to chivalry, a graceful figure, he sank to +his knee; raised a small cold hand, and pressed it to his lips. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE UNDER WORLD + +A coterie of brilliant folk soon followed in the wake of my lord, the +Marquis' retinue; holy-day banners were succeeded by holiday ribbons; +the _miserere_ of the multitude by pæans of merriment. Hymen, Io +Hymen! In assuming the leading rôle to which circumstances now +assigned her, the Governor's daughter brought to the task less energy +than she had displayed on that other occasion when visitors had +sojourned at the rock. Her manner was changed--first, lukewarm; then, +almost indifferent; until, at length, one day she fairly waived the +responsibility of planning amusements; laid before them the question: +What, now, would they like to do? + +"Devise a play," said one. + +"With shepherds and shepherdesses!" + +The Marquis, however, qualified the suggestion. "A masque! that is +very good; but, for this morning--I have been talking with the +commandant--and have another proposal--" + +"Which is?" + +"To visit the dungeons." + +"The dungeons?" My lady's face changed. + +"And incidentally inspect their latest guest! Some of you heard of him +when we were here before--_Le Seigneur Noir_--the Black Seigneur!" + +"_Le Seigneur Noir_!" They clapped their hands. "Yes, let us see him! +Nothing could be better. What do you say, Elise?" + +She started to speak, but for the instant her lips could frame no +answer; with a faint, strained smile, confronted them, when some one +anticipated her reply-- + +"Did she not leave it to us? It is we who decide." + +And a merry party, they swept along, bearing her with them; up the +broad stairway, cold, gray in the morn; beneath the abbot's +bridge--black, spying span!--to the church, and thence to the isolated +space before the guard-house to the dungeons. Here, at the sound of +their voices, a man, carrying a bunch of keys--but outwardly the +antithesis to the hunchback--peered from the entrance. + +"Unless I am mistaken, the new jailer!" With a wave of his hand, the +Marquis indicated this person. "The commandant was telling me his +Excellency had engaged one--from Bicêtre, or Fort l'Evêque, I believe?" + +"Bicêtre, my Lord!" said the man gravely. "And before that, the +Bastille." + +"Ah!" laughed the nobleman. "That pretty place some of the foolish +people are grumbling about! As if we could do without prisons any more +than without palaces! But we have come, my good fellow, to inspect +this lower world of yours!" + +The man's glance passed over the paper the Marquis handed him; then +silently he moved aside, and unlocked the iron doors. + +"Are you not coming?" At the threshold the Marquis looked back. When +first they had approached the guard-house, involuntarily had the +Governor's daughter drawn aside to the ramparts; now, with face +half-averted, stood gazing off. + +"Coming?" Surprised, the Marquis noted her expression; the fixed +brightness of her eyes and her parted lips. "Oh, yes!" And turning +abruptly, she hastened past him. + +Would _they_ have to be locked in?--the half-apprehensive query of one +of the ladies caused the jailer at first to hesitate and then to answer +in the negative. He would leave the doors from the outer room open, +and himself await there the visitors' return. With which reassuring +promise, he distributed lights; called a guardsman, familiar with the +intricate underground passages, and consigned them to his care. + +One of the gay procession, the Lady Elise stepped slowly forward; the +guide proved a talkative fellow, and seemed anxious to answer their +many inquiries concerning the place. The _salle de la question_? Yes, +it existed; but the ancient torture devices for the "interrogatory +ordinary" and the "interrogatory extraordinary" were no longer pressed +into service; the King had ordered them relegated to the shelves of the +museum. The cabanons, or black holes? Louis XI built them; the +_carceres duri_ and _vade in pace_, however, dated from Saint +Mauritius, fourth abbot of the Mount. + +"And the Black Seigneur? How have you accommodated him?" + +"In the _petit exil_; just to the left! We are going there now." + +"I--am going back!" A hand touched the arm of the Marquis, last of the +file of visitors, and, lifting his candle, he held it so that the +yellow glimmer played on the face of the Governor's daughter. Her eyes +looked deeper; full of dread, as if the very spirit of the subterranean +abode had seized her. He started. + +"Surely _you_, Elise, are not afraid?" + +"I prefer the sunlight," she said hurriedly in a low tone. "It--it is +not cheerful down here! No; do not call to the guide--or let the +others know. I'll return alone, and--wait for you at the guard-house." + +He, nevertheless, insisted upon accompanying her; but, indicating the +not distant door through which they had come, she professed to make +light of objections, and when he still clung to the point, replied with +a flash of spirit, sudden and passionate. It compelled his +acquiescence; left him surprised for a second time that day; a little +hurt, too, perhaps, for heretofore had their intimacy been maintained +on a strictly ethical and charming plane. But he had no time for +analysis; the others were drawing away to the left, into a side +passage; and, with a last backward glance toward the retreating figure, +the Marquis reluctantly followed the majority. + +Despite, however, her avowed repugnance for that under-world, my lady +showed now no haste to quit it; for scarcely had the others vanished +than she stopped; began slowly to retrace her way in the direction they +had taken. When the narrow route to the _petit exil_ connected with +the main aisle, a sudden draft of air extinguished her light; yet still +she went on, led by the voices, and a glimmer afar, until reaching a +room, low, massive, as if hewn from the solid rock, again she paused. +Drawing behind a heavy square pillar, she gazed at the lords and ladies +assembled in the forbidding place; listened to a voice that ran on, as +if discoursing about some anomalous thing. Again was she cognizant of +their questions; a jest from my lord, the Marquis; she saw that several +stole forward; peered, and started back, half afraid. + +But, at length, they asked about the oubliettes, and, chatting gaily, +left. Their garments almost touched the Governor's daughter; lights +played about the gigantic pillars, and like will-o'-the-wisps whisked +away. Now, staring straight ahead toward the chamber they had vacated, +my lady's attention became fixed by a single dot of yellow--a candle +placed in a niche by the jailer's assistant. It seemed to fascinate; +to draw her forward; across the portals--into the room itself! + +How long she stood there in the faint suggestion of light, she did not +realize; nor when she approached the iron-barred aperture, and what she +first said! Something eager, solicitous, with odd silences between her +words, until the impression of a motionless form, and two steady, +cynical eyes fastened on her, brought her to an abrupt pause. It was +some time before she continued, more coherently, an explanation about +her apprehension on account of her father, which had entirely left her +when she had peered through the window of the guard-house. + +"You thought me, then, but a common assassin?" a satirical voice +interposed. + +"My father hates you, and you--" + +"My Lady has, perhaps, a standard of her own for judging!" + +Unmindful of ironical incredulity, she related how she had been forced +to take refuge in the wheel-house; how, when Sanchez had seen her, +alarmed she had fled blindly down the passage; waited, then hearing +them all coming, at a loss what else to do, had opened the wheel-house +door; run into the store-room! What she had seen from there, +disconnectedly, also she referred to; his rescue of the others; his +remaining behind to bear the brunt--as brave an act as she knew of! +Her tone became tremulous. + +"Who betrayed me?" His voice, bold and scoffing, interrupted. + +She answered. It was like speaking to some one in a tomb. "The +soldier you bound gave the alarm." + +From behind the bars came a mocking laugh. + +"You don't believe me?" She caught her breath. + +"Believe? Of course." + +"You don't!" she said, and clung tighter to the iron grating. "And I +can't make you!" + +"Why should your Ladyship want to? What does it matter?" + +"But it does matter!" wildly. "When your servant accused me that day +in the cloister I did not answer nor deny; but now--" + +"Your Ladyship would deny?" + +"That I betrayed you at Casque? Here? Yes, yes!" + +"Or at the wheel-house when you called to warn the soldiers?" + +"You were about to--to throw yourself over!" she faltered. + +"And your Ladyship was apprehensive lest the Black Seigneur should +escape?" + +"Escape?" she cried. "It was death!" + +"And the alternative? My Lady preferred to see the outlaw taken--die +like a felon on the gallows!" + +"No; no! It was not that." + +"What then?" His eyes gleamed bright; her own turned; shrank from +them. A moment she strove to answer; could not. Within the black +recess a faint light from the flickering candle played up and down. So +complete the stillness, so dead the very air, the throbbings of her +pulses filled the girl with a suffocating sense of her own vitality. + +"I spoke to my father to try to get your cell changed," she at last +found herself irrelevantly saying; "but could do nothing." + +"I thank your Ladyship! But your Ladyship's friends will be far away. +Your Ladyship may miss something amusing!" + +"I did not bring them--did not want them to come!" + +"No?" + +Her figure straightened. + +"Perhaps, even, they are not aware you are here?" + +"They are not, unless--" + +"Elise!" From afar a loud call interrupted; reverberating down the +main passage, was caught up here and there. "Elise! Elise!" The +whole under-world echoed to the name. + +"I promised to meet them at the guard-house," she explained hurriedly. +And hardly knowing what she did, put out her hand, through the bars, +toward him. In the darkness a hand seized hers; she felt herself +drawn; held against the bars. They bruised her shoulder; hurt her +face. The chill of the iron sent a shudder through her; though the +pain she did not feel; she was cognizant only of a closer view of a +figure; the chains from him to the wall; the bare, damp floor--then, of +a voice low, tense, that now was speaking: + +"Your Ladyship, indeed, found means to punish a presumptuous fellow, +who dared displease her. But _ma foi!_ she should have confined her +punishment to the offender. Those stripes inflicted on him, my old +servant! Think you I knew not it was my Lady's answer to the outlaw, +who had the temerity to speak words that offended--" + +"You dream that! You imagine that!" + +The warmth of his hand seemed to burn hers; her fingers, so closely +imprisoned, to throb with the fierce beating of his pulses. + +"I do not want you to think--I can't let you think," she began. + +"Elise!" The searchers were drawing nearer. + +She would have stepped back, but the fingers tightened on her hand. + +"They will be here in a moment--" + +Still he did not relinquish his hold; the dark face was next hers; the +piercing, relentless eyes studied the agitated brown ones. The latter +cleared; met his fully an instant. "Believe!" that imploring wild +glance seemed to say. Did his waver for a moment; the harshness and +mockery soften on his face? + +"Elise!" From but a short distance came the voice of the Marquis. + +A moment the Black Seigneur's hand gripped my lady's harder with a +strength he was unaware of. A slight cry fell from her lips, and at +once, almost roughly, he threw her hand from him. + +"Bah!" again he laughed mockingly. "Go to your lover." + +Released thus abruptly she wavered, straightened, but continued to +stand before the dungeon as if incapable of further motion. + +"Elise! Are you there?" + +"There!" Caverns and caves called out. + +"There!" gibed voices amid a labyrinth of pillars, and mechanically she +caught up the candle; fled. + +"Here she is!" Coming toward her quickly out of the darkness, the +Marquis uttered a glad exclamation. "We have been looking for you +everywhere. Did I not say you should not have attempted to return +alone? _Mon dieu!_ you must have been lost!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +A NEW ARRIVAL + +Thrice had the old nurse, Marie, assisting her mistress that night for +the banquet, sighed; a number of times striven to hold my lady's eye +and attention, but in vain. Only when the adorning process was nearly +completed and the nurse knelt with a white slipper, did she, by a +distinctly detaining pressure, succeed in arresting, momentarily, the +other's bright strained glance. + +"Is anything the matter?" My lady's absent tone did not invite +confidences. + +"My Lady--" the woman hesitated; yet seemed anxious to speak. "I--my +Lady," she began again; with sign of encouragement from the Governor's +daughter, would have gone on; but the latter, after waiting a moment, +abruptly withdrew the silken-shod foot. + +"The banquet! It is past the hour!" + +An instant she stood, not seeing the other or the expression of +disappointment on the woman's countenance; then quickly walked to the +door. Nor, as the Governor's daughter moved down the long corridor, +with crimson lips set hard, was she cognizant of another face that +looked out from one of the many passages of the palace after her--the +face of a younger woman whose dark, spying eyes glowed and whose hands +closed at sight of the vanishing figure! + +The sound of gay voices, however, as she neared the banqueting hall, +perforce recalled my lady to a sense of her surroundings; at the same +time a figure in full court dress stepped from the widely opened doors. +An adequate degree of expectancy on his handsome countenance, my lord, +the Marquis, who had been waiting, lover-fashion, for the first glimpse +of his mistress that evening, now gallantly tendered his greetings. + +Seldom, perhaps, had the ancient banqueting hall presented a more +festive appearance. Fruits and flowers made bright the tables; banners +medieval, trophies of many victories, trailed from the ceiling; a +hundred lights were reflected from ornaments of crystal and dishes of +gold. On every hand an almost barbaric profusion impressed the guests +with the opulence of the Mount; that few could sit in more state than +this pale lord of the North, or few queens preside over a scene of +greater splendor than their fair hostess, his daughter! + +With feverish semblance of spirit, she took her place; beneath the keen +eyes of his Excellency responded to sallies of wit, and only when +between courses the music played, did her manner relax. Then, leaning +on her elbow, with cheeks aflame and downcast eyes, she professed to +listen to dainty strains--the sighing of the old troubadours, as +imitated by a group of performers in costume on a balcony at one end of +the hall. + +"Charming!" The voice was the Marquis'; she looked at him, though her +eyes conveyed but a shadowy impression. "You have quite recovered from +your trip to the dungeons?" + +"Quite!" With a sudden lift of the head. + +"The dungeons?" His Excellency's gaze was on them. "I understand," +looking at Elise, "you had a slight adventure?" + +The glow on her cheek faded. "Yes." She seemed to speak with +difficulty. "It--was too stupid!" + +"To get lost? Say, rather, it was venturesome to have attempted to +return alone." + +"Just what I said to the Lady Elise!" broke in the Marquis. "And to +have left us at a most interesting moment!" + +"Interesting?" The Governor's steel-gray eyes regarded the speaker +inquiringly. + +"We were about to visit the Black Seigneur!" + +"Ah!" A look flashed from his Excellency to his daughter; her glance +failed to meet it. + +Yet paler, she turned over-hurriedly to the Marquis. "What is that air +they are playing now?" His response she heard not, was only conscious +that, across the board, the eyes of her father still scrutinized; +studied! + +At length, however, the evening wore away; a signal from his +Excellency, and of one accord they rose and crossed to the +star-illumined cloister adjoining. There at the entrance, my lady, who +toward the last had listened with an air of distraction, hardly +concealed, to her noble suitor's graceful speeches, held back, and, as +the others went in, quickly effected her escape and hastened to her own +apartments. + +"At last!" She threw back her arms; breathed deeper. "Ah, _mon père_, +you are hard--unyielding as the iron doors and bars of your dungeons!" +She pressed her hand to her forehead. "And I can do nothing--nothing!" +she repeated; stood for a moment motionless and then mechanically moved +toward the bell-rope at the other end of the chamber. But the hand she +started to raise was arrested; through the slightly opened door to the +adjoining apartment, she heard voices; words that caused her +involuntarily to listen. + +"I have made up my mind to tell her ladyship, Nanette!" The old nurse +was speaking, in tones that betrayed excitement and anxiety. "It is, +to say the least, embarrassing for me--your coming here! You, the +daughter of Pierre Laroche, who emigrated to the English Isles! Who +has always shown disloyalty for the monarchy at home!" + +My lady, surprised, drew nearer; caught the answer, which came in +tones, deep and strong. + +"At least, aunt, you are frank!" + +"I must be! Under ordinary circumstances, I should be glad; of course, +the child of my dead sister ought to be welcome." + +"So I thought," dryly, "when I stopped off a few days ago to see you, +on my way to Paris." + +"If you had let me know, it is I who would have gone somewhere, near +by, to have seen you!" was the troubled reply. "His Excellency--what +would he say if he knew? Pierre Laroche, who has been called friend of +privateersmen, perhaps even of the Black Seigneur, himself! I should +have gone to his Excellency at once and asked if he objected, only you +begged me not, and--" + +"Were you so anxious to be rid of me?" quickly. + +"I shouldn't speak as I do now, perhaps, only--" + +"Only?" + +"Your conduct, since you have been here--" + +"What do you mean?" The other's tone had a sudden defiant ring. + +"It is not seemly for a girl of your age and condition to be out alone +so late, nights!" + +"I just went down into the town to get something," was the careless +response, "and the sands looked so attractive--" + +"That's no excuse! And now," the old nurse's voice showed a trace of +embarrassment, "we've had our visit, and you had better carry out your +plan of going to Paris." + +"You want me to leave here--at once?" The girl drew her breath sharply. + +"Perhaps it would be as well." + +"You treat me as if--I were a spy!" angrily. + +"I don't wish to do that," returned the woman in a constrained tone. +"But now, after so many years of service with her ladyship! And her +mother, the former lady of the Mount! If I should incur the Governor's +displeasure--" the words died away. "If I can be of any help to you, +if you need assistance--money--" + +"Money!" Nanette's derisive laugh rang out; was suddenly hushed by the +tinkling of a bell! + +"Her ladyship!" + +For a few moments the Governor's daughter, now standing in the center +of her apartment, heard no sound from the other room; then a timid +footstep approaching the door was followed by an indecisive rap. + +"Your Ladyship rang?" inquired Marie, turning a half-guilty glance on +her mistress. + +"Yes! Did I hear voices, as I came in?" + +"Did your Ladyship? I mean, I was going to speak to your Ladyship. +It's my niece!" suddenly. "On her way to Paris!" + +"Your niece!" The Governor's daughter looked at the other. "And +you--are pleased?" + +"Your Ladyship--" The woman flushed. + +"Of course, though, you must be! She is out there? Show her in!" +quickly. + +"But--" + +"At once!" + +"Very well, my Lady!" Marie's manner, however, was depressed, as, +stepping to the threshold, reluctantly she beckoned. + +Erect, with mien almost antagonistic, Nanette entered and stood before +the Lady Elise. The latter did not at once speak; for a few moments +the observant brown eyes passed in quick scrutiny over her visitor; +noting the aggressive brows; the broad, strong face; the self-assertive +pose of the well-developed figure. A woman to do--to dare!--What? + +[Illustration: "A woman to do--to dare!"] + +"You wished to see me?" Nanette first spoke. + +Marie lifted an expostulatory hand. What bad manners, thus to dare! +But my lady did not seem to notice. "You are from one of the islands?" +she began. + +"Yes." + +"Say 'my Lady'!" broke in the old nurse. "I trust your Ladyship will +pardon--" + +"Never mind, Marie!" with a quick gesture. "Your aunt tells me you are +on your way to Paris?" + +"Yes--my Lady!" with the slightest hesitation before the last two +words. "To seek a situation as lady's maid!" + +"When are you leaving?" + +"To-morrow morning, your Ladyship!" interposed Marie quickly. + +"So soon?" My lady continued to address the girl. "You have had +experience?" + +"No, my Lady!" + +"Then how can you secure what you wish?" + +"How? At least, I can try!" + +"To be sure! You can try." My lady's eyes fell; she seemed to be +thinking. "Still, it may be difficult; Paris is far away. And if you +should fail," her fingers tapped nervously on the chair, "we are very +busy at the Mount just now," she added suddenly, directing her glance +full upon the other, "and there may be something here--" + +"Here! Your Ladyship will keep me here!" + +Marie made a movement as if to speak, but her niece intercepted her. + +"I will do my best, my Lady!" + +"Very well! Then shall you have a trial!" + +"Your Ladyship!" interposed Marie. + +The Governor's daughter got up quickly. "I am very tired, Marie, and +wish now to be alone! You need not remain--I shall not want you again +to-night." + +The old nurse murmured a dejected response; turned away. + +"I thank your Ladyship!" The girl's last look was one of indubitable +satisfaction ere she followed her aunt from the room. + +My lady stared after them. "'Daughter of Pierre Laroche! Friend of +the Black Seigneur!'" Marie's words continued to ring in her ears. +She threw herself into a chair; sat long very still, her eyes bent +straight before her, on either cheek now a bright spot of color. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +A STROLL ON THE STRAND + +"You are in a hurry, Monsieur Beppo?" arms akimbo, Nanette, standing in +an embrasure of the rampart, called out to the Governor's man as he +passed by. + +"Ah, Mistress Nanette," Beppo stopped readily enough, "I didn't see you +at first." + +"Because you have more important matters to think of," she laughed, +showing her strong white teeth. + +The fat old man looked pleased; a few days before, Nanette had flashed +a radiant smile at him from her casement, and, ever since, he had been +inclined to regard her with favor. + +"Not more important, but duties that must be attended to! The wedding +hour draws near." The island girl half turned her head; a shadow +seemed to pass over the bold, sunburned features. "And her ladyship +gives to-morrow a riding party for her guests--a last celebration +before she is led to the altar. I am on my way now to arrange about +the escort." + +"A riding party!" Nanette spoke quickly. "You mean on horseback?" + +"How else?" said Beppo. "It is a pastime her ladyship has always been +very fond of, even as a child. In those days," not without an accent +of self-importance, "it was my privilege--" + +"Do they ride far?" interrupted Nanette with ill-suppressed eagerness. + +"To the old Monastery St. Ranulphe; an imposing ruin of tenth century +architecture, my dear," he added pompously. + +"And where is it?" + +"Off the Paris highway, some ten miles from the Mount." + +"Ten miles? And the country is beautiful? Not open; sandy, like the +shore?" + +"It partakes of a rugged grandeur." + +"With forests around?" quickly. + +"Yes," indulgently. "You like forests, Mistress Nanette?" + +"When they are thick and wild--" + +"Then would you like these!" + +The girl asked no further questions; yet still Beppo lingered, his +glance seeming loath to withdraw from this exuberant specimen of +vigorous young womanhood. "Which way were you going, good Mistress +Nanette?" he asked finally. "On second thoughts, I have a little time +to spare and will walk along." + +Nanette, looking down from the rampart toward the sands and the shore, +did not answer, and, more insinuatingly, Beppo repeated his proposal. +Nanette started. + +"La, Monsieur Beppo! I--I'm afraid it wouldn't do. There's my aunt," +tossing her head, "that careful of me! Won't even let me go walking on +the beach alone! Do _you_ ever go walking on the beach, Monsieur +Beppo?" she inquired suddenly, regarding him with an eloquent look. + +"I--it has not been my custom," he murmured. "But," the fishy eyes +growing brighter, "with you--if I might accompany you--" + +"Oh, I didn't mean that! No; no! Of course not! And I couldn't think +of it. My aunt--" + +But when a few moments later, she turned, to walk quickly away, the +round and shining face of Beppo, watching her disappear, wore not the +look of a man who had allowed himself to be rebuffed. + +Out of his sight, Nanette's expression changed to one of somber +thoughtfulness; it lingered as she entered the palace, with free swing, +mounted the steps to her mistress' apartments; was still there, when +she took a bit of embroidery from a table, and seating herself at the +window of an antechamber, bent over her task. Soon, however, she +stopped, to sweep abruptly cloth and colored silks from her lap to the +floor, and, leaning forward, her firm, brown hands clasped over her +knees, she seemed to be asking herself questions, or weighing some +problem. + +"Yes; it is our only chance." In her eyes a steady glow replaced the +varying lights, and, getting up with a sudden air of determination, +Nanette crossed the room to where, near the door, stood a small desk. +Glancing quickly around, she seated herself and, reaching for paper and +pen, wrote carefully and somewhat laboriously a few words. She had +finished and was contemplating the result of her eager efforts when a +hand at the door caused her hurriedly to dash down the pen and spring +to her feet. As her aunt entered, Nanette took a few steps forward, +and, bending to pick up her work from the floor, turned partly away and +thrust the paper into the bosom of her gown. + +"I came to tell you supper is ready," said Marie quietly. + +At the table with her aunt the girl's manner was subdued and +deferential; she observed the nicest proprieties, and bestowed on the +other's slightest word a meed of attention calculated to soften the old +woman's attitude and suspicions. And possibly succeeded; or, it may +be, Marie's own conscience had begun to reproach her; for a number of +days had passed and nothing had as yet occurred to justify the early +apprehensions she had entertained. Under the circumstances the meal +was a little prolonged; the first shafts of twilight had entered the +courtyard and had begun to steal into the narrow chamber with darkening +effect, ere of an accord the two women pushed back their chairs. + +"It gets dark early," said the girl, "or time has passed quicker than I +thought. Perhaps it was what you were telling me of the former lady of +the Mount. She must have been very beautiful!" + +"She was," answered the woman; "and as good as beautiful!" + +"Heigh-ho!" Nanette sighed; through the window watched the shadows +that like dark, trailing figures seemed creeping up the ancient wall to +caress and linger on green leaves of vines, bright flowers and other +living things. "But I suppose she had everything she wanted." The +girl stirred restlessly. "What sort of a man is Monsieur Beppo, aunt?" + +"Beppo?" Recalled as from a long train of recollections, the woman did +not seem to notice the abruptness of the inquiry. "Oh, he is an old +and faithful servant. For almost as many years as I have been here," +with an accent of pride, "has he served at the Mount!" + +"And his moral character, aunt?" demurely. + +"Monsieur Beppo has a reputation for piety, no doubt deserved!" +returned the woman, with an accent of surprise. "At any rate, he +seldom misses a mass. But why do you ask?" + +"Because I met him to-day and he invited me to walk with him this +evening." + +"He did?" Marie's mouth grew firmer. "And you?" + +"I didn't exactly know how to refuse; he--looked so old and +respectable! I thought, too, you wouldn't mind and--I'm glad you think +so well of him, aunt." + +In the gathering gloom the listener's face seemed suddenly to grow +graver; her eyes, which had returned to the girl's, expressed once more +doubt and misgiving. With her glance lifted upward, however, Nanette +did not seem to notice this quick change. A star--faint forerunner of +a multitude of waiting orbs--peeping timorously down from above the +gray, gaunt mass of stone, alone absorbed the girl's gaze and attention. + +"Where were you thinking of going?" after a silence of some length the +older woman asked. + +"I don't recall that Monsieur Beppo mentioned," was the low-murmured +response. "But, of course, aunt, if you object--" + +"I do not know that I do," said the other slowly. "Only," as if the +thought had suddenly come to her, "what were you writing at her +ladyship's desk when I went to call you?" + +"Writing?" Nanette regarded her blankly. "I don't understand you, +aunt." + +"Weren't you writing something that you hid in your dress when I came?" + +"No!" The girl looked full at the other; denied point-blank the +accusation. "Now that you speak of it, I believe I did step to the +desk," she answered glibly, "to look at some ornament; but as for +writing, or daring to, I should not have presumed." + +A low discreet rap at the door interrupted, and, with a whispered +"There he is now!" Nanette cut short further argument by rising. + +"She is not telling the truth!" For some time the woman stood looking +down in gloomy thought after the two had gone. "What does it mean?" +Moving to a peg, she took down a shawl. "What can it mean?" she asked +herself again, and, wrapping the garment about her head and shoulders, +left the room. + +Half an hour later, at Beppo's side, on the beach, Nanette measured her +steps to his; listened to the old man's platitudes, and even turned a +not unwilling ear to sundry hints and innuendos of a tenderer nature. +The girl was in her most complaisant mood, and, in his rôle of discreet +gallant to young and blooming womanhood, the fat factotum strove to +make the most of the opportunity. He sighed; bethought him of a +sentimental tale, and carped of the beauty of the moon, then gilding +the edge of the Mount's high towers! She answered; looked; but soon +her eloquent glance swerved to the sands, dotted by desultory seekers +of cockles, or belated stragglers from the shore, and fastened itself +on a jutting point of the Mount. + +Near it, before a large rock of peculiar shape, a man was engaged in +that common nocturnal labor of the locality, digging! As the couple +drew near, quickly he raised his gaze; almost at once let it fall; +engrossed in his work, continued to toss the sand and stoop over it +searchingly. But when they had gone by, once more he straightened, +and, at the same time, the girl looked back. Stalwart, black-bearded, +a sailor by his dress, the fellow made a sign, and, apparently any +doubt as to who he was vanished from Nanette's mind; for from the +fingers of the free hand she held behind her, something fluttered to +the beach. + +Leaning to his implement, the man regarded the paper, but not until the +girl's low laugh was heard, as she and Master Beppo vanished in the +darkness, did he step forward and secure it. + +"So! That was it!" Breathless, indignant, Marie, standing in the +black shade of one of the Mount's projections, watched the fellow read +and regard carefully the message in his hand; then tearing it, crumple +the bits and thrust them toward his pocket as he walked off. "Brazen +huzzy! But her ladyship shall know; and if she doesn't pack you off, +bag and baggage--Eh? What is that?" And springing forward, the woman +pounced upon something that lay on the sand. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE HESITATION OF THE MARQUIS + +The day of my lady's riding party dawned; in the east a tender flame +burned, and, vanishing, left the heavens an unbroken blue. Shoreward +the mists rolled up, until only in the neighborhood of the forest did +the white, soft vapor linger. On the Mount itself sunshine held sway; +it radiated from the fortifications, "cuirass of the rock," and gleamed +on the church, "tiara of its majesty." It warmed a cold palace of +marble; looked in at its windows, and threw bold shafts to lighten dark +nooks and corners. + +But my lady, mistress of the Mount, seemed not to feel its beneficent +touch; standing in the full glow and looking from her casement she +shivered a little. Already was she dressed, and her habit of dark +green, fitting close, served to accentuate the whiteness of her cheek +which general absence of color, in turn, made the more manifest certain +dark lines beneath the restless, bright eyes. + +"Your Ladyship!" After knocking in vain, Marie had entered the room +and set down the small tray she carried. "There is something your +Ladyship ought to know!" with an air of excitement. The Governor's +daughter half turned. "What now, Marie?" she said sharply. + +"It's about Nanette!" My lady made a quick movement of annoyance, +impatience. "I did not tell your Ladyship, but I was averse to having +her remain here. Your Ladyship does not understand, of course, and--" + +"I do understand," said my lady unexpectedly. "And--you need not +explain. I overheard you talking with her that night of the banquet!" + +"Your Ladyship!" startled. + +"And I heard you speak of her father, Pierre Laroche, friend of the +Black Seigneur." + +"And engaged her--after that!" + +"Why not? I could watch--and I have! But you were wrong, Marie." My +lady's manner was feverish. "Your suspicions were ridiculous. There +has been nothing--nothing! And day after to-morrow is the wedding +celebration, and the next day, he, the Black Seigneur--" She broke off +abruptly. + +Had Marie been less wrought up, less excited, less concerned with the +information she had to impart, she could not have failed to notice the +odd break in her young mistress' voice; something unusual, almost akin +to despair, in her manner. As it was, that which weighed on the old +nurse's mind precluded close observation of the other. + +"But something _has_ happened, my Lady!" the woman half stammered. + +"_Comment!_" The girl turned to her sharply. "What? Explain, Marie!" + +Disconnectedly, the woman launched into a narration of the events of +the night before; my lady listened closely, with an interest and +excitement she strove to conceal, half turning so that the other saw no +longer her face. + +"And here," ended Marie, extending a crumpled fragment of paper, "is a +piece of the note she dropped on the beach. The man tore it up, but in +thrusting the bits of paper into his pocket this fell out, and, after +he walked away, I picked it up myself from the sand. I can't read, as +your Ladyship knows, and there isn't much on it--only a word or two! +But it may tell something." + +My lady's face was now composed; the hand she extended, steady; for +several moments she regarded the fragment. + +"What does it say?" asked the woman anxiously. "Is it--is it +important?" + +Her mistress did not at once answer; twisting the bit of paper in her +fingers, stood as if in thought, and the old nurse repeated her +question. + +"This note might have been intended for some admirer!" said, at length, +the Governor's daughter slowly. + +"He looked more like an old privateersman!" murmured the woman. "And +there may be some plot--some plan!" + +"Privateersman!" The girl's manner underwent a change; she shrugged +her shoulders. "What could they hope to do at the Mount! You are +imaginative, Marie!" lightly. "Nanette is good-looking, and what +little is here would seem to signify a rendezvous. There may be no +great harm in that." + +"I am sorry, my Lady, to seem to think ill of my own kin," muttered the +woman dejectedly, "but--" + +"Think no more of it! You have done your duty. Now leave the matter +to me, and--thank you, Marie!" + +When, however, the old nurse had gone, all pretense of lightness faded +from the face of the Governor's daughter, and, opening the bit of +paper, once more she scrutinized it swiftly, intently. + +"To-morrow--Monastery St. Ranu--" she read. "Yes; it must mean St. +Ranulphe--where we are going. And where Beppo knew we were going! +Beppo, she went down on the beach with!" Again she studied the +fragment, striving to make out a word that had been blotted and was +almost illegible. She frowned as she endeavored to decipher it. "Lady +E." She gave an exclamation. "That refers, of course, to-- But why?" +She kept asking herself the question. "Why?" she repeated, when +suddenly the brown eyes widened--changed; a new light shone in their +depths. "It must be they intend to--what else?" + +The sound of horns--signal for the party to gather--broke upon the air, +and, nervously crushing in her palm the piece of the message, she +stepped to the table, to the untasted breakfast. Like one in a dream, +who yet feels the need for haste, she poured out the coffee; with +unsteady hand raised the cup and drank; started to serve herself again; +as if forgetful of the impulse, paused. + +"And I?" she said with deeper breath. "To ride to the ambush they have +so cleverly planned? Allow myself to be taken prisoner by these +desperate men? No; no; I could not! And yet--" A trampling of +horses' hoofs in the court below interrupted. "They are ready to +start!" Uncertainly she lifted her head; looked around her; then +mechanically stepped forward and left the room. + +A scene of animation greeted her in the court, alive with lords and +ladies, for the most part already in the saddle and waiting. + +"Hail to Diana, who will lead us in the forests!" + +"Fair nymph, let us away!" and the Marquis extended his hand. + +With a seemingly merry nod she acknowledged their greetings; put out a +foot, and lightly sprang to her place on the back of the nervous +thoroughbred. But ere giving the signal to start, the girl's glance +swung around to a window opposite, where stood an austere figure, +imperturbably looking down to watch them ride off. + +"_Au revoir, mon père!_" Her voice rose with an odd, unusual thrill. +"_Au revoir!_" she repeated, when a mistiness in her eyes suddenly +blurred sight of him, and she tightened the reins. Yet hesitating to +go, her gaze cleared, and swerving, was abruptly arrested by another +and more interested spectator, who, partly concealed by flowers and +plants, peered with anxious expectancy from her own balcony. As +Nanette's eyes met those of the Governor's daughter, they wavered half +guiltily; suddenly became steady, held by something--a flash of +impelling intelligence in the other's gaze. A moment or two, my lady +continued to regard the girl; then touching her horse, wheeled sharply, +and set a pace downward not easy to follow. + +At the base of the Mount they were met by a numerous guard bright in +holiday trappings, and, under the care of the commandant, with flourish +of horse, the party swept gaily from sands to shore. + +"A gallant company, Monsieur le Commandant!" observed the Marquis to +the officer in charge, as they reached the green line at the yellow +basin's edge. "Now if we were to meet an enemy--" + +"He would find us prepared, my Lord!" the officer declared. + +"True!" And the nobleman complacently touched the jeweled hilt of his +own blade, accompanying the action with a tender glance at the Lady +Elise. + +She, however, a little ahead, appeared not to hear; spoke suddenly to +her horse, and, as they swung from the sward, started at a brisk gallop +down the road. Laughing, the others came after, lords and ladies +first; behind, with tumult and clatter, the commandant and his men. As +they advanced, on either side the way thick trunks of moss-grown +monarchs uplifted their gnarled and hoary branches, to meet overhead; +through leafy interstices bright flashes of sunlight shot downward, +danced on fine garments and accoutrements, and then whisked elfishly +away. In dim recesses finches and sparrows sang; beyond, murmured +streams and rivulets, while at the feet of the riders, gay restless +flowers nodded, as if in accompaniment to the glad music of the morn. + +"Small wonder his Excellency should have desired to add this fair +principality to his own!" muttered the Marquis, looking around. "Of +the seven forests of Brittany, none will compare with this, the +Desaurac woods. What think you, Elise?" spurring his horse near his +betrothed's. "Are you not taken by its beauties?" + +She looked at him with a start; since leaving the sands she had not +spoken, and now, tugging at the reins, only said abruptly: "My saddle! +I believe it is loose." + +"Loose!" repeated the nobleman. "Careless lackeys! Let us see!" And +grasping the bridle of her horse, pulled in his own, and drew both +animals to a standstill at the side of the road. + +As he dismounted to examine straps and fastenings, the others dashed +up; my lady lightly motioned them on. "We'll soon overtake you! Don't +wait!" Unquestioning, they obeyed; though the commandant, to whom a +few moments later she delivered a similar injunction, brought his men +to a halt and proffered his services. Whereupon the Marquis repeated +the girl's words more sharply; reddening, the officer wheeled and +started to ride on. + +"I can't find anything wrong here!" Puzzled, the Marquis straightened. + +But her eyes were directed ahead and she pointed with her whip to a +break in the woody barrier to the right--a path that, springing from +the roadside, seemed to plunge into the very heart of the labyrinth. + +"Look! the short cut!--that would bring us half an hour before them to +the ruins! Let us take it!" + +A light seemed suddenly to break on her companion, and he sprang airily +to his saddle. "As my Lady wills!" gallantly. + +"Then call to the commandant, and tell him we'll meet them there!" + +The Marquis obeyed, and, without awaiting answer, or demur from the +officer in charge of the guard, the girl flicked her horse and sent him +over a low bush into the narrow way. + +Fairly in the path, she rode fast, and pressing hard behind, my lord +soon found reason for doubt as to the advisibility of that route, and a +suspicion of regret at his own hasty assent to the departure from the +main thoroughfare. As their surroundings grew wilder and the slender +green figure flitted more and more recklessly before him, he even +ventured to voice his misgivings--advise greater care. A shake of the +fair head was all he received for answer and, regardless of the +increasing roughness of the way, she continued to sweep on, now uphill, +then down, avoiding by a quick turn one obstacle here, leaping another +there! From a black ambush, a branch like the arm of a Titan reached +out to seize, but adroitly she swayed from its grasp and only the twigs +and leaves touched lightly the bent figure. + +My lord, however, they struck sharply, and at the sudden smart and a +quick realization of falling behind, frowningly he drove his horse +harder. The tête-à-tête he had naturally expected from her request to +pursue the lonelier way promised now not to materialize; the idea that +she was fleeing, he pursuing, possessed him. The forest, a tangle of +shrubs and strange creepers, was the scene of the idyl; she, a sprite +of the greenwood, danced illusively through the maze. At length when +my lord had begun to grow weary of vainly endeavoring to overtake her, +fate favored his efforts; brought to a standstill, at the edge of a +torrent, the object of his pursuit. + +"Are you mad, Elise?" A shadow on his brow, the Marquis rode down. + +She made no reply; regarded only the water. + +"I hope it is not in your mind to attempt to cross," he went on, a +shade of petulance in his accents. + +She urged her horse forward; it stopped. + +"Elise! I beg of you! It is dangerous; better go back, and around!" + +But the girl set her red lips, raised her whip, and brought it down +hard. The animal sprang into the foam; breasting the current, it +slipped once or twice, recovered, and, after an effort, managed to +reach the bank opposite. My lord--less blithely than he had first +embarked on the adventure--followed; the cold waters surged around, and +he almost expected to be swept away. At length, however, chilled by +the icy touch of the torrent and somewhat more out of humor, he found +himself on the other side. Near the top of the bank, where the +Governor's daughter had now the grace to await him, he rejoined her, +disapproval on his face, reproach in his eyes. Yet still did the girl +remain unconscious of her lover's wounded sensibilities; her own eyes, +like stars beneath the flurry of hair, were turned, not to the young +man, but away, toward a gaunt-looking ruin that had suddenly uplifted +itself, as if by magic, through a rift in the forest. But a few +hundred yards distant, the black crumbling walls bristled with rough, +jagged edges--big, broken teeth that snarled at the rim of the +ever-young wood. The very brightness of the day seemed only to +emphasize the ominous aspect of the place; to reveal more plainly the +solitary character of its wildness. + +"The monastery, I suppose?" following the direction of her gaze, the +Marquis, after a pause, grudgingly vouchsafed. + +"Yes," said the girl in a low tone; "yes!" + +"Shall we go on?" + +Her eyes, passing over a tangle of shrubs, bushes and thick, natural +screens, slowly settled on a spot, not far away, where a wild bird, +about to alight, fled off with a scream. + +"Shall we go on?" + +With a start the girl turned; the clear-cut features were very grave; +in her gaze shone sudden compunction. She raised her hand. "My veil!" +she said quickly. "I--dropped it. Do you mind? You--you will find it +on this side of the stream--a little way down." + +"Mind?" He regarded her doubtfully a moment; then moved by the +irresistible appeal in her eyes, rather abruptly he wheeled, and as he +did so, she gathered up the reins. Ere proceeding farther upon this +errand of gallantry, my lord looked around. + +"You seem to set great store on this veil," he, observed suspiciously. +"And I believe you were about to ride off!" he added, noting her +expression, when, before she had time for pretext or answer, a heavy +body stirred in the bushes, near at hand, and a gruff voice called out. + +"Stand where you are!" + +The nobleman's face changed; his gaze, as if fascinated, now rested on +a score of rough figures who, following the order, so unexpected and +startling, sprang simultaneously from neighboring thicket or covert, +and advanced to surround them. Held by their grim aspect--the +desperate determined visages; the black, threatening looks--in the +surprise of the moment, too late my lord's hand sought the sword at his +side. Roughly plucked from his horse, he found himself flung to the +sward; unceremoniously pinioned, and heard the voice of my lady raised +in his behalf. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE MARQUIS INTERVENES + +The evening of the same day, his Excellency, in the seclusion of a +small private chamber adjoining the _salle du gouvernement_, stood +looking down at his desk on which were strewn papers and messages +containing the latest news from Paris and received at the Mount but a +few hours before. That the character of this information, political +and social, was little to his liking, seemed manifest from his manner; +he stared at the missives resentfully; then frowned and threw down the +pen he had been using to mark, or make note of, their contents. + +"Versailles--a mob! Sugar-plums to placate them! Sugar-plums!" he +repeated; and, impatiently turning away, walked to the window. There +for some time he stood peering out, when, the current of his thoughts +slowly changing, he took from his pocket a watch, and examined the +jeweled face. "Time they were back!" About to return to his table and +task, a loud knocking arrested the impulse, and testily the Governor +called out; glanced toward the threshold and surveyed the intruder. + +"A message from the commandant, your Excellency!" said the man, a +trooper of the Mount, with a respectful, though nervous salute. + +"Why," returned the Governor in a dry tone, "didn't he bring it +himself?" + +"Because," the trooper shifted; looked away; "because Monsieur le +Commandant is engaged in scouring the country for miscreants, your +Excellency." + +"Miscreants!" sharply. "What miscreants?" + +"Monsieur le Commandant hopes to overtake those who have carried off +the Lady Elise," said the messenger hurriedly, in the tone of one +anxious to be done with his task. + +"Carried off!" The thin figure wavered as if struck by a cold breath. +"Carried off!" he repeated, laying his hand on the back of the chair. + +"By a band of the Black Seigneur's men! His lordship, the Marquis, +they left behind bound and secured, but the Lady Elise they took with +them." + +For some time his Excellency said nothing; like a ghost of himself, +leaned hard against his support and looked at the trooper. + +"But how could it have happened?" at length in a voice, low, intense, +he inquired. "Monsieur le Commandant! The guard--you--all are alive?" + +Stumblingly, as best he could, the soldier explained, and when he had +done, his Excellency made no sign that he had heard. + +"Monsieur le Commandant further ordered me to say he had no doubt he +would return with the Lady Elise," added the messenger hastily. + +"Monsieur le Commandant!" The Governor's eyes suddenly blazed; swiftly +he put question after question, and, having probed to the core the +consistency of the tale, with a gesture, brusk and contemptuous, +dismissed the bearer. + +But whatever feeling the lord of the Mount might entertain toward his +chief officer, no course at the moment seemed open save to await the +return of that person and the Marquis. So, curbing his impatience as +best he might, his Excellency kept vigil; and not alone! Tidings of +what had happened spread at the top of the rock; sifted through closed +gates and thick walls into the town. The late arrival at the Mount of +the lords and ladies, companions of the Governor's daughter for the +day, but added to the questionings of the multitude. All night life +and expectancy reigned; lights gleamed from high places; responded in +low ones. + +"Is it true, my dear, what we hear about the Lady Elise?" the landlady +of the inn on the Mount near the strand called out to a stalwart, dark +young woman, hurrying down the narrow way shortly after the Paris +contingent had gone up. + +"I've heard no more than you have," came the curt answer of this +person--none other than Nanette--who carried a small bundle and seemed +anxious to move on. + +"Oh, I didn't know but you came from the palace!" observed the mistress +of the inn, and returned to her customers, drinking and nodding with +heads close together. + +On the morrow, however, all doubts were removed and speculations put at +rest; for hardly had the sun set its seal in the sky than from the +forests the appearance of a body of troops rewarded the watchers. From +hovel to hut the word went, and men, women and children, unkempt and +curious, ran down to the beach to await the approach of the guard. +Proudly had it departed, with waving of plumes; slowly it returned, a +bedraggled procession of staggering horses and heavy-eyed men. Had it +come back a little earlier, the dark might have kept the truth from the +people; now the pitiless red glare revealed to the full the plight of +the troopers. It told, too, the disappointment of Monsieur le +Commandant, who looked neither to the right nor to the left; and the +despair of my lord, the Marquis, pale counterfeit of his debonair self. + +"Her ladyship!" "They haven't brought her back!" Low murmurs arose; +grew louder; some one laughed. But sullenly, without answer, the +soldiers dragged by, into the town, and laboriously up to the top of +the Mount. + +At the gate his Excellency waited; cast one glance at the +company--their leader--and silently turned. Later, however, was he +closeted with both the commandant and the Marquis--a brief period with +the former who departed, carrying a look eloquent of the unpleasantness +of the interview. + +"And now," said the Governor in tones somewhat strained, as the +officer's dejected footfall died in the distance, "we've got rid of +that dolt, let us consider, my Lord, the purport of this outrage." + +"Purport?" repeated the Marquis petulantly, stretching his stiff legs. +"Did they not tell me that if anything happened to the Black Seigneur, +they would hold her, Elise, answerable for it? You see they had +learned," bitterly, "of your intention to hang him after the wedding!" + +"From which you infer?" + +"They will keep her as hostage! Indeed, they said as much, when--" + +"They bound you, my Lord?" + +The color came to the young man's face. "It was a trap," he said, his +voice pitched higher; "and they came prepared, not for one man, but the +guard!" + +"Still was it very ill-advised--a great mistake--to have taken the +shorter way through the forest alone." + +"The proposal did not originate with me! Elise suggested it. She +seemed in a wild, headstrong mood; nothing would stop her. Now," +moodily he rose, "_mon dieu_! What has she brought upon herself? +Where is she now?" + +His Excellency did not stir; his face, like a pale mask, was turned +aside. "I do not think," he said slowly, as arguing to convince +himself, "she is in any immediate danger." + +But my lord caught irritably at the word. "No danger! She is +surrounded by it. And we? what are we to do? Sit idly here? Give me +a ship, your Excellency, and I will follow the boat of this Black +Seigneur, and, when I find it, force them to--" + +"What?" The Governor's eyes swerved dully. "Have you forgotten their +threat? Their last words to you that if we attempted to follow, to +rescue--that, rather than give her up--" + +"They would not dare!" cried my lord with sparkling glance. + +But his Excellency shook his head. "No; no; it won't do! And now," +again looking away, "leave me, my Lord, to consider." With which, the +interview, as unsatisfactory to the one as the other, terminated. + +Several days that passed were not calculated either to alleviate his +Excellency's anxiety, or the Marquis' impatience; for during that +period of waiting came no word of my lady, or news of her captors. +Mysteriously as a phantom ship had the boat that had carried the +Governor's daughter away appeared on the coast and vanished, and from +none of the Governor's vessels, or any of the fishing craft could be +gleaned information of its whereabouts. My lord, the Marquis, annoyed +at what seemed but fruitless delay, was still for setting forth and +inviting battle; but of this his Excellency would not hear, arguing, no +doubt, to himself that in temporizing lay greater assurance of safety +to his daughter than in precipitate action. So the situation grew +hourly more trying, until--as if it already were not intolerable +enough!--a new concern added ironical weight to present perplexities. + +My young lord, between whom and the master of the Mount had been +growing a more strained relationship, sought the Governor one day, and, +in excited tones, announced he had just learned that the prisoner, the +Black Seigneur, was ill and probably would survive but a short time +longer in the dungeon where he was confined. As his Excellency knew, +the fellow had been wounded, and now with scanty nourishment, want of +air, and close quarters, was generally in a bad way. + +His Excellency heard; moistened his lips and seemed about to speak, but +was silent, while more anxiously the young man went on. Of course +under different conditions, with care and attention--a well-lighted +room and excellent food--they might hope to restore their prisoner's +strength; at least, preserve for a time one so precious to themselves, +upon the thread of whose life hung my lady's! + +His Excellency still answered no word; only looked down, and, knitting +his brows, the young nobleman restlessly waited. At length, with an +expression on his face the Marquis had never before seen there, his +Excellency rose, moved like an automaton to the bell, and called for +the jailer. + +"Monsieur le Marquis has a few instructions to give you." The +Governor's voice, but a breath, told what the words cost him. + +The man responded gravely, looking from one to the other. + +"Use your own judgment in the matter, my Lord," went on his Excellency, +and left them together. + +After that, a change, subtle but deep-rooted, came over the Governor; a +silent man always, now his taciturnity became most marked. Under +stress of untoward circumstances, all the guests at the Mount, save the +young noble, departed; but his Excellency appeared hardly to notice +their going; drawing his cloak of reserve closer about him, seemed only +to ask for that solitude, not difficult to find in his aërial kingdom. +Sometimes for a long while he would stand in the cloister, gazing +seaward; again wander in the church, look at the monuments, always to +pass one of them quickly. Only on a single occasion, when the Marquis, +who was daily becoming more nervous, sought him, with a favorable +report of his prisoner-patient, did the Governor give sign that beneath +this apparent apathy yet stirred malevolence and rancor. + +"Yes, yes," he returned, a spark of ill-concealed venom in his glance; +"he is doing well, no doubt! I am sure he will do well. But well or +ill, I wish to hear no more of him! No more, Monsieur le Marquis!" +His voice vibrated; surprised, the kinsman of the King stared, then +stiffly turned away. + +So matters stood, when one day, alone in the cloister, his Excellency +was disturbed by a rough-looking fellow who brought a letter and said +he would await the reply at the tavern in the town. + +Deliberately the Governor took the missive, tore open the envelope, and +surveyed the small bit of paper it contained. Whatever the brief +message told him, his Excellency's face did not change, and he was +still coldly, carefully studying sentences and words, after his +fashion, when through the door my lord, the Marquis, stepped in some +haste. Lifting his eyes, the Governor had no difficulty in reading the +question on the young man's countenance. For a moment they looked at +each other, and then the long, white fingers of his Excellency again +sought the letter. + +"They," his voice seemed to clip the words, "propose an exchange of +prisoners, and give me three days to consent to it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +A SOUND AFAR + +About midway in the curve of one of the numerous bays, marking the +coast-line, and several hours distant from the Mount, stands a stone +cross erected by an English marauder to indicate the place of his +landing. The symbol is visible on all sides from afar, for before it +are the sands and the sea, and behind stretches the land barren of +wood--low, level, covered only with marsh grass. Toward this monument +of man's conquest--most prominent object in a prospect, dreary and +monotonous--rode, late one afternoon, a band of horsemen. At their +head galloped my lord, the Marquis; in the center could be seen a man +with bound arms whose horse was led by one of the others. This +person--a prisoner, thin, haggard, yet still muscular of frame--from +time to time gazed about; a look of inquiry or calculation in the black +undaunted eyes. + +"What prison are you taking me to now?" once he asked the trooper who +held the reins of his horse. "And why do you go in this direction? Is +it you dare not ride along main highways on account of the people?" + +"Never you mind!" came the gruff answer. "And as for the people, +they'd better look out!" + +"Bah!" laughed the prisoner. "You can put some of them in cells, but +not all!" + +"There may be something worse than a cell waiting for you!" was the +malicious retort. + +"No doubt!" said the other stoically. + +But as his eyes again swept the horizon, from the opposite direction +appeared another band of riders. At first the prisoner, regarding +them, looked puzzled; then as the new-comers rode straight and rapidly +on toward the cross, his countenance expressed a faint understanding. +A fresh relay of men, he concluded; one his present guard would consign +him to, and then themselves return to the Mount. Still was the +meeting-place an odd one, and the demeanor of the two bodies of men not +entirely consistent with his conclusions; for, as they drew nearer, +both parties slackened their pace, suspiciously to scrutinize each +other. + +"Twenty--the number agreed upon!" muttered the Marquis, and spurring on +fast, led his troops nearer the cross. + +Not many paces distant the word was given to halt, and, as they obeyed, +on the other side of the monument the strange men likewise drew rein. +At the same moment, there flashed on the captive's mind a discovery. +These faces, looking so grimly out over the marshy field at them, were +not the wooden visages of paid soldiers, but of men he knew--his men! +Across the space separating the two parties he could read their quick +looks-their satisfaction--their complacency! He watched them with eyes +in which pride and tenderness mingled. And then, for the first time, +did he observe they had brought some one with them--a woman, or a +girl--the Governor's daughter! + +The bold black eyes of the prisoner regarded her fixedly. What did it +mean? said his keen gaze. Colorless as marble, my lady held herself +very erect on her horse; then while his glance yet probed her, the +proud face slowly changed; on the cold cheek youth's bright banner +flared high. The young man turned; following the direction of her +gaze, looked at the Marquis; my lord's features radiated felicitations; +his eyes shone with welcome. And a fuller understanding came over the +prisoner; in some mysterious manner had the Lady Elise been made +captive, and now had the nobleman come to escort his betrothed back to +the palace. + +[Illustration: My lady held herself very erect on her horse] + +Even as the Black Seigneur reached this conclusion, he become cognizant +his bonds had been loosened; the reins placed in his hands. "You are +free," said a voice and mechanically he rode toward his comrades. + +Thus, near the crumbling and time-worn cross, was the exchange of +prisoners effected; the girl whirled away by my lord, who seemed +fearful of treachery, and the Black Seigneur left to the greetings of +his men. + +"Now, by the tuneful Nine,"--the poet, Gabriel Gabarie, pushing his +burly form to the front, was the first to extend a hand--"but, from +your looks, the Governor looks ill to the welfare of his lodgers!" + +"And had we not captured my lady," spoke up another, gazing after the +party of the Marquis, "he would have looked yet worse to the welfare of +one of them, no doubt!" + +"Drink this, Seigneur!" cried a third; "you must drink this--a special +bottle we brought for the occasion!" + +"Sent by old Pierre when he heard we were coming for you!" added the +poet. "Your drinking-cups, lads! Unfasten the skin for yourselves! +To _mon capitaine_!"-- + +Once, twice, deeply they drank--toast and vintage alike to their taste; +then straightening, looked at the Black Seigneur whose eyes yet burned +in the direction my lady had gone. With a start he seemed to recall +himself to the demands of the moment; his first questions they +expected; the ship--where did she lie? Snug and trim in a neighboring +cove, ready to slip out, if occasion required and danger pressed--which +contingency they did not just then expect, since at the moment was his +Excellency more concerned with affairs on the land than matters +pertaining to the sea. What these paramount interests were, the young +man, on whose thin cheek now burned a little color, did not at once +ask; only gazed inquiringly over the group, where one, whom he might +have expected, was absent. + +"Sanchez--he is not with you?" + +A look of constraint appeared for an instant on the poet's face. + +"No, he's with the people, I expect. You see," he went on, "things +have been happening since you elected to enact the mountebank. The +bees have been busy, and this little hive they call France is now full +of bother and bustle. The bees that work have been buzzing about those +that don't; they made a great noise at Versailles, but the King Drone +only listened; did not try to stop it, fearing their sting. They +hummed at the door of the Bastille, until the parasite bees, not liking +the music, opened the doors, let them all in--" + +"The Bastille has fallen?" The listener's voice rang out; his eyes, +searching sharply the features of the bard, seemed to demand only the +truth, plain, unadorned. + +"It has," answered the other gravely. "And the tune sung in and around +Paris has kept on spreading until now it is everywhere! You may hear +it in the woods; along the marshes; out over the strand! The very +Mount, immovable, seems to listen. When will the storm break? To-day? +To-morrow? It needs but a word from Paris, and then--" + +The poet broke off, and silently the Black Seigneur seemed to be +weighing the purport of the news; for some moments stood as a man deep +in thought; then, arousing himself, spoke a few words, and gave a brief +order. Swiftly the riders swept away in the direction from which they +had come, and only when they had gone some distance did the young man +once more turn to the poet with a question. Whereupon the latter, +spurring his horse nearer his chief, launched into eloquent explanation. + +"And then," ended the bard, "the Governor's daughter walked into our +ambush as unsuspectingly as a mouse into a trap!" + +"The Governor's daughter cozened by Nanette!" + +"That she was! A clever wench and a brave one, Nanette! Although," +the poet's jovial eyes studied the dark face, "unless I am mistaken, +she found the task to her liking!" + +"You treated her, the Governor's daughter, well?" said the other +abruptly. + +"Gave her your cabin, _mon capitaine_, where," chuckling, "she ruled +like a despot. Not once did she whimper, or beg favor--for herself! +For the Marquis, it is true, she did plead--that day we took them!" + +"He's her betrothed!" said the young man shortly. + +"A marionette!" gibed the poet. "Some of the men were for making short +shrift of him, and they might have--only for her!" + +"They will soon be safe enough together now!" remarked the Black +Seigneur. + +Again a peculiar, half-questioning expression shaded the poet's eyes, +while furtively he regarded the young man. "Yes, they ought to be!" + +"The terms of exchange--what were they?" + +"You for her! That was our demand. After the place had been agreed +upon, his Excellency asked to name the hour, and further interjected a +condition, binding both parties to secrecy in the matter, that the +people might not know. They acted badly when the soldiers returned to +the Mount without his daughter; they might behave worse, no doubt he +thinks, when they come back with her." + +"So will she be safely returned in the darkness! A wise provision!" + +"That," murmured the poet, studying the horizon, "was evidently his +thought. But," as the Black Seigneur, relaxing his pace, drew rein at +a fork in the pathway, "yonder lies our cove, _mon capitaine_, and--" + +"Do you and the men go there!" commanded the other, and gave a few +further instructions. + +"See that the ship is kept in readiness!" he ended. "As for me--" He +made a vague gesture. + +That evening found the Black Seigneur in the Desaurac forest; where, as +a boy, he had fled for shelter, now some instinct, or desire he did not +strive to analyze, drew him. As slowly he made his way through the +wood, on every hand familiar outlines and details, seen vaguely in the +last light of day, invited him to pause; but without stopping he moved +on to the castle, and up to the chamber, where Sanchez, returning from +America, had found him, a vagabond lad. Through the window the same +unobstructed view of the Mount dimly unfolded itself in the dusk, and +for some moments he regarded it--august, majestic; glossing its heart's +black secrets with specious and well-composed bearing! As he looked, +there suddenly came to him the remembrance of another impression; the +same picture, seen through the eyes of a boy--standing where he was +now! Then had the Mount seemed a marvelous series of structures, +air-drawn, magical--home of a small and fairy-like creature, with hair +of shining gold. Dusk turned to night; in the distance the Mount +vanished, and through the break in the forest only the stars twinkled. + +Then lighting his fire, the young man sat down at the side; with +faculties alert, listened to the wind; looked at the flames. +Demon-like they leaped before his eyes, as when he had waited and +watched for the emissaries of his Excellency; and mechanically he +placed his weapons on the same spot he had been wont to lay them in +those days. There was little likelihood they would seek him now, +however; the Governor was fully occupied elsewhere, looking to +interests more important to himself and to-- + +Her ladyship! the fire leaped wildly, as laughing at fate's foolish +prank. Her life for his! What irony! If she had betrayed him? "If?" +His laugh crushed possibility for supposition; but almost at once +itself died away! Indissolubly associated with the thought, a scene in +a dungeon must needs recur; her denials; the touch of a hand; the +appeal of light fingers thrust through the bars! Why? The questions +he had asked then, were reiterated now; the hand that had gripped hers +opened, closed; once more he seemed to see the steadfast, unswerving +eyes; once more seemed to read in their depths, "Believe!" + +The pine branches continued to crackle as with merriment; but his gaze +was somber. How glad she must have been to see the end of her +captivity! The sudden leaping of yonder flame was like the quick, +bright flush that had mantled her cheek at sight of her liege lord to +be! They should have arrived at the Mount ere now; about this time +were entering the gates! He could see her, the Marquis at her side-- + +A sudden sharp detonation afar dissipated the picture. Other +explosions followed, like volley of muskets; and, springing to the +window, the Black Seigneur looked toward the Mount; from it, flashes of +light gleamed and glimmered. Then the loud report of a cannon +reverberated in the distance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE ATTACK ON THE MOUNT + +The rock loomed black before them, as the troopers, escorting the +Governor's daughter, rode up to the Mount. Entering the town, at its +base, dark walls on either side of them shut out the broad map of the +heavens and left but a narrow open space above; few lights were +visible, so that many of the houses seemed tenantless; even at the +tavern, unwonted stillness prevailed. Apparently was the return +well-timed; in twisting street and tortuous byway, where hostile faces +had been prone to frown upon the soldiers of his Excellency, emerging +from, or ascending to, the stronghold of the summit, now only chill +drafts of air swept down to greet them; passed on with shrill +whisperings, and died away in the distance. + +Nearing the massive portals that opened wide into his Excellency's +realm, my lady suppressed a shiver; but the Marquis, in a low tone +ventured to jest on the depressing and melancholy aspect of the Mount +at that hour. To these light remarks she returned no answer, and he +had just begun to rally her on a certain quietness of spirits, apparent +on the beach and irreconcilable with the circumstances of the moment, +when a sharp exclamation fell from the girl's lips. + +In front of them, between the soldiers and the entrance to that upper +part of the Mount, many dark forms had suddenly darted forth; at the +same time from near-by houses came unmistakable sounds of life and +activity; doors were thrown open and windows raised. The town they +thought asleep had merely been watching; now showed its bright eyes in +a multitude of menacing lights around them; below, where likewise a +mysterious marshaling had occurred, from alleys, corners, and hovels, +immediately after the passing of the Governor's party! + +"What does it mean?" Again she heard the Marquis' tones, less +confident now, as he turned to the commandant. + +"Treachery!" The commandant's voice rang out. "They've broken faith +with us!" + +"Dogs!" My lord gazed uncertainly ahead; dubiously behind. "What are +we going to do?" + +"Do?" The commandant suppressed an imprecation. "Push on to the upper +gates!" + +"To the gates!" cried the Marquis; then wheeled quickly. "But +you--Elise!" + +"Never mind me!" she returned, with steady lips and eyes. + +There was no time for further words; a sharp order from the commandant +and the troopers spurred forward toward the entrance in the wall and +those whose purpose it was to oppose them. + +What happened thereafter the girl was but vaguely cognizant of; reports +of guns, flashing of steel surrounded her; the clattering of hoofs +mingled with the loud shouts of men. + +"The Bastille of the North! Down with it!" + +This was their battle-cry; on every side she heard it, though hardly +realizing the purport of the words; confused, she listened to her +father's name--her own--bandied about. She wondered why those on the +wall, the soldiers within, did not fire and repel all these people. + +Then almost at once came the answer. The troopers' comrades were mixed +in the mêlée without; she and they, too--so adroitly had the moment for +striking been planned--might be swept down in the volleys from the +ramparts. A cannon boomed above; but its deafening reverberations were +answered only with laughter and jeers-- _Mon dieu_! Did his +Excellency think to frighten them with sound, as if they were timid +children fleeing from thunder? Was his Excellency aiming at stars? + +And again that cry: "The Bastille of the North! We, too, will take our +Bastille!"--dominated the clashing of arms and the tumult of strife. + +For what seemed an interminable period, the Governor's daughter saw, +through flashes of light, men struggling, striking; then launched +suddenly forward, by an irresistible movement of the horses, found +herself within the gates. The Marquis who had early been separated +from her in the strife, was nowhere in sight. Behind now sounded the +fray; a short distance from the wall, and she looked back; fiercer than +ever, soldiers and people contended within the entrance; beneath the +portals. As she strove to restrain her horse she heard the voice of +her father. + +"_Mon père_! _Mon père_!" she cried eagerly, divining his face in the +light of lamps on that side of the wall. He answered only with a +laconic command to go at once to the palace; and, regarding his +features, tragically appealing to her at the moment--so strange and +different they seemed!--she prepared to obey. But ere turning: "You +think the soldiers can hold the gate?" she asked. + +"Yes; yes!" he replied sharply, as if annoyed at the question. + +"But if--" + +"There is no 'if'!" said the Governor, and as the girl rode away, his +look, hard, steely, shifting to the soldiers, made quick mental note; +they were holding the gates. Satisfied with the front his men +presented, and, delivering a few brief orders to the commandant whose +valor in rallying his forces had been commendable, his Excellency +walked toward the great stairway leading up to the open space near the +church. Arrived at this high point from which the town unfolded itself +in the starlight and flicker of lamps, he sought, as best he might, to +acquaint himself further with the situation; to judge the numbers of +the assailants and the extent of their preparations. + +The scene that met his eyes was not so reassuring as he had expected; +that which until now he had considered but a spasmodic outbreak of a +comparatively few townspeople, excited by the news of the Bastille and +bent on any petty mischief, resolved itself into more than an +orderless, desultory uprising. To his startled gaze the rock, like an +ant-hill disturbed, seemed swarming with life. Even as he peered down, +new relays of men poured upward from dark byways to the reinforcement +of those already gathered at the portals, and, for the first time, his +confidence, bred of contempt for the commonalty, became slightly +shaken. Fate, which had struck him sharply in the capture of his +daughter and the enforced negotiations leading to the release of one he +would have dealt with after his own fashion, now gripped him closer. +What did it portend? Whence came all these people? + +Not all of them from the immediate neighborhood! Voices, among the +assailants, had called out in what was surely the Parisian dialect of +the rabble; here to propagate the revolution; extend the circle of +flame! And they had seen that arms were not wanting! Muskets, pikes, +swords, must have been kept concealed for some time in the town at the +base of the Mount or on the shore. In his mind's eye, too late +perhaps, his Excellency could see now how the assault had long been +planned, how all these people had only been waiting. For what? The +opportunity afforded by a treacherous word! Spoken by whom? + +But a moment these reflections surged through his brain; an instant, +and his gaze swung around, at towers--turrets--as a magician might +apprehensively survey a fabulous architectural creation, handiwork of +his dark craft, threatened, through an influence beyond his control, +with destruction; then with a quick start, his Excellency wheeled; +walked toward the stairway. About to descend, the sight of a figure +coming up, caused him, however, to pause; in the flare of the light +below, something in the manner of the man's advance impressed the +governor as peculiar. + +The movements of this person, who was under-sized, wiry, were agile and +cat-like; first would he stop, look around him and listen; afterward +spring forward a few steps as not quite sure of his course. But still +he came on, keeping as closely as might be to the cover of shadows, +until a growing impression he had seen the fellow before resolved +itself into positiveness in his Excellency's mind. And with the +conviction and a sudden remembrance of the place and the character of +their previous meeting, a definite disinclination to encountering the +figure on the stairs caused the Governor abruptly to draw into the +entrance of the church. There, concealed, impatiently he waited for +the man to pass on, thus affording him the opportunity to slip by and +return to the gate. + +Meanwhile, the Lady Elise had repaired to the palace; a prey to +harassing doubts her father's words had failed to remove, she listened +to those sounds of the strife she no longer saw. But that she wished +to obey her father unquestioningly now--at, perhaps, a supreme moment +for both of them!--she could not have remained where she was. Never +had the palace looked so blank and deserted; she rang her bell; no one +answered. The servants had apparently all left--gone, it might be, to +look down on and behold this _guerre à la mort_ waged near the gates. +Or, perhaps, had they all, except the old nurse, fled from the palace, +never to return? + +As she asked herself these questions, in the distance the noise of the +conflict grew louder; the shouts of the people more distinct, nearer! +With a sudden premonition of disaster close at hand, the desire to see +what was happening--to know the worst--seized her. No longer could she +remain in her apartments; she must return to the ramparts--to her +father; and then, if need be-- The thought drove some of the color +from her cheek, but in a moment her braver instincts spoke; there awoke +within her the courage and the spirit of her Norman ancestry. + +Pale, yet determined, she hastened down the long, dimly lighted +corridor, and was nearing the door leading to the street when it +suddenly opened and a man, tall and dark, showing in his appearance +many signs of the fray, stepped in. At sight of her a quick +exclamation fell from his lips; his bold, anxious eyes lighted. "My +Lady!" + +"You!" Her startled glance met his. + +"I heard the firing; hastened to the Mount--here! I trust not too +late!" + +"Too late!" she repeated wildly. "Where else should the Black Seigneur +be than here, at the Mount--at such a moment!" + +"True!" he returned quietly. "Where else?" + +She noted not the accent; behind him, through the open space a bright +fork of flame, in the direction of the soldiers' barracks, shot into +the air, and, at the same time, she saw that the officers' quarters and +out-buildings glowed red. The knowledge of what it meant--that her +apprehensions had been realized, sent a shudder through her, and +quickly as the door closed, shutting out the sight, she ran toward the +threshold, one thought in her mind--her father, and where she had last +seen him! That she was seized, held, restrained, seemed but a natural, +though terrible, incident of the moment. + +"Pardon, my Lady! In a moment they will be here, and they will not +spare you! Your father is not at the gate; he left before the soldiers +gave way! Believe me, or not--it is the truth! As true as that, if +you go out, they will kill you!" + +And did he not want that; why else was he here? The young man's face +darkened; he made an impatient gesture. They were but wasting time; +already were the people close without; one of the assailants, a woman, +had been shot in the assault; the others? Her Ladyship would +understand; if she wished to save herself? His tones vibrated with +strange eagerness. The palace had a rear entrance, of course? Then +had they better flee upward to some place of concealment, and, later, +when the people were concerned most in pillage, endeavor to find a way +to leave the Mount. After that, it would be easy; his ship was +waiting-- Her wild words interrupted; her father--she would go only to +him! She would never leave him now! + +That which she proposed was impossible, quickly the young man answered. +The mob--the terrible mob! Did she realize to what she would expose +herself? Did she know the terrible danger? More plainly he told her. +As for her going, it was not to be thought of; he must see she did not +persist in her purpose. + +"You?" My lady flashed him a glance. "You!" she repeated. "Whose men +broke faith--" + +"That may be!" His voice rang bitterly. "Yet," with stubborn +resolution, "your Ladyship must not go!" + +"Must not! And you presume--dare tell me that! You, the--" + +"I would there were no need to cross you, my Lady," he returned, when +behind him the door, leading from the street, suddenly opened; closed. + +"Elise!" The voice of the Marquis, who had hurriedly entered, rang +out; changed. "_Mon dieu_! What is this?" In the dim light, an +instant my lord stared hard at the man before him; then with drawn +blade threw himself upon him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +NEAR THE ALTAR + +"_Morbleu_! Here's a madman!" Ere the Black Seigneur could unsheathe +his sword, that of the Marquis had pierced slightly his shoulder. "Put +up your blade, my Lord!" As quickly springing back and drawing his +own, he held himself in an attitude of defense. "In this matter are +we, or should we be--of a mind!" + +"We!" My lord's weapon played in fierce curves and flashes; he laughed +derisively. + +"I am here to serve her ladyship--if I can!" + +"You!" A rapid _coup de tierce_ was the Marquis' reply. "You! Whose +outlaws carried her off before! You are pleased to jest, Monsieur +Bandit!" + +"No jest, my Lord!" coolly. "Moreover, it is you who serve her +ladyship ill at such a moment in--" + +"_Mon dieu_! You instruct!" + +"I have no wish for this combat, Monsieur le Marquis!" As he spoke, +the Black Seigneur retreated slowly toward the door. "But if you press +too close--" + +"_Ma foi_! You talk very brave, but I notice your legs take you +backward. However, it will not serve; you shall not escape." + +"No?" His back now against the door, the Black Seigneur defended +himself with his right hand, the while his left felt behind for a bolt +which it found; shot into place. "Then let us remove temptation by +locking the door!" + +"What! You did not, then, intend--" + +A sudden fierce pounding from without on the door, interrupted. + +"It was necessary to keep _them_ out--but it will be only for the +moment. So put up your blade!" peremptorily. "There is no time to +lose." + +"You are right!" The Marquis' face expressed scorn and unreasoning +anger; his sword leaped to an accelerated tempo. "There is no time to +lose. I shall honor you! The Marquis de Beauvillers will stoop to +cheat the _fourches pâtibulaires_!" And my lord lunged, a dangerous +and clever thrust that was met; answered. From the Marquis' hand the +blade flew; struck the pavement; at the same time, a rending and +tearing of wood came from the door. + +The Black Seigneur leaped forward; but the stroke his adversary, now +disarmed, expected, fell not on him; directed toward a lamp overhead, +sole source of illumination of the corridor, the weapon struck hard. +Shattered by the blow, the ornamental contrivance crashed to the floor; +the place was plunged in darkness. + +"Save yourself, my Lord!" said a calm voice, and my lady, standing now +as it were, in the center of a vortex of wildly rushing figures, felt +her waist suddenly clasped; herself swept on! Once or twice she +struggled; resisted, hardly knowing what she did; but the sound of a +low, determined voice, not unfamiliar to her, and the consciousness of +a physical force--or was it all physical?--that seemed to beat down her +will, left no choice but to obey. + +Darkness gave way to waves of light; reflections of flame surrounded +them; black trails of smoke coiled around. The girl's strength went; +her breath came faster. A thick cloud choked her; she wished only to +stop, when arms closed about her. + +Upward! Still upward! By winding stairs, through passages and +doorways, vaguely she felt herself borne, until a cold breath of air, +blowing suddenly in her face, revived her; awoke her to a confused +realization of the place they had at last reached--the upper platform +at the head of the long, open stairway of granite. And with that +consciousness, she again sought to free herself; but, for an instant +the arms held her tighter, while a dark face bent close, scanning her +features, then abruptly he released her. + +"Your Ladyship is uninjured?" + +"Yes: yes!" + +"One moment!" Turning, he left her, and walking to the verge of that +open space, searched quickly the waste of darkness below, far out to +sea. The girl's glance followed him; wavered; her first apprehension +awoke anew. Her father! Where was he? She clasped her hands +despairingly as she gazed down the Mount; then around her. Suddenly, a +bright patch of light--open doorway to the church--caught her eye and +she started. At the picture, framed by the masonry, which the glow +revealed, a low exclamation fell from her lips, and crossing the +platform, and descending a few steps, she ran to the entrance of the +sacred edifice. + +"Eh, your Excellency; has your Excellency any orders?" sounded a voice. + +There, before an altar, in the dim flicker of candles and the +variegated gleaming from the ancient stained-glass windows, she saw at +last him she sought; in one of the chapels, near the white marble +monument to her mother, was his Excellency; but, not alone! Before him +stood, or half crouched, the man Sanchez, who now was speaking. + +"Shall I ring for your Excellency's servants and have the noise +stopped?" Grotesquely he bowed, the while watching like an animal +studying its prey. "Beppo! Where are you--fat rascal? Consign these +swine to the gibbets! What! You can't obey because your ears have +been cut off and your throat slit? That's too bad!" Fiercely the man +laughed; then waved his arm toward the window, as if calling the +Governor's attention to the sounds of demolition; the abrupt breaking +of glass! "Patter! Patter! Merry little bullets, presents from the +people, your Excellency! _Métayage_, your Highness!" + +Still the other said no word; a figure, so motionless and white, it +seemed but a wraith pausing at the side of its own "narrow house." A +louder clamor without; a more vivid brightness of the red, yellow and +purple hues, like a sudden wealth of strange flowers strewn on the +marble floor, and again Sanchez laughed. + +"Too bad! But 'tis I who must pay first! Who owe so much! Has your +Excellency his strong box with him? Ah, he leans on it! Such a fine +one, all of marble! Not easily broken into--or out of! Eh, your +Excellency?" Swinging back something bright. "Full payment, this +time! Not coppers, or round bits of lead, but steel, beautiful steel!" + +Held to the spot by the abrupt terror and fascination of the scene, the +Governor's daughter had made no sound, fearful of hastening the +inevitable; but at the moment the man, with a last taunting word, +launched forward, a cry, half articulate, burst from her lips. It was +drowned by another voice, loud and commanding, which rang out from the +entrance to the church. + +"Sanchez!" + +Perhaps the call disconcerted him; robbed the old servant's eye of its +certitude; his arm of its sureness, for the blow aimed at his +Excellency the latter was enabled to evade. At the same time, as with +singular agility he moved aside to save himself, the hand the Governor +had been holding to his breast, shot out like an adder. It struck +viciously; stung deep--full in the side of his tormentor. + +"That for your _métayage_!" + +But a momentary expression of satisfaction was, however, permitted his +Excellency; the petty tragedy became overshadowed by the greater! + +"The Bastille! Our Bastille!" + +And again a shower of bullets, directed in hatred, fell upon the +church, because its windows were priceless; shone with saints of +inestimable value! In the chapel, an _aumbry_ and a _piscina_ were +struck; around the Governor, glass began to clatter and break into bits +on the pavement, when suddenly he wavered; his hand sought his heart, +then felt for and clung to the monument, as if abruptly seeking support. + +"Why did you do it, Seigneur?" As my lady, exclaiming wildly, ran to +her father, Sanchez, from where he lay, looked up to his master. + +"Call out, I mean? Not that it matters much now!" His implacable +glance, swerving to the Governor, lighted with satisfaction. "The +people have paid. And 'twas I--showed them the way!" + +"It was you, then--who broke faith in the negotiations for the exchange +of prisoners?" + +A smile came to the face of the old servant. "I had to," he said +simply. "I alone am to blame. No one knew; except, perhaps, the poet, +who may have surmised! It was treachery for treachery!" with sudden +fierceness. "You could not have done it, nor your father, nor any of +the seigneurs before him!" The young man seemed scarcely to hear; his +glance had again sought my lady. "But I am only a servant---and in +dealing with a viper I used its own tricks! Did you think I had +forgotten those stripes? Or the blow he gave your father--in the +back?" A moment Sanchez's hand fumbled at his coat; drew out a bag of +oilskin. "Here is something that belonged to your father. I took it +from his breast the day he died, thinking some time--I can't tell +what--only it contains a letter from the former lady of the Mount! +When my master got it, he told me to pack a few belongings--that we +were going--never to return!" + +Sanchez's voice broke off; again he strove to speak; could not; put out +his hand. Mechanically the Black Seigneur's closed on that of the old +servant; even as it did so, the latter's fingers clutched suddenly; +ceased to move. In the church now all was silent, but without arose +discordant sounds, cries, harsh and vengeful, for the Governor! + +Starting, the Black Seigneur gazed about, toward him they were +clamoring for, now lying still, at the base of the monument. Then +releasing the fingers, that seemed yet to hold him, the young man +sprang forward, as my lady threw herself wildly, protectingly, over her +father. At that touch, the Governor's eyes opened; met hers; the Black +Seigneur's! + +Nearer the door, now rang the shouts. His Excellency seemed to listen; +to realize what they meant; to him--his daughter-- + +"The Governor! The Governor!" + +"_Trembles tyrans_! _Trembles_!" + +An ironical flash lit up, for an instant, the dying eyes. He, soon, +would be beyond reach of these dogs--_canaille_! But she? His gaze +again rested on the Black Seigneur; in that tense, fleeting second, +seemed reading his very soul! + +"_Et la belle comtesse, sa fille_!" cried the menacing voices. + +A tremor crossed the Governor's face; his pale lips moved. "Forget! +Save her!" An instant his eyes lingered persistently on the young man; +then passed to his daughter; as they did so, slowly the light, more +human and appealing than any that had ever shone there before, went out +of them. My lady's fair head drooped until it lay on her father's +breast; unconscious, she seemed yet to shield him with figure inert. +But only for a moment! + +"_Et la belle comtesse_!" + +Stooping, the Black Seigneur snatched the slender form to his breast; +ran back to the altar. There, looking around him, as one who made +himself familiar with the place, his glance apparently found what it +sought--a small stairway, entrance to the crypt. At the same time he +started to descend, the people swept into the church. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +ON THE SANDS + +A man, bearing in his arms the motionless form of a woman, paused later +that night in the shadow of a low stone hovel, near the lower gate of +the Mount. As he crouched beneath the thatch projecting like the rim +of an old hat above him his eyes, eager, fierce, studied the distance +he had yet to traverse from the end of the narrow alley, where he had +stopped, to the open entrance at the base of the rock to the sands. +The goal was not far; but a few moments would have sufficed to reach +it; only between him and the point he had so long been striving to +attain, an obstacle, or group of obstacles, intervened. Before a +bonfire of wreckage of stuff--furniture and household goods--several +ragged, dissolute fellows sat with bottles before them, drinking hard +and quarreling the while over a number of glittering gems, gold +snuff-boxes and trinkets of all kinds. + +"This bit of ivory for the white stone!" + +"Add the brooch!" + +"Not I! Look at the picture! Her ladyship, perhaps!" + +"They have not found her?" + +"No; for all the searching! But she is somewhere; can't have escaped +from the Mount. And when the drabs and trulls lay hands on her!" + +"Ay, when!" casting the dice. + +The man, peering from the alley, hesitated no longer; behind sounded +the footsteps of others, and gathering his burden more firmly, he +strode boldly forth toward the group and the gate. At his approach, +their talk--a jargon of "thieves' Latin" that smacked more of the +cabarets of Paris than those of the coast--momentarily ceased; beneath +lowering brows, they stared hard. + +"What have you there, comrade?" said one. + +"Look and see!" answered the man in a rough tone. + +"Poor booty! A woman!" quoted another with a harsh laugh. "You're +easily pleased. As if wenches were not plentiful enough on other +occasions, without wasting time on a night like this, when diamonds and +gold are to be had for the searching!" + +"And silver plates and watches and rare liquors!" cried a third in +knaves' _argot_. "Every one, however, to his taste! An you prefer a +light-of-love to light such as these have," juggling with the gems, +"you but stamp yourself a fool." + +"You're welcome to your opinion, my friend!" The man with the burden +spoke bruskly. "Good night!" + +"Stay; why such haste? You seem not a bad fellow. Set the wench down. +We'll have sight of her, and, perhaps," with coarse expletives, "if +she's a pretty face, and a taste for this fiery liquor the old monks +laid down, we'll find a gewgaw or two to her liking!" + +But the man made no answer; was about to pass on, when the speaker +noticed for the first time the woman's hand, white and small, hanging +limply. "What's this? More jewels?" His exclamation was caught up by +the others. "Not so fast, comrade! This puts a different face to the +matter. Set down the booty, and," springing to his feet, "we'll see +what it's worth." + +"I'll not stop!" The man looked at him steadily. "On the Mount is, or +should be, plenty for all! Go seek for yourself!" + +"_Pardi_!" softly. "Here's one dares speak his mind!" + +"I speak plainly," in a tone of authority, "and you would do well to +heed!" + +"Perhaps," interposing. "What say you, comrades?" + +Evil smiles illumined evil faces; they, who had just been on the point +of blows among themselves, now regarded one another with common +understanding. One weighed tentatively that delicate weapon, a +spontoon; a second stroked his halberd, as liking to feel the +smoothness of the shaft, while a third reached for a gleaming "Folard's +Partizan." And in the glare of the fire every implement showed sign it +had been used that night. The point of the spontoon was as steel +crusted o'er; the ax of the halberd might have come from a _boucherie_; +the blade of the "Partizan" resembled a great leaf at autumn-time. +This last wavered perilously near the unconscious burden; had the man +made a movement to resist, would have struck; but the black eyes, only, +combated--held the blood-shot ones. Though not for long; again the +weapon seemed about to dart forth; the man about to hurl himself and +his burden desperately aside, when, from above, came the sound of +hoarse laughing and singing, and simultaneously a number of peasants, +Bretons by their dress, burst into view. + +"Eh, cockatoo, what now!" + +Many of these new-comers were hurt; few free from cuts; but none +thought of stanching their wounds. Their principal concern seemed for +articles they carried--heavy, light; valuable, paltry--spoils from the +high! Two staggered beneath a great chest stamped with the arms of the +Mount and its motto, and appeared anxious to hurry--perchance toward +the forest on the shore where they might bury their treasure. Others +had in their arms imposing pieces of silver; vases and a massive +_surtout de table_ that had once belonged to the Cardinal Dubois. A +woman, gaunt, toothless, wore a voluminous bonnet _à l'Argus_, left at +the Mount by one of the ladies of the court; and waved before her a +fan, set with jewels. She it was who called out: + +"Eh, cockatoo!" shrilly. "Who would you be killing?" + +"A selfish fellow that refuses to share!" answered he of the halberd, +as if little pleased at the interruption. + +"Refuses to share, does he?" she repeated, and, swaggering down, peered +forward; only to start back. "The Black Seigneur!" + +"The Black Seigneur!" + +Those who accompanied her--a rough rabble from field and forest--gazed, +not without surprise, or uncouth admiration, at one whose name and fame +were well-known on that northern coast; but these evidences of rough +approval were not shared by the alien rogues. On my lady's finger the +gem still sparkled: held their eyes like a lure. Black Seigneur, or +not, they muttered sullenly, what knew they of her he had with him; +whose hand was not that of cinder-wench or scullery maid? Let them +look at her face! She might be a great lady--she might even be the +Governor's daughter herself! + +"The Governor's daughter!" All, alike, caught at the word. + +"An if she were!" fiercely the Black Seigneur confronted them. + +While, hesitating, they sought for a reply, quickly he went on. Who +had a better right to her? The Black Seigneur! The Lady Elise! +Harshly he laughed. Was it not fair spoil? His Excellency's enemy; +his Excellency's daughter. Did they think treasure sweeter than +revenge? Let them try to rob him of it! As for the ring? +Contemptuously he took it from my lady's hand; threw it among them. + +A few scrambled, others were still for finishing the tragedy then. The +people _versus_ the lords and their spawn. "Kill at once!" the +injunction had gone forth from Paris. + +As he spoke, one of the fiercest put out his hand; touched my lady, +when the fingers of the Black Seigneur gripped hard his throat; hurled +him so violently back, he lay still. Companions sprang to his aid; +certain of the peasants interfered. + +"Let him alone!" + +"He speaks fair!" + +"Bah! To-night are all equal." + +"Your Black Seigneur no better than others!" + +"You lie!" In a high tone the woman with the great lady's hat broke +in. "At them, my chickens! Beat well these Paris rogues, who come +only for the picking!" + +"Yes; beat them well!" + +But the runagates of the great city were not of a kind to submit +lightly; curses and blows were exchanged; knives gleamed and swords +flashed. Amid a scene of confusion, the cause of it stayed not to +witness the outcome; running down the sloping way, soon found himself +on the sands; then keeping to the shadows, passed around the corner of +the wall. + +Here, for the time concealed was he safe; none followed, and, leaning +against the damp blocks of masonry, breathing hard, as a man weak from +fatigue, loss of blood, he sought to recover his strength. It returned +only too slowly; the passing lassitude annoyed him; for the moment he +forgot he had but recently come from the dungeon and the hardships that +sap elasticity and vigor. He was impatient to move on; looked at my +lady--and a sudden fear smote him! How white she appeared! Had she-- +His hand trembled at her heart; a blank dismay overcame him; then joy-- +At that instant he thought not of the gulf between them; was conscious +only he held her--slender, beautiful--in his arms; that she seemed all +his own, with her breath on his cheek, her soft lips so close. Above +sounded the madness of the night; the crackling of flames; the +intemperate voices! In the angle of the wall, with darkness a blanket +around them, he pushed back the hair from her clear brow, bent over, +closer--suddenly straightened. + +"_Pardi_!" he muttered, a flush on his face. "Am I, then, like the +others--pillagers, thieves?" + +Several moments he yet stood, breathing deep; then, starting away, set +himself to the task of crossing the vast stretch of beach between the +Mount and the distant lights of a ship. + +The sandy plain had never seemed so interminable; before him, his +shadow and that of my lady danced ever illusively away; behind, the +great rock gave forth a hundred shooting flames, while, as emblematic +of the demolition of so much that was beautiful, higher than saint with +helpless sword on cathedral top, a cloud of smoke belched up; waved +sidewise like a monstrous funeral plume. A symbol, it seemed to fill +the sky; to move and nod and flaunt its ominous blackness from this +majestic outpost of the land. Walking in a vivid crimson glow, the +Black Seigneur gazed only ahead, where now, on that monotonous desert, +the rim of the sea on a sudden obtruded. As he advanced, sparkles red +as rubies--laughing lights--leaped in the air; at the same time a +seething murmur broke upon the stillness. + +Toward those leaping bright points and the source of that deep-sounding +cadence, the young man stumbled forward more rapidly, less cautiously, +also, it may be; for while he was yet some distance from the water's +rim, his feet fell on sand that gave way beneath them. He would have +sprung back, but felt himself sinking; strove to get out, only to +settle the deeper! The edge of the _lise_, with safety beyond, well he +could see, where the satin-like smoothness of the treacherous slough! +merged into a welcome silk-like shimmering of the trustworthy sands. +That verge, however, was remote; out of reach of effort of his to +attain; his very endeavors caused him to become the more firmly +imbedded. Had he cast my lady aside, possibly could he have extricated +himself; but with her, an additional weight, weighing him down-- + +Loudly he called out; only the sea answered. Now were the clinging +particles at his waist; he lifted my lady higher; clear of them! Once +more raised his voice--this time not in vain! + +"_Mon capitaine_! Where are you?" + +"Here!" + +"We don't see you." + +"You won't soon, unless--" + +The end of a line struck the sand. + + +The night had almost passed; its last black hour, like a pall, lay over +the sea, where, far from the Mount, a ship swayed and tossed. In the +narrow confines of her master's cabin, the faint glimmering of a lamp +revealed a man bending over a paper, yellow and worn; the lines so +faint and delicate, they seemed almost to escape him! + + +"How strange, after all these years, the sight of your +handwriting!--and now, to be writing you! Yet is it meet--to say +farewell! For that which you have heard, _mon ami_, is true. I am +going to die. You say, you heard I was not well; I answer what really +you heard; the question, _mon ami_, beneath your words! ... And, +dying, it is well with me. I have wronged no soul on earth--except +you, my friend, and you forgive me.... I had hoped the years would +efface that old memory. You say they have not.... It is wise you are +going away." + + +The reader paused; listened to the sea; the moaning and sighing, like +voices on the wings of the storm. + + +"You speak in your letter about 'trickery'--used to estrange us! Think +no more of it, I beg you. What is past, is gone--as I, part of that +past, when we were boy and girl together--soon shall be. And come not +near the Mount. There can be no meeting for us on earth. I send you +my adieu from afar.... It is only a shadow that speaks ... _mon ami_." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +SOME TIME LATER + +The little Norman isle, home of Pierre Laroche, so wild and +bleak-looking many months of the year, resembles a flowering garden in +the spring; then, its lap full of buds and blossoms, smiling, redolent, +it lifts itself from the broad bosom of the deep. And all the light +embellishments of the golden time it sets forth daintily; fringing the +black cliffs with clusters of sea campion, white and frothy as the +spray, trailing green ivy from precipitous heights to the verge of the +wooing waters, whose waves seem to creep up timorously, peep into the +many caves, bright with sea-anemones, and retreat quickly, as awed by a +sudden glimpse of fairyland. + +Near the entrance of one of these magical chambers, abloom with +strange, scentless flowers, sat, a certain afternoon in April, a man +and a woman, who, looking out over the blue sea, conversed in desultory +fashion. + +"From what your father tells me, Mistress Nanette," the man, an aged +priest, was speaking, "the Seigneur Desaurac should be here to-day?" + +"My father had a letter from him a few days ago to that effect," +answered the young woman somewhat shortly. + +"Let me see," apparently the old man did not notice the change in his +companion's manner, "he has been away now about a year? It was in July +he brought the Governor's daughter to the island one day and sailed the +next!" Nanette made a movement. "How time flies!" he sighed. "Let us +hope it assuages grief, as they say! You think she is contented here?" + +"The Lady Elise? Why not? At least, she seems so; has with her, her +old nurse, my aunt, who fortunately escaped from the Mount--" + +"But the death of her father? It must have been a terrible blow--one +not easy to forget!" + +"Of course," said Nanette slowly, "she has felt his loss." + +The old man gazed down. "I have sometimes wondered what she knows +about the causes of the enmity that existed between his Excellency and +the Black Seigneur?" + +The other's eyes lifted keenly. "When last did you see her, Father?" + +"She comes often to my cottage to walk and--" + +"Talk?" + +"Well, yes!" The fine spiritual face expressed a twinge of uneasiness. + +"About the past?" + +The priest shifted slightly. "Sometimes! An old man lives much in the +past and it is natural to wander on a bit aimlessly at times, and--" + +"Confess, Father, she has learned much from you?" Nanette laughed. + +"No, no; I trust--" + +"Surmised, then!" said the girl. "She is one not easily deceived. +Clever is my lady! And you talk, she says nothing, but leads you on! +If there's aught she wishes to learn that you know, be assured she's +found out from your lips." + +"Nay; I'll not believe--'tis true once or twice I've let a word slip. +But she noticed not--" + +"No doubt!" The island girl's voice expressed a fine scorn. "However, +it matters little. Speaks she ever of the Black Seigneur?" suddenly. + +"No. Why?" + +"Why not?" Nanette's tone was enigmatic. + +"I don't understand." + +"At any rate, she is better off here than yonder in France, if tidings +be true," said the other irrelevantly. + +"Ah, _ma belle France_!" murmured the old man regretfully. "How she is +torn within--threatened from without! But fortunately she has her +defenders," his voice thrilled, "brave men who have thronged to her +needs. I suppose," he continued abruptly, "it's to arrange about the +new ship that brings the Seigneur once more to the island?" + +"I suppose so," assented the other briefly. + +"A true Frenchman, Pierre Laroche, your father, has shown himself, in +giving one of his best ships to the cause! Although perhaps he would +not have been so ready," thoughtfully, "had not the Paris Assembly seen +fit to appoint André Desaurac in command of all the vessels to guard +the coast against the intrigues of the French royalists with foreign +powers and aliens! Well, well, he will find here many old friends!" + +"Yourself, for example, Father, who helped him in the courts to +establish his right to his name," said the young woman quickly. + +"And you, Mistress Nanette," the kindly eyes lighting with a curious, +indulgent look, "who went to the Mount alone, unaided, to--" + +A frown gathered on the dark, handsome face of the girl. "Unaided?" +she said, staring at the sparkles on the waves before her. + +"Oh, the people never weary of talking about it! and how you--" + +"Yon's a sail!" Abruptly the young woman rose; with skirts fluttering +behind her, gazed out to sea. + +Several hours later, just before dusk, a ship ran into the harbor, +dropped anchor, and sent a boat to the shore. In the small craft sat a +number of men, and the first of these to spring to the beach and mount +the stone stairway to the inn, was met at the top; warmly greeted, by +old Pierre himself! _Mon dieu_! To see the new-comer was like old +times! Only now, the landlord observed jestingly, the profits would be +small! But a fig to parsimony, in these days when men's patriotism +should be large; do what he, the Black Seigneur, would with the new +ship, even if he sunk her, provided it was in good company, and he went +not down with her himself! To which protestations the other answered; +presented his companions, and greeted the assembled company within. + +Busy at a great board, laden with comestibles interspersed with flagons +of wines, Nanette welcomed him briefly, and again his glance--keen and +assured, that of a man the horizon of whose vision had widened, since +last he stood there--swept the gathering. But apparently, one he +looked for was not present, and he had again turned to the young woman, +a question on his lips, when on the garden side of the house a door +opened. It revealed a flowering background, a plateau, yellow in the +last rays of the sun; it framed, also, the slender, black-clad figure +of a girl, above whose white brow the waving hair shone like threads of +gold. + +"An old friend of yours, my Lady!" called out blunt Pierre. + +A moment the clear, brown eyes seemed to waver; then became steady, as +schooled to some purpose. She came forward composedly; gave the Black +Seigneur her hand. + +"I--am always glad to see old friends!" said my lady, with a lift of +the head, over-conscious, perhaps, of the concentrated gaze of the +company. + +He looked at her; made perfunctory answer; she seemed about to speak +again, when the hand he let fall was caught by another. + +"Elise!" From among those who had come ashore, a man in fashionable +attire sprang forward, a little thinner than when last she had seen +him, and more cynical-looking, as slightly soured by world-contact and +the new tendencies of society. + +"My Lord!" Certainly was my lady taken unawares; a moment looked at +the Marquis as if a little startled; then at the Black Seigneur: + +"A pleasant surprise for you, my Lady!" said the latter. "But you owe +me no thanks! An order from the chief of the Admiralty, properly +signed and countersigned, directing me to transport the Marquis de +Beauvillers hither, was not to be disregarded!" + +"A somewhat singular dispensation of Providence, nevertheless!" +observed the nobleman dryly. "After our--what shall we call +it?--little passage of arms? You must acknowledge, however, that in +truth the Lady Elise and myself had some reason to discredit your +assurances that night--" + +"Far be it from me to dispute it, my Lord," and the Black Seigneur +turned, while the Marquis, slightly shrugging his shoulders, addressed +my lady. + +Half blithely, then half bitterly, relapsing occasionally from the old, +debonair manner he had assumed, he spoke of his escape from the Mount; +months of hiding in foul places, amid fields and forest, with no word +of her; his success, at last, in reaching Paris, and, through rumor, +learning where she was, and hastening to her-- + +A bluff voice interrupted further explanations and avowals; the +steaming flesh-pots, it informed the company, awaited not soft words +and honied phrases; monarch in his own dining-room, ostentatiously +conscious, perhaps, of his own unwonted prodigality, Pierre Laroche +waved them to their places--where they would!--so that they waited not! + +Quizzically my lord lifted his brow; truly here was a Republican fellow +who appreciated not an honor when it was bestowed upon him, nor saw +anything unusual in a Marquis' presence beneath that humble roof. +Something of this he murmured to my lady, in a tone others might have +heard; but she answered not; took her place, with red lips the firmer, +as if to conceal some weakness to which they sought to give way. + +Not without constraint the meal passed; the host, desirous to learn the +latest political news, looked at the Marquis and curbed a natural +curiosity, until a more favorable moment when he and the Black Seigneur +should be alone. My lady, although generally made to feel welcome and +at home there, seemed now, perhaps, to herself, a little out of place, +like a person that has wandered from a world of her own and strayed +into another's. Cross-currents, long at strife in her breast, surged +and flowed fast; the while she seemed to listen to my lord, who +appeared now in lighter, more airy humor. And as she sat thus, with +fair head bent a little, she could but hear, at times, above the medley +of tones and the sound of servants' footsteps in clattering wooden +shoes, the voice of the Black Seigneur--now pledging a toast to old +Pierre; anon discussing winds, tides, or ships! A free reckless voice, +that seemed to vibrate from the past--to stir anew bright, terrible +flames. + +Daylight slowly waned; lights were brought in, and, the meal over, old +Pierre pushed back in his chair. My lady rose quickly; looked a little +constrainedly at the company, at the Marquis, then toward the door. +Anticipating her desire, attributing to it, perhaps, a significance +flattering to his vanity, the young nobleman expressed a wish for a +stroll; a sight of the garden. At once she assented; a slight tint now +on her cheeks, she moved to the door, and my lord followed; as they +disappeared, the Black Seigneur laughed--at one of Pierre's jokes! + +"Have I not told it before?" said the host. + +"Have you?" murmured the Black Seigneur. "Well, a good jest, like an +excellent dish, may well be served twice." + +"Humph!" observed the landlord doubtfully. + +After a pause: "I suppose he will be taking her away soon?" + +"Her?" The young man rose. + +"The Lady Elise!" + +"I suppose so," shortly. + +"We shall miss her!" grumbled the landlord as he, too, got up and +walked over to the fireplace. "I, who never thought to care for any of +the fine folk--I, bluff old Pierre Laroche!--say we shall miss her." + +"Knows she how it fared with his Excellency's--her father's--estate? +That little, or nothing, is left?" + +"Aye." + +"And she will agree to the promise I wrote you about?" quickly. + +"That you--now that the right to your name has been vindicated--are +content to accept half the lands in dispute; her ladyship to retain the +other half?" + +"Yes; in consideration of that which his Excellency expended in +taxes--no small sum!--and what it would cost to carry on vexatious +litigation!" + +"You are strangely faint-hearted to pursue your advantage," said old +Pierre shrewdly. "But," as the other made a gesture, "I put it to her +ladyship as you desired me to, and--" + +"She consented?" eagerly. + +Pierre shook his head. "No, _mon capitaine_! She will have none of +them. And you had heard her: 'A great wrong was unintentionally,' she +accented the word, 'done the Seigneur Desaurac by my father, which has +now been set right!' 'It has,' I assented, and would have urged +further your proposal, when she stopped me. 'Speak no more of this +matter!' 'Twas all she said; but--you should have seen her face, and +how her eyes shone!" + +The young man, looking down, made no answer. "An you are not +satisfied," continued Pierre, "broach the question to my lady, +yourself." + +"I?" A look, half bitter, crossed the other's dark face. "Her +father's enemy! Through whose servant, all her misfortunes came about! +To revive anew what must so often pass in her mind?" + +"Well, well; no doubt you know best, and, _certes_, now you remind me, +she did turn cold and distant when I spoke of your coming. But let +idle prejudices enter into practical concerns--it's on a par--of all +improvidence! Why, 'twas not long ago, she brought me a jewel or two; +Marie, it seems, had foresight enough to snatch them before fleeing +from the Mount, and begged me to take them for our kindness, she said; +which I did, seeing she would not have it otherwise--nor let herself be +regarded as one who could not pay. But to business, _mon capitaine_!" + +And thereafter, for some time, they, or rather, Pierre, talked; the +others, save the Marquis, returned to the ship, and only Nanette, busy +putting everything to rights, lingered in the room. At length, after +papers had been signed and changed hands, the conversation of the host +began to wane; frequently had he sipped from a bottle of liqueur at his +elbow and now found himself nodding; leaned back more comfortably in +the great chair and suffered his head to fall. The clock ticked out +the seconds; the young man continued to sit motionless. + +"'_A mon beau_'--" Nanette's voice, lightly humming, caused him to look +up; with the old mocking expression on her face, the inn-keeper's +daughter paused near his chair. + +"It was kind of you, _mon capitaine_, to bring to my lady her Marquis!" +As she spoke, she looked toward the garden. + +"Why not?" he asked steadily. "The passport and orders were correct." + +"Were they, indeed?" she said, tapping the floor with her foot. "You +remain with us a few days; or, as of old, must we be content with a +brief visit?" she went on. + +"We leave to-morrow." + +"To-morrow?" The girl's eyes wore a tentative expression. "Late?" + +"Early!" + +"Oh! In that case, perhaps I shan't have time," Nanette paused; looked +at her father; old Pierre's slumbers were not to be broken. + +"For what?" asked the Black Seigneur shortly. + +"To tell you something!" + +"Why not--now?" + +"You--are inquisitive?" + +"No!" + +"Even if it were about--" she looked toward the door that led to the +garden. + +"The Lady Elise?" he said quickly. + +"Oh, you _are_ interested? '_A mon beau_'--" a moment she hummed. +"You do not urge me?" + +"Wherefore," laconically, although his eyes flashed, "when you have +made up your mind to tell!" + +"You are right!" She threw back her head. "I have made up my mind! +How well you understand women! Almost as well," she laughed mockingly, +"as a ship!" He made no response. "When you thanked me once, _mon +capitaine_, for all it pleased you to say I did for you, you may +remember," her voice was defiant, "I did not once gainsay you!" More +curiously he regarded her. "Perhaps it pleased me," her hand on her +hip, "to be thought such a fine heroine. But now," her tone grew a +little fierce, "I am tired of hearing people say: 'Nanette risked so +much!' 'Nanette did this!--did that!'--when it was she who risked--did +it all, one might say." + +"She? What do you mean?" The black eyes probed hers now with sudden, +fierce questioning. + +"That 'twas the Lady Elise saved you. Went knowingly--willingly--as +hostage--" + +"The Lady Elise!" he cried, an abrupt glow on the dark face. + +Nanette's eyes noted and fell, but she went on hurriedly: "She knew of +the ambush in the forest; saw part of the note I dropped on the +beach--it was brought to her by my aunt who warned her." And in a +quick rush of words, as if desirous to be done with it, Nanette told +all that had transpired at the Mount. + +Incredulously, eagerly, he listened; when, however, she had finished, +he said nothing; sat like a man bewildered. + +"Well?" said the girl impatiently. Still he looked down. "Well?" she +repeated, so sharply old Pierre stirred; lifted his head. + +"Eh, my dear?" + +She went to the mantel; took from it a candle. + +"The Seigneur finds you such poor company," she said, "he desires a +light to retire!" + + +The dawn smote the heavens with fiery lashes of red; from the east the +wind began to blow harder, and on the sea the waves responded with a +more forcible sweep. At a window in the inn, the Black Seigneur a +moment looked out on the gay flowers and the sea and the worn grim face +of the cliff; then left his room and made his way downstairs. No one +was yet, apparently, astir; an hour or so must elapse ere the time set +for departure, and, pending the turn of the tide and adieu to old +Pierre, the young man stepped into the garden, through the gate, and, +turning into a rocky path, strode out over the cliffs. The island was +small; its walks limited, and soon, despite a number of difficulties in +the way he had chosen, he found himself at its end--the verge of a +great rock that projected out over the blue, sullen sea. For some +moments he stood there, listening to the sounds in caverns below, +watching the snow-capped waves, the ever-shifting spots on a vast map, +and then, shaking off his reverie, started to return. + +"A brisk wind to take us back to France," he said to himself; but his +thoughts were not of possible April storms, or of his ship. His eyes, +bright, yet perplexed, as if from some problem whose solution he had +not yet found, were bent downward, only to be raised where the path +demanded his closer attention. As he looked up, he became suddenly +aware of the figure of a girl, who approached from the opposite +direction. + +A quick glint sprang to the young man's eyes, and, pausing, he waited; +watched. At that point, the way ran over a neck of rock, almost eaten +through by the hungry sea, and she had already started to cross when he +first saw her. The path was not dangerous; nor was it easy; only it +called for certainty and assurance on the part of the one that elected +to take it. My lady's light footstep was sure; although the wind swept +rather sharply there, she held herself with confident poise, while from +the brown eyes shone a clear, steady light. + +"I saw you leave the inn," she said, drawing near the comparatively +sheltered spot, where he stood, "and knowing you would soon sail, +followed. There is something I wanted to say, and--and felt I should +have no other chance to tell you!" + +Had she read what was passing in his brain, she would not have faced +him, so confident; but, ignorant of what he had learned, the cause of +varying lights in his dark eyes, the tender play of emotion on his +strong features, she broached her subject with steadfastness of purpose. + +"You went away so suddenly the last time, I had no opportunity, then, +to thank you for all that you did; and so, I do now--thank you, I mean! +Also," a touch of prouder constraint in her tone, "I appreciate your +over-generous proposal through Pierre Laroche; although, of course," +her figure very straight, "I could not--it was impossible--to entertain +it. But I am glad you were able to prove. You will understand--and," +my lady ended quickly, "I thank you!" + +He looked at her long. "It is I who am in your debt!" + +"You?" Her brows lifted. + +"Yes." + +"I--don't think I quite understand." In spite of herself and her +resolution, the proud eyes seemed to shrink from a nameless something +in his gaze. + +"Nor I! Nanette was talking with me last night!" + +"Nanette!" + +In words, direct, unequivocal, he told her what he had learned; and +although my lady laughed, as at something absurd, and strove to +maintain an unvarying mien, his eyes challenged evasion; demanded +truth! At that moment the space where they stood seemed, perhaps, too +small; to hem her very closely in--too closely--as, drawing back, she +touched the hard rocky wall! + +"Why?" Still endeavoring to regard him as if the charge could only be +preposterous, too unreasonable to answer, she was, nevertheless, +conscious of the flame on her face--tacit refutation of the denials in +her eyes! "Why?" she repeated. + +"That is just what I was asking myself when I saw you, my Lady." + +"And, of course, knowing there could be no--that it was too +senseless--" The words she was searching for failed her; she looked +toward the path over the neck of rock, but he continued to stand +between it and her. + +"I have heard the story in all its details; all that passed at the +Mount, while Nanette was there. And," instead of having undermined his +belief, she felt she had only strengthened it, "I am sure you went to +the Monastery St. Ranulphe, knowing--" + +"You are sure!" she interrupted quickly. "It wasn't long ago you were +sure it was I who betrayed you, and--" + +"I was wrong, then; but," his eyes continued to meet hers, "I am not +wrong now." + +Behind her, my lady's hand closed hard on the rock. + +"Deny it!" his voice went on. "In so many words!" + +"Why should I?" She caught her breath quickly. "I denied something to +you once, and you did not believe." + +"I'll believe you now!" + +"I should feel very much flattered, I am sure; but after--" A spark of +defiance began to gleam in her eyes. "You are sure one moment, and +not, the next! You are ready to believe, or not to believe!" More +certain now, she lifted her head; she, whose assurance and wit had +never failed her at court, would not be put to confusion by him! + +His answer was unexpected; to her; to himself. Perhaps it was the +peasant--the untamed half-peasant--in his blood that caused it; that +made a sudden, unceremonious act, his reply! He caught both her hands; +drew her to him. He knew she could never care for him--she, the +beautiful lady! But he forgot himself for the moment; thought only of +what she had done; her courage, her fineness, her delicate loveliness! +Her life for his. To pay a fancied debt, perhaps? And all the while +he had thought-- Self-reproaches fell from his lips; were followed by +bolder, more daring words. All he would have said the night on the +beach, when he had borne her from the fiery rock to the ship, now burst +from him; all he had felt when he had held her in his arms--motionless, +unresisting, the still, white face upturned, offering itself freely to +his gaze! + +At the neck of the rock, beneath his feet, the waves thundered; near +them, wild birds circled, wheeled and were borne on by the strong +breath of the wind. Had he spoken; what had he said? A gradual +consciousness of the beating of the sea smote his senses, as with +rhythmical regularity it arose. He listened; slowly in his eyes that +light that demanded--claimed, as it were, its own--was replaced by +another; his hands released hers. My lady made no sound; her proud +lips trembled. Very pale, she leaned back. + +So silence lengthened. "Pardon, my Lady!" he said at last, very +humbly. "It had not occurred to me my secret was not safe; that I, +master of ships and men, should not be master of myself! But I had not +expected to be alone with your Ladyship, and," a shadow of a smile +crossed the strong, reckless face, "your Ladyship can weigh the +provocation! If the excuse will not serve, I have none other to offer. +Certainly, will I retract nothing. What's said, is said, and--no lies +will unsay it!" + +He looked at the water; the tide was nearly in; he turned. She would +never see him again, for which she would be very glad, since the sight +of him must always have been hateful to her. Had not fate +decreed--bitterly--she should look upon him only as an enemy? It might +be, in time, she would condone his presumption, when his presence would +no longer vex her! He was going one way; she, another, soon, with-- + +"You--you are mistaken, Monsieur!" My lady's tone was tremulous. + +"Mistaken?" + +"The--Marquis de Beauvillers left last night, on a fishing bark." + +"Left!" abruptly he wheeled. "Why?" She did not answer. "You mean?" +Before the sudden swift question that shone from his eyes, hers fell. + +"Speak!" He seized her hand; his dark, eager face was near hers now. +"You have sent him away? He will never return?" She lifted her head; +answered not in words; but a new light in her eyes met the flash of +his. "My Lady!" he cried, bewildered for the moment at what that +glance revealed. An instant she seemed once more striving to combat +him, when, drawing her gently toward him, he bent lower; kissed softly +her lips. + +[Illustration: His dark, eager face was near hers now] + + +"Is it, then, true--" + +"You find it so hard to believe?" + +"That you love me? That I seem no longer your enemy?" + +"My enemy? You? Who risked so much--saved my life! Ah, no, no! Do +you not remember," softly, "he, too, said--'Forget!'" + +"I only remember I have long loved you! For me have you ever been the +princess--who dwelt in the clouds--in a palace, enchanted--" Her face +changed. "That saddens you! Forgive me!" + +"It seems like a dream--that life, then! All made up of lightness and +gaiety; courtiers and fine masques, until--" Beneath the bright gold +of her hair, my lady's brow knit. + +"Until?" + +"Nay; I know not until--just when! Only, for long, I seem to have +lived in a world, unreal and false. Last night, when in the garden, I +felt stifled. This marriage! Arranged--for what?" She made a quick +gesture. "The words came--had to come--though they hurt my lord's +pride; touched his vanity! Nothing deeper! It was gone. Besides--" + +My lady stopped. "Go on!" he urged, his voice eager. + +"That is all. At least, all I would acknowledge to myself, then." + +"And now?" His arm tightened; he held my lady close. "Now?" + +Her lips lifted; though silent, made answer in the abandonment of the +moment, the past and all its vicissitudes vanished; only the present +held them--the present and the future, beautiful as the horizon, now +rosy and glowing beneath the warm touch of the dawn. + + +The tide came in and the tide went out. + +"_Mon capitaine_ must have changed his mind," said old Pierre at the +inn. And he gazed toward a ship, stranded on the sands of the harbor. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Lady of the Mount, by Frederic S. 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Isham + +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: The Lady of the Mount + +Author: Frederic S. Isham + +Illustrator: Lester Ralph + +Release Date: May 22, 2011 [EBook #36083] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LADY OF THE MOUNT *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-cover"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-cover.jpg" ALT="Cover art" BORDER="2"> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="My Lady" BORDER="2"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center"> +My Lady +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t1"> +THE LADY OF THE MOUNT +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +<I>By</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +FREDERIC S. ISHAM +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY +</P> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +LESTER RALPH +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +INDIANAPOLIS +<BR> +THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY +<BR> +PUBLISHERS +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +COPYRIGHT 1908 +<BR> +THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY +<BR> +FEBRUARY +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +BY FREDERIC S. ISHAM +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 10%"> +BLACK FRIDAY<BR> + Illustrated by Harrison Fisher<BR> + 12mo, Cloth $1.50<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 10%"> +UNDER THE ROSE<BR> + Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy<BR> + 12mo, Cloth $1.50<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 10%"> +THE STROLLERS<BR> + Illustrated by Harrison Fisher<BR> + 12mo, Cloth $1.50<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t2"> +CONTENTS +</P> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">A CHANCE ENCOUNTER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">AN ECHO OF THE PAST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">A SUDDEN RESOLUTION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">A DANCE ON THE BEACH</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">AN INTERRUPTION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">A MESSAGE FOR MY LADY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">A DISTANT MENACE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE OLD WATCH-TOWER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">A DISCOVERY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">THE CLOISTER IN THE AIR</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">THE GOVERNOR IS SURPRISED</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">AT THE COCKLES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">THE SEETHING OF THE SEA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">THE PILGRIMAGE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">THE VOICE FROM THE GROUP</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE PEOPLE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE HUNCHBACK</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">THE MOUNTEBANK AND MY LADY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE GOVERNOR</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE SOLDIER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">THE STAIRWAY OF SILVER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">THE WHIRLING OF THE WHEEL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">AT THE VERGE OF THE APERTURE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">THE HALL OF THE CHEVALIERS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">THE UNDER WORLD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap26">A NEW ARRIVAL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap27">A STROLL ON THE STRAND</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap28">THE HESITATION OF THE MARQUIS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap29">THE MARQUIS INTERVENES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap30">A SOUND AFAR</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap31">THE ATTACK ON THE MOUNT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap32">NEAR THE ALTAR</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap33">ON THE SANDS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap34">SOME TIME LATER</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +THE LADY OF THE MOUNT +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A CHANCE ENCOUNTER +</H4> + +<P> +"Don't you know, boy, you ought not to get in my way?" +</P> + +<P> +The tide was at its ebb; the boats stranded afar, and the lad addressed +had started, with a fish—his wage—in one hand, to walk to shore, +when, passing into the shadow of the rampart of the Governor's Mount, +from the opposite direction a white horse swung suddenly around a +corner of the stone masonry and bore directly upon him. He had but +time to step aside; as it was, the animal grazed his shoulder, and the +boy, about to give utterance to a natural remonstrance, lifted his eyes +to the offender. The words were not forthcoming; surprised, he gazed +at a tiny girl, of about eleven, perched fairy-like on the broad back +of the heavy steed. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you know you ought not to get in my way?" she repeated +imperiously. +</P> + +<P> +The boy, tall, dark, unkempt as a young savage, shifted awkwardly; his +black eyes, restless enough ordinarily, expressed a sudden shyness in +the presence of this unexpected and dainty creature. +</P> + +<P> +"I—didn't see you," he half stammered. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you should have!" And again the little lady frowned, shook her +disordered golden curls disapprovingly and gazed at him, a look of +censure in her brown eyes. "But perhaps you don't know who I am," she +went on with a lift of the patrician doll-like features. "I don't +think you do, or you wouldn't stand there like a booby, without taking +off your hat." More embarrassed, he removed a worn cap while she +continued to regard him with the reverse of approval. "I am the +Comtesse Elise," she observed; "the daughter of the Governor of the +Mount." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" said the boy, and his glance shifted to the most important and +insistent feature of the landscape. +</P> + +<P> +Carrying its clustered burden of houses and palaces, a great rock +reared itself from the monotony of the bare and blinding sands. Now an +oasis in the desert, ere night was over he knew the in-rushing waters +would convert it into an island; claim it for the sea! A strange +kingdom, yet a mighty one, it belonged alternately to the land and to +the ocean. With the sky, however, it enjoyed perpetual affiliation, +for the heavens were ever wooing it; now winding pretty ribbons of +light about its air-drawn castles; then kissing it with the tender, +soft red glow of celestial fervor. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; I live right on top among the clouds, in a castle, with dungeons +underneath, where my father puts the bad people who don't like the +nobles and King Louis XVI. But where," categorically, "do you live?" +</P> + +<P> +His gaze turned from the points and turrets and the clouds she spoke +of—that seemed to linger about the lofty summit—to the mainland, +perhaps a mile distant. +</P> + +<P> +"There!" he said, and specifically indicated a dark fringe, like a +cloud on the lowlands. +</P> + +<P> +"In the woods! How odd!" She looked at him with faint interest. "And +don't the bears bother you? Once when I wanted to see what the woods +were like, my nurse told me they were filled with terrible bears who +would eat up little girls. I don't have a nurse any more," +irrelevantly, "only a governess who came from the court of Versailles, +and Beppo. Do you know Beppo?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't like him," she confided. "He is always listening. But why do +you live in the woods?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because!" The reason failed him. +</P> + +<P> +"And didn't you ever live anywhere else?" +</P> + +<P> +A shadow crossed the dark young face. "Once," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose the bears know you," she speculated, "and that is the reason +they let you alone. Or, perhaps, they are like the wolf in the +fairy-tale. Did you ever hear of the kind-hearted wolf?" +</P> + +<P> +He shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"My nurse used to tell it to me. Well, once there was a boy who was an +orphan and everybody hated him. So he went to live in the forest and +there he met a wolf. 'Where are you going, little boy?' said the wolf. +'Nowhere,' said the boy; 'I have no home.' 'No home!' said the +kind-hearted wolf; 'then come with me, and you shall share my cave.' +Isn't that a nice story?" +</P> + +<P> +He looked at her in a puzzled manner. "I don't know," he began, when +she tossed her head. +</P> + +<P> +"What a stupid boy!" she exclaimed severely. A moment she studied him +tentatively through her curls, from the vantage point of her elevated +seat. "That's a big fish," she remarked, after the pause. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you want it?" he asked quickly, his face brightening. +</P> + +<P> +"You can give it to Beppo when he comes," she said, drawing herself up +loftily. "He'll be here soon. I've run away from him!" A sudden +smile replaced her brief assumption of dignity. "He'll be so angry! +He's fat and ugly," more confidentially. "And he's so amusing when +he's vexed! But how much do you ask for the fish?" +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't mean—to sell it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" +</P> + +<P> +"I—don't sell fish." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't sell fish!" She looked at the clothes, frayed and worn, the +bare muscular throat, the sunburned legs. "You meant to give it to me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +The girl laughed. "What a funny boy!" +</P> + +<P> +His cheek flushed; from beneath the matted hair, the disconcerted black +eyes met the mocking brown ones. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I can't take it for nothing," she explained, "and it is very +absurd of you to expect it." +</P> + +<P> +"Then," with sudden stubbornness, "I will keep it!" +</P> + +<P> +Her glance grew more severe. "Most people speak to me as 'my Lady.' +You seem to have forgotten. Or perhaps you have been listening to some +of those silly persons who talk about everybody being born equal. I've +heard my father, the Governor, speak of them and how he has put some of +them in his dungeons. You'd better not talk that way, or he may shut +you up in some terrible dark hole beneath the castle." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not afraid!" The black eyes shone. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you must be a very wicked boy. It would serve you right if I was +to tell." +</P> + +<P> +"You can!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then I won't! Besides, I'm not a telltale!" She tossed her curls and +went on. "I've heard my father say these people who want to be called +'<I>gentilhomme</I>' and 'monsieur' are low and ignorant; they can't even +read and write." +</P> + +<P> +Again the red hue mantled the boy's cheek. "I don't believe you can!" +she exclaimed shrewdly and clapped her hands. "Can you now?" He did +not answer. "'Monsieur'! '<I>Gentilhomme</I>'!" she repeated. +</P> + +<P> +He stepped closer, his face dark; but whatever reply he might have made +was interrupted by the sound of a horse's hoofs and the abrupt +appearance, from the direction the child had come, of a fat, +irascible-looking man of middle age, dressed in livery. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, here you are, my Lady!" His tone was far from amiable; as he +spoke he pulled up his horse with a vicious jerk. "A pretty chase +you've led me!" +</P> + +<P> +She regarded him indifferently. "If you <I>will</I> stop at the inn, +Beppo—" +</P> + +<P> +The man's irate glance fell. "Who is this?" +</P> + +<P> +"A boy who doesn't want to sell his fish," said the girl merrily. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" The man's look expressed a quick recognition. "A fine day's +work is this—to bandy words with—" Abruptly he raised his whip. +"What do you mean, sirrah, by stopping my Lady?" +</P> + +<P> +A fierce gleam in the lad's eyes belied the smile on his lips. "Don't +beat me, good Beppo!" he said in a mocking voice, and stood, alert, +lithe, like a tiger ready to spring. The man hesitated; his arm +dropped to his side. "The very spot!" he said, looking around him. +</P> + +<P> +A moment the boy waited, then turned on his heel and, without a word, +walked away. Soon an angle in the sea-wall, girdling the Mount, hid +him from view. +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't you strike him?" Quietly the child regarded the man. +"Were you afraid?" Beppo's answering look was not one of affection for +his charge. "Who is he?" +</P> + +<P> +"An idle vagabond." +</P> + +<P> +"What is his name?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you?" +</P> + +<P> +A queer expression sprang into his eyes. "One can't remember every +peasant brat," he returned evasively. +</P> + +<P> +She considered him silently; then: "Why did you say: 'The very spot'?" +she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Did I? I don't remember. But it's time we were getting back. Come, +my Lady!" And Beppo struck his horse smartly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +AN ECHO OF THE PAST +</H4> + +<P> +Immovable on its granite base, the great rock, or "Mount," as it had +been called for centuries, stood some distance from the shore in a vast +bay on the northwestern coast of France. To the right, a sweep of +sward and marsh stretched seaward, until lost in the distance; to the +left, lay the dense Desaurac forest, from which an arm of land, thickly +wooded, reached out in seeming endeavor to divide the large bay into +two smaller basins. But the ocean, jealous of territory already +conquered, twice in twenty-four hours rose to beat heavily on this dark +promontory, and, in the angry hiss of the waters, was a reminder of a +persistent purpose. Here and there, through the ages, had the +shore-line of the bay, as well as the neighboring curvatures of the +coast, yielded to the assaults of the sea; the Mount alone, solidly +indifferent to blandishment or attack, maintained an unvarying aspect. +</P> + +<P> +For centuries a monastery and fortress of the monks, at the time of +Louis XVI the Mount had become a stronghold of the government, strongly +ruled by one of its most inexorable nobles. Since his appointment many +years before to the post, my lord, the Governor of the rock, had ever +been regarded as a man who conceded nothing to the people and pursued +only the set tenure of his way. During the long period of his reign he +committed but one indiscretion; generally regarded as a man confirmed +in apathy for the gentler sex, he suddenly, when already past middle +age, wedded. Speculation concerning a step so unlooked for was +naturally rife. +</P> + +<P> +In hovel and hut was it whispered the bride Claire, only daughter of +the Comtesse de la Mart, had wept at the altar, but that her mother had +appeared complacent, as well she might; for the Governor of the Mount +and the surrounding country was both rich and powerful; his ships swept +far and wide, even to the Orient, while the number of <I>métayers</I>, or +petty farmers that paid him tribute, constituted a large community. +Other gossips, bending over peat fires within mud walls, +affirmed—beneath their breath, lest the spies of the well-hated lord +of the North might hear them!—that the more popular, though +impoverished Seigneur Desaurac had been the favored suitor with the +young woman herself, but that the family of the bride had found him +undesirable. The Desaurac fortune, once large, had so waned that +little remained save the rich, though heavily encumbered lands, and, in +the heart of the forest, a time-worn, crumbling castle. +</P> + +<P> +Thus it came to pass the marriage of the lady to the Governor was +celebrated in the jeweled Gothic church crowning a medley of palaces, +chapels and monastery on the Mount; that the rejected Seigneur +Desaurac, gazing across the strip of water—for the tide was at its +full—separating the rocky fortress from the land, shrugged his +shoulders angrily and contemptuously, and that not many moons later, as +if to show disdain of position and title, took to his home an orphaned +peasant lass. That a simple church ceremony had preceded this step was +both affirmed and denied; hearsay described a marriage at a neighboring +village; more malicious gossip discredited it. A man of rank! A woman +of the soil! Feudal custom forbade belief that the proper sort of +nuptial knot had been tied. +</P> + +<P> +Be this as it may, for a time the sturdy, dark brown young woman +presided over the Seigneur's fortunes with exemplary care and patience. +She found them in a chaotic condition; lands had either been allowed to +run to waste, or were cultivated by peasants that so long had forgotten +to pay the <I>métayage</I>, or owner's due, they had come to regard the +acres as their own—a delusion this practical helpmate would speedily +have dispelled, save that the Seigneur himself pleaded for them and +would not permit of the "poor people" being disturbed. Whereupon she +made the best of an anomalous situation, and all concerned might have +continued to live satisfactorily enough unto themselves, when +unfortunately an abrupt break occurred in the chain of circumstances. +In presenting the Seigneur with a child, half-peasant, half-lord, the +mother gave up her own life for his posterity. +</P> + +<P> +At first, thereafter, the Seigneur remained a recluse; when, however, a +year or two had gone by, the peasants—who had settled in greater +numbers thereabouts, even to the verge of the forest—noticed that he +gradually emerged from his solitude, ventured into the world at large, +and occasionally was seen in the vicinity of the Mount. This +predilection for lonely walks clearly led to his undoing; one morning +he was found stabbed in the back, on the beach at the foot of the Mount. +</P> + +<P> +Carried home, he related how he had been set upon by a band of +miscreants, which later, coming to the Governor's ears, led to an +attempt to locate the assailants among the rocky isles to the +northwest, haunts of privateersmen, rogues and those reformers who +already were beginning to undermine the peace of Louis XVI's northern +provinces. In the pursuit of these gentry, the Governor showed himself +in earnest. Perhaps his own sorrow at the rather sudden death of his +lady, occurring about this time, and leaving him, a morose widower, +with a child, a little girl, led him to more relentless activities; +perhaps the character of the crime—a noble stabbed!—incensed him. +</P> + +<P> +Certainly he revenged himself to the full; not only raked the rocks for +runagates, but dragged peasants, inclined to sullenness, from their +huts; clapped some in dungeons and hanged the rest. In the popular +mind his name became synonymous with cruelty, but, on his high throne, +he continued to exercise his autocratic prerogative and cared not what +the people thought. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, the Seigneur Desaurac, recovering, became a prey to greater +restlessness; no sooner was he able to get about, than, accompanied by +a faithful servant, Sanchez, he left the neighborhood, and, for a +number of years, led a migratory existence in continental capitals. +The revolt of the colonies in America and the news of the contemplated +departure of the brave Lafayette for the seat of hostilities, offered, +at least, a pretext to break the fetters of a purposeless life. At +once, he placed his sword at Lafayette's disposal, and packed himself +and servitor—a fellow of dog-like fidelity—across the ocean. There, +at the seat of war's alarms, in the great conflict waged in the name of +liberty, he met a soldier's end, far from the fief of his ancestors. +Sanchez, the man, buried him, and, having dutifully performed this last +task, walked away from the grave and out of the army. +</P> + +<P> +During this while, the son by the peasant woman, intrusted to an old +fishwife who had been allowed to usurp a patch of his father's lands, +received scanty care and attention, even when the stipulated fees for +his maintenance had continued to come; but when, at the Seigneur's +death, they ceased, any slight solicitude on the caretaker's part +soured to acrimony. An offspring of dubious parentage, she begrudged +him his bread; kept him from her own precious brood, and taught them to +address him as "brat," "pauper," or by terms even more forcible. Thus +set upon, frequently he fought; but like young wolves, hunting in +packs, they worried him to the earth, and, when he continued to +struggle, beat him to unconsciousness, if not submission. +</P> + +<P> +One day, after such an experience at the hands of those who had +partaken of the Seigneur's liberality, the boy, all bruised and aching, +fled to the woods, and, with the instinct of an animal to hide, buried +himself in its deepest recesses. Night came; encompassed by strange +sounds, unknown terrors, he crept to the verge of the forest, and lying +there, looked out across the distance toward the scattered habitations, +visible through the gloom. One tiny yellow dot of light which he +located held his glance. Should he return? That small stone hut, +squalid as it was, had been his only remembered home. But the thought +of the reception that awaited him there made him hesitate; the stars +coming out, seemed to lend courage to his resolution, and, with his +face yet turned toward the low long strip of land, sprinkled with the +faint, receding points of light, he fell asleep. +</P> + +<P> +The earliest shafts of morn, however, awaking him, sent him quickly +back into the dark forest, where all day he kept to the most shadowy +screens and covers, fearing he should be followed, and, perhaps, +captured. But the second night was like the first, the next like the +second, and the days continued to pass with no signs of pursuit. +Pinched by hunger, certain of the berries and roots he ate poisoned +him, until in time he profited by his sufferings and learned to +discriminate in his choice of the frugal fare about him. Not that his +appetite was ever satisfied, even when he extended his explorations to +the beach at night, digging in the sand with his fingers for cockles, +or prowling about the rocks for mussels. +</P> + +<P> +Yet, despite all, he hugged to his breast a compensating sense of +liberty; the biting tooth of autumn was preferable to the stripes and +tongue-lashings of the old life; and, if now frugal repasts were the +rule, hunger had often been his lot in the past. So he assimilated +with his surroundings; learned not to fear the animals, and they, to +know him; indeed, they seemed to recognize him by that sharp unsated +glint of the eye as one of their kind. When the days grew bleaker and +the nights colder, he took refuge in a corner within the gray walls of +the moss-grown castle of his ancestors, the old Seigneurs. No cheerful +place, above all at night, when the spirits of the dead seem to walk +abroad, and sobs, moans, and fierce voices fill the air! Then, +creeping closer to the fire he had started in the giant hearth, +wide-eyed he would listen, only at length through sheer weariness to +fall asleep. Nevertheless, it was a shelter, and here, throughout the +winter, the boy remained. +</P> + +<P> +Here, too, Sanchez, the Seigneur's old servant, returning months later +from long wanderings to the vicinity of the Mount—for no especial +reason, save the desire once more to see the place—had found him. And +at the sight the man frowned. +</P> + +<P> +In the later days, the Seigneur Desaurac had become somewhat unmindful, +if not forgetful, of his own flesh and blood. It may be that the +absorbing character of the large and chivalrous motives that animated +him left little disposition or leisure for private concerns; at any +rate, he seemed seldom to have thought, much less spoken of, that +"hostage of fortune" he had left behind; an absent-mindedness that in +no wise surprised the servant—which, indeed, met the man's full, +unspoken approval! The Seigneur, his master, was a nobleman of +untarnished ancestry, to be followed and served; the son—Sanchez had +never forgiven the mother her low-born extraction. He was, himself, a +peasant! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A SUDDEN RESOLUTION +</H4> + +<P> +After his chance encounter with my lady, the Governor's daughter, and +Beppo, her attendant, the boy walked quickly from the Mount to the +forest. His eyes were still bright; his cheeks yet burned, but +occasionally the shadow of a smile played about his mouth, and he threw +up his head fiercely. At the verge of the wood he looked back, stood +for a moment with the reflection of light on his face, then plunged +into the shadows of the sylvan labyrinth. Near the east door of the +castle, which presently he reached, he stopped for an armful of +faggots, and, bending under his load, passed through an entrance, +seared and battered, across a great roofless space and up a flight of +steps to a room that had once been the kitchen of the vast +establishment. As he entered, a man, thin, wizened, though active +looking, turned around. +</P> + +<P> +"So you've got back?" he said in a grumbling tone. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," answered the boy good-naturedly, casting the wood to the +flagging near the flame and brushing his coat with his hand; "the storm +kept us out last night, Sanchez." +</P> + +<P> +"It'll keep you out for good some day," remarked the man. "You'll be +drowned, if you don't have a care." +</P> + +<P> +"Better that than being hanged!" returned the lad lightly. +</P> + +<P> +The other's response, beneath his breath, was lost, as he drew his +stool closer to the pot above the blaze, removed the lid and peered +within. Apparently his survey was not satisfactory, for he replaced +the cover, clasped his fingers over his knees and half closed his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's the fish?" +</P> + +<P> +The boy, thoughtfully regarding the flames, started; when he had left +the child and Beppo, unconsciously he had dropped it, but this he did +not now explain. "I didn't bring one." +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't bring one?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the boy, flushing slightly. +</P> + +<P> +"And not a bone or scrap in the larder! Niggardly fishermen! A small +enough wage—for going to sea and helping them—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I could have had what I wanted. And they are not niggardly! +Only—I forgot." +</P> + +<P> +"Forgot!" The man lifted his hands, but any further evidence of +surprise or expostulation was interrupted by a sudden ebullition in the +pot. +</P> + +<P> +Left to his thoughts, the boy stepped to the window; for some time +stood motionless, gazing through a forest rift at the end of which +uprose the top of an Aladdin-like structure, by an optical illusion +become a part of that locality; a conjuror's castle in the wood! +</P> + +<P> +"The Mount looks near to-night, Sanchez!" +</P> + +<P> +"Near?" The man took from its hook the pot and set it on the table. +"Not too near to suit the Governor, perhaps!" +</P> + +<P> +"And why should it suit him?" drawing a stool to the table and sitting +down. +</P> + +<P> +"Because he must be so fond of looking at the forest." +</P> + +<P> +"And does that—please him?" +</P> + +<P> +"How could it fail to? Isn't it a nice wood? Oh, yes, I'll warrant +you he finds it to his liking. And all the lands about the forest that +used to belong to the old Seigneurs, and which the peasants have +taken—waste lands they have tilled—he must think them very fine to +look at, now! And what a hubbub there would be, if the lazy peasants +had to pay their métayage, and fire-tax and road-tax—and all the other +taxes—the way the other peasants do—to him—" +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing!" The man's jaw closed like a steel trap. "The porridge is +burned." +</P> + +<P> +And with no further word the meal proceeded. The man, first to finish, +lighted his pipe, moved again to the fire, and, maintaining a +taciturnity that had become more or less habitual, stolidly devoted +himself to the solace of the weed and the companionship of his own +reflections. Once or twice the boy seemed about to speak and did not; +finally, however, he leaned forward, a more resolute light in his +sparkling black eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"You never learned to read, Sanchez?" +</P> + +<P> +At the unexpected question, the smoke puffed suddenly from the man's +lips. "Not I." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor write?" +</P> + +<P> +The man made a rough gesture. "Nor sail to the moon!" he returned +derisively. "Read? Rubbish! Write? What for? Does it bring more +fish to your nets?" +</P> + +<P> +"Who—could show me how to read and write?" +</P> + +<P> +"You?" Sanchez stared. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Books are the tools of the devil!" declared Sanchez shortly. "There +was a black man here to-day with a paper—a 'writ,' I think he called +it—or a 'service' of some kind—anyhow, it must have been in Latin," +violently, "for such gibberish, I never heard and—" +</P> + +<P> +The boy rose. "People who can't read and write are low and ignorant!" +</P> + +<P> +"Eh? What's come over you?" +</P> + +<P> +"My father was a gentleman." +</P> + +<P> +"Your father!—yes—" +</P> + +<P> +"And a Seigneur!—" +</P> + +<P> +"A Seigneur truly!" +</P> + +<P> +"And I mean to be one!" said the boy suddenly, closing his fists. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, oh! So that's it?" derisively. "You! A Seigneur? Whose +mother—" +</P> + +<P> +"Who could teach me?" Determined, but with a trace of color on his +brown cheek, the boy looked down. +</P> + +<P> +"Who?" The man began to recover from his surprise. "That's not so +easy to tell. But if you must know—well, there's Gabriel Gabarie, for +one, a poet of the people. He might do it—although there's talk of +cutting off his head—" +</P> + +<P> +"What for?" +</P> + +<P> +"For knowing how to write." +</P> + +<P> +The lad reached for his hat. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are you going?" +</P> + +<P> +"To the poet's." +</P> + +<P> +"At this late hour! You are in a hurry!" +</P> + +<P> +"If what you say is true, there's no time to lose." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if you find him writing verses about liberty and equality, don't +interrupt him, or <I>you'll</I> lose <I>your</I> head," shouted the man. +</P> + +<P> +But when the sound of the boy's footsteps had ceased, Sanchez's +expression changed; more bent, more worn, he got up and walked slowly +to and fro. "A fine Seigneur!" The moldering walls seemed to echo the +words. "A fine Seigneur!" he muttered, and again sat brooding by the +fire. +</P> + +<P> +In the gathering dusk the lad strode briskly on. A squirrel barked to +the right; he did not look around. A partridge drummed to the left; +usually alert to wood sound or life, to-night he did not heed it. But, +fairly out of the forest and making his way with the same air of +resolution across the sands toward the lowland beyond, his attention, +on a sudden, became forcibly diverted. He had but half completed the +distance from the place where he had left the wood to the objective +point in the curvature of the shore, when to the left through the +gloom, a great vehicle, drawn by six horses, could be seen rapidly +approaching. From the imposing equipage gleamed many lamps; the moon, +which ere this had begun to assert its place in the heavens, made +bright the shining harness and shone on the polished surface of the +golden car. Wondering, the boy paused. +</P> + +<P> +"What is that?" +</P> + +<P> +The person addressed, a fisherman belated, bending to the burden on his +shoulders, stopped, and, breathing hard, looked around and watched the +approaching vehicle intently. +</P> + +<P> +"The Governor's carriage!" he said. "Haven't you ever heard of the +Governor's carriage?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"That's because he hasn't used it lately; but in her ladyship's day—" +</P> + +<P> +"Her ladyship?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Governor's lady—he bought it for her. But she soon got tired of +it—or perhaps didn't like the way the people looked at her!" roughly. +"<I>Mon dieu!</I> perhaps they did scowl a little—for it didn't please +them, I can tell you!—the sight of all that gold squeezed from the +taxes!" +</P> + +<P> +"Where is he going now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nowhere himself—he never goes far from the Mount. But the Lady +Elise, his daughter—some one in the village was saying she was going +to Paris—" +</P> + +<P> +"Paris!" The lad repeated the word quickly. "What for?" +</P> + +<P> +"What do all the great lords and nobles send their children there for? +To get educated—married, and—to learn the tricks of the court! Bah!" +With a coarse laugh the man turned; stooping beneath his load, he moved +grumblingly on. +</P> + +<P> +The boy, however, did not stir; as in a dream he looked first at the +Mount, a dark triangle against the sky, then at the carriage. Nearer +the latter drew, was about to dash by, when suddenly the driver, on his +high seat, uttered an exclamation and at the same time tugged hard at +the reins. The vehicle took a quick turn, lurched dangerously in its +top-heavy pomp, and, almost upsetting, came to a standstill nearly +opposite the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Careless dog!" a shrill voice screamed from the inside. "What are you +doing?" +</P> + +<P> +"The <I>lises</I>, your Excellency!" The driver's voice was thick; as he +spoke he swayed uncertainly. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Lises</I>—quicksands—" +</P> + +<P> +"There, your Excellency," indicating a gleaming place right in their +path; a small bright spot that looked as if it might have been +polished, while elsewhere on the surrounding sands tiny rippling +parallels caressed the eye with streaks of black and silver. "I saw it +in time!" +</P> + +<P> +"In time!" angrily. "Imbecile! Didn't you know it was there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, your Excellency! Only I had misjudged a little, and—" +The man's manner showed he was frightened. +</P> + +<P> +"Falsehoods! You have been drinking! Don't answer. You shall hear of +this later. Drive around the spot." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, your Excellency," was the now sober and subdued answer. +</P> + +<P> +Ere he obeyed, however, the carriage door, from which the Governor had +been leaning, swung open. "Wait!" he called out impatiently, and tried +to close it, but the catch—probably from long disuse—would not hold, +and, before the liveried servant perched on the lofty carriage behind +had fully perceived the fact and had recovered himself sufficiently to +think of his duties, the boy on the beach had sprung forward. +</P> + +<P> +"Slam it!" commanded an irate voice. +</P> + +<P> +The lad complied, and as he did so, peered eagerly into the capacious +depths of the vehicle. +</P> + +<P> +"The boy with the fish!" exclaimed at the same time a girlish treble +within. +</P> + +<P> +"Eh?" my lord turned sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"An impudent lad who stopped the Lady Elise!" exclaimed the fat +man—surely Beppo—on the front seat. +</P> + +<P> +"Stopped the Lady Elise!" The Governor repeated the words slowly; an +ominous pause was followed by an abrupt movement on the part of the +child. +</P> + +<P> +"He did not stop me; it was I who nearly ran over him, and it was my +fault. Beppo does not tell the truth—he's a wicked man!—and I'm glad +I'm not going to see him any more! And the boy wasn't impudent; at +least until Beppo offered to strike him, and then, Beppo didn't! +Beppo," derisively, "was afraid!" +</P> + +<P> +"My lady," Beppo's voice was soft and unctuous, "construes forbearance +for fear." +</P> + +<P> +"Step nearer, boy!" +</P> + +<P> +Partly blinded by the lamps, the lad obeyed; was cognizant of a +piercing scrutiny; two hard, steely eyes that seemed to read his inmost +thoughts; a face, indistinguishable but compelling; beyond, something +white—a girl's dress—that moved and fluttered! +</P> + +<P> +"Who is he?" +</P> + +<P> +"A poor boy who lives in the woods, papa!" +</P> + +<P> +But Beppo bent forward and whispered, his words too low for the lad to +catch. Whatever his information, the Governor started; the questioning +glance on an instant brightened, and his head was thrust forward close +to the boy's. A chill seemed to pass over the lad, yet he did not +quail. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-by, boy!" said the child, and, leaning from the window, smiled +down at him. +</P> + +<P> +He tried to answer, when a hand pulled her in somewhat over-suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"Drive on!" Again the shrill tones cut the air. "Drive on, I tell +you! <I>Diable</I>! What are you standing here for!" +</P> + +<P> +A whip lashed the air and the horses leaped forward. The back wheels +of the vehicle almost struck the lad, but, motionless, he continued +staring after it. Farther it drew away, and, as he remained thus he +discerned, or fancied he discerned, a girl's face at the back—a ribbon +that waved for a moment in the moonlight, and then was gone. +</P> + +<P> +Eight years elapsed before next he saw her. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A DANCE ON THE BEACH +</H4> + +<P> +The great vernal equinox of April 178-, was the cause of certain +unusual movements of the tide, which made old mariners and +coast-fishermen shake their heads and gaze seaward, out of all +reckoning. At times, after a tempest, on this strange coast, the +waters would rise in a manner and at an hour out of the ordinary, and +then among the dwellers on the shore, there were those who +prognosticated dire unhappiness, telling how the sea had once devoured +two villages overnight, and how, beneath the sands, were homes intact, +with the people yet in their beds. +</P> + +<P> +Concerned with a disordered social system and men in and out of +dungeons, the Governor had little time and less inclination to note the +caprices of the tide or the vagaries of the strand. The people! The +menacing and mercurial ebb and flow of their moods! The maintenance of +autocratic power on the land, and, a more difficult task, on the +sea—these were matters of greater import than the phenomena of nature +whose purposes man is powerless to shape or curb. My lady, his +daughter, however, who had just returned from seven years' schooling at +a convent and one year at court where the Queen, Marie Antoinette, set +the fashion of gaiety, found in the conduct of their great neighbor, +the ocean, a source of both entertainment and instruction for her +guests, a merry company transported from Versailles. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it not a sight well worth seeing after your tranquil Seine, my +Lords?" she would say with a wave of her white hand toward the restless +sea. "Here, perched in mid air like eagles, you have watched the +'grand tide,' as we call it, come in—like no other tide—faster than a +horse can gallop! Where else could you witness the like?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nowhere. And when it goes out—" +</P> + +<P> +"It goes out so far, you can no longer see it; only a vast beach that +reaches to the horizon, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"Must be very dangerous?" +</P> + +<P> +"For a few days, perhaps; later, not at all, when the petites tides are +the rule, and can be depended on. Then are the sands, except for one +or two places very well-known, as safe as your gardens at Versailles. +But remain, and—you shall see." +</P> + +<P> +Which they did—finding the place to their liking—or their hostess; +for the Governor, who cared not for guests, but must needs entertain +them for reasons of state, left them as much as might be to his +daughter. She, brimming with the ardor and effervescence of eighteen +years, accepted these responsibilities gladly; pending that period she +had referred to, turned the monks' great refectory into a ball-room, +and then, when the gales had swept away, proposed the sands themselves +as a scene for diversion both for her guests and the people. This, +despite the demur of his Excellency, her father. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it wise," he had asked, "to court the attention of the people?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I am not afraid!" she had answered. "And they are going to dance, +too!" +</P> + +<P> +"They!" He frowned. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not? It is the Queen's own idea. 'Let the people dance,' she has +said, 'and they will keep out of mischief.' Besides," with a prouder +poise of the bright head, "why shouldn't they see, and—like me?" +</P> + +<P> +"They like nothing except themselves, and," dryly, "to attempt to evade +their just obligations." +</P> + +<P> +"Can you blame them?" She made a light gesture. "Obligations, <I>mon +père</I>, are so tiresome!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well," hastily, "have your own way!" Although he spoke rather +shortly, on the whole he was not displeased with his daughter; her +betrothal with the Marquis de Beauvillers, a nobleman of large +estates,—arranged while she was yet a child!—promised a brilliant +marriage and in a measure offered to his Excellency some compensation +for that old and long-cherished disappointment—the birth of a girl +when his ambition had looked so strongly for an heir to his name as +well as to his estate. +</P> + +<P> +And so my lady and her guests danced and made merry on the sands below, +and the people came out from the mainland, or down from the houses in +the town at the base of the rock, to watch. A varied assemblage of +gaunt-looking men and bent, low-browed women, for the most part they +stood sullen and silent; though exchanging meaning glances now and then +as if to say: "Do you note all this ostentation—all this glitter and +display? Yes; and some day—" Upon brooding brows, in deep-set eyes, +on furrowed faces a question and an answer seemed to gleam and pass. +Endowed with natural optimism and a vivacity somewhat heedless, my lady +appeared unconscious of all this latent enmity until an unlooked-for +incident, justifying in a measure the Governor's demur, broke in upon +the evening's festivities and claimed her attention. +</P> + +<P> +On the beach, lighted by torches, a dainty minuet was proceeding gaily, +when through the throng of onlookers, a young man with dark head set on +a frame tall and powerful, worked his way carefully to a point where he +was afforded at least a restricted view of the animated spectacle. +Absorbed each in his or her way in the scene before them, no one +noticed him, and, with hat drawn over his brow, and standing in the +shadow of the towering head-dresses of several peasant women, he seemed +content to attract as little attention to himself as possible. His +look, at first quick and alert, that of a man taking stock of his +surroundings, suddenly became intent and piercing, as, passing in +survey over the lowly spectators to the glittering company, it centered +itself on the young mistress of festivities. +</P> + +<P> +In costume white and shining, the Lady Elise moved through the graceful +numbers, her slender supple figure now poised, now swaying, from head +to foot responsive to the rhythm of that "pastime of little steps." +Her lips, too, were busy, but such was the witchery of her motion—all +fire and life!—the silk-stockinged cavaliers whom she thus regaled +with wit, mockery, or jest, could, for the most part, respond only with +admiring glances or weakly protesting words. +</P> + +<P> +"That pretty fellow, her partner," with a contemptuous accent on the +adjective, "is the Marquis de Beauvillers, a kinsman of the King!" said +one of the women in the throng. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Ma foi</I>! They're well matched. A dancing doll for a popinjay!" +</P> + +<P> +The young man behind the head-dresses, now nodding viciously, moved +nearer the front. Dressed in the rough though not unpicturesque +fashion of the northern fisherman, a touch of color in his apparel lent +to his bearing a note of romance the bold expression of his swarthy +face did not belie. For a few moments he watched the girl; the +changing eyes and lips, shadowed by hair that shone and flashed like +bright burnished gold; then catching her gaze, the black eyes gleamed. +An instant their eyes lingered; hers startled, puzzled. +</P> + +<P> +"Where have I seen him?" My lady, in turning, paused to swing over her +shoulders a glance. +</P> + +<P> +"Whom?" asked her companion in the dance—a fair, handsome nobleman of +slim figure and elegant bearing. +</P> + +<P> +"That's just what I can't tell you," she answered, sweeping a courtesy +that fitted the rhythm of the music. "Only a face I should remember!" +</P> + +<P> +"Should?" The Marquis' look followed hers. +</P> + +<P> +But the subject of their conversation, as if divining the trend of +their talk, had drawn back. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he is gone now," she answered. +</P> + +<P> +"A malcontent, perhaps! One meets them nowadays." +</P> + +<P> +"No, no! He did not look—" +</P> + +<P> +"Some poor fellow, then, your beauty has entrapped?" he insinuated. +"Humble admirer!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then I would remember him!" she laughed as the dance came to an end. +</P> + +<P> +Now in a tented pavilion, servants, richly garbed in festal costume, +passed among the guests, circulating trays, bright with golden dishes +and goblets, stamped with the ancient insignia of the Mount, and once +the property of the affluent monks, early rulers of the place. Other +attendants followed, bearing light delicacies, confections and +marvelous frosted towers and structures from the castle kitchen. +</P> + +<P> +"The patron saint in sugar!" Merry exclamations greeted these examples +of skill and cunning. "Are we to devour the saint?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, no; he is only to look at!" +</P> + +<P> +"But the Mount in cake—?" +</P> + +<P> +"You may cut into that—though beware!—not so deep as the dungeons!" +</P> + +<P> +"A piece of the cloister!" +</P> + +<P> +"A bit of the abbey!" +</P> + +<P> +"And you, Elise?" +</P> + +<P> +The girl reached gaily. "A little of the froth of the sea!" +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, not far distant, a barrel had been broached and wine was +being circulated among the people. There, master of ceremonies, Beppo +dispensed advice with the beverage, his grumbling talk heard above the +light laughter and chatter of the lords and ladies. +</P> + +<P> +"Drink to his Excellency!" As he spoke, the Governor's man, from the +elevated stand upon which he stood, gazed arrogantly around him. +"Clods! Sponges that sop without a word of thanks! Who only think of +your stomachs! Drink to the Governor, I say!" +</P> + +<P> +"To the Governor!" exclaimed a few, but it might have been noticed they +were men from the town, directly beneath the shadow of his Excellency's +castle, and now close within reach of the fat factotum's arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Once more! Had I the ordering of wine, the barrels would all be empty +ones, but her ladyship would be generous, and—" +</P> + +<P> +Beppo broke abruptly off, his wandering glance, on a sudden, arrested. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Hein!</I>" he exclaimed, with eyes protruding. +</P> + +<P> +A moment he stammered a few words of surprise and incredulity, the +while he continued to search eagerly—but now in vain! The object of +his startled attention, illumined, for an instant, on the outskirts of +the throng, by the glare of a torch, was no more to be descried. As +questioning the reality of a fleeting impression, his gaze fixed itself +again near the edge of flickering lights; shifted uncertainly to the +pavilion where servants from the Mount hurried to and fro; then back to +the people around him. His jaw which had dropped grew suddenly firm. +</P> + +<P> +"Clear a space for the dance!" he called out in tones impatient, +excited. "It is her ladyship's command—so see you step blithely! And +you fellows there, with the <I>tambourin</I> and <I>hautbois</I>, come forward!" +</P> + +<P> +Two men, clad in sheepskin and carrying rude instruments, obediently +advanced, and at once, in marked contrast to the recent tinkling +measures of the orchestra, a wild, half-barbaric concord rang out. +</P> + +<P> +But the Governor's man, having thus far executed the orders he had +received, did not linger to see whether or not his own injunction, "to +step blithely," was observed; some concern, remote from <I>gaillarde</I>, +<I>gavotte</I> or <I>bourrée</I> of the people, caused him hastily to dismount +from his stand and make his way from the throng. As he started at a +rapid pace across the sands, his eyes, now shining with anticipation, +looked back. +</P> + +<P> +"What could have brought him here? Him!" he repeated. "Ah, my fine +fellow, this should prove a lucky stroke for me!" And quickening his +step, until he almost ran, Beppo hurried toward the tower gate of the +Mount. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +AN INTERRUPTION +</H4> + +<P> +"They seem not to appreciate your <I>fête champêtre</I>, my Lady!" At the +verge of the group of peasant dancers, the Lady Elise and the Marquis +de Beauvillers, who had left the other guests to the enjoyment of fresh +culinary surprises, paused to survey a scene, intended, yet failing, to +be festal. For whether these people were too sodden to avail +themselves of the opportunity for merrymaking, or liked not the notion +of tripping together at Beppo's command, their movements, which should +have been free and untrammeled as the vigorous swing of the music, were +characterized only by painful monotony and lagging. In the half-gloom +they came together like shadows; separated aimlessly and cast misshapen +silhouettes—caricatures of frolicking peasants—on the broad surface +of the sands beyond. These bobbing, black spots my lady disapprovingly +regarded. +</P> + +<P> +"They seem not in the mood, truly!" tapping her foot on the beach. +</P> + +<P> +"Here—and elsewhere!" he laughed. +</P> + +<P> +But the Governor's daughter made an impatient movement; memories of the +dance, as she had often seen it, when she was a child at the Mount, +recurred to her. "They seem to have forgotten!" Her eyes flashed. "I +should like to show them." +</P> + +<P> +"You? My Lady!" +</P> + +<P> +She did not answer; pressing her red lips, she glanced sharply around. +"Stupid people! Half of them are only looking on! When they can +dance, they won't, and—" She gave a slight start, for near her, +almost at her elbow, stood the young seaman she had observed only a +short time before, when the minuet was in progress. His dark eyes were +bent on her and she surprised on his face an expression half derisory, +half quizzical. Her look changed to one of displeasure. +</P> + +<P> +"You are not dancing?" severely. +</P> + +<P> +"No, my Lady." Too late, perhaps, he regretted his temerity—that too +unveiled and open regard. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" more imperiously. +</P> + +<P> +"I—" he began and stopped. +</P> + +<P> +"You <I>can</I> dance?" +</P> + +<P> +"A little, perhaps—" +</P> + +<P> +"As well as they?" looking at the people. +</P> + +<P> +"Wooden fantoccini!" said the man, a flicker of bold amusement +returning to his face. +</P> + +<P> +"Fantoccini?" spoke the girl impatiently. "What know <I>you</I> of them?" +</P> + +<P> +"We Breton seamen sail far, on occasion." +</P> + +<P> +"Far enough to gain in assurance!" cried my lady, with golden head +high, surveying him disdainfully through half-closed, sweeping lashes. +"But you shall prove your right." +</P> + +<P> +"Right?" asked the fellow, his eyes fixed intently upon her. +</P> + +<P> +"The right of one who does not dance—to criticize those who do!" she +said pointedly, and made, on the sudden, an imperious gesture. +</P> + +<P> +He gave a start of surprise; audacious though he was, he looked as if +he would draw back. "What? With you, my Lady?" +</P> + +<P> +A gleam of satisfaction, a little cold and scornful, shone from the +girl's eyes at this evidence of his discomfiture. "Unless," she added +maliciously, "you fear you—can not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Fear?" His look shot around; a moment he seemed to hesitate; then a +more reckless expression swept suddenly over his dark features and he +sprang to her side. +</P> + +<P> +"At your Ladyship's command!" +</P> + +<P> +My lady's white chin lifted. The presumptuous fellow knew the dance of +the Mount—danced it well, no doubt!—else why such ease and assurance? +Her lids veiled a look of disappointment; she was half-minded curtly to +dismiss him, when a few words of low remonstrance and the sight of my +lord's face decided her. She drew aside her skirts swiftly; flashed +back at the nobleman a smile, capricious and wilful. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-046"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-046.jpg" ALT="The presumptuous fellow knew the dance of the Mount" BORDER="2"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center"> +The presumptuous fellow knew the dance of the Mount +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"They," indicating the peasants, "must have an example, my Lord!" she +exclaimed, and stood, with eyes sparkling, waiting the instant to catch +up the rhythm. +</P> + +<P> +But the Marquis, not finding the reason sufficient to warrant such +condescension, gazed with mute protest and disapproval on the two +figures, so ill-assorted: my lady, in robe of satin, fastened with +tassels of silver—the sleeves, wide and short, trimmed at the elbow +with fine lace of Brussels and drawn up at the shoulder with glistening +knots of diamonds; the other, clad in the rough raiment of a seaman! +The nice, critical sense of the Marquis suffered from this spectacle of +the incongruous; his eyes, seeking in vain those of the Governor's +daughter, turned and rested querulously on the heavy-browed peasants, +most of whom, drawing nearer, viewed the scene with stolid +indifference. In the gaze of only a few did that first stupid +expression suffer any change; then it varied to one of vague wonder, +half-apathetic inquiry! +</P> + +<P> +"Is he mad?" whispered a clod of this class to a neighbor. +</P> + +<P> +"Not so loud!" breathed the other in a low tone. +</P> + +<P> +"But he," regarding with dull awe the young fisherman, "doesn't care! +Look! What foolhardiness! He's going to dance with her!" +</P> + +<P> +"Witchcraft! That's what I call it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Hush!" +</P> + +<P> +My lady extended the tips of her fingers. "Attack well!" runs the old +Gallic injunction to dancers; the partner she had chosen apparently +understood its significance. A lithe muscular hand closed on the small +one; whirled my lady swiftly; half back again. It took away her breath +a little, so forcible and unceremonious that beginning! Then, obeying +the mad rhythm of the movement, she yielded to the infectious measure. +An arm quickly encircled her waist; swept the slender form +here,—there. Never had she had partner so vigorous, yet graceful. +One who understood so well this song of the soil; its wild symbolism; +the ancient music of the hardy Scandinavians who first brought the +dance to these shores. +</P> + +<P> +More stirring, the melodies resounded—faster—faster. In a rapid +turn, the golden hair just brushed the dark, glowing face. He bent +lower; as if she had been but a peasant maid, the bold eyes looked now +down into hers; nay, more—in their depths she might fancy almost a +warmer sparkle—of mute admiration! And her face, on a sudden, +changed; grew cold. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Certes</I>, your Ladyship sets them an example!" murmured the audacious +fellow. "Though, <I>pardi!</I>—one not easy to imitate!" +</P> + +<P> +She threw back her head, proudly, imperiously; the brown eyes gleamed, +and certain sharp words of reproof were about to spring from her lips, +when abruptly, above the sound of the music, a trumpet call, afar, rang +out. My lady—not sorry perhaps of the pretext—at once stopped. +</P> + +<P> +"I thank your Ladyship," said the man and bowed low. +</P> + +<P> +But the Governor's daughter seemed, or affected, not to hear, regarding +the other dancers, who likewise had come to a standstill—the two +musicians looking up from instruments now silent. A moment yet the +young fisherman lingered; seemed about once more to voice his +acknowledgments, but, catching the dull eye of a peasant, stepped back +instead. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Sapristi</I>! They might, at least, have waited until the end of the +dance!" he muttered, and, with a final look over his shoulder and a low +laugh, disappeared in the crowd. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are the enemy?" It was the Marquis who spoke—in accents he +strove to make light and thereby conceal, perhaps, possible annoyance. +Coming forward, he looked around toward the point whence the sound had +proceeded. "If I mistake not," a note of inquiry in his tone, "it +means—a call to arms!" +</P> + +<P> +My lady bit her lips; her eyes still gleamed with the bright cold light +of a topaz. "Why—a call to arms?" she asked somewhat petulantly, +raising her hand to her hair, a little disarranged in the dance. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps, as a part of the military discipline?" murmured the Marquis +dubiously. "See!" With sudden interest, he indicated a part of the +Mount that had been black against the star-spangled sky, now showing +sickly points of light. "It does mean something! They are coming +down!" +</P> + +<P> +And even as the Marquis spoke, a clatter of hoofs on the stone pavement +leading from the Mount to the sand ushered a horseman into view. He +was followed by another and yet another, until in somewhat desultory +fashion, owing to the tortuous difficulties of the narrow way that had +separated them above, an array of mounted men was gathered at the base +of the rock. But only for a moment; a few words from one of their +number, evidently in command, and they dispersed; some to ride around +the Mount to the left, others to the right. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps Elise will enlighten us?" Of one accord her guests now +crowded around the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Does the Governor intend to take us prisoners?" +</P> + +<P> +"You imply it is necessary to do that—to keep you?" answered my lady. +</P> + +<P> +"Then why—" +</P> + +<P> +Her expression, as perplexed as theirs, answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Beppo!" She waved her hand. +</P> + +<P> +The Governor's servitor, who was passing, with an anxious, inquiring +look upon his face, glanced around. +</P> + +<P> +"Beppo!" she repeated, and beckoned again. +</P> + +<P> +The man approached. "Your Ladyship wishes to speak with me?" he asked +in a voice he endeavored to make unconcerned. +</P> + +<P> +"I do." In her manner the old antipathy she had felt toward him as a +child again became manifest. "What do the soldiers want? Why have +they come down?" +</P> + +<P> +His eyes shifted. "I—my Lady—" he stammered. +</P> + +<P> +The little foot struck the strand. "Why don't you answer? You heard +my question?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry, my Lady—" Again he hesitated: "<I>Le Seigneur Noir</I> has +been seen on the beach!" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Le Seigneur Noir?</I>" she repeated. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, my Lady. He was caught sight of among the peasants, at the time +the barrels were opened, in accordance with your Ladyship's command. I +assure your Ladyship," with growing eagerness, "there can be no +mistake, as—" +</P> + +<P> +"Who," interrupted my lady sharply, "<I>is</I> this Black Seigneur?" +</P> + +<P> +Beppo's manner changed. "A man," he said solemnly, "his Excellency, +the Governor, has long been most anxious to capture." +</P> + +<P> +The girl's eyes flashed with impatience, and then she began to laugh. +"Saw you ever, my Lords and Ladies, his equal for equivocation? You +put to him the question direct, and he answers—" +</P> + +<P> +The loud report of a carbine from the other side of the Mount, followed +by a desultory volley, interrupted her. The laughter died on her lips; +the color left her cheek. +</P> + +<P> +"What—" The startled look in her eyes completed the sentence. +</P> + +<P> +Beppo rubbed his hands softly. "His Excellency takes no chances!" he +murmured. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A MESSENGER FOR MY LADY +</H4> + +<P> +"So you failed to capture him, Monsieur le Commandant?" +</P> + +<P> +The speaker, the Marquis de Beauvillers, leaned more comfortably back +in his chair in the small, rather barely furnished barracks' +sitting-room in which he found himself later that night and languidly +surveyed the florid, irate countenance of the man in uniform before him. +</P> + +<P> +"No, Monsieur le Marquis," said the latter, endeavoring to conceal any +evidence of mortification or ill humor in the presence of a visitor so +distinguished; "we didn't. But," as if to turn the conversation, with +a gesture toward a well-laden table, "I should feel honored if—" +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, no! After our repast on the beach—however, stand on no +ceremony yourself. Nay, I insist—" +</P> + +<P> +"If Monsieur le Marquis insists!—" The commandant drew up his chair; +then, reaching for a bottle, poured out a glass of wine, which he +offered his guest. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no!" said the Marquis. "But as I remarked before, stand on no +ceremony!" And daintily opening a snuff-box, he watched his host with +an expression half-amused, half-ironical. +</P> + +<P> +That person ate and drank with little relish; the wine—so he said—had +spoiled; and the dishes were without flavor; it was fortunate Monsieur +le Marquis had no appetite— +</P> + +<P> +Whereupon the Marquis smiled; but, considering the circumstances, in +his own mind excused the commandant, who had only just come from the +Governor's palace, and who, after the interview that undoubtedly had +ensued, could hardly be expected to find the pâté palatable, or the +wine to his liking. This, despite the complaisance of the young +nobleman whom the commandant had encountered, while descending from the +Governor's abode, and who, adapting his step to the other's had +accompanied the officer back to his quarters, and graciously accepted +an invitation to enter. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you know the old saying," the Marquis closed the box with a +snap, "'There's many a slip'—but how," airily brushing with his +handkerchief imaginary particles from a long lace cuff, "did he get +away?" +</P> + +<P> +"He <I>had</I> got away before we were down on the beach. It was a +wild-goose chase, at best. And so I told his Excellency, the +Governor—" +</P> + +<P> +"A thankless task, no doubt! But the shots we heard—" +</P> + +<P> +"An imbecile soldier saw a shadow; fired at it, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"The others followed suit?" laughed the visitor. +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly!" The commandant's face grew red; fiercely he pulled at his +mustache. "What can one expect, when they make soldiers out of every +dunderpate that comes along?" +</P> + +<P> +"True!" assented the Marquis. "But this fellow, this Black +Seigneur—why is the Governor so anxious to lay hands on him? Who is +he, and what has he done? I confess," languidly, "to a mild curiosity." +</P> + +<P> +"He's a privateersman and an outlaw, and has done enough to hang +himself a dozen times—" +</P> + +<P> +"When you capture him!" interposed the visitor lightly. A moment he +studied the massive oak beams of the ceiling. "Why do they call him +the Black Seigneur? An odd sobriquet!" +</P> + +<P> +"His father was a Seigneur—the last of the fief of Desaurac. The +Seigneurs have all been fair men for generations, while this fellow—" +</P> + +<P> +"Then he has noble blood in him?" The Marquis showed surprise. "Where +is the fief?" +</P> + +<P> +"The woods on the shore mark the beginning of it." +</P> + +<P> +"But—I don't understand. The father was a Seigneur; the son—" +</P> + +<P> +Bluntly the commandant explained; the son was a natural child; the +mother, a common peasant woman whom the former Seigneur had taken to +his house— +</P> + +<P> +"I see!" The young nobleman tapped his knee. "And that being the +case—" +</P> + +<P> +"Under the terms of the ancient grant, there being no legal heir, the +lands were confiscated to the crown. His Excellency, however, had +already bought many of the incumbrances against the property, and, in +view of this, and his services to the King, the fief, declared +forfeited by the courts, was subsequently granted and deeded, without +condition, to the Governor." +</P> + +<P> +"To the Governor!" repeated the Marquis. +</P> + +<P> +"Who at once began a rare clearing-out; forcing the peasants who for +years had not been paying métayage, to meet this just requirement, +or—move away!" +</P> + +<P> +"And did not some of them object?" +</P> + +<P> +"They did; but his Excellency found means. The most troublesome were +arrested and taken to the Mount, where they have had time to +reflect—his Excellency believes in no half-way measures with peasants." +</P> + +<P> +"A rich principality, no doubt!" half to himself spoke the Marquis. +</P> + +<P> +"I have heard," blurted the commandant, "he's going to give it to the +Lady Elise; restore the old castle and turn the grounds surrounding it +into a noble park." +</P> + +<P> +The visitor frowned, as if little liking the introduction of the lady's +name into the conversation. "And what did the Black Seigneur do then," +he asked coldly, "when he found his lands gone?" +</P> + +<P> +"Claimed it was a plot!—that his mother was an honest woman, though +neither the priest who performed the ceremony nor the marriage records +could be found. He even resisted at first—refused to be turned +out—and, skulking about the forest with his gun, kept the deputies at +bay. But they surrounded him at last; drove him to the castle, and +would have captured him, only he escaped that night, and took to the +high seas, where he has been making trouble ever since!" +</P> + +<P> +"Trouble?" +</P> + +<P> +"He has seriously hampered his Excellency's commerce; interfered with +his ships, and crippled his trade with the Orient." +</P> + +<P> +"But—the Governor has many boats, many men. Why have they failed to +capture him?" +</P> + +<P> +"For a number of reasons. In the first place he is one of the most +skilful pilots on the coast; when hard pressed, he does not hesitate to +use even the Isles des Rochers as a place of refuge." +</P> + +<P> +"The Isles des Rochers?" queried the nobleman. +</P> + +<P> +"A <I>chevaux-de-frise</I> on the sea, my Lord!" continued the commandant; +"where fifty barren isles are fortified by a thousand rocks; frothing +fangs when the tide is low; sharp teeth that lie in wait to bite when +the smiling lips of the treacherous waters have closed above! There, +the Governor's ships have followed him on several occasions, and—few +of them have come back!" +</P> + +<P> +"But surely there must be times when he can not depend on that retreat?" +</P> + +<P> +"There are, my Lord. His principal harbor and resort is a little isle +farther north—English, they call it—that offers refuge at any time to +miscreants from France. There may they lie peacefully, as in a cradle; +or go ashore with impunity, an they like. Oh, he is safe enough there. +Home for French exiles, they designate the place. Exiles! Bah! It +was there he first found means to get his ship—sharing his profits, no +doubt, with the islander who built her. There, too, he mustered his +crew—savage peasants who had been turned off the lands of the old +Seigneur; fisher-folk who had become outlaws rather than pay to the +Governor just dues from the sea; men fled from the <I>banalité</I> of the +mill, of the oven, of the wine-press—" +</P> + +<P> +"Still must he be a redoubtable fellow, to have done what he did +to-night; to have dared mingle with the people, under the Governor's +very guns!" +</P> + +<P> +"The people! He has nothing to fear from them. An ignorant, low, +disloyal lot! They look upon this fellow as a hero. He has played his +cards well; sends money to the lazy, worthless ones, under pretext that +they are poor, over-taxed, over-burdened. In his company is one +Gabriel Gabarie, a poet of the people, as he is styled, who keeps in +touch with those stirring trouble in Paris. Perhaps they hope for an +insurrection there, and then—" +</P> + +<P> +"An insurrection?" The Marquis' delicate features expressed ironical +protest; he dismissed the possibility with an airy wave of the hand. +"One should never anticipate trouble, Monsieur le Commandant," he said +lightly and rose. "Good night." +</P> + +<P> +"Good night, Monsieur le Marquis," returned the officer with due +deference, and accompanied his noble visitor to the door. +</P> + +<P> +At first, without the barracks, the Marquis walked easily on, but soon +the steepness of the narrow road, becoming more marked as it approached +the commanding structures at the top of the Mount, caused his gait +gradually to slacken; then he paused altogether, at an upper platform. +</P> + +<P> +From where he stood, by day could be seen, almost directly beneath, the +tiny habitations of men clinging like limpets to the precipitous sides +of the rocks at the base; now was visible only a void, an abysm, out of +which swam the sea; so far below, a boat looked no larger than a gull +on its silver surface; so immense, the dancing waves seemed receding to +a limit beyond the reach of the heavens. +</P> + +<P> +"You found him?" A girl's clear voice broke suddenly upon him. He +wheeled. +</P> + +<P> +"Elise! You!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes! why not? You found him? The commandant?" +</P> + +<P> +"At your command, but—" +</P> + +<P> +"And learned all?" +</P> + +<P> +"All he could tell." +</P> + +<P> +"It is reported at the castle that the man escaped!" quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"It is true. But," in a voice of languid surprise, "I believe you are +glad—" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no!" She shook her head. "Only," a smile curved her lips, "Beppo +will be so disappointed! Now," seating herself lightly on the low wall +of the giant rampart, "tell me all you have learned about this Black +Seigneur." +</P> + +<P> +The Marquis, considered; with certain reservations obeyed. At the +conclusion of his narrative, she spoke no word and he turned to her +inquiringly. Her brows were knit; her eyes down-bent. A moment he +regarded her in silence; then she looked up at him suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder," she said, her face bathed in the moonlight, "if—if it was +this Black Seigneur I danced with?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Black Seigneur!" My lord started; frowned. "Nonsense! What an +absurd fancy! He would not have dared!" +</P> + +<P> +"True," said the girl quickly. "You are right, my Lord. It is absurd. +He would not have dared." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A DISTANT MENACE +</H4> + +<P> +But guests come and guests go; pastimes draw to a close, and the hour +arrives when the curtain falls on the masque. The friends of my lady, +however reluctantly, were obliged at last to forgo further +holiday-making, depart from the Mount, and return to the court. An +imposing cavalcade, gleaming in crimson and gold, they wended down the +dark rock; laughing ladies, pranked-out cavaliers who waved their +perfumed hands with farewell kisses to the grim stronghold in the +desert, late their palace of pleasure, and to the young mistress +thereof. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-by, Elise!" The Marquis was last to go. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-by." +</P> + +<P> +He took her hand; held it to his lips. On the whole, he was not +ill-pleased. His wooing had apparently prospered; for, although the +marriage had been long arranged, my lady's beauty and capriciousness +had fanned in him the desire to appear a successful suitor for her +heart as well as her hand. If sometimes she laughed and thus failed to +receive his delicate gallantries in the mood in which they were +tendered, the Marquis' vanity only allowed him to conclude that a woman +does not laugh if she is displeased. It was enough that she found him +diverting; he served her; they were friends and had danced and ridden +through the spring days in amicable fashion. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-by," he repeated. "When are you coming to court again? The +Queen is sure to ask. I understand her Majesty is planning all manner +of brilliant entertainments, yet Versailles—without you, Elise!" +</P> + +<P> +"Me?" arching her finely penciled brows. "Oh, I'm thinking of staying +here, becoming a nun, and restoring the Mount to its old religious +prestige." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I'll come back a monk," he returned in the same tone. +</P> + +<P> +"If you come back at all!" provokingly. "There, go! The others will +soon be out of sight!" +</P> + +<P> +"I, too—alas, Elise!" +</P> + +<P> +He touched his horse; rode on, but soon looked back to where, against a +great, grim wall, stood a figure all in white gleaming in the sunshine. +The Marquis stopped; drew from his breast a deep red rose, and, gazing +upward, gracefully kissed the glowing token. Beneath the aureole of +golden hair my lady's proud face rewarded him with a faint smile, and +something—a tiny handkerchief—fluttered like a dove above the +frowning, time-worn rock. At that, with the eloquent gesture of a +troubadour, he threw his arm backward, as if to launch the impress on +the rose to the crimson lips of the girl, and then, plying his spurs, +galloped off. +</P> + +<P> +And as he went at a pace, headlong if not dangerous and fitting the +exigencies of the moment, my lord smiled. Truly had he presented a +perfect, dainty and gallant figure for any woman's eyes, and the Lady +Elise, he fancied, was not the least discerning of her sex. And had he +seen the girl, when an unkind angle of the wall hid him from sight, his +own nice estimate of the situation would have suffered no change. The +Mount, which formerly had resounded to the life and merriment of the +people from the court, on a sudden to her looked cold, barren, empty. +</P> + +<P> +"Heigh-ho!" she murmured, stretching her arms toward that point where +he—they—had vanished. "I shall die of ennui, I am sure!" And +thoughtfully retraced her steps to her own room. +</P> + +<P> +But she did not long stay there; by way of makeshift for gaiety, +substituted activity. The Mount, full of early recollections and +treasure-house mystery, furnished an incentive for exploration, and for +several days she devoted herself to its study; now pausing for an +instant's contemplation of a sculptured thing of beauty, then before +some closed door that held her, as at the threshold of a Bluebeard's +forbidden chamber. +</P> + +<P> +One day, such a door stood open and her curiosity became cured. She +had passed beneath a machicolated gateway, and climbing a stairway that +began in a watch-tower, found herself unexpectedly on a great platform. +Here several men, unkempt, pale, like creatures from another world, +were walking to and fro; but at sight of her, an order was issued and +they vanished through a trap—all save one, a misshapen dwarf who +remained to shut the iron door, adjust the fastening and turn a +ponderous key. For a moment she stood staring. +</P> + +<P> +"Why did you do that?" she asked angrily. +</P> + +<P> +"The Governor's orders," said the man, bowing hideously. "They are to +see no one." +</P> + +<P> +"Then let them up at once! Do you hear? At once!" +</P> + +<P> +And as he began to unlock the door, walked off. After that, her +interest in the rock waned; the Mount seemed but a prison; she, +herself, desired only to escape from it. +</P> + +<P> +"Have my saddle put on Saladin," she said to Beppo the next day, toward +the end of a long afternoon. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, my Lady. Who accompanies your Ladyship?" +</P> + +<P> +"No one!" With slight emphasis. "I ride alone." +</P> + +<P> +Beppo discretely suppressed his surprise. "Is your Ladyship going far? +If so, I beg to remind that to-night is the change of the moon, and the +'grand,' not the 'little' tide may be coming in." +</P> + +<P> +"I was already aware of it, and shall keep between the Mount and the +shore. Have my horse sent to the upper gate," she added, and soon +afterward rode down. +</P> + +<P> +The town was astir, and many looked after her as she passed; not +kindly, but with the varying expressions she had of late begun to +notice. Again was she cognizant of that feeling of secret antagonism, +even from these people whose houses clung to the very foundations of +her own abode, and her lips set tightly. Why did they hate her? What +right had they to hate her? A sensation, almost of relief, came over +her, when passing through the massive, feudal gate, she found herself +on the beach. +</P> + +<P> +Still and languorous was the day; not a breath stirred above the tiny +ripples of the sand; a calm, almost unnatural, seemed to wrap the world +in its embrace. The girl breathed deeper, feeling the closeness of the +air; her impatient eyes looked around; scanned the shore; to the left, +low and flat—to the right, marked by the dark fringe of a forest. +Which way should she go? Irresolutely she turned in the direction of +the wood. +</P> + +<P> +Saladin, her horse, seemed in unusually fine fettle, and the distance +separating her from the land was soon covered; but still she continued +to follow the shore, swinging around and out toward a point some +distance seaward. Not until she had reached that extreme projection of +land, where the wooing green crept out from the forest as far as it +might, did she draw rein. Saladin stopped, albeit with protest, +tossing his great head. +</P> + +<P> +"You might as well make an end of that, sir!" said the girl, and, +springing from the saddle, deftly secured him. Then turning her back +toward the Mount, a shadowy pyramid in the distance, she seated herself +in the grass with her eyes to the woods. +</P> + +<P> +Not long, however, did my lady remain thus; soon rising, she walked +toward the shadowy depths. At the verge she paused; her brows grew +thoughtful; what was it the woods recalled? Suddenly, she +remembered—a boy she had met the night she left for school so long +ago, had told her he lived in them. She recalled, too, as a child, how +the woman, Marie, who had been maid to her mother, had tried to +frighten her about that sequestered domain, with tales of fierce wild +animals and unearthly creatures, visible and invisible, that roamed +within. +</P> + +<P> +She had no fear now, though faint rustlings and a pulsation of sound +held her listening. Then, through the leafy interstice, a gleaming and +flashing, as if some one were throwing jewels to the earth, lured her +on to the cause of the seeming enchantment—a tiny waterfall! +</P> + +<P> +The moment passed; still she lingered. Around the Mount's high top, +her own home, only transcendent silence reigned; here was she +surrounded by babbling voices and all manner of merry creatures—lively +little squirrels; winged insects, romping in the twilight shade; a +portly and well-satisfied appearing green monster who regarded her +amicably from a niche of green. A butterfly, poised and waving its +wings, held her a long time—until she was suddenly aroused by the wood +growing darker. Raising her eyes, she saw through the green foliage +overhead that the bright sky had become sunless. At the same time a +rumbling detonation, faint, far-off, broke in upon the whisperings and +tinklings of that wood nook. Getting up, she stood for a moment +listening; then walked away. +</P> + +<P> +Near the verge of the sand, Saladin greeted her with impatience, +tossing his head toward the darkening heavens. Nor did he wait until +she was fairly seated before starting back at a rapid gait along the +shore. But the girl offered no protest; her face showed only +enjoyment. A little wild he might be at times, as became one of rugged +ancestry, but never vicious, only headstrong! And she didn't mind +that— +</P> + +<P> +Already had he begun to slack that first thundering pace when something +white—a veil, perhaps, dropped from the cavalcade of lords and ladies +some days before on the land and wafted to the beach—fluttered like a +live thing suddenly before him. In his tense mood, Saladin, +affrighted, sprang to one side; then wheeling outright, madly took the +bit in his teeth. Perforce his mistress resigned herself, sitting +straight and sure, with little hands hard and firm at the reins. +Saladin was behaving very badly, but—at least he was superb, worth +conquering, if— +</P> + +<P> +A brief thrill of apprehension seized her as, again drawing near the +point of land, he showed no signs of yielding; resisted all her +attempts to turn, to direct him to it. With nostrils thrust forward +and breathing strong, he continued to choose his own course; to whirl +her on; past the promontory; around into the great bay beyond—now a +vast expanse, or desert of sand, broken only, about half-way across, by +the small isle of Casque. Toward this rocky formation, a pygmy to the +great Mount from which it lay concealed by the intervening projection +of land, the horse rushed. +</P> + +<P> +On, on! In vain she still endeavored to stop him; thinking uneasily of +stories the fishermen told of this neighboring coast; of the sands that +often shifted here, setting pitfalls for the unwary. She saw the sky +grow yet darker, noted the nearer flashings of light, and heard the +louder rumblings that followed. Then presently another danger she had +long been conscious of, on a sudden became real. +</P> + +<P> +She saw, or thought she saw, a faint streak, like a silver line drawn +across the sky where the yellow sands touched the sombrous horizon. +And Saladin seemed to observe it, too; to detect in it cause for +wonder; reason for hesitation. At any rate, that headlong speed now +showed signs of diminishing; he clipped and tossed the sand less +vigorously, and looked around at his mistress with wild, uneasy eyes. +Again she spoke to him; pulled with all her strength at the reins, and, +at once, he stopped. +</P> + +<P> +None too soon! Great drops of rain had begun to fall, but the girl did +not notice them. The white line alone riveted her attention! It +seemed to grow broader; to acquire an intangible movement of its own; +at the same time to give out a sound—a strange, low droning that +filled the air. Heard for the first time, a stranger at the Mount +would have found it inexplicable; to the Governor's daughter, the +menacing cadence left no room for doubt as to its origin. +</P> + +<P> +The girl's cheek paled; her gaze swung in the opposite direction, +toward the point of land, now so distant. Could they reach it? She +did not believe they could; indeed, the "grand" tide coming up behind +on the verge of the storm, faster than any horse could gallop, would +overtake them midway. And Saladin seemed to know it also; beneath her, +he trembled. Yet must they try, she thought, and had tightened the +reins to turn, when looking ahead once more, she discerned a break in +the forbidding cliffs of the little island of Casque, and, back of the +fissure, a shining spot which marked a tiny cove. +</P> + +<P> +A moment she hesitated; what should she do? Ride toward the isle and +the white danger, or toward the point of mainland and from it? Either +alternative was a desperate one, but the isle lay much nearer; and +quickly, the brown eyes gleaming with sudden courage, she decided; +touched her horse and pressed him forward. +</P> + +<P> +But fast as she went the "grand" tide came faster; struck with a loud, +menacing sound the seaward side of the isle and swung hungrily around. +My lady cast over her shoulder a quick glance; the cove, however, was +near; only a line of small rocks, jutting from the sand, separated her +from it. If they could but pass, she thought; they had passed, she +told herself joyfully, when of a sudden the horse stumbled; fell. +Thrown violently from his back, a moment was she cognizant of a +deafening roar; a riotous advance of foam; above, a hundred birds that +screamed distractedly; then all these sounds mingled; darkness +succeeded, and she remembered no more. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE OLD WATCH-TOWER +</H4> + +<P> +A wall! A window—a prison-like interior! As her eyes opened, the +Governor's daughter strove confusedly to decipher her surroundings. +The wall seemed real; the narrow window, too, high above, framing, +against a darkening background, a slant of fine rain! Again she closed +her eyes, only to be conscious of a gentle languor; a heaviness like +that of half-sleep; of bodily heat, and also a little bodily pain. For +an indefinite period, really a moment or two, she resigned herself to +that dreamy torpor; then, with an effort, lifted her lashes once more. +</P> + +<P> +As she gazed before her, something bright seemed leaping back and +forth; a flame—that played on the wall; revealing the joints between +the stones of massive masonry; casting shadows, but to wipe them out; +paling near a small window, the only aperture apparent in the cell-like +place. Turning from the flickerings, her glance quickly sought their +source—a fire in a hearth, before which she lay—or half-sat, propped +against a stone. +</P> + +<P> +But why? The spot was strange; in her ears sounded a buzzing, like the +murmur of a waterfall. She remembered now; she had lingered before +one—in the woods; and Saladin had run away, madly, across the sands, +until—my lady raised her hand to her brow; abruptly let it fall. In +the shadow on the other side of the hearth some one moved; some one who +had been watching her and who now stepped out into the light. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you better?" said a voice. +</P> + +<P> +She stared. On the bold, swarthy features of a young man now standing +and looking down at her, the light flared and gleamed; the open shirt +revealed a muscular throat; the down-turned black eyes were steady, +solicitous. His appearance was unexpected, yet not quite strange; she +had seen him before, but, in the general surprise and perplexity of the +moment, did not ask herself where. The interval between what she last +remembered on the beach—the rush and swirl of water—and what she woke +to, absorbed the hazy workings of her mind. +</P> + +<P> +The young man stopped; stirred the fire, and after a pause, apparently +to give her time to collect her thoughts, repeated his question: "Are +you better, now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes," she said, with an effort, half sitting up. And then +irrelevantly, with rather a wild glance about her: "Isn't—isn't it +storming outside?" +</P> + +<P> +"A little—not much—" A smile crossed the dark features. +</P> + +<P> +"I remember," she added, as if forcing herself to speak, "it had just +begun to, on the beach, when it—the 'grand' tide—" The words died +away; mechanically she lifted her hand, brushed back the shining waves +of hair. +</P> + +<P> +"Why think of it now?" he interposed gently. +</P> + +<P> +"But," uncertainly she smoothed her skirt; it was damp and warm; "I +suppose this is the island of Casque?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"And this place?" +</P> + +<P> +"The old watch-tower." +</P> + +<P> +"But how—" Then she noticed that his hands, long, brown and +well-formed, were cut and bruised; bore many jagged marks as from a +fierce struggle. "How did you hurt your hands?" +</P> + +<P> +He thrust them into his pockets. +</P> + +<P> +"Was it from the rocks—and the waves? How did I get here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I was standing on the cliff," he answered carelessly, "and—saw +your horse running away!" +</P> + +<P> +"You did? And then—came down?" +</P> + +<P> +"What else was there to do?" he said simply. +</P> + +<P> +Her gaze returned to the fire. "But the tide was rushing in—rushing! +it was right upon me!" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-078"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-078.jpg" ALT=""But the tide--it was right upon me!"" BORDER="2"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center"> +"But the tide—it was right upon me!" +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +She looked again toward the pockets into which his hands were thrust; +observed his shirt, torn at the shoulder; then arose unsteadily. "I +know—it was not so easy!" she said. "It was brave of you—" +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship is no coward!" he interrupted, a sparkle in his eyes. +"When you turned the horse toward the tide, I was watching; hoping you +would dare, and you did!" +</P> + +<P> +About to reply, she became once more aware she was still very dizzy +from the fall on the sand; the shapely figure swayed and she put out +her hand with a gesture of helplessness. At the same time, the man +reached forward quickly and caught her. A moment was she conscious of +a firm grasp; a dark, anxious gaze bent upon her; then, slid gently +back to the stone seat. +</P> + +<P> +A brief interval, and gradually she began to see again more +distinctly—a man's face, not far from hers; a face that drew back as +her own look cleared. At a respectful distance he now stood, his +bearing at once erect and buoyant, and more curiously she regarded him. +A distinct type, here pride and intelligence stamped themselves +strongly on the dark, handsome features; courage and daring were +written on the bold, self-reliant brow. And with this realization of +something distinctive, compelling, in his personality, came another. +</P> + +<P> +"I have seen you—spoken with you before! On the beach—the night of +the dance!" +</P> + +<P> +The young man turned. "Your Ladyship so far honored me—as to dance +with me!" he said, in his eyes a touch of that brightness that had +caused her to regard him imperiously, as he had swung her to the +measure of the music, on the occasion in question. +</P> + +<P> +"Started to!" She corrected him, straightening suddenly at the +recollection of that evening, when humility and modesty were virtues +conspicuously wanting in his demeanor. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship is right," he said quietly. "An alarm from the Mount +interrupted." +</P> + +<P> +She glanced at him quickly. His eyes met hers with a look of unconcern. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you—a fisherman?" she asked abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"On occasions." +</P> + +<P> +"And when you are not one—what are you then?" +</P> + +<P> +"At times—a hunter." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" Her eye lingered on something bright on the ledge beneath the +window. "And that is the reason you have—pistols?" +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly, my Lady!" +</P> + +<P> +She continued to regard the weapons, of finest workmanship, inlaid with +a metal that gleamed dully, like gold, in the light from the fire. His +glance followed hers; she was about to speak, when quickly he +interrupted. +</P> + +<P> +"Has your Ladyship thought how she is going to get back to the Mount?" +</P> + +<P> +My lady's questioning, along the line of personal inquiry, ceased; the +Governor's daughter looked a little blank. "No—that is, haven't you a +boat?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not here." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you walked over?" +</P> + +<P> +He neither affirmed, nor denied. +</P> + +<P> +"And the tide will not be out for hours!" Her look showed +consternation; she glanced toward the opening in the wall. "Isn't it +becoming dark now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, my Lady." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, it was almost sundown when— But I must return at once! +Don't you understand?" +</P> + +<P> +He regarded her silently; the beautiful, impatient eyes; the slim, +white fingers that tapped restlessly, one against another. "I will do +what I can!" he said at last slowly. +</P> + +<P> +"But what?" she demanded. "What can you do?" +</P> + +<P> +He did not answer; my lady made a gesture. +</P> + +<P> +"How ridiculous! A prisoner on an island!" +</P> + +<P> +"There may be a way," he began. +</P> + +<P> +"My horse?" she said quickly. "What became of him?" +</P> + +<P> +"He was swept away by the tide!" +</P> + +<P> +Into the proud eyes came a softer light—of regret, pain. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship should remember it might have been worse," he added, in +tones intended to reassure her. "After all, it was only a horse—" +</P> + +<P> +"Only a horse!" she exclaimed indignantly. "But, I suppose you can't +understand—caring for a horse!" +</P> + +<P> +"I can understand caring for a ship!" he answered quickly, a flash of +amusement, hardly concealed, in his bold, dark eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"A ship!" scornfully; "dead wood and iron." +</P> + +<P> +"Live wood and iron! Beautiful as—" The simile failed him; he looked +at my lady. "Something to be depended on, with a hand to the wheel, +and an eye keen for mad dancings and curvetings." +</P> + +<P> +"I might appreciate them better," she interrupted dryly, with delicate +brows uplifted, "an they brought me nearer to the Mount. That, and not +idle opinions," in accents that conveyed surprise at the temerity of +one in his position to express them, "is of most moment!" +</P> + +<P> +He accepted the reproof with a readiness that further surprised her. +"Your Ladyship is right," he said. "I will see what may be done. The +storm has passed. There is yet daylight, and"—an expression, almost +preoccupied, came to his features—"a boat may be sighted." +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure!" At the prospect, all other considerations passed from my +lady's mind. "A boat may be sighted! Why did you not think of it +before? Come! Too much time has already been lost." And she rose. +</P> + +<P> +"One moment!" His voice was quiet; respectful; although, she fancied, +constrained. "I had better go alone. The way to the cliff is rough, +and—" +</P> + +<P> +"I shall not mind that!" +</P> + +<P> +"Besides, your clothes—" +</P> + +<P> +"Are dry!" +</P> + +<P> +"No!" She flushed at the abrupt contradiction. "I mean, I don't see +how they could be!" he went on hurriedly, "and," his tone assumed a +certain obduracy, "I assure your Ladyship, it will be best." +</P> + +<P> +"Best?" She looked at him more sharply. "Is that your only reason?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" A trace of embarrassment, for an instant, crossed his dark +features. "What other reason, my Lady?" +</P> + +<P> +"That I know not!" quickly, assured her words had struck home. "Only I +am certain there is one!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then, if your Ladyship must know," he spoke slowly. "I did not wish +to alarm you. But this is a rough coast, with—many rough people +about—smugglers, privateersmen—" +</P> + +<P> +"Whom you, perhaps, are expecting?" she cried suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"I!" with a careless laugh. "A fisherman! Your Ladyship is +imaginative—" he began, when a sudden, hasty footstep clinked on the +stones without; a hand caught at the fastenings of the door; flung it +open. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought I should find you here, Seigneur!" exclaimed a voice. +"Since—" +</P> + +<P> +The young man made a movement and the speaker stopped; caught sight of +my lady, just beyond, in the fading light. And at the picture—her +figure behind that other one—the fine, patrician features, framed by +the disordered golden hair, the widely opened eyes, bright, expectant, +the intruder started back. +</P> + +<P> +"The Governor's daughter! You, Seigneur!" he stammered, and, raising +his hand, involuntarily crossed himself. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A DISCOVERY +</H4> + +<P> +"Why did you do that?" It was Lady Elise who now spoke, lifting her +head haughtily to regard the new-comer, as she stepped toward him. +"Cross yourself, I mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"This good fellow, my Lady, is surprised to see you here, and small +wonder he forgets his manners!" said the young man coolly, speaking for +the other. "But he is honest enough—and—intends no disrespect!" +</P> + +<P> +"None whatever!" muttered the intruder, a thin, wizened, yet still +active-looking person. +</P> + +<P> +My lady did not reply; her gaze, in which suspicion had become +conviction, again met the young man's, whose black eyes now gleamed +with a sudden, challenging light. +</P> + +<P> +"With your permission, my Lady, I will speak with this fellow," he +said, and abruptly strode from the tower; walked a short distance away, +followed by the man, when he stopped. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Certes</I>, your tongue betrayed you that time, Sanchez!" he said +confronting the other. +</P> + +<P> +The man made a rough gesture. "<I>C'est vrai</I>!" regretfully. "But when +I saw you two together I thought I had seen a—" He stopped. "She is +so like—" +</P> + +<P> +"Nay; I don't blame you; the sight was certainly unexpected! I had +thought to come down and prepare you, but—'tis done!" +</P> + +<P> +"And I knew what it meant." The old servant looked over his shoulder +toward the tower. +</P> + +<P> +"Call it magic!" with a short laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Diablerie</I>!" muttered the other. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, have your way! Why," abruptly, "did you not meet me here last +night at high tide, as we had planned?" +</P> + +<P> +"The priest came not in time; fearing he was watched, waited until +night to leave his hiding-place at Verranch." +</P> + +<P> +"And after missing me last night, you thought to find me here to-day?" +</P> + +<P> +"I knew you were most anxious to see him; that upon him depended your +chance to undo some of his Excellency, the Governor's, knavery! And, +then, to find you here with the daughter of the man who has wrought you +so much wrong; robbed you of your lands—your right to your name!" A +cloud shadowed the listener's bold brow. "I know not how it came +about, Seigneur, but be assured, no good can come of it!" +</P> + +<P> +From where she stood, at the distance to the tower, the Governor's +daughter saw now the two men descend; she perceived, also, at a turn in +the path, coming up slowly, as one whose years had begun to tell upon +him, another figure, clad in black; a priest. This last person and the +Black Seigneur accosted each other; stopped, while the other man, who +had crossed himself at sight of her, drew aside. At length, somewhat +abruptly, they separated, the priest and Sanchez going down the hill +and the young man starting to walk up. Then quickly leaving the +ancient, circular structure for observation, she stepped toward the +cliff, not far to the right; and in an attitude of as great unconcern +as she could summon, waited. +</P> + +<P> +Below the ocean beat around the rock, and her eyes seemed to have +rested an interminable period on the dark surface of the water, when at +length she heard him; near at hand; directly behind. Still she did not +stir; he, too, by the silence, stood motionless. How long? The little +foot moved restlessly; why did he not speak? She knew he was looking +at her—the Governor's daughter who had inadvertently looked into a +forbidden chamber; was possessed of dangerous knowledge. +</P> + +<P> +Again she made a movement. When was he going to speak? It was +intolerable that he should stand there, studying, deducing! That she, +accustomed to command; to be served; to have her way at court and +Mount, should now be judged, passed upon, disposed of, by—whom? +Quickly she looked around; the flashing brown eyes met the steady black +ones. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +"The man will take you back." His manner was quiet; composed; implied +a full cognizance of what she knew, and an absence of any further +desire to attempt to disguise the truth. +</P> + +<P> +"Back! Where?" She could not conceal her surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"To the Mount." +</P> + +<P> +For the moment she did not speak; she had not known what to +expect—certainly not that. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" A smile, slightly forced, crossed his face. "Does your +Ladyship think I make war on women? Only, before your Ladyship +departs, it will be necessary for you to agree to a little condition." +</P> + +<P> +"Condition?" She drew her breath quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"That you will say nothing to incriminate him. He is an old servant of +mine; has broken none of the <I>laws</I> of the land," with a somewhat +contemptuous accent, "works his bit of ground; pays <I>métayage</I>, and a +tax on all the fish he brings in. Only in a certain matter to-day has +he served me." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean I must say nothing about meeting him? You?" +</P> + +<P> +"For his sake!" +</P> + +<P> +"And your own!" +</P> + +<P> +"Mine?" He made a careless gesture. "I should not presume! For +myself I should exact, or expect, from your Ladyship no promise. +To-night I shall be far away. But this good fellow remains behind; +should be allowed to continue his peaceful, lowly occupation. I would +not have anything happen to him on my account." +</P> + +<P> +"And if I refuse to promise?" she asked haughtily. "To enter into any +covenant with—you!" +</P> + +<P> +"But you will not!" he said steadily. "Your Ladyship, for her own +sake, should not force the alternative." +</P> + +<P> +"Alternative?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why speak of it?" +</P> + +<P> +"What is the alternative?" she demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"If your Ladyship refuses to promise, it will be necessary for the man +to return alone." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean," in spite of herself, she gave a start, "you would make +me—a prisoner?" +</P> + +<P> +"It should not be necessary." +</P> + +<P> +"But you would not dare!" indignantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Not dare! Your Ladyship forgets—" +</P> + +<P> +"True!" with a scornful glance. After a pause: "But suppose I <I>did</I> +promise? Are you not reposing a good deal of confidence in me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not too much!" +</P> + +<P> +"I presume," disdainfully, "I should feel flattered in being trusted +by—" She did not finish the sentence. +</P> + +<P> +But the young man apparently had not heard. "I'll take the chance on +your own words," he added unexpectedly. +</P> + +<P> +"My words?" +</P> + +<P> +"That you are no telltale." +</P> + +<P> +The girl started. "Telltale?" she repeated. +</P> + +<P> +"You once told me you were not!" +</P> + +<P> +"I—told you!" She stared at him. +</P> + +<P> +"Told me you were no telltale," he repeated. "And—when Beppo lied, +you told the truth—about a ragged vagabond of a boy." +</P> + +<P> +"Beppo!" The look in her eyes deepened; cleared. "I remember now," +she said slowly. "You were the boy with the fish, who said he lived in +the woods. I met you while riding, and again that night, as a child, +leaving for Paris; but I did not know, then, you would become—" +</P> + +<P> +The young man's face changed. "An outlaw!" he said coolly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; an outlaw," she repeated firmly. Angered by his unflinching +gaze, she went on: "Who dares not fly the flag of his king! Who dares +not come openly into any honest port!" +</P> + +<P> +She ended, her brown eyes flashing. His own darkened; but he only +remarked coldly; "My Lady, at any rate, dares much!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I've no doubt you don't care to hear—" +</P> + +<P> +"From you!" He looked at her oddly, from the golden hair to the small, +dainty foot. "From your Ladyship!" he repeated, as if amused. An +instant he regarded her silently, intently; but his voice when at +length he again spoke was cool and slightly mocking: "My Lady speaks, +of course, from the standpoint of her own world—a very pretty world! +A park of <I>plaisance</I>, wherein, I can vouch for it, my Lady dances very +prettily." +</P> + +<P> +She started; a flush of resentment glowed and faded on her cheek; a +question his words suggested trembled on her lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Why did you come to the beach that night of the dance? How dared you, +knowing that if—" +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" His eyes lost their ironical light. "Why?" he repeated; then +laughed with sudden recklessness. "I wished to see your Ladyship." +</P> + +<P> +"Me?" She shrank back. +</P> + +<P> +"You!" he repeated, his gaze fastened on the startled, proud face. +"Though I looked not forward to a dance—with your Ladyship!" The +black eyes glowed. "<I>Pardi</I>! It was worth the risk." A moment he +waited; then his manner changed. "I will leave your Ladyship now," he +said quietly. "You will have opportunity to consider"—she did not +answer—"whether you will give me your promise, or not," he added, and, +wheeling abruptly, walked away. +</P> + +<P> +Some time later, in the fast-gathering darkness, from the cove a small +boat put out, with Sanchez, gloomy and sullen, in the stern; at the +bow, the Governor's daughter. As the isle receded and the point of +land loomed bigger before them, the girl gazed straight ahead; but the +man looked back: to the sands of the little cove, a pale simitar in the +dragon-like mouth of the rock; toward the tower, near which he fancied +he could see a figure, turned from them—seaward—where, far out, a +ship might just be discerned, a dim outline on the horizon. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE CLOISTER IN THE AIR +</H4> + +<P> +Irrespective of environment, the cloister of the Mount would have been +a delight to the eye, but, upheld in mid air, with the sky so near and +the sands so far below, it seemed more an inspiration of fancy than a +work of hand. Dainty, delicate, its rose-colored columns of granite +appeared too thin for tangible weight; the tympan's sculptured designs, +fanciful as the carvings in some palace of a poet's dreams. Despite, +however, this first impression of evanescence, it carried a charm +against the ravages of time, and ethereal though it was, had rested +like a crown on the grim head of the rock through the ages. +</P> + +<P> +Once a place for quiet meditation, the cloister had, through a +whirligig of change, become the favorite resort of the Governor, for +<I>déjeûner</I>, or after-dinner dram, and, on occasions, for the +transaction of much profane though necessary labor pertaining to his +office and private concerns. He busied himself there now; or had been +busying himself, but paused to look up from the large book before him, +whose pages were inscribed with items and figures. His finger, +following the mental computation, remained stationary. <I>Fouage</I>—tax +upon fires; <I>banvin</I>—duties on wine; <I>vingtain</I>—the lord's right to +his share of the produce; <I>minage</I>—his due from each <I>mine</I> or half +<I>setier</I> of coin—consideration of these usually all-important matters +seemed for the moment to have been forgotten. +</P> + +<P> +He leaned back, and as he sat thus, the light and shadow playing on +him, the dark, steely eyes looked the more sunken, the hard, cynical +lips beneath the white mustache, the more cruel, the spare figure the +more alert and ready, as if to grapple with some hidden danger. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"<I>J'arrive en ce pays<BR> +De Basse Normandie—</I>"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +At one of the apertures looking out to the barren waste of sand stood +the Lady Elise; the words of the old Norman chant she was singing in +desultory fashion rang softly, oddly, in that spot, where black-clad +brethren for centuries had been wont to tread. Mechanically the +Governor listened, but the voice soon ceased abruptly and again, after +the manner of one of orderly habits, he bent over the big book; once +more the curving finger slid up and down, and parsimony, the vice of +the aged, had begun to shine from his pinched features, when a footstep +rang on the marble pavement. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Excellency sent for me?" The commandant stood respectfully near. +</P> + +<P> +The Governor closed the book with deliberation; lifted his eyes. "The +prisoners that were taken last night are safely housed?" +</P> + +<P> +"Housed? Yes, your Excellency! But we have little room. The upper +cells are all occupied; the dungeons, fairly full! Even the <I>In-pace</I> +and <I>Les Deux Jumeaux</I> have been pressed into service." +</P> + +<P> +"Hum!" The long hand tapped restlessly a moment; the cold eyes +gleamed, then shot an inquiring look. "There are no new particulars +about last night's encounter with this—Black Seigneur?" +</P> + +<P> +"None, your Excellency, except," the commandant drew a paper from his +breast pocket, "I have here in writing the detailed account of the +officer in charge of your Excellency's boat, who was wounded himself in +the encounter." +</P> + +<P> +"Read it." +</P> + +<P> +The commandant obeyed. "'Our schooner, belonging to his Excellency, +the Governor, was returning last night to the Mount with +troops—reinforcements for the garrison from St. Dalard—when it +happened quite by accident near a ship, maneuvering at a respectful +distance from the island of Casque. The night was dark and cloudy, but +our men got a look at her and suspecting who she was and knowing her +armament, against our will, we felt obliged to bear away. She, having +no reason to think us other than a fishing schooner, or that we were +freighted with troops instead of cod, did not follow and we had passed +out of sight, and were rounding the island when we ran into two small +sail-boats that had just set out from there.'" +</P> + +<P> +"To join the ship of this outlaw!" interposed the Governor. "Go on!" +shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"'We hailed; their answer was unsatisfactory; we ordered them to halt, +whereupon they tried to sail away. We followed and overtaking them, +commanded them to surrender. Their leader, who was the Black Seigneur +himself, refused, and we attacked'—" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Bien</I>! 'We attacked!' But what then? Eh, what then?" +</P> + +<P> +"'With fury they responded; in spite of their inferiority of numbers +tried to board us. Bravely our men repulsed them; yet still they +persisted; led by their captain, the Black Seigneur, had gained the +deck when a chance shot struck him. As he fell back, the others tried +to escape; one boat was sunk'—" +</P> + +<P> +"And the other, bearing their leader, got away!" interrupted the +Governor harshly. +</P> + +<P> +"In the confusion—yes, your Excellency." +</P> + +<P> +The Governor waved his hand impatiently. +</P> + +<P> +"'By this time the ship of the Black Seigneur had drawn nearer and our +men put about and made for the Mount with a number of prisoners. +Several shots were sent after us, but we managed to reach port.'" +</P> + +<P> +"The officer in charge of the troops thinks this fellow, their leader, +was wounded severely—fatally perhaps?" +</P> + +<P> +"He thinks it most probable, your Excellency." +</P> + +<P> +For some time the Governor, with frowning brows, sipped silently from a +glass of liquor at his elbow, and, stiff, motionless, the commandant +waited; close at hand, a dove plumed itself on the roof of the cloister +walk; beyond, the girl again began to sing fitfully. +</P> + +<P> +Out of the corner of his eye the commandant dared look at her, leaning +now against the wall, the clear-cut, white features outlined against an +illimitable blue background. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"<I>Les amours—</I>"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Involuntarily he started to raise a hand to his warlike mustache, when +abruptly was his wandering attention recalled. "The man ashore I spoke +to you about, has been taken into custody?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, your Excellency; and is now at the barracks." +</P> + +<P> +"Send him here. One moment—" The commandant paused, vaguely +conscious the girl had moved away from the wall. "You spoke of there +being a lack of room—these new prisoners must be confined in the +dungeons; if necessary, crowd more of the others in the upper cells, +and—there is still the Devil's Cage." +</P> + +<P> +"The Devil's Cage?" Through the rose-tinted columns, above the +Governor's head, the commandant could discern the figure of the Lady +Elise, who had approached and now was gazing inquiringly at them. +"Your Excellency would use that? One can neither lie down in it, nor +sit in it, upright?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well," the cold eyes flashed, "it is not intended for upright people! +But the man you were ordered to arrest!" with sudden sharpness; "the +man from the shore! Send him to me!" +</P> + +<P> +"At once, your Excellency!" And responding promptly to his superior's +mood, the commandant saluted briskly, and retired. +</P> + +<P> +"What man?" The drapery of her gown drawn back, the Lady Elise stood +poised on the court's low coping between the fairy-like pillars. +</P> + +<P> +"No one you know, my dear." +</P> + +<P> +"Which means—it is none of my concern?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not at all." His voice was now perfunctory; and his expression, as he +surveyed her, slightly questioning. "You are looking somewhat pale +to-day?" +</P> + +<P> +"Am I?" carelessly. "I—I feel very well." As she spoke, she went to +him and leaned over the back of his chair. "<I>Mon père</I>, won't you do +something for me?" +</P> + +<P> +"What?" +</P> + +<P> +"Promise first." With her hand on his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +He reached up; the long, cold fingers stroked the shapely, warm ones. +"One should never leap into the dark with a promise," he answered. +"Especially to a woman." +</P> + +<P> +"Not even when that woman is one's own daughter?" she asked, sliding to +the arm of the chair. +</P> + +<P> +He regarded the bright face now thoughtful; the lips, usually laughing, +set sensitively. "Is it another trip to the court, or do you wish to +turn this stern old Mount again into a palace of pleasure? To invite +once more the Paris lords and ladies—the King, himself, perhaps? It +would not be the first time a monarch has been entertained at the +Mount—or a Marquis, either, eh? Shall we ask the Marquis?" +</P> + +<P> +She made an impatient movement. "I want you to promise to break up the +terrible iron cage, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"Tut!" Jocosely he pinched the fair cheek. "A girl's thoughts should +be of the court and the cavaliers." +</P> + +<P> +She turned away her head. "You treat me like a child," she said with a +flash in her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no! Like a woman," he laughed. "But the Marquis—perhaps he +could not come here; perhaps he is too much concerned with the gaieties +of Paris!" Her figure straightened; she was about to walk away, when— +</P> + +<P> +"You ride this afternoon?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I had not thought of it." +</P> + +<P> +"If you do I desire that some one accompany you." Her face changed; +she looked at him quickly, and half turned. "Remember Saladin as well, +and—keep closer to the Mount in the future." +</P> + +<P> +"Poor Saladin!" she breathed, with averted glance. +</P> + +<P> +"He got his deserts!" answered the Governor harshly. "An ugly trick +that of his—to bolt and leave you stranded at the extreme point of the +mainland where the bay swings around!" +</P> + +<P> +"The 'grand' tide—it came in so fast—and made so much noise—" +</P> + +<P> +"It frightened him! Well, fortunate it was, indeed, you were not on +his back; that you had already reached the point, and had had time to +dismount! An unpleasant experience, nevertheless—with the water +separating you from the Mount, and a great curve of land to be walked +before you could arrive at a human habitation!" +</P> + +<P> +"I—it wasn't a very comfortable feeling," she acknowledged, flushing. +</P> + +<P> +"And if the fisherman hadn't subsequently seen you and taken you across +in his little boat, you would have been more uncomfortable later. You +rewarded him well, I trust?" +</P> + +<P> +"He—wouldn't take anything." +</P> + +<P> +"And you neglected to inquire his name?" +</P> + +<P> +"I—did not think." +</P> + +<P> +"You were so glad to get back?" remarked the Governor, regarding her +closely. "What sort of man was he?" abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"Old." +</P> + +<P> +"And—" +</P> + +<P> +"That—is all I remember." +</P> + +<P> +"Hum! Not very lucid. No doubt you were too overwrought, my dear, to +be in an observant mood." His voice sank absently; his fingers sought +among the papers, and, as his glance fell, the girl walked away. Again +she leaned on the parapet, and once more regarded the barren waste +below—the figures of the cockle-seekers, mere specks, the shadow of +the Mount, stamped on the sand, with the saint, a shapeless form, +holding up a tapering black line—a sword—at the apex. +</P> + +<P> +"She is keeping back something. What?" Above an official-looking +document the Governor watched her, his lips compressed, his eyes keen; +then shrugged his shoulders and resumed his occupation. The death-like +hush of an aërial region surrounded them; the halcyon peace of a +seemingly chimerical cloister; until suddenly broken by an indubitable +clangor—harsh, hard!—of a door, opening; shutting. The Governor +lifted his head in annoyance; the dove on the roof of the cloister-walk +flew away, and a short, fat man, breathing hard, appeared. +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon, your Excellency! But the drafts! They seem sometimes to +sweep up from the very dungeons themselves, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +Beppo cut short excuse, or explanation. "A prisoner is waiting +without. The man, Sanchez, from the shore! Monsieur le Commandant, +who brought him, told me to inform you." +</P> + +<P> +The Governor considered a moment with down-bent brows. "You may show +him in, but first," he glanced up with a frown, "I have a question to +put to you." +</P> + +<P> +"Your Excellency?" +</P> + +<P> +"This morning you thought fit to apprise me," Beppo looked +uncomfortable, "in view of the events of last night—that you saw +yesterday this fellow, Sanchez, setting out in a sail-boat, accompanied +by a priest—a fact that might have been of great service to me, had I +been aware of it in season!" The Governor paused to allow the full +weight of his disapproval to be felt. "At what hour did you see them +start out?" +</P> + +<P> +"About dusk, the time of the 'grand' tide," was the crestfallen answer. +"I was following the shore, feeling anxious on account of the Lady +Elise, who, I knew, had gone in the direction of the forest, when I saw +them, some distance out, but not too far to recognize this fellow's +boat and in it two men, one of them in the black robes of a priest. I +attached no importance to the incident until—" +</P> + +<P> +The Governor interrupted. "You may send the prisoner in," he said +shortly. "No—wait!" Toward the spot where the girl had been standing +the Governor glanced quickly, but that post of observation was now +vacant, and his Excellency more deliberately looked around; caught no +sight of her. "You may send him in here," he said, "alone. I will +speak with the prisoner in private." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE GOVERNOR IS SURPRISED +</H4> + +<P> +But the Lady Elise had not gone. Passing from the cloister through the +great arched doorway leading to the high-roofed refectory, she had +stopped at the sight of a number of people gathered near the entrance. +At first she had merely glanced at them; then started, as, in the +somewhat dim light prevailing there, her eyes became fixed upon one of +their number. +</P> + +<P> +Obviously a prisoner, he stood in the center of the group, with head +down-bent, a hard, indifferent expression on his countenance. Amazed, +the girl was about to step forward to address him—or the +commandant—when Beppo appeared from the cloister, walked toward the +officer, and, in a low ill-humored tone, said something she could not +hear. Whatever it was, the commandant caused him to repeat it; made a +gesture to the soldiers, who drew back, and spoke himself to the +prisoner. +</P> + +<P> +The latter did not reply nor raise his eyes, and the commandant laid a +heavy hand on his shoulder, whereupon the prisoner moved forward +mechanically, through the doorway. +</P> + +<P> +"You are sure his Excellency said 'alone'?" asked the commandant. +</P> + +<P> +"As sure as I have ears," answered Beppo. "But her ladyship—see! She +is walking after him." +</P> + +<P> +Beppo shrugged his shoulders. "<I>She</I> always does what she pleases; no +orders apply to her." +</P> + +<P> +In the shadow of the cloister roof, at a corner where the double row of +pillars met, the girl paused; looked out through the columns, her hand +at her breast. The Governor was unconcernedly writing; not even when +the prisoner stepped forward did he turn from his occupation; at his +leisure dotted an "i" and crossed a "t"; sprinkled sand lightly over +the paper; waited a moment; then tapped the fine particles from the +letter. For his part, the prisoner displayed equal patience, standing +in an attitude of stolid endurance. +</P> + +<P> +"Your name is Sanchez?" At length the Governor seemed to notice the +other's presence. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"And you formerly served the Seigneur Desaurac? Followed him to +America?" +</P> + +<P> +"As your Excellency knows." The servant's tone was veiled defiance. +</P> + +<P> +A trace of pink sprang to the Governor's brow, though the eyes he +lifted were impassive. "You will answer 'yes' or 'no'!" He reached +for a stick of wax, held it up to the tiny flame of a lamp; watched the +red drops fall. "When you returned, it was to live in the forest +with—a nameless brat?" +</P> + +<P> +"My master's son!" +</P> + +<P> +"By a peasant woman, his—" +</P> + +<P> +"Wife!" +</P> + +<P> +The Governor smiled; applying a seal, pressed it hard. "The courts +found differently," he observed in a mild, even voice, as speaking to +himself and extolling the cause of justice. +</P> + +<P> +"The courts! Because the priest who married them had been driven from +Brittany! Because he could not be found then! Because—" The man's +indignation had got the better of his taciturnity, but he did not +finish the sentence. +</P> + +<P> +"Either," said the Governor quietly, "you are one of those +simple-minded people who, misguided by loyalty, cherish illusions, or +you are a scheming rogue. No matter which, unfortunately," in crisp +tones, "it is necessary to take time to deal with you." +</P> + +<P> +"At your Excellency's service!" And the man folded his arms but, again +turning to his table, the Governor apparently found some detail of +employment there of paramount importance; once more kept the prisoner +waiting. +</P> + +<P> +The silence lengthened; in the dim light of the walk noiselessly the +girl drew nearer; unseen, reached the old abbot's great granite chair +with its sheltering back to the court and close to the Governor's +table. Into the capacious depths of this chilly throne, where once the +high and holy dignitary of the church had been accustomed to recline +while brethren laved his feet from the tiny stone lavatorium before it, +she half sank, her cheek against one of its cold sides; in an attitude +of expectation breathlessly waited. Why was it so still? Why did not +her father speak? She could hear his pen scratch, scratch! +</P> + +<P> +They were again speaking; more eagerly she bent forward; listened to +the hard, metallic voice of the Governor. +</P> + +<P> +"You left the castle at once when the decree of the court, ordering it +vacated, was posted in the forest?" +</P> + +<P> +"My master told me to, pretending he was going, but—" +</P> + +<P> +"Remained to resist; to kill." The Governor's tones, without being +raised, were sharper. "And when, after the crime against these +instruments of justice, he escaped to the high seas, why did you not go +with him?" +</P> + +<P> +"He wouldn't have it." +</P> + +<P> +"Thinking you would be more useful here? A spy?" +</P> + +<P> +"He said he would be held an outlaw; a price put on him, and—he +dismissed me from his service." +</P> + +<P> +"Dismissed you? An excellent jest! But," with sudden incisiveness, +"what about the priest, eh? What about the priest?" +</P> + +<P> +The man straightened. "What priest?" he said in a dogged tone. +</P> + +<P> +"You are accused of harboring and abetting an unfrocked fellow who has +long been wanted by the government, a scamp of revolutionary +tendencies; you are accused of having taken him to sea," the prisoner +started, "to some rendezvous—a distant isle—to meet some one; to wait +for a ship; to be smuggled away—?" +</P> + +<P> +The man did not reply; with head sunk slightly, seemed lost in thought. +</P> + +<P> +"Speak—answer!" +</P> + +<P> +"Who accuses me?" +</P> + +<P> +From the stone chair the girl sprang; looked out. Her face white, +excited, peering beneath the delicate spandrils and stone roses, seemed +to come as an answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Have I not told you—" began the Governor sternly, when— +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" burst from the prisoner violently. "Why should I deny what your +Excellency so well knows? I told my master not to trust her; that she +would play him false; and that once out of his hands—" +</P> + +<P> +"Her? Whom do you mean?" The Governor's eyes followed the man's; +stopped. "Elise!" +</P> + +<P> +"I think," her eyes very bright, the girl walked quickly toward them, +"I think this man means me." +</P> + +<P> +"Elise!" the Governor repeated. +</P> + +<P> +"Forgive me, <I>mon père</I>; I didn't intend to listen, but I couldn't help +it—because—" +</P> + +<P> +"How long," said the Governor, "have you been there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ever since—he came in. I suppose," proudly turning to the man, "it +is useless to say that I did not play this double rôle of which you +accuse me, and that I did keep, in every particular, the promise I +made—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes; you could say it, my Lady!" with sneering emphasis. +</P> + +<P> +"But you reserve to yourself the right not to believe me? That is what +you mean?" The man's stubborn, vindictive look answered. "Then I will +deny nothing to you; nothing! You may think what you will." +</P> + +<P> +His face half-covered by his hand, the Governor gazed at them; the +girl, straight, slender, inflexibly poised; the prisoner eying her with +dark, unvarying glance. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Dieu!</I>" he muttered. "What is this?" and concern gave way to a new +feeling. <I>Her</I> concern for something—somebody—held him. A promise! +"You can step back a few moments, my man!" to Sanchez. "A little +farther—to the parapet! I'll let you know when you're wanted." And +the prisoner obeyed, moving slowly away to the wall, where he stood out +of ear-shot, his back to them. "You spoke of a promise?" the Governor +turned to his daughter. "To whom?" +</P> + +<P> +A suggestion of color swept her face, though she answered at once +without hesitation: "To the Black Seigneur." +</P> + +<P> +The slight form of the Governor stirred as to the shock of a battery. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no harm in telling now," hurriedly she went on. "He saved me +from the 'grand' tide—for I was on Saladin's back when he bolted and +ran. I had not dismounted, though I allowed you to infer so, and he +had carried me almost to the island of Casque when we heard and saw the +water coming in. The nearest place was the island—not the point of +the mainland, as I felt obliged to lead you to think, and we started +for it; we might have reached the cove, had not Saladin stumbled and +thrown me. The last I remembered the water came rushing around, and +when I awoke, I was in a watch-tower, with him—the Black Seigneur!" +</P> + +<P> +The Governor looked at her; did not speak. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I at first did not know who he was—not until this man came—and +the priest! And when he, the Black Seigneur, saw I had learned the +truth, he asked me to promise—not for himself—but because of this +man!—to say nothing of having met him there, or the others! And I did +promise, and—he sent me back—and that is all—" +</P> + +<P> +"All!" Did the Governor speak the word? He sat as if he had hardly +comprehended; a deeper flush dyed her cheek. +</P> + +<P> +"You—you can not blame me—after what he did. He saved me—saved my +life. You are glad of that, mon père, are you not? And it must have +been hard doing it, for his clothes were torn, and his hands were +bleeding—he can't be all bad, <I>mon père</I>! He knew who I was, yet +trusted me—trusted!" +</P> + +<P> +The Governor looked at her; touched a bell; the full-toned note +vibrated far and near. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you going to do?" Something in his face held her. +</P> + +<P> +Again the tones startled the stillness. "Remember, it is I who am +responsible for—" +</P> + +<P> +"Your Excellency?" Across the court appeared Beppo, moving quickly +toward them. "Your Excellency?" +</P> + +<P> +"One moment!" The servant stepped back; the Governor looked first at +the girl; then toward the entrance of the cloister. +</P> + +<P> +"You want me to go?" Her voice was low: strained; in it, too, was a +hard, rebellious accent. "But I can't—can't—until—" +</P> + +<P> +"What?" +</P> + +<P> +"You promise to set him free! This man who brought me back! Don't you +see you must, <I>mon père</I>? Must!" she repeated. +</P> + +<P> +His thin lips drew back disagreeably; he seemed about to speak; then +reached among the papers and, turned them over absently. "Very well!" +he said at length without glancing up. +</P> + +<P> +"You promise," her voice expressed relief and a little surprise, "to +set him free?" +</P> + +<P> +"Have I not said so?" His eyelids veiled a peculiar look. "Yes, he +shall be liberated—very shortly." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, <I>mon père</I>." A moment she bent over him; the proud, sweet +lips brushed his forehead. "I will go, then, at once." And she +started toward the door. Near the threshold she paused; looked back to +smile gratefully at the Governor, then quickly went out. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +AT THE COCKLES +</H4> + +<P> +A rugged mass of granite, rent by giant fissures, and surrounded by +rocks and whirlpools, the Norman English isle, so-called "Key to the +Channel," one hundred miles, or more, northwest of the Mount, had from +time immemorial offered haven to ships out of the pale of French ports. +Not only a haven, but a home, or that next-best accommodation, an +excellent inn. Perched in the hollow of the mighty cliff and reached +by a flight of somewhat perilous stone stairs, the Cockles, for so the +ancient tavern was called, set squarely toward the sea, and opened wide +its shell, as it were, to all waifs or stormy petrels blown in from the +foamy deep. +</P> + +<P> +Good men, bad men; Republicans, royalists; French-English, +English-French, the landlord—old Pierre Laroche, retired sea-captain +and owner of a number of craft employed in a dangerous, but profitable, +occupation—received them willingly, and in his solicitude for their +creature comforts and the subsequent reckoning, cared not a jot for +their politics, morals, or social views. It was enough if the visitor +had no lenten capacity; looked the fleshpots in the face and drank of +his bottle freely. +</P> + +<P> +The past few days the character of old Pierre's guests had left some +room for complaint on that score. But a small number of the crew of +the swift-looking vessel, well-known to the islanders, and now tossing +in the sea-nook below, had, shortly after their arrival toward dusk of +a stormy day, repaired to the inn, and then they had not called for +their brandy or wine in the smart manner of seamen prepared for +unstinted sacrifice to Bacchus. On the contrary, they drank quietly, +talked soberly, and soon prepared to leave. +</P> + +<P> +"Something has surely gone wrong," thought their host. "Why did not +your captain come ashore?" he asked. "Not see his old friend, Pierre +Laroche, at once! It is most unlike him." +</P> + +<P> +And on the morrow, the islanders, or English-French, more or less +privateersmen themselves, were equally curious. Where had the ship +come from? Where was it going? And how many tons of wine, bales of +silk and packages of tobacco, or "ptum," as the weed was called, had it +captured? Old Pierre would soon find out, for early that day, despite +the inclemency of the weather, he came down to the beach, and, followed +by a servitor, got into a small boat moored close to the shore. +</P> + +<P> +"He is going aboard!" +</P> + +<P> +"Who has a better right? His own vessel!" +</P> + +<P> +"No; André Desaurac—the Black Seigneur's! They say he long ago paid +for it from prizes wrested from the Governor of the Mount." +</P> + +<P> +"At any rate, old Pierre entered into a bargain to build the boat for +him—" +</P> + +<P> +"And added to his wealth by the transaction." +</P> + +<P> +Later that morning the old man came ashore, but, according to habit, +preserved a shrewd silence; in the afternoon a small number of the crew +landed to take on stores and ammunition—of which there was ever a +plentiful supply at this base; that night, however, all, including +their master, betook themselves to the Cockles. +</P> + +<P> +"Glad to see you ashore, <I>mon capitaine</I>!" Pierre Laroche, standing at +the door, just beyond reach of the fierce driving rain, welcomed the +Black Seigneur warmly; but the young man, one of whose arms seemed +bound and useless, cut short his greetings; tossed bruskly aside his +dark heavy cloak, and called for a room where he might sit in private +with a companion. This person the landlord eyed askance; nevertheless, +with a show of bluff heartiness, he led the way to a small chamber, +somewhat apart, but overlooking the long low apartment, the general +eating and drinking place of the establishment, now filled by the crew +and a number of the islanders. +</P> + +<P> +"Your <I>capitaine</I> has been hurt? How?" A strapping, handsome girl, +clad in red and of assured mien, passing across the room, paused to +address a man of prodigious girth, who drank with much gusto from a +huge vessel at his elbow. +</P> + +<P> +"Did not your father, Pierre Laroche, tell you?" +</P> + +<P> +"He? No; all he thinks of is the money." +</P> + +<P> +"Then must <I>le capitaine</I> speak for himself, Mistress Nanette." +</P> + +<P> +"You are not very polite, Monsieur Gabarie," she returned, tossing her +head; "but I suppose there is a reason; you have been beaten. In an +encounter with the Governor's ships? Did you sink any of them? It +would be good news for us islanders." +</P> + +<P> +"<I>You</I> islanders!" derisively. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, islanders!" she answered defiantly. "But tell me; a number of +you wear patches, which make you look very ugly. They were +acquired—how?" +</P> + +<P> +"In a little clerical argument!" growled the poet. +</P> + +<P> +She glanced toward the secluded apartment; its occupants—the subject +of their conversation, and a priest, a feeble-looking man of about +seventy, whose delicate, sad face shone white and out-of-keeping in +that adventuresome company. "At any rate, the Black Seigneur hasn't +lost his good looks!" +</P> + +<P> +"Take care <I>you</I> don't lose your heart!" +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" Her strong bold eyes swept back. "Much good it would do me!" +</P> + +<P> +"And for that reason—" +</P> + +<P> +"Messieurs!" the landlord's voice broke in upon them; "behold!" it +seemed to say, as pushing through the company, he preceded a lanky lad +who bore by their legs many plucked fowls and birds—woodcock, wild +duck, cliff pigeons—and made his way to the great open fireplace at +one end of the room. There, bending over the glowing embers, the +landlord deliberately stirred and spread them; then, reaching for a bar +of steel, he selected a poulet from the hand of the lanky attendant and +prepared to adjust it; but before doing so, prodded it with his finger, +surveyed it critically, and held it up for admiring attention. +</P> + +<P> +"Who says old Pierre Laroche doesn't know how to care for his friends? +What think you of it, my masters?" +</P> + +<P> +"Plump as the King's confessor," muttered the poet. +</P> + +<P> +"Or your King himself!" said one of the islanders. +</P> + +<P> +"On with the King! Skewer the King!" exclaimed a fierce voice. +</P> + +<P> +"And then we'll eat him!" laughed the girl, showing her white teeth. +</P> + +<P> +"Thoughtless children!" From his place at the table in the small room +adjoining, the priest, attracted by the grim merriment of the +islanders, looked down to regard them; the red fire; the red gown. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, at least, will you find a safe asylum, Father," said his +companion, the Black Seigneur, in an absent tone; "a little rough, +perhaps, to suit your calling—" +</P> + +<P> +"The rougher, the more suitable—as I've often had occasion to learn +since leaving Verranch." +</P> + +<P> +"Since being driven from it, you mean!" shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, those revolutionary documents—placed in my garden!" +</P> + +<P> +"To make you appear—you, Father!—a sanguinary character!" But the +other's laugh rang false. +</P> + +<P> +"Alas, such wickedness! But I was too content; the rose-covered +cottage too comfortable; its garden, an Eden! It was more meet I +should be driven forth; go out into the highways, where I found—such +misery! I reproached myself I had not sought it sooner—voluntarily. +From north to south peasants dying, women and children starving, no one +to administer the last rites—on every side, work, work for the outcast +priest! For ten years it has occupied him—a blessed privilege—" +</P> + +<P> +"And then," the young man, who had seemed absorbed in other thoughts, +hardly listening, looked mechanically up, "you came back?" +</P> + +<P> +"A weakness of age! To see the old place once more! The little +church; God's acre at its side; to stand on the hill at Verranch and +look out a last time over the beautiful vale toward the Mount!" +Briefly he paused. "Yet I am glad I yielded to the temptation; +otherwise should I not have met your old servant, Sanchez; who told me +all—how you had long been looking for me, and arranged our meeting for +that day—on the island of Casque!" +</P> + +<P> +"But not," the young man's demeanor at once became intent; his eyes +gleamed with sudden fierce lights, "for what followed!" +</P> + +<P> +The priest sighed. "Shall I ever forget it? The terrible night, the +troop-ship, the killed and wounded. And the poor fellows taken +prisoners! I can not but think of them and their fate. What will it +be?" +</P> + +<P> +The other did not answer; only impatiently moved his injured arm and, +regarding him, the down-turned, dark countenance, the knit brows, +quickly the priest changed the subject of conversation. +</P> + +<P> +In the large room some one began to play, and before the fire, where +now the birds were turning and the serving-lad, with a long spoon was +basting, the dark-browed girl started to dance. At the side of the +hearth old Pierre smoked stolidly, gazed at the coals, and +dreamed—perhaps of the past, and dangers he had himself encountered, +or of the present, and his ships scattered—where?—on profitable, if +precarious errands. Somberly, in no freer mood than on the occasion of +their first visit to the inn, the crew looked on; but a tall, +savage-appearing islander soon matched her step; a second took his +place; from one partner to another she passed—wild, reckless men whose +touch she did not shun; yet it might have been noticed her eyes turned +often, through wreaths of smoke, mist-like in the glare and glimmer of +dips and torches, toward the Black Seigneur. +</P> + +<P> +Why—her gaze seemed to say—did he not join them, instead of sitting +there with a priest? She whirled to the threshold; her flushed face +looked in. "Are you saying a mass for the souls of your men who were +captured?" +</P> + +<P> +"I see," he returned quietly, "you have been gossiping." +</P> + +<P> +"A woman's privilege!" she flashed back. "But how did it happen? And +not only your arm," more sharply regarding him, "but your head! I +fancy if I were to push back a few locks of that thick hair I should +discover—it must have been a pretty blow you got, my Seigneur +Solitude!" He made no reply and she went on. "You, who I thought were +never beaten! By a mere handful of troops, too! Did you have to run +away very fast? If I were a man—" +</P> + +<P> +"Your tongue would be less sharp," he answered coolly, the black eyes +indifferent. +</P> + +<P> +"Much you care for my tongue!" she retorted. +</P> + +<P> +"No?" +</P> + +<P> +"No!" she returned mockingly, when above the din of voices, the +crackling of the fire, and the wild moaning of the wind in the chimney, +a low, but distinct and prolonged call was heard,—from somewhere +without, below. +</P> + +<P> +"What is that?" Quickly Nanette turned; superstitious, after the +fashion of most of her people, a little of the color left her cheek. +Again was it wafted to them, nearer, plainer! "The voices of dead men +from the sea!" +</P> + +<P> +"More like some one on the steps who would like to get in—some +fisherman who has just got to shore!" said old Pierre Laroche, waking +up and emptying his pipe. "Throw open the door. The stones are +slippery—the night dark—" +</P> + +<P> +One of the crew obeyed, and, as the wind entered sharply, and the +lights flickered and grew dim, there half staggered, half rushed from +the gloom, the figure of a man, wild, wet, whose clothes were torn and +whose face was freshly cut and marked with many livid signs of violence. +</P> + +<P> +"Sanchez!" From his place the Black Seigneur rose. +</P> + +<P> +The others looked around wonderingly; some with rough pity. "What's +the matter, man?" said one. "You look as if you had had a bad fall." +</P> + +<P> +"Fall!" Standing in the center of the room, where he had come to a +sudden stop, the man gazed, bewildered, resentful, about him; then +above the circle of questioning faces, his uncertain look lifted; +caught and remained fixed on that of the Black Seigneur. "Fall?" he +repeated, articulating with difficulty. "No; I had—no fall—but I +will speak—with my master—alone!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE SEETHING OF THE SEA +</H4> + +<P> +"'I have concluded to deal leniently with you,' said the Governor; 'set +you free!' I could not believe." +</P> + +<P> +Alone in the little chamber, the door of which now was closed, shutting +them from sight of the company in the general eating and drinking room +adjoining, Sanchez and the Black Seigneur sat together. Before them +the viands that had been placed on the table were untouched; the filled +glasses, untasted. As he spoke, the man bent forward, his words +disjointed; his eyes gleaming. +</P> + +<P> +"'But,' the Governor added, 'the criminal must be taught not to +forget'; then turned to his soldiers. 'Beat me this fellow from the +Mount!' he commanded." +</P> + +<P> +"What!" The blood sprang to the dark face of the listener; he half +started from his chair. "And they did! A merry chase, down the +streets, across the sands! I, an old soldier!" His voice choked. +"Beaten like a dog!" +</P> + +<P> +For some moments the young man looked at him; then again sank back; +stared straight ahead. Without, the laughter and harsh voices of the +islanders had become louder; within the little chamber, the only sound +now was the hard, persistent ticking of the clock on the shelf. +</P> + +<P> +"But how," at length Desaurac made a movement, "did he—" +</P> + +<P> +"Learn!" violently. "The way I told you he would!" +</P> + +<P> +"You mean—" +</P> + +<P> +"That I was betrayed and you were—by the Lady Elise—" +</P> + +<P> +"Impossible!" the Black Seigneur exclaimed with sudden violence. +</P> + +<P> +"Because she has a pretty face!" sneered the other. +</P> + +<P> +"Silence! Or—" +</P> + +<P> +"That is it!" The servant's voice rose stridently. "Beaten at one +end, threatened at the other!" +</P> + +<P> +The arm the young man had reached out fell to his side. "Hush! You're +mad; you don't know what you're saying!" +</P> + +<P> +"And you did not know what you were doing! Oh, I dare say it—I tell +you now I little liked the task of taking her back; expecting some sort +of treachery, and, when it came, was not surprised! Any more than, +when they had brought me before the Governor, I saw her at the +cloister—watching, hiding—" +</P> + +<P> +"Hiding!" +</P> + +<P> +"Behind the coping to listen when he, her father, was questioning me! +And, when I looked up and caught her, she walked out—to show me I +might as well confess!" +</P> + +<P> +"She did that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Then tried to cozen me into believing it was not through her," went on +the man bitterly, as if speaking to himself. "But I know the lying +blood—none better—and when she saw it was no use," he paused and +looked up, the marks of the stripes on his face seeming suddenly to +burn and grow livid, "she acknowledged it to my face! 'I won't deny.' +Those were her words! And when she left the place, she turned around +to look back at me—and laugh—" +</P> + +<P> +"You are not mistaken?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps," said the man, a venomous light in his obstinate eyes, "it +was all a fancy; or—I am lying!" +</P> + +<P> +Outside, the wind, blowing sharper, whistled about the eaves, beat at +the window and shook the blinds angrily; far below, a steady monotone +to those other sounds, could be heard the rush and breaking of the surf. +</P> + +<P> +"Why did I cross myself that day on the island, when I saw her—behind +you?" Sanchez's taciturnity—the reticence of years—suddenly burst +its bonds. "Because she made me think of the former lady of the +Mount—the Governor's wife—who betrayed the Seigneur, your father! I +promised him to keep the secret—he would have it, for the sake of the +lady; but now—to you! Your father was stabbed at the foot of the +Mount by the Governor!—" +</P> + +<P> +"Stabbed! By him!" +</P> + +<P> +"It was given out," sourly, "by rogues—again to shield her!" +</P> + +<P> +"But—" +</P> + +<P> +"That same day he had a letter—from her. As evening fell he walked +near the Mount—was followed by the Governor, who sprang, struck in the +back and left him for dead! I found him and took him home. But before +he recovered, it was reported my lady had died—" +</P> + +<P> +"How?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know not; a punishment, perhaps! She was always delicate—or liked +to be considered such—a white-faced, pretty, smiling thing whose +beauty and treachery this other one, the daughter, inherits. It was +the ghost of herself looking over your shoulder that day on the island, +with the same bright, perfidious eyes—" +</P> + +<P> +"Enough!" Angrily the Black Seigneur brought down his hand. "I will +hear no more!" +</P> + +<P> +"Because she has caught your fancy! Because you—" +</P> + +<P> +"No more, I say! Think you I would not avenge your wrongs at once, +were it possible? That I would not strike for you, on the instant? +But now? My hands are tied. Another matter—of life, or +death—presses first!" +</P> + +<P> +Sanchez looked at him quickly; said no more; between them, the silence +grew. The servant was the first to move; turning to the table, he +began to eat; at first mechanically; afterward faster, with the +ravenous zest of one who has not tasted food for many hours. The +other, for his part, showed no immediate desire to disturb that +occupation; for some time waited; and it was not until the servant +stopped; reached out his arm for a glass, to drink, that the young man +again spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"The palace? The plan of the Mount? Did you notice? Tell me +something of it—how it is laid out—" +</P> + +<P> +Sanchez swallowed; set down the glass hard. "Yes, yes! I saw much—a +great deal!" he answered with eager zest. "Oh, I kept my eyes open, +although I seemed not to, and was mindful of learning all I could!" +</P> + +<P> +"Here!" From his pocket the young man took a note-book; pencil. "Set +it down; everything! I know something, already, from the old +monks—the rough diagrams in their books. You entered where? Take the +pencil and—" +</P> + +<P> +The minutes passed and still Sanchez traced; seemed almost to forget +his injuries in his interest in the labor. Plan after plan was made; +torn up; one finally remained in the hand of the Black Seigneur. +</P> + +<P> +"You think—" Anxiously the servant watched his master's face; but the +latter, straight, erect, with keen eyes fixed, did not answer. +</P> + +<P> +"You think—" again began the man when the ancient time-piece, beating +harshly the hour, interrupted. +</P> + +<P> +"Eleven o'clock! High tide!" The Black Seigneur pushed back his chair +and rose. +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" Sanchez's alacrity indicated a quick comprehension of what the +movement portended. +</P> + +<P> +"You—had better remain here!" shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"Me?" said the servant with a hoarse laugh. "Me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Have you not had enough of my family—my service?" the young Seigneur +demanded bitterly. +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" muttered the other. "The dog that's beaten springs at the +chance to bite! You go to rescue your comrades. I—will go with you!" +</P> + +<P> +"In which case, death—not vengeance—will most likely be your reward!" +</P> + +<P> +"I care not!" stubbornly. +</P> + +<P> +A moment the Black Seigneur regarded him; then made a gesture. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, have your way!" He listened. "The wind is in the west." +</P> + +<P> +"A little south of west," answered the man. +</P> + +<P> +"A rough night for your boat to have crossed!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I was bound to come! And if you hadn't been here, I'd have gone +on, on,—till I found you—" +</P> + +<P> +The hand of the young man touched the other's shoulder. "Come!" he +said, and threw open the door. +</P> + +<P> +"You are going in the storm?" The girl, Nanette, intercepted them. +</P> + +<P> +The Black Seigneur nodded shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"It must be an important mission to take you to sea on such a night. +Why don't you stay where it's warm and comfortable? Or," with a laugh, +"at least until Monsieur Gabarie," indicating the corpulent figure +intrenched behind a barricade of dishes and bottles on a small table +near the fire, "has finished the little puppet play he is writing." +</P> + +<P> +"It <I>is</I> finished!" As he spoke, the poet rose. "I had but written +'curtain' when you spoke. Your wine, fair Nanette, hath a rarely +inspiring quality!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I care not for your compliments!" she returned. "Your +<I>capitaine</I>," again studying the Black Seigneur with dark sedulous +eyes, "has not found it so much to his liking! He has neither asked +for more, nor drunk what he ordered; and now would venture out—" +</P> + +<P> +Unmindful of her words the young man called to old Pierre. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," she went on, throwing back her head, "if you lose your ship, +come to me, and—I'll see you have another!" +</P> + +<P> +Above in his chamber at the inn, not long thereafter, the priest, +looking out of the window, saw a line of men file down the narrow +stairs; embark in the small boats from the sheltered nook where they +lay, and later, in the light of the moon, breaking from between +scudding clouds and angry vapors, a ship that got under way—glided +like a phantom craft from the haven and set seaward through the foam. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE PILGRIMAGE +</H4> + +<P> +From far and near the peasants and the people of the towns and +villages, joined in the customary annual descent upon—or ascent +to—the Mount. None was too poor, few too miserable, to undertake the +journey. A pilgrimage, was the occasion called; but although certain +religious ceremonies were duly observed and entered into by some with +fanatical warmth, many there were, who, obliged to pay tithes, +nourished the onerous recollection of the enforced "ecclesiastical +tenth" to the exclusion of any great desire to avail themselves of the +compensating privilege of beholding and bowing before the sacred +relics. To these recalcitrant spirits, license and a rough sort of +merrymaking became the order of the hour. +</P> + +<P> +Early in the morning the multitude began to arrive—in every manner of +dilapidated vehicle, astride starved-looking donkeys and bony horses, +or on foot. Many who had camped out the night before, by wayside or in +forest, brought with them certain scanty provisions and a kitchen pot +in which to boil thin soup, or some poor makeshift mess; others came +empty-handed, "pilgrims" out at the elbow and shoeless, trusting to +fortune for their sustenance, and looking capable even of having +poached in one of the wide forests they had traversed, despite a +penalty, severe and disproportionate to the offense, for laying hand on +any lord's wild birds or rabbits. +</P> + +<P> +Savage men; sodden men—good, bad and indifferent! Like ants thronging +about the hill, they straightway streamed to the Mount; took possession +of it, or as much as lay open to them; for around the top, chosen abode +of the Governor, extended a wall; grim, dark and ominous; bristling +with holes which seemed to look blackly down; to watch, to listen and +to frown. Without that pretentious line of encircling masonry, the +usual din, accompaniment to the day and the presence of so many people, +prevailed; within, reigned silence, a solemn hush, unbroken by even a +sentinel's tread. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be glad when it's all over!" Standing at the window of her +chamber the Lady Elise had paused in dressing to look out upon the +throng—a thousand clots upon the sand, dark moving masses in the +narrow byways, and motionless ones near the temporary altars. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my Lady!" Her companion, and former nurse, a woman about fifty +years of age, ventured this mild expostulation. +</P> + +<P> +"There, Marie! You can go!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, your Ladyship—" +</P> + +<P> +"One moment!" The slender figure turned. "This fastening—" +</P> + +<P> +In an instant the woman was by her side. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you heard anything more about the prisoners, Marie?" abruptly. +"Those who were tried, I mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing—only Beppo said they are to be hanged day after +to-morrow—when the pilgrimage is over." +</P> + +<P> +"Day after to-morrow!" The brown eyes looked hard and bright; the +small white teeth pressed her lip. "And the man my fa—the Governor +had—whipped from the Mount—you have heard nothing more of him—where +he has gone?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, my Lady; he seems to have disappeared completely; fled this +country, perhaps, for those islands where so many like him," half +bitterly, "have gone before!" +</P> + +<P> +The girl looked up in a preoccupied manner. "Poor Marie! Your only +sister died there, didn't she?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, my Lady; I never saw her after she left France with her husband +and baby girl. He was an unpatriotic fellow—Pierre Laroche!" +</P> + +<P> +"No doubt," said the Governor's daughter absently, as the other +prepared to leave the room. +</P> + +<P> +Alone, the girl remained for several moments motionless before the +great Venetian mirror; then mechanically, hardly looking at the +reflection the glass threw back at her, she finished her toilet. This +task accomplished, still she stood with brows closely drawn; afar the +flute-like voices of the choir-boys arose from different parts of the +Mount, but she did not seem to hear them; made a sudden quick gesture +and walked toward the door in the manner of one who has arrived at some +resolution. +</P> + +<P> +Passing down a corridor, she reached an arched opening whose massive +door swung easily to her touch, and let herself out by a private way, +which had once been the ancient abbot's way, to an isolated corner of a +small secluded platform. From this point a stairway led up to a +passage spanning a great gulf. Below and aside, where the red-tiled +houses clung to the steep slope of the rock, fluttered many flags; yet +the girl did not pause either to contemplate or admire. Only when her +glance passed seaward and rested on the far-away ocean's rim of light, +did she stop for an instant—mid-way on the bridge—then, compressing +her lips, moved on the faster; down the incline on the other side; up +winding stairs between giant columns, reaching, at length, that bright +and grateful opening, the cloister. With an unvarying air of +resolution she stepped forward; looked in; the place was empty—silent +save for the tinkling of the tiny fountain in the center. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you looking for some one, my Lady?" +</P> + +<P> +The voice was that of Beppo, who was regarding her from an angle in the +cloister walk. +</P> + +<P> +"I am looking for his Excellency. I suppose he is—" +</P> + +<P> +"In the apartments of state, my Lady. But—" +</P> + +<P> +The girl frowned. +</P> + +<P> +"But, but!" she said. "But what?" +</P> + +<P> +"His Excellency has left word—he was expecting a minister from +Paris—that no one else was to be admitted; the matter was so important +that he wished no interruptions." +</P> + +<P> +She had already turned, however; moved on past him without answer. At +the inner entrance to the "little castle" or châtelet, which presently +she reached, the girl stopped. Here, without, in the shadow of two +huge cylindrical towers, that crowned the feudal gate-house, a number +of soldiers, seated on the steps, clinked their swords and talked; +within, beneath the high-vaulted dome of the guard-room lolled the +commandant and several officers on a bench before a large window. +Immediately on her appearance they rose, but, merely bowing stiffly, +she started toward a portal on the left. Whereupon the commandant +started forward, deferentially would have spoken—stopped her, when at +the same moment, the door she was approaching opened, and the Governor +himself appeared. At the sight of her he started; a shade of annoyance +crossed his thin features, then almost immediately vanished; his cold +eyes met hers expectantly. +</P> + +<P> +"I have been told you were very busy, yet I must see you; it is very +important—" +</P> + +<P> +A fraction of a moment he seemed to hesitate; then with an absent air: +"Certainly, I was very busy; nevertheless—" he stepped aside; +permitted her to pass, and softly closed the door. With the same +preoccupied air he walked to his table before one of the large +fireplaces whose pyramidal canopies merged into the ribs of the +vaulting of a noble chamber, and, seating himself in a cushioned chair, +looked down at a few embers. +</P> + +<P> +"I came," standing, with her fingers straight and stiff on the cold +marble edge of the table, the girl began to speak hurriedly, +constrainedly, "I wanted to see you—about the prisoners—" +</P> + +<P> +He did not answer. Gently stroking his wrist, as if the dampness from +some subterranean place had got into it, he evinced no sign he had +heard; and this apathy and his apparent disregard of her awoke more +strongly the feeling she had experienced so often since that day in the +cloister, when he had promised to set free the servant of the Black +Seigneur; had kept his word, indeed, but— +</P> + +<P> +"Can't you see," she forced herself to continue, "after what the man +Sanchez thought—suspected about me, what he said that day at the +Mount, after what he, the Black Seigneur, did for me"—the Governor +started—"that you, if you care for me at all," he looked at her +strangely, "at least, should—" +</P> + +<P> +"As I told you the other day," his accents were cold, "why concern +yourself about outlaws and peasants clamoring for 'rights'!" +</P> + +<P> +"But it <I>is</I> my concern," she said passionately. "Unless—" +</P> + +<P> +"Neither yours nor mine," he answered in the same tone. "Only the +law's!" +</P> + +<P> +"The law's!" she returned. "<I>You</I> are the law—" +</P> + +<P> +"Its servant!" he corrected. +</P> + +<P> +"But—you could spare their lives! You could deal with them more +mercifully!" +</P> + +<P> +"The law is explicit. In the King alone rests the power to—" +</P> + +<P> +"The King! But before word could reach him—" +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly!" As he spoke, the Governor rose. "And now—" +</P> + +<P> +"You will not hear me?" +</P> + +<P> +"If there is anything else—" +</P> + +<P> +Her figure straightened. "Why do you hate him so?" she asked +passionately. "You have hastened their trial, and would carry out the +sentence before there is time for justice. And the man whom that day +you ordered whipped from the Mount—after letting me think him safe! +After all that his master did for me! Why was he lashed? Because of +him he served or of the old Seigneur before that? I heard you ask +about him—of his having gone to America? Why did you care about that?" +</P> + +<P> +"You seem to have listened to a great deal!" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-148"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-148.jpg" ALT=""You seem to have listened to a great deal."" BORDER="2"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center"> +"You seem to have listened to a great deal." +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"And why did he go to America?" she went on, unheeding. "Did you hate +him, too? What for?" +</P> + +<P> +"If you have nothing else to talk about—" He glanced at the door. +</P> + +<P> +"And the lands!" she said. "They were his; now they are yours—" +</P> + +<P> +"Unjustly, perhaps <I>you</I> think." +</P> + +<P> +"No, no!" she cried. "I didn't mean—I didn't imply that. Of course +not! Only," putting out her hands, "I try to understand, and—you have +never taken me into your confidence, <I>mon père</I>! You have been +indulgent; denied me nothing, but—I don't want to feel the way I have +felt the last week, as if—" quickly she stopped. "No doubt there are +reasons—although I have puzzled; and if I knew! Can't you," abruptly, +"treat me as one worthy of your confidence?" +</P> + +<P> +"You!" he said with quiet irony. "Who—<I>listen</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +The girl flushed. "I had to, because—" +</P> + +<P> +"And who misrepresent facts, as in the case of—Saladin!" +</P> + +<P> +"But—" +</P> + +<P> +"How long," standing over her, "were you on the island?" +</P> + +<P> +"I—don't know!" +</P> + +<P> +"You don't?" His voice implied disbelief. +</P> + +<P> +"Part of the time I was unconscious—" +</P> + +<P> +"In the watch-tower with him!" +</P> + +<P> +She made a gesture. "Would you rather—" +</P> + +<P> +"What did he say?" +</P> + +<P> +The girl's eyes, that had been so steadfast, on a sudden wavered. +"Nothing—much." +</P> + +<P> +"And you? Nothing, too? Then how was the deception devised—the pact +entered into—" +</P> + +<P> +Her figure stiffened. "There was no pact." +</P> + +<P> +"Treason, then? The law holds it treason to—" +</P> + +<P> +"You are cruel; unjust!" she cried. "To me, as you were to him. That +old man you had whipped! I wonder," impetuously, "if you are so to all +of them, the people, the peasants. And if that is the reason they have +only black looks for me—and hatred? As if they would like to curse +us!" +</P> + +<P> +He turned away. "I am very busy." +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Mon père</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +He walked to the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you won't—won't spare them?" +</P> + +<P> +He opened wide the door. Still she did not move, until the sight of +the commandant without, the curious glance he cast in their direction, +decided her. Drawing herself up, she walked toward the threshold, and, +bowing perfunctorily, with head held high, crossed it. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE VOICE FROM THE GROUP +</H4> + +<P> +"No one from the household is allowed through without an order!" +</P> + +<P> +"You will, however, let me pass." +</P> + +<P> +"Because you have a pretty face?" The sentinel at the great gate +separating the upper part of the Mount from the town, answered roughly. +"Not you, my girl, or—" +</P> + +<P> +But she who importuned raised the sides of the ample linen head-dress +and revealed fully her countenance. +</P> + +<P> +"My Lady!" Half convinced, half incredulous, the soldier looked; +stared; at features, familiar, yet seeming different, with the +rebellious golden hair smoothed down severely above; the figure garbed +in a Norman peasant dress, made for a costume dance when the nobles and +court ladies had visited the Mount. +</P> + +<P> +"You do not doubt who I am?" Imperiously regarding him. +</P> + +<P> +"No, my Lady; only—" +</P> + +<P> +"Then open the gate!" she commanded. +</P> + +<P> +The man pushed back the ponderous bolts; pressed outward the mass of +oak and iron, and, puzzled, surprised, watched the girl slip through. +Of course it was none of his affair, my lady's caprice, and if she +chose to go masquerading among the people on such a day, when all the +idle vagabonds made pretext to visit the Mount, her right to do so +remained unquestioned; but, as he closed the heavy door, he shook his +head. Think of the risk! Who knew what might happen in the event of +her identity being revealed to certain of those in that heterogeneous +concourse without? Even at the moment through an aperture for +observation in the framework to which he repaired upon adjusting the +fastenings, he could see approaching a procession of noisy fanatics. +</P> + +<P> +The apprehension of the soldier was, however, not shared by the girl, +who, glad she had found a means to get away from the chilling +atmosphere of her own world, experienced now only a sense of freedom +and relief. In her tense mood, the din—the shouting and unwonted +sounds—were not calculated to alarm; on the contrary, after the +oppressive stillness in the great halls and chambers of the summit, +they seemed welcome. Her pulses throbbed and her face still burned +with the remembrance of the interview with her father, as she eyed +unseeingly the approaching band, led by censer- and banner-bearers. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Vierge notre espérance—</I>" Caught up as they swept along, she found +herself without warning suddenly a part of that human stream. A +natural desire to get clear from the multitude led her at first to +struggle, but as well contend with the inevitable. Faces fierce, +half-crazed, encompassed her; eyes that looked starved, spiritually and +physically, gleamed on every side. Held as in a vise, she soon ceased +to resist; suddenly deposited on a ledge, like a shell tossed up from +the sea, she next became aware she was looking up toward a temporary +altar, garish with bright colors. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Etends sur nous—</I>" Louder rose the voices; more uncontrollable +became the demeanor of the people, and quickly, before the unveiling of +the sacred relics had completely maddened them, she managed to +extricate herself from the kneeling or prostrate throng; breathless, +she fled the vicinity. +</P> + +<P> +Down, down! Into the heart of the village; through tortuous footpaths, +where the pandering, not pietistic, element held sway; where, instead +of shrines and altars, had been erected booths and stands before which +vendors of nondescript viands or poor trumpery vented their loquacity +on the pilgrims: +</P> + +<P> +"All hot! All hot!" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>A la barque</I>! <I>A l'écaille</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>La vie</I>! Two drinks for a <I>liard</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Voilà le plaisir des dames</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +The Mount, in olden times a glorious and sacred place for royal +pilgrimages, where kings came to pray and seek absolution, seemed now +more mart than holy spot. But those whom the petty traders sought to +entice—sullen-looking peasants, or poorly clad fishermen and their +families—for the most part listened indifferently, or with stupid +derision. +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" scoffed one of them, a woman dressed in worn-out costume of +inherited holiday finery. "Where think you we can get sous for +gew-gaws?" +</P> + +<P> +"Or full stomachs with empty pockets?" said another. "The foul fiend +take your Portugals!" +</P> + +<P> +The nomadic merchants replied and a rough altercation seemed impending, +when, pushing through the crowd, the girl hurried on. +</P> + +<P> +Down, down, she continued; to the base of the rock where the sand's +shining surface had attracted and yet held many of the people. Thither +they still continued to come—in bands; processions; little streams +that, trickling in, mingled with and augmented the rabble. An +encampment for the hour—until the "<I>petite</I>" tide should break it up, +and drive it piecemeal to the shore or up the sides of the Mount—it +spread out and almost around the foundations of the great rock. Only +the shadows it avoided—the chilling outlines of pinnacles and towers; +the cold impress of the saint, holding close to the sunlit strand and +basking in its warmth. +</P> + +<P> +Some, following the example of their sea-faring fellows, dug +half-heartedly in the sands in the hope of eking out the meager evening +meal with a course, salt-flavored; others, abandoning themselves to +lighter employment, made merry in heavy or riotous fashion, but the +effect of these holiday efforts was only depressing and incongruous. +</P> + +<P> +"Won't you join?" Some one's arm abruptly seized my lady. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no!" +</P> + +<P> +Unceremoniously he still would have drawn her into the ring, but with a +sudden swift movement, she escaped from his grasp. +</P> + +<P> +"My child!" The voice was that of a wolfish false friar who, seeing +her pass quickly near by, broke off in threat, solicitation and appeal +for sous, to intercept her. "Aren't you in a hurry, my child?" +</P> + +<P> +"It may be," she answered steadily, with no effort to conceal her +aversion at sight of the gleaming eyes and teeth. "Too much so, to +speak with you, who are no friar!" +</P> + +<P> +"What mean you?" His expression, ingratiating before, had darkened, +and from his mean eyes shot a malignant look; she met it with fearless +disdain. +</P> + +<P> +"That you make pretext of this holy day to rob the people—as if they +are not poor enough!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ban you with bell, book and candle! Your tongue is too sharp, my +girl!" he snarled, but did not linger long, finding the flashing +glance, the contemptuous mien, or the truth of her words, little to his +liking. That he profited not by the last, however, was soon evident, +as with amulets and talismans for a bargain, again he moved among the +crowd, conjuring by a full calendar of saints, real and imaginary, and +professing to excommunicate, in an execrable confusion of monkish +gibberish, where the people could not, or would not, comply with his +demands. +</P> + +<P> +"So they <I>are</I>—poor enough!" Leaning on a stick, an aged fishwife who +had drawn near and overheard part of the dialogue between the thrifty +rogue and the girl, now shook her withered head. "Yet still to be +cozened! Never too poor to be cozened!" she repeated in shrill +falsetto tones. +</P> + +<P> +"And why," sharply my lady turned to the crone, "why are they so poor? +The lands are rich—the soil fertile." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" more shrilly. "You must come from some far-off place not to +know. Why? Don't you, also, have to pay <I>métayage</I> to some great +lord? And <I>banalité</I> here, and <I>banalité</I> there, until—" +</P> + +<P> +"But surely, if you applied to your great lord, your Governor; if you +told him—" +</P> + +<P> +"If we told him!" Brokenly the woman laughed. "Yes; yes; of course; +if—" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't understand," said the Governor's daughter coldly. +</P> + +<P> +Muttering and chuckling, the woman did not seem to hear; had started to +hobble on, when abruptly the girl stopped her. +</P> + +<P> +"Where do you live?" +</P> + +<P> +"There!" A claw-like finger pointed. "On the old Seigneur's lands—a +little distance from the woods—" +</P> + +<P> +"The old Seigneur? You knew him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Knew him! Who better?" The whitened head wagged. "And the Black +Seigneur? Wasn't he left, as a child, with me, when the old Seigneur +went to America? And," pursing her thin lips, "didn't I care for him, +and bring him up as one of my own?" +</P> + +<P> +"But I thought—I heard that he, the Black Seigneur, when a boy, lived +in the woods." +</P> + +<P> +"That," answered the old creature, "was after. After the years he +lived with us and shared our all! Not that we begrudged—no, no! Nor +he! For once when I sent word, pleading our need, that we were +starving, he forgave—I mean, remembered me—all I had done and," in a +wheedling voice, "sent money—money—" +</P> + +<P> +"He did?" Swiftly the girl reached for her own purse, only to discover +she had forgotten to bring one. "But of course," in a tone of +disappointment at her oversight, "he couldn't very well forget or +desert one who had so generously befriended him." +</P> + +<P> +"There are those now among his friends he must needs desert," the crone +cackled, wagging her head. +</P> + +<P> +A shadow crossed the girl's brow. "Must needs?" she repeated. +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, forsooth! His comrades—taken prisoners near the island of +Casque? His Excellency will hang them till they're dead—dead, like +some I've seen dangling from the branches in the wood. He, the Black +Seigneur, may wish to save them; but what can he do?" +</P> + +<P> +"What, indeed?" The girl regarded the Mount almost bitterly. "It is +impregnable." +</P> + +<P> +"Way there!" At that moment, a deep, strong voice from a little group +of people, moving toward them, interrupted. +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +CHAPTER XVI +</P> + +<P> +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE PEOPLE +</P> + +<P> +In the center walked a man, dressed as a mountebank, who bent forward, +laden with various properties—a bag that contained a miscellany of +spurious medicines and drugs, to be sold from a stand, and various +dolls for a small puppet theater he carried on his back. It was not +for the Governor's daughter, or the old woman, however, his call had +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE PEOPLE +</H4> + +<P> +In the center walked a man, dressed as a mountebank, who bent forward, +laden with various properties—a bag that contained a miscellany of +spurious medicines and drugs, to be sold from a stand, and various +dolls for a small puppet theater he carried on his back. It was not +for the Governor's daughter, or the old woman, however, his call had +been intended. "Way there!" he repeated to those in front of him. +</P> + +<P> +But they, yet seeking to detain, called out: "Give the piece here!" +</P> + +<P> +Like a person not lightly turned from his purpose, he, strolling-player +as well as charlatan, pointed to the Mount, and, unceremoniously +thrusting one person to this side and another to that, stubbornly +pushed on. As long as they were in sight the girl watched, but when +with shouts and laughter they had vanished, swallowed by the shifting +host, once more she turned to the crone. That person, however, had +walked on toward the shore, and indecisively the Governor's daughter +gazed after. The woman's name she had not inquired, but could find out +later; that would not be difficult, she felt sure. +</P> + +<P> +Soon, with no definite thought of where she was going, she began to +retrace her steps, no longer experiencing that earlier over-sensitive +perception for details, but seeing the picture as a whole—a vague +impression of faces; in the background, the Mount—its golden saint +ever threatening to strike!—until she drew closer; when abruptly the +uplifted blade, a dominant note, above color and movement, vanished, +and she looked about to find herself in the shadow of one of the rock's +bulwarks. Near by, a scattering approach of pilgrims from the sands +narrowed into a compact stream directed toward a lower gate, and, +remembering her experience above, she would have avoided the general +current; but no choice remained. At the portals she was jostled +sharply; no respecters of persons, these men made her once more feel +what it was to be one of the great commonalty; an atom in the rank and +file! At length reaching the tower's little square, many of them +stopped, and she was suffered to escape—to the stone steps swinging +sharply upward. She had not gone far, however, when looking down, she +was held by a spectacle not without novelty to her. +</P> + +<P> +In the shadow of the Tower of the King stood the mountebank she had +seen but a short time before on the sands. Now facing the people +before his little show-house, which he had set up in a convenient +corner, he was calling attention to the entertainment he proposed +giving, by a loud beating on a drum. +</P> + +<P> +Rub-a-dub-dub! "Don't crowd too close!" Rub-a-dub-dub! "Keep order +and you will see—" +</P> + +<P> +"Some trumpery miracle mystery!" called out a jeering voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Or the martyrdom of some saint!" cried another. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know anything about any saint," answered the man, +"unless,"—rub-a-dub-dub!—"you mean my lord's lady!" +</P> + +<P> +And truly the piece, as they were to discover, was quite barren of that +antique religious flavor to which they objected and which still +pervaded many of the puppet plays of the day. <I>The Petit Masque of the +Wicked Peasant and the Good Noble</I>, it was called; an odd designation +that at once interested the Lady Elise, bending over the stone +balustrade the better to see. It interested, also, those official +guardians of the peace, a number of soldiers and a few officers from +the garrison standing near, who, unmindful of the girl, divided their +attention between the pasteboard center of interest and the people +gathered around it. +</P> + +<P> +Circumspectly the little play opened; a scene in which my lord, in a +waistcoat somewhat frayed for one of his station, commands the lazy +peasant to beat the marsh with a stick that the croaking of the frogs +may not disturb at night the rest of his noble spouse, seemed designed +principally to show that obedience, submission and unquestioning fealty +were the great lord's due. On the one hand, was the patrician born to +rule; on the other, the peasant, to serve; and no task, however +onerous, but should be gladly welcomed in behalf of the master, or his +equally illustrious lady. The dialogue, showing the disinclination of +the bad peasant for this simple employment and the good lord's noble +solicitude for the nerves of his high-born spouse, was both nimble and +witty; especially those bits punctuated by a cane, and the sentiment: +"Thus all bad peasants deserve to fare!" and culminating in an +excellent climax to the lesson—a tattoo on the peasant's head that +sent him simultaneously, and felicitously, down with the curtain. +</P> + +<P> +"What think you of it?" At my lady's elbow one of the officers turned +to a companion. +</P> + +<P> +"Amusing, but—" And his glance turned dubiously toward the people. +Certainly they did not now show proper appreciation either for the +literary merits of the little piece or the precepts it promulgated in +fairly sounding verse. +</P> + +<P> +"The mountebank!" From the crowd a number of discontented voices rose. +"Come out, Monsieur Mountebank!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Monsieur Mountebank, come out; come out!" +</P> + +<P> +With fast-beating heart the Lady Elise gazed; as in a dream had she +listened—not to the lines of the puppet play; but to a +voice—strangely familiar, yet different—ironical; scoffing; laughing! +She drew her breath quickly; once more studied the head, in its white, +close-fitting clown's covering; the heavy, painted face, with red, +gaping mouth. Then, the next moment, as he bowed himself +back—apparently unmindful of a missile some one threw and which struck +his little theater—the half-closed, dull eyes met hers; passed, +without sign or expression!—and she gave a nervous little laugh. What +a fancy! +</P> + +<P> +"Act second!" the tinkling of a bell prefaced the announcement, and +once more was the curtain drawn, this time revealing a marsh and the +bad peasant at work, reluctantly beating the water to the <I>Song of the +Stick</I>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Beat! beat!<BR> +At his lordship's command;<BR> + For if there's a croak,<BR> +For you'll be the stroke,<BR> + From no gentle hand."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +A merry little tune, it threaded the act; it was soon interrupted, +however, during a scene where a comical-looking devil on a broomstick, +useful both for transportation and persuasion, came for something which +he called the peasant's soul. Again the bad peasant protested; would +cheat even the devil of his due, but his satanic Majesty would not be +set aside. +</P> + +<P> +"You may rob your master," he said, in effect; "defraud him of +<I>banalité</I>, <I>bardage</I> and those other few taxes necessary to his +dignity and position; but you can't defraud <I>Me</I>!" Whereupon he +proceeded to wrest what he wanted from the bad peasant by force—and +the aid of the broomstick!—accompanying the rat-a-tat with a +well-rhymed homily on what would certainly happen to every peasant who +sought to deprive his lord of feudal rights. At this point a growing +restiveness on the part of the audience found resentful expression. +</P> + +<P> +"That for your devil's stick!" +</P> + +<P> +"To the devil with the devil!" +</P> + +<P> +"Down with the devil!" +</P> + +<P> +The cry, once started, was not easy to stop; men in liquor and ripe for +mischief repeated it; in vain the mountebank pleaded: "My poor dolls! +My poor theater!" Unceremoniously they tumbled it and him over; a few, +who had seen nothing out of the ordinary in the little play took his +part; words were exchanged for blows, with many fighting for the sake +of fighting, when into the center of this, the real stage, appeared +soldiers. +</P> + +<P> +"What does it mean?" Impressive in gold adornment and conscious +authority, the commandant himself came down the steps. "Who dares make +riot on a day consecrated to the holy relics? But you shall pay!" as +the soldiers separated the belligerents. "Take those men into custody +and—who is this fellow?" turning to the mountebank, a mournful figure +above the wreckage of his theater and poor puppets scattered, +haphazard, like victims of some untoward disaster. +</P> + +<P> +"It was his play that started the trouble," said one of the officers. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Diable!</I>" the commandant frowned. "What have you to say for +yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +"I," began the mountebank, "I—" he repeated, when courage and words +alike seemed to fail him. +</P> + +<P> +The commandant made a gesture. "Up with him! To the top of the Mount!" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no!" At once the fellow's voice came back to him. "Don't take me +there, into the terrible Mount! Don't lock me up!" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't lock him up!" repeated some one in the crowd, moved apparently +by the sight of his distress. "It wasn't his fault!" +</P> + +<P> +"No; it wasn't his fault!" said others. +</P> + +<P> +"Eh?" Wheeling sharply, the commandant gazed; at the lowering faces +that dared question his authority; then at his own soldiers. On the +beach he might not have felt so secure, but here, where twenty, +well-armed, could defend a pass and a mob batter their heads in vain +against walls, he could well afford a confident front. "Up with you!" +he cried sternly and gave the mountebank a contemptuous thrust. +</P> + +<P> +For the first time the man's apathy seemed to desert him; his arm shot +back like lightning, but almost at once fell to his side, while an +expression, apologetically abject, as if to atone for that momentary +fierce impulse, overspread his dull visage. "Oh, I'll go," he said in +accents servile. And proceeded hurriedly to gather up the remains of +his theater and dolls. "I'm willing to go." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE HUNCHBACK +</H4> + +<P> +Up the Mount with shambling step, head down-bent and the same stupid +expression on his face, the mountebank went docilely, though not +silently. To one of the soldiers at his side he spoke often, voicing +that dull apprehension he had manifested when first ordered into +custody. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think they'll put me in a dungeon?" +</P> + +<P> +"Dungeon, indeed!" the man answered not ill-naturedly. "For such as +you! No, no! They'll keep the oubliettes, calottes, and all the dark +holes for people of consequence—traitors, or your fine gentry +consigned by <I>lettres de cachet</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"Then what do you think they <I>will</I> do with me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Wait, and find out!" returned the soldier roughly, and the mountebank +spoke no more for some time; held his head lower, until, regarding him, +his guardian must needs laugh. "Here's a craven-hearted fellow! Well, +if you really want to know, they'll probably lock you up for the night +with the rest of rag-tag," indicating the other prisoners, a short +distance ahead, "in the cellar, or almonry, or <I>auberge des voleurs</I>; +and in the morning, if you're lucky and the Governor has time to attend +to such as you, it may be you'll escape with a few stripes and a +warning." +</P> + +<P> +"The <I>auberge des voleurs</I>!—the thieves' inn!" said the man. "What is +that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Bah! You want to know too much! If now your legs only moved as fast +as your tongue—" And the speaker completed the sentence with a +significant jog on the other's shoulder. Whereupon the mountebank +quickened his footsteps, once more ceased his questioning. It was the +soldier who had not yet spoken, but who had been pondering a good deal +on the way up, who next broke the silence. +</P> + +<P> +"How did it end, Monsieur Mountebank?—the scene with the devil, I +mean." +</P> + +<P> +The man who had begun to breathe hard, as one not accustomed to +climbing, or wearied by a long pilgrimage to the Mount, at the question +ventured to stop and rest, with a hand on the granite balustrade of the +little platform they had just reached. "In the death of the peasant, +and a comic chorus of frogs," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"A comic chorus!" said the soldier. "That must be very amusing." +</P> + +<P> +"It is," the mountebank said, at the same time studying, from where he +stood, different parts of the Mount with cautious, sidelong looks; "but +my poor frogs!—all torn! trampled!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well!" said the other not unkindly. "You can mend them when you +get out." +</P> + +<P> +"'<I>When</I>!' If I only knew when that would be! What if I should have +to stay here like some of the others?—<I>pour être oublié</I>!—to be +forgotten?" +</P> + +<P> +"If you don't get on faster," said the soldier who had first spoken, +"you won't be buried alive for some time to come, at least!" +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon!" muttered the mountebank. "The hill—it is very steep." +</P> + +<P> +"You look strong enough to climb a dozen hills, and if you're holding +back for a chance to escape—" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no!" protested the man. "I had no thought—do I not know that if +I tried, your sword—" +</P> + +<P> +"Quite right. I'd—" +</P> + +<P> +"There, there!" said the other soldier, a big, good-natured appearing +fellow. "He's harmless enough, and," as once more they moved on, "that +tune of yours, Monsieur Mountebank," abruptly; "it runs in my head. +Let me see—how does it go? The second verse, I mean—" +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Beat! beat!<BR> +Mid marsh-muck and mire,<BR> + For if any note<BR> +Escapes a frog's throat,<BR> + Beware my lord's ire!"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Yes; that's the one. Not bad!" humming— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "For if any note<BR> +Escapes a frog's throat<BR> + Beware my lord's ire!"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Are the verses your own?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no! I'm only a poor player," said the mountebank humbly. "But an +honest one," he added after a pause, "and this thieves' inn, Monsieur?" +returning to the subject of his possible fate, "this <I>auberge des +voleurs</I>—that sounds like a bad place for an honest lodging." +</P> + +<P> +"It was once under the old monks, who were very merry fellows; but +since the Governor had it restored, it has become a sober and quiet +place. It is true there are iron bars instead of blinds, and you can't +come and go, as they used to, but—" +</P> + +<P> +"Is that it—up there?" And the mountebank pointed toward a ledge of +rock, with strong flanking buttresses, out jutting beneath a +mysterious-looking wall and poised over a sparsely-wooded bit of the +lower Mount. "The gray stone building you can just see above the +ramparts, and that opening in the cliff to the right, with something +running down—that looks like planking—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that is for the wheel—" +</P> + +<P> +"The wheel?" +</P> + +<P> +"The great wheel of the Mount! It was built in the time of the monks, +and was used for—" +</P> + +<P> +"Hold your tongue!" said the other soldier, and the trio entered the +great gate, which had opened at their approach, and now closed quickly +behind them. +</P> + +<P> +For the first time in that isolated domain of the dreaded Governor, the +mountebank appeared momentarily to forget his fears and gazed with +interest around him. On every side new and varying details unfolded to +the eye; structures that from below were etched against the sky in +filmy lines, here resolved themselves into vast, solid, but harmonious +masses. +</P> + +<P> +Those ribbons of color that had seemed to fall from the wooing sky, to +adorn these heights, proved, indeed, fallacious; more somber effects, +the black touches of age, confronted the eye everywhere, save on one +favored front—that of a newer period, an architectural addition whose +intricate carvings and beautiful roses of stone invited and caught the +warmer rays; whose little balcony held real buds and flowers, bright +spots of pink dangling from, or nestling at, the window's edge. +</P> + +<P> +"Yonder looks like some grand lady's bower," as he followed his captors +past this more attractive edifice, the mountebank ventured to observe. +"Now, perhaps, lives there—" +</P> + +<P> +"Hark you, my friend," one of the soldiers bruskly interrupted; "a +piece of advice! His Excellency likes not babblers, neither does he +countenance gossip; and if you'd fare well, keep your tongue to +yourself!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll—I'll try to remember," said the mountebank docilely, but as he +spoke, looked back toward the balcony; at the gleaming reflection full +on its windows; then a turn in the way cut off the pleasing prospect, +and only the grim foundations of the lofty, heavier structure on one +hand and the massive masonry of the ramparts on the other greeted the +eye. +</P> + +<P> +For some distance they continued along the narrow way, the mountebank +bending lower under his load and observing the injunction put upon him, +until the path, broadening, led them abruptly on to a platform where a +stone house of ancient construction barred their further progress. But +two stories in height, this building, an alien edifice amid loftier +piles, stood sturdily perched on a precipitous cliff. The rough +stonework of its front, darkened by time, made it seem almost a part of +the granite itself, although the roof, partly demolished and restored, +imparted to it an anomalous distinctness, the bright new tile prominent +as patches on some dilapidated garment. In its doorway, beneath a +monkish inscription, well-nigh obliterated, stood a dwarf, or +hunchback, who, jingling a bunch of great keys, ill-humoredly regarded +the approaching trio. +</P> + +<P> +"What now?" The little man's welcome, as mountebank and soldiers came +within earshot, was not reassuring. "Isn't it enough to make prisoners +of all the scamps in Christendom without taking vagabond players into +custody?" +</P> + +<P> +"Orders, good Jacques!" said one of the soldiers in a conciliatory +tone. "The commandant's!" +</P> + +<P> +"The commandant!" grumbled the grotesque fellow. "It is all very +well," mimicking: "'Turn them over to Jacques. He'll find room.' If +this keeps on, we'll soon have to make cages of confessionals, or turn +the wine-butts in the old cellar into oubliettes." +</P> + +<P> +"If any of the ancient flavor lingers in the casks, your guests would +have little reason to complain!" returned the other soldier. "But this +fellow, he'll make no trouble—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I suppose we'll have to take care of him!" muttered the dwarf. +"In the thieves' inn there's always room for one more!" Obeying the +gesture, at once menacing and imperious, that accompanied these words, +the mountebank, who had been eying his prospective host not without +visible signs of misgiving, reluctantly entered. +</P> + +<P> +But as he did so, he looked back; toward the soldier who had displayed +half-friendly interest in the play. +</P> + +<P> +"If you care to know more about the piece—" he began, when the +maledictions and abuse of the misshapen keeper put a stop to further +conversation and sent the mountebank post-haste into the darkness of +the cavern-like hall intersecting the ground floor. +</P> + +<P> +On either side closed doors, vaguely discerned, hinted at the secrets +of the chambers they guarded; the atmosphere, dark and close, +proclaimed the sunlight long a stranger there. At the end of the hall +the dwarf, who had walked with the assurance of one well acquainted +with that musty interior and all it contained, paused; shot sharply a +bolt and threw open a door. The action was the signal for a chorus of +hoarse voices from within, and the little man stayed not on the order +of his going, but, thrusting the mountebank across the threshold, +leaped nimbly back, slammed hard the door, and locked it. +</P> + +<P> +Cries of disappointment and rage followed, and, facing the company that +crowded the dingy little room almost to suffocation, the latest comer +found himself confronted by unkempt people who shook their fists +threateningly and execrated in no uncertain manner. A few, formerly +spectators of his little play, inclined again to vent their humor on +him, but he regarded them as if unaware of their feeling; pushed none +too gently to a tiny window, and, depositing his burden on the stone +floor, seated himself on a stool with his back to the wall. +</P> + +<P> +As a squally gust soon blows itself out, so their temper, mercurial, +did not long endure; from a ragged coat one produced dice, another +cards, and, although there were few sous to exchange hands, the hazard +of tossing and shuffling exercised its usual charm and held them. The +minutes wore away; motionless in his corner, the mountebank now +watched; then with his head on his elbow, seemed sunk in thought. Once +he rose; stood on his stool and looked out between the heavy bars of +the narrow window. +</P> + +<P> +"Not much chance to get out that way," observed a fellow prisoner. +"What did you see?" +</P> + +<P> +"Only a chasm and the sands." +</P> + +<P> +"The sands!" said the man. "Cursed the day I set foot on them!" +</P> + +<P> +To this malediction the other did not answer; stepped down and, again +seated in his corner, waited, while the light that had grudgingly +entered the narrow aperture grew fainter. With the growing darkness +the atmosphere seemed to become closer, more foul; but although he +breathed with difficulty, the mountebank suffered no sign of impatience +or concern to escape him; only more alertly looked, and listened—to a +night bird cleaving the air without; to muttered sounds, thieves' +patois, or snatches of ribald mirth within; and, ere long, to new +complainings. +</P> + +<P> +"Our supper! What of our supper?" +</P> + +<P> +"The foul fiend take the <I>auberge des voleurs</I> and its landlord?" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Vrai dieu</I>! Here he comes!" as footsteps were heard without. +</P> + +<P> +And the door, opening, revealed, indeed, in the rushlight, now dimly +illuminating the hall, the hunchback; not laden, however, with the +longed-for creature comforts, but empty-handed; at his back the +commandant and a number of soldiers. +</P> + +<P> +"You fellow with the dolls!" Blinking in the glare of the torches, the +dwarf peered in. "Where are you? Come along!" as the mountebank rose, +"you are wanted." +</P> + +<P> +"Wanted?" repeated the player, stepping forward. "Where?" +</P> + +<P> +"At the palace," said the commandant. +</P> + +<P> +"The palace!" stopping short. "Who can want me there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Who?" The dwarf made a grimace. "Who?" he repeated mockingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Her ladyship," said the commandant, with a reproving glance at the +jailer. +</P> + +<P> +"Her ladyship!" +</P> + +<P> +"Haven't you ears, my man?" The commandant frowned and made an +impatient gesture. "Come, bestir yourself! The Governor's daughter +has commanded your presence." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE MOUNTEBANK AND MY LADY +</H4> + +<P> +"The Governor's daughter!" Had the light been stronger they must have +seen the start the mountebank gave. "Impossible!" +</P> + +<P> +"Eh? What?" Surprised in turn, the officer gazed at him. "You +dare—out with him!" To the soldiers. +</P> + +<P> +But in a moment had the mountebank recovered his old demeanor, and, +without waiting for the troopers to obey the commandant's order, walked +voluntarily toward the door and into the passage. +</P> + +<P> +"Our supper! Our supper!" A number of the prisoners, crowding +forward, began once more to call lustily, when again was the +disk-studded woodwork swung unceremoniously to, cutting short the sound +of their lamentations. +</P> + +<P> +"Dogs!" Malevolently the dwarf gazed back. "To want to gorge +themselves on a holy day!" +</P> + +<P> +"Pious Jacques!" murmured the commandant. "But I always said you made +a model landlord!" +</P> + +<P> +"When not interfered with!" grumbled the other. +</P> + +<P> +"At any rate <I>he</I> doesn't seem to appreciate his good fortune," with a +glance at the mountebank. +</P> + +<P> +"No," jeering. "A gallant cavalier to step blithely at a great lady's +command! 'Your Ladyship overwhelms me!'" bowing grotesquely. "'Your +Ladyship's condescension'—" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, then, need you take me?" interposed the mountebank quickly. "Can +you not tell her ladyship I am not fit to appear in her presence—an +uncouth clown—" +</P> + +<P> +"Bah! I've already done that," answered the commandant. +</P> + +<P> +"But how came her ladyship to know of me—here—?" +</P> + +<P> +"How indeed?" +</P> + +<P> +"And what does she want of me?" +</P> + +<P> +"That," roughly, "you will find out!" and stepped down the hall, +followed by the soldiers, mountebank and dwarf, the last of whom took +leave of them at the door. +</P> + +<P> +Clear was the night; the stars, like liquid drops about to fall, +caressed with silvery rays the granite piles. In contrast to the +noisome atmosphere of the prison, faint perfumes, borne from some +flowery slope of the distant shore, swept languorously in and out the +open aisles and passages of the Mount. In such an hour that upper +region seemed to belong entirely to the sky; to partake of its wondrous +stillness; to share its mysteries and its secrets. Like intruders, +penetrating an enchanted spot, now they trod soft shadows; then, +clangorous, beat beneath foot delicate laceworks of light. +</P> + +<P> +"Here we are!" The officer stopped. At the same time upon a near-by +balcony a nightingale began to sing, tentatively, as if trying the +scope and quality of its voice. "You are to go in!" he announced +abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"Such a fine palace! I—I would rather not!" muttered the fellow, as +they crossed an outer threshold and proceeded to mount some polished +stairs. +</P> + +<P> +"Stubborn dolt! Now in you march," pausing before a door. "But, hark +you! I and my men remain without. So, mind your behavior, or—" +</P> + +<P> +A look from the commandant completed the sentence. +</P> + +<P> +Alone, in an apartment of the palace, some moments later, the +mountebank's demeanor underwent a quick change; he glanced hastily +toward the door the commandant had closed in leaving, and then, with +sudden brightening gaze, around him, as if making note of every detail +of his surroundings. Set with columns of warm-hued marble, relieved +with ornate carvings and designs, the spacious chamber presented an +appearance at once graceful and charming. Nor were its furnishings at +variance with its architectural elegance; on every hand soft colors met +the eye, in rugs of ancient pattern; in tapestries, subdued; in the +upholstering of Breton oak. A culminating note was in the center of +the room, where a great bunch of roses opened wide their petals. +</P> + +<P> +But briefly, however, the clown permitted himself to survey, or study, +these details of refinement and luxury; the swift eager interest that +had shone from the dark eyes gave way to an expression, lack-luster and +stupid; his countenance once more resumed its blank, stolid aspect. As +if unconscious of the anomalous figure he presented, mechanically had +he seated himself; was gazing down, when through a doorway, opposite +the one by which the commandant had left, a slender form appeared. +Under the heavy, whitened lids a slight movement of the clown's eyes +alone betrayed he was aware of that new presence. A moment the girl +stood there, her glance resting on the grotesque, bent figure before +her; then with a quizzical lift of the delicate brows she entered. +</P> + +<P> +"You believe, no doubt, in making yourself at home?" +</P> + +<P> +Crossing to the table, once more she stopped; her figure, sheathed in a +gown of brocade of rose, glowed bright and distinct in contrast to the +faint, vari-colored tints of ancient embroideries on the wall. Above, +the light threw a shimmer on the deep-burnished gold of her hair; the +sweeping lashes veiled the half-disdainful, half-amused look in her +brown eyes. "Or, perhaps, you are one of those who think the peasants +will some day sit, while the lords and ladies stand?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," he managed to answer, but got up, only to appear more +awkward. +</P> + +<P> +"You do not seem to know very much, indeed!" she returned, her tone +changing to one of cold severity. "Not enough, perhaps, to perceive +the mischief you may cause! That play of yours, which I witnessed +to-day—" +</P> + +<P> +"You! To-day? Your Ladyship was—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," imperiously, "I was there! And heard and saw the effect it had +on the people; how it stirred all their baser passions! But you, of +course, could not know—or care, thinking only of the sous!—that, +instead of teaching a lesson, the piece would only move them to anger, +or resentment." +</P> + +<P> +"I—your Ladyship—great lords have commended the play—" +</P> + +<P> +"Great lords!" she began, but stopped; regarded her listener and +shrugged her shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +A few moments silence lasted, the fellow apparently not knowing what to +say, or if he was expected to say anything, while, for her part, the +girl no longer looked at him, but at the flowers, taking one, which she +turned in her fingers. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship would command me—" +</P> + +<P> +"To give the play no more!" +</P> + +<P> +"But—" Expostulation shone from his look. +</P> + +<P> +"In which event you shall be suffered to go free to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"But my livelihood! What shall I do, if I am forbidden to earn—" +</P> + +<P> +She gave him a colder look. "I have spoken to the commandant; told him +what I had seen, and that I did not think you intended to make trouble. +Your case will, therefore, not be reported to his Excellency. Only," +with a warning flash, "if you are again caught giving the play, you +must expect to receive your deserts." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course! If your Ladyship commands!" dejectedly. +</P> + +<P> +"I do! But, as an offset to the coppers you might otherwise receive, I +will give you a sum of money sufficient to compensate you." +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship is so generous!" He made an uncouth gesture of +gratitude and covetousness. "May I ask your Ladyship how much—" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-188"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-188.jpg" ALT=""May I ask your ladyship how much--?"" BORDER="2"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center"> +"May I ask your ladyship how much—?" +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"How much?" scornfully. "But I suppose—" +</P> + +<P> +The words died away; her glance fell; lingered on the hand he had +extended. Muscular, shapely, it seemed not adapted to the servile +gesture; was most unlike the hand of clod or clown. Moreover, it was +marked with a number of wounds, half-healed, which caught and held her +look. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, I am so poor, your Ladyship—" he began, in yet more abject +tone, but stopped, attracted in turn by the direction of her gaze; +then, meeting it, quickly withdrew the hand and thrust it into his +pocket. Not in time, however, to prevent a startled light, a swift +gleam of recollection from springing into her eyes! The very movement +itself—ironically enough!—was not without precedent. +</P> + +<P> +"You!" She recoiled from him. "The Black—" +</P> + +<P> +As a man who realizes he has betrayed himself, he bit his lips; but +attempted no further subterfuge. The shambling figure straightened; +the dull eyes grew steady; the bold self-possession she remembered well +on another occasion again marked his bearing. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship has discerning eyes," he remarked quietly, but as he +spoke glanced and moved a little toward the window. +</P> + +<P> +My lady stood as if dazed. He, the Black Seigneur, there, in the +palace! Mechanically she raised her hand to her breast; she was very +pale. On the balcony the nightingale, grown confident, burst into a +flood of variations; a thousand trills and full-throated notes filled +the room. +</P> + +<P> +"I understand now," at length she found voice, "why that fancy came to +me below, when I was listening to the play on the platform. But why +have you come—to the very Mount itself?" Her voice trembled a little. +"You! On the beach the people tried to stop you—" +</P> + +<P> +"You saw that, too?" +</P> + +<P> +"And you <I>knew</I> the play would make trouble! You wanted it to," +quickly. "For what purpose? To get into the upper part of the Mount? +To have them arrest—bring you here?" She looked at him with sudden +terror. "My father! Was it to—" +</P> + +<P> +A low, distinct rapping at the door she had entered, interrupted them. +She started and looked fearfully around. At the same time the +mountebank stepped back to the side of a great bronze in front of the +balcony, where, standing in the shadow, he was screened. +</P> + +<P> +"Elise!" a voice called out. +</P> + +<P> +The flower the girl had been holding, fell to the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"My—" she began, when the door opened and the Governor stood on the +threshold. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE GOVERNOR +</H4> + +<P> +In his hand the Governor held a paper; his usually austere face wore a +slightly propitiatory expression, while the eyes he turned upon her, as +slowly he entered the room, suggested a respite of differences. +Pausing, he toyed with the missive, turning it around and around in his +fingers, as if something in his thoughts were revolving with it. Had +he been more watchful of her, less bent on some matter uppermost in his +mind, he could not have failed to mark the pallor of her face, or the +agitation written there. As it was, his glance swept without studying. +</P> + +<P> +"I hoped to find you here," he began complacently; "hoped that you had +not yet retired." +</P> + +<P> +She made some faint response, but her voice, despite herself, wavered. +Whereupon his look sharpened; then almost immediately relapsed; +constraint on her part could easily be accounted for; not many hours +had elapsed since their last interview. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he continued, "I have here to consider," indicating a paper he +held, "a rather important matter." He waited a moment before adding: +"A matter that concerns—you!" +</P> + +<P> +"That concerns me?" Her hands tightened. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Since it is important," she said hastily, "would it not—shall we not +leave it until to-morrow? I—I am rather tired to-night, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"What?" he returned in the same unruffled tone. "Would you postpone +considering the command of the King!" +</P> + +<P> +"Command!" she repeated nervously. "Of the King?" +</P> + +<P> +"Or request," he said, "which is the same." +</P> + +<P> +"But—" she began, and stopped; held by a sound, as of some one moving, +near the window. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I read it, or—" +</P> + +<P> +She had started to look behind her; but abruptly caught herself, and +seemed about to frame some irrelevant response, when his voice went on: +"The King desires to change the date set for your marriage with his +kinsman, the Marquis de Beauvillers." +</P> + +<P> +"Change?" she echoed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; to hasten it." If the Governor had expected from her hostility, +or perverseness, he was agreeably disappointed; the girl evinced +neither pleasure nor disapproval; only stood in the same attitude of +expectancy, with head half turned. +</P> + +<P> +"His Majesty's reasons for this step—" +</P> + +<P> +"Can't we—can't we, at least, postpone considering them?" +</P> + +<P> +Again he regarded her more closely. "What better time than the +present?" +</P> + +<P> +"But I don't want—" +</P> + +<P> +"Elise!" A slight frown appeared on his brow. "His Majesty," once +more looking at the paper, "hints at an important political appointment +he desires to confer on the Marquis de Beauvillers which would take him +abroad; but whether as ambassador, or as governor in the colonies, his +Majesty does not disclose. Obviously, however, the bestowing of the +honor—a high one, no doubt!—depends on his early marriage, and a wife +to grace the position. The letter," weighing it, "is a tentative one; +the courteous precursor of a fuller communication when he has learned +our—your—pleasure." +</P> + +<P> +She did not at once express it; indeed, at the moment, seemed scarcely +to have comprehended; her glance, which had swept furtively behind when +he was studying the document, returned more uneasily to his, but not +before he had caught the backward look. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" he said with a touch of asperity. "Well?" he repeated, when +his gaze, following the direction hers had taken, paused. +</P> + +<P> +Although well lighted in the center by a great Venetian candelabrum, +the far ends of the spacious hall lay somewhat in obscurity; notably +the space adorned with tropical plants and a life-size bronze before +the entrance to the balcony. It was on this dim recess the Governor +permitted his eye to rest; at first casually; then with a sudden +appearance of interest. +</P> + +<P> +"Eh?" he muttered, and before my lady could prevent him, if she had +been mindful so to do, walked quickly forward; but as he advanced, a +white figure stepped boldly out from behind that partial screen. With +a sharp exclamation, which found a startled echo from the girl, the +Governor stopped; stepped back as far as the table. +</P> + +<P> +"What mummery is this?" His lips shaped the words uncertainly; his +hand, reaching out with that first startled instinct of danger, touched +the bell. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship rang?" On the opposite side of the room was the door +thrown suddenly open. The look of expectancy on the face of the +commandant, who had so promptly appeared, gave way to one of surprise; +consternation. "His Excellency!" he muttered, and mechanically saluted. +</P> + +<P> +Over the Governor's visage a faint trace of relief flitted; dryly he +looked from the mountebank, now erect and motionless, to the girl; but +the face was averted and his Excellency could not see the sudden +whiteness of her cheek; again he regarded the officer. +</P> + +<P> +"You answer our summons with alacrity," he observed to this last +subject of his scrutiny. +</P> + +<P> +The commandant reddened. "I—your Excellency—the truth is, I was +waiting without, at the door." +</P> + +<P> +"What you have just stated," returned the Governor, "is patent; what I +should like to know, however," with subtle change of tone, "is <I>why</I> +you were stationed there." +</P> + +<P> +"To take this mountebank player away, when it pleased her Ladyship to—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; to take him away!" interrupted the lady in hurried tones, the +agitation of which she strove to conceal. "And I was about to call +him, when—" +</P> + +<P> +The Governor continued to address the commandant. "You brought him +here?" incisively. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; your Excellency; a stupid fellow we arrested below for making +trouble with his dolls, and—but with her ladyship's permission—" +awkwardly turning to the Governor's daughter, "I will explain." +</P> + +<P> +To this appeal the girl, however, made no answer; as if fascinated, +watched them, the commandant, her father, the still, white figure at +one side—not far away! +</P> + +<P> +"I think," the Governor spoke softly, "you will do that, anyway!" +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly, your Excellency! It happened in this wise," and not without +evidence of constraint and hesitation, the officer slowly related the +story of the disturbance on the platform; the taking into custody of +the rogues and knaves, and my lady's interest in the vagabond clown +whose play had occasioned the riot. +</P> + +<P> +"Because it was seditious, designed to set authority at naught?" +interrupted the listener, grimly eying for an instant the motionless +form of the mountebank. +</P> + +<P> +"On the contrary, your Excellency!" quickly. "Her ladyship assured me +it was the loyal and faithful sentiments of the play that caused the +unruly rascallions to make trouble, and that the clown deserved no +punishment, because he had intended no mischief." +</P> + +<P> +"Her ladyship?" The Governor's brows went suddenly up. "How," he +asked at length in a voice yet softer, "should her ladyship have known +about the 'loyal and faithful sentiments' of a piece, given in the +town, before a crowd of brawlers?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because I was a spectator!" said his daughter, a red spot now on her +cheek; changing lights in her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"A spectator?" repeated, in mild surprise, the Governor. +</P> + +<P> +"I will explain—after!" she added in tones, low, constrained. +</P> + +<P> +"Hum!" His Excellency's glance swept to the commandant. +</P> + +<P> +"Her ladyship was so good," murmured the latter in some embarrassment +and yet feeling obliged to speak, with that bright insistent gaze of +the high official of the Mount fastened upon him, "as to inform me +that, desiring to mingle with the people, and, knowing it might not be +expedient to do so—in her own proper character—her ladyship saw fit +to assume a humbler costume—that of a Norman peasant maid—" +</P> + +<P> +From the Governor's lips fell an ejaculation; he seemed about to speak +sternly, but the words failed on his lips; instead, "Continue!" he said +curtly. +</P> + +<P> +"That, I believe, is all, your Excellency, except that her ladyship +expressed the desire the stupid fellow be set at liberty on the morrow, +as not worth the keeping—and—" +</P> + +<P> +The mountebank started, as expecting now the Lady Elise to speak; to +denounce him, perhaps; but it was his Excellency who interrupted. +</P> + +<P> +"You were going to do so? To set him at liberty?" +</P> + +<P> +"I, your Excellency? The <I>auberge des voleurs</I> is so full of the scum +of the sands, there is hardly room for them to squirm; but if your +Excellency wishes all these paltry ragamuffins and beggars brought +before you—" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well!" The Governor looked down; his hand crushed impatiently +the paper he held. "Here is much ado about nothing! Have you," to his +daughter, "aught to add?" +</P> + +<P> +She lifted her head. Standing in a careless pose, apparently +regardless of what was taking place, the mountebank, at the Governor's +question, shot a quick glance from him to her. Although but an instant +his look met my lady's, in that brief interval she read all that was +lost on the other two; the sudden, desperate purpose, the indubitable +intention, his warning glance conveyed. At the same time she noticed, +or fancied she did, the hand thrust into his breast, as if grasping +some weapon concealed there, draw out a little, while simultaneously, +lending emphasis to the fact, he moved a shade nearer the Governor, her +father! +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing," said the girl hastily; "nothing!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then," his Excellency waved a thin, aristocratic hand, "take him away!" +</P> + +<P> +"And your—her ladyship's instructions?" murmured the commandant. +</P> + +<P> +"Are to be obeyed, of course!" answered the Governor, complacently +regarding his letter. +</P> + +<P> +"You hear, fool?" said in a low voice the commandant, as he approached +the clown. "Thank his Excellency! Don't you know enough? Clod! +Dolt!" +</P> + +<P> +But the man made at first no effort to obey; immovable as a statue, +seemed not to see the speaker, and once more, the officer half +whispered his injunction. +</P> + +<P> +"Eh?" The Governor turned. +</P> + +<P> +"I thank your Excellency! Your Excellency is most kind!" said the +mountebank in a loud, emphatic tone. +</P> + +<P> +"And her ladyship?" prompted the officer. +</P> + +<P> +The clown looked at the girl; her breath came fast through her parted +lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Speak, fool! To her ladyship you also owe much." +</P> + +<P> +"Much!" repeated the clown, a spark in the dull gaze still fastened +upon her. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that all you can say?" +</P> + +<P> +"Take him away!" My lady spoke almost wildly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; take him away!" With a querulous gesture his Excellency put an +end to the matter. "Am I to be interrupted in important affairs by +every miserable <I>farceur</I>, or buffoon, you pick up on the beach? To +the devil with the fellow!" +</P> + +<P> +When the door had closed on the mountebank and the commandant, he +turned to his daughter. "A madcap trick!" Frowningly his Excellency +regarded her. "To have gone into the town and mingled with the rabble! +But," shaking his head and then suffering that expression of +disapproval to relax into severity, "say no more about it! Here," +indicating the letter, "is something of greater moment, to be attended +to and answered!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE SOLDIER +</H4> + +<P> +As the mountebank walked out of the apartment of the Governor's +daughter, he drew himself up with an air of expectancy, like a man +preparing for some sudden climax. Once beyond the threshold, his eyes +glanced furtively back at the closed door, and, descending the stairs +to the floor below, he carried his head a little forward, as if intent +to catch unwonted sound or outcry. But no raised voice or unusual +noise reached his ear, and his footsteps, as the party issued forth +into the street, responded briskly to the soldiers' pace. Still with +the same air of strained attention, now mingled with a trace of +perplexity, he followed his guard until called upon to stop. +</P> + +<P> +"You are to sleep here!" As he spoke, the commandant opened the door +of what seemed a low out-building, not very far from the general +barracks, and motioned the mountebank to enter. The latter, after +glancing quickly at the speaker and the soldiers behind, bent to step +across the dark threshold, and, still stooping, on account of the low +roof, looked around him. By the faint glimmer of light from a lantern +one of the soldiers held, the few details of that squalid place were +indistinctly revealed: A single stall whose long-eared occupant turned +its head inquiringly at the abrupt appearance of a companion lodger; +bits of harness and a number of traps hanging from pegs on the wall, +and, near the door, on the ground, a bundle of grass, rough fodder from +the marshes close by the shore. This last salt-smelling heap, the +officer, peering in with a fastidious sniff, indicated. +</P> + +<P> +"That's your bed! A softer one than you would have had but for the +Lady Elise!" +</P> + +<P> +The prisoner returned no answer, and in the voice of a man whose humor +was not of the best, the commandant uttered a brief command. A moment +or two the light continued to pass fitfully about the stable; then it +and the moving shadows vanished; a key grated in the door, and the +sound of the officer's receding footsteps was followed by the +diminishing clatter of men's heels on the flagging stone. Not until +both had fairly died away in the distance and the silence was broken +only by certain indications of restiveness from the stall, did the +prisoner move. +</P> + +<P> +First, to the door, which he tried and shook; then, avoiding the pile +of fodder, to the wall, where, feeling about the rough masonry with the +energy of one who knew he had no time to spare, his hands, ere long, +encountered the frame of a small window. Any gratification, however, +he might have experienced thereat found its offset in the subsequent +discovery that the window had heavy iron blinds, closed and fastened, +and was further guarded by a single strong bar set in the middle, +dividing the one inconsiderable aperture into two spaces of impassable +dimensions. But as if spurred by obstacles to greater exertions, +fiercely the man grasped the metallic barrier, braced himself, and put +forth his strength. In its setting of old masonry, the rod moved +slightly; then more and more, and the prisoner, breathing a moment +hard, girded himself anew. A wrench, a tug, and the bar, partly +disintegrated, snapped in the middle, and holding the pieces, the +prisoner fell somewhat violently back. Armed now with an implement +that well might serve as a lever, he, nevertheless, paused before +endeavoring to force the formidable fastenings of the blinds; paused to +tear off the tight-fitting clown's cap; to doff the costume of the +mountebank covering the rough, dark garments beneath, and vigorously to +rub his face with some mixture he took from his pocket. He had made +but a few passes to remove the distinguishing marks of paint and +pigment, when a sound without, in the distance, caused him to desist. +</P> + +<P> +Footsteps, that grew louder, were coming his way, and, gripping his bar +tighter the prisoner grimly waited; but soon his grasp relaxed. The +sound was that of a single person, who now paused before the entrance; +fumbled at the lock, and, with an impatient exclamation, set something +down. At the same time the prisoner dropped his weapon and stooped for +the discarded garments; in the dark, they escaped him and he was still +searching, when the bolt, springing sharply back, caused him to +straighten. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you there, Monsieur Mountebank?" The door swung open; an +uncertain light cast sickly rays once more within, and beneath the +lantern, raised above his head, innocent of the danger he had just +escaped, the round visage of the good-natured soldier who had escorted +the mountebank to the <I>auberge des voleurs</I> looked amicably and +inquiringly into the darksome hovel. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; what do you want?" the answer came more curt than courteous. +</P> + +<P> +"What do I want?" the fellow repeated with a broad smile. "Now that's +good! Perhaps it would be more to the point to ask what do you want? +And here," indicating a loaf and jug in his hand, "I've got them, +though why the commandant should have cared, and ordered them brought—" +</P> + +<P> +"He did?" said the prisoner, with a flash of quick surprise. "Well, +I'm not hungry, but you can leave them." +</P> + +<P> +"Not hungry?" And the soldier, who seemed a little the worse for +liquor, but more friendly in consequence, walked in. "I don't wonder, +though," he went on, closing the door, hanging his lantern above and +placing the jug on the ground; "in such a foul hole! What you need, +comrade, is company, and," touching significantly his breast, +"something warmer than flows from the spring of St. Aubert." +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you," began the mountebank, when the soldier, staring, got a +fair look at the other for the first time and started back. +</P> + +<P> +"Eh? What's this?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I took them off! You don't suppose I'd sleep in my white clothes +in such a dirty—" +</P> + +<P> +"Right you are, comrade!" returned the other, seating himself before +the door on a three-legged stool he found in a corner. "But for the +moment you gave me a start. I thought you some other person." +</P> + +<P> +"What—person?" +</P> + +<P> +"No one in particular. You might," unbuttoning his coat to draw forth +a bottle, "have been any one! But I dare say you have had them off in +worse places than this—which, after all, is not bad, compared to some +of the rooms for guests at the Mount!" +</P> + +<P> +"You mean?" The mountebank looked first at the closed blinds; then at +the door, and a sudden determination came to his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Those especially prepared for the followers of the Black Seigneur, +taken prisoners near Casque, for example!" +</P> + +<P> +"They are dungeons?" +</P> + +<P> +"With Jacques for keeper! The little sexton, we call him, because the +prisoners go generally from the cells to the pit, and the quicklime is +the hunchback's graveyard!" +</P> + +<P> +"This Jacques—" A growing impatience shone ominously from the +prisoner's glance; his attention, that of a man straining to catch some +expected sound without, focused itself on the speaker. "This +Jacques—what sort of quarters has he?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he lives anywhere; everywhere! Sometimes at the thieves' inn; +again in one of the storehouses near the wheel. They say, though, he +is not a great hand to sleep, but passes most of his time like a cat, +prowling in and out the black passages and tunnels of the Mount. But," +abruptly breaking off, "the play—that's what I want to know about! +The end! How did it end?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm in no mood for talking." +</P> + +<P> +"Take the bottle, an' it'll loosen your tongue!" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"What! you refuse?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Then," philosophically, "must I drink alone." +</P> + +<P> +"Not here!" +</P> + +<P> +"Eh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Will you get out, or—" and the mountebank stepped toward the other +with apparently undisguised intention. +</P> + +<P> +"So that's your game?" Quickly the soldier sprang to his feet. "I +must teach you a little politeness, my friend—how we deal with uncivil +people in the army!" And throwing off his coat, as ready for a bout at +fisticuffs as for an encounter of words, the soldier confronted the +clown. "When I'm done, you'll sing that song of the stick out of the +other side of the mouth, and think your wicked peasant received a +coddling from his master in comparison!" +</P> + +<P> +But the mountebank did not answer—with words—and the soldier was +still threatening, and painting dire prophetic pictures of what he +intended doing, when a strong arm closed about him; fingers like iron +gripped his throat, and, for some moments thereafter, although of +unusual size and vigor, the man was more concerned in keeping his feet +than in searching his vocabulary for picturesque imagery. Then, in +spite of his struggles and best endeavors to free himself, he felt his +head forced backwards; the grasp on his neck tightened. Still he could +not shake off that deadly hold, and, aware that consciousness was +gradually leaving him, his efforts relaxed. After that, for an +interval, he remembered nothing; but with returning realization and a +vague sense of stiffness in his throat, in a rough sort of way was +prepared to accept defeat; acknowledge the other's supremacy, and seal +that acknowledgment over the bottle. +</P> + +<P> +Only the mountebank afforded him no opportunity thus to toast the "best +man"; with a long strap of leather snatched from one of the pegs, he +had already bound the hands and feet of his bulky antagonist, and was +just rising to survey his handiwork, when the other opened his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Here! What do you mean?" exclaimed the soldier, when even the power +vocally to express further surprise or indignation was denied him, in +consequence of something soft being thrust between his teeth; and mute, +helpless, he could but express in looks the disgusted inquiry his lips +refused to frame. +</P> + +<P> +"No! it's no joke," answered the mountebank, rapidly passing an end of +the strap, binding the soldier, about a post of the stall and securing +it, sailor-wise. "A poor return for hospitality, yet needs must, when +the devil drives!" quickly seizing a handful of marsh grass from the +ground and rubbing it over his face. "Anyhow, you'll be none the worse +on the morrow," stepping toward the lantern, "while I—who can say? He +laughs best—" About to blow out the flame, he stopped, attracted by +something his foot had thrust aside; a garment; the soldier's! A +moment he surveyed it; stooped; picked it up. "Unless I am mistaken," +casting aside his own coat, slipping on that of the soldier, and then +donning the latter's cap, which had fallen in the struggle, "we are +about of a size. And this sword," unfastening the belt from the +prostrate jailer, "should go with the coat." A moment his words, +tense, reckless, continued to vibrate in the soldier's ears, then: +"I'll leave you the lantern!" And darkness fell over the place. +</P> + +<P> +Boldly, a little uncertainly, as the soldier had walked, the +mountebank, now, to all appearance, a man of the ranks in the service +of his Excellency, the Governor, strode down the wide, stone-paved way +separating the outhouses and a number of desultory ancient structures +from the officers' quarters, hard against the ramparts. In the sky's +dome the stars still shone, although a small mottled patch of cloud +obscured the moon; on either side no lights appeared in windows, and +friendly shadows favored him, until he approached at the end of the way +the broad, open entrance between the soldiers' barracks and the +officers' row. There, set in the stone above the key of the time-worn +arch, flared a smoky lamp, dimly revealing the surrounding details; but +the young man did not stop; had drawn quite close to the medieval +structure, when unexpectedly another tread, on the soldiers' side of +the entrance, mingled with his own; rang for a moment in unison; then +jingled out of time. He who approached came to a sudden standstill; +cast a quick glance over his shoulder, only to be brought to an abrupt +realization that it was now too late to retreat. A black silhouette, +suddenly precipitated across the pavement, preceded a dark figure that +stepped quickly out and barred the way, while at the same time, a +voice, loud and incisive, challenged. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE STAIRWAY OF SILVER +</H4> + +<P> +The stillness of the moment that followed was tense; then thickly the +young man answered something irrelevant about a clown, a bottle and a +loaf; with cap drawn down and half-averted face, he lurched a little +forward in the darkness, and the sentinel's weapon fell. "Oh, that's +you, is it, Henri?" he said in a different tone, stepping back. "How +did you leave the fellow?" +</P> + +<P> +"Eating the bread and calling for more!" As he spoke, the other +stopped, swaying uncertainly; above the arch, the wick, ill-trimmed, +brightened and darkened to the drafts of air through break and slit of +the old lamp; and briefly he awaited a favorable moment, when the flame +blew out until almost extinguished; then with hand near sword-hilt, +somewhat over-briskly, but in keeping with the part, he stepped toward +the arch; through it, and quickly past the sentinel. +</P> + +<P> +"You seem to have been feasting and drinking a little yourself, +to-night, comrade?" called out the latter after him. "I noticed it +when you went in, and— But aren't you taking the wrong way?" As the +other, after starting toward the barracks, straightened, and then +abruptly wheeled into the road, running up the Mount. +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" A moment the young man paused. "Can't a soldier," articulating +with difficulty, "go to see his sweetheart without—" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Eh bien</I>!" The sentinel shrugged his shoulders. "It isn't my +business. I think, though, I know where they'll put you to-morrow, +when they find out through the guard at the barracks." +</P> + +<P> +To this ominous threat the other deigned no response, only, after the +fashion of a man headstrong in insobriety, as well as in affairs of +gallantry, continued his upward way; at first, speedily; afterward, +when beyond hearing of the man below, with more stealth and as little +noise as possible, until the road, taking a sudden angle, brought him +abruptly to an open space at the foot of a great flight of stone stairs. +</P> + +<P> +Broad, wide, broken by occasional platforms, these steps, reaching +upward in gradual ascent, had designedly, in days gone by, been made +easy for broken-down monarchs or corpulent abbots. Also they had been +planned to satisfy the discerning eye, jealous of every addition or +alteration at the Mount. My lord, the ancient potentate, leisurely +ascending in ecclesiastical gown, while conscious of an earthly power +reaching even into England, could still fancy he was going up a Jacob's +ladder into realms supernal. Saint Louis, with gaze benignly bent +toward the aërial <I>escalier de dentelle</I> of the chapel to the left, +might well exclaim no royal road could compare with this inspiring and +holy way; nor is it difficult to understand a sudden enchantment here, +or beyond, that drew to the rock on three pilgrimages that other Louis, +more sinner than saint, the eleventh of his name to mount the throne of +France. +</P> + +<P> +But those stones, worn in the past by the footsteps of the illustrious +and the lowly, were deserted now, and, for the moment, only the moon, +which had escaped from the cloud, exercised there the right of way; +looking squarely down to efface time's marks and pave with silver from +top to bottom the flight of stairs. It played, too, on façades, towers +and battlements on either side, and, at the spectacle—the disk +directly before him—the Black Seigneur, about to leave the dark and +sheltering byway, involuntarily paused. Angels might walk unseen up +and down in that effulgence, as, indeed, the old monks stoutly averred +was their habit; but a mortal intrusion on the argent way could be +fraught only with visibility. +</P> + +<P> +To reach the point he had in mind, however, no choice remained; the +steps had to be mounted, and, lowering his head and looking down, +deliberately he started. As he proceeded his solitary figure seemed to +become more distinct; his presence more obtrusive and his echoing +footsteps to resound louder. No indication he had been seen or heard, +however, reached him; to all appearances espionage of his movements was +wanting, and only the saint with the sword at the top of the +steeple—guardian spirit of the rock—looked down, as if holding high a +gleaming warning of that unwonted intrusion. +</P> + +<P> +Yet, though he knew it not, mortal eye had long been on him, peering +from a window of the abbot's bridge spanning the way and joining +certain long unused chambers, next to the Governor's palace, with my +lady's abode. Against the somber background of that covered passage of +granite, the face looking out would still have remained unseen, even +had the young man, drawing near, lifted his glance. This, however, he +did not do; his eyes, with the pale reflections dancing in them, had +suddenly fastened themselves lower; toward another person, not far +beyond the bridge; some one who had turned in from a passage on the +other side of the overhead architectural link, and had just begun to +come down. An old man, with flowing beard, from afar the new-comer +looked not unlike one of the ancient Druids that, in days gone by, had +lighted and watched the sacred fires of sacrifice on the rock. He, +too, guarded his light; but one set in the tall, pewter lamp of the +medieval watchman. +</P> + +<P> +"Twelve o'clock and all's—" he began when his glance, sweeping down, +caught sight of the ascending figure, and, pausing, he leaned on his +staff with one hand and shaded his eyes with the other. +</P> + +<P> +A half-savage exclamation of disappointment was suppressed on the young +man's lips; had he only been able to attain that parallelogram of +darkness, beneath the abbot's passage, he would have been better +satisfied, his own eyes, looking ahead, seemed to say; then gleamed +with a bolder light. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "A sword and blade<BR> + A drab and a jade;<BR> +All's one to the King's men of the army!"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +he began to hum softly, as with a more reckless swing, quickly he went +up in the manner of a man assigned some easy errand. At the same time +the patriarch slowly and rather laboriously resumed his descent, and +just below the bridge, without the bar of shadow, the two came together. +</P> + +<P> +"Think you it is too late for his Excellency, the Governor, to receive +a message?" at once spoke up the younger, breaking off in that dashing, +but low-murmured, song of the barracks. +</P> + +<P> +"That you may learn from the guard at the palace," was the deliberate +answer, as, raising his lamp, the watchman held it full in his +questioner's face. +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks! I was going to inquire." As he answered, at the old abbot's +window in the bridge above, the face, looking out, bent forward more +intently; then quickly drew back. "Good night!" +</P> + +<P> +But the venerable guardian of the inner precinct was not disposed thus +lightly to part company. "I don't seem to know you, young man," he +observed, the watery, but keen and critical eyes passing deliberately +over the other's features. +</P> + +<P> +"No?" Unflinching in the bright glare of the lamp, the seeming soldier +smiled. "Do you, then, know <I>all</I> at the Mount—even the soldiers?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should remember even them," was the quiet reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Those, too, but lately brought from St. Dalard?" +</P> + +<P> +"True, true! There may be some of those—" uncertainly. +</P> + +<P> +"No doubt! So if you will lower your lamp, which smells rather +vilely—" +</P> + +<P> +"From the miscreants it has smelled out," answered the old man grimly, +but obeyed; stood as if engrossed in the recollections his own response +evoked; then turned; walked on, and, a few moments later, his call, +suddenly remembered, rang, belated, in the drowsy air: "Twelve o'clock +and all's well! A new day, and St. Aubert guard us all!" +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"A sword and a blade;<BR> +A drab and a jade—"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The words, scarcely begun, above his breath, died away on the seeming +soldier's lips, as the watcher on the bridge, looking down to follow +first the departing figure of the old custodian, crossed quickly to the +opposite window, and, from this point of vantage, gazed up after the +young man rapidly vanishing in the track of the moonlight. A moment +the onlooker stood motionless; then, ere the figure, so vividly defined +in shine and shimmer, had reached the top of the stairway, made an +abrupt movement and swiftly left the window and the passage. +</P> + +<P> +At the head of the steps, which without further incident or +interruption, he reached, the Black Seigneur, stepping to the shadow of +a small bush against the wall, glanced about him; with knit brows and +the resolute manner of one who has come to some definite conclusion, he +left the spot for observation, almost the apex of the Mount, and +plunged diverging to the right. From glint and shimmer to darkness +unfathomable! For some time he could only grope and feel his way, +after the fashion of the blind; fortunately, however, was the path +narrow; although tortuous, fairly well paved, and no serious mishap +befell him, even when he walked forward regardlessly, in feverish +haste, beset with the conviction that time meant all in all, and delay +the closing of the toils and the failure of a desperate adventure. +Several times he struck against the stones; once fell hard, but picked +himself up; went on the faster, only, after what seemed an interminable +period, to stop. +</P> + +<P> +"Am I, can I be mistaken?" +</P> + +<P> +But the single star he could see plainest from the bottom of the deep +alley, and to which he looked up, answered not the fierce, +half-muttered question; coldly, enigmatically it twinkled, and, half +running, he continued his way, to emerge over-suddenly into a cooler +well of air, and—what was more to be welcomed!—an outlook whereof the +details were in a measure dimly shadowed forth. +</P> + +<P> +On one side the low wall obscured not the panorama below—a ghost-like +earth fading into the mist, and nearer, the roof of the <I>auberge des +voleurs</I>, a darkened patch on the slope of the rock; but in this +direction the man hardly cast a glance. Certain buildings ahead, +austere, Norman in outline, absorbed his attention to the exclusion of +all else, and toward them, with steps now alert and noiseless, he +stole; past a structure that seemed a small <I>salle des gardes</I> whose +window afforded a view of four men nodding at a table within; across a +space to another passage, and thence to a low door at the far corner of +a little triangular spot, alongside the walk and near a great wall. At +once the young man put out his hand to the door; tried it; pushed it +back and entered. Before him a wide opening looked out at the sky, +framing a multitude of stars, and from the bottom of this aperture ran +a strand, or rope, connecting with an indistinct object—a great wheel, +which stood at one side! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE WHIRLING OF THE WHEEL +</H4> + +<P> +As old as church or cloister, the massive wheel of the Mount had, in +the past, played prominent part in the affairs of succeeding +communities on the rock. It, or the hempen strand it controlled, had +primarily served as a link between the sequestered dwellers, and the +flesh-pots and material comforts of the lower world. Through its use +had my lord, the abbot, been ever enabled to keep full the mighty +wine-butts of his cellars; to provide good cheer for the tables of the +brethren, and to brighten his cold stone interiors with the fresh +greens of Flemish tapestry, or the sensuous hues of rugs and fabrics +from seraglio or mosque. Times less ancient had likewise claimed its +services, and even in recent years, by direction of his Excellency, the +Governor, had it occasionally been used for the hoisting of goods, +wares, or giant casks, overcumbersome for men or mules. +</P> + +<P> +Toward this simple monkish contrivance, the summit's rough lift, or +elevator, wherein serfs or henchmen had walked like squirrels in a cage +to bring solace to generations of isolated dwellers, the Black Seigneur +had at first stepped impetuously; then stopped, hardly breathing, to +look over his shoulder at the door that had been left unfastened. An +involuntary question flashing through his brain—the cause of this +seeming carelessness—found almost immediate answer in his mind, and +the certainty that he stood not there alone—a consciousness of some +one else, near, became abruptly confirmed. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you doing, soldier?" A voice, rough, snarling, drew swiftly +his glance toward a presence, intuitively divined; an undersized, +grotesque figure that had entered the place but a few moments before +and now appeared from behind boxes and casks where he had been about to +retire to his mattress in a corner. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want?" repeated this person, the anger and viciousness on +his distorted features, revealed in the moonlight from the large +opening, like that of some animal unwarrantedly disturbed. +</P> + +<P> +"You, landlord of the thieves' inn!" And inaction giving way to +movement on the intruder's part, a knife that had flashed back in the +hand of the hunchback, with his query, was swiftly twisted from him and +kicked aside, while a scream of mingled pain and rage became abruptly +suppressed. Struggling and writhing like a wildcat, Jacques proved no +mean antagonist; with a strength incredible for one of his size, +supplemented by the well-known agility of his kind, he scratched, +kicked, and had managed to get the other's hand in his mouth, when, +making an effort to throw off that clinging burden, the Black Seigneur +dashed the dwarf's head violently against the wooden support of the +place. At once all belligerency left the hunchback, and, releasing his +hold, he sank to the ground. +</P> + +<P> +An instant the intruder regarded the inert form; then, going to the +door, latched and locked it with a key he found inside. Having thus in +a measure secured himself from immediate interruption without—for any +one trying the door would conclude the wheel-room vacant, or that the +dwarf slept there or in the store-house beyond—the Black Seigneur +walked to the aperture, and reaching up, began to pay out the rope from +a pulley above. As he did so, with feet braced, he leaned over to +follow in its descent a small car along the almost perpendicular +planking from the mouth of the wheel-room to the rocks, several hundred +feet below. +</P> + +<P> +A sudden slackening of the rope—assurance that the car, at the end of +the line, had reached the loading-spot below without the +fortifications—and the young man straightened; in an attitude of +attention, stood listening. But the stillness, impregnated only with a +faint underbreath, the far-away murmur of water, or the just audible +droning of insects near the fig-trees on the rocks, continued unbroken. +An impatient frown gathered on his brow; more eagerly he bent forward +to gaze down, when through the air a distant sound—the low, melancholy +hoot of an owl—was wafted upward. +</P> + +<P> +Upon him at the aperture, this night-call, common to the Mount and its +environs, acted in magical manner, and swiftly had he stepped toward +the wheel, when an object, intervening, stirred; started to stagger to +its feet. At once was the young man's first impelling movement +arrested; but, thus forcibly drawn from his purpose, he did not long +pause to contemplate; his hand, drawing the soldier's sword, held it +quickly at the hunchback's throat. +</P> + +<P> +"A sound, and you know what to expect!" +</P> + +<P> +With the bare point at his flesh, Jacques, dully hearing, vaguely +comprehending, could, indeed, guess and the fingers he had +involuntarily raised to push the bright blade aside, fell, while at the +same time any desire to attempt to call out, or arouse the guard, was +replaced by an entirely different emotion in his aching brain. Never +before had he actually felt that sharp touch—the prelude to the final +thrust. At the sting of it, a tremor ran through him, while cowardice, +his besetting quality, long covered by growl and egotism in his +strength and hideousness to terrify, alone shone from his +unprepossessing yellow features. +</P> + +<P> +"You were brave enough with the soldiers at your beck!" went on a +determined voice whose ironical accents in no wise served to alleviate +his panic. "When you had only a mountebank to deal with! But get up!" +contemptuously. "And," as the hunchback obeyed, his crooked legs +shaking in the support of his misshapen frame, "into the wheel with +you!" +</P> + +<P> +"The wheel!" stammered the dwarf. "Why—what—" +</P> + +<P> +"To take a little of your own medicine! <I>Pardi</I>! What a voluble +fellow! In with you, or—" +</P> + +<P> +With no more words the hunchback, staggering, hardly knowing what he +did, entered the ancient abbot's machine for hoisting. But as he +started to walk in the great wheel at the side of his captor, a picture +of the past—the times he, himself, had forced prisoners to the wheel, +stimulating with jeer and whip—arose mockingly before him, and the +incongruous present seemed, in contrast, like a black waking dream. +</P> + +<P> +That it was no dream, however, and that the awakening would never +occur, he well knew, and malevolently though fearfully he eyed the +rope, coming in over the pulley at the aperture; to be wound around and +around by a smaller wheel, attached to the larger, and—drawing up what? +</P> + +<P> +An inkling of the sort of merchandise to be expected, under the +circumstances, could but flash through his mind, together with a more +vivid consciousness of the only course open for him—to cry out, +regardless of consequences! Perhaps he might even have done so, but at +that instant—as if the other had read the thought—came the cold touch +of a bare blade on his neck; and with a sudden chill, the brief heroic +impulse passed. +</P> + +<P> +More stealthily now he began to study his companion in the wheel, while +a question, suddenly occurring, reiterated itself in his brain. This +man—who was he? And what did he know of the mountebank, or his, +Jacques', dealings with the clown? That his captor was no soldier of +the rock, or belonged there, the hunchback felt by this time assured, +and a growing suspicion of the other's identity brought home with new +force to the dwarf the thankless part chance, perhaps, had assigned to +him in that night's work. And at the full realization of the +consequences, should his surmise prove correct—what must ultimately +happen to himself in that event, when unwilling coöperation at the +wheel should become known—almost had he again reached the desperate +point of calling out; but at that moment a turn in the wheel brought to +the level of the aperture, the car. In it, or clinging thereto, were a +number of figures who, as soon as the rope stopped, sprang noiselessly +to the platform. +</P> + +<P> +"Seigneur, we hardly dared hope—" +</P> + +<P> +"We obeyed orders, but—" +</P> + +<P> +Gazing through the spokes of the wheel, and listening to their +whispered exclamations, any lingering doubt as to who his captor was +could no longer be entertained by the hunchback. These new-comers took +no pains to conceal it; even when the dwarf's presence became known to +them and unceremoniously was he dragged forth—they displayed a +contemptuous disregard of him as a factor to interfere, not calculated +to dull the edge of his apprehension! Too late now might he regret +that pusillanimity that had caused him to draw back from an immortal +rôle; already was the car again descending! +</P> + +<P> +It came up loaded; went down once more, reappeared. On the little +platform now were more than a dozen men assembled, but to Jacques this +force looked multiplied. Amid the confusion of his thoughts, vaguely +could he hear orders given; caught something about the need for quiet, +haste, overpowering the guard; then saw the door open, and the men, +like shadows, go out; leaving him alone. No; with two black figures; +ominous; armed. He could see the glitter of their weapons, and +ventured to move his thick tongue, when, fiercely silenced, he crouched +down; waited, with hands clenched, an interminable period; until +faintly from afar sounded the note of a night-bird. +</P> + +<P> +Roughly jerked to his feet, between them he walked to the door; heard +it close; stepped out into the night. Many times had he made his way +between wheel-room and guard-house, but now the route seemed strange, +and, looking around near the structures at the entrance to his dungeons +Jacques shook his head as if to rid his brain of some fantasy. But the +scene did not change; the guard-house remained—familiar; unlike, with +unknown faces peering from it, and an imperious voice issuing commands +to him, once unquestioned commander here! +</P> + +<P> +And comprehending what was being said, he struck his breast violently; +with curses would have answered that the keys were his own; the +dungeons, too, and what they held, and that he would never lead them +there; never open those doors! But this grim, savage, determined band +beat down his arms, and his courage; and, with the shadow of the grave +again before him, the dwarf walked on; past the stable into the +guard-house, where familiar forms once had been seated, and into the +passage leading to the dungeons beyond. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +AT THE VERGE OF THE APERTURE +</H4> + +<P> +The footfall of the Black Seigneur, near the guard-house of the +dungeons, was measured, yet noiseless, as he stepped on the soft earth, +alongside the stone walk, now toward the passage in the direction of +the wheel-room, then back into the little square. That his thoughts, +however, moved not in accord with that deliberate stride, the brows +impatiently knit, and the quick glances he continued to cast over his +shoulder, bore testimony. +</P> + +<P> +Stopping at length near the Tour Bernard, he looked fixedly down at the +town, wrapped in a stillness that should have reassured him. +Nevertheless he appeared not satisfied; and had stepped out into the +court again, when some sound he heard, or fancied, sent him quickly to +an embrasure in the wall. From this opening—formerly for cannon in +defense of the <I>fenils</I>, and the <I>poulain</I>, or planking for the +hoisting of goods—he leaned far out, his glance instinctively turning +toward the barracks, some distance to the right and far below. As he +stood thus, that which had first attracted his attention—the sound of +a voice giving orders—was repeated; at the same time where had been +only darkness now shone many windows, while to the left, near the +entrance he had passed after leaving the stable, lights began to dance +like fireflies. +</P> + +<P> +At these signs of activity and the sounds breaking the general +quietude, an exclamation fell from his lips; then, pausing only a +moment to listen and observe, he sprang toward the guard-house. +Crossing the threshold, defined by a faint glimmer from a distant +corner, he made his way past several motionless forms, into a low +passage beyond. Here he called out impatiently; but from those depths, +leading down into the dungeons where his comrades had gone, no answer +was returned. His voice, hollow, mocking, seemed stifled in a tomb; +more loudly he shouted; walked farther in, when an indistinct response +was followed by a pin-point of light, and, ere long, by the bearer of a +little lamp, Sanchez. +</P> + +<P> +"The others?" At the head of a dark stairway into which he would +inadvertently have plunged, had he gone farther, the Black Seigneur +confronted the man, as he approached. +</P> + +<P> +"They will soon be here," said the old servant, springing up the steps +and walking after his master, who had already turned back toward the +guard-room. "Jacques—curse him!"—putting out his light in obedience +to a gesture from the other—"fumbled with the keys; pretended he +couldn't find the right ones! So it took longer to open the doors." +</P> + +<P> +"The prisoners?" +</P> + +<P> +"I left our men working at the last dungeon to come on ahead—to let +you know you might soon expect them." +</P> + +<P> +"Soon," ironically, "may be too late." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean—?" +</P> + +<P> +"The hue and cry is out! I have long been expecting it; I do not +understand why it didn't come before; unless a mountebank, locked up, +was considered safe enough for the night—" +</P> + +<P> +"Then some one knew—?" +</P> + +<P> +"Some one?" A bitter laugh was quickly suppressed on the young man's +lips. "Hark! Listen!" +</P> + +<P> +"Sounds below! the soldiers!" exclaimed Sanchez, and started toward the +window to look out, only to fall quickly back. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" With his hand on the other's shoulder, the Black +Seigneur whispered the question. +</P> + +<P> +"A face! At the window!" +</P> + +<P> +"So soon? The hounds are quicker than I thought! Or," drawing his +sword, "it may be only one or two in advance. In that case—" +</P> + +<P> +But no enemy, single or plural, met their view, either in front, or at +the side of the guard-house; only the darkness, void, empty, and the +bare rampart wall winding around the head of the Mount like a monster +guardian dragon, asleep at his post. +</P> + +<P> +"Here is no one!" +</P> + +<P> +"No one! Yet am I sure I saw—" +</P> + +<P> +"A shadow!" answered the other. "And we have nothing worse to fight!" +</P> + +<P> +"Some one was there, Seigneur," stubbornly, "and fled!" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Eh bien</I>! He's gone!" +</P> + +<P> +"He? It looked like a—" +</P> + +<P> +"Back with you, quick! Is this a time for talk? Call those who can +come—if they would save their necks!" +</P> + +<P> +"Here they are now," exclaimed the servant, and, as he spoke, the first +of their men, blowing out the light he carried, ran quickly across the +guard-chamber and into the open air. Others hastily followed, until +the gathering, swelled by those brought with them from the dungeons, +stood expectantly before the little stone structure. +</P> + +<P> +"All the prisoners are here?" +</P> + +<P> +"All!" +</P> + +<P> +"To the wheel-house, then!" +</P> + +<P> +But as they hastened across the square and into the narrow way, the +Black Seigneur again spoke to the man just ahead: +</P> + +<P> +"The hunchback?" +</P> + +<P> +"We left him below, locked up in the Devil's Cage!" +</P> + +<P> +"The Devil's Cage! <I>Quelle bonne plaisanterie</I>! Although," looking +back, "it may cost us dear!" +</P> + +<P> +And indeed, behind the sound of pursuit came nearer; the clatter of +soldiers' feet grew louder, until, reaching the little square and the +guard-house, all tumult suddenly ceased. A momentary silence, strange, +ominous, was broken by a din of voices, as the flaring here and there +of torches threw grotesque reflections high against the grim background +of black masonry. +</P> + +<P> +To those now within the wheel-room, the cause of that abrupt clamor was +not difficult to divine; his Excellency's soldiers had found the +sentinels overpowered in the guard-house! Would the former stop to +investigate; search first those subterranean passages? Already had the +prisoners, the weaker of the Black Seigneur's men, filled the car, or +hung clinging to the rope above; already was the wheel turning—almost +before the key had turned in the lock at the entrance. +</P> + +<P> +"Seigneur!" +</P> + +<P> +"Sanchez?" +</P> + +<P> +"When we left the wheel-room, we closed the door." +</P> + +<P> +"When we got back, it—" +</P> + +<P> +A footfall without interrupted, followed by the sound of a hand at the +door, and other steps drawing near. +</P> + +<P> +"Jacques!" An expectant voice spoke; waited; called louder. Then +those outside listened; some one exclaimed, and hurried footsteps +retreated toward the guard-house. +</P> + +<P> +As they died away, in the wheel-room the car came up for the second +time empty, and inquiringly the men there looked from one to the other; +but, even in that moment of danger, not one of them moved, or made sign +of impatience. Some must go; others remain, and stoically they awaited +the word of their leader. +</P> + +<P> +"Down with all of you! I'll let you out the line," taking a turn with +the rope around a stanchion near the wall, "and then come down myself." +</P> + +<P> +The command was unexpected; for the first time those that had never +questioned their leader's authority, hesitated, and more sharply was +the order repeated; whereupon they obeyed; all save one. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll let it out myself," said Sanchez. +</P> + +<P> +"Get in!" +</P> + +<P> +"No!" was the obdurate reply, when the Black Seigneur made a sign; +hands reached up, seized Sanchez, and a moment later the car started +down. The line strained; as it played out, now running free about the +stanchion, then stopping with jerks, the man in the wheel-house almost +looked to see it part. The hempen strand, however, proved sound; held +its human freight; but another danger pressed near. +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had the car begun its downward journey than an attack, +indications of whose approach had not been wanting, manifested itself +without. Beneath a sudden, savage assault, the door shook; yet +engrossed at the line, every muscle strained, the man at the stanchion +heeded not. Swiftly, mechanically he worked, apparently as unconscious +of the clamorous soldiers without as of a silent presence within—some +one that had been concealed in the little store-room adjoining, opening +into the wheel-house, and now peered out; but at once drew back, as, +with a crash, the door fell in. +</P> + +<P> +At first, in the comparative darkness, with only the sky at the +aperture staring them in the face, the in-rushing black figures paused, +uncertain; lights soon were pushed forward, however, and then could +they see the great wheel going round, unwinding the rope; the man at +the stanchion. +</P> + +<P> +"The prisoners! He's letting them down." +</P> + +<P> +"Cut the line!" +</P> + +<P> +Some one with a knife rushed forward, severed the strand; but at that +moment the car touched the bottom. Then did the solitary man at the +rope for the first time awaken to his own situation; with a backward +sweep of the arm he struck so fiercely the foremost of those to rush at +him that the fellow fell, hitting hard the stone floor. Those nearest +stumbled, and drawing his sword, with a thrust of point or blow of +hilt, the Black Seigneur, for a moment withstood the first confused +on-coming; then extricated himself and leaped to the narrow space +behind the wheel. Here was he protected behind by the wall; at one +end, by the masonry jutting out, while, at the other, only one or two +could attack at the same time. But in front, through the spokes of the +broad wheel, they might well hope to reach him. +</P> + +<P> +At once the soldiers sprang forward, when, seizing the wheel, the man +behind, with a savage jerk, set it in motion. The swords thrust at him +were turned aside, one or two of his assailants were caught in the +ponderous mechanism, and, before those attacking him had recovered from +their surprise, the blade of the Black Seigneur shot in and out; to the +right, to the left. Those ahead fell back upon their comrades; two, +however, were unable to withdraw, and sank to the ground before the +wheel. A third, with his hand to his throat and making strange sounds, +staggered back to the wall. +</P> + +<P> +Momentarily disconcerted, the others hesitated. "In the fiend's name, +fear ye one man?" shouted an authoritative voice. +</P> + +<P> +"A devil!" +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis the Black Seigneur! I had a good sight of him." +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Beat! beat!<BR> +'Mid marsh-muck and mire—"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +came in mocking tones from behind the wheel. +</P> + +<P> +"The mountebank!" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Sacre tonnerre</I>! But mountebank, or outlaw, you shall pay! This +way!" And at the unprotected side of the wheel the commandant sought +to bring the issue to a conclusion. One blade the Black Seigneur +struck down, while his own weapon retorted with more effect, though as +it did so, another soldier made a lunge, and his sword entered the +shoulder of the man behind the wheel. A shout of triumph that fell +from the lips of the Governor's trooper was, however, abruptly checked; +lurching forward with the stroke, ere he could recover, something +heavy—a brass hilt—beat like a hammer on his head and he dropped to +his knees. The others pressed closer; but with the desperation of a +man resolved to sell his life dearly, the Black Seigneur fought on; +regardless of cut and thrust, was holding the narrow entrance, when +from the rear, somewhere, came the report of a firearm. +</P> + +<P> +"Back! Stand back!" +</P> + +<P> +Those nearest the wheel, not unwilling, perhaps, to desist, drew away; +other detonations followed and smoke filled the place, obscuring the +gaze. In the yellow fog they waited; until first it was swept aside +close to the opposite wall by a draft of air from the aperture of the +adjoining store-room, and the commandant, in an effort to see, moved +impatiently forward. Ere, however, he could reach the wheel, near the +threshold of the store-room, he felt his arm suddenly seized. +</P> + +<P> +"Look, listen!" +</P> + +<P> +The warning cry—a girl's voice—rang through the wheel-room; but the +commandant did not at once heed it; at that abrupt touch he had +involuntarily wrested his arm away; he stared, not in the direction she +who had called out pointed, but at her! The white, drawn face, the +eyes dilated— +</P> + +<P> +"You, my Lady! Here?" he stammered. But she only made a wild +movement; again grasped, drew him forward. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick, or—" And suddenly was he brought to a realization of what she +wished him to see: a figure drawing itself along, slowly, painfully, +toward the verge— +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you see? Rather than be taken, he's going to throw himself +over!" +</P> + +<P> +The excited, admonishing sound of her voice aroused the commandant. He +gave a sharp order and the soldiers sprang forward; laid roughly hold +of the prostrate form; drew it back. The Black Seigneur yet struggled, +but not for long! A moment, and his eyes turned to the Governor's +daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Ma foi</I>! I must needs yield—to your Ladyship! Yet, what matter, +since I have done what I came to do!" +</P> + +<P> +His gaze, darkly glowing, seemed to envelope the shrinking figure whose +cloak only partly concealed the gay, rich gown beneath; lifted to the +brilliant affrighted brown eyes. "Your Ladyship has bright eyes, +forsooth!" An ironical laugh burst from his lips. "But sharper than +their swords!" He strove to speak further, when a hand holding a +weapon fell heavily. At that a cry escaped the girl's lips. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no; you shall not!" +</P> + +<P> +The Black Seigneur lay still. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Ciel</I>! It's fortunate we got him," ruefully the commandant gazed +around. "It would have made a pretty tale, if—" he turned to the +Governor's daughter, "I have your Ladyship to thank—" he began, and +stopped. +</P> + +<P> +My lady's figure had at that moment relaxed and fallen to the ground! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE HALL OF THE CHEVALIERS +</H4> + +<P> +The report of the capture of the Black Seigneur spread from Mount to +town; from rock to shore. Pilgrims repeated, peasants circulated it; +many credited; a few disbelieved. Like shadows had his comrades and +the escaped prisoners vanished, leaving no trace, save one—an +over-turned car and severed rope at the foot of the <I>poulain</I>, without +the fortifications. And flocking to that point, of greater interest +now than shrine or sanctuary, the pilgrims gazed around; down the +rocks; up the almost perpendicular planking to what looked like a mere +pigeon-hole in the side of the cliff. Then ominous grumblings escaped +them; some shook their fists at the black wall; others scoffed at +distant sounds of priestly hallelujahs. Had the soldiers that day +appeared in the town or on the beach, serious trouble would have +ensued. For the time, however, they remained discreetly housed, while +supplies for pilgrims' needs were, by the commandant's orders, so +curtailed, many of the indigent multitude, urged by pinched stomachs, +began, ere night, to wend their way from strand to shore. But as they +left the vicinity of the Mount, they turned last looks of hatred toward +the rock. +</P> + +<P> +His Excellency, the Governor, wasted no time considering the humor of +the masses; their resentment, or displeasure, signified nothing; his +own complacency left little room for speculation on that score. He was +undeniably satisfied; even the escape of the prisoners and the loss of +the soldiers at the guard-house, or in the wheel-room, was overshadowed +by the single capture. This contentment, however, he kept to himself; +instigated a rigorous inquiry, and prepared to punish certain +offenders. But the principal of these he could not reach; when +released from the iron cage, the hunchback, knowing he would be called +upon to answer for his part in the night's work, had made the best use +of his short legs to place a long distance between himself and the +Mount. +</P> + +<P> +The sentinel that allowed the Black Seigneur to pass through the +entrance near the barracks; the watchman encountered on the stairway, +and the soldier that had been overpowered in the stable, his Excellency +could, however, lay hands on, and promptly ordered into custody to +await his official attention. For this last culprit, the +commandant—mindful, perhaps, of bolstering his own +position—interceded; pointing out that the man had to get the gag from +his mouth and give the alarm; also, that the mountebank's appearance +and acting had been calculated to deceive even one of the Governor's +discernment. Which remark his Excellency had received with +sphinx-like, and not altogether reassuring, gravity; had reserved his +verdict, and continued, after his own fashion, to collect the details +of the affair. +</P> + +<P> +This searching process should have led him almost at once to his +daughter—a puzzling figure in the maze of events; but the Governor +exhibited no haste in approaching that important witness. Only when he +had marshaled his other testimony and put it in order did the scope of +his sifting extend to the girl. And then had his manner been strictly +judicial: maintaining an imperturbable mask, he professed not to notice +the pallor of her face, the unnatural brightness of her glance. +</P> + +<P> +"When you sent for the mountebank to come to your apartments, did you +know who he was?" the Governor had asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"When did you find out?" +</P> + +<P> +"When you entered the room." +</P> + +<P> +"Why did you not give the alarm then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because," she hesitated; her face changed, "he would have killed you, +I think—if I had!" +</P> + +<P> +"Was that solicitude for me the only reason?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, what other could there be?" +</P> + +<P> +"What other truly? And after he left with the commandant—why did you +not, then, inform me?" +</P> + +<P> +"You remember you had something important, from the King, to consider!" +hastily. +</P> + +<P> +"More important than this?" +</P> + +<P> +"He was going to be locked up," was the best reply she could make. +</P> + +<P> +"And in the morning set free!" +</P> + +<P> +She did not answer. +</P> + +<P> +"And yet, you gave the word that enabled us to capture him at the +wheel-house! How, by the way, came you there—in the wheel-house?" +</P> + +<P> +"I saw him from the abbot's bridge; heard him tell the watchman he had +a message to deliver at your palace, and followed." +</P> + +<P> +"Again feeling solicitude for me?" +</P> + +<P> +"I did not know—he would dare much; and what does it matter now?" +almost wildly. "You have captured him, shut him up somewhere in some +terrible, deep dungeon, where—" +</P> + +<P> +"He is safe? True; that is the main consideration." +</P> + +<P> +Thereafter had the subject of the Black Seigneur been dropped between +them; the pilgrimage over, the Mount resumed its normal aspect, but +only for a little while! One day about a week later, a bright cortége +whose appearance was in marked contrast to that of the beggarly +multitude, late visitors to the rock, came riding down the road through +the forest to the sea; at the verge of the sands, stopped for a first +distant impression of the rock. +</P> + +<P> +"Noble monument, I salute you!" Smiling, debonair, the Marquis de +Beauvillers removed his hat. +</P> + +<P> +"And the noble mistress thereof?" suggested one of his train. +</P> + +<P> +"She, of course!" he said, still surveying a scene different from that +final memory he had carried away with him. Then had the rock reared +itself in all the glamour of a sunny day; now was the sky overcast, +while through a sullen mist the Mount loomed like a shadow itself. +</P> + +<P> +"A cold place for our gay Elise!" One or two who viewed the sight for +the first time looked disappointed; even the Marquis appeared for the +instant more sober; but immediately regained his lively demeanor. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait until you have seen it at its best," he retorted carelessly, and +set the pace across the sands. +</P> + +<P> +Midway, where once on the sands the men of Brittany had engaged in +fierce conflict the ancient abbot's forces, were the new-comers met by +an imposing guard; escorted with due honor through the gates, and up +the narrow street of the town. +</P> + +<P> +As he climbed the winding highway, my lord, the Marquis, bestowed +approving nod and smile this way and that; it may be that he already +felt a nearer affiliation with these people; for his glance, gracious, +condescending in passing, was that of a man armed with the knowledge +that he, kinsman of the King, might some day be called upon to govern +here. But to these advances, the townspeople responded ill, and the +young noble's brow went delicately up, as if a little amused! <I>Mon +dieu!</I> did not unfriendly eyes peer from every lurking place around the +royal palaces and pleasure grounds near Paris; and had they not +encountered them all the way to the sea? People were the same +everywhere; must be treated like bad children, and, with relays of +troops from the capital to the sea, from the strand to the Mount's high +top, one could afford to smile at their petty humors. Above all, when +one had more momentous matter for consideration! And my lord lifted +his head higher, toward a rampart, where some one had once bid him <I>au +revoir</I>, and where he might yet in fancy see a fluttering ribbon wave a +bright adieu! +</P> + +<P> +But to-day my lady, the Princess of the Rock, was not there; waited +above, with her father, to receive him—then—in the great Hall of the +Chevaliers. Until that morning she had not known of the coming of the +Marquis, an impatient suitor, following the courier and the perfumed +missive acquainting her with the noble's near approach. Certainly had +she shown surprise; but whether she was pleased or not, his Excellency +could not tell. +</P> + +<P> +He was still uncertain; standing, near the raised gallery, in the +ancient <I>salle des chevaliers</I>, from time to time regarded her +furtively! Often had she looked from one of the round windows, +commanding a view of the shore and the sands; many times turned away. +At first sight of the company on the beach, the Governor had seen the +girl's face alter and noted the involuntary start she had given. +Whereupon, moving toward one of the giant fireplaces, had he sought for +the sake of diplomacy and the end in view, to turn their conversation +into a channel that should have interested her; spoke of plans to be +made; preparations for festivities and merrymaking commensurate with +the circumstances. But to these suggestions of gaieties, the prelude +to a stately ceremony, had she hardly listened; paused absently before +the blazing logs; once or twice seemed about to say something and +stopped. +</P> + +<P> +She was silent now, a slender figure beneath that great canopy of stone +designed for the shelter of a score of knights; nervously twining and +intertwining her fingers, she looked out at the shadows moving between +the columns, playing around the bases, or melting in the vaulting. +</P> + +<P> +"They should be almost here now," observed his Excellency, again +seeking to break that spell of constraint, when suddenly she stepped to +him. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Mon père</I>," her voice sounded strained, unnatural, "it was you who +wanted this marriage?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he had answered in some surprise; "yes." +</P> + +<P> +"And I have not opposed you—the King—" +</P> + +<P> +"Opposed? No! Of course not!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then," more hurriedly, "must you do something in return for me! I do +not want my—the wedding festivities—marred by anything unpleasant! +Promise that nothing will happen to him, the Black Seigneur, until +after—" +</P> + +<P> +"Impossible!" The sudden virulence her unexpected request awoke could +not be concealed. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well!" Before the anger in his gaze, her own eyes flashed like +steel. "In that case, you can send the Marquis back! For I will not +see him—to-day, to-morrow or any time again!" +</P> + +<P> +Long he looked at her; the white face; the tightly compressed lips; the +eyes that would not flinch! They reminded him of another's—were of +the same hue—so like, and yet so different! Unlike, in bespeaking a +will he could not break! What he said, matters not; his face wore an +ashy shade. She did not answer in words; but he felt, with strange +bitterness, a revulsion; she seemed almost suddenly to have become +hostile to him. +</P> + +<P> +Gay voices sounded without; nearer; she walked to a door opposite the +entrance their visitors were approaching. An instant, and she would +have passed out, when the Governor spoke. +</P> + +<P> +But the Marquis, stepping quickly in a few moments later, noted nothing +amiss between them. "Your Excellency!" With filial respect he greeted +the Governor. "My Lady!" Gaily, approvingly, his eye passed over her; +then in that hall dedicated to chivalry, a graceful figure, he sank to +his knee; raised a small cold hand, and pressed it to his lips. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE UNDER WORLD +</H4> + +<P> +A coterie of brilliant folk soon followed in the wake of my lord, the +Marquis' retinue; holy-day banners were succeeded by holiday ribbons; +the <I>miserere</I> of the multitude by pæans of merriment. Hymen, Io +Hymen! In assuming the leading rôle to which circumstances now +assigned her, the Governor's daughter brought to the task less energy +than she had displayed on that other occasion when visitors had +sojourned at the rock. Her manner was changed—first, lukewarm; then, +almost indifferent; until, at length, one day she fairly waived the +responsibility of planning amusements; laid before them the question: +What, now, would they like to do? +</P> + +<P> +"Devise a play," said one. +</P> + +<P> +"With shepherds and shepherdesses!" +</P> + +<P> +The Marquis, however, qualified the suggestion. "A masque! that is +very good; but, for this morning—I have been talking with the +commandant—and have another proposal—" +</P> + +<P> +"Which is?" +</P> + +<P> +"To visit the dungeons." +</P> + +<P> +"The dungeons?" My lady's face changed. +</P> + +<P> +"And incidentally inspect their latest guest! Some of you heard of him +when we were here before—<I>Le Seigneur Noir</I>—the Black Seigneur!" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Le Seigneur Noir</I>!" They clapped their hands. "Yes, let us see him! +Nothing could be better. What do you say, Elise?" +</P> + +<P> +She started to speak, but for the instant her lips could frame no +answer; with a faint, strained smile, confronted them, when some one +anticipated her reply— +</P> + +<P> +"Did she not leave it to us? It is we who decide." +</P> + +<P> +And a merry party, they swept along, bearing her with them; up the +broad stairway, cold, gray in the morn; beneath the abbot's +bridge—black, spying span!—to the church, and thence to the isolated +space before the guard-house to the dungeons. Here, at the sound of +their voices, a man, carrying a bunch of keys—but outwardly the +antithesis to the hunchback—peered from the entrance. +</P> + +<P> +"Unless I am mistaken, the new jailer!" With a wave of his hand, the +Marquis indicated this person. "The commandant was telling me his +Excellency had engaged one—from Bicêtre, or Fort l'Evêque, I believe?" +</P> + +<P> +"Bicêtre, my Lord!" said the man gravely. "And before that, the +Bastille." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" laughed the nobleman. "That pretty place some of the foolish +people are grumbling about! As if we could do without prisons any more +than without palaces! But we have come, my good fellow, to inspect +this lower world of yours!" +</P> + +<P> +The man's glance passed over the paper the Marquis handed him; then +silently he moved aside, and unlocked the iron doors. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you not coming?" At the threshold the Marquis looked back. When +first they had approached the guard-house, involuntarily had the +Governor's daughter drawn aside to the ramparts; now, with face +half-averted, stood gazing off. +</P> + +<P> +"Coming?" Surprised, the Marquis noted her expression; the fixed +brightness of her eyes and her parted lips. "Oh, yes!" And turning +abruptly, she hastened past him. +</P> + +<P> +Would <I>they</I> have to be locked in?—the half-apprehensive query of one +of the ladies caused the jailer at first to hesitate and then to answer +in the negative. He would leave the doors from the outer room open, +and himself await there the visitors' return. With which reassuring +promise, he distributed lights; called a guardsman, familiar with the +intricate underground passages, and consigned them to his care. +</P> + +<P> +One of the gay procession, the Lady Elise stepped slowly forward; the +guide proved a talkative fellow, and seemed anxious to answer their +many inquiries concerning the place. The <I>salle de la question</I>? Yes, +it existed; but the ancient torture devices for the "interrogatory +ordinary" and the "interrogatory extraordinary" were no longer pressed +into service; the King had ordered them relegated to the shelves of the +museum. The cabanons, or black holes? Louis XI built them; the +<I>carceres duri</I> and <I>vade in pace</I>, however, dated from Saint +Mauritius, fourth abbot of the Mount. +</P> + +<P> +"And the Black Seigneur? How have you accommodated him?" +</P> + +<P> +"In the <I>petit exil</I>; just to the left! We are going there now." +</P> + +<P> +"I—am going back!" A hand touched the arm of the Marquis, last of the +file of visitors, and, lifting his candle, he held it so that the +yellow glimmer played on the face of the Governor's daughter. Her eyes +looked deeper; full of dread, as if the very spirit of the subterranean +abode had seized her. He started. +</P> + +<P> +"Surely <I>you</I>, Elise, are not afraid?" +</P> + +<P> +"I prefer the sunlight," she said hurriedly in a low tone. "It—it is +not cheerful down here! No; do not call to the guide—or let the +others know. I'll return alone, and—wait for you at the guard-house." +</P> + +<P> +He, nevertheless, insisted upon accompanying her; but, indicating the +not distant door through which they had come, she professed to make +light of objections, and when he still clung to the point, replied with +a flash of spirit, sudden and passionate. It compelled his +acquiescence; left him surprised for a second time that day; a little +hurt, too, perhaps, for heretofore had their intimacy been maintained +on a strictly ethical and charming plane. But he had no time for +analysis; the others were drawing away to the left, into a side +passage; and, with a last backward glance toward the retreating figure, +the Marquis reluctantly followed the majority. +</P> + +<P> +Despite, however, her avowed repugnance for that under-world, my lady +showed now no haste to quit it; for scarcely had the others vanished +than she stopped; began slowly to retrace her way in the direction they +had taken. When the narrow route to the <I>petit exil</I> connected with +the main aisle, a sudden draft of air extinguished her light; yet still +she went on, led by the voices, and a glimmer afar, until reaching a +room, low, massive, as if hewn from the solid rock, again she paused. +Drawing behind a heavy square pillar, she gazed at the lords and ladies +assembled in the forbidding place; listened to a voice that ran on, as +if discoursing about some anomalous thing. Again was she cognizant of +their questions; a jest from my lord, the Marquis; she saw that several +stole forward; peered, and started back, half afraid. +</P> + +<P> +But, at length, they asked about the oubliettes, and, chatting gaily, +left. Their garments almost touched the Governor's daughter; lights +played about the gigantic pillars, and like will-o'-the-wisps whisked +away. Now, staring straight ahead toward the chamber they had vacated, +my lady's attention became fixed by a single dot of yellow—a candle +placed in a niche by the jailer's assistant. It seemed to fascinate; +to draw her forward; across the portals—into the room itself! +</P> + +<P> +How long she stood there in the faint suggestion of light, she did not +realize; nor when she approached the iron-barred aperture, and what she +first said! Something eager, solicitous, with odd silences between her +words, until the impression of a motionless form, and two steady, +cynical eyes fastened on her, brought her to an abrupt pause. It was +some time before she continued, more coherently, an explanation about +her apprehension on account of her father, which had entirely left her +when she had peered through the window of the guard-house. +</P> + +<P> +"You thought me, then, but a common assassin?" a satirical voice +interposed. +</P> + +<P> +"My father hates you, and you—" +</P> + +<P> +"My Lady has, perhaps, a standard of her own for judging!" +</P> + +<P> +Unmindful of ironical incredulity, she related how she had been forced +to take refuge in the wheel-house; how, when Sanchez had seen her, +alarmed she had fled blindly down the passage; waited, then hearing +them all coming, at a loss what else to do, had opened the wheel-house +door; run into the store-room! What she had seen from there, +disconnectedly, also she referred to; his rescue of the others; his +remaining behind to bear the brunt—as brave an act as she knew of! +Her tone became tremulous. +</P> + +<P> +"Who betrayed me?" His voice, bold and scoffing, interrupted. +</P> + +<P> +She answered. It was like speaking to some one in a tomb. "The +soldier you bound gave the alarm." +</P> + +<P> +From behind the bars came a mocking laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"You don't believe me?" She caught her breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Believe? Of course." +</P> + +<P> +"You don't!" she said, and clung tighter to the iron grating. "And I +can't make you!" +</P> + +<P> +"Why should your Ladyship want to? What does it matter?" +</P> + +<P> +"But it does matter!" wildly. "When your servant accused me that day +in the cloister I did not answer nor deny; but now—" +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship would deny?" +</P> + +<P> +"That I betrayed you at Casque? Here? Yes, yes!" +</P> + +<P> +"Or at the wheel-house when you called to warn the soldiers?" +</P> + +<P> +"You were about to—to throw yourself over!" she faltered. +</P> + +<P> +"And your Ladyship was apprehensive lest the Black Seigneur should +escape?" +</P> + +<P> +"Escape?" she cried. "It was death!" +</P> + +<P> +"And the alternative? My Lady preferred to see the outlaw taken—die +like a felon on the gallows!" +</P> + +<P> +"No; no! It was not that." +</P> + +<P> +"What then?" His eyes gleamed bright; her own turned; shrank from +them. A moment she strove to answer; could not. Within the black +recess a faint light from the flickering candle played up and down. So +complete the stillness, so dead the very air, the throbbings of her +pulses filled the girl with a suffocating sense of her own vitality. +</P> + +<P> +"I spoke to my father to try to get your cell changed," she at last +found herself irrelevantly saying; "but could do nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"I thank your Ladyship! But your Ladyship's friends will be far away. +Your Ladyship may miss something amusing!" +</P> + +<P> +"I did not bring them—did not want them to come!" +</P> + +<P> +"No?" +</P> + +<P> +Her figure straightened. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps, even, they are not aware you are here?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are not, unless—" +</P> + +<P> +"Elise!" From afar a loud call interrupted; reverberating down the +main passage, was caught up here and there. "Elise! Elise!" The +whole under-world echoed to the name. +</P> + +<P> +"I promised to meet them at the guard-house," she explained hurriedly. +And hardly knowing what she did, put out her hand, through the bars, +toward him. In the darkness a hand seized hers; she felt herself +drawn; held against the bars. They bruised her shoulder; hurt her +face. The chill of the iron sent a shudder through her; though the +pain she did not feel; she was cognizant only of a closer view of a +figure; the chains from him to the wall; the bare, damp floor—then, of +a voice low, tense, that now was speaking: +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship, indeed, found means to punish a presumptuous fellow, +who dared displease her. But <I>ma foi!</I> she should have confined her +punishment to the offender. Those stripes inflicted on him, my old +servant! Think you I knew not it was my Lady's answer to the outlaw, +who had the temerity to speak words that offended—" +</P> + +<P> +"You dream that! You imagine that!" +</P> + +<P> +The warmth of his hand seemed to burn hers; her fingers, so closely +imprisoned, to throb with the fierce beating of his pulses. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not want you to think—I can't let you think," she began. +</P> + +<P> +"Elise!" The searchers were drawing nearer. +</P> + +<P> +She would have stepped back, but the fingers tightened on her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"They will be here in a moment—" +</P> + +<P> +Still he did not relinquish his hold; the dark face was next hers; the +piercing, relentless eyes studied the agitated brown ones. The latter +cleared; met his fully an instant. "Believe!" that imploring wild +glance seemed to say. Did his waver for a moment; the harshness and +mockery soften on his face? +</P> + +<P> +"Elise!" From but a short distance came the voice of the Marquis. +</P> + +<P> +A moment the Black Seigneur's hand gripped my lady's harder with a +strength he was unaware of. A slight cry fell from her lips, and at +once, almost roughly, he threw her hand from him. +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" again he laughed mockingly. "Go to your lover." +</P> + +<P> +Released thus abruptly she wavered, straightened, but continued to +stand before the dungeon as if incapable of further motion. +</P> + +<P> +"Elise! Are you there?" +</P> + +<P> +"There!" Caverns and caves called out. +</P> + +<P> +"There!" gibed voices amid a labyrinth of pillars, and mechanically she +caught up the candle; fled. +</P> + +<P> +"Here she is!" Coming toward her quickly out of the darkness, the +Marquis uttered a glad exclamation. "We have been looking for you +everywhere. Did I not say you should not have attempted to return +alone? <I>Mon dieu!</I> you must have been lost!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A NEW ARRIVAL +</H4> + +<P> +Thrice had the old nurse, Marie, assisting her mistress that night for +the banquet, sighed; a number of times striven to hold my lady's eye +and attention, but in vain. Only when the adorning process was nearly +completed and the nurse knelt with a white slipper, did she, by a +distinctly detaining pressure, succeed in arresting, momentarily, the +other's bright strained glance. +</P> + +<P> +"Is anything the matter?" My lady's absent tone did not invite +confidences. +</P> + +<P> +"My Lady—" the woman hesitated; yet seemed anxious to speak. "I—my +Lady," she began again; with sign of encouragement from the Governor's +daughter, would have gone on; but the latter, after waiting a moment, +abruptly withdrew the silken-shod foot. +</P> + +<P> +"The banquet! It is past the hour!" +</P> + +<P> +An instant she stood, not seeing the other or the expression of +disappointment on the woman's countenance; then quickly walked to the +door. Nor, as the Governor's daughter moved down the long corridor, +with crimson lips set hard, was she cognizant of another face that +looked out from one of the many passages of the palace after her—the +face of a younger woman whose dark, spying eyes glowed and whose hands +closed at sight of the vanishing figure! +</P> + +<P> +The sound of gay voices, however, as she neared the banqueting hall, +perforce recalled my lady to a sense of her surroundings; at the same +time a figure in full court dress stepped from the widely opened doors. +An adequate degree of expectancy on his handsome countenance, my lord, +the Marquis, who had been waiting, lover-fashion, for the first glimpse +of his mistress that evening, now gallantly tendered his greetings. +</P> + +<P> +Seldom, perhaps, had the ancient banqueting hall presented a more +festive appearance. Fruits and flowers made bright the tables; banners +medieval, trophies of many victories, trailed from the ceiling; a +hundred lights were reflected from ornaments of crystal and dishes of +gold. On every hand an almost barbaric profusion impressed the guests +with the opulence of the Mount; that few could sit in more state than +this pale lord of the North, or few queens preside over a scene of +greater splendor than their fair hostess, his daughter! +</P> + +<P> +With feverish semblance of spirit, she took her place; beneath the keen +eyes of his Excellency responded to sallies of wit, and only when +between courses the music played, did her manner relax. Then, leaning +on her elbow, with cheeks aflame and downcast eyes, she professed to +listen to dainty strains—the sighing of the old troubadours, as +imitated by a group of performers in costume on a balcony at one end of +the hall. +</P> + +<P> +"Charming!" The voice was the Marquis'; she looked at him, though her +eyes conveyed but a shadowy impression. "You have quite recovered from +your trip to the dungeons?" +</P> + +<P> +"Quite!" With a sudden lift of the head. +</P> + +<P> +"The dungeons?" His Excellency's gaze was on them. "I understand," +looking at Elise, "you had a slight adventure?" +</P> + +<P> +The glow on her cheek faded. "Yes." She seemed to speak with +difficulty. "It—was too stupid!" +</P> + +<P> +"To get lost? Say, rather, it was venturesome to have attempted to +return alone." +</P> + +<P> +"Just what I said to the Lady Elise!" broke in the Marquis. "And to +have left us at a most interesting moment!" +</P> + +<P> +"Interesting?" The Governor's steel-gray eyes regarded the speaker +inquiringly. +</P> + +<P> +"We were about to visit the Black Seigneur!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" A look flashed from his Excellency to his daughter; her glance +failed to meet it. +</P> + +<P> +Yet paler, she turned over-hurriedly to the Marquis. "What is that air +they are playing now?" His response she heard not, was only conscious +that, across the board, the eyes of her father still scrutinized; +studied! +</P> + +<P> +At length, however, the evening wore away; a signal from his +Excellency, and of one accord they rose and crossed to the +star-illumined cloister adjoining. There at the entrance, my lady, who +toward the last had listened with an air of distraction, hardly +concealed, to her noble suitor's graceful speeches, held back, and, as +the others went in, quickly effected her escape and hastened to her own +apartments. +</P> + +<P> +"At last!" She threw back her arms; breathed deeper. "Ah, <I>mon père</I>, +you are hard—unyielding as the iron doors and bars of your dungeons!" +She pressed her hand to her forehead. "And I can do nothing—nothing!" +she repeated; stood for a moment motionless and then mechanically moved +toward the bell-rope at the other end of the chamber. But the hand she +started to raise was arrested; through the slightly opened door to the +adjoining apartment, she heard voices; words that caused her +involuntarily to listen. +</P> + +<P> +"I have made up my mind to tell her ladyship, Nanette!" The old nurse +was speaking, in tones that betrayed excitement and anxiety. "It is, +to say the least, embarrassing for me—your coming here! You, the +daughter of Pierre Laroche, who emigrated to the English Isles! Who +has always shown disloyalty for the monarchy at home!" +</P> + +<P> +My lady, surprised, drew nearer; caught the answer, which came in +tones, deep and strong. +</P> + +<P> +"At least, aunt, you are frank!" +</P> + +<P> +"I must be! Under ordinary circumstances, I should be glad; of course, +the child of my dead sister ought to be welcome." +</P> + +<P> +"So I thought," dryly, "when I stopped off a few days ago to see you, +on my way to Paris." +</P> + +<P> +"If you had let me know, it is I who would have gone somewhere, near +by, to have seen you!" was the troubled reply. "His Excellency—what +would he say if he knew? Pierre Laroche, who has been called friend of +privateersmen, perhaps even of the Black Seigneur, himself! I should +have gone to his Excellency at once and asked if he objected, only you +begged me not, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"Were you so anxious to be rid of me?" quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"I shouldn't speak as I do now, perhaps, only—" +</P> + +<P> +"Only?" +</P> + +<P> +"Your conduct, since you have been here—" +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" The other's tone had a sudden defiant ring. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not seemly for a girl of your age and condition to be out alone +so late, nights!" +</P> + +<P> +"I just went down into the town to get something," was the careless +response, "and the sands looked so attractive—" +</P> + +<P> +"That's no excuse! And now," the old nurse's voice showed a trace of +embarrassment, "we've had our visit, and you had better carry out your +plan of going to Paris." +</P> + +<P> +"You want me to leave here—at once?" The girl drew her breath sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps it would be as well." +</P> + +<P> +"You treat me as if—I were a spy!" angrily. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't wish to do that," returned the woman in a constrained tone. +"But now, after so many years of service with her ladyship! And her +mother, the former lady of the Mount! If I should incur the Governor's +displeasure—" the words died away. "If I can be of any help to you, +if you need assistance—money—" +</P> + +<P> +"Money!" Nanette's derisive laugh rang out; was suddenly hushed by the +tinkling of a bell! +</P> + +<P> +"Her ladyship!" +</P> + +<P> +For a few moments the Governor's daughter, now standing in the center +of her apartment, heard no sound from the other room; then a timid +footstep approaching the door was followed by an indecisive rap. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship rang?" inquired Marie, turning a half-guilty glance on +her mistress. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes! Did I hear voices, as I came in?" +</P> + +<P> +"Did your Ladyship? I mean, I was going to speak to your Ladyship. +It's my niece!" suddenly. "On her way to Paris!" +</P> + +<P> +"Your niece!" The Governor's daughter looked at the other. "And +you—are pleased?" +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship—" The woman flushed. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, though, you must be! She is out there? Show her in!" +quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"But—" +</P> + +<P> +"At once!" +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, my Lady!" Marie's manner, however, was depressed, as, +stepping to the threshold, reluctantly she beckoned. +</P> + +<P> +Erect, with mien almost antagonistic, Nanette entered and stood before +the Lady Elise. The latter did not at once speak; for a few moments +the observant brown eyes passed in quick scrutiny over her visitor; +noting the aggressive brows; the broad, strong face; the self-assertive +pose of the well-developed figure. A woman to do—to dare!—What? +</P> + +<A NAME="img-278"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-278.jpg" ALT=""A woman to do--to dare!"" BORDER="2"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center"> +"A woman to do—to dare!" +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"You wished to see me?" Nanette first spoke. +</P> + +<P> +Marie lifted an expostulatory hand. What bad manners, thus to dare! +But my lady did not seem to notice. "You are from one of the islands?" +she began. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Say 'my Lady'!" broke in the old nurse. "I trust your Ladyship will +pardon—" +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind, Marie!" with a quick gesture. "Your aunt tells me you are +on your way to Paris?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—my Lady!" with the slightest hesitation before the last two +words. "To seek a situation as lady's maid!" +</P> + +<P> +"When are you leaving?" +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow morning, your Ladyship!" interposed Marie quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"So soon?" My lady continued to address the girl. "You have had +experience?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, my Lady!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then how can you secure what you wish?" +</P> + +<P> +"How? At least, I can try!" +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure! You can try." My lady's eyes fell; she seemed to be +thinking. "Still, it may be difficult; Paris is far away. And if you +should fail," her fingers tapped nervously on the chair, "we are very +busy at the Mount just now," she added suddenly, directing her glance +full upon the other, "and there may be something here—" +</P> + +<P> +"Here! Your Ladyship will keep me here!" +</P> + +<P> +Marie made a movement as if to speak, but her niece intercepted her. +</P> + +<P> +"I will do my best, my Lady!" +</P> + +<P> +"Very well! Then shall you have a trial!" +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship!" interposed Marie. +</P> + +<P> +The Governor's daughter got up quickly. "I am very tired, Marie, and +wish now to be alone! You need not remain—I shall not want you again +to-night." +</P> + +<P> +The old nurse murmured a dejected response; turned away. +</P> + +<P> +"I thank your Ladyship!" The girl's last look was one of indubitable +satisfaction ere she followed her aunt from the room. +</P> + +<P> +My lady stared after them. "'Daughter of Pierre Laroche! Friend of +the Black Seigneur!'" Marie's words continued to ring in her ears. +She threw herself into a chair; sat long very still, her eyes bent +straight before her, on either cheek now a bright spot of color. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap27"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A STROLL ON THE STRAND +</H4> + +<P> +"You are in a hurry, Monsieur Beppo?" arms akimbo, Nanette, standing in +an embrasure of the rampart, called out to the Governor's man as he +passed by. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, Mistress Nanette," Beppo stopped readily enough, "I didn't see you +at first." +</P> + +<P> +"Because you have more important matters to think of," she laughed, +showing her strong white teeth. +</P> + +<P> +The fat old man looked pleased; a few days before, Nanette had flashed +a radiant smile at him from her casement, and, ever since, he had been +inclined to regard her with favor. +</P> + +<P> +"Not more important, but duties that must be attended to! The wedding +hour draws near." The island girl half turned her head; a shadow +seemed to pass over the bold, sunburned features. "And her ladyship +gives to-morrow a riding party for her guests—a last celebration +before she is led to the altar. I am on my way now to arrange about +the escort." +</P> + +<P> +"A riding party!" Nanette spoke quickly. "You mean on horseback?" +</P> + +<P> +"How else?" said Beppo. "It is a pastime her ladyship has always been +very fond of, even as a child. In those days," not without an accent +of self-importance, "it was my privilege—" +</P> + +<P> +"Do they ride far?" interrupted Nanette with ill-suppressed eagerness. +</P> + +<P> +"To the old Monastery St. Ranulphe; an imposing ruin of tenth century +architecture, my dear," he added pompously. +</P> + +<P> +"And where is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Off the Paris highway, some ten miles from the Mount." +</P> + +<P> +"Ten miles? And the country is beautiful? Not open; sandy, like the +shore?" +</P> + +<P> +"It partakes of a rugged grandeur." +</P> + +<P> +"With forests around?" quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," indulgently. "You like forests, Mistress Nanette?" +</P> + +<P> +"When they are thick and wild—" +</P> + +<P> +"Then would you like these!" +</P> + +<P> +The girl asked no further questions; yet still Beppo lingered, his +glance seeming loath to withdraw from this exuberant specimen of +vigorous young womanhood. "Which way were you going, good Mistress +Nanette?" he asked finally. "On second thoughts, I have a little time +to spare and will walk along." +</P> + +<P> +Nanette, looking down from the rampart toward the sands and the shore, +did not answer, and, more insinuatingly, Beppo repeated his proposal. +Nanette started. +</P> + +<P> +"La, Monsieur Beppo! I—I'm afraid it wouldn't do. There's my aunt," +tossing her head, "that careful of me! Won't even let me go walking on +the beach alone! Do <I>you</I> ever go walking on the beach, Monsieur +Beppo?" she inquired suddenly, regarding him with an eloquent look. +</P> + +<P> +"I—it has not been my custom," he murmured. "But," the fishy eyes +growing brighter, "with you—if I might accompany you—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I didn't mean that! No; no! Of course not! And I couldn't think +of it. My aunt—" +</P> + +<P> +But when a few moments later, she turned, to walk quickly away, the +round and shining face of Beppo, watching her disappear, wore not the +look of a man who had allowed himself to be rebuffed. +</P> + +<P> +Out of his sight, Nanette's expression changed to one of somber +thoughtfulness; it lingered as she entered the palace, with free swing, +mounted the steps to her mistress' apartments; was still there, when +she took a bit of embroidery from a table, and seating herself at the +window of an antechamber, bent over her task. Soon, however, she +stopped, to sweep abruptly cloth and colored silks from her lap to the +floor, and, leaning forward, her firm, brown hands clasped over her +knees, she seemed to be asking herself questions, or weighing some +problem. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; it is our only chance." In her eyes a steady glow replaced the +varying lights, and, getting up with a sudden air of determination, +Nanette crossed the room to where, near the door, stood a small desk. +Glancing quickly around, she seated herself and, reaching for paper and +pen, wrote carefully and somewhat laboriously a few words. She had +finished and was contemplating the result of her eager efforts when a +hand at the door caused her hurriedly to dash down the pen and spring +to her feet. As her aunt entered, Nanette took a few steps forward, +and, bending to pick up her work from the floor, turned partly away and +thrust the paper into the bosom of her gown. +</P> + +<P> +"I came to tell you supper is ready," said Marie quietly. +</P> + +<P> +At the table with her aunt the girl's manner was subdued and +deferential; she observed the nicest proprieties, and bestowed on the +other's slightest word a meed of attention calculated to soften the old +woman's attitude and suspicions. And possibly succeeded; or, it may +be, Marie's own conscience had begun to reproach her; for a number of +days had passed and nothing had as yet occurred to justify the early +apprehensions she had entertained. Under the circumstances the meal +was a little prolonged; the first shafts of twilight had entered the +courtyard and had begun to steal into the narrow chamber with darkening +effect, ere of an accord the two women pushed back their chairs. +</P> + +<P> +"It gets dark early," said the girl, "or time has passed quicker than I +thought. Perhaps it was what you were telling me of the former lady of +the Mount. She must have been very beautiful!" +</P> + +<P> +"She was," answered the woman; "and as good as beautiful!" +</P> + +<P> +"Heigh-ho!" Nanette sighed; through the window watched the shadows +that like dark, trailing figures seemed creeping up the ancient wall to +caress and linger on green leaves of vines, bright flowers and other +living things. "But I suppose she had everything she wanted." The +girl stirred restlessly. "What sort of a man is Monsieur Beppo, aunt?" +</P> + +<P> +"Beppo?" Recalled as from a long train of recollections, the woman did +not seem to notice the abruptness of the inquiry. "Oh, he is an old +and faithful servant. For almost as many years as I have been here," +with an accent of pride, "has he served at the Mount!" +</P> + +<P> +"And his moral character, aunt?" demurely. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur Beppo has a reputation for piety, no doubt deserved!" +returned the woman, with an accent of surprise. "At any rate, he +seldom misses a mass. But why do you ask?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because I met him to-day and he invited me to walk with him this +evening." +</P> + +<P> +"He did?" Marie's mouth grew firmer. "And you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't exactly know how to refuse; he—looked so old and +respectable! I thought, too, you wouldn't mind and—I'm glad you think +so well of him, aunt." +</P> + +<P> +In the gathering gloom the listener's face seemed suddenly to grow +graver; her eyes, which had returned to the girl's, expressed once more +doubt and misgiving. With her glance lifted upward, however, Nanette +did not seem to notice this quick change. A star—faint forerunner of +a multitude of waiting orbs—peeping timorously down from above the +gray, gaunt mass of stone, alone absorbed the girl's gaze and attention. +</P> + +<P> +"Where were you thinking of going?" after a silence of some length the +older woman asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't recall that Monsieur Beppo mentioned," was the low-murmured +response. "But, of course, aunt, if you object—" +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know that I do," said the other slowly. "Only," as if the +thought had suddenly come to her, "what were you writing at her +ladyship's desk when I went to call you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Writing?" Nanette regarded her blankly. "I don't understand you, +aunt." +</P> + +<P> +"Weren't you writing something that you hid in your dress when I came?" +</P> + +<P> +"No!" The girl looked full at the other; denied point-blank the +accusation. "Now that you speak of it, I believe I did step to the +desk," she answered glibly, "to look at some ornament; but as for +writing, or daring to, I should not have presumed." +</P> + +<P> +A low discreet rap at the door interrupted, and, with a whispered +"There he is now!" Nanette cut short further argument by rising. +</P> + +<P> +"She is not telling the truth!" For some time the woman stood looking +down in gloomy thought after the two had gone. "What does it mean?" +Moving to a peg, she took down a shawl. "What can it mean?" she asked +herself again, and, wrapping the garment about her head and shoulders, +left the room. +</P> + +<P> +Half an hour later, at Beppo's side, on the beach, Nanette measured her +steps to his; listened to the old man's platitudes, and even turned a +not unwilling ear to sundry hints and innuendos of a tenderer nature. +The girl was in her most complaisant mood, and, in his rôle of discreet +gallant to young and blooming womanhood, the fat factotum strove to +make the most of the opportunity. He sighed; bethought him of a +sentimental tale, and carped of the beauty of the moon, then gilding +the edge of the Mount's high towers! She answered; looked; but soon +her eloquent glance swerved to the sands, dotted by desultory seekers +of cockles, or belated stragglers from the shore, and fastened itself +on a jutting point of the Mount. +</P> + +<P> +Near it, before a large rock of peculiar shape, a man was engaged in +that common nocturnal labor of the locality, digging! As the couple +drew near, quickly he raised his gaze; almost at once let it fall; +engrossed in his work, continued to toss the sand and stoop over it +searchingly. But when they had gone by, once more he straightened, +and, at the same time, the girl looked back. Stalwart, black-bearded, +a sailor by his dress, the fellow made a sign, and, apparently any +doubt as to who he was vanished from Nanette's mind; for from the +fingers of the free hand she held behind her, something fluttered to +the beach. +</P> + +<P> +Leaning to his implement, the man regarded the paper, but not until the +girl's low laugh was heard, as she and Master Beppo vanished in the +darkness, did he step forward and secure it. +</P> + +<P> +"So! That was it!" Breathless, indignant, Marie, standing in the +black shade of one of the Mount's projections, watched the fellow read +and regard carefully the message in his hand; then tearing it, crumple +the bits and thrust them toward his pocket as he walked off. "Brazen +huzzy! But her ladyship shall know; and if she doesn't pack you off, +bag and baggage—Eh? What is that?" And springing forward, the woman +pounced upon something that lay on the sand. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap28"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE HESITATION OF THE MARQUIS +</H4> + +<P> +The day of my lady's riding party dawned; in the east a tender flame +burned, and, vanishing, left the heavens an unbroken blue. Shoreward +the mists rolled up, until only in the neighborhood of the forest did +the white, soft vapor linger. On the Mount itself sunshine held sway; +it radiated from the fortifications, "cuirass of the rock," and gleamed +on the church, "tiara of its majesty." It warmed a cold palace of +marble; looked in at its windows, and threw bold shafts to lighten dark +nooks and corners. +</P> + +<P> +But my lady, mistress of the Mount, seemed not to feel its beneficent +touch; standing in the full glow and looking from her casement she +shivered a little. Already was she dressed, and her habit of dark +green, fitting close, served to accentuate the whiteness of her cheek +which general absence of color, in turn, made the more manifest certain +dark lines beneath the restless, bright eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship!" After knocking in vain, Marie had entered the room +and set down the small tray she carried. "There is something your +Ladyship ought to know!" with an air of excitement. The Governor's +daughter half turned. "What now, Marie?" she said sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"It's about Nanette!" My lady made a quick movement of annoyance, +impatience. "I did not tell your Ladyship, but I was averse to having +her remain here. Your Ladyship does not understand, of course, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"I do understand," said my lady unexpectedly. "And—you need not +explain. I overheard you talking with her that night of the banquet!" +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship!" startled. +</P> + +<P> +"And I heard you speak of her father, Pierre Laroche, friend of the +Black Seigneur." +</P> + +<P> +"And engaged her—after that!" +</P> + +<P> +"Why not? I could watch—and I have! But you were wrong, Marie." My +lady's manner was feverish. "Your suspicions were ridiculous. There +has been nothing—nothing! And day after to-morrow is the wedding +celebration, and the next day, he, the Black Seigneur—" She broke off +abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +Had Marie been less wrought up, less excited, less concerned with the +information she had to impart, she could not have failed to notice the +odd break in her young mistress' voice; something unusual, almost akin +to despair, in her manner. As it was, that which weighed on the old +nurse's mind precluded close observation of the other. +</P> + +<P> +"But something <I>has</I> happened, my Lady!" the woman half stammered. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Comment!</I>" The girl turned to her sharply. "What? Explain, Marie!" +</P> + +<P> +Disconnectedly, the woman launched into a narration of the events of +the night before; my lady listened closely, with an interest and +excitement she strove to conceal, half turning so that the other saw no +longer her face. +</P> + +<P> +"And here," ended Marie, extending a crumpled fragment of paper, "is a +piece of the note she dropped on the beach. The man tore it up, but in +thrusting the bits of paper into his pocket this fell out, and, after +he walked away, I picked it up myself from the sand. I can't read, as +your Ladyship knows, and there isn't much on it—only a word or two! +But it may tell something." +</P> + +<P> +My lady's face was now composed; the hand she extended, steady; for +several moments she regarded the fragment. +</P> + +<P> +"What does it say?" asked the woman anxiously. "Is it—is it +important?" +</P> + +<P> +Her mistress did not at once answer; twisting the bit of paper in her +fingers, stood as if in thought, and the old nurse repeated her +question. +</P> + +<P> +"This note might have been intended for some admirer!" said, at length, +the Governor's daughter slowly. +</P> + +<P> +"He looked more like an old privateersman!" murmured the woman. "And +there may be some plot—some plan!" +</P> + +<P> +"Privateersman!" The girl's manner underwent a change; she shrugged +her shoulders. "What could they hope to do at the Mount! You are +imaginative, Marie!" lightly. "Nanette is good-looking, and what +little is here would seem to signify a rendezvous. There may be no +great harm in that." +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry, my Lady, to seem to think ill of my own kin," muttered the +woman dejectedly, "but—" +</P> + +<P> +"Think no more of it! You have done your duty. Now leave the matter +to me, and—thank you, Marie!" +</P> + +<P> +When, however, the old nurse had gone, all pretense of lightness faded +from the face of the Governor's daughter, and, opening the bit of +paper, once more she scrutinized it swiftly, intently. +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow—Monastery St. Ranu—" she read. "Yes; it must mean St. +Ranulphe—where we are going. And where Beppo knew we were going! +Beppo, she went down on the beach with!" Again she studied the +fragment, striving to make out a word that had been blotted and was +almost illegible. She frowned as she endeavored to decipher it. "Lady +E." She gave an exclamation. "That refers, of course, to— But why?" +She kept asking herself the question. "Why?" she repeated, when +suddenly the brown eyes widened—changed; a new light shone in their +depths. "It must be they intend to—what else?" +</P> + +<P> +The sound of horns—signal for the party to gather—broke upon the air, +and, nervously crushing in her palm the piece of the message, she +stepped to the table, to the untasted breakfast. Like one in a dream, +who yet feels the need for haste, she poured out the coffee; with +unsteady hand raised the cup and drank; started to serve herself again; +as if forgetful of the impulse, paused. +</P> + +<P> +"And I?" she said with deeper breath. "To ride to the ambush they have +so cleverly planned? Allow myself to be taken prisoner by these +desperate men? No; no; I could not! And yet—" A trampling of +horses' hoofs in the court below interrupted. "They are ready to +start!" Uncertainly she lifted her head; looked around her; then +mechanically stepped forward and left the room. +</P> + +<P> +A scene of animation greeted her in the court, alive with lords and +ladies, for the most part already in the saddle and waiting. +</P> + +<P> +"Hail to Diana, who will lead us in the forests!" +</P> + +<P> +"Fair nymph, let us away!" and the Marquis extended his hand. +</P> + +<P> +With a seemingly merry nod she acknowledged their greetings; put out a +foot, and lightly sprang to her place on the back of the nervous +thoroughbred. But ere giving the signal to start, the girl's glance +swung around to a window opposite, where stood an austere figure, +imperturbably looking down to watch them ride off. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Au revoir, mon père!</I>" Her voice rose with an odd, unusual thrill. +"<I>Au revoir!</I>" she repeated, when a mistiness in her eyes suddenly +blurred sight of him, and she tightened the reins. Yet hesitating to +go, her gaze cleared, and swerving, was abruptly arrested by another +and more interested spectator, who, partly concealed by flowers and +plants, peered with anxious expectancy from her own balcony. As +Nanette's eyes met those of the Governor's daughter, they wavered half +guiltily; suddenly became steady, held by something—a flash of +impelling intelligence in the other's gaze. A moment or two, my lady +continued to regard the girl; then touching her horse, wheeled sharply, +and set a pace downward not easy to follow. +</P> + +<P> +At the base of the Mount they were met by a numerous guard bright in +holiday trappings, and, under the care of the commandant, with flourish +of horse, the party swept gaily from sands to shore. +</P> + +<P> +"A gallant company, Monsieur le Commandant!" observed the Marquis to +the officer in charge, as they reached the green line at the yellow +basin's edge. "Now if we were to meet an enemy—" +</P> + +<P> +"He would find us prepared, my Lord!" the officer declared. +</P> + +<P> +"True!" And the nobleman complacently touched the jeweled hilt of his +own blade, accompanying the action with a tender glance at the Lady +Elise. +</P> + +<P> +She, however, a little ahead, appeared not to hear; spoke suddenly to +her horse, and, as they swung from the sward, started at a brisk gallop +down the road. Laughing, the others came after, lords and ladies +first; behind, with tumult and clatter, the commandant and his men. As +they advanced, on either side the way thick trunks of moss-grown +monarchs uplifted their gnarled and hoary branches, to meet overhead; +through leafy interstices bright flashes of sunlight shot downward, +danced on fine garments and accoutrements, and then whisked elfishly +away. In dim recesses finches and sparrows sang; beyond, murmured +streams and rivulets, while at the feet of the riders, gay restless +flowers nodded, as if in accompaniment to the glad music of the morn. +</P> + +<P> +"Small wonder his Excellency should have desired to add this fair +principality to his own!" muttered the Marquis, looking around. "Of +the seven forests of Brittany, none will compare with this, the +Desaurac woods. What think you, Elise?" spurring his horse near his +betrothed's. "Are you not taken by its beauties?" +</P> + +<P> +She looked at him with a start; since leaving the sands she had not +spoken, and now, tugging at the reins, only said abruptly: "My saddle! +I believe it is loose." +</P> + +<P> +"Loose!" repeated the nobleman. "Careless lackeys! Let us see!" And +grasping the bridle of her horse, pulled in his own, and drew both +animals to a standstill at the side of the road. +</P> + +<P> +As he dismounted to examine straps and fastenings, the others dashed +up; my lady lightly motioned them on. "We'll soon overtake you! Don't +wait!" Unquestioning, they obeyed; though the commandant, to whom a +few moments later she delivered a similar injunction, brought his men +to a halt and proffered his services. Whereupon the Marquis repeated +the girl's words more sharply; reddening, the officer wheeled and +started to ride on. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't find anything wrong here!" Puzzled, the Marquis straightened. +</P> + +<P> +But her eyes were directed ahead and she pointed with her whip to a +break in the woody barrier to the right—a path that, springing from +the roadside, seemed to plunge into the very heart of the labyrinth. +</P> + +<P> +"Look! the short cut!—that would bring us half an hour before them to +the ruins! Let us take it!" +</P> + +<P> +A light seemed suddenly to break on her companion, and he sprang airily +to his saddle. "As my Lady wills!" gallantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Then call to the commandant, and tell him we'll meet them there!" +</P> + +<P> +The Marquis obeyed, and, without awaiting answer, or demur from the +officer in charge of the guard, the girl flicked her horse and sent him +over a low bush into the narrow way. +</P> + +<P> +Fairly in the path, she rode fast, and pressing hard behind, my lord +soon found reason for doubt as to the advisibility of that route, and a +suspicion of regret at his own hasty assent to the departure from the +main thoroughfare. As their surroundings grew wilder and the slender +green figure flitted more and more recklessly before him, he even +ventured to voice his misgivings—advise greater care. A shake of the +fair head was all he received for answer and, regardless of the +increasing roughness of the way, she continued to sweep on, now uphill, +then down, avoiding by a quick turn one obstacle here, leaping another +there! From a black ambush, a branch like the arm of a Titan reached +out to seize, but adroitly she swayed from its grasp and only the twigs +and leaves touched lightly the bent figure. +</P> + +<P> +My lord, however, they struck sharply, and at the sudden smart and a +quick realization of falling behind, frowningly he drove his horse +harder. The tête-à-tête he had naturally expected from her request to +pursue the lonelier way promised now not to materialize; the idea that +she was fleeing, he pursuing, possessed him. The forest, a tangle of +shrubs and strange creepers, was the scene of the idyl; she, a sprite +of the greenwood, danced illusively through the maze. At length when +my lord had begun to grow weary of vainly endeavoring to overtake her, +fate favored his efforts; brought to a standstill, at the edge of a +torrent, the object of his pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you mad, Elise?" A shadow on his brow, the Marquis rode down. +</P> + +<P> +She made no reply; regarded only the water. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope it is not in your mind to attempt to cross," he went on, a +shade of petulance in his accents. +</P> + +<P> +She urged her horse forward; it stopped. +</P> + +<P> +"Elise! I beg of you! It is dangerous; better go back, and around!" +</P> + +<P> +But the girl set her red lips, raised her whip, and brought it down +hard. The animal sprang into the foam; breasting the current, it +slipped once or twice, recovered, and, after an effort, managed to +reach the bank opposite. My lord—less blithely than he had first +embarked on the adventure—followed; the cold waters surged around, and +he almost expected to be swept away. At length, however, chilled by +the icy touch of the torrent and somewhat more out of humor, he found +himself on the other side. Near the top of the bank, where the +Governor's daughter had now the grace to await him, he rejoined her, +disapproval on his face, reproach in his eyes. Yet still did the girl +remain unconscious of her lover's wounded sensibilities; her own eyes, +like stars beneath the flurry of hair, were turned, not to the young +man, but away, toward a gaunt-looking ruin that had suddenly uplifted +itself, as if by magic, through a rift in the forest. But a few +hundred yards distant, the black crumbling walls bristled with rough, +jagged edges—big, broken teeth that snarled at the rim of the +ever-young wood. The very brightness of the day seemed only to +emphasize the ominous aspect of the place; to reveal more plainly the +solitary character of its wildness. +</P> + +<P> +"The monastery, I suppose?" following the direction of her gaze, the +Marquis, after a pause, grudgingly vouchsafed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said the girl in a low tone; "yes!" +</P> + +<P> +"Shall we go on?" +</P> + +<P> +Her eyes, passing over a tangle of shrubs, bushes and thick, natural +screens, slowly settled on a spot, not far away, where a wild bird, +about to alight, fled off with a scream. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall we go on?" +</P> + +<P> +With a start the girl turned; the clear-cut features were very grave; +in her gaze shone sudden compunction. She raised her hand. "My veil!" +she said quickly. "I—dropped it. Do you mind? You—you will find it +on this side of the stream—a little way down." +</P> + +<P> +"Mind?" He regarded her doubtfully a moment; then moved by the +irresistible appeal in her eyes, rather abruptly he wheeled, and as he +did so, she gathered up the reins. Ere proceeding farther upon this +errand of gallantry, my lord looked around. +</P> + +<P> +"You seem to set great store on this veil," he, observed suspiciously. +"And I believe you were about to ride off!" he added, noting her +expression, when, before she had time for pretext or answer, a heavy +body stirred in the bushes, near at hand, and a gruff voice called out. +</P> + +<P> +"Stand where you are!" +</P> + +<P> +The nobleman's face changed; his gaze, as if fascinated, now rested on +a score of rough figures who, following the order, so unexpected and +startling, sprang simultaneously from neighboring thicket or covert, +and advanced to surround them. Held by their grim aspect—the +desperate determined visages; the black, threatening looks—in the +surprise of the moment, too late my lord's hand sought the sword at his +side. Roughly plucked from his horse, he found himself flung to the +sward; unceremoniously pinioned, and heard the voice of my lady raised +in his behalf. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap29"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE MARQUIS INTERVENES +</H4> + +<P> +The evening of the same day, his Excellency, in the seclusion of a +small private chamber adjoining the <I>salle du gouvernement</I>, stood +looking down at his desk on which were strewn papers and messages +containing the latest news from Paris and received at the Mount but a +few hours before. That the character of this information, political +and social, was little to his liking, seemed manifest from his manner; +he stared at the missives resentfully; then frowned and threw down the +pen he had been using to mark, or make note of, their contents. +</P> + +<P> +"Versailles—a mob! Sugar-plums to placate them! Sugar-plums!" he +repeated; and, impatiently turning away, walked to the window. There +for some time he stood peering out, when, the current of his thoughts +slowly changing, he took from his pocket a watch, and examined the +jeweled face. "Time they were back!" About to return to his table and +task, a loud knocking arrested the impulse, and testily the Governor +called out; glanced toward the threshold and surveyed the intruder. +</P> + +<P> +"A message from the commandant, your Excellency!" said the man, a +trooper of the Mount, with a respectful, though nervous salute. +</P> + +<P> +"Why," returned the Governor in a dry tone, "didn't he bring it +himself?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because," the trooper shifted; looked away; "because Monsieur le +Commandant is engaged in scouring the country for miscreants, your +Excellency." +</P> + +<P> +"Miscreants!" sharply. "What miscreants?" +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur le Commandant hopes to overtake those who have carried off +the Lady Elise," said the messenger hurriedly, in the tone of one +anxious to be done with his task. +</P> + +<P> +"Carried off!" The thin figure wavered as if struck by a cold breath. +"Carried off!" he repeated, laying his hand on the back of the chair. +</P> + +<P> +"By a band of the Black Seigneur's men! His lordship, the Marquis, +they left behind bound and secured, but the Lady Elise they took with +them." +</P> + +<P> +For some time his Excellency said nothing; like a ghost of himself, +leaned hard against his support and looked at the trooper. +</P> + +<P> +"But how could it have happened?" at length in a voice, low, intense, +he inquired. "Monsieur le Commandant! The guard—you—all are alive?" +</P> + +<P> +Stumblingly, as best he could, the soldier explained, and when he had +done, his Excellency made no sign that he had heard. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur le Commandant further ordered me to say he had no doubt he +would return with the Lady Elise," added the messenger hastily. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur le Commandant!" The Governor's eyes suddenly blazed; swiftly +he put question after question, and, having probed to the core the +consistency of the tale, with a gesture, brusk and contemptuous, +dismissed the bearer. +</P> + +<P> +But whatever feeling the lord of the Mount might entertain toward his +chief officer, no course at the moment seemed open save to await the +return of that person and the Marquis. So, curbing his impatience as +best he might, his Excellency kept vigil; and not alone! Tidings of +what had happened spread at the top of the rock; sifted through closed +gates and thick walls into the town. The late arrival at the Mount of +the lords and ladies, companions of the Governor's daughter for the +day, but added to the questionings of the multitude. All night life +and expectancy reigned; lights gleamed from high places; responded in +low ones. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it true, my dear, what we hear about the Lady Elise?" the landlady +of the inn on the Mount near the strand called out to a stalwart, dark +young woman, hurrying down the narrow way shortly after the Paris +contingent had gone up. +</P> + +<P> +"I've heard no more than you have," came the curt answer of this +person—none other than Nanette—who carried a small bundle and seemed +anxious to move on. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I didn't know but you came from the palace!" observed the mistress +of the inn, and returned to her customers, drinking and nodding with +heads close together. +</P> + +<P> +On the morrow, however, all doubts were removed and speculations put at +rest; for hardly had the sun set its seal in the sky than from the +forests the appearance of a body of troops rewarded the watchers. From +hovel to hut the word went, and men, women and children, unkempt and +curious, ran down to the beach to await the approach of the guard. +Proudly had it departed, with waving of plumes; slowly it returned, a +bedraggled procession of staggering horses and heavy-eyed men. Had it +come back a little earlier, the dark might have kept the truth from the +people; now the pitiless red glare revealed to the full the plight of +the troopers. It told, too, the disappointment of Monsieur le +Commandant, who looked neither to the right nor to the left; and the +despair of my lord, the Marquis, pale counterfeit of his debonair self. +</P> + +<P> +"Her ladyship!" "They haven't brought her back!" Low murmurs arose; +grew louder; some one laughed. But sullenly, without answer, the +soldiers dragged by, into the town, and laboriously up to the top of +the Mount. +</P> + +<P> +At the gate his Excellency waited; cast one glance at the +company—their leader—and silently turned. Later, however, was he +closeted with both the commandant and the Marquis—a brief period with +the former who departed, carrying a look eloquent of the unpleasantness +of the interview. +</P> + +<P> +"And now," said the Governor in tones somewhat strained, as the +officer's dejected footfall died in the distance, "we've got rid of +that dolt, let us consider, my Lord, the purport of this outrage." +</P> + +<P> +"Purport?" repeated the Marquis petulantly, stretching his stiff legs. +"Did they not tell me that if anything happened to the Black Seigneur, +they would hold her, Elise, answerable for it? You see they had +learned," bitterly, "of your intention to hang him after the wedding!" +</P> + +<P> +"From which you infer?" +</P> + +<P> +"They will keep her as hostage! Indeed, they said as much, when—" +</P> + +<P> +"They bound you, my Lord?" +</P> + +<P> +The color came to the young man's face. "It was a trap," he said, his +voice pitched higher; "and they came prepared, not for one man, but the +guard!" +</P> + +<P> +"Still was it very ill-advised—a great mistake—to have taken the +shorter way through the forest alone." +</P> + +<P> +"The proposal did not originate with me! Elise suggested it. She +seemed in a wild, headstrong mood; nothing would stop her. Now," +moodily he rose, "<I>mon dieu</I>! What has she brought upon herself? +Where is she now?" +</P> + +<P> +His Excellency did not stir; his face, like a pale mask, was turned +aside. "I do not think," he said slowly, as arguing to convince +himself, "she is in any immediate danger." +</P> + +<P> +But my lord caught irritably at the word. "No danger! She is +surrounded by it. And we? what are we to do? Sit idly here? Give me +a ship, your Excellency, and I will follow the boat of this Black +Seigneur, and, when I find it, force them to—" +</P> + +<P> +"What?" The Governor's eyes swerved dully. "Have you forgotten their +threat? Their last words to you that if we attempted to follow, to +rescue—that, rather than give her up—" +</P> + +<P> +"They would not dare!" cried my lord with sparkling glance. +</P> + +<P> +But his Excellency shook his head. "No; no; it won't do! And now," +again looking away, "leave me, my Lord, to consider." With which, the +interview, as unsatisfactory to the one as the other, terminated. +</P> + +<P> +Several days that passed were not calculated either to alleviate his +Excellency's anxiety, or the Marquis' impatience; for during that +period of waiting came no word of my lady, or news of her captors. +Mysteriously as a phantom ship had the boat that had carried the +Governor's daughter away appeared on the coast and vanished, and from +none of the Governor's vessels, or any of the fishing craft could be +gleaned information of its whereabouts. My lord, the Marquis, annoyed +at what seemed but fruitless delay, was still for setting forth and +inviting battle; but of this his Excellency would not hear, arguing, no +doubt, to himself that in temporizing lay greater assurance of safety +to his daughter than in precipitate action. So the situation grew +hourly more trying, until—as if it already were not intolerable +enough!—a new concern added ironical weight to present perplexities. +</P> + +<P> +My young lord, between whom and the master of the Mount had been +growing a more strained relationship, sought the Governor one day, and, +in excited tones, announced he had just learned that the prisoner, the +Black Seigneur, was ill and probably would survive but a short time +longer in the dungeon where he was confined. As his Excellency knew, +the fellow had been wounded, and now with scanty nourishment, want of +air, and close quarters, was generally in a bad way. +</P> + +<P> +His Excellency heard; moistened his lips and seemed about to speak, but +was silent, while more anxiously the young man went on. Of course +under different conditions, with care and attention—a well-lighted +room and excellent food—they might hope to restore their prisoner's +strength; at least, preserve for a time one so precious to themselves, +upon the thread of whose life hung my lady's! +</P> + +<P> +His Excellency still answered no word; only looked down, and, knitting +his brows, the young nobleman restlessly waited. At length, with an +expression on his face the Marquis had never before seen there, his +Excellency rose, moved like an automaton to the bell, and called for +the jailer. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur le Marquis has a few instructions to give you." The +Governor's voice, but a breath, told what the words cost him. +</P> + +<P> +The man responded gravely, looking from one to the other. +</P> + +<P> +"Use your own judgment in the matter, my Lord," went on his Excellency, +and left them together. +</P> + +<P> +After that, a change, subtle but deep-rooted, came over the Governor; a +silent man always, now his taciturnity became most marked. Under +stress of untoward circumstances, all the guests at the Mount, save the +young noble, departed; but his Excellency appeared hardly to notice +their going; drawing his cloak of reserve closer about him, seemed only +to ask for that solitude, not difficult to find in his aërial kingdom. +Sometimes for a long while he would stand in the cloister, gazing +seaward; again wander in the church, look at the monuments, always to +pass one of them quickly. Only on a single occasion, when the Marquis, +who was daily becoming more nervous, sought him, with a favorable +report of his prisoner-patient, did the Governor give sign that beneath +this apparent apathy yet stirred malevolence and rancor. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes," he returned, a spark of ill-concealed venom in his glance; +"he is doing well, no doubt! I am sure he will do well. But well or +ill, I wish to hear no more of him! No more, Monsieur le Marquis!" +His voice vibrated; surprised, the kinsman of the King stared, then +stiffly turned away. +</P> + +<P> +So matters stood, when one day, alone in the cloister, his Excellency +was disturbed by a rough-looking fellow who brought a letter and said +he would await the reply at the tavern in the town. +</P> + +<P> +Deliberately the Governor took the missive, tore open the envelope, and +surveyed the small bit of paper it contained. Whatever the brief +message told him, his Excellency's face did not change, and he was +still coldly, carefully studying sentences and words, after his +fashion, when through the door my lord, the Marquis, stepped in some +haste. Lifting his eyes, the Governor had no difficulty in reading the +question on the young man's countenance. For a moment they looked at +each other, and then the long, white fingers of his Excellency again +sought the letter. +</P> + +<P> +"They," his voice seemed to clip the words, "propose an exchange of +prisoners, and give me three days to consent to it!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap30"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A SOUND AFAR +</H4> + +<P> +About midway in the curve of one of the numerous bays, marking the +coast-line, and several hours distant from the Mount, stands a stone +cross erected by an English marauder to indicate the place of his +landing. The symbol is visible on all sides from afar, for before it +are the sands and the sea, and behind stretches the land barren of +wood—low, level, covered only with marsh grass. Toward this monument +of man's conquest—most prominent object in a prospect, dreary and +monotonous—rode, late one afternoon, a band of horsemen. At their +head galloped my lord, the Marquis; in the center could be seen a man +with bound arms whose horse was led by one of the others. This +person—a prisoner, thin, haggard, yet still muscular of frame—from +time to time gazed about; a look of inquiry or calculation in the black +undaunted eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"What prison are you taking me to now?" once he asked the trooper who +held the reins of his horse. "And why do you go in this direction? Is +it you dare not ride along main highways on account of the people?" +</P> + +<P> +"Never you mind!" came the gruff answer. "And as for the people, +they'd better look out!" +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" laughed the prisoner. "You can put some of them in cells, but +not all!" +</P> + +<P> +"There may be something worse than a cell waiting for you!" was the +malicious retort. +</P> + +<P> +"No doubt!" said the other stoically. +</P> + +<P> +But as his eyes again swept the horizon, from the opposite direction +appeared another band of riders. At first the prisoner, regarding +them, looked puzzled; then as the new-comers rode straight and rapidly +on toward the cross, his countenance expressed a faint understanding. +A fresh relay of men, he concluded; one his present guard would consign +him to, and then themselves return to the Mount. Still was the +meeting-place an odd one, and the demeanor of the two bodies of men not +entirely consistent with his conclusions; for, as they drew nearer, +both parties slackened their pace, suspiciously to scrutinize each +other. +</P> + +<P> +"Twenty—the number agreed upon!" muttered the Marquis, and spurring on +fast, led his troops nearer the cross. +</P> + +<P> +Not many paces distant the word was given to halt, and, as they obeyed, +on the other side of the monument the strange men likewise drew rein. +At the same moment, there flashed on the captive's mind a discovery. +These faces, looking so grimly out over the marshy field at them, were +not the wooden visages of paid soldiers, but of men he knew—his men! +Across the space separating the two parties he could read their quick +looks-their satisfaction—their complacency! He watched them with eyes +in which pride and tenderness mingled. And then, for the first time, +did he observe they had brought some one with them—a woman, or a +girl—the Governor's daughter! +</P> + +<P> +The bold black eyes of the prisoner regarded her fixedly. What did it +mean? said his keen gaze. Colorless as marble, my lady held herself +very erect on her horse; then while his glance yet probed her, the +proud face slowly changed; on the cold cheek youth's bright banner +flared high. The young man turned; following the direction of her +gaze, looked at the Marquis; my lord's features radiated felicitations; +his eyes shone with welcome. And a fuller understanding came over the +prisoner; in some mysterious manner had the Lady Elise been made +captive, and now had the nobleman come to escort his betrothed back to +the palace. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-319"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-319.jpg" ALT="My lady held herself very erect on her horse" BORDER="2"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center"> +My lady held herself very erect on her horse +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Even as the Black Seigneur reached this conclusion, he become cognizant +his bonds had been loosened; the reins placed in his hands. "You are +free," said a voice and mechanically he rode toward his comrades. +</P> + +<P> +Thus, near the crumbling and time-worn cross, was the exchange of +prisoners effected; the girl whirled away by my lord, who seemed +fearful of treachery, and the Black Seigneur left to the greetings of +his men. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, by the tuneful Nine,"—the poet, Gabriel Gabarie, pushing his +burly form to the front, was the first to extend a hand—"but, from +your looks, the Governor looks ill to the welfare of his lodgers!" +</P> + +<P> +"And had we not captured my lady," spoke up another, gazing after the +party of the Marquis, "he would have looked yet worse to the welfare of +one of them, no doubt!" +</P> + +<P> +"Drink this, Seigneur!" cried a third; "you must drink this—a special +bottle we brought for the occasion!" +</P> + +<P> +"Sent by old Pierre when he heard we were coming for you!" added the +poet. "Your drinking-cups, lads! Unfasten the skin for yourselves! +To <I>mon capitaine</I>!"— +</P> + +<P> +Once, twice, deeply they drank—toast and vintage alike to their taste; +then straightening, looked at the Black Seigneur whose eyes yet burned +in the direction my lady had gone. With a start he seemed to recall +himself to the demands of the moment; his first questions they +expected; the ship—where did she lie? Snug and trim in a neighboring +cove, ready to slip out, if occasion required and danger pressed—which +contingency they did not just then expect, since at the moment was his +Excellency more concerned with affairs on the land than matters +pertaining to the sea. What these paramount interests were, the young +man, on whose thin cheek now burned a little color, did not at once +ask; only gazed inquiringly over the group, where one, whom he might +have expected, was absent. +</P> + +<P> +"Sanchez—he is not with you?" +</P> + +<P> +A look of constraint appeared for an instant on the poet's face. +</P> + +<P> +"No, he's with the people, I expect. You see," he went on, "things +have been happening since you elected to enact the mountebank. The +bees have been busy, and this little hive they call France is now full +of bother and bustle. The bees that work have been buzzing about those +that don't; they made a great noise at Versailles, but the King Drone +only listened; did not try to stop it, fearing their sting. They +hummed at the door of the Bastille, until the parasite bees, not liking +the music, opened the doors, let them all in—" +</P> + +<P> +"The Bastille has fallen?" The listener's voice rang out; his eyes, +searching sharply the features of the bard, seemed to demand only the +truth, plain, unadorned. +</P> + +<P> +"It has," answered the other gravely. "And the tune sung in and around +Paris has kept on spreading until now it is everywhere! You may hear +it in the woods; along the marshes; out over the strand! The very +Mount, immovable, seems to listen. When will the storm break? To-day? +To-morrow? It needs but a word from Paris, and then—" +</P> + +<P> +The poet broke off, and silently the Black Seigneur seemed to be +weighing the purport of the news; for some moments stood as a man deep +in thought; then, arousing himself, spoke a few words, and gave a brief +order. Swiftly the riders swept away in the direction from which they +had come, and only when they had gone some distance did the young man +once more turn to the poet with a question. Whereupon the latter, +spurring his horse nearer his chief, launched into eloquent explanation. +</P> + +<P> +"And then," ended the bard, "the Governor's daughter walked into our +ambush as unsuspectingly as a mouse into a trap!" +</P> + +<P> +"The Governor's daughter cozened by Nanette!" +</P> + +<P> +"That she was! A clever wench and a brave one, Nanette! Although," +the poet's jovial eyes studied the dark face, "unless I am mistaken, +she found the task to her liking!" +</P> + +<P> +"You treated her, the Governor's daughter, well?" said the other +abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"Gave her your cabin, <I>mon capitaine</I>, where," chuckling, "she ruled +like a despot. Not once did she whimper, or beg favor—for herself! +For the Marquis, it is true, she did plead—that day we took them!" +</P> + +<P> +"He's her betrothed!" said the young man shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"A marionette!" gibed the poet. "Some of the men were for making short +shrift of him, and they might have—only for her!" +</P> + +<P> +"They will soon be safe enough together now!" remarked the Black +Seigneur. +</P> + +<P> +Again a peculiar, half-questioning expression shaded the poet's eyes, +while furtively he regarded the young man. "Yes, they ought to be!" +</P> + +<P> +"The terms of exchange—what were they?" +</P> + +<P> +"You for her! That was our demand. After the place had been agreed +upon, his Excellency asked to name the hour, and further interjected a +condition, binding both parties to secrecy in the matter, that the +people might not know. They acted badly when the soldiers returned to +the Mount without his daughter; they might behave worse, no doubt he +thinks, when they come back with her." +</P> + +<P> +"So will she be safely returned in the darkness! A wise provision!" +</P> + +<P> +"That," murmured the poet, studying the horizon, "was evidently his +thought. But," as the Black Seigneur, relaxing his pace, drew rein at +a fork in the pathway, "yonder lies our cove, <I>mon capitaine</I>, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"Do you and the men go there!" commanded the other, and gave a few +further instructions. +</P> + +<P> +"See that the ship is kept in readiness!" he ended. "As for me—" He +made a vague gesture. +</P> + +<P> +That evening found the Black Seigneur in the Desaurac forest; where, as +a boy, he had fled for shelter, now some instinct, or desire he did not +strive to analyze, drew him. As slowly he made his way through the +wood, on every hand familiar outlines and details, seen vaguely in the +last light of day, invited him to pause; but without stopping he moved +on to the castle, and up to the chamber, where Sanchez, returning from +America, had found him, a vagabond lad. Through the window the same +unobstructed view of the Mount dimly unfolded itself in the dusk, and +for some moments he regarded it—august, majestic; glossing its heart's +black secrets with specious and well-composed bearing! As he looked, +there suddenly came to him the remembrance of another impression; the +same picture, seen through the eyes of a boy—standing where he was +now! Then had the Mount seemed a marvelous series of structures, +air-drawn, magical—home of a small and fairy-like creature, with hair +of shining gold. Dusk turned to night; in the distance the Mount +vanished, and through the break in the forest only the stars twinkled. +</P> + +<P> +Then lighting his fire, the young man sat down at the side; with +faculties alert, listened to the wind; looked at the flames. +Demon-like they leaped before his eyes, as when he had waited and +watched for the emissaries of his Excellency; and mechanically he +placed his weapons on the same spot he had been wont to lay them in +those days. There was little likelihood they would seek him now, +however; the Governor was fully occupied elsewhere, looking to +interests more important to himself and to— +</P> + +<P> +Her ladyship! the fire leaped wildly, as laughing at fate's foolish +prank. Her life for his! What irony! If she had betrayed him? "If?" +His laugh crushed possibility for supposition; but almost at once +itself died away! Indissolubly associated with the thought, a scene in +a dungeon must needs recur; her denials; the touch of a hand; the +appeal of light fingers thrust through the bars! Why? The questions +he had asked then, were reiterated now; the hand that had gripped hers +opened, closed; once more he seemed to see the steadfast, unswerving +eyes; once more seemed to read in their depths, "Believe!" +</P> + +<P> +The pine branches continued to crackle as with merriment; but his gaze +was somber. How glad she must have been to see the end of her +captivity! The sudden leaping of yonder flame was like the quick, +bright flush that had mantled her cheek at sight of her liege lord to +be! They should have arrived at the Mount ere now; about this time +were entering the gates! He could see her, the Marquis at her side— +</P> + +<P> +A sudden sharp detonation afar dissipated the picture. Other +explosions followed, like volley of muskets; and, springing to the +window, the Black Seigneur looked toward the Mount; from it, flashes of +light gleamed and glimmered. Then the loud report of a cannon +reverberated in the distance. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap31"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE ATTACK ON THE MOUNT +</H4> + +<P> +The rock loomed black before them, as the troopers, escorting the +Governor's daughter, rode up to the Mount. Entering the town, at its +base, dark walls on either side of them shut out the broad map of the +heavens and left but a narrow open space above; few lights were +visible, so that many of the houses seemed tenantless; even at the +tavern, unwonted stillness prevailed. Apparently was the return +well-timed; in twisting street and tortuous byway, where hostile faces +had been prone to frown upon the soldiers of his Excellency, emerging +from, or ascending to, the stronghold of the summit, now only chill +drafts of air swept down to greet them; passed on with shrill +whisperings, and died away in the distance. +</P> + +<P> +Nearing the massive portals that opened wide into his Excellency's +realm, my lady suppressed a shiver; but the Marquis, in a low tone +ventured to jest on the depressing and melancholy aspect of the Mount +at that hour. To these light remarks she returned no answer, and he +had just begun to rally her on a certain quietness of spirits, apparent +on the beach and irreconcilable with the circumstances of the moment, +when a sharp exclamation fell from the girl's lips. +</P> + +<P> +In front of them, between the soldiers and the entrance to that upper +part of the Mount, many dark forms had suddenly darted forth; at the +same time from near-by houses came unmistakable sounds of life and +activity; doors were thrown open and windows raised. The town they +thought asleep had merely been watching; now showed its bright eyes in +a multitude of menacing lights around them; below, where likewise a +mysterious marshaling had occurred, from alleys, corners, and hovels, +immediately after the passing of the Governor's party! +</P> + +<P> +"What does it mean?" Again she heard the Marquis' tones, less +confident now, as he turned to the commandant. +</P> + +<P> +"Treachery!" The commandant's voice rang out. "They've broken faith +with us!" +</P> + +<P> +"Dogs!" My lord gazed uncertainly ahead; dubiously behind. "What are +we going to do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Do?" The commandant suppressed an imprecation. "Push on to the upper +gates!" +</P> + +<P> +"To the gates!" cried the Marquis; then wheeled quickly. "But +you—Elise!" +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind me!" she returned, with steady lips and eyes. +</P> + +<P> +There was no time for further words; a sharp order from the commandant +and the troopers spurred forward toward the entrance in the wall and +those whose purpose it was to oppose them. +</P> + +<P> +What happened thereafter the girl was but vaguely cognizant of; reports +of guns, flashing of steel surrounded her; the clattering of hoofs +mingled with the loud shouts of men. +</P> + +<P> +"The Bastille of the North! Down with it!" +</P> + +<P> +This was their battle-cry; on every side she heard it, though hardly +realizing the purport of the words; confused, she listened to her +father's name—her own—bandied about. She wondered why those on the +wall, the soldiers within, did not fire and repel all these people. +</P> + +<P> +Then almost at once came the answer. The troopers' comrades were mixed +in the mêlée without; she and they, too—so adroitly had the moment for +striking been planned—might be swept down in the volleys from the +ramparts. A cannon boomed above; but its deafening reverberations were +answered only with laughter and jeers— <I>Mon dieu</I>! Did his +Excellency think to frighten them with sound, as if they were timid +children fleeing from thunder? Was his Excellency aiming at stars? +</P> + +<P> +And again that cry: "The Bastille of the North! We, too, will take our +Bastille!"—dominated the clashing of arms and the tumult of strife. +</P> + +<P> +For what seemed an interminable period, the Governor's daughter saw, +through flashes of light, men struggling, striking; then launched +suddenly forward, by an irresistible movement of the horses, found +herself within the gates. The Marquis who had early been separated +from her in the strife, was nowhere in sight. Behind now sounded the +fray; a short distance from the wall, and she looked back; fiercer than +ever, soldiers and people contended within the entrance; beneath the +portals. As she strove to restrain her horse she heard the voice of +her father. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Mon père</I>! <I>Mon père</I>!" she cried eagerly, divining his face in the +light of lamps on that side of the wall. He answered only with a +laconic command to go at once to the palace; and, regarding his +features, tragically appealing to her at the moment—so strange and +different they seemed!—she prepared to obey. But ere turning: "You +think the soldiers can hold the gate?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; yes!" he replied sharply, as if annoyed at the question. +</P> + +<P> +"But if—" +</P> + +<P> +"There is no 'if'!" said the Governor, and as the girl rode away, his +look, hard, steely, shifting to the soldiers, made quick mental note; +they were holding the gates. Satisfied with the front his men +presented, and, delivering a few brief orders to the commandant whose +valor in rallying his forces had been commendable, his Excellency +walked toward the great stairway leading up to the open space near the +church. Arrived at this high point from which the town unfolded itself +in the starlight and flicker of lamps, he sought, as best he might, to +acquaint himself further with the situation; to judge the numbers of +the assailants and the extent of their preparations. +</P> + +<P> +The scene that met his eyes was not so reassuring as he had expected; +that which until now he had considered but a spasmodic outbreak of a +comparatively few townspeople, excited by the news of the Bastille and +bent on any petty mischief, resolved itself into more than an +orderless, desultory uprising. To his startled gaze the rock, like an +ant-hill disturbed, seemed swarming with life. Even as he peered down, +new relays of men poured upward from dark byways to the reinforcement +of those already gathered at the portals, and, for the first time, his +confidence, bred of contempt for the commonalty, became slightly +shaken. Fate, which had struck him sharply in the capture of his +daughter and the enforced negotiations leading to the release of one he +would have dealt with after his own fashion, now gripped him closer. +What did it portend? Whence came all these people? +</P> + +<P> +Not all of them from the immediate neighborhood! Voices, among the +assailants, had called out in what was surely the Parisian dialect of +the rabble; here to propagate the revolution; extend the circle of +flame! And they had seen that arms were not wanting! Muskets, pikes, +swords, must have been kept concealed for some time in the town at the +base of the Mount or on the shore. In his mind's eye, too late +perhaps, his Excellency could see now how the assault had long been +planned, how all these people had only been waiting. For what? The +opportunity afforded by a treacherous word! Spoken by whom? +</P> + +<P> +But a moment these reflections surged through his brain; an instant, +and his gaze swung around, at towers—turrets—as a magician might +apprehensively survey a fabulous architectural creation, handiwork of +his dark craft, threatened, through an influence beyond his control, +with destruction; then with a quick start, his Excellency wheeled; +walked toward the stairway. About to descend, the sight of a figure +coming up, caused him, however, to pause; in the flare of the light +below, something in the manner of the man's advance impressed the +governor as peculiar. +</P> + +<P> +The movements of this person, who was under-sized, wiry, were agile and +cat-like; first would he stop, look around him and listen; afterward +spring forward a few steps as not quite sure of his course. But still +he came on, keeping as closely as might be to the cover of shadows, +until a growing impression he had seen the fellow before resolved +itself into positiveness in his Excellency's mind. And with the +conviction and a sudden remembrance of the place and the character of +their previous meeting, a definite disinclination to encountering the +figure on the stairs caused the Governor abruptly to draw into the +entrance of the church. There, concealed, impatiently he waited for +the man to pass on, thus affording him the opportunity to slip by and +return to the gate. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, the Lady Elise had repaired to the palace; a prey to +harassing doubts her father's words had failed to remove, she listened +to those sounds of the strife she no longer saw. But that she wished +to obey her father unquestioningly now—at, perhaps, a supreme moment +for both of them!—she could not have remained where she was. Never +had the palace looked so blank and deserted; she rang her bell; no one +answered. The servants had apparently all left—gone, it might be, to +look down on and behold this <I>guerre à la mort</I> waged near the gates. +Or, perhaps, had they all, except the old nurse, fled from the palace, +never to return? +</P> + +<P> +As she asked herself these questions, in the distance the noise of the +conflict grew louder; the shouts of the people more distinct, nearer! +With a sudden premonition of disaster close at hand, the desire to see +what was happening—to know the worst—seized her. No longer could she +remain in her apartments; she must return to the ramparts—to her +father; and then, if need be— The thought drove some of the color +from her cheek, but in a moment her braver instincts spoke; there awoke +within her the courage and the spirit of her Norman ancestry. +</P> + +<P> +Pale, yet determined, she hastened down the long, dimly lighted +corridor, and was nearing the door leading to the street when it +suddenly opened and a man, tall and dark, showing in his appearance +many signs of the fray, stepped in. At sight of her a quick +exclamation fell from his lips; his bold, anxious eyes lighted. "My +Lady!" +</P> + +<P> +"You!" Her startled glance met his. +</P> + +<P> +"I heard the firing; hastened to the Mount—here! I trust not too +late!" +</P> + +<P> +"Too late!" she repeated wildly. "Where else should the Black Seigneur +be than here, at the Mount—at such a moment!" +</P> + +<P> +"True!" he returned quietly. "Where else?" +</P> + +<P> +She noted not the accent; behind him, through the open space a bright +fork of flame, in the direction of the soldiers' barracks, shot into +the air, and, at the same time, she saw that the officers' quarters and +out-buildings glowed red. The knowledge of what it meant—that her +apprehensions had been realized, sent a shudder through her, and +quickly as the door closed, shutting out the sight, she ran toward the +threshold, one thought in her mind—her father, and where she had last +seen him! That she was seized, held, restrained, seemed but a natural, +though terrible, incident of the moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon, my Lady! In a moment they will be here, and they will not +spare you! Your father is not at the gate; he left before the soldiers +gave way! Believe me, or not—it is the truth! As true as that, if +you go out, they will kill you!" +</P> + +<P> +And did he not want that; why else was he here? The young man's face +darkened; he made an impatient gesture. They were but wasting time; +already were the people close without; one of the assailants, a woman, +had been shot in the assault; the others? Her Ladyship would +understand; if she wished to save herself? His tones vibrated with +strange eagerness. The palace had a rear entrance, of course? Then +had they better flee upward to some place of concealment, and, later, +when the people were concerned most in pillage, endeavor to find a way +to leave the Mount. After that, it would be easy; his ship was +waiting— Her wild words interrupted; her father—she would go only to +him! She would never leave him now! +</P> + +<P> +That which she proposed was impossible, quickly the young man answered. +The mob—the terrible mob! Did she realize to what she would expose +herself? Did she know the terrible danger? More plainly he told her. +As for her going, it was not to be thought of; he must see she did not +persist in her purpose. +</P> + +<P> +"You?" My lady flashed him a glance. "You!" she repeated. "Whose men +broke faith—" +</P> + +<P> +"That may be!" His voice rang bitterly. "Yet," with stubborn +resolution, "your Ladyship must not go!" +</P> + +<P> +"Must not! And you presume—dare tell me that! You, the—" +</P> + +<P> +"I would there were no need to cross you, my Lady," he returned, when +behind him the door, leading from the street, suddenly opened; closed. +</P> + +<P> +"Elise!" The voice of the Marquis, who had hurriedly entered, rang +out; changed. "<I>Mon dieu</I>! What is this?" In the dim light, an +instant my lord stared hard at the man before him; then with drawn +blade threw himself upon him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap32"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +NEAR THE ALTAR +</H4> + +<P> +"<I>Morbleu</I>! Here's a madman!" Ere the Black Seigneur could unsheathe +his sword, that of the Marquis had pierced slightly his shoulder. "Put +up your blade, my Lord!" As quickly springing back and drawing his +own, he held himself in an attitude of defense. "In this matter are +we, or should we be—of a mind!" +</P> + +<P> +"We!" My lord's weapon played in fierce curves and flashes; he laughed +derisively. +</P> + +<P> +"I am here to serve her ladyship—if I can!" +</P> + +<P> +"You!" A rapid <I>coup de tierce</I> was the Marquis' reply. "You! Whose +outlaws carried her off before! You are pleased to jest, Monsieur +Bandit!" +</P> + +<P> +"No jest, my Lord!" coolly. "Moreover, it is you who serve her +ladyship ill at such a moment in—" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Mon dieu</I>! You instruct!" +</P> + +<P> +"I have no wish for this combat, Monsieur le Marquis!" As he spoke, +the Black Seigneur retreated slowly toward the door. "But if you press +too close—" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Ma foi</I>! You talk very brave, but I notice your legs take you +backward. However, it will not serve; you shall not escape." +</P> + +<P> +"No?" His back now against the door, the Black Seigneur defended +himself with his right hand, the while his left felt behind for a bolt +which it found; shot into place. "Then let us remove temptation by +locking the door!" +</P> + +<P> +"What! You did not, then, intend—" +</P> + +<P> +A sudden fierce pounding from without on the door, interrupted. +</P> + +<P> +"It was necessary to keep <I>them</I> out—but it will be only for the +moment. So put up your blade!" peremptorily. "There is no time to +lose." +</P> + +<P> +"You are right!" The Marquis' face expressed scorn and unreasoning +anger; his sword leaped to an accelerated tempo. "There is no time to +lose. I shall honor you! The Marquis de Beauvillers will stoop to +cheat the <I>fourches pâtibulaires</I>!" And my lord lunged, a dangerous +and clever thrust that was met; answered. From the Marquis' hand the +blade flew; struck the pavement; at the same time, a rending and +tearing of wood came from the door. +</P> + +<P> +The Black Seigneur leaped forward; but the stroke his adversary, now +disarmed, expected, fell not on him; directed toward a lamp overhead, +sole source of illumination of the corridor, the weapon struck hard. +Shattered by the blow, the ornamental contrivance crashed to the floor; +the place was plunged in darkness. +</P> + +<P> +"Save yourself, my Lord!" said a calm voice, and my lady, standing now +as it were, in the center of a vortex of wildly rushing figures, felt +her waist suddenly clasped; herself swept on! Once or twice she +struggled; resisted, hardly knowing what she did; but the sound of a +low, determined voice, not unfamiliar to her, and the consciousness of +a physical force—or was it all physical?—that seemed to beat down her +will, left no choice but to obey. +</P> + +<P> +Darkness gave way to waves of light; reflections of flame surrounded +them; black trails of smoke coiled around. The girl's strength went; +her breath came faster. A thick cloud choked her; she wished only to +stop, when arms closed about her. +</P> + +<P> +Upward! Still upward! By winding stairs, through passages and +doorways, vaguely she felt herself borne, until a cold breath of air, +blowing suddenly in her face, revived her; awoke her to a confused +realization of the place they had at last reached—the upper platform +at the head of the long, open stairway of granite. And with that +consciousness, she again sought to free herself; but, for an instant +the arms held her tighter, while a dark face bent close, scanning her +features, then abruptly he released her. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Ladyship is uninjured?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes: yes!" +</P> + +<P> +"One moment!" Turning, he left her, and walking to the verge of that +open space, searched quickly the waste of darkness below, far out to +sea. The girl's glance followed him; wavered; her first apprehension +awoke anew. Her father! Where was he? She clasped her hands +despairingly as she gazed down the Mount; then around her. Suddenly, a +bright patch of light—open doorway to the church—caught her eye and +she started. At the picture, framed by the masonry, which the glow +revealed, a low exclamation fell from her lips, and crossing the +platform, and descending a few steps, she ran to the entrance of the +sacred edifice. +</P> + +<P> +"Eh, your Excellency; has your Excellency any orders?" sounded a voice. +</P> + +<P> +There, before an altar, in the dim flicker of candles and the +variegated gleaming from the ancient stained-glass windows, she saw at +last him she sought; in one of the chapels, near the white marble +monument to her mother, was his Excellency; but, not alone! Before him +stood, or half crouched, the man Sanchez, who now was speaking. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I ring for your Excellency's servants and have the noise +stopped?" Grotesquely he bowed, the while watching like an animal +studying its prey. "Beppo! Where are you—fat rascal? Consign these +swine to the gibbets! What! You can't obey because your ears have +been cut off and your throat slit? That's too bad!" Fiercely the man +laughed; then waved his arm toward the window, as if calling the +Governor's attention to the sounds of demolition; the abrupt breaking +of glass! "Patter! Patter! Merry little bullets, presents from the +people, your Excellency! <I>Métayage</I>, your Highness!" +</P> + +<P> +Still the other said no word; a figure, so motionless and white, it +seemed but a wraith pausing at the side of its own "narrow house." A +louder clamor without; a more vivid brightness of the red, yellow and +purple hues, like a sudden wealth of strange flowers strewn on the +marble floor, and again Sanchez laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"Too bad! But 'tis I who must pay first! Who owe so much! Has your +Excellency his strong box with him? Ah, he leans on it! Such a fine +one, all of marble! Not easily broken into—or out of! Eh, your +Excellency?" Swinging back something bright. "Full payment, this +time! Not coppers, or round bits of lead, but steel, beautiful steel!" +</P> + +<P> +Held to the spot by the abrupt terror and fascination of the scene, the +Governor's daughter had made no sound, fearful of hastening the +inevitable; but at the moment the man, with a last taunting word, +launched forward, a cry, half articulate, burst from her lips. It was +drowned by another voice, loud and commanding, which rang out from the +entrance to the church. +</P> + +<P> +"Sanchez!" +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps the call disconcerted him; robbed the old servant's eye of its +certitude; his arm of its sureness, for the blow aimed at his +Excellency the latter was enabled to evade. At the same time, as with +singular agility he moved aside to save himself, the hand the Governor +had been holding to his breast, shot out like an adder. It struck +viciously; stung deep—full in the side of his tormentor. +</P> + +<P> +"That for your <I>métayage</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +But a momentary expression of satisfaction was, however, permitted his +Excellency; the petty tragedy became overshadowed by the greater! +</P> + +<P> +"The Bastille! Our Bastille!" +</P> + +<P> +And again a shower of bullets, directed in hatred, fell upon the +church, because its windows were priceless; shone with saints of +inestimable value! In the chapel, an <I>aumbry</I> and a <I>piscina</I> were +struck; around the Governor, glass began to clatter and break into bits +on the pavement, when suddenly he wavered; his hand sought his heart, +then felt for and clung to the monument, as if abruptly seeking support. +</P> + +<P> +"Why did you do it, Seigneur?" As my lady, exclaiming wildly, ran to +her father, Sanchez, from where he lay, looked up to his master. +</P> + +<P> +"Call out, I mean? Not that it matters much now!" His implacable +glance, swerving to the Governor, lighted with satisfaction. "The +people have paid. And 'twas I—showed them the way!" +</P> + +<P> +"It was you, then—who broke faith in the negotiations for the exchange +of prisoners?" +</P> + +<P> +A smile came to the face of the old servant. "I had to," he said +simply. "I alone am to blame. No one knew; except, perhaps, the poet, +who may have surmised! It was treachery for treachery!" with sudden +fierceness. "You could not have done it, nor your father, nor any of +the seigneurs before him!" The young man seemed scarcely to hear; his +glance had again sought my lady. "But I am only a servant—-and in +dealing with a viper I used its own tricks! Did you think I had +forgotten those stripes? Or the blow he gave your father—in the +back?" A moment Sanchez's hand fumbled at his coat; drew out a bag of +oilskin. "Here is something that belonged to your father. I took it +from his breast the day he died, thinking some time—I can't tell +what—only it contains a letter from the former lady of the Mount! +When my master got it, he told me to pack a few belongings—that we +were going—never to return!" +</P> + +<P> +Sanchez's voice broke off; again he strove to speak; could not; put out +his hand. Mechanically the Black Seigneur's closed on that of the old +servant; even as it did so, the latter's fingers clutched suddenly; +ceased to move. In the church now all was silent, but without arose +discordant sounds, cries, harsh and vengeful, for the Governor! +</P> + +<P> +Starting, the Black Seigneur gazed about, toward him they were +clamoring for, now lying still, at the base of the monument. Then +releasing the fingers, that seemed yet to hold him, the young man +sprang forward, as my lady threw herself wildly, protectingly, over her +father. At that touch, the Governor's eyes opened; met hers; the Black +Seigneur's! +</P> + +<P> +Nearer the door, now rang the shouts. His Excellency seemed to listen; +to realize what they meant; to him—his daughter— +</P> + +<P> +"The Governor! The Governor!" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Trembles tyrans</I>! <I>Trembles</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +An ironical flash lit up, for an instant, the dying eyes. He, soon, +would be beyond reach of these dogs—<I>canaille</I>! But she? His gaze +again rested on the Black Seigneur; in that tense, fleeting second, +seemed reading his very soul! +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Et la belle comtesse, sa fille</I>!" cried the menacing voices. +</P> + +<P> +A tremor crossed the Governor's face; his pale lips moved. "Forget! +Save her!" An instant his eyes lingered persistently on the young man; +then passed to his daughter; as they did so, slowly the light, more +human and appealing than any that had ever shone there before, went out +of them. My lady's fair head drooped until it lay on her father's +breast; unconscious, she seemed yet to shield him with figure inert. +But only for a moment! +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Et la belle comtesse</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +Stooping, the Black Seigneur snatched the slender form to his breast; +ran back to the altar. There, looking around him, as one who made +himself familiar with the place, his glance apparently found what it +sought—a small stairway, entrance to the crypt. At the same time he +started to descend, the people swept into the church. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap33"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +ON THE SANDS +</H4> + +<P> +A man, bearing in his arms the motionless form of a woman, paused later +that night in the shadow of a low stone hovel, near the lower gate of +the Mount. As he crouched beneath the thatch projecting like the rim +of an old hat above him his eyes, eager, fierce, studied the distance +he had yet to traverse from the end of the narrow alley, where he had +stopped, to the open entrance at the base of the rock to the sands. +The goal was not far; but a few moments would have sufficed to reach +it; only between him and the point he had so long been striving to +attain, an obstacle, or group of obstacles, intervened. Before a +bonfire of wreckage of stuff—furniture and household goods—several +ragged, dissolute fellows sat with bottles before them, drinking hard +and quarreling the while over a number of glittering gems, gold +snuff-boxes and trinkets of all kinds. +</P> + +<P> +"This bit of ivory for the white stone!" +</P> + +<P> +"Add the brooch!" +</P> + +<P> +"Not I! Look at the picture! Her ladyship, perhaps!" +</P> + +<P> +"They have not found her?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; for all the searching! But she is somewhere; can't have escaped +from the Mount. And when the drabs and trulls lay hands on her!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, when!" casting the dice. +</P> + +<P> +The man, peering from the alley, hesitated no longer; behind sounded +the footsteps of others, and gathering his burden more firmly, he +strode boldly forth toward the group and the gate. At his approach, +their talk—a jargon of "thieves' Latin" that smacked more of the +cabarets of Paris than those of the coast—momentarily ceased; beneath +lowering brows, they stared hard. +</P> + +<P> +"What have you there, comrade?" said one. +</P> + +<P> +"Look and see!" answered the man in a rough tone. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor booty! A woman!" quoted another with a harsh laugh. "You're +easily pleased. As if wenches were not plentiful enough on other +occasions, without wasting time on a night like this, when diamonds and +gold are to be had for the searching!" +</P> + +<P> +"And silver plates and watches and rare liquors!" cried a third in +knaves' <I>argot</I>. "Every one, however, to his taste! An you prefer a +light-of-love to light such as these have," juggling with the gems, +"you but stamp yourself a fool." +</P> + +<P> +"You're welcome to your opinion, my friend!" The man with the burden +spoke bruskly. "Good night!" +</P> + +<P> +"Stay; why such haste? You seem not a bad fellow. Set the wench down. +We'll have sight of her, and, perhaps," with coarse expletives, "if +she's a pretty face, and a taste for this fiery liquor the old monks +laid down, we'll find a gewgaw or two to her liking!" +</P> + +<P> +But the man made no answer; was about to pass on, when the speaker +noticed for the first time the woman's hand, white and small, hanging +limply. "What's this? More jewels?" His exclamation was caught up by +the others. "Not so fast, comrade! This puts a different face to the +matter. Set down the booty, and," springing to his feet, "we'll see +what it's worth." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll not stop!" The man looked at him steadily. "On the Mount is, or +should be, plenty for all! Go seek for yourself!" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Pardi</I>!" softly. "Here's one dares speak his mind!" +</P> + +<P> +"I speak plainly," in a tone of authority, "and you would do well to +heed!" +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps," interposing. "What say you, comrades?" +</P> + +<P> +Evil smiles illumined evil faces; they, who had just been on the point +of blows among themselves, now regarded one another with common +understanding. One weighed tentatively that delicate weapon, a +spontoon; a second stroked his halberd, as liking to feel the +smoothness of the shaft, while a third reached for a gleaming "Folard's +Partizan." And in the glare of the fire every implement showed sign it +had been used that night. The point of the spontoon was as steel +crusted o'er; the ax of the halberd might have come from a <I>boucherie</I>; +the blade of the "Partizan" resembled a great leaf at autumn-time. +This last wavered perilously near the unconscious burden; had the man +made a movement to resist, would have struck; but the black eyes, only, +combated—held the blood-shot ones. Though not for long; again the +weapon seemed about to dart forth; the man about to hurl himself and +his burden desperately aside, when, from above, came the sound of +hoarse laughing and singing, and simultaneously a number of peasants, +Bretons by their dress, burst into view. +</P> + +<P> +"Eh, cockatoo, what now!" +</P> + +<P> +Many of these new-comers were hurt; few free from cuts; but none +thought of stanching their wounds. Their principal concern seemed for +articles they carried—heavy, light; valuable, paltry—spoils from the +high! Two staggered beneath a great chest stamped with the arms of the +Mount and its motto, and appeared anxious to hurry—perchance toward +the forest on the shore where they might bury their treasure. Others +had in their arms imposing pieces of silver; vases and a massive +<I>surtout de table</I> that had once belonged to the Cardinal Dubois. A +woman, gaunt, toothless, wore a voluminous bonnet <I>à l'Argus</I>, left at +the Mount by one of the ladies of the court; and waved before her a +fan, set with jewels. She it was who called out: +</P> + +<P> +"Eh, cockatoo!" shrilly. "Who would you be killing?" +</P> + +<P> +"A selfish fellow that refuses to share!" answered he of the halberd, +as if little pleased at the interruption. +</P> + +<P> +"Refuses to share, does he?" she repeated, and, swaggering down, peered +forward; only to start back. "The Black Seigneur!" +</P> + +<P> +"The Black Seigneur!" +</P> + +<P> +Those who accompanied her—a rough rabble from field and forest—gazed, +not without surprise, or uncouth admiration, at one whose name and fame +were well-known on that northern coast; but these evidences of rough +approval were not shared by the alien rogues. On my lady's finger the +gem still sparkled: held their eyes like a lure. Black Seigneur, or +not, they muttered sullenly, what knew they of her he had with him; +whose hand was not that of cinder-wench or scullery maid? Let them +look at her face! She might be a great lady—she might even be the +Governor's daughter herself! +</P> + +<P> +"The Governor's daughter!" All, alike, caught at the word. +</P> + +<P> +"An if she were!" fiercely the Black Seigneur confronted them. +</P> + +<P> +While, hesitating, they sought for a reply, quickly he went on. Who +had a better right to her? The Black Seigneur! The Lady Elise! +Harshly he laughed. Was it not fair spoil? His Excellency's enemy; +his Excellency's daughter. Did they think treasure sweeter than +revenge? Let them try to rob him of it! As for the ring? +Contemptuously he took it from my lady's hand; threw it among them. +</P> + +<P> +A few scrambled, others were still for finishing the tragedy then. The +people <I>versus</I> the lords and their spawn. "Kill at once!" the +injunction had gone forth from Paris. +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, one of the fiercest put out his hand; touched my lady, +when the fingers of the Black Seigneur gripped hard his throat; hurled +him so violently back, he lay still. Companions sprang to his aid; +certain of the peasants interfered. +</P> + +<P> +"Let him alone!" +</P> + +<P> +"He speaks fair!" +</P> + +<P> +"Bah! To-night are all equal." +</P> + +<P> +"Your Black Seigneur no better than others!" +</P> + +<P> +"You lie!" In a high tone the woman with the great lady's hat broke +in. "At them, my chickens! Beat well these Paris rogues, who come +only for the picking!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; beat them well!" +</P> + +<P> +But the runagates of the great city were not of a kind to submit +lightly; curses and blows were exchanged; knives gleamed and swords +flashed. Amid a scene of confusion, the cause of it stayed not to +witness the outcome; running down the sloping way, soon found himself +on the sands; then keeping to the shadows, passed around the corner of +the wall. +</P> + +<P> +Here, for the time concealed was he safe; none followed, and, leaning +against the damp blocks of masonry, breathing hard, as a man weak from +fatigue, loss of blood, he sought to recover his strength. It returned +only too slowly; the passing lassitude annoyed him; for the moment he +forgot he had but recently come from the dungeon and the hardships that +sap elasticity and vigor. He was impatient to move on; looked at my +lady—and a sudden fear smote him! How white she appeared! Had she— +His hand trembled at her heart; a blank dismay overcame him; then joy— +At that instant he thought not of the gulf between them; was conscious +only he held her—slender, beautiful—in his arms; that she seemed all +his own, with her breath on his cheek, her soft lips so close. Above +sounded the madness of the night; the crackling of flames; the +intemperate voices! In the angle of the wall, with darkness a blanket +around them, he pushed back the hair from her clear brow, bent over, +closer—suddenly straightened. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Pardi</I>!" he muttered, a flush on his face. "Am I, then, like the +others—pillagers, thieves?" +</P> + +<P> +Several moments he yet stood, breathing deep; then, starting away, set +himself to the task of crossing the vast stretch of beach between the +Mount and the distant lights of a ship. +</P> + +<P> +The sandy plain had never seemed so interminable; before him, his +shadow and that of my lady danced ever illusively away; behind, the +great rock gave forth a hundred shooting flames, while, as emblematic +of the demolition of so much that was beautiful, higher than saint with +helpless sword on cathedral top, a cloud of smoke belched up; waved +sidewise like a monstrous funeral plume. A symbol, it seemed to fill +the sky; to move and nod and flaunt its ominous blackness from this +majestic outpost of the land. Walking in a vivid crimson glow, the +Black Seigneur gazed only ahead, where now, on that monotonous desert, +the rim of the sea on a sudden obtruded. As he advanced, sparkles red +as rubies—laughing lights—leaped in the air; at the same time a +seething murmur broke upon the stillness. +</P> + +<P> +Toward those leaping bright points and the source of that deep-sounding +cadence, the young man stumbled forward more rapidly, less cautiously, +also, it may be; for while he was yet some distance from the water's +rim, his feet fell on sand that gave way beneath them. He would have +sprung back, but felt himself sinking; strove to get out, only to +settle the deeper! The edge of the <I>lise</I>, with safety beyond, well he +could see, where the satin-like smoothness of the treacherous slough! +merged into a welcome silk-like shimmering of the trustworthy sands. +That verge, however, was remote; out of reach of effort of his to +attain; his very endeavors caused him to become the more firmly +imbedded. Had he cast my lady aside, possibly could he have extricated +himself; but with her, an additional weight, weighing him down— +</P> + +<P> +Loudly he called out; only the sea answered. Now were the clinging +particles at his waist; he lifted my lady higher; clear of them! Once +more raised his voice—this time not in vain! +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Mon capitaine</I>! Where are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Here!" +</P> + +<P> +"We don't see you." +</P> + +<P> +"You won't soon, unless—" +</P> + +<P> +The end of a line struck the sand. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The night had almost passed; its last black hour, like a pall, lay over +the sea, where, far from the Mount, a ship swayed and tossed. In the +narrow confines of her master's cabin, the faint glimmering of a lamp +revealed a man bending over a paper, yellow and worn; the lines so +faint and delicate, they seemed almost to escape him! +</P> + +<BR> + +<P STYLE="font-size: 85%"> +"How strange, after all these years, the sight of your +handwriting!—and now, to be writing you! Yet is it meet—to say +farewell! For that which you have heard, <I>mon ami</I>, is true. I am +going to die. You say, you heard I was not well; I answer what really +you heard; the question, <I>mon ami</I>, beneath your words! ... And, +dying, it is well with me. I have wronged no soul on earth—except +you, my friend, and you forgive me.... I had hoped the years would +efface that old memory. You say they have not.... It is wise you are +going away." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The reader paused; listened to the sea; the moaning and sighing, like +voices on the wings of the storm. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P STYLE="font-size: 85%"> +"You speak in your letter about 'trickery'—used to estrange us! Think +no more of it, I beg you. What is past, is gone—as I, part of that +past, when we were boy and girl together—soon shall be. And come not +near the Mount. There can be no meeting for us on earth. I send you +my adieu from afar.... It is only a shadow that speaks ... <I>mon ami</I>." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap34"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXIV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +SOME TIME LATER +</H4> + +<P> +The little Norman isle, home of Pierre Laroche, so wild and +bleak-looking many months of the year, resembles a flowering garden in +the spring; then, its lap full of buds and blossoms, smiling, redolent, +it lifts itself from the broad bosom of the deep. And all the light +embellishments of the golden time it sets forth daintily; fringing the +black cliffs with clusters of sea campion, white and frothy as the +spray, trailing green ivy from precipitous heights to the verge of the +wooing waters, whose waves seem to creep up timorously, peep into the +many caves, bright with sea-anemones, and retreat quickly, as awed by a +sudden glimpse of fairyland. +</P> + +<P> +Near the entrance of one of these magical chambers, abloom with +strange, scentless flowers, sat, a certain afternoon in April, a man +and a woman, who, looking out over the blue sea, conversed in desultory +fashion. +</P> + +<P> +"From what your father tells me, Mistress Nanette," the man, an aged +priest, was speaking, "the Seigneur Desaurac should be here to-day?" +</P> + +<P> +"My father had a letter from him a few days ago to that effect," +answered the young woman somewhat shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me see," apparently the old man did not notice the change in his +companion's manner, "he has been away now about a year? It was in July +he brought the Governor's daughter to the island one day and sailed the +next!" Nanette made a movement. "How time flies!" he sighed. "Let us +hope it assuages grief, as they say! You think she is contented here?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Lady Elise? Why not? At least, she seems so; has with her, her +old nurse, my aunt, who fortunately escaped from the Mount—" +</P> + +<P> +"But the death of her father? It must have been a terrible blow—one +not easy to forget!" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," said Nanette slowly, "she has felt his loss." +</P> + +<P> +The old man gazed down. "I have sometimes wondered what she knows +about the causes of the enmity that existed between his Excellency and +the Black Seigneur?" +</P> + +<P> +The other's eyes lifted keenly. "When last did you see her, Father?" +</P> + +<P> +"She comes often to my cottage to walk and—" +</P> + +<P> +"Talk?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, yes!" The fine spiritual face expressed a twinge of uneasiness. +</P> + +<P> +"About the past?" +</P> + +<P> +The priest shifted slightly. "Sometimes! An old man lives much in the +past and it is natural to wander on a bit aimlessly at times, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"Confess, Father, she has learned much from you?" Nanette laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no; I trust—" +</P> + +<P> +"Surmised, then!" said the girl. "She is one not easily deceived. +Clever is my lady! And you talk, she says nothing, but leads you on! +If there's aught she wishes to learn that you know, be assured she's +found out from your lips." +</P> + +<P> +"Nay; I'll not believe—'tis true once or twice I've let a word slip. +But she noticed not—" +</P> + +<P> +"No doubt!" The island girl's voice expressed a fine scorn. "However, +it matters little. Speaks she ever of the Black Seigneur?" suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"No. Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" Nanette's tone was enigmatic. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't understand." +</P> + +<P> +"At any rate, she is better off here than yonder in France, if tidings +be true," said the other irrelevantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, <I>ma belle France</I>!" murmured the old man regretfully. "How she is +torn within—threatened from without! But fortunately she has her +defenders," his voice thrilled, "brave men who have thronged to her +needs. I suppose," he continued abruptly, "it's to arrange about the +new ship that brings the Seigneur once more to the island?" +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose so," assented the other briefly. +</P> + +<P> +"A true Frenchman, Pierre Laroche, your father, has shown himself, in +giving one of his best ships to the cause! Although perhaps he would +not have been so ready," thoughtfully, "had not the Paris Assembly seen +fit to appoint André Desaurac in command of all the vessels to guard +the coast against the intrigues of the French royalists with foreign +powers and aliens! Well, well, he will find here many old friends!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yourself, for example, Father, who helped him in the courts to +establish his right to his name," said the young woman quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"And you, Mistress Nanette," the kindly eyes lighting with a curious, +indulgent look, "who went to the Mount alone, unaided, to—" +</P> + +<P> +A frown gathered on the dark, handsome face of the girl. "Unaided?" +she said, staring at the sparkles on the waves before her. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, the people never weary of talking about it! and how you—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yon's a sail!" Abruptly the young woman rose; with skirts fluttering +behind her, gazed out to sea. +</P> + +<P> +Several hours later, just before dusk, a ship ran into the harbor, +dropped anchor, and sent a boat to the shore. In the small craft sat a +number of men, and the first of these to spring to the beach and mount +the stone stairway to the inn, was met at the top; warmly greeted, by +old Pierre himself! <I>Mon dieu</I>! To see the new-comer was like old +times! Only now, the landlord observed jestingly, the profits would be +small! But a fig to parsimony, in these days when men's patriotism +should be large; do what he, the Black Seigneur, would with the new +ship, even if he sunk her, provided it was in good company, and he went +not down with her himself! To which protestations the other answered; +presented his companions, and greeted the assembled company within. +</P> + +<P> +Busy at a great board, laden with comestibles interspersed with flagons +of wines, Nanette welcomed him briefly, and again his glance—keen and +assured, that of a man the horizon of whose vision had widened, since +last he stood there—swept the gathering. But apparently, one he +looked for was not present, and he had again turned to the young woman, +a question on his lips, when on the garden side of the house a door +opened. It revealed a flowering background, a plateau, yellow in the +last rays of the sun; it framed, also, the slender, black-clad figure +of a girl, above whose white brow the waving hair shone like threads of +gold. +</P> + +<P> +"An old friend of yours, my Lady!" called out blunt Pierre. +</P> + +<P> +A moment the clear, brown eyes seemed to waver; then became steady, as +schooled to some purpose. She came forward composedly; gave the Black +Seigneur her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"I—am always glad to see old friends!" said my lady, with a lift of +the head, over-conscious, perhaps, of the concentrated gaze of the +company. +</P> + +<P> +He looked at her; made perfunctory answer; she seemed about to speak +again, when the hand he let fall was caught by another. +</P> + +<P> +"Elise!" From among those who had come ashore, a man in fashionable +attire sprang forward, a little thinner than when last she had seen +him, and more cynical-looking, as slightly soured by world-contact and +the new tendencies of society. +</P> + +<P> +"My Lord!" Certainly was my lady taken unawares; a moment looked at +the Marquis as if a little startled; then at the Black Seigneur: +</P> + +<P> +"A pleasant surprise for you, my Lady!" said the latter. "But you owe +me no thanks! An order from the chief of the Admiralty, properly +signed and countersigned, directing me to transport the Marquis de +Beauvillers hither, was not to be disregarded!" +</P> + +<P> +"A somewhat singular dispensation of Providence, nevertheless!" +observed the nobleman dryly. "After our—what shall we call +it?—little passage of arms? You must acknowledge, however, that in +truth the Lady Elise and myself had some reason to discredit your +assurances that night—" +</P> + +<P> +"Far be it from me to dispute it, my Lord," and the Black Seigneur +turned, while the Marquis, slightly shrugging his shoulders, addressed +my lady. +</P> + +<P> +Half blithely, then half bitterly, relapsing occasionally from the old, +debonair manner he had assumed, he spoke of his escape from the Mount; +months of hiding in foul places, amid fields and forest, with no word +of her; his success, at last, in reaching Paris, and, through rumor, +learning where she was, and hastening to her— +</P> + +<P> +A bluff voice interrupted further explanations and avowals; the +steaming flesh-pots, it informed the company, awaited not soft words +and honied phrases; monarch in his own dining-room, ostentatiously +conscious, perhaps, of his own unwonted prodigality, Pierre Laroche +waved them to their places—where they would!—so that they waited not! +</P> + +<P> +Quizzically my lord lifted his brow; truly here was a Republican fellow +who appreciated not an honor when it was bestowed upon him, nor saw +anything unusual in a Marquis' presence beneath that humble roof. +Something of this he murmured to my lady, in a tone others might have +heard; but she answered not; took her place, with red lips the firmer, +as if to conceal some weakness to which they sought to give way. +</P> + +<P> +Not without constraint the meal passed; the host, desirous to learn the +latest political news, looked at the Marquis and curbed a natural +curiosity, until a more favorable moment when he and the Black Seigneur +should be alone. My lady, although generally made to feel welcome and +at home there, seemed now, perhaps, to herself, a little out of place, +like a person that has wandered from a world of her own and strayed +into another's. Cross-currents, long at strife in her breast, surged +and flowed fast; the while she seemed to listen to my lord, who +appeared now in lighter, more airy humor. And as she sat thus, with +fair head bent a little, she could but hear, at times, above the medley +of tones and the sound of servants' footsteps in clattering wooden +shoes, the voice of the Black Seigneur—now pledging a toast to old +Pierre; anon discussing winds, tides, or ships! A free reckless voice, +that seemed to vibrate from the past—to stir anew bright, terrible +flames. +</P> + +<P> +Daylight slowly waned; lights were brought in, and, the meal over, old +Pierre pushed back in his chair. My lady rose quickly; looked a little +constrainedly at the company, at the Marquis, then toward the door. +Anticipating her desire, attributing to it, perhaps, a significance +flattering to his vanity, the young nobleman expressed a wish for a +stroll; a sight of the garden. At once she assented; a slight tint now +on her cheeks, she moved to the door, and my lord followed; as they +disappeared, the Black Seigneur laughed—at one of Pierre's jokes! +</P> + +<P> +"Have I not told it before?" said the host. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you?" murmured the Black Seigneur. "Well, a good jest, like an +excellent dish, may well be served twice." +</P> + +<P> +"Humph!" observed the landlord doubtfully. +</P> + +<P> +After a pause: "I suppose he will be taking her away soon?" +</P> + +<P> +"Her?" The young man rose. +</P> + +<P> +"The Lady Elise!" +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose so," shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall miss her!" grumbled the landlord as he, too, got up and +walked over to the fireplace. "I, who never thought to care for any of +the fine folk—I, bluff old Pierre Laroche!—say we shall miss her." +</P> + +<P> +"Knows she how it fared with his Excellency's—her father's—estate? +That little, or nothing, is left?" +</P> + +<P> +"Aye." +</P> + +<P> +"And she will agree to the promise I wrote you about?" quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"That you—now that the right to your name has been vindicated—are +content to accept half the lands in dispute; her ladyship to retain the +other half?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; in consideration of that which his Excellency expended in +taxes—no small sum!—and what it would cost to carry on vexatious +litigation!" +</P> + +<P> +"You are strangely faint-hearted to pursue your advantage," said old +Pierre shrewdly. "But," as the other made a gesture, "I put it to her +ladyship as you desired me to, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"She consented?" eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +Pierre shook his head. "No, <I>mon capitaine</I>! She will have none of +them. And you had heard her: 'A great wrong was unintentionally,' she +accented the word, 'done the Seigneur Desaurac by my father, which has +now been set right!' 'It has,' I assented, and would have urged +further your proposal, when she stopped me. 'Speak no more of this +matter!' 'Twas all she said; but—you should have seen her face, and +how her eyes shone!" +</P> + +<P> +The young man, looking down, made no answer. "An you are not +satisfied," continued Pierre, "broach the question to my lady, +yourself." +</P> + +<P> +"I?" A look, half bitter, crossed the other's dark face. "Her +father's enemy! Through whose servant, all her misfortunes came about! +To revive anew what must so often pass in her mind?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well; no doubt you know best, and, <I>certes</I>, now you remind me, +she did turn cold and distant when I spoke of your coming. But let +idle prejudices enter into practical concerns—it's on a par—of all +improvidence! Why, 'twas not long ago, she brought me a jewel or two; +Marie, it seems, had foresight enough to snatch them before fleeing +from the Mount, and begged me to take them for our kindness, she said; +which I did, seeing she would not have it otherwise—nor let herself be +regarded as one who could not pay. But to business, <I>mon capitaine</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +And thereafter, for some time, they, or rather, Pierre, talked; the +others, save the Marquis, returned to the ship, and only Nanette, busy +putting everything to rights, lingered in the room. At length, after +papers had been signed and changed hands, the conversation of the host +began to wane; frequently had he sipped from a bottle of liqueur at his +elbow and now found himself nodding; leaned back more comfortably in +the great chair and suffered his head to fall. The clock ticked out +the seconds; the young man continued to sit motionless. +</P> + +<P> +"'<I>A mon beau</I>'—" Nanette's voice, lightly humming, caused him to look +up; with the old mocking expression on her face, the inn-keeper's +daughter paused near his chair. +</P> + +<P> +"It was kind of you, <I>mon capitaine</I>, to bring to my lady her Marquis!" +As she spoke, she looked toward the garden. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" he asked steadily. "The passport and orders were correct." +</P> + +<P> +"Were they, indeed?" she said, tapping the floor with her foot. "You +remain with us a few days; or, as of old, must we be content with a +brief visit?" she went on. +</P> + +<P> +"We leave to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow?" The girl's eyes wore a tentative expression. "Late?" +</P> + +<P> +"Early!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! In that case, perhaps I shan't have time," Nanette paused; looked +at her father; old Pierre's slumbers were not to be broken. +</P> + +<P> +"For what?" asked the Black Seigneur shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"To tell you something!" +</P> + +<P> +"Why not—now?" +</P> + +<P> +"You—are inquisitive?" +</P> + +<P> +"No!" +</P> + +<P> +"Even if it were about—" she looked toward the door that led to the +garden. +</P> + +<P> +"The Lady Elise?" he said quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you <I>are</I> interested? '<I>A mon beau</I>'—" a moment she hummed. +"You do not urge me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Wherefore," laconically, although his eyes flashed, "when you have +made up your mind to tell!" +</P> + +<P> +"You are right!" She threw back her head. "I have made up my mind! +How well you understand women! Almost as well," she laughed mockingly, +"as a ship!" He made no response. "When you thanked me once, <I>mon +capitaine</I>, for all it pleased you to say I did for you, you may +remember," her voice was defiant, "I did not once gainsay you!" More +curiously he regarded her. "Perhaps it pleased me," her hand on her +hip, "to be thought such a fine heroine. But now," her tone grew a +little fierce, "I am tired of hearing people say: 'Nanette risked so +much!' 'Nanette did this!—did that!'—when it was she who risked—did +it all, one might say." +</P> + +<P> +"She? What do you mean?" The black eyes probed hers now with sudden, +fierce questioning. +</P> + +<P> +"That 'twas the Lady Elise saved you. Went knowingly—willingly—as +hostage—" +</P> + +<P> +"The Lady Elise!" he cried, an abrupt glow on the dark face. +</P> + +<P> +Nanette's eyes noted and fell, but she went on hurriedly: "She knew of +the ambush in the forest; saw part of the note I dropped on the +beach—it was brought to her by my aunt who warned her." And in a +quick rush of words, as if desirous to be done with it, Nanette told +all that had transpired at the Mount. +</P> + +<P> +Incredulously, eagerly, he listened; when, however, she had finished, +he said nothing; sat like a man bewildered. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" said the girl impatiently. Still he looked down. "Well?" she +repeated, so sharply old Pierre stirred; lifted his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Eh, my dear?" +</P> + +<P> +She went to the mantel; took from it a candle. +</P> + +<P> +"The Seigneur finds you such poor company," she said, "he desires a +light to retire!" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The dawn smote the heavens with fiery lashes of red; from the east the +wind began to blow harder, and on the sea the waves responded with a +more forcible sweep. At a window in the inn, the Black Seigneur a +moment looked out on the gay flowers and the sea and the worn grim face +of the cliff; then left his room and made his way downstairs. No one +was yet, apparently, astir; an hour or so must elapse ere the time set +for departure, and, pending the turn of the tide and adieu to old +Pierre, the young man stepped into the garden, through the gate, and, +turning into a rocky path, strode out over the cliffs. The island was +small; its walks limited, and soon, despite a number of difficulties in +the way he had chosen, he found himself at its end—the verge of a +great rock that projected out over the blue, sullen sea. For some +moments he stood there, listening to the sounds in caverns below, +watching the snow-capped waves, the ever-shifting spots on a vast map, +and then, shaking off his reverie, started to return. +</P> + +<P> +"A brisk wind to take us back to France," he said to himself; but his +thoughts were not of possible April storms, or of his ship. His eyes, +bright, yet perplexed, as if from some problem whose solution he had +not yet found, were bent downward, only to be raised where the path +demanded his closer attention. As he looked up, he became suddenly +aware of the figure of a girl, who approached from the opposite +direction. +</P> + +<P> +A quick glint sprang to the young man's eyes, and, pausing, he waited; +watched. At that point, the way ran over a neck of rock, almost eaten +through by the hungry sea, and she had already started to cross when he +first saw her. The path was not dangerous; nor was it easy; only it +called for certainty and assurance on the part of the one that elected +to take it. My lady's light footstep was sure; although the wind swept +rather sharply there, she held herself with confident poise, while from +the brown eyes shone a clear, steady light. +</P> + +<P> +"I saw you leave the inn," she said, drawing near the comparatively +sheltered spot, where he stood, "and knowing you would soon sail, +followed. There is something I wanted to say, and—and felt I should +have no other chance to tell you!" +</P> + +<P> +Had she read what was passing in his brain, she would not have faced +him, so confident; but, ignorant of what he had learned, the cause of +varying lights in his dark eyes, the tender play of emotion on his +strong features, she broached her subject with steadfastness of purpose. +</P> + +<P> +"You went away so suddenly the last time, I had no opportunity, then, +to thank you for all that you did; and so, I do now—thank you, I mean! +Also," a touch of prouder constraint in her tone, "I appreciate your +over-generous proposal through Pierre Laroche; although, of course," +her figure very straight, "I could not—it was impossible—to entertain +it. But I am glad you were able to prove. You will understand—and," +my lady ended quickly, "I thank you!" +</P> + +<P> +He looked at her long. "It is I who am in your debt!" +</P> + +<P> +"You?" Her brows lifted. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"I—don't think I quite understand." In spite of herself and her +resolution, the proud eyes seemed to shrink from a nameless something +in his gaze. +</P> + +<P> +"Nor I! Nanette was talking with me last night!" +</P> + +<P> +"Nanette!" +</P> + +<P> +In words, direct, unequivocal, he told her what he had learned; and +although my lady laughed, as at something absurd, and strove to +maintain an unvarying mien, his eyes challenged evasion; demanded +truth! At that moment the space where they stood seemed, perhaps, too +small; to hem her very closely in—too closely—as, drawing back, she +touched the hard rocky wall! +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" Still endeavoring to regard him as if the charge could only be +preposterous, too unreasonable to answer, she was, nevertheless, +conscious of the flame on her face—tacit refutation of the denials in +her eyes! "Why?" she repeated. +</P> + +<P> +"That is just what I was asking myself when I saw you, my Lady." +</P> + +<P> +"And, of course, knowing there could be no—that it was too +senseless—" The words she was searching for failed her; she looked +toward the path over the neck of rock, but he continued to stand +between it and her. +</P> + +<P> +"I have heard the story in all its details; all that passed at the +Mount, while Nanette was there. And," instead of having undermined his +belief, she felt she had only strengthened it, "I am sure you went to +the Monastery St. Ranulphe, knowing—" +</P> + +<P> +"You are sure!" she interrupted quickly. "It wasn't long ago you were +sure it was I who betrayed you, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"I was wrong, then; but," his eyes continued to meet hers, "I am not +wrong now." +</P> + +<P> +Behind her, my lady's hand closed hard on the rock. +</P> + +<P> +"Deny it!" his voice went on. "In so many words!" +</P> + +<P> +"Why should I?" She caught her breath quickly. "I denied something to +you once, and you did not believe." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll believe you now!" +</P> + +<P> +"I should feel very much flattered, I am sure; but after—" A spark of +defiance began to gleam in her eyes. "You are sure one moment, and +not, the next! You are ready to believe, or not to believe!" More +certain now, she lifted her head; she, whose assurance and wit had +never failed her at court, would not be put to confusion by him! +</P> + +<P> +His answer was unexpected; to her; to himself. Perhaps it was the +peasant—the untamed half-peasant—in his blood that caused it; that +made a sudden, unceremonious act, his reply! He caught both her hands; +drew her to him. He knew she could never care for him—she, the +beautiful lady! But he forgot himself for the moment; thought only of +what she had done; her courage, her fineness, her delicate loveliness! +Her life for his. To pay a fancied debt, perhaps? And all the while +he had thought— Self-reproaches fell from his lips; were followed by +bolder, more daring words. All he would have said the night on the +beach, when he had borne her from the fiery rock to the ship, now burst +from him; all he had felt when he had held her in his arms—motionless, +unresisting, the still, white face upturned, offering itself freely to +his gaze! +</P> + +<P> +At the neck of the rock, beneath his feet, the waves thundered; near +them, wild birds circled, wheeled and were borne on by the strong +breath of the wind. Had he spoken; what had he said? A gradual +consciousness of the beating of the sea smote his senses, as with +rhythmical regularity it arose. He listened; slowly in his eyes that +light that demanded—claimed, as it were, its own—was replaced by +another; his hands released hers. My lady made no sound; her proud +lips trembled. Very pale, she leaned back. +</P> + +<P> +So silence lengthened. "Pardon, my Lady!" he said at last, very +humbly. "It had not occurred to me my secret was not safe; that I, +master of ships and men, should not be master of myself! But I had not +expected to be alone with your Ladyship, and," a shadow of a smile +crossed the strong, reckless face, "your Ladyship can weigh the +provocation! If the excuse will not serve, I have none other to offer. +Certainly, will I retract nothing. What's said, is said, and—no lies +will unsay it!" +</P> + +<P> +He looked at the water; the tide was nearly in; he turned. She would +never see him again, for which she would be very glad, since the sight +of him must always have been hateful to her. Had not fate +decreed—bitterly—she should look upon him only as an enemy? It might +be, in time, she would condone his presumption, when his presence would +no longer vex her! He was going one way; she, another, soon, with— +</P> + +<P> +"You—you are mistaken, Monsieur!" My lady's tone was tremulous. +</P> + +<P> +"Mistaken?" +</P> + +<P> +"The—Marquis de Beauvillers left last night, on a fishing bark." +</P> + +<P> +"Left!" abruptly he wheeled. "Why?" She did not answer. "You mean?" +Before the sudden swift question that shone from his eyes, hers fell. +</P> + +<P> +"Speak!" He seized her hand; his dark, eager face was near hers now. +"You have sent him away? He will never return?" She lifted her head; +answered not in words; but a new light in her eyes met the flash of +his. "My Lady!" he cried, bewildered for the moment at what that +glance revealed. An instant she seemed once more striving to combat +him, when, drawing her gently toward him, he bent lower; kissed softly +her lips. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-386"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-386.jpg" ALT="His dark, eager face was near hers now" BORDER="2"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center"> +His dark, eager face was near hers now +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Is it, then, true—" +</P> + +<P> +"You find it so hard to believe?" +</P> + +<P> +"That you love me? That I seem no longer your enemy?" +</P> + +<P> +"My enemy? You? Who risked so much—saved my life! Ah, no, no! Do +you not remember," softly, "he, too, said—'Forget!'" +</P> + +<P> +"I only remember I have long loved you! For me have you ever been the +princess—who dwelt in the clouds—in a palace, enchanted—" Her face +changed. "That saddens you! Forgive me!" +</P> + +<P> +"It seems like a dream—that life, then! All made up of lightness and +gaiety; courtiers and fine masques, until—" Beneath the bright gold +of her hair, my lady's brow knit. +</P> + +<P> +"Until?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nay; I know not until—just when! Only, for long, I seem to have +lived in a world, unreal and false. Last night, when in the garden, I +felt stifled. This marriage! Arranged—for what?" She made a quick +gesture. "The words came—had to come—though they hurt my lord's +pride; touched his vanity! Nothing deeper! It was gone. Besides—" +</P> + +<P> +My lady stopped. "Go on!" he urged, his voice eager. +</P> + +<P> +"That is all. At least, all I would acknowledge to myself, then." +</P> + +<P> +"And now?" His arm tightened; he held my lady close. "Now?" +</P> + +<P> +Her lips lifted; though silent, made answer in the abandonment of the +moment, the past and all its vicissitudes vanished; only the present +held them—the present and the future, beautiful as the horizon, now +rosy and glowing beneath the warm touch of the dawn. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The tide came in and the tide went out. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Mon capitaine</I> must have changed his mind," said old Pierre at the +inn. And he gazed toward a ship, stranded on the sands of the harbor. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Lady of the Mount, by Frederic S. 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Isham + +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: The Lady of the Mount + +Author: Frederic S. Isham + +Illustrator: Lester Ralph + +Release Date: May 22, 2011 [EBook #36083] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LADY OF THE MOUNT *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + + +[Frontispiece: My Lady] + + + + + +THE LADY OF THE MOUNT + + +_By_ + +FREDERIC S. ISHAM + + + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY + +LESTER RALPH + + + + +INDIANAPOLIS + +THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY + +PUBLISHERS + + + + +COPYRIGHT 1908 + +THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY + +FEBRUARY + + + + +BY FREDERIC S. ISHAM + +BLACK FRIDAY + Illustrated by Harrison Fisher + 12mo, Cloth $1.50 + + +UNDER THE ROSE + Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy + 12mo, Cloth $1.50 + + +THE STROLLERS + Illustrated by Harrison Fisher + 12mo, Cloth $1.50 + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I A CHANCE ENCOUNTER + II AN ECHO OF THE PAST + III A SUDDEN RESOLUTION + IV A DANCE ON THE BEACH + V AN INTERRUPTION + VI A MESSAGE FOR MY LADY + VII A DISTANT MENACE + VIII THE OLD WATCH-TOWER + IX A DISCOVERY + X THE CLOISTER IN THE AIR + XI THE GOVERNOR IS SURPRISED + XII AT THE COCKLES + XIII THE SEETHING OF THE SEA + XIV THE PILGRIMAGE + XV THE VOICE FROM THE GROUP + XVI THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE PEOPLE + XVII THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE HUNCHBACK + XVIII THE MOUNTEBANK AND MY LADY + XIX THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE GOVERNOR + XX THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE SOLDIER + XXI THE STAIRWAY OF SILVER + XXII THE WHIRLING OF THE WHEEL + XXIII AT THE VERGE OF THE APERTURE + XXIV THE HALL OF THE CHEVALIERS + XXV THE UNDER WORLD + XXVI A NEW ARRIVAL + XXVII A STROLL ON THE STRAND + XXVIII THE HESITATION OF THE MARQUIS + XXIX THE MARQUIS INTERVENES + XXX A SOUND AFAR + XXXI THE ATTACK ON THE MOUNT + XXXII NEAR THE ALTAR + XXXIII ON THE SANDS + XXXIV SOME TIME LATER + + + + +THE LADY OF THE MOUNT + + + +CHAPTER I + +A CHANCE ENCOUNTER + +"Don't you know, boy, you ought not to get in my way?" + +The tide was at its ebb; the boats stranded afar, and the lad addressed +had started, with a fish--his wage--in one hand, to walk to shore, +when, passing into the shadow of the rampart of the Governor's Mount, +from the opposite direction a white horse swung suddenly around a +corner of the stone masonry and bore directly upon him. He had but +time to step aside; as it was, the animal grazed his shoulder, and the +boy, about to give utterance to a natural remonstrance, lifted his eyes +to the offender. The words were not forthcoming; surprised, he gazed +at a tiny girl, of about eleven, perched fairy-like on the broad back +of the heavy steed. + +"Don't you know you ought not to get in my way?" she repeated +imperiously. + +The boy, tall, dark, unkempt as a young savage, shifted awkwardly; his +black eyes, restless enough ordinarily, expressed a sudden shyness in +the presence of this unexpected and dainty creature. + +"I--didn't see you," he half stammered. + +"Well, you should have!" And again the little lady frowned, shook her +disordered golden curls disapprovingly and gazed at him, a look of +censure in her brown eyes. "But perhaps you don't know who I am," she +went on with a lift of the patrician doll-like features. "I don't +think you do, or you wouldn't stand there like a booby, without taking +off your hat." More embarrassed, he removed a worn cap while she +continued to regard him with the reverse of approval. "I am the +Comtesse Elise," she observed; "the daughter of the Governor of the +Mount." + +"Oh!" said the boy, and his glance shifted to the most important and +insistent feature of the landscape. + +Carrying its clustered burden of houses and palaces, a great rock +reared itself from the monotony of the bare and blinding sands. Now an +oasis in the desert, ere night was over he knew the in-rushing waters +would convert it into an island; claim it for the sea! A strange +kingdom, yet a mighty one, it belonged alternately to the land and to +the ocean. With the sky, however, it enjoyed perpetual affiliation, +for the heavens were ever wooing it; now winding pretty ribbons of +light about its air-drawn castles; then kissing it with the tender, +soft red glow of celestial fervor. + +"Yes; I live right on top among the clouds, in a castle, with dungeons +underneath, where my father puts the bad people who don't like the +nobles and King Louis XVI. But where," categorically, "do you live?" + +His gaze turned from the points and turrets and the clouds she spoke +of--that seemed to linger about the lofty summit--to the mainland, +perhaps a mile distant. + +"There!" he said, and specifically indicated a dark fringe, like a +cloud on the lowlands. + +"In the woods! How odd!" She looked at him with faint interest. "And +don't the bears bother you? Once when I wanted to see what the woods +were like, my nurse told me they were filled with terrible bears who +would eat up little girls. I don't have a nurse any more," +irrelevantly, "only a governess who came from the court of Versailles, +and Beppo. Do you know Beppo?" + +"No." + +"I don't like him," she confided. "He is always listening. But why do +you live in the woods?" + +"Because!" The reason failed him. + +"And didn't you ever live anywhere else?" + +A shadow crossed the dark young face. "Once," he said. + +"I suppose the bears know you," she speculated, "and that is the reason +they let you alone. Or, perhaps, they are like the wolf in the +fairy-tale. Did you ever hear of the kind-hearted wolf?" + +He shook his head. + +"My nurse used to tell it to me. Well, once there was a boy who was an +orphan and everybody hated him. So he went to live in the forest and +there he met a wolf. 'Where are you going, little boy?' said the wolf. +'Nowhere,' said the boy; 'I have no home.' 'No home!' said the +kind-hearted wolf; 'then come with me, and you shall share my cave.' +Isn't that a nice story?" + +He looked at her in a puzzled manner. "I don't know," he began, when +she tossed her head. + +"What a stupid boy!" she exclaimed severely. A moment she studied him +tentatively through her curls, from the vantage point of her elevated +seat. "That's a big fish," she remarked, after the pause. + +"Do you want it?" he asked quickly, his face brightening. + +"You can give it to Beppo when he comes," she said, drawing herself up +loftily. "He'll be here soon. I've run away from him!" A sudden +smile replaced her brief assumption of dignity. "He'll be so angry! +He's fat and ugly," more confidentially. "And he's so amusing when +he's vexed! But how much do you ask for the fish?" + +"I didn't mean--to sell it!" + +"Why not?" + +"I--don't sell fish." + +"Don't sell fish!" She looked at the clothes, frayed and worn, the +bare muscular throat, the sunburned legs. "You meant to give it to me?" + +"Yes." + +The girl laughed. "What a funny boy!" + +His cheek flushed; from beneath the matted hair, the disconcerted black +eyes met the mocking brown ones. + +"Of course I can't take it for nothing," she explained, "and it is very +absurd of you to expect it." + +"Then," with sudden stubbornness, "I will keep it!" + +Her glance grew more severe. "Most people speak to me as 'my Lady.' +You seem to have forgotten. Or perhaps you have been listening to some +of those silly persons who talk about everybody being born equal. I've +heard my father, the Governor, speak of them and how he has put some of +them in his dungeons. You'd better not talk that way, or he may shut +you up in some terrible dark hole beneath the castle." + +"I'm not afraid!" The black eyes shone. + +"Then you must be a very wicked boy. It would serve you right if I was +to tell." + +"You can!" + +"Then I won't! Besides, I'm not a telltale!" She tossed her curls and +went on. "I've heard my father say these people who want to be called +'_gentilhomme_' and 'monsieur' are low and ignorant; they can't even +read and write." + +Again the red hue mantled the boy's cheek. "I don't believe you can!" +she exclaimed shrewdly and clapped her hands. "Can you now?" He did +not answer. "'Monsieur'! '_Gentilhomme_'!" she repeated. + +He stepped closer, his face dark; but whatever reply he might have made +was interrupted by the sound of a horse's hoofs and the abrupt +appearance, from the direction the child had come, of a fat, +irascible-looking man of middle age, dressed in livery. + +"Oh, here you are, my Lady!" His tone was far from amiable; as he +spoke he pulled up his horse with a vicious jerk. "A pretty chase +you've led me!" + +She regarded him indifferently. "If you _will_ stop at the inn, +Beppo--" + +The man's irate glance fell. "Who is this?" + +"A boy who doesn't want to sell his fish," said the girl merrily. + +"Oh!" The man's look expressed a quick recognition. "A fine day's +work is this--to bandy words with--" Abruptly he raised his whip. +"What do you mean, sirrah, by stopping my Lady?" + +A fierce gleam in the lad's eyes belied the smile on his lips. "Don't +beat me, good Beppo!" he said in a mocking voice, and stood, alert, +lithe, like a tiger ready to spring. The man hesitated; his arm +dropped to his side. "The very spot!" he said, looking around him. + +A moment the boy waited, then turned on his heel and, without a word, +walked away. Soon an angle in the sea-wall, girdling the Mount, hid +him from view. + +"Why didn't you strike him?" Quietly the child regarded the man. +"Were you afraid?" Beppo's answering look was not one of affection for +his charge. "Who is he?" + +"An idle vagabond." + +"What is his name?" + +"I don't know." + +"Don't you?" + +A queer expression sprang into his eyes. "One can't remember every +peasant brat," he returned evasively. + +She considered him silently; then: "Why did you say: 'The very spot'?" +she asked. + +"Did I? I don't remember. But it's time we were getting back. Come, +my Lady!" And Beppo struck his horse smartly. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AN ECHO OF THE PAST + +Immovable on its granite base, the great rock, or "Mount," as it had +been called for centuries, stood some distance from the shore in a vast +bay on the northwestern coast of France. To the right, a sweep of +sward and marsh stretched seaward, until lost in the distance; to the +left, lay the dense Desaurac forest, from which an arm of land, thickly +wooded, reached out in seeming endeavor to divide the large bay into +two smaller basins. But the ocean, jealous of territory already +conquered, twice in twenty-four hours rose to beat heavily on this dark +promontory, and, in the angry hiss of the waters, was a reminder of a +persistent purpose. Here and there, through the ages, had the +shore-line of the bay, as well as the neighboring curvatures of the +coast, yielded to the assaults of the sea; the Mount alone, solidly +indifferent to blandishment or attack, maintained an unvarying aspect. + +For centuries a monastery and fortress of the monks, at the time of +Louis XVI the Mount had become a stronghold of the government, strongly +ruled by one of its most inexorable nobles. Since his appointment many +years before to the post, my lord, the Governor of the rock, had ever +been regarded as a man who conceded nothing to the people and pursued +only the set tenure of his way. During the long period of his reign he +committed but one indiscretion; generally regarded as a man confirmed +in apathy for the gentler sex, he suddenly, when already past middle +age, wedded. Speculation concerning a step so unlooked for was +naturally rife. + +In hovel and hut was it whispered the bride Claire, only daughter of +the Comtesse de la Mart, had wept at the altar, but that her mother had +appeared complacent, as well she might; for the Governor of the Mount +and the surrounding country was both rich and powerful; his ships swept +far and wide, even to the Orient, while the number of _metayers_, or +petty farmers that paid him tribute, constituted a large community. +Other gossips, bending over peat fires within mud walls, +affirmed--beneath their breath, lest the spies of the well-hated lord +of the North might hear them!--that the more popular, though +impoverished Seigneur Desaurac had been the favored suitor with the +young woman herself, but that the family of the bride had found him +undesirable. The Desaurac fortune, once large, had so waned that +little remained save the rich, though heavily encumbered lands, and, in +the heart of the forest, a time-worn, crumbling castle. + +Thus it came to pass the marriage of the lady to the Governor was +celebrated in the jeweled Gothic church crowning a medley of palaces, +chapels and monastery on the Mount; that the rejected Seigneur +Desaurac, gazing across the strip of water--for the tide was at its +full--separating the rocky fortress from the land, shrugged his +shoulders angrily and contemptuously, and that not many moons later, as +if to show disdain of position and title, took to his home an orphaned +peasant lass. That a simple church ceremony had preceded this step was +both affirmed and denied; hearsay described a marriage at a neighboring +village; more malicious gossip discredited it. A man of rank! A woman +of the soil! Feudal custom forbade belief that the proper sort of +nuptial knot had been tied. + +Be this as it may, for a time the sturdy, dark brown young woman +presided over the Seigneur's fortunes with exemplary care and patience. +She found them in a chaotic condition; lands had either been allowed to +run to waste, or were cultivated by peasants that so long had forgotten +to pay the _metayage_, or owner's due, they had come to regard the +acres as their own--a delusion this practical helpmate would speedily +have dispelled, save that the Seigneur himself pleaded for them and +would not permit of the "poor people" being disturbed. Whereupon she +made the best of an anomalous situation, and all concerned might have +continued to live satisfactorily enough unto themselves, when +unfortunately an abrupt break occurred in the chain of circumstances. +In presenting the Seigneur with a child, half-peasant, half-lord, the +mother gave up her own life for his posterity. + +At first, thereafter, the Seigneur remained a recluse; when, however, a +year or two had gone by, the peasants--who had settled in greater +numbers thereabouts, even to the verge of the forest--noticed that he +gradually emerged from his solitude, ventured into the world at large, +and occasionally was seen in the vicinity of the Mount. This +predilection for lonely walks clearly led to his undoing; one morning +he was found stabbed in the back, on the beach at the foot of the Mount. + +Carried home, he related how he had been set upon by a band of +miscreants, which later, coming to the Governor's ears, led to an +attempt to locate the assailants among the rocky isles to the +northwest, haunts of privateersmen, rogues and those reformers who +already were beginning to undermine the peace of Louis XVI's northern +provinces. In the pursuit of these gentry, the Governor showed himself +in earnest. Perhaps his own sorrow at the rather sudden death of his +lady, occurring about this time, and leaving him, a morose widower, +with a child, a little girl, led him to more relentless activities; +perhaps the character of the crime--a noble stabbed!--incensed him. + +Certainly he revenged himself to the full; not only raked the rocks for +runagates, but dragged peasants, inclined to sullenness, from their +huts; clapped some in dungeons and hanged the rest. In the popular +mind his name became synonymous with cruelty, but, on his high throne, +he continued to exercise his autocratic prerogative and cared not what +the people thought. + +Meanwhile, the Seigneur Desaurac, recovering, became a prey to greater +restlessness; no sooner was he able to get about, than, accompanied by +a faithful servant, Sanchez, he left the neighborhood, and, for a +number of years, led a migratory existence in continental capitals. +The revolt of the colonies in America and the news of the contemplated +departure of the brave Lafayette for the seat of hostilities, offered, +at least, a pretext to break the fetters of a purposeless life. At +once, he placed his sword at Lafayette's disposal, and packed himself +and servitor--a fellow of dog-like fidelity--across the ocean. There, +at the seat of war's alarms, in the great conflict waged in the name of +liberty, he met a soldier's end, far from the fief of his ancestors. +Sanchez, the man, buried him, and, having dutifully performed this last +task, walked away from the grave and out of the army. + +During this while, the son by the peasant woman, intrusted to an old +fishwife who had been allowed to usurp a patch of his father's lands, +received scanty care and attention, even when the stipulated fees for +his maintenance had continued to come; but when, at the Seigneur's +death, they ceased, any slight solicitude on the caretaker's part +soured to acrimony. An offspring of dubious parentage, she begrudged +him his bread; kept him from her own precious brood, and taught them to +address him as "brat," "pauper," or by terms even more forcible. Thus +set upon, frequently he fought; but like young wolves, hunting in +packs, they worried him to the earth, and, when he continued to +struggle, beat him to unconsciousness, if not submission. + +One day, after such an experience at the hands of those who had +partaken of the Seigneur's liberality, the boy, all bruised and aching, +fled to the woods, and, with the instinct of an animal to hide, buried +himself in its deepest recesses. Night came; encompassed by strange +sounds, unknown terrors, he crept to the verge of the forest, and lying +there, looked out across the distance toward the scattered habitations, +visible through the gloom. One tiny yellow dot of light which he +located held his glance. Should he return? That small stone hut, +squalid as it was, had been his only remembered home. But the thought +of the reception that awaited him there made him hesitate; the stars +coming out, seemed to lend courage to his resolution, and, with his +face yet turned toward the low long strip of land, sprinkled with the +faint, receding points of light, he fell asleep. + +The earliest shafts of morn, however, awaking him, sent him quickly +back into the dark forest, where all day he kept to the most shadowy +screens and covers, fearing he should be followed, and, perhaps, +captured. But the second night was like the first, the next like the +second, and the days continued to pass with no signs of pursuit. +Pinched by hunger, certain of the berries and roots he ate poisoned +him, until in time he profited by his sufferings and learned to +discriminate in his choice of the frugal fare about him. Not that his +appetite was ever satisfied, even when he extended his explorations to +the beach at night, digging in the sand with his fingers for cockles, +or prowling about the rocks for mussels. + +Yet, despite all, he hugged to his breast a compensating sense of +liberty; the biting tooth of autumn was preferable to the stripes and +tongue-lashings of the old life; and, if now frugal repasts were the +rule, hunger had often been his lot in the past. So he assimilated +with his surroundings; learned not to fear the animals, and they, to +know him; indeed, they seemed to recognize him by that sharp unsated +glint of the eye as one of their kind. When the days grew bleaker and +the nights colder, he took refuge in a corner within the gray walls of +the moss-grown castle of his ancestors, the old Seigneurs. No cheerful +place, above all at night, when the spirits of the dead seem to walk +abroad, and sobs, moans, and fierce voices fill the air! Then, +creeping closer to the fire he had started in the giant hearth, +wide-eyed he would listen, only at length through sheer weariness to +fall asleep. Nevertheless, it was a shelter, and here, throughout the +winter, the boy remained. + +Here, too, Sanchez, the Seigneur's old servant, returning months later +from long wanderings to the vicinity of the Mount--for no especial +reason, save the desire once more to see the place--had found him. And +at the sight the man frowned. + +In the later days, the Seigneur Desaurac had become somewhat unmindful, +if not forgetful, of his own flesh and blood. It may be that the +absorbing character of the large and chivalrous motives that animated +him left little disposition or leisure for private concerns; at any +rate, he seemed seldom to have thought, much less spoken of, that +"hostage of fortune" he had left behind; an absent-mindedness that in +no wise surprised the servant--which, indeed, met the man's full, +unspoken approval! The Seigneur, his master, was a nobleman of +untarnished ancestry, to be followed and served; the son--Sanchez had +never forgiven the mother her low-born extraction. He was, himself, a +peasant! + + + + +CHAPTER III + +A SUDDEN RESOLUTION + +After his chance encounter with my lady, the Governor's daughter, and +Beppo, her attendant, the boy walked quickly from the Mount to the +forest. His eyes were still bright; his cheeks yet burned, but +occasionally the shadow of a smile played about his mouth, and he threw +up his head fiercely. At the verge of the wood he looked back, stood +for a moment with the reflection of light on his face, then plunged +into the shadows of the sylvan labyrinth. Near the east door of the +castle, which presently he reached, he stopped for an armful of +faggots, and, bending under his load, passed through an entrance, +seared and battered, across a great roofless space and up a flight of +steps to a room that had once been the kitchen of the vast +establishment. As he entered, a man, thin, wizened, though active +looking, turned around. + +"So you've got back?" he said in a grumbling tone. + +"Yes," answered the boy good-naturedly, casting the wood to the +flagging near the flame and brushing his coat with his hand; "the storm +kept us out last night, Sanchez." + +"It'll keep you out for good some day," remarked the man. "You'll be +drowned, if you don't have a care." + +"Better that than being hanged!" returned the lad lightly. + +The other's response, beneath his breath, was lost, as he drew his +stool closer to the pot above the blaze, removed the lid and peered +within. Apparently his survey was not satisfactory, for he replaced +the cover, clasped his fingers over his knees and half closed his eyes. + +"Where's the fish?" + +The boy, thoughtfully regarding the flames, started; when he had left +the child and Beppo, unconsciously he had dropped it, but this he did +not now explain. "I didn't bring one." + +"Didn't bring one?" + +"No," said the boy, flushing slightly. + +"And not a bone or scrap in the larder! Niggardly fishermen! A small +enough wage--for going to sea and helping them--" + +"Oh, I could have had what I wanted. And they are not niggardly! +Only--I forgot." + +"Forgot!" The man lifted his hands, but any further evidence of +surprise or expostulation was interrupted by a sudden ebullition in the +pot. + +Left to his thoughts, the boy stepped to the window; for some time +stood motionless, gazing through a forest rift at the end of which +uprose the top of an Aladdin-like structure, by an optical illusion +become a part of that locality; a conjuror's castle in the wood! + +"The Mount looks near to-night, Sanchez!" + +"Near?" The man took from its hook the pot and set it on the table. +"Not too near to suit the Governor, perhaps!" + +"And why should it suit him?" drawing a stool to the table and sitting +down. + +"Because he must be so fond of looking at the forest." + +"And does that--please him?" + +"How could it fail to? Isn't it a nice wood? Oh, yes, I'll warrant +you he finds it to his liking. And all the lands about the forest that +used to belong to the old Seigneurs, and which the peasants have +taken--waste lands they have tilled--he must think them very fine to +look at, now! And what a hubbub there would be, if the lazy peasants +had to pay their metayage, and fire-tax and road-tax--and all the other +taxes--the way the other peasants do--to him--" + +"What do you mean?" + +"Nothing!" The man's jaw closed like a steel trap. "The porridge is +burned." + +And with no further word the meal proceeded. The man, first to finish, +lighted his pipe, moved again to the fire, and, maintaining a +taciturnity that had become more or less habitual, stolidly devoted +himself to the solace of the weed and the companionship of his own +reflections. Once or twice the boy seemed about to speak and did not; +finally, however, he leaned forward, a more resolute light in his +sparkling black eyes. + +"You never learned to read, Sanchez?" + +At the unexpected question, the smoke puffed suddenly from the man's +lips. "Not I." + +"Nor write?" + +The man made a rough gesture. "Nor sail to the moon!" he returned +derisively. "Read? Rubbish! Write? What for? Does it bring more +fish to your nets?" + +"Who--could show me how to read and write?" + +"You?" Sanchez stared. + +"Why not?" + +"Books are the tools of the devil!" declared Sanchez shortly. "There +was a black man here to-day with a paper--a 'writ,' I think he called +it--or a 'service' of some kind--anyhow, it must have been in Latin," +violently, "for such gibberish, I never heard and--" + +The boy rose. "People who can't read and write are low and ignorant!" + +"Eh? What's come over you?" + +"My father was a gentleman." + +"Your father!--yes--" + +"And a Seigneur!--" + +"A Seigneur truly!" + +"And I mean to be one!" said the boy suddenly, closing his fists. + +"Oh, oh! So that's it?" derisively. "You! A Seigneur? Whose +mother--" + +"Who could teach me?" Determined, but with a trace of color on his +brown cheek, the boy looked down. + +"Who?" The man began to recover from his surprise. "That's not so +easy to tell. But if you must know--well, there's Gabriel Gabarie, for +one, a poet of the people. He might do it--although there's talk of +cutting off his head--" + +"What for?" + +"For knowing how to write." + +The lad reached for his hat. + +"Where are you going?" + +"To the poet's." + +"At this late hour! You are in a hurry!" + +"If what you say is true, there's no time to lose." + +"Well, if you find him writing verses about liberty and equality, don't +interrupt him, or _you'll_ lose _your_ head," shouted the man. + +But when the sound of the boy's footsteps had ceased, Sanchez's +expression changed; more bent, more worn, he got up and walked slowly +to and fro. "A fine Seigneur!" The moldering walls seemed to echo the +words. "A fine Seigneur!" he muttered, and again sat brooding by the +fire. + +In the gathering dusk the lad strode briskly on. A squirrel barked to +the right; he did not look around. A partridge drummed to the left; +usually alert to wood sound or life, to-night he did not heed it. But, +fairly out of the forest and making his way with the same air of +resolution across the sands toward the lowland beyond, his attention, +on a sudden, became forcibly diverted. He had but half completed the +distance from the place where he had left the wood to the objective +point in the curvature of the shore, when to the left through the +gloom, a great vehicle, drawn by six horses, could be seen rapidly +approaching. From the imposing equipage gleamed many lamps; the moon, +which ere this had begun to assert its place in the heavens, made +bright the shining harness and shone on the polished surface of the +golden car. Wondering, the boy paused. + +"What is that?" + +The person addressed, a fisherman belated, bending to the burden on his +shoulders, stopped, and, breathing hard, looked around and watched the +approaching vehicle intently. + +"The Governor's carriage!" he said. "Haven't you ever heard of the +Governor's carriage?" + +"No." + +"That's because he hasn't used it lately; but in her ladyship's day--" + +"Her ladyship?" + +"The Governor's lady--he bought it for her. But she soon got tired of +it--or perhaps didn't like the way the people looked at her!" roughly. +"_Mon dieu!_ perhaps they did scowl a little--for it didn't please +them, I can tell you!--the sight of all that gold squeezed from the +taxes!" + +"Where is he going now?" + +"Nowhere himself--he never goes far from the Mount. But the Lady +Elise, his daughter--some one in the village was saying she was going +to Paris--" + +"Paris!" The lad repeated the word quickly. "What for?" + +"What do all the great lords and nobles send their children there for? +To get educated--married, and--to learn the tricks of the court! Bah!" +With a coarse laugh the man turned; stooping beneath his load, he moved +grumblingly on. + +The boy, however, did not stir; as in a dream he looked first at the +Mount, a dark triangle against the sky, then at the carriage. Nearer +the latter drew, was about to dash by, when suddenly the driver, on his +high seat, uttered an exclamation and at the same time tugged hard at +the reins. The vehicle took a quick turn, lurched dangerously in its +top-heavy pomp, and, almost upsetting, came to a standstill nearly +opposite the boy. + +"Careless dog!" a shrill voice screamed from the inside. "What are you +doing?" + +"The _lises_, your Excellency!" The driver's voice was thick; as he +spoke he swayed uncertainly. + +"_Lises_--quicksands--" + +"There, your Excellency," indicating a gleaming place right in their +path; a small bright spot that looked as if it might have been +polished, while elsewhere on the surrounding sands tiny rippling +parallels caressed the eye with streaks of black and silver. "I saw it +in time!" + +"In time!" angrily. "Imbecile! Didn't you know it was there?" + +"Of course, your Excellency! Only I had misjudged a little, and--" +The man's manner showed he was frightened. + +"Falsehoods! You have been drinking! Don't answer. You shall hear of +this later. Drive around the spot." + +"Yes, your Excellency," was the now sober and subdued answer. + +Ere he obeyed, however, the carriage door, from which the Governor had +been leaning, swung open. "Wait!" he called out impatiently, and tried +to close it, but the catch--probably from long disuse--would not hold, +and, before the liveried servant perched on the lofty carriage behind +had fully perceived the fact and had recovered himself sufficiently to +think of his duties, the boy on the beach had sprung forward. + +"Slam it!" commanded an irate voice. + +The lad complied, and as he did so, peered eagerly into the capacious +depths of the vehicle. + +"The boy with the fish!" exclaimed at the same time a girlish treble +within. + +"Eh?" my lord turned sharply. + +"An impudent lad who stopped the Lady Elise!" exclaimed the fat +man--surely Beppo--on the front seat. + +"Stopped the Lady Elise!" The Governor repeated the words slowly; an +ominous pause was followed by an abrupt movement on the part of the +child. + +"He did not stop me; it was I who nearly ran over him, and it was my +fault. Beppo does not tell the truth--he's a wicked man!--and I'm glad +I'm not going to see him any more! And the boy wasn't impudent; at +least until Beppo offered to strike him, and then, Beppo didn't! +Beppo," derisively, "was afraid!" + +"My lady," Beppo's voice was soft and unctuous, "construes forbearance +for fear." + +"Step nearer, boy!" + +Partly blinded by the lamps, the lad obeyed; was cognizant of a +piercing scrutiny; two hard, steely eyes that seemed to read his inmost +thoughts; a face, indistinguishable but compelling; beyond, something +white--a girl's dress--that moved and fluttered! + +"Who is he?" + +"A poor boy who lives in the woods, papa!" + +But Beppo bent forward and whispered, his words too low for the lad to +catch. Whatever his information, the Governor started; the questioning +glance on an instant brightened, and his head was thrust forward close +to the boy's. A chill seemed to pass over the lad, yet he did not +quail. + +"Good-by, boy!" said the child, and, leaning from the window, smiled +down at him. + +He tried to answer, when a hand pulled her in somewhat over-suddenly. + +"Drive on!" Again the shrill tones cut the air. "Drive on, I tell +you! _Diable_! What are you standing here for!" + +A whip lashed the air and the horses leaped forward. The back wheels +of the vehicle almost struck the lad, but, motionless, he continued +staring after it. Farther it drew away, and, as he remained thus he +discerned, or fancied he discerned, a girl's face at the back--a ribbon +that waved for a moment in the moonlight, and then was gone. + +Eight years elapsed before next he saw her. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A DANCE ON THE BEACH + +The great vernal equinox of April 178-, was the cause of certain +unusual movements of the tide, which made old mariners and +coast-fishermen shake their heads and gaze seaward, out of all +reckoning. At times, after a tempest, on this strange coast, the +waters would rise in a manner and at an hour out of the ordinary, and +then among the dwellers on the shore, there were those who +prognosticated dire unhappiness, telling how the sea had once devoured +two villages overnight, and how, beneath the sands, were homes intact, +with the people yet in their beds. + +Concerned with a disordered social system and men in and out of +dungeons, the Governor had little time and less inclination to note the +caprices of the tide or the vagaries of the strand. The people! The +menacing and mercurial ebb and flow of their moods! The maintenance of +autocratic power on the land, and, a more difficult task, on the +sea--these were matters of greater import than the phenomena of nature +whose purposes man is powerless to shape or curb. My lady, his +daughter, however, who had just returned from seven years' schooling at +a convent and one year at court where the Queen, Marie Antoinette, set +the fashion of gaiety, found in the conduct of their great neighbor, +the ocean, a source of both entertainment and instruction for her +guests, a merry company transported from Versailles. + +"Is it not a sight well worth seeing after your tranquil Seine, my +Lords?" she would say with a wave of her white hand toward the restless +sea. "Here, perched in mid air like eagles, you have watched the +'grand tide,' as we call it, come in--like no other tide--faster than a +horse can gallop! Where else could you witness the like?" + +"Nowhere. And when it goes out--" + +"It goes out so far, you can no longer see it; only a vast beach that +reaches to the horizon, and--" + +"Must be very dangerous?" + +"For a few days, perhaps; later, not at all, when the petites tides are +the rule, and can be depended on. Then are the sands, except for one +or two places very well-known, as safe as your gardens at Versailles. +But remain, and--you shall see." + +Which they did--finding the place to their liking--or their hostess; +for the Governor, who cared not for guests, but must needs entertain +them for reasons of state, left them as much as might be to his +daughter. She, brimming with the ardor and effervescence of eighteen +years, accepted these responsibilities gladly; pending that period she +had referred to, turned the monks' great refectory into a ball-room, +and then, when the gales had swept away, proposed the sands themselves +as a scene for diversion both for her guests and the people. This, +despite the demur of his Excellency, her father. + +"Is it wise," he had asked, "to court the attention of the people?" + +"Oh, I am not afraid!" she had answered. "And they are going to dance, +too!" + +"They!" He frowned. + +"Why not? It is the Queen's own idea. 'Let the people dance,' she has +said, 'and they will keep out of mischief.' Besides," with a prouder +poise of the bright head, "why shouldn't they see, and--like me?" + +"They like nothing except themselves, and," dryly, "to attempt to evade +their just obligations." + +"Can you blame them?" She made a light gesture. "Obligations, _mon +pere_, are so tiresome!" + +"Well, well," hastily, "have your own way!" Although he spoke rather +shortly, on the whole he was not displeased with his daughter; her +betrothal with the Marquis de Beauvillers, a nobleman of large +estates,--arranged while she was yet a child!--promised a brilliant +marriage and in a measure offered to his Excellency some compensation +for that old and long-cherished disappointment--the birth of a girl +when his ambition had looked so strongly for an heir to his name as +well as to his estate. + +And so my lady and her guests danced and made merry on the sands below, +and the people came out from the mainland, or down from the houses in +the town at the base of the rock, to watch. A varied assemblage of +gaunt-looking men and bent, low-browed women, for the most part they +stood sullen and silent; though exchanging meaning glances now and then +as if to say: "Do you note all this ostentation--all this glitter and +display? Yes; and some day--" Upon brooding brows, in deep-set eyes, +on furrowed faces a question and an answer seemed to gleam and pass. +Endowed with natural optimism and a vivacity somewhat heedless, my lady +appeared unconscious of all this latent enmity until an unlooked-for +incident, justifying in a measure the Governor's demur, broke in upon +the evening's festivities and claimed her attention. + +On the beach, lighted by torches, a dainty minuet was proceeding gaily, +when through the throng of onlookers, a young man with dark head set on +a frame tall and powerful, worked his way carefully to a point where he +was afforded at least a restricted view of the animated spectacle. +Absorbed each in his or her way in the scene before them, no one +noticed him, and, with hat drawn over his brow, and standing in the +shadow of the towering head-dresses of several peasant women, he seemed +content to attract as little attention to himself as possible. His +look, at first quick and alert, that of a man taking stock of his +surroundings, suddenly became intent and piercing, as, passing in +survey over the lowly spectators to the glittering company, it centered +itself on the young mistress of festivities. + +In costume white and shining, the Lady Elise moved through the graceful +numbers, her slender supple figure now poised, now swaying, from head +to foot responsive to the rhythm of that "pastime of little steps." +Her lips, too, were busy, but such was the witchery of her motion--all +fire and life!--the silk-stockinged cavaliers whom she thus regaled +with wit, mockery, or jest, could, for the most part, respond only with +admiring glances or weakly protesting words. + +"That pretty fellow, her partner," with a contemptuous accent on the +adjective, "is the Marquis de Beauvillers, a kinsman of the King!" said +one of the women in the throng. + +"_Ma foi_! They're well matched. A dancing doll for a popinjay!" + +The young man behind the head-dresses, now nodding viciously, moved +nearer the front. Dressed in the rough though not unpicturesque +fashion of the northern fisherman, a touch of color in his apparel lent +to his bearing a note of romance the bold expression of his swarthy +face did not belie. For a few moments he watched the girl; the +changing eyes and lips, shadowed by hair that shone and flashed like +bright burnished gold; then catching her gaze, the black eyes gleamed. +An instant their eyes lingered; hers startled, puzzled. + +"Where have I seen him?" My lady, in turning, paused to swing over her +shoulders a glance. + +"Whom?" asked her companion in the dance--a fair, handsome nobleman of +slim figure and elegant bearing. + +"That's just what I can't tell you," she answered, sweeping a courtesy +that fitted the rhythm of the music. "Only a face I should remember!" + +"Should?" The Marquis' look followed hers. + +But the subject of their conversation, as if divining the trend of +their talk, had drawn back. + +"Oh, he is gone now," she answered. + +"A malcontent, perhaps! One meets them nowadays." + +"No, no! He did not look--" + +"Some poor fellow, then, your beauty has entrapped?" he insinuated. +"Humble admirer!" + +"Then I would remember him!" she laughed as the dance came to an end. + +Now in a tented pavilion, servants, richly garbed in festal costume, +passed among the guests, circulating trays, bright with golden dishes +and goblets, stamped with the ancient insignia of the Mount, and once +the property of the affluent monks, early rulers of the place. Other +attendants followed, bearing light delicacies, confections and +marvelous frosted towers and structures from the castle kitchen. + +"The patron saint in sugar!" Merry exclamations greeted these examples +of skill and cunning. "Are we to devour the saint?" + +"Ah, no; he is only to look at!" + +"But the Mount in cake--?" + +"You may cut into that--though beware!--not so deep as the dungeons!" + +"A piece of the cloister!" + +"A bit of the abbey!" + +"And you, Elise?" + +The girl reached gaily. "A little of the froth of the sea!" + +Meanwhile, not far distant, a barrel had been broached and wine was +being circulated among the people. There, master of ceremonies, Beppo +dispensed advice with the beverage, his grumbling talk heard above the +light laughter and chatter of the lords and ladies. + +"Drink to his Excellency!" As he spoke, the Governor's man, from the +elevated stand upon which he stood, gazed arrogantly around him. +"Clods! Sponges that sop without a word of thanks! Who only think of +your stomachs! Drink to the Governor, I say!" + +"To the Governor!" exclaimed a few, but it might have been noticed they +were men from the town, directly beneath the shadow of his Excellency's +castle, and now close within reach of the fat factotum's arm. + +"Once more! Had I the ordering of wine, the barrels would all be empty +ones, but her ladyship would be generous, and--" + +Beppo broke abruptly off, his wandering glance, on a sudden, arrested. + +"_Hein!_" he exclaimed, with eyes protruding. + +A moment he stammered a few words of surprise and incredulity, the +while he continued to search eagerly--but now in vain! The object of +his startled attention, illumined, for an instant, on the outskirts of +the throng, by the glare of a torch, was no more to be descried. As +questioning the reality of a fleeting impression, his gaze fixed itself +again near the edge of flickering lights; shifted uncertainly to the +pavilion where servants from the Mount hurried to and fro; then back to +the people around him. His jaw which had dropped grew suddenly firm. + +"Clear a space for the dance!" he called out in tones impatient, +excited. "It is her ladyship's command--so see you step blithely! And +you fellows there, with the _tambourin_ and _hautbois_, come forward!" + +Two men, clad in sheepskin and carrying rude instruments, obediently +advanced, and at once, in marked contrast to the recent tinkling +measures of the orchestra, a wild, half-barbaric concord rang out. + +But the Governor's man, having thus far executed the orders he had +received, did not linger to see whether or not his own injunction, "to +step blithely," was observed; some concern, remote from _gaillarde_, +_gavotte_ or _bourree_ of the people, caused him hastily to dismount +from his stand and make his way from the throng. As he started at a +rapid pace across the sands, his eyes, now shining with anticipation, +looked back. + +"What could have brought him here? Him!" he repeated. "Ah, my fine +fellow, this should prove a lucky stroke for me!" And quickening his +step, until he almost ran, Beppo hurried toward the tower gate of the +Mount. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +AN INTERRUPTION + +"They seem not to appreciate your _fete champetre_, my Lady!" At the +verge of the group of peasant dancers, the Lady Elise and the Marquis +de Beauvillers, who had left the other guests to the enjoyment of fresh +culinary surprises, paused to survey a scene, intended, yet failing, to +be festal. For whether these people were too sodden to avail +themselves of the opportunity for merrymaking, or liked not the notion +of tripping together at Beppo's command, their movements, which should +have been free and untrammeled as the vigorous swing of the music, were +characterized only by painful monotony and lagging. In the half-gloom +they came together like shadows; separated aimlessly and cast misshapen +silhouettes--caricatures of frolicking peasants--on the broad surface +of the sands beyond. These bobbing, black spots my lady disapprovingly +regarded. + +"They seem not in the mood, truly!" tapping her foot on the beach. + +"Here--and elsewhere!" he laughed. + +But the Governor's daughter made an impatient movement; memories of the +dance, as she had often seen it, when she was a child at the Mount, +recurred to her. "They seem to have forgotten!" Her eyes flashed. "I +should like to show them." + +"You? My Lady!" + +She did not answer; pressing her red lips, she glanced sharply around. +"Stupid people! Half of them are only looking on! When they can +dance, they won't, and--" She gave a slight start, for near her, +almost at her elbow, stood the young seaman she had observed only a +short time before, when the minuet was in progress. His dark eyes were +bent on her and she surprised on his face an expression half derisory, +half quizzical. Her look changed to one of displeasure. + +"You are not dancing?" severely. + +"No, my Lady." Too late, perhaps, he regretted his temerity--that too +unveiled and open regard. + +"Why not?" more imperiously. + +"I--" he began and stopped. + +"You _can_ dance?" + +"A little, perhaps--" + +"As well as they?" looking at the people. + +"Wooden fantoccini!" said the man, a flicker of bold amusement +returning to his face. + +"Fantoccini?" spoke the girl impatiently. "What know _you_ of them?" + +"We Breton seamen sail far, on occasion." + +"Far enough to gain in assurance!" cried my lady, with golden head +high, surveying him disdainfully through half-closed, sweeping lashes. +"But you shall prove your right." + +"Right?" asked the fellow, his eyes fixed intently upon her. + +"The right of one who does not dance--to criticize those who do!" she +said pointedly, and made, on the sudden, an imperious gesture. + +He gave a start of surprise; audacious though he was, he looked as if +he would draw back. "What? With you, my Lady?" + +A gleam of satisfaction, a little cold and scornful, shone from the +girl's eyes at this evidence of his discomfiture. "Unless," she added +maliciously, "you fear you--can not?" + +"Fear?" His look shot around; a moment he seemed to hesitate; then a +more reckless expression swept suddenly over his dark features and he +sprang to her side. + +"At your Ladyship's command!" + +My lady's white chin lifted. The presumptuous fellow knew the dance of +the Mount--danced it well, no doubt!--else why such ease and assurance? +Her lids veiled a look of disappointment; she was half-minded curtly to +dismiss him, when a few words of low remonstrance and the sight of my +lord's face decided her. She drew aside her skirts swiftly; flashed +back at the nobleman a smile, capricious and wilful. + +[Illustration: The presumptuous fellow knew the dance of the Mount] + +"They," indicating the peasants, "must have an example, my Lord!" she +exclaimed, and stood, with eyes sparkling, waiting the instant to catch +up the rhythm. + +But the Marquis, not finding the reason sufficient to warrant such +condescension, gazed with mute protest and disapproval on the two +figures, so ill-assorted: my lady, in robe of satin, fastened with +tassels of silver--the sleeves, wide and short, trimmed at the elbow +with fine lace of Brussels and drawn up at the shoulder with glistening +knots of diamonds; the other, clad in the rough raiment of a seaman! +The nice, critical sense of the Marquis suffered from this spectacle of +the incongruous; his eyes, seeking in vain those of the Governor's +daughter, turned and rested querulously on the heavy-browed peasants, +most of whom, drawing nearer, viewed the scene with stolid +indifference. In the gaze of only a few did that first stupid +expression suffer any change; then it varied to one of vague wonder, +half-apathetic inquiry! + +"Is he mad?" whispered a clod of this class to a neighbor. + +"Not so loud!" breathed the other in a low tone. + +"But he," regarding with dull awe the young fisherman, "doesn't care! +Look! What foolhardiness! He's going to dance with her!" + +"Witchcraft! That's what I call it!" + +"Hush!" + +My lady extended the tips of her fingers. "Attack well!" runs the old +Gallic injunction to dancers; the partner she had chosen apparently +understood its significance. A lithe muscular hand closed on the small +one; whirled my lady swiftly; half back again. It took away her breath +a little, so forcible and unceremonious that beginning! Then, obeying +the mad rhythm of the movement, she yielded to the infectious measure. +An arm quickly encircled her waist; swept the slender form +here,--there. Never had she had partner so vigorous, yet graceful. +One who understood so well this song of the soil; its wild symbolism; +the ancient music of the hardy Scandinavians who first brought the +dance to these shores. + +More stirring, the melodies resounded--faster--faster. In a rapid +turn, the golden hair just brushed the dark, glowing face. He bent +lower; as if she had been but a peasant maid, the bold eyes looked now +down into hers; nay, more--in their depths she might fancy almost a +warmer sparkle--of mute admiration! And her face, on a sudden, +changed; grew cold. + +"_Certes_, your Ladyship sets them an example!" murmured the audacious +fellow. "Though, _pardi!_--one not easy to imitate!" + +She threw back her head, proudly, imperiously; the brown eyes gleamed, +and certain sharp words of reproof were about to spring from her lips, +when abruptly, above the sound of the music, a trumpet call, afar, rang +out. My lady--not sorry perhaps of the pretext--at once stopped. + +"I thank your Ladyship," said the man and bowed low. + +But the Governor's daughter seemed, or affected, not to hear, regarding +the other dancers, who likewise had come to a standstill--the two +musicians looking up from instruments now silent. A moment yet the +young fisherman lingered; seemed about once more to voice his +acknowledgments, but, catching the dull eye of a peasant, stepped back +instead. + +"_Sapristi_! They might, at least, have waited until the end of the +dance!" he muttered, and, with a final look over his shoulder and a low +laugh, disappeared in the crowd. + +"Where are the enemy?" It was the Marquis who spoke--in accents he +strove to make light and thereby conceal, perhaps, possible annoyance. +Coming forward, he looked around toward the point whence the sound had +proceeded. "If I mistake not," a note of inquiry in his tone, "it +means--a call to arms!" + +My lady bit her lips; her eyes still gleamed with the bright cold light +of a topaz. "Why--a call to arms?" she asked somewhat petulantly, +raising her hand to her hair, a little disarranged in the dance. + +"Perhaps, as a part of the military discipline?" murmured the Marquis +dubiously. "See!" With sudden interest, he indicated a part of the +Mount that had been black against the star-spangled sky, now showing +sickly points of light. "It does mean something! They are coming +down!" + +And even as the Marquis spoke, a clatter of hoofs on the stone pavement +leading from the Mount to the sand ushered a horseman into view. He +was followed by another and yet another, until in somewhat desultory +fashion, owing to the tortuous difficulties of the narrow way that had +separated them above, an array of mounted men was gathered at the base +of the rock. But only for a moment; a few words from one of their +number, evidently in command, and they dispersed; some to ride around +the Mount to the left, others to the right. + +"Perhaps Elise will enlighten us?" Of one accord her guests now +crowded around the girl. + +"Does the Governor intend to take us prisoners?" + +"You imply it is necessary to do that--to keep you?" answered my lady. + +"Then why--" + +Her expression, as perplexed as theirs, answered. + +"Beppo!" She waved her hand. + +The Governor's servitor, who was passing, with an anxious, inquiring +look upon his face, glanced around. + +"Beppo!" she repeated, and beckoned again. + +The man approached. "Your Ladyship wishes to speak with me?" he asked +in a voice he endeavored to make unconcerned. + +"I do." In her manner the old antipathy she had felt toward him as a +child again became manifest. "What do the soldiers want? Why have +they come down?" + +His eyes shifted. "I--my Lady--" he stammered. + +The little foot struck the strand. "Why don't you answer? You heard +my question?" + +"I am sorry, my Lady--" Again he hesitated: "_Le Seigneur Noir_ has +been seen on the beach!" + +"_Le Seigneur Noir?_" she repeated. + +"Yes, my Lady. He was caught sight of among the peasants, at the time +the barrels were opened, in accordance with your Ladyship's command. I +assure your Ladyship," with growing eagerness, "there can be no +mistake, as--" + +"Who," interrupted my lady sharply, "_is_ this Black Seigneur?" + +Beppo's manner changed. "A man," he said solemnly, "his Excellency, +the Governor, has long been most anxious to capture." + +The girl's eyes flashed with impatience, and then she began to laugh. +"Saw you ever, my Lords and Ladies, his equal for equivocation? You +put to him the question direct, and he answers--" + +The loud report of a carbine from the other side of the Mount, followed +by a desultory volley, interrupted her. The laughter died on her lips; +the color left her cheek. + +"What--" The startled look in her eyes completed the sentence. + +Beppo rubbed his hands softly. "His Excellency takes no chances!" he +murmured. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A MESSENGER FOR MY LADY + +"So you failed to capture him, Monsieur le Commandant?" + +The speaker, the Marquis de Beauvillers, leaned more comfortably back +in his chair in the small, rather barely furnished barracks' +sitting-room in which he found himself later that night and languidly +surveyed the florid, irate countenance of the man in uniform before him. + +"No, Monsieur le Marquis," said the latter, endeavoring to conceal any +evidence of mortification or ill humor in the presence of a visitor so +distinguished; "we didn't. But," as if to turn the conversation, with +a gesture toward a well-laden table, "I should feel honored if--" + +"Thank you, no! After our repast on the beach--however, stand on no +ceremony yourself. Nay, I insist--" + +"If Monsieur le Marquis insists!--" The commandant drew up his chair; +then, reaching for a bottle, poured out a glass of wine, which he +offered his guest. + +"No, no!" said the Marquis. "But as I remarked before, stand on no +ceremony!" And daintily opening a snuff-box, he watched his host with +an expression half-amused, half-ironical. + +That person ate and drank with little relish; the wine--so he said--had +spoiled; and the dishes were without flavor; it was fortunate Monsieur +le Marquis had no appetite-- + +Whereupon the Marquis smiled; but, considering the circumstances, in +his own mind excused the commandant, who had only just come from the +Governor's palace, and who, after the interview that undoubtedly had +ensued, could hardly be expected to find the pate palatable, or the +wine to his liking. This, despite the complaisance of the young +nobleman whom the commandant had encountered, while descending from the +Governor's abode, and who, adapting his step to the other's had +accompanied the officer back to his quarters, and graciously accepted +an invitation to enter. + +"Well, you know the old saying," the Marquis closed the box with a +snap, "'There's many a slip'--but how," airily brushing with his +handkerchief imaginary particles from a long lace cuff, "did he get +away?" + +"He _had_ got away before we were down on the beach. It was a +wild-goose chase, at best. And so I told his Excellency, the +Governor--" + +"A thankless task, no doubt! But the shots we heard--" + +"An imbecile soldier saw a shadow; fired at it, and--" + +"The others followed suit?" laughed the visitor. + +"Exactly!" The commandant's face grew red; fiercely he pulled at his +mustache. "What can one expect, when they make soldiers out of every +dunderpate that comes along?" + +"True!" assented the Marquis. "But this fellow, this Black +Seigneur--why is the Governor so anxious to lay hands on him? Who is +he, and what has he done? I confess," languidly, "to a mild curiosity." + +"He's a privateersman and an outlaw, and has done enough to hang +himself a dozen times--" + +"When you capture him!" interposed the visitor lightly. A moment he +studied the massive oak beams of the ceiling. "Why do they call him +the Black Seigneur? An odd sobriquet!" + +"His father was a Seigneur--the last of the fief of Desaurac. The +Seigneurs have all been fair men for generations, while this fellow--" + +"Then he has noble blood in him?" The Marquis showed surprise. "Where +is the fief?" + +"The woods on the shore mark the beginning of it." + +"But--I don't understand. The father was a Seigneur; the son--" + +Bluntly the commandant explained; the son was a natural child; the +mother, a common peasant woman whom the former Seigneur had taken to +his house-- + +"I see!" The young nobleman tapped his knee. "And that being the +case--" + +"Under the terms of the ancient grant, there being no legal heir, the +lands were confiscated to the crown. His Excellency, however, had +already bought many of the incumbrances against the property, and, in +view of this, and his services to the King, the fief, declared +forfeited by the courts, was subsequently granted and deeded, without +condition, to the Governor." + +"To the Governor!" repeated the Marquis. + +"Who at once began a rare clearing-out; forcing the peasants who for +years had not been paying metayage, to meet this just requirement, +or--move away!" + +"And did not some of them object?" + +"They did; but his Excellency found means. The most troublesome were +arrested and taken to the Mount, where they have had time to +reflect--his Excellency believes in no half-way measures with peasants." + +"A rich principality, no doubt!" half to himself spoke the Marquis. + +"I have heard," blurted the commandant, "he's going to give it to the +Lady Elise; restore the old castle and turn the grounds surrounding it +into a noble park." + +The visitor frowned, as if little liking the introduction of the lady's +name into the conversation. "And what did the Black Seigneur do then," +he asked coldly, "when he found his lands gone?" + +"Claimed it was a plot!--that his mother was an honest woman, though +neither the priest who performed the ceremony nor the marriage records +could be found. He even resisted at first--refused to be turned +out--and, skulking about the forest with his gun, kept the deputies at +bay. But they surrounded him at last; drove him to the castle, and +would have captured him, only he escaped that night, and took to the +high seas, where he has been making trouble ever since!" + +"Trouble?" + +"He has seriously hampered his Excellency's commerce; interfered with +his ships, and crippled his trade with the Orient." + +"But--the Governor has many boats, many men. Why have they failed to +capture him?" + +"For a number of reasons. In the first place he is one of the most +skilful pilots on the coast; when hard pressed, he does not hesitate to +use even the Isles des Rochers as a place of refuge." + +"The Isles des Rochers?" queried the nobleman. + +"A _chevaux-de-frise_ on the sea, my Lord!" continued the commandant; +"where fifty barren isles are fortified by a thousand rocks; frothing +fangs when the tide is low; sharp teeth that lie in wait to bite when +the smiling lips of the treacherous waters have closed above! There, +the Governor's ships have followed him on several occasions, and--few +of them have come back!" + +"But surely there must be times when he can not depend on that retreat?" + +"There are, my Lord. His principal harbor and resort is a little isle +farther north--English, they call it--that offers refuge at any time to +miscreants from France. There may they lie peacefully, as in a cradle; +or go ashore with impunity, an they like. Oh, he is safe enough there. +Home for French exiles, they designate the place. Exiles! Bah! It +was there he first found means to get his ship--sharing his profits, no +doubt, with the islander who built her. There, too, he mustered his +crew--savage peasants who had been turned off the lands of the old +Seigneur; fisher-folk who had become outlaws rather than pay to the +Governor just dues from the sea; men fled from the _banalite_ of the +mill, of the oven, of the wine-press--" + +"Still must he be a redoubtable fellow, to have done what he did +to-night; to have dared mingle with the people, under the Governor's +very guns!" + +"The people! He has nothing to fear from them. An ignorant, low, +disloyal lot! They look upon this fellow as a hero. He has played his +cards well; sends money to the lazy, worthless ones, under pretext that +they are poor, over-taxed, over-burdened. In his company is one +Gabriel Gabarie, a poet of the people, as he is styled, who keeps in +touch with those stirring trouble in Paris. Perhaps they hope for an +insurrection there, and then--" + +"An insurrection?" The Marquis' delicate features expressed ironical +protest; he dismissed the possibility with an airy wave of the hand. +"One should never anticipate trouble, Monsieur le Commandant," he said +lightly and rose. "Good night." + +"Good night, Monsieur le Marquis," returned the officer with due +deference, and accompanied his noble visitor to the door. + +At first, without the barracks, the Marquis walked easily on, but soon +the steepness of the narrow road, becoming more marked as it approached +the commanding structures at the top of the Mount, caused his gait +gradually to slacken; then he paused altogether, at an upper platform. + +From where he stood, by day could be seen, almost directly beneath, the +tiny habitations of men clinging like limpets to the precipitous sides +of the rocks at the base; now was visible only a void, an abysm, out of +which swam the sea; so far below, a boat looked no larger than a gull +on its silver surface; so immense, the dancing waves seemed receding to +a limit beyond the reach of the heavens. + +"You found him?" A girl's clear voice broke suddenly upon him. He +wheeled. + +"Elise! You!" + +"Yes! why not? You found him? The commandant?" + +"At your command, but--" + +"And learned all?" + +"All he could tell." + +"It is reported at the castle that the man escaped!" quickly. + +"It is true. But," in a voice of languid surprise, "I believe you are +glad--" + +"No, no!" She shook her head. "Only," a smile curved her lips, "Beppo +will be so disappointed! Now," seating herself lightly on the low wall +of the giant rampart, "tell me all you have learned about this Black +Seigneur." + +The Marquis, considered; with certain reservations obeyed. At the +conclusion of his narrative, she spoke no word and he turned to her +inquiringly. Her brows were knit; her eyes down-bent. A moment he +regarded her in silence; then she looked up at him suddenly. + +"I wonder," she said, her face bathed in the moonlight, "if--if it was +this Black Seigneur I danced with?" + +"The Black Seigneur!" My lord started; frowned. "Nonsense! What an +absurd fancy! He would not have dared!" + +"True," said the girl quickly. "You are right, my Lord. It is absurd. +He would not have dared." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A DISTANT MENACE + +But guests come and guests go; pastimes draw to a close, and the hour +arrives when the curtain falls on the masque. The friends of my lady, +however reluctantly, were obliged at last to forgo further +holiday-making, depart from the Mount, and return to the court. An +imposing cavalcade, gleaming in crimson and gold, they wended down the +dark rock; laughing ladies, pranked-out cavaliers who waved their +perfumed hands with farewell kisses to the grim stronghold in the +desert, late their palace of pleasure, and to the young mistress +thereof. + +"Good-by, Elise!" The Marquis was last to go. + +"Good-by." + +He took her hand; held it to his lips. On the whole, he was not +ill-pleased. His wooing had apparently prospered; for, although the +marriage had been long arranged, my lady's beauty and capriciousness +had fanned in him the desire to appear a successful suitor for her +heart as well as her hand. If sometimes she laughed and thus failed to +receive his delicate gallantries in the mood in which they were +tendered, the Marquis' vanity only allowed him to conclude that a woman +does not laugh if she is displeased. It was enough that she found him +diverting; he served her; they were friends and had danced and ridden +through the spring days in amicable fashion. + +"Good-by," he repeated. "When are you coming to court again? The +Queen is sure to ask. I understand her Majesty is planning all manner +of brilliant entertainments, yet Versailles--without you, Elise!" + +"Me?" arching her finely penciled brows. "Oh, I'm thinking of staying +here, becoming a nun, and restoring the Mount to its old religious +prestige." + +"Then I'll come back a monk," he returned in the same tone. + +"If you come back at all!" provokingly. "There, go! The others will +soon be out of sight!" + +"I, too--alas, Elise!" + +He touched his horse; rode on, but soon looked back to where, against a +great, grim wall, stood a figure all in white gleaming in the sunshine. +The Marquis stopped; drew from his breast a deep red rose, and, gazing +upward, gracefully kissed the glowing token. Beneath the aureole of +golden hair my lady's proud face rewarded him with a faint smile, and +something--a tiny handkerchief--fluttered like a dove above the +frowning, time-worn rock. At that, with the eloquent gesture of a +troubadour, he threw his arm backward, as if to launch the impress on +the rose to the crimson lips of the girl, and then, plying his spurs, +galloped off. + +And as he went at a pace, headlong if not dangerous and fitting the +exigencies of the moment, my lord smiled. Truly had he presented a +perfect, dainty and gallant figure for any woman's eyes, and the Lady +Elise, he fancied, was not the least discerning of her sex. And had he +seen the girl, when an unkind angle of the wall hid him from sight, his +own nice estimate of the situation would have suffered no change. The +Mount, which formerly had resounded to the life and merriment of the +people from the court, on a sudden to her looked cold, barren, empty. + +"Heigh-ho!" she murmured, stretching her arms toward that point where +he--they--had vanished. "I shall die of ennui, I am sure!" And +thoughtfully retraced her steps to her own room. + +But she did not long stay there; by way of makeshift for gaiety, +substituted activity. The Mount, full of early recollections and +treasure-house mystery, furnished an incentive for exploration, and for +several days she devoted herself to its study; now pausing for an +instant's contemplation of a sculptured thing of beauty, then before +some closed door that held her, as at the threshold of a Bluebeard's +forbidden chamber. + +One day, such a door stood open and her curiosity became cured. She +had passed beneath a machicolated gateway, and climbing a stairway that +began in a watch-tower, found herself unexpectedly on a great platform. +Here several men, unkempt, pale, like creatures from another world, +were walking to and fro; but at sight of her, an order was issued and +they vanished through a trap--all save one, a misshapen dwarf who +remained to shut the iron door, adjust the fastening and turn a +ponderous key. For a moment she stood staring. + +"Why did you do that?" she asked angrily. + +"The Governor's orders," said the man, bowing hideously. "They are to +see no one." + +"Then let them up at once! Do you hear? At once!" + +And as he began to unlock the door, walked off. After that, her +interest in the rock waned; the Mount seemed but a prison; she, +herself, desired only to escape from it. + +"Have my saddle put on Saladin," she said to Beppo the next day, toward +the end of a long afternoon. + +"Very well, my Lady. Who accompanies your Ladyship?" + +"No one!" With slight emphasis. "I ride alone." + +Beppo discretely suppressed his surprise. "Is your Ladyship going far? +If so, I beg to remind that to-night is the change of the moon, and the +'grand,' not the 'little' tide may be coming in." + +"I was already aware of it, and shall keep between the Mount and the +shore. Have my horse sent to the upper gate," she added, and soon +afterward rode down. + +The town was astir, and many looked after her as she passed; not +kindly, but with the varying expressions she had of late begun to +notice. Again was she cognizant of that feeling of secret antagonism, +even from these people whose houses clung to the very foundations of +her own abode, and her lips set tightly. Why did they hate her? What +right had they to hate her? A sensation, almost of relief, came over +her, when passing through the massive, feudal gate, she found herself +on the beach. + +Still and languorous was the day; not a breath stirred above the tiny +ripples of the sand; a calm, almost unnatural, seemed to wrap the world +in its embrace. The girl breathed deeper, feeling the closeness of the +air; her impatient eyes looked around; scanned the shore; to the left, +low and flat--to the right, marked by the dark fringe of a forest. +Which way should she go? Irresolutely she turned in the direction of +the wood. + +Saladin, her horse, seemed in unusually fine fettle, and the distance +separating her from the land was soon covered; but still she continued +to follow the shore, swinging around and out toward a point some +distance seaward. Not until she had reached that extreme projection of +land, where the wooing green crept out from the forest as far as it +might, did she draw rein. Saladin stopped, albeit with protest, +tossing his great head. + +"You might as well make an end of that, sir!" said the girl, and, +springing from the saddle, deftly secured him. Then turning her back +toward the Mount, a shadowy pyramid in the distance, she seated herself +in the grass with her eyes to the woods. + +Not long, however, did my lady remain thus; soon rising, she walked +toward the shadowy depths. At the verge she paused; her brows grew +thoughtful; what was it the woods recalled? Suddenly, she +remembered--a boy she had met the night she left for school so long +ago, had told her he lived in them. She recalled, too, as a child, how +the woman, Marie, who had been maid to her mother, had tried to +frighten her about that sequestered domain, with tales of fierce wild +animals and unearthly creatures, visible and invisible, that roamed +within. + +She had no fear now, though faint rustlings and a pulsation of sound +held her listening. Then, through the leafy interstice, a gleaming and +flashing, as if some one were throwing jewels to the earth, lured her +on to the cause of the seeming enchantment--a tiny waterfall! + +The moment passed; still she lingered. Around the Mount's high top, +her own home, only transcendent silence reigned; here was she +surrounded by babbling voices and all manner of merry creatures--lively +little squirrels; winged insects, romping in the twilight shade; a +portly and well-satisfied appearing green monster who regarded her +amicably from a niche of green. A butterfly, poised and waving its +wings, held her a long time--until she was suddenly aroused by the wood +growing darker. Raising her eyes, she saw through the green foliage +overhead that the bright sky had become sunless. At the same time a +rumbling detonation, faint, far-off, broke in upon the whisperings and +tinklings of that wood nook. Getting up, she stood for a moment +listening; then walked away. + +Near the verge of the sand, Saladin greeted her with impatience, +tossing his head toward the darkening heavens. Nor did he wait until +she was fairly seated before starting back at a rapid gait along the +shore. But the girl offered no protest; her face showed only +enjoyment. A little wild he might be at times, as became one of rugged +ancestry, but never vicious, only headstrong! And she didn't mind +that-- + +Already had he begun to slack that first thundering pace when something +white--a veil, perhaps, dropped from the cavalcade of lords and ladies +some days before on the land and wafted to the beach--fluttered like a +live thing suddenly before him. In his tense mood, Saladin, +affrighted, sprang to one side; then wheeling outright, madly took the +bit in his teeth. Perforce his mistress resigned herself, sitting +straight and sure, with little hands hard and firm at the reins. +Saladin was behaving very badly, but--at least he was superb, worth +conquering, if-- + +A brief thrill of apprehension seized her as, again drawing near the +point of land, he showed no signs of yielding; resisted all her +attempts to turn, to direct him to it. With nostrils thrust forward +and breathing strong, he continued to choose his own course; to whirl +her on; past the promontory; around into the great bay beyond--now a +vast expanse, or desert of sand, broken only, about half-way across, by +the small isle of Casque. Toward this rocky formation, a pygmy to the +great Mount from which it lay concealed by the intervening projection +of land, the horse rushed. + +On, on! In vain she still endeavored to stop him; thinking uneasily of +stories the fishermen told of this neighboring coast; of the sands that +often shifted here, setting pitfalls for the unwary. She saw the sky +grow yet darker, noted the nearer flashings of light, and heard the +louder rumblings that followed. Then presently another danger she had +long been conscious of, on a sudden became real. + +She saw, or thought she saw, a faint streak, like a silver line drawn +across the sky where the yellow sands touched the sombrous horizon. +And Saladin seemed to observe it, too; to detect in it cause for +wonder; reason for hesitation. At any rate, that headlong speed now +showed signs of diminishing; he clipped and tossed the sand less +vigorously, and looked around at his mistress with wild, uneasy eyes. +Again she spoke to him; pulled with all her strength at the reins, and, +at once, he stopped. + +None too soon! Great drops of rain had begun to fall, but the girl did +not notice them. The white line alone riveted her attention! It +seemed to grow broader; to acquire an intangible movement of its own; +at the same time to give out a sound--a strange, low droning that +filled the air. Heard for the first time, a stranger at the Mount +would have found it inexplicable; to the Governor's daughter, the +menacing cadence left no room for doubt as to its origin. + +The girl's cheek paled; her gaze swung in the opposite direction, +toward the point of land, now so distant. Could they reach it? She +did not believe they could; indeed, the "grand" tide coming up behind +on the verge of the storm, faster than any horse could gallop, would +overtake them midway. And Saladin seemed to know it also; beneath her, +he trembled. Yet must they try, she thought, and had tightened the +reins to turn, when looking ahead once more, she discerned a break in +the forbidding cliffs of the little island of Casque, and, back of the +fissure, a shining spot which marked a tiny cove. + +A moment she hesitated; what should she do? Ride toward the isle and +the white danger, or toward the point of mainland and from it? Either +alternative was a desperate one, but the isle lay much nearer; and +quickly, the brown eyes gleaming with sudden courage, she decided; +touched her horse and pressed him forward. + +But fast as she went the "grand" tide came faster; struck with a loud, +menacing sound the seaward side of the isle and swung hungrily around. +My lady cast over her shoulder a quick glance; the cove, however, was +near; only a line of small rocks, jutting from the sand, separated her +from it. If they could but pass, she thought; they had passed, she +told herself joyfully, when of a sudden the horse stumbled; fell. +Thrown violently from his back, a moment was she cognizant of a +deafening roar; a riotous advance of foam; above, a hundred birds that +screamed distractedly; then all these sounds mingled; darkness +succeeded, and she remembered no more. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE OLD WATCH-TOWER + +A wall! A window--a prison-like interior! As her eyes opened, the +Governor's daughter strove confusedly to decipher her surroundings. +The wall seemed real; the narrow window, too, high above, framing, +against a darkening background, a slant of fine rain! Again she closed +her eyes, only to be conscious of a gentle languor; a heaviness like +that of half-sleep; of bodily heat, and also a little bodily pain. For +an indefinite period, really a moment or two, she resigned herself to +that dreamy torpor; then, with an effort, lifted her lashes once more. + +As she gazed before her, something bright seemed leaping back and +forth; a flame--that played on the wall; revealing the joints between +the stones of massive masonry; casting shadows, but to wipe them out; +paling near a small window, the only aperture apparent in the cell-like +place. Turning from the flickerings, her glance quickly sought their +source--a fire in a hearth, before which she lay--or half-sat, propped +against a stone. + +But why? The spot was strange; in her ears sounded a buzzing, like the +murmur of a waterfall. She remembered now; she had lingered before +one--in the woods; and Saladin had run away, madly, across the sands, +until--my lady raised her hand to her brow; abruptly let it fall. In +the shadow on the other side of the hearth some one moved; some one who +had been watching her and who now stepped out into the light. + +"Are you better?" said a voice. + +She stared. On the bold, swarthy features of a young man now standing +and looking down at her, the light flared and gleamed; the open shirt +revealed a muscular throat; the down-turned black eyes were steady, +solicitous. His appearance was unexpected, yet not quite strange; she +had seen him before, but, in the general surprise and perplexity of the +moment, did not ask herself where. The interval between what she last +remembered on the beach--the rush and swirl of water--and what she woke +to, absorbed the hazy workings of her mind. + +The young man stopped; stirred the fire, and after a pause, apparently +to give her time to collect her thoughts, repeated his question: "Are +you better, now?" + +"Oh, yes," she said, with an effort, half sitting up. And then +irrelevantly, with rather a wild glance about her: "Isn't--isn't it +storming outside?" + +"A little--not much--" A smile crossed the dark features. + +"I remember," she added, as if forcing herself to speak, "it had just +begun to, on the beach, when it--the 'grand' tide--" The words died +away; mechanically she lifted her hand, brushed back the shining waves +of hair. + +"Why think of it now?" he interposed gently. + +"But," uncertainly she smoothed her skirt; it was damp and warm; "I +suppose this is the island of Casque?" + +"Yes." + +"And this place?" + +"The old watch-tower." + +"But how--" Then she noticed that his hands, long, brown and +well-formed, were cut and bruised; bore many jagged marks as from a +fierce struggle. "How did you hurt your hands?" + +He thrust them into his pockets. + +"Was it from the rocks--and the waves? How did I get here?" + +"Oh, I was standing on the cliff," he answered carelessly, "and--saw +your horse running away!" + +"You did? And then--came down?" + +"What else was there to do?" he said simply. + +Her gaze returned to the fire. "But the tide was rushing in--rushing! +it was right upon me!" + +[Illustration: "But the tide--it was right upon me!"] + +She looked again toward the pockets into which his hands were thrust; +observed his shirt, torn at the shoulder; then arose unsteadily. "I +know--it was not so easy!" she said. "It was brave of you--" + +"Your Ladyship is no coward!" he interrupted, a sparkle in his eyes. +"When you turned the horse toward the tide, I was watching; hoping you +would dare, and you did!" + +About to reply, she became once more aware she was still very dizzy +from the fall on the sand; the shapely figure swayed and she put out +her hand with a gesture of helplessness. At the same time, the man +reached forward quickly and caught her. A moment was she conscious of +a firm grasp; a dark, anxious gaze bent upon her; then, slid gently +back to the stone seat. + +A brief interval, and gradually she began to see again more +distinctly--a man's face, not far from hers; a face that drew back as +her own look cleared. At a respectful distance he now stood, his +bearing at once erect and buoyant, and more curiously she regarded him. +A distinct type, here pride and intelligence stamped themselves +strongly on the dark, handsome features; courage and daring were +written on the bold, self-reliant brow. And with this realization of +something distinctive, compelling, in his personality, came another. + +"I have seen you--spoken with you before! On the beach--the night of +the dance!" + +The young man turned. "Your Ladyship so far honored me--as to dance +with me!" he said, in his eyes a touch of that brightness that had +caused her to regard him imperiously, as he had swung her to the +measure of the music, on the occasion in question. + +"Started to!" She corrected him, straightening suddenly at the +recollection of that evening, when humility and modesty were virtues +conspicuously wanting in his demeanor. + +"Your Ladyship is right," he said quietly. "An alarm from the Mount +interrupted." + +She glanced at him quickly. His eyes met hers with a look of unconcern. + +"Are you--a fisherman?" she asked abruptly. + +"On occasions." + +"And when you are not one--what are you then?" + +"At times--a hunter." + +"Ah!" Her eye lingered on something bright on the ledge beneath the +window. "And that is the reason you have--pistols?" + +"Exactly, my Lady!" + +She continued to regard the weapons, of finest workmanship, inlaid with +a metal that gleamed dully, like gold, in the light from the fire. His +glance followed hers; she was about to speak, when quickly he +interrupted. + +"Has your Ladyship thought how she is going to get back to the Mount?" + +My lady's questioning, along the line of personal inquiry, ceased; the +Governor's daughter looked a little blank. "No--that is, haven't you a +boat?" + +"Not here." + +"Then you walked over?" + +He neither affirmed, nor denied. + +"And the tide will not be out for hours!" Her look showed +consternation; she glanced toward the opening in the wall. "Isn't it +becoming dark now?" + +"Yes, my Lady." + +"Of course, it was almost sundown when-- But I must return at once! +Don't you understand?" + +He regarded her silently; the beautiful, impatient eyes; the slim, +white fingers that tapped restlessly, one against another. "I will do +what I can!" he said at last slowly. + +"But what?" she demanded. "What can you do?" + +He did not answer; my lady made a gesture. + +"How ridiculous! A prisoner on an island!" + +"There may be a way," he began. + +"My horse?" she said quickly. "What became of him?" + +"He was swept away by the tide!" + +Into the proud eyes came a softer light--of regret, pain. + +"Your Ladyship should remember it might have been worse," he added, in +tones intended to reassure her. "After all, it was only a horse--" + +"Only a horse!" she exclaimed indignantly. "But, I suppose you can't +understand--caring for a horse!" + +"I can understand caring for a ship!" he answered quickly, a flash of +amusement, hardly concealed, in his bold, dark eyes. + +"A ship!" scornfully; "dead wood and iron." + +"Live wood and iron! Beautiful as--" The simile failed him; he looked +at my lady. "Something to be depended on, with a hand to the wheel, +and an eye keen for mad dancings and curvetings." + +"I might appreciate them better," she interrupted dryly, with delicate +brows uplifted, "an they brought me nearer to the Mount. That, and not +idle opinions," in accents that conveyed surprise at the temerity of +one in his position to express them, "is of most moment!" + +He accepted the reproof with a readiness that further surprised her. +"Your Ladyship is right," he said. "I will see what may be done. The +storm has passed. There is yet daylight, and"--an expression, almost +preoccupied, came to his features--"a boat may be sighted." + +"To be sure!" At the prospect, all other considerations passed from my +lady's mind. "A boat may be sighted! Why did you not think of it +before? Come! Too much time has already been lost." And she rose. + +"One moment!" His voice was quiet; respectful; although, she fancied, +constrained. "I had better go alone. The way to the cliff is rough, +and--" + +"I shall not mind that!" + +"Besides, your clothes--" + +"Are dry!" + +"No!" She flushed at the abrupt contradiction. "I mean, I don't see +how they could be!" he went on hurriedly, "and," his tone assumed a +certain obduracy, "I assure your Ladyship, it will be best." + +"Best?" She looked at him more sharply. "Is that your only reason?" + +"Why?" A trace of embarrassment, for an instant, crossed his dark +features. "What other reason, my Lady?" + +"That I know not!" quickly, assured her words had struck home. "Only I +am certain there is one!" + +"Then, if your Ladyship must know," he spoke slowly. "I did not wish +to alarm you. But this is a rough coast, with--many rough people +about--smugglers, privateersmen--" + +"Whom you, perhaps, are expecting?" she cried suddenly. + +"I!" with a careless laugh. "A fisherman! Your Ladyship is +imaginative--" he began, when a sudden, hasty footstep clinked on the +stones without; a hand caught at the fastenings of the door; flung it +open. + +"I thought I should find you here, Seigneur!" exclaimed a voice. +"Since--" + +The young man made a movement and the speaker stopped; caught sight of +my lady, just beyond, in the fading light. And at the picture--her +figure behind that other one--the fine, patrician features, framed by +the disordered golden hair, the widely opened eyes, bright, expectant, +the intruder started back. + +"The Governor's daughter! You, Seigneur!" he stammered, and, raising +his hand, involuntarily crossed himself. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A DISCOVERY + +"Why did you do that?" It was Lady Elise who now spoke, lifting her +head haughtily to regard the new-comer, as she stepped toward him. +"Cross yourself, I mean?" + +"This good fellow, my Lady, is surprised to see you here, and small +wonder he forgets his manners!" said the young man coolly, speaking for +the other. "But he is honest enough--and--intends no disrespect!" + +"None whatever!" muttered the intruder, a thin, wizened, yet still +active-looking person. + +My lady did not reply; her gaze, in which suspicion had become +conviction, again met the young man's, whose black eyes now gleamed +with a sudden, challenging light. + +"With your permission, my Lady, I will speak with this fellow," he +said, and abruptly strode from the tower; walked a short distance away, +followed by the man, when he stopped. + +"_Certes_, your tongue betrayed you that time, Sanchez!" he said +confronting the other. + +The man made a rough gesture. "_C'est vrai_!" regretfully. "But when +I saw you two together I thought I had seen a--" He stopped. "She is +so like--" + +"Nay; I don't blame you; the sight was certainly unexpected! I had +thought to come down and prepare you, but--'tis done!" + +"And I knew what it meant." The old servant looked over his shoulder +toward the tower. + +"Call it magic!" with a short laugh. + +"_Diablerie_!" muttered the other. + +"Well, have your way! Why," abruptly, "did you not meet me here last +night at high tide, as we had planned?" + +"The priest came not in time; fearing he was watched, waited until +night to leave his hiding-place at Verranch." + +"And after missing me last night, you thought to find me here to-day?" + +"I knew you were most anxious to see him; that upon him depended your +chance to undo some of his Excellency, the Governor's, knavery! And, +then, to find you here with the daughter of the man who has wrought you +so much wrong; robbed you of your lands--your right to your name!" A +cloud shadowed the listener's bold brow. "I know not how it came +about, Seigneur, but be assured, no good can come of it!" + +From where she stood, at the distance to the tower, the Governor's +daughter saw now the two men descend; she perceived, also, at a turn in +the path, coming up slowly, as one whose years had begun to tell upon +him, another figure, clad in black; a priest. This last person and the +Black Seigneur accosted each other; stopped, while the other man, who +had crossed himself at sight of her, drew aside. At length, somewhat +abruptly, they separated, the priest and Sanchez going down the hill +and the young man starting to walk up. Then quickly leaving the +ancient, circular structure for observation, she stepped toward the +cliff, not far to the right; and in an attitude of as great unconcern +as she could summon, waited. + +Below the ocean beat around the rock, and her eyes seemed to have +rested an interminable period on the dark surface of the water, when at +length she heard him; near at hand; directly behind. Still she did not +stir; he, too, by the silence, stood motionless. How long? The little +foot moved restlessly; why did he not speak? She knew he was looking +at her--the Governor's daughter who had inadvertently looked into a +forbidden chamber; was possessed of dangerous knowledge. + +Again she made a movement. When was he going to speak? It was +intolerable that he should stand there, studying, deducing! That she, +accustomed to command; to be served; to have her way at court and +Mount, should now be judged, passed upon, disposed of, by--whom? +Quickly she looked around; the flashing brown eyes met the steady black +ones. + +"Well?" + +"The man will take you back." His manner was quiet; composed; implied +a full cognizance of what she knew, and an absence of any further +desire to attempt to disguise the truth. + +"Back! Where?" She could not conceal her surprise. + +"To the Mount." + +For the moment she did not speak; she had not known what to +expect--certainly not that. + +"Why not?" A smile, slightly forced, crossed his face. "Does your +Ladyship think I make war on women? Only, before your Ladyship +departs, it will be necessary for you to agree to a little condition." + +"Condition?" She drew her breath quickly. + +"That you will say nothing to incriminate him. He is an old servant of +mine; has broken none of the _laws_ of the land," with a somewhat +contemptuous accent, "works his bit of ground; pays _metayage_, and a +tax on all the fish he brings in. Only in a certain matter to-day has +he served me." + +"You mean I must say nothing about meeting him? You?" + +"For his sake!" + +"And your own!" + +"Mine?" He made a careless gesture. "I should not presume! For +myself I should exact, or expect, from your Ladyship no promise. +To-night I shall be far away. But this good fellow remains behind; +should be allowed to continue his peaceful, lowly occupation. I would +not have anything happen to him on my account." + +"And if I refuse to promise?" she asked haughtily. "To enter into any +covenant with--you!" + +"But you will not!" he said steadily. "Your Ladyship, for her own +sake, should not force the alternative." + +"Alternative?" + +"Why speak of it?" + +"What is the alternative?" she demanded. + +"If your Ladyship refuses to promise, it will be necessary for the man +to return alone." + +"You mean," in spite of herself, she gave a start, "you would make +me--a prisoner?" + +"It should not be necessary." + +"But you would not dare!" indignantly. + +"Not dare! Your Ladyship forgets--" + +"True!" with a scornful glance. After a pause: "But suppose I _did_ +promise? Are you not reposing a good deal of confidence in me?" + +"Not too much!" + +"I presume," disdainfully, "I should feel flattered in being trusted +by--" She did not finish the sentence. + +But the young man apparently had not heard. "I'll take the chance on +your own words," he added unexpectedly. + +"My words?" + +"That you are no telltale." + +The girl started. "Telltale?" she repeated. + +"You once told me you were not!" + +"I--told you!" She stared at him. + +"Told me you were no telltale," he repeated. "And--when Beppo lied, +you told the truth--about a ragged vagabond of a boy." + +"Beppo!" The look in her eyes deepened; cleared. "I remember now," +she said slowly. "You were the boy with the fish, who said he lived in +the woods. I met you while riding, and again that night, as a child, +leaving for Paris; but I did not know, then, you would become--" + +The young man's face changed. "An outlaw!" he said coolly. + +"Yes; an outlaw," she repeated firmly. Angered by his unflinching +gaze, she went on: "Who dares not fly the flag of his king! Who dares +not come openly into any honest port!" + +She ended, her brown eyes flashing. His own darkened; but he only +remarked coldly; "My Lady, at any rate, dares much!" + +"Oh, I've no doubt you don't care to hear--" + +"From you!" He looked at her oddly, from the golden hair to the small, +dainty foot. "From your Ladyship!" he repeated, as if amused. An +instant he regarded her silently, intently; but his voice when at +length he again spoke was cool and slightly mocking: "My Lady speaks, +of course, from the standpoint of her own world--a very pretty world! +A park of _plaisance_, wherein, I can vouch for it, my Lady dances very +prettily." + +She started; a flush of resentment glowed and faded on her cheek; a +question his words suggested trembled on her lips. + +"Why did you come to the beach that night of the dance? How dared you, +knowing that if--" + +"Why?" His eyes lost their ironical light. "Why?" he repeated; then +laughed with sudden recklessness. "I wished to see your Ladyship." + +"Me?" She shrank back. + +"You!" he repeated, his gaze fastened on the startled, proud face. +"Though I looked not forward to a dance--with your Ladyship!" The +black eyes glowed. "_Pardi_! It was worth the risk." A moment he +waited; then his manner changed. "I will leave your Ladyship now," he +said quietly. "You will have opportunity to consider"--she did not +answer--"whether you will give me your promise, or not," he added, and, +wheeling abruptly, walked away. + +Some time later, in the fast-gathering darkness, from the cove a small +boat put out, with Sanchez, gloomy and sullen, in the stern; at the +bow, the Governor's daughter. As the isle receded and the point of +land loomed bigger before them, the girl gazed straight ahead; but the +man looked back: to the sands of the little cove, a pale simitar in the +dragon-like mouth of the rock; toward the tower, near which he fancied +he could see a figure, turned from them--seaward--where, far out, a +ship might just be discerned, a dim outline on the horizon. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE CLOISTER IN THE AIR + +Irrespective of environment, the cloister of the Mount would have been +a delight to the eye, but, upheld in mid air, with the sky so near and +the sands so far below, it seemed more an inspiration of fancy than a +work of hand. Dainty, delicate, its rose-colored columns of granite +appeared too thin for tangible weight; the tympan's sculptured designs, +fanciful as the carvings in some palace of a poet's dreams. Despite, +however, this first impression of evanescence, it carried a charm +against the ravages of time, and ethereal though it was, had rested +like a crown on the grim head of the rock through the ages. + +Once a place for quiet meditation, the cloister had, through a +whirligig of change, become the favorite resort of the Governor, for +_dejeuner_, or after-dinner dram, and, on occasions, for the +transaction of much profane though necessary labor pertaining to his +office and private concerns. He busied himself there now; or had been +busying himself, but paused to look up from the large book before him, +whose pages were inscribed with items and figures. His finger, +following the mental computation, remained stationary. _Fouage_--tax +upon fires; _banvin_--duties on wine; _vingtain_--the lord's right to +his share of the produce; _minage_--his due from each _mine_ or half +_setier_ of coin--consideration of these usually all-important matters +seemed for the moment to have been forgotten. + +He leaned back, and as he sat thus, the light and shadow playing on +him, the dark, steely eyes looked the more sunken, the hard, cynical +lips beneath the white mustache, the more cruel, the spare figure the +more alert and ready, as if to grapple with some hidden danger. + + "_J'arrive en ce pays + De Basse Normandie--_" + + +At one of the apertures looking out to the barren waste of sand stood +the Lady Elise; the words of the old Norman chant she was singing in +desultory fashion rang softly, oddly, in that spot, where black-clad +brethren for centuries had been wont to tread. Mechanically the +Governor listened, but the voice soon ceased abruptly and again, after +the manner of one of orderly habits, he bent over the big book; once +more the curving finger slid up and down, and parsimony, the vice of +the aged, had begun to shine from his pinched features, when a footstep +rang on the marble pavement. + +"Your Excellency sent for me?" The commandant stood respectfully near. + +The Governor closed the book with deliberation; lifted his eyes. "The +prisoners that were taken last night are safely housed?" + +"Housed? Yes, your Excellency! But we have little room. The upper +cells are all occupied; the dungeons, fairly full! Even the _In-pace_ +and _Les Deux Jumeaux_ have been pressed into service." + +"Hum!" The long hand tapped restlessly a moment; the cold eyes +gleamed, then shot an inquiring look. "There are no new particulars +about last night's encounter with this--Black Seigneur?" + +"None, your Excellency, except," the commandant drew a paper from his +breast pocket, "I have here in writing the detailed account of the +officer in charge of your Excellency's boat, who was wounded himself in +the encounter." + +"Read it." + +The commandant obeyed. "'Our schooner, belonging to his Excellency, +the Governor, was returning last night to the Mount with +troops--reinforcements for the garrison from St. Dalard--when it +happened quite by accident near a ship, maneuvering at a respectful +distance from the island of Casque. The night was dark and cloudy, but +our men got a look at her and suspecting who she was and knowing her +armament, against our will, we felt obliged to bear away. She, having +no reason to think us other than a fishing schooner, or that we were +freighted with troops instead of cod, did not follow and we had passed +out of sight, and were rounding the island when we ran into two small +sail-boats that had just set out from there.'" + +"To join the ship of this outlaw!" interposed the Governor. "Go on!" +shortly. + +"'We hailed; their answer was unsatisfactory; we ordered them to halt, +whereupon they tried to sail away. We followed and overtaking them, +commanded them to surrender. Their leader, who was the Black Seigneur +himself, refused, and we attacked'--" + +"_Bien_! 'We attacked!' But what then? Eh, what then?" + +"'With fury they responded; in spite of their inferiority of numbers +tried to board us. Bravely our men repulsed them; yet still they +persisted; led by their captain, the Black Seigneur, had gained the +deck when a chance shot struck him. As he fell back, the others tried +to escape; one boat was sunk'--" + +"And the other, bearing their leader, got away!" interrupted the +Governor harshly. + +"In the confusion--yes, your Excellency." + +The Governor waved his hand impatiently. + +"'By this time the ship of the Black Seigneur had drawn nearer and our +men put about and made for the Mount with a number of prisoners. +Several shots were sent after us, but we managed to reach port.'" + +"The officer in charge of the troops thinks this fellow, their leader, +was wounded severely--fatally perhaps?" + +"He thinks it most probable, your Excellency." + +For some time the Governor, with frowning brows, sipped silently from a +glass of liquor at his elbow, and, stiff, motionless, the commandant +waited; close at hand, a dove plumed itself on the roof of the cloister +walk; beyond, the girl again began to sing fitfully. + +Out of the corner of his eye the commandant dared look at her, leaning +now against the wall, the clear-cut, white features outlined against an +illimitable blue background. + + "_Les amours--_" + + +Involuntarily he started to raise a hand to his warlike mustache, when +abruptly was his wandering attention recalled. "The man ashore I spoke +to you about, has been taken into custody?" + +"Yes, your Excellency; and is now at the barracks." + +"Send him here. One moment--" The commandant paused, vaguely +conscious the girl had moved away from the wall. "You spoke of there +being a lack of room--these new prisoners must be confined in the +dungeons; if necessary, crowd more of the others in the upper cells, +and--there is still the Devil's Cage." + +"The Devil's Cage?" Through the rose-tinted columns, above the +Governor's head, the commandant could discern the figure of the Lady +Elise, who had approached and now was gazing inquiringly at them. +"Your Excellency would use that? One can neither lie down in it, nor +sit in it, upright?" + +"Well," the cold eyes flashed, "it is not intended for upright people! +But the man you were ordered to arrest!" with sudden sharpness; "the +man from the shore! Send him to me!" + +"At once, your Excellency!" And responding promptly to his superior's +mood, the commandant saluted briskly, and retired. + +"What man?" The drapery of her gown drawn back, the Lady Elise stood +poised on the court's low coping between the fairy-like pillars. + +"No one you know, my dear." + +"Which means--it is none of my concern?" + +"Not at all." His voice was now perfunctory; and his expression, as he +surveyed her, slightly questioning. "You are looking somewhat pale +to-day?" + +"Am I?" carelessly. "I--I feel very well." As she spoke, she went to +him and leaned over the back of his chair. "_Mon pere_, won't you do +something for me?" + +"What?" + +"Promise first." With her hand on his shoulder. + +He reached up; the long, cold fingers stroked the shapely, warm ones. +"One should never leap into the dark with a promise," he answered. +"Especially to a woman." + +"Not even when that woman is one's own daughter?" she asked, sliding to +the arm of the chair. + +He regarded the bright face now thoughtful; the lips, usually laughing, +set sensitively. "Is it another trip to the court, or do you wish to +turn this stern old Mount again into a palace of pleasure? To invite +once more the Paris lords and ladies--the King, himself, perhaps? It +would not be the first time a monarch has been entertained at the +Mount--or a Marquis, either, eh? Shall we ask the Marquis?" + +She made an impatient movement. "I want you to promise to break up the +terrible iron cage, and--" + +"Tut!" Jocosely he pinched the fair cheek. "A girl's thoughts should +be of the court and the cavaliers." + +She turned away her head. "You treat me like a child," she said with a +flash in her eyes. + +"No, no! Like a woman," he laughed. "But the Marquis--perhaps he +could not come here; perhaps he is too much concerned with the gaieties +of Paris!" Her figure straightened; she was about to walk away, when-- + +"You ride this afternoon?" he asked. + +"I had not thought of it." + +"If you do I desire that some one accompany you." Her face changed; +she looked at him quickly, and half turned. "Remember Saladin as well, +and--keep closer to the Mount in the future." + +"Poor Saladin!" she breathed, with averted glance. + +"He got his deserts!" answered the Governor harshly. "An ugly trick +that of his--to bolt and leave you stranded at the extreme point of the +mainland where the bay swings around!" + +"The 'grand' tide--it came in so fast--and made so much noise--" + +"It frightened him! Well, fortunate it was, indeed, you were not on +his back; that you had already reached the point, and had had time to +dismount! An unpleasant experience, nevertheless--with the water +separating you from the Mount, and a great curve of land to be walked +before you could arrive at a human habitation!" + +"I--it wasn't a very comfortable feeling," she acknowledged, flushing. + +"And if the fisherman hadn't subsequently seen you and taken you across +in his little boat, you would have been more uncomfortable later. You +rewarded him well, I trust?" + +"He--wouldn't take anything." + +"And you neglected to inquire his name?" + +"I--did not think." + +"You were so glad to get back?" remarked the Governor, regarding her +closely. "What sort of man was he?" abruptly. + +"Old." + +"And--" + +"That--is all I remember." + +"Hum! Not very lucid. No doubt you were too overwrought, my dear, to +be in an observant mood." His voice sank absently; his fingers sought +among the papers, and, as his glance fell, the girl walked away. Again +she leaned on the parapet, and once more regarded the barren waste +below--the figures of the cockle-seekers, mere specks, the shadow of +the Mount, stamped on the sand, with the saint, a shapeless form, +holding up a tapering black line--a sword--at the apex. + +"She is keeping back something. What?" Above an official-looking +document the Governor watched her, his lips compressed, his eyes keen; +then shrugged his shoulders and resumed his occupation. The death-like +hush of an aerial region surrounded them; the halcyon peace of a +seemingly chimerical cloister; until suddenly broken by an indubitable +clangor--harsh, hard!--of a door, opening; shutting. The Governor +lifted his head in annoyance; the dove on the roof of the cloister-walk +flew away, and a short, fat man, breathing hard, appeared. + +"Pardon, your Excellency! But the drafts! They seem sometimes to +sweep up from the very dungeons themselves, and--" + +"Well?" + +Beppo cut short excuse, or explanation. "A prisoner is waiting +without. The man, Sanchez, from the shore! Monsieur le Commandant, +who brought him, told me to inform you." + +The Governor considered a moment with down-bent brows. "You may show +him in, but first," he glanced up with a frown, "I have a question to +put to you." + +"Your Excellency?" + +"This morning you thought fit to apprise me," Beppo looked +uncomfortable, "in view of the events of last night--that you saw +yesterday this fellow, Sanchez, setting out in a sail-boat, accompanied +by a priest--a fact that might have been of great service to me, had I +been aware of it in season!" The Governor paused to allow the full +weight of his disapproval to be felt. "At what hour did you see them +start out?" + +"About dusk, the time of the 'grand' tide," was the crestfallen answer. +"I was following the shore, feeling anxious on account of the Lady +Elise, who, I knew, had gone in the direction of the forest, when I saw +them, some distance out, but not too far to recognize this fellow's +boat and in it two men, one of them in the black robes of a priest. I +attached no importance to the incident until--" + +The Governor interrupted. "You may send the prisoner in," he said +shortly. "No--wait!" Toward the spot where the girl had been standing +the Governor glanced quickly, but that post of observation was now +vacant, and his Excellency more deliberately looked around; caught no +sight of her. "You may send him in here," he said, "alone. I will +speak with the prisoner in private." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE GOVERNOR IS SURPRISED + +But the Lady Elise had not gone. Passing from the cloister through the +great arched doorway leading to the high-roofed refectory, she had +stopped at the sight of a number of people gathered near the entrance. +At first she had merely glanced at them; then started, as, in the +somewhat dim light prevailing there, her eyes became fixed upon one of +their number. + +Obviously a prisoner, he stood in the center of the group, with head +down-bent, a hard, indifferent expression on his countenance. Amazed, +the girl was about to step forward to address him--or the +commandant--when Beppo appeared from the cloister, walked toward the +officer, and, in a low ill-humored tone, said something she could not +hear. Whatever it was, the commandant caused him to repeat it; made a +gesture to the soldiers, who drew back, and spoke himself to the +prisoner. + +The latter did not reply nor raise his eyes, and the commandant laid a +heavy hand on his shoulder, whereupon the prisoner moved forward +mechanically, through the doorway. + +"You are sure his Excellency said 'alone'?" asked the commandant. + +"As sure as I have ears," answered Beppo. "But her ladyship--see! She +is walking after him." + +Beppo shrugged his shoulders. "_She_ always does what she pleases; no +orders apply to her." + +In the shadow of the cloister roof, at a corner where the double row of +pillars met, the girl paused; looked out through the columns, her hand +at her breast. The Governor was unconcernedly writing; not even when +the prisoner stepped forward did he turn from his occupation; at his +leisure dotted an "i" and crossed a "t"; sprinkled sand lightly over +the paper; waited a moment; then tapped the fine particles from the +letter. For his part, the prisoner displayed equal patience, standing +in an attitude of stolid endurance. + +"Your name is Sanchez?" At length the Governor seemed to notice the +other's presence. + +"Yes." + +"And you formerly served the Seigneur Desaurac? Followed him to +America?" + +"As your Excellency knows." The servant's tone was veiled defiance. + +A trace of pink sprang to the Governor's brow, though the eyes he +lifted were impassive. "You will answer 'yes' or 'no'!" He reached +for a stick of wax, held it up to the tiny flame of a lamp; watched the +red drops fall. "When you returned, it was to live in the forest +with--a nameless brat?" + +"My master's son!" + +"By a peasant woman, his--" + +"Wife!" + +The Governor smiled; applying a seal, pressed it hard. "The courts +found differently," he observed in a mild, even voice, as speaking to +himself and extolling the cause of justice. + +"The courts! Because the priest who married them had been driven from +Brittany! Because he could not be found then! Because--" The man's +indignation had got the better of his taciturnity, but he did not +finish the sentence. + +"Either," said the Governor quietly, "you are one of those +simple-minded people who, misguided by loyalty, cherish illusions, or +you are a scheming rogue. No matter which, unfortunately," in crisp +tones, "it is necessary to take time to deal with you." + +"At your Excellency's service!" And the man folded his arms but, again +turning to his table, the Governor apparently found some detail of +employment there of paramount importance; once more kept the prisoner +waiting. + +The silence lengthened; in the dim light of the walk noiselessly the +girl drew nearer; unseen, reached the old abbot's great granite chair +with its sheltering back to the court and close to the Governor's +table. Into the capacious depths of this chilly throne, where once the +high and holy dignitary of the church had been accustomed to recline +while brethren laved his feet from the tiny stone lavatorium before it, +she half sank, her cheek against one of its cold sides; in an attitude +of expectation breathlessly waited. Why was it so still? Why did not +her father speak? She could hear his pen scratch, scratch! + +They were again speaking; more eagerly she bent forward; listened to +the hard, metallic voice of the Governor. + +"You left the castle at once when the decree of the court, ordering it +vacated, was posted in the forest?" + +"My master told me to, pretending he was going, but--" + +"Remained to resist; to kill." The Governor's tones, without being +raised, were sharper. "And when, after the crime against these +instruments of justice, he escaped to the high seas, why did you not go +with him?" + +"He wouldn't have it." + +"Thinking you would be more useful here? A spy?" + +"He said he would be held an outlaw; a price put on him, and--he +dismissed me from his service." + +"Dismissed you? An excellent jest! But," with sudden incisiveness, +"what about the priest, eh? What about the priest?" + +The man straightened. "What priest?" he said in a dogged tone. + +"You are accused of harboring and abetting an unfrocked fellow who has +long been wanted by the government, a scamp of revolutionary +tendencies; you are accused of having taken him to sea," the prisoner +started, "to some rendezvous--a distant isle--to meet some one; to wait +for a ship; to be smuggled away--?" + +The man did not reply; with head sunk slightly, seemed lost in thought. + +"Speak--answer!" + +"Who accuses me?" + +From the stone chair the girl sprang; looked out. Her face white, +excited, peering beneath the delicate spandrils and stone roses, seemed +to come as an answer. + +"Have I not told you--" began the Governor sternly, when-- + +"Bah!" burst from the prisoner violently. "Why should I deny what your +Excellency so well knows? I told my master not to trust her; that she +would play him false; and that once out of his hands--" + +"Her? Whom do you mean?" The Governor's eyes followed the man's; +stopped. "Elise!" + +"I think," her eyes very bright, the girl walked quickly toward them, +"I think this man means me." + +"Elise!" the Governor repeated. + +"Forgive me, _mon pere_; I didn't intend to listen, but I couldn't help +it--because--" + +"How long," said the Governor, "have you been there?" + +"Ever since--he came in. I suppose," proudly turning to the man, "it +is useless to say that I did not play this double role of which you +accuse me, and that I did keep, in every particular, the promise I +made--" + +"Oh, yes; you could say it, my Lady!" with sneering emphasis. + +"But you reserve to yourself the right not to believe me? That is what +you mean?" The man's stubborn, vindictive look answered. "Then I will +deny nothing to you; nothing! You may think what you will." + +His face half-covered by his hand, the Governor gazed at them; the +girl, straight, slender, inflexibly poised; the prisoner eying her with +dark, unvarying glance. + +"_Dieu!_" he muttered. "What is this?" and concern gave way to a new +feeling. _Her_ concern for something--somebody--held him. A promise! +"You can step back a few moments, my man!" to Sanchez. "A little +farther--to the parapet! I'll let you know when you're wanted." And +the prisoner obeyed, moving slowly away to the wall, where he stood out +of ear-shot, his back to them. "You spoke of a promise?" the Governor +turned to his daughter. "To whom?" + +A suggestion of color swept her face, though she answered at once +without hesitation: "To the Black Seigneur." + +The slight form of the Governor stirred as to the shock of a battery. + +"There is no harm in telling now," hurriedly she went on. "He saved me +from the 'grand' tide--for I was on Saladin's back when he bolted and +ran. I had not dismounted, though I allowed you to infer so, and he +had carried me almost to the island of Casque when we heard and saw the +water coming in. The nearest place was the island--not the point of +the mainland, as I felt obliged to lead you to think, and we started +for it; we might have reached the cove, had not Saladin stumbled and +thrown me. The last I remembered the water came rushing around, and +when I awoke, I was in a watch-tower, with him--the Black Seigneur!" + +The Governor looked at her; did not speak. + +"I--I at first did not know who he was--not until this man came--and +the priest! And when he, the Black Seigneur, saw I had learned the +truth, he asked me to promise--not for himself--but because of this +man!--to say nothing of having met him there, or the others! And I did +promise, and--he sent me back--and that is all--" + +"All!" Did the Governor speak the word? He sat as if he had hardly +comprehended; a deeper flush dyed her cheek. + +"You--you can not blame me--after what he did. He saved me--saved my +life. You are glad of that, mon pere, are you not? And it must have +been hard doing it, for his clothes were torn, and his hands were +bleeding--he can't be all bad, _mon pere_! He knew who I was, yet +trusted me--trusted!" + +The Governor looked at her; touched a bell; the full-toned note +vibrated far and near. + +"What are you going to do?" Something in his face held her. + +Again the tones startled the stillness. "Remember, it is I who am +responsible for--" + +"Your Excellency?" Across the court appeared Beppo, moving quickly +toward them. "Your Excellency?" + +"One moment!" The servant stepped back; the Governor looked first at +the girl; then toward the entrance of the cloister. + +"You want me to go?" Her voice was low: strained; in it, too, was a +hard, rebellious accent. "But I can't--can't--until--" + +"What?" + +"You promise to set him free! This man who brought me back! Don't you +see you must, _mon pere_? Must!" she repeated. + +His thin lips drew back disagreeably; he seemed about to speak; then +reached among the papers and, turned them over absently. "Very well!" +he said at length without glancing up. + +"You promise," her voice expressed relief and a little surprise, "to +set him free?" + +"Have I not said so?" His eyelids veiled a peculiar look. "Yes, he +shall be liberated--very shortly." + +"Thank you, _mon pere_." A moment she bent over him; the proud, sweet +lips brushed his forehead. "I will go, then, at once." And she +started toward the door. Near the threshold she paused; looked back to +smile gratefully at the Governor, then quickly went out. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AT THE COCKLES + +A rugged mass of granite, rent by giant fissures, and surrounded by +rocks and whirlpools, the Norman English isle, so-called "Key to the +Channel," one hundred miles, or more, northwest of the Mount, had from +time immemorial offered haven to ships out of the pale of French ports. +Not only a haven, but a home, or that next-best accommodation, an +excellent inn. Perched in the hollow of the mighty cliff and reached +by a flight of somewhat perilous stone stairs, the Cockles, for so the +ancient tavern was called, set squarely toward the sea, and opened wide +its shell, as it were, to all waifs or stormy petrels blown in from the +foamy deep. + +Good men, bad men; Republicans, royalists; French-English, +English-French, the landlord--old Pierre Laroche, retired sea-captain +and owner of a number of craft employed in a dangerous, but profitable, +occupation--received them willingly, and in his solicitude for their +creature comforts and the subsequent reckoning, cared not a jot for +their politics, morals, or social views. It was enough if the visitor +had no lenten capacity; looked the fleshpots in the face and drank of +his bottle freely. + +The past few days the character of old Pierre's guests had left some +room for complaint on that score. But a small number of the crew of +the swift-looking vessel, well-known to the islanders, and now tossing +in the sea-nook below, had, shortly after their arrival toward dusk of +a stormy day, repaired to the inn, and then they had not called for +their brandy or wine in the smart manner of seamen prepared for +unstinted sacrifice to Bacchus. On the contrary, they drank quietly, +talked soberly, and soon prepared to leave. + +"Something has surely gone wrong," thought their host. "Why did not +your captain come ashore?" he asked. "Not see his old friend, Pierre +Laroche, at once! It is most unlike him." + +And on the morrow, the islanders, or English-French, more or less +privateersmen themselves, were equally curious. Where had the ship +come from? Where was it going? And how many tons of wine, bales of +silk and packages of tobacco, or "ptum," as the weed was called, had it +captured? Old Pierre would soon find out, for early that day, despite +the inclemency of the weather, he came down to the beach, and, followed +by a servitor, got into a small boat moored close to the shore. + +"He is going aboard!" + +"Who has a better right? His own vessel!" + +"No; Andre Desaurac--the Black Seigneur's! They say he long ago paid +for it from prizes wrested from the Governor of the Mount." + +"At any rate, old Pierre entered into a bargain to build the boat for +him--" + +"And added to his wealth by the transaction." + +Later that morning the old man came ashore, but, according to habit, +preserved a shrewd silence; in the afternoon a small number of the crew +landed to take on stores and ammunition--of which there was ever a +plentiful supply at this base; that night, however, all, including +their master, betook themselves to the Cockles. + +"Glad to see you ashore, _mon capitaine_!" Pierre Laroche, standing at +the door, just beyond reach of the fierce driving rain, welcomed the +Black Seigneur warmly; but the young man, one of whose arms seemed +bound and useless, cut short his greetings; tossed bruskly aside his +dark heavy cloak, and called for a room where he might sit in private +with a companion. This person the landlord eyed askance; nevertheless, +with a show of bluff heartiness, he led the way to a small chamber, +somewhat apart, but overlooking the long low apartment, the general +eating and drinking place of the establishment, now filled by the crew +and a number of the islanders. + +"Your _capitaine_ has been hurt? How?" A strapping, handsome girl, +clad in red and of assured mien, passing across the room, paused to +address a man of prodigious girth, who drank with much gusto from a +huge vessel at his elbow. + +"Did not your father, Pierre Laroche, tell you?" + +"He? No; all he thinks of is the money." + +"Then must _le capitaine_ speak for himself, Mistress Nanette." + +"You are not very polite, Monsieur Gabarie," she returned, tossing her +head; "but I suppose there is a reason; you have been beaten. In an +encounter with the Governor's ships? Did you sink any of them? It +would be good news for us islanders." + +"_You_ islanders!" derisively. + +"Yes, islanders!" she answered defiantly. "But tell me; a number of +you wear patches, which make you look very ugly. They were +acquired--how?" + +"In a little clerical argument!" growled the poet. + +She glanced toward the secluded apartment; its occupants--the subject +of their conversation, and a priest, a feeble-looking man of about +seventy, whose delicate, sad face shone white and out-of-keeping in +that adventuresome company. "At any rate, the Black Seigneur hasn't +lost his good looks!" + +"Take care _you_ don't lose your heart!" + +"Bah!" Her strong bold eyes swept back. "Much good it would do me!" + +"And for that reason--" + +"Messieurs!" the landlord's voice broke in upon them; "behold!" it +seemed to say, as pushing through the company, he preceded a lanky lad +who bore by their legs many plucked fowls and birds--woodcock, wild +duck, cliff pigeons--and made his way to the great open fireplace at +one end of the room. There, bending over the glowing embers, the +landlord deliberately stirred and spread them; then, reaching for a bar +of steel, he selected a poulet from the hand of the lanky attendant and +prepared to adjust it; but before doing so, prodded it with his finger, +surveyed it critically, and held it up for admiring attention. + +"Who says old Pierre Laroche doesn't know how to care for his friends? +What think you of it, my masters?" + +"Plump as the King's confessor," muttered the poet. + +"Or your King himself!" said one of the islanders. + +"On with the King! Skewer the King!" exclaimed a fierce voice. + +"And then we'll eat him!" laughed the girl, showing her white teeth. + +"Thoughtless children!" From his place at the table in the small room +adjoining, the priest, attracted by the grim merriment of the +islanders, looked down to regard them; the red fire; the red gown. + +"Here, at least, will you find a safe asylum, Father," said his +companion, the Black Seigneur, in an absent tone; "a little rough, +perhaps, to suit your calling--" + +"The rougher, the more suitable--as I've often had occasion to learn +since leaving Verranch." + +"Since being driven from it, you mean!" shortly. + +"Ah, those revolutionary documents--placed in my garden!" + +"To make you appear--you, Father!--a sanguinary character!" But the +other's laugh rang false. + +"Alas, such wickedness! But I was too content; the rose-covered +cottage too comfortable; its garden, an Eden! It was more meet I +should be driven forth; go out into the highways, where I found--such +misery! I reproached myself I had not sought it sooner--voluntarily. +From north to south peasants dying, women and children starving, no one +to administer the last rites--on every side, work, work for the outcast +priest! For ten years it has occupied him--a blessed privilege--" + +"And then," the young man, who had seemed absorbed in other thoughts, +hardly listening, looked mechanically up, "you came back?" + +"A weakness of age! To see the old place once more! The little +church; God's acre at its side; to stand on the hill at Verranch and +look out a last time over the beautiful vale toward the Mount!" +Briefly he paused. "Yet I am glad I yielded to the temptation; +otherwise should I not have met your old servant, Sanchez; who told me +all--how you had long been looking for me, and arranged our meeting for +that day--on the island of Casque!" + +"But not," the young man's demeanor at once became intent; his eyes +gleamed with sudden fierce lights, "for what followed!" + +The priest sighed. "Shall I ever forget it? The terrible night, the +troop-ship, the killed and wounded. And the poor fellows taken +prisoners! I can not but think of them and their fate. What will it +be?" + +The other did not answer; only impatiently moved his injured arm and, +regarding him, the down-turned, dark countenance, the knit brows, +quickly the priest changed the subject of conversation. + +In the large room some one began to play, and before the fire, where +now the birds were turning and the serving-lad, with a long spoon was +basting, the dark-browed girl started to dance. At the side of the +hearth old Pierre smoked stolidly, gazed at the coals, and +dreamed--perhaps of the past, and dangers he had himself encountered, +or of the present, and his ships scattered--where?--on profitable, if +precarious errands. Somberly, in no freer mood than on the occasion of +their first visit to the inn, the crew looked on; but a tall, +savage-appearing islander soon matched her step; a second took his +place; from one partner to another she passed--wild, reckless men whose +touch she did not shun; yet it might have been noticed her eyes turned +often, through wreaths of smoke, mist-like in the glare and glimmer of +dips and torches, toward the Black Seigneur. + +Why--her gaze seemed to say--did he not join them, instead of sitting +there with a priest? She whirled to the threshold; her flushed face +looked in. "Are you saying a mass for the souls of your men who were +captured?" + +"I see," he returned quietly, "you have been gossiping." + +"A woman's privilege!" she flashed back. "But how did it happen? And +not only your arm," more sharply regarding him, "but your head! I +fancy if I were to push back a few locks of that thick hair I should +discover--it must have been a pretty blow you got, my Seigneur +Solitude!" He made no reply and she went on. "You, who I thought were +never beaten! By a mere handful of troops, too! Did you have to run +away very fast? If I were a man--" + +"Your tongue would be less sharp," he answered coolly, the black eyes +indifferent. + +"Much you care for my tongue!" she retorted. + +"No?" + +"No!" she returned mockingly, when above the din of voices, the +crackling of the fire, and the wild moaning of the wind in the chimney, +a low, but distinct and prolonged call was heard,--from somewhere +without, below. + +"What is that?" Quickly Nanette turned; superstitious, after the +fashion of most of her people, a little of the color left her cheek. +Again was it wafted to them, nearer, plainer! "The voices of dead men +from the sea!" + +"More like some one on the steps who would like to get in--some +fisherman who has just got to shore!" said old Pierre Laroche, waking +up and emptying his pipe. "Throw open the door. The stones are +slippery--the night dark--" + +One of the crew obeyed, and, as the wind entered sharply, and the +lights flickered and grew dim, there half staggered, half rushed from +the gloom, the figure of a man, wild, wet, whose clothes were torn and +whose face was freshly cut and marked with many livid signs of violence. + +"Sanchez!" From his place the Black Seigneur rose. + +The others looked around wonderingly; some with rough pity. "What's +the matter, man?" said one. "You look as if you had had a bad fall." + +"Fall!" Standing in the center of the room, where he had come to a +sudden stop, the man gazed, bewildered, resentful, about him; then +above the circle of questioning faces, his uncertain look lifted; +caught and remained fixed on that of the Black Seigneur. "Fall?" he +repeated, articulating with difficulty. "No; I had--no fall--but I +will speak--with my master--alone!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SEETHING OF THE SEA + +"'I have concluded to deal leniently with you,' said the Governor; 'set +you free!' I could not believe." + +Alone in the little chamber, the door of which now was closed, shutting +them from sight of the company in the general eating and drinking room +adjoining, Sanchez and the Black Seigneur sat together. Before them +the viands that had been placed on the table were untouched; the filled +glasses, untasted. As he spoke, the man bent forward, his words +disjointed; his eyes gleaming. + +"'But,' the Governor added, 'the criminal must be taught not to +forget'; then turned to his soldiers. 'Beat me this fellow from the +Mount!' he commanded." + +"What!" The blood sprang to the dark face of the listener; he half +started from his chair. "And they did! A merry chase, down the +streets, across the sands! I, an old soldier!" His voice choked. +"Beaten like a dog!" + +For some moments the young man looked at him; then again sank back; +stared straight ahead. Without, the laughter and harsh voices of the +islanders had become louder; within the little chamber, the only sound +now was the hard, persistent ticking of the clock on the shelf. + +"But how," at length Desaurac made a movement, "did he--" + +"Learn!" violently. "The way I told you he would!" + +"You mean--" + +"That I was betrayed and you were--by the Lady Elise--" + +"Impossible!" the Black Seigneur exclaimed with sudden violence. + +"Because she has a pretty face!" sneered the other. + +"Silence! Or--" + +"That is it!" The servant's voice rose stridently. "Beaten at one +end, threatened at the other!" + +The arm the young man had reached out fell to his side. "Hush! You're +mad; you don't know what you're saying!" + +"And you did not know what you were doing! Oh, I dare say it--I tell +you now I little liked the task of taking her back; expecting some sort +of treachery, and, when it came, was not surprised! Any more than, +when they had brought me before the Governor, I saw her at the +cloister--watching, hiding--" + +"Hiding!" + +"Behind the coping to listen when he, her father, was questioning me! +And, when I looked up and caught her, she walked out--to show me I +might as well confess!" + +"She did that?" + +"Then tried to cozen me into believing it was not through her," went on +the man bitterly, as if speaking to himself. "But I know the lying +blood--none better--and when she saw it was no use," he paused and +looked up, the marks of the stripes on his face seeming suddenly to +burn and grow livid, "she acknowledged it to my face! 'I won't deny.' +Those were her words! And when she left the place, she turned around +to look back at me--and laugh--" + +"You are not mistaken?" + +"Perhaps," said the man, a venomous light in his obstinate eyes, "it +was all a fancy; or--I am lying!" + +Outside, the wind, blowing sharper, whistled about the eaves, beat at +the window and shook the blinds angrily; far below, a steady monotone +to those other sounds, could be heard the rush and breaking of the surf. + +"Why did I cross myself that day on the island, when I saw her--behind +you?" Sanchez's taciturnity--the reticence of years--suddenly burst +its bonds. "Because she made me think of the former lady of the +Mount--the Governor's wife--who betrayed the Seigneur, your father! I +promised him to keep the secret--he would have it, for the sake of the +lady; but now--to you! Your father was stabbed at the foot of the +Mount by the Governor!--" + +"Stabbed! By him!" + +"It was given out," sourly, "by rogues--again to shield her!" + +"But--" + +"That same day he had a letter--from her. As evening fell he walked +near the Mount--was followed by the Governor, who sprang, struck in the +back and left him for dead! I found him and took him home. But before +he recovered, it was reported my lady had died--" + +"How?" + +"I know not; a punishment, perhaps! She was always delicate--or liked +to be considered such--a white-faced, pretty, smiling thing whose +beauty and treachery this other one, the daughter, inherits. It was +the ghost of herself looking over your shoulder that day on the island, +with the same bright, perfidious eyes--" + +"Enough!" Angrily the Black Seigneur brought down his hand. "I will +hear no more!" + +"Because she has caught your fancy! Because you--" + +"No more, I say! Think you I would not avenge your wrongs at once, +were it possible? That I would not strike for you, on the instant? +But now? My hands are tied. Another matter--of life, or +death--presses first!" + +Sanchez looked at him quickly; said no more; between them, the silence +grew. The servant was the first to move; turning to the table, he +began to eat; at first mechanically; afterward faster, with the +ravenous zest of one who has not tasted food for many hours. The +other, for his part, showed no immediate desire to disturb that +occupation; for some time waited; and it was not until the servant +stopped; reached out his arm for a glass, to drink, that the young man +again spoke. + +"The palace? The plan of the Mount? Did you notice? Tell me +something of it--how it is laid out--" + +Sanchez swallowed; set down the glass hard. "Yes, yes! I saw much--a +great deal!" he answered with eager zest. "Oh, I kept my eyes open, +although I seemed not to, and was mindful of learning all I could!" + +"Here!" From his pocket the young man took a note-book; pencil. "Set +it down; everything! I know something, already, from the old +monks--the rough diagrams in their books. You entered where? Take the +pencil and--" + +The minutes passed and still Sanchez traced; seemed almost to forget +his injuries in his interest in the labor. Plan after plan was made; +torn up; one finally remained in the hand of the Black Seigneur. + +"You think--" Anxiously the servant watched his master's face; but the +latter, straight, erect, with keen eyes fixed, did not answer. + +"You think--" again began the man when the ancient time-piece, beating +harshly the hour, interrupted. + +"Eleven o'clock! High tide!" The Black Seigneur pushed back his chair +and rose. + +"Good!" Sanchez's alacrity indicated a quick comprehension of what the +movement portended. + +"You--had better remain here!" shortly. + +"Me?" said the servant with a hoarse laugh. "Me?" + +"Have you not had enough of my family--my service?" the young Seigneur +demanded bitterly. + +"Bah!" muttered the other. "The dog that's beaten springs at the +chance to bite! You go to rescue your comrades. I--will go with you!" + +"In which case, death--not vengeance--will most likely be your reward!" + +"I care not!" stubbornly. + +A moment the Black Seigneur regarded him; then made a gesture. + +"Well, have your way!" He listened. "The wind is in the west." + +"A little south of west," answered the man. + +"A rough night for your boat to have crossed!" + +"Oh, I was bound to come! And if you hadn't been here, I'd have gone +on, on,--till I found you--" + +The hand of the young man touched the other's shoulder. "Come!" he +said, and threw open the door. + +"You are going in the storm?" The girl, Nanette, intercepted them. + +The Black Seigneur nodded shortly. + +"It must be an important mission to take you to sea on such a night. +Why don't you stay where it's warm and comfortable? Or," with a laugh, +"at least until Monsieur Gabarie," indicating the corpulent figure +intrenched behind a barricade of dishes and bottles on a small table +near the fire, "has finished the little puppet play he is writing." + +"It _is_ finished!" As he spoke, the poet rose. "I had but written +'curtain' when you spoke. Your wine, fair Nanette, hath a rarely +inspiring quality!" + +"Oh, I care not for your compliments!" she returned. "Your +_capitaine_," again studying the Black Seigneur with dark sedulous +eyes, "has not found it so much to his liking! He has neither asked +for more, nor drunk what he ordered; and now would venture out--" + +Unmindful of her words the young man called to old Pierre. + +"Well," she went on, throwing back her head, "if you lose your ship, +come to me, and--I'll see you have another!" + +Above in his chamber at the inn, not long thereafter, the priest, +looking out of the window, saw a line of men file down the narrow +stairs; embark in the small boats from the sheltered nook where they +lay, and later, in the light of the moon, breaking from between +scudding clouds and angry vapors, a ship that got under way--glided +like a phantom craft from the haven and set seaward through the foam. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE PILGRIMAGE + +From far and near the peasants and the people of the towns and +villages, joined in the customary annual descent upon--or ascent +to--the Mount. None was too poor, few too miserable, to undertake the +journey. A pilgrimage, was the occasion called; but although certain +religious ceremonies were duly observed and entered into by some with +fanatical warmth, many there were, who, obliged to pay tithes, +nourished the onerous recollection of the enforced "ecclesiastical +tenth" to the exclusion of any great desire to avail themselves of the +compensating privilege of beholding and bowing before the sacred +relics. To these recalcitrant spirits, license and a rough sort of +merrymaking became the order of the hour. + +Early in the morning the multitude began to arrive--in every manner of +dilapidated vehicle, astride starved-looking donkeys and bony horses, +or on foot. Many who had camped out the night before, by wayside or in +forest, brought with them certain scanty provisions and a kitchen pot +in which to boil thin soup, or some poor makeshift mess; others came +empty-handed, "pilgrims" out at the elbow and shoeless, trusting to +fortune for their sustenance, and looking capable even of having +poached in one of the wide forests they had traversed, despite a +penalty, severe and disproportionate to the offense, for laying hand on +any lord's wild birds or rabbits. + +Savage men; sodden men--good, bad and indifferent! Like ants thronging +about the hill, they straightway streamed to the Mount; took possession +of it, or as much as lay open to them; for around the top, chosen abode +of the Governor, extended a wall; grim, dark and ominous; bristling +with holes which seemed to look blackly down; to watch, to listen and +to frown. Without that pretentious line of encircling masonry, the +usual din, accompaniment to the day and the presence of so many people, +prevailed; within, reigned silence, a solemn hush, unbroken by even a +sentinel's tread. + +"I shall be glad when it's all over!" Standing at the window of her +chamber the Lady Elise had paused in dressing to look out upon the +throng--a thousand clots upon the sand, dark moving masses in the +narrow byways, and motionless ones near the temporary altars. + +"Oh, my Lady!" Her companion, and former nurse, a woman about fifty +years of age, ventured this mild expostulation. + +"There, Marie! You can go!" + +"Yes, your Ladyship--" + +"One moment!" The slender figure turned. "This fastening--" + +In an instant the woman was by her side. + +"Have you heard anything more about the prisoners, Marie?" abruptly. +"Those who were tried, I mean?" + +"Nothing--only Beppo said they are to be hanged day after +to-morrow--when the pilgrimage is over." + +"Day after to-morrow!" The brown eyes looked hard and bright; the +small white teeth pressed her lip. "And the man my fa--the Governor +had--whipped from the Mount--you have heard nothing more of him--where +he has gone?" + +"No, my Lady; he seems to have disappeared completely; fled this +country, perhaps, for those islands where so many like him," half +bitterly, "have gone before!" + +The girl looked up in a preoccupied manner. "Poor Marie! Your only +sister died there, didn't she?" + +"Yes, my Lady; I never saw her after she left France with her husband +and baby girl. He was an unpatriotic fellow--Pierre Laroche!" + +"No doubt," said the Governor's daughter absently, as the other +prepared to leave the room. + +Alone, the girl remained for several moments motionless before the +great Venetian mirror; then mechanically, hardly looking at the +reflection the glass threw back at her, she finished her toilet. This +task accomplished, still she stood with brows closely drawn; afar the +flute-like voices of the choir-boys arose from different parts of the +Mount, but she did not seem to hear them; made a sudden quick gesture +and walked toward the door in the manner of one who has arrived at some +resolution. + +Passing down a corridor, she reached an arched opening whose massive +door swung easily to her touch, and let herself out by a private way, +which had once been the ancient abbot's way, to an isolated corner of a +small secluded platform. From this point a stairway led up to a +passage spanning a great gulf. Below and aside, where the red-tiled +houses clung to the steep slope of the rock, fluttered many flags; yet +the girl did not pause either to contemplate or admire. Only when her +glance passed seaward and rested on the far-away ocean's rim of light, +did she stop for an instant--mid-way on the bridge--then, compressing +her lips, moved on the faster; down the incline on the other side; up +winding stairs between giant columns, reaching, at length, that bright +and grateful opening, the cloister. With an unvarying air of +resolution she stepped forward; looked in; the place was empty--silent +save for the tinkling of the tiny fountain in the center. + +"Are you looking for some one, my Lady?" + +The voice was that of Beppo, who was regarding her from an angle in the +cloister walk. + +"I am looking for his Excellency. I suppose he is--" + +"In the apartments of state, my Lady. But--" + +The girl frowned. + +"But, but!" she said. "But what?" + +"His Excellency has left word--he was expecting a minister from +Paris--that no one else was to be admitted; the matter was so important +that he wished no interruptions." + +She had already turned, however; moved on past him without answer. At +the inner entrance to the "little castle" or chatelet, which presently +she reached, the girl stopped. Here, without, in the shadow of two +huge cylindrical towers, that crowned the feudal gate-house, a number +of soldiers, seated on the steps, clinked their swords and talked; +within, beneath the high-vaulted dome of the guard-room lolled the +commandant and several officers on a bench before a large window. +Immediately on her appearance they rose, but, merely bowing stiffly, +she started toward a portal on the left. Whereupon the commandant +started forward, deferentially would have spoken--stopped her, when at +the same moment, the door she was approaching opened, and the Governor +himself appeared. At the sight of her he started; a shade of annoyance +crossed his thin features, then almost immediately vanished; his cold +eyes met hers expectantly. + +"I have been told you were very busy, yet I must see you; it is very +important--" + +A fraction of a moment he seemed to hesitate; then with an absent air: +"Certainly, I was very busy; nevertheless--" he stepped aside; +permitted her to pass, and softly closed the door. With the same +preoccupied air he walked to his table before one of the large +fireplaces whose pyramidal canopies merged into the ribs of the +vaulting of a noble chamber, and, seating himself in a cushioned chair, +looked down at a few embers. + +"I came," standing, with her fingers straight and stiff on the cold +marble edge of the table, the girl began to speak hurriedly, +constrainedly, "I wanted to see you--about the prisoners--" + +He did not answer. Gently stroking his wrist, as if the dampness from +some subterranean place had got into it, he evinced no sign he had +heard; and this apathy and his apparent disregard of her awoke more +strongly the feeling she had experienced so often since that day in the +cloister, when he had promised to set free the servant of the Black +Seigneur; had kept his word, indeed, but-- + +"Can't you see," she forced herself to continue, "after what the man +Sanchez thought--suspected about me, what he said that day at the +Mount, after what he, the Black Seigneur, did for me"--the Governor +started--"that you, if you care for me at all," he looked at her +strangely, "at least, should--" + +"As I told you the other day," his accents were cold, "why concern +yourself about outlaws and peasants clamoring for 'rights'!" + +"But it _is_ my concern," she said passionately. "Unless--" + +"Neither yours nor mine," he answered in the same tone. "Only the +law's!" + +"The law's!" she returned. "_You_ are the law--" + +"Its servant!" he corrected. + +"But--you could spare their lives! You could deal with them more +mercifully!" + +"The law is explicit. In the King alone rests the power to--" + +"The King! But before word could reach him--" + +"Exactly!" As he spoke, the Governor rose. "And now--" + +"You will not hear me?" + +"If there is anything else--" + +Her figure straightened. "Why do you hate him so?" she asked +passionately. "You have hastened their trial, and would carry out the +sentence before there is time for justice. And the man whom that day +you ordered whipped from the Mount--after letting me think him safe! +After all that his master did for me! Why was he lashed? Because of +him he served or of the old Seigneur before that? I heard you ask +about him--of his having gone to America? Why did you care about that?" + +"You seem to have listened to a great deal!" + +[Illustration: "You seem to have listened to a great deal."] + +"And why did he go to America?" she went on, unheeding. "Did you hate +him, too? What for?" + +"If you have nothing else to talk about--" He glanced at the door. + +"And the lands!" she said. "They were his; now they are yours--" + +"Unjustly, perhaps _you_ think." + +"No, no!" she cried. "I didn't mean--I didn't imply that. Of course +not! Only," putting out her hands, "I try to understand, and--you have +never taken me into your confidence, _mon pere_! You have been +indulgent; denied me nothing, but--I don't want to feel the way I have +felt the last week, as if--" quickly she stopped. "No doubt there are +reasons--although I have puzzled; and if I knew! Can't you," abruptly, +"treat me as one worthy of your confidence?" + +"You!" he said with quiet irony. "Who--_listen_!" + +The girl flushed. "I had to, because--" + +"And who misrepresent facts, as in the case of--Saladin!" + +"But--" + +"How long," standing over her, "were you on the island?" + +"I--don't know!" + +"You don't?" His voice implied disbelief. + +"Part of the time I was unconscious--" + +"In the watch-tower with him!" + +She made a gesture. "Would you rather--" + +"What did he say?" + +The girl's eyes, that had been so steadfast, on a sudden wavered. +"Nothing--much." + +"And you? Nothing, too? Then how was the deception devised--the pact +entered into--" + +Her figure stiffened. "There was no pact." + +"Treason, then? The law holds it treason to--" + +"You are cruel; unjust!" she cried. "To me, as you were to him. That +old man you had whipped! I wonder," impetuously, "if you are so to all +of them, the people, the peasants. And if that is the reason they have +only black looks for me--and hatred? As if they would like to curse +us!" + +He turned away. "I am very busy." + +"_Mon pere_!" + +He walked to the door. + +"Then you won't--won't spare them?" + +He opened wide the door. Still she did not move, until the sight of +the commandant without, the curious glance he cast in their direction, +decided her. Drawing herself up, she walked toward the threshold, and, +bowing perfunctorily, with head held high, crossed it. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE VOICE FROM THE GROUP + +"No one from the household is allowed through without an order!" + +"You will, however, let me pass." + +"Because you have a pretty face?" The sentinel at the great gate +separating the upper part of the Mount from the town, answered roughly. +"Not you, my girl, or--" + +But she who importuned raised the sides of the ample linen head-dress +and revealed fully her countenance. + +"My Lady!" Half convinced, half incredulous, the soldier looked; +stared; at features, familiar, yet seeming different, with the +rebellious golden hair smoothed down severely above; the figure garbed +in a Norman peasant dress, made for a costume dance when the nobles and +court ladies had visited the Mount. + +"You do not doubt who I am?" Imperiously regarding him. + +"No, my Lady; only--" + +"Then open the gate!" she commanded. + +The man pushed back the ponderous bolts; pressed outward the mass of +oak and iron, and, puzzled, surprised, watched the girl slip through. +Of course it was none of his affair, my lady's caprice, and if she +chose to go masquerading among the people on such a day, when all the +idle vagabonds made pretext to visit the Mount, her right to do so +remained unquestioned; but, as he closed the heavy door, he shook his +head. Think of the risk! Who knew what might happen in the event of +her identity being revealed to certain of those in that heterogeneous +concourse without? Even at the moment through an aperture for +observation in the framework to which he repaired upon adjusting the +fastenings, he could see approaching a procession of noisy fanatics. + +The apprehension of the soldier was, however, not shared by the girl, +who, glad she had found a means to get away from the chilling +atmosphere of her own world, experienced now only a sense of freedom +and relief. In her tense mood, the din--the shouting and unwonted +sounds--were not calculated to alarm; on the contrary, after the +oppressive stillness in the great halls and chambers of the summit, +they seemed welcome. Her pulses throbbed and her face still burned +with the remembrance of the interview with her father, as she eyed +unseeingly the approaching band, led by censer- and banner-bearers. + +"_Vierge notre esperance--_" Caught up as they swept along, she found +herself without warning suddenly a part of that human stream. A +natural desire to get clear from the multitude led her at first to +struggle, but as well contend with the inevitable. Faces fierce, +half-crazed, encompassed her; eyes that looked starved, spiritually and +physically, gleamed on every side. Held as in a vise, she soon ceased +to resist; suddenly deposited on a ledge, like a shell tossed up from +the sea, she next became aware she was looking up toward a temporary +altar, garish with bright colors. + +"_Etends sur nous--_" Louder rose the voices; more uncontrollable +became the demeanor of the people, and quickly, before the unveiling of +the sacred relics had completely maddened them, she managed to +extricate herself from the kneeling or prostrate throng; breathless, +she fled the vicinity. + +Down, down! Into the heart of the village; through tortuous footpaths, +where the pandering, not pietistic, element held sway; where, instead +of shrines and altars, had been erected booths and stands before which +vendors of nondescript viands or poor trumpery vented their loquacity +on the pilgrims: + +"All hot! All hot!" + +"_A la barque_! _A l'ecaille_!" + +"_La vie_! Two drinks for a _liard_!" + +"_Voila le plaisir des dames_!" + +The Mount, in olden times a glorious and sacred place for royal +pilgrimages, where kings came to pray and seek absolution, seemed now +more mart than holy spot. But those whom the petty traders sought to +entice--sullen-looking peasants, or poorly clad fishermen and their +families--for the most part listened indifferently, or with stupid +derision. + +"Bah!" scoffed one of them, a woman dressed in worn-out costume of +inherited holiday finery. "Where think you we can get sous for +gew-gaws?" + +"Or full stomachs with empty pockets?" said another. "The foul fiend +take your Portugals!" + +The nomadic merchants replied and a rough altercation seemed impending, +when, pushing through the crowd, the girl hurried on. + +Down, down, she continued; to the base of the rock where the sand's +shining surface had attracted and yet held many of the people. Thither +they still continued to come--in bands; processions; little streams +that, trickling in, mingled with and augmented the rabble. An +encampment for the hour--until the "_petite_" tide should break it up, +and drive it piecemeal to the shore or up the sides of the Mount--it +spread out and almost around the foundations of the great rock. Only +the shadows it avoided--the chilling outlines of pinnacles and towers; +the cold impress of the saint, holding close to the sunlit strand and +basking in its warmth. + +Some, following the example of their sea-faring fellows, dug +half-heartedly in the sands in the hope of eking out the meager evening +meal with a course, salt-flavored; others, abandoning themselves to +lighter employment, made merry in heavy or riotous fashion, but the +effect of these holiday efforts was only depressing and incongruous. + +"Won't you join?" Some one's arm abruptly seized my lady. + +"No, no!" + +Unceremoniously he still would have drawn her into the ring, but with a +sudden swift movement, she escaped from his grasp. + +"My child!" The voice was that of a wolfish false friar who, seeing +her pass quickly near by, broke off in threat, solicitation and appeal +for sous, to intercept her. "Aren't you in a hurry, my child?" + +"It may be," she answered steadily, with no effort to conceal her +aversion at sight of the gleaming eyes and teeth. "Too much so, to +speak with you, who are no friar!" + +"What mean you?" His expression, ingratiating before, had darkened, +and from his mean eyes shot a malignant look; she met it with fearless +disdain. + +"That you make pretext of this holy day to rob the people--as if they +are not poor enough!" + +"Ban you with bell, book and candle! Your tongue is too sharp, my +girl!" he snarled, but did not linger long, finding the flashing +glance, the contemptuous mien, or the truth of her words, little to his +liking. That he profited not by the last, however, was soon evident, +as with amulets and talismans for a bargain, again he moved among the +crowd, conjuring by a full calendar of saints, real and imaginary, and +professing to excommunicate, in an execrable confusion of monkish +gibberish, where the people could not, or would not, comply with his +demands. + +"So they _are_--poor enough!" Leaning on a stick, an aged fishwife who +had drawn near and overheard part of the dialogue between the thrifty +rogue and the girl, now shook her withered head. "Yet still to be +cozened! Never too poor to be cozened!" she repeated in shrill +falsetto tones. + +"And why," sharply my lady turned to the crone, "why are they so poor? +The lands are rich--the soil fertile." + +"Why?" more shrilly. "You must come from some far-off place not to +know. Why? Don't you, also, have to pay _metayage_ to some great +lord? And _banalite_ here, and _banalite_ there, until--" + +"But surely, if you applied to your great lord, your Governor; if you +told him--" + +"If we told him!" Brokenly the woman laughed. "Yes; yes; of course; +if--" + +"I don't understand," said the Governor's daughter coldly. + +Muttering and chuckling, the woman did not seem to hear; had started to +hobble on, when abruptly the girl stopped her. + +"Where do you live?" + +"There!" A claw-like finger pointed. "On the old Seigneur's lands--a +little distance from the woods--" + +"The old Seigneur? You knew him?" + +"Knew him! Who better?" The whitened head wagged. "And the Black +Seigneur? Wasn't he left, as a child, with me, when the old Seigneur +went to America? And," pursing her thin lips, "didn't I care for him, +and bring him up as one of my own?" + +"But I thought--I heard that he, the Black Seigneur, when a boy, lived +in the woods." + +"That," answered the old creature, "was after. After the years he +lived with us and shared our all! Not that we begrudged--no, no! Nor +he! For once when I sent word, pleading our need, that we were +starving, he forgave--I mean, remembered me--all I had done and," in a +wheedling voice, "sent money--money--" + +"He did?" Swiftly the girl reached for her own purse, only to discover +she had forgotten to bring one. "But of course," in a tone of +disappointment at her oversight, "he couldn't very well forget or +desert one who had so generously befriended him." + +"There are those now among his friends he must needs desert," the crone +cackled, wagging her head. + +A shadow crossed the girl's brow. "Must needs?" she repeated. + +"Aye, forsooth! His comrades--taken prisoners near the island of +Casque? His Excellency will hang them till they're dead--dead, like +some I've seen dangling from the branches in the wood. He, the Black +Seigneur, may wish to save them; but what can he do?" + +"What, indeed?" The girl regarded the Mount almost bitterly. "It is +impregnable." + +"Way there!" At that moment, a deep, strong voice from a little group +of people, moving toward them, interrupted. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE PEOPLE + +In the center walked a man, dressed as a mountebank, who bent forward, +laden with various properties--a bag that contained a miscellany of +spurious medicines and drugs, to be sold from a stand, and various +dolls for a small puppet theater he carried on his back. It was not +for the Governor's daughter, or the old woman, however, his call had +been intended. "Way there!" he repeated to those in front of him. + +But they, yet seeking to detain, called out: "Give the piece here!" + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE PEOPLE + +In the center walked a man, dressed as a mountebank, who bent forward, +laden with various properties--a bag that contained a miscellany of +spurious medicines and drugs, to be sold from a stand, and various +dolls for a small puppet theater he carried on his back. It was not +for the Governor's daughter, or the old woman, however, his call had +been intended. "Way there!" he repeated to those in front of him. + +But they, yet seeking to detain, called out: "Give the piece here!" + +Like a person not lightly turned from his purpose, he, strolling-player +as well as charlatan, pointed to the Mount, and, unceremoniously +thrusting one person to this side and another to that, stubbornly +pushed on. As long as they were in sight the girl watched, but when +with shouts and laughter they had vanished, swallowed by the shifting +host, once more she turned to the crone. That person, however, had +walked on toward the shore, and indecisively the Governor's daughter +gazed after. The woman's name she had not inquired, but could find out +later; that would not be difficult, she felt sure. + +Soon, with no definite thought of where she was going, she began to +retrace her steps, no longer experiencing that earlier over-sensitive +perception for details, but seeing the picture as a whole--a vague +impression of faces; in the background, the Mount--its golden saint +ever threatening to strike!--until she drew closer; when abruptly the +uplifted blade, a dominant note, above color and movement, vanished, +and she looked about to find herself in the shadow of one of the rock's +bulwarks. Near by, a scattering approach of pilgrims from the sands +narrowed into a compact stream directed toward a lower gate, and, +remembering her experience above, she would have avoided the general +current; but no choice remained. At the portals she was jostled +sharply; no respecters of persons, these men made her once more feel +what it was to be one of the great commonalty; an atom in the rank and +file! At length reaching the tower's little square, many of them +stopped, and she was suffered to escape--to the stone steps swinging +sharply upward. She had not gone far, however, when looking down, she +was held by a spectacle not without novelty to her. + +In the shadow of the Tower of the King stood the mountebank she had +seen but a short time before on the sands. Now facing the people +before his little show-house, which he had set up in a convenient +corner, he was calling attention to the entertainment he proposed +giving, by a loud beating on a drum. + +Rub-a-dub-dub! "Don't crowd too close!" Rub-a-dub-dub! "Keep order +and you will see--" + +"Some trumpery miracle mystery!" called out a jeering voice. + +"Or the martyrdom of some saint!" cried another. + +"I don't know anything about any saint," answered the man, +"unless,"--rub-a-dub-dub!--"you mean my lord's lady!" + +And truly the piece, as they were to discover, was quite barren of that +antique religious flavor to which they objected and which still +pervaded many of the puppet plays of the day. _The Petit Masque of the +Wicked Peasant and the Good Noble_, it was called; an odd designation +that at once interested the Lady Elise, bending over the stone +balustrade the better to see. It interested, also, those official +guardians of the peace, a number of soldiers and a few officers from +the garrison standing near, who, unmindful of the girl, divided their +attention between the pasteboard center of interest and the people +gathered around it. + +Circumspectly the little play opened; a scene in which my lord, in a +waistcoat somewhat frayed for one of his station, commands the lazy +peasant to beat the marsh with a stick that the croaking of the frogs +may not disturb at night the rest of his noble spouse, seemed designed +principally to show that obedience, submission and unquestioning fealty +were the great lord's due. On the one hand, was the patrician born to +rule; on the other, the peasant, to serve; and no task, however +onerous, but should be gladly welcomed in behalf of the master, or his +equally illustrious lady. The dialogue, showing the disinclination of +the bad peasant for this simple employment and the good lord's noble +solicitude for the nerves of his high-born spouse, was both nimble and +witty; especially those bits punctuated by a cane, and the sentiment: +"Thus all bad peasants deserve to fare!" and culminating in an +excellent climax to the lesson--a tattoo on the peasant's head that +sent him simultaneously, and felicitously, down with the curtain. + +"What think you of it?" At my lady's elbow one of the officers turned +to a companion. + +"Amusing, but--" And his glance turned dubiously toward the people. +Certainly they did not now show proper appreciation either for the +literary merits of the little piece or the precepts it promulgated in +fairly sounding verse. + +"The mountebank!" From the crowd a number of discontented voices rose. +"Come out, Monsieur Mountebank!" + +"Yes, Monsieur Mountebank, come out; come out!" + +With fast-beating heart the Lady Elise gazed; as in a dream had she +listened--not to the lines of the puppet play; but to a +voice--strangely familiar, yet different--ironical; scoffing; laughing! +She drew her breath quickly; once more studied the head, in its white, +close-fitting clown's covering; the heavy, painted face, with red, +gaping mouth. Then, the next moment, as he bowed himself +back--apparently unmindful of a missile some one threw and which struck +his little theater--the half-closed, dull eyes met hers; passed, +without sign or expression!--and she gave a nervous little laugh. What +a fancy! + +"Act second!" the tinkling of a bell prefaced the announcement, and +once more was the curtain drawn, this time revealing a marsh and the +bad peasant at work, reluctantly beating the water to the _Song of the +Stick_. + + "Beat! beat! + At his lordship's command; + For if there's a croak, + For you'll be the stroke, + From no gentle hand." + + +A merry little tune, it threaded the act; it was soon interrupted, +however, during a scene where a comical-looking devil on a broomstick, +useful both for transportation and persuasion, came for something which +he called the peasant's soul. Again the bad peasant protested; would +cheat even the devil of his due, but his satanic Majesty would not be +set aside. + +"You may rob your master," he said, in effect; "defraud him of +_banalite_, _bardage_ and those other few taxes necessary to his +dignity and position; but you can't defraud _Me_!" Whereupon he +proceeded to wrest what he wanted from the bad peasant by force--and +the aid of the broomstick!--accompanying the rat-a-tat with a +well-rhymed homily on what would certainly happen to every peasant who +sought to deprive his lord of feudal rights. At this point a growing +restiveness on the part of the audience found resentful expression. + +"That for your devil's stick!" + +"To the devil with the devil!" + +"Down with the devil!" + +The cry, once started, was not easy to stop; men in liquor and ripe for +mischief repeated it; in vain the mountebank pleaded: "My poor dolls! +My poor theater!" Unceremoniously they tumbled it and him over; a few, +who had seen nothing out of the ordinary in the little play took his +part; words were exchanged for blows, with many fighting for the sake +of fighting, when into the center of this, the real stage, appeared +soldiers. + +"What does it mean?" Impressive in gold adornment and conscious +authority, the commandant himself came down the steps. "Who dares make +riot on a day consecrated to the holy relics? But you shall pay!" as +the soldiers separated the belligerents. "Take those men into custody +and--who is this fellow?" turning to the mountebank, a mournful figure +above the wreckage of his theater and poor puppets scattered, +haphazard, like victims of some untoward disaster. + +"It was his play that started the trouble," said one of the officers. + +"_Diable!_" the commandant frowned. "What have you to say for +yourself?" + +"I," began the mountebank, "I--" he repeated, when courage and words +alike seemed to fail him. + +The commandant made a gesture. "Up with him! To the top of the Mount!" + +"No, no!" At once the fellow's voice came back to him. "Don't take me +there, into the terrible Mount! Don't lock me up!" + +"Don't lock him up!" repeated some one in the crowd, moved apparently +by the sight of his distress. "It wasn't his fault!" + +"No; it wasn't his fault!" said others. + +"Eh?" Wheeling sharply, the commandant gazed; at the lowering faces +that dared question his authority; then at his own soldiers. On the +beach he might not have felt so secure, but here, where twenty, +well-armed, could defend a pass and a mob batter their heads in vain +against walls, he could well afford a confident front. "Up with you!" +he cried sternly and gave the mountebank a contemptuous thrust. + +For the first time the man's apathy seemed to desert him; his arm shot +back like lightning, but almost at once fell to his side, while an +expression, apologetically abject, as if to atone for that momentary +fierce impulse, overspread his dull visage. "Oh, I'll go," he said in +accents servile. And proceeded hurriedly to gather up the remains of +his theater and dolls. "I'm willing to go." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE HUNCHBACK + +Up the Mount with shambling step, head down-bent and the same stupid +expression on his face, the mountebank went docilely, though not +silently. To one of the soldiers at his side he spoke often, voicing +that dull apprehension he had manifested when first ordered into +custody. + +"Do you think they'll put me in a dungeon?" + +"Dungeon, indeed!" the man answered not ill-naturedly. "For such as +you! No, no! They'll keep the oubliettes, calottes, and all the dark +holes for people of consequence--traitors, or your fine gentry +consigned by _lettres de cachet_." + +"Then what do you think they _will_ do with me?" + +"Wait, and find out!" returned the soldier roughly, and the mountebank +spoke no more for some time; held his head lower, until, regarding him, +his guardian must needs laugh. "Here's a craven-hearted fellow! Well, +if you really want to know, they'll probably lock you up for the night +with the rest of rag-tag," indicating the other prisoners, a short +distance ahead, "in the cellar, or almonry, or _auberge des voleurs_; +and in the morning, if you're lucky and the Governor has time to attend +to such as you, it may be you'll escape with a few stripes and a +warning." + +"The _auberge des voleurs_!--the thieves' inn!" said the man. "What is +that?" + +"Bah! You want to know too much! If now your legs only moved as fast +as your tongue--" And the speaker completed the sentence with a +significant jog on the other's shoulder. Whereupon the mountebank +quickened his footsteps, once more ceased his questioning. It was the +soldier who had not yet spoken, but who had been pondering a good deal +on the way up, who next broke the silence. + +"How did it end, Monsieur Mountebank?--the scene with the devil, I +mean." + +The man who had begun to breathe hard, as one not accustomed to +climbing, or wearied by a long pilgrimage to the Mount, at the question +ventured to stop and rest, with a hand on the granite balustrade of the +little platform they had just reached. "In the death of the peasant, +and a comic chorus of frogs," he answered. + +"A comic chorus!" said the soldier. "That must be very amusing." + +"It is," the mountebank said, at the same time studying, from where he +stood, different parts of the Mount with cautious, sidelong looks; "but +my poor frogs!--all torn! trampled!" + +"Well, well!" said the other not unkindly. "You can mend them when you +get out." + +"'_When_!' If I only knew when that would be! What if I should have +to stay here like some of the others?--_pour etre oublie_!--to be +forgotten?" + +"If you don't get on faster," said the soldier who had first spoken, +"you won't be buried alive for some time to come, at least!" + +"Pardon!" muttered the mountebank. "The hill--it is very steep." + +"You look strong enough to climb a dozen hills, and if you're holding +back for a chance to escape--" + +"No, no!" protested the man. "I had no thought--do I not know that if +I tried, your sword--" + +"Quite right. I'd--" + +"There, there!" said the other soldier, a big, good-natured appearing +fellow. "He's harmless enough, and," as once more they moved on, "that +tune of yours, Monsieur Mountebank," abruptly; "it runs in my head. +Let me see--how does it go? The second verse, I mean--" + + "Beat! beat! + Mid marsh-muck and mire, + For if any note + Escapes a frog's throat, + Beware my lord's ire!" + + +"Yes; that's the one. Not bad!" humming-- + + "For if any note + Escapes a frog's throat + Beware my lord's ire!" + + +"Are the verses your own?" + +"Oh, no! I'm only a poor player," said the mountebank humbly. "But an +honest one," he added after a pause, "and this thieves' inn, Monsieur?" +returning to the subject of his possible fate, "this _auberge des +voleurs_--that sounds like a bad place for an honest lodging." + +"It was once under the old monks, who were very merry fellows; but +since the Governor had it restored, it has become a sober and quiet +place. It is true there are iron bars instead of blinds, and you can't +come and go, as they used to, but--" + +"Is that it--up there?" And the mountebank pointed toward a ledge of +rock, with strong flanking buttresses, out jutting beneath a +mysterious-looking wall and poised over a sparsely-wooded bit of the +lower Mount. "The gray stone building you can just see above the +ramparts, and that opening in the cliff to the right, with something +running down--that looks like planking--" + +"Oh, that is for the wheel--" + +"The wheel?" + +"The great wheel of the Mount! It was built in the time of the monks, +and was used for--" + +"Hold your tongue!" said the other soldier, and the trio entered the +great gate, which had opened at their approach, and now closed quickly +behind them. + +For the first time in that isolated domain of the dreaded Governor, the +mountebank appeared momentarily to forget his fears and gazed with +interest around him. On every side new and varying details unfolded to +the eye; structures that from below were etched against the sky in +filmy lines, here resolved themselves into vast, solid, but harmonious +masses. + +Those ribbons of color that had seemed to fall from the wooing sky, to +adorn these heights, proved, indeed, fallacious; more somber effects, +the black touches of age, confronted the eye everywhere, save on one +favored front--that of a newer period, an architectural addition whose +intricate carvings and beautiful roses of stone invited and caught the +warmer rays; whose little balcony held real buds and flowers, bright +spots of pink dangling from, or nestling at, the window's edge. + +"Yonder looks like some grand lady's bower," as he followed his captors +past this more attractive edifice, the mountebank ventured to observe. +"Now, perhaps, lives there--" + +"Hark you, my friend," one of the soldiers bruskly interrupted; "a +piece of advice! His Excellency likes not babblers, neither does he +countenance gossip; and if you'd fare well, keep your tongue to +yourself!" + +"I'll--I'll try to remember," said the mountebank docilely, but as he +spoke, looked back toward the balcony; at the gleaming reflection full +on its windows; then a turn in the way cut off the pleasing prospect, +and only the grim foundations of the lofty, heavier structure on one +hand and the massive masonry of the ramparts on the other greeted the +eye. + +For some distance they continued along the narrow way, the mountebank +bending lower under his load and observing the injunction put upon him, +until the path, broadening, led them abruptly on to a platform where a +stone house of ancient construction barred their further progress. But +two stories in height, this building, an alien edifice amid loftier +piles, stood sturdily perched on a precipitous cliff. The rough +stonework of its front, darkened by time, made it seem almost a part of +the granite itself, although the roof, partly demolished and restored, +imparted to it an anomalous distinctness, the bright new tile prominent +as patches on some dilapidated garment. In its doorway, beneath a +monkish inscription, well-nigh obliterated, stood a dwarf, or +hunchback, who, jingling a bunch of great keys, ill-humoredly regarded +the approaching trio. + +"What now?" The little man's welcome, as mountebank and soldiers came +within earshot, was not reassuring. "Isn't it enough to make prisoners +of all the scamps in Christendom without taking vagabond players into +custody?" + +"Orders, good Jacques!" said one of the soldiers in a conciliatory +tone. "The commandant's!" + +"The commandant!" grumbled the grotesque fellow. "It is all very +well," mimicking: "'Turn them over to Jacques. He'll find room.' If +this keeps on, we'll soon have to make cages of confessionals, or turn +the wine-butts in the old cellar into oubliettes." + +"If any of the ancient flavor lingers in the casks, your guests would +have little reason to complain!" returned the other soldier. "But this +fellow, he'll make no trouble--" + +"Oh, I suppose we'll have to take care of him!" muttered the dwarf. +"In the thieves' inn there's always room for one more!" Obeying the +gesture, at once menacing and imperious, that accompanied these words, +the mountebank, who had been eying his prospective host not without +visible signs of misgiving, reluctantly entered. + +But as he did so, he looked back; toward the soldier who had displayed +half-friendly interest in the play. + +"If you care to know more about the piece--" he began, when the +maledictions and abuse of the misshapen keeper put a stop to further +conversation and sent the mountebank post-haste into the darkness of +the cavern-like hall intersecting the ground floor. + +On either side closed doors, vaguely discerned, hinted at the secrets +of the chambers they guarded; the atmosphere, dark and close, +proclaimed the sunlight long a stranger there. At the end of the hall +the dwarf, who had walked with the assurance of one well acquainted +with that musty interior and all it contained, paused; shot sharply a +bolt and threw open a door. The action was the signal for a chorus of +hoarse voices from within, and the little man stayed not on the order +of his going, but, thrusting the mountebank across the threshold, +leaped nimbly back, slammed hard the door, and locked it. + +Cries of disappointment and rage followed, and, facing the company that +crowded the dingy little room almost to suffocation, the latest comer +found himself confronted by unkempt people who shook their fists +threateningly and execrated in no uncertain manner. A few, formerly +spectators of his little play, inclined again to vent their humor on +him, but he regarded them as if unaware of their feeling; pushed none +too gently to a tiny window, and, depositing his burden on the stone +floor, seated himself on a stool with his back to the wall. + +As a squally gust soon blows itself out, so their temper, mercurial, +did not long endure; from a ragged coat one produced dice, another +cards, and, although there were few sous to exchange hands, the hazard +of tossing and shuffling exercised its usual charm and held them. The +minutes wore away; motionless in his corner, the mountebank now +watched; then with his head on his elbow, seemed sunk in thought. Once +he rose; stood on his stool and looked out between the heavy bars of +the narrow window. + +"Not much chance to get out that way," observed a fellow prisoner. +"What did you see?" + +"Only a chasm and the sands." + +"The sands!" said the man. "Cursed the day I set foot on them!" + +To this malediction the other did not answer; stepped down and, again +seated in his corner, waited, while the light that had grudgingly +entered the narrow aperture grew fainter. With the growing darkness +the atmosphere seemed to become closer, more foul; but although he +breathed with difficulty, the mountebank suffered no sign of impatience +or concern to escape him; only more alertly looked, and listened--to a +night bird cleaving the air without; to muttered sounds, thieves' +patois, or snatches of ribald mirth within; and, ere long, to new +complainings. + +"Our supper! What of our supper?" + +"The foul fiend take the _auberge des voleurs_ and its landlord?" + +"_Vrai dieu_! Here he comes!" as footsteps were heard without. + +And the door, opening, revealed, indeed, in the rushlight, now dimly +illuminating the hall, the hunchback; not laden, however, with the +longed-for creature comforts, but empty-handed; at his back the +commandant and a number of soldiers. + +"You fellow with the dolls!" Blinking in the glare of the torches, the +dwarf peered in. "Where are you? Come along!" as the mountebank rose, +"you are wanted." + +"Wanted?" repeated the player, stepping forward. "Where?" + +"At the palace," said the commandant. + +"The palace!" stopping short. "Who can want me there?" + +"Who?" The dwarf made a grimace. "Who?" he repeated mockingly. + +"Her ladyship," said the commandant, with a reproving glance at the +jailer. + +"Her ladyship!" + +"Haven't you ears, my man?" The commandant frowned and made an +impatient gesture. "Come, bestir yourself! The Governor's daughter +has commanded your presence." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE MOUNTEBANK AND MY LADY + +"The Governor's daughter!" Had the light been stronger they must have +seen the start the mountebank gave. "Impossible!" + +"Eh? What?" Surprised in turn, the officer gazed at him. "You +dare--out with him!" To the soldiers. + +But in a moment had the mountebank recovered his old demeanor, and, +without waiting for the troopers to obey the commandant's order, walked +voluntarily toward the door and into the passage. + +"Our supper! Our supper!" A number of the prisoners, crowding +forward, began once more to call lustily, when again was the +disk-studded woodwork swung unceremoniously to, cutting short the sound +of their lamentations. + +"Dogs!" Malevolently the dwarf gazed back. "To want to gorge +themselves on a holy day!" + +"Pious Jacques!" murmured the commandant. "But I always said you made +a model landlord!" + +"When not interfered with!" grumbled the other. + +"At any rate _he_ doesn't seem to appreciate his good fortune," with a +glance at the mountebank. + +"No," jeering. "A gallant cavalier to step blithely at a great lady's +command! 'Your Ladyship overwhelms me!'" bowing grotesquely. "'Your +Ladyship's condescension'--" + +"Why, then, need you take me?" interposed the mountebank quickly. "Can +you not tell her ladyship I am not fit to appear in her presence--an +uncouth clown--" + +"Bah! I've already done that," answered the commandant. + +"But how came her ladyship to know of me--here--?" + +"How indeed?" + +"And what does she want of me?" + +"That," roughly, "you will find out!" and stepped down the hall, +followed by the soldiers, mountebank and dwarf, the last of whom took +leave of them at the door. + +Clear was the night; the stars, like liquid drops about to fall, +caressed with silvery rays the granite piles. In contrast to the +noisome atmosphere of the prison, faint perfumes, borne from some +flowery slope of the distant shore, swept languorously in and out the +open aisles and passages of the Mount. In such an hour that upper +region seemed to belong entirely to the sky; to partake of its wondrous +stillness; to share its mysteries and its secrets. Like intruders, +penetrating an enchanted spot, now they trod soft shadows; then, +clangorous, beat beneath foot delicate laceworks of light. + +"Here we are!" The officer stopped. At the same time upon a near-by +balcony a nightingale began to sing, tentatively, as if trying the +scope and quality of its voice. "You are to go in!" he announced +abruptly. + +"Such a fine palace! I--I would rather not!" muttered the fellow, as +they crossed an outer threshold and proceeded to mount some polished +stairs. + +"Stubborn dolt! Now in you march," pausing before a door. "But, hark +you! I and my men remain without. So, mind your behavior, or--" + +A look from the commandant completed the sentence. + +Alone, in an apartment of the palace, some moments later, the +mountebank's demeanor underwent a quick change; he glanced hastily +toward the door the commandant had closed in leaving, and then, with +sudden brightening gaze, around him, as if making note of every detail +of his surroundings. Set with columns of warm-hued marble, relieved +with ornate carvings and designs, the spacious chamber presented an +appearance at once graceful and charming. Nor were its furnishings at +variance with its architectural elegance; on every hand soft colors met +the eye, in rugs of ancient pattern; in tapestries, subdued; in the +upholstering of Breton oak. A culminating note was in the center of +the room, where a great bunch of roses opened wide their petals. + +But briefly, however, the clown permitted himself to survey, or study, +these details of refinement and luxury; the swift eager interest that +had shone from the dark eyes gave way to an expression, lack-luster and +stupid; his countenance once more resumed its blank, stolid aspect. As +if unconscious of the anomalous figure he presented, mechanically had +he seated himself; was gazing down, when through a doorway, opposite +the one by which the commandant had left, a slender form appeared. +Under the heavy, whitened lids a slight movement of the clown's eyes +alone betrayed he was aware of that new presence. A moment the girl +stood there, her glance resting on the grotesque, bent figure before +her; then with a quizzical lift of the delicate brows she entered. + +"You believe, no doubt, in making yourself at home?" + +Crossing to the table, once more she stopped; her figure, sheathed in a +gown of brocade of rose, glowed bright and distinct in contrast to the +faint, vari-colored tints of ancient embroideries on the wall. Above, +the light threw a shimmer on the deep-burnished gold of her hair; the +sweeping lashes veiled the half-disdainful, half-amused look in her +brown eyes. "Or, perhaps, you are one of those who think the peasants +will some day sit, while the lords and ladies stand?" + +"I don't know," he managed to answer, but got up, only to appear more +awkward. + +"You do not seem to know very much, indeed!" she returned, her tone +changing to one of cold severity. "Not enough, perhaps, to perceive +the mischief you may cause! That play of yours, which I witnessed +to-day--" + +"You! To-day? Your Ladyship was--" + +"Yes," imperiously, "I was there! And heard and saw the effect it had +on the people; how it stirred all their baser passions! But you, of +course, could not know--or care, thinking only of the sous!--that, +instead of teaching a lesson, the piece would only move them to anger, +or resentment." + +"I--your Ladyship--great lords have commended the play--" + +"Great lords!" she began, but stopped; regarded her listener and +shrugged her shoulders. + +A few moments silence lasted, the fellow apparently not knowing what to +say, or if he was expected to say anything, while, for her part, the +girl no longer looked at him, but at the flowers, taking one, which she +turned in her fingers. + +"Your Ladyship would command me--" + +"To give the play no more!" + +"But--" Expostulation shone from his look. + +"In which event you shall be suffered to go free to-morrow." + +"But my livelihood! What shall I do, if I am forbidden to earn--" + +She gave him a colder look. "I have spoken to the commandant; told him +what I had seen, and that I did not think you intended to make trouble. +Your case will, therefore, not be reported to his Excellency. Only," +with a warning flash, "if you are again caught giving the play, you +must expect to receive your deserts." + +"Of course! If your Ladyship commands!" dejectedly. + +"I do! But, as an offset to the coppers you might otherwise receive, I +will give you a sum of money sufficient to compensate you." + +"Your Ladyship is so generous!" He made an uncouth gesture of +gratitude and covetousness. "May I ask your Ladyship how much--" + +[Illustration: "May I ask your ladyship how much--?"] + +"How much?" scornfully. "But I suppose--" + +The words died away; her glance fell; lingered on the hand he had +extended. Muscular, shapely, it seemed not adapted to the servile +gesture; was most unlike the hand of clod or clown. Moreover, it was +marked with a number of wounds, half-healed, which caught and held her +look. + +"Of course, I am so poor, your Ladyship--" he began, in yet more abject +tone, but stopped, attracted in turn by the direction of her gaze; +then, meeting it, quickly withdrew the hand and thrust it into his +pocket. Not in time, however, to prevent a startled light, a swift +gleam of recollection from springing into her eyes! The very movement +itself--ironically enough!--was not without precedent. + +"You!" She recoiled from him. "The Black--" + +As a man who realizes he has betrayed himself, he bit his lips; but +attempted no further subterfuge. The shambling figure straightened; +the dull eyes grew steady; the bold self-possession she remembered well +on another occasion again marked his bearing. + +"Your Ladyship has discerning eyes," he remarked quietly, but as he +spoke glanced and moved a little toward the window. + +My lady stood as if dazed. He, the Black Seigneur, there, in the +palace! Mechanically she raised her hand to her breast; she was very +pale. On the balcony the nightingale, grown confident, burst into a +flood of variations; a thousand trills and full-throated notes filled +the room. + +"I understand now," at length she found voice, "why that fancy came to +me below, when I was listening to the play on the platform. But why +have you come--to the very Mount itself?" Her voice trembled a little. +"You! On the beach the people tried to stop you--" + +"You saw that, too?" + +"And you _knew_ the play would make trouble! You wanted it to," +quickly. "For what purpose? To get into the upper part of the Mount? +To have them arrest--bring you here?" She looked at him with sudden +terror. "My father! Was it to--" + +A low, distinct rapping at the door she had entered, interrupted them. +She started and looked fearfully around. At the same time the +mountebank stepped back to the side of a great bronze in front of the +balcony, where, standing in the shadow, he was screened. + +"Elise!" a voice called out. + +The flower the girl had been holding, fell to the floor. + +"My--" she began, when the door opened and the Governor stood on the +threshold. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE GOVERNOR + +In his hand the Governor held a paper; his usually austere face wore a +slightly propitiatory expression, while the eyes he turned upon her, as +slowly he entered the room, suggested a respite of differences. +Pausing, he toyed with the missive, turning it around and around in his +fingers, as if something in his thoughts were revolving with it. Had +he been more watchful of her, less bent on some matter uppermost in his +mind, he could not have failed to mark the pallor of her face, or the +agitation written there. As it was, his glance swept without studying. + +"I hoped to find you here," he began complacently; "hoped that you had +not yet retired." + +She made some faint response, but her voice, despite herself, wavered. +Whereupon his look sharpened; then almost immediately relapsed; +constraint on her part could easily be accounted for; not many hours +had elapsed since their last interview. + +"Yes," he continued, "I have here to consider," indicating a paper he +held, "a rather important matter." He waited a moment before adding: +"A matter that concerns--you!" + +"That concerns me?" Her hands tightened. + +"Yes." + +"Since it is important," she said hastily, "would it not--shall we not +leave it until to-morrow? I--I am rather tired to-night, and--" + +"What?" he returned in the same unruffled tone. "Would you postpone +considering the command of the King!" + +"Command!" she repeated nervously. "Of the King?" + +"Or request," he said, "which is the same." + +"But--" she began, and stopped; held by a sound, as of some one moving, +near the window. + +"Shall I read it, or--" + +She had started to look behind her; but abruptly caught herself, and +seemed about to frame some irrelevant response, when his voice went on: +"The King desires to change the date set for your marriage with his +kinsman, the Marquis de Beauvillers." + +"Change?" she echoed. + +"Yes; to hasten it." If the Governor had expected from her hostility, +or perverseness, he was agreeably disappointed; the girl evinced +neither pleasure nor disapproval; only stood in the same attitude of +expectancy, with head half turned. + +"His Majesty's reasons for this step--" + +"Can't we--can't we, at least, postpone considering them?" + +Again he regarded her more closely. "What better time than the +present?" + +"But I don't want--" + +"Elise!" A slight frown appeared on his brow. "His Majesty," once +more looking at the paper, "hints at an important political appointment +he desires to confer on the Marquis de Beauvillers which would take him +abroad; but whether as ambassador, or as governor in the colonies, his +Majesty does not disclose. Obviously, however, the bestowing of the +honor--a high one, no doubt!--depends on his early marriage, and a wife +to grace the position. The letter," weighing it, "is a tentative one; +the courteous precursor of a fuller communication when he has learned +our--your--pleasure." + +She did not at once express it; indeed, at the moment, seemed scarcely +to have comprehended; her glance, which had swept furtively behind when +he was studying the document, returned more uneasily to his, but not +before he had caught the backward look. + +"Well?" he said with a touch of asperity. "Well?" he repeated, when +his gaze, following the direction hers had taken, paused. + +Although well lighted in the center by a great Venetian candelabrum, +the far ends of the spacious hall lay somewhat in obscurity; notably +the space adorned with tropical plants and a life-size bronze before +the entrance to the balcony. It was on this dim recess the Governor +permitted his eye to rest; at first casually; then with a sudden +appearance of interest. + +"Eh?" he muttered, and before my lady could prevent him, if she had +been mindful so to do, walked quickly forward; but as he advanced, a +white figure stepped boldly out from behind that partial screen. With +a sharp exclamation, which found a startled echo from the girl, the +Governor stopped; stepped back as far as the table. + +"What mummery is this?" His lips shaped the words uncertainly; his +hand, reaching out with that first startled instinct of danger, touched +the bell. + +"Your Ladyship rang?" On the opposite side of the room was the door +thrown suddenly open. The look of expectancy on the face of the +commandant, who had so promptly appeared, gave way to one of surprise; +consternation. "His Excellency!" he muttered, and mechanically saluted. + +Over the Governor's visage a faint trace of relief flitted; dryly he +looked from the mountebank, now erect and motionless, to the girl; but +the face was averted and his Excellency could not see the sudden +whiteness of her cheek; again he regarded the officer. + +"You answer our summons with alacrity," he observed to this last +subject of his scrutiny. + +The commandant reddened. "I--your Excellency--the truth is, I was +waiting without, at the door." + +"What you have just stated," returned the Governor, "is patent; what I +should like to know, however," with subtle change of tone, "is _why_ +you were stationed there." + +"To take this mountebank player away, when it pleased her Ladyship to--" + +"Yes; to take him away!" interrupted the lady in hurried tones, the +agitation of which she strove to conceal. "And I was about to call +him, when--" + +The Governor continued to address the commandant. "You brought him +here?" incisively. + +"Yes; your Excellency; a stupid fellow we arrested below for making +trouble with his dolls, and--but with her ladyship's permission--" +awkwardly turning to the Governor's daughter, "I will explain." + +To this appeal the girl, however, made no answer; as if fascinated, +watched them, the commandant, her father, the still, white figure at +one side--not far away! + +"I think," the Governor spoke softly, "you will do that, anyway!" + +"Exactly, your Excellency! It happened in this wise," and not without +evidence of constraint and hesitation, the officer slowly related the +story of the disturbance on the platform; the taking into custody of +the rogues and knaves, and my lady's interest in the vagabond clown +whose play had occasioned the riot. + +"Because it was seditious, designed to set authority at naught?" +interrupted the listener, grimly eying for an instant the motionless +form of the mountebank. + +"On the contrary, your Excellency!" quickly. "Her ladyship assured me +it was the loyal and faithful sentiments of the play that caused the +unruly rascallions to make trouble, and that the clown deserved no +punishment, because he had intended no mischief." + +"Her ladyship?" The Governor's brows went suddenly up. "How," he +asked at length in a voice yet softer, "should her ladyship have known +about the 'loyal and faithful sentiments' of a piece, given in the +town, before a crowd of brawlers?" + +"Because I was a spectator!" said his daughter, a red spot now on her +cheek; changing lights in her eyes. + +"A spectator?" repeated, in mild surprise, the Governor. + +"I will explain--after!" she added in tones, low, constrained. + +"Hum!" His Excellency's glance swept to the commandant. + +"Her ladyship was so good," murmured the latter in some embarrassment +and yet feeling obliged to speak, with that bright insistent gaze of +the high official of the Mount fastened upon him, "as to inform me +that, desiring to mingle with the people, and, knowing it might not be +expedient to do so--in her own proper character--her ladyship saw fit +to assume a humbler costume--that of a Norman peasant maid--" + +From the Governor's lips fell an ejaculation; he seemed about to speak +sternly, but the words failed on his lips; instead, "Continue!" he said +curtly. + +"That, I believe, is all, your Excellency, except that her ladyship +expressed the desire the stupid fellow be set at liberty on the morrow, +as not worth the keeping--and--" + +The mountebank started, as expecting now the Lady Elise to speak; to +denounce him, perhaps; but it was his Excellency who interrupted. + +"You were going to do so? To set him at liberty?" + +"I, your Excellency? The _auberge des voleurs_ is so full of the scum +of the sands, there is hardly room for them to squirm; but if your +Excellency wishes all these paltry ragamuffins and beggars brought +before you--" + +"Well, well!" The Governor looked down; his hand crushed impatiently +the paper he held. "Here is much ado about nothing! Have you," to his +daughter, "aught to add?" + +She lifted her head. Standing in a careless pose, apparently +regardless of what was taking place, the mountebank, at the Governor's +question, shot a quick glance from him to her. Although but an instant +his look met my lady's, in that brief interval she read all that was +lost on the other two; the sudden, desperate purpose, the indubitable +intention, his warning glance conveyed. At the same time she noticed, +or fancied she did, the hand thrust into his breast, as if grasping +some weapon concealed there, draw out a little, while simultaneously, +lending emphasis to the fact, he moved a shade nearer the Governor, her +father! + +"Nothing," said the girl hastily; "nothing!" + +"Then," his Excellency waved a thin, aristocratic hand, "take him away!" + +"And your--her ladyship's instructions?" murmured the commandant. + +"Are to be obeyed, of course!" answered the Governor, complacently +regarding his letter. + +"You hear, fool?" said in a low voice the commandant, as he approached +the clown. "Thank his Excellency! Don't you know enough? Clod! +Dolt!" + +But the man made at first no effort to obey; immovable as a statue, +seemed not to see the speaker, and once more, the officer half +whispered his injunction. + +"Eh?" The Governor turned. + +"I thank your Excellency! Your Excellency is most kind!" said the +mountebank in a loud, emphatic tone. + +"And her ladyship?" prompted the officer. + +The clown looked at the girl; her breath came fast through her parted +lips. + +"Speak, fool! To her ladyship you also owe much." + +"Much!" repeated the clown, a spark in the dull gaze still fastened +upon her. + +"Is that all you can say?" + +"Take him away!" My lady spoke almost wildly. + +"Yes; take him away!" With a querulous gesture his Excellency put an +end to the matter. "Am I to be interrupted in important affairs by +every miserable _farceur_, or buffoon, you pick up on the beach? To +the devil with the fellow!" + +When the door had closed on the mountebank and the commandant, he +turned to his daughter. "A madcap trick!" Frowningly his Excellency +regarded her. "To have gone into the town and mingled with the rabble! +But," shaking his head and then suffering that expression of +disapproval to relax into severity, "say no more about it! Here," +indicating the letter, "is something of greater moment, to be attended +to and answered!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE MOUNTEBANK AND THE SOLDIER + +As the mountebank walked out of the apartment of the Governor's +daughter, he drew himself up with an air of expectancy, like a man +preparing for some sudden climax. Once beyond the threshold, his eyes +glanced furtively back at the closed door, and, descending the stairs +to the floor below, he carried his head a little forward, as if intent +to catch unwonted sound or outcry. But no raised voice or unusual +noise reached his ear, and his footsteps, as the party issued forth +into the street, responded briskly to the soldiers' pace. Still with +the same air of strained attention, now mingled with a trace of +perplexity, he followed his guard until called upon to stop. + +"You are to sleep here!" As he spoke, the commandant opened the door +of what seemed a low out-building, not very far from the general +barracks, and motioned the mountebank to enter. The latter, after +glancing quickly at the speaker and the soldiers behind, bent to step +across the dark threshold, and, still stooping, on account of the low +roof, looked around him. By the faint glimmer of light from a lantern +one of the soldiers held, the few details of that squalid place were +indistinctly revealed: A single stall whose long-eared occupant turned +its head inquiringly at the abrupt appearance of a companion lodger; +bits of harness and a number of traps hanging from pegs on the wall, +and, near the door, on the ground, a bundle of grass, rough fodder from +the marshes close by the shore. This last salt-smelling heap, the +officer, peering in with a fastidious sniff, indicated. + +"That's your bed! A softer one than you would have had but for the +Lady Elise!" + +The prisoner returned no answer, and in the voice of a man whose humor +was not of the best, the commandant uttered a brief command. A moment +or two the light continued to pass fitfully about the stable; then it +and the moving shadows vanished; a key grated in the door, and the +sound of the officer's receding footsteps was followed by the +diminishing clatter of men's heels on the flagging stone. Not until +both had fairly died away in the distance and the silence was broken +only by certain indications of restiveness from the stall, did the +prisoner move. + +First, to the door, which he tried and shook; then, avoiding the pile +of fodder, to the wall, where, feeling about the rough masonry with the +energy of one who knew he had no time to spare, his hands, ere long, +encountered the frame of a small window. Any gratification, however, +he might have experienced thereat found its offset in the subsequent +discovery that the window had heavy iron blinds, closed and fastened, +and was further guarded by a single strong bar set in the middle, +dividing the one inconsiderable aperture into two spaces of impassable +dimensions. But as if spurred by obstacles to greater exertions, +fiercely the man grasped the metallic barrier, braced himself, and put +forth his strength. In its setting of old masonry, the rod moved +slightly; then more and more, and the prisoner, breathing a moment +hard, girded himself anew. A wrench, a tug, and the bar, partly +disintegrated, snapped in the middle, and holding the pieces, the +prisoner fell somewhat violently back. Armed now with an implement +that well might serve as a lever, he, nevertheless, paused before +endeavoring to force the formidable fastenings of the blinds; paused to +tear off the tight-fitting clown's cap; to doff the costume of the +mountebank covering the rough, dark garments beneath, and vigorously to +rub his face with some mixture he took from his pocket. He had made +but a few passes to remove the distinguishing marks of paint and +pigment, when a sound without, in the distance, caused him to desist. + +Footsteps, that grew louder, were coming his way, and, gripping his bar +tighter the prisoner grimly waited; but soon his grasp relaxed. The +sound was that of a single person, who now paused before the entrance; +fumbled at the lock, and, with an impatient exclamation, set something +down. At the same time the prisoner dropped his weapon and stooped for +the discarded garments; in the dark, they escaped him and he was still +searching, when the bolt, springing sharply back, caused him to +straighten. + +"Are you there, Monsieur Mountebank?" The door swung open; an +uncertain light cast sickly rays once more within, and beneath the +lantern, raised above his head, innocent of the danger he had just +escaped, the round visage of the good-natured soldier who had escorted +the mountebank to the _auberge des voleurs_ looked amicably and +inquiringly into the darksome hovel. + +"Yes; what do you want?" the answer came more curt than courteous. + +"What do I want?" the fellow repeated with a broad smile. "Now that's +good! Perhaps it would be more to the point to ask what do you want? +And here," indicating a loaf and jug in his hand, "I've got them, +though why the commandant should have cared, and ordered them brought--" + +"He did?" said the prisoner, with a flash of quick surprise. "Well, +I'm not hungry, but you can leave them." + +"Not hungry?" And the soldier, who seemed a little the worse for +liquor, but more friendly in consequence, walked in. "I don't wonder, +though," he went on, closing the door, hanging his lantern above and +placing the jug on the ground; "in such a foul hole! What you need, +comrade, is company, and," touching significantly his breast, +"something warmer than flows from the spring of St. Aubert." + +"I tell you," began the mountebank, when the soldier, staring, got a +fair look at the other for the first time and started back. + +"Eh? What's this?" + +"Oh, I took them off! You don't suppose I'd sleep in my white clothes +in such a dirty--" + +"Right you are, comrade!" returned the other, seating himself before +the door on a three-legged stool he found in a corner. "But for the +moment you gave me a start. I thought you some other person." + +"What--person?" + +"No one in particular. You might," unbuttoning his coat to draw forth +a bottle, "have been any one! But I dare say you have had them off in +worse places than this--which, after all, is not bad, compared to some +of the rooms for guests at the Mount!" + +"You mean?" The mountebank looked first at the closed blinds; then at +the door, and a sudden determination came to his eyes. + +"Those especially prepared for the followers of the Black Seigneur, +taken prisoners near Casque, for example!" + +"They are dungeons?" + +"With Jacques for keeper! The little sexton, we call him, because the +prisoners go generally from the cells to the pit, and the quicklime is +the hunchback's graveyard!" + +"This Jacques--" A growing impatience shone ominously from the +prisoner's glance; his attention, that of a man straining to catch some +expected sound without, focused itself on the speaker. "This +Jacques--what sort of quarters has he?" + +"Oh, he lives anywhere; everywhere! Sometimes at the thieves' inn; +again in one of the storehouses near the wheel. They say, though, he +is not a great hand to sleep, but passes most of his time like a cat, +prowling in and out the black passages and tunnels of the Mount. But," +abruptly breaking off, "the play--that's what I want to know about! +The end! How did it end?" + +"I'm in no mood for talking." + +"Take the bottle, an' it'll loosen your tongue!" + +"No." + +"What! you refuse?" + +"Yes." + +"Then," philosophically, "must I drink alone." + +"Not here!" + +"Eh?" + +"Will you get out, or--" and the mountebank stepped toward the other +with apparently undisguised intention. + +"So that's your game?" Quickly the soldier sprang to his feet. "I +must teach you a little politeness, my friend--how we deal with uncivil +people in the army!" And throwing off his coat, as ready for a bout at +fisticuffs as for an encounter of words, the soldier confronted the +clown. "When I'm done, you'll sing that song of the stick out of the +other side of the mouth, and think your wicked peasant received a +coddling from his master in comparison!" + +But the mountebank did not answer--with words--and the soldier was +still threatening, and painting dire prophetic pictures of what he +intended doing, when a strong arm closed about him; fingers like iron +gripped his throat, and, for some moments thereafter, although of +unusual size and vigor, the man was more concerned in keeping his feet +than in searching his vocabulary for picturesque imagery. Then, in +spite of his struggles and best endeavors to free himself, he felt his +head forced backwards; the grasp on his neck tightened. Still he could +not shake off that deadly hold, and, aware that consciousness was +gradually leaving him, his efforts relaxed. After that, for an +interval, he remembered nothing; but with returning realization and a +vague sense of stiffness in his throat, in a rough sort of way was +prepared to accept defeat; acknowledge the other's supremacy, and seal +that acknowledgment over the bottle. + +Only the mountebank afforded him no opportunity thus to toast the "best +man"; with a long strap of leather snatched from one of the pegs, he +had already bound the hands and feet of his bulky antagonist, and was +just rising to survey his handiwork, when the other opened his eyes. + +"Here! What do you mean?" exclaimed the soldier, when even the power +vocally to express further surprise or indignation was denied him, in +consequence of something soft being thrust between his teeth; and mute, +helpless, he could but express in looks the disgusted inquiry his lips +refused to frame. + +"No! it's no joke," answered the mountebank, rapidly passing an end of +the strap, binding the soldier, about a post of the stall and securing +it, sailor-wise. "A poor return for hospitality, yet needs must, when +the devil drives!" quickly seizing a handful of marsh grass from the +ground and rubbing it over his face. "Anyhow, you'll be none the worse +on the morrow," stepping toward the lantern, "while I--who can say? He +laughs best--" About to blow out the flame, he stopped, attracted by +something his foot had thrust aside; a garment; the soldier's! A +moment he surveyed it; stooped; picked it up. "Unless I am mistaken," +casting aside his own coat, slipping on that of the soldier, and then +donning the latter's cap, which had fallen in the struggle, "we are +about of a size. And this sword," unfastening the belt from the +prostrate jailer, "should go with the coat." A moment his words, +tense, reckless, continued to vibrate in the soldier's ears, then: +"I'll leave you the lantern!" And darkness fell over the place. + +Boldly, a little uncertainly, as the soldier had walked, the +mountebank, now, to all appearance, a man of the ranks in the service +of his Excellency, the Governor, strode down the wide, stone-paved way +separating the outhouses and a number of desultory ancient structures +from the officers' quarters, hard against the ramparts. In the sky's +dome the stars still shone, although a small mottled patch of cloud +obscured the moon; on either side no lights appeared in windows, and +friendly shadows favored him, until he approached at the end of the way +the broad, open entrance between the soldiers' barracks and the +officers' row. There, set in the stone above the key of the time-worn +arch, flared a smoky lamp, dimly revealing the surrounding details; but +the young man did not stop; had drawn quite close to the medieval +structure, when unexpectedly another tread, on the soldiers' side of +the entrance, mingled with his own; rang for a moment in unison; then +jingled out of time. He who approached came to a sudden standstill; +cast a quick glance over his shoulder, only to be brought to an abrupt +realization that it was now too late to retreat. A black silhouette, +suddenly precipitated across the pavement, preceded a dark figure that +stepped quickly out and barred the way, while at the same time, a +voice, loud and incisive, challenged. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE STAIRWAY OF SILVER + +The stillness of the moment that followed was tense; then thickly the +young man answered something irrelevant about a clown, a bottle and a +loaf; with cap drawn down and half-averted face, he lurched a little +forward in the darkness, and the sentinel's weapon fell. "Oh, that's +you, is it, Henri?" he said in a different tone, stepping back. "How +did you leave the fellow?" + +"Eating the bread and calling for more!" As he spoke, the other +stopped, swaying uncertainly; above the arch, the wick, ill-trimmed, +brightened and darkened to the drafts of air through break and slit of +the old lamp; and briefly he awaited a favorable moment, when the flame +blew out until almost extinguished; then with hand near sword-hilt, +somewhat over-briskly, but in keeping with the part, he stepped toward +the arch; through it, and quickly past the sentinel. + +"You seem to have been feasting and drinking a little yourself, +to-night, comrade?" called out the latter after him. "I noticed it +when you went in, and-- But aren't you taking the wrong way?" As the +other, after starting toward the barracks, straightened, and then +abruptly wheeled into the road, running up the Mount. + +"Bah!" A moment the young man paused. "Can't a soldier," articulating +with difficulty, "go to see his sweetheart without--" + +"_Eh bien_!" The sentinel shrugged his shoulders. "It isn't my +business. I think, though, I know where they'll put you to-morrow, +when they find out through the guard at the barracks." + +To this ominous threat the other deigned no response, only, after the +fashion of a man headstrong in insobriety, as well as in affairs of +gallantry, continued his upward way; at first, speedily; afterward, +when beyond hearing of the man below, with more stealth and as little +noise as possible, until the road, taking a sudden angle, brought him +abruptly to an open space at the foot of a great flight of stone stairs. + +Broad, wide, broken by occasional platforms, these steps, reaching +upward in gradual ascent, had designedly, in days gone by, been made +easy for broken-down monarchs or corpulent abbots. Also they had been +planned to satisfy the discerning eye, jealous of every addition or +alteration at the Mount. My lord, the ancient potentate, leisurely +ascending in ecclesiastical gown, while conscious of an earthly power +reaching even into England, could still fancy he was going up a Jacob's +ladder into realms supernal. Saint Louis, with gaze benignly bent +toward the aerial _escalier de dentelle_ of the chapel to the left, +might well exclaim no royal road could compare with this inspiring and +holy way; nor is it difficult to understand a sudden enchantment here, +or beyond, that drew to the rock on three pilgrimages that other Louis, +more sinner than saint, the eleventh of his name to mount the throne of +France. + +But those stones, worn in the past by the footsteps of the illustrious +and the lowly, were deserted now, and, for the moment, only the moon, +which had escaped from the cloud, exercised there the right of way; +looking squarely down to efface time's marks and pave with silver from +top to bottom the flight of stairs. It played, too, on facades, towers +and battlements on either side, and, at the spectacle--the disk +directly before him--the Black Seigneur, about to leave the dark and +sheltering byway, involuntarily paused. Angels might walk unseen up +and down in that effulgence, as, indeed, the old monks stoutly averred +was their habit; but a mortal intrusion on the argent way could be +fraught only with visibility. + +To reach the point he had in mind, however, no choice remained; the +steps had to be mounted, and, lowering his head and looking down, +deliberately he started. As he proceeded his solitary figure seemed to +become more distinct; his presence more obtrusive and his echoing +footsteps to resound louder. No indication he had been seen or heard, +however, reached him; to all appearances espionage of his movements was +wanting, and only the saint with the sword at the top of the +steeple--guardian spirit of the rock--looked down, as if holding high a +gleaming warning of that unwonted intrusion. + +Yet, though he knew it not, mortal eye had long been on him, peering +from a window of the abbot's bridge spanning the way and joining +certain long unused chambers, next to the Governor's palace, with my +lady's abode. Against the somber background of that covered passage of +granite, the face looking out would still have remained unseen, even +had the young man, drawing near, lifted his glance. This, however, he +did not do; his eyes, with the pale reflections dancing in them, had +suddenly fastened themselves lower; toward another person, not far +beyond the bridge; some one who had turned in from a passage on the +other side of the overhead architectural link, and had just begun to +come down. An old man, with flowing beard, from afar the new-comer +looked not unlike one of the ancient Druids that, in days gone by, had +lighted and watched the sacred fires of sacrifice on the rock. He, +too, guarded his light; but one set in the tall, pewter lamp of the +medieval watchman. + +"Twelve o'clock and all's--" he began when his glance, sweeping down, +caught sight of the ascending figure, and, pausing, he leaned on his +staff with one hand and shaded his eyes with the other. + +A half-savage exclamation of disappointment was suppressed on the young +man's lips; had he only been able to attain that parallelogram of +darkness, beneath the abbot's passage, he would have been better +satisfied, his own eyes, looking ahead, seemed to say; then gleamed +with a bolder light. + + "A sword and blade + A drab and a jade; + All's one to the King's men of the army!" + +he began to hum softly, as with a more reckless swing, quickly he went +up in the manner of a man assigned some easy errand. At the same time +the patriarch slowly and rather laboriously resumed his descent, and +just below the bridge, without the bar of shadow, the two came together. + +"Think you it is too late for his Excellency, the Governor, to receive +a message?" at once spoke up the younger, breaking off in that dashing, +but low-murmured, song of the barracks. + +"That you may learn from the guard at the palace," was the deliberate +answer, as, raising his lamp, the watchman held it full in his +questioner's face. + +"Thanks! I was going to inquire." As he answered, at the old abbot's +window in the bridge above, the face, looking out, bent forward more +intently; then quickly drew back. "Good night!" + +But the venerable guardian of the inner precinct was not disposed thus +lightly to part company. "I don't seem to know you, young man," he +observed, the watery, but keen and critical eyes passing deliberately +over the other's features. + +"No?" Unflinching in the bright glare of the lamp, the seeming soldier +smiled. "Do you, then, know _all_ at the Mount--even the soldiers?" + +"I should remember even them," was the quiet reply. + +"Those, too, but lately brought from St. Dalard?" + +"True, true! There may be some of those--" uncertainly. + +"No doubt! So if you will lower your lamp, which smells rather +vilely--" + +"From the miscreants it has smelled out," answered the old man grimly, +but obeyed; stood as if engrossed in the recollections his own response +evoked; then turned; walked on, and, a few moments later, his call, +suddenly remembered, rang, belated, in the drowsy air: "Twelve o'clock +and all's well! A new day, and St. Aubert guard us all!" + + "A sword and a blade; + A drab and a jade--" + +The words, scarcely begun, above his breath, died away on the seeming +soldier's lips, as the watcher on the bridge, looking down to follow +first the departing figure of the old custodian, crossed quickly to the +opposite window, and, from this point of vantage, gazed up after the +young man rapidly vanishing in the track of the moonlight. A moment +the onlooker stood motionless; then, ere the figure, so vividly defined +in shine and shimmer, had reached the top of the stairway, made an +abrupt movement and swiftly left the window and the passage. + +At the head of the steps, which without further incident or +interruption, he reached, the Black Seigneur, stepping to the shadow of +a small bush against the wall, glanced about him; with knit brows and +the resolute manner of one who has come to some definite conclusion, he +left the spot for observation, almost the apex of the Mount, and +plunged diverging to the right. From glint and shimmer to darkness +unfathomable! For some time he could only grope and feel his way, +after the fashion of the blind; fortunately, however, was the path +narrow; although tortuous, fairly well paved, and no serious mishap +befell him, even when he walked forward regardlessly, in feverish +haste, beset with the conviction that time meant all in all, and delay +the closing of the toils and the failure of a desperate adventure. +Several times he struck against the stones; once fell hard, but picked +himself up; went on the faster, only, after what seemed an interminable +period, to stop. + +"Am I, can I be mistaken?" + +But the single star he could see plainest from the bottom of the deep +alley, and to which he looked up, answered not the fierce, +half-muttered question; coldly, enigmatically it twinkled, and, half +running, he continued his way, to emerge over-suddenly into a cooler +well of air, and--what was more to be welcomed!--an outlook whereof the +details were in a measure dimly shadowed forth. + +On one side the low wall obscured not the panorama below--a ghost-like +earth fading into the mist, and nearer, the roof of the _auberge des +voleurs_, a darkened patch on the slope of the rock; but in this +direction the man hardly cast a glance. Certain buildings ahead, +austere, Norman in outline, absorbed his attention to the exclusion of +all else, and toward them, with steps now alert and noiseless, he +stole; past a structure that seemed a small _salle des gardes_ whose +window afforded a view of four men nodding at a table within; across a +space to another passage, and thence to a low door at the far corner of +a little triangular spot, alongside the walk and near a great wall. At +once the young man put out his hand to the door; tried it; pushed it +back and entered. Before him a wide opening looked out at the sky, +framing a multitude of stars, and from the bottom of this aperture ran +a strand, or rope, connecting with an indistinct object--a great wheel, +which stood at one side! + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE WHIRLING OF THE WHEEL + +As old as church or cloister, the massive wheel of the Mount had, in +the past, played prominent part in the affairs of succeeding +communities on the rock. It, or the hempen strand it controlled, had +primarily served as a link between the sequestered dwellers, and the +flesh-pots and material comforts of the lower world. Through its use +had my lord, the abbot, been ever enabled to keep full the mighty +wine-butts of his cellars; to provide good cheer for the tables of the +brethren, and to brighten his cold stone interiors with the fresh +greens of Flemish tapestry, or the sensuous hues of rugs and fabrics +from seraglio or mosque. Times less ancient had likewise claimed its +services, and even in recent years, by direction of his Excellency, the +Governor, had it occasionally been used for the hoisting of goods, +wares, or giant casks, overcumbersome for men or mules. + +Toward this simple monkish contrivance, the summit's rough lift, or +elevator, wherein serfs or henchmen had walked like squirrels in a cage +to bring solace to generations of isolated dwellers, the Black Seigneur +had at first stepped impetuously; then stopped, hardly breathing, to +look over his shoulder at the door that had been left unfastened. An +involuntary question flashing through his brain--the cause of this +seeming carelessness--found almost immediate answer in his mind, and +the certainty that he stood not there alone--a consciousness of some +one else, near, became abruptly confirmed. + +"What are you doing, soldier?" A voice, rough, snarling, drew swiftly +his glance toward a presence, intuitively divined; an undersized, +grotesque figure that had entered the place but a few moments before +and now appeared from behind boxes and casks where he had been about to +retire to his mattress in a corner. + +"What do you want?" repeated this person, the anger and viciousness on +his distorted features, revealed in the moonlight from the large +opening, like that of some animal unwarrantedly disturbed. + +"You, landlord of the thieves' inn!" And inaction giving way to +movement on the intruder's part, a knife that had flashed back in the +hand of the hunchback, with his query, was swiftly twisted from him and +kicked aside, while a scream of mingled pain and rage became abruptly +suppressed. Struggling and writhing like a wildcat, Jacques proved no +mean antagonist; with a strength incredible for one of his size, +supplemented by the well-known agility of his kind, he scratched, +kicked, and had managed to get the other's hand in his mouth, when, +making an effort to throw off that clinging burden, the Black Seigneur +dashed the dwarf's head violently against the wooden support of the +place. At once all belligerency left the hunchback, and, releasing his +hold, he sank to the ground. + +An instant the intruder regarded the inert form; then, going to the +door, latched and locked it with a key he found inside. Having thus in +a measure secured himself from immediate interruption without--for any +one trying the door would conclude the wheel-room vacant, or that the +dwarf slept there or in the store-house beyond--the Black Seigneur +walked to the aperture, and reaching up, began to pay out the rope from +a pulley above. As he did so, with feet braced, he leaned over to +follow in its descent a small car along the almost perpendicular +planking from the mouth of the wheel-room to the rocks, several hundred +feet below. + +A sudden slackening of the rope--assurance that the car, at the end of +the line, had reached the loading-spot below without the +fortifications--and the young man straightened; in an attitude of +attention, stood listening. But the stillness, impregnated only with a +faint underbreath, the far-away murmur of water, or the just audible +droning of insects near the fig-trees on the rocks, continued unbroken. +An impatient frown gathered on his brow; more eagerly he bent forward +to gaze down, when through the air a distant sound--the low, melancholy +hoot of an owl--was wafted upward. + +Upon him at the aperture, this night-call, common to the Mount and its +environs, acted in magical manner, and swiftly had he stepped toward +the wheel, when an object, intervening, stirred; started to stagger to +its feet. At once was the young man's first impelling movement +arrested; but, thus forcibly drawn from his purpose, he did not long +pause to contemplate; his hand, drawing the soldier's sword, held it +quickly at the hunchback's throat. + +"A sound, and you know what to expect!" + +With the bare point at his flesh, Jacques, dully hearing, vaguely +comprehending, could, indeed, guess and the fingers he had +involuntarily raised to push the bright blade aside, fell, while at the +same time any desire to attempt to call out, or arouse the guard, was +replaced by an entirely different emotion in his aching brain. Never +before had he actually felt that sharp touch--the prelude to the final +thrust. At the sting of it, a tremor ran through him, while cowardice, +his besetting quality, long covered by growl and egotism in his +strength and hideousness to terrify, alone shone from his +unprepossessing yellow features. + +"You were brave enough with the soldiers at your beck!" went on a +determined voice whose ironical accents in no wise served to alleviate +his panic. "When you had only a mountebank to deal with! But get up!" +contemptuously. "And," as the hunchback obeyed, his crooked legs +shaking in the support of his misshapen frame, "into the wheel with +you!" + +"The wheel!" stammered the dwarf. "Why--what--" + +"To take a little of your own medicine! _Pardi_! What a voluble +fellow! In with you, or--" + +With no more words the hunchback, staggering, hardly knowing what he +did, entered the ancient abbot's machine for hoisting. But as he +started to walk in the great wheel at the side of his captor, a picture +of the past--the times he, himself, had forced prisoners to the wheel, +stimulating with jeer and whip--arose mockingly before him, and the +incongruous present seemed, in contrast, like a black waking dream. + +That it was no dream, however, and that the awakening would never +occur, he well knew, and malevolently though fearfully he eyed the +rope, coming in over the pulley at the aperture; to be wound around and +around by a smaller wheel, attached to the larger, and--drawing up what? + +An inkling of the sort of merchandise to be expected, under the +circumstances, could but flash through his mind, together with a more +vivid consciousness of the only course open for him--to cry out, +regardless of consequences! Perhaps he might even have done so, but at +that instant--as if the other had read the thought--came the cold touch +of a bare blade on his neck; and with a sudden chill, the brief heroic +impulse passed. + +More stealthily now he began to study his companion in the wheel, while +a question, suddenly occurring, reiterated itself in his brain. This +man--who was he? And what did he know of the mountebank, or his, +Jacques', dealings with the clown? That his captor was no soldier of +the rock, or belonged there, the hunchback felt by this time assured, +and a growing suspicion of the other's identity brought home with new +force to the dwarf the thankless part chance, perhaps, had assigned to +him in that night's work. And at the full realization of the +consequences, should his surmise prove correct--what must ultimately +happen to himself in that event, when unwilling cooperation at the +wheel should become known--almost had he again reached the desperate +point of calling out; but at that moment a turn in the wheel brought to +the level of the aperture, the car. In it, or clinging thereto, were a +number of figures who, as soon as the rope stopped, sprang noiselessly +to the platform. + +"Seigneur, we hardly dared hope--" + +"We obeyed orders, but--" + +Gazing through the spokes of the wheel, and listening to their +whispered exclamations, any lingering doubt as to who his captor was +could no longer be entertained by the hunchback. These new-comers took +no pains to conceal it; even when the dwarf's presence became known to +them and unceremoniously was he dragged forth--they displayed a +contemptuous disregard of him as a factor to interfere, not calculated +to dull the edge of his apprehension! Too late now might he regret +that pusillanimity that had caused him to draw back from an immortal +role; already was the car again descending! + +It came up loaded; went down once more, reappeared. On the little +platform now were more than a dozen men assembled, but to Jacques this +force looked multiplied. Amid the confusion of his thoughts, vaguely +could he hear orders given; caught something about the need for quiet, +haste, overpowering the guard; then saw the door open, and the men, +like shadows, go out; leaving him alone. No; with two black figures; +ominous; armed. He could see the glitter of their weapons, and +ventured to move his thick tongue, when, fiercely silenced, he crouched +down; waited, with hands clenched, an interminable period; until +faintly from afar sounded the note of a night-bird. + +Roughly jerked to his feet, between them he walked to the door; heard +it close; stepped out into the night. Many times had he made his way +between wheel-room and guard-house, but now the route seemed strange, +and, looking around near the structures at the entrance to his dungeons +Jacques shook his head as if to rid his brain of some fantasy. But the +scene did not change; the guard-house remained--familiar; unlike, with +unknown faces peering from it, and an imperious voice issuing commands +to him, once unquestioned commander here! + +And comprehending what was being said, he struck his breast violently; +with curses would have answered that the keys were his own; the +dungeons, too, and what they held, and that he would never lead them +there; never open those doors! But this grim, savage, determined band +beat down his arms, and his courage; and, with the shadow of the grave +again before him, the dwarf walked on; past the stable into the +guard-house, where familiar forms once had been seated, and into the +passage leading to the dungeons beyond. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +AT THE VERGE OF THE APERTURE + +The footfall of the Black Seigneur, near the guard-house of the +dungeons, was measured, yet noiseless, as he stepped on the soft earth, +alongside the stone walk, now toward the passage in the direction of +the wheel-room, then back into the little square. That his thoughts, +however, moved not in accord with that deliberate stride, the brows +impatiently knit, and the quick glances he continued to cast over his +shoulder, bore testimony. + +Stopping at length near the Tour Bernard, he looked fixedly down at the +town, wrapped in a stillness that should have reassured him. +Nevertheless he appeared not satisfied; and had stepped out into the +court again, when some sound he heard, or fancied, sent him quickly to +an embrasure in the wall. From this opening--formerly for cannon in +defense of the _fenils_, and the _poulain_, or planking for the +hoisting of goods--he leaned far out, his glance instinctively turning +toward the barracks, some distance to the right and far below. As he +stood thus, that which had first attracted his attention--the sound of +a voice giving orders--was repeated; at the same time where had been +only darkness now shone many windows, while to the left, near the +entrance he had passed after leaving the stable, lights began to dance +like fireflies. + +At these signs of activity and the sounds breaking the general +quietude, an exclamation fell from his lips; then, pausing only a +moment to listen and observe, he sprang toward the guard-house. +Crossing the threshold, defined by a faint glimmer from a distant +corner, he made his way past several motionless forms, into a low +passage beyond. Here he called out impatiently; but from those depths, +leading down into the dungeons where his comrades had gone, no answer +was returned. His voice, hollow, mocking, seemed stifled in a tomb; +more loudly he shouted; walked farther in, when an indistinct response +was followed by a pin-point of light, and, ere long, by the bearer of a +little lamp, Sanchez. + +"The others?" At the head of a dark stairway into which he would +inadvertently have plunged, had he gone farther, the Black Seigneur +confronted the man, as he approached. + +"They will soon be here," said the old servant, springing up the steps +and walking after his master, who had already turned back toward the +guard-room. "Jacques--curse him!"--putting out his light in obedience +to a gesture from the other--"fumbled with the keys; pretended he +couldn't find the right ones! So it took longer to open the doors." + +"The prisoners?" + +"I left our men working at the last dungeon to come on ahead--to let +you know you might soon expect them." + +"Soon," ironically, "may be too late." + +"You mean--?" + +"The hue and cry is out! I have long been expecting it; I do not +understand why it didn't come before; unless a mountebank, locked up, +was considered safe enough for the night--" + +"Then some one knew--?" + +"Some one?" A bitter laugh was quickly suppressed on the young man's +lips. "Hark! Listen!" + +"Sounds below! the soldiers!" exclaimed Sanchez, and started toward the +window to look out, only to fall quickly back. + +"What is it?" With his hand on the other's shoulder, the Black +Seigneur whispered the question. + +"A face! At the window!" + +"So soon? The hounds are quicker than I thought! Or," drawing his +sword, "it may be only one or two in advance. In that case--" + +But no enemy, single or plural, met their view, either in front, or at +the side of the guard-house; only the darkness, void, empty, and the +bare rampart wall winding around the head of the Mount like a monster +guardian dragon, asleep at his post. + +"Here is no one!" + +"No one! Yet am I sure I saw--" + +"A shadow!" answered the other. "And we have nothing worse to fight!" + +"Some one was there, Seigneur," stubbornly, "and fled!" + +"_Eh bien_! He's gone!" + +"He? It looked like a--" + +"Back with you, quick! Is this a time for talk? Call those who can +come--if they would save their necks!" + +"Here they are now," exclaimed the servant, and, as he spoke, the first +of their men, blowing out the light he carried, ran quickly across the +guard-chamber and into the open air. Others hastily followed, until +the gathering, swelled by those brought with them from the dungeons, +stood expectantly before the little stone structure. + +"All the prisoners are here?" + +"All!" + +"To the wheel-house, then!" + +But as they hastened across the square and into the narrow way, the +Black Seigneur again spoke to the man just ahead: + +"The hunchback?" + +"We left him below, locked up in the Devil's Cage!" + +"The Devil's Cage! _Quelle bonne plaisanterie_! Although," looking +back, "it may cost us dear!" + +And indeed, behind the sound of pursuit came nearer; the clatter of +soldiers' feet grew louder, until, reaching the little square and the +guard-house, all tumult suddenly ceased. A momentary silence, strange, +ominous, was broken by a din of voices, as the flaring here and there +of torches threw grotesque reflections high against the grim background +of black masonry. + +To those now within the wheel-room, the cause of that abrupt clamor was +not difficult to divine; his Excellency's soldiers had found the +sentinels overpowered in the guard-house! Would the former stop to +investigate; search first those subterranean passages? Already had the +prisoners, the weaker of the Black Seigneur's men, filled the car, or +hung clinging to the rope above; already was the wheel turning--almost +before the key had turned in the lock at the entrance. + +"Seigneur!" + +"Sanchez?" + +"When we left the wheel-room, we closed the door." + +"When we got back, it--" + +A footfall without interrupted, followed by the sound of a hand at the +door, and other steps drawing near. + +"Jacques!" An expectant voice spoke; waited; called louder. Then +those outside listened; some one exclaimed, and hurried footsteps +retreated toward the guard-house. + +As they died away, in the wheel-room the car came up for the second +time empty, and inquiringly the men there looked from one to the other; +but, even in that moment of danger, not one of them moved, or made sign +of impatience. Some must go; others remain, and stoically they awaited +the word of their leader. + +"Down with all of you! I'll let you out the line," taking a turn with +the rope around a stanchion near the wall, "and then come down myself." + +The command was unexpected; for the first time those that had never +questioned their leader's authority, hesitated, and more sharply was +the order repeated; whereupon they obeyed; all save one. + +"I'll let it out myself," said Sanchez. + +"Get in!" + +"No!" was the obdurate reply, when the Black Seigneur made a sign; +hands reached up, seized Sanchez, and a moment later the car started +down. The line strained; as it played out, now running free about the +stanchion, then stopping with jerks, the man in the wheel-house almost +looked to see it part. The hempen strand, however, proved sound; held +its human freight; but another danger pressed near. + +Scarcely had the car begun its downward journey than an attack, +indications of whose approach had not been wanting, manifested itself +without. Beneath a sudden, savage assault, the door shook; yet +engrossed at the line, every muscle strained, the man at the stanchion +heeded not. Swiftly, mechanically he worked, apparently as unconscious +of the clamorous soldiers without as of a silent presence within--some +one that had been concealed in the little store-room adjoining, opening +into the wheel-house, and now peered out; but at once drew back, as, +with a crash, the door fell in. + +At first, in the comparative darkness, with only the sky at the +aperture staring them in the face, the in-rushing black figures paused, +uncertain; lights soon were pushed forward, however, and then could +they see the great wheel going round, unwinding the rope; the man at +the stanchion. + +"The prisoners! He's letting them down." + +"Cut the line!" + +Some one with a knife rushed forward, severed the strand; but at that +moment the car touched the bottom. Then did the solitary man at the +rope for the first time awaken to his own situation; with a backward +sweep of the arm he struck so fiercely the foremost of those to rush at +him that the fellow fell, hitting hard the stone floor. Those nearest +stumbled, and drawing his sword, with a thrust of point or blow of +hilt, the Black Seigneur, for a moment withstood the first confused +on-coming; then extricated himself and leaped to the narrow space +behind the wheel. Here was he protected behind by the wall; at one +end, by the masonry jutting out, while, at the other, only one or two +could attack at the same time. But in front, through the spokes of the +broad wheel, they might well hope to reach him. + +At once the soldiers sprang forward, when, seizing the wheel, the man +behind, with a savage jerk, set it in motion. The swords thrust at him +were turned aside, one or two of his assailants were caught in the +ponderous mechanism, and, before those attacking him had recovered from +their surprise, the blade of the Black Seigneur shot in and out; to the +right, to the left. Those ahead fell back upon their comrades; two, +however, were unable to withdraw, and sank to the ground before the +wheel. A third, with his hand to his throat and making strange sounds, +staggered back to the wall. + +Momentarily disconcerted, the others hesitated. "In the fiend's name, +fear ye one man?" shouted an authoritative voice. + +"A devil!" + +"'Tis the Black Seigneur! I had a good sight of him." + + "Beat! beat! + 'Mid marsh-muck and mire--" + +came in mocking tones from behind the wheel. + +"The mountebank!" + +"_Sacre tonnerre_! But mountebank, or outlaw, you shall pay! This +way!" And at the unprotected side of the wheel the commandant sought +to bring the issue to a conclusion. One blade the Black Seigneur +struck down, while his own weapon retorted with more effect, though as +it did so, another soldier made a lunge, and his sword entered the +shoulder of the man behind the wheel. A shout of triumph that fell +from the lips of the Governor's trooper was, however, abruptly checked; +lurching forward with the stroke, ere he could recover, something +heavy--a brass hilt--beat like a hammer on his head and he dropped to +his knees. The others pressed closer; but with the desperation of a +man resolved to sell his life dearly, the Black Seigneur fought on; +regardless of cut and thrust, was holding the narrow entrance, when +from the rear, somewhere, came the report of a firearm. + +"Back! Stand back!" + +Those nearest the wheel, not unwilling, perhaps, to desist, drew away; +other detonations followed and smoke filled the place, obscuring the +gaze. In the yellow fog they waited; until first it was swept aside +close to the opposite wall by a draft of air from the aperture of the +adjoining store-room, and the commandant, in an effort to see, moved +impatiently forward. Ere, however, he could reach the wheel, near the +threshold of the store-room, he felt his arm suddenly seized. + +"Look, listen!" + +The warning cry--a girl's voice--rang through the wheel-room; but the +commandant did not at once heed it; at that abrupt touch he had +involuntarily wrested his arm away; he stared, not in the direction she +who had called out pointed, but at her! The white, drawn face, the +eyes dilated-- + +"You, my Lady! Here?" he stammered. But she only made a wild +movement; again grasped, drew him forward. + +"Quick, or--" And suddenly was he brought to a realization of what she +wished him to see: a figure drawing itself along, slowly, painfully, +toward the verge-- + +"Don't you see? Rather than be taken, he's going to throw himself +over!" + +The excited, admonishing sound of her voice aroused the commandant. He +gave a sharp order and the soldiers sprang forward; laid roughly hold +of the prostrate form; drew it back. The Black Seigneur yet struggled, +but not for long! A moment, and his eyes turned to the Governor's +daughter. + +"_Ma foi_! I must needs yield--to your Ladyship! Yet, what matter, +since I have done what I came to do!" + +His gaze, darkly glowing, seemed to envelope the shrinking figure whose +cloak only partly concealed the gay, rich gown beneath; lifted to the +brilliant affrighted brown eyes. "Your Ladyship has bright eyes, +forsooth!" An ironical laugh burst from his lips. "But sharper than +their swords!" He strove to speak further, when a hand holding a +weapon fell heavily. At that a cry escaped the girl's lips. + +"No, no; you shall not!" + +The Black Seigneur lay still. + +"_Ciel_! It's fortunate we got him," ruefully the commandant gazed +around. "It would have made a pretty tale, if--" he turned to the +Governor's daughter, "I have your Ladyship to thank--" he began, and +stopped. + +My lady's figure had at that moment relaxed and fallen to the ground! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE HALL OF THE CHEVALIERS + +The report of the capture of the Black Seigneur spread from Mount to +town; from rock to shore. Pilgrims repeated, peasants circulated it; +many credited; a few disbelieved. Like shadows had his comrades and +the escaped prisoners vanished, leaving no trace, save one--an +over-turned car and severed rope at the foot of the _poulain_, without +the fortifications. And flocking to that point, of greater interest +now than shrine or sanctuary, the pilgrims gazed around; down the +rocks; up the almost perpendicular planking to what looked like a mere +pigeon-hole in the side of the cliff. Then ominous grumblings escaped +them; some shook their fists at the black wall; others scoffed at +distant sounds of priestly hallelujahs. Had the soldiers that day +appeared in the town or on the beach, serious trouble would have +ensued. For the time, however, they remained discreetly housed, while +supplies for pilgrims' needs were, by the commandant's orders, so +curtailed, many of the indigent multitude, urged by pinched stomachs, +began, ere night, to wend their way from strand to shore. But as they +left the vicinity of the Mount, they turned last looks of hatred toward +the rock. + +His Excellency, the Governor, wasted no time considering the humor of +the masses; their resentment, or displeasure, signified nothing; his +own complacency left little room for speculation on that score. He was +undeniably satisfied; even the escape of the prisoners and the loss of +the soldiers at the guard-house, or in the wheel-room, was overshadowed +by the single capture. This contentment, however, he kept to himself; +instigated a rigorous inquiry, and prepared to punish certain +offenders. But the principal of these he could not reach; when +released from the iron cage, the hunchback, knowing he would be called +upon to answer for his part in the night's work, had made the best use +of his short legs to place a long distance between himself and the +Mount. + +The sentinel that allowed the Black Seigneur to pass through the +entrance near the barracks; the watchman encountered on the stairway, +and the soldier that had been overpowered in the stable, his Excellency +could, however, lay hands on, and promptly ordered into custody to +await his official attention. For this last culprit, the +commandant--mindful, perhaps, of bolstering his own +position--interceded; pointing out that the man had to get the gag from +his mouth and give the alarm; also, that the mountebank's appearance +and acting had been calculated to deceive even one of the Governor's +discernment. Which remark his Excellency had received with +sphinx-like, and not altogether reassuring, gravity; had reserved his +verdict, and continued, after his own fashion, to collect the details +of the affair. + +This searching process should have led him almost at once to his +daughter--a puzzling figure in the maze of events; but the Governor +exhibited no haste in approaching that important witness. Only when he +had marshaled his other testimony and put it in order did the scope of +his sifting extend to the girl. And then had his manner been strictly +judicial: maintaining an imperturbable mask, he professed not to notice +the pallor of her face, the unnatural brightness of her glance. + +"When you sent for the mountebank to come to your apartments, did you +know who he was?" the Governor had asked. + +"No." + +"When did you find out?" + +"When you entered the room." + +"Why did you not give the alarm then?" + +"Because," she hesitated; her face changed, "he would have killed you, +I think--if I had!" + +"Was that solicitude for me the only reason?" + +"Why, what other could there be?" + +"What other truly? And after he left with the commandant--why did you +not, then, inform me?" + +"You remember you had something important, from the King, to consider!" +hastily. + +"More important than this?" + +"He was going to be locked up," was the best reply she could make. + +"And in the morning set free!" + +She did not answer. + +"And yet, you gave the word that enabled us to capture him at the +wheel-house! How, by the way, came you there--in the wheel-house?" + +"I saw him from the abbot's bridge; heard him tell the watchman he had +a message to deliver at your palace, and followed." + +"Again feeling solicitude for me?" + +"I did not know--he would dare much; and what does it matter now?" +almost wildly. "You have captured him, shut him up somewhere in some +terrible, deep dungeon, where--" + +"He is safe? True; that is the main consideration." + +Thereafter had the subject of the Black Seigneur been dropped between +them; the pilgrimage over, the Mount resumed its normal aspect, but +only for a little while! One day about a week later, a bright cortege +whose appearance was in marked contrast to that of the beggarly +multitude, late visitors to the rock, came riding down the road through +the forest to the sea; at the verge of the sands, stopped for a first +distant impression of the rock. + +"Noble monument, I salute you!" Smiling, debonair, the Marquis de +Beauvillers removed his hat. + +"And the noble mistress thereof?" suggested one of his train. + +"She, of course!" he said, still surveying a scene different from that +final memory he had carried away with him. Then had the rock reared +itself in all the glamour of a sunny day; now was the sky overcast, +while through a sullen mist the Mount loomed like a shadow itself. + +"A cold place for our gay Elise!" One or two who viewed the sight for +the first time looked disappointed; even the Marquis appeared for the +instant more sober; but immediately regained his lively demeanor. + +"Wait until you have seen it at its best," he retorted carelessly, and +set the pace across the sands. + +Midway, where once on the sands the men of Brittany had engaged in +fierce conflict the ancient abbot's forces, were the new-comers met by +an imposing guard; escorted with due honor through the gates, and up +the narrow street of the town. + +As he climbed the winding highway, my lord, the Marquis, bestowed +approving nod and smile this way and that; it may be that he already +felt a nearer affiliation with these people; for his glance, gracious, +condescending in passing, was that of a man armed with the knowledge +that he, kinsman of the King, might some day be called upon to govern +here. But to these advances, the townspeople responded ill, and the +young noble's brow went delicately up, as if a little amused! _Mon +dieu!_ did not unfriendly eyes peer from every lurking place around the +royal palaces and pleasure grounds near Paris; and had they not +encountered them all the way to the sea? People were the same +everywhere; must be treated like bad children, and, with relays of +troops from the capital to the sea, from the strand to the Mount's high +top, one could afford to smile at their petty humors. Above all, when +one had more momentous matter for consideration! And my lord lifted +his head higher, toward a rampart, where some one had once bid him _au +revoir_, and where he might yet in fancy see a fluttering ribbon wave a +bright adieu! + +But to-day my lady, the Princess of the Rock, was not there; waited +above, with her father, to receive him--then--in the great Hall of the +Chevaliers. Until that morning she had not known of the coming of the +Marquis, an impatient suitor, following the courier and the perfumed +missive acquainting her with the noble's near approach. Certainly had +she shown surprise; but whether she was pleased or not, his Excellency +could not tell. + +He was still uncertain; standing, near the raised gallery, in the +ancient _salle des chevaliers_, from time to time regarded her +furtively! Often had she looked from one of the round windows, +commanding a view of the shore and the sands; many times turned away. +At first sight of the company on the beach, the Governor had seen the +girl's face alter and noted the involuntary start she had given. +Whereupon, moving toward one of the giant fireplaces, had he sought for +the sake of diplomacy and the end in view, to turn their conversation +into a channel that should have interested her; spoke of plans to be +made; preparations for festivities and merrymaking commensurate with +the circumstances. But to these suggestions of gaieties, the prelude +to a stately ceremony, had she hardly listened; paused absently before +the blazing logs; once or twice seemed about to say something and +stopped. + +She was silent now, a slender figure beneath that great canopy of stone +designed for the shelter of a score of knights; nervously twining and +intertwining her fingers, she looked out at the shadows moving between +the columns, playing around the bases, or melting in the vaulting. + +"They should be almost here now," observed his Excellency, again +seeking to break that spell of constraint, when suddenly she stepped to +him. + +"_Mon pere_," her voice sounded strained, unnatural, "it was you who +wanted this marriage?" + +"Yes," he had answered in some surprise; "yes." + +"And I have not opposed you--the King--" + +"Opposed? No! Of course not!" + +"Then," more hurriedly, "must you do something in return for me! I do +not want my--the wedding festivities--marred by anything unpleasant! +Promise that nothing will happen to him, the Black Seigneur, until +after--" + +"Impossible!" The sudden virulence her unexpected request awoke could +not be concealed. + +"Very well!" Before the anger in his gaze, her own eyes flashed like +steel. "In that case, you can send the Marquis back! For I will not +see him--to-day, to-morrow or any time again!" + +Long he looked at her; the white face; the tightly compressed lips; the +eyes that would not flinch! They reminded him of another's--were of +the same hue--so like, and yet so different! Unlike, in bespeaking a +will he could not break! What he said, matters not; his face wore an +ashy shade. She did not answer in words; but he felt, with strange +bitterness, a revulsion; she seemed almost suddenly to have become +hostile to him. + +Gay voices sounded without; nearer; she walked to a door opposite the +entrance their visitors were approaching. An instant, and she would +have passed out, when the Governor spoke. + +But the Marquis, stepping quickly in a few moments later, noted nothing +amiss between them. "Your Excellency!" With filial respect he greeted +the Governor. "My Lady!" Gaily, approvingly, his eye passed over her; +then in that hall dedicated to chivalry, a graceful figure, he sank to +his knee; raised a small cold hand, and pressed it to his lips. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE UNDER WORLD + +A coterie of brilliant folk soon followed in the wake of my lord, the +Marquis' retinue; holy-day banners were succeeded by holiday ribbons; +the _miserere_ of the multitude by paeans of merriment. Hymen, Io +Hymen! In assuming the leading role to which circumstances now +assigned her, the Governor's daughter brought to the task less energy +than she had displayed on that other occasion when visitors had +sojourned at the rock. Her manner was changed--first, lukewarm; then, +almost indifferent; until, at length, one day she fairly waived the +responsibility of planning amusements; laid before them the question: +What, now, would they like to do? + +"Devise a play," said one. + +"With shepherds and shepherdesses!" + +The Marquis, however, qualified the suggestion. "A masque! that is +very good; but, for this morning--I have been talking with the +commandant--and have another proposal--" + +"Which is?" + +"To visit the dungeons." + +"The dungeons?" My lady's face changed. + +"And incidentally inspect their latest guest! Some of you heard of him +when we were here before--_Le Seigneur Noir_--the Black Seigneur!" + +"_Le Seigneur Noir_!" They clapped their hands. "Yes, let us see him! +Nothing could be better. What do you say, Elise?" + +She started to speak, but for the instant her lips could frame no +answer; with a faint, strained smile, confronted them, when some one +anticipated her reply-- + +"Did she not leave it to us? It is we who decide." + +And a merry party, they swept along, bearing her with them; up the +broad stairway, cold, gray in the morn; beneath the abbot's +bridge--black, spying span!--to the church, and thence to the isolated +space before the guard-house to the dungeons. Here, at the sound of +their voices, a man, carrying a bunch of keys--but outwardly the +antithesis to the hunchback--peered from the entrance. + +"Unless I am mistaken, the new jailer!" With a wave of his hand, the +Marquis indicated this person. "The commandant was telling me his +Excellency had engaged one--from Bicetre, or Fort l'Eveque, I believe?" + +"Bicetre, my Lord!" said the man gravely. "And before that, the +Bastille." + +"Ah!" laughed the nobleman. "That pretty place some of the foolish +people are grumbling about! As if we could do without prisons any more +than without palaces! But we have come, my good fellow, to inspect +this lower world of yours!" + +The man's glance passed over the paper the Marquis handed him; then +silently he moved aside, and unlocked the iron doors. + +"Are you not coming?" At the threshold the Marquis looked back. When +first they had approached the guard-house, involuntarily had the +Governor's daughter drawn aside to the ramparts; now, with face +half-averted, stood gazing off. + +"Coming?" Surprised, the Marquis noted her expression; the fixed +brightness of her eyes and her parted lips. "Oh, yes!" And turning +abruptly, she hastened past him. + +Would _they_ have to be locked in?--the half-apprehensive query of one +of the ladies caused the jailer at first to hesitate and then to answer +in the negative. He would leave the doors from the outer room open, +and himself await there the visitors' return. With which reassuring +promise, he distributed lights; called a guardsman, familiar with the +intricate underground passages, and consigned them to his care. + +One of the gay procession, the Lady Elise stepped slowly forward; the +guide proved a talkative fellow, and seemed anxious to answer their +many inquiries concerning the place. The _salle de la question_? Yes, +it existed; but the ancient torture devices for the "interrogatory +ordinary" and the "interrogatory extraordinary" were no longer pressed +into service; the King had ordered them relegated to the shelves of the +museum. The cabanons, or black holes? Louis XI built them; the +_carceres duri_ and _vade in pace_, however, dated from Saint +Mauritius, fourth abbot of the Mount. + +"And the Black Seigneur? How have you accommodated him?" + +"In the _petit exil_; just to the left! We are going there now." + +"I--am going back!" A hand touched the arm of the Marquis, last of the +file of visitors, and, lifting his candle, he held it so that the +yellow glimmer played on the face of the Governor's daughter. Her eyes +looked deeper; full of dread, as if the very spirit of the subterranean +abode had seized her. He started. + +"Surely _you_, Elise, are not afraid?" + +"I prefer the sunlight," she said hurriedly in a low tone. "It--it is +not cheerful down here! No; do not call to the guide--or let the +others know. I'll return alone, and--wait for you at the guard-house." + +He, nevertheless, insisted upon accompanying her; but, indicating the +not distant door through which they had come, she professed to make +light of objections, and when he still clung to the point, replied with +a flash of spirit, sudden and passionate. It compelled his +acquiescence; left him surprised for a second time that day; a little +hurt, too, perhaps, for heretofore had their intimacy been maintained +on a strictly ethical and charming plane. But he had no time for +analysis; the others were drawing away to the left, into a side +passage; and, with a last backward glance toward the retreating figure, +the Marquis reluctantly followed the majority. + +Despite, however, her avowed repugnance for that under-world, my lady +showed now no haste to quit it; for scarcely had the others vanished +than she stopped; began slowly to retrace her way in the direction they +had taken. When the narrow route to the _petit exil_ connected with +the main aisle, a sudden draft of air extinguished her light; yet still +she went on, led by the voices, and a glimmer afar, until reaching a +room, low, massive, as if hewn from the solid rock, again she paused. +Drawing behind a heavy square pillar, she gazed at the lords and ladies +assembled in the forbidding place; listened to a voice that ran on, as +if discoursing about some anomalous thing. Again was she cognizant of +their questions; a jest from my lord, the Marquis; she saw that several +stole forward; peered, and started back, half afraid. + +But, at length, they asked about the oubliettes, and, chatting gaily, +left. Their garments almost touched the Governor's daughter; lights +played about the gigantic pillars, and like will-o'-the-wisps whisked +away. Now, staring straight ahead toward the chamber they had vacated, +my lady's attention became fixed by a single dot of yellow--a candle +placed in a niche by the jailer's assistant. It seemed to fascinate; +to draw her forward; across the portals--into the room itself! + +How long she stood there in the faint suggestion of light, she did not +realize; nor when she approached the iron-barred aperture, and what she +first said! Something eager, solicitous, with odd silences between her +words, until the impression of a motionless form, and two steady, +cynical eyes fastened on her, brought her to an abrupt pause. It was +some time before she continued, more coherently, an explanation about +her apprehension on account of her father, which had entirely left her +when she had peered through the window of the guard-house. + +"You thought me, then, but a common assassin?" a satirical voice +interposed. + +"My father hates you, and you--" + +"My Lady has, perhaps, a standard of her own for judging!" + +Unmindful of ironical incredulity, she related how she had been forced +to take refuge in the wheel-house; how, when Sanchez had seen her, +alarmed she had fled blindly down the passage; waited, then hearing +them all coming, at a loss what else to do, had opened the wheel-house +door; run into the store-room! What she had seen from there, +disconnectedly, also she referred to; his rescue of the others; his +remaining behind to bear the brunt--as brave an act as she knew of! +Her tone became tremulous. + +"Who betrayed me?" His voice, bold and scoffing, interrupted. + +She answered. It was like speaking to some one in a tomb. "The +soldier you bound gave the alarm." + +From behind the bars came a mocking laugh. + +"You don't believe me?" She caught her breath. + +"Believe? Of course." + +"You don't!" she said, and clung tighter to the iron grating. "And I +can't make you!" + +"Why should your Ladyship want to? What does it matter?" + +"But it does matter!" wildly. "When your servant accused me that day +in the cloister I did not answer nor deny; but now--" + +"Your Ladyship would deny?" + +"That I betrayed you at Casque? Here? Yes, yes!" + +"Or at the wheel-house when you called to warn the soldiers?" + +"You were about to--to throw yourself over!" she faltered. + +"And your Ladyship was apprehensive lest the Black Seigneur should +escape?" + +"Escape?" she cried. "It was death!" + +"And the alternative? My Lady preferred to see the outlaw taken--die +like a felon on the gallows!" + +"No; no! It was not that." + +"What then?" His eyes gleamed bright; her own turned; shrank from +them. A moment she strove to answer; could not. Within the black +recess a faint light from the flickering candle played up and down. So +complete the stillness, so dead the very air, the throbbings of her +pulses filled the girl with a suffocating sense of her own vitality. + +"I spoke to my father to try to get your cell changed," she at last +found herself irrelevantly saying; "but could do nothing." + +"I thank your Ladyship! But your Ladyship's friends will be far away. +Your Ladyship may miss something amusing!" + +"I did not bring them--did not want them to come!" + +"No?" + +Her figure straightened. + +"Perhaps, even, they are not aware you are here?" + +"They are not, unless--" + +"Elise!" From afar a loud call interrupted; reverberating down the +main passage, was caught up here and there. "Elise! Elise!" The +whole under-world echoed to the name. + +"I promised to meet them at the guard-house," she explained hurriedly. +And hardly knowing what she did, put out her hand, through the bars, +toward him. In the darkness a hand seized hers; she felt herself +drawn; held against the bars. They bruised her shoulder; hurt her +face. The chill of the iron sent a shudder through her; though the +pain she did not feel; she was cognizant only of a closer view of a +figure; the chains from him to the wall; the bare, damp floor--then, of +a voice low, tense, that now was speaking: + +"Your Ladyship, indeed, found means to punish a presumptuous fellow, +who dared displease her. But _ma foi!_ she should have confined her +punishment to the offender. Those stripes inflicted on him, my old +servant! Think you I knew not it was my Lady's answer to the outlaw, +who had the temerity to speak words that offended--" + +"You dream that! You imagine that!" + +The warmth of his hand seemed to burn hers; her fingers, so closely +imprisoned, to throb with the fierce beating of his pulses. + +"I do not want you to think--I can't let you think," she began. + +"Elise!" The searchers were drawing nearer. + +She would have stepped back, but the fingers tightened on her hand. + +"They will be here in a moment--" + +Still he did not relinquish his hold; the dark face was next hers; the +piercing, relentless eyes studied the agitated brown ones. The latter +cleared; met his fully an instant. "Believe!" that imploring wild +glance seemed to say. Did his waver for a moment; the harshness and +mockery soften on his face? + +"Elise!" From but a short distance came the voice of the Marquis. + +A moment the Black Seigneur's hand gripped my lady's harder with a +strength he was unaware of. A slight cry fell from her lips, and at +once, almost roughly, he threw her hand from him. + +"Bah!" again he laughed mockingly. "Go to your lover." + +Released thus abruptly she wavered, straightened, but continued to +stand before the dungeon as if incapable of further motion. + +"Elise! Are you there?" + +"There!" Caverns and caves called out. + +"There!" gibed voices amid a labyrinth of pillars, and mechanically she +caught up the candle; fled. + +"Here she is!" Coming toward her quickly out of the darkness, the +Marquis uttered a glad exclamation. "We have been looking for you +everywhere. Did I not say you should not have attempted to return +alone? _Mon dieu!_ you must have been lost!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +A NEW ARRIVAL + +Thrice had the old nurse, Marie, assisting her mistress that night for +the banquet, sighed; a number of times striven to hold my lady's eye +and attention, but in vain. Only when the adorning process was nearly +completed and the nurse knelt with a white slipper, did she, by a +distinctly detaining pressure, succeed in arresting, momentarily, the +other's bright strained glance. + +"Is anything the matter?" My lady's absent tone did not invite +confidences. + +"My Lady--" the woman hesitated; yet seemed anxious to speak. "I--my +Lady," she began again; with sign of encouragement from the Governor's +daughter, would have gone on; but the latter, after waiting a moment, +abruptly withdrew the silken-shod foot. + +"The banquet! It is past the hour!" + +An instant she stood, not seeing the other or the expression of +disappointment on the woman's countenance; then quickly walked to the +door. Nor, as the Governor's daughter moved down the long corridor, +with crimson lips set hard, was she cognizant of another face that +looked out from one of the many passages of the palace after her--the +face of a younger woman whose dark, spying eyes glowed and whose hands +closed at sight of the vanishing figure! + +The sound of gay voices, however, as she neared the banqueting hall, +perforce recalled my lady to a sense of her surroundings; at the same +time a figure in full court dress stepped from the widely opened doors. +An adequate degree of expectancy on his handsome countenance, my lord, +the Marquis, who had been waiting, lover-fashion, for the first glimpse +of his mistress that evening, now gallantly tendered his greetings. + +Seldom, perhaps, had the ancient banqueting hall presented a more +festive appearance. Fruits and flowers made bright the tables; banners +medieval, trophies of many victories, trailed from the ceiling; a +hundred lights were reflected from ornaments of crystal and dishes of +gold. On every hand an almost barbaric profusion impressed the guests +with the opulence of the Mount; that few could sit in more state than +this pale lord of the North, or few queens preside over a scene of +greater splendor than their fair hostess, his daughter! + +With feverish semblance of spirit, she took her place; beneath the keen +eyes of his Excellency responded to sallies of wit, and only when +between courses the music played, did her manner relax. Then, leaning +on her elbow, with cheeks aflame and downcast eyes, she professed to +listen to dainty strains--the sighing of the old troubadours, as +imitated by a group of performers in costume on a balcony at one end of +the hall. + +"Charming!" The voice was the Marquis'; she looked at him, though her +eyes conveyed but a shadowy impression. "You have quite recovered from +your trip to the dungeons?" + +"Quite!" With a sudden lift of the head. + +"The dungeons?" His Excellency's gaze was on them. "I understand," +looking at Elise, "you had a slight adventure?" + +The glow on her cheek faded. "Yes." She seemed to speak with +difficulty. "It--was too stupid!" + +"To get lost? Say, rather, it was venturesome to have attempted to +return alone." + +"Just what I said to the Lady Elise!" broke in the Marquis. "And to +have left us at a most interesting moment!" + +"Interesting?" The Governor's steel-gray eyes regarded the speaker +inquiringly. + +"We were about to visit the Black Seigneur!" + +"Ah!" A look flashed from his Excellency to his daughter; her glance +failed to meet it. + +Yet paler, she turned over-hurriedly to the Marquis. "What is that air +they are playing now?" His response she heard not, was only conscious +that, across the board, the eyes of her father still scrutinized; +studied! + +At length, however, the evening wore away; a signal from his +Excellency, and of one accord they rose and crossed to the +star-illumined cloister adjoining. There at the entrance, my lady, who +toward the last had listened with an air of distraction, hardly +concealed, to her noble suitor's graceful speeches, held back, and, as +the others went in, quickly effected her escape and hastened to her own +apartments. + +"At last!" She threw back her arms; breathed deeper. "Ah, _mon pere_, +you are hard--unyielding as the iron doors and bars of your dungeons!" +She pressed her hand to her forehead. "And I can do nothing--nothing!" +she repeated; stood for a moment motionless and then mechanically moved +toward the bell-rope at the other end of the chamber. But the hand she +started to raise was arrested; through the slightly opened door to the +adjoining apartment, she heard voices; words that caused her +involuntarily to listen. + +"I have made up my mind to tell her ladyship, Nanette!" The old nurse +was speaking, in tones that betrayed excitement and anxiety. "It is, +to say the least, embarrassing for me--your coming here! You, the +daughter of Pierre Laroche, who emigrated to the English Isles! Who +has always shown disloyalty for the monarchy at home!" + +My lady, surprised, drew nearer; caught the answer, which came in +tones, deep and strong. + +"At least, aunt, you are frank!" + +"I must be! Under ordinary circumstances, I should be glad; of course, +the child of my dead sister ought to be welcome." + +"So I thought," dryly, "when I stopped off a few days ago to see you, +on my way to Paris." + +"If you had let me know, it is I who would have gone somewhere, near +by, to have seen you!" was the troubled reply. "His Excellency--what +would he say if he knew? Pierre Laroche, who has been called friend of +privateersmen, perhaps even of the Black Seigneur, himself! I should +have gone to his Excellency at once and asked if he objected, only you +begged me not, and--" + +"Were you so anxious to be rid of me?" quickly. + +"I shouldn't speak as I do now, perhaps, only--" + +"Only?" + +"Your conduct, since you have been here--" + +"What do you mean?" The other's tone had a sudden defiant ring. + +"It is not seemly for a girl of your age and condition to be out alone +so late, nights!" + +"I just went down into the town to get something," was the careless +response, "and the sands looked so attractive--" + +"That's no excuse! And now," the old nurse's voice showed a trace of +embarrassment, "we've had our visit, and you had better carry out your +plan of going to Paris." + +"You want me to leave here--at once?" The girl drew her breath sharply. + +"Perhaps it would be as well." + +"You treat me as if--I were a spy!" angrily. + +"I don't wish to do that," returned the woman in a constrained tone. +"But now, after so many years of service with her ladyship! And her +mother, the former lady of the Mount! If I should incur the Governor's +displeasure--" the words died away. "If I can be of any help to you, +if you need assistance--money--" + +"Money!" Nanette's derisive laugh rang out; was suddenly hushed by the +tinkling of a bell! + +"Her ladyship!" + +For a few moments the Governor's daughter, now standing in the center +of her apartment, heard no sound from the other room; then a timid +footstep approaching the door was followed by an indecisive rap. + +"Your Ladyship rang?" inquired Marie, turning a half-guilty glance on +her mistress. + +"Yes! Did I hear voices, as I came in?" + +"Did your Ladyship? I mean, I was going to speak to your Ladyship. +It's my niece!" suddenly. "On her way to Paris!" + +"Your niece!" The Governor's daughter looked at the other. "And +you--are pleased?" + +"Your Ladyship--" The woman flushed. + +"Of course, though, you must be! She is out there? Show her in!" +quickly. + +"But--" + +"At once!" + +"Very well, my Lady!" Marie's manner, however, was depressed, as, +stepping to the threshold, reluctantly she beckoned. + +Erect, with mien almost antagonistic, Nanette entered and stood before +the Lady Elise. The latter did not at once speak; for a few moments +the observant brown eyes passed in quick scrutiny over her visitor; +noting the aggressive brows; the broad, strong face; the self-assertive +pose of the well-developed figure. A woman to do--to dare!--What? + +[Illustration: "A woman to do--to dare!"] + +"You wished to see me?" Nanette first spoke. + +Marie lifted an expostulatory hand. What bad manners, thus to dare! +But my lady did not seem to notice. "You are from one of the islands?" +she began. + +"Yes." + +"Say 'my Lady'!" broke in the old nurse. "I trust your Ladyship will +pardon--" + +"Never mind, Marie!" with a quick gesture. "Your aunt tells me you are +on your way to Paris?" + +"Yes--my Lady!" with the slightest hesitation before the last two +words. "To seek a situation as lady's maid!" + +"When are you leaving?" + +"To-morrow morning, your Ladyship!" interposed Marie quickly. + +"So soon?" My lady continued to address the girl. "You have had +experience?" + +"No, my Lady!" + +"Then how can you secure what you wish?" + +"How? At least, I can try!" + +"To be sure! You can try." My lady's eyes fell; she seemed to be +thinking. "Still, it may be difficult; Paris is far away. And if you +should fail," her fingers tapped nervously on the chair, "we are very +busy at the Mount just now," she added suddenly, directing her glance +full upon the other, "and there may be something here--" + +"Here! Your Ladyship will keep me here!" + +Marie made a movement as if to speak, but her niece intercepted her. + +"I will do my best, my Lady!" + +"Very well! Then shall you have a trial!" + +"Your Ladyship!" interposed Marie. + +The Governor's daughter got up quickly. "I am very tired, Marie, and +wish now to be alone! You need not remain--I shall not want you again +to-night." + +The old nurse murmured a dejected response; turned away. + +"I thank your Ladyship!" The girl's last look was one of indubitable +satisfaction ere she followed her aunt from the room. + +My lady stared after them. "'Daughter of Pierre Laroche! Friend of +the Black Seigneur!'" Marie's words continued to ring in her ears. +She threw herself into a chair; sat long very still, her eyes bent +straight before her, on either cheek now a bright spot of color. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +A STROLL ON THE STRAND + +"You are in a hurry, Monsieur Beppo?" arms akimbo, Nanette, standing in +an embrasure of the rampart, called out to the Governor's man as he +passed by. + +"Ah, Mistress Nanette," Beppo stopped readily enough, "I didn't see you +at first." + +"Because you have more important matters to think of," she laughed, +showing her strong white teeth. + +The fat old man looked pleased; a few days before, Nanette had flashed +a radiant smile at him from her casement, and, ever since, he had been +inclined to regard her with favor. + +"Not more important, but duties that must be attended to! The wedding +hour draws near." The island girl half turned her head; a shadow +seemed to pass over the bold, sunburned features. "And her ladyship +gives to-morrow a riding party for her guests--a last celebration +before she is led to the altar. I am on my way now to arrange about +the escort." + +"A riding party!" Nanette spoke quickly. "You mean on horseback?" + +"How else?" said Beppo. "It is a pastime her ladyship has always been +very fond of, even as a child. In those days," not without an accent +of self-importance, "it was my privilege--" + +"Do they ride far?" interrupted Nanette with ill-suppressed eagerness. + +"To the old Monastery St. Ranulphe; an imposing ruin of tenth century +architecture, my dear," he added pompously. + +"And where is it?" + +"Off the Paris highway, some ten miles from the Mount." + +"Ten miles? And the country is beautiful? Not open; sandy, like the +shore?" + +"It partakes of a rugged grandeur." + +"With forests around?" quickly. + +"Yes," indulgently. "You like forests, Mistress Nanette?" + +"When they are thick and wild--" + +"Then would you like these!" + +The girl asked no further questions; yet still Beppo lingered, his +glance seeming loath to withdraw from this exuberant specimen of +vigorous young womanhood. "Which way were you going, good Mistress +Nanette?" he asked finally. "On second thoughts, I have a little time +to spare and will walk along." + +Nanette, looking down from the rampart toward the sands and the shore, +did not answer, and, more insinuatingly, Beppo repeated his proposal. +Nanette started. + +"La, Monsieur Beppo! I--I'm afraid it wouldn't do. There's my aunt," +tossing her head, "that careful of me! Won't even let me go walking on +the beach alone! Do _you_ ever go walking on the beach, Monsieur +Beppo?" she inquired suddenly, regarding him with an eloquent look. + +"I--it has not been my custom," he murmured. "But," the fishy eyes +growing brighter, "with you--if I might accompany you--" + +"Oh, I didn't mean that! No; no! Of course not! And I couldn't think +of it. My aunt--" + +But when a few moments later, she turned, to walk quickly away, the +round and shining face of Beppo, watching her disappear, wore not the +look of a man who had allowed himself to be rebuffed. + +Out of his sight, Nanette's expression changed to one of somber +thoughtfulness; it lingered as she entered the palace, with free swing, +mounted the steps to her mistress' apartments; was still there, when +she took a bit of embroidery from a table, and seating herself at the +window of an antechamber, bent over her task. Soon, however, she +stopped, to sweep abruptly cloth and colored silks from her lap to the +floor, and, leaning forward, her firm, brown hands clasped over her +knees, she seemed to be asking herself questions, or weighing some +problem. + +"Yes; it is our only chance." In her eyes a steady glow replaced the +varying lights, and, getting up with a sudden air of determination, +Nanette crossed the room to where, near the door, stood a small desk. +Glancing quickly around, she seated herself and, reaching for paper and +pen, wrote carefully and somewhat laboriously a few words. She had +finished and was contemplating the result of her eager efforts when a +hand at the door caused her hurriedly to dash down the pen and spring +to her feet. As her aunt entered, Nanette took a few steps forward, +and, bending to pick up her work from the floor, turned partly away and +thrust the paper into the bosom of her gown. + +"I came to tell you supper is ready," said Marie quietly. + +At the table with her aunt the girl's manner was subdued and +deferential; she observed the nicest proprieties, and bestowed on the +other's slightest word a meed of attention calculated to soften the old +woman's attitude and suspicions. And possibly succeeded; or, it may +be, Marie's own conscience had begun to reproach her; for a number of +days had passed and nothing had as yet occurred to justify the early +apprehensions she had entertained. Under the circumstances the meal +was a little prolonged; the first shafts of twilight had entered the +courtyard and had begun to steal into the narrow chamber with darkening +effect, ere of an accord the two women pushed back their chairs. + +"It gets dark early," said the girl, "or time has passed quicker than I +thought. Perhaps it was what you were telling me of the former lady of +the Mount. She must have been very beautiful!" + +"She was," answered the woman; "and as good as beautiful!" + +"Heigh-ho!" Nanette sighed; through the window watched the shadows +that like dark, trailing figures seemed creeping up the ancient wall to +caress and linger on green leaves of vines, bright flowers and other +living things. "But I suppose she had everything she wanted." The +girl stirred restlessly. "What sort of a man is Monsieur Beppo, aunt?" + +"Beppo?" Recalled as from a long train of recollections, the woman did +not seem to notice the abruptness of the inquiry. "Oh, he is an old +and faithful servant. For almost as many years as I have been here," +with an accent of pride, "has he served at the Mount!" + +"And his moral character, aunt?" demurely. + +"Monsieur Beppo has a reputation for piety, no doubt deserved!" +returned the woman, with an accent of surprise. "At any rate, he +seldom misses a mass. But why do you ask?" + +"Because I met him to-day and he invited me to walk with him this +evening." + +"He did?" Marie's mouth grew firmer. "And you?" + +"I didn't exactly know how to refuse; he--looked so old and +respectable! I thought, too, you wouldn't mind and--I'm glad you think +so well of him, aunt." + +In the gathering gloom the listener's face seemed suddenly to grow +graver; her eyes, which had returned to the girl's, expressed once more +doubt and misgiving. With her glance lifted upward, however, Nanette +did not seem to notice this quick change. A star--faint forerunner of +a multitude of waiting orbs--peeping timorously down from above the +gray, gaunt mass of stone, alone absorbed the girl's gaze and attention. + +"Where were you thinking of going?" after a silence of some length the +older woman asked. + +"I don't recall that Monsieur Beppo mentioned," was the low-murmured +response. "But, of course, aunt, if you object--" + +"I do not know that I do," said the other slowly. "Only," as if the +thought had suddenly come to her, "what were you writing at her +ladyship's desk when I went to call you?" + +"Writing?" Nanette regarded her blankly. "I don't understand you, +aunt." + +"Weren't you writing something that you hid in your dress when I came?" + +"No!" The girl looked full at the other; denied point-blank the +accusation. "Now that you speak of it, I believe I did step to the +desk," she answered glibly, "to look at some ornament; but as for +writing, or daring to, I should not have presumed." + +A low discreet rap at the door interrupted, and, with a whispered +"There he is now!" Nanette cut short further argument by rising. + +"She is not telling the truth!" For some time the woman stood looking +down in gloomy thought after the two had gone. "What does it mean?" +Moving to a peg, she took down a shawl. "What can it mean?" she asked +herself again, and, wrapping the garment about her head and shoulders, +left the room. + +Half an hour later, at Beppo's side, on the beach, Nanette measured her +steps to his; listened to the old man's platitudes, and even turned a +not unwilling ear to sundry hints and innuendos of a tenderer nature. +The girl was in her most complaisant mood, and, in his role of discreet +gallant to young and blooming womanhood, the fat factotum strove to +make the most of the opportunity. He sighed; bethought him of a +sentimental tale, and carped of the beauty of the moon, then gilding +the edge of the Mount's high towers! She answered; looked; but soon +her eloquent glance swerved to the sands, dotted by desultory seekers +of cockles, or belated stragglers from the shore, and fastened itself +on a jutting point of the Mount. + +Near it, before a large rock of peculiar shape, a man was engaged in +that common nocturnal labor of the locality, digging! As the couple +drew near, quickly he raised his gaze; almost at once let it fall; +engrossed in his work, continued to toss the sand and stoop over it +searchingly. But when they had gone by, once more he straightened, +and, at the same time, the girl looked back. Stalwart, black-bearded, +a sailor by his dress, the fellow made a sign, and, apparently any +doubt as to who he was vanished from Nanette's mind; for from the +fingers of the free hand she held behind her, something fluttered to +the beach. + +Leaning to his implement, the man regarded the paper, but not until the +girl's low laugh was heard, as she and Master Beppo vanished in the +darkness, did he step forward and secure it. + +"So! That was it!" Breathless, indignant, Marie, standing in the +black shade of one of the Mount's projections, watched the fellow read +and regard carefully the message in his hand; then tearing it, crumple +the bits and thrust them toward his pocket as he walked off. "Brazen +huzzy! But her ladyship shall know; and if she doesn't pack you off, +bag and baggage--Eh? What is that?" And springing forward, the woman +pounced upon something that lay on the sand. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE HESITATION OF THE MARQUIS + +The day of my lady's riding party dawned; in the east a tender flame +burned, and, vanishing, left the heavens an unbroken blue. Shoreward +the mists rolled up, until only in the neighborhood of the forest did +the white, soft vapor linger. On the Mount itself sunshine held sway; +it radiated from the fortifications, "cuirass of the rock," and gleamed +on the church, "tiara of its majesty." It warmed a cold palace of +marble; looked in at its windows, and threw bold shafts to lighten dark +nooks and corners. + +But my lady, mistress of the Mount, seemed not to feel its beneficent +touch; standing in the full glow and looking from her casement she +shivered a little. Already was she dressed, and her habit of dark +green, fitting close, served to accentuate the whiteness of her cheek +which general absence of color, in turn, made the more manifest certain +dark lines beneath the restless, bright eyes. + +"Your Ladyship!" After knocking in vain, Marie had entered the room +and set down the small tray she carried. "There is something your +Ladyship ought to know!" with an air of excitement. The Governor's +daughter half turned. "What now, Marie?" she said sharply. + +"It's about Nanette!" My lady made a quick movement of annoyance, +impatience. "I did not tell your Ladyship, but I was averse to having +her remain here. Your Ladyship does not understand, of course, and--" + +"I do understand," said my lady unexpectedly. "And--you need not +explain. I overheard you talking with her that night of the banquet!" + +"Your Ladyship!" startled. + +"And I heard you speak of her father, Pierre Laroche, friend of the +Black Seigneur." + +"And engaged her--after that!" + +"Why not? I could watch--and I have! But you were wrong, Marie." My +lady's manner was feverish. "Your suspicions were ridiculous. There +has been nothing--nothing! And day after to-morrow is the wedding +celebration, and the next day, he, the Black Seigneur--" She broke off +abruptly. + +Had Marie been less wrought up, less excited, less concerned with the +information she had to impart, she could not have failed to notice the +odd break in her young mistress' voice; something unusual, almost akin +to despair, in her manner. As it was, that which weighed on the old +nurse's mind precluded close observation of the other. + +"But something _has_ happened, my Lady!" the woman half stammered. + +"_Comment!_" The girl turned to her sharply. "What? Explain, Marie!" + +Disconnectedly, the woman launched into a narration of the events of +the night before; my lady listened closely, with an interest and +excitement she strove to conceal, half turning so that the other saw no +longer her face. + +"And here," ended Marie, extending a crumpled fragment of paper, "is a +piece of the note she dropped on the beach. The man tore it up, but in +thrusting the bits of paper into his pocket this fell out, and, after +he walked away, I picked it up myself from the sand. I can't read, as +your Ladyship knows, and there isn't much on it--only a word or two! +But it may tell something." + +My lady's face was now composed; the hand she extended, steady; for +several moments she regarded the fragment. + +"What does it say?" asked the woman anxiously. "Is it--is it +important?" + +Her mistress did not at once answer; twisting the bit of paper in her +fingers, stood as if in thought, and the old nurse repeated her +question. + +"This note might have been intended for some admirer!" said, at length, +the Governor's daughter slowly. + +"He looked more like an old privateersman!" murmured the woman. "And +there may be some plot--some plan!" + +"Privateersman!" The girl's manner underwent a change; she shrugged +her shoulders. "What could they hope to do at the Mount! You are +imaginative, Marie!" lightly. "Nanette is good-looking, and what +little is here would seem to signify a rendezvous. There may be no +great harm in that." + +"I am sorry, my Lady, to seem to think ill of my own kin," muttered the +woman dejectedly, "but--" + +"Think no more of it! You have done your duty. Now leave the matter +to me, and--thank you, Marie!" + +When, however, the old nurse had gone, all pretense of lightness faded +from the face of the Governor's daughter, and, opening the bit of +paper, once more she scrutinized it swiftly, intently. + +"To-morrow--Monastery St. Ranu--" she read. "Yes; it must mean St. +Ranulphe--where we are going. And where Beppo knew we were going! +Beppo, she went down on the beach with!" Again she studied the +fragment, striving to make out a word that had been blotted and was +almost illegible. She frowned as she endeavored to decipher it. "Lady +E." She gave an exclamation. "That refers, of course, to-- But why?" +She kept asking herself the question. "Why?" she repeated, when +suddenly the brown eyes widened--changed; a new light shone in their +depths. "It must be they intend to--what else?" + +The sound of horns--signal for the party to gather--broke upon the air, +and, nervously crushing in her palm the piece of the message, she +stepped to the table, to the untasted breakfast. Like one in a dream, +who yet feels the need for haste, she poured out the coffee; with +unsteady hand raised the cup and drank; started to serve herself again; +as if forgetful of the impulse, paused. + +"And I?" she said with deeper breath. "To ride to the ambush they have +so cleverly planned? Allow myself to be taken prisoner by these +desperate men? No; no; I could not! And yet--" A trampling of +horses' hoofs in the court below interrupted. "They are ready to +start!" Uncertainly she lifted her head; looked around her; then +mechanically stepped forward and left the room. + +A scene of animation greeted her in the court, alive with lords and +ladies, for the most part already in the saddle and waiting. + +"Hail to Diana, who will lead us in the forests!" + +"Fair nymph, let us away!" and the Marquis extended his hand. + +With a seemingly merry nod she acknowledged their greetings; put out a +foot, and lightly sprang to her place on the back of the nervous +thoroughbred. But ere giving the signal to start, the girl's glance +swung around to a window opposite, where stood an austere figure, +imperturbably looking down to watch them ride off. + +"_Au revoir, mon pere!_" Her voice rose with an odd, unusual thrill. +"_Au revoir!_" she repeated, when a mistiness in her eyes suddenly +blurred sight of him, and she tightened the reins. Yet hesitating to +go, her gaze cleared, and swerving, was abruptly arrested by another +and more interested spectator, who, partly concealed by flowers and +plants, peered with anxious expectancy from her own balcony. As +Nanette's eyes met those of the Governor's daughter, they wavered half +guiltily; suddenly became steady, held by something--a flash of +impelling intelligence in the other's gaze. A moment or two, my lady +continued to regard the girl; then touching her horse, wheeled sharply, +and set a pace downward not easy to follow. + +At the base of the Mount they were met by a numerous guard bright in +holiday trappings, and, under the care of the commandant, with flourish +of horse, the party swept gaily from sands to shore. + +"A gallant company, Monsieur le Commandant!" observed the Marquis to +the officer in charge, as they reached the green line at the yellow +basin's edge. "Now if we were to meet an enemy--" + +"He would find us prepared, my Lord!" the officer declared. + +"True!" And the nobleman complacently touched the jeweled hilt of his +own blade, accompanying the action with a tender glance at the Lady +Elise. + +She, however, a little ahead, appeared not to hear; spoke suddenly to +her horse, and, as they swung from the sward, started at a brisk gallop +down the road. Laughing, the others came after, lords and ladies +first; behind, with tumult and clatter, the commandant and his men. As +they advanced, on either side the way thick trunks of moss-grown +monarchs uplifted their gnarled and hoary branches, to meet overhead; +through leafy interstices bright flashes of sunlight shot downward, +danced on fine garments and accoutrements, and then whisked elfishly +away. In dim recesses finches and sparrows sang; beyond, murmured +streams and rivulets, while at the feet of the riders, gay restless +flowers nodded, as if in accompaniment to the glad music of the morn. + +"Small wonder his Excellency should have desired to add this fair +principality to his own!" muttered the Marquis, looking around. "Of +the seven forests of Brittany, none will compare with this, the +Desaurac woods. What think you, Elise?" spurring his horse near his +betrothed's. "Are you not taken by its beauties?" + +She looked at him with a start; since leaving the sands she had not +spoken, and now, tugging at the reins, only said abruptly: "My saddle! +I believe it is loose." + +"Loose!" repeated the nobleman. "Careless lackeys! Let us see!" And +grasping the bridle of her horse, pulled in his own, and drew both +animals to a standstill at the side of the road. + +As he dismounted to examine straps and fastenings, the others dashed +up; my lady lightly motioned them on. "We'll soon overtake you! Don't +wait!" Unquestioning, they obeyed; though the commandant, to whom a +few moments later she delivered a similar injunction, brought his men +to a halt and proffered his services. Whereupon the Marquis repeated +the girl's words more sharply; reddening, the officer wheeled and +started to ride on. + +"I can't find anything wrong here!" Puzzled, the Marquis straightened. + +But her eyes were directed ahead and she pointed with her whip to a +break in the woody barrier to the right--a path that, springing from +the roadside, seemed to plunge into the very heart of the labyrinth. + +"Look! the short cut!--that would bring us half an hour before them to +the ruins! Let us take it!" + +A light seemed suddenly to break on her companion, and he sprang airily +to his saddle. "As my Lady wills!" gallantly. + +"Then call to the commandant, and tell him we'll meet them there!" + +The Marquis obeyed, and, without awaiting answer, or demur from the +officer in charge of the guard, the girl flicked her horse and sent him +over a low bush into the narrow way. + +Fairly in the path, she rode fast, and pressing hard behind, my lord +soon found reason for doubt as to the advisibility of that route, and a +suspicion of regret at his own hasty assent to the departure from the +main thoroughfare. As their surroundings grew wilder and the slender +green figure flitted more and more recklessly before him, he even +ventured to voice his misgivings--advise greater care. A shake of the +fair head was all he received for answer and, regardless of the +increasing roughness of the way, she continued to sweep on, now uphill, +then down, avoiding by a quick turn one obstacle here, leaping another +there! From a black ambush, a branch like the arm of a Titan reached +out to seize, but adroitly she swayed from its grasp and only the twigs +and leaves touched lightly the bent figure. + +My lord, however, they struck sharply, and at the sudden smart and a +quick realization of falling behind, frowningly he drove his horse +harder. The tete-a-tete he had naturally expected from her request to +pursue the lonelier way promised now not to materialize; the idea that +she was fleeing, he pursuing, possessed him. The forest, a tangle of +shrubs and strange creepers, was the scene of the idyl; she, a sprite +of the greenwood, danced illusively through the maze. At length when +my lord had begun to grow weary of vainly endeavoring to overtake her, +fate favored his efforts; brought to a standstill, at the edge of a +torrent, the object of his pursuit. + +"Are you mad, Elise?" A shadow on his brow, the Marquis rode down. + +She made no reply; regarded only the water. + +"I hope it is not in your mind to attempt to cross," he went on, a +shade of petulance in his accents. + +She urged her horse forward; it stopped. + +"Elise! I beg of you! It is dangerous; better go back, and around!" + +But the girl set her red lips, raised her whip, and brought it down +hard. The animal sprang into the foam; breasting the current, it +slipped once or twice, recovered, and, after an effort, managed to +reach the bank opposite. My lord--less blithely than he had first +embarked on the adventure--followed; the cold waters surged around, and +he almost expected to be swept away. At length, however, chilled by +the icy touch of the torrent and somewhat more out of humor, he found +himself on the other side. Near the top of the bank, where the +Governor's daughter had now the grace to await him, he rejoined her, +disapproval on his face, reproach in his eyes. Yet still did the girl +remain unconscious of her lover's wounded sensibilities; her own eyes, +like stars beneath the flurry of hair, were turned, not to the young +man, but away, toward a gaunt-looking ruin that had suddenly uplifted +itself, as if by magic, through a rift in the forest. But a few +hundred yards distant, the black crumbling walls bristled with rough, +jagged edges--big, broken teeth that snarled at the rim of the +ever-young wood. The very brightness of the day seemed only to +emphasize the ominous aspect of the place; to reveal more plainly the +solitary character of its wildness. + +"The monastery, I suppose?" following the direction of her gaze, the +Marquis, after a pause, grudgingly vouchsafed. + +"Yes," said the girl in a low tone; "yes!" + +"Shall we go on?" + +Her eyes, passing over a tangle of shrubs, bushes and thick, natural +screens, slowly settled on a spot, not far away, where a wild bird, +about to alight, fled off with a scream. + +"Shall we go on?" + +With a start the girl turned; the clear-cut features were very grave; +in her gaze shone sudden compunction. She raised her hand. "My veil!" +she said quickly. "I--dropped it. Do you mind? You--you will find it +on this side of the stream--a little way down." + +"Mind?" He regarded her doubtfully a moment; then moved by the +irresistible appeal in her eyes, rather abruptly he wheeled, and as he +did so, she gathered up the reins. Ere proceeding farther upon this +errand of gallantry, my lord looked around. + +"You seem to set great store on this veil," he, observed suspiciously. +"And I believe you were about to ride off!" he added, noting her +expression, when, before she had time for pretext or answer, a heavy +body stirred in the bushes, near at hand, and a gruff voice called out. + +"Stand where you are!" + +The nobleman's face changed; his gaze, as if fascinated, now rested on +a score of rough figures who, following the order, so unexpected and +startling, sprang simultaneously from neighboring thicket or covert, +and advanced to surround them. Held by their grim aspect--the +desperate determined visages; the black, threatening looks--in the +surprise of the moment, too late my lord's hand sought the sword at his +side. Roughly plucked from his horse, he found himself flung to the +sward; unceremoniously pinioned, and heard the voice of my lady raised +in his behalf. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE MARQUIS INTERVENES + +The evening of the same day, his Excellency, in the seclusion of a +small private chamber adjoining the _salle du gouvernement_, stood +looking down at his desk on which were strewn papers and messages +containing the latest news from Paris and received at the Mount but a +few hours before. That the character of this information, political +and social, was little to his liking, seemed manifest from his manner; +he stared at the missives resentfully; then frowned and threw down the +pen he had been using to mark, or make note of, their contents. + +"Versailles--a mob! Sugar-plums to placate them! Sugar-plums!" he +repeated; and, impatiently turning away, walked to the window. There +for some time he stood peering out, when, the current of his thoughts +slowly changing, he took from his pocket a watch, and examined the +jeweled face. "Time they were back!" About to return to his table and +task, a loud knocking arrested the impulse, and testily the Governor +called out; glanced toward the threshold and surveyed the intruder. + +"A message from the commandant, your Excellency!" said the man, a +trooper of the Mount, with a respectful, though nervous salute. + +"Why," returned the Governor in a dry tone, "didn't he bring it +himself?" + +"Because," the trooper shifted; looked away; "because Monsieur le +Commandant is engaged in scouring the country for miscreants, your +Excellency." + +"Miscreants!" sharply. "What miscreants?" + +"Monsieur le Commandant hopes to overtake those who have carried off +the Lady Elise," said the messenger hurriedly, in the tone of one +anxious to be done with his task. + +"Carried off!" The thin figure wavered as if struck by a cold breath. +"Carried off!" he repeated, laying his hand on the back of the chair. + +"By a band of the Black Seigneur's men! His lordship, the Marquis, +they left behind bound and secured, but the Lady Elise they took with +them." + +For some time his Excellency said nothing; like a ghost of himself, +leaned hard against his support and looked at the trooper. + +"But how could it have happened?" at length in a voice, low, intense, +he inquired. "Monsieur le Commandant! The guard--you--all are alive?" + +Stumblingly, as best he could, the soldier explained, and when he had +done, his Excellency made no sign that he had heard. + +"Monsieur le Commandant further ordered me to say he had no doubt he +would return with the Lady Elise," added the messenger hastily. + +"Monsieur le Commandant!" The Governor's eyes suddenly blazed; swiftly +he put question after question, and, having probed to the core the +consistency of the tale, with a gesture, brusk and contemptuous, +dismissed the bearer. + +But whatever feeling the lord of the Mount might entertain toward his +chief officer, no course at the moment seemed open save to await the +return of that person and the Marquis. So, curbing his impatience as +best he might, his Excellency kept vigil; and not alone! Tidings of +what had happened spread at the top of the rock; sifted through closed +gates and thick walls into the town. The late arrival at the Mount of +the lords and ladies, companions of the Governor's daughter for the +day, but added to the questionings of the multitude. All night life +and expectancy reigned; lights gleamed from high places; responded in +low ones. + +"Is it true, my dear, what we hear about the Lady Elise?" the landlady +of the inn on the Mount near the strand called out to a stalwart, dark +young woman, hurrying down the narrow way shortly after the Paris +contingent had gone up. + +"I've heard no more than you have," came the curt answer of this +person--none other than Nanette--who carried a small bundle and seemed +anxious to move on. + +"Oh, I didn't know but you came from the palace!" observed the mistress +of the inn, and returned to her customers, drinking and nodding with +heads close together. + +On the morrow, however, all doubts were removed and speculations put at +rest; for hardly had the sun set its seal in the sky than from the +forests the appearance of a body of troops rewarded the watchers. From +hovel to hut the word went, and men, women and children, unkempt and +curious, ran down to the beach to await the approach of the guard. +Proudly had it departed, with waving of plumes; slowly it returned, a +bedraggled procession of staggering horses and heavy-eyed men. Had it +come back a little earlier, the dark might have kept the truth from the +people; now the pitiless red glare revealed to the full the plight of +the troopers. It told, too, the disappointment of Monsieur le +Commandant, who looked neither to the right nor to the left; and the +despair of my lord, the Marquis, pale counterfeit of his debonair self. + +"Her ladyship!" "They haven't brought her back!" Low murmurs arose; +grew louder; some one laughed. But sullenly, without answer, the +soldiers dragged by, into the town, and laboriously up to the top of +the Mount. + +At the gate his Excellency waited; cast one glance at the +company--their leader--and silently turned. Later, however, was he +closeted with both the commandant and the Marquis--a brief period with +the former who departed, carrying a look eloquent of the unpleasantness +of the interview. + +"And now," said the Governor in tones somewhat strained, as the +officer's dejected footfall died in the distance, "we've got rid of +that dolt, let us consider, my Lord, the purport of this outrage." + +"Purport?" repeated the Marquis petulantly, stretching his stiff legs. +"Did they not tell me that if anything happened to the Black Seigneur, +they would hold her, Elise, answerable for it? You see they had +learned," bitterly, "of your intention to hang him after the wedding!" + +"From which you infer?" + +"They will keep her as hostage! Indeed, they said as much, when--" + +"They bound you, my Lord?" + +The color came to the young man's face. "It was a trap," he said, his +voice pitched higher; "and they came prepared, not for one man, but the +guard!" + +"Still was it very ill-advised--a great mistake--to have taken the +shorter way through the forest alone." + +"The proposal did not originate with me! Elise suggested it. She +seemed in a wild, headstrong mood; nothing would stop her. Now," +moodily he rose, "_mon dieu_! What has she brought upon herself? +Where is she now?" + +His Excellency did not stir; his face, like a pale mask, was turned +aside. "I do not think," he said slowly, as arguing to convince +himself, "she is in any immediate danger." + +But my lord caught irritably at the word. "No danger! She is +surrounded by it. And we? what are we to do? Sit idly here? Give me +a ship, your Excellency, and I will follow the boat of this Black +Seigneur, and, when I find it, force them to--" + +"What?" The Governor's eyes swerved dully. "Have you forgotten their +threat? Their last words to you that if we attempted to follow, to +rescue--that, rather than give her up--" + +"They would not dare!" cried my lord with sparkling glance. + +But his Excellency shook his head. "No; no; it won't do! And now," +again looking away, "leave me, my Lord, to consider." With which, the +interview, as unsatisfactory to the one as the other, terminated. + +Several days that passed were not calculated either to alleviate his +Excellency's anxiety, or the Marquis' impatience; for during that +period of waiting came no word of my lady, or news of her captors. +Mysteriously as a phantom ship had the boat that had carried the +Governor's daughter away appeared on the coast and vanished, and from +none of the Governor's vessels, or any of the fishing craft could be +gleaned information of its whereabouts. My lord, the Marquis, annoyed +at what seemed but fruitless delay, was still for setting forth and +inviting battle; but of this his Excellency would not hear, arguing, no +doubt, to himself that in temporizing lay greater assurance of safety +to his daughter than in precipitate action. So the situation grew +hourly more trying, until--as if it already were not intolerable +enough!--a new concern added ironical weight to present perplexities. + +My young lord, between whom and the master of the Mount had been +growing a more strained relationship, sought the Governor one day, and, +in excited tones, announced he had just learned that the prisoner, the +Black Seigneur, was ill and probably would survive but a short time +longer in the dungeon where he was confined. As his Excellency knew, +the fellow had been wounded, and now with scanty nourishment, want of +air, and close quarters, was generally in a bad way. + +His Excellency heard; moistened his lips and seemed about to speak, but +was silent, while more anxiously the young man went on. Of course +under different conditions, with care and attention--a well-lighted +room and excellent food--they might hope to restore their prisoner's +strength; at least, preserve for a time one so precious to themselves, +upon the thread of whose life hung my lady's! + +His Excellency still answered no word; only looked down, and, knitting +his brows, the young nobleman restlessly waited. At length, with an +expression on his face the Marquis had never before seen there, his +Excellency rose, moved like an automaton to the bell, and called for +the jailer. + +"Monsieur le Marquis has a few instructions to give you." The +Governor's voice, but a breath, told what the words cost him. + +The man responded gravely, looking from one to the other. + +"Use your own judgment in the matter, my Lord," went on his Excellency, +and left them together. + +After that, a change, subtle but deep-rooted, came over the Governor; a +silent man always, now his taciturnity became most marked. Under +stress of untoward circumstances, all the guests at the Mount, save the +young noble, departed; but his Excellency appeared hardly to notice +their going; drawing his cloak of reserve closer about him, seemed only +to ask for that solitude, not difficult to find in his aerial kingdom. +Sometimes for a long while he would stand in the cloister, gazing +seaward; again wander in the church, look at the monuments, always to +pass one of them quickly. Only on a single occasion, when the Marquis, +who was daily becoming more nervous, sought him, with a favorable +report of his prisoner-patient, did the Governor give sign that beneath +this apparent apathy yet stirred malevolence and rancor. + +"Yes, yes," he returned, a spark of ill-concealed venom in his glance; +"he is doing well, no doubt! I am sure he will do well. But well or +ill, I wish to hear no more of him! No more, Monsieur le Marquis!" +His voice vibrated; surprised, the kinsman of the King stared, then +stiffly turned away. + +So matters stood, when one day, alone in the cloister, his Excellency +was disturbed by a rough-looking fellow who brought a letter and said +he would await the reply at the tavern in the town. + +Deliberately the Governor took the missive, tore open the envelope, and +surveyed the small bit of paper it contained. Whatever the brief +message told him, his Excellency's face did not change, and he was +still coldly, carefully studying sentences and words, after his +fashion, when through the door my lord, the Marquis, stepped in some +haste. Lifting his eyes, the Governor had no difficulty in reading the +question on the young man's countenance. For a moment they looked at +each other, and then the long, white fingers of his Excellency again +sought the letter. + +"They," his voice seemed to clip the words, "propose an exchange of +prisoners, and give me three days to consent to it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +A SOUND AFAR + +About midway in the curve of one of the numerous bays, marking the +coast-line, and several hours distant from the Mount, stands a stone +cross erected by an English marauder to indicate the place of his +landing. The symbol is visible on all sides from afar, for before it +are the sands and the sea, and behind stretches the land barren of +wood--low, level, covered only with marsh grass. Toward this monument +of man's conquest--most prominent object in a prospect, dreary and +monotonous--rode, late one afternoon, a band of horsemen. At their +head galloped my lord, the Marquis; in the center could be seen a man +with bound arms whose horse was led by one of the others. This +person--a prisoner, thin, haggard, yet still muscular of frame--from +time to time gazed about; a look of inquiry or calculation in the black +undaunted eyes. + +"What prison are you taking me to now?" once he asked the trooper who +held the reins of his horse. "And why do you go in this direction? Is +it you dare not ride along main highways on account of the people?" + +"Never you mind!" came the gruff answer. "And as for the people, +they'd better look out!" + +"Bah!" laughed the prisoner. "You can put some of them in cells, but +not all!" + +"There may be something worse than a cell waiting for you!" was the +malicious retort. + +"No doubt!" said the other stoically. + +But as his eyes again swept the horizon, from the opposite direction +appeared another band of riders. At first the prisoner, regarding +them, looked puzzled; then as the new-comers rode straight and rapidly +on toward the cross, his countenance expressed a faint understanding. +A fresh relay of men, he concluded; one his present guard would consign +him to, and then themselves return to the Mount. Still was the +meeting-place an odd one, and the demeanor of the two bodies of men not +entirely consistent with his conclusions; for, as they drew nearer, +both parties slackened their pace, suspiciously to scrutinize each +other. + +"Twenty--the number agreed upon!" muttered the Marquis, and spurring on +fast, led his troops nearer the cross. + +Not many paces distant the word was given to halt, and, as they obeyed, +on the other side of the monument the strange men likewise drew rein. +At the same moment, there flashed on the captive's mind a discovery. +These faces, looking so grimly out over the marshy field at them, were +not the wooden visages of paid soldiers, but of men he knew--his men! +Across the space separating the two parties he could read their quick +looks-their satisfaction--their complacency! He watched them with eyes +in which pride and tenderness mingled. And then, for the first time, +did he observe they had brought some one with them--a woman, or a +girl--the Governor's daughter! + +The bold black eyes of the prisoner regarded her fixedly. What did it +mean? said his keen gaze. Colorless as marble, my lady held herself +very erect on her horse; then while his glance yet probed her, the +proud face slowly changed; on the cold cheek youth's bright banner +flared high. The young man turned; following the direction of her +gaze, looked at the Marquis; my lord's features radiated felicitations; +his eyes shone with welcome. And a fuller understanding came over the +prisoner; in some mysterious manner had the Lady Elise been made +captive, and now had the nobleman come to escort his betrothed back to +the palace. + +[Illustration: My lady held herself very erect on her horse] + +Even as the Black Seigneur reached this conclusion, he become cognizant +his bonds had been loosened; the reins placed in his hands. "You are +free," said a voice and mechanically he rode toward his comrades. + +Thus, near the crumbling and time-worn cross, was the exchange of +prisoners effected; the girl whirled away by my lord, who seemed +fearful of treachery, and the Black Seigneur left to the greetings of +his men. + +"Now, by the tuneful Nine,"--the poet, Gabriel Gabarie, pushing his +burly form to the front, was the first to extend a hand--"but, from +your looks, the Governor looks ill to the welfare of his lodgers!" + +"And had we not captured my lady," spoke up another, gazing after the +party of the Marquis, "he would have looked yet worse to the welfare of +one of them, no doubt!" + +"Drink this, Seigneur!" cried a third; "you must drink this--a special +bottle we brought for the occasion!" + +"Sent by old Pierre when he heard we were coming for you!" added the +poet. "Your drinking-cups, lads! Unfasten the skin for yourselves! +To _mon capitaine_!"-- + +Once, twice, deeply they drank--toast and vintage alike to their taste; +then straightening, looked at the Black Seigneur whose eyes yet burned +in the direction my lady had gone. With a start he seemed to recall +himself to the demands of the moment; his first questions they +expected; the ship--where did she lie? Snug and trim in a neighboring +cove, ready to slip out, if occasion required and danger pressed--which +contingency they did not just then expect, since at the moment was his +Excellency more concerned with affairs on the land than matters +pertaining to the sea. What these paramount interests were, the young +man, on whose thin cheek now burned a little color, did not at once +ask; only gazed inquiringly over the group, where one, whom he might +have expected, was absent. + +"Sanchez--he is not with you?" + +A look of constraint appeared for an instant on the poet's face. + +"No, he's with the people, I expect. You see," he went on, "things +have been happening since you elected to enact the mountebank. The +bees have been busy, and this little hive they call France is now full +of bother and bustle. The bees that work have been buzzing about those +that don't; they made a great noise at Versailles, but the King Drone +only listened; did not try to stop it, fearing their sting. They +hummed at the door of the Bastille, until the parasite bees, not liking +the music, opened the doors, let them all in--" + +"The Bastille has fallen?" The listener's voice rang out; his eyes, +searching sharply the features of the bard, seemed to demand only the +truth, plain, unadorned. + +"It has," answered the other gravely. "And the tune sung in and around +Paris has kept on spreading until now it is everywhere! You may hear +it in the woods; along the marshes; out over the strand! The very +Mount, immovable, seems to listen. When will the storm break? To-day? +To-morrow? It needs but a word from Paris, and then--" + +The poet broke off, and silently the Black Seigneur seemed to be +weighing the purport of the news; for some moments stood as a man deep +in thought; then, arousing himself, spoke a few words, and gave a brief +order. Swiftly the riders swept away in the direction from which they +had come, and only when they had gone some distance did the young man +once more turn to the poet with a question. Whereupon the latter, +spurring his horse nearer his chief, launched into eloquent explanation. + +"And then," ended the bard, "the Governor's daughter walked into our +ambush as unsuspectingly as a mouse into a trap!" + +"The Governor's daughter cozened by Nanette!" + +"That she was! A clever wench and a brave one, Nanette! Although," +the poet's jovial eyes studied the dark face, "unless I am mistaken, +she found the task to her liking!" + +"You treated her, the Governor's daughter, well?" said the other +abruptly. + +"Gave her your cabin, _mon capitaine_, where," chuckling, "she ruled +like a despot. Not once did she whimper, or beg favor--for herself! +For the Marquis, it is true, she did plead--that day we took them!" + +"He's her betrothed!" said the young man shortly. + +"A marionette!" gibed the poet. "Some of the men were for making short +shrift of him, and they might have--only for her!" + +"They will soon be safe enough together now!" remarked the Black +Seigneur. + +Again a peculiar, half-questioning expression shaded the poet's eyes, +while furtively he regarded the young man. "Yes, they ought to be!" + +"The terms of exchange--what were they?" + +"You for her! That was our demand. After the place had been agreed +upon, his Excellency asked to name the hour, and further interjected a +condition, binding both parties to secrecy in the matter, that the +people might not know. They acted badly when the soldiers returned to +the Mount without his daughter; they might behave worse, no doubt he +thinks, when they come back with her." + +"So will she be safely returned in the darkness! A wise provision!" + +"That," murmured the poet, studying the horizon, "was evidently his +thought. But," as the Black Seigneur, relaxing his pace, drew rein at +a fork in the pathway, "yonder lies our cove, _mon capitaine_, and--" + +"Do you and the men go there!" commanded the other, and gave a few +further instructions. + +"See that the ship is kept in readiness!" he ended. "As for me--" He +made a vague gesture. + +That evening found the Black Seigneur in the Desaurac forest; where, as +a boy, he had fled for shelter, now some instinct, or desire he did not +strive to analyze, drew him. As slowly he made his way through the +wood, on every hand familiar outlines and details, seen vaguely in the +last light of day, invited him to pause; but without stopping he moved +on to the castle, and up to the chamber, where Sanchez, returning from +America, had found him, a vagabond lad. Through the window the same +unobstructed view of the Mount dimly unfolded itself in the dusk, and +for some moments he regarded it--august, majestic; glossing its heart's +black secrets with specious and well-composed bearing! As he looked, +there suddenly came to him the remembrance of another impression; the +same picture, seen through the eyes of a boy--standing where he was +now! Then had the Mount seemed a marvelous series of structures, +air-drawn, magical--home of a small and fairy-like creature, with hair +of shining gold. Dusk turned to night; in the distance the Mount +vanished, and through the break in the forest only the stars twinkled. + +Then lighting his fire, the young man sat down at the side; with +faculties alert, listened to the wind; looked at the flames. +Demon-like they leaped before his eyes, as when he had waited and +watched for the emissaries of his Excellency; and mechanically he +placed his weapons on the same spot he had been wont to lay them in +those days. There was little likelihood they would seek him now, +however; the Governor was fully occupied elsewhere, looking to +interests more important to himself and to-- + +Her ladyship! the fire leaped wildly, as laughing at fate's foolish +prank. Her life for his! What irony! If she had betrayed him? "If?" +His laugh crushed possibility for supposition; but almost at once +itself died away! Indissolubly associated with the thought, a scene in +a dungeon must needs recur; her denials; the touch of a hand; the +appeal of light fingers thrust through the bars! Why? The questions +he had asked then, were reiterated now; the hand that had gripped hers +opened, closed; once more he seemed to see the steadfast, unswerving +eyes; once more seemed to read in their depths, "Believe!" + +The pine branches continued to crackle as with merriment; but his gaze +was somber. How glad she must have been to see the end of her +captivity! The sudden leaping of yonder flame was like the quick, +bright flush that had mantled her cheek at sight of her liege lord to +be! They should have arrived at the Mount ere now; about this time +were entering the gates! He could see her, the Marquis at her side-- + +A sudden sharp detonation afar dissipated the picture. Other +explosions followed, like volley of muskets; and, springing to the +window, the Black Seigneur looked toward the Mount; from it, flashes of +light gleamed and glimmered. Then the loud report of a cannon +reverberated in the distance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE ATTACK ON THE MOUNT + +The rock loomed black before them, as the troopers, escorting the +Governor's daughter, rode up to the Mount. Entering the town, at its +base, dark walls on either side of them shut out the broad map of the +heavens and left but a narrow open space above; few lights were +visible, so that many of the houses seemed tenantless; even at the +tavern, unwonted stillness prevailed. Apparently was the return +well-timed; in twisting street and tortuous byway, where hostile faces +had been prone to frown upon the soldiers of his Excellency, emerging +from, or ascending to, the stronghold of the summit, now only chill +drafts of air swept down to greet them; passed on with shrill +whisperings, and died away in the distance. + +Nearing the massive portals that opened wide into his Excellency's +realm, my lady suppressed a shiver; but the Marquis, in a low tone +ventured to jest on the depressing and melancholy aspect of the Mount +at that hour. To these light remarks she returned no answer, and he +had just begun to rally her on a certain quietness of spirits, apparent +on the beach and irreconcilable with the circumstances of the moment, +when a sharp exclamation fell from the girl's lips. + +In front of them, between the soldiers and the entrance to that upper +part of the Mount, many dark forms had suddenly darted forth; at the +same time from near-by houses came unmistakable sounds of life and +activity; doors were thrown open and windows raised. The town they +thought asleep had merely been watching; now showed its bright eyes in +a multitude of menacing lights around them; below, where likewise a +mysterious marshaling had occurred, from alleys, corners, and hovels, +immediately after the passing of the Governor's party! + +"What does it mean?" Again she heard the Marquis' tones, less +confident now, as he turned to the commandant. + +"Treachery!" The commandant's voice rang out. "They've broken faith +with us!" + +"Dogs!" My lord gazed uncertainly ahead; dubiously behind. "What are +we going to do?" + +"Do?" The commandant suppressed an imprecation. "Push on to the upper +gates!" + +"To the gates!" cried the Marquis; then wheeled quickly. "But +you--Elise!" + +"Never mind me!" she returned, with steady lips and eyes. + +There was no time for further words; a sharp order from the commandant +and the troopers spurred forward toward the entrance in the wall and +those whose purpose it was to oppose them. + +What happened thereafter the girl was but vaguely cognizant of; reports +of guns, flashing of steel surrounded her; the clattering of hoofs +mingled with the loud shouts of men. + +"The Bastille of the North! Down with it!" + +This was their battle-cry; on every side she heard it, though hardly +realizing the purport of the words; confused, she listened to her +father's name--her own--bandied about. She wondered why those on the +wall, the soldiers within, did not fire and repel all these people. + +Then almost at once came the answer. The troopers' comrades were mixed +in the melee without; she and they, too--so adroitly had the moment for +striking been planned--might be swept down in the volleys from the +ramparts. A cannon boomed above; but its deafening reverberations were +answered only with laughter and jeers-- _Mon dieu_! Did his +Excellency think to frighten them with sound, as if they were timid +children fleeing from thunder? Was his Excellency aiming at stars? + +And again that cry: "The Bastille of the North! We, too, will take our +Bastille!"--dominated the clashing of arms and the tumult of strife. + +For what seemed an interminable period, the Governor's daughter saw, +through flashes of light, men struggling, striking; then launched +suddenly forward, by an irresistible movement of the horses, found +herself within the gates. The Marquis who had early been separated +from her in the strife, was nowhere in sight. Behind now sounded the +fray; a short distance from the wall, and she looked back; fiercer than +ever, soldiers and people contended within the entrance; beneath the +portals. As she strove to restrain her horse she heard the voice of +her father. + +"_Mon pere_! _Mon pere_!" she cried eagerly, divining his face in the +light of lamps on that side of the wall. He answered only with a +laconic command to go at once to the palace; and, regarding his +features, tragically appealing to her at the moment--so strange and +different they seemed!--she prepared to obey. But ere turning: "You +think the soldiers can hold the gate?" she asked. + +"Yes; yes!" he replied sharply, as if annoyed at the question. + +"But if--" + +"There is no 'if'!" said the Governor, and as the girl rode away, his +look, hard, steely, shifting to the soldiers, made quick mental note; +they were holding the gates. Satisfied with the front his men +presented, and, delivering a few brief orders to the commandant whose +valor in rallying his forces had been commendable, his Excellency +walked toward the great stairway leading up to the open space near the +church. Arrived at this high point from which the town unfolded itself +in the starlight and flicker of lamps, he sought, as best he might, to +acquaint himself further with the situation; to judge the numbers of +the assailants and the extent of their preparations. + +The scene that met his eyes was not so reassuring as he had expected; +that which until now he had considered but a spasmodic outbreak of a +comparatively few townspeople, excited by the news of the Bastille and +bent on any petty mischief, resolved itself into more than an +orderless, desultory uprising. To his startled gaze the rock, like an +ant-hill disturbed, seemed swarming with life. Even as he peered down, +new relays of men poured upward from dark byways to the reinforcement +of those already gathered at the portals, and, for the first time, his +confidence, bred of contempt for the commonalty, became slightly +shaken. Fate, which had struck him sharply in the capture of his +daughter and the enforced negotiations leading to the release of one he +would have dealt with after his own fashion, now gripped him closer. +What did it portend? Whence came all these people? + +Not all of them from the immediate neighborhood! Voices, among the +assailants, had called out in what was surely the Parisian dialect of +the rabble; here to propagate the revolution; extend the circle of +flame! And they had seen that arms were not wanting! Muskets, pikes, +swords, must have been kept concealed for some time in the town at the +base of the Mount or on the shore. In his mind's eye, too late +perhaps, his Excellency could see now how the assault had long been +planned, how all these people had only been waiting. For what? The +opportunity afforded by a treacherous word! Spoken by whom? + +But a moment these reflections surged through his brain; an instant, +and his gaze swung around, at towers--turrets--as a magician might +apprehensively survey a fabulous architectural creation, handiwork of +his dark craft, threatened, through an influence beyond his control, +with destruction; then with a quick start, his Excellency wheeled; +walked toward the stairway. About to descend, the sight of a figure +coming up, caused him, however, to pause; in the flare of the light +below, something in the manner of the man's advance impressed the +governor as peculiar. + +The movements of this person, who was under-sized, wiry, were agile and +cat-like; first would he stop, look around him and listen; afterward +spring forward a few steps as not quite sure of his course. But still +he came on, keeping as closely as might be to the cover of shadows, +until a growing impression he had seen the fellow before resolved +itself into positiveness in his Excellency's mind. And with the +conviction and a sudden remembrance of the place and the character of +their previous meeting, a definite disinclination to encountering the +figure on the stairs caused the Governor abruptly to draw into the +entrance of the church. There, concealed, impatiently he waited for +the man to pass on, thus affording him the opportunity to slip by and +return to the gate. + +Meanwhile, the Lady Elise had repaired to the palace; a prey to +harassing doubts her father's words had failed to remove, she listened +to those sounds of the strife she no longer saw. But that she wished +to obey her father unquestioningly now--at, perhaps, a supreme moment +for both of them!--she could not have remained where she was. Never +had the palace looked so blank and deserted; she rang her bell; no one +answered. The servants had apparently all left--gone, it might be, to +look down on and behold this _guerre a la mort_ waged near the gates. +Or, perhaps, had they all, except the old nurse, fled from the palace, +never to return? + +As she asked herself these questions, in the distance the noise of the +conflict grew louder; the shouts of the people more distinct, nearer! +With a sudden premonition of disaster close at hand, the desire to see +what was happening--to know the worst--seized her. No longer could she +remain in her apartments; she must return to the ramparts--to her +father; and then, if need be-- The thought drove some of the color +from her cheek, but in a moment her braver instincts spoke; there awoke +within her the courage and the spirit of her Norman ancestry. + +Pale, yet determined, she hastened down the long, dimly lighted +corridor, and was nearing the door leading to the street when it +suddenly opened and a man, tall and dark, showing in his appearance +many signs of the fray, stepped in. At sight of her a quick +exclamation fell from his lips; his bold, anxious eyes lighted. "My +Lady!" + +"You!" Her startled glance met his. + +"I heard the firing; hastened to the Mount--here! I trust not too +late!" + +"Too late!" she repeated wildly. "Where else should the Black Seigneur +be than here, at the Mount--at such a moment!" + +"True!" he returned quietly. "Where else?" + +She noted not the accent; behind him, through the open space a bright +fork of flame, in the direction of the soldiers' barracks, shot into +the air, and, at the same time, she saw that the officers' quarters and +out-buildings glowed red. The knowledge of what it meant--that her +apprehensions had been realized, sent a shudder through her, and +quickly as the door closed, shutting out the sight, she ran toward the +threshold, one thought in her mind--her father, and where she had last +seen him! That she was seized, held, restrained, seemed but a natural, +though terrible, incident of the moment. + +"Pardon, my Lady! In a moment they will be here, and they will not +spare you! Your father is not at the gate; he left before the soldiers +gave way! Believe me, or not--it is the truth! As true as that, if +you go out, they will kill you!" + +And did he not want that; why else was he here? The young man's face +darkened; he made an impatient gesture. They were but wasting time; +already were the people close without; one of the assailants, a woman, +had been shot in the assault; the others? Her Ladyship would +understand; if she wished to save herself? His tones vibrated with +strange eagerness. The palace had a rear entrance, of course? Then +had they better flee upward to some place of concealment, and, later, +when the people were concerned most in pillage, endeavor to find a way +to leave the Mount. After that, it would be easy; his ship was +waiting-- Her wild words interrupted; her father--she would go only to +him! She would never leave him now! + +That which she proposed was impossible, quickly the young man answered. +The mob--the terrible mob! Did she realize to what she would expose +herself? Did she know the terrible danger? More plainly he told her. +As for her going, it was not to be thought of; he must see she did not +persist in her purpose. + +"You?" My lady flashed him a glance. "You!" she repeated. "Whose men +broke faith--" + +"That may be!" His voice rang bitterly. "Yet," with stubborn +resolution, "your Ladyship must not go!" + +"Must not! And you presume--dare tell me that! You, the--" + +"I would there were no need to cross you, my Lady," he returned, when +behind him the door, leading from the street, suddenly opened; closed. + +"Elise!" The voice of the Marquis, who had hurriedly entered, rang +out; changed. "_Mon dieu_! What is this?" In the dim light, an +instant my lord stared hard at the man before him; then with drawn +blade threw himself upon him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +NEAR THE ALTAR + +"_Morbleu_! Here's a madman!" Ere the Black Seigneur could unsheathe +his sword, that of the Marquis had pierced slightly his shoulder. "Put +up your blade, my Lord!" As quickly springing back and drawing his +own, he held himself in an attitude of defense. "In this matter are +we, or should we be--of a mind!" + +"We!" My lord's weapon played in fierce curves and flashes; he laughed +derisively. + +"I am here to serve her ladyship--if I can!" + +"You!" A rapid _coup de tierce_ was the Marquis' reply. "You! Whose +outlaws carried her off before! You are pleased to jest, Monsieur +Bandit!" + +"No jest, my Lord!" coolly. "Moreover, it is you who serve her +ladyship ill at such a moment in--" + +"_Mon dieu_! You instruct!" + +"I have no wish for this combat, Monsieur le Marquis!" As he spoke, +the Black Seigneur retreated slowly toward the door. "But if you press +too close--" + +"_Ma foi_! You talk very brave, but I notice your legs take you +backward. However, it will not serve; you shall not escape." + +"No?" His back now against the door, the Black Seigneur defended +himself with his right hand, the while his left felt behind for a bolt +which it found; shot into place. "Then let us remove temptation by +locking the door!" + +"What! You did not, then, intend--" + +A sudden fierce pounding from without on the door, interrupted. + +"It was necessary to keep _them_ out--but it will be only for the +moment. So put up your blade!" peremptorily. "There is no time to +lose." + +"You are right!" The Marquis' face expressed scorn and unreasoning +anger; his sword leaped to an accelerated tempo. "There is no time to +lose. I shall honor you! The Marquis de Beauvillers will stoop to +cheat the _fourches patibulaires_!" And my lord lunged, a dangerous +and clever thrust that was met; answered. From the Marquis' hand the +blade flew; struck the pavement; at the same time, a rending and +tearing of wood came from the door. + +The Black Seigneur leaped forward; but the stroke his adversary, now +disarmed, expected, fell not on him; directed toward a lamp overhead, +sole source of illumination of the corridor, the weapon struck hard. +Shattered by the blow, the ornamental contrivance crashed to the floor; +the place was plunged in darkness. + +"Save yourself, my Lord!" said a calm voice, and my lady, standing now +as it were, in the center of a vortex of wildly rushing figures, felt +her waist suddenly clasped; herself swept on! Once or twice she +struggled; resisted, hardly knowing what she did; but the sound of a +low, determined voice, not unfamiliar to her, and the consciousness of +a physical force--or was it all physical?--that seemed to beat down her +will, left no choice but to obey. + +Darkness gave way to waves of light; reflections of flame surrounded +them; black trails of smoke coiled around. The girl's strength went; +her breath came faster. A thick cloud choked her; she wished only to +stop, when arms closed about her. + +Upward! Still upward! By winding stairs, through passages and +doorways, vaguely she felt herself borne, until a cold breath of air, +blowing suddenly in her face, revived her; awoke her to a confused +realization of the place they had at last reached--the upper platform +at the head of the long, open stairway of granite. And with that +consciousness, she again sought to free herself; but, for an instant +the arms held her tighter, while a dark face bent close, scanning her +features, then abruptly he released her. + +"Your Ladyship is uninjured?" + +"Yes: yes!" + +"One moment!" Turning, he left her, and walking to the verge of that +open space, searched quickly the waste of darkness below, far out to +sea. The girl's glance followed him; wavered; her first apprehension +awoke anew. Her father! Where was he? She clasped her hands +despairingly as she gazed down the Mount; then around her. Suddenly, a +bright patch of light--open doorway to the church--caught her eye and +she started. At the picture, framed by the masonry, which the glow +revealed, a low exclamation fell from her lips, and crossing the +platform, and descending a few steps, she ran to the entrance of the +sacred edifice. + +"Eh, your Excellency; has your Excellency any orders?" sounded a voice. + +There, before an altar, in the dim flicker of candles and the +variegated gleaming from the ancient stained-glass windows, she saw at +last him she sought; in one of the chapels, near the white marble +monument to her mother, was his Excellency; but, not alone! Before him +stood, or half crouched, the man Sanchez, who now was speaking. + +"Shall I ring for your Excellency's servants and have the noise +stopped?" Grotesquely he bowed, the while watching like an animal +studying its prey. "Beppo! Where are you--fat rascal? Consign these +swine to the gibbets! What! You can't obey because your ears have +been cut off and your throat slit? That's too bad!" Fiercely the man +laughed; then waved his arm toward the window, as if calling the +Governor's attention to the sounds of demolition; the abrupt breaking +of glass! "Patter! Patter! Merry little bullets, presents from the +people, your Excellency! _Metayage_, your Highness!" + +Still the other said no word; a figure, so motionless and white, it +seemed but a wraith pausing at the side of its own "narrow house." A +louder clamor without; a more vivid brightness of the red, yellow and +purple hues, like a sudden wealth of strange flowers strewn on the +marble floor, and again Sanchez laughed. + +"Too bad! But 'tis I who must pay first! Who owe so much! Has your +Excellency his strong box with him? Ah, he leans on it! Such a fine +one, all of marble! Not easily broken into--or out of! Eh, your +Excellency?" Swinging back something bright. "Full payment, this +time! Not coppers, or round bits of lead, but steel, beautiful steel!" + +Held to the spot by the abrupt terror and fascination of the scene, the +Governor's daughter had made no sound, fearful of hastening the +inevitable; but at the moment the man, with a last taunting word, +launched forward, a cry, half articulate, burst from her lips. It was +drowned by another voice, loud and commanding, which rang out from the +entrance to the church. + +"Sanchez!" + +Perhaps the call disconcerted him; robbed the old servant's eye of its +certitude; his arm of its sureness, for the blow aimed at his +Excellency the latter was enabled to evade. At the same time, as with +singular agility he moved aside to save himself, the hand the Governor +had been holding to his breast, shot out like an adder. It struck +viciously; stung deep--full in the side of his tormentor. + +"That for your _metayage_!" + +But a momentary expression of satisfaction was, however, permitted his +Excellency; the petty tragedy became overshadowed by the greater! + +"The Bastille! Our Bastille!" + +And again a shower of bullets, directed in hatred, fell upon the +church, because its windows were priceless; shone with saints of +inestimable value! In the chapel, an _aumbry_ and a _piscina_ were +struck; around the Governor, glass began to clatter and break into bits +on the pavement, when suddenly he wavered; his hand sought his heart, +then felt for and clung to the monument, as if abruptly seeking support. + +"Why did you do it, Seigneur?" As my lady, exclaiming wildly, ran to +her father, Sanchez, from where he lay, looked up to his master. + +"Call out, I mean? Not that it matters much now!" His implacable +glance, swerving to the Governor, lighted with satisfaction. "The +people have paid. And 'twas I--showed them the way!" + +"It was you, then--who broke faith in the negotiations for the exchange +of prisoners?" + +A smile came to the face of the old servant. "I had to," he said +simply. "I alone am to blame. No one knew; except, perhaps, the poet, +who may have surmised! It was treachery for treachery!" with sudden +fierceness. "You could not have done it, nor your father, nor any of +the seigneurs before him!" The young man seemed scarcely to hear; his +glance had again sought my lady. "But I am only a servant---and in +dealing with a viper I used its own tricks! Did you think I had +forgotten those stripes? Or the blow he gave your father--in the +back?" A moment Sanchez's hand fumbled at his coat; drew out a bag of +oilskin. "Here is something that belonged to your father. I took it +from his breast the day he died, thinking some time--I can't tell +what--only it contains a letter from the former lady of the Mount! +When my master got it, he told me to pack a few belongings--that we +were going--never to return!" + +Sanchez's voice broke off; again he strove to speak; could not; put out +his hand. Mechanically the Black Seigneur's closed on that of the old +servant; even as it did so, the latter's fingers clutched suddenly; +ceased to move. In the church now all was silent, but without arose +discordant sounds, cries, harsh and vengeful, for the Governor! + +Starting, the Black Seigneur gazed about, toward him they were +clamoring for, now lying still, at the base of the monument. Then +releasing the fingers, that seemed yet to hold him, the young man +sprang forward, as my lady threw herself wildly, protectingly, over her +father. At that touch, the Governor's eyes opened; met hers; the Black +Seigneur's! + +Nearer the door, now rang the shouts. His Excellency seemed to listen; +to realize what they meant; to him--his daughter-- + +"The Governor! The Governor!" + +"_Trembles tyrans_! _Trembles_!" + +An ironical flash lit up, for an instant, the dying eyes. He, soon, +would be beyond reach of these dogs--_canaille_! But she? His gaze +again rested on the Black Seigneur; in that tense, fleeting second, +seemed reading his very soul! + +"_Et la belle comtesse, sa fille_!" cried the menacing voices. + +A tremor crossed the Governor's face; his pale lips moved. "Forget! +Save her!" An instant his eyes lingered persistently on the young man; +then passed to his daughter; as they did so, slowly the light, more +human and appealing than any that had ever shone there before, went out +of them. My lady's fair head drooped until it lay on her father's +breast; unconscious, she seemed yet to shield him with figure inert. +But only for a moment! + +"_Et la belle comtesse_!" + +Stooping, the Black Seigneur snatched the slender form to his breast; +ran back to the altar. There, looking around him, as one who made +himself familiar with the place, his glance apparently found what it +sought--a small stairway, entrance to the crypt. At the same time he +started to descend, the people swept into the church. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +ON THE SANDS + +A man, bearing in his arms the motionless form of a woman, paused later +that night in the shadow of a low stone hovel, near the lower gate of +the Mount. As he crouched beneath the thatch projecting like the rim +of an old hat above him his eyes, eager, fierce, studied the distance +he had yet to traverse from the end of the narrow alley, where he had +stopped, to the open entrance at the base of the rock to the sands. +The goal was not far; but a few moments would have sufficed to reach +it; only between him and the point he had so long been striving to +attain, an obstacle, or group of obstacles, intervened. Before a +bonfire of wreckage of stuff--furniture and household goods--several +ragged, dissolute fellows sat with bottles before them, drinking hard +and quarreling the while over a number of glittering gems, gold +snuff-boxes and trinkets of all kinds. + +"This bit of ivory for the white stone!" + +"Add the brooch!" + +"Not I! Look at the picture! Her ladyship, perhaps!" + +"They have not found her?" + +"No; for all the searching! But she is somewhere; can't have escaped +from the Mount. And when the drabs and trulls lay hands on her!" + +"Ay, when!" casting the dice. + +The man, peering from the alley, hesitated no longer; behind sounded +the footsteps of others, and gathering his burden more firmly, he +strode boldly forth toward the group and the gate. At his approach, +their talk--a jargon of "thieves' Latin" that smacked more of the +cabarets of Paris than those of the coast--momentarily ceased; beneath +lowering brows, they stared hard. + +"What have you there, comrade?" said one. + +"Look and see!" answered the man in a rough tone. + +"Poor booty! A woman!" quoted another with a harsh laugh. "You're +easily pleased. As if wenches were not plentiful enough on other +occasions, without wasting time on a night like this, when diamonds and +gold are to be had for the searching!" + +"And silver plates and watches and rare liquors!" cried a third in +knaves' _argot_. "Every one, however, to his taste! An you prefer a +light-of-love to light such as these have," juggling with the gems, +"you but stamp yourself a fool." + +"You're welcome to your opinion, my friend!" The man with the burden +spoke bruskly. "Good night!" + +"Stay; why such haste? You seem not a bad fellow. Set the wench down. +We'll have sight of her, and, perhaps," with coarse expletives, "if +she's a pretty face, and a taste for this fiery liquor the old monks +laid down, we'll find a gewgaw or two to her liking!" + +But the man made no answer; was about to pass on, when the speaker +noticed for the first time the woman's hand, white and small, hanging +limply. "What's this? More jewels?" His exclamation was caught up by +the others. "Not so fast, comrade! This puts a different face to the +matter. Set down the booty, and," springing to his feet, "we'll see +what it's worth." + +"I'll not stop!" The man looked at him steadily. "On the Mount is, or +should be, plenty for all! Go seek for yourself!" + +"_Pardi_!" softly. "Here's one dares speak his mind!" + +"I speak plainly," in a tone of authority, "and you would do well to +heed!" + +"Perhaps," interposing. "What say you, comrades?" + +Evil smiles illumined evil faces; they, who had just been on the point +of blows among themselves, now regarded one another with common +understanding. One weighed tentatively that delicate weapon, a +spontoon; a second stroked his halberd, as liking to feel the +smoothness of the shaft, while a third reached for a gleaming "Folard's +Partizan." And in the glare of the fire every implement showed sign it +had been used that night. The point of the spontoon was as steel +crusted o'er; the ax of the halberd might have come from a _boucherie_; +the blade of the "Partizan" resembled a great leaf at autumn-time. +This last wavered perilously near the unconscious burden; had the man +made a movement to resist, would have struck; but the black eyes, only, +combated--held the blood-shot ones. Though not for long; again the +weapon seemed about to dart forth; the man about to hurl himself and +his burden desperately aside, when, from above, came the sound of +hoarse laughing and singing, and simultaneously a number of peasants, +Bretons by their dress, burst into view. + +"Eh, cockatoo, what now!" + +Many of these new-comers were hurt; few free from cuts; but none +thought of stanching their wounds. Their principal concern seemed for +articles they carried--heavy, light; valuable, paltry--spoils from the +high! Two staggered beneath a great chest stamped with the arms of the +Mount and its motto, and appeared anxious to hurry--perchance toward +the forest on the shore where they might bury their treasure. Others +had in their arms imposing pieces of silver; vases and a massive +_surtout de table_ that had once belonged to the Cardinal Dubois. A +woman, gaunt, toothless, wore a voluminous bonnet _a l'Argus_, left at +the Mount by one of the ladies of the court; and waved before her a +fan, set with jewels. She it was who called out: + +"Eh, cockatoo!" shrilly. "Who would you be killing?" + +"A selfish fellow that refuses to share!" answered he of the halberd, +as if little pleased at the interruption. + +"Refuses to share, does he?" she repeated, and, swaggering down, peered +forward; only to start back. "The Black Seigneur!" + +"The Black Seigneur!" + +Those who accompanied her--a rough rabble from field and forest--gazed, +not without surprise, or uncouth admiration, at one whose name and fame +were well-known on that northern coast; but these evidences of rough +approval were not shared by the alien rogues. On my lady's finger the +gem still sparkled: held their eyes like a lure. Black Seigneur, or +not, they muttered sullenly, what knew they of her he had with him; +whose hand was not that of cinder-wench or scullery maid? Let them +look at her face! She might be a great lady--she might even be the +Governor's daughter herself! + +"The Governor's daughter!" All, alike, caught at the word. + +"An if she were!" fiercely the Black Seigneur confronted them. + +While, hesitating, they sought for a reply, quickly he went on. Who +had a better right to her? The Black Seigneur! The Lady Elise! +Harshly he laughed. Was it not fair spoil? His Excellency's enemy; +his Excellency's daughter. Did they think treasure sweeter than +revenge? Let them try to rob him of it! As for the ring? +Contemptuously he took it from my lady's hand; threw it among them. + +A few scrambled, others were still for finishing the tragedy then. The +people _versus_ the lords and their spawn. "Kill at once!" the +injunction had gone forth from Paris. + +As he spoke, one of the fiercest put out his hand; touched my lady, +when the fingers of the Black Seigneur gripped hard his throat; hurled +him so violently back, he lay still. Companions sprang to his aid; +certain of the peasants interfered. + +"Let him alone!" + +"He speaks fair!" + +"Bah! To-night are all equal." + +"Your Black Seigneur no better than others!" + +"You lie!" In a high tone the woman with the great lady's hat broke +in. "At them, my chickens! Beat well these Paris rogues, who come +only for the picking!" + +"Yes; beat them well!" + +But the runagates of the great city were not of a kind to submit +lightly; curses and blows were exchanged; knives gleamed and swords +flashed. Amid a scene of confusion, the cause of it stayed not to +witness the outcome; running down the sloping way, soon found himself +on the sands; then keeping to the shadows, passed around the corner of +the wall. + +Here, for the time concealed was he safe; none followed, and, leaning +against the damp blocks of masonry, breathing hard, as a man weak from +fatigue, loss of blood, he sought to recover his strength. It returned +only too slowly; the passing lassitude annoyed him; for the moment he +forgot he had but recently come from the dungeon and the hardships that +sap elasticity and vigor. He was impatient to move on; looked at my +lady--and a sudden fear smote him! How white she appeared! Had she-- +His hand trembled at her heart; a blank dismay overcame him; then joy-- +At that instant he thought not of the gulf between them; was conscious +only he held her--slender, beautiful--in his arms; that she seemed all +his own, with her breath on his cheek, her soft lips so close. Above +sounded the madness of the night; the crackling of flames; the +intemperate voices! In the angle of the wall, with darkness a blanket +around them, he pushed back the hair from her clear brow, bent over, +closer--suddenly straightened. + +"_Pardi_!" he muttered, a flush on his face. "Am I, then, like the +others--pillagers, thieves?" + +Several moments he yet stood, breathing deep; then, starting away, set +himself to the task of crossing the vast stretch of beach between the +Mount and the distant lights of a ship. + +The sandy plain had never seemed so interminable; before him, his +shadow and that of my lady danced ever illusively away; behind, the +great rock gave forth a hundred shooting flames, while, as emblematic +of the demolition of so much that was beautiful, higher than saint with +helpless sword on cathedral top, a cloud of smoke belched up; waved +sidewise like a monstrous funeral plume. A symbol, it seemed to fill +the sky; to move and nod and flaunt its ominous blackness from this +majestic outpost of the land. Walking in a vivid crimson glow, the +Black Seigneur gazed only ahead, where now, on that monotonous desert, +the rim of the sea on a sudden obtruded. As he advanced, sparkles red +as rubies--laughing lights--leaped in the air; at the same time a +seething murmur broke upon the stillness. + +Toward those leaping bright points and the source of that deep-sounding +cadence, the young man stumbled forward more rapidly, less cautiously, +also, it may be; for while he was yet some distance from the water's +rim, his feet fell on sand that gave way beneath them. He would have +sprung back, but felt himself sinking; strove to get out, only to +settle the deeper! The edge of the _lise_, with safety beyond, well he +could see, where the satin-like smoothness of the treacherous slough! +merged into a welcome silk-like shimmering of the trustworthy sands. +That verge, however, was remote; out of reach of effort of his to +attain; his very endeavors caused him to become the more firmly +imbedded. Had he cast my lady aside, possibly could he have extricated +himself; but with her, an additional weight, weighing him down-- + +Loudly he called out; only the sea answered. Now were the clinging +particles at his waist; he lifted my lady higher; clear of them! Once +more raised his voice--this time not in vain! + +"_Mon capitaine_! Where are you?" + +"Here!" + +"We don't see you." + +"You won't soon, unless--" + +The end of a line struck the sand. + + +The night had almost passed; its last black hour, like a pall, lay over +the sea, where, far from the Mount, a ship swayed and tossed. In the +narrow confines of her master's cabin, the faint glimmering of a lamp +revealed a man bending over a paper, yellow and worn; the lines so +faint and delicate, they seemed almost to escape him! + + +"How strange, after all these years, the sight of your +handwriting!--and now, to be writing you! Yet is it meet--to say +farewell! For that which you have heard, _mon ami_, is true. I am +going to die. You say, you heard I was not well; I answer what really +you heard; the question, _mon ami_, beneath your words! ... And, +dying, it is well with me. I have wronged no soul on earth--except +you, my friend, and you forgive me.... I had hoped the years would +efface that old memory. You say they have not.... It is wise you are +going away." + + +The reader paused; listened to the sea; the moaning and sighing, like +voices on the wings of the storm. + + +"You speak in your letter about 'trickery'--used to estrange us! Think +no more of it, I beg you. What is past, is gone--as I, part of that +past, when we were boy and girl together--soon shall be. And come not +near the Mount. There can be no meeting for us on earth. I send you +my adieu from afar.... It is only a shadow that speaks ... _mon ami_." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +SOME TIME LATER + +The little Norman isle, home of Pierre Laroche, so wild and +bleak-looking many months of the year, resembles a flowering garden in +the spring; then, its lap full of buds and blossoms, smiling, redolent, +it lifts itself from the broad bosom of the deep. And all the light +embellishments of the golden time it sets forth daintily; fringing the +black cliffs with clusters of sea campion, white and frothy as the +spray, trailing green ivy from precipitous heights to the verge of the +wooing waters, whose waves seem to creep up timorously, peep into the +many caves, bright with sea-anemones, and retreat quickly, as awed by a +sudden glimpse of fairyland. + +Near the entrance of one of these magical chambers, abloom with +strange, scentless flowers, sat, a certain afternoon in April, a man +and a woman, who, looking out over the blue sea, conversed in desultory +fashion. + +"From what your father tells me, Mistress Nanette," the man, an aged +priest, was speaking, "the Seigneur Desaurac should be here to-day?" + +"My father had a letter from him a few days ago to that effect," +answered the young woman somewhat shortly. + +"Let me see," apparently the old man did not notice the change in his +companion's manner, "he has been away now about a year? It was in July +he brought the Governor's daughter to the island one day and sailed the +next!" Nanette made a movement. "How time flies!" he sighed. "Let us +hope it assuages grief, as they say! You think she is contented here?" + +"The Lady Elise? Why not? At least, she seems so; has with her, her +old nurse, my aunt, who fortunately escaped from the Mount--" + +"But the death of her father? It must have been a terrible blow--one +not easy to forget!" + +"Of course," said Nanette slowly, "she has felt his loss." + +The old man gazed down. "I have sometimes wondered what she knows +about the causes of the enmity that existed between his Excellency and +the Black Seigneur?" + +The other's eyes lifted keenly. "When last did you see her, Father?" + +"She comes often to my cottage to walk and--" + +"Talk?" + +"Well, yes!" The fine spiritual face expressed a twinge of uneasiness. + +"About the past?" + +The priest shifted slightly. "Sometimes! An old man lives much in the +past and it is natural to wander on a bit aimlessly at times, and--" + +"Confess, Father, she has learned much from you?" Nanette laughed. + +"No, no; I trust--" + +"Surmised, then!" said the girl. "She is one not easily deceived. +Clever is my lady! And you talk, she says nothing, but leads you on! +If there's aught she wishes to learn that you know, be assured she's +found out from your lips." + +"Nay; I'll not believe--'tis true once or twice I've let a word slip. +But she noticed not--" + +"No doubt!" The island girl's voice expressed a fine scorn. "However, +it matters little. Speaks she ever of the Black Seigneur?" suddenly. + +"No. Why?" + +"Why not?" Nanette's tone was enigmatic. + +"I don't understand." + +"At any rate, she is better off here than yonder in France, if tidings +be true," said the other irrelevantly. + +"Ah, _ma belle France_!" murmured the old man regretfully. "How she is +torn within--threatened from without! But fortunately she has her +defenders," his voice thrilled, "brave men who have thronged to her +needs. I suppose," he continued abruptly, "it's to arrange about the +new ship that brings the Seigneur once more to the island?" + +"I suppose so," assented the other briefly. + +"A true Frenchman, Pierre Laroche, your father, has shown himself, in +giving one of his best ships to the cause! Although perhaps he would +not have been so ready," thoughtfully, "had not the Paris Assembly seen +fit to appoint Andre Desaurac in command of all the vessels to guard +the coast against the intrigues of the French royalists with foreign +powers and aliens! Well, well, he will find here many old friends!" + +"Yourself, for example, Father, who helped him in the courts to +establish his right to his name," said the young woman quickly. + +"And you, Mistress Nanette," the kindly eyes lighting with a curious, +indulgent look, "who went to the Mount alone, unaided, to--" + +A frown gathered on the dark, handsome face of the girl. "Unaided?" +she said, staring at the sparkles on the waves before her. + +"Oh, the people never weary of talking about it! and how you--" + +"Yon's a sail!" Abruptly the young woman rose; with skirts fluttering +behind her, gazed out to sea. + +Several hours later, just before dusk, a ship ran into the harbor, +dropped anchor, and sent a boat to the shore. In the small craft sat a +number of men, and the first of these to spring to the beach and mount +the stone stairway to the inn, was met at the top; warmly greeted, by +old Pierre himself! _Mon dieu_! To see the new-comer was like old +times! Only now, the landlord observed jestingly, the profits would be +small! But a fig to parsimony, in these days when men's patriotism +should be large; do what he, the Black Seigneur, would with the new +ship, even if he sunk her, provided it was in good company, and he went +not down with her himself! To which protestations the other answered; +presented his companions, and greeted the assembled company within. + +Busy at a great board, laden with comestibles interspersed with flagons +of wines, Nanette welcomed him briefly, and again his glance--keen and +assured, that of a man the horizon of whose vision had widened, since +last he stood there--swept the gathering. But apparently, one he +looked for was not present, and he had again turned to the young woman, +a question on his lips, when on the garden side of the house a door +opened. It revealed a flowering background, a plateau, yellow in the +last rays of the sun; it framed, also, the slender, black-clad figure +of a girl, above whose white brow the waving hair shone like threads of +gold. + +"An old friend of yours, my Lady!" called out blunt Pierre. + +A moment the clear, brown eyes seemed to waver; then became steady, as +schooled to some purpose. She came forward composedly; gave the Black +Seigneur her hand. + +"I--am always glad to see old friends!" said my lady, with a lift of +the head, over-conscious, perhaps, of the concentrated gaze of the +company. + +He looked at her; made perfunctory answer; she seemed about to speak +again, when the hand he let fall was caught by another. + +"Elise!" From among those who had come ashore, a man in fashionable +attire sprang forward, a little thinner than when last she had seen +him, and more cynical-looking, as slightly soured by world-contact and +the new tendencies of society. + +"My Lord!" Certainly was my lady taken unawares; a moment looked at +the Marquis as if a little startled; then at the Black Seigneur: + +"A pleasant surprise for you, my Lady!" said the latter. "But you owe +me no thanks! An order from the chief of the Admiralty, properly +signed and countersigned, directing me to transport the Marquis de +Beauvillers hither, was not to be disregarded!" + +"A somewhat singular dispensation of Providence, nevertheless!" +observed the nobleman dryly. "After our--what shall we call +it?--little passage of arms? You must acknowledge, however, that in +truth the Lady Elise and myself had some reason to discredit your +assurances that night--" + +"Far be it from me to dispute it, my Lord," and the Black Seigneur +turned, while the Marquis, slightly shrugging his shoulders, addressed +my lady. + +Half blithely, then half bitterly, relapsing occasionally from the old, +debonair manner he had assumed, he spoke of his escape from the Mount; +months of hiding in foul places, amid fields and forest, with no word +of her; his success, at last, in reaching Paris, and, through rumor, +learning where she was, and hastening to her-- + +A bluff voice interrupted further explanations and avowals; the +steaming flesh-pots, it informed the company, awaited not soft words +and honied phrases; monarch in his own dining-room, ostentatiously +conscious, perhaps, of his own unwonted prodigality, Pierre Laroche +waved them to their places--where they would!--so that they waited not! + +Quizzically my lord lifted his brow; truly here was a Republican fellow +who appreciated not an honor when it was bestowed upon him, nor saw +anything unusual in a Marquis' presence beneath that humble roof. +Something of this he murmured to my lady, in a tone others might have +heard; but she answered not; took her place, with red lips the firmer, +as if to conceal some weakness to which they sought to give way. + +Not without constraint the meal passed; the host, desirous to learn the +latest political news, looked at the Marquis and curbed a natural +curiosity, until a more favorable moment when he and the Black Seigneur +should be alone. My lady, although generally made to feel welcome and +at home there, seemed now, perhaps, to herself, a little out of place, +like a person that has wandered from a world of her own and strayed +into another's. Cross-currents, long at strife in her breast, surged +and flowed fast; the while she seemed to listen to my lord, who +appeared now in lighter, more airy humor. And as she sat thus, with +fair head bent a little, she could but hear, at times, above the medley +of tones and the sound of servants' footsteps in clattering wooden +shoes, the voice of the Black Seigneur--now pledging a toast to old +Pierre; anon discussing winds, tides, or ships! A free reckless voice, +that seemed to vibrate from the past--to stir anew bright, terrible +flames. + +Daylight slowly waned; lights were brought in, and, the meal over, old +Pierre pushed back in his chair. My lady rose quickly; looked a little +constrainedly at the company, at the Marquis, then toward the door. +Anticipating her desire, attributing to it, perhaps, a significance +flattering to his vanity, the young nobleman expressed a wish for a +stroll; a sight of the garden. At once she assented; a slight tint now +on her cheeks, she moved to the door, and my lord followed; as they +disappeared, the Black Seigneur laughed--at one of Pierre's jokes! + +"Have I not told it before?" said the host. + +"Have you?" murmured the Black Seigneur. "Well, a good jest, like an +excellent dish, may well be served twice." + +"Humph!" observed the landlord doubtfully. + +After a pause: "I suppose he will be taking her away soon?" + +"Her?" The young man rose. + +"The Lady Elise!" + +"I suppose so," shortly. + +"We shall miss her!" grumbled the landlord as he, too, got up and +walked over to the fireplace. "I, who never thought to care for any of +the fine folk--I, bluff old Pierre Laroche!--say we shall miss her." + +"Knows she how it fared with his Excellency's--her father's--estate? +That little, or nothing, is left?" + +"Aye." + +"And she will agree to the promise I wrote you about?" quickly. + +"That you--now that the right to your name has been vindicated--are +content to accept half the lands in dispute; her ladyship to retain the +other half?" + +"Yes; in consideration of that which his Excellency expended in +taxes--no small sum!--and what it would cost to carry on vexatious +litigation!" + +"You are strangely faint-hearted to pursue your advantage," said old +Pierre shrewdly. "But," as the other made a gesture, "I put it to her +ladyship as you desired me to, and--" + +"She consented?" eagerly. + +Pierre shook his head. "No, _mon capitaine_! She will have none of +them. And you had heard her: 'A great wrong was unintentionally,' she +accented the word, 'done the Seigneur Desaurac by my father, which has +now been set right!' 'It has,' I assented, and would have urged +further your proposal, when she stopped me. 'Speak no more of this +matter!' 'Twas all she said; but--you should have seen her face, and +how her eyes shone!" + +The young man, looking down, made no answer. "An you are not +satisfied," continued Pierre, "broach the question to my lady, +yourself." + +"I?" A look, half bitter, crossed the other's dark face. "Her +father's enemy! Through whose servant, all her misfortunes came about! +To revive anew what must so often pass in her mind?" + +"Well, well; no doubt you know best, and, _certes_, now you remind me, +she did turn cold and distant when I spoke of your coming. But let +idle prejudices enter into practical concerns--it's on a par--of all +improvidence! Why, 'twas not long ago, she brought me a jewel or two; +Marie, it seems, had foresight enough to snatch them before fleeing +from the Mount, and begged me to take them for our kindness, she said; +which I did, seeing she would not have it otherwise--nor let herself be +regarded as one who could not pay. But to business, _mon capitaine_!" + +And thereafter, for some time, they, or rather, Pierre, talked; the +others, save the Marquis, returned to the ship, and only Nanette, busy +putting everything to rights, lingered in the room. At length, after +papers had been signed and changed hands, the conversation of the host +began to wane; frequently had he sipped from a bottle of liqueur at his +elbow and now found himself nodding; leaned back more comfortably in +the great chair and suffered his head to fall. The clock ticked out +the seconds; the young man continued to sit motionless. + +"'_A mon beau_'--" Nanette's voice, lightly humming, caused him to look +up; with the old mocking expression on her face, the inn-keeper's +daughter paused near his chair. + +"It was kind of you, _mon capitaine_, to bring to my lady her Marquis!" +As she spoke, she looked toward the garden. + +"Why not?" he asked steadily. "The passport and orders were correct." + +"Were they, indeed?" she said, tapping the floor with her foot. "You +remain with us a few days; or, as of old, must we be content with a +brief visit?" she went on. + +"We leave to-morrow." + +"To-morrow?" The girl's eyes wore a tentative expression. "Late?" + +"Early!" + +"Oh! In that case, perhaps I shan't have time," Nanette paused; looked +at her father; old Pierre's slumbers were not to be broken. + +"For what?" asked the Black Seigneur shortly. + +"To tell you something!" + +"Why not--now?" + +"You--are inquisitive?" + +"No!" + +"Even if it were about--" she looked toward the door that led to the +garden. + +"The Lady Elise?" he said quickly. + +"Oh, you _are_ interested? '_A mon beau_'--" a moment she hummed. +"You do not urge me?" + +"Wherefore," laconically, although his eyes flashed, "when you have +made up your mind to tell!" + +"You are right!" She threw back her head. "I have made up my mind! +How well you understand women! Almost as well," she laughed mockingly, +"as a ship!" He made no response. "When you thanked me once, _mon +capitaine_, for all it pleased you to say I did for you, you may +remember," her voice was defiant, "I did not once gainsay you!" More +curiously he regarded her. "Perhaps it pleased me," her hand on her +hip, "to be thought such a fine heroine. But now," her tone grew a +little fierce, "I am tired of hearing people say: 'Nanette risked so +much!' 'Nanette did this!--did that!'--when it was she who risked--did +it all, one might say." + +"She? What do you mean?" The black eyes probed hers now with sudden, +fierce questioning. + +"That 'twas the Lady Elise saved you. Went knowingly--willingly--as +hostage--" + +"The Lady Elise!" he cried, an abrupt glow on the dark face. + +Nanette's eyes noted and fell, but she went on hurriedly: "She knew of +the ambush in the forest; saw part of the note I dropped on the +beach--it was brought to her by my aunt who warned her." And in a +quick rush of words, as if desirous to be done with it, Nanette told +all that had transpired at the Mount. + +Incredulously, eagerly, he listened; when, however, she had finished, +he said nothing; sat like a man bewildered. + +"Well?" said the girl impatiently. Still he looked down. "Well?" she +repeated, so sharply old Pierre stirred; lifted his head. + +"Eh, my dear?" + +She went to the mantel; took from it a candle. + +"The Seigneur finds you such poor company," she said, "he desires a +light to retire!" + + +The dawn smote the heavens with fiery lashes of red; from the east the +wind began to blow harder, and on the sea the waves responded with a +more forcible sweep. At a window in the inn, the Black Seigneur a +moment looked out on the gay flowers and the sea and the worn grim face +of the cliff; then left his room and made his way downstairs. No one +was yet, apparently, astir; an hour or so must elapse ere the time set +for departure, and, pending the turn of the tide and adieu to old +Pierre, the young man stepped into the garden, through the gate, and, +turning into a rocky path, strode out over the cliffs. The island was +small; its walks limited, and soon, despite a number of difficulties in +the way he had chosen, he found himself at its end--the verge of a +great rock that projected out over the blue, sullen sea. For some +moments he stood there, listening to the sounds in caverns below, +watching the snow-capped waves, the ever-shifting spots on a vast map, +and then, shaking off his reverie, started to return. + +"A brisk wind to take us back to France," he said to himself; but his +thoughts were not of possible April storms, or of his ship. His eyes, +bright, yet perplexed, as if from some problem whose solution he had +not yet found, were bent downward, only to be raised where the path +demanded his closer attention. As he looked up, he became suddenly +aware of the figure of a girl, who approached from the opposite +direction. + +A quick glint sprang to the young man's eyes, and, pausing, he waited; +watched. At that point, the way ran over a neck of rock, almost eaten +through by the hungry sea, and she had already started to cross when he +first saw her. The path was not dangerous; nor was it easy; only it +called for certainty and assurance on the part of the one that elected +to take it. My lady's light footstep was sure; although the wind swept +rather sharply there, she held herself with confident poise, while from +the brown eyes shone a clear, steady light. + +"I saw you leave the inn," she said, drawing near the comparatively +sheltered spot, where he stood, "and knowing you would soon sail, +followed. There is something I wanted to say, and--and felt I should +have no other chance to tell you!" + +Had she read what was passing in his brain, she would not have faced +him, so confident; but, ignorant of what he had learned, the cause of +varying lights in his dark eyes, the tender play of emotion on his +strong features, she broached her subject with steadfastness of purpose. + +"You went away so suddenly the last time, I had no opportunity, then, +to thank you for all that you did; and so, I do now--thank you, I mean! +Also," a touch of prouder constraint in her tone, "I appreciate your +over-generous proposal through Pierre Laroche; although, of course," +her figure very straight, "I could not--it was impossible--to entertain +it. But I am glad you were able to prove. You will understand--and," +my lady ended quickly, "I thank you!" + +He looked at her long. "It is I who am in your debt!" + +"You?" Her brows lifted. + +"Yes." + +"I--don't think I quite understand." In spite of herself and her +resolution, the proud eyes seemed to shrink from a nameless something +in his gaze. + +"Nor I! Nanette was talking with me last night!" + +"Nanette!" + +In words, direct, unequivocal, he told her what he had learned; and +although my lady laughed, as at something absurd, and strove to +maintain an unvarying mien, his eyes challenged evasion; demanded +truth! At that moment the space where they stood seemed, perhaps, too +small; to hem her very closely in--too closely--as, drawing back, she +touched the hard rocky wall! + +"Why?" Still endeavoring to regard him as if the charge could only be +preposterous, too unreasonable to answer, she was, nevertheless, +conscious of the flame on her face--tacit refutation of the denials in +her eyes! "Why?" she repeated. + +"That is just what I was asking myself when I saw you, my Lady." + +"And, of course, knowing there could be no--that it was too +senseless--" The words she was searching for failed her; she looked +toward the path over the neck of rock, but he continued to stand +between it and her. + +"I have heard the story in all its details; all that passed at the +Mount, while Nanette was there. And," instead of having undermined his +belief, she felt she had only strengthened it, "I am sure you went to +the Monastery St. Ranulphe, knowing--" + +"You are sure!" she interrupted quickly. "It wasn't long ago you were +sure it was I who betrayed you, and--" + +"I was wrong, then; but," his eyes continued to meet hers, "I am not +wrong now." + +Behind her, my lady's hand closed hard on the rock. + +"Deny it!" his voice went on. "In so many words!" + +"Why should I?" She caught her breath quickly. "I denied something to +you once, and you did not believe." + +"I'll believe you now!" + +"I should feel very much flattered, I am sure; but after--" A spark of +defiance began to gleam in her eyes. "You are sure one moment, and +not, the next! You are ready to believe, or not to believe!" More +certain now, she lifted her head; she, whose assurance and wit had +never failed her at court, would not be put to confusion by him! + +His answer was unexpected; to her; to himself. Perhaps it was the +peasant--the untamed half-peasant--in his blood that caused it; that +made a sudden, unceremonious act, his reply! He caught both her hands; +drew her to him. He knew she could never care for him--she, the +beautiful lady! But he forgot himself for the moment; thought only of +what she had done; her courage, her fineness, her delicate loveliness! +Her life for his. To pay a fancied debt, perhaps? And all the while +he had thought-- Self-reproaches fell from his lips; were followed by +bolder, more daring words. All he would have said the night on the +beach, when he had borne her from the fiery rock to the ship, now burst +from him; all he had felt when he had held her in his arms--motionless, +unresisting, the still, white face upturned, offering itself freely to +his gaze! + +At the neck of the rock, beneath his feet, the waves thundered; near +them, wild birds circled, wheeled and were borne on by the strong +breath of the wind. Had he spoken; what had he said? A gradual +consciousness of the beating of the sea smote his senses, as with +rhythmical regularity it arose. He listened; slowly in his eyes that +light that demanded--claimed, as it were, its own--was replaced by +another; his hands released hers. My lady made no sound; her proud +lips trembled. Very pale, she leaned back. + +So silence lengthened. "Pardon, my Lady!" he said at last, very +humbly. "It had not occurred to me my secret was not safe; that I, +master of ships and men, should not be master of myself! But I had not +expected to be alone with your Ladyship, and," a shadow of a smile +crossed the strong, reckless face, "your Ladyship can weigh the +provocation! If the excuse will not serve, I have none other to offer. +Certainly, will I retract nothing. What's said, is said, and--no lies +will unsay it!" + +He looked at the water; the tide was nearly in; he turned. She would +never see him again, for which she would be very glad, since the sight +of him must always have been hateful to her. Had not fate +decreed--bitterly--she should look upon him only as an enemy? It might +be, in time, she would condone his presumption, when his presence would +no longer vex her! He was going one way; she, another, soon, with-- + +"You--you are mistaken, Monsieur!" My lady's tone was tremulous. + +"Mistaken?" + +"The--Marquis de Beauvillers left last night, on a fishing bark." + +"Left!" abruptly he wheeled. "Why?" She did not answer. "You mean?" +Before the sudden swift question that shone from his eyes, hers fell. + +"Speak!" He seized her hand; his dark, eager face was near hers now. +"You have sent him away? He will never return?" She lifted her head; +answered not in words; but a new light in her eyes met the flash of +his. "My Lady!" he cried, bewildered for the moment at what that +glance revealed. An instant she seemed once more striving to combat +him, when, drawing her gently toward him, he bent lower; kissed softly +her lips. + +[Illustration: His dark, eager face was near hers now] + + +"Is it, then, true--" + +"You find it so hard to believe?" + +"That you love me? That I seem no longer your enemy?" + +"My enemy? You? Who risked so much--saved my life! Ah, no, no! Do +you not remember," softly, "he, too, said--'Forget!'" + +"I only remember I have long loved you! For me have you ever been the +princess--who dwelt in the clouds--in a palace, enchanted--" Her face +changed. "That saddens you! Forgive me!" + +"It seems like a dream--that life, then! All made up of lightness and +gaiety; courtiers and fine masques, until--" Beneath the bright gold +of her hair, my lady's brow knit. + +"Until?" + +"Nay; I know not until--just when! Only, for long, I seem to have +lived in a world, unreal and false. Last night, when in the garden, I +felt stifled. This marriage! Arranged--for what?" She made a quick +gesture. "The words came--had to come--though they hurt my lord's +pride; touched his vanity! Nothing deeper! It was gone. Besides--" + +My lady stopped. "Go on!" he urged, his voice eager. + +"That is all. At least, all I would acknowledge to myself, then." + +"And now?" His arm tightened; he held my lady close. "Now?" + +Her lips lifted; though silent, made answer in the abandonment of the +moment, the past and all its vicissitudes vanished; only the present +held them--the present and the future, beautiful as the horizon, now +rosy and glowing beneath the warm touch of the dawn. + + +The tide came in and the tide went out. + +"_Mon capitaine_ must have changed his mind," said old Pierre at the +inn. And he gazed toward a ship, stranded on the sands of the harbor. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Lady of the Mount, by Frederic S. 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