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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Henry of Guise; (Vol. II of 3), by 
+G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Henry of Guise; (Vol. II of 3)
+       or, The States of Blois
+
+Author: G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
+
+Release Date: April 9, 2012 [EBook #39412]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HENRY OF GUISE; (VOL. II OF 3) ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the
+Web Archive (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+   1. Page scan source:
+      http://archive.org/details/henryofguiseorst02jame
+     (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                           HENRY OF GUISE;
+
+                                 OR,
+
+                         THE STATES OF BLOIS.
+
+                               VOL. II.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                               London:
+                     Printed by A. Spottiswoode,
+                          New-Street-Square
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                            HENRY OF GUISE
+
+
+
+                                 OR,
+
+
+
+                         THE STATES OF BLOIS.
+
+
+
+
+                                  BY
+
+
+
+                         G. P. R. JAMES, ESQ.
+
+                              AUTHOR OF
+
+           "THE ROBBER," "THE GENTLEMAN OF THE OLD SCHOOL,"
+                            ETC. ETC. ETC.
+
+
+
+
+                          IN THREE VOLUMES.
+
+                               VOL. II.
+
+
+
+
+                               LONDON:
+
+                             PRINTED FOR
+               LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS,
+                           PATERNOSTER-ROW.
+
+                                1839.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                           HENRY OF GUISE;
+
+                                 OR,
+
+                         THE STATES OF BLOIS.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+
+All was bustle round the door of the little inn of Montigny; twenty or
+thirty horses employed the hands and attention of as many grooms and
+stable-boys; and while they put their heads together, and talked over
+the perfections or imperfections of the beasts they held, sixty or
+seventy respectable citizens, the great cloth merchant, and the
+wholesale dealer in millstones, the curé of the little town, the
+bailiff of the high-justiciary, the ironmonger, the grocer, and the
+butcher, stood in knots on the outside, discussing more important
+particulars than the appearance of the horses. The sign of the inn was
+the _Croix de Lorraine_, and the name of the Duke of Guise was
+frequently heard mingling in the conversation of the people round the
+door.
+
+"A great pity," cries one, "that his Highness does not stay here the
+night."
+
+"Some say that the King's troops are pursuing him," replied another.
+
+"Sure enough he came at full speed," said a third; "but I heard his
+people talk about the reiters."
+
+"Oh, we would protect him against the reiters," cried one of the bold
+citizens of Montigny.
+
+"Well," said another, "if he be likely to bring the reiters upon us, I
+think his Highness very wise to go. How could we defend an open town?
+and he has not twenty men behind him."
+
+"I will tell you something, my masters," said another, with an air of
+importance, and a low bow:--"When my boy was over towards Montreuil
+to-night, he heard a report of the reiters having been defeated near
+Gandelu."
+
+"Oh, nonsense!" replied the courageous burgher; "who should defeat
+them if the Duke was not there?"
+
+"But hark!" cried another, "I hear trumpets, as I live. Now, if these
+should be the King's troops we will defend the Duke at the peril of
+our lives. But let us look out and see."
+
+"Come up to my windows," cried one.
+
+"Go up the tower of the church," said the curé.
+
+But another remarked that the sounds did not come from the side of
+Paris; and, in a minute or two after, a well-dressed citizen like
+themselves rode gaily in amongst them, jumped from his horse, threw up
+his cap in the air, and exclaimed, "Long life to the Duke of Guise!
+The reiters have been cut to pieces!"
+
+"What is that you say, young man?" exclaimed a voice from one of the
+windows of the inn above; and looking up, the citizen saw a young and
+gay-looking man sitting in the open casement, and leaning out with his
+arm round the iron bar that ran up the centre.
+
+"I said, my Lord," replied the man, "that the reiters have been cut to
+pieces, and I saw the troops that defeated them bring in the wounded
+and prisoners last night into La Ferté."
+
+"Ventre bleu! This is news indeed," cried the other; and instantly
+turning, he quitted the window and advanced into the room.
+
+While this conversation had been going on without, a quick conference
+had been going on between the personages whose horses were held
+without. The chamber in which they were assembled was an upstairs'
+room, with two beds in two several corners, and a table in the midst
+covered with a clean white table-cloth, and ornamented in the centre
+with a mustard-pot, a salt-seller, and a small bottle of vinegar,
+while four or five spoons were ranged around.
+
+At the side of the table appeared the Duke of Guise, dining with as
+good an appetite off a large piece of unsalted boiled beef, as off any
+of the fine stews and salmis of his cook Maître Lanecque. Five or six
+other gentlemen were around, diligently employed in the same
+occupation; and one who had finished two bowls of soup at a place
+where they had previously stopped, now declaring that he had no
+appetite, had taken his seat in the window. The servants of the Duke
+and of his companions were at dinner below, and the landlord himself
+was excluded from the room, that dining and consultation might go on
+at the same time.
+
+"It is most unfortunate," said the Duke of Guise, as soon as he had
+seated himself at the table, "it is most unfortunate that this youth
+has not kept his word with me. Our horses and men are both fatigued to
+death; and yet, after what happened the other day at Mareuil, it would
+be madness to remain here all night with only twenty horsemen."
+
+"You have got timid, fair cousin," replied one of the gentlemen
+present. "We shall have you wrapping yourself up in a velvet gown, and
+setting up a conférrie, in imitation of our excellent, noble, and
+manly king."
+
+The Duke w as habitually rash enough to be justified in laughing at
+the charge, and he replied, "It is on your account, my pretty cousin,
+that I fear the most. You know what the reiters have sworn to do with
+you, if they catch you."
+
+"It is most unfortunate indeed," said an older and a graver man; "most
+unfortunate, that this Count de Logères should have deceived you. It
+might have been better, perhaps, to trust to some more tried and
+experienced friend."
+
+"Oh, you do him wrong, Laval; you do him wrong," replied the Duke. "It
+is neither want of faith or good will, I can be sworn. Some accident,
+such as may happen to any of us, has detained him. I am very anxious
+about him, and somewhat reproach myself for having made him march with
+only half his numbers. Had his whole band been with him, he might have
+made head against the reiters, if he met with them. But now he has
+less than half their reputed number. Nevertheless," he continued, "his
+absence is, as you say, most unfortunate; for--with these Germans on
+our left, and the movements of Henry's Swiss upon our right--they
+might catch us as the Gascons do wild ducks, in the net, through the
+meshes of which we have been foolish enough to thrust our own heads. I
+pray thee, Brissac, go down to mine host of the house, and gather
+together some of the notable men of the place, to see if we cannot by
+any means purchase horses to carry us on. Who are you speaking to,
+Aumale?" he continued, raising his voice, and addressing the youth who
+sat in the window.
+
+"Good news, good news!" cried the young man springing down, and coming
+forward into the room. "The reiters have been cut to pieces near
+Gandelu. There is a fellow below who has seen the victorious troops,
+and the wounded and the prisoners."
+
+"My young falcon for a thousand crowns!" cried the Duke of Guise. "If
+that be the case, we shall soon hear more of him. Hark! are not those
+trumpets? Yet go out, Brissac; go out. We must not suffer ourselves to
+be surprised whatever we do. Aumale, have the horses ready. If they
+should prove the Swiss, we must march out at the one gate while they
+march in at the other."
+
+But at that moment Brissac, who had run down at a word, and was by
+this time in the street, held up his hand to one of the others who was
+looking out of the window, exclaiming, "Crosses of Lorraine, crosses
+of Lorraine! A gallant body of some fifty spears; but all crosses of
+Lorraine.--Ay, and I can see the arms of Montsoreau and Logères! All
+is right, tell the Duke; all is right!" And thus saying he advanced
+along the street to meet the troops that were approaching.
+
+The Duke of Guise, who had risen from the table, seated himself again
+quietly, drew a deep breath as a man relieved from some embarrassment,
+and filling the glass that stood beside him, half full of the good
+small wine of Beaugency, rested his head upon his hand, and remained
+in thought for several minutes.
+
+While he remained in this meditative mood the sounds of the trumpets
+became louder and louder; the trampling of horses' feet were heard
+before the inn, and then was given, in a loud tone, the order to halt.
+Several of the companions of the Duke had gone down stairs to witness
+the arrival of the troops, and in a minute or two after, feet were
+heard coming up, and the Duke turned his head to welcome the young
+Count on his arrival. He was somewhat surprised, however, to see an
+old white-headed man, who had doffed his steel cap to enter the Duke's
+presence, come in between Brissac and Laval, and make him a low
+inclination of the head.
+
+"Who are you, my good friend?" demanded the Duke. "And where is the
+young Count of Logères?"
+
+"I know not, your Highness," replied the other. "I am the Count's
+seneschal, and expected to find him here. He set off four days ago
+with one half of his men, commanding me to join him at Montigny with
+the rest, as soon as their arms arrived from Rhetel. They came sooner
+than we expected, so I followed him the day after."
+
+"Then is it to you, my worthy old friend," said the Duke, "that the
+country is obliged for the defeat of this band of marauders?"
+
+"No, your Highness," replied the old man bluntly. "I have not had the
+good fortune to meet with any thing to defeat, though, indeed, we
+heard of something of the kind this morning as we passed by
+Grisolles."
+
+"I hope the news is true," said the Duke; "I have heard of many a
+victory in my day, where it turned out that the victors were
+vanquished; and I hear that these reiters numbered from a hundred to a
+hundred and fifty men. How many had your Lord with him, good
+seneschal?"
+
+"He had fifty-one men at arms," replied the old soldier, "besides some
+lackeys and a page; and some men leading horses with the baggage he
+could not do without."
+
+"I shall not be easy till I hear more of him," said the Duke, walking
+up and down the room. "However, your coming, good seneschal, will
+enable us to make good this place against any force that may be
+brought against it. Quick, send me up the aubergiste. We must despatch
+some one to bring us in intelligence: and now, good seneschal, rest
+and refresh your horses, get your men some food, and have every thing
+ready to put foot in stirrup again at a moment's notice; for if we
+find that your Lord has fallen into the hands of these reiters, we
+must mount to deliver him. Let their numbers be what they may, Henry
+of Guise cannot make up his mind to leave a noble friend in the hands
+of the foemen."
+
+"We are all ready this minute, my Lord," replied the old seneschal.
+"There is not a man of Logères who is not ready to ride forty miles,
+and fight two reiters this very night in defence of his Lord."
+
+"The old cock's not behind the young one," said the Chevalier d'Aumale
+to Brissac. But the Duke of Guise overruled the zealous eagerness of
+the old soldier; and as soon as the aubergiste appeared, directed him
+to send off a boy in the direction of Montreuil and La Ferté, in order
+to gain intelligence of the movements of the Count de Logères, and to
+ascertain whether the report of the defeat of the reiters was correct
+or not. His own horses he ordered now to be unsaddled, and casting off
+his corselet, gave himself up to repose for the evening.
+
+During the next hour, or hour and a half, manifold were the reports
+which reached the town concerning the conflict which had taken place
+between the Count of Logères and the reiters on the preceding evening.
+All sorts of stories were told: every peasant that brought in a basket
+of apples had his own version of the affair; and the accounts were the
+most opposite, as well as the most various. The Duke of Guise,
+however, was too much accustomed to sifting the various rumours of the
+day, not to be able to glean some true information from the midst of
+these conflicting statements. It seemed clear to him that the reiters
+had been defeated, and without having any very certain cause for his
+belief, he felt convinced that Charles of Montsoreau was already upon
+his way towards Montigny.
+
+"Come," he added, after expressing these opinions to the Chevalier
+d'Aumale, "we must at least give our young champion a good meal on his
+arrival. See to it, Brissac; see to it. You, who are a connoisseur in
+such things, deal with our worthy landlord of the Cross, and see if he
+cannot procure something for supper more dainty than he gave us for
+dinner."
+
+"The poor man was taken by surprise," replied Brissac; "but since he
+heard that you were to remain here, there has been such a cackling and
+screaming in the court-yard, and such a riot in the dovecote, that I
+doubt not all the luxuries of Montigny will be poured forth this night
+upon the table."
+
+In less than an hour after this order was given, the arrival of fresh
+horses was heard; and Laval, who went to the window, announced, that
+as well as he could see through the increasing darkness, for it was
+now night, this new party consisted only of five or six persons. In a
+few minutes, however, the door was thrown open by the aubergiste, and
+Charles of Montsoreau himself appeared, dusty with the march, and with
+but few traces of triumph or satisfaction on his countenance.
+
+"What, my young hero!" cried the Duke, rising and taking him by the
+hand; "you look as gloomy as if you had suffered a defeat, rather than
+gained a victory. Are the tidings which we have heard not true then,
+or are they exaggerated? If you have even brought off your forces safe
+from the reiters, that is a great thing, so overmatched as you were."
+
+"It is not that, your Highness," replied Charles of Montsoreau: "the
+numbers were not very disproportionate, but the reiters have certainly
+suffered a complete rout, and I do not think that they will ever meet
+in a body again. They lost a good many men on the field, and I fear
+the peasantry have murdered all the wounded."
+
+"So much the better," cried the Chevalier d'Aumale; "so much the
+better. One could have done nothing with them but hang them."
+
+"I fear then," said the Duke of Guise, addressing the Count, "I fear
+then that your own loss has been severe by the gloominess of your
+countenance, Logères."
+
+"There are a good many severely wounded, sir," replied the Count; "but
+very few killed. This, however, is not the cause of my vexation, which
+I must explain to your Highness alone. I have, however, to apologise
+to you for not being here last night, as I fully intended. I did not
+go to seek the reiters, but fell in with them accidentally, and after
+the skirmish I was forced to turn towards La Ferté instead of coming
+here, in order to get surgeons to my wounded men. I find, however,
+sir," he continued, "that my good old seneschal has made more speed
+than his master, and has arrived here with his band before me. I must
+go and take order for the comfort of my people, and prepare lodging
+for the rest who are coming up, for I rode on at all speed as soon as
+I met with the messenger whom you had sent out to seek me. After that
+I will return and crave a few minutes' audience of your Grace alone."
+
+"Come back to supper, dear friend," replied the Duke; "we must let our
+gay friends now sup with us; but then we will drive them to their
+beds, and hold solitary council together, and be not long Logères, for
+you need both refreshment and repose."
+
+When the young Count returned to the apartments of the Duke, after he
+had seen the rest of his troop arrive, and had taken every measure to
+secure the comfort of the men under his command, he found that Prince
+standing in one of the deep windows speaking in a low tone with the
+page Ignati, while his own officers were gathered together in the
+window on the other side.
+
+The Duke instantly took him by the hand as he approached, and said in
+a low but kindly tone, "You see I have been questioning the spy I set
+upon you, Logères, and he has let me into a number of your secrets;
+but you must not be angry with him on that account, for Henry of Guise
+will not abuse the trust. Come, let us sit down to table, and we will
+afterwards find an opportunity of talking over all these affairs. You
+have acted nobly and gallantly, my young friend, and have served your
+country while you benefited me. For your brother's conduct you are not
+responsible: but I think this morning's events, if the boy speaks
+correctly, must bar your tongue from speaking his praises for the
+future."
+
+"Indeed, my Lord," exclaimed the young Count, "my brother may----"
+
+"Hush! hush!" cried the Duke. "There is nothing sits so ill upon the
+lips of a noble-hearted man as an excuse for bad actions, either in
+himself or others. It is false generosity, Charles of Montsoreau, to
+say the least of it. But let us to table. Come, Aumale. See! our good
+Aubergiste looks reproachfully at you for letting his fragrant ragouts
+grow cold. Come, we will to meat, gentlemen. Sit down, sit down, We
+will have no ceremony here at the Cross of Lorraine."
+
+Thus saying, the Duke seated himself at table, and the rest took their
+places around. The supper proved better than had been expected, and
+wine and good appetites supplied the place of all deficiencies. The
+Chevalier d'Aumale indeed had every now and then a light jest at some
+of the various dishes: he declared that a certain capon had blunted
+his dagger, and asked Charles of Montsoreau whether it was not tougher
+than a veteran reiter. He declared that a matelote d'anguille which
+was placed before him, had a strong flavour of a hedge; but added,
+that as his own appetite was viperous, he must get through it as best
+he might. He was not without a profane jest either, upon a dish of
+pigeons; but though he addressed the greater part of these gaily to
+the young Count de Logères, he could hardly wring a smile from one who
+in former days would have laughed with the best, but whose heart was
+now anxiously occupied with many a bitter feeling.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau was eager, too, that the meal should be over,
+for he longed for that private communication with the Duke which
+weighed upon his mind in anticipation. He felt that it would be
+difficult to exculpate his brother; and yet, in pursuance of his own
+high resolutions, he longed to do so: and then again he eagerly hoped
+that the powerful prince beside whom he sat would find some means of
+delivering Marie de Clairvaut from the hands into which she had
+fallen; and yet he feared, from all he heard and saw, that that
+deliverance might be difficult and remote.
+
+Thus the banquet passed somewhat cheerlessly to him; and it was not
+very much enlivened by a little incident which happened towards the
+close of supper, when the landlord, who had come into the room
+followed by a man dressed in the garb of a surgeon, whispered
+something in the Duke's ear which called his attention immediately.
+
+"How many did you say?" demanded the Duke.
+
+"Only two at present, your Highness," replied the surgeon; "but three
+more sinking, I think."
+
+"All in the same house?" said the Duke.
+
+"No, my Lord, in different houses," replied the man; "but near the
+same spot."
+
+"The only thing to be done," replied the Duke, "is to draw a barrier
+across the end of that street, and mark the houses with a white
+cross."
+
+"What is the matter, your Highness?" said Laval, from the other end of
+the table.
+
+"Oh, nothing," replied the Duke of Guise, "only a few cases of the
+plague; and because it was very bad last autumn at Morfontaine, the
+people here have got into a fright."
+
+The Duke of Guise concluded his supper as lightly and gaily as if
+nothing had happened, for his mind had become so accustomed to deal
+with and to contemplate things of great moment, that they made not
+that impression upon him which they do upon those whose course is laid
+in a smoother and evener path.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau, however, could not feel in the same way. "War
+and pestilence!" he thought, "bloodshed and death! These are the
+common every-day ideas of men in this unhappy country, now. Perhaps
+famine may be added some day soon, and yet there will be light
+laughter, and merriment, and jest. Well, let it be so. Why should we
+cast away enjoyment because it can but be small? Life is at best but
+made up of chequered visions: let us enjoy the bright ones while we
+may, and make the dark ones short if we can."
+
+While he thus thought, the Duke of Guise whispered a word or two to
+the Count of Brissac, and that gentleman nodded to Laval. Shortly
+after, both rose; and, with an air of affected unwillingness, the
+Chevalier d'Aumale followed their example. The two or three other
+gentlemen who had partaken of the meal, but who either from inferior
+situation or natural taciturnity had mingled but little in the
+conversation, left the table at the same time, and accompanied the
+others out of the room, so that the Duke of Guise and the young Count
+were left alone.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. II.
+
+
+The weak-minded and the vulgar are cowed by the aspect of high
+station; the humble in mind, and the moderate in talent, are subdued
+by high genius, and bend lowly to the majesty of mind; the powerful,
+the firm, and the elevated spring up to meet their like, and with them
+there is nothing earthly that can overawe but a consciousness of evil
+in themselves, or a sensation of abasement for those they love.
+
+Such was the case with Charles of Montsoreau, who undoubtedly was a
+man of high and powerful mind. He was in his first youth, it is true;
+he had no great or intimate knowledge of the world, except that
+knowledge of the world which, in a few rare instances, comes as it
+were by intuition. He had been bred up from his youth in love and
+admiration for the princes of the House of Lorraine, and especially of
+Henry, Duke of Guise; and yet, when he had met him for the first time,
+and recognised him at once in the inn at Mareuil, he felt no
+diffidence--no alarm. Nor had this confidence in himself any thing
+whatsoever to do with conceit: he thought not of himself for a moment;
+he thought only of the Duke of Guise and his situation, and impulse
+guided by habit did the rest. Seeing that the Duke had assumed an
+inferior character, he treated him accordingly; and acting as nature
+dictated to him, he acted right.
+
+Neither, at Rheims, when the Duke appeared surrounded by pomp and
+splendour, did the young nobleman feel differently. He paid every
+tribute of external reverence to the Prince's station and high renown;
+but he conferred with him upon equal terms, feeling that if in mind he
+was not absolutely equal to that great leader, he was competent to
+appreciate his character, and was not inferior to him in elevation of
+thought and purpose.
+
+But now, how changed were all his feelings, when, sitting by one whom
+he venerated and respected--more than perhaps was deserved--he had to
+discuss with him the painful subject of a brother's errors, and
+torture imagination to find excuses which judgment would not ratify!
+He sat humiliated, and pained, and hesitating: he knew not what to
+say, and he felt that any thing he could say was vain.
+
+For a few minutes after the rest of the party quitted the room, the
+Duke of Guise remained silent, sometimes gazing down, as was his
+habit, upon his clasped hands, sometimes raising his eyes for a single
+moment to the countenance of his young companion. He seemed to feel
+for him, indeed; and when he did speak, led the conversation to the
+subject gradually and delicately.
+
+"Well, my dear Count," he said, "let us speak of this affair of the
+reiters. You made me as many excuses but now, for defeating our
+enemies, as if you had let them defeat you. Such gallant actions are
+easily pardoned, Logères; and if you but proceed to commit many such
+faults, Henry of Navarre and Henry of Guise had both need look to
+their renown. There was a third Henry once," he continued, half
+closing his eyes, and speaking with a sigh, as he thought of Henry
+III. and fair promises of his youth; "there was a third Henry once,
+who might perhaps have borne the meed of fame away from us both: but
+that light has gone out in the socket, and left nothing but an
+unsavory smell behind. However, there was no excuse needed, good
+friend, for cutting to pieces double your own number of German
+marauders."
+
+"My excuse was not for that," replied the Count, calmly, "but your
+Highness directed me to go no farther than Montigny, and I went to La
+Ferté, on account of the wounded men."
+
+"That is easily excused too," said the Duke. "But now give me your own
+account of the affair. The boy told me the story but imperfectly. How
+fell you in with the reiters at first?"
+
+Charles of Montsoreau did as the Prince required, giving a full and
+minute, but modest, account of all that had taken place. But when he
+spoke of retreating up the river to the spot where the banks were
+deeper, and the stream more profound, Guise caught him by the hand,
+exclaiming eagerly, "Did you know that the banks were steeper? Did you
+see that they would guard your flank?"
+
+"That was my object, my Lord," replied the young Count, somewhat
+surprised. "I noticed the nature of the ground as we charged them at
+first."
+
+"Kneel down!" cried the Duke; "kneel down! Would to God that I were a
+Bayard for thy sake!--In the name of God, St. Michael and St. George,
+I dub thee knight;" and drawing his sword he struck him on the collar
+with the blade, adding with a smile, in which melancholy was blended
+with gaiety, "Perchance this may be the last chivalrous knighthood
+conferred in France. Indeed, as matters go, I think it will be: but if
+it should, I can but say that it never was won more nobly."
+
+The young Count rose with sparkling eyes. The memory of the chivalrous
+ages was not yet obliterated by dust and lichens; the fire of a more
+enthusiastic epoch was not yet quite extinct; and he felt as if what
+had passed gave him greater strength to go through what was to come.
+
+The Duke, however, relaxing soon into his former manner, made him a
+sign to proceed; and Charles of Montsoreau went on to detail the
+complete defeat and dispersion of the different bodies of reiters. He
+then began to hesitate again: but Guise was determined to hear all,
+and said, "But your brother; where did you find your brother? Be frank
+with me, Logères."
+
+Thus pressed, the young Count went on to say, that he did not again
+meet with his brother till he found him in the market-place at La
+Ferté. "My brother," he continued, "having been driven by the party
+that pursued him beyond the carriage, and judging that I was coming up
+with a superior force, imagined that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut and her
+attendants had fallen under my protection: but finding that such was
+not the case, he mounted his horse again, and proceeded to seek for
+her during the greater part of the night, while I did the same in
+another direction."
+
+He was then hurrying on as fast as possible to speak of the following
+morning, but the Duke interrupted him, demanding, "There was a sharp
+dispute in the market-place, I think; was there not, Monsieur de
+Logères? Pray let me hear the particulars."
+
+But Charles of Montsoreau, driven to the point, answered boldly and at
+once, "It was a dispute between two brothers, my Lord; in regard to
+which none but God and their own consciences can judge. You will
+therefore pardon me if I keep that which is private to my private
+bosom."
+
+Guise gazed at him for a long--a very long time, with eyes full of
+deep feeling, and then replied, "By Heaven! you are one of the most
+extraordinary young men I ever met with. I know the whole, Monsieur de
+Logères; and the words there spoken let me into the secrets of your
+bosom which I wished to know. I now understand how to deal with you;
+and while I do my best to secure your happiness, trust to the Duke of
+Guise to avoid, as far as possible, any thing that is painful to you
+in the course. But go on; let me hear the rest."
+
+"If you know all, my Lord," said Charles of Montsoreau, a good deal
+affected by the Duke's kindness, "will you not spare me the telling of
+that which must be painful to me?"
+
+"I fear I must ask you to go on," replied the Duke. "What you have now
+to tell me is the most important part of all to me at the present
+moment, for by it must my conduct be regulated, in regard to the
+measures for rescuing our poor Marie from the hands of that----." He
+checked himself suddenly, and then added, "the King, in short. A
+single word may cause a difference in our view of the matter; and
+therefore I would fain hear you tell it, if you will do me that
+favour."
+
+"All that I know, my Lord, I will tell," replied the Count; "but of my
+own knowledge I have little to tell, for the principal part of my
+information was derived from the boy with whom you have already
+spoken. All then that I personally know is, that, having slept long
+from great fatigue, I was roused by the boy in the morning; that he
+told me my brother was about to depart; and that, on descending, I
+found his report true. My brother was already on horseback, and his
+troop in the act of setting out; but he was accompanied by a gentleman
+whom I had never seen before, whose name is Colombel, and who, I found
+afterwards, is an officer in the service of the King."
+
+"Oh yes," said the Duke of Guise; "I have heard him named; a person of
+no great repute, but some cunning."
+
+"My conversation with my brother," continued the Count, "was not the
+most agreeable. On his side it was all taunts; but the only part of
+which it is needful to inform your Highness, was, that when I asked
+tidings of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, he would afford me no
+information, except that she was in safe hands. I am grieved, also, to
+be compelled to say that he told me, if I did not join you before he
+did, I should be long parted from you."
+
+"We have lost an ally," replied the Duke; "but one which, to say
+sooth, I do not covet. If he be not treacherous, he is at best
+unsteady; but I cannot help fearing, Charles of Montsoreau, that your
+brother himself, apprehending that my regard for you might not suit
+his purposes, has had some share in suffering Marie to fall into the
+hands of Henry."
+
+"Oh no, my Lord, oh no!" exclaimed Charles of Montsoreau; "you do him
+wrong, believe me. My Lord, a few words will explain to you the cause
+of his conduct. He is possessed with a passion for Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut, so strong, so vehement, so intense, as to have a portion of
+madness in it,--a sufficient portion to make him cast away his former
+nature altogether, to hate his brother, to abandon his friends, to
+abjure all the thoughts and feelings of his youth, and to follow her
+still where-ever she goes, seeking to obtain her by means which the
+very blindness of his passion prevents him from seeing are those which
+must insure his losing her."
+
+"This is the passion of a weak and unstable mind," said the Duke.
+"Love, my young friend, is in itself a grand and ennobling thing,
+leading us to do great actions for the esteem and approbation of her
+we love. The love of a bright woman," he added, "the love of a bright
+woman--I speak it with all due reverence," and he put his hand to his
+hat, "is the next finest sensation, the next grand mover in human
+actions, to the love of God. The object is undoubtedly inferior, but
+the course is the same, namely, the striving to do high and excellent
+things for the approbation of a being that we love and venerate. Alas
+that it should be so! but in this world I fear the love of woman is
+amongst us the strongest mover of the two: the other is so remote, so
+high, so pure, that our dull senses strain their wings in reaching it.
+The love of woman appeals to the earthly as well as to the heavenly
+part of man's nature, and consequently is heard more easily.
+Perhaps--and Heaven grant it!--that, as some of our fathers held, the
+one love may lead us on to the other, and the perishable be but a step
+to the immortal. However," he added, "such love as that which you say
+possesses your brother, will certainly never lead him on to any thing
+that is great, or high, or noble. Most certainly it will not lead him
+to the hand of Marie de Clairvaut as long as Henry of Guise can draw a
+sword. If he have not betrayed me, he has abandoned me; if he have not
+shown himself a coward, he has shown himself a weak defender of those
+intrusted to his charge; and under such circumstances, had he the
+wealth of either India and the power of Cæsar, he should never wed
+Marie de Clairvaut." He laid his hand upon the shoulder of Charles of
+Montsoreau, and he said, "You have heard my words, good friend; those
+words are irrevocable: and now knowing that your brother can never be
+really your rival, act as you will. I would fain have your confidence,
+Charles, but I will not wring it from you. This girl is beautiful and
+sweet and fascinating; and if I judge right, you love her not less but
+more nobly than your brother. Tell me, or tell me not as you will, but
+we all feel pleased with confidence."
+
+"Oh, my Lord," replied Charles of Montsoreau, "how can I deny you my
+confidence when you load me with such proofs of your goodness? I do
+love Mademoiselle de Clairvaut as deeply, as intensely, as
+passionately, as my brother,--more, more a thousand fold than he or
+any body else, I believe, is capable of loving. I had some
+opportunities of rendering her services, and on one of those occasions
+I was betrayed into words and actions which I fancied must have made
+her acquainted with all my feelings. It was after that I discovered,
+my Lord, how madly my brother loved her: it was after that I
+discovered that the pursuit of my love must bring contention and
+destruction on my father's house. Had I believed that she loved me,
+nothing should have made me yield her to any one; for I had the prior
+claim, I had the prior right: but when I had reason to believe that
+she had not marked, and did not comprehend all the signs of my
+affection; when I felt that I could quit her without the appearance of
+trifling with her regard, though not without the continued misery of
+my own life, my determination was taken in a moment, and I determined
+to make the sacrifice, be the consequences what they might. Such, my
+Lord, is the simple truth; such is the only secret of all my actions."
+
+The Duke of Guise bent down his eyes upon the ground with a smile, in
+the expression of which there was a degree of cynical bitterness. It
+was somewhat like one of the smiles of the Abbé de Boisguerin; but the
+Duke's words explained it at once, which the Abbé's never did.
+
+"I fear, my young friend," he said, "that the science of women's
+hearts is a more difficult one than the science of war. You have
+learnt the one, it would seem, by intuition; in the other you are yet
+a novice. However, you shall pursue your own course, bearing with you
+the remembrance that I swear by my own honour--"
+
+"Oh swear not, my Lord," replied Charles of Montsoreau; "circumstances
+may change; she may love him; her love may alter him, and lead him
+back to noble things."
+
+The Duke smiled again. "What I have said," he answered, "is as good as
+sworn. But have it your own way; I thank you for the confidence you
+have reposed in me. And now, to show you how I can return it, I have a
+task to put upon you, an adventure on which to send forth my new made
+knight. I do not think that Henry either will or dare refuse to give
+up to me my own relation and ward. The king and I are great friends,
+God wot! But still I must demand her, and somebody must take a journey
+to Paris for that purpose. To the capital, doubtless, they have
+conveyed her; and I trust, my good Logères, that you will not think it
+below your dignity and merit to seek and bring back a daughter of the
+House of Guise."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau paused thoughtfully for a moment, ere he
+replied. All the difficulties and dangers to which he might be
+exposed, in acting against the views of the King of France, were to
+him as nothing; but the difficulties and dangers which might arise
+from his opposition to his own brother, were painful and fearful to
+him to contemplate. He saw not, however, how he could refuse the task;
+and it cannot be denied that love for Marie de Clairvaut had its share
+also in making him accept it. He doubted not for a moment, that if she
+were in the hands of the King, she was there against her own will; and
+could he, he asked himself, could he even hesitate to aid in
+delivering her from a situation of difficulty, danger, and distress?
+The thought of aiding her, the thought of seeing her again, the
+thought of hearing the sweet tones of that beloved voice, the thought
+of once more soothing and supporting her, all had their share; the
+very contemplation made his heart beat; and lifting his eyes, he found
+those of the Duke of Guise fixed upon his countenance, reading all the
+passing emotions, the shadows of which were brought across him by
+those thoughts. The colour mounted slightly into his cheek as he
+replied, "My Lord, I will do your bidding to the best of my ability.
+When shall I march?"
+
+"Oh, you mistake," said the Duke, laughing; "you are not to go at the
+head of your men, armed _cap-à-pie_, to deliver the damsel from the
+giant's castle; but in the quality of my envoy to Henry; first of all
+demanding, quietly and gently, where the Lady is, and then requiring
+him to deliver her into your hands, for the purpose of escorting her
+to me, where-ever I may be. You shall have full powers for the latter
+purpose; but you must keep them concealed till such time as you have
+discovered, either from the King's own lips--though no sincerity
+dwells upon them--or by your own private inquiries and investigations,
+where this poor girl is. Then you may produce to the King your powers
+from me, and to herself I will give you a letter, requesting her to
+follow your directions in all things. Now, you must show yourself as
+great a diplomatist as a soldier, for I can assure you that you will
+have to deal with as artful and as wily a man as any now living in
+Europe."
+
+"I will do my best, my Lord; and to enable me to deal with them before
+all their plans are prepared, I had better set out at break of day
+to-morrow, with as many men as your Highness thinks fit should
+accompany me."
+
+The Duke mused for a moment or two; "No," he said, "no; I must not let
+you go, Logères, without providing for your safety. You have risked
+your life sufficiently for me and mine already. You go into new
+scenes, with which you are unacquainted; into dangers, with which you
+may find it more difficult to cope than any that you have hitherto met
+with. I cannot then suffer you to depart without such passports and
+safeguards as may diminish those dangers as far as possible."
+
+"Oh, I fear not, my Lord," replied Charles of Montsoreau, "the King
+and your Highness are not at war. I have done nothing to offend,
+and--"
+
+"It cannot be, it cannot be," replied the Duke. "You must go back with
+me to Soissons. I will send a messenger from this place to demand the
+necessary passports for you. No great time will be lost, for a common
+courier can pass where you or I would be stopped. Then," he continued,
+"as to the men that you should take with you, I should say, the fewer
+the better. Mark me," he continued, with a smile, "there are secret
+springs in all things; and I will give you letters to people in Paris,
+which will put at your disposal five hundred men on the notice of half
+an hour. Ay, more, should you require them. But use not these letters
+except in the last necessity, for they might hurry on events which I
+would rather see advance slowly till they were forced upon me, than do
+aught to bring them forward myself. No; you shall go back with me to
+Soissons, guarding me with your band; and I doubt not, our messenger
+from Paris will not be many hours after us. Now leave me, and to rest,
+good Logères, and send in the servant, whom you will find half way
+down the stairs."
+
+The young Count withdrew without another word, and he found that while
+the conversation between himself and the Duke had been going on, a man
+had been stationed, both above and below the door of the apartment, as
+if to insure that nobody approached to listen. Such were the sad
+precautions necessary in those days.
+
+Early on the following morning the whole party mounted their horses,
+the wounded men of Logères were left under the care and attendance of
+the good townsmen of Montigny, and the young Count riding with the
+party of the Duke of Guise, proceeded on the road to Soissons. No
+adventure occurred to disturb their progress; and, as so constantly
+happens in the midst of scenes of danger, pain, and difficulty, almost
+every one of the whole party endeavoured to compensate for the
+frequent endurance of peril and pain by filling up the intervals with
+light laughter and unthinking gaiety. The Duke of Guise himself was
+not the least cheerful of the party, though occasionally the cloud of
+thought would settle again upon his brow, and a pause of deep
+meditation would interrupt the jest or the sally. It was late at night
+when they arrived at Soissons, and the Duke, after supping with the
+Cardinal de Bourbon, retired to rest, without conversing with any of
+his party. It was about eight o'clock on the following morning, and
+while, by the dull grey light of a cloudy spring day, Charles of
+Montsoreau was dressing himself, with the aid of one of his servants,
+that the door opened without any previous announcement, and the Duke
+of Guise, clad in a dressing-gown of crimson velvet trimmed with
+miniver, entered the room, bearing in his hand a packet of sealed
+letters, and one open one. A page followed him with something wrapped
+up in a skin of leather, which he placed upon one of the stools, and
+instantly retired.
+
+"Send away your man, Count," said the Duke, seating himself; "resume
+your dressing-gown, and kindly give me your full attention for
+half an hour. You will be so good," he continued, turning to the man
+who was quitting the chamber, "as to take your stand on the first
+landing-place below this door. You will tell any body whom you see
+coming up to pass by the other staircase; any one you may see coming
+down, you will direct to pass by this door quickly."
+
+There was a stern command in the eye of the Duke of Guise which had a
+strong effect upon those it rested on; and the man to whom he now
+spoke made his exit from the room, stumbling over twenty things in his
+haste to obey. As soon as he was gone, the Duke turned to his young
+friend, and continued, "Here is the King's safeguard under his own
+hand, and the necessary passports for yourself and two attendants.
+Here is your letter of credit to him in my name, requiring him to give
+you every sort of information which he may be possessed of regarding
+the subjects which you will mention to him; and here is a third
+letter giving you full power to demand at his hands the person of
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, for the purpose of escorting her and
+placing her under my protection. This, again, is to Mary herself,
+bidding her follow your counsels and direction in every thing; and
+these others are to certain citizens of Paris, whose names you will
+find written thereon. If you will take my advice, you will again take
+with you the boy Ignati, and one stout man-at-arms, unarmed, however,
+except in such a manner as the dangers of the road require. You
+understand, I think, clearly, all that I wish."
+
+"I believe, my Lord, I do," replied the Count. "But how am I to insure
+safety for Mademoiselle de Clairvaut on the road, without an adequate
+force?"
+
+"Write to me but one word," replied the Duke of Guise, "as soon as she
+is delivered into your hands, and I will send you with all speed
+whatever forces I can spare. But I have one or two things to
+communicate to you, which it is necessary for you to know, both for
+your own security and the success of your mission. The principal part
+of my niece's lands lie in the neighbourhood of Chateauneuf, between
+Dreux and Mortagne in Normandy. It is not at all unlikely, that, if
+driven to remove her from your sight, Henry may be tempted to send her
+thither, well knowing that it is what I have always opposed, and that
+I preferred rather that she should dwell even in Languedoc than be in
+that neighbourhood. For this I had a reason; and that reason is the
+near relationship in which her father stood to the most daring and the
+most dangerous man in France. One of the first of those whom you will
+see near the person of the King, the man who governs and rules him to
+his own infamy and destruction, in whose hands the minions are but
+tools and Henry an instrument, who, more than any one else, has tended
+to change a gracious prince, a skilful general, and a brave man, into
+an effeminate and vicious king, is René de Villequier, Baron of
+Clairvaut. He was first cousin to Marie de Clairvaut's father, and he
+is consequently her nearest male relation out of the family of Guise.
+He has, indeed, sometimes hinted at a right to share in the
+guardianship of his cousin's daughter. But such things a Guise permits
+not. However, with this claim upon the disposal of her hand, Henry
+may, perhaps, hesitate to yield her, unless with the consent of
+Villequier. With him, then, you may be called upon to deal; but
+Villequier, I think, knows the hand of a Guise too well to call down a
+blow from it unnecessarily. However, he is as daring as he is artful,
+and impunity in crime has rendered him perfectly careless of
+committing it. He is Governor of Paris, one of the King's ministers, a
+Knight of the Holy Ghost. Now hear what he has done to merit all this.
+More than one assassin broken on the wheel has avowed himself the
+instrument of Villequier, sent to administer poison to those he did
+not love. Complaisant in every thing to his King, he sought to
+sacrifice to him the honour of his wife: but she differed from him in
+her tastes; and, on the eighteenth of last September, in broad
+daylight, in the midst of an effeminate court, he murdered her with
+his own hand at her dressing-table. Nor was this all: there was a
+girl--a young sweet girl--the natural daughter of a noble house, who
+was holding before the unhappy lady a mirror to arrange her dress when
+the fatal blow was struck. The fiend's taste for blood was roused. One
+victim was not enough, and he murdered the wretched girl by the side
+of her dead mistress. This was done in open day, was never disowned,
+was known to every one, and was rewarded by the order of the Holy
+Ghost--an insult to God, to France, and to humanity.[1] However, as
+with this man you may have to deal, I have to give you two cautions.
+Never drink wine with him, or eat food at his table; never go into his
+presence without wearing under your other dress the bosom friend which
+I have brought you there;" and he took from the leathern skin in which
+it was wrapped, a shirt of mail, made of rings linked together, so
+fine that it seemed the lightest stroke would have broken it, and yet
+so strong, that the best tempered poinard, driven by the most powerful
+hand, could not have pierced it. "Have also in your bosom," continued
+the Duke of Guise, "a small pistol; and if the villain attempts to lay
+his hand upon you, kill him like a dog. This is the only way to deal
+with René de Villequier."
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 1: All these charges were but too true.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+The young Count smiled: "And is it needful my Lord Duke," he asked,
+"to take all these precautions in the courtly world of Paris?--Do you
+yourself take them, my Lord?--I fear not sufficiently."
+
+"Oh! with regard to myself," replied the Duke, it is different. "I am
+so marked out and noted, they dare not do any thing against me. They
+would raise up a thousand vengeful hands against them in a moment, and
+they know that, too well to run such a risk. Neither Henry nor
+Villequier would hold their lives by an hour's tenure after Guise was
+dead. But you must take these precautions, my young friend. And now I
+have nothing more to say, except that, whatever you do to withdraw
+Marie de Clairvaut from the hands into which she has fallen, I will
+justify. If any ill befall you, I will avenge you as my brother; and
+if you deliver her from those whom she hates and abhors, she shall,
+give you any testimony of her gratitude that she pleases, without a
+man in France saying you nay."
+
+"Oh, my Lord, it is not for that I go!" exclaimed Charles of
+Montsoreau, with the blood rushing up again into his cheek. "It is
+not; surely you believe--"
+
+"Hush! hush!" replied the Duke. "I have fallen into the foolish error
+of saying too much, my good young friend. But now, fare you well. Make
+your arrangements as speedily as you can; mount your horse, and onward
+to Paris, while I apply myself to matters which may well occupy every
+minute and every thought."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. III.
+
+
+It was about nine o'clock at night, in the spring of the year 1588,
+that Charles of Montsoreau, with two companions, his faithful Gondrin
+and the little page, presented himself at the gate of Paris which
+opened upon the Soissons road. A surly arquebusier with a steel cap on
+his head, his gun upon his shoulder, and the rest thereof in his hand,
+was the first person that he encountered at the bridge over the fosse.
+Some other soldiers were sitting before the guardhouse; and the
+wicket-gate of the city itself was open, with an armed head protruded
+through, talking to a country girl with a basket on her arm, who had
+just passed out of the gate, none the better probably for her visit to
+the city.
+
+The arquebusier planted himself immediately in the way of the young
+cavalier and his followers, and seemed prepared to stop them, though
+on the young Count applying to him for admission, he replied in a
+surly tone, "I have nothing to do with it. Ask the lieutenant at the
+gate."
+
+To him, in the next place, then, Charles of Montsoreau applied; but
+though his tone was somewhat more civil than that of the soldier, he
+made a great many difficulties, examining the young nobleman all over,
+and looking as if he thought him a very suspicious personage. The
+Count after a certain time grew impatient, and asked, "You do not
+mean, I suppose, to refuse the passport of the King?"
+
+"No," replied the other grinning. "We won't refuse the passport of the
+King, or the King's passport; but in order that the passport may be
+verified, it were as well, young gentleman, that you come to the gates
+by day. You can sleep in the faubourg for one night I take it."
+
+"Certainly not without great inconvenience to myself," replied the
+Count, "and more inconvenience to the affairs of the Duke of Guise."
+
+"The Duke of Guise!" said the man starting. "Your tongue has not the
+twang of Lorraine."
+
+"But nevertheless," replied the Count, "the business I come upon is
+that of the Duke of Guise, which you would have seen if you had read
+the passport and safe-conduct. Does it not direct therein, to give
+room and free passage, safeguard, and protection to one gentleman of
+noble birth and two attendants, coming and going hither and thither in
+all parts of the realm of France, on the especial business of our true
+and well-beloved cousin, Henry, Duke of Guise? and is there not
+written in the Duke's own hand underneath, 'Given to our faithful
+friend and counsellor, Charles of Montsoreau, Count of Logères, for
+the purposes above written, by me, Henry of Guise?'"
+
+The man held the paper for a moment to a lantern that hung up against
+the heavy stonework of the arch, and then exclaimed in a loud voice,
+"Throw open the gates there, bring the keys. Monseigneur, I beg you a
+thousand pardons for detaining you a minute. If I had but seen the
+writing of the Duke of Guise the doors would have been opened
+instantly."
+
+As rapidly as possible the heavy gates, which had remained immoveable
+at the order of the King, swang back at the name of the Guise, and one
+of the attendants and the captain of the night running by the side of
+the Count's horse to prevent all obstruction, caused the second gate
+to be opened as rapidly, and the Count entered the capital city of his
+native country for the first time in his life.
+
+The streets were dark and gloomy, narrow and high; and as one rode
+along them looking up from time to time towards the sky, the small
+golden stars were seen twinkling above the deep walls of the houses,
+as if beheld from the bottom of a well. Charles of Montsoreau had not
+chosen to ask his way at the gate, and though utterly unacquainted
+with the great city in which he now plunged, he rode on, trusting to
+find some shop still open where he might inquire his way without the
+chance of being deceived. Every booth and shop was then shut, however;
+and for a very long way up the street which he had first entered, he
+met with not a single living creature to whom he could apply for
+direction. At length, however, that street ended abruptly in another
+turning to the left, and a sudden glare of light burst upon his eyes,
+proceeding from a building about a hundred yards farther on, which
+seemed to be on fire.
+
+There was no bustle, however, or indication of any thing unusual in
+the street; and Charles of Montsoreau riding on, found that the blaze
+proceeded from a dozen or more of flambeaus planted in a sort of
+wooden barricade[2] before a large mansion, which fell back some yards
+from the general façade of the street, while a fat porter clothed in
+manifold colours, with a broad shoulder-belt and a sword by his side,
+walked to and fro in the light, trimming the torches with stately
+dignity. The young Count then remembered having heard of the custom of
+thus illuminating the barriers, which were before all the principal
+mansions in Paris during the first part of every night; and riding up
+towards the porter, he demanded whose hotel it was, and begged to be
+directed to one of the best inns in the neighbourhood.
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 2: One or two of these houses with barriers were still
+existing in Paris not many years ago.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+The man gazed at him for a moment with the evident purpose of looking
+upon him as a bumpkin; but the porters of that day were required to be
+extremely discriminating, and the air and appearance of the young
+Count were not to be mistaken, and bowing low he replied, "I see you
+are a stranger, sir. This is the house of Monsieur d'Aumont. As to the
+best inn, inns are always but poor places; but I have heard a good
+account of the White House in the next street, at the sign of the
+Crown of France. If you go on quite to the end of this street and then
+turn to your right, you will come into another street as large and
+longer, at the very end of which, just looking down to the Pont Neuf,
+you will see a large white house with a gateway and the crown hanging
+over it. I have heard that every thing is good there, and the host
+civil; but he will make you pay for what you have."
+
+"That is but just," replied the young Count; and giving the porter
+thanks for his information, he rode on and took up his abode at the
+sign of the Crown of France.
+
+The aspect of the inn was very different from that of an auberge in
+the country; for, though the court-yard into which Charles of
+Montsoreau rode was littered with straw, and a large and splendid
+stable appeared behind, it was not now grooms and stable-boys that
+appeared on the first notice of a traveller's approach, but cooks and
+scullions and turnspits; while the master himself with a snow-white
+cap upon his head, a jacket of white cloth, and a white apron turned
+up sufficiently to show his black breeches and stockings with red
+clocks, appeared more like what he really was, the head of the
+kitchen, than the master of the house.
+
+He looked a little suspiciously, at first, at the young stranger
+arriving with only two attendants, and with no other baggage than a
+small valise upon each horse, and an additional upon that of Ignati,
+to render the boy's weight equal to that of his fellow travellers. But
+the host was accustomed to deal with many kinds of men; and like the
+porter, after examining the Count for a moment, seeing some gold
+embroidery, but not much, upon his riding-dress, gilded spurs over his
+large boots of untanned leather, and a sword, the hilt and sheath of
+which were of no slight value, he also made a lowly reverence, and
+conducted him to one of the best apartments in his house. It consisted
+of three rooms, each entering into the other with a small cabinet
+beyond the chief bed-room; and the arrangements which the Count made
+at once--placing Gondrin's bed in the antechamber, and having the
+page's truckle-bed removed from his own bed-side to occupy the cabinet
+beyond--gave the host of the Crown of France a still greater idea of
+his importance.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau did not fail to examine the face of the
+aubergiste, and to remark his proceedings with as much accuracy. The
+man's countenance was intelligent, his eyes quick and piercing, but
+withal there was an air of straightforward frankness, tempered by
+civility and habitual politeness, which was prepossessing; and as the
+young Count knew that he might have occasion to make use of him in
+various ways during his stay in Paris, he resolved to try him with
+those things which were the most immediately necessary, and which at
+the same time were of the least importance.
+
+"Stop a minute, my good host," he said, as the man was about to
+withdraw to order fires to be lighted and suppers to be cooked. "There
+are some things which press for attention, and in which I must have
+your assistance."
+
+"This youngster speaks with a tone of authority," thought the
+aubergiste; but he bowed low and said nothing, whilst the young Count
+went on, "What is your name, my good friend?" demanded Charles of
+Montsoreau.
+
+"I am called Gamin la Chaise," replied the aubergiste with a smile.
+
+"Well then, Master la Chaise, as you see," he continued, "I have come
+hither to Paris on some business which required a certain degree of
+despatch, and have ventured with few attendants and little baggage. As
+however the business on which I did come will call me into scenes
+where some greater degree of splendour is necessary than perhaps
+either suits my taste or my general convenience, I must before I go
+forth to-morrow morning, have my train increased by at least six
+attendants, who are always to be found in Paris ready fashioned I
+know; and therefore I must beseech you to find them for me in proper
+time, having them equipped in my proper colours and livery, according
+as the same shall be described to you by my good friend Gondrin here.
+This is the first service you must do me, my good host."
+
+"Sir," replied the landlord, "the six lackeys shall be found and
+equipped in less time than would roast a woodcock. They are as plenty
+as sparrows or house-rats, and are caught in a moment."
+
+"Yes, but my good host," answered the Count, "there is one great
+difficulty which you will understand in a moment. Amongst the six, I
+want you to find me one honest man if it be possible."
+
+The landlord raised his shoulders above his ears, stuck out his two
+hands horizontally from his sides, and assumed an appearance of
+despair at the unheard of proposition of the Count, which had nearly
+brought a smile into the young nobleman's countenance. "That indeed,
+sir," he said, "is another affair; and I believe you might just as
+well ask me to catch you a wild roe in the garden of the Louvre, as to
+find you the thing that you demand. Nevertheless, labour and
+perseverance conquer all difficulties: and now I think of it, there is
+a youth who may answer your purpose; he knows Paris well too; but,
+strange to say, by some unaccountable fit of obstinacy, he would not
+tell a lie the other day to the Duke of Epernon in order to pass an
+item of the intendant's accounts, which would have come in for a good
+round sum every month if he would but have sworn that he used five
+quarts of milk every week to whiten the leather of his master's boots.
+He would not swear to this, and therefore the intendant discharged
+him, as he was a hired servant."
+
+"Let me have him; let me have him," cried the Count. "I will only ask
+him to tell the truth, and hope he may not find that so difficult."
+
+The Count then proceeded to speak about horses, and the host readily
+undertook, finding that money was abundant, to procure all the
+horse-dealers in Paris with their best steeds, before nine o'clock on
+the following day. The demeanour of the young nobleman, it must be
+confessed, puzzled the good aubergiste a good deal; and on going down
+to his own abode, he acknowledged to his wife, what he seldom
+acknowledged to any one, that he could not make his guest out at all.
+
+"I should think," he said, "from the plenty of money, and the
+expensive way in which he seems inclined to deal, that he was some
+wild stripling from the provinces, the son of a rich president or
+advocate lately dead, who came hither to call himself Count, and spend
+his patrimony in haste. But then, again, in some things he is as
+shrewd as an old hawk, and can jest withal about rogues and honest
+men, while he keeps his own secrets close, and lets no one ask him a
+question."
+
+On the following morning, at an early hour, the six attendants whom he
+had required were brought before him in array, exhibiting, with one
+exception, as sweet a congregation of roguish faces as the great
+capital of roguery ever yet produced. The countenance of the lad who
+had been discharged from the service of the Duke of Epernon pleased
+the young Count much, and without waiting till he was farther
+equipped, he put Gondrin under his charge for the purpose of notifying
+at the palace of the Louvre that he had arrived in the capital,
+bearing a letter from the Duke of Guise to the King, and of begging to
+have an hour named for its delivery. He found, however, with some
+mortification--for his eager spirit and his anxiety brooked no
+delay--that the King was at Vincennes; and his only consolation was
+that the communication which he had sent to the palace, bearing the
+fearful name of the Duke of Guise, was certain to be communicated to
+the monarch as soon as possible. Some short time was expended in the
+purchase of horses, and in making various additions to his own
+apparel, well knowing the ostentatious splendour of the court he was
+about to visit.
+
+We have indeed remarked that there was perhaps a touch of foppery in
+his own nature, though it was but slight. Nevertheless, splendour of
+appearance certainly pleased him, even while a natural good taste led
+him to admire, and to seek in his own dress, all that was graceful and
+harmonising, rather than that which was rich or brilliant.
+
+He was thus engaged, with several tradesmen around him, ordering the
+materials for various suits of apparel, which a tailor standing by
+engaged to produce in a miraculously short time, when the door of his
+apartment was opened, and a somewhat fat pursy man in black was
+admitted, entering with an air of importance, and receiving the lowly
+salutations of the good citizens who were present. Charles of
+Montsoreau gazed at him as a stranger; but the good man, with an air
+of importance, and an affectation of courtly breeding, besought him to
+finish what he was about, adding, that he had a word for his private
+ear which he would communicate afterwards. The young Count, without
+further ceremony, continued to give his orders, examining his new
+visiter from time to time, and with no very great feelings of
+satisfaction.
+
+The countenance was fat, reddish, and, upon the whole, stupid, with an
+air of indecision about it which was very strongly marked, though
+there was every now and then a certain drawing in of the fringeless
+eyelids round the small black eyes, which gave the expression of
+intense cunning to features otherwise dull and flat.
+
+When he had completely done with his mercers, and tailors, and
+cloth-makers--who had occupied him some time, for he did not hurry
+himself--Charles of Montsoreau dismissed them; and turning to his
+visiter said, "Now, sir, may I have the happiness of knowing your
+business with me?"
+
+"Sir," replied the other, rising and speaking in a low and
+confidential tone, "my name is Nicolas Poulain. I am Lieutenant of the
+Prévôt de l'Isle."
+
+He stopped short at this announcement; and the Count, after waiting a
+moment for something more, replied somewhat angrily, "Well, sir, I am
+very happy to hear it. I hope the office suits Nicolas Poulain, and
+Nicolas Poulain suits the office."
+
+A slight redness came into the man's face, rendering it a shade deeper
+than it ordinarily was; but finding it necessary to reply, as the
+Count, without sitting down, remained looking him stedfastly in the
+face, he answered, "I thought, sir,--indeed I took it for granted,
+sir, that you might have some communication for me from the Duke of
+Guise."
+
+"None whatever, sir," replied the young Count drily. "Have you any
+thing to tell me, Monsieur Nicolas Poulain, on the part of his
+Highness?"
+
+"No, sir, no," replied the other, attempting to assume an air of
+spirit which did not become him. "If you have not seen him more lately
+than I have, I am misinformed."
+
+"And pray, my good sir," demanded the Count, "who was it that took the
+trouble of informing you of any thing regarding me?"
+
+"That question is soon answered, sir," replied Nicolas Poulain,
+"though you seem to make so much difficulty in regard to answering
+mine. The person who informed me of your arrival was good Master
+Chapelle Marteau, who saw you last night at the gates when you
+entered."
+
+The name immediately struck the young Count as the same with one of
+those written on the letters which the Duke of Guise had given him to
+be used in case of need; but feeling how necessary it was to deal
+carefully with any of the faction of the Sixteen, to which both
+Chapelle Marteau and Nicolas Poulain belonged, he determined to say
+not one word upon the subject of his mission to any one. Much less,
+indeed, was he inclined to do so in the case of Nicolas Poulain, in
+whose face nature had stamped deceit and roguery in such legible
+characters, that the young Count, had he been forced to trust him with
+any secret, would have felt sure that the whole would be betrayed
+within an hour. All, then, that he replied to Master Nicolas Poulain
+was, that though he knew well the personage he mentioned by name, he
+had not the pleasure of his personal acquaintance.
+
+The answers were so short, the tone and manner so dry, that the worthy
+citizen found it expedient to make his retreat; and taking a short and
+unceremonious leave of one who had given him so cool a reception, he
+left the Count's apartments, and descended the stairs. The moment he
+was gone, some suspicion, which crossed the young cavalier's mind
+suddenly, made him call the page, and bid him follow his late visiter
+till he marked the house which Master Nicolas entered, taking care to
+remember the way back.
+
+The boy set off without a word, and returned in less than half an
+hour, informing the young Count that he had tracked Master Nicolas
+Poulain into a large house, which, on inquiry, he found to be the
+private dwelling of the Lord of Villequier.
+
+"The Duke is betrayed by some of these leaguers,--that is clear
+enough!" thought the young Count. "I have heard that many of his best
+enterprises have been frustrated by some unknown means. Who is there
+on earth that one can trust?" And leaning his head upon his hand he
+fell into deep thought, for to him the question of whom he could trust
+was at that moment one, not only entirely new, but one of deep and
+vital importance also. In his journey to Paris he had two great and
+all-important objects before him. To find out his brother, and, if
+possible, to persuade him to change a course of conduct which he felt
+to be dishonourable to himself and to his house, was one of these
+objects; and he doubted not that--if he could fully explain, and make
+the Marquis comprehend, his own conduct and his purposes--if he could
+show him that his only chance of obtaining the hand of Marie de
+Clairvaut was by attaching himself to the House of Guise, and that he
+had not a brother's rivalry to fear--Gaspar de Montsoreau might be
+induced to return to the party he had quitted, and not finally to
+commit himself to conduct so little to his own interest as that which
+he was pursuing.
+
+The other object, however, was much more important even than that, to
+the heart of Charles of Montsoreau; and the feelings which were
+connected with it--as so often happens with the feelings which affect
+every one in human life--were sadly at variance with other purposes.
+That object was to discover and guide to the court of the Duke of
+Guise, her whom he himself loved best on all the earth; to free her
+from the hands of the base and dangerous people into whose power she
+had fallen, and to leave her in security, if not in happiness.
+
+When he thought of seeing her again,--when he thought of passing days
+with her on the journey, of being her guide, her protector, her
+companion, the overpowering longing and thirst for such a joyful time
+shook and agitated him, made his heart thrill and his brain reel; and,
+bending down his face upon his hands, he gave himself up for a long
+time to whirling dreams of happiness. But then again he asked himself
+if, after such hours, he could ever quit her; if--following the firm
+purpose with which he had left Montsoreau--he could resist all
+temptation to seek her love further, and after plunging into the
+contentions of the day could dedicate his sword and his life, as he
+had intended, to warfare against the infidels in the order of St.
+John? There was a great struggle in his mind when he asked himself the
+question--a great and terrible struggle; but at length he answered it
+in the affirmative. "Yes," he said; "yes, I can do so!" But there was
+a condition attached to that decision. "I can do so," he said, "if I
+find that there is a chance of her wedding him; if I find that, in
+reality and truth, the first bright hopes I entertained were indeed
+fallacious."
+
+To say the truth, doubts had come over his mind as to whether he had
+construed Marie de Clairvaut's conduct rightly. Those doubts had been
+instilled into his imagination by the words of the Duke of Guise.
+Fancy lingered round them: shall we say that Hope, too, played
+with them? If she did so, it was against his will; for he was in
+that sad and painful situation where hope, reproved by the highest
+feelings of the heart, dare scarcely point to the objects of desire.
+Terrible--terrible is that situation where Virtue, or Honour, or
+Generosity bind down imagination, silence even hope, and shut against
+us the gates of that paradise we see, but must not enter. These,
+indeed, are the angels with the flaming swords.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau would not suffer himself to hope any thing that
+might make his brother's misery; but yet fancy would conjure up bright
+dreams; and knowing and feeling that if those dreams were realised, a
+complete change must come over his actions and his conduct, he saw
+that it would be needful to use guarded language to his brother,--or
+rather to use only the guard of perfect frankness. He resolved, then,
+to tell him fully his purposes, but to tell him at the same time the
+conditions under which those circumstances were to be executed.
+
+As he pondered, however, and thought over the changed demeanour of his
+brother, over the fiery impetuosity and impatience of his whole temper
+and conduct, he remembered that it might be with difficulty that he
+could obtain a hearing for a sufficient length of time to explain
+himself fully, and he consequently determined to write clearly and
+explicitly, so that there might be no error or mistake whatever, and
+that his conduct might remain clear and undoubted; and sitting down at
+once, he did as he proposed, that he might have the letter ready to
+send or to deliver as soon as he discovered where his brother was.
+
+The epistle was short, but it was distinct. He referred boldly and
+directly to his conversation with the Abbé de Boisguerin; he explained
+his conduct since; and he told his decided and unchangeable purpose of
+seeking in no way the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, unless he had
+reason to believe that the deep attachment which he felt and
+acknowledged towards her were already returned. He ended by exhorting
+his brother to do that which his pledges and professions to the Duke
+of Guise had bound him to do, to guide back Mademoiselle de Clairvaut
+himself to the protection of her uncle, and to avert the necessity of
+his seeking her and conducting her to Soissons.
+
+In thus letting his thoughts flow on in collateral channels from
+subject to subject, he had deviated from the original object of his
+contemplations, which was, the method to be pursued for instituting
+private inquiries throughout the city, in regard to the arrival, both
+of his brother and Mademoiselle de Clairvaut. Unacquainted with any
+persons in Paris, he knew not how to set on foot the inquiry; and his
+mind had just reverted to the subject, which appeared more and more
+embarrassing each time he thought of it, when he was informed, with an
+air of great importance, by the host, that Monsieur Chapelle Marteau
+demanded humbly to have the honour of paying him his respects.
+
+The Count ordered him instantly to be ushered in; and, during the
+brief moment that intervened before he appeared, considered hastily,
+whether he should employ this personage in any way in making the
+inquiries that were necessary. He knew that he was highly esteemed by
+the Duke of Guise; but yet it was evident that, by some of the members
+of, or the followers of, the League in Paris, the Duke was himself
+entirely deceived; and yet Charles of Montsoreau was more inclined to
+trust this man's sincerity than that of the person who had left him
+some short time before, inasmuch as the Duke had addressed one of the
+private letters we have before mentioned to him, while he had never
+named the other. The countenance and appearance of Chapelle Marteau
+confirmed any prepossession in his favour. It was quick, and
+intelligent, and frank, though somewhat stern; and he had moreover the
+air and bearing of a man in the higher ranks of life, although he held
+but an office which was then considered inferior, that of one of the
+Masters in the Chamber of Accounts.
+
+"I come, sir," he said, as soon as the first civilities were over, "to
+ask your pardon for some quickness on my part in refusing you
+admittance at the gates last night. The fact is, that bad-intentioned
+people have been endeavouring to introduce into the city of Paris,
+under the King's name, a multitude of soldiery, in twos and threes,
+for the purpose of overawing us in the pursuit of our rights and
+liberties."
+
+"Say no more, say no more, Monsieur Chapelle," said the Count; "I
+doubt not you had very good reasons for what you did."
+
+He then paused, leaving his companion to pursue the subject as he
+might think fit; and the leaguer seemed somewhat embarrassed as to how
+he should proceed, though his embarrassment showed itself in a
+different manner from that of Master Nicolas Poulain. At length he
+said, "I entertained some hope, sir, that you might bring me a
+communication from the Duke of Guise, as, when I had the honour of
+seeing him at Gonesse three days ago, he gave me the hope that he
+would write to me ere long."
+
+"No, Monsieur Chapelle," replied the Count deliberately; "I have no
+message for you. His Highness directed me indeed to apply to you in
+case of need; and I know that he has the highest esteem for you,
+believing you to be a zealous defender of our holy faith, and a man
+well worthy of every consideration;--but I have no present message to
+you from the Duke; and the case in which it may be necessary to apply
+to you for assistance, according to his Highness's direction, has not
+yet arrived."
+
+"Most delighted shall I be, my Lord[3] Count," replied the leaguer,
+"to afford you any aid or assistance or council in my power, both on
+account of his Highness the Duke of Guise and on your own. Might I ask
+what is the case foreseen, in which you are to apply to me?"
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 3: The word Monseigneur, my Lord, which in the days of Louis
+XIV. had become restricted to a very few high dignitaries, or only
+given to other noblemen by their own servants and tenantry, was in the
+reign of Henry III. commonly used to all high noblemen, and we find
+constantly titles addressed _A mon tres illustre et tres honoré
+Seigneur le Marquis_; or, _A l'illustre Seigneur, Monseigneur le Comte
+de_ ----.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+The Count smiled. "In case, Monsieur Chapelle," he said, "that I do
+not succeed in objects which the Duke has entrusted to me by other
+means, you shall know. At present, however, I have had no opportunity
+of ascertaining what may be necessary to be done, finding that the
+King is at Vincennes. In the mean time I am employing myself about
+some personal business of my own, which I am afraid is likely to give
+me trouble."
+
+He spoke quite calmly; but a look of intelligence came immediately
+over the countenance of Chapelle Marteau, and he said, "Perhaps I
+might be enabled to assist your Lordship. My knowledge of Paris, and
+all that is transacted therein, is very extensive."
+
+"You are very kind," replied the Count, "and I take advantage of your
+offer with the greatest pleasure. The matter is a very simple one. My
+elder brother, the Marquis de Montsoreau, set out some time ago to
+join the Duke of Guise, having under his charge and escort a young
+lady, named Mademoiselle de Clairvaut."
+
+"Daughter of the Duke of Guise's niece," said Chapelle Marteau with
+some emphasis.
+
+"I believe that is the relationship," answered the young nobleman.
+"But, however, the facts are these: I have reason to believe that my
+brother was interrupted in his journey by the attack of a party of
+reiters, and was obliged in consequence to put himself and
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut under the protection of a body of the King's
+troops coming to Paris. Now, my wish is, to ascertain whether he or
+any of his party, either separately or together, are now in Paris, and
+where they are to be found."
+
+The leaguer gazed in his face for a minute or two with an inquiring
+look, and then replied, "I can tell you at once, my Lord, that no
+considerable party whatever has entered the gates of Paris under the
+protection of the King's troops for the last ten days, no party of
+even ten in number having the ensigns of Valois having appeared during
+that time. But the party you mention may have come in by themselves
+without the King's troops; and I rather suspect that they have so
+done. However, I will let you know the exact particulars within four
+and twenty hours from this moment, and every other information that I
+can by any means glean regarding the persons you speak of; for I very
+well understand, my Lord, that there may be more intelligence required
+about them than you choose to ask for at once."
+
+The young Count smiled again, but merely replied, "Any information
+that you can obtain for me, Monsieur Chapelle, will be received by me
+most gratefully; and in the mean time will you do me the honour of
+partaking my poor dinner which is about to be served?"
+
+The leaguer, however, declined the high honour, alleging important
+business as his excuse; and, after having dined, the young Count rode
+out through the streets of Paris, endeavouring to make himself
+somewhat familiar with them, and feeling all those sensations which
+the sight of that great capital might well produce on one who had
+never beheld it before. On those sensations, however, we must not
+pause, as matters of more importance are before us. A couple of hours
+after nightfall he received a note to the following effect:--
+
+"The Marquis de Montsoreau, with a body of horsemen, bearing no
+badge or ensign, entered Paris yesterday at about four o'clock, and
+lodged at the Fleur-de-lis. He is not there now, however, and is
+supposed to have quitted Paris. Mademoiselle de Clairvaut is not known
+to have entered the capital; but a carriage, containing ladies and
+waiting-women, was escorted to Vincennes this morning by a body of
+troops of Valois. The name of one of the ladies was ascertained to be
+the Marquise de Saulny."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau received these tidings with a beating heart, and
+sleep did not visit his eyelids till the clock of a neighbouring
+church had struck five in the morning.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. IV.
+
+
+Dark heavy clouds hung over the world, and totally obscured the face
+of the sky; the morning was chill, the air keen, and the eye of the
+peasant was often turned up towards the leaden-looking masses of
+vapour above his head, as if to inquire whether their stores would be
+poured forth in lightning or in snow; and as Charles of Montsoreau
+rode on through the park to the Donjon of Vincennes, he felt the
+gloomy aspect of the whole scene more than he might have done at any
+other time.
+
+There, before his eyes, with the whole face of nature harmonising well
+with its dark and frowning aspect, rose the grey gigantic keep, which
+the vanquished opponent of Edward III., the rash and half-insane
+founder of the race of Valois, erected at an early period of his
+melancholy reign. Story above story, the large quadrangular mass, with
+its flanking towers, rose up till it seemed to touch the gloomy sky
+above; but in those days it had at least the beauty of harmony, for no
+one had added to the harsh and solemn features of the feudal
+architecture the gewgaw ornaments of a later age. The gallery of Marie
+de Medici was not built, and nothing was seen but the antique form of
+the Donjon itself, with the mass of walls surrounding its base with
+their flanking turrets, a pinnacle or two rising above--as if from
+some low Gothic building within the walls--and the still dark fosse
+surrounding the whole.
+
+We form but a faint idea to ourselves--a very very faint idea of the
+manners and customs of feudal times; but still less, perhaps, can we
+form any just idea of the every-day enormities, crimes, and vices,
+that were committed at the period we now speak of, and of what it was
+to live familiarly in the midst of such scenes, and to hear daily of
+such occurrences. The mind of most men got hardened, callous, or
+indifferent to acts of darkness and of shame, even if they did not
+commit them themselves; and the world of Paris heard with scarcely an
+emotion that this nobleman had been poisoned by another--that the hand
+of the assassin had delivered one high lord of this troublesome friend
+or that pertinacious enemy--that the husband had "drugged the posset"
+for the wife, or the wife for the husband--or that persons obnoxiously
+wise or virtuous disappeared within the walls of such places as
+Vincennes, and passed suddenly with their good acts into that oblivion
+which is the general recompense of all that is excellent upon earth.
+No one noted such deeds; the sword of justice started from the
+scabbard once or twice in a century, but that was all; and the world
+laughed as merrily--the jest and the repartee went on--sport, love,
+and folly revelled as gaily through the streets of Paris, as if it had
+been a world of gentleness, and security, and peace.
+
+Though of course Charles of Montsoreau felt in some degree the spirit
+of the day--though he thought it nothing at all extraordinary to be
+attacked by reiters in his own château, or stopped by fifty or sixty
+plunderers on the broad highway--though it seemed perfectly natural to
+him that man should live as in a state of continual warfare, always on
+his defence, yet the whole of his previous life having passed far from
+the daily occurrence of still more revolting scenes, in spots where
+calm nature and God's handiwork were still at hand to purify and heal
+men's thoughts, he had very different feelings in regard to the events
+and customs of the day from those which were generally entertained by
+the people of the metropolis. Thus, when he gazed up at the gloomy
+tower of Vincennes, and thought of the deeds which had been committed
+within its walls, together with the crimes and follies that were daily
+there enacted, a feeling of mingled horror and disgust took possession
+of his bosom; and had he not been impelled by a sense of duty, he
+would not have set his foot upon the threshold of those polluted
+gates.
+
+The order to appear before the King at Vincennes had been communicated
+to him early in the morning, and notice of his coming had been given
+to the officers at the gates of the castle. He was punctual to a
+moment at the appointed time, and was instantly led into the château,
+and conducted up a long, darksome, winding stone staircase in one of
+the towers. Everything took place almost in silence; few persons were
+to be seen moving about in the building; and, while winding up those
+stairs, nothing was heard but the footfalls of himself and the
+attendant who conducted him.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau certainly felt neither awe nor fear as he thus
+advanced, though some of the warnings of the Duke of Guise might cross
+his mind at the moment; but at the end of what seemed to be the first
+story, the attendant said, "Wait a moment;" and, pushing open a door,
+entered a room to the right. There was another door beyond, but both
+were left partly unclosed, and the previous silence was certainly no
+longer to be complained of, for such a jabbering, and screaming, and
+yelling, and howling, as was now heard, was probably never known in
+the palace of a king, before or since.
+
+Human sounds they seemed certainly not to be, and yet words in various
+languages were to be distinguished, so that conjecture was quite put
+at fault, till after an absence of several minutes the attendant
+returned, and, bidding the young nobleman follow him, led the way once
+more into this den of noise and confusion.
+
+The scene that then burst upon the eyes of Charles of Montsoreau was
+as curious as can well be conceived. Innumerable parrots, macaws, and
+cockatoos were ranged on perches and in cages along the sides of a
+large apartment, with intervals of monkeys and apes rattling their
+chains, springing forward at every object near them, mouthing,
+chattering, and writhing themselves into fantastic forms; six or seven
+small beautiful dogs of a peculiar breed were running about on the
+floor, snarling at one another, barking at the stranger, or teazing
+the other animals in the same room with themselves; baskets filled
+with litters of puppies were in every corner of the room; and several
+men and women were engaged in tending the winged and quadruped
+favourites of the King. Not only, however, were the regular attendants
+present, but, as one of the known ways to Henry's regard, a great
+number of other persons were always to be found busily engaged in
+tending the monkeys, parrots, and dogs. Amongst the rest here present,
+were no less than five dwarfs, four others being in actual attendance
+upon the King. None were above three feet and a half in height, and
+some were deformed and distorted in the most fearful manner, while one
+was perfectly and beautifully formed, and seemed to hold the others in
+great contempt. The voices of almost all of them, however, were
+cracked and screaming; and it was the sounds of their tongues, mingled
+with the yelping of the dogs, the chattering of the monkeys, and the
+various words repeated in different languages by the loquacious birds
+along the wall, which had made the Babel of sounds that reached the
+ears of Charles of Montsoreau while he stood without.
+
+Passing through this room, with the envious eyes of the dwarfs staring
+upon his fine figure, the young Count entered the chamber of the
+pages--where, as if for the sake of contrast, a number of beautiful
+youths were seen--and was thence led on into the royal apartments, in
+which every thing was calm splendour and magnificence. Here and there
+various officers of the royal household were found lounging away the
+idle hours as they waited for the King's commands; and at length, in
+an ante-room, the young Count was bade to wait again, while the
+attendant once more notified his coming to the King. He was scarcely
+detained a moment now, however; but, the door being opened, he was
+ushered into the monarch's presence.
+
+Henry on the present occasion presented an aspect different from that
+which the young Count had expected to behold. The Monarch had
+recalled, for a moment or two, the princely and commanding air of his
+youth, and received the young Count with dignity and grace. His person
+was handsome, his figure fine, and his dress in the most exquisite
+taste that it was possible to conceive. It was neither so effeminate
+nor so overcharged with ornament as it sometimes was; and the black
+velvet slashed and laced with gold, the toque with a single large
+diamond on his head, the long snowy-white ostrich feather, and the
+collar of one or two high orders round his neck, became him well, and
+harmonised with the air of dignity he assumed.
+
+There were two or three gentlemen who stood around him more gaudily
+dressed than himself, and amongst them was the Duke of Epernon, whom
+Charles of Montsoreau remembered to have seen at his father's château
+some years before. All, however, held back so as to allow the monarch
+a full view of the young cavalier, as he advanced.
+
+"You are welcome to Vincennes, Monsieur de Logères," said the King.
+"Our noble and princely cousin of Guise has notified to us that he has
+sent you to Paris on business of importance; and, having given you
+that praise which we are sure you must merit, has besought us to put
+every sort of trust and confidence in you, and to listen to you as to
+himself, while you speak with us upon the affairs which have brought
+you hither. We beseech you, therefore, to inform us of that which he
+has left dark, and tell us how we may pleasure our fair cousin, which
+is always our first inclination to do--the good of our state and the
+welfare of our subjects considered."
+
+"His Highness the Duke of Guise, Sire," replied Charles of Montsoreau,
+not in the slightest degree abashed by the many eyes that were fixed
+upon him, scrutinising his person and his dress in the most
+unceremonious manner, "his Highness the Duke of Guise, Sire, has sent
+me to your Majesty, to ask information regarding a young lady, his
+near relation, who, he has reason to believe, was protected by a body
+of your Majesty's troops in a situation of some difficulty, for which
+protection the Duke is most grateful. She was then, he understood,
+conducted to this your Majesty's castle of Vincennes, doubtless for
+the purpose of affording her a safe asylum till you could restore her
+to his Highness, who is her guardian."
+
+Henry turned with a sneering smile towards a dark but handsome man,
+with a somewhat sinister expression of countenance, on his left hand,
+saying, in an under tone, "Quick travelling, Villequier! to Soissons
+and back to Paris in four and twenty hours, ha! Had the swallow ever
+wings like rumour?"
+
+This was said affectedly aside, but quite loud enough for the young
+nobleman to hear the whole. He, of course, made no reply, as the words
+were not addressed to him; but waited, with his eyes bent down,
+apparently in thoughtful meditation, till the King should give him his
+answer.
+
+"You have given us, Monsieur le Comte de Logères," said the King, "but
+a faint idea of this business; and, as unhappily the commanders of our
+troops are but too little accustomed to afford us any very full
+account of their proceedings, we are ignorant of the occasion on which
+any one of them rendered this service to the young lady you mention."
+
+This affected unconsciousness, displayed absolutely in conjunction
+with a scarcely concealed knowledge of the whole affair, Charles of
+Montsoreau felt to be trifling and insulting: but he lost not his
+reverence for the kingly authority; and he replied, with every
+appearance of deference, "I had imagined, Sire, that the quick wings
+of rumour must have carried the whole particulars to your Majesty,
+otherwise I should have been more particular in my account. The
+service was rendered to the young lady very lately, between Jouarre
+and Gandelu. I am not absolutely aware of the name of the officer in
+command of the troops at the time, but one gentleman present bore the
+name of Colombel."
+
+"And pray what was the name of the young lady herself?" demanded the
+King, with a sneer. "The Duke of Guise has many she relations, as we
+sometimes find to our cost. It could not be our pretty, mild, and
+virtuous friend, the Duchess of Montpensier, nor the delicate and
+fair-favoured Mademoiselle de St. Beuve; for the one is staying in
+Paris in disobedience to the orders of the King, and the other is
+remaining there, waiting for the tender consolations of the Chevalier
+d'Aumale."
+
+The young Count turned somewhat red, both at the coarseness and the
+scornfulness of the King's reply. "The young lady," he answered,
+however, still keeping the same tone, "is named Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut, daughter of the late Count de Clairvaut."
+
+"Your first cousin, Villequier," said the King, turning to his
+minister. "You should know something of this affair?"
+
+"Not more than your Majesty," replied Villequier, bowing low, and
+perceiving very clearly that Henry had maliciously wished to embarrass
+him.
+
+The King smiled at the double-meaning answer, and then, turning to the
+young Count, replied, "Well, sir, you have fulfilled your mission, and
+may tell the Duke of Guise, our true and well-beloved cousin, that we
+will cause immediate inquiry and investigation to be made into the
+whole affair; and let him know the particulars as soon as we are
+sufficiently well-informed to speak upon it with that accuracy which
+becomes our character. You may retire."
+
+This was of course not the conclusion of the affair to which Charles
+of Montsoreau was inclined to submit; and it was evident to him that
+the King and his minions presumed upon his apparent youth and
+inexperience. But there was a firm decision in his character which
+they were not prepared for; and after pausing for a moment in thought,
+during which time the King's brows began to bend angrily upon him, he
+raised his eyes, looking Henry calmly and stedfastly in the face, and
+replying, "Your Majesty must pardon me if I do not take instant
+advantage of your permission to retire, as you have conceived a false
+impression when you imagine that my mission is fulfilled."
+
+The King looked with an air of astonishment, first to Epernon and then
+to Villequier: but the former turned away his head with a look of
+dissatisfaction; while the latter bit his lip, let his hand fall upon
+a jewelled dagger in his belt, and said nothing.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau, however, went on in the same calm but
+determined tone. "His Highness the Duke of Guise," he said, "directed
+me to inform your Majesty of the facts I have mentioned, and to beg in
+general terms information regarding them; but in case the general
+information that I obtained was not sufficiently accurate to enable me
+to write to him distinctly that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut is in this
+place, or in that place, he further directed me humbly to request that
+your Majesty would answer in plain terms the following plain
+questions:--Is Mademoiselle de Clairvaut in the château of Vincennes?
+Is she under the charge and protection of your Majesty? Does your
+Majesty know where she is?"
+
+"By the Lord that lives," exclaimed Henry, "this Duke of Guise chooses
+himself bold ambassadors to his King!"
+
+"Do you dare, malapert boy," exclaimed Villequier, "with that bold
+brow, to cross-question your sovereign?"
+
+"I do dare, sir," answered Charles of Montsoreau, "to ask my
+sovereign, in the name of the Duke of Guise, these plain questions,
+which, as he is a just and noble monarch, he can neither find any
+difficulty in answering, nor feel any anger in hearing."
+
+"And what if I refuse to answer, sir?" demanded the King. "What is to
+be the consequence then? Is the doughty messenger charged to make a
+declaration of war on the part of our obedient subject, the Duke of
+Guise?"
+
+The young Count was not prepared for this question, and hesitated how
+to answer it, though a full knowledge of how terrible the Duke of
+Guise was to the weak and effeminate monarch he addressed, brought a
+smile over his countenance, which had in reality more effect than any
+words he could have spoken. After a pause, however, he replied,--"Oh
+no, Sire. The Duke of Guise is, as you say, your Majesty's most
+devoted and obedient subject; and never conceiving it possible that
+you would refuse to answer his humble questions, he gave me no
+instructions what to say in a case that he did not foresee. I can only
+suppose," he added, with a low and reverent bow to the King, "that the
+Duke will be obliged to come to Paris himself to make those inquiries
+and investigations, concerning his young relation, in which I have not
+been successful."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau could see, notwithstanding the paint, which
+delicately furnished the King with a more stable complexion than his
+own, that at the very thought of the Duke of Guise coming to Paris the
+weak monarch turned deadly pale. The same signs also were visible to
+Villequier, who whispered, "No fear, Sire; no fear; he will not come!"
+
+The King answered sharply, however, and sufficiently loud for the
+young nobleman to hear, "We must give him no excuse, René! we must
+give him no excuse! Monsieur de Logères," he continued, putting on a
+more placable air than before, "we are glad to find that neither the
+Duke of Guise nor his envoy presumes to threaten us; and in
+consideration of the questions being put in a proper manner, we are
+willing to answer them to the best of our abilities."
+
+Villequier, at these words, laid his hand gently upon the King's
+cloak; but Henry twitched it away from his grasp with an air of
+impatience, and continued, "I shall therefore answer you frankly and
+freely, young gentleman; telling you that the Lady whom you are sent
+to seek is in fact not at Vincennes; nor, to the best of our knowledge
+and belief, in our good city of Paris; neither do we know or have any
+correct information of where she may be found, though it is not by any
+means to be denied that she has visited this our castle of Vincennes."
+
+The first part of the King's speech had considerably relieved the mind
+of Villequier; but when he proceeded to make the somewhat unnecessary
+admission, that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut had visited Vincennes, the
+minister again attempted to interrupt the King, saying, "You know,
+Sire, her pause at Vincennes was merely momentary, and absolutely
+necessary for those passports and safeguards without which it might be
+dangerous to travel, in the distracted state of the country."
+
+"Perfectly true," replied Henry: but the King's apprehension of the
+Duke of Guise appearing in Paris was much stronger than his respect
+for his minister's opinion; and he proceeded with what he had to say,
+in spite of every sign or hint that could be given him.
+
+"You must know, Monsieur de Logères," he said, "that, as I before
+observed, she did visit Vincennes for a brief space; but, there being
+something embarrassing in the whole business, we were, to say the
+truth--albeit not insensible to beauty--we were not at all sorry to
+see her depart."
+
+Although Charles of Montsoreau judged rightly that the abode of
+Vincennes, to the high and pure-minded girl whom he sought, could only
+have been one of horror, he could not conceive any thing in her
+situation which should have proved embarrassing to the King, and he
+answered bluntly, "Then your Majesty of course has caused her to be
+escorted in safety to the Duke of Guise, as the means of relieving
+yourself from all embarrassment concerning her."
+
+"Not so, not so, Monsieur de Logères," replied the King. "Young
+diplomatists and young greyhounds run fast and overleap the game. It
+so happens that there are various claims regarding the wardship of
+this young Lady. She has many relations, as near or nearer than the
+Duke of Guise. The care and guidance of her, too, under the
+authorisation of the Duke himself, has been claimed by a young
+nobleman whom you may have heard of, called the Marquis of
+Montsoreau;" and he fixed his eyes meaningly upon the young Count's
+face. "All these circumstances rendered the matter embarrassing; and
+as I was not called upon to decide the matter judicially; and the
+Lady, if not quite of an age by law to judge for herself, being very
+nearly so, I thought it far better to leave the whole business to her
+own discretion, and let her take what course she thought fit, offering
+her every assistance and protection in my power, which, however, she
+declined. You may therefore assure the Duke of Guise, on my part, that
+she is not at Vincennes, and that I am unacquainted with where she is
+at this moment. I now think, therefore, that all your questions are
+answered, and the business is at an end."
+
+"I fear I must intrude upon your Majesty still farther," replied the
+young Count; "for besides the letter from the Duke of Guise, which I
+have had the honour of delivering to your Majesty, he has also
+furnished me with this document, giving me full power and authority to
+inquire, seek for, and require, at the hands of any person in whose
+power she may be, the young Lady whom he claims as his ward. He has
+directed me to request your Majesty's approbation of the same,
+expressed by your signature to that effect, giving me authority to
+search for her in your name also, and to require the aid and
+assistance of all your officers, civil and military, in executing the
+said task."
+
+Henry looked both agitated and angry; and Villequier spoke for a
+moment to Epernon behind the King's back.
+
+"Monsieur de Logères," exclaimed the latter, taking a step forward,
+"this is too much. I can hardly suppose that his Highness the Duke of
+Guise has authorised you to make such a demand."
+
+"My Lord Duke of Epernon," replied the Count, "were it not that I hold
+in my hand the Duke's authority for that which I state, I would call
+upon you to put your insinuation in plainer terms, that I might give
+it the lie as plainly as I would do any other unjust accusation."
+
+The Duke turned very red; but he replied, "And you would be treated,
+sir Count, as a petty boy of the low nobility of this realm deserves,
+for using such language to one so much above yourself."
+
+"There is no one in France so much above myself, sir," replied the
+Count, gazing on him sternly, and with a look of some contempt, "as to
+dare to insult me with impunity; and though you be now High-admiral of
+France, Colonel-general of Infantry, Governor of half the provinces of
+this country, Duke, Peer, and hold many another rich and honourable
+office besides, I tell you, John of Nogaret, that when the Baron de
+Caumont dined at my father's table, he sat nearer the salt than
+perhaps now may suit the proud Duke of Epernon to remember."
+
+"Silence!" exclaimed the King, rousing himself for a moment from his
+effeminate apathy, while, for a brief space, an expression of power
+and dignity came over his countenance, such as that which had
+distinguished him while Duke of Anjou. "Silence, insolent boy!
+Silence, Epernon! I forbid you, on pain of my utmost displeasure, to
+take notice, even by a word, of what this young man has said. You were
+yourself wrong to answer for the King in the King's presence. The Duke
+of Guise shall have no just occasion to complain of us," he added, the
+brightness which had come upon him gradually dying away like the false
+promising gleam of sunshine which sometimes breaks for a moment
+through a rainy autumnal day, and fades away again as soon, amidst the
+dull grey clouds; "the Duke of Guise shall have no occasion to
+complain of us. We will give this young man the authority which he has
+so insolently demanded, to seek for Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, and
+having found her--if she have not joined the Duke of Guise long
+before--to escort her in safety to our cousin's care. But, Monsieur de
+Logères, you show your ignorance of every custom of the court and
+state, by supposing that the King of France can write down at the
+bottom of the powers given you by the Duke of Guise his name in
+confirmation of the same, like a steward at the bottom of a butcher's
+bill. The authority which we give you must pass through the office of
+our secretary of state, and it shall be drawn out and sent to you as
+speedily as possible. I think that Monsieur de Villequier already
+knows where to send this authority. You may now retire; and rest
+assured that it shall reach you as soon as possible. At the same time
+we pardon you for your conduct in this presence, which much needs
+pardon, though it does not merit it."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau bowed low, and retired from the King's presence,
+fully convinced that Henry was deceiving him; that he knew, or, at all
+events, had every means of judging, where Marie de Clairvaut was; and
+that he had not the slightest intention of sending him the
+authorisation he had promised, unless absolutely driven to do so.
+
+The moment that the young Count had quitted the presence, the King
+turned angrily to Villequier, exclaiming, "Are you mad, Villequier, to
+risk bringing that fiery and ambitious pest upon us? 'Tis but four
+days ago he was within ten miles of Paris!"
+
+"Pshaw, Sire!" replied Villequier; "there is not the slightest chance
+of his coming. Did I not tell you when he was at Gonesse that I would
+find means to make him run like a frightened hare back again to
+Soissons? I fear your Majesty has ruined all our plans by promising
+this authority to that malapert youth, who doubtless already knows, or
+easily divines, that he is deceived."
+
+"I have not deceived him," said the King: "I told him the girl was not
+at Vincennes; nor is she. I told him that I did not know where she is
+at this moment; nor do I; for she may be three miles on this side of
+Meulan, or three miles on that, for aught I know. It depends upon the
+quickness of the horses, and the state of the roads. I promised him
+the authority to seek her; and he shall have it in good due form, if
+he live long enough, and wait in Paris a sufficient time."
+
+"If he have it not within three days," replied Villequier, "be you
+sure, Sire, that he will write to the Duke of Guise."
+
+"But, Villequier," said the King in a soft tone, "could you not find
+means to prevent his making use of pen and ink to such bad purposes?
+In short, friend René, it is altogether your affair. You seem to think
+that the fact of this girl falling into our hands is quite the
+discovery of a treasure which may fix on our side this young Marquis
+of Montsoreau and the crafty Abbé that you talk of, and I don't know
+how many more people besides. Now I told you from the beginning that
+you should manage it all yourself: so look to it, good Villequier;
+look to it."
+
+"He has let me manage it all myself, truly!" said Villequier, in a low
+tone, "But I wish to know more precisely, your Majesty," he added
+aloud, "what am I to do with this youth and the girl? Is he to have
+the authorisation, or not? Am I, or am I not, to give her up when he
+demands her?"
+
+"Now, good faith," replied the King, "would not one think, Epernon,
+that our well-beloved friend and minister here was a mere novice out
+of a convent of young girls, a tender and scrupulous little thing,
+thinking evil, in every stray look or soft word addressed to her. He
+who has dealt with so many in his day, diplomatists and warriors and
+statesmen, has not wit enough to deal with a raw boy, whom, doubtless,
+our fair and crafty cousin of Guise has sent upon a fool's errand to
+get him out of the way."
+
+"Certainly," replied the Duke of Epernon, "our wise friend Villequier
+seems to be somewhat prudent and cautious this morning. The young lady
+is in your hands, I think, Villequier; is she not? and you have sent
+her off into Normandy, I think you told me, with an escort of fifty of
+your archers. She goes there, doubtless, as his Majesty has said, with
+her own will and consent, and by her own choice, for there is a soft
+persuasiveness in fifty archers which it is very difficult for a
+woman's heart to resist; and, doubtless, by the same cogent arguments,
+you will induce her to marry whom you please. Come, tell us who it is
+to be; the hand of a rich heiress to dispose of, may be made a
+profitable thing, under such management as yours, Villequier."
+
+"I have not discovered the philosopher's stone, like you, Monsieur
+d'Epernon," replied the other.
+
+The King laughed gaily, for Epernon's extraordinary cupidity was no
+secret even to the monarch that fed it. But the Duke was proof to all
+jest upon that score; and looking at Villequier with the same sort of
+musing expression which he had before borne, he repeated his question,
+saying, "Come, come, disinterested chevalier, tell us to whom do you
+intend to give her?"
+
+"Perhaps to my own nephew," replied the other. "What think you of
+that, Monsieur le Duc?"
+
+The brow of Epernon grew clouded in a moment. "I think," he said,
+"that you will not do it, for two reasons: in the first place, you
+destine your nephew for your daughter Charlotte."
+
+"Not I," replied the Marquis; "I never dreamt of such a thing. She
+shall wed higher than that, or not at all. But what is your second
+reason, Monsieur d'Epernon?"
+
+"Because you dare not," replied the Duc d'Epernon: and he added,
+speaking in a low tone, "You dare not, Villequier, mingle your race
+with that of Guise. The moment you do, your object will be clear, and
+your ruin certain."
+
+"It is a curious thing, Sire," said Villequier, turning to the King
+with a smile, "it is a curious thing to see how my good Lord of
+Epernon grudges any little advantage to us mean men. However, to set
+his Grace's mind at ease, I neither destine Mademoiselle de Clairvaut
+for one nor for the other; but I think she may prove a wonderful good
+bait for the wild young Marquis of Montsoreau. By the promise of her
+hand, as far as my interest and influence is concerned, he will not
+only be bound to your Majesty's cause on every occasion, but will
+exert himself more zealously and potently for that, than any other
+inducement could lead him to do. Even if he should fail in the
+trial--for we must acknowledge that he shows himself somewhat unstable
+in his purposes--he will, at all events, have so far committed himself
+as to give your Majesty good cause for confiscating all his land,
+cutting down all his timber, and seizing upon all his wealth. However,
+I must think, in the first place, of how to deal with this brother of
+his."
+
+"No very difficult task, I should judge," said the Duke of Epernon,
+"for one so practised in the art of catching gudgeons as you,
+Villequier."
+
+"I don't know that," answered Villequier; "I would fain detach that
+youth, also, from the Guises. You see, most noble Duke, I am thinking
+of the King's interest all the time, while you are thinking of your
+own. However, I must find a way to manage him, for, as their wonderful
+friend and tutor, this wise Abbé de Boisguerin, admitted to me last
+night, there are three means all powerful in dealing with our
+neighbours--love, interest, and ambition; and we might thus exemplify
+it,--the King would do any thing for the first, the Duke of Epernon
+any thing for the second, and his Highness of Guise any thing for the
+third."
+
+"There are two other implements frequently used, which I wonder
+Monsieur de Villequier did not add," said the Duke, "as I rather
+expect he may have to use one or other of them on the present
+occasion; and men say he is fully as skilful in using them as in
+employing love, interest, or ambition, for his ends."
+
+"Pray what are those?" demanded Villequier, somewhat sharply.
+
+"Vicenza daggers," replied the Duke of Epernon, "and wine that splits
+a Venice glass!"
+
+"Come, come, Epernon," cried the King, "you and Villequier shall not
+quarrel. Come away from him, come away from him, or you will be using
+your daggers on each other presently:" and, throwing his arm
+familiarly round his neck, he drew the Duke away.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. V.
+
+
+Charles of Montsoreau rode homeward in painful and anxious thought: he
+had flattered himself vainly, before he had proceeded to Vincennes,
+that the redoubted name of Henry of Guise would be found fully
+sufficient immediately to cause the restoration of Marie de Clairvaut
+to him, who had naturally a right to protect her. It less frequently
+happens that youth fails to reckon upon the fiery contention it is
+destined to meet with from adversaries, than that it miscalculates the
+force of the dull and inert opposition which circumstances continually
+offer to its eager course, throwing upon it a heavy, slow, continual
+weight, which, like a clog upon a powerful horse, seems but a nothing
+for the moment, but in the end checks its speed entirely. None knew
+better than Henry III. that it is by casting small obstacles in the
+way of impetuous youth, that we conquer and tame it sooner than by
+opposing it; and such had been his purpose with Charles of Montsoreau.
+
+In his idle carelessness he cared but little what became of
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, or into whose hands she fell. He was
+willing to countenance and assist the politic schemes of his favourite
+Villequier; and cared not, even in the slightest degree, whether that
+personage employed poison or the knife to rid himself of the young
+Count of Logères, provided always that he himself had nothing to do
+with it. The only part that he was inclined to act was to thwart the
+Duke's young envoy by obstacles and long delays; and this he had
+suffered to become so far evident to Charles of Montsoreau, that he
+became angry and impatient at the very prospect before him. He
+doubted, however, whether it would be right to send off a courier with
+this intelligence immediately to the Duke of Guise, or to wait for two
+or three days, in order to see whether the powers promised him were
+effectually granted; and he was still pondering the matter, while
+riding through the streets of Paris, when, in passing by a large and
+splendid mansion in one of the principal streets, he caught a glimpse
+of two figures disappearing through the arched portal of the building.
+The faces of neither were visible to him; their figures only for a
+moment, and that at a distance. But he felt that he could not be
+mistaken--that all the thoughts and feelings and memories of youth
+could not so suddenly, so magically, be called up by the sight of any
+one but his brother,--and if so, that the other was the Abbé de
+Boisguerin.
+
+"Whose is that house?" he exclaimed aloud, turning to his attendants.
+
+"That of Monsieur René de Villequier," replied the page instantly;
+and, springing from his horse at the gate, the young Count knocked
+eagerly for admission. The portals were instantly thrown open, and a
+porter in crimson, with a broad belt fringed with gold, appeared in
+answer to the summons.
+
+"I think," said the young Count, "that I saw this moment the Marquis
+de Montsoreau and the Abbé de Boisguerin pass into this house."
+
+The porter looked dull, and shook his head, replying, "No, sir; nobody
+has passed in here but two of my noble Lord's attendants--the old Abbé
+Scargilas, and Master Nicolas Prevôt, who used formerly to keep the
+Salle d'Armes, opposite the kennel at St. Germain."
+
+Although Charles of Montsoreau knew the existence and possibility of
+such a thing as the lie circumstantial, yet the coolness and readiness
+of the porter surprised him. "Pray," he said, after a moment's pause,
+"is there any such person as either Monsieur de Montsoreau or the Abbé
+de Boisguerin dwelling here at present?"
+
+"None, sir," replied the man. "There is no one here but the attendants
+of my Lord, who is at present absent with the King."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau would have given a good deal to have searched
+the house from top to bottom; but as it would not exactly do to storm
+the dwelling of René de Villequier, he rode on, no less convinced than
+ever that his brother was at that moment in the dwelling of the
+minister.
+
+This conviction determined his conduct at once. That his brother was
+in Paris, and in the hands of the most dangerous and intriguing man of
+that day, he had no doubt; and it seemed to him also clear, that
+schemes were going on and contriving, of which the obstacles and
+delays thrown in his way might be, perhaps, a part. To what they
+tended he could not, of course, tell directly; but he saw that the
+only hope of frustrating them lay in exertion without the loss of a
+moment, and he accordingly dispatched his faithful attendant Gondrin
+to Soissons as soon as he reached the inn.
+
+We must follow, however, for a moment, the two persons whom the young
+Count had seen enter the hotel of Villequier, and accompany them at
+once into the chamber to which they proceeded after passing the
+portal. It was a splendid cabinet, filled with every sort of rare and
+costly furniture, which was displayed to the greater perfection by the
+dark but rich tapestry that covered the walls. Another larger room
+opened beyond, and through the door of that again, which was partly
+open, a long suite of bed-rooms and other apartments were seen, with
+different rich and glittering objects placed here and there along the
+perspective, as if for the express purpose of catching the eye.
+
+Into one of the large arm-chairs which the cabinet contained, the
+Marquis of Montsoreau threw himself as if familiar with the scene.
+"Villequier is long," he said, speaking to the Abbé. "He promised to
+have returned before this hour."
+
+"Impatience, Gaspar, impatience," replied the Abbé, "is the vice of
+your disposition. How much have you lost already by impatience? Was it
+not your impatience which hurried me forward to represent his own
+situation and that of yourself, to your brother Charles, which drove
+him directly to the Duke of Guise? Was it not your impatience which
+made you speak words of love to Marie de Clairvaut before she was
+prepared to hear them, drawing from her a cold and icy reply? Was it
+not your impatience that made us leave behind at Provins all the tired
+horses and one half of the men, rather than wait a single day to
+enable them to come on with us; and did not that very fact put us
+almost at the mercy of the reiters, and give your brother an
+opportunity of showing his gallantry and skill at our expense?"
+
+"It is all true, my friend; it is all true," replied the Marquis. "But
+in regard to my speaking those fiery words to Marie de Clairvaut, how
+could I help that? Is it possible so to keep down the overflowing
+thoughts of our bosom as to prevent their bursting forth when the
+stone is taken off from the fountain, and when the feelings of the
+heart gush out, not as from the spring of some ordinary river, but,
+like the waters of Vaucluse, full, powerful, and abundant even at
+their source."
+
+"It was that I wished you to guard against," replied the Abbé. "Had
+you appeared less to seek, you would have been sought rather than
+avoided. It may be true, Gaspar, what authors have said, that a woman,
+like some animals of the chase, takes a pleasure in being pursued; but
+depend upon it, if she do so, she puts forth all her speed to insure
+herself against being caught. Unless you are very sure of your own
+speed and strength, you had better steal quietly onward, lest you
+frighten the deer. Had she heard much from my lips, and from those of
+her good but weak friend Madame de Saulny, of your high qualities, and
+of all those traits in your nature calculated to captivate and attract
+such a being as herself, while you seemed indifferent and somewhat
+cool withal, every thing--good that is in her nature would have joined
+with every thing that is less good--the love of high qualities and of
+manly daring would have combined with vanity and caprice to make her
+seek you, excite your attention, and court your love."
+
+"I have never yet seen in her," said the young Marquis, "either vanity
+or caprice; and besides, good friend, such things to me at least are
+not matters of mere calculation. I act upon impulses that I cannot
+resist. Mine are feelings, not reasonings: I follow where they lead
+me, and even in the pursuit acquire intense pleasure that no reasoning
+could give."
+
+"True," replied the Abbé, bending down his head and answering
+thoughtfully. "There is a great difference between your age and mine,
+Gaspar. You are at the age of passions, and at that period of their
+sway when they defeat themselves by their own intensity. I had
+thought, however, that my lessons might have taught you, my counsel
+might have shown you, that with any great object in view it is
+necessary to moderate even passion in the course, in order to succeed
+in the end."
+
+"But there is joy in the course also," exclaimed Gaspar de Montsoreau.
+"Think you, Abbé, that even if it were possible to win the woman we
+love by another's voice, we could lose the joy of winning her for
+ourselves--the great, the transcendant joy of struggling for her
+affection, even though it were against her coldness, her indifference,
+or her anger?"
+
+"I think, Gaspar," replied the Abbé, "that if to a heart constituted
+as yours is, there be added a mind of equal power, nothing--not even
+the strongest self-denial--will be impossible for the object of
+winning her you love. But I am not a good judge of such matters," he
+continued with a slight smile curling his lip--a smile not altogether
+without pride. "I am no judge of such matters. The profession which I
+have chosen, and followed to a certain point, excludes them from my
+consideration. All I wish to do in the present instance is to warn
+you, Gaspar, against your own impetuosity in dealing with this
+Villequier. Be warned against that man! be careful! Promise him
+nothing; commit yourself absolutely to nothing, unless upon good and
+sufficient proof that he too deals sincerely with you. He is not one
+to be trusted, Gaspar, even in the slightest of things; and promise me
+not to commit yourself with him in any respect whatsoever."
+
+"Oh, fear not, fear not," replied the Marquis. "In this respect at
+least, good friend, no passions hurry me on. Here I can deal calmly
+and tranquilly, because, though the end is the same, I have nothing
+but art to encounter, which may always be encountered by reason. When
+I am with her, Abbé, it is the continual strife of passion that I have
+to fear; at every word, at every action, I have to be upon my guard;
+and reason, like a solitary sentinel upon the walls of a city attacked
+on every side, opposes the foes in vain at one point, while they pour
+in upon a thousand others."
+
+While he was yet speaking, a servant with a noiseless foot entered the
+room, and in a low sweet tone informed the Marquis, that Monsieur de
+Villequier had just returned from Vincennes, and desired earnestly to
+speak with him, for a moment, _alone_ in his own cabinet. The word
+"alone" was pronounced more loud than any other, though the whole was
+low and tuneful; for Villequier used to declare that he loved to have
+servants with feet like cats and voices like nightingales.
+
+The Abbé marked that word distinctly, and was too wise to make the
+slightest attempt to accompany his former pupil. The Marquis, however,
+did not remark it; and, perhaps a little fearful of his own firmness
+and skill, asked his friend to accompany him. But the Abbé instantly
+declined. "No, Gaspar," he said, "no; it were better that you should
+see Monsieur Villequier alone. I will wait for you here;" and, turning
+to the table, he took up an illuminated psalter, and examined the
+miniatures with as close and careful an eye as if he had been deeply
+interested in the labours of the artist.
+
+He saw not a line which had there been drawn; but after the Marquis
+had followed the servant from the room he muttered to himself, "So,
+Monsieur de Villequier, you think that I am a mean man, who may be
+over-reached with impunity and ease? You know me not yet, but you
+shall know me, and that soon." And laying down the psalter, he took up
+another book of a character more suited to his mind at the moment, and
+read calmly till his young friend returned, which was not for near an
+hour.
+
+In the mean time the Marquis had proceeded to the cabinet of
+Villequier, who, the moment he saw him, rose from the chair in which
+he had been seated busily writing, and pressed him warmly by the hand.
+
+"My dear young friend," he said, "one learns to love the more those in
+whose cause one suffers something; and, since I saw you, I have had to
+fight your battle manfully."
+
+"Indeed! and may I ask, my Lord, with whom?" demanded the young
+Marquis.
+
+"With many," answered Villequier. "With the King,--with Epernon,-with
+your own brother."
+
+"With my brother?" exclaimed Gaspar of Montsoreau, while the blood
+rushed up in his face. "Does he dare to oppose me after all his loud
+professions of disinterestedness and generosity? But where is he, my
+Lord? Leave me to deal with him. Where does he dwell? Is he in Paris?"
+
+Villequier smiled, but so slightly, that it did not attract the eyes
+of his companion. That smile, however, was but the announcement of a
+sudden thought that had passed through his own mind.
+
+Shrewd politicians like himself, fertile in all resources, and
+unscrupulous about any, feel a pride and pleasure in their own
+abundance of expedients, which makes the conception of a new means to
+their end as pleasant as the finding of a diamond. On the present
+occasion the subtle courtier thought to himself with a smile, as he
+saw the angry blood mount into the cheek of the young Marquis of
+Montsoreau at the very mention of his brother's name,--"Here were a
+ready means of ridding ourselves, were it needful, of one if not both
+of these young rash-headed nobles, by setting them to cut each other's
+throats."
+
+It suited not his plan however at the moment to follow out the idea,
+and he consequently replied, "No, no, Monsieur de Montsoreau. I should
+take no small care, seeing how justly offended you are with your
+brother, to prevent your finding out his abode, as I know what
+consequences would ensue. But in all probability, by this time, he has
+gone back to the Duke of Guise, having with difficulty been
+frustrated, for the King was much inclined to yield to his demands."
+
+"What did he demand?" exclaimed the Marquis vehemently. "What did he
+dare to demand, after the professions he made to me at La Ferté?"
+
+"That matters not," answered Villequier. "Suffice it that his demands
+were such as would have ruined all your hopes for ever."
+
+"But why should the King support his demands," said the Marquis, "when
+well assured of how attached he is to the great head of the League
+that tyrannises over him?"
+
+"Hush, hush!" said Villequier. "The League only tyrannises so long as
+the King chooses. Henry wields not the sword at present, but the sword
+is still in his hands to strike when he thinks fit. But to answer your
+question, my young friend. The King knows well, as you say, that your
+brother is attached to the Duke of Guise: but you must remember at the
+same time, Monsieur de Montsoreau, that as yet he is not fully assured
+that you are attached to himself. Nay, hear me out, hear me out! The
+King's arguments, I am bound to say, were not only specious but
+reasonable. He had to consider, on the one hand, that the Duke of
+Guise, with whom it is his strongest interest to keep fair, demands
+this young lady as his ward, which, according to the laws of the land,
+Henry has no right to refuse. Your brother, on the Duke's part,
+threatens loudly; and what have I to oppose to a demand to which it
+seems absolutely necessary in good policy that the King should yield?
+Nothing; for, on the other hand, Henry affirms that he can be in no
+degree sure of yourself; that your family for long have shown
+attachment for the House of Guise; that you yourself were upon your
+march to join the Duke, when this lady, falling into the hands of the
+King's troops, induced you to abandon your purpose for the time; but
+that the moment he favours your suit, or gives his consent to your
+union with her, you may return to your former attachments, and
+purchase the pardon and good will of the Duke of Guise by returning to
+his faction."
+
+"I am incapable of such a thing!" exclaimed the Marquis vehemently:
+but the recollection of his abandonment of the Duke's party came over
+him with a glow of shame, and he remained for a moment or two without
+making any farther reply, while Villequier was purposely silent also,
+as if to let what he had said have its full effect. At length he
+added:
+
+"I believe you are incapable of it, Monsieur de Montsoreau, and so I
+assured the King. He, however, still urged upon me that I had no
+proof, and that you had taken no positive engagement to serve his
+Majesty. All the monarch's arguments were supported by Epernon, who, I
+believe, wishes for the hand of the young lady for some of his own
+relations, in order to arrange for himself such an alliance with the
+House of Guise as may prove a safeguard to him in the hour of need."
+And again Villequier smiled at his own art in turning back upon the
+Duke of Epernon the suspicion which the Duke had expressed in regard
+to himself.
+
+The warning of the Abbé de Boisguerin, however, at that moment rang in
+the ears of Gaspar of Montsoreau, and he roused himself to deal with
+Villequier not exactly as an adversary, but certainly less as a
+friend.
+
+"In fact, Monsieur de Villequier," he said, "his Majesty wishes that I
+should devote my sword and fortune to his service; and I am to
+understand, through you, that he holds out to me the hope of obtaining
+the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut in return. Now, it was not at
+all my purpose to take any part in the strifes that are agitating the
+country at this moment. I am neither Leaguer nor Huguenot, nor Zealot
+nor Moderate; and, though most loyal, not what is called Royalist. I
+was merely conducting Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, with a very small
+force, not the tenth part of what I can bring into the field at a
+week's notice, when the events took place which brought me to Paris.
+Now, Monsieur, if the King does not rest satisfied with my expressions
+of loyalty, and desires some express and public engagement to his
+service, I see no earthly reason why I should rest satisfied with mere
+vague hopes of obtaining the hand of the lady I love; and though, of
+course, I cannot deal with his Majesty upon equal terms, yet I must
+demand some full, perfect, and permanent assurance that I am not to be
+disappointed in my hopes, before I draw my sword for one party or
+another."
+
+Villequier gazed thoughtfully in his face for a moment or two, biting
+his under lip, and saying internally, "The Abbé de Boisguerin--this
+comes from him." His next thought was, "Shall I endeavour to pique
+this stripling upon his honour, and generosity, and loyalty, and all
+those fine words?" But he rejected the idea the moment after thinking.
+"No; that would do better with his brother. When a man boldly leaps
+over such things, it is insulting him to talk about them any more."
+
+And after a moment's farther thought, he replied, "It is all very
+fair, Monsieur de Montsoreau, that you should have such assurances;
+though, if we were not inclined to deal straightforwardly with you in
+the matter, we might very very easily refuse every thing of the kind,
+and leave you not in the most pleasant situation."
+
+"How so?" demanded the Marquis with some alarm. "How so?"
+
+"Easily, my dear young friend," replied Villequier. "Thus: by
+informing you that the King could give you no such assurance--which,
+indeed, is nominally true, though not really--and by showing you, at
+the same time, that as the young lady is in his Majesty's hands, and
+he is determined not to give her up to the Duke of Guise or to any
+body else, but some tried and faithful friend, the only means by which
+you can possibly obtain her is by serving the King voluntarily, in the
+most devoted manner. Suppose this did not suit you, what would be your
+resource? If you go to the Duke of Guise, you find the ground occupied
+before you by your brother, and the Duke accuses you of having
+betrayed his young relation into the hands of the King--perhaps sends
+you under a guard into Lorraine, and has you tried, and your head
+struck off. Such things have happened before now, Monsieur de
+Montsoreau. At all events, not the slightest chance exists of your
+winning the fair heiress of Clairvaut from him. But, even if you did
+gain his consent, she is still in the hands of the King, who would
+certainly not give her up to one who had proved himself a determined
+enemy."
+
+Gaspar of Montsoreau looked down, with somewhat of a frowning brow,
+upon the ground. He saw, indeed, that the alternative was one that he
+could not well adopt; and, from the showing of Villequier, he fancied
+himself of less power and consequence in the matter than he really
+was. He resolved, however, not to admit the fact if he could help it.
+
+"Suppose, Monsieur de Villequier," he said, "that the League were to
+prevail, and to force his Majesty to concede all the articles of
+Nancy, think you not that one thing exacted from him might well be, to
+yield Mademoiselle de Clairvaut to her lawful guardian?"
+
+"It might," answered Villequier immediately. "But then I come in. The
+question of guardianship has never been tried between the Duke and
+myself. I stand as nearly related to her as he does; and I should
+instantly bring the cause before the Parliament, demanding that the
+young lady should remain in the hands of the King as suzerain till the
+cause is decided, which might be this time ten years."
+
+"I did not know," said the young nobleman, "that the relationship was
+so near, though I was aware that Clairvaut is the family name of
+Villequier. However, sir, there is yet another alternative. Suppose I
+were to keep the sword in the sheath, and retire once more to
+Montsoreau."
+
+"Why there, then," replied Villequier with a slight sneer, "you might
+happily abide, watching the progress of events, till either the
+royalist party or the League prevailed; and then, as chance or
+accident might will it, see the hand of the fair Lady rewarding one of
+the King's gallant defenders, or bestowed by the Duke of Guise upon
+his brave and prudent partisan, the Count of Logères."
+
+He paused for a moment or two, to let all he said have its full
+effect, and then added, in a familiar tone, "Come, come, Monsieur de
+Montsoreau, see the matter in its true light. There is no possible
+chance of your obtaining the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, except
+by attaching yourself to the King's service, and defending the royal
+cause with the utmost zeal. If you persist in doing so simply as a
+voluntary act to be performed or remitted at pleasure, be you sure
+that as you make the King depend upon your good will for your services
+towards him, so will you be made to depend upon his good will, his
+caprices if you like, for the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut. If,
+however, on the contrary, you frankly and generously determine to take
+service with the King, and bind yourself irrevocably to his cause, I
+do not scruple to promise you, under his hand, his full consent to
+your union with Mademoiselle de Clairvaut. I will give you the same
+consent under mine, assuming the title of her guardian. Your marriage
+cannot, of course, take place till the great struggle that is now
+impending is over. In a few months, nay, in a few weeks, the one party
+or the other--who are now directing their efforts against each other,
+instead of turning, as they ought, their united forces against the
+common enemies of our religion--must have triumphed over its
+adversary. I need not tell you which I feel, which I know, must be
+successful; but your part will now be, to exert yourself to the
+utmost, to traverse the country with all speed to Montsoreau, to raise
+every soldier that you can, and to gather every crown that you can
+collect, to join the King with all your forces, wherever he may be,
+and, by your exertions, to render that result certain, which is,
+indeed, scarcely doubtful even as it is; remembering that upon the
+destruction of the Duke of Guise's party, and upon the overthrow of
+his usurped and unreasonable power, depends not only the welfare of
+your King and master, but the realisation of your best and sweetest
+hopes."
+
+"You grant all that I demand, Monsieur de Villequier," replied Gaspar
+of Montsoreau. "All I wish is the King's formal consent in writing,
+and yours, to my marriage with Marie de Clairvaut, as the condition of
+my absolute and public adhesion to the royal cause."
+
+"I know," replied Villequier, "that I grant all you demand, and I was
+prepared to do so from the first, only we were led into collateral
+discussions as we went on. You will, of course, take an oath to the
+King's service, and confirm it under your hand."
+
+"We will exchange the papers, Monsieur de Villequier," replied the
+Marquis, thinking himself extremely cautious. "But now, pray tell me,
+how ended the discussion with my brother?"
+
+"The only way that it could end," replied Villequier, "when all
+parties were determined to evade his demand. The King, you may easily
+suppose, was not inclined to give the young heiress of Clairvaut to
+any of the partisans of an enemy. Epernon knew well that if the hand
+of a Guise were upon her shoulder, the ring of a La Valette would
+never pass upon her finger; and I, when last we met, had half given my
+promise to you, and was, at all events, determined that the question
+of wardship should be settled before I parted with her. The King,
+therefore, evaded the demands of the young Count, though he was not a
+little inclined to yield to them at one time, in order to pacify the
+Duke of Guise. However, I took the brunt of the business upon myself,
+and underwent the hot indignation of your brother, who thought to find
+in me an Epernon, or a Montsoreau, who would measure swords with him
+for an angry word."
+
+"They had better be skilful as well as brave," said the young Marquis
+thoughtfully, "who measure swords with my brother Charles."
+
+"Indeed!" said Villequier, "is he then so much a master of his
+weapon?"
+
+"The most perfect I ever beheld--ay, more skilful now, than even our
+friend the Abbé de Boisguerin; though I have heard that, some years
+ago, when the Abbé was studying at Padua, he challenged the famous
+Spanish sword-player, Bobéz, to display his skill with him in the
+schools, in single combat, and hit him three times upon the heart
+without Bobéz touching him once."
+
+"I remember, I remember!" cried Villequier. "The master broke the
+buttons from the swords in anger, and the student ran him through the
+body at the first pass, whereof he died within five minutes after in
+the Deacon's chamber."
+
+"I never heard that he died," replied the Marquis with some surprise.
+
+"He did indeed, though," replied Villequier with a meditative air.
+"And so this was the Abbé de Boisguerin. One would have thought the
+army, rather than the church, would have called such a spirit to
+itself."
+
+"I know not," replied the young Marquis, "but in all things he is
+equally skilful; and, doubtless, you know he has taken but the first
+step towards entering the church, pausing as it were even on the
+threshold."
+
+"Do you think," said Villequier, "that he is as skilful in conveying
+intelligence as in other things?"
+
+"What do you mean, my Lord?" exclaimed his young companion.
+
+"Nay, I mean nothing," replied the politician, satisfied with having
+sown the first seed of suspicion in the young nobleman's mind,
+without, perhaps, any definite design, but simply for the universal
+purpose of making men doubt and distrust each other, with a view of
+ruling them more easily. "Nothing, except a mere question concerning
+his skill. I have no latent meaning, I assure you."
+
+The brow of the Marquis grew clear again, and Villequier saw that he
+believed the latter assertion more fully than he had intended. He let
+the subject pass, however, and spoke of many other things, giving his
+own account of various matters which had occurred during the Count de
+Logères's audience of the King, and urging Gaspar de Montsoreau to set
+off with all speed to raise his forces in his native province. Then
+abruptly turning the conversation, he demanded, "You or the Abbé told
+me, I think, that you suspected your brother of having communicated
+your march to the reiters. Is it like his general character so to act?
+I'm sure, if it be his custom to do such things, I would much rather
+that he was upon the opposite party than our own."
+
+The Marquis bent down his head, and gazed sternly upon the ground for
+two or three moments. He then answered, with a deep sigh, "No,
+Monsieur de Villequier; no, it is not like Charles's character. He has
+all his life been frank and free as the summer air, open, and
+generous. I fear I did him wrong to suspect him. We are rivals where
+no man admits of rivalry: but I must do him justice. If he have done
+such a thing, his nature must be changed, changed indeed--changed,
+perhaps, as much as my own."
+
+"I thought," replied Villequier, "that he seemed frank and
+straightforward enough, bold and haughty as a lion; gave the King look
+for look; bearded Epernon, and threatened to bring him to the field;
+and spared not me myself, whom men don't for some reason love to
+offend. But he did not seem a man likely to betray his friend, or
+practise treachery upon his brother. It is a very strange thing, too,"
+he continued in an easier tone, "that Colombel and the other officers
+of the King's troops at Château Thierry should have received news of
+your coming a day before you did cross the Marne, together with the
+information that the reiters might attack you near Gandelu. Was not
+this strange?"
+
+"Most strange," replied the Marquis, knitting his brows, and setting
+his teeth hard. But Villequier, now seeing that he had said quite
+enough, again turned the conversation; and after letting it subside
+naturally to ordinary subjects, he told the young Marquis that he
+would immediately write to the King, and obtain his signature to the
+paper required, before bed-time. "It is late already," he said; "I
+think even now I see a shade in the sky, so I must about my work
+rapidly. But remember, Monsieur de Montsoreau, nine is my supper hour
+exactly; and then, care and labour being past, we will sit down and
+enjoy ourselves, though I fear the accommodation which I can offer you
+in my poor dwelling must seem but rude in your eyes."
+
+The Marquis said all that such a speech required, and then withdrew.
+
+When he was gone, Villequier applied himself for some time to other
+things; but when they were concluded, he rose from his chair, and
+walked once or twice thoughtfully across the cabinet.
+
+"I had better," he said to himself at length, "I had better deal with
+him at once, and then I can ascertain what are his demands, and how to
+treat them."
+
+Thus saying, he took up his bell and rang it, directing the servant
+who appeared to see if he could find the Abbé de Boisguerin alone, in
+which case he was to invite him to a conference. "He will be alone,"
+thought the wily courtier, "for I have sown seeds of those things
+which will not suffer them to be long together."
+
+The Abbé, however, was absent from the house, much to the surprise of
+Villequier; and another hour had well nigh passed before he made his
+appearance. The moment that he did so, he advanced towards Villequier
+with his mild and graceful calmness, saying that he understood his
+Lordship had sent for him. Villequier pressed his hand tenderly, and
+with soft and courtly words assured him that, in sending for him, he
+had only sought to enjoy the pleasure of his unrivalled conversation
+for a few minutes before supper.
+
+The Abbé replied exactly in the same tone; that he was profoundly
+grieved to have lost even a moment of the society of one who
+fascinated from the first, and sent away every one charmed and
+delighted.
+
+A slight and bitter smile curled the lip of each as he ended his
+speech, like a seal upon a treaty, the confirmation and mockery of a
+falsehood.
+
+The Abbé, however, added to his speech a few words more, saying that
+he should have been back earlier, but that his conversation at the
+White Penitent's had been so interesting that he could not withdraw
+himself earlier from her Majesty the Queen-mother.
+
+Villequier started. "Are you acquainted with the Queen?" he said.
+"What a surprising-being Catherine is!"
+
+"She is indeed," answered the Abbé. "My long sojourn at Florence some
+years ago made me fully acquainted with every member of the House of
+Medici, and I now bring you this letter on her part, Monsieur de
+Villequier."
+
+Villequier took the paper that the Abbé handed to him, and read
+apparently with some surprise. "Her Majesty," he said, "knows that I
+am her devoted slave, but at the same time she cannot doubt, knowing
+as she does so well your high qualities, that I will do every thing to
+serve and assist you, and prevent all evil machinations against you."
+
+"Oh, she doubts it not; she doubts it not," replied the Abbé. "She
+doubts it not, Monsieur de Villequier, any more than I do; and has
+written this note only in confirmation of your good intentions towards
+me. However, there is one thing I wish you to do for me, Monsieur de
+Villequier."
+
+"Name it, my dear friend," exclaimed the Marquis; "but give me an
+opportunity of making myself happy in gratifying your wishes."
+
+"The fact is, Monsieur de Villequier," replied the Abbé, "that some
+malicious person has been endeavouring to persuade the young Marquis
+de Montsoreau, my friend, and formerly my pupil, that it was I who
+intimated to the reiters the course we were pursuing to meet the Duke
+of Guise, and who also intimated the facts to the King's troops at
+Château Thierry, that they might have an opportunity of coming up to
+rescue us and bring us hither--though they showed no great activity in
+doing the first. Now, doubtless, the person who did this, if there
+were any one, had the King's service solely in view, and deserved to
+be highly rewarded, as he probably will be; but----"
+
+"Doubtless," replied Villequier with a sneering smile. "But surely he
+could not object to such honourable service being known."
+
+"Of course not," replied the Abbé; "nor that he had given intimation
+of the facts to, and taken his measures with, her Majesty the
+Queen-mother; by an order, under whose hand the troops at Château
+Thierry acted, and at whose suggestion Monsieur de Montsoreau and
+his friends threw themselves into the hands of Monsieur de
+Villequier.--All this her Majesty declares he did; and he could not,
+of course, object to any of these things being known, except as it is
+contrary to good policy and to the wishes of the Queen-mother: and
+more especially contrary to every wise purpose, if he be a person
+possessed of much habitual influence with the young Marquis."
+
+"Monsieur de Boisguerin," said Villequier, seeming suddenly to break
+away from the subject, but in truth following the scent as truly as
+any well-trained hound, "the bishopric of Seez is at present vacant. I
+know none who would fill it better than the Abbé de Boisguerin."
+
+The Abbé drew himself up and waved his hand. "You mistake me entirely,
+Monsieur de Villequier," he said. "I take no more vows. I have taken
+too many already; and those, by God's grace and the good will of our
+holy father the Pope, I intend to get rid of very speedily. I have
+nothing to request of your Lordship at present. I know, see, and
+understand your whole policy, and think you quite right in every
+respect. The promises which you and the King are to give to Monsieur
+de Montsoreau concerning the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut can of
+course be broken, changed, or modified in a moment at any future
+time."
+
+"We have no intention of breaking them," replied Villequier. "We are
+acting in good faith, I can assure you."
+
+"Doubtless," replied the Abbé, "doubtless: but they can be broken?"
+
+"Of course," replied Villequier; "of course any thing on earth can be
+broken."
+
+"That is sufficient," replied the Abbé. "It is quite enough, Monsieur
+de Villequier: I only desire to know, whether you and the King
+consider it as a final arrangement, that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut is
+to marry the young Lord of Montsoreau, or whether the matter is not
+now as much unsettled and within your own power and grasp as ever."
+
+"Why," replied Villequier thoughtfully, "it is, as I dare say you well
+know, Monsieur l'Abbé, a very difficult thing indeed to devise any
+sort of black lines, which, written down upon sheep skin, will prove
+sufficiently strong to bind the actions of kings, princes, or common
+men, at a future period. But it seems to me, Monsieur l'Abbé, that the
+time is come when we had better be frank with each other! What is it
+that you aim at? You seem not displeased to think the arrangement
+doubtful or contingent; and yet I, who am not accustomed to guess very
+wrongly in such matters, have entertained no doubtful suspicion that
+you prompted the demand for a definite and conclusive bargain."
+
+"I did," replied the Abbé. "When you asked to see him alone, I was
+very well assured that, though a game of policy skilfully played may
+occasionally afford sport to Monsieur de Villequier, you were quite as
+well pleased in the present business to deal with a young and
+inexperienced head as with an old and a worldly one. He sought my
+opinion and advice, and, as I uniformly do when it is sought, I gave
+it him sincerely, though it was against my own views and purposes.
+Now, Monsieur de Villequier, I see hovering round your lips a
+question, which, in whatever form of words you place it, whatever
+Proteus form it may assume, will have this for its substance and
+object; namely, What are the plans and purposes of the Abbé de
+Boisguerin? Now, my plans and purposes are these,--remember, I do not
+say my objects; the object of every man in life is one, though we all
+set out upon different roads to reach it. My purpose is to serve his
+Majesty and the Queen-mother far more than I have hitherto been able
+to do. What I have done is a trifle; but if I detach from the party of
+the League, separate for ever from the Duke of Guise, and bring over
+to the royal cause Charles of Montsoreau as well as his brother, I
+shall confer no trifling service, for I can now inform you, Monsieur
+de Villequier, that, besides the great estates of Logères, he is lord
+of all the possessions lately held by the old Count de Morly, who
+amassed much treasure during the avaricious part of age, and died
+little more than a week ago, leaving this young Lord the heir of all
+his wealth. I have received the intelligence this very morning; so
+that, what between his riches, his skill, and his courage, he is worth
+any two, excepting Epernon perhaps, of the King's court."
+
+"If you do what you say, Monsieur de Boisguerin," replied the Marquis
+in a low, deep, sweet-toned voice, "you may command any thing you
+please in France, bishoprics, abbeys----"
+
+"If it rained bishoprics," replied the Abbé, "I would not wear a
+mitre. I do not pretend to say, Monsieur de Villequier, that I am more
+disinterested than my neighbours; that I have not great rewards in
+view, and objects of importance--to me, if not to others. But these
+objects are not quite fixed or determined yet, and I am not one of
+those men, Monsieur de Villequier, who hesitate to render the services
+first from a fear of losing the reward afterwards. I know how to make
+my claims heard when the time comes for demanding; and in the present
+instance, although I cannot distinctly promise to bring Charles of
+Montsoreau absolutely and positively over to the King's cause, yet I
+am sure of being able both to detach him from the Duke of Guise and
+separate him from the faction of the League. I think, indeed, that all
+three can be done: but nothing can be done unless the promise given to
+his brother be made contingent. The one loves her as vehemently as the
+other; and I, who know how to deal with him, can change his whole
+views in an hour, or at least in a few days."
+
+"Indeed!" said Villequier. "He is now in Paris; the trial could be
+speedily made."
+
+"I know it--" replied the Abbé, seeing the Marquis fix his eyes upon
+him eagerly, thinking, perhaps, 'he has promised more than he could
+perform.'
+
+"I know it, and that is the precise reason why I have hurried on this
+matter, and urged it to the present point. No time is to be lost, or I
+see storms approaching, Monsieur de Villequier, that I think escape
+your eyes."
+
+"What do you intend to do?" demanded Villequier; "and what means do
+you require to do it?"
+
+"My purposes I have already told you," replied the Abbé. "The means I
+require--to come to the point at once--consist of a document under
+your own hand, making over to me, as far as your relationship to
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut goes, the right of disposing of her hand in
+marriage to whomsoever I may think fit: that is to say, the voice for,
+or the voice against, any particular candidate for her hand, when
+given by me, is to be held as if given by yourself."
+
+"This is a great thing that you demand, Monsieur de Boisguerin,"
+replied Villequier, gazing in his face with no inconsiderable
+surprise; "and I see not how I can give such a paper at the very same
+time that I give the one which I have promised to the Marquis of
+Montsoreau."
+
+"Nothing, I fear, can be done without it," replied the Abbé; "but I
+think it may be done without risk or exposure of any kind, for I in
+return can bind myself not to employ that paper for nine months, by
+which time all will be complete; and in both the documents you can
+speak vaguely of other promises and engagements, and can declare your
+great object in giving me that paper to be, the final settlement of
+difficult claims, by a person in whom you have full confidence."
+
+Villequier looked in his face with a meaning and somewhat sarcastic
+smile: then turned to the note which the Queen-mother, Catharine de
+Medici, had sent him; read it over again as if carelessly, but marking
+every word as he did so; and then said, with somewhat of a sigh,
+"Well, Monsieur de Boisguerin, pray draw up on that paper what you
+think would be required."
+
+The Abbé took up the pen and ink, and wrote rapidly for a moment or
+two; while Villequier looked over his shoulder, fingering the hilt of
+his dagger as he did so, in a manner which might have made the periods
+of any man but the Abbé de Boisguerin, who knew as he did his
+companion's habits and views, less rounded and eloquent than they
+usually were. The Abbé, however, wrote on without the slightest sign
+of apprehension, and at length Villequier exclaimed, "That would tie
+my hands sufficiently tight, Monsieur de Boisguerin."
+
+"Not quite, my Lord," replied the other. "I never make a covenant
+without a penalty; and what I am now going to add provides that, in
+case of your failing to confirm my decision, or attempting in any way
+to rescind this paper and the power hereby given to me, you forfeit to
+my use and benefit one hundred thousand golden crowns, to be sued for
+from you in any lawful court of this kingdom."
+
+"Nay, nay, nay!" cried Villequier, now absolutely laughing. "This is
+going too far, Monsieur de Boisguerin."
+
+"Faith, not a whit, my Lord," replied the Abbé. "I take care when men
+make me promises, that they are not such as can be trifled with, at
+least if I am to act upon them."
+
+"Why, you do not suppose----" exclaimed Villequier.
+
+"I suppose nothing, my Lord," interrupted the Abbé, "but that you are
+a statesman and a courtier, and must in your day have seen more than
+one promise broken."
+
+"By some millions," replied Villequier. "I told you to speak frankly,
+Monsieur de Boisguerin, and you have done so with a vengeance. I must
+have my turn, too, and tell you that neither to you nor any other man
+on earth will I give such a promise, without in the first place seeing
+a probability of the object for which it is given being accomplished,
+and, in fact, some steps taken towards the accomplishment of that
+object; and, in the next place, without having a distinct notion of
+the means by which it is to effect its end. That is a beautiful ring
+of yours," continued the statesman, suddenly breaking away from the
+subject as if to announce that what he had just said was final, but
+perhaps in reality to consider what was to be the next step. "That is
+a beautiful ring of yours, Monsieur de Boisguerin, and of some very
+peculiar stone it seems; a large turquoise semi-transparent."
+
+"It is an antidote against all poisons," answered the Abbé coolly,
+"whether they be eaten in the savoury ragout, drunk in the racy cup,
+smelt in the odour of a sweet flower, or inhaled in the balmy air of
+some well-prepared apartment. My dear friends will not find me so
+tender a lamb as Jeanne d'Albret."
+
+"No, I should think not," replied Villequier with a laugh, and still
+holding off from the original subject of conversation. "I should think
+not, if I may judge by some of your attendants, Monsieur de
+Boisguerin, for there is one of them at least, an Italian, whom I
+passed in the court but now, who looks much more like the follower of
+a wolf than of a lamb. He was dressed somewhat in the guise of a
+wandering minstrel, with a good strong dagger, which I dare say is
+serviceable in time of need."
+
+"I have not the slightest doubt of it," replied the Abbé de Boisguerin
+with the most imperturbable coolness, "though I have not had occasion
+to make use of him much in that way yet. But the man's a treasure,
+Monsieur de Villequier; and as to his garb the fact is, that I have
+not had time yet to have it changed and made more becoming. You shall
+see in a few days, Monsieur de Villequier, what a change can be
+effected by razors, soap, cold water, and good clothing. He's a
+complete treasure, I can assure you, and well worth any pains."
+
+"But," said Villequier, "if you have had him so short a time as not to
+be able to clothe him yet, how do you know all these magnificent
+qualities?"
+
+"It is a singular business enough," answered the Abbé. "I knew him
+long ago in Italy, where he was exercising various professions: but he
+had skill enough almost to cheat me, which, of course, made me judge
+highly of his abilities. One day, not long ago, he presented himself
+at the Château de Montsoreau, where it seems he had been upon some
+vagabond excursion a week or a fortnight before. He had on the first
+occasion seen and recognised me, and he now came back, having spent
+all the money he had gained by selling a young Italian pipe-player to
+my good cousin Charles, and being consequently in not the best
+provided state. He was in hopes that I would take him into my service,
+which, from ancient recollection of his character, I was very willing
+to do; dismissing, however, without much ceremony, another man and a
+low Italian woman whom he had brought with him. They seemed very
+willing to go, it is true, and he to part with them; and my good
+friend Orbi has already shown himself on more than one occasion fully
+as serviceable as I had expected he would prove. My former knowledge
+of him gives me means of binding him to me by very strong ties; and I
+will acknowledge that never was there man to all appearance so well
+calculated to remove a troublesome friend or a pertinacious enemy."
+
+"Doubtless, doubtless," replied Villequier; "though he seems not to be
+particularly strong in frame."
+
+"But he is active," answered the Abbé, "and full of skill, and
+thought, and ingenuity. But to return to what we were saying
+concerning the paper, Monsieur de Villequier, which we have left
+somewhat too long," added the Abbé, thinking this sort of farce had
+been carried quite far enough. "Every objection that you have raised
+can be overthrown at once. I ask this promise, not for my own sake,
+but to satisfy this youth Charles of Montsoreau. He will trust you as
+soon as the fox will the tiger; but he will trust to me implicitly, if
+he believes that I have the power to aid him in obtaining her he
+loves. Thus you see at once the means by which this promise is to work
+to the ends that we propose. Then, as to seeing clearly what the
+effect will be, I will show it to you in the very course of this
+night. Read that letter, written by the young Count of Logères to his
+brother, no later than yesterday evening! You see," the Abbé
+continued, after Villequier had read, "he renounces all claim
+whatsoever to the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, and this in
+favour of his brother. The letter was brought hither not two hours
+ago. Now, ere two hours more be over, you shall yourself see the whole
+feelings of this young man changed, and the pursuit renewed as eagerly
+as ever. If it be so, what say you? Will you go forward in the way I
+propose?--Yea or nay, Monsieur de Villequier? I trifle not, nor am
+trifled with."
+
+"I will then go forward, beyond all doubt," replied the Marquis.
+
+The Abbé thereupon took up the pen, wrote five lines on a sheet of
+paper, sealed them with some of the yellow wax which lay ready,
+addressed the note to Charles of Montsoreau, and placing it in the
+hands of Villequier, bade him to send it by a page, with orders to
+require an answer. The page seemed winged with the wind, and in a
+marvellous short time he returned, bearing a note from the young Count
+of Logères, containing these few words:--
+
+"My renunciation was entirely conditional. If it be as you say,
+nothing on earth shall induce me to yield the hand of Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut to any man. The time that you allow me for writing does not
+permit me to say more, but come to me as early as possible to-morrow,
+and let all things be explained; for a state of doubt and suspicion
+was always to me worse than the knowledge of real evil or real wrong."
+
+The Abbé gave it to Villequier, and the Minister only replied by
+signing and sealing the paper which the Abbé had drawn up.
+
+"Now, quick! Monsieur l'Abbé," said the Minister. "Go for a few
+minutes to your own apartments, and then join us at supper, which I
+hear is already served, as if we had not met during the evening. You
+will not need your ring, I can assure you."
+
+The Abbé bowed low and retired in silence; but in his heart he said,
+"And this, the fool Henry holds to be a great politician."
+
+No knave can be a great politician; but every knave thinks himself so.
+The mistake they make is between wisdom and cunning. The knave prides
+himself on deceiving others, the wise man on not deceiving himself.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. VI.
+
+
+When the Abbé de Boisguerin on the following morning entered the
+presence of Charles of Montsoreau, his mind was prepared for every
+thing he was to say and do, for every thing he was to assert or
+to imply. But there was one thing for which his mind was not
+prepared--all shrewd, keen, politic, and experienced as it was.
+
+There are points in the deep study of human nature which those who
+would use that mighty science for selfish purposes almost always
+overlook. Amongst these are the changes, both sudden and progressive,
+which take place in themselves and in others, and the changes in
+relative situations which they produce. In this respect it was that
+the Abbé de Boisguerin, thoughtful and calculating as he was, had not
+prepared himself for the meeting with Charles of Montsoreau. The time
+was short since they had parted. Not above six weeks had elapsed, if
+so much; and the Abbé had come ready to deal with a youth of keen and
+penetrating mind, of quick perceptions and extensive powers; of all
+whose feelings and thoughts he fancied that he knew the scope and
+quality; whose mind he believed that he had gauged and tested as if it
+were some material substance. But he knew not at all, what an effect
+the space of six weeks may have when spent in communication with great
+minds, and in dealing with great events; and the moment he entered the
+room he saw a change which he had never dreamt of--a change which
+through the mind affected the body, the countenance, and the
+demeanour.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau, in short, had left him a youth high-spirited,
+feeling, intelligent, graceful,--he stood before him a man, calm,
+thoughtful, grave, dignified. There were even lines of care already
+upon his brow, which gave it a degree of sternness not natural to it;
+and the whole look and aspect of his former pupil was so powerfully
+intellectual, that the Abbé felt he must be more cautious and careful
+than he had prepared to be; that his words, his thoughts, and his
+looks would not alone be tested by old affection, nor even by the
+simple powers of an undoubting mind, but would be tried by experience
+likewise, and tried moreover with that degree of suspicion which is
+more active within us when we first learn the painful lessons taught
+by human deceit, than it is when we learn fully our own powers of
+separating truth from falsehood.
+
+He saw that it would be necessary to be more cautious than he had
+proposed to be, and that, consequently, he must change much that he
+had intended to say and do. The very caution affected his manner, and
+his alteration of purposes caused occasional hesitation. Charles of
+Montsoreau, who remembered his whole character and demeanour during
+many years, found, without seeking it, a touchstone in the past by
+which to try the present, and the conclusion in his own heart was,
+"This man is not true."
+
+The explanation given by the Abbé of all that had occurred on their
+route did not satisfy his hearer. He told him that he had remained
+with Mademoiselle de Clairvaut and the carriage till the reiters had
+passed, and then had caused the horses to be turned into a bye-road,
+in the hope of escaping any returning parties: they had thus
+accidentally met with the King's troops, whose offered protection, of
+course, they could not refuse. But he touched vaguely and lightly upon
+the mission of Colombel to the young Marquis de Montsoreau; and the
+Count de Logères did not press him upon the subject, for he felt
+sufficiently upon his guard, and had a repugnance openly to convict
+one whom he had loved of falseness and treachery.
+
+He turned then to the note which he had received on the preceding
+evening.
+
+"You tell me now," he said, "Abbé, that you have some reason to
+believe that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, as I at first supposed, has
+seen my affection, and did not intend to discourage it. What are those
+reasons?"
+
+The Abbé stated vaguely that some words, dropped by Madame de Saulny,
+had produced that belief in his mind.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau mused, and made no answer. The time had been
+when he would have replied at once, and have discussed the question
+fully with his former preceptor; but now he held counsel with his own
+heart in his own bosom, and said, "This man has some object in telling
+me this. Her own words were sufficiently conclusive, that she did not
+see, that she did not remark, the signs of affection which I had
+fancied undoubted."
+
+He still maintained silence, however, towards the Abbé, in regard to
+his own views, his own purposes, and his own feelings. Nor could the
+other, though he used all his skill, draw from him the slightest
+indication of what he intended to do, except that he waited in Paris
+for the arrangement of some affairs, which were not yet concluded,
+with the King. He in turn, however, questioned the Abbé much
+concerning his brother, expressing not only a wish but a determination
+to see him.
+
+"I am happy," he said, "that my letter reached him; for--by whom or
+for what reason instructed to falsify the truth, I do not know--the
+porter of Monsieur de Villequier denied the fact of your being in the
+house. As nothing could shake my own belief that it was Gaspar and
+yourself I had seen, and as both Gondrin and the page confirmed my
+opinion, I sent the letter at all risks: and now, good Abbé, if you
+love Gaspar and myself as you used to do, contrive that we may meet
+again to-morrow, in order that all these clouds may be cleared away
+from between us, and that we may feel once more as brothers ought to
+feel towards each other."
+
+The Abbé promised to do as the young Count desired, beseeching him,
+however, not to press his brother to an interview too suddenly, and
+assuring him that he would use every effort.
+
+The still more important subject of what had become of Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut remained to be discussed; and Charles of Montsoreau, though
+resolved to make the inquiry, approached it with distaste and with
+caution, from a feeling that the Abbé would not deal truly with him,
+and would only endeavour, in the course of any conversation upon that
+point, to discover what were his secret intentions, even while he
+concealed from him the true circumstances.
+
+It was as he expected. The Abbé told him that, in some degree under
+the care, and in some degree under the guard, of the King's troops,
+the whole party had been brought to the neighbourhood of Paris, where
+a messenger from the monarch had conveyed to himself and the young
+Marquis an invitation to take up their abode at the house of
+Villequier, while Mademoiselle de Clairvaut was conveyed to Vincennes.
+They had done all that was possible, he said, to prevent such a
+separation; but the King's commands were peremptory; and he had since
+learnt, or at least had reason to believe, that the young lady had
+been sent in the direction of Beauvais, to the care of some distant
+relations.
+
+The young Count smiled, and said nothing; and the Abbé then, with an
+air of grave sincerity, proceeded to ask him what had best be done
+under such circumstances. He replied that he could give no advice; and
+many a vain effort was again made to discover what were his purposes
+in regard to Mademoiselle de Clairvaut. Finding that no indirect means
+succeeded, the Abbé, trusting to their former familiarity, asked the
+question directly, "What do you intend to do in this business,
+Charles."
+
+"Indeed, my dear Abbé," replied the young Count, "it is difficult to
+tell you. I have no definite plan of action at present, and must be
+guided by circumstances as they arise."
+
+Thus ended their interview; and it formed a strange contrast to that
+between the Abbé and Villequier,--showing how simple honesty may often
+baffle cunning which has succeeded against astuteness like itself. The
+following day passed without any communication reaching the young
+Count, either from the Abbé or from his brother, from the King or the
+Duke of Guise; and expectation of receiving tidings from some one
+caused him to remain at home during the greater part of the day.
+
+On the succeeding morning, however, he determined to proceed to the
+house of Villequier, and to demand peremptorily the fulfilment of the
+promise which the King had made. Ere he set out, however, he received
+a note in the hand of the Abbé de Boisguerin, informing him briefly
+that his brother, having determined to return to Montsoreau, was upon
+the very point of setting out. He, the Abbé, was to accompany him for
+two days' march upon the road, but would return to Paris in four or
+five days without fail.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau read the note with a faint and melancholy smile,
+and again said, "This man is not true!"
+
+He rode at once, however, to the hotel of Villequier, but found that
+the minister had once more gone to Vincennes. He inquired for the
+Marquis of Montsoreau of the same porter who had denied the fact of
+his being there. The porter, not at all discomposed, replied that the
+Marquis and the Abbé de Boisguerin, with their train, had set out
+fully two hours before for Montl'hery; which, being confirmed upon
+farther inquiry by an Italian confectioner on the opposite side of the
+street, was believed by the young Count, who returned home with a
+heart but ill at ease.
+
+Another day was passed in gloomy and impatient expectation; but at
+night Gondrin reappeared from Soissons, bringing with him a brief note
+from the Duke of Guise:--
+
+"Your interview," it said, "was such as might be expected; your
+conduct all that it should have been; your view of the result right.
+They are endeavouring to trifle both with you and me; but we must show
+them that this cannot be done. I send off a courier at once to
+Villequier, requiring that the King's authorisation shall be
+immediately given to you. If it reach you not before to-morrow night,
+I pray you set off at once with the passports you possess for
+Chateauneuf; for I have information scarcely to be doubted, that our
+poor Marie has been conveyed thither. Show her the letter which I gave
+you, requiring her to follow your directions in every thing. Endeavour
+to bring her at once, with what people you can collect upon her lands,
+across the country towards Rheims, avoiding Paris. If any one stops
+you, or attempts either to delay your progress or dispute your
+passage, show them my letter of authority, as well as the passports
+that you already possess; and if they farther molest or delay you,
+they shall not be forgotten, be they great or small, when they come to
+reckon with your friend, Henry of Guise."
+
+In a postscript was written at the bottom--"In going, avoid Dreux and
+Montfort, for the plague is raging there. If there be any force
+stationed at Chateauneuf to prevent the removal of Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut, only ascertain distinctly the fact of her presence in the
+château, and come back to rejoin me with all speed."
+
+The tidings brought by Gondrin showed Charles of Montsoreau that great
+events of some kind were in preparation. Various bodies of troops
+attached to the House of Lorraine were moving here and there in
+Champaign and the Ardennes; daily conferences were held between the
+Duke of Guise, the Cardinal of Bourbon, the Cardinal of Guise, and a
+number of other influential noblemen; the propriety of deposing the
+King was said to be openly discussed at Soissons, and ridicule and
+hatred were unsparingly busy with the names of Epernon, Villequier,
+and others. Couriers, totally independent of those which were sent
+upon the business that brought the young Count to Paris, were almost
+hourly passing between the capital and Soissons; and it was daily
+whispered in the latter city, that experienced officers and small
+bodies of troops were daily gliding into the capital from the army
+which the Duke had led to victory on so many previous occasions.
+
+Early on the following morning, Charles of Montsoreau again proceeded
+to the Hotel de Villequier, in order that nothing might be wanting on
+his part. But the reply once more was, that the minister was absent;
+and the day passed over without any tidings from either the King or
+his favourite. As he passed through various parts of the city,
+however, the young Count remarked many things that somewhat surprised
+him. He had hitherto ridden amongst the people quite unnoticed, but
+now many persons whom he met bowed low to him, and those seemingly of
+the most respectable classes of citizens. On two or three occasions
+the burgher guard saluted him as he passed; and in one place, where
+several people were collected together, there was a cry of "Long live
+the Duke of Guise!"
+
+All these indications of some approaching event of importance at any
+other moment might have given him an inclination to remain in Paris:
+but he had other interests more deeply at heart; and having waited
+till the last moment to make sure that the King's authorisation was
+still delayed, he prepared to set out that very night, taking with him
+only the number of persons specified in the passports which he had
+brought from Soissons.
+
+In a brief and hurried note which he wrote to Chapelle Marteau, he
+informed him that he was about to absent himself from Paris for a
+short time on business of importance; and begged him, as it was his
+intention to pass out of the city by the Faubourg St. Germain that
+very night, to facilitate his so doing as quietly as possible. That
+his absence might remain for some time concealed from those who might
+obstruct his proceedings, he retained his apartments at the inn, and
+the servants he had hired, paying the whole for some time in advance,
+and directing that if any inquiries were made, the reply should be,
+that he was only absent for a few days.
+
+When all was prepared he set out, and at the gates found his friend of
+the Seize, with another personage, who seemed to consider himself of
+great importance. No words, however, were spoken, no passports were
+demanded, the two Leaguers bowed lowly to the Count, the gates opened
+as if of themselves, and, issuing forth, the young Count rode on upon
+the way, anxious to place as great a distance between Paris and
+himself ere the next morning as possible.
+
+It was a soft calm night in April, the sky was unclouded and filled
+with stars, the dew thick upon the grass, and the air balmy; and the
+young nobleman pursued his way with a mind filled with thoughts which,
+though certainly in part melancholy, were still tinged with the soft
+light of hope. His horses were strong and fresh, and just in the grey
+of the morning, on the following day, he reached the small town of
+Rambouillet.
+
+The signs and indications of the disturbed and anxious state of
+society in France were visible in the little town as the young Count
+gazed from the door of the inn, after seeing that his horses were well
+taken care of. There were anxious faces and eyes regarding the
+stranger with the expression of doubt, and perhaps suspicion; there
+were little knots gathered together and talking gloomily at the
+corners of different streets; the whistle of the light-hearted peasant
+was unheard; and the cart or the flock was driven forth in silence.
+
+The Count's horses required rest; none were to be procured with which
+he could pursue his journey, and he determined to take what repose he
+could get ere he proceeded on his way. Casting himself down then upon
+a bed, he closed his eyes and sought to sleep: but suddenly something
+like a wild cry sounded from the other side of the street, and
+springing up he looked out of the window. He could almost have touched
+the opposite house, so narrow was the way, and he saw completely into
+a room thereof through the window that faced his own.
+
+There was a woman in it of about the middle age, kneeling by the
+bedside of a youth who seemed just dead; and on looking down a little
+below he saw a man, dressed in a black serge robe, standing on a
+ladder, and marking the front of the building with a large white
+cross. On the impulse of the moment, Charles of Montsoreau ran down
+stairs, and approached the door of the house, intending to enter. But
+he was stopped at the door by two of the guards of the city. "Do you
+not see the mark of the plague?" they said. "You must not go in; or,
+if you go in, you must not come out again."
+
+With a sorrowful heart, Charles of Montsoreau turned back into the
+inn, but he found no sleep, and the image of the woman clasping her
+dead son still haunted him in waking visions.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. VII.
+
+
+It was about nine o'clock at night, and the moon, rising later than
+the night before, had not yet gone down, as Charles of Montsoreau
+passed through the wide forest that then surrounded Chateauneuf en
+Thimerais. It was a beautiful moonlight scene, affording to the eye
+many various and pleasant objects. The greater part of the forest,
+indeed, consisted of old trees far apart from each other, and only
+surrounded by brushwood in patches here and there. Occasionally,
+indeed, deeper and thicker parts of the forest presented themselves,
+where the axe had not been plied so unsparingly; but the ground was
+hilly and broken, and the road ascended and descended continually,
+showing every change of the forest ground. There were manifold streams
+too in that part of the country, and small gushing fountains, while a
+chapel or two, here and there raised by the pious inhabitants of the
+neighbourhood, broke the desolate appearance of the wood by showing
+sweet traces of human hope or gratitude. The heart, however, of
+Charles of Montsoreau enjoyed not that scene as it might at any other
+time, for many dark and painful reports had reached him of the state
+of the country in that district, and he looked anxiously forward to
+his arrival at the little village of Morvillette seated in the midst
+of the forest, to hear further tidings of Chateauneuf and its
+neighbourhood. A party of soldiers he had already heard had passed
+along some days before, escorting a carriage, and it was understood
+their destination was Chateauneuf; but the people of Tremblay, where
+he received this intelligence, shook the head doubtingly, and added,
+that the traveller would hear more at Morvillette, and could there get
+a guide to the château, which was two miles from the town.
+
+At length, lying in a hollow of the woodland, the moonlight showed him
+a group of dark cottages; but no friendly light appeared in the
+windows; and as he rode on amongst the houses, there was a sort of
+awful stillness about the place, which seemed to indicate that it was
+not slumber that kept the tongues of the peasantry silent. There were
+no dogs in the streets; there was no smoke curling up from any of the
+chimneys; all was still, and many of the doors stood wide open in the
+night air, exhibiting nothing but solitude within.
+
+"There must be somebody in the place," cried Gondrin, springing from
+his horse and approaching one of the cottages, the door of which was
+shut.
+
+Without knocking, the man threw open the door at once, and went in as
+far as the bridle of his horse would let him; but he came out again
+immediately, and his master could see that his face was pale and its
+expression horrified.
+
+"A man and a woman," he said in a low voice, "both dead! the one in
+the bed and the other on the floor, and both of them looking as blue
+as a cloud."
+
+The boy Ignati pressed up his horse to hear; and the Count said, "In
+all probability there may be things still more horrible before us. I
+shall go on, Gondrin; I must go on: but there is no need for either
+yourself or the page to do so. You had better both go back. Make the
+best of your way to Soissons, there tell the Duke what you have seen,
+and assure him that I will do my best to fulfil his wishes if I live."
+
+"My Lord," said the boy, "I might quit you for a kind and noble master
+when danger was not about you, but I will only quit you now with
+life."
+
+"And so say I," replied Gondrin in a somewhat reassured but still
+anxious tone. "But let us ride on, my Lord, and get out of this
+horrible place. We shall find no one here to show us the way."
+
+"I believe I can find it myself," replied the Count. "We turn to the
+left as soon as we have passed the village. Come on!"
+
+Thus saying, he somewhat quickened his pace and rode away, the moon
+now declining towards her setting, throwing longer shadows, and giving
+more uncertain light. Anxiously did the young Count gaze from the brow
+of every rise, hoping to see the form of the château rising upon the
+eminence before him. Several times he disappointed himself by fancying
+that he saw it when it was not there, so that, when at length he
+beheld a single faint point of light, like the spark of a firefly
+amongst the distant branches, he could scarcely believe that it
+afforded any true indication of that which he sought.
+
+Riding on, however, he again and again caught sight of it, till at
+length the forms of the building grew more clear and defined, and
+after about half a mile more he rode up the gentle slope that
+conducted towards the château.
+
+It was situated in the midst of a wild game park, not unlike that of
+Vincennes, only that the ground was more irregular. The building,
+however, was very different: it had been erected by that Count de
+Clairvaut who had been sent ambassador in the reign of Henry II. to
+the Republic of Venice. He had formed his ideas of beauty in
+architecture under another sky, and, but that it was somewhat larger
+and heavier, it might have been supposed that the building had been
+transported by some Geni from the banks of the Brenta. There was a
+strong old castellated gate, however, in the walls of the park, which
+had belonged to some former building. But the heavy iron gates were
+wide open, and the voice of no porter responded to the call of the
+young Count and his companions.
+
+Still, however, he saw a light in the windows of the château, and he
+eagerly rode on along the path which conducted to the principal gates
+of the building. Here there was a wide flight of marble stairs, which
+had been brought ready polished at an immense expense from Italy,
+yellow and green with the damp, but still altogether of a different
+hue and consistence from the ordinary stone of the place. From those
+steps the wide forest scene beyond was fully displayed to the eye, the
+château being built very near the highest point of the acclivity, and
+the whole ground towards Dreux, Maintenon, and Chartres lying below,
+with the forest itself sweeping down the edge of that chain of high
+hills which separates the southern parts of Normandy from the northern
+parts and Maine.
+
+The moon at that moment was just sinking beyond the trees on the left,
+and poured over the woods and plains below a flood of silver light,
+caught and reflected here and there by some open stream or wide piece
+of water, and, shining full upon the front of the marble building,
+which, with its pillars, its capitals, and its cornices, its wide
+doors and spreading porticoes, looked like the spectre of some bright
+enchanted palace from another land.
+
+The large doors that opened upon the terrace were ajar; and Charles of
+Montsoreau, leaving his horse with the page, mounted the steps and
+knocked hard with the haft of his dagger. A long melancholy echo was
+all the sound that was returned. He knocked again, there was no
+answer; and then pushing open the door, he entered the wide marble
+hall. The moonlight was pouring through the tall windows, but all was
+solitary; and putting his foot upon the first step of the staircase,
+he was beginning to ascend. At that moment, he thought he heard a
+distant sound as of an opening door; and a ray of light, streaming
+down some long corridor at the top of the broad staircase, crossed the
+balustrade and chequered the iron work with a different hue from the
+moonlight. He now called loudly, asking if there was any one in the
+building.
+
+In a moment after, there were steps heard coming along towards the
+staircase, and a voice replied, "There is death and pestilence in the
+house. If you come for plunder, take it quickly; if you come by
+accident, fly as fast as you may, for every breath is tainted."
+
+The tones of that voice were not to be mistaken, even before Charles
+of Montsoreau beheld the speaker; but, ere the last words were spoken,
+Marie de Clairvaut herself was at the top of the staircase, bearing a
+small lamp in her hand, and Charles of Montsoreau eagerly sprang up
+the steps.
+
+The lamp flashed upon the form and features which she had not at first
+seen, and with a loud cry she darted forward to meet him.
+
+The next moment, however, nearly dropping the lamp, she rushed back,
+exclaiming, "Come not near, Charles! Dear, dear Charles, come not
+near! These hands, not twelve hours ago, have closed the eyes of the
+dead. The plague most likely is upon me now!"
+
+But before she could add more, the arms of Charles of Montsoreau were
+round her.
+
+"You have called me dear," he said, "and what privilege can be dearer
+than sharing your fate, whatever it may be? Dear, dear, dear Marie!
+oh, say those words again, and make me happy!"
+
+"But I fear for you, Charles," she said; "I fear for you. All are
+either dead or have fled and left me, and I shall see you die
+too,--you, you die also by the very touch, by the very breath, of one
+to whom you have restored life."
+
+"I fear not, Marie," answered Charles; "I fear not; and that is the
+safest guard. Certainly you shall not see me fly and leave you; and I
+fear not, either, that you will see death overtake me. But oh, if even
+it did, how sweet would death itself be, watched by that dear face,
+wept by those beloved eyes!"
+
+Marie bent down her head, and said nothing; but she strove no more
+against the arm that was cast round her; her hand remained in his, and
+the colour rose warmly into her cheek, which had before been deadly
+pale.
+
+"If," she said at length, after a long pause, during which he had
+continued to gaze earnestly, fondly, sadly upon her,--"If it were not
+that I feared for you, your presence would indeed be a comfort and a
+consolation to me: not that I fear for myself," she added; "I know not
+why, but I have never feared. It has seemed to me as if there were no
+danger to myself--as if I should certainly escape. But oh, how
+terrible it would be to see you struck by the pestilence also!"
+
+"Say no more, dear Marie; say no more," replied Charles of Montsoreau,
+feeling and knowing by every word that she was his own. "I fear not; I
+have no fear; and even if I had, love would trample it under foot in a
+moment. I would not leave you in such an hour, not if by descending
+that short flight of steps I could save myself from death: unless
+indeed you told me to go, and that you loved me not."
+
+The tears sprang into Marie de Clairvaut's eyes. "I must not tell such
+a falsehood," she cried, clasping her hands together, "in an hour like
+this. I never told you so; indeed I never did, though Madame de
+Saulny, poor Madame de Saulny, with her dying lips assured me that you
+thought so."
+
+"There have been many errors, dear Marie," replied Charles of
+Montsoreau, "which have pained both your heart and mine, I fear. But
+now, my beloved, I must call in those that are with me, for we have
+travelled far and ridden hard."
+
+"Oh, call them not in!" said Marie de Clairvaut, "for they will be
+frightened when they see the state of the house, and catch the
+pestilence and die! Bid them lead their horses to the stables, and
+sleep there. Perhaps they may find some one still living there, for
+this evening at sunset I saw my father's old groom still wandering
+about as usual; but you must go yourself to tell them, Charles, for I
+do not believe that there is any one in the house but you and I. The
+stables lie away to the left. I will wait here for you till you come
+back. Go through the great doors," she said, as he descended, "and go
+not into the rooms either to the right or left, for there is death in
+all of them."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau descended with a rapid step, and in a few words
+gave his directions to the servants. He then returned, and taking
+Marie de Clairvaut's hand in his, he pressed his lips warmly upon it,
+and gazed tenderly upon her as she led him along through a wide
+corridor to the room in which she had been sitting.
+
+It formed a strange contrast,--the aspect of that room, with the
+desolate knowledge that all was death and solitude through the rest of
+the house. Beautiful pictures, rich ornaments, fine tapestry, gave it
+an air of life and cheerfulness, which seemed strange to the feelings
+of Charles of Montsoreau. But an illuminated book of prayer that lay
+upon the table told how Marie de Clairvaut's thoughts had been
+employed; and Charles of Montsoreau paused, and, lifting his thoughts
+to Heaven, prayed earnestly, fervently, that that bright and beautiful
+and beloved being might still be protected by the hand of the Almighty
+in every scene of peril and danger which might yet await her.
+
+She sat down on the chair in which she had been reading with a look of
+melancholy thoughtfulness, and Charles of Montsoreau sat down beside
+her, and there was a long silent pause, for the hearts of both were
+too full of agitating feelings for words to be plentiful at first. The
+moment and the circumstances, indeed, took from love all shame and
+hesitation. Death and deprivation and desolation gave affection a
+brighter, a holier light,--it was like some eternal flame burning upon
+the altar of a ruined temple.
+
+Marie de Clairvaut felt that at that moment she could speak things
+that at any other time she would have sunk into the earth to say; she
+felt that--with the exception of their trust in God--his love for her
+and hers for him formed the grand consolation of the moment, the
+healing balm, the great support of that hour of peril and of terror.
+She looked at him and he at her, and they mutually thought that a few
+hours perhaps might see them there, dying or dead by each other's
+side, with love for the only comfort of their passing hour--with the
+voice of death pronouncing their eternal union, and the grave their
+bridal bed.
+
+They thus thought, and it may seem strange to say, but--prepared as
+their minds were for leaving the life of this earth behind them--such
+a death to them appeared sweet; and neither feared it, but looked
+forward upon the grim enemy of human life, not with the stern defying
+frown of the martyr, not with the fierce and angry daring of the
+warrior, but with the calm sweet smile of resignation to the will of
+Heaven, and hopes beyond the tomb.
+
+Thus they remained silent, or with but few words, for some time; and
+Charles of Montsoreau felt that he was beloved. Indeed, there was not
+a word, there was not a look, that did not tell him so: and yet he
+longed to hear more; he longed that those words should be spoken which
+would confirm, by the living voice of her he loved, the assurance of
+his happiness. Gradually he won her from conversing of the present to
+speak of the past; and she gently reproached him for leaving her at
+Montsoreau so suddenly as he had done.
+
+"Marie," he said, with that frankness which had always characterised
+him, "let me tell you all; and then see if I did right or wrong. If I
+did wrong, you shall blame me still, and I will grieve and make any
+atonement in my power; but if I only mistook, and did not act wrong
+intentionally, you shall forgive me, and tell me that you love me."
+
+Marie de Clairvaut gazed in his face, and asked, "And do you doubt it
+now, Charles?"
+
+"Oh, no!" he cried, "oh, no! I ought not to doubt it, for Marie de
+Clairvaut could not speak such words as she has spoken without
+loving." And gently bending down his head over her, he pressed a kiss
+upon that dear fair brow. "Marie," he said, "it is our fate to meet in
+strange scenes. The last time that I kissed that brow, the last time
+that I held you to my heart, was when I thought you dead, and lost to
+me for ever."
+
+"And when I woke up," replied Marie de Clairvaut, "and was not only
+grateful to God and to you for having saved me, but happy in its being
+you that did save me, and happy," she added, slightly dropping her
+eyes, "in the signs of deep affection which I saw."
+
+"And yet," he exclaimed, "and yet, when my stay or my departure hung
+upon a single word from your lips, you gave me to understand that you
+had not received those signs of affection as signs of affection; that
+you looked upon them but as the natural effect of my witnessing your
+restoration to life, when I thought you dead."
+
+"Oh, Charles!" exclaimed Marie de Clairvaut, with a slight smile,
+"could you not pardon and understand such small hypocrisy as that? Did
+you not know that woman's heart is shy, and seeks many a hiding-place,
+even from the pursuit of one it loves?"
+
+"I never loved but you, Marie," replied the Count, "and I am sadly
+ignorant, I fear, of woman's heart. Nevertheless, upon those few words
+and that moment depended my fate."
+
+"I knew not that," cried Marie de Clairvaut, eagerly; "I knew not
+that, or, upon my honour, I would have been more sincere: but what was
+it, Charles, made you take so sudden a resolution? what was it made
+you leave me, without a reply, in the hands of those who have striven
+constantly ever since to make me believe that you cared not for me?"
+
+"I will tell you all," replied her lover; and, pouring forth in
+eloquent words all the passion of his heart towards her, he told her
+how his love had grown upon him, how it had increased each hour; and
+making that the main subject of his tale, he told but as adjuncts to
+it the pain which his brother's conduct had inflicted upon him, and
+all the signs of rivalry which he had remarked. He then spoke of his
+conversation with the Abbé de Boisguerin on their way to visit the
+Count de Morly; and he told how agonised were all his feelings--how
+terrible was the struggle in his heart,--and what was the resolution
+that he took, to ascertain whether her affections were really gained,
+and by the result to shape his conduct. He next spoke of his
+conversation with her immediately preceding his departure, and of the
+words which had led him to believe that she was unconscious of his
+love, and did not return it.
+
+As she listened, the tears rose in her eyes, and, laying her soft fair
+hand on his, she said, "Forgive me, Charles! oh, forgive me! but do
+believe that there is not another woman on all the earth who would not
+have done the same."
+
+"Alas! dear Marie," he replied, "in such knowledge you have but a
+child to deal with."
+
+"Oh, be so ever, Charles!" she cried, clasping her hands and looking
+up in his face. "There may be women who would love you less for being
+so; but I trust and hope that you will never love any one but Marie de
+Clairvaut, and she will value your love all the more for its being,
+and having ever been, entirely her own. But you were speaking of the
+Abbé de Boisguerin, Charles--you have told me of his conversation with
+you--I saw, when I was at Montsoreau, that you loved and esteemed
+him."--She paused, and hesitated. "I fear," she added, "that what I
+must speak, that what I ought to tell you, may pain and grieve you:--I
+doubt that man, Charles--I more than doubt him."
+
+"And so do I, Marie," replied her lover with a melancholy shake of the
+head; "and so do I doubt him much. Indeed, as you say, I more than
+doubt him, for I know and feel that he is not true."
+
+"Alas! Charles," she replied, "I fear that in that very first
+conversation with you he meditated treachery towards you. I fear much,
+very much, that his design and purpose even then was to separate us."
+
+"Perhaps it might be so, Marie," replied her lover: "though he has
+never shown any strong preference, I have often thought he loves
+Gaspar better than he does me."
+
+"But it was no love of your brother, Charles," she said; "it was no
+love of your brother moved him then; for if your brother trusted him,
+he betrayed him too. Now hear me, Charles, and let me, as quickly as
+possible, tell a tale that makes my cheek burn, for it must be told.
+After you were gone, I avoided your brother's presence as far as might
+be. I was never with him for a moment alone if I could help it, for I
+could not but see feelings that were never to be returned. Although
+there was something from the first in the Abbé de Boisguerin that I
+loved not, though I could not tell why--something in his eye that made
+me shrink into myself with a kind of fear,--I now courted him to be
+with me, in order to avoid the persecution of love for which I could
+not feel even grateful. At first he seemed inclined to give your
+brother opportunities; and I believe, I firmly believe, that he did so
+because he knew that those opportunities would but serve to confirm
+the coldness of my feelings towards him. When he saw that I sought him
+to be with us, he seemed to yield, and was now with me often almost
+alone, when there was none but one or two of my women in the further
+end of the room. He timed his visits well; and, for a space, well did
+he choose his conversation too. It was such as he knew must please my
+ear. He told me of other lands, and of princely scenes beyond the
+Alps, the beauties of nature, the miracles of art, the graceful but
+dangerous race of the Medici, the treasures, the unrivalled treasures
+of Florence and of Rome. I learned to forget the prejudices--I had
+first taken towards him, and he saw that I listened well pleased, and
+then he ventured to speak of you and of your brother. But oh, Charles,
+he spoke not as a friend to either. He blamed not, indeed; he even
+somewhat praised; but he undervalued all and every thing. There was
+not a word of censure, but there was every now and then a light sneer
+in the tone, a scornful turn of the lip, and curl of the nostril. It
+pleased me not, and seeing it, he wisely dropped such themes. He spoke
+of you no more; but he spoke of himself and of his own history. He
+told me that his was the more ancient branch of your own family, but
+that reverses and misfortunes had overtaken it; and that, careless of
+wealth or station, and any of the bubbles which the world's grown
+children follow, he had made no effort to raise his own branch from
+the ground to which it had fallen. But he said, however, that if he
+had had an object, a great and powerful object, he felt within himself
+those capabilities of mind which might raise him over some of the
+highest heads in the land: and none could hear his voice, and see the
+keen astuteness of his eye, without believing that what he said was
+true. And then again he spoke of the objects, the few, the only
+objects, which could induce a man of great and expansive intellect to
+mingle in the strife and turmoil of the world; and the chief of those
+objects, Charles, was woman's love. He was a churchman, Charles, and
+had taken vows which should have frozen such words upon his lips. I
+was silent, and I think turned pale, and he instantly changed the
+conversation to other things, speaking eloquently and nobly upon great
+and fine feelings, as I have seen one of the modellers in wax cast on
+the rough harsh form that he intended to give, and then soften it down
+with fine and delicate touches, so as to leave it smooth and pleasant
+to the eye. At length we set out to join my uncle; and your brother
+now had opportunities of paining me greatly by the open and the
+rash display of feelings that grieved and hurt me. He took means
+too to find moments to speak with me alone, which I must not dwell
+upon--means which were unworthy of one of your race, Charles. He tried
+to deceive me into such interviews by every sort of petty art; and if
+the Abbé de Boisguerin came to my relief, alas! it was but now to
+inflict upon me worse persecution. He dared to speak to me, Charles,
+words that none had ever dared to speak before--words that I must not
+repeat, that I must not even think of here, so near the holy calmness
+of the dead. These words were not, indeed, addressed to me directly;
+but they were used to figure forth what were the passions which an
+ardent and fiery heart might feel. They were intended evidently to let
+me know of what he himself was capable: though they breathed of love,
+there was somewhat of menace in them likewise. The very sound of his
+voice, the very glare of his eyes, now became terrible to me: but he
+seemed to consider that I was more in his power now than I had been at
+Montsoreau; and I need not tell you that to me the journey was a
+terrible one. To end it all, Charles--as I take it for granted that
+you know some part of what has taken place, even by seeing you here
+this night--I feel sure that it was by his machinations that I was
+betrayed into the hands of the King, whom I have all my life been
+taught to abhor, and by him given up to the power of a relation, from
+whom I have been sheltered by all my better friends as from the most
+venomous of serpents."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau had heard all in deep silence, without
+interrupting her once. He gazed indeed, from time to time, upon her
+fair face, watching with love and admiration the bright but transient
+expressions that came across it: but he listened with full attention
+and deep thought; and when she had done, he replied, "What you have
+told me, dear Marie, indignant as it well may make me, was most
+necessary for me to hear, and is most satisfactory, for it explains
+all that I did not before comprehend or understand. His machinations,
+however, dear Marie, I now trust are at an end. What may be between
+Villequier and him I do not know; but I trust, dear Marie, I trust in
+that God who never does fail them that trust in him, that I come to
+bring you deliverance and to lead you to happiness. It would be long
+and tedious to tell you, beloved, all that has happened to me since I
+left you at Montsoreau. Suffice it that I have seen the Duke of Guise;
+that I have spent the greater part of the time with him; that I have
+been able, Marie, to serve him--he says, to save his life; and that to
+me he has entrusted the charge of seeking you and bringing you to join
+him at Soissons, in despite of any one that may oppose us."
+
+"Oh, joy, joy!" cried Marie de Clairvaut. "When can we set out?" And
+she rose from her seat as if she hoped their departure might take
+place that minute. Charles of Montsoreau drew her gently to his heart,
+and, gazing into her deep tender eyes, he asked, "Will your joy be
+less, dear Marie, if you know that you go to be at once the bride of
+Charles of Montsoreau, with the full consent of your princely
+guardian, given by one who is well worthy to give, to one who is
+scarcely worthy to receive, such a jewel as yourself?"
+
+Marie de Clairvaut hid her face upon his bosom, murmuring, in a
+scarcely audible tone, "Can you ask me, Charles?--But oh, let us speed
+away quickly; for though I, who have been here now several days, and
+have seen nothing but death and desolation round me ever since I came,
+have become accustomed to the scene, and doubtless to the air also,
+yet I fear for every moment that you remain here."
+
+"I still fear not, dear Marie," replied Charles of Montsoreau.
+"Nevertheless, most glad am I to bear you away to happier scenes; and
+as soon as the horses have taken some rest, we will set out. And now,
+dear girl," he added, "I will send you from me. You need some repose,
+Marie; you need some tranquillity. Leave me then, dear girl, and try
+to sleep till the hour of our departure, while I will watch here for
+you, and call you before break of day."
+
+"If you watch, Charles," replied Marie, "I will watch with you, for I
+need not repose. This morning, after closing the eyes of poor Madame
+de Saulny, and weeping long and bitterly over her and the poor girl
+who was the only one that chose to remain with me, exhausted with
+watching, anxiety, and grief, I fell asleep, and slept long. Before
+that, I had felt so weary and so heated, that I almost fancied--though
+without fearing it--that the plague might be coming upon me; but I
+woke refreshed and comforted just as the sun was going down, and I
+felt, as it were, a hope and expectation that some change would soon
+come over my fate. But you need at least refreshment, Charles. In the
+next room remains my last untasted meal--the last that the poor
+frightened beings who abandoned me, set before their mistress
+yesterday. I fear not to take you there, Charles, for no one has died
+in this part of the house."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau followed her, and persuaded her also to take
+some light refreshment; and there they sat through the live-long
+night, speaking kind words from time to time, and watching each
+other's countenances with hope strong at the hearts of both, though
+somewhat chequered by fears, each for the other.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAP. VIII.
+
+
+By the time that the first grey streak chequered the dark expanse of
+the eastern sky, the horses of Charles of Montsoreau, with three
+others, were standing on the terrace at the foot of the marble
+steps. The page and Gondrin were there, and also the old groom, a
+white-headed man of some sixty years of age, who had booted and
+spurred himself, and buckled on a sword, declaring that he would
+accompany his young mistress, if it were but to lead the sumpter horse
+which carried her baggage. A moment after, Marie herself appeared, and
+Charles of Montsoreau placed her on the beast that had been prepared
+for her, while the old groom kissed her hand, saying, "I am glad to
+see you well, dear lady. But fear not; none of your race and none of
+mine ever died of the plague either, though I have seen it pass by
+this place twice before now, and I remember eleven corpses lying on
+those steps at once."
+
+"There are six within those chambers now," replied Marie, shaking her
+head mournfully. "But I fear not, good Robin,--for myself at least.
+But you had better lead the way towards Chalet, for the Count tells me
+that Morvillette is deserted."
+
+"Oh, I will lead you safely, Lady," replied the old man; "and though
+very likely they may keep us out of many a house on account of where
+we come from, there is my daughter's cottage where they will take us
+in, for they do not fear the plague there."
+
+Thus saying, he mounted his horse, and rode on before, through the
+forest roads, while the lady and her lover followed side by side. As
+they went on circling round the highest parts of the hills, the grey
+streaks gradually turned into crimson; the dim objects became more
+defined in the twilight of morning; a few far distant clouds at the
+edge of the sky, tossed into fantastic shapes, began to glow like the
+burning masses of a furnace; the crimson floated like the waves of a
+sea up towards the zenith; the fiery red next became mingled with
+bright streaks of gold; the forest world, just budding into light
+green, was seen below with its multitude of hills and dales, and rocks
+and streams; the air blew warm and sweet, and full of all the balm of
+spring; and a thousand birds burst forth on every tree, and carolled
+joyous hymns to the dawning day.
+
+Never broke there a brighter morning upon earth; never rose the sun in
+greater splendour; never was the air more balmy, or the voices of the
+birds more sweet. It seemed as if all were destined to afford to those
+two lovers the strongest, the strangest, the brightest contrast to the
+dark dull night of anxiety and emotion which they had passed within
+the palace they had just left behind them. It seemed to both as an
+image of the dawn of immortality after the tomb--anxiety, sorrow,
+danger, death, left behind, and brightness and splendour spread out
+before.
+
+Each instinctively drew in the rein as the sun's golden edge was
+raised above the horizon; each gazed in the countenance of the other,
+as if to see that no trace of the pestilence was there; and each held
+out the hand to grasp that of the being most loved on earth, and then
+they raised their eyes to Heaven in thankfulness and joy.
+
+The old man led them on with scarcely a pause towards Chalet; but
+about a mile from that place he turned to a little hamlet near, where,
+in a good farm-house inhabited by his daughter and her husband, they
+found their first resting-place. They were gladly received and
+heartily welcomed, without the slightest appearance of fear, though
+the circumstances of their flight were known. The farmer and the
+farmer's wife set before them the best of all they had, the children
+served them at the table, and the good woman of the house brought
+forth a large flask of plague water, and made them drink abundantly,
+assuring them that it was a sovereign antidote that was never known to
+fail. They then assigned a room to each, and though it was still
+daylight they gladly retired to rest. Charles of Montsoreau, though
+much fatigued, slept not for near an hour, but the house was all kept
+quiet and still, and, with his thoughts full of her he loved, he
+fancied and trusted that she was sleeping calmly near him, and in an
+earnest prayer to Heaven he called down blessings on her slumber. At
+length sleep visited his own eyes, and he rose refreshed and well.
+Some fears, some anxieties still remained in his bosom till he again
+saw the countenance of Marie de Clairvaut. When he did see it,
+however, fears on her account vanished altogether, for the paleness
+which had overspread her face the night before had been banished by
+repose, and the soft warm glow of health was once more upon her cheek.
+He saw the same anxious look of inquiry upon her countenance; and oh!
+surely there is something not only sweet and endearing, but elevating
+also, in the knowledge of such mutual thoughts and cares for each
+other; something that draws forth even from scenes of pain and peril a
+joy tender and pure and high for those who love well and truly!
+
+"Fear not, dear Marie," he said; "fear not; for I feel well, and you
+too look well, so that I trust the danger is over."
+
+"Pray God it be!" said Marie de Clairvaut. "But now, when you will,
+Charles, I am ready to go on; we may soon reach Maintenon."
+
+"We must avoid the road by Maintenon," replied Charles of Montsoreau,
+"for that would bring us on the lands of the grasping Duke of Epernon,
+and we could not run a greater risk. Chartres itself is doubtful; but
+we must take our way thither, and act according to circumstances.
+However, dear Marie, our next journey must be long and fatiguing:
+would it not be better for you to stay here to-night, and take as much
+repose as you can obtain before you go on?"
+
+"Oh no," replied Marie de Clairvaut; "I am well and strong now, and
+eager to get forward out of all danger. The bright moon will soon be
+rising, the sun has not yet set, and we may have five or six hours of
+calm light to pursue our way."
+
+Her wishes were followed; and they were soon once more upon their way
+towards the fair old town of Chartres. Their former journey had passed
+greatly in thought, for deep emotions lay fresh upon their hearts, and
+burthened them: but now they spoke long and frequently upon every part
+of their mutual situation. The history of every event that had
+happened to either, since they had parted at Montsoreau, was told and
+dwelt upon with all its details: and while the love of Charles of
+Montsoreau for his fair companion certainly did not diminish, every
+word that fell from his lips, every act that she heard him relate, and
+the manner of relating it also, increased in her bosom that love which
+she had at first perceived with shame, but in which she now began to
+take a pride as well as a joy.
+
+Nor, indeed, did his conduct and demeanour to herself in the
+circumstances which surrounded them--circumstances of some difficulty
+and delicacy--change one bright feeling of her heart towards him.
+There was very much of that tenderness in his nature, that soft, that
+gentle kindness, which, when joined with courage and strength, is more
+powerful on the affections of woman than, perhaps, any other quality;
+and her feelings were changed and rendered more devoted by being
+dependent upon him for every thing--protection, and consolation, and
+support, and affection, and all those little cares and kindnesses
+which their mutual situation enabled him to show.
+
+Thus they journeyed on for several hours, and at length reached the
+town of Chartres, having agreed to pass for brother and sister, as the
+safest means of escaping observation. It was about eleven o'clock at
+night when they reached the inn, but they were received with all
+kindness and hospitality, such as innkeepers ever show to those who
+seem capable of paying for good treatment. No questions were asked,
+supper was set before them, and the night passed over again in ease
+and comfort. Every hour, indeed, that went by without displaying any
+sign of illness was in itself a joy; and there was a stillness and a
+quietness about the old town of Chartres which seemed to quiet all
+fears of annoyance or interruption.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau was early up, and was waiting for the appearance
+of Marie de Clairvaut, when the landlord of the inn appeared to inform
+him that a horse-litter, which he had ordered to be ready for his
+inspection, had been brought into the court-yard, and was waiting for
+him to see. At that moment, however, there was a flourish of trumpets
+in the street; and, looking forth from the window, the young Count saw
+a considerable band of mounted soldiers, drawn up, as if about to
+proceed on their march.
+
+"My sister," he said, turning to the host, "has not yet risen, and she
+must see the litter, too, as it is for her convenience. But who are
+these gallant gentlemen before the house, and whither are they going?"
+
+"Why, you might know them, sir, by their plumes and their scarfs,"
+replied the host. "They are a body of the light horse of the guard of
+the Queen-mother. They are easily distinguished, I ween."
+
+"Ay, but I am a rustic from the provinces," replied the young
+nobleman: "but they seem gallant-looking soldiers."
+
+"The Captain was making manifold inquiries about you and the young
+lady who arrived last night," replied the landlord, "for he has come
+with orders to seek and bring back to Paris some young lady and
+gentleman that have made their escape lately with eight or nine
+attendants. But when I told him that you were going to Paris, not
+coming from it, and that you had only three servants with you, and the
+young lady was your sister, he said it was not the same, and is now
+going on. But I must go, lest he should ask for me."
+
+"Well, well," answered the young Count with an air of indifference. "I
+will be down presently to see the litter; let it wait."
+
+He watched, however, with some anxiety the departure of the body of
+light horse, for though he did not feel by any means sure that it was
+himself whom they sought, he did not feel at all secure till the last
+faint note of their trumpets was heard, as they issued forth from one
+of the further gates of Chartres. As soon as Marie de Clairvaut
+appeared, he purchased the litter without much hesitation, and
+determined to proceed with all speed towards Dourdan and Corbeil.
+
+The host of the inn would have fain had them stay some time longer,
+for the young Count had paid so readily for the litter, that he judged
+some gold might be further extracted from his purse. He asked him,
+therefore, whether there was nothing in the good town of Chartres to
+excite his curiosity, and was beginning a long list of marvels; but
+Charles of Montsoreau cut him short, saying, as he looked up at the
+sign covered with fleurs-de-lis, "No, no, my good host. I have much
+business on my hands in which his Majesty is not a little concerned,
+and therefore I must lose no time."
+
+The host nodded his head, looked wise, and suffered the Count and his
+party to depart without further opposition.
+
+As it was not a part of their plan to follow the high road more than
+they were actually obliged to do, soon after leaving Chartres they
+took a path to the left, which they were informed would lead them by
+Gellardon to Bonnelle, through the fields and woods. Before they had
+gone a league, however, the noise of dogs and horses, and the shouts,
+as it seemed, of huntsmen, were heard at no great distance; and
+turning towards Gondrin the young Count asked, "What can they be
+hunting at this time of year?"
+
+"The wolf, my Lord, the wolf," replied the man. "They hunt wolves at
+all times."
+
+Scarcely had he spoken, when a loud yell of the dogs was heard; and
+nodding his head sagaciously, as if he had seen the whole proceeding
+with his mind's eye, Gondrin added, "They have killed him;" which was
+confirmed by a number of joyous morts on the horns of the huntsmen.
+
+"Let us proceed as fast as possible," said Charles of Montsoreau; "we
+know not who those huntsmen may be:" and he was urging the driver of
+the litter to hurry on his horses rapidly, when the whole road before
+them was suddenly filled with a gay party of cavaliers, splendidly
+dressed and accoutred, and coming direct towards them. There was
+nothing now to be done but to pass on quietly if possible; and, taking
+no apparent notice, but bending his head and speaking into the litter,
+without even seeing of whom the other party was composed, Charles of
+Montsoreau was riding on, when a loud voice was heard exclaiming "Halt
+there! halt! A word with you if you please, young sir;" and, looking
+up, he saw the Duke of Epernon.
+
+Without suffering the slightest surprise to appear upon his
+countenance, or the slightest apprehension, Charles of Montsoreau
+turned his head, demanding calmly, "Well, my Lord, what is your
+pleasure with me?"
+
+"My pleasure is," replied the Duke, "that you instantly turn your
+horse's head and go back to Epernon with me."
+
+"I am extremely sorry, my Lord," replied the Count, "that it is quite
+impossible for me to do what you propose, as I am upon urgent business
+for the Duke of Guise, and bear the King's passport and safe-conduct,
+which I presume your Lordship will not despise."
+
+"You may bear the King's passport, sir," said the Duke, "but you
+certainly do not bear his authorisation to carry away from his power
+the young lady who I suppose is in that litter. As to the Duke of
+Guise, your authority from him is very much doubted also."
+
+"That doubt is easily removed, my Lord," replied the Count, seeing
+clearly that he would be forced to yield, but fully resolved not to do
+so till he had tried every means to avoid it. "That doubt is easily
+removed, my Lord. Allow me to show you the authority given me by the
+Duke under his own hand, which I think even the Duke of Epernon must
+respect."
+
+The Duke took the paper which he tendered him, and then saying, "I
+will show you how I respect it," he tore it into a thousand pieces,
+and cast it beneath his horse's feet, while a laugh ran through the
+men that attended him. "Turn your horse's head," he continued,
+"without more ado, or I will have your arms tied behind your back, and
+the horse led."
+
+"My Lord," replied the young Count, "I must obey, for I have no means
+of resisting; but let me remind you, that the Duke of Epernon was
+always considered, even before what he is now, a gallant gentleman and
+a man of good feeling, who would not insult those who were too weak to
+oppose him, and who did their duty honourably as far as it was
+possible for them to do it."
+
+"Your civility now, sir," replied the Duke, "like your rash folly a
+week or two ago, is too contemptible to make any change in the Duke of
+Epernon. That foolish party of light horse," he continued, speaking to
+one of his attendants, "must have suffered this malapert youth and his
+fair charge to have passed it. Turn the litter round there; take care
+that none of them escape."
+
+"The boy has made off already," replied one of the men. "Shall I
+gallop after him, my Lord? He may tell the Duke of Guise."
+
+"Let him!" answered Epernon. "Go not one of you; but bring the rest of
+them along hither."
+
+Without giving any intimation of his intent, Charles of Montsoreau
+turned his horse suddenly back to the side of the litter, and drew the
+curtain back, saying to Marie de Clairvaut, who sat pale and anxious
+within it, "You hear what has happened; there is no power of
+resistance, for they are ten to one: but the boy has escaped, and will
+give the Duke notice of where you are. In the mean time it is one
+comfort, that now you are in the hands of one who is, at all events, a
+man of honour and a gentleman in feeling."
+
+What he said was intended to give comfort and consolation to Marie de
+Clairvaut; but it reached the ear of the Duke of Epernon likewise. "I
+must suffer no farther conversation," he said in a gentler tone than
+he had before used. "You will understand, Monsieur de Logères, that I
+have authority for what I do; and that I arrest you out of no personal
+vengeance, but because the order has been already given to that
+effect."
+
+"My Lord," replied the young Count, "I care very little for my own
+arrest, as I know that I can but be detained a short time: but I
+confess I am most anxious for the young lady placed under my especial
+charge by the Duke of Guise, as I have shown your Lordship by the
+paper you have torn. If she is to remain in your Lordship's charge, I
+shall be more satisfied; but if she is to be given up to Monsieur de
+Villequier, the consequences will indeed be painful to all. You are
+perhaps not aware, my Lord, that he sent her to a place where the
+plague was raging at the time, where six persons of her household died
+of it, and the rest fled, leaving her utterly alone."
+
+The Duke seemed moved, and after remaining silent for a minute, he
+replied, "I did not know it; the man who would murder his wife, would
+make no great scruple of killing his cousin, I suppose. However, sir,
+set your mind at ease: though I cannot promise that she shall remain
+with the Duchess of Epernon, she shall not be given up to Villequier
+either by myself or by any body in whose hands I may place her. Is
+that assurance sufficient for you?"
+
+"Perfectly, my Lord," replied Charles of Montsoreau. "The Duke of
+Epernon's promise is as good as the bond of other men."
+
+"Well, follow me, then," replied the Duke, and, riding on alone, he
+left the young Count in the hands of his attendants.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. IX.
+
+
+It was in one of the saloons of the old Cardinal de Bourbon, in the
+town of Soissons, that Henry Duke of Guise, princely in his habit,
+princely in his aspect, with his foot raised upon a footstool of
+crimson and gold, a high plumed Spanish hat upon his head, manifold
+parchments before him, and a pen in his hand, sat alone on a day in
+the month of April with his eyes fixed upon a door at the other end of
+the room, as if waiting for the entrance of some one.
+
+The next moment the door was thrown wide open, and, preceded by two
+servants announcing him to the Duke, appeared a small and not very
+striking personage plainly habited in black velvet. The moment the
+Duke saw him, he rose, and for an instant uncovered his head, then
+covering himself again he advanced to meet him, and took him by the
+hand, saying "Monsieur de Bellievre, I am delighted to see you. The
+King could not have chosen any one more gratifying to myself to
+receive: in the first place, because I know that I shall hear nothing
+but truth from the lips of Monsieur de Bellievre; and, in the next
+place, because I am sure no one will bear more exactly to his Majesty
+any reply I may have to make to the message with which I understand
+you are charged."
+
+"The confidence which your Highness expresses in me," replied
+Bellievre, as the Duke led him towards the table, and made him seat
+himself beside him, "does great honour to so humble an individual as
+myself. Nevertheless, I must deliver the King's message, my Lord,
+precisely as it was given to me; and should there be any thing in it
+disagreeable to your Highness, I trust that you will excuse the
+bearer, and consider the matter dispassionately."
+
+"Proceed, proceed," replied the Duke; "as in duty bound I shall
+receive his Majesty's communication with all deference and humility."
+
+"Well, then," replied Bellievre, "I am charged by his Majesty to
+assure your Highness that his personal esteem and respect for you is
+very great; and that he has never, in any degree, given ear to the
+injurious reports which persons inimical to your Highness have been
+industrious in circulating to your disadvantage."
+
+"Your pardon, Monsieur de Bellievre, for one moment," said the Duke,
+interrupting him. "To what injurious reports does his Majesty allude?
+I am ignorant that any one has dared to circulate injurious reports of
+me; and if such be the case, it is high time that I should proceed to
+the capital to confront and shame my accusers."
+
+As this was not at all the point to which the King's envoy wished to
+bring the Duke, he looked not a little embarrassed what to reply. He
+answered, however, after a moment's pause, "It would, indeed, be
+requisite for you to do so, my Lord, if I did not bear you the King's
+most positive assurance that he gives no ear to such reports. But to
+proceed: his Majesty has bid me strongly express his full conviction
+of your attachment, fidelity, and affection, but has commanded me to
+add that, having heard it reported your intention is immediately to
+present yourself in Paris, he is unwillingly obliged, by state reasons
+of the utmost importance, to request that you would forbear the
+execution of that purpose."
+
+It was not without some hesitation and apparent emotion that Bellievre
+spoke; but the Duke heard him with perfect calmness, though with a
+slight contraction of the brow.
+
+"The report," he answered, "of my intention of visiting Paris is
+perfectly correct, Monsieur de Bellievre; nor can I, indeed, refrain
+from executing that purpose, with all due deference to his Majesty,
+for many reasons, amongst which those that you yourself give me of
+injurious rumours being rife in the capital regarding me, are not the
+least cogent. Thus, unless the King intends to signify by you,
+Monsieur de Bellievre, that he positively prohibits my coming into
+Paris--which, of course, he would not do--I see not how I can avoid
+doing simple justice to myself by returning to my own dwelling in the
+capital of this country."
+
+"I grieve to say, your Highness," replied Bellievre, seeing that the
+worst must be told, "I grieve to say, that while the King has charged
+me to assure you of his regard and his confidence in you, he none the
+less instructed me to make the prohibition on his part absolute and
+distinct."
+
+The Duke of Guise started up with his brow knit and his eyes flashing.
+"Is this the reward," he exclaimed, "of all the services I have
+rendered the state? Is this the recompense for having shed my blood so
+often in defence of France? to be dishonoured in the eyes of all the
+people, by being banished from the metropolis, to be excluded from the
+companionship of all my friends, to be cut off from transacting my own
+private affairs, to be talked of and pointed at as the exiled Duke of
+Guise, and to have the boys singing in the streets the woeful ditty of
+my sufferings and a King's ingratitude?" And as he spoke, the Duke
+took two or three rapid strides up and down the room.
+
+"Indeed, indeed, your Highness," cried Bellievre, "you take it up too
+warmly. The King is far from ungrateful, but most thankful for your
+high services; but it is for the good of the state that you love, for
+the safety and security of the people of the capital who are in a
+tumultuous and highly excitable state, that he wishes you to refrain
+from coming----"
+
+"That he sends me a message dishonouring to myself and to my House,"
+replied the Duke. "That he marks me out from the rest of the nobles of
+the land, by a prohibition which I may venture to say is unjust and
+unmerited. I must take some days to think of this, Monsieur de
+Bellievre; nor can I in any way promise not to visit Paris. Were it
+but to protect, support, and guide my friends and relations, I ought
+to go; were it but on account of the church for which I am ready to
+shed my blood if it be necessary, persecuted, reviled, assailed as
+that holy church is; were it but for my attendants and supporters, who
+are attacked, abused, and ill-treated in the streets and public ways."
+
+"As for the church, your Highness," replied Bellievre, "none is more
+sincerely attached to it than the King and the King's advisers. It
+will stand long, my Lord, depend upon it, without any further
+assistance than that which you have already so ably given it. Your
+relations, my Lord, and household," he said, "are not and cannot be
+ill-treated."
+
+"How?" exclaimed the Duke. "Is not my dear sister Margaret even now,
+as it were, proscribed by the King and his court? Is not every thing
+done to drive her from Paris? Have not her servants been struck by
+those of Villequier in the open streets?"
+
+"I know," replied Bellievre, "that a month or two ago Madame de
+Montpensier was subject to some little annoyance, but as soon as it
+came to the King's ears he had it instantly remedied, and only wished
+her to quit Paris for her own security."
+
+"The House of Guise, sir, have always been secure in the capital of
+France," replied the Duke; "and I trust always will be."
+
+"Nothing has occurred since I trust, my Lord," continued Bellievre.
+"The King is most anxious that you should have satisfaction in every
+thing, and will give you the strongest assurances that your family,
+your household, and your friends, shall be in every respect well
+treated and protected, as indeed he has always wished them to be."
+
+The Duke threw himself down in his chair and rang the bell that stood
+upon the table violently. "Ho! without there!" he exclaimed. "Bring in
+that page that arrived hither a night or two ago, when I was absent at
+Jamets."
+
+The attendant who had appeared retired, and the Duke sat silent,
+gazing with a frown at the papers on the table. "May I ask your
+Highness," said Bellievre, not knowing what interpretation to put upon
+this conduct, "May I ask your Highness whether I am to conceive my
+audience at an end?"
+
+"No, Monsieur de Bellievre, no," replied the Duke in a milder tone;
+"for _you_ I have a high respect and esteem, and will listen to you
+upon this subject longer than I would to most men. I wish you to hear
+and to know how the friends of the Duke of Guise are treated, what
+protection and favour is shown to them at the court of France. Perhaps
+you will hear some things that are new to you--perhaps they may be new
+to the King too," he added, a slight sneer curling his haughty lip.
+"But be that as it may, Monsieur de Bellievre, I think I can show you
+good cause why the Duke of Guise should be no longer absent from
+Paris. Come hither, boy," he added, as the page Ignati entered the
+room, "Come hither, boy, and answer my questions. Thou art both witty
+and honest, but give me plain straightforward replies. Stand at my
+knee and answer, so that this gentleman may hear."
+
+The boy advanced, and did as the Duke bade him, turning his face
+towards Bellievre, with his left hand to the Duke.
+
+"You went to Paris," said Guise, "with my friend the young Count of
+Logères; did you not? Were you aware of the cause of his going?"
+
+"He went, I understood your Highness," replied the boy, "to seek a
+young lady, a relation of your own, who had been carried to Paris by a
+body of the King's troops while on her way to join your Highness."
+
+"Can you tell what was Monsieur de Logères' success?" said the Duke.
+
+"I know he saw the King," replied the boy, "and heard that he had been
+promised a letter to all the governors and commanders in different
+places to aid him in seeking for the young Lady, and bringing her back
+to your Highness. I heard also that it was for this paper he waited
+from day to day in Paris, but that it never came."
+
+"I beg your Highness's pardon," said Bellievre interrupting the boy,
+"but you will remark that this is all hearsay. He does not seem to
+speak at all from his own knowledge."
+
+"That will come after," answered the Duke somewhat sharply. "Go on,
+Ignati. What do you know more?"
+
+"What I have said," replied the boy, "is more than hearsay, my Lord,
+for while we staid in Paris the good Count bade us always be ready at
+a moment's notice to set out, for he could not tell when the letter
+from Monsieur de Villequier would arrive. It never came, however, and
+one night the Count having, as I understood, gained information of
+where Mademoiselle de Clairvaut was, set out with his man Gondrin and
+myself to seek her. We found that she had been brought by a body of
+the King's troops to a château or a palace, for it looked more like a
+palace than a château, called Morvillette, I believe near Chateauneuf,
+where the plague was then raging, when the King's soldiers left her.
+By the time we arrived the plague had reached the château, six or
+seven people were dead, and all the rest had fled, leaving the young
+lady with nobody in the palace, and none but one old groom in the
+stables."
+
+The Duke's eye fixed sternly upon the countenance of Bellievre, and he
+muttered between his teeth, "This is the doing, Monsieur de Bellievre,
+of my excellent good friend, the King of France. Go on, boy; go on!
+Proceed. What happened next?"
+
+"The lady was most joyous of her deliverance," continued the boy, "and
+eager to come to your Highness; and we set out the next morning before
+day-break, and reached Chartres, where the Count bought a litter for
+her greater convenience. At a short distance from Chartres, however,
+we were met by the Duke of Epernon and his train wolf-hunting, and the
+Duke immediately stopped us, and insisted upon the Count going back
+with him to Epernon. The Count produced the King's passports, but the
+Duke said that there were doubts of his being authorised by you."
+
+"Did he not show him my own letter?" exclaimed the Duke. "Did he not
+show him the authority I gave him under my own hand?"
+
+"He did, my Lord; he did," replied the boy; "but the Duke of Epernon
+said he would show in what respect he held your Highness's letter, and
+tearing it in several pieces he threw it down under his horse's feet."
+
+Bellievre continued to look down upon the ground with a brow which
+certainly displayed but little satisfaction. The Duke of Guise,
+however, though he had been frowning the moment before, now only
+smiled as the boy related the incident of the letter; the smile was
+somewhat contemptuous, indeed; but he said merely, "Go on, boy. What
+happened next?"
+
+"Nay, my Lord," replied the boy, "what happened to them I know not,
+for seeing that the Duke held them prisoners, and was taking them back
+to Epernon, I made my escape as fast as I well could, and came hither
+to tell you into whose hands the young lady and Monsieur de Logères
+had fallen."
+
+"You did quite right, boy," said the Duke; "and now you may retire.
+You hear, Monsieur de Bellievre," he continued, "with what kindness,
+protection, support, and generosity the King treats the friends of the
+Duke of Guise! First he casts my poor niece's child into the hands of
+Villequier, something worse than those of the hangman of Paris, and
+then between them they send her into the midst of the pestilence; then
+comes Monsieur d'Epernon to confirm all, arrests my friend bearing the
+King's own passports and safeguard, seizes upon my own relation and
+ward, and carries them both I know not whither."
+
+"Perhaps your Highness," said Bellievre, "the Duke of Epernon might
+have motives that we do not know. At all events the King----"
+
+"Fie, Monsieur de Bellievre, fie!" exclaimed the Duke vehemently. "I
+will tell you what! It is time the Duke of Guise were in Paris, if but
+to deliver the King from such Dukes of Epernon who abuse his
+authority, disgrace his name, absorb his favours, ruin the state,
+overthrow the church, and dare do acts that make men blush for shame.
+France will no longer suffer him, sir; France will no longer suffer
+him! If I free not the King from him and such as he is, the people
+will rise up and commit some foul attempt upon the royal authority.
+What," he continued, with fierce scorn, "What, though he be Baron of
+Caumont, Duke of Epernon, raised out of his place to sit near the
+princes of the blood, Governor of Metz and Normandy, of the
+Boulonnais, and Aunis, of Touraine, Saintonge, and Angoumois,
+Colonel-general of Infantry, and Governor of Anjou, a Knight of the
+order of the Holy Ghost! he shall find this simple steel sword of
+Henry of Guise sufficiently sharp to cut his parchments into pieces,
+and send him back a beggar to the class he sprung from."
+
+The Duke spoke so rapidly, that to interrupt him was impossible; and
+so angrily, that Bellievre, overawed, remained silent for a moment or
+two after he had done, while the Prince bent his eyes down upon the
+table, and played with the golden tassels of his sword-knot, as if
+half ashamed of the vehemence he had displayed.
+
+"I did not come here, your Highness," he said, "either as the envoy or
+the advocate of the Duke of Epernon. You must well know that there is
+no great love between us; and I doubt not, when your Highness comes to
+call him to account for his deeds, that justice will be found entirely
+on your side. But I came on the part of the King; and I beseech you to
+consider, my good Lord, what may be the consequences of pressing even
+any severe charges against the Duke of Epernon at this moment, when
+his Majesty is contending with the heretics on the one side, and is
+somewhat troubled by an unruly people on the other."
+
+"Is he indeed contending with any body or any thing, Bellievre?"
+demanded the Duke. "Is he indeed contending against the Bearnois? Is
+he contending against the indolence of his own nature, or rather
+against the indolence into which corrupt favourites have cast him? Is
+he contending against the iniquities of Villequier, or the exactions
+of Epernon? Is he contending against any thing less contemptible than
+a spaniel puppy or an unteachable parrot? My love and attachment to
+the King and his crown, Bellievre, are greater than yours; and, as my
+final reply, I beg you humbly to inform his Majesty on my part, that
+if I do not promptly and entirely obey him in this matter of not
+coming to Paris, it is solely because I am compelled to do as I do,
+for the good of the church, for the safety of the state, for the
+security of my own relations and friends, and even for the benefit of
+his Majesty himself. This is my final reply."
+
+"Yet one word, my Lord," replied Bellievre. "At all events, if your
+determination to visit the capital be taken, will you not at least, at
+my earnest prayer, delay your journey till I myself can return to
+Paris, and obtaining more ample explanations of the King's purposes,
+come back to you and confer with you farther on the subject."
+
+"I see not, Monsieur de Bellievre," said the Duke of Guise, "what good
+could be obtained by such delay. I do not at all mean to say that you
+would take advantage of my confidence to prepare any evil measures
+against me; but others might do so: and besides, my honour calls me
+not to leave my friends in peril for a moment, even though I called
+upon my head the enmity of a whole host in stepping forward to rescue
+them."
+
+"I pledge you my honour, my Lord," replied Bellievre, "that if you
+will consent to delay, no measures shall be taken against you; and I
+will do the very best I can to induce the King to make any atonement
+in his power to your friends. As to this young Count of Logères, I
+never heard of him before to-day, and know not what has been done with
+him at all; and in regard to Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, she is
+doubtless in the hands of Villequier, who, I understand, claims the
+guardianship."
+
+"To which he has less right," replied the Duke angrily, "than that
+footstool; and if he contends with me, I will spurn him as I do it;"
+and he suited the gesture to the word. "But still I see not,"
+continued the Duke, "what is to be gained by this delay to either
+party."
+
+"This, my good Lord," replied Bellievre. "I am well aware that his
+Majesty the King has sent me here without sufficient powers to make
+you just and definite proposals. This I believe to have been entirely
+from the haste in which I came away, there being no time for thought.
+But if you permit me to return with assurance that you will wait but a
+few days, I feel convinced that I shall come back to you with offers
+so abundant, so satisfactory, and so well secured, that your Lordship
+will change your resolution."
+
+The Duke mused for a moment or two. "Well, Monsieur de Bellievre," he
+said at length, "though I entertain no such hopes as you do, I must
+yield something to my loyalty, and to my real desire of obeying the
+King; although, perhaps, my duty to my country and to the church might
+well lead me to more prompt proceedings. I will, therefore, delay my
+journey for a day or two; but you must use all speed, and I must have
+no trifling. You know all my just grievances: those must be remedied,
+the church must be secured; and for the quiet and the satisfaction of
+the people who abhor and detest him, as well as for the relief of the
+nobles who have long been shut out from all favour by that unworthy
+minion, this John of Nogaret, this Duke of Epernon, must be banished
+from the court and councils of the King, and stripped of the places
+and dignities which he has won from the weak condescension of the
+Monarch. You understand me, Monsieur de Bellievre," he said in a
+sterner tone, seeing that Bellievre looked somewhat dismayed at the
+extent of his demands. "Undertake not the mission if you think that
+you cannot succeed in it; but let me on my way without more
+opposition."
+
+"My Lord, I will do my best to succeed," replied Bellievre; "and trust
+that I shall do so. How many days will your Highness give me?"
+
+"Nay, nay," replied the Duke; "that I cannot tell, Monsieur de
+Bellievre. Suffice it, I will delay as long as my honour permits me;
+and you on your part lose not an hour in making the necessary
+arrangements, and bringing the King's reply."
+
+As he spoke the Duke rose to terminate the conference; and then added,
+"I fear, Monsieur de Bellievre, as I am expecting every moment my
+brother, the Cardinal de Guise, and his Eminence of Bourbon, to confer
+with me upon matters of importance, I cannot do the honours of the
+house to you as I could wish; but Pericard, my secretary and friend,
+will attend upon you, and insure that you have every sort of
+refreshment. I will send for him this moment." And so doing, he placed
+Bellievre in the hands of his secretary, and turned once more to other
+business.
+
+The King's envoy sped back to Paris, scarcely giving himself time to
+take necessary refreshment; but on his arrival in the capital he first
+found a difficulty even in seeing the Monarch; and when he did see
+him, found him once more plunged in that state of luxurious and
+effeminate indolence from which he was only roused by occasional fits
+of excitement, which sometimes enabled him to resume the monarch and
+the man, but more frequently carried him into the wildest and most
+frantic excesses of debauchery.
+
+Henry would scarcely listen to the business of Bellievre even when he
+granted him an audience on the following morning. He asked many a
+question about his cousin of Guise, about his health, about his
+appearance, about his dress itself; whether his shoes were pointed or
+square, and how far the haut-de-chausses came down above his knees.
+Bellievre was impatient, and pressed the King with some fire; but
+Henry only laughed, and tickled the ears of a monkey that sat upon the
+arm of his chair with a parrot's feather. The animal mouthed and
+chattered at the King, and strove to snatch the feather out of his
+hands; and Henry, stroking it down the head, called it "Mon Duc de
+Guise."
+
+Bellievre bowed low, and moved towards the door. "Come back to-morrow,
+Bellievre; come back to-morrow," said the King; "Villequier will be
+here then. You see at present how importantly I am occupied with my
+fair cousin of Guise here;" and he pulled the monkey's whiskers as he
+spoke. "Villequier has told me all about it," he added. "He says the
+Duke will not come, and so says my mother; and if they both say the
+same thing who never agreed upon any point before, it must be true,
+Bellievre, you know."
+
+"I trust it may, Sire," replied Bellievre dryly, and quitted the room
+with anger and indignation at his heart. Before he had crossed the
+anteroom, he heard a loud laugh ringing like that of a fool from the
+lips of the Monarch; and although it was doubtless occasioned by some
+new gambol of the monkey, it did not serve to diminish the bitter
+feelings which were in the diplomatist's bosom.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. X.
+
+
+In a small, dark, oaken cabinet with one window high up and barred, a
+lamp hanging from the ceiling, a table with books and a musical
+instrument, several chairs, and a silver bell, Charles of Montsoreau
+was seated several days after the period at which we last left him. A
+bedroom well furnished in every respect was beyond; the least sound of
+the silver bell produced immediate attendance; nothing was refused him
+that he demanded; nothing was wanting to his comfort except liberty
+and the sound of some other human being's voice. Yet, strange to say,
+although he knew that he was in the city of Paris, he knew nothing
+more of the position of the building in which he was placed. He had
+been brought into the capital at night, had been conducted through a
+number of narrow and tortuous streets, and had at length been led
+through a deep archway and several large courts, to the place in which
+he was now confined.
+
+It may seem perhaps that such a state of imprisonment did not offer
+much to complain of; and yet it had bent his spirit and bowed down his
+heart. The want of all knowledge of what was passing around him, the
+absence of every one that he loved, the loss of liberty, the perfect
+silence, joined with anxiety for one who was dearer to him than
+himself, wore him day by day, and took from him the power of enjoying
+any of those things which were provided for his convenience or
+amusement.
+
+The servant who attended upon him never opened his lips, he obeyed any
+orders that were given to him, he brought any thing that was demanded;
+but he replied to no questions, he made no observations, he afforded
+no information even by a look. Every bolt and bar that was on the
+outside of the door was invariably drawn behind him, and the high
+window in either room could only be so far reached even by standing on
+the table or one of the chairs, as to enable the young nobleman to
+open or shut it at pleasure, so to admit the free air from without.
+
+Such had been the condition of Charles of Montsoreau, as we have said,
+for many days; but he had not yet become reconciled in any degree to
+his fate, though he strove, as far as possible, to while away the
+moments in any way that was permitted, either by books or music. But
+it was with impatience and disgust that he did so, and the lute was
+taken up and laid down, the book read and cast away, without remaining
+in his hands for the space of five minutes.
+
+The sun shone bright through the high window, and traced a moving spot
+of golden light upon the dark oak of the opposite wainscot; the air of
+spring came sweet and pleasantly through, and gave him back the
+thoughts and dreams of liberty; a wild plant rooted in the stonework
+of the building without, cast its light feathery shadow on the wall
+where the sun shone, and the hum and roar of distant multitudes,
+pursuing their busy course in the thronged thoroughfares of the city,
+brought him his only tidings from the hurried and struggling scene of
+human life.
+
+He took a pleasure in watching the leaves of the little plant as,
+waved about by the wind, they played against the bars of the window,
+and he was thus occupied on the day we have mentioned, when suddenly
+something crossed the light for a moment, as if some small bird had
+flown by; but at the same instant a roll of paper fell at his feet,
+and taking it up, he recognised the well-known writing of the Duke of
+Guise.
+
+"You have suffered for my sake," the paper said, "and I hastened to
+deliver you. The day of the Epernons is over; your place of
+imprisonment is known. Be not dispirited, therefore, for relief is at
+hand."
+
+It cannot be told how great was the relief which this note itself
+brought to the mind of the young Count, not alone by the promise that
+it held out, but by the very feeling that it gave him of not being
+utterly forgotten, of being not entirely alone and desolate. He read
+it over two or three times, and then hearing one of the bolts of the
+door undrawn, he concealed it hastily lest the attendant should see
+it.
+
+Another bolt was immediately afterwards pulled back, and then the door
+was unlocked, though far more slowly than usual. It seemed to the
+young Count that an unaccustomed hand was busy with the fastenings,
+and a faint hope of speedy deliverance shot across his mind.
+
+The next instant, however, the door was opened, and though it
+certainly was not the usual attendant who appeared, no face presented
+itself that was known to Charles of Montsoreau. The figure was that of
+a woman, tall, stately, and dressed in garments of deep black, fitting
+tightly round the shoulders and the waist, and flowing away in ample
+folds below. Her hair was entirely covered by black silk and lace, but
+her face was seen, and that face was one which instantly drew all
+attention to itself.
+
+It was not indeed the beauty which attracted, though there were great
+remains of beauty too, but it was the face not only of an old woman,
+but of one who had been somewhat a spendthrift of youth's charms.
+There was, however, a keen fire in the eyes, a strong determination on
+the brow, an expansion of the nostril, which gave the idea of quick
+and eager feelings, and a degree of sternness about the whole line of
+the features, which would have made the whole countenance commanding,
+but harsh and severe, had it not been for a light and playful smile
+that gleamed across the whole, like some of the bright and sudden rays
+of light that from to time we see run across the bosom of deep still
+shady waters.
+
+There was a degree of mockery in that smile, too; and yet it spoke
+affections and feelings which as strangely blended with the general
+character of that woman's life, as the smile itself did with the
+general expression of her countenance. The hands were beautiful and
+delicately small, and the figure good, with but few signs of age about
+it.
+
+The young Count gazed upon her with some surprise as she entered, but
+instantly rose from the seat in which he had been sitting while
+reading the Duke of Guise's note; and the lady, with a graceful
+inclination of the head, closed the door, advanced and seated herself,
+examining the young Count from head to foot with a look of calm
+consideration, which he very well understood implied the habitual
+exercise of authority and power.
+
+After thus gazing at him for a moment or two, she said, "Monsieur le
+Comte de Logères, do you know me?"
+
+"If you mean, madam," he replied, "to ask me if I recognise your
+person, I believe I do; but if you would ask absolutely whether I know
+you, I must say, no."
+
+One of those light smiles passed quick across her countenance, and she
+said in a low voice, as if speaking to herself, "Who ever did know
+me?" She then added, "Who then do you suppose I am?"
+
+"I conclude, madam," replied the young Count, "that I stand in the
+presence of her Majesty the Queen-mother."
+
+"Such is the case," replied the Queen, "and I have come to visit you,
+Monsieur de Logères, with views and purposes which, were I to tell
+them to any person at my son's court, would hardly be believed."
+
+The Queen paused, as if waiting for an answer; and the young Count
+replied, "I trust, madam, that if I am detained here by the
+directions, and in the power of your Majesty, that you have come to
+give me liberty, which would, I suppose," he added with somewhat of a
+smile, "be rather marvellous to the courtiers of the King."
+
+Catharine de Medici smiled also, but at the same time shook her head.
+"I fear I must not give you liberty," she said, "for I have promised
+not: but I have come with no bad intent towards you. I knew your
+mother, Monsieur de Logères, and a virtuous and beautiful woman she
+was. God help us! it shows that I am growing old, my praising any
+woman for her virtue. However, she was what I have said, and as unlike
+myself as possible. Perhaps that was the reason that I liked her, for
+we like not things that are too near ourselves. However, I have come
+hither to see her son, and to do him a pleasure. You play upon the
+lute?" she continued. "Come, 'tis a long time since I have heard the
+lute well played. Take up the instrument, and add your voice to it."
+
+"Alas, madam," replied the young Count, "I am but in an ill mood for
+music. If I sang you a melancholy lay it would find such stirring
+harmonies in my own heart, that I fear I should drown the song in
+tears; and if I sang you a gay one, it would be all discord. I would
+much rather open that door which you have left unlocked behind you,
+and go out."
+
+The Queen did not stir in the slightest degree, but gazed upon him
+attentively with a look of compassion, answering, "Alas! poor bird,
+you would find that your cage has a double door. But come, do as I bid
+you; sit down there, take up the lute and sing. Let your song be
+neither gay nor sad! Let it be a song of love. I doubt not that such a
+youth as you are, will easily find a love ditty in your heart, though
+the present inspiration be no better than an old woman. Come, Monsieur
+de Logères, come: sit down and sing. I am a judge of music, I can tell
+you."
+
+With a faint smile the Count did as she bade him; and taking up the
+lute, he ran his fingers over the chords, thought for a moment or two,
+and recollecting nothing better suited to the moment, he sang an
+Italian song of love, in which sometime before he had ventured to
+shadow forth to Marie de Clairvaut, when she was at Montsoreau, the
+first feelings of affection that were growing up in his heart. The
+Queen sat by in the mean time, listening attentively, with her head a
+little bent forward, and her hand marking the cadences on her knee.
+
+"Beautifully sung, Monsieur de Logères," she said at length when he
+ended. "Beautifully sung, and as well accompanied. You do not know how
+much pleasure you have given.--Now, let us talk of other things. Are
+you sincere, man?"
+
+"I trust so, madam," replied the Count. "I believe I have never borne
+any other character."
+
+"Who taught you to play so well on the lute?" demanded the Queen
+abruptly.
+
+"I have had no great instruction, madam," answered the Count somewhat
+surprised. "I taught myself a little in my boyhood. But afterwards my
+preceptor, the Abbé de Boisguerin, was my chief instructor. He had
+learned well in Italy."
+
+"Did he teach you sincerity too?" demanded the Queen with a keen look;
+"and did he learn that in Italy?"
+
+The Count was not a little surprised to find Catherine's questions
+touch so immediately upon the late discoveries he had made of the
+character of the Abbé de Boisguerin, and he replied with some
+bitterness, "He could but teach me, madam, that which he possessed
+himself. I trust that to my nature and my blood I owe whatever
+sincerity may be in me. I learned it from none but from God and my own
+heart."
+
+"Then you know him," said the Queen, reaching the point at once; "that
+is sufficient at present on that subject. I know him too. He came to
+the court of France several years ago, with letters from my fair
+cousin the Cardinal; but he brought with him nothing that I wanted at
+that time. He had a wily head, a handsome person, manifold
+accomplishments, great learning, and services for the highest bidder.
+We had too many such things at the court already, so I thought that
+the sooner he was out of it the better, and looked cold upon him till
+he went. He understood the matter well, and did not return till he
+brought something in his hand to barter for favour. However, Monsieur
+de Logères, to turn to other matters; I do believe you may be sincere
+after all. I shall discover in a minute, however. Will you answer me a
+question or two concerning the Duke of Guise?"
+
+"It depends entirely upon what they are, madam," replied the Count at
+once.
+
+"Then you will not answer me every question, even if it were to gain
+your liberty."
+
+"Certainly not, madam," replied the Count.
+
+"Then the Duke has been speaking ill of me," said Catherine at once,
+"otherwise you would not be so fearful."
+
+"Not so, indeed," replied the Count, eagerly. "The Duke never, in my
+presence, uttered a word against your Majesty."
+
+"Then will you tell me, as a man of honour," demanded the Queen,
+"exactly, word for word what you have ever heard the Duke say of me?"
+
+Charles of Montsoreau paused and thought for a moment, and then
+answered, "I may promise you to do so in safety, madam, for I never
+heard the Duke speak of you but twice, and then it was in high
+praise."
+
+"Indeed!" she replied. "But still I believe you, for Villequier has
+been assuring me of the contrary, and, of course, what he says must be
+false. He cannot help himself, poor man. Now, tell me what the Duke
+said, Monsieur de Logères. Perhaps I may be able to repay you some
+time."
+
+"I seek for no bribe, your Majesty," replied the Count smiling; "and,
+indeed, the honour and the pleasure of this visit----"
+
+"Nay, nay! You a courtier, young gentleman!" exclaimed the Queen,
+shaking her finger at him. "Another such word as that, and you will
+make me doubt the whole tale."
+
+"The speech would not have been so courtier-like, madam, if it had
+been ended," replied the Count. "I was going to have said, that the
+honour and pleasure of this visit, after not having heard for many
+days, many weeks I believe, the sound of a human voice, or seen any
+other face but that of one attendant, is full repayment for the little
+that I have to tell. However, madam, to gratify you with regard to
+the Duke, the first time that I ever heard him mention you was in the
+city of Rheims, where a number of persons were collected together, and
+many violent opinions were expressed, with which I will not offend
+your ears; your past life was spoken of by some of the gentlemen
+present----"
+
+"Pass over that, pass over that! I understand!" replied the Queen with
+a sarcastic smile; "I understand. But those things are not worth
+speaking of. What of the present, Monsieur de Logères? What of the
+present?"
+
+"Why, some one expressed an opinion, madam," the Count continued,
+"that in order to retain a great share of power, you did every thing
+you could to keep his Majesty in the lethargic and indolent state in
+which I grieve to say he appears to the great mass of his subjects."
+
+"What said the Duke?" demanded the Queen. "What said the Duke? surely
+he knows me better."
+
+"Why, madam," replied the Count, "his eye brightened and his colour
+rose, and he replied indignantly that it could not be so. 'Oh no,' he
+said, 'happy had it been for France if, instead of divided power, the
+Queen-mother had possessed the whole power. It is by petty minds
+mingling their leven with their great designs that ruin has come upon
+the land. She has had to deal with great men, great events, and great
+difficulties, and she was equal to deal with, if not to bow them all
+down before her, had she but been permitted to deal with them
+unshackled.'"[4]
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 4: Such was undoubtedly the expressed opinion of the Duke of
+Guise.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed the Queen; "did he say so?"
+
+"He did, madam, upon my honour," replied the Count.
+
+"I know not whether he was right or wrong," rejoined the Queen
+thoughtfully; "for though perhaps, Monsieur de Logères, I possessed
+in some things the powers of a man--say, if you will, greater powers
+than most men--yet, alas! in others, I had all the weaknesses of a
+woman--perhaps I should say, to balance other qualities, more
+weaknesses than most women. But he must have said more. The answer was
+not pertinent to the remark, and Henry of Guise is not a man either in
+speech or action ever to forget his object."
+
+"Nor did he in this instance," replied the Count; "but he said that,
+wearied out with seeing your best and greatest schemes frustrated by
+the weakness of others, you now contented yourself with warding off
+evils as far as possible from your son and from the state; that it was
+evident that such was your policy; and that, like Miron, the King's
+physician, unable from external circumstances to effect a cure, you
+treated the diseases of the times with a course of palliatives; that,
+as the greatest of all evils, you knew and saw the apathy of his
+Majesty, and did all that you could to rouse him, but that the
+poisonous counsels of Villequier, the soft indolence of his own
+nature, and the enfeebling society of Epernon and others, resisted all
+that you could do, and thwarted you here likewise."
+
+"He spoke wisely, and he spoke truly," replied the Queen; "and I will
+tell you, Monsieur de Logères, though Henry of Guise and I can never
+love each other much, yet I felt sure that he knew me too well to say
+all those things of me that have been reported by his enemies. I am
+satisfied with what I have heard, Count, and shall ask no further
+questions. But you have given me pleasure, and I will do my best to
+serve you. Once more, let us speak of other things. Have you all that
+you desire and want here?"
+
+"No, madam," replied the young Count. "I want many things--liberty,
+the familiar voices of my friends, the sight of those I love. Every
+thing that the body wants I have; and you or some of your attendants
+have supplied me with books and music; but it is in such a situation
+as this, your Majesty, that one learns that the heart requires food as
+well as the body or the mind."
+
+"The heart!" replied Catharine de Medici thoughtfully. "I once knew
+what the heart was, and I have not quite forgotten it yet. Did you
+mark my words after you had sung, Monsieur de Logères?"
+
+"You were pleased to praise my poor singing much more than it
+deserved, madam," replied the young Count.
+
+"Something more than that, my good youth," replied the Queen. "I told
+you that it had given more pleasure than you knew of. I might have
+added, that it gave pleasure to more than you knew of, for there was
+another ear could hear it besides mine."
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed the Count gazing eagerly in the Queen's face; "and
+pray who might that be?"
+
+"One that loves you," replied Catharine de Medici. "One that loves
+you very well, Monsieur de Logères." And rising from her chair she put
+her hand to her brow, as if in deep thought. "Well," she said at
+length; "something must be risked, and I will risk something for
+that purpose. The time is not far distant, Monsieur de Logères--I
+see it clearly--when by some means you will be set at liberty; but,
+notwithstanding that, it may be long before you find such a thing even
+as an hour's happiness. You are a frank and generous man, I believe;
+you will not take advantage of an act of kindness to behave
+ungenerously. I go away from you for a moment or two, and leave that
+door open behind me, trusting to your honour."
+
+She waited for no reply, but quitted the room; and Charles of
+Montsoreau stood gazing upon the door, doubtful of what was her
+meaning, and how he was to act. Some of her words might be interpreted
+as a hint to escape; but others had directly a contrary tendency, and
+a moment after he heard her unlock and pass another door, and close
+but not lock it behind her.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. XI.
+
+
+"What is her meaning?" demanded Charles of Montsoreau, as he gazed
+earnestly upon the door; and as he thus thought his heart beat
+vehemently, for there was a hope in it which he would not suffer his
+reason to rest upon for a moment, so improbable did it seem, and so
+fearful would be disappointment. "What is her meaning?" And he still
+asked himself the question, as one minute flew by after another, and
+to his impatience it seemed long ere she returned.
+
+But a few minutes elapsed, however, in reality, ere there were steps
+heard coming back, and in another minute Catharine de Medici again
+appeared, saying, "For one hour, remember! For one hour only!"
+
+There was somebody behind her, and the brightest hope that Charles of
+Montsoreau had dared to entertain was fully realised.
+
+The Queen had drawn Marie de Clairvaut forward; and passing out again,
+she closed the door, leaving her alone with her lover. If his heart
+had wanted any confirmation of the deep, earnest, overpowering
+affection which she entertained towards him, it might have been found
+in the manner in which--apparently without the power even to move
+forward, trembling, gasping for breath--she stood before him on so
+suddenly seeing him again, without having been forewarned, after long
+and painful and anxious absence. As he had himself acknowledged, he
+was ignorant in the heart of woman; but love had been a mighty
+instructor, and he now needed no explanation of the agitation that he
+beheld.
+
+Starting instantly forward, he threw his arms around her; and it was
+then, held to his bosom, pressed to his heart, that all Marie de
+Clairvaut's love and tenderness burst forth. Gentle, timid, modest in
+her own nature as she was, love and joy triumphed over all. The agony
+of mind she had been made to suffer, was greater than even he could
+fancy, and the relief of that moment swept away all other thoughts:
+the tears, the happy but agitated tears, flowed rapidly from her eyes;
+but her lips sought his cheek from time to time, her arms clasped
+tenderly round him, and as soon as she could speak, she said, "Oh
+Charles, Charles, do I see you again? Am I, am I held in your arms
+once more; the only one that I have ever loved in life, my saviour, my
+protector, my defender. For days, for weeks, I have not known whether
+you were living or dead. They had the cruelty, they had the barbarity
+not even to let me know whether you had or had not escaped the plague.
+They have kept me in utter ignorance of where you were, of all and of
+every thing concerning you." And again she kissed his cheek, though
+even while she did so, under the overpowering emotions of her heart,
+the blush of shame came up into her own: and then she hid her eyes
+upon his bosom, and wept once more in agitation but in happiness.
+
+"As they have acted to you, dearest Marie," he replied, "as they have
+acted to you, so they have acted to me. The day they separated me from
+you at Epernon, was the last day that I have spoken with any living
+creature up to this morning. No answers have been returned to my
+questions; not a word of intelligence could I obtain concerning your
+fate; and oh, dear, dear Marie, you would feel, you would know how
+terrible has been that state to me, if you could tell how ardently,
+how deeply, how passionately I love you." And his lips met hers, and
+sealed the assurance there.
+
+"I know it, I know it all, Charles," replied Marie. "I know it by what
+I have felt; I know it by what I feel myself, for I believe, I do
+believe, from my very heart, that if it be possible for two people to
+feel exactly alike, we so feel."
+
+"But tell me, dear Marie, tell me," exclaimed her lover, "tell me
+where you have been. Have they treated you kindly? Does the Duke of
+Guise know where you are?"
+
+"Alas, no, Charles!" replied Marie de Clairvaut; "he does not, I
+grieve to say. Well treated indeed I may say that I have been, for all
+that could contribute to my mere comfort has been done for me. Nothing
+that I could desire or wish for, Charles, has been ungiven, and I have
+ever had the society of the good sisters in the neighbouring convent.
+But the society that I love has of course been denied me; and no news,
+no tidings of any kind have reached me. I have lived in short with
+numbers of people surrounding me, as if I were not in the world at
+all, and the moment that I asked a question, a deep silence fell upon
+every one, and I could obtain no reply."
+
+"This is strange indeed," said Charles, "very strange. However, we
+must be grateful that our treatment has been kind indeed in some
+respects."
+
+"Oh, and most grateful," replied Marie de Clairvaut, "for these bright
+moments of happiness. Do you not think, Charles, do you not think,
+that perhaps the Queen may kindly grant us such interviews again?"
+
+Who is there that does not know how lovers while away the time? Who is
+there that has not known how short is a lover's hour? But with Charles
+of Montsoreau and Marie de Clairvaut that hour seemed shorter than it
+otherwise would have done; for it was not alone the endearing caress,
+the words, the acknowledgments, the hopes of love, but they had a
+thousand things in the past to tell each other; they had cares and
+fears, and plans and purposes for the future, to communicate.
+
+Even had not all shyness, all timidity been done away before, that was
+not a moment in which Marie de Clairvaut could have affected aught
+towards her lover; so that what between tidings of the past and
+thoughts of the future, and the dear dalliance of that spendthrift of
+invaluable moments, love, an envious clock in some church-tower hard
+by, had marked the arrival of the last quarter of an hour they were to
+remain together, ere one tenth part of what they had to think of or to
+say was either thought or said. The sound startled them, and it became
+a choice whether they should give up the brief remaining space to
+serious thoughts of the future, or whether they should yield it all to
+love. Who is it with such a choice before him that ever hesitated
+long?
+
+The space allotted for their interview had drawn near its close, and
+the very scantiness of the period that remained was causing them to
+spend it in regrets that it was not longer, when suddenly the general
+sounds which came from the streets became louder and more loud, as if
+some door or gate had been opened which admitted the noise more
+distinctly. Both Marie de Clairvaut and her lover listened, and almost
+at the same instant loud cries were heard of "The Duke of Guise! The
+Duke of Guise! Long live the Duke of Guise! Long live the great pillar
+of the Catholic church! Long live the House of Lorraine!" And this was
+followed by the noise and trampling of horses, as if entering into a
+court below.
+
+Marie and her lover gazed in each other's faces, but she it was that
+first spoke the joyful hopes that were in the heart of both.
+
+"He has come to deliver us!" she cried. "Oh Charles, he has come to
+deliver us! Hear how gladly the people shout his well-loved name!
+Surely they will not deceive him, and tell him we are not here."
+
+"Oh no, dear Marie," replied her lover; "he has certain information,
+depend upon it, and will not be easily deceived. He has already
+discovered my abode, dear Marie; and this letter was thrown through
+the window this morning, though I myself know not where we are--that
+is to say, I am well aware that we are now in Paris, but I know not in
+what part of the city."
+
+"Oh, that I discovered from one of the nuns," replied Marie. "We are
+at the house of the Black Penitents, in the Rue St. Denis. I remember
+the outside of it well; a large dark building with only two windows to
+the street. Do you not remember it? You must have seen it in passing."
+
+"I am not so well acquainted with the city as you are, dear Marie,"
+replied Charles of Montsoreau; "but, depend upon it, where they have
+confined me is not in the house of the Black Penitents. It would be a
+violation of the rules of the order which could not be."
+
+"It communicates with their dwelling," replied Marie de Clairvaut; "of
+that at least I am certain; for the Queen, when she brought me hither,
+took me not into the open air. She led me indeed through numerous
+passages, one of which, some ten or twelve yards in length, was nearly
+dark, for it had no windows, and was only lighted by the door left
+open behind us. I was then placed in a little room while the Queen
+went on, and a short time after I heard a voice, that made my heart
+beat strangely, begin to sing a song that you once sung at Montsoreau;
+and when I was thinking of you Charles, and all that you had done for
+me--how you had first saved me from the reiters, and then rescued me
+from the deep stream, and had then come to seek me and deliver me in
+the midst of death and pestilence--I was thinking of all these things,
+when Catherine came back, and without telling me what was her
+intention, led me hither."
+
+"Hark!" cried Charles of Montsoreau. "They shout again. I wonder that
+we have heard no farther tidings."
+
+And they both sat and listened for some minutes, but no indication of
+any farther event took place, and they gradually resumed their
+conversation, beginning in a low tone, as if afraid of losing a sound
+from without. Marie de Clairvaut had already told her lover how she
+had remained at Epernon for a day or two under the protection of the
+wife of the Duke, and had been thence brought by her to Paris and
+placed in the convent at a late hour of the evening; but as the time
+wore away, and their hopes of liberation did not seem about to be
+realized, she recurred to the subject of her arrival, saying, "There
+is one thing which makes me almost fear they will deceive him,
+Charles. I forgot to tell you, that as we paused before this building
+on the night that I was brought hither, while the gates were being
+opened by the portress, a horseman rode up to the side of the carriage
+and gazed in. There were torches on the other side held by the
+servants round the gate, and though I could not see that horseman as
+well as he could see me, yet I feel almost sure that it was the face
+of the Abbé de Boisguerin I beheld."
+
+"I know he was to return to Paris," said Charles of Montsoreau, "after
+accompanying my brother some part of the way back to the château. But
+fear not him, dear Marie; he has no power or influence here."
+
+"Oh, but I fear far more wile and intrigue," cried Marie de Clairvaut,
+"than I do power and influence, Charles. Power is like a lion, bold
+and open; but when once satisfied, injures little; but art is like a
+serpent that stings us, without cause, when we least expect it. But
+hark!" she continued again. "They are once more shouting loudly."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau listened also, and the cries, repeated again and
+again, of "Long live the Duke of Guise! Long live the House of
+Lorraine! Long live the good Queen Catherine![5] Life to the Queen!
+Life to the Queen!" were heard mingled with thundering huzzas and
+acclamations. The heart of the young Count sank, for he judged that
+the Duke had gone forth again amongst the people, and had either
+forgotten his fate altogether in more important affairs, or had been
+deceived by false information regarding himself and Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut.
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 5: The progress of the Duke of Guise and the Queen-mother,
+from the convent of the Penitents to the Louvre, was in triumph. "Il y
+en avoit," says Auvigny, "qui se mettoient à genoux devant lui,
+d'autres lui baisoient les mains; quelques uns se trouvèrent trop
+heureux de pouvoir en passant toucher son habit," A farther account of
+this famous event is given a few pages farther on.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+The cries, which were at first loud and distinct, gradually sunk,
+till first the words could no longer be distinguished; then the
+acclamations became more and more faint, till the whole died away into
+a distant murmur, rising and falling like the sound of the sea beating
+upon a stormy shore. The young Count gazed in the countenance of Marie
+de Clairvaut, and saw therein written even more despairing feelings
+than were in his own heart.
+
+"Fear not, dear Marie," he said pressing her to his bosom. "Fear not;
+the Duke must know that I am here by this letter: nor is he one to be
+easily deceived. Depend upon it he will find means to deliver us ere
+long."
+
+Marie de Clairvaut shook her head with a deep sigh and with her eyes
+filled with tears. But she had not time to reply, for steps were heard
+in the passage, and the moment after the door of the room was opened.
+
+It was no longer, however, the figure of Catherine de Medici that
+presented itself, but the homely person and somewhat unmeaning face of
+a good lady, dressed in the habit of a prioress. Behind her, again,
+was a lay-sister, and beside them both the attendant who was
+accustomed to wait upon the young Count. The good lady who first
+appeared looked round the scene that the opening door disclosed to her
+with evident marks of curiosity and surprise; and, indeed, the whole
+expression of her countenance left little doubt that she had never
+been in that place before.
+
+After giving up a minute to her curiosity, however, she turned to
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, saying, "I have been sent by the Queen,
+madam, to conduct you back to your apartments."
+
+"Let me first ask one question," replied Marie de Clairvaut. "Has not
+the Duke of Guise been here?"
+
+The nun answered not a word.
+
+"We need no assurance of it, dear Marie," said Charles of Montsoreau,
+hoping to drive the Prioress to some answer. "We know that he has, and
+must have been deceived in regard to your state and mine."
+
+The Prioress was still silent; and Marie de Clairvaut, after waiting
+for a moment, added, "If he have been deceived, Charles, woe to those
+who have deceived him. He is not a man to pass over lightly such
+conduct as has been shown to me already."
+
+"Madam," said the Prioress, "I have been sent by the Queen to show you
+to your apartments."
+
+It was vain to resist or to linger. Marie de Clairvaut gave her hand
+to her lover, and they gazed in each other's faces for a moment with a
+long and anxious glance, not knowing when they might meet again.
+Charles of Montsoreau could not resist; and notwithstanding the
+presence of nun, prioress, and attendant, he drew the fair creature
+whose hand he held in his gently to his bosom, and pressed a parting
+kiss upon her lips.
+
+Marie turned away with her eyes full of tears, and leaving her hand in
+his till the last moment, she slowly approached the door. She turned
+for one other look ere she departed, and then, dashing the tears from
+her eyes, passed rapidly out. The door closed behind her, and Charles
+of Montsoreau alone, and almost without hope, buried his face in his
+hands, and gave himself up to think over the sweet moments of the
+past.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. XII.
+
+
+It was on the morning of Monday, the 9th of May, 1588, at about half
+past eleven o'clock, that a party, consisting of sixteen horsemen, of
+whom eight were gentlemen and the rest grooms, appeared at the gates
+of Paris. But though each of those eight persons who led the cavalcade
+were strong and powerful men, in the prime of life, highly educated,
+and generally distinguished in appearance, yet there was one on whom
+all eyes rested wherever he passed, and rested with that degree of
+wonder and admiration which might be well called forth by the union of
+the most perfect graces of person, with the appearance of the greatest
+vigour and activity, and with a dignity and beauty of expression which
+breathed not only from the countenance, but from the whole person, and
+shone out in every movement, as well as in every look.
+
+The gates of the city were at this time open, and though a certain
+number of guards were hanging about the buildings on either hand, yet
+no questions were asked of any one who came in or went out of the
+city. The moment, however, that the party we have mentioned appeared,
+and he who was at its head paused for a moment on the inside of the
+gate and gazed round, as if looking for some one that he expected to
+see there, one of the bystanders whispered eagerly to the other, "It
+is the Duke! It is the Duke of Guise!"
+
+All hats were off in a moment; all voices cried, "The Duke! The Duke!"
+A loud acclamation ran round the gate, and the people from the small
+houses in the neighbourhood poured forth at the sound, rending the air
+with their acclamations, and pressing forward round his horse with
+such eagerness that it was scarcely possible for him to pass along his
+way. Some kissed his hand, some threw themselves upon their knees
+before him, some satisfied themselves by merely touching his cloak, as
+if it had saintly virtue in it, and still the cry ran on of "The Duke
+of Guise! The Duke of Guise! Long live the Duke of Guise!" while every
+door-way and alley and court-yard poured forth its multitudes, till
+the people seemed literally to crush each other in the streets, and
+all Paris echoed with the thundering acclamations.
+
+After that momentary pause at the gates, the Duke of Guise rode on,
+uncovering his splendid head, and bowing lowly to the people as he
+went. His face had been flushed by exercise when he arrived, but now
+the deep excitement of such a reception had taken the colour from his
+cheek; he was somewhat pale, and his lip quivered with intense
+feeling. But there was a fire in his eye which seemed to speak that
+his heart was conscious of great purposes, and ready to fulfil its
+high emprise; and there was a degree of stern determination on that
+lordly brow, which spoke also the knowledge but the contempt of
+danger, and the resolution of meeting peril and overcoming resistance.
+
+Thus passing on amidst the people, and bowing as he went to their
+repeated cheers, the Duke of Guise reached the convent of the Black
+Penitents, where for the time the Queen-mother had taken up her abode.
+The gates of the outer court into which men were suffered to enter
+were thrown open to admit him; and signifying to such of the crowd as
+were nearest to the gate that they had better not follow him into the
+court, the Duke of Guise rode in with his attendants, and the gates
+were again closed. The servants and the gentlemen who accompanied him
+remained beside their horses in the court, while he alone entered the
+parlour of the convent to speak with the Queen-mother.
+
+She did not detain him an instant, but came in with a countenance on
+which much alarm was painted, either by nature or by art. The Duke at
+once advanced to meet her, and bending low his towering head, he
+kissed the hand which she held out to him.
+
+"Alas! my Lord of Guise," she said, "I must not so far falsify the
+truth as to say that I am glad to see you. Glad, most glad should I
+have been to see you, any where but here. But, alas! I fear you have
+come at great peril to yourself, good cousin! You know not how angry
+the minds of men are; you know not how much hostility reigns against
+you in the breasts of many of the highest of the land; you have not
+bethought you, that on every step to the throne there stands an
+enemy----"
+
+"Who shall fall before me, madam," replied the Duke of Guise.
+
+"Till you have reached the throne itself, fair cousin?" said the
+Queen-mother.
+
+"No, madam, no," answered the Duke of Guise eagerly. "I thought your
+Majesty had known me better. I have always believed that you were one
+of those who felt and understood that I never dreamt of wronging my
+master and my king, or of snatching, as you now hinted, the crown from
+its lawful possessor."
+
+"I _have_ felt it, and I _have_ understood it, cousin of Guise,"
+replied Catharine de Medici. "But, alas! my Lord, I know how ambition
+grows upon the heart. It begins with an acorn, Guise, but it ends with
+an oak. Those that watch it, the very soil that bears it, perceive not
+its increase; and yet it soon overshadows all things, and root it out
+who can!"
+
+"Madam," answered the Duke of Guise, boldly, "to follow the figure
+that you have used, the axe soon reduces the oak; and may the axe be
+used on me, and ease me of earth's ambition for ever, if any such
+designs as have been attributed to me exist within my bosom! You see,
+madam, I meet you boldly, look to ultimate consequences of ambitious
+designs, and fear not the result. It is such accusations that I come
+to repel, and it is those who have propagated them, and instilled them
+both into the mind of his Majesty, and, as it would appear, your own,
+that I come to punish. Trusting that, humble though I be, your Majesty
+was the best friend I had at the court of France, I have ridden
+straight hither, without even stopping at my own abode, to beseech you
+to accompany me to the presence of the King."
+
+"I do believe, cousin of Guise, that I am your best friend at the
+court of France," replied the Princess. "In fact, I may say, I know
+that none there loves you but myself. Nor must you think that I accuse
+you of actual ambition, or believe the rumours that have been
+circulated against you. I merely wish to warn you of the growth of
+such things in your own bosom."
+
+"Dear madam," replied the Duke, "had I been ambitious, what might I
+not have become? Here am I simply the Duke of Guise; a poor officer,
+commanding part of the King's troops, and contributing no small part
+of my own to swell his forces; with scarcely a place, a post, a
+government, an emolument, or a revenue, except what I derive from my
+own estates. Am I the most ambitious man in France? Am I so ambitious
+as he who adds, to the government of Metz, the government of Normandy,
+and piles upon that Touraine, Anjou, Saintonge, the Angoumois, seizes
+upon the office of High-admiral, creates himself Colonel-general of
+the Infantry? This, lady, is the ambitious man; but of him you seem to
+entertain no fear."
+
+"There are two ambitions, my Lord Duke," replied the Queen: "the
+ambition which grasps at power, and the ambition which snatches at
+wealth: the moment that ambition mingles itself with avarice, the
+grovelling passion, chained in its own sordid bonds, is no longer to
+be feared. It is where the object is power; where there is a mind to
+conceive the means, and a heart to dare all the risks, that there is
+indeed occasion for apprehension and for precaution. Still, my Lord, I
+believe you; still I believe that the hand of Guise will never be
+raised to pull down the bonnet of Valois. You may strip the minion
+Epernon of the golden plumes with which he has decked his mid-air
+wings, for aught I care or think of; you may cast down the dark and
+plotting Villequier, and sweep the court of apes and parrots, fools
+and villains, and the whole tribe of natural and human beasts, without
+my saying one word to oppose you, or without my dreaming for a moment
+that you aim at higher things; you may even soar higher still, and
+like your great father become at once the guide and the defender of
+the state, and still I will not fear you. But Guise," she added in a
+softer tone, "I must and will still fear _for_ you; and though I will
+go with you to the King if you continue to demand it, yet I tell you,
+and I warn you, that every step you take is perilous, and that I
+cannot be your safeguard nor your surety for a moment!"
+
+"Madam, I must fulfil my fate," replied the Duke of Guise looking up.
+"I came here to justify myself; I came here to deliver and to support
+my friends; I came here to secure honour and safety to the Catholic
+Church; and did I know that the daggers of a hundred assassins would
+be in my bosom at the first step I took beyond those gates, I would go
+forth as resolutely as I came hither."
+
+"Then I must send to announce your coming to the King," said the
+Queen. "Of course I cannot take you to the Louvre unannounced."
+
+Thus saying she quitted the room for a moment, and the Duke remained
+behind with his arms crossed upon his bosom in deep thought. She
+returned in a moment, however, saying that she had sent one of her
+gentlemen upon the errand, and the next minute as the gates were
+opened for some one to go out, long and reiterated shouts of "A Guise!
+A Guise! Long live the Guise!" were heard echoing round the building.
+Catharine de Medici smiled and looked at the Duke. "How often have I
+heard," she said, "those same light Parisian tongues exclaim the name
+of different princes! I remember well, Guise, when first I came from
+my fair native land, how the glad multitude shouted on my way; how all
+the streets were strewed with flowers; and how, if I had believed the
+words I heard, I should have fancied that not a man in all the land
+but would have died to serve me; and yet, not long after, I have heard
+execrations murmured in the throats of the dull multitude while I
+passed by, and the name of Diana of Poitiers echoed through the
+streets. Then have I not heard the names of a Francis and a Henry
+shouted far and wide? and after Jarnac and Moncontour, the heavens
+were scarcely high enough to hold the sounds of his name who now sits
+upon the throne of France. To-day it is Guise they call upon!--Who
+shall it be to-morrow? And then another and another still shall come,
+the object of an hour's love changed into hatred in a moment."
+
+"It is too true, madam," replied the Duke. "Popularity is the most
+fleeting, the most vacillating--if you will, the most contemptible--of
+all those means and opportunities which Heaven gives us to be made use
+of for great ends. But nevertheless, madam, we must so make use of
+them all; and as this same popularity is one of the briefest of the
+whole, so must we be the more ready, the more prompt, the more decided
+in taking advantage of the short hour of brightness. I may be wrong in
+thinking," he continued after the pause of a moment or two, "I may be
+wrong in thinking that my well-being and that of the state and church
+of this realm are intimately bound up together. It may be, and
+probably is, a delusion of human vanity. Nevertheless, such being my
+opinion, none can say that I am wrong in taking advantage of the
+moment of my popularity to do the best that I can both for the church
+and for the state. Such, I assure you, madam, is my object; and if I
+benefit myself at all in these transactions, it can be, and shall be,
+but collaterally; while in the mean time I incur perils which I know
+and yet fear not."
+
+Thus went on the conversation between the Queen and the Duke of Guise
+for nearly half an hour, at the end of which time the gentleman who
+had been dispatched to the King returned, bearing his Majesty's reply,
+which was, that since his mother desired it, she might bring the Duke
+of Guise to his presence, and Catherine prepared immediately to set
+out. Her chair was brought round; and after speaking a few words with
+the superior of the convent, she placed herself in the vehicle, the
+Duke of Guise walking by her side. The gentlemen who had come with him
+gave their horses to the grooms, and followed on foot; and several
+servants and attendants ran on before to clear the way through the
+people.
+
+The moment the gates were opened, a spectacle struck the eyes of the
+Queen and the Duke, such as no city in the world perhaps, except
+Paris, could produce. In the short period which had elapsed since the
+Duke's arrival, the news had spread from one end of the capital to the
+other, and the whole of its multitudes were poured out into the
+streets or lining the windows, or crowning the house-tops. With a
+rapidity scarcely to be conceived, scaffoldings had been raised in
+that short space of time in different parts of the streets, to enable
+the multitude to see the Duke better as he passed[6]; in many places,
+velvets and rich tapestries were hung out upon the fronts of the
+houses, as if some solemn procession of the church were taking place;
+the ladies of the higher classes at the windows, or on their
+scaffolds, were generally without the masks which they usually wore in
+the streets; and again, when the gates of the convent opened, and the
+Queen and the Duke issued forth, the air seemed actually rent with the
+acclamations of the people, and a long line of waving hats and
+handkerchiefs was seen all the way up the Rue St. Denis.
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 6: This fact is recorded in every account of the proceedings
+of that day.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+The same gratulations as before met the Duke on every side as he
+passed along; the populace seemed absolutely inclined to worship him,
+and many threw themselves upon their knees as he passed. He looked
+round upon the dense mass of people, upon the crowded houses, upon the
+waving hands; he heard from every tongue a welcome, at every step a
+gratulation, and it was impossible for the heart of man not to feel at
+that moment a pride and a confidence fit to bear him strongly on his
+perilous way.
+
+All the way down the Rue St. Denis, and through every other street
+that he passed, the same scene presented itself, the same acclamations
+followed him, so that the shouts thundered in the ear of the King as
+he sat in the Louvre.
+
+At length the Queen and those who accompanied her approached the
+palace; and in the open space before it, which was at that time railed
+off, was drawn up a long double line of guards, forming a lane through
+which it was necessary to pass to the gates. The well-known Crillon,
+celebrated for his determination and bravery, was at their head; and
+the Duke of Guise, obliged to pause in order to suffer the chair of
+the Queen-mother to pass on first, bowed to the commander, whom he
+knew and respected.
+
+Crillon scarcely returned his salutation, but looked frowning along
+the double row of his soldiery. The people, close by the railings,
+watched every movement, and a murmur of something like apprehension
+for their favourite ran through them as they watched these signs. But
+not a moment's pause marked the slightest hesitation in the Duke of
+Guise. With his head raised and his eyes flashing, he drew forward the
+hilt of his unconquered sword ready for his hand, and holding the
+scabbard in his left, strode after the chair of the Queen till the
+gates of the Louvre closed upon him and his train.
+
+A number of officers and gentlemen were waiting in the vestibule to
+receive the Queen-mother, who however gave her hand to the Duke of
+Guise to assist her from her chair. On him they gazed with eyes of
+wonder and of scrutiny, as if they would fain have discovered what
+feelings were in the heart of one so hated and dreaded by the King, at
+a moment when he stood with closed doors within a building filled with
+his enemies, and surrounded by soldiers ready to massacre him at a
+word. But the fire which the menacing look of Crillon had brought into
+the eyes of the Duke had now passed away, and all was calm dignity and
+easy though grave self-possession. The eye wandered not round the
+hall; the lip, though not compressed, was firm and motionless, except
+when he smiled in saluting some of those around whom he knew, or in
+speaking a few words to the Queen-mother, whose dress had become
+somewhat entangled with a mantle of sables which she had worn in the
+chair.
+
+As soon as it was detached, one of the officers of the household said,
+bowing low, "His Majesty has commanded me, Madam, to conduct you and
+his Highness of Guise to the chamber of her Majesty the Queen, where
+he waits your coming." And he led the way up the stairs of the Louvre
+to the somewhat extraordinary audience chamber which the King had
+selected.
+
+Henry, when the party entered, was sitting near the side of the bed,
+surrounded by several of his officers, one of whom, Alphonzo d'Ornano
+by name, whispered something over the King's shoulder with his eyes
+fixed upon the Duke of Guise.
+
+The words, which were, "Do you hold him for your friend or your
+enemy?" were spoken in such a tone as almost to reach the Duke
+himself. The King did not reply, but looked up at the Duke with a
+frown that was quite sufficient.
+
+"Speak but the word," said Ornano in a lower tone, "speak but the
+word, and his head shall be at your feet in a minute."
+
+The King measured Ornano and the Duke of Guise with his eyes, then
+shook his head with somewhat of a scornful smile; and then, looking up
+to the Duke, who had by this time come near him, he said in a dull
+heavy tone, "What brings you here, my cousin?"
+
+"My Lord," replied the Duke, "I have found it absolutely necessary to
+present myself before your Majesty, in order to repel numerous
+calumnies."
+
+"Stay, cousin of Guise," said the King; and turning to Bellievre, who
+stood amongst the persons behind him, he demanded abruptly, "Did you
+not tell me that he would not come to Paris?"
+
+"My Lord Duke," exclaimed Bellievre, not replying directly to the
+King's question, but addressing the Duke, "did not your Highness
+assure me that you would delay your journey till I returned?"
+
+"Yes, Monsieur de Bellievre," replied the Duke. "But you did not
+return."
+
+"But I wrote you two letters, your Highness," replied Bellievre,
+"reiterating his Majesty's commands for you not to come to Paris."
+
+"Those letters," replied the Duke of Guise, with a bitter smile, "like
+some other letters which have been written to me upon important
+occasions, have, from some cause, failed to reach my hands.
+Nevertheless, Sire, believe me when I tell you, that my object in
+coming is solely to prove to your Majesty that I am not guilty either
+of the crimes or the designs which base and grasping men have laid to
+my charge. Believe me, that after my devotion to God and our holy
+religion, there is no one whom I am so anxious to serve zealously and
+devotedly as your Majesty. This you will find ever, Sire, if you will
+but give me the opportunity of rendering you any service."
+
+The King was about to reply, but the Queen-mother, who had advanced
+and stood by his side, touched his arm saying, "You have not yet
+spoken to me, my son." And the King turning towards her, she added
+something in a low voice. The King replied in the same tone; and the
+Duke of Guise, passing through the midst of the frowning faces ranged
+around the royal seat, approached the Queen-consort, the mild and
+unhappy Louisa, and addressed a few words to her of reverence and
+respect which were gratifying to her ear. He then turned once more to
+the King, who seemed to have heard what Catharine de Medici had
+to say, and having given his reply, sat in moody silence. The
+Queen-mother stood by with some degree of apprehension in her
+countenance, as if feeling very doubtful still how the affair would
+terminate. The brows of the courtiers were gloomy and undecided, and
+the few followers of the Duke of Guise ranged at some distance from
+the spot to which he had now advanced, kept their eyes fixed either on
+him or on those surrounding the King, as if, at the least menacing
+movement, they were ready to start forward in defence of their leader.
+
+The only one that was perfectly calm was Guise himself; but he,
+retreading his steps till he stood opposite the King, again addressed
+the Monarch saying, "I hope, Sire, that you will give me a full
+opportunity of justifying myself."
+
+"Your conduct, cousin of Guise," replied the King, "must best justify
+you for the past; and I shall judge by the event, of your intentions
+for the future."
+
+"Let it be so," replied the Duke, "and such being the case, I will
+humbly take my leave of your Majesty, wishing you, from my heart,
+health and happiness."
+
+Thus saying he once more bowed low, and retired from the presence of
+the King, followed by the gentlemen who had accompanied him. Not an
+individual of the palace stirred a step to conduct him on his way,
+though his rank, his services, his genius, and his vast renown,
+rendered the piece of neglect they showed disgraceful to themselves
+rather than injurious to him. He was accompanied from the gates of the
+Louvre, however, and followed to the Hôtel de Guise, by an infinite
+number of people, who ceased not for one moment to make the streets
+ring with their acclamations.
+
+Nor were these by any means composed entirely of the lowest classes of
+the people, the least respectable, or the least well-informed. On the
+contrary, it must, alas! be said, that the great majority of all that
+was good, upright, and noble in the city hailed his coming loudly as a
+security and a safeguard.
+
+A number, an immense number, of the inferior nobility of the realm
+were mingled with the crowd that followed him, or joined the acclaim
+from the windows. The robes of the law were seen continually in the
+dense multitude, and almost all the courts had there numbers of their
+principal members; while the municipal officers of the city, with the
+exception of two or three, were there in a mass, accompanied by a
+large body of the most opulent and respectable merchants.
+
+Thus followed, the Duke of Guise proceeded to his hotel on foot as he
+came, speaking from time to time with those who pressed near him with
+that peculiar grace which won all hearts, and smiling with the
+far-famed smile of his race, which was said never to fall upon any man
+without making him feel as if he stood in the sunshine.
+
+Already collected on the steps of the Hôtel de Guise, at the news that
+he was returning from the Louvre, was a group of the brightest, the
+bravest, the most talented, and the most beautiful of the French
+nobility,--Madame de Montpensier, Mademoiselle de St. Beuve, the
+Chevalier d'Aumale, Brissac, and a thousand others. The servants and
+attendants of his household in gorgeous dresses kept back the crowd
+with courteous words and kindly gestures; and when he reached the
+steps that led to the high doorway of the porter's lodge, on the right
+of the porte cochère, he ascended a little way amongst his gratulating
+friends, and then turned and bowed repeatedly to the people, pointing
+out here and there some of the most popular of the citizens and
+magistrates, and whispering a word to the nearest attendant, who
+instantly made his way through the crowd to the spot where the
+personage designated stood, and in his master's name requested that he
+would come in and take some refreshment.
+
+When this was over, he again bowed and retired; and while the
+multitude separated, he walked on into his lordly halls with a number
+of persons clinging round him, whom he had not seen for months--for
+months which to him had been full of activity, thought, care, and
+peril, and to them of anxiety for the head of their race.
+
+As he passed along, however, to a chamber where the dinner which had
+been prepared for him had remained untouched for many an hour, his eye
+fell upon a boy dressed in the habit of one of his own pages; and
+taking suddenly a step forward, he called the boy apart into a window,
+demanding eagerly, "Well, have you found your master?"
+
+"I have, your Highness," replied the boy, "and have found means to
+give him the letter?"
+
+"What!" exclaimed the Duke, "outwitted Villequier, and Pisani, and
+all! The wit of a page against that of a politician for a thousand
+crowns!"
+
+"I dressed myself as a girl, your Highness," replied the boy, "and got
+into the convent, and then through a gate into what is called the
+rector's court, where Doctor Botholph and the Curé live, and where men
+are admitted, and women not shut out when they like to go in; and I
+got talking to the old verger of the church by the side, and he called
+me a pretty little fool, and said he dared to say I would soon be
+among the penitents within there; and with that I got him to tell me
+every thing, and the whole story of the young Count being brought
+there at night, and shut up in what are called the rector's
+apartments."
+
+As he spoke, one or two of the higher class of those whom the Duke had
+selected from the crowd below, and who felt themselves privileged to
+present themselves in his private apartments, entered the hall, and
+instantly caught his eye.
+
+"I cannot speak with you more at present, Ignati," he said, "nor,
+perhaps, during the whole day, for there is business of life and death
+before me; but come to me while I am rising to-morrow, and only tell
+me in the mean time where our poor Logères is, for I know not what
+convent you mean."
+
+"He is in the rector's court," replied the boy, "close by the convent
+of the Black Penitents, in the Rue St. Denis."
+
+"By my faith!" exclaimed the Duke in no slight surprise, "I have been
+there this very day myself, and there the Queen-mother has made her
+abode for the last ten days. She must be deceiving me; and yet,
+perhaps, the mighty matters that occupied her mind when I saw her
+might have made her forget all other things. However, Logères shall
+not be long so fettered. Come to me to-morrow, Ignati; come to me
+to-morrow, as I am rising; and in the mean time, if you can find some
+means of giving the Count intimation that he is not forgotten, it were
+all the better."
+
+"I will try, my Lord," replied the boy. And the Duke hurried on to
+welcome his new guests, making them sit down at table with him, and
+covering them with every sort of honour and distinction.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAP. XIII.
+
+
+In our dealings with each other there is nothing which we so much
+miscalculate as the ever varying value of time, and indeed it is but
+too natural to look upon it as it seems to us, and not as it seems to
+others. The slow idler on whose head it hangs heavy, holds the man of
+business by the button, and remorselessly robs him on the king's
+highway of a thing ten times more valuable than the purse that would
+hang him if he took it. The man of action and of business whose days
+seem but moments, forgets in his dealing with the long expecting
+applicant, and the weary petitioner, that to them each moment is far
+longer than his day.
+
+The hours, not one minute of which were unfilled to the Duke of Guise,
+passed slowly over the head of Charles of Montsoreau, and it seemed as
+if the brief gleam of happiness which had come across his path had but
+tended to make the long solitary moments seem longer and more dreary;
+in fact, to give full and painful effect to solitude and want of
+liberty, and yet he would not have lost that gleam for all the world.
+
+He thought of it, he dwelt upon it, he called to mind each and every
+particular; and, though it was crossed, as the memory of all such
+brief meetings are, with the recollection of a thousand things which
+he could have wished to have said, but which he had forgotten, and
+also by many a speculation of a painful kind concerning the visit of
+the Duke of Guise to the very place in which he was confined, without
+the slightest effort being made for his liberation, yet it was a
+consolation and a happiness and a joy to him--one of those blessings
+which have been stamped by the past with the irrevocable seal of
+enjoyment, which are our own, the unalienable jewels of our fate, held
+for ever in the treasury of memory.
+
+Nothing occurred through the rest of the day to call his attention, or
+to rouse his feelings. He heard the distant murmur, and the shouts of
+the people from time to time; but the gates were now shut, and the
+sounds dull, and all passed on evenly till darkness shut up the world.
+In the mean time he knew--as if to make his state of imprisonment and
+inactivity more intolerable--that busy actions were taking place
+without, that his own fate was deciding by the hands of others, that
+his happiness and that of Marie de Clairvaut formed but a small matter
+in the great bulk of political affairs which were then being weighed
+between the two angry parties in the capital, and might be tossed into
+this scale or that, as accident, or convenience, or policy might
+direct.
+
+Though he retired to rest as usual, he slept not, and ever and anon
+when a sort of half slumber fell upon his eyes he started up, thinking
+he heard some sound, a distant shout of the people, the tolling of a
+bell, or the roll of some far off drum. Nothing however occurred, and
+the night passed over as the day.
+
+In the grey of the morning, however, just when the slow creaking of a
+gate, or the noise of footsteps here and there breaking the previous
+stillness, told that the world was beginning to awake, a few sweet
+notes suddenly met his ear like those of a musical instrument, and in
+a moment after he heard the same air which the boy Ignati had played
+with such exquisite skill just before he freed him from his Italian
+masters.
+
+"A blessing be upon that boy," he cried, as he instantly recognised
+not only the sounds but the touch. "He has come to tell me that I am
+not forgotten."
+
+Suddenly, however, before the air was half concluded, the music
+stopped, and voices were heard speaking, but not so loud that the
+words could be distinguished. It seemed to the young Count, and seemed
+truly, that some one had sent the boy away; but though he heard no
+more, those very sounds had given him hope and comfort.
+
+Driven away by the old verger, who had now discovered the trick which
+had been put upon him the day before, the boy returned with all speed
+to the Hôtel de Guise, and, according to the Duke's order, presented
+himself in his chamber at the hour of his rising. But the Duke was
+already surrounded with people, all eager to speak with him on
+different affairs, and his brow was evidently dark and clouded by some
+news that he had just heard.
+
+"Send round," he was saying as the boy entered, "Send round speedily
+to all the inns, and let those who are known for their fidelity be
+informed that the doors of this hotel will never be shut against any
+of those who have come to Paris for my service, or for that of the
+church, as long as there is a chamber vacant within. And you, my good
+Lords," he continued, turning to some of the gentlemen who surrounded
+him, "I must call upon your hospitality, also, to provide lodging for
+these poor friends of ours, whom this new and iniquitous proceeding of
+the court is likely to drive from Paris. But stay, Bussi," he
+continued, and his eye fell upon the page as he spoke; "you say you
+saw the Prévôt des Marchands but a minute ago in the Rue d'Anvoye
+seeking out the lodgers in the inns, and ordering them to quit Paris
+immediately. Hasten down after him quickly, and tell him from Henry of
+Guise that there is a very dangerous prisoner and a zealous servant of
+the church lodged in the Rue St. Denis; that he had better drive him
+forth also; and that, if he wants direction to the place where he
+sojourns, one of my pages shall lead him thither. You may add,
+moreover, that if he do not drive him forth, I will bring him forth
+before the world be a day older."
+
+The Duke of Guise then took the pen from the ink which was standing
+before him, and, though not yet half-dressed, wrote hastily the few
+following words to the Queen-mother:--
+
+
+"Madam,
+
+"I am informed, on authority which I cannot doubt, that my friend, the
+young Count de Logères, is at present in your hands, kept under
+restraint in the Rue St. Denis, after having been arrested in the
+execution of business with which I charged him, while bearing a
+passport from the King. I beseech you to set him immediately at
+liberty, and also at once to order that my niece and ward,
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, be brought to the Hôtel de Guise without an
+hour's delay. Let me protest to your Majesty that you have not a more
+faithful and devoted servant than
+
+                                  "Henry of Guise."
+
+
+"I will not send this by you, Ignati," said the Duke; "they would
+laugh at a boy. Here, Mestroit, bear this to the Queen-mother.
+Say I cast myself at her feet; and bring me back an answer without
+delay.--Why, how now, St. Paul!" he continued, turning to a gentleman
+who had just entered. "Your brow is as dark as a thunder-cloud. What
+has happened now? Shall we be obliged to make our hotel our fortress,
+and defend it to the last, like gallant men?"
+
+"Not so, my Lord," replied the Count of St. Paul; "not near so bad as
+that: but still these are times that make men look thoughtful; and,
+depend upon it, the King, aided by his minions and the Politics[7], is
+seeking to inclose your Highness, as it were in a net."
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 7: That party was so called which affected to hold the
+balance between the Court and the League, without giving countenance
+to the Huguenots.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+"We will break through, St. Paul! We will break through!" replied the
+Duke with a smile. "But what are your tidings?"
+
+"Why, that orders have been sent to the Swiss to come up from Corbeil,
+as well as those from Meulan and Château Thierry; also the companies
+of French guards from every quarter in the neighbourhood are called
+for, and I myself saw come in, by the Faubourg St. Germain, a body of
+two hundred horse, which, upon inquiry, I found to be a new levy from
+some place in the South, led by a young Marquis of Montsoreau, whose
+name I never heard of before."
+
+"Whenever you hear it again, St. Paul," replied the Duke sternly,
+"couple with it the word 'Traitor!' and you will do him justice. But
+what force is it said they are bringing into Paris? What stay you for,
+Mestroit?" he continued, seeing that the gentleman to whom he had
+given the letter had not taken his departure. "What stay you for? I
+would have had you there now. Go with all speed! There are horses
+enough saddled in the court. I would give a thousand crowns that
+letter should be in the Queen's hand before this youth's coming is
+known to her. It may save us much trouble hereafter. Fail not to bring
+me an answer quick. Now, St. Paul, how many men say you on your best
+judgment are they bringing into Paris?"
+
+"Why, your Highness," replied the Count, "some say ten thousand; but,
+to judge more moderately from what I hear, the moment your Highness's
+arrival in Paris was known, orders were sent for the march of full
+seven thousand men."
+
+"We must be very formidable creatures, Brissac," cried the Duke, "that
+my coming with seven of you should need seven thousand men to meet us.
+On my soul, they will make me think myself a giant. I always thought I
+was a tall man--some six foot three, I believe--but, by Heavens! I
+must be a Gargantua, indeed, to need seven thousand men to hold me.
+Seven thousand men!" he added thoughtfully: "he has not got them, St.
+Paul. There are not five thousand within fifty miles of Paris, unless
+Epernon and Villequier have contrived to raise more of such
+Montsoreaus against us. However, we must have eyes in all quarters.
+Send out parties to watch the coming of the troops and give us their
+numbers. Let some one speak to the inferior officers of the French
+guards, and remind them that the Duke of Guise and the Holy League are
+only striving for the maintenance of the true faith, and for the
+overthrow of those minions who have swallowed up all the honours and
+favours of the crown. It were well also, Brissac, that a good watch
+was kept upon the proceedings in the city. I can trust, methinks, to
+The Sixteen to do all that is necessary in their different quarters,
+and to make full reports of all that takes place; but still a military
+eye were as well here and there, from time to time, Brissac, and I
+will trust that to you."
+
+The rest of the morning passed in the same incessant activity with
+which it had begun; tidings were constantly brought in from all parts
+of the town and the country round concerning every movement on the
+part of the court; and the hotel of the Duc de Guise was literally
+besieged by his followers and partisans. Train after train of noblemen
+and officers, of lawyers and citizens, followed each other during the
+whole day, each bringing him information, or claiming audience on some
+account. Nor were the clergy less numerous; for scarce a parish in the
+capital but sent forth, in the course of that day, its train of
+priests and monks to congratulate him on his arrival, or to beseech
+him to hold up the tottering church of France with a strong hand.
+
+At the same time, the order which had been given by the King in the
+morning, for every stranger not domiciled in Paris to quit it within
+six hours, and the proceedings of the Prévôt des Marchands to execute
+that order had--by driving out of the inns and taverns the multitudes
+of the Duke's partisans who had followed him in scattered bodies into
+Paris--now filled the Hôtel de Guise with all those of the higher
+classes who were thus expelled. The houses of other members of the
+faction received the rest. But the stables of the hotel were all
+filled to the doors; the great court itself could scarcely be crossed,
+on account of the number of horses; and more than once the street
+became impassable from the multitude of carriages, chairs, horses, and
+attendants, who were waiting while their masters conferred with the
+Duke.
+
+It was near mid-day when the gentleman who had been dispatched to
+Catharine de Medici again presented himself; and the Duke demanded,
+somewhat impatiently, what had detained him so long.
+
+"It was the Queen-mother, your Highness," replied Mestroit. "More than
+an hour passed before I could obtain an audience; and when I was
+admitted to present your Highness's letter, I found Monsieur de
+Villequier with her."
+
+"Did she show the letter to that son of Satan?" demanded the Duke.
+
+"No, sir," replied the other; "on the contrary, she seemed not to wish
+that he should see it, for she kept it tight in her hand after she had
+read it, and told me to wait a moment, that she would give me an
+answer directly."
+
+"I would sooner unriddle the enigma of the sphynx," said the Duke,
+"than I would say from what motive any one of that woman's acts
+proceed; and yet she has a great mind, and a heart not altogether so
+vicious as it seems. What happened then, Mestroit?"
+
+"Why, my Lord, Villequier seemed anxious to know what the letter
+contained, and I saw his head a little raised, and his eyes turned
+quietly towards it while she was reading, as I have seen a cat regard
+a mouse-hole towards which she was stealing upon tiptoes; and he
+lingered long, and seem inclined to stay. The Queen, however, begged
+him not to forget the orders she had given, but to execute them
+instantly; and then he went away. When he was gone, the Queen again
+read your Highness's letter, and replied at first, 'The Duke asks what
+is not in my power. Tell my noble cousin of Guise that he has been
+misinformed; that I hold none of his friends in my power--' Then,
+after a moment, she bade me wait, and she would see what persuasion
+would do?"
+
+"She must not think to deceive me!" replied the Duke of Guise. "But
+what more?"
+
+"She went away," replied the gentleman, "and was absent for full two
+hours, leaving me there alone, with nothing to amuse me but the pages
+and serving women that came and looked at me from time to time as at a
+tiger in a cage. At length she came back, and bade me tell your
+Highness these exact words: 'My cousin has been misinformed. I have
+none of his people in my hands, or in my power. The Count of Logères,
+however, shall be set free before eight and forty hours are over. He
+may be set free to-morrow; but by leaving him for a few hours more
+where he is, I trust to accomplish for the Duke that which he demands
+concerning his ward, although I have no power whatever in the matter."
+
+"There is nothing upon earth," said the Duke thoughtfully, "so
+convenient as to have the reality without the name of power. We have
+the pleasure without the reproach! Catharine de Medici has not the
+power!--Who then has?--I may have the power also, it is true, to right
+myself and those who attach themselves to me; and in this instance I
+will use it. But still it were better to wait the time she states; for
+I know her fair Majesty well, and she never yields any thing without a
+delay, to make what she grants seem more important:--and yet, the day
+after to-morrow--the day after to-morrow--who shall say what may be,
+ere the day after to-morrow comes? This head may be lowly in the dust
+ere then."
+
+"Or circled with the crown of France," said the Count de St. Paul.
+
+"God forbid!" exclaimed the Duke earnestly. If I thought that it would
+ever produce a scheme to wrest the sceptre from the line that
+rightfully holds it, I would bear it to-morrow to the foot of the
+throne, myself, as my own accuser. No, no! bad kings may die or be
+deposed: but there is still some one on whose brow the crown descends
+by right. And let him have it.
+
+"The Cardinal of Bourbon, your Highness," said an attendant entering,
+"has just arrived from Soissons. His Eminence is upon the stairs coming
+up."
+
+A smile played over the lips of most of the persons present at such an
+announcement at that moment, for every one well knew that it was to
+the old Cardinal de Bourbon that the party of the League looked, as
+the successor to the crown on the death of Henry III., to the
+exclusion of the direct line of Navarre, held to be incapable of
+succeeding on account of religion. The Duke, however, advanced
+immediately with open arms to meet the Cardinal, and many hours were
+passed in long conferences between them and the principal officers and
+supporters of the League.
+
+At the end of that time, however, towards seven o'clock, a message was
+brought into the room where they were in consultation, from Monsieur
+de Sainctyon, a well-known adherent of the League, begging earnestly
+to speak with the Duke upon matters of deep importance. On the Duke
+going out, he found the worthy Leaguer in a state of great excitement
+and agitation.
+
+"My Lord," he said, as soon as Guise appeared in the room where he had
+been left alone, "I fear that they are busily labouring, at the
+palace, for the destruction of your Highness and of the Holy League."
+
+"How so, Monsieur de Sainctyon?" demanded the Duke, who entertained
+doubts, it seems, of the Leaguer's sincerity, which were never wholly
+removed. "Some of my friends have just returned from the palace, who
+tell me that all is as still and quite as the inside of a vault."
+
+"They told your Highness also, I hope," said the Leaguer, "that they
+had trebled the guard, both Swiss and French."
+
+"Yes, I was informed of that," replied the Duke. "But that shows fear,
+not daring, Monsieur de Sainctyon."
+
+"Perhaps so, my Lord," replied Sainctyon, who was one of the échevins,
+or sheriffs of the town; "but perhaps not. However, what I have now to
+tell, shows more daring than fear. We were summoned this afternoon at
+five o'clock to the Hôtel de Ville, where we found not only Pereuse,
+the Prévôt, and Le Comte, who is worse than a Politic, and half a
+Huguenot, but the Marquis d'O----"
+
+"Who is worse," said the Duke of Guise, "than minion, or Politic, or
+Huguenot, or reiter, equally foul in his debaucheries and his
+peculations; equally impudent in his vices and his follies; fit
+son-in-law of Villequier; well-chosen master of the wardrobe to the
+King of France! Who was there besides, Monsieur de Sainctyon? Some
+expedient infamy was of course to be committed, otherwise d'O----
+would not have been there."
+
+"There were a number of captains and colonels of the different
+quarters," replied Sainctyon, well pleased to see that the Duke now
+felt the importance of his intelligence, "and the Prévôt and Le Comte
+began to speak what seemed to me at first simple nonsense, in a
+confused way, saying, that it was necessary to keep guard in a very
+different manner in Paris from that which we were accustomed to use,
+for that your coming had excited the minds of the people, and that
+there was hourly danger of a revolt, and that it would be better for
+all the captains to meet with their companies together in some
+particular place, in order to see to the matter. But I replied, that
+nothing could be more dangerous than that which was proposed, for that
+the companies of armed citizens would be much better as usual, each in
+its separate quarter, taking care of that quarter, rather than meeting
+altogether in one large body of armed men, which was likely to cause a
+tumult immediately. A number of the other colonels cried out the same
+thing; but then Monsieur d'O---- cut us all short, saying, 'Give me
+none of your reasons, gentlemen. What the Prévôt has stated to you is
+the will of the King, and he _must_ be obeyed. The place of your
+meeting is the Cemetery of the Innocents, and there you are all
+expected to be with your companies at nine o'clock this evening.' Now,
+my Lord, I have come to your Highness, by the authority of all the
+other colonels in whom we can trust, for counsel and direction in this
+business, assuring you that we have heard it is the intention of the
+Court to pick out from amongst us thus assembled six or seven of your
+most zealous friends and supporters, and execute them early to-morrow
+in the Place de Grève."
+
+The Duke paused and thought for a moment ere he replied; but he then
+said, "I thank you most sincerely, Monsieur de Sainctyon, for the
+intelligence you have brought me. You are mistaken, however, with
+regard to what are the intentions of the Court, as you will see in one
+moment. The large body of men in arms which you will have with you
+when all assembled together, trebles the number of any force in Paris,
+so that the least attempt to do you wrong at that moment would be a
+signal for the overthrow of the monarchy. On the contrary, Monsieur de
+Sainctyon, I believe the thus calling you together in one place has
+solely for its object to remove you from the quarters where your
+presence would be useful in opposition to the iniquitous proceedings
+of your enemies. To arrest somebody--perhaps myself--is doubtless the
+object of these persons; and if you would follow my advice, the course
+you pursue would be this,--to meet as you have been ordered by the
+King, having first communicated all the facts to the persons under
+your command whom you can trust. Some one will come to bring you
+farther orders, depend upon it; find out what those orders are, and
+let them instantly be communicated to me; but on no account or
+consideration suffer yourselves to be kept together in one place. On
+the contrary, as soon as you have discovered as far as possible what
+the designs of your enemies are, lead your companies to their
+different quarters, or wherever you may think best to station them. If
+you want any farther assistance, send hither; and I will dispatch
+experienced officers to take counsel with you as to what is to be
+done. I hope your opinion coincides with mine, Monsieur de Sainctyon."
+
+"Your words always carry conviction with them, my Lord," replied the
+sheriff; "and I will instantly proceed to obey you."
+
+Thus saying he took his leave, and quitted the Duke, hastening with
+the rest of the officers of the city to arm himself cap-a-pie, and
+present himself with the burgher guard in the Cemetery of the
+Innocents at the appointed hour. When that hour arrived, every thing
+through the rest of the city was dark and silent, and but little light
+shone from the dim lanterns round the Cemetery upon the dark masses of
+armed men that now surrounded it. The officers commanding them looked
+in each other's faces, as if expecting that some one amongst them had
+orders in regard to what they were farther to do, but for several
+minutes no one announced himself as empowered to direct them, and they
+had even proposed to separate, when the sheriff Le Comte arrived on
+horseback at great haste from the side of the Louvre. Having called
+the colonels of the quarters together he said, "The King, having been
+informed that this night an enterprise is to be undertaken against his
+authority by his enemies, trusts entirely to his citizens of Paris for
+the defence of the capital, and consequently commands you, in order to
+have a strong point of resistance, to occupy this Cemetery, of which I
+have here the keys, till to-morrow morning. All the gates will be shut
+except one wicket, and in a very short time the Marquis de Beauvais
+Nangis, an experienced officer, will be sent down by the King to
+command you."[8]
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 8: This most absurd and impudent proposal would scarcely be
+credited, were it not to be found in the _Histoire très veritable,
+&c_., written by Sainctyon himself, and published by Michel Jouin in
+the very year 1588.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+A murmur ran through the officers and through the men, who, as Le
+Comte spoke loud, heard every word that passed; but an old captain of
+one of the quarters burst forth, a moment after, exclaiming, "What,
+shut myself up there, as if in a prison? They must think me mad! Not
+I, indeed, for any of them! I have nothing to do with you, Monsieur le
+Comte, nor with any of you, except with the inhabitants of my own
+quarter, and there I shall go directly. Those may go and shut
+themselves up with you that like. Come, my men; march! Who gave
+Beauvais Nangis a right to command me, I should like to know? Not the
+citizens of Paris, I'm sure: so those may obey him that like him." And
+putting himself at the head of his men, he marched out, followed by
+almost all the other companies except one or two, who suffered
+themselves to be persuaded to enter into the Cemetery, where they were
+locked up by Le Compte, to await whatever fate might befall them.
+
+In the mean time the other officers of the burgher guard held a
+consultation together, and determined, instead of proceeding
+immediately to their different quarters to occupy the principal points
+of the city, where they fancied that attempts might be made upon the
+life or liberty of the chiefs of the League. The avenues to the Hôtel
+de Guise were strongly guarded, the Rue St. Denis was patrolled by a
+large party, two companies occupied the Rue St. Honoré, and the
+utility of these precautions was strongly demonstrated ere they had
+been long taken.
+
+Before midnight the sound of horses was heard by the two companies in
+the Rue St. Honoré, and in a moment after appeared the Marquis
+d'O----, with as many horse arquebusiers as could be spared from the
+palace. The citizens stood to their arms and barred the way, and
+d'O----, never very famous for his courage, demanded, in evident
+trepidation and surprise, what they did there, when they had been
+ordered to be in the Cemetery of the Innocents?
+
+"We came here to do our duty to our fellow-citizens," replied the same
+old captain who had spoken before, "and to guard our houses and our
+property, for which purpose we are enrolled."
+
+"Well, well, you are right," replied the Marquis, evidently confounded
+and undecided; and turning his horse's rein he rode back by the same
+way he came, showing evidently that he had been bound upon some
+attempt which had been frustrated.
+
+About the same time the party in the Rue St. Denis had been drawn
+towards the further end by the noise of horses and the light of
+torches; and on advancing they found a number of men on horseback, and
+a vacant carriage, with two lights before it, just halting at the
+Convent of the Black Penitents. The good citizens, however, were in an
+active and interfering mood, and they determined to inquire into an
+occurrence which otherwise would have passed over without the
+slightest notice. The horsemen, however, did not wait for many
+questions; but, evidently as much surprised and embarrassed as the
+Marquis d'O----, turned their horses' heads, and made the best of
+their way out of the street.
+
+
+
+                      END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
+
+
+
+
+
+                               London:
+                     Printed by A. Spottiswoode,
+                          New-Street-Square.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Henry of Guise; (Vol. II of 3), by 
+G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
+
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+<head>
+<title>Henry of Guise: or, The States of Blois. Vol. II.</title>
+<meta name="Author" content="G. P. R. James">
+
+<meta name="Publisher" content="Longman, Orme, Brown, Green &amp; Longmans">
+<meta name="Date" content="1839">
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Henry of Guise; (Vol. II of 3), by 
+G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Henry of Guise; (Vol. II of 3)
+       or, The States of Blois
+
+Author: G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
+
+Release Date: April 9, 2012 [EBook #39412]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HENRY OF GUISE; (VOL. II OF 3) ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the
+Web Archive (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1">Transcriber's Notes:<br>
+<br>
+1. Page scan source:<br>
+<br>
+http://archive.org/details/henryofguiseorst02jame<br>
+(University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)<br>
+<br>
+2. Table of Contents added by transcriber.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1>HENRY OF GUISE;</h1>
+<br>
+<h5>OR,</h5>
+<br>
+<h2>THE STATES OF BLOIS.</h2>
+<br>
+<h2>VOL. II.</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h5>London:<br>
+Printed by A. Spottiswoode,<br>
+New-Street-Square</h5>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1>HENRY OF GUISE</h1>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h5>OR,</h5>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>THE STATES OF BLOIS.</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h5>BY</h5>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>G. P. R. JAMES, ESQ.</h2>
+
+<h5>AUTHOR OF<br>
+
+&quot;THE ROBBER,&quot; &quot;THE GENTLEMAN OF THE OLD SCHOOL,&quot;<br>
+ETC. ETC. ETC.</h5>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h4>IN THREE VOLUMES.</h4>
+<br>
+<h3>VOL. II.</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>LONDON:</h3>
+
+<h5>PRINTED FOR</h5>
+<h4>LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, &amp; LONGMANS,</h4>
+<h5>PATERNOSTER-ROW.</h5>
+
+<h3>1839.</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+<br>
+
+<h4><a name="div1Ref_01" href="#div1_01">CHAPTER I.</a></h4>
+<h4><a name="div1Ref_02" href="#div1_02">CHAPTER II.</a></h4>
+<h4><a name="div1Ref_03" href="#div1_03">CHAPTER III.</a></h4>
+<h4><a name="div1Ref_04" href="#div1_04">CHAPTER IV.</a></h4>
+<h4><a name="div1Ref_05" href="#div1_05">CHAPTER V.</a></h4>
+<h4><a name="div1Ref_06" href="#div1_06">CHAPTER VI.</a></h4>
+<h4><a name="div1Ref_07" href="#div1_07">CHAPTER VII.</a></h4>
+<h4><a name="div1Ref_08" href="#div1_08">CHAPTER VIII.</a></h4>
+
+<h4><a name="div1Ref_09" href="#div1_09">CHAPTER IX.</a></h4>
+<h4><a name="div1Ref_10" href="#div1_10">CHAPTER X.</a></h4>
+<h4><a name="div1Ref_11" href="#div1_11">CHAPTER XI.</a></h4>
+<h4><a name="div1Ref_12" href="#div1_12">CHAPTER XII.</a></h4>
+<h4><a name="div1Ref_13" href="#div1_13">CHAPTER XIII.</a></h4>
+
+
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1>HENRY OF GUISE;</h1>
+<br>
+<h5>OR,</h5>
+<br>
+<h2>THE STATES OF BLOIS.</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_01" href="#div1Ref_01">CHAPTER I.</a></h2>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">All was bustle round the door of the little inn of Montigny; twenty or
+thirty horses employed the hands and attention of as many grooms and
+stable-boys; and while they put their heads together, and talked over
+the perfections or imperfections of the beasts they held, sixty or
+seventy respectable citizens, the great cloth merchant, and the
+wholesale dealer in millstones, the curé of the little town, the
+bailiff of the high-justiciary, the ironmonger, the grocer, and the
+butcher, stood in knots on the outside, discussing more important
+particulars than the appearance of the horses. The sign of the inn was
+the <i>Croix de Lorraine</i>, and the name of the Duke of Guise was
+frequently heard mingling in the conversation of the people round the
+door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A great pity,&quot; cries one, &quot;that his Highness does not stay here the
+night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Some say that the King's troops are pursuing him,&quot; replied another.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sure enough he came at full speed,&quot; said a third; &quot;but I heard his
+people talk about the reiters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, we would protect him against the reiters,&quot; cried one of the bold
+citizens of Montigny.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said another, &quot;if he be likely to bring the reiters upon us, I
+think his Highness very wise to go. How could we defend an open town?
+and he has not twenty men behind him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will tell you something, my masters,&quot; said another, with an air of
+importance, and a low bow:--&quot;When my boy was over towards Montreuil
+to-night, he heard a report of the reiters having been defeated near
+Gandelu.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, nonsense!&quot; replied the courageous burgher; &quot;who should defeat
+them if the Duke was not there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But hark!&quot; cried another, &quot;I hear trumpets, as I live. Now, if these
+should be the King's troops we will defend the Duke at the peril of
+our lives. But let us look out and see.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come up to my windows,&quot; cried one.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Go up the tower of the church,&quot; said the curé.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But another remarked that the sounds did not come from the side of
+Paris; and, in a minute or two after, a well-dressed citizen like
+themselves rode gaily in amongst them, jumped from his horse, threw up
+his cap in the air, and exclaimed, &quot;Long life to the Duke of Guise!
+The reiters have been cut to pieces!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is that you say, young man?&quot; exclaimed a voice from one of the
+windows of the inn above; and looking up, the citizen saw a young and
+gay-looking man sitting in the open casement, and leaning out with his
+arm round the iron bar that ran up the centre.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I said, my Lord,&quot; replied the man, &quot;that the reiters have been cut to
+pieces, and I saw the troops that defeated them bring in the wounded
+and prisoners last night into La Ferté.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ventre bleu! This is news indeed,&quot; cried the other; and instantly
+turning, he quitted the window and advanced into the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While this conversation had been going on without, a quick conference
+had been going on between the personages whose horses were held
+without. The chamber in which they were assembled was an upstairs'
+room, with two beds in two several corners, and a table in the midst
+covered with a clean white table-cloth, and ornamented in the centre
+with a mustard-pot, a salt-seller, and a small bottle of vinegar,
+while four or five spoons were ranged around.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the side of the table appeared the Duke of Guise, dining with as
+good an appetite off a large piece of unsalted boiled beef, as off any
+of the fine stews and salmis of his cook Maître Lanecque. Five or six
+other gentlemen were around, diligently employed in the same
+occupation; and one who had finished two bowls of soup at a place
+where they had previously stopped, now declaring that he had no
+appetite, had taken his seat in the window. The servants of the Duke
+and of his companions were at dinner below, and the landlord himself
+was excluded from the room, that dining and consultation might go on
+at the same time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is most unfortunate,&quot; said the Duke of Guise, as soon as he had
+seated himself at the table, &quot;it is most unfortunate that this youth
+has not kept his word with me. Our horses and men are both fatigued to
+death; and yet, after what happened the other day at Mareuil, it would
+be madness to remain here all night with only twenty horsemen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have got timid, fair cousin,&quot; replied one of the gentlemen
+present. &quot;We shall have you wrapping yourself up in a velvet gown, and
+setting up a conférrie, in imitation of our excellent, noble, and
+manly king.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke w as habitually rash enough to be justified in laughing at
+the charge, and he replied, &quot;It is on your account, my pretty cousin,
+that I fear the most. You know what the reiters have sworn to do with
+you, if they catch you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is most unfortunate indeed,&quot; said an older and a graver man; &quot;most
+unfortunate, that this Count de Logères should have deceived you. It
+might have been better, perhaps, to trust to some more tried and
+experienced friend.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, you do him wrong, Laval; you do him wrong,&quot; replied the Duke. &quot;It
+is neither want of faith or good will, I can be sworn. Some accident,
+such as may happen to any of us, has detained him. I am very anxious
+about him, and somewhat reproach myself for having made him march with
+only half his numbers. Had his whole band been with him, he might have
+made head against the reiters, if he met with them. But now he has
+less than half their reputed number. Nevertheless,&quot; he continued, &quot;his
+absence is, as you say, most unfortunate; for--with these Germans on
+our left, and the movements of Henry's Swiss upon our right--they
+might catch us as the Gascons do wild ducks, in the net, through the
+meshes of which we have been foolish enough to thrust our own heads. I
+pray thee, Brissac, go down to mine host of the house, and gather
+together some of the notable men of the place, to see if we cannot by
+any means purchase horses to carry us on. Who are you speaking to,
+Aumale?&quot; he continued, raising his voice, and addressing the youth who
+sat in the window.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good news, good news!&quot; cried the young man springing down, and coming
+forward into the room. &quot;The reiters have been cut to pieces near
+Gandelu. There is a fellow below who has seen the victorious troops,
+and the wounded and the prisoners.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My young falcon for a thousand crowns!&quot; cried the Duke of Guise. &quot;If
+that be the case, we shall soon hear more of him. Hark! are not those
+trumpets? Yet go out, Brissac; go out. We must not suffer ourselves to
+be surprised whatever we do. Aumale, have the horses ready. If they
+should prove the Swiss, we must march out at the one gate while they
+march in at the other.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But at that moment Brissac, who had run down at a word, and was by
+this time in the street, held up his hand to one of the others who was
+looking out of the window, exclaiming, &quot;Crosses of Lorraine, crosses
+of Lorraine! A gallant body of some fifty spears; but all crosses of
+Lorraine.--Ay, and I can see the arms of Montsoreau and Logères! All
+is right, tell the Duke; all is right!&quot; And thus saying he advanced
+along the street to meet the troops that were approaching.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke of Guise, who had risen from the table, seated himself again
+quietly, drew a deep breath as a man relieved from some embarrassment,
+and filling the glass that stood beside him, half full of the good
+small wine of Beaugency, rested his head upon his hand, and remained
+in thought for several minutes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While he remained in this meditative mood the sounds of the trumpets
+became louder and louder; the trampling of horses' feet were heard
+before the inn, and then was given, in a loud tone, the order to halt.
+Several of the companions of the Duke had gone down stairs to witness
+the arrival of the troops, and in a minute or two after, feet were
+heard coming up, and the Duke turned his head to welcome the young
+Count on his arrival. He was somewhat surprised, however, to see an
+old white-headed man, who had doffed his steel cap to enter the Duke's
+presence, come in between Brissac and Laval, and make him a low
+inclination of the head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who are you, my good friend?&quot; demanded the Duke. &quot;And where is the
+young Count of Logères?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know not, your Highness,&quot; replied the other. &quot;I am the Count's
+seneschal, and expected to find him here. He set off four days ago
+with one half of his men, commanding me to join him at Montigny with
+the rest, as soon as their arms arrived from Rhetel. They came sooner
+than we expected, so I followed him the day after.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then is it to you, my worthy old friend,&quot; said the Duke, &quot;that the
+country is obliged for the defeat of this band of marauders?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, your Highness,&quot; replied the old man bluntly. &quot;I have not had the
+good fortune to meet with any thing to defeat, though, indeed, we
+heard of something of the kind this morning as we passed by
+Grisolles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I hope the news is true,&quot; said the Duke; &quot;I have heard of many a
+victory in my day, where it turned out that the victors were
+vanquished; and I hear that these reiters numbered from a hundred to a
+hundred and fifty men. How many had your Lord with him, good
+seneschal?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He had fifty-one men at arms,&quot; replied the old soldier, &quot;besides some
+lackeys and a page; and some men leading horses with the baggage he
+could not do without.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I shall not be easy till I hear more of him,&quot; said the Duke, walking
+up and down the room. &quot;However, your coming, good seneschal, will
+enable us to make good this place against any force that may be
+brought against it. Quick, send me up the aubergiste. We must despatch
+some one to bring us in intelligence: and now, good seneschal, rest
+and refresh your horses, get your men some food, and have every thing
+ready to put foot in stirrup again at a moment's notice; for if we
+find that your Lord has fallen into the hands of these reiters, we
+must mount to deliver him. Let their numbers be what they may, Henry
+of Guise cannot make up his mind to leave a noble friend in the hands
+of the foemen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We are all ready this minute, my Lord,&quot; replied the old seneschal.
+&quot;There is not a man of Logères who is not ready to ride forty miles,
+and fight two reiters this very night in defence of his Lord.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The old cock's not behind the young one,&quot; said the Chevalier d'Aumale
+to Brissac. But the Duke of Guise overruled the zealous eagerness of
+the old soldier; and as soon as the aubergiste appeared, directed him
+to send off a boy in the direction of Montreuil and La Ferté, in order
+to gain intelligence of the movements of the Count de Logères, and to
+ascertain whether the report of the defeat of the reiters was correct
+or not. His own horses he ordered now to be unsaddled, and casting off
+his corselet, gave himself up to repose for the evening.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">During the next hour, or hour and a half, manifold were the reports
+which reached the town concerning the conflict which had taken place
+between the Count of Logères and the reiters on the preceding evening.
+All sorts of stories were told: every peasant that brought in a basket
+of apples had his own version of the affair; and the accounts were the
+most opposite, as well as the most various. The Duke of Guise,
+however, was too much accustomed to sifting the various rumours of the
+day, not to be able to glean some true information from the midst of
+these conflicting statements. It seemed clear to him that the reiters
+had been defeated, and without having any very certain cause for his
+belief, he felt convinced that Charles of Montsoreau was already upon
+his way towards Montigny.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come,&quot; he added, after expressing these opinions to the Chevalier
+d'Aumale, &quot;we must at least give our young champion a good meal on his
+arrival. See to it, Brissac; see to it. You, who are a connoisseur in
+such things, deal with our worthy landlord of the Cross, and see if he
+cannot procure something for supper more dainty than he gave us for
+dinner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The poor man was taken by surprise,&quot; replied Brissac; &quot;but since he
+heard that you were to remain here, there has been such a cackling and
+screaming in the court-yard, and such a riot in the dovecote, that I
+doubt not all the luxuries of Montigny will be poured forth this night
+upon the table.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In less than an hour after this order was given, the arrival of fresh
+horses was heard; and Laval, who went to the window, announced, that
+as well as he could see through the increasing darkness, for it was
+now night, this new party consisted only of five or six persons. In a
+few minutes, however, the door was thrown open by the aubergiste, and
+Charles of Montsoreau himself appeared, dusty with the march, and with
+but few traces of triumph or satisfaction on his countenance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What, my young hero!&quot; cried the Duke, rising and taking him by the
+hand; &quot;you look as gloomy as if you had suffered a defeat, rather than
+gained a victory. Are the tidings which we have heard not true then,
+or are they exaggerated? If you have even brought off your forces safe
+from the reiters, that is a great thing, so overmatched as you were.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is not that, your Highness,&quot; replied Charles of Montsoreau: &quot;the
+numbers were not very disproportionate, but the reiters have certainly
+suffered a complete rout, and I do not think that they will ever meet
+in a body again. They lost a good many men on the field, and I fear
+the peasantry have murdered all the wounded.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So much the better,&quot; cried the Chevalier d'Aumale; &quot;so much the
+better. One could have done nothing with them but hang them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I fear then,&quot; said the Duke of Guise, addressing the Count, &quot;I fear
+then that your own loss has been severe by the gloominess of your
+countenance, Logères.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There are a good many severely wounded, sir,&quot; replied the Count; &quot;but
+very few killed. This, however, is not the cause of my vexation, which
+I must explain to your Highness alone. I have, however, to apologise
+to you for not being here last night, as I fully intended. I did not
+go to seek the reiters, but fell in with them accidentally, and after
+the skirmish I was forced to turn towards La Ferté instead of coming
+here, in order to get surgeons to my wounded men. I find, however,
+sir,&quot; he continued, &quot;that my good old seneschal has made more speed
+than his master, and has arrived here with his band before me. I must
+go and take order for the comfort of my people, and prepare lodging
+for the rest who are coming up, for I rode on at all speed as soon as
+I met with the messenger whom you had sent out to seek me. After that
+I will return and crave a few minutes' audience of your Grace alone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come back to supper, dear friend,&quot; replied the Duke; &quot;we must let our
+gay friends now sup with us; but then we will drive them to their
+beds, and hold solitary council together, and be not long Logères, for
+you need both refreshment and repose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the young Count returned to the apartments of the Duke, after he
+had seen the rest of his troop arrive, and had taken every measure to
+secure the comfort of the men under his command, he found that Prince
+standing in one of the deep windows speaking in a low tone with the
+page Ignati, while his own officers were gathered together in the
+window on the other side.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke instantly took him by the hand as he approached, and said in
+a low but kindly tone, &quot;You see I have been questioning the spy I set
+upon you, Logères, and he has let me into a number of your secrets;
+but you must not be angry with him on that account, for Henry of Guise
+will not abuse the trust. Come, let us sit down to table, and we will
+afterwards find an opportunity of talking over all these affairs. You
+have acted nobly and gallantly, my young friend, and have served your
+country while you benefited me. For your brother's conduct you are not
+responsible: but I think this morning's events, if the boy speaks
+correctly, must bar your tongue from speaking his praises for the
+future.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed, my Lord,&quot; exclaimed the young Count, &quot;my brother may----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hush! hush!&quot; cried the Duke. &quot;There is nothing sits so ill upon the
+lips of a noble-hearted man as an excuse for bad actions, either in
+himself or others. It is false generosity, Charles of Montsoreau, to
+say the least of it. But let us to table. Come, Aumale. See! our good
+Aubergiste looks reproachfully at you for letting his fragrant ragouts
+grow cold. Come, we will to meat, gentlemen. Sit down, sit down, We
+will have no ceremony here at the Cross of Lorraine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus saying, the Duke seated himself at table, and the rest took their
+places around. The supper proved better than had been expected, and
+wine and good appetites supplied the place of all deficiencies. The
+Chevalier d'Aumale indeed had every now and then a light jest at some
+of the various dishes: he declared that a certain capon had blunted
+his dagger, and asked Charles of Montsoreau whether it was not tougher
+than a veteran reiter. He declared that a matelote d'anguille which
+was placed before him, had a strong flavour of a hedge; but added,
+that as his own appetite was viperous, he must get through it as best
+he might. He was not without a profane jest either, upon a dish of
+pigeons; but though he addressed the greater part of these gaily to
+the young Count de Logères, he could hardly wring a smile from one who
+in former days would have laughed with the best, but whose heart was
+now anxiously occupied with many a bitter feeling.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau was eager, too, that the meal should be over,
+for he longed for that private communication with the Duke which
+weighed upon his mind in anticipation. He felt that it would be
+difficult to exculpate his brother; and yet, in pursuance of his own
+high resolutions, he longed to do so: and then again he eagerly hoped
+that the powerful prince beside whom he sat would find some means of
+delivering Marie de Clairvaut from the hands into which she had
+fallen; and yet he feared, from all he heard and saw, that that
+deliverance might be difficult and remote.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus the banquet passed somewhat cheerlessly to him; and it was not
+very much enlivened by a little incident which happened towards the
+close of supper, when the landlord, who had come into the room
+followed by a man dressed in the garb of a surgeon, whispered
+something in the Duke's ear which called his attention immediately.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How many did you say?&quot; demanded the Duke.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Only two at present, your Highness,&quot; replied the surgeon; &quot;but three
+more sinking, I think.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All in the same house?&quot; said the Duke.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, my Lord, in different houses,&quot; replied the man; &quot;but near the
+same spot.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The only thing to be done,&quot; replied the Duke, &quot;is to draw a barrier
+across the end of that street, and mark the houses with a white
+cross.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is the matter, your Highness?&quot; said Laval, from the other end of
+the table.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, nothing,&quot; replied the Duke of Guise, &quot;only a few cases of the
+plague; and because it was very bad last autumn at Morfontaine, the
+people here have got into a fright.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke of Guise concluded his supper as lightly and gaily as if
+nothing had happened, for his mind had become so accustomed to deal
+with and to contemplate things of great moment, that they made not
+that impression upon him which they do upon those whose course is laid
+in a smoother and evener path.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau, however, could not feel in the same way. &quot;War
+and pestilence!&quot; he thought, &quot;bloodshed and death! These are the
+common every-day ideas of men in this unhappy country, now. Perhaps
+famine may be added some day soon, and yet there will be light
+laughter, and merriment, and jest. Well, let it be so. Why should we
+cast away enjoyment because it can but be small? Life is at best but
+made up of chequered visions: let us enjoy the bright ones while we
+may, and make the dark ones short if we can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While he thus thought, the Duke of Guise whispered a word or two to
+the Count of Brissac, and that gentleman nodded to Laval. Shortly
+after, both rose; and, with an air of affected unwillingness, the
+Chevalier d'Aumale followed their example. The two or three other
+gentlemen who had partaken of the meal, but who either from inferior
+situation or natural taciturnity had mingled but little in the
+conversation, left the table at the same time, and accompanied the
+others out of the room, so that the Duke of Guise and the young Count
+were left alone.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_02" href="#div1Ref_02">CHAP. II.</a></h2>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">The weak-minded and the vulgar are cowed by the aspect of high
+station; the humble in mind, and the moderate in talent, are subdued
+by high genius, and bend lowly to the majesty of mind; the powerful,
+the firm, and the elevated spring up to meet their like, and with them
+there is nothing earthly that can overawe but a consciousness of evil
+in themselves, or a sensation of abasement for those they love.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Such was the case with Charles of Montsoreau, who undoubtedly was a
+man of high and powerful mind. He was in his first youth, it is true;
+he had no great or intimate knowledge of the world, except that
+knowledge of the world which, in a few rare instances, comes as it
+were by intuition. He had been bred up from his youth in love and
+admiration for the princes of the House of Lorraine, and especially of
+Henry, Duke of Guise; and yet, when he had met him for the first time,
+and recognised him at once in the inn at Mareuil, he felt no
+diffidence--no alarm. Nor had this confidence in himself any thing
+whatsoever to do with conceit: he thought not of himself for a moment;
+he thought only of the Duke of Guise and his situation, and impulse
+guided by habit did the rest. Seeing that the Duke had assumed an
+inferior character, he treated him accordingly; and acting as nature
+dictated to him, he acted right.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Neither, at Rheims, when the Duke appeared surrounded by pomp and
+splendour, did the young nobleman feel differently. He paid every
+tribute of external reverence to the Prince's station and high renown;
+but he conferred with him upon equal terms, feeling that if in mind he
+was not absolutely equal to that great leader, he was competent to
+appreciate his character, and was not inferior to him in elevation of
+thought and purpose.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But now, how changed were all his feelings, when, sitting by one whom
+he venerated and respected--more than perhaps was deserved--he had to
+discuss with him the painful subject of a brother's errors, and
+torture imagination to find excuses which judgment would not ratify!
+He sat humiliated, and pained, and hesitating: he knew not what to
+say, and he felt that any thing he could say was vain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For a few minutes after the rest of the party quitted the room, the
+Duke of Guise remained silent, sometimes gazing down, as was his
+habit, upon his clasped hands, sometimes raising his eyes for a single
+moment to the countenance of his young companion. He seemed to feel
+for him, indeed; and when he did speak, led the conversation to the
+subject gradually and delicately.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, my dear Count,&quot; he said, &quot;let us speak of this affair of the
+reiters. You made me as many excuses but now, for defeating our
+enemies, as if you had let them defeat you. Such gallant actions are
+easily pardoned, Logères; and if you but proceed to commit many such
+faults, Henry of Navarre and Henry of Guise had both need look to
+their renown. There was a third Henry once,&quot; he continued, half
+closing his eyes, and speaking with a sigh, as he thought of Henry
+III. and fair promises of his youth; &quot;there was a third Henry once,
+who might perhaps have borne the meed of fame away from us both: but
+that light has gone out in the socket, and left nothing but an
+unsavory smell behind. However, there was no excuse needed, good
+friend, for cutting to pieces double your own number of German
+marauders.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My excuse was not for that,&quot; replied the Count, calmly, &quot;but your
+Highness directed me to go no farther than Montigny, and I went to La
+Ferté, on account of the wounded men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is easily excused too,&quot; said the Duke. &quot;But now give me your own
+account of the affair. The boy told me the story but imperfectly. How
+fell you in with the reiters at first?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau did as the Prince required, giving a full and
+minute, but modest, account of all that had taken place. But when he
+spoke of retreating up the river to the spot where the banks were
+deeper, and the stream more profound, Guise caught him by the hand,
+exclaiming eagerly, &quot;Did you know that the banks were steeper? Did you
+see that they would guard your flank?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That was my object, my Lord,&quot; replied the young Count, somewhat
+surprised. &quot;I noticed the nature of the ground as we charged them at
+first.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Kneel down!&quot; cried the Duke; &quot;kneel down! Would to God that I were a
+Bayard for thy sake!--In the name of God, St. Michael and St. George,
+I dub thee knight;&quot; and drawing his sword he struck him on the collar
+with the blade, adding with a smile, in which melancholy was blended
+with gaiety, &quot;Perchance this may be the last chivalrous knighthood
+conferred in France. Indeed, as matters go, I think it will be: but if
+it should, I can but say that it never was won more nobly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The young Count rose with sparkling eyes. The memory of the chivalrous
+ages was not yet obliterated by dust and lichens; the fire of a more
+enthusiastic epoch was not yet quite extinct; and he felt as if what
+had passed gave him greater strength to go through what was to come.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke, however, relaxing soon into his former manner, made him a
+sign to proceed; and Charles of Montsoreau went on to detail the
+complete defeat and dispersion of the different bodies of reiters. He
+then began to hesitate again: but Guise was determined to hear all,
+and said, &quot;But your brother; where did you find your brother? Be frank
+with me, Logères.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus pressed, the young Count went on to say, that he did not again
+meet with his brother till he found him in the market-place at La
+Ferté. &quot;My brother,&quot; he continued, &quot;having been driven by the party
+that pursued him beyond the carriage, and judging that I was coming up
+with a superior force, imagined that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut and her
+attendants had fallen under my protection: but finding that such was
+not the case, he mounted his horse again, and proceeded to seek for
+her during the greater part of the night, while I did the same in
+another direction.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He was then hurrying on as fast as possible to speak of the following
+morning, but the Duke interrupted him, demanding, &quot;There was a sharp
+dispute in the market-place, I think; was there not, Monsieur de
+Logères? Pray let me hear the particulars.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Charles of Montsoreau, driven to the point, answered boldly and at
+once, &quot;It was a dispute between two brothers, my Lord; in regard to
+which none but God and their own consciences can judge. You will
+therefore pardon me if I keep that which is private to my private
+bosom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Guise gazed at him for a long--a very long time, with eyes full of
+deep feeling, and then replied, &quot;By Heaven! you are one of the most
+extraordinary young men I ever met with. I know the whole, Monsieur de
+Logères; and the words there spoken let me into the secrets of your
+bosom which I wished to know. I now understand how to deal with you;
+and while I do my best to secure your happiness, trust to the Duke of
+Guise to avoid, as far as possible, any thing that is painful to you
+in the course. But go on; let me hear the rest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you know all, my Lord,&quot; said Charles of Montsoreau, a good deal
+affected by the Duke's kindness, &quot;will you not spare me the telling of
+that which must be painful to me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I fear I must ask you to go on,&quot; replied the Duke. &quot;What you have now
+to tell me is the most important part of all to me at the present
+moment, for by it must my conduct be regulated, in regard to the
+measures for rescuing our poor Marie from the hands of that----.&quot; He
+checked himself suddenly, and then added, &quot;the King, in short. A
+single word may cause a difference in our view of the matter; and
+therefore I would fain hear you tell it, if you will do me that
+favour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All that I know, my Lord, I will tell,&quot; replied the Count; &quot;but of my
+own knowledge I have little to tell, for the principal part of my
+information was derived from the boy with whom you have already
+spoken. All then that I personally know is, that, having slept long
+from great fatigue, I was roused by the boy in the morning; that he
+told me my brother was about to depart; and that, on descending, I
+found his report true. My brother was already on horseback, and his
+troop in the act of setting out; but he was accompanied by a gentleman
+whom I had never seen before, whose name is Colombel, and who, I found
+afterwards, is an officer in the service of the King.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh yes,&quot; said the Duke of Guise; &quot;I have heard him named; a person of
+no great repute, but some cunning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My conversation with my brother,&quot; continued the Count, &quot;was not the
+most agreeable. On his side it was all taunts; but the only part of
+which it is needful to inform your Highness, was, that when I asked
+tidings of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, he would afford me no
+information, except that she was in safe hands. I am grieved, also, to
+be compelled to say that he told me, if I did not join you before he
+did, I should be long parted from you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We have lost an ally,&quot; replied the Duke; &quot;but one which, to say
+sooth, I do not covet. If he be not treacherous, he is at best
+unsteady; but I cannot help fearing, Charles of Montsoreau, that your
+brother himself, apprehending that my regard for you might not suit
+his purposes, has had some share in suffering Marie to fall into the
+hands of Henry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh no, my Lord, oh no!&quot; exclaimed Charles of Montsoreau; &quot;you do him
+wrong, believe me. My Lord, a few words will explain to you the cause
+of his conduct. He is possessed with a passion for Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut, so strong, so vehement, so intense, as to have a portion of
+madness in it,--a sufficient portion to make him cast away his former
+nature altogether, to hate his brother, to abandon his friends, to
+abjure all the thoughts and feelings of his youth, and to follow her
+still where-ever she goes, seeking to obtain her by means which the
+very blindness of his passion prevents him from seeing are those which
+must insure his losing her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This is the passion of a weak and unstable mind,&quot; said the Duke.
+&quot;Love, my young friend, is in itself a grand and ennobling thing,
+leading us to do great actions for the esteem and approbation of her
+we love. The love of a bright woman,&quot; he added, &quot;the love of a bright
+woman--I speak it with all due reverence,&quot; and he put his hand to his
+hat, &quot;is the next finest sensation, the next grand mover in human
+actions, to the love of God. The object is undoubtedly inferior, but
+the course is the same, namely, the striving to do high and excellent
+things for the approbation of a being that we love and venerate. Alas
+that it should be so! but in this world I fear the love of woman is
+amongst us the strongest mover of the two: the other is so remote, so
+high, so pure, that our dull senses strain their wings in reaching it.
+The love of woman appeals to the earthly as well as to the heavenly
+part of man's nature, and consequently is heard more easily.
+Perhaps--and Heaven grant it!--that, as some of our fathers held, the
+one love may lead us on to the other, and the perishable be but a step
+to the immortal. However,&quot; he added, &quot;such love as that which you say
+possesses your brother, will certainly never lead him on to any thing
+that is great, or high, or noble. Most certainly it will not lead him
+to the hand of Marie de Clairvaut as long as Henry of Guise can draw a
+sword. If he have not betrayed me, he has abandoned me; if he have not
+shown himself a coward, he has shown himself a weak defender of those
+intrusted to his charge; and under such circumstances, had he the
+wealth of either India and the power of Cæsar, he should never wed
+Marie de Clairvaut.&quot; He laid his hand upon the shoulder of Charles of
+Montsoreau, and he said, &quot;You have heard my words, good friend; those
+words are irrevocable: and now knowing that your brother can never be
+really your rival, act as you will. I would fain have your confidence,
+Charles, but I will not wring it from you. This girl is beautiful and
+sweet and fascinating; and if I judge right, you love her not less but
+more nobly than your brother. Tell me, or tell me not as you will, but
+we all feel pleased with confidence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, my Lord,&quot; replied Charles of Montsoreau, &quot;how can I deny you my
+confidence when you load me with such proofs of your goodness? I do
+love Mademoiselle de Clairvaut as deeply, as intensely, as
+passionately, as my brother,--more, more a thousand fold than he or
+any body else, I believe, is capable of loving. I had some
+opportunities of rendering her services, and on one of those occasions
+I was betrayed into words and actions which I fancied must have made
+her acquainted with all my feelings. It was after that I discovered,
+my Lord, how madly my brother loved her: it was after that I
+discovered that the pursuit of my love must bring contention and
+destruction on my father's house. Had I believed that she loved me,
+nothing should have made me yield her to any one; for I had the prior
+claim, I had the prior right: but when I had reason to believe that
+she had not marked, and did not comprehend all the signs of my
+affection; when I felt that I could quit her without the appearance of
+trifling with her regard, though not without the continued misery of
+my own life, my determination was taken in a moment, and I determined
+to make the sacrifice, be the consequences what they might. Such, my
+Lord, is the simple truth; such is the only secret of all my actions.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke of Guise bent down his eyes upon the ground with a smile, in
+the expression of which there was a degree of cynical bitterness. It
+was somewhat like one of the smiles of the Abbé de Boisguerin; but the
+Duke's words explained it at once, which the Abbé's never did.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I fear, my young friend,&quot; he said, &quot;that the science of women's
+hearts is a more difficult one than the science of war. You have
+learnt the one, it would seem, by intuition; in the other you are yet
+a novice. However, you shall pursue your own course, bearing with you
+the remembrance that I swear by my own honour--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh swear not, my Lord,&quot; replied Charles of Montsoreau; &quot;circumstances
+may change; she may love him; her love may alter him, and lead him
+back to noble things.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke smiled again. &quot;What I have said,&quot; he answered, &quot;is as good as
+sworn. But have it your own way; I thank you for the confidence you
+have reposed in me. And now, to show you how I can return it, I have a
+task to put upon you, an adventure on which to send forth my new made
+knight. I do not think that Henry either will or dare refuse to give
+up to me my own relation and ward. The king and I are great friends,
+God wot! But still I must demand her, and somebody must take a journey
+to Paris for that purpose. To the capital, doubtless, they have
+conveyed her; and I trust, my good Logères, that you will not think it
+below your dignity and merit to seek and bring back a daughter of the
+House of Guise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau paused thoughtfully for a moment, ere he
+replied. All the difficulties and dangers to which he might be
+exposed, in acting against the views of the King of France, were to
+him as nothing; but the difficulties and dangers which might arise
+from his opposition to his own brother, were painful and fearful to
+him to contemplate. He saw not, however, how he could refuse the task;
+and it cannot be denied that love for Marie de Clairvaut had its share
+also in making him accept it. He doubted not for a moment, that if she
+were in the hands of the King, she was there against her own will; and
+could he, he asked himself, could he even hesitate to aid in
+delivering her from a situation of difficulty, danger, and distress?
+The thought of aiding her, the thought of seeing her again, the
+thought of hearing the sweet tones of that beloved voice, the thought
+of once more soothing and supporting her, all had their share; the
+very contemplation made his heart beat; and lifting his eyes, he found
+those of the Duke of Guise fixed upon his countenance, reading all the
+passing emotions, the shadows of which were brought across him by
+those thoughts. The colour mounted slightly into his cheek as he
+replied, &quot;My Lord, I will do your bidding to the best of my ability.
+When shall I march?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, you mistake,&quot; said the Duke, laughing; &quot;you are not to go at the
+head of your men, armed <i>cap-à-pie</i>, to deliver the damsel from the
+giant's castle; but in the quality of my envoy to Henry; first of all
+demanding, quietly and gently, where the Lady is, and then requiring
+him to deliver her into your hands, for the purpose of escorting her
+to me, where-ever I may be. You shall have full powers for the latter
+purpose; but you must keep them concealed till such time as you have
+discovered, either from the King's own lips--though no sincerity
+dwells upon them--or by your own private inquiries and investigations,
+where this poor girl is. Then you may produce to the King your powers
+from me, and to herself I will give you a letter, requesting her to
+follow your directions in all things. Now, you must show yourself as
+great a diplomatist as a soldier, for I can assure you that you will
+have to deal with as artful and as wily a man as any now living in
+Europe.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will do my best, my Lord; and to enable me to deal with them before
+all their plans are prepared, I had better set out at break of day
+to-morrow, with as many men as your Highness thinks fit should
+accompany me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke mused for a moment or two; &quot;No,&quot; he said, &quot;no; I must not let
+you go, Logères, without providing for your safety. You have risked
+your life sufficiently for me and mine already. You go into new
+scenes, with which you are unacquainted; into dangers, with which you
+may find it more difficult to cope than any that you have hitherto met
+with. I cannot then suffer you to depart without such passports and
+safeguards as may diminish those dangers as far as possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, I fear not, my Lord,&quot; replied Charles of Montsoreau, &quot;the King
+and your Highness are not at war. I have done nothing to offend,
+and--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It cannot be, it cannot be,&quot; replied the Duke. &quot;You must go back with
+me to Soissons. I will send a messenger from this place to demand the
+necessary passports for you. No great time will be lost, for a common
+courier can pass where you or I would be stopped. Then,&quot; he continued,
+&quot;as to the men that you should take with you, I should say, the fewer
+the better. Mark me,&quot; he continued, with a smile, &quot;there are secret
+springs in all things; and I will give you letters to people in Paris,
+which will put at your disposal five hundred men on the notice of half
+an hour. Ay, more, should you require them. But use not these letters
+except in the last necessity, for they might hurry on events which I
+would rather see advance slowly till they were forced upon me, than do
+aught to bring them forward myself. No; you shall go back with me to
+Soissons, guarding me with your band; and I doubt not, our messenger
+from Paris will not be many hours after us. Now leave me, and to rest,
+good Logères, and send in the servant, whom you will find half way
+down the stairs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The young Count withdrew without another word, and he found that while
+the conversation between himself and the Duke had been going on, a man
+had been stationed, both above and below the door of the apartment, as
+if to insure that nobody approached to listen. Such were the sad
+precautions necessary in those days.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Early on the following morning the whole party mounted their horses,
+the wounded men of Logères were left under the care and attendance of
+the good townsmen of Montigny, and the young Count riding with the
+party of the Duke of Guise, proceeded on the road to Soissons. No
+adventure occurred to disturb their progress; and, as so constantly
+happens in the midst of scenes of danger, pain, and difficulty, almost
+every one of the whole party endeavoured to compensate for the
+frequent endurance of peril and pain by filling up the intervals with
+light laughter and unthinking gaiety. The Duke of Guise himself was
+not the least cheerful of the party, though occasionally the cloud of
+thought would settle again upon his brow, and a pause of deep
+meditation would interrupt the jest or the sally. It was late at night
+when they arrived at Soissons, and the Duke, after supping with the
+Cardinal de Bourbon, retired to rest, without conversing with any of
+his party. It was about eight o'clock on the following morning, and
+while, by the dull grey light of a cloudy spring day, Charles of
+Montsoreau was dressing himself, with the aid of one of his servants,
+that the door opened without any previous announcement, and the Duke
+of Guise, clad in a dressing-gown of crimson velvet trimmed with
+miniver, entered the room, bearing in his hand a packet of sealed
+letters, and one open one. A page followed him with something wrapped
+up in a skin of leather, which he placed upon one of the stools, and
+instantly retired.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Send away your man, Count,&quot; said the Duke, seating himself; &quot;resume
+your dressing-gown, and kindly give me your full attention for
+half an hour. You will be so good,&quot; he continued, turning to the man
+who was quitting the chamber, &quot;as to take your stand on the first
+landing-place below this door. You will tell any body whom you see
+coming up to pass by the other staircase; any one you may see coming
+down, you will direct to pass by this door quickly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was a stern command in the eye of the Duke of Guise which had a
+strong effect upon those it rested on; and the man to whom he now
+spoke made his exit from the room, stumbling over twenty things in his
+haste to obey. As soon as he was gone, the Duke turned to his young
+friend, and continued, &quot;Here is the King's safeguard under his own
+hand, and the necessary passports for yourself and two attendants.
+Here is your letter of credit to him in my name, requiring him to give
+you every sort of information which he may be possessed of regarding
+the subjects which you will mention to him; and here is a third
+letter giving you full power to demand at his hands the person of
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, for the purpose of escorting her and
+placing her under my protection. This, again, is to Mary herself,
+bidding her follow your counsels and direction in every thing; and
+these others are to certain citizens of Paris, whose names you will
+find written thereon. If you will take my advice, you will again take
+with you the boy Ignati, and one stout man-at-arms, unarmed, however,
+except in such a manner as the dangers of the road require. You
+understand, I think, clearly, all that I wish.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I believe, my Lord, I do,&quot; replied the Count. &quot;But how am I to insure
+safety for Mademoiselle de Clairvaut on the road, without an adequate
+force?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Write to me but one word,&quot; replied the Duke of Guise, &quot;as soon as she
+is delivered into your hands, and I will send you with all speed
+whatever forces I can spare. But I have one or two things to
+communicate to you, which it is necessary for you to know, both for
+your own security and the success of your mission. The principal part
+of my niece's lands lie in the neighbourhood of Chateauneuf, between
+Dreux and Mortagne in Normandy. It is not at all unlikely, that, if
+driven to remove her from your sight, Henry may be tempted to send her
+thither, well knowing that it is what I have always opposed, and that
+I preferred rather that she should dwell even in Languedoc than be in
+that neighbourhood. For this I had a reason; and that reason is the
+near relationship in which her father stood to the most daring and the
+most dangerous man in France. One of the first of those whom you will
+see near the person of the King, the man who governs and rules him to
+his own infamy and destruction, in whose hands the minions are but
+tools and Henry an instrument, who, more than any one else, has tended
+to change a gracious prince, a skilful general, and a brave man, into
+an effeminate and vicious king, is René de Villequier, Baron of
+Clairvaut. He was first cousin to Marie de Clairvaut's father, and he
+is consequently her nearest male relation out of the family of Guise.
+He has, indeed, sometimes hinted at a right to share in the
+guardianship of his cousin's daughter. But such things a Guise permits
+not. However, with this claim upon the disposal of her hand, Henry
+may, perhaps, hesitate to yield her, unless with the consent of
+Villequier. With him, then, you may be called upon to deal; but
+Villequier, I think, knows the hand of a Guise too well to call down a
+blow from it unnecessarily. However, he is as daring as he is artful,
+and impunity in crime has rendered him perfectly careless of
+committing it. He is Governor of Paris, one of the King's ministers, a
+Knight of the Holy Ghost. Now hear what he has done to merit all this.
+More than one assassin broken on the wheel has avowed himself the
+instrument of Villequier, sent to administer poison to those he did
+not love. Complaisant in every thing to his King, he sought to
+sacrifice to him the honour of his wife: but she differed from him in
+her tastes; and, on the eighteenth of last September, in broad
+daylight, in the midst of an effeminate court, he murdered her with
+his own hand at her dressing-table. Nor was this all: there was a
+girl--a young sweet girl--the natural daughter of a noble house, who
+was holding before the unhappy lady a mirror to arrange her dress when
+the fatal blow was struck. The fiend's taste for blood was roused. One
+victim was not enough, and he murdered the wretched girl by the side
+of her dead mistress. This was done in open day, was never disowned,
+was known to every one, and was rewarded by the order of the Holy
+Ghost--an insult to God, to France, and to humanity.<a name="div3Ref_01" href="#div3_01"><sup>[1]</sup></a><br> However, as
+with this man you may have to deal, I have to give you two cautions.
+Never drink wine with him, or eat food at his table; never go into his
+presence without wearing under your other dress the bosom friend which
+I have brought you there;&quot; and he took from the leathern skin in which
+it was wrapped, a shirt of mail, made of rings linked together, so
+fine that it seemed the lightest stroke would have broken it, and yet
+so strong, that the best tempered poinard, driven by the most powerful
+hand, could not have pierced it. &quot;Have also in your bosom,&quot; continued
+the Duke of Guise, &quot;a small pistol; and if the villain attempts to lay
+his hand upon you, kill him like a dog. This is the only way to deal
+with René de Villequier.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The young Count smiled: &quot;And is it needful my Lord Duke,&quot; he asked,
+&quot;to take all these precautions in the courtly world of Paris?--Do you
+yourself take them, my Lord?--I fear not sufficiently.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh! with regard to myself,&quot; replied the Duke, it is different. &quot;I am
+so marked out and noted, they dare not do any thing against me. They
+would raise up a thousand vengeful hands against them in a moment, and
+they know that, too well to run such a risk. Neither Henry nor
+Villequier would hold their lives by an hour's tenure after Guise was
+dead. But you must take these precautions, my young friend. And now I
+have nothing more to say, except that, whatever you do to withdraw
+Marie de Clairvaut from the hands into which she has fallen, I will
+justify. If any ill befall you, I will avenge you as my brother; and
+if you deliver her from those whom she hates and abhors, she shall,
+give you any testimony of her gratitude that she pleases, without a
+man in France saying you nay.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, my Lord, it is not for that I go!&quot; exclaimed Charles of
+Montsoreau, with the blood rushing up again into his cheek. &quot;It is
+not; surely you believe--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hush! hush!&quot; replied the Duke. &quot;I have fallen into the foolish error
+of saying too much, my good young friend. But now, fare you well. Make
+your arrangements as speedily as you can; mount your horse, and onward
+to Paris, while I apply myself to matters which may well occupy every
+minute and every thought.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_03" href="#div1Ref_03">CHAP. III.</a></h2>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">It was about nine o'clock at night, in the spring of the year 1588,
+that Charles of Montsoreau, with two companions, his faithful Gondrin
+and the little page, presented himself at the gate of Paris which
+opened upon the Soissons road. A surly arquebusier with a steel cap on
+his head, his gun upon his shoulder, and the rest thereof in his hand,
+was the first person that he encountered at the bridge over the fosse.
+Some other soldiers were sitting before the guardhouse; and the
+wicket-gate of the city itself was open, with an armed head protruded
+through, talking to a country girl with a basket on her arm, who had
+just passed out of the gate, none the better probably for her visit to
+the city.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The arquebusier planted himself immediately in the way of the young
+cavalier and his followers, and seemed prepared to stop them, though
+on the young Count applying to him for admission, he replied in a
+surly tone, &quot;I have nothing to do with it. Ask the lieutenant at the
+gate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To him, in the next place, then, Charles of Montsoreau applied; but
+though his tone was somewhat more civil than that of the soldier, he
+made a great many difficulties, examining the young nobleman all over,
+and looking as if he thought him a very suspicious personage. The
+Count after a certain time grew impatient, and asked, &quot;You do not
+mean, I suppose, to refuse the passport of the King?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; replied the other grinning. &quot;We won't refuse the passport of the
+King, or the King's passport; but in order that the passport may be
+verified, it were as well, young gentleman, that you come to the gates
+by day. You can sleep in the faubourg for one night I take it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly not without great inconvenience to myself,&quot; replied the
+Count, &quot;and more inconvenience to the affairs of the Duke of Guise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Duke of Guise!&quot; said the man starting. &quot;Your tongue has not the
+twang of Lorraine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But nevertheless,&quot; replied the Count, &quot;the business I come upon is
+that of the Duke of Guise, which you would have seen if you had read
+the passport and safe-conduct. Does it not direct therein, to give
+room and free passage, safeguard, and protection to one gentleman of
+noble birth and two attendants, coming and going hither and thither in
+all parts of the realm of France, on the especial business of our true
+and well-beloved cousin, Henry, Duke of Guise? and is there not
+written in the Duke's own hand underneath, 'Given to our faithful
+friend and counsellor, Charles of Montsoreau, Count of Logères, for
+the purposes above written, by me, Henry of Guise?'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The man held the paper for a moment to a lantern that hung up against
+the heavy stonework of the arch, and then exclaimed in a loud voice,
+&quot;Throw open the gates there, bring the keys. Monseigneur, I beg you a
+thousand pardons for detaining you a minute. If I had but seen the
+writing of the Duke of Guise the doors would have been opened
+instantly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As rapidly as possible the heavy gates, which had remained immoveable
+at the order of the King, swang back at the name of the Guise, and one
+of the attendants and the captain of the night running by the side of
+the Count's horse to prevent all obstruction, caused the second gate
+to be opened as rapidly, and the Count entered the capital city of his
+native country for the first time in his life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The streets were dark and gloomy, narrow and high; and as one rode
+along them looking up from time to time towards the sky, the small
+golden stars were seen twinkling above the deep walls of the houses,
+as if beheld from the bottom of a well. Charles of Montsoreau had not
+chosen to ask his way at the gate, and though utterly unacquainted
+with the great city in which he now plunged, he rode on, trusting to
+find some shop still open where he might inquire his way without the
+chance of being deceived. Every booth and shop was then shut, however;
+and for a very long way up the street which he had first entered, he
+met with not a single living creature to whom he could apply for
+direction. At length, however, that street ended abruptly in another
+turning to the left, and a sudden glare of light burst upon his eyes,
+proceeding from a building about a hundred yards farther on, which
+seemed to be on fire.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was no bustle, however, or indication of any thing unusual in
+the street; and Charles of Montsoreau riding on, found that the blaze
+proceeded from a dozen or more of flambeaus planted in a sort of
+wooden barricade<a name="div3Ref_02" href="#div3_02"><sup>[2]</sup></a> before a large mansion, which fell back some yards
+from the general façade of the street, while a fat porter clothed in
+manifold colours, with a broad shoulder-belt and a sword by his side,
+walked to and fro in the light, trimming the torches with stately
+dignity. The young Count then remembered having heard of the custom of
+thus illuminating the barriers, which were before all the principal
+mansions in Paris during the first part of every night; and riding up
+towards the porter, he demanded whose hotel it was, and begged to be
+directed to one of the best inns in the neighbourhood.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The man gazed at him for a moment with the evident purpose of looking
+upon him as a bumpkin; but the porters of that day were required to be
+extremely discriminating, and the air and appearance of the young
+Count were not to be mistaken, and bowing low he replied, &quot;I see you
+are a stranger, sir. This is the house of Monsieur d'Aumont. As to the
+best inn, inns are always but poor places; but I have heard a good
+account of the White House in the next street, at the sign of the
+Crown of France. If you go on quite to the end of this street and then
+turn to your right, you will come into another street as large and
+longer, at the very end of which, just looking down to the Pont Neuf,
+you will see a large white house with a gateway and the crown hanging
+over it. I have heard that every thing is good there, and the host
+civil; but he will make you pay for what you have.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is but just,&quot; replied the young Count; and giving the porter
+thanks for his information, he rode on and took up his abode at the
+sign of the Crown of France.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The aspect of the inn was very different from that of an auberge in
+the country; for, though the court-yard into which Charles of
+Montsoreau rode was littered with straw, and a large and splendid
+stable appeared behind, it was not now grooms and stable-boys that
+appeared on the first notice of a traveller's approach, but cooks and
+scullions and turnspits; while the master himself with a snow-white
+cap upon his head, a jacket of white cloth, and a white apron turned
+up sufficiently to show his black breeches and stockings with red
+clocks, appeared more like what he really was, the head of the
+kitchen, than the master of the house.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He looked a little suspiciously, at first, at the young stranger
+arriving with only two attendants, and with no other baggage than a
+small valise upon each horse, and an additional upon that of Ignati,
+to render the boy's weight equal to that of his fellow travellers. But
+the host was accustomed to deal with many kinds of men; and like the
+porter, after examining the Count for a moment, seeing some gold
+embroidery, but not much, upon his riding-dress, gilded spurs over his
+large boots of untanned leather, and a sword, the hilt and sheath of
+which were of no slight value, he also made a lowly reverence, and
+conducted him to one of the best apartments in his house. It consisted
+of three rooms, each entering into the other with a small cabinet
+beyond the chief bed-room; and the arrangements which the Count made
+at once--placing Gondrin's bed in the antechamber, and having the
+page's truckle-bed removed from his own bed-side to occupy the cabinet
+beyond--gave the host of the Crown of France a still greater idea of
+his importance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau did not fail to examine the face of the
+aubergiste, and to remark his proceedings with as much accuracy. The
+man's countenance was intelligent, his eyes quick and piercing, but
+withal there was an air of straightforward frankness, tempered by
+civility and habitual politeness, which was prepossessing; and as the
+young Count knew that he might have occasion to make use of him in
+various ways during his stay in Paris, he resolved to try him with
+those things which were the most immediately necessary, and which at
+the same time were of the least importance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop a minute, my good host,&quot; he said, as the man was about to
+withdraw to order fires to be lighted and suppers to be cooked. &quot;There
+are some things which press for attention, and in which I must have
+your assistance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This youngster speaks with a tone of authority,&quot; thought the
+aubergiste; but he bowed low and said nothing, whilst the young Count
+went on, &quot;What is your name, my good friend?&quot; demanded Charles of
+Montsoreau.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am called Gamin la Chaise,&quot; replied the aubergiste with a smile.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well then, Master la Chaise, as you see,&quot; he continued, &quot;I have come
+hither to Paris on some business which required a certain degree of
+despatch, and have ventured with few attendants and little baggage. As
+however the business on which I did come will call me into scenes
+where some greater degree of splendour is necessary than perhaps
+either suits my taste or my general convenience, I must before I go
+forth to-morrow morning, have my train increased by at least six
+attendants, who are always to be found in Paris ready fashioned I
+know; and therefore I must beseech you to find them for me in proper
+time, having them equipped in my proper colours and livery, according
+as the same shall be described to you by my good friend Gondrin here.
+This is the first service you must do me, my good host.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sir,&quot; replied the landlord, &quot;the six lackeys shall be found and
+equipped in less time than would roast a woodcock. They are as plenty
+as sparrows or house-rats, and are caught in a moment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, but my good host,&quot; answered the Count, &quot;there is one great
+difficulty which you will understand in a moment. Amongst the six, I
+want you to find me one honest man if it be possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The landlord raised his shoulders above his ears, stuck out his two
+hands horizontally from his sides, and assumed an appearance of
+despair at the unheard of proposition of the Count, which had nearly
+brought a smile into the young nobleman's countenance. &quot;That indeed,
+sir,&quot; he said, &quot;is another affair; and I believe you might just as
+well ask me to catch you a wild roe in the garden of the Louvre, as to
+find you the thing that you demand. Nevertheless, labour and
+perseverance conquer all difficulties: and now I think of it, there is
+a youth who may answer your purpose; he knows Paris well too; but,
+strange to say, by some unaccountable fit of obstinacy, he would not
+tell a lie the other day to the Duke of Epernon in order to pass an
+item of the intendant's accounts, which would have come in for a good
+round sum every month if he would but have sworn that he used five
+quarts of milk every week to whiten the leather of his master's boots.
+He would not swear to this, and therefore the intendant discharged
+him, as he was a hired servant.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let me have him; let me have him,&quot; cried the Count. &quot;I will only ask
+him to tell the truth, and hope he may not find that so difficult.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count then proceeded to speak about horses, and the host readily
+undertook, finding that money was abundant, to procure all the
+horse-dealers in Paris with their best steeds, before nine o'clock on
+the following day. The demeanour of the young nobleman, it must be
+confessed, puzzled the good aubergiste a good deal; and on going down
+to his own abode, he acknowledged to his wife, what he seldom
+acknowledged to any one, that he could not make his guest out at all.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I should think,&quot; he said, &quot;from the plenty of money, and the
+expensive way in which he seems inclined to deal, that he was some
+wild stripling from the provinces, the son of a rich president or
+advocate lately dead, who came hither to call himself Count, and spend
+his patrimony in haste. But then, again, in some things he is as
+shrewd as an old hawk, and can jest withal about rogues and honest
+men, while he keeps his own secrets close, and lets no one ask him a
+question.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the following morning, at an early hour, the six attendants whom he
+had required were brought before him in array, exhibiting, with one
+exception, as sweet a congregation of roguish faces as the great
+capital of roguery ever yet produced. The countenance of the lad who
+had been discharged from the service of the Duke of Epernon pleased
+the young Count much, and without waiting till he was farther
+equipped, he put Gondrin under his charge for the purpose of notifying
+at the palace of the Louvre that he had arrived in the capital,
+bearing a letter from the Duke of Guise to the King, and of begging to
+have an hour named for its delivery. He found, however, with some
+mortification--for his eager spirit and his anxiety brooked no
+delay--that the King was at Vincennes; and his only consolation was
+that the communication which he had sent to the palace, bearing the
+fearful name of the Duke of Guise, was certain to be communicated to
+the monarch as soon as possible. Some short time was expended in the
+purchase of horses, and in making various additions to his own
+apparel, well knowing the ostentatious splendour of the court he was
+about to visit.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We have indeed remarked that there was perhaps a touch of foppery in
+his own nature, though it was but slight. Nevertheless, splendour of
+appearance certainly pleased him, even while a natural good taste led
+him to admire, and to seek in his own dress, all that was graceful and
+harmonising, rather than that which was rich or brilliant.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He was thus engaged, with several tradesmen around him, ordering the
+materials for various suits of apparel, which a tailor standing by
+engaged to produce in a miraculously short time, when the door of his
+apartment was opened, and a somewhat fat pursy man in black was
+admitted, entering with an air of importance, and receiving the lowly
+salutations of the good citizens who were present. Charles of
+Montsoreau gazed at him as a stranger; but the good man, with an air
+of importance, and an affectation of courtly breeding, besought him to
+finish what he was about, adding, that he had a word for his private
+ear which he would communicate afterwards. The young Count, without
+further ceremony, continued to give his orders, examining his new
+visiter from time to time, and with no very great feelings of
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The countenance was fat, reddish, and, upon the whole, stupid, with an
+air of indecision about it which was very strongly marked, though
+there was every now and then a certain drawing in of the fringeless
+eyelids round the small black eyes, which gave the expression of
+intense cunning to features otherwise dull and flat.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When he had completely done with his mercers, and tailors, and
+cloth-makers--who had occupied him some time, for he did not hurry
+himself--Charles of Montsoreau dismissed them; and turning to his
+visiter said, &quot;Now, sir, may I have the happiness of knowing your
+business with me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sir,&quot; replied the other, rising and speaking in a low and
+confidential tone, &quot;my name is Nicolas Poulain. I am Lieutenant of the
+Prévôt de l'Isle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He stopped short at this announcement; and the Count, after waiting a
+moment for something more, replied somewhat angrily, &quot;Well, sir, I am
+very happy to hear it. I hope the office suits Nicolas Poulain, and
+Nicolas Poulain suits the office.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A slight redness came into the man's face, rendering it a shade deeper
+than it ordinarily was; but finding it necessary to reply, as the
+Count, without sitting down, remained looking him stedfastly in the
+face, he answered, &quot;I thought, sir,--indeed I took it for granted,
+sir, that you might have some communication for me from the Duke of
+Guise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;None whatever, sir,&quot; replied the young Count drily. &quot;Have you any
+thing to tell me, Monsieur Nicolas Poulain, on the part of his
+Highness?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, sir, no,&quot; replied the other, attempting to assume an air of
+spirit which did not become him. &quot;If you have not seen him more lately
+than I have, I am misinformed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And pray, my good sir,&quot; demanded the Count, &quot;who was it that took the
+trouble of informing you of any thing regarding me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That question is soon answered, sir,&quot; replied Nicolas Poulain,
+&quot;though you seem to make so much difficulty in regard to answering
+mine. The person who informed me of your arrival was good Master
+Chapelle Marteau, who saw you last night at the gates when you
+entered.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The name immediately struck the young Count as the same with one of
+those written on the letters which the Duke of Guise had given him to
+be used in case of need; but feeling how necessary it was to deal
+carefully with any of the faction of the Sixteen, to which both
+Chapelle Marteau and Nicolas Poulain belonged, he determined to say
+not one word upon the subject of his mission to any one. Much less,
+indeed, was he inclined to do so in the case of Nicolas Poulain, in
+whose face nature had stamped deceit and roguery in such legible
+characters, that the young Count, had he been forced to trust him with
+any secret, would have felt sure that the whole would be betrayed
+within an hour. All, then, that he replied to Master Nicolas Poulain
+was, that though he knew well the personage he mentioned by name, he
+had not the pleasure of his personal acquaintance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The answers were so short, the tone and manner so dry, that the worthy
+citizen found it expedient to make his retreat; and taking a short and
+unceremonious leave of one who had given him so cool a reception, he
+left the Count's apartments, and descended the stairs. The moment he
+was gone, some suspicion, which crossed the young cavalier's mind
+suddenly, made him call the page, and bid him follow his late visiter
+till he marked the house which Master Nicolas entered, taking care to
+remember the way back.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The boy set off without a word, and returned in less than half an
+hour, informing the young Count that he had tracked Master Nicolas
+Poulain into a large house, which, on inquiry, he found to be the
+private dwelling of the Lord of Villequier.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Duke is betrayed by some of these leaguers,--that is clear
+enough!&quot; thought the young Count. &quot;I have heard that many of his best
+enterprises have been frustrated by some unknown means. Who is there
+on earth that one can trust?&quot; And leaning his head upon his hand he
+fell into deep thought, for to him the question of whom he could trust
+was at that moment one, not only entirely new, but one of deep and
+vital importance also. In his journey to Paris he had two great and
+all-important objects before him. To find out his brother, and, if
+possible, to persuade him to change a course of conduct which he felt
+to be dishonourable to himself and to his house, was one of these
+objects; and he doubted not that--if he could fully explain, and make
+the Marquis comprehend, his own conduct and his purposes--if he could
+show him that his only chance of obtaining the hand of Marie de
+Clairvaut was by attaching himself to the House of Guise, and that he
+had not a brother's rivalry to fear--Gaspar de Montsoreau might be
+induced to return to the party he had quitted, and not finally to
+commit himself to conduct so little to his own interest as that which
+he was pursuing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The other object, however, was much more important even than that, to
+the heart of Charles of Montsoreau; and the feelings which were
+connected with it--as so often happens with the feelings which affect
+every one in human life--were sadly at variance with other purposes.
+That object was to discover and guide to the court of the Duke of
+Guise, her whom he himself loved best on all the earth; to free her
+from the hands of the base and dangerous people into whose power she
+had fallen, and to leave her in security, if not in happiness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When he thought of seeing her again,--when he thought of passing days
+with her on the journey, of being her guide, her protector, her
+companion, the overpowering longing and thirst for such a joyful time
+shook and agitated him, made his heart thrill and his brain reel; and,
+bending down his face upon his hands, he gave himself up for a long
+time to whirling dreams of happiness. But then again he asked himself
+if, after such hours, he could ever quit her; if--following the firm
+purpose with which he had left Montsoreau--he could resist all
+temptation to seek her love further, and after plunging into the
+contentions of the day could dedicate his sword and his life, as he
+had intended, to warfare against the infidels in the order of St.
+John? There was a great struggle in his mind when he asked himself the
+question--a great and terrible struggle; but at length he answered it
+in the affirmative. &quot;Yes,&quot; he said; &quot;yes, I can do so!&quot; But there was
+a condition attached to that decision. &quot;I can do so,&quot; he said, &quot;if I
+find that there is a chance of her wedding him; if I find that, in
+reality and truth, the first bright hopes I entertained were indeed
+fallacious.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To say the truth, doubts had come over his mind as to whether he had
+construed Marie de Clairvaut's conduct rightly. Those doubts had been
+instilled into his imagination by the words of the Duke of Guise.
+Fancy lingered round them: shall we say that Hope, too, played
+with them? If she did so, it was against his will; for he was in
+that sad and painful situation where hope, reproved by the highest
+feelings of the heart, dare scarcely point to the objects of desire.
+Terrible--terrible is that situation where Virtue, or Honour, or
+Generosity bind down imagination, silence even hope, and shut against
+us the gates of that paradise we see, but must not enter. These,
+indeed, are the angels with the flaming swords.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau would not suffer himself to hope any thing that
+might make his brother's misery; but yet fancy would conjure up bright
+dreams; and knowing and feeling that if those dreams were realised, a
+complete change must come over his actions and his conduct, he saw
+that it would be needful to use guarded language to his brother,--or
+rather to use only the guard of perfect frankness. He resolved, then,
+to tell him fully his purposes, but to tell him at the same time the
+conditions under which those circumstances were to be executed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As he pondered, however, and thought over the changed demeanour of his
+brother, over the fiery impetuosity and impatience of his whole temper
+and conduct, he remembered that it might be with difficulty that he
+could obtain a hearing for a sufficient length of time to explain
+himself fully, and he consequently determined to write clearly and
+explicitly, so that there might be no error or mistake whatever, and
+that his conduct might remain clear and undoubted; and sitting down at
+once, he did as he proposed, that he might have the letter ready to
+send or to deliver as soon as he discovered where his brother was.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The epistle was short, but it was distinct. He referred boldly and
+directly to his conversation with the Abbé de Boisguerin; he explained
+his conduct since; and he told his decided and unchangeable purpose of
+seeking in no way the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, unless he had
+reason to believe that the deep attachment which he felt and
+acknowledged towards her were already returned. He ended by exhorting
+his brother to do that which his pledges and professions to the Duke
+of Guise had bound him to do, to guide back Mademoiselle de Clairvaut
+himself to the protection of her uncle, and to avert the necessity of
+his seeking her and conducting her to Soissons.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In thus letting his thoughts flow on in collateral channels from
+subject to subject, he had deviated from the original object of his
+contemplations, which was, the method to be pursued for instituting
+private inquiries throughout the city, in regard to the arrival, both
+of his brother and Mademoiselle de Clairvaut. Unacquainted with any
+persons in Paris, he knew not how to set on foot the inquiry; and his
+mind had just reverted to the subject, which appeared more and more
+embarrassing each time he thought of it, when he was informed, with an
+air of great importance, by the host, that Monsieur Chapelle Marteau
+demanded humbly to have the honour of paying him his respects.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count ordered him instantly to be ushered in; and, during the
+brief moment that intervened before he appeared, considered hastily,
+whether he should employ this personage in any way in making the
+inquiries that were necessary. He knew that he was highly esteemed by
+the Duke of Guise; but yet it was evident that, by some of the members
+of, or the followers of, the League in Paris, the Duke was himself
+entirely deceived; and yet Charles of Montsoreau was more inclined to
+trust this man's sincerity than that of the person who had left him
+some short time before, inasmuch as the Duke had addressed one of the
+private letters we have before mentioned to him, while he had never
+named the other. The countenance and appearance of Chapelle Marteau
+confirmed any prepossession in his favour. It was quick, and
+intelligent, and frank, though somewhat stern; and he had moreover the
+air and bearing of a man in the higher ranks of life, although he held
+but an office which was then considered inferior, that of one of the
+Masters in the Chamber of Accounts.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I come, sir,&quot; he said, as soon as the first civilities were over, &quot;to
+ask your pardon for some quickness on my part in refusing you
+admittance at the gates last night. The fact is, that bad-intentioned
+people have been endeavouring to introduce into the city of Paris,
+under the King's name, a multitude of soldiery, in twos and threes,
+for the purpose of overawing us in the pursuit of our rights and
+liberties.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Say no more, say no more, Monsieur Chapelle,&quot; said the Count; &quot;I
+doubt not you had very good reasons for what you did.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He then paused, leaving his companion to pursue the subject as he
+might think fit; and the leaguer seemed somewhat embarrassed as to how
+he should proceed, though his embarrassment showed itself in a
+different manner from that of Master Nicolas Poulain. At length he
+said, &quot;I entertained some hope, sir, that you might bring me a
+communication from the Duke of Guise, as, when I had the honour of
+seeing him at Gonesse three days ago, he gave me the hope that he
+would write to me ere long.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, Monsieur Chapelle,&quot; replied the Count deliberately; &quot;I have no
+message for you. His Highness directed me indeed to apply to you in
+case of need; and I know that he has the highest esteem for you,
+believing you to be a zealous defender of our holy faith, and a man
+well worthy of every consideration;--but I have no present message to
+you from the Duke; and the case in which it may be necessary to apply
+to you for assistance, according to his Highness's direction, has not
+yet arrived.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Most delighted shall I be, my Lord<a name="div3Ref_03" href="#div3_03"><sup>[3]</sup></a> Count,&quot; replied the leaguer,
+&quot;to afford you any aid or assistance or council in my power, both on
+account of his Highness the Duke of Guise and on your own. Might I ask
+what is the case foreseen, in which you are to apply to me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count smiled. &quot;In case, Monsieur Chapelle,&quot; he said, &quot;that I do
+not succeed in objects which the Duke has entrusted to me by other
+means, you shall know. At present, however, I have had no opportunity
+of ascertaining what may be necessary to be done, finding that the
+King is at Vincennes. In the mean time I am employing myself about
+some personal business of my own, which I am afraid is likely to give
+me trouble.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He spoke quite calmly; but a look of intelligence came immediately
+over the countenance of Chapelle Marteau, and he said, &quot;Perhaps I
+might be enabled to assist your Lordship. My knowledge of Paris, and
+all that is transacted therein, is very extensive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are very kind,&quot; replied the Count, &quot;and I take advantage of your
+offer with the greatest pleasure. The matter is a very simple one. My
+elder brother, the Marquis de Montsoreau, set out some time ago to
+join the Duke of Guise, having under his charge and escort a young
+lady, named Mademoiselle de Clairvaut.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Daughter of the Duke of Guise's niece,&quot; said Chapelle Marteau with
+some emphasis.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I believe that is the relationship,&quot; answered the young nobleman.
+&quot;But, however, the facts are these: I have reason to believe that my
+brother was interrupted in his journey by the attack of a party of
+reiters, and was obliged in consequence to put himself and
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut under the protection of a body of the King's
+troops coming to Paris. Now, my wish is, to ascertain whether he or
+any of his party, either separately or together, are now in Paris, and
+where they are to be found.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The leaguer gazed in his face for a minute or two with an inquiring
+look, and then replied, &quot;I can tell you at once, my Lord, that no
+considerable party whatever has entered the gates of Paris under the
+protection of the King's troops for the last ten days, no party of
+even ten in number having the ensigns of Valois having appeared during
+that time. But the party you mention may have come in by themselves
+without the King's troops; and I rather suspect that they have so
+done. However, I will let you know the exact particulars within four
+and twenty hours from this moment, and every other information that I
+can by any means glean regarding the persons you speak of; for I very
+well understand, my Lord, that there may be more intelligence required
+about them than you choose to ask for at once.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The young Count smiled again, but merely replied, &quot;Any information
+that you can obtain for me, Monsieur Chapelle, will be received by me
+most gratefully; and in the mean time will you do me the honour of
+partaking my poor dinner which is about to be served?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The leaguer, however, declined the high honour, alleging important
+business as his excuse; and, after having dined, the young Count rode
+out through the streets of Paris, endeavouring to make himself
+somewhat familiar with them, and feeling all those sensations which
+the sight of that great capital might well produce on one who had
+never beheld it before. On those sensations, however, we must not
+pause, as matters of more importance are before us. A couple of hours
+after nightfall he received a note to the following effect:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Marquis de Montsoreau, with a body of horsemen, bearing no
+badge or ensign, entered Paris yesterday at about four o'clock, and
+lodged at the Fleur-de-lis. He is not there now, however, and is
+supposed to have quitted Paris. Mademoiselle de Clairvaut is not known
+to have entered the capital; but a carriage, containing ladies and
+waiting-women, was escorted to Vincennes this morning by a body of
+troops of Valois. The name of one of the ladies was ascertained to be
+the Marquise de Saulny.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau received these tidings with a beating heart, and
+sleep did not visit his eyelids till the clock of a neighbouring
+church had struck five in the morning.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_04" href="#div1Ref_04">CHAP. IV.</a></h2>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Dark heavy clouds hung over the world, and totally obscured the face
+of the sky; the morning was chill, the air keen, and the eye of the
+peasant was often turned up towards the leaden-looking masses of
+vapour above his head, as if to inquire whether their stores would be
+poured forth in lightning or in snow; and as Charles of Montsoreau
+rode on through the park to the Donjon of Vincennes, he felt the
+gloomy aspect of the whole scene more than he might have done at any
+other time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There, before his eyes, with the whole face of nature harmonising well
+with its dark and frowning aspect, rose the grey gigantic keep, which
+the vanquished opponent of Edward III., the rash and half-insane
+founder of the race of Valois, erected at an early period of his
+melancholy reign. Story above story, the large quadrangular mass, with
+its flanking towers, rose up till it seemed to touch the gloomy sky
+above; but in those days it had at least the beauty of harmony, for no
+one had added to the harsh and solemn features of the feudal
+architecture the gewgaw ornaments of a later age. The gallery of Marie
+de Medici was not built, and nothing was seen but the antique form of
+the Donjon itself, with the mass of walls surrounding its base with
+their flanking turrets, a pinnacle or two rising above--as if from
+some low Gothic building within the walls--and the still dark fosse
+surrounding the whole.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We form but a faint idea to ourselves--a very very faint idea of the
+manners and customs of feudal times; but still less, perhaps, can we
+form any just idea of the every-day enormities, crimes, and vices,
+that were committed at the period we now speak of, and of what it was
+to live familiarly in the midst of such scenes, and to hear daily of
+such occurrences. The mind of most men got hardened, callous, or
+indifferent to acts of darkness and of shame, even if they did not
+commit them themselves; and the world of Paris heard with scarcely an
+emotion that this nobleman had been poisoned by another--that the hand
+of the assassin had delivered one high lord of this troublesome friend
+or that pertinacious enemy--that the husband had &quot;drugged the posset&quot;
+for the wife, or the wife for the husband--or that persons obnoxiously
+wise or virtuous disappeared within the walls of such places as
+Vincennes, and passed suddenly with their good acts into that oblivion
+which is the general recompense of all that is excellent upon earth.
+No one noted such deeds; the sword of justice started from the
+scabbard once or twice in a century, but that was all; and the world
+laughed as merrily--the jest and the repartee went on--sport, love,
+and folly revelled as gaily through the streets of Paris, as if it had
+been a world of gentleness, and security, and peace.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Though of course Charles of Montsoreau felt in some degree the spirit
+of the day--though he thought it nothing at all extraordinary to be
+attacked by reiters in his own château, or stopped by fifty or sixty
+plunderers on the broad highway--though it seemed perfectly natural to
+him that man should live as in a state of continual warfare, always on
+his defence, yet the whole of his previous life having passed far from
+the daily occurrence of still more revolting scenes, in spots where
+calm nature and God's handiwork were still at hand to purify and heal
+men's thoughts, he had very different feelings in regard to the events
+and customs of the day from those which were generally entertained by
+the people of the metropolis. Thus, when he gazed up at the gloomy
+tower of Vincennes, and thought of the deeds which had been committed
+within its walls, together with the crimes and follies that were daily
+there enacted, a feeling of mingled horror and disgust took possession
+of his bosom; and had he not been impelled by a sense of duty, he
+would not have set his foot upon the threshold of those polluted
+gates.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The order to appear before the King at Vincennes had been communicated
+to him early in the morning, and notice of his coming had been given
+to the officers at the gates of the castle. He was punctual to a
+moment at the appointed time, and was instantly led into the château,
+and conducted up a long, darksome, winding stone staircase in one of
+the towers. Everything took place almost in silence; few persons were
+to be seen moving about in the building; and, while winding up those
+stairs, nothing was heard but the footfalls of himself and the
+attendant who conducted him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau certainly felt neither awe nor fear as he thus
+advanced, though some of the warnings of the Duke of Guise might cross
+his mind at the moment; but at the end of what seemed to be the first
+story, the attendant said, &quot;Wait a moment;&quot; and, pushing open a door,
+entered a room to the right. There was another door beyond, but both
+were left partly unclosed, and the previous silence was certainly no
+longer to be complained of, for such a jabbering, and screaming, and
+yelling, and howling, as was now heard, was probably never known in
+the palace of a king, before or since.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Human sounds they seemed certainly not to be, and yet words in various
+languages were to be distinguished, so that conjecture was quite put
+at fault, till after an absence of several minutes the attendant
+returned, and, bidding the young nobleman follow him, led the way once
+more into this den of noise and confusion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The scene that then burst upon the eyes of Charles of Montsoreau was
+as curious as can well be conceived. Innumerable parrots, macaws, and
+cockatoos were ranged on perches and in cages along the sides of a
+large apartment, with intervals of monkeys and apes rattling their
+chains, springing forward at every object near them, mouthing,
+chattering, and writhing themselves into fantastic forms; six or seven
+small beautiful dogs of a peculiar breed were running about on the
+floor, snarling at one another, barking at the stranger, or teazing
+the other animals in the same room with themselves; baskets filled
+with litters of puppies were in every corner of the room; and several
+men and women were engaged in tending the winged and quadruped
+favourites of the King. Not only, however, were the regular attendants
+present, but, as one of the known ways to Henry's regard, a great
+number of other persons were always to be found busily engaged in
+tending the monkeys, parrots, and dogs. Amongst the rest here present,
+were no less than five dwarfs, four others being in actual attendance
+upon the King. None were above three feet and a half in height, and
+some were deformed and distorted in the most fearful manner, while one
+was perfectly and beautifully formed, and seemed to hold the others in
+great contempt. The voices of almost all of them, however, were
+cracked and screaming; and it was the sounds of their tongues, mingled
+with the yelping of the dogs, the chattering of the monkeys, and the
+various words repeated in different languages by the loquacious birds
+along the wall, which had made the Babel of sounds that reached the
+ears of Charles of Montsoreau while he stood without.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Passing through this room, with the envious eyes of the dwarfs staring
+upon his fine figure, the young Count entered the chamber of the
+pages--where, as if for the sake of contrast, a number of beautiful
+youths were seen--and was thence led on into the royal apartments, in
+which every thing was calm splendour and magnificence. Here and there
+various officers of the royal household were found lounging away the
+idle hours as they waited for the King's commands; and at length, in
+an ante-room, the young Count was bade to wait again, while the
+attendant once more notified his coming to the King. He was scarcely
+detained a moment now, however; but, the door being opened, he was
+ushered into the monarch's presence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Henry on the present occasion presented an aspect different from that
+which the young Count had expected to behold. The Monarch had
+recalled, for a moment or two, the princely and commanding air of his
+youth, and received the young Count with dignity and grace. His person
+was handsome, his figure fine, and his dress in the most exquisite
+taste that it was possible to conceive. It was neither so effeminate
+nor so overcharged with ornament as it sometimes was; and the black
+velvet slashed and laced with gold, the toque with a single large
+diamond on his head, the long snowy-white ostrich feather, and the
+collar of one or two high orders round his neck, became him well, and
+harmonised with the air of dignity he assumed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There were two or three gentlemen who stood around him more gaudily
+dressed than himself, and amongst them was the Duke of Epernon, whom
+Charles of Montsoreau remembered to have seen at his father's château
+some years before. All, however, held back so as to allow the monarch
+a full view of the young cavalier, as he advanced.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are welcome to Vincennes, Monsieur de Logères,&quot; said the King.
+&quot;Our noble and princely cousin of Guise has notified to us that he has
+sent you to Paris on business of importance; and, having given you
+that praise which we are sure you must merit, has besought us to put
+every sort of trust and confidence in you, and to listen to you as to
+himself, while you speak with us upon the affairs which have brought
+you hither. We beseech you, therefore, to inform us of that which he
+has left dark, and tell us how we may pleasure our fair cousin, which
+is always our first inclination to do--the good of our state and the
+welfare of our subjects considered.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;His Highness the Duke of Guise, Sire,&quot; replied Charles of Montsoreau,
+not in the slightest degree abashed by the many eyes that were fixed
+upon him, scrutinising his person and his dress in the most
+unceremonious manner, &quot;his Highness the Duke of Guise, Sire, has sent
+me to your Majesty, to ask information regarding a young lady, his
+near relation, who, he has reason to believe, was protected by a body
+of your Majesty's troops in a situation of some difficulty, for which
+protection the Duke is most grateful. She was then, he understood,
+conducted to this your Majesty's castle of Vincennes, doubtless for
+the purpose of affording her a safe asylum till you could restore her
+to his Highness, who is her guardian.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Henry turned with a sneering smile towards a dark but handsome man,
+with a somewhat sinister expression of countenance, on his left hand,
+saying, in an under tone, &quot;Quick travelling, Villequier! to Soissons
+and back to Paris in four and twenty hours, ha! Had the swallow ever
+wings like rumour?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This was said affectedly aside, but quite loud enough for the young
+nobleman to hear the whole. He, of course, made no reply, as the words
+were not addressed to him; but waited, with his eyes bent down,
+apparently in thoughtful meditation, till the King should give him his
+answer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have given us, Monsieur le Comte de Logères,&quot; said the King, &quot;but
+a faint idea of this business; and, as unhappily the commanders of our
+troops are but too little accustomed to afford us any very full
+account of their proceedings, we are ignorant of the occasion on which
+any one of them rendered this service to the young lady you mention.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This affected unconsciousness, displayed absolutely in conjunction
+with a scarcely concealed knowledge of the whole affair, Charles of
+Montsoreau felt to be trifling and insulting: but he lost not his
+reverence for the kingly authority; and he replied, with every
+appearance of deference, &quot;I had imagined, Sire, that the quick wings
+of rumour must have carried the whole particulars to your Majesty,
+otherwise I should have been more particular in my account. The
+service was rendered to the young lady very lately, between Jouarre
+and Gandelu. I am not absolutely aware of the name of the officer in
+command of the troops at the time, but one gentleman present bore the
+name of Colombel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And pray what was the name of the young lady herself?&quot; demanded the
+King, with a sneer. &quot;The Duke of Guise has many she relations, as we
+sometimes find to our cost. It could not be our pretty, mild, and
+virtuous friend, the Duchess of Montpensier, nor the delicate and
+fair-favoured Mademoiselle de St. Beuve; for the one is staying in
+Paris in disobedience to the orders of the King, and the other is
+remaining there, waiting for the tender consolations of the Chevalier
+d'Aumale.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The young Count turned somewhat red, both at the coarseness and the
+scornfulness of the King's reply. &quot;The young lady,&quot; he answered,
+however, still keeping the same tone, &quot;is named Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut, daughter of the late Count de Clairvaut.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your first cousin, Villequier,&quot; said the King, turning to his
+minister. &quot;You should know something of this affair?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not more than your Majesty,&quot; replied Villequier, bowing low, and
+perceiving very clearly that Henry had maliciously wished to embarrass
+him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The King smiled at the double-meaning answer, and then, turning to the
+young Count, replied, &quot;Well, sir, you have fulfilled your mission, and
+may tell the Duke of Guise, our true and well-beloved cousin, that we
+will cause immediate inquiry and investigation to be made into the
+whole affair; and let him know the particulars as soon as we are
+sufficiently well-informed to speak upon it with that accuracy which
+becomes our character. You may retire.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This was of course not the conclusion of the affair to which Charles
+of Montsoreau was inclined to submit; and it was evident to him that
+the King and his minions presumed upon his apparent youth and
+inexperience. But there was a firm decision in his character which
+they were not prepared for; and after pausing for a moment in thought,
+during which time the King's brows began to bend angrily upon him, he
+raised his eyes, looking Henry calmly and stedfastly in the face, and
+replying, &quot;Your Majesty must pardon me if I do not take instant
+advantage of your permission to retire, as you have conceived a false
+impression when you imagine that my mission is fulfilled.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The King looked with an air of astonishment, first to Epernon and then
+to Villequier: but the former turned away his head with a look of
+dissatisfaction; while the latter bit his lip, let his hand fall upon
+a jewelled dagger in his belt, and said nothing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau, however, went on in the same calm but
+determined tone. &quot;His Highness the Duke of Guise,&quot; he said, &quot;directed
+me to inform your Majesty of the facts I have mentioned, and to beg in
+general terms information regarding them; but in case the general
+information that I obtained was not sufficiently accurate to enable me
+to write to him distinctly that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut is in this
+place, or in that place, he further directed me humbly to request that
+your Majesty would answer in plain terms the following plain
+questions:--Is Mademoiselle de Clairvaut in the château of Vincennes?
+Is she under the charge and protection of your Majesty? Does your
+Majesty know where she is?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;By the Lord that lives,&quot; exclaimed Henry, &quot;this Duke of Guise chooses
+himself bold ambassadors to his King!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you dare, malapert boy,&quot; exclaimed Villequier, &quot;with that bold
+brow, to cross-question your sovereign?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do dare, sir,&quot; answered Charles of Montsoreau, &quot;to ask my
+sovereign, in the name of the Duke of Guise, these plain questions,
+which, as he is a just and noble monarch, he can neither find any
+difficulty in answering, nor feel any anger in hearing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And what if I refuse to answer, sir?&quot; demanded the King. &quot;What is to
+be the consequence then? Is the doughty messenger charged to make a
+declaration of war on the part of our obedient subject, the Duke of
+Guise?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The young Count was not prepared for this question, and hesitated how
+to answer it, though a full knowledge of how terrible the Duke of
+Guise was to the weak and effeminate monarch he addressed, brought a
+smile over his countenance, which had in reality more effect than any
+words he could have spoken. After a pause, however, he replied,--&quot;Oh
+no, Sire. The Duke of Guise is, as you say, your Majesty's most
+devoted and obedient subject; and never conceiving it possible that
+you would refuse to answer his humble questions, he gave me no
+instructions what to say in a case that he did not foresee. I can only
+suppose,&quot; he added, with a low and reverent bow to the King, &quot;that the
+Duke will be obliged to come to Paris himself to make those inquiries
+and investigations, concerning his young relation, in which I have not
+been successful.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau could see, notwithstanding the paint, which
+delicately furnished the King with a more stable complexion than his
+own, that at the very thought of the Duke of Guise coming to Paris the
+weak monarch turned deadly pale. The same signs also were visible to
+Villequier, who whispered, &quot;No fear, Sire; no fear; he will not come!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The King answered sharply, however, and sufficiently loud for the
+young nobleman to hear, &quot;We must give him no excuse, René! we must
+give him no excuse! Monsieur de Logères,&quot; he continued, putting on a
+more placable air than before, &quot;we are glad to find that neither the
+Duke of Guise nor his envoy presumes to threaten us; and in
+consideration of the questions being put in a proper manner, we are
+willing to answer them to the best of our abilities.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Villequier, at these words, laid his hand gently upon the King's
+cloak; but Henry twitched it away from his grasp with an air of
+impatience, and continued, &quot;I shall therefore answer you frankly and
+freely, young gentleman; telling you that the Lady whom you are sent
+to seek is in fact not at Vincennes; nor, to the best of our knowledge
+and belief, in our good city of Paris; neither do we know or have any
+correct information of where she may be found, though it is not by any
+means to be denied that she has visited this our castle of Vincennes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The first part of the King's speech had considerably relieved the mind
+of Villequier; but when he proceeded to make the somewhat unnecessary
+admission, that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut had visited Vincennes, the
+minister again attempted to interrupt the King, saying, &quot;You know,
+Sire, her pause at Vincennes was merely momentary, and absolutely
+necessary for those passports and safeguards without which it might be
+dangerous to travel, in the distracted state of the country.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perfectly true,&quot; replied Henry: but the King's apprehension of the
+Duke of Guise appearing in Paris was much stronger than his respect
+for his minister's opinion; and he proceeded with what he had to say,
+in spite of every sign or hint that could be given him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You must know, Monsieur de Logères,&quot; he said, &quot;that, as I before
+observed, she did visit Vincennes for a brief space; but, there being
+something embarrassing in the whole business, we were, to say the
+truth--albeit not insensible to beauty--we were not at all sorry to
+see her depart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Although Charles of Montsoreau judged rightly that the abode of
+Vincennes, to the high and pure-minded girl whom he sought, could only
+have been one of horror, he could not conceive any thing in her
+situation which should have proved embarrassing to the King, and he
+answered bluntly, &quot;Then your Majesty of course has caused her to be
+escorted in safety to the Duke of Guise, as the means of relieving
+yourself from all embarrassment concerning her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not so, not so, Monsieur de Logères,&quot; replied the King. &quot;Young
+diplomatists and young greyhounds run fast and overleap the game. It
+so happens that there are various claims regarding the wardship of
+this young Lady. She has many relations, as near or nearer than the
+Duke of Guise. The care and guidance of her, too, under the
+authorisation of the Duke himself, has been claimed by a young
+nobleman whom you may have heard of, called the Marquis of
+Montsoreau;&quot; and he fixed his eyes meaningly upon the young Count's
+face. &quot;All these circumstances rendered the matter embarrassing; and
+as I was not called upon to decide the matter judicially; and the
+Lady, if not quite of an age by law to judge for herself, being very
+nearly so, I thought it far better to leave the whole business to her
+own discretion, and let her take what course she thought fit, offering
+her every assistance and protection in my power, which, however, she
+declined. You may therefore assure the Duke of Guise, on my part, that
+she is not at Vincennes, and that I am unacquainted with where she is
+at this moment. I now think, therefore, that all your questions are
+answered, and the business is at an end.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I fear I must intrude upon your Majesty still farther,&quot; replied the
+young Count; &quot;for besides the letter from the Duke of Guise, which I
+have had the honour of delivering to your Majesty, he has also
+furnished me with this document, giving me full power and authority to
+inquire, seek for, and require, at the hands of any person in whose
+power she may be, the young Lady whom he claims as his ward. He has
+directed me to request your Majesty's approbation of the same,
+expressed by your signature to that effect, giving me authority to
+search for her in your name also, and to require the aid and
+assistance of all your officers, civil and military, in executing the
+said task.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Henry looked both agitated and angry; and Villequier spoke for a
+moment to Epernon behind the King's back.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Monsieur de Logères,&quot; exclaimed the latter, taking a step forward,
+&quot;this is too much. I can hardly suppose that his Highness the Duke of
+Guise has authorised you to make such a demand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My Lord Duke of Epernon,&quot; replied the Count, &quot;were it not that I hold
+in my hand the Duke's authority for that which I state, I would call
+upon you to put your insinuation in plainer terms, that I might give
+it the lie as plainly as I would do any other unjust accusation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke turned very red; but he replied, &quot;And you would be treated,
+sir Count, as a petty boy of the low nobility of this realm deserves,
+for using such language to one so much above yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is no one in France so much above myself, sir,&quot; replied the
+Count, gazing on him sternly, and with a look of some contempt, &quot;as to
+dare to insult me with impunity; and though you be now High-admiral of
+France, Colonel-general of Infantry, Governor of half the provinces of
+this country, Duke, Peer, and hold many another rich and honourable
+office besides, I tell you, John of Nogaret, that when the Baron de
+Caumont dined at my father's table, he sat nearer the salt than
+perhaps now may suit the proud Duke of Epernon to remember.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Silence!&quot; exclaimed the King, rousing himself for a moment from his
+effeminate apathy, while, for a brief space, an expression of power
+and dignity came over his countenance, such as that which had
+distinguished him while Duke of Anjou. &quot;Silence, insolent boy!
+Silence, Epernon! I forbid you, on pain of my utmost displeasure, to
+take notice, even by a word, of what this young man has said. You were
+yourself wrong to answer for the King in the King's presence. The Duke
+of Guise shall have no just occasion to complain of us,&quot; he added, the
+brightness which had come upon him gradually dying away like the false
+promising gleam of sunshine which sometimes breaks for a moment
+through a rainy autumnal day, and fades away again as soon, amidst the
+dull grey clouds; &quot;the Duke of Guise shall have no occasion to
+complain of us. We will give this young man the authority which he has
+so insolently demanded, to seek for Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, and
+having found her--if she have not joined the Duke of Guise long
+before--to escort her in safety to our cousin's care. But, Monsieur de
+Logères, you show your ignorance of every custom of the court and
+state, by supposing that the King of France can write down at the
+bottom of the powers given you by the Duke of Guise his name in
+confirmation of the same, like a steward at the bottom of a butcher's
+bill. The authority which we give you must pass through the office of
+our secretary of state, and it shall be drawn out and sent to you as
+speedily as possible. I think that Monsieur de Villequier already
+knows where to send this authority. You may now retire; and rest
+assured that it shall reach you as soon as possible. At the same time
+we pardon you for your conduct in this presence, which much needs
+pardon, though it does not merit it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau bowed low, and retired from the King's presence,
+fully convinced that Henry was deceiving him; that he knew, or, at all
+events, had every means of judging, where Marie de Clairvaut was; and
+that he had not the slightest intention of sending him the
+authorisation he had promised, unless absolutely driven to do so.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The moment that the young Count had quitted the presence, the King
+turned angrily to Villequier, exclaiming, &quot;Are you mad, Villequier, to
+risk bringing that fiery and ambitious pest upon us? 'Tis but four
+days ago he was within ten miles of Paris!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pshaw, Sire!&quot; replied Villequier; &quot;there is not the slightest chance
+of his coming. Did I not tell you when he was at Gonesse that I would
+find means to make him run like a frightened hare back again to
+Soissons? I fear your Majesty has ruined all our plans by promising
+this authority to that malapert youth, who doubtless already knows, or
+easily divines, that he is deceived.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have not deceived him,&quot; said the King: &quot;I told him the girl was not
+at Vincennes; nor is she. I told him that I did not know where she is
+at this moment; nor do I; for she may be three miles on this side of
+Meulan, or three miles on that, for aught I know. It depends upon the
+quickness of the horses, and the state of the roads. I promised him
+the authority to seek her; and he shall have it in good due form, if
+he live long enough, and wait in Paris a sufficient time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If he have it not within three days,&quot; replied Villequier, &quot;be you
+sure, Sire, that he will write to the Duke of Guise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But, Villequier,&quot; said the King in a soft tone, &quot;could you not find
+means to prevent his making use of pen and ink to such bad purposes?
+In short, friend René, it is altogether your affair. You seem to think
+that the fact of this girl falling into our hands is quite the
+discovery of a treasure which may fix on our side this young Marquis
+of Montsoreau and the crafty Abbé that you talk of, and I don't know
+how many more people besides. Now I told you from the beginning that
+you should manage it all yourself: so look to it, good Villequier;
+look to it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He has let me manage it all myself, truly!&quot; said Villequier, in a low
+tone, &quot;But I wish to know more precisely, your Majesty,&quot; he added
+aloud, &quot;what am I to do with this youth and the girl? Is he to have
+the authorisation, or not? Am I, or am I not, to give her up when he
+demands her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now, good faith,&quot; replied the King, &quot;would not one think, Epernon,
+that our well-beloved friend and minister here was a mere novice out
+of a convent of young girls, a tender and scrupulous little thing,
+thinking evil, in every stray look or soft word addressed to her. He
+who has dealt with so many in his day, diplomatists and warriors and
+statesmen, has not wit enough to deal with a raw boy, whom, doubtless,
+our fair and crafty cousin of Guise has sent upon a fool's errand to
+get him out of the way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly,&quot; replied the Duke of Epernon, &quot;our wise friend Villequier
+seems to be somewhat prudent and cautious this morning. The young lady
+is in your hands, I think, Villequier; is she not? and you have sent
+her off into Normandy, I think you told me, with an escort of fifty of
+your archers. She goes there, doubtless, as his Majesty has said, with
+her own will and consent, and by her own choice, for there is a soft
+persuasiveness in fifty archers which it is very difficult for a
+woman's heart to resist; and, doubtless, by the same cogent arguments,
+you will induce her to marry whom you please. Come, tell us who it is
+to be; the hand of a rich heiress to dispose of, may be made a
+profitable thing, under such management as yours, Villequier.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have not discovered the philosopher's stone, like you, Monsieur
+d'Epernon,&quot; replied the other.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The King laughed gaily, for Epernon's extraordinary cupidity was no
+secret even to the monarch that fed it. But the Duke was proof to all
+jest upon that score; and looking at Villequier with the same sort of
+musing expression which he had before borne, he repeated his question,
+saying, &quot;Come, come, disinterested chevalier, tell us to whom do you
+intend to give her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps to my own nephew,&quot; replied the other. &quot;What think you of
+that, Monsieur le Duc?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The brow of Epernon grew clouded in a moment. &quot;I think,&quot; he said,
+&quot;that you will not do it, for two reasons: in the first place, you
+destine your nephew for your daughter Charlotte.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not I,&quot; replied the Marquis; &quot;I never dreamt of such a thing. She
+shall wed higher than that, or not at all. But what is your second
+reason, Monsieur d'Epernon?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because you dare not,&quot; replied the Duc d'Epernon: and he added,
+speaking in a low tone, &quot;You dare not, Villequier, mingle your race
+with that of Guise. The moment you do, your object will be clear, and
+your ruin certain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is a curious thing, Sire,&quot; said Villequier, turning to the King
+with a smile, &quot;it is a curious thing to see how my good Lord of
+Epernon grudges any little advantage to us mean men. However, to set
+his Grace's mind at ease, I neither destine Mademoiselle de Clairvaut
+for one nor for the other; but I think she may prove a wonderful good
+bait for the wild young Marquis of Montsoreau. By the promise of her
+hand, as far as my interest and influence is concerned, he will not
+only be bound to your Majesty's cause on every occasion, but will
+exert himself more zealously and potently for that, than any other
+inducement could lead him to do. Even if he should fail in the
+trial--for we must acknowledge that he shows himself somewhat unstable
+in his purposes--he will, at all events, have so far committed himself
+as to give your Majesty good cause for confiscating all his land,
+cutting down all his timber, and seizing upon all his wealth. However,
+I must think, in the first place, of how to deal with this brother of
+his.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No very difficult task, I should judge,&quot; said the Duke of Epernon,
+&quot;for one so practised in the art of catching gudgeons as you,
+Villequier.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I don't know that,&quot; answered Villequier; &quot;I would fain detach that
+youth, also, from the Guises. You see, most noble Duke, I am thinking
+of the King's interest all the time, while you are thinking of your
+own. However, I must find a way to manage him, for, as their wonderful
+friend and tutor, this wise Abbé de Boisguerin, admitted to me last
+night, there are three means all powerful in dealing with our
+neighbours--love, interest, and ambition; and we might thus exemplify
+it,--the King would do any thing for the first, the Duke of Epernon
+any thing for the second, and his Highness of Guise any thing for the
+third.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There are two other implements frequently used, which I wonder
+Monsieur de Villequier did not add,&quot; said the Duke, &quot;as I rather
+expect he may have to use one or other of them on the present
+occasion; and men say he is fully as skilful in using them as in
+employing love, interest, or ambition, for his ends.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pray what are those?&quot; demanded Villequier, somewhat sharply.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Vicenza daggers,&quot; replied the Duke of Epernon, &quot;and wine that splits
+a Venice glass!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come, come, Epernon,&quot; cried the King, &quot;you and Villequier shall not
+quarrel. Come away from him, come away from him, or you will be using
+your daggers on each other presently:&quot; and, throwing his arm
+familiarly round his neck, he drew the Duke away.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_05" href="#div1Ref_05">CHAP. V.</a></h2>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau rode homeward in painful and anxious thought: he
+had flattered himself vainly, before he had proceeded to Vincennes,
+that the redoubted name of Henry of Guise would be found fully
+sufficient immediately to cause the restoration of Marie de Clairvaut
+to him, who had naturally a right to protect her. It less frequently
+happens that youth fails to reckon upon the fiery contention it is
+destined to meet with from adversaries, than that it miscalculates the
+force of the dull and inert opposition which circumstances continually
+offer to its eager course, throwing upon it a heavy, slow, continual
+weight, which, like a clog upon a powerful horse, seems but a nothing
+for the moment, but in the end checks its speed entirely. None knew
+better than Henry III. that it is by casting small obstacles in the
+way of impetuous youth, that we conquer and tame it sooner than by
+opposing it; and such had been his purpose with Charles of Montsoreau.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In his idle carelessness he cared but little what became of
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, or into whose hands she fell. He was
+willing to countenance and assist the politic schemes of his favourite
+Villequier; and cared not, even in the slightest degree, whether that
+personage employed poison or the knife to rid himself of the young
+Count of Logères, provided always that he himself had nothing to do
+with it. The only part that he was inclined to act was to thwart the
+Duke's young envoy by obstacles and long delays; and this he had
+suffered to become so far evident to Charles of Montsoreau, that he
+became angry and impatient at the very prospect before him. He
+doubted, however, whether it would be right to send off a courier with
+this intelligence immediately to the Duke of Guise, or to wait for two
+or three days, in order to see whether the powers promised him were
+effectually granted; and he was still pondering the matter, while
+riding through the streets of Paris, when, in passing by a large and
+splendid mansion in one of the principal streets, he caught a glimpse
+of two figures disappearing through the arched portal of the building.
+The faces of neither were visible to him; their figures only for a
+moment, and that at a distance. But he felt that he could not be
+mistaken--that all the thoughts and feelings and memories of youth
+could not so suddenly, so magically, be called up by the sight of any
+one but his brother,--and if so, that the other was the Abbé de
+Boisguerin.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Whose is that house?&quot; he exclaimed aloud, turning to his attendants.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That of Monsieur René de Villequier,&quot; replied the page instantly;
+and, springing from his horse at the gate, the young Count knocked
+eagerly for admission. The portals were instantly thrown open, and a
+porter in crimson, with a broad belt fringed with gold, appeared in
+answer to the summons.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I think,&quot; said the young Count, &quot;that I saw this moment the Marquis
+de Montsoreau and the Abbé de Boisguerin pass into this house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The porter looked dull, and shook his head, replying, &quot;No, sir; nobody
+has passed in here but two of my noble Lord's attendants--the old Abbé
+Scargilas, and Master Nicolas Prevôt, who used formerly to keep the
+Salle d'Armes, opposite the kennel at St. Germain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Although Charles of Montsoreau knew the existence and possibility of
+such a thing as the lie circumstantial, yet the coolness and readiness
+of the porter surprised him. &quot;Pray,&quot; he said, after a moment's pause,
+&quot;is there any such person as either Monsieur de Montsoreau or the Abbé
+de Boisguerin dwelling here at present?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;None, sir,&quot; replied the man. &quot;There is no one here but the attendants
+of my Lord, who is at present absent with the King.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau would have given a good deal to have searched
+the house from top to bottom; but as it would not exactly do to storm
+the dwelling of René de Villequier, he rode on, no less convinced than
+ever that his brother was at that moment in the dwelling of the
+minister.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This conviction determined his conduct at once. That his brother was
+in Paris, and in the hands of the most dangerous and intriguing man of
+that day, he had no doubt; and it seemed to him also clear, that
+schemes were going on and contriving, of which the obstacles and
+delays thrown in his way might be, perhaps, a part. To what they
+tended he could not, of course, tell directly; but he saw that the
+only hope of frustrating them lay in exertion without the loss of a
+moment, and he accordingly dispatched his faithful attendant Gondrin
+to Soissons as soon as he reached the inn.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We must follow, however, for a moment, the two persons whom the young
+Count had seen enter the hotel of Villequier, and accompany them at
+once into the chamber to which they proceeded after passing the
+portal. It was a splendid cabinet, filled with every sort of rare and
+costly furniture, which was displayed to the greater perfection by the
+dark but rich tapestry that covered the walls. Another larger room
+opened beyond, and through the door of that again, which was partly
+open, a long suite of bed-rooms and other apartments were seen, with
+different rich and glittering objects placed here and there along the
+perspective, as if for the express purpose of catching the eye.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Into one of the large arm-chairs which the cabinet contained, the
+Marquis of Montsoreau threw himself as if familiar with the scene.
+&quot;Villequier is long,&quot; he said, speaking to the Abbé. &quot;He promised to
+have returned before this hour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Impatience, Gaspar, impatience,&quot; replied the Abbé, &quot;is the vice of
+your disposition. How much have you lost already by impatience? Was it
+not your impatience which hurried me forward to represent his own
+situation and that of yourself, to your brother Charles, which drove
+him directly to the Duke of Guise? Was it not your impatience which
+made you speak words of love to Marie de Clairvaut before she was
+prepared to hear them, drawing from her a cold and icy reply? Was it
+not your impatience that made us leave behind at Provins all the tired
+horses and one half of the men, rather than wait a single day to
+enable them to come on with us; and did not that very fact put us
+almost at the mercy of the reiters, and give your brother an
+opportunity of showing his gallantry and skill at our expense?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is all true, my friend; it is all true,&quot; replied the Marquis. &quot;But
+in regard to my speaking those fiery words to Marie de Clairvaut, how
+could I help that? Is it possible so to keep down the overflowing
+thoughts of our bosom as to prevent their bursting forth when the
+stone is taken off from the fountain, and when the feelings of the
+heart gush out, not as from the spring of some ordinary river, but,
+like the waters of Vaucluse, full, powerful, and abundant even at
+their source.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was that I wished you to guard against,&quot; replied the Abbé. &quot;Had
+you appeared less to seek, you would have been sought rather than
+avoided. It may be true, Gaspar, what authors have said, that a woman,
+like some animals of the chase, takes a pleasure in being pursued; but
+depend upon it, if she do so, she puts forth all her speed to insure
+herself against being caught. Unless you are very sure of your own
+speed and strength, you had better steal quietly onward, lest you
+frighten the deer. Had she heard much from my lips, and from those of
+her good but weak friend Madame de Saulny, of your high qualities, and
+of all those traits in your nature calculated to captivate and attract
+such a being as herself, while you seemed indifferent and somewhat
+cool withal, every thing--good that is in her nature would have joined
+with every thing that is less good--the love of high qualities and of
+manly daring would have combined with vanity and caprice to make her
+seek you, excite your attention, and court your love.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have never yet seen in her,&quot; said the young Marquis, &quot;either vanity
+or caprice; and besides, good friend, such things to me at least are
+not matters of mere calculation. I act upon impulses that I cannot
+resist. Mine are feelings, not reasonings: I follow where they lead
+me, and even in the pursuit acquire intense pleasure that no reasoning
+could give.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;True,&quot; replied the Abbé, bending down his head and answering
+thoughtfully. &quot;There is a great difference between your age and mine,
+Gaspar. You are at the age of passions, and at that period of their
+sway when they defeat themselves by their own intensity. I had
+thought, however, that my lessons might have taught you, my counsel
+might have shown you, that with any great object in view it is
+necessary to moderate even passion in the course, in order to succeed
+in the end.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But there is joy in the course also,&quot; exclaimed Gaspar de Montsoreau.
+&quot;Think you, Abbé, that even if it were possible to win the woman we
+love by another's voice, we could lose the joy of winning her for
+ourselves--the great, the transcendant joy of struggling for her
+affection, even though it were against her coldness, her indifference,
+or her anger?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I think, Gaspar,&quot; replied the Abbé, &quot;that if to a heart constituted
+as yours is, there be added a mind of equal power, nothing--not even
+the strongest self-denial--will be impossible for the object of
+winning her you love. But I am not a good judge of such matters,&quot; he
+continued with a slight smile curling his lip--a smile not altogether
+without pride. &quot;I am no judge of such matters. The profession which I
+have chosen, and followed to a certain point, excludes them from my
+consideration. All I wish to do in the present instance is to warn
+you, Gaspar, against your own impetuosity in dealing with this
+Villequier. Be warned against that man! be careful! Promise him
+nothing; commit yourself absolutely to nothing, unless upon good and
+sufficient proof that he too deals sincerely with you. He is not one
+to be trusted, Gaspar, even in the slightest of things; and promise me
+not to commit yourself with him in any respect whatsoever.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, fear not, fear not,&quot; replied the Marquis. &quot;In this respect at
+least, good friend, no passions hurry me on. Here I can deal calmly
+and tranquilly, because, though the end is the same, I have nothing
+but art to encounter, which may always be encountered by reason. When
+I am with her, Abbé, it is the continual strife of passion that I have
+to fear; at every word, at every action, I have to be upon my guard;
+and reason, like a solitary sentinel upon the walls of a city attacked
+on every side, opposes the foes in vain at one point, while they pour
+in upon a thousand others.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While he was yet speaking, a servant with a noiseless foot entered the
+room, and in a low sweet tone informed the Marquis, that Monsieur de
+Villequier had just returned from Vincennes, and desired earnestly to
+speak with him, for a moment, <i>alone</i> in his own cabinet. The word
+&quot;alone&quot; was pronounced more loud than any other, though the whole was
+low and tuneful; for Villequier used to declare that he loved to have
+servants with feet like cats and voices like nightingales.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Abbé marked that word distinctly, and was too wise to make the
+slightest attempt to accompany his former pupil. The Marquis, however,
+did not remark it; and, perhaps a little fearful of his own firmness
+and skill, asked his friend to accompany him. But the Abbé instantly
+declined. &quot;No, Gaspar,&quot; he said, &quot;no; it were better that you should
+see Monsieur Villequier alone. I will wait for you here;&quot; and, turning
+to the table, he took up an illuminated psalter, and examined the
+miniatures with as close and careful an eye as if he had been deeply
+interested in the labours of the artist.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He saw not a line which had there been drawn; but after the Marquis
+had followed the servant from the room he muttered to himself, &quot;So,
+Monsieur de Villequier, you think that I am a mean man, who may be
+over-reached with impunity and ease? You know me not yet, but you
+shall know me, and that soon.&quot; And laying down the psalter, he took up
+another book of a character more suited to his mind at the moment, and
+read calmly till his young friend returned, which was not for near an
+hour.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the mean time the Marquis had proceeded to the cabinet of
+Villequier, who, the moment he saw him, rose from the chair in which
+he had been seated busily writing, and pressed him warmly by the hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear young friend,&quot; he said, &quot;one learns to love the more those in
+whose cause one suffers something; and, since I saw you, I have had to
+fight your battle manfully.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed! and may I ask, my Lord, with whom?&quot; demanded the young
+Marquis.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With many,&quot; answered Villequier. &quot;With the King,--with Epernon,-with
+your own brother.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With my brother?&quot; exclaimed Gaspar of Montsoreau, while the blood
+rushed up in his face. &quot;Does he dare to oppose me after all his loud
+professions of disinterestedness and generosity? But where is he, my
+Lord? Leave me to deal with him. Where does he dwell? Is he in Paris?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Villequier smiled, but so slightly, that it did not attract the eyes
+of his companion. That smile, however, was but the announcement of a
+sudden thought that had passed through his own mind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Shrewd politicians like himself, fertile in all resources, and
+unscrupulous about any, feel a pride and pleasure in their own
+abundance of expedients, which makes the conception of a new means to
+their end as pleasant as the finding of a diamond. On the present
+occasion the subtle courtier thought to himself with a smile, as he
+saw the angry blood mount into the cheek of the young Marquis of
+Montsoreau at the very mention of his brother's name,--&quot;Here were a
+ready means of ridding ourselves, were it needful, of one if not both
+of these young rash-headed nobles, by setting them to cut each other's
+throats.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It suited not his plan however at the moment to follow out the idea,
+and he consequently replied, &quot;No, no, Monsieur de Montsoreau. I should
+take no small care, seeing how justly offended you are with your
+brother, to prevent your finding out his abode, as I know what
+consequences would ensue. But in all probability, by this time, he has
+gone back to the Duke of Guise, having with difficulty been
+frustrated, for the King was much inclined to yield to his demands.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What did he demand?&quot; exclaimed the Marquis vehemently. &quot;What did he
+dare to demand, after the professions he made to me at La Ferté?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That matters not,&quot; answered Villequier. &quot;Suffice it that his demands
+were such as would have ruined all your hopes for ever.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But why should the King support his demands,&quot; said the Marquis, &quot;when
+well assured of how attached he is to the great head of the League
+that tyrannises over him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hush, hush!&quot; said Villequier. &quot;The League only tyrannises so long as
+the King chooses. Henry wields not the sword at present, but the sword
+is still in his hands to strike when he thinks fit. But to answer your
+question, my young friend. The King knows well, as you say, that your
+brother is attached to the Duke of Guise: but you must remember at the
+same time, Monsieur de Montsoreau, that as yet he is not fully assured
+that you are attached to himself. Nay, hear me out, hear me out! The
+King's arguments, I am bound to say, were not only specious but
+reasonable. He had to consider, on the one hand, that the Duke of
+Guise, with whom it is his strongest interest to keep fair, demands
+this young lady as his ward, which, according to the laws of the land,
+Henry has no right to refuse. Your brother, on the Duke's part,
+threatens loudly; and what have I to oppose to a demand to which it
+seems absolutely necessary in good policy that the King should yield?
+Nothing; for, on the other hand, Henry affirms that he can be in no
+degree sure of yourself; that your family for long have shown
+attachment for the House of Guise; that you yourself were upon your
+march to join the Duke, when this lady, falling into the hands of the
+King's troops, induced you to abandon your purpose for the time; but
+that the moment he favours your suit, or gives his consent to your
+union with her, you may return to your former attachments, and
+purchase the pardon and good will of the Duke of Guise by returning to
+his faction.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am incapable of such a thing!&quot; exclaimed the Marquis vehemently:
+but the recollection of his abandonment of the Duke's party came over
+him with a glow of shame, and he remained for a moment or two without
+making any farther reply, while Villequier was purposely silent also,
+as if to let what he had said have its full effect. At length he
+added:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I believe you are incapable of it, Monsieur de Montsoreau, and so I
+assured the King. He, however, still urged upon me that I had no
+proof, and that you had taken no positive engagement to serve his
+Majesty. All the monarch's arguments were supported by Epernon, who, I
+believe, wishes for the hand of the young lady for some of his own
+relations, in order to arrange for himself such an alliance with the
+House of Guise as may prove a safeguard to him in the hour of need.&quot;
+And again Villequier smiled at his own art in turning back upon the
+Duke of Epernon the suspicion which the Duke had expressed in regard
+to himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The warning of the Abbé de Boisguerin, however, at that moment rang in
+the ears of Gaspar of Montsoreau, and he roused himself to deal with
+Villequier not exactly as an adversary, but certainly less as a
+friend.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In fact, Monsieur de Villequier,&quot; he said, &quot;his Majesty wishes that I
+should devote my sword and fortune to his service; and I am to
+understand, through you, that he holds out to me the hope of obtaining
+the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut in return. Now, it was not at
+all my purpose to take any part in the strifes that are agitating the
+country at this moment. I am neither Leaguer nor Huguenot, nor Zealot
+nor Moderate; and, though most loyal, not what is called Royalist. I
+was merely conducting Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, with a very small
+force, not the tenth part of what I can bring into the field at a
+week's notice, when the events took place which brought me to Paris.
+Now, Monsieur, if the King does not rest satisfied with my expressions
+of loyalty, and desires some express and public engagement to his
+service, I see no earthly reason why I should rest satisfied with mere
+vague hopes of obtaining the hand of the lady I love; and though, of
+course, I cannot deal with his Majesty upon equal terms, yet I must
+demand some full, perfect, and permanent assurance that I am not to be
+disappointed in my hopes, before I draw my sword for one party or
+another.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Villequier gazed thoughtfully in his face for a moment or two, biting
+his under lip, and saying internally, &quot;The Abbé de Boisguerin--this
+comes from him.&quot; His next thought was, &quot;Shall I endeavour to pique
+this stripling upon his honour, and generosity, and loyalty, and all
+those fine words?&quot; But he rejected the idea the moment after thinking.
+&quot;No; that would do better with his brother. When a man boldly leaps
+over such things, it is insulting him to talk about them any more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And after a moment's farther thought, he replied, &quot;It is all very
+fair, Monsieur de Montsoreau, that you should have such assurances;
+though, if we were not inclined to deal straightforwardly with you in
+the matter, we might very very easily refuse every thing of the kind,
+and leave you not in the most pleasant situation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How so?&quot; demanded the Marquis with some alarm. &quot;How so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Easily, my dear young friend,&quot; replied Villequier. &quot;Thus: by
+informing you that the King could give you no such assurance--which,
+indeed, is nominally true, though not really--and by showing you, at
+the same time, that as the young lady is in his Majesty's hands, and
+he is determined not to give her up to the Duke of Guise or to any
+body else, but some tried and faithful friend, the only means by which
+you can possibly obtain her is by serving the King voluntarily, in the
+most devoted manner. Suppose this did not suit you, what would be your
+resource? If you go to the Duke of Guise, you find the ground occupied
+before you by your brother, and the Duke accuses you of having
+betrayed his young relation into the hands of the King--perhaps sends
+you under a guard into Lorraine, and has you tried, and your head
+struck off. Such things have happened before now, Monsieur de
+Montsoreau. At all events, not the slightest chance exists of your
+winning the fair heiress of Clairvaut from him. But, even if you did
+gain his consent, she is still in the hands of the King, who would
+certainly not give her up to one who had proved himself a determined
+enemy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gaspar of Montsoreau looked down, with somewhat of a frowning brow,
+upon the ground. He saw, indeed, that the alternative was one that he
+could not well adopt; and, from the showing of Villequier, he fancied
+himself of less power and consequence in the matter than he really
+was. He resolved, however, not to admit the fact if he could help it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Suppose, Monsieur de Villequier,&quot; he said, &quot;that the League were to
+prevail, and to force his Majesty to concede all the articles of
+Nancy, think you not that one thing exacted from him might well be, to
+yield Mademoiselle de Clairvaut to her lawful guardian?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It might,&quot; answered Villequier immediately. &quot;But then I come in. The
+question of guardianship has never been tried between the Duke and
+myself. I stand as nearly related to her as he does; and I should
+instantly bring the cause before the Parliament, demanding that the
+young lady should remain in the hands of the King as suzerain till the
+cause is decided, which might be this time ten years.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did not know,&quot; said the young nobleman, &quot;that the relationship was
+so near, though I was aware that Clairvaut is the family name of
+Villequier. However, sir, there is yet another alternative. Suppose I
+were to keep the sword in the sheath, and retire once more to
+Montsoreau.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why there, then,&quot; replied Villequier with a slight sneer, &quot;you might
+happily abide, watching the progress of events, till either the
+royalist party or the League prevailed; and then, as chance or
+accident might will it, see the hand of the fair Lady rewarding one of
+the King's gallant defenders, or bestowed by the Duke of Guise upon
+his brave and prudent partisan, the Count of Logères.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He paused for a moment or two, to let all he said have its full
+effect, and then added, in a familiar tone, &quot;Come, come, Monsieur de
+Montsoreau, see the matter in its true light. There is no possible
+chance of your obtaining the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, except
+by attaching yourself to the King's service, and defending the royal
+cause with the utmost zeal. If you persist in doing so simply as a
+voluntary act to be performed or remitted at pleasure, be you sure
+that as you make the King depend upon your good will for your services
+towards him, so will you be made to depend upon his good will, his
+caprices if you like, for the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut. If,
+however, on the contrary, you frankly and generously determine to take
+service with the King, and bind yourself irrevocably to his cause, I
+do not scruple to promise you, under his hand, his full consent to
+your union with Mademoiselle de Clairvaut. I will give you the same
+consent under mine, assuming the title of her guardian. Your marriage
+cannot, of course, take place till the great struggle that is now
+impending is over. In a few months, nay, in a few weeks, the one party
+or the other--who are now directing their efforts against each other,
+instead of turning, as they ought, their united forces against the
+common enemies of our religion--must have triumphed over its
+adversary. I need not tell you which I feel, which I know, must be
+successful; but your part will now be, to exert yourself to the
+utmost, to traverse the country with all speed to Montsoreau, to raise
+every soldier that you can, and to gather every crown that you can
+collect, to join the King with all your forces, wherever he may be,
+and, by your exertions, to render that result certain, which is,
+indeed, scarcely doubtful even as it is; remembering that upon the
+destruction of the Duke of Guise's party, and upon the overthrow of
+his usurped and unreasonable power, depends not only the welfare of
+your King and master, but the realisation of your best and sweetest
+hopes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You grant all that I demand, Monsieur de Villequier,&quot; replied Gaspar
+of Montsoreau. &quot;All I wish is the King's formal consent in writing,
+and yours, to my marriage with Marie de Clairvaut, as the condition of
+my absolute and public adhesion to the royal cause.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know,&quot; replied Villequier, &quot;that I grant all you demand, and I was
+prepared to do so from the first, only we were led into collateral
+discussions as we went on. You will, of course, take an oath to the
+King's service, and confirm it under your hand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We will exchange the papers, Monsieur de Villequier,&quot; replied the
+Marquis, thinking himself extremely cautious. &quot;But now, pray tell me,
+how ended the discussion with my brother?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The only way that it could end,&quot; replied Villequier, &quot;when all
+parties were determined to evade his demand. The King, you may easily
+suppose, was not inclined to give the young heiress of Clairvaut to
+any of the partisans of an enemy. Epernon knew well that if the hand
+of a Guise were upon her shoulder, the ring of a La Valette would
+never pass upon her finger; and I, when last we met, had half given my
+promise to you, and was, at all events, determined that the question
+of wardship should be settled before I parted with her. The King,
+therefore, evaded the demands of the young Count, though he was not a
+little inclined to yield to them at one time, in order to pacify the
+Duke of Guise. However, I took the brunt of the business upon myself,
+and underwent the hot indignation of your brother, who thought to find
+in me an Epernon, or a Montsoreau, who would measure swords with him
+for an angry word.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They had better be skilful as well as brave,&quot; said the young Marquis
+thoughtfully, &quot;who measure swords with my brother Charles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed!&quot; said Villequier, &quot;is he then so much a master of his
+weapon?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The most perfect I ever beheld--ay, more skilful now, than even our
+friend the Abbé de Boisguerin; though I have heard that, some years
+ago, when the Abbé was studying at Padua, he challenged the famous
+Spanish sword-player, Bobéz, to display his skill with him in the
+schools, in single combat, and hit him three times upon the heart
+without Bobéz touching him once.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I remember, I remember!&quot; cried Villequier. &quot;The master broke the
+buttons from the swords in anger, and the student ran him through the
+body at the first pass, whereof he died within five minutes after in
+the Deacon's chamber.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I never heard that he died,&quot; replied the Marquis with some surprise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He did indeed, though,&quot; replied Villequier with a meditative air.
+&quot;And so this was the Abbé de Boisguerin. One would have thought the
+army, rather than the church, would have called such a spirit to
+itself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know not,&quot; replied the young Marquis, &quot;but in all things he is
+equally skilful; and, doubtless, you know he has taken but the first
+step towards entering the church, pausing as it were even on the
+threshold.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you think,&quot; said Villequier, &quot;that he is as skilful in conveying
+intelligence as in other things?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What do you mean, my Lord?&quot; exclaimed his young companion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, I mean nothing,&quot; replied the politician, satisfied with having
+sown the first seed of suspicion in the young nobleman's mind,
+without, perhaps, any definite design, but simply for the universal
+purpose of making men doubt and distrust each other, with a view of
+ruling them more easily. &quot;Nothing, except a mere question concerning
+his skill. I have no latent meaning, I assure you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The brow of the Marquis grew clear again, and Villequier saw that he
+believed the latter assertion more fully than he had intended. He let
+the subject pass, however, and spoke of many other things, giving his
+own account of various matters which had occurred during the Count de
+Logères's audience of the King, and urging Gaspar de Montsoreau to set
+off with all speed to raise his forces in his native province. Then
+abruptly turning the conversation, he demanded, &quot;You or the Abbé told
+me, I think, that you suspected your brother of having communicated
+your march to the reiters. Is it like his general character so to act?
+I'm sure, if it be his custom to do such things, I would much rather
+that he was upon the opposite party than our own.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Marquis bent down his head, and gazed sternly upon the ground for
+two or three moments. He then answered, with a deep sigh, &quot;No,
+Monsieur de Villequier; no, it is not like Charles's character. He has
+all his life been frank and free as the summer air, open, and
+generous. I fear I did him wrong to suspect him. We are rivals where
+no man admits of rivalry: but I must do him justice. If he have done
+such a thing, his nature must be changed, changed indeed--changed,
+perhaps, as much as my own.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thought,&quot; replied Villequier, &quot;that he seemed frank and
+straightforward enough, bold and haughty as a lion; gave the King look
+for look; bearded Epernon, and threatened to bring him to the field;
+and spared not me myself, whom men don't for some reason love to
+offend. But he did not seem a man likely to betray his friend, or
+practise treachery upon his brother. It is a very strange thing, too,&quot;
+he continued in an easier tone, &quot;that Colombel and the other officers
+of the King's troops at Château Thierry should have received news of
+your coming a day before you did cross the Marne, together with the
+information that the reiters might attack you near Gandelu. Was not
+this strange?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Most strange,&quot; replied the Marquis, knitting his brows, and setting
+his teeth hard. But Villequier, now seeing that he had said quite
+enough, again turned the conversation; and after letting it subside
+naturally to ordinary subjects, he told the young Marquis that he
+would immediately write to the King, and obtain his signature to the
+paper required, before bed-time. &quot;It is late already,&quot; he said; &quot;I
+think even now I see a shade in the sky, so I must about my work
+rapidly. But remember, Monsieur de Montsoreau, nine is my supper hour
+exactly; and then, care and labour being past, we will sit down and
+enjoy ourselves, though I fear the accommodation which I can offer you
+in my poor dwelling must seem but rude in your eyes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Marquis said all that such a speech required, and then withdrew.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When he was gone, Villequier applied himself for some time to other
+things; but when they were concluded, he rose from his chair, and
+walked once or twice thoughtfully across the cabinet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I had better,&quot; he said to himself at length, &quot;I had better deal with
+him at once, and then I can ascertain what are his demands, and how to
+treat them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus saying, he took up his bell and rang it, directing the servant
+who appeared to see if he could find the Abbé de Boisguerin alone, in
+which case he was to invite him to a conference. &quot;He will be alone,&quot;
+thought the wily courtier, &quot;for I have sown seeds of those things
+which will not suffer them to be long together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Abbé, however, was absent from the house, much to the surprise of
+Villequier; and another hour had well nigh passed before he made his
+appearance. The moment that he did so, he advanced towards Villequier
+with his mild and graceful calmness, saying that he understood his
+Lordship had sent for him. Villequier pressed his hand tenderly, and
+with soft and courtly words assured him that, in sending for him, he
+had only sought to enjoy the pleasure of his unrivalled conversation
+for a few minutes before supper.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Abbé replied exactly in the same tone; that he was profoundly
+grieved to have lost even a moment of the society of one who
+fascinated from the first, and sent away every one charmed and
+delighted.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A slight and bitter smile curled the lip of each as he ended his
+speech, like a seal upon a treaty, the confirmation and mockery of a
+falsehood.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Abbé, however, added to his speech a few words more, saying that
+he should have been back earlier, but that his conversation at the
+White Penitent's had been so interesting that he could not withdraw
+himself earlier from her Majesty the Queen-mother.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Villequier started. &quot;Are you acquainted with the Queen?&quot; he said.
+&quot;What a surprising-being Catherine is!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She is indeed,&quot; answered the Abbé. &quot;My long sojourn at Florence some
+years ago made me fully acquainted with every member of the House of
+Medici, and I now bring you this letter on her part, Monsieur de
+Villequier.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Villequier took the paper that the Abbé handed to him, and read
+apparently with some surprise. &quot;Her Majesty,&quot; he said, &quot;knows that I
+am her devoted slave, but at the same time she cannot doubt, knowing
+as she does so well your high qualities, that I will do every thing to
+serve and assist you, and prevent all evil machinations against you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, she doubts it not; she doubts it not,&quot; replied the Abbé. &quot;She
+doubts it not, Monsieur de Villequier, any more than I do; and has
+written this note only in confirmation of your good intentions towards
+me. However, there is one thing I wish you to do for me, Monsieur de
+Villequier.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Name it, my dear friend,&quot; exclaimed the Marquis; &quot;but give me an
+opportunity of making myself happy in gratifying your wishes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The fact is, Monsieur de Villequier,&quot; replied the Abbé, &quot;that some
+malicious person has been endeavouring to persuade the young Marquis
+de Montsoreau, my friend, and formerly my pupil, that it was I who
+intimated to the reiters the course we were pursuing to meet the Duke
+of Guise, and who also intimated the facts to the King's troops at
+Château Thierry, that they might have an opportunity of coming up to
+rescue us and bring us hither--though they showed no great activity in
+doing the first. Now, doubtless, the person who did this, if there
+were any one, had the King's service solely in view, and deserved to
+be highly rewarded, as he probably will be; but----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Doubtless,&quot; replied Villequier with a sneering smile. &quot;But surely he
+could not object to such honourable service being known.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course not,&quot; replied the Abbé; &quot;nor that he had given intimation
+of the facts to, and taken his measures with, her Majesty the
+Queen-mother; by an order, under whose hand the troops at Château
+Thierry acted, and at whose suggestion Monsieur de Montsoreau and
+his friends threw themselves into the hands of Monsieur de
+Villequier.--All this her Majesty declares he did; and he could not,
+of course, object to any of these things being known, except as it is
+contrary to good policy and to the wishes of the Queen-mother: and
+more especially contrary to every wise purpose, if he be a person
+possessed of much habitual influence with the young Marquis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Monsieur de Boisguerin,&quot; said Villequier, seeming suddenly to break
+away from the subject, but in truth following the scent as truly as
+any well-trained hound, &quot;the bishopric of Seez is at present vacant. I
+know none who would fill it better than the Abbé de Boisguerin.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Abbé drew himself up and waved his hand. &quot;You mistake me entirely,
+Monsieur de Villequier,&quot; he said. &quot;I take no more vows. I have taken
+too many already; and those, by God's grace and the good will of our
+holy father the Pope, I intend to get rid of very speedily. I have
+nothing to request of your Lordship at present. I know, see, and
+understand your whole policy, and think you quite right in every
+respect. The promises which you and the King are to give to Monsieur
+de Montsoreau concerning the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut can of
+course be broken, changed, or modified in a moment at any future
+time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We have no intention of breaking them,&quot; replied Villequier. &quot;We are
+acting in good faith, I can assure you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Doubtless,&quot; replied the Abbé, &quot;doubtless: but they can be broken?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course,&quot; replied Villequier; &quot;of course any thing on earth can be
+broken.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is sufficient,&quot; replied the Abbé. &quot;It is quite enough, Monsieur
+de Villequier: I only desire to know, whether you and the King
+consider it as a final arrangement, that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut is
+to marry the young Lord of Montsoreau, or whether the matter is not
+now as much unsettled and within your own power and grasp as ever.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why,&quot; replied Villequier thoughtfully, &quot;it is, as I dare say you well
+know, Monsieur l'Abbé, a very difficult thing indeed to devise any
+sort of black lines, which, written down upon sheep skin, will prove
+sufficiently strong to bind the actions of kings, princes, or common
+men, at a future period. But it seems to me, Monsieur l'Abbé, that the
+time is come when we had better be frank with each other! What is it
+that you aim at? You seem not displeased to think the arrangement
+doubtful or contingent; and yet I, who am not accustomed to guess very
+wrongly in such matters, have entertained no doubtful suspicion that
+you prompted the demand for a definite and conclusive bargain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did,&quot; replied the Abbé. &quot;When you asked to see him alone, I was
+very well assured that, though a game of policy skilfully played may
+occasionally afford sport to Monsieur de Villequier, you were quite as
+well pleased in the present business to deal with a young and
+inexperienced head as with an old and a worldly one. He sought my
+opinion and advice, and, as I uniformly do when it is sought, I gave
+it him sincerely, though it was against my own views and purposes.
+Now, Monsieur de Villequier, I see hovering round your lips a
+question, which, in whatever form of words you place it, whatever
+Proteus form it may assume, will have this for its substance and
+object; namely, What are the plans and purposes of the Abbé de
+Boisguerin? Now, my plans and purposes are these,--remember, I do not
+say my objects; the object of every man in life is one, though we all
+set out upon different roads to reach it. My purpose is to serve his
+Majesty and the Queen-mother far more than I have hitherto been able
+to do. What I have done is a trifle; but if I detach from the party of
+the League, separate for ever from the Duke of Guise, and bring over
+to the royal cause Charles of Montsoreau as well as his brother, I
+shall confer no trifling service, for I can now inform you, Monsieur
+de Villequier, that, besides the great estates of Logères, he is lord
+of all the possessions lately held by the old Count de Morly, who
+amassed much treasure during the avaricious part of age, and died
+little more than a week ago, leaving this young Lord the heir of all
+his wealth. I have received the intelligence this very morning; so
+that, what between his riches, his skill, and his courage, he is worth
+any two, excepting Epernon perhaps, of the King's court.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you do what you say, Monsieur de Boisguerin,&quot; replied the Marquis
+in a low, deep, sweet-toned voice, &quot;you may command any thing you
+please in France, bishoprics, abbeys----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If it rained bishoprics,&quot; replied the Abbé, &quot;I would not wear a
+mitre. I do not pretend to say, Monsieur de Villequier, that I am more
+disinterested than my neighbours; that I have not great rewards in
+view, and objects of importance--to me, if not to others. But these
+objects are not quite fixed or determined yet, and I am not one of
+those men, Monsieur de Villequier, who hesitate to render the services
+first from a fear of losing the reward afterwards. I know how to make
+my claims heard when the time comes for demanding; and in the present
+instance, although I cannot distinctly promise to bring Charles of
+Montsoreau absolutely and positively over to the King's cause, yet I
+am sure of being able both to detach him from the Duke of Guise and
+separate him from the faction of the League. I think, indeed, that all
+three can be done: but nothing can be done unless the promise given to
+his brother be made contingent. The one loves her as vehemently as the
+other; and I, who know how to deal with him, can change his whole
+views in an hour, or at least in a few days.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed!&quot; said Villequier. &quot;He is now in Paris; the trial could be
+speedily made.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know it--&quot; replied the Abbé, seeing the Marquis fix his eyes upon
+him eagerly, thinking, perhaps, 'he has promised more than he could
+perform.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know it, and that is the precise reason why I have hurried on this
+matter, and urged it to the present point. No time is to be lost, or I
+see storms approaching, Monsieur de Villequier, that I think escape
+your eyes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What do you intend to do?&quot; demanded Villequier; &quot;and what means do
+you require to do it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My purposes I have already told you,&quot; replied the Abbé. &quot;The means I
+require--to come to the point at once--consist of a document under
+your own hand, making over to me, as far as your relationship to
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut goes, the right of disposing of her hand in
+marriage to whomsoever I may think fit: that is to say, the voice for,
+or the voice against, any particular candidate for her hand, when
+given by me, is to be held as if given by yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This is a great thing that you demand, Monsieur de Boisguerin,&quot;
+replied Villequier, gazing in his face with no inconsiderable
+surprise; &quot;and I see not how I can give such a paper at the very same
+time that I give the one which I have promised to the Marquis of
+Montsoreau.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing, I fear, can be done without it,&quot; replied the Abbé; &quot;but I
+think it may be done without risk or exposure of any kind, for I in
+return can bind myself not to employ that paper for nine months, by
+which time all will be complete; and in both the documents you can
+speak vaguely of other promises and engagements, and can declare your
+great object in giving me that paper to be, the final settlement of
+difficult claims, by a person in whom you have full confidence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Villequier looked in his face with a meaning and somewhat sarcastic
+smile: then turned to the note which the Queen-mother, Catharine de
+Medici, had sent him; read it over again as if carelessly, but marking
+every word as he did so; and then said, with somewhat of a sigh,
+&quot;Well, Monsieur de Boisguerin, pray draw up on that paper what you
+think would be required.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Abbé took up the pen and ink, and wrote rapidly for a moment or
+two; while Villequier looked over his shoulder, fingering the hilt of
+his dagger as he did so, in a manner which might have made the periods
+of any man but the Abbé de Boisguerin, who knew as he did his
+companion's habits and views, less rounded and eloquent than they
+usually were. The Abbé, however, wrote on without the slightest sign
+of apprehension, and at length Villequier exclaimed, &quot;That would tie
+my hands sufficiently tight, Monsieur de Boisguerin.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not quite, my Lord,&quot; replied the other. &quot;I never make a covenant
+without a penalty; and what I am now going to add provides that, in
+case of your failing to confirm my decision, or attempting in any way
+to rescind this paper and the power hereby given to me, you forfeit to
+my use and benefit one hundred thousand golden crowns, to be sued for
+from you in any lawful court of this kingdom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, nay, nay!&quot; cried Villequier, now absolutely laughing. &quot;This is
+going too far, Monsieur de Boisguerin.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Faith, not a whit, my Lord,&quot; replied the Abbé. &quot;I take care when men
+make me promises, that they are not such as can be trifled with, at
+least if I am to act upon them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, you do not suppose----&quot; exclaimed Villequier.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I suppose nothing, my Lord,&quot; interrupted the Abbé, &quot;but that you are
+a statesman and a courtier, and must in your day have seen more than
+one promise broken.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;By some millions,&quot; replied Villequier. &quot;I told you to speak frankly,
+Monsieur de Boisguerin, and you have done so with a vengeance. I must
+have my turn, too, and tell you that neither to you nor any other man
+on earth will I give such a promise, without in the first place seeing
+a probability of the object for which it is given being accomplished,
+and, in fact, some steps taken towards the accomplishment of that
+object; and, in the next place, without having a distinct notion of
+the means by which it is to effect its end. That is a beautiful ring
+of yours,&quot; continued the statesman, suddenly breaking away from the
+subject as if to announce that what he had just said was final, but
+perhaps in reality to consider what was to be the next step. &quot;That is
+a beautiful ring of yours, Monsieur de Boisguerin, and of some very
+peculiar stone it seems; a large turquoise semi-transparent.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is an antidote against all poisons,&quot; answered the Abbé coolly,
+&quot;whether they be eaten in the savoury ragout, drunk in the racy cup,
+smelt in the odour of a sweet flower, or inhaled in the balmy air of
+some well-prepared apartment. My dear friends will not find me so
+tender a lamb as Jeanne d'Albret.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, I should think not,&quot; replied Villequier with a laugh, and still
+holding off from the original subject of conversation. &quot;I should think
+not, if I may judge by some of your attendants, Monsieur de
+Boisguerin, for there is one of them at least, an Italian, whom I
+passed in the court but now, who looks much more like the follower of
+a wolf than of a lamb. He was dressed somewhat in the guise of a
+wandering minstrel, with a good strong dagger, which I dare say is
+serviceable in time of need.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have not the slightest doubt of it,&quot; replied the Abbé de Boisguerin
+with the most imperturbable coolness, &quot;though I have not had occasion
+to make use of him much in that way yet. But the man's a treasure,
+Monsieur de Villequier; and as to his garb the fact is, that I have
+not had time yet to have it changed and made more becoming. You shall
+see in a few days, Monsieur de Villequier, what a change can be
+effected by razors, soap, cold water, and good clothing. He's a
+complete treasure, I can assure you, and well worth any pains.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But,&quot; said Villequier, &quot;if you have had him so short a time as not to
+be able to clothe him yet, how do you know all these magnificent
+qualities?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is a singular business enough,&quot; answered the Abbé. &quot;I knew him
+long ago in Italy, where he was exercising various professions: but he
+had skill enough almost to cheat me, which, of course, made me judge
+highly of his abilities. One day, not long ago, he presented himself
+at the Château de Montsoreau, where it seems he had been upon some
+vagabond excursion a week or a fortnight before. He had on the first
+occasion seen and recognised me, and he now came back, having spent
+all the money he had gained by selling a young Italian pipe-player to
+my good cousin Charles, and being consequently in not the best
+provided state. He was in hopes that I would take him into my service,
+which, from ancient recollection of his character, I was very willing
+to do; dismissing, however, without much ceremony, another man and a
+low Italian woman whom he had brought with him. They seemed very
+willing to go, it is true, and he to part with them; and my good
+friend Orbi has already shown himself on more than one occasion fully
+as serviceable as I had expected he would prove. My former knowledge
+of him gives me means of binding him to me by very strong ties; and I
+will acknowledge that never was there man to all appearance so well
+calculated to remove a troublesome friend or a pertinacious enemy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Doubtless, doubtless,&quot; replied Villequier; &quot;though he seems not to be
+particularly strong in frame.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But he is active,&quot; answered the Abbé, &quot;and full of skill, and
+thought, and ingenuity. But to return to what we were saying
+concerning the paper, Monsieur de Villequier, which we have left
+somewhat too long,&quot; added the Abbé, thinking this sort of farce had
+been carried quite far enough. &quot;Every objection that you have raised
+can be overthrown at once. I ask this promise, not for my own sake,
+but to satisfy this youth Charles of Montsoreau. He will trust you as
+soon as the fox will the tiger; but he will trust to me implicitly, if
+he believes that I have the power to aid him in obtaining her he
+loves. Thus you see at once the means by which this promise is to work
+to the ends that we propose. Then, as to seeing clearly what the
+effect will be, I will show it to you in the very course of this
+night. Read that letter, written by the young Count of Logères to his
+brother, no later than yesterday evening! You see,&quot; the Abbé
+continued, after Villequier had read, &quot;he renounces all claim
+whatsoever to the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, and this in
+favour of his brother. The letter was brought hither not two hours
+ago. Now, ere two hours more be over, you shall yourself see the whole
+feelings of this young man changed, and the pursuit renewed as eagerly
+as ever. If it be so, what say you? Will you go forward in the way I
+propose?--Yea or nay, Monsieur de Villequier? I trifle not, nor am
+trifled with.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will then go forward, beyond all doubt,&quot; replied the Marquis.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Abbé thereupon took up the pen, wrote five lines on a sheet of
+paper, sealed them with some of the yellow wax which lay ready,
+addressed the note to Charles of Montsoreau, and placing it in the
+hands of Villequier, bade him to send it by a page, with orders to
+require an answer. The page seemed winged with the wind, and in a
+marvellous short time he returned, bearing a note from the young Count
+of Logères, containing these few words:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My renunciation was entirely conditional. If it be as you say,
+nothing on earth shall induce me to yield the hand of Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut to any man. The time that you allow me for writing does not
+permit me to say more, but come to me as early as possible to-morrow,
+and let all things be explained; for a state of doubt and suspicion
+was always to me worse than the knowledge of real evil or real wrong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Abbé gave it to Villequier, and the Minister only replied by
+signing and sealing the paper which the Abbé had drawn up.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now, quick! Monsieur l'Abbé,&quot; said the Minister. &quot;Go for a few
+minutes to your own apartments, and then join us at supper, which I
+hear is already served, as if we had not met during the evening. You
+will not need your ring, I can assure you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Abbé bowed low and retired in silence; but in his heart he said,
+&quot;And this, the fool Henry holds to be a great politician.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">No knave can be a great politician; but every knave thinks himself so.
+The mistake they make is between wisdom and cunning. The knave prides
+himself on deceiving others, the wise man on not deceiving himself.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_06" href="#div1Ref_06">CHAP. VI.</a></h2>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">When the Abbé de Boisguerin on the following morning entered the
+presence of Charles of Montsoreau, his mind was prepared for every
+thing he was to say and do, for every thing he was to assert or
+to imply. But there was one thing for which his mind was not
+prepared--all shrewd, keen, politic, and experienced as it was.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There are points in the deep study of human nature which those who
+would use that mighty science for selfish purposes almost always
+overlook. Amongst these are the changes, both sudden and progressive,
+which take place in themselves and in others, and the changes in
+relative situations which they produce. In this respect it was that
+the Abbé de Boisguerin, thoughtful and calculating as he was, had not
+prepared himself for the meeting with Charles of Montsoreau. The time
+was short since they had parted. Not above six weeks had elapsed, if
+so much; and the Abbé had come ready to deal with a youth of keen and
+penetrating mind, of quick perceptions and extensive powers; of all
+whose feelings and thoughts he fancied that he knew the scope and
+quality; whose mind he believed that he had gauged and tested as if it
+were some material substance. But he knew not at all, what an effect
+the space of six weeks may have when spent in communication with great
+minds, and in dealing with great events; and the moment he entered the
+room he saw a change which he had never dreamt of--a change which
+through the mind affected the body, the countenance, and the
+demeanour.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau, in short, had left him a youth high-spirited,
+feeling, intelligent, graceful,--he stood before him a man, calm,
+thoughtful, grave, dignified. There were even lines of care already
+upon his brow, which gave it a degree of sternness not natural to it;
+and the whole look and aspect of his former pupil was so powerfully
+intellectual, that the Abbé felt he must be more cautious and careful
+than he had prepared to be; that his words, his thoughts, and his
+looks would not alone be tested by old affection, nor even by the
+simple powers of an undoubting mind, but would be tried by experience
+likewise, and tried moreover with that degree of suspicion which is
+more active within us when we first learn the painful lessons taught
+by human deceit, than it is when we learn fully our own powers of
+separating truth from falsehood.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He saw that it would be necessary to be more cautious than he had
+proposed to be, and that, consequently, he must change much that he
+had intended to say and do. The very caution affected his manner, and
+his alteration of purposes caused occasional hesitation. Charles of
+Montsoreau, who remembered his whole character and demeanour during
+many years, found, without seeking it, a touchstone in the past by
+which to try the present, and the conclusion in his own heart was,
+&quot;This man is not true.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The explanation given by the Abbé of all that had occurred on their
+route did not satisfy his hearer. He told him that he had remained
+with Mademoiselle de Clairvaut and the carriage till the reiters had
+passed, and then had caused the horses to be turned into a bye-road,
+in the hope of escaping any returning parties: they had thus
+accidentally met with the King's troops, whose offered protection, of
+course, they could not refuse. But he touched vaguely and lightly upon
+the mission of Colombel to the young Marquis de Montsoreau; and the
+Count de Logères did not press him upon the subject, for he felt
+sufficiently upon his guard, and had a repugnance openly to convict
+one whom he had loved of falseness and treachery.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He turned then to the note which he had received on the preceding
+evening.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You tell me now,&quot; he said, &quot;Abbé, that you have some reason to
+believe that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, as I at first supposed, has
+seen my affection, and did not intend to discourage it. What are those
+reasons?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Abbé stated vaguely that some words, dropped by Madame de Saulny,
+had produced that belief in his mind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau mused, and made no answer. The time had been
+when he would have replied at once, and have discussed the question
+fully with his former preceptor; but now he held counsel with his own
+heart in his own bosom, and said, &quot;This man has some object in telling
+me this. Her own words were sufficiently conclusive, that she did not
+see, that she did not remark, the signs of affection which I had
+fancied undoubted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He still maintained silence, however, towards the Abbé, in regard to
+his own views, his own purposes, and his own feelings. Nor could the
+other, though he used all his skill, draw from him the slightest
+indication of what he intended to do, except that he waited in Paris
+for the arrangement of some affairs, which were not yet concluded,
+with the King. He in turn, however, questioned the Abbé much
+concerning his brother, expressing not only a wish but a determination
+to see him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am happy,&quot; he said, &quot;that my letter reached him; for--by whom or
+for what reason instructed to falsify the truth, I do not know--the
+porter of Monsieur de Villequier denied the fact of your being in the
+house. As nothing could shake my own belief that it was Gaspar and
+yourself I had seen, and as both Gondrin and the page confirmed my
+opinion, I sent the letter at all risks: and now, good Abbé, if you
+love Gaspar and myself as you used to do, contrive that we may meet
+again to-morrow, in order that all these clouds may be cleared away
+from between us, and that we may feel once more as brothers ought to
+feel towards each other.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Abbé promised to do as the young Count desired, beseeching him,
+however, not to press his brother to an interview too suddenly, and
+assuring him that he would use every effort.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The still more important subject of what had become of Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut remained to be discussed; and Charles of Montsoreau, though
+resolved to make the inquiry, approached it with distaste and with
+caution, from a feeling that the Abbé would not deal truly with him,
+and would only endeavour, in the course of any conversation upon that
+point, to discover what were his secret intentions, even while he
+concealed from him the true circumstances.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was as he expected. The Abbé told him that, in some degree under
+the care, and in some degree under the guard, of the King's troops,
+the whole party had been brought to the neighbourhood of Paris, where
+a messenger from the monarch had conveyed to himself and the young
+Marquis an invitation to take up their abode at the house of
+Villequier, while Mademoiselle de Clairvaut was conveyed to Vincennes.
+They had done all that was possible, he said, to prevent such a
+separation; but the King's commands were peremptory; and he had since
+learnt, or at least had reason to believe, that the young lady had
+been sent in the direction of Beauvais, to the care of some distant
+relations.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The young Count smiled, and said nothing; and the Abbé then, with an
+air of grave sincerity, proceeded to ask him what had best be done
+under such circumstances. He replied that he could give no advice; and
+many a vain effort was again made to discover what were his purposes
+in regard to Mademoiselle de Clairvaut. Finding that no indirect means
+succeeded, the Abbé, trusting to their former familiarity, asked the
+question directly, &quot;What do you intend to do in this business,
+Charles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed, my dear Abbé,&quot; replied the young Count, &quot;it is difficult to
+tell you. I have no definite plan of action at present, and must be
+guided by circumstances as they arise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus ended their interview; and it formed a strange contrast to that
+between the Abbé and Villequier,--showing how simple honesty may often
+baffle cunning which has succeeded against astuteness like itself. The
+following day passed without any communication reaching the young
+Count, either from the Abbé or from his brother, from the King or the
+Duke of Guise; and expectation of receiving tidings from some one
+caused him to remain at home during the greater part of the day.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the succeeding morning, however, he determined to proceed to the
+house of Villequier, and to demand peremptorily the fulfilment of the
+promise which the King had made. Ere he set out, however, he received
+a note in the hand of the Abbé de Boisguerin, informing him briefly
+that his brother, having determined to return to Montsoreau, was upon
+the very point of setting out. He, the Abbé, was to accompany him for
+two days' march upon the road, but would return to Paris in four or
+five days without fail.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau read the note with a faint and melancholy smile,
+and again said, &quot;This man is not true!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He rode at once, however, to the hotel of Villequier, but found that
+the minister had once more gone to Vincennes. He inquired for the
+Marquis of Montsoreau of the same porter who had denied the fact of
+his being there. The porter, not at all discomposed, replied that the
+Marquis and the Abbé de Boisguerin, with their train, had set out
+fully two hours before for Montl'hery; which, being confirmed upon
+farther inquiry by an Italian confectioner on the opposite side of the
+street, was believed by the young Count, who returned home with a
+heart but ill at ease.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Another day was passed in gloomy and impatient expectation; but at
+night Gondrin reappeared from Soissons, bringing with him a brief note
+from the Duke of Guise:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your interview,&quot; it said, &quot;was such as might be expected; your
+conduct all that it should have been; your view of the result right.
+They are endeavouring to trifle both with you and me; but we must show
+them that this cannot be done. I send off a courier at once to
+Villequier, requiring that the King's authorisation shall be
+immediately given to you. If it reach you not before to-morrow night,
+I pray you set off at once with the passports you possess for
+Chateauneuf; for I have information scarcely to be doubted, that our
+poor Marie has been conveyed thither. Show her the letter which I gave
+you, requiring her to follow your directions in every thing. Endeavour
+to bring her at once, with what people you can collect upon her lands,
+across the country towards Rheims, avoiding Paris. If any one stops
+you, or attempts either to delay your progress or dispute your
+passage, show them my letter of authority, as well as the passports
+that you already possess; and if they farther molest or delay you,
+they shall not be forgotten, be they great or small, when they come to
+reckon with your friend, Henry of Guise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In a postscript was written at the bottom--&quot;In going, avoid Dreux and
+Montfort, for the plague is raging there. If there be any force
+stationed at Chateauneuf to prevent the removal of Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut, only ascertain distinctly the fact of her presence in the
+château, and come back to rejoin me with all speed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The tidings brought by Gondrin showed Charles of Montsoreau that great
+events of some kind were in preparation. Various bodies of troops
+attached to the House of Lorraine were moving here and there in
+Champaign and the Ardennes; daily conferences were held between the
+Duke of Guise, the Cardinal of Bourbon, the Cardinal of Guise, and a
+number of other influential noblemen; the propriety of deposing the
+King was said to be openly discussed at Soissons, and ridicule and
+hatred were unsparingly busy with the names of Epernon, Villequier,
+and others. Couriers, totally independent of those which were sent
+upon the business that brought the young Count to Paris, were almost
+hourly passing between the capital and Soissons; and it was daily
+whispered in the latter city, that experienced officers and small
+bodies of troops were daily gliding into the capital from the army
+which the Duke had led to victory on so many previous occasions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Early on the following morning, Charles of Montsoreau again proceeded
+to the Hotel de Villequier, in order that nothing might be wanting on
+his part. But the reply once more was, that the minister was absent;
+and the day passed over without any tidings from either the King or
+his favourite. As he passed through various parts of the city,
+however, the young Count remarked many things that somewhat surprised
+him. He had hitherto ridden amongst the people quite unnoticed, but
+now many persons whom he met bowed low to him, and those seemingly of
+the most respectable classes of citizens. On two or three occasions
+the burgher guard saluted him as he passed; and in one place, where
+several people were collected together, there was a cry of &quot;Long live
+the Duke of Guise!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All these indications of some approaching event of importance at any
+other moment might have given him an inclination to remain in Paris:
+but he had other interests more deeply at heart; and having waited
+till the last moment to make sure that the King's authorisation was
+still delayed, he prepared to set out that very night, taking with him
+only the number of persons specified in the passports which he had
+brought from Soissons.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In a brief and hurried note which he wrote to Chapelle Marteau, he
+informed him that he was about to absent himself from Paris for a
+short time on business of importance; and begged him, as it was his
+intention to pass out of the city by the Faubourg St. Germain that
+very night, to facilitate his so doing as quietly as possible. That
+his absence might remain for some time concealed from those who might
+obstruct his proceedings, he retained his apartments at the inn, and
+the servants he had hired, paying the whole for some time in advance,
+and directing that if any inquiries were made, the reply should be,
+that he was only absent for a few days.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When all was prepared he set out, and at the gates found his friend of
+the Seize, with another personage, who seemed to consider himself of
+great importance. No words, however, were spoken, no passports were
+demanded, the two Leaguers bowed lowly to the Count, the gates opened
+as if of themselves, and, issuing forth, the young Count rode on upon
+the way, anxious to place as great a distance between Paris and
+himself ere the next morning as possible.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was a soft calm night in April, the sky was unclouded and filled
+with stars, the dew thick upon the grass, and the air balmy; and the
+young nobleman pursued his way with a mind filled with thoughts which,
+though certainly in part melancholy, were still tinged with the soft
+light of hope. His horses were strong and fresh, and just in the grey
+of the morning, on the following day, he reached the small town of
+Rambouillet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The signs and indications of the disturbed and anxious state of
+society in France were visible in the little town as the young Count
+gazed from the door of the inn, after seeing that his horses were well
+taken care of. There were anxious faces and eyes regarding the
+stranger with the expression of doubt, and perhaps suspicion; there
+were little knots gathered together and talking gloomily at the
+corners of different streets; the whistle of the light-hearted peasant
+was unheard; and the cart or the flock was driven forth in silence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count's horses required rest; none were to be procured with which
+he could pursue his journey, and he determined to take what repose he
+could get ere he proceeded on his way. Casting himself down then upon
+a bed, he closed his eyes and sought to sleep: but suddenly something
+like a wild cry sounded from the other side of the street, and
+springing up he looked out of the window. He could almost have touched
+the opposite house, so narrow was the way, and he saw completely into
+a room thereof through the window that faced his own.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was a woman in it of about the middle age, kneeling by the
+bedside of a youth who seemed just dead; and on looking down a little
+below he saw a man, dressed in a black serge robe, standing on a
+ladder, and marking the front of the building with a large white
+cross. On the impulse of the moment, Charles of Montsoreau ran down
+stairs, and approached the door of the house, intending to enter. But
+he was stopped at the door by two of the guards of the city. &quot;Do you
+not see the mark of the plague?&quot; they said. &quot;You must not go in; or,
+if you go in, you must not come out again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With a sorrowful heart, Charles of Montsoreau turned back into the
+inn, but he found no sleep, and the image of the woman clasping her
+dead son still haunted him in waking visions.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_07" href="#div1Ref_07">CHAP. VII.</a></h2>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">It was about nine o'clock at night, and the moon, rising later than
+the night before, had not yet gone down, as Charles of Montsoreau
+passed through the wide forest that then surrounded Chateauneuf en
+Thimerais. It was a beautiful moonlight scene, affording to the eye
+many various and pleasant objects. The greater part of the forest,
+indeed, consisted of old trees far apart from each other, and only
+surrounded by brushwood in patches here and there. Occasionally,
+indeed, deeper and thicker parts of the forest presented themselves,
+where the axe had not been plied so unsparingly; but the ground was
+hilly and broken, and the road ascended and descended continually,
+showing every change of the forest ground. There were manifold streams
+too in that part of the country, and small gushing fountains, while a
+chapel or two, here and there raised by the pious inhabitants of the
+neighbourhood, broke the desolate appearance of the wood by showing
+sweet traces of human hope or gratitude. The heart, however, of
+Charles of Montsoreau enjoyed not that scene as it might at any other
+time, for many dark and painful reports had reached him of the state
+of the country in that district, and he looked anxiously forward to
+his arrival at the little village of Morvillette seated in the midst
+of the forest, to hear further tidings of Chateauneuf and its
+neighbourhood. A party of soldiers he had already heard had passed
+along some days before, escorting a carriage, and it was understood
+their destination was Chateauneuf; but the people of Tremblay, where
+he received this intelligence, shook the head doubtingly, and added,
+that the traveller would hear more at Morvillette, and could there get
+a guide to the château, which was two miles from the town.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At length, lying in a hollow of the woodland, the moonlight showed him
+a group of dark cottages; but no friendly light appeared in the
+windows; and as he rode on amongst the houses, there was a sort of
+awful stillness about the place, which seemed to indicate that it was
+not slumber that kept the tongues of the peasantry silent. There were
+no dogs in the streets; there was no smoke curling up from any of the
+chimneys; all was still, and many of the doors stood wide open in the
+night air, exhibiting nothing but solitude within.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There must be somebody in the place,&quot; cried Gondrin, springing from
+his horse and approaching one of the cottages, the door of which was
+shut.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Without knocking, the man threw open the door at once, and went in as
+far as the bridle of his horse would let him; but he came out again
+immediately, and his master could see that his face was pale and its
+expression horrified.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A man and a woman,&quot; he said in a low voice, &quot;both dead! the one in
+the bed and the other on the floor, and both of them looking as blue
+as a cloud.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The boy Ignati pressed up his horse to hear; and the Count said, &quot;In
+all probability there may be things still more horrible before us. I
+shall go on, Gondrin; I must go on: but there is no need for either
+yourself or the page to do so. You had better both go back. Make the
+best of your way to Soissons, there tell the Duke what you have seen,
+and assure him that I will do my best to fulfil his wishes if I live.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My Lord,&quot; said the boy, &quot;I might quit you for a kind and noble master
+when danger was not about you, but I will only quit you now with
+life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And so say I,&quot; replied Gondrin in a somewhat reassured but still
+anxious tone. &quot;But let us ride on, my Lord, and get out of this
+horrible place. We shall find no one here to show us the way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I believe I can find it myself,&quot; replied the Count. &quot;We turn to the
+left as soon as we have passed the village. Come on!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus saying, he somewhat quickened his pace and rode away, the moon
+now declining towards her setting, throwing longer shadows, and giving
+more uncertain light. Anxiously did the young Count gaze from the brow
+of every rise, hoping to see the form of the château rising upon the
+eminence before him. Several times he disappointed himself by fancying
+that he saw it when it was not there, so that, when at length he
+beheld a single faint point of light, like the spark of a firefly
+amongst the distant branches, he could scarcely believe that it
+afforded any true indication of that which he sought.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Riding on, however, he again and again caught sight of it, till at
+length the forms of the building grew more clear and defined, and
+after about half a mile more he rode up the gentle slope that
+conducted towards the château.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was situated in the midst of a wild game park, not unlike that of
+Vincennes, only that the ground was more irregular. The building,
+however, was very different: it had been erected by that Count de
+Clairvaut who had been sent ambassador in the reign of Henry II. to
+the Republic of Venice. He had formed his ideas of beauty in
+architecture under another sky, and, but that it was somewhat larger
+and heavier, it might have been supposed that the building had been
+transported by some Geni from the banks of the Brenta. There was a
+strong old castellated gate, however, in the walls of the park, which
+had belonged to some former building. But the heavy iron gates were
+wide open, and the voice of no porter responded to the call of the
+young Count and his companions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Still, however, he saw a light in the windows of the château, and he
+eagerly rode on along the path which conducted to the principal gates
+of the building. Here there was a wide flight of marble stairs, which
+had been brought ready polished at an immense expense from Italy,
+yellow and green with the damp, but still altogether of a different
+hue and consistence from the ordinary stone of the place. From those
+steps the wide forest scene beyond was fully displayed to the eye, the
+château being built very near the highest point of the acclivity, and
+the whole ground towards Dreux, Maintenon, and Chartres lying below,
+with the forest itself sweeping down the edge of that chain of high
+hills which separates the southern parts of Normandy from the northern
+parts and Maine.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The moon at that moment was just sinking beyond the trees on the left,
+and poured over the woods and plains below a flood of silver light,
+caught and reflected here and there by some open stream or wide piece
+of water, and, shining full upon the front of the marble building,
+which, with its pillars, its capitals, and its cornices, its wide
+doors and spreading porticoes, looked like the spectre of some bright
+enchanted palace from another land.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The large doors that opened upon the terrace were ajar; and Charles of
+Montsoreau, leaving his horse with the page, mounted the steps and
+knocked hard with the haft of his dagger. A long melancholy echo was
+all the sound that was returned. He knocked again, there was no
+answer; and then pushing open the door, he entered the wide marble
+hall. The moonlight was pouring through the tall windows, but all was
+solitary; and putting his foot upon the first step of the staircase,
+he was beginning to ascend. At that moment, he thought he heard a
+distant sound as of an opening door; and a ray of light, streaming
+down some long corridor at the top of the broad staircase, crossed the
+balustrade and chequered the iron work with a different hue from the
+moonlight. He now called loudly, asking if there was any one in the
+building.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In a moment after, there were steps heard coming along towards the
+staircase, and a voice replied, &quot;There is death and pestilence in the
+house. If you come for plunder, take it quickly; if you come by
+accident, fly as fast as you may, for every breath is tainted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The tones of that voice were not to be mistaken, even before Charles
+of Montsoreau beheld the speaker; but, ere the last words were spoken,
+Marie de Clairvaut herself was at the top of the staircase, bearing a
+small lamp in her hand, and Charles of Montsoreau eagerly sprang up
+the steps.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The lamp flashed upon the form and features which she had not at first
+seen, and with a loud cry she darted forward to meet him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The next moment, however, nearly dropping the lamp, she rushed back,
+exclaiming, &quot;Come not near, Charles! Dear, dear Charles, come not
+near! These hands, not twelve hours ago, have closed the eyes of the
+dead. The plague most likely is upon me now!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But before she could add more, the arms of Charles of Montsoreau were
+round her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have called me dear,&quot; he said, &quot;and what privilege can be dearer
+than sharing your fate, whatever it may be? Dear, dear, dear Marie!
+oh, say those words again, and make me happy!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But I fear for you, Charles,&quot; she said; &quot;I fear for you. All are
+either dead or have fled and left me, and I shall see you die
+too,--you, you die also by the very touch, by the very breath, of one
+to whom you have restored life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I fear not, Marie,&quot; answered Charles; &quot;I fear not; and that is the
+safest guard. Certainly you shall not see me fly and leave you; and I
+fear not, either, that you will see death overtake me. But oh, if even
+it did, how sweet would death itself be, watched by that dear face,
+wept by those beloved eyes!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marie bent down her head, and said nothing; but she strove no more
+against the arm that was cast round her; her hand remained in his, and
+the colour rose warmly into her cheek, which had before been deadly
+pale.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If,&quot; she said at length, after a long pause, during which he had
+continued to gaze earnestly, fondly, sadly upon her,--&quot;If it were not
+that I feared for you, your presence would indeed be a comfort and a
+consolation to me: not that I fear for myself,&quot; she added; &quot;I know not
+why, but I have never feared. It has seemed to me as if there were no
+danger to myself--as if I should certainly escape. But oh, how
+terrible it would be to see you struck by the pestilence also!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Say no more, dear Marie; say no more,&quot; replied Charles of Montsoreau,
+feeling and knowing by every word that she was his own. &quot;I fear not; I
+have no fear; and even if I had, love would trample it under foot in a
+moment. I would not leave you in such an hour, not if by descending
+that short flight of steps I could save myself from death: unless
+indeed you told me to go, and that you loved me not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The tears sprang into Marie de Clairvaut's eyes. &quot;I must not tell such
+a falsehood,&quot; she cried, clasping her hands together, &quot;in an hour like
+this. I never told you so; indeed I never did, though Madame de
+Saulny, poor Madame de Saulny, with her dying lips assured me that you
+thought so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There have been many errors, dear Marie,&quot; replied Charles of
+Montsoreau, &quot;which have pained both your heart and mine, I fear. But
+now, my beloved, I must call in those that are with me, for we have
+travelled far and ridden hard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, call them not in!&quot; said Marie de Clairvaut, &quot;for they will be
+frightened when they see the state of the house, and catch the
+pestilence and die! Bid them lead their horses to the stables, and
+sleep there. Perhaps they may find some one still living there, for
+this evening at sunset I saw my father's old groom still wandering
+about as usual; but you must go yourself to tell them, Charles, for I
+do not believe that there is any one in the house but you and I. The
+stables lie away to the left. I will wait here for you till you come
+back. Go through the great doors,&quot; she said, as he descended, &quot;and go
+not into the rooms either to the right or left, for there is death in
+all of them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau descended with a rapid step, and in a few words
+gave his directions to the servants. He then returned, and taking
+Marie de Clairvaut's hand in his, he pressed his lips warmly upon it,
+and gazed tenderly upon her as she led him along through a wide
+corridor to the room in which she had been sitting.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It formed a strange contrast,--the aspect of that room, with the
+desolate knowledge that all was death and solitude through the rest of
+the house. Beautiful pictures, rich ornaments, fine tapestry, gave it
+an air of life and cheerfulness, which seemed strange to the feelings
+of Charles of Montsoreau. But an illuminated book of prayer that lay
+upon the table told how Marie de Clairvaut's thoughts had been
+employed; and Charles of Montsoreau paused, and, lifting his thoughts
+to Heaven, prayed earnestly, fervently, that that bright and beautiful
+and beloved being might still be protected by the hand of the Almighty
+in every scene of peril and danger which might yet await her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She sat down on the chair in which she had been reading with a look of
+melancholy thoughtfulness, and Charles of Montsoreau sat down beside
+her, and there was a long silent pause, for the hearts of both were
+too full of agitating feelings for words to be plentiful at first. The
+moment and the circumstances, indeed, took from love all shame and
+hesitation. Death and deprivation and desolation gave affection a
+brighter, a holier light,--it was like some eternal flame burning upon
+the altar of a ruined temple.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marie de Clairvaut felt that at that moment she could speak things
+that at any other time she would have sunk into the earth to say; she
+felt that--with the exception of their trust in God--his love for her
+and hers for him formed the grand consolation of the moment, the
+healing balm, the great support of that hour of peril and of terror.
+She looked at him and he at her, and they mutually thought that a few
+hours perhaps might see them there, dying or dead by each other's
+side, with love for the only comfort of their passing hour--with the
+voice of death pronouncing their eternal union, and the grave their
+bridal bed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They thus thought, and it may seem strange to say, but--prepared as
+their minds were for leaving the life of this earth behind them--such
+a death to them appeared sweet; and neither feared it, but looked
+forward upon the grim enemy of human life, not with the stern defying
+frown of the martyr, not with the fierce and angry daring of the
+warrior, but with the calm sweet smile of resignation to the will of
+Heaven, and hopes beyond the tomb.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus they remained silent, or with but few words, for some time; and
+Charles of Montsoreau felt that he was beloved. Indeed, there was not
+a word, there was not a look, that did not tell him so: and yet he
+longed to hear more; he longed that those words should be spoken which
+would confirm, by the living voice of her he loved, the assurance of
+his happiness. Gradually he won her from conversing of the present to
+speak of the past; and she gently reproached him for leaving her at
+Montsoreau so suddenly as he had done.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Marie,&quot; he said, with that frankness which had always characterised
+him, &quot;let me tell you all; and then see if I did right or wrong. If I
+did wrong, you shall blame me still, and I will grieve and make any
+atonement in my power; but if I only mistook, and did not act wrong
+intentionally, you shall forgive me, and tell me that you love me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marie de Clairvaut gazed in his face, and asked, &quot;And do you doubt it
+now, Charles?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, no!&quot; he cried, &quot;oh, no! I ought not to doubt it, for Marie de
+Clairvaut could not speak such words as she has spoken without
+loving.&quot; And gently bending down his head over her, he pressed a kiss
+upon that dear fair brow. &quot;Marie,&quot; he said, &quot;it is our fate to meet in
+strange scenes. The last time that I kissed that brow, the last time
+that I held you to my heart, was when I thought you dead, and lost to
+me for ever.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And when I woke up,&quot; replied Marie de Clairvaut, &quot;and was not only
+grateful to God and to you for having saved me, but happy in its being
+you that did save me, and happy,&quot; she added, slightly dropping her
+eyes, &quot;in the signs of deep affection which I saw.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And yet,&quot; he exclaimed, &quot;and yet, when my stay or my departure hung
+upon a single word from your lips, you gave me to understand that you
+had not received those signs of affection as signs of affection; that
+you looked upon them but as the natural effect of my witnessing your
+restoration to life, when I thought you dead.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, Charles!&quot; exclaimed Marie de Clairvaut, with a slight smile,
+&quot;could you not pardon and understand such small hypocrisy as that? Did
+you not know that woman's heart is shy, and seeks many a hiding-place,
+even from the pursuit of one it loves?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I never loved but you, Marie,&quot; replied the Count, &quot;and I am sadly
+ignorant, I fear, of woman's heart. Nevertheless, upon those few words
+and that moment depended my fate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I knew not that,&quot; cried Marie de Clairvaut, eagerly; &quot;I knew not
+that, or, upon my honour, I would have been more sincere: but what was
+it, Charles, made you take so sudden a resolution? what was it made
+you leave me, without a reply, in the hands of those who have striven
+constantly ever since to make me believe that you cared not for me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will tell you all,&quot; replied her lover; and, pouring forth in
+eloquent words all the passion of his heart towards her, he told her
+how his love had grown upon him, how it had increased each hour; and
+making that the main subject of his tale, he told but as adjuncts to
+it the pain which his brother's conduct had inflicted upon him, and
+all the signs of rivalry which he had remarked. He then spoke of his
+conversation with the Abbé de Boisguerin on their way to visit the
+Count de Morly; and he told how agonised were all his feelings--how
+terrible was the struggle in his heart,--and what was the resolution
+that he took, to ascertain whether her affections were really gained,
+and by the result to shape his conduct. He next spoke of his
+conversation with her immediately preceding his departure, and of the
+words which had led him to believe that she was unconscious of his
+love, and did not return it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As she listened, the tears rose in her eyes, and, laying her soft fair
+hand on his, she said, &quot;Forgive me, Charles! oh, forgive me! but do
+believe that there is not another woman on all the earth who would not
+have done the same.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Alas! dear Marie,&quot; he replied, &quot;in such knowledge you have but a
+child to deal with.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, be so ever, Charles!&quot; she cried, clasping her hands and looking
+up in his face. &quot;There may be women who would love you less for being
+so; but I trust and hope that you will never love any one but Marie de
+Clairvaut, and she will value your love all the more for its being,
+and having ever been, entirely her own. But you were speaking of the
+Abbé de Boisguerin, Charles--you have told me of his conversation with
+you--I saw, when I was at Montsoreau, that you loved and esteemed
+him.&quot;--She paused, and hesitated. &quot;I fear,&quot; she added, &quot;that what I
+must speak, that what I ought to tell you, may pain and grieve you:--I
+doubt that man, Charles--I more than doubt him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And so do I, Marie,&quot; replied her lover with a melancholy shake of the
+head; &quot;and so do I doubt him much. Indeed, as you say, I more than
+doubt him, for I know and feel that he is not true.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Alas! Charles,&quot; she replied, &quot;I fear that in that very first
+conversation with you he meditated treachery towards you. I fear much,
+very much, that his design and purpose even then was to separate us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps it might be so, Marie,&quot; replied her lover: &quot;though he has
+never shown any strong preference, I have often thought he loves
+Gaspar better than he does me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But it was no love of your brother, Charles,&quot; she said; &quot;it was no
+love of your brother moved him then; for if your brother trusted him,
+he betrayed him too. Now hear me, Charles, and let me, as quickly as
+possible, tell a tale that makes my cheek burn, for it must be told.
+After you were gone, I avoided your brother's presence as far as might
+be. I was never with him for a moment alone if I could help it, for I
+could not but see feelings that were never to be returned. Although
+there was something from the first in the Abbé de Boisguerin that I
+loved not, though I could not tell why--something in his eye that made
+me shrink into myself with a kind of fear,--I now courted him to be
+with me, in order to avoid the persecution of love for which I could
+not feel even grateful. At first he seemed inclined to give your
+brother opportunities; and I believe, I firmly believe, that he did so
+because he knew that those opportunities would but serve to confirm
+the coldness of my feelings towards him. When he saw that I sought him
+to be with us, he seemed to yield, and was now with me often almost
+alone, when there was none but one or two of my women in the further
+end of the room. He timed his visits well; and, for a space, well did
+he choose his conversation too. It was such as he knew must please my
+ear. He told me of other lands, and of princely scenes beyond the
+Alps, the beauties of nature, the miracles of art, the graceful but
+dangerous race of the Medici, the treasures, the unrivalled treasures
+of Florence and of Rome. I learned to forget the prejudices--I had
+first taken towards him, and he saw that I listened well pleased, and
+then he ventured to speak of you and of your brother. But oh, Charles,
+he spoke not as a friend to either. He blamed not, indeed; he even
+somewhat praised; but he undervalued all and every thing. There was
+not a word of censure, but there was every now and then a light sneer
+in the tone, a scornful turn of the lip, and curl of the nostril. It
+pleased me not, and seeing it, he wisely dropped such themes. He spoke
+of you no more; but he spoke of himself and of his own history. He
+told me that his was the more ancient branch of your own family, but
+that reverses and misfortunes had overtaken it; and that, careless of
+wealth or station, and any of the bubbles which the world's grown
+children follow, he had made no effort to raise his own branch from
+the ground to which it had fallen. But he said, however, that if he
+had had an object, a great and powerful object, he felt within himself
+those capabilities of mind which might raise him over some of the
+highest heads in the land: and none could hear his voice, and see the
+keen astuteness of his eye, without believing that what he said was
+true. And then again he spoke of the objects, the few, the only
+objects, which could induce a man of great and expansive intellect to
+mingle in the strife and turmoil of the world; and the chief of those
+objects, Charles, was woman's love. He was a churchman, Charles, and
+had taken vows which should have frozen such words upon his lips. I
+was silent, and I think turned pale, and he instantly changed the
+conversation to other things, speaking eloquently and nobly upon great
+and fine feelings, as I have seen one of the modellers in wax cast on
+the rough harsh form that he intended to give, and then soften it down
+with fine and delicate touches, so as to leave it smooth and pleasant
+to the eye. At length we set out to join my uncle; and your brother
+now had opportunities of paining me greatly by the open and the
+rash display of feelings that grieved and hurt me. He took means
+too to find moments to speak with me alone, which I must not dwell
+upon--means which were unworthy of one of your race, Charles. He tried
+to deceive me into such interviews by every sort of petty art; and if
+the Abbé de Boisguerin came to my relief, alas! it was but now to
+inflict upon me worse persecution. He dared to speak to me, Charles,
+words that none had ever dared to speak before--words that I must not
+repeat, that I must not even think of here, so near the holy calmness
+of the dead. These words were not, indeed, addressed to me directly;
+but they were used to figure forth what were the passions which an
+ardent and fiery heart might feel. They were intended evidently to let
+me know of what he himself was capable: though they breathed of love,
+there was somewhat of menace in them likewise. The very sound of his
+voice, the very glare of his eyes, now became terrible to me: but he
+seemed to consider that I was more in his power now than I had been at
+Montsoreau; and I need not tell you that to me the journey was a
+terrible one. To end it all, Charles--as I take it for granted that
+you know some part of what has taken place, even by seeing you here
+this night--I feel sure that it was by his machinations that I was
+betrayed into the hands of the King, whom I have all my life been
+taught to abhor, and by him given up to the power of a relation, from
+whom I have been sheltered by all my better friends as from the most
+venomous of serpents.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau had heard all in deep silence, without
+interrupting her once. He gazed indeed, from time to time, upon her
+fair face, watching with love and admiration the bright but transient
+expressions that came across it: but he listened with full attention
+and deep thought; and when she had done, he replied, &quot;What you have
+told me, dear Marie, indignant as it well may make me, was most
+necessary for me to hear, and is most satisfactory, for it explains
+all that I did not before comprehend or understand. His machinations,
+however, dear Marie, I now trust are at an end. What may be between
+Villequier and him I do not know; but I trust, dear Marie, I trust in
+that God who never does fail them that trust in him, that I come to
+bring you deliverance and to lead you to happiness. It would be long
+and tedious to tell you, beloved, all that has happened to me since I
+left you at Montsoreau. Suffice it that I have seen the Duke of Guise;
+that I have spent the greater part of the time with him; that I have
+been able, Marie, to serve him--he says, to save his life; and that to
+me he has entrusted the charge of seeking you and bringing you to join
+him at Soissons, in despite of any one that may oppose us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, joy, joy!&quot; cried Marie de Clairvaut. &quot;When can we set out?&quot; And
+she rose from her seat as if she hoped their departure might take
+place that minute. Charles of Montsoreau drew her gently to his heart,
+and, gazing into her deep tender eyes, he asked, &quot;Will your joy be
+less, dear Marie, if you know that you go to be at once the bride of
+Charles of Montsoreau, with the full consent of your princely
+guardian, given by one who is well worthy to give, to one who is
+scarcely worthy to receive, such a jewel as yourself?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marie de Clairvaut hid her face upon his bosom, murmuring, in a
+scarcely audible tone, &quot;Can you ask me, Charles?--But oh, let us speed
+away quickly; for though I, who have been here now several days, and
+have seen nothing but death and desolation round me ever since I came,
+have become accustomed to the scene, and doubtless to the air also,
+yet I fear for every moment that you remain here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I still fear not, dear Marie,&quot; replied Charles of Montsoreau.
+&quot;Nevertheless, most glad am I to bear you away to happier scenes; and
+as soon as the horses have taken some rest, we will set out. And now,
+dear girl,&quot; he added, &quot;I will send you from me. You need some repose,
+Marie; you need some tranquillity. Leave me then, dear girl, and try
+to sleep till the hour of our departure, while I will watch here for
+you, and call you before break of day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you watch, Charles,&quot; replied Marie, &quot;I will watch with you, for I
+need not repose. This morning, after closing the eyes of poor Madame
+de Saulny, and weeping long and bitterly over her and the poor girl
+who was the only one that chose to remain with me, exhausted with
+watching, anxiety, and grief, I fell asleep, and slept long. Before
+that, I had felt so weary and so heated, that I almost fancied--though
+without fearing it--that the plague might be coming upon me; but I
+woke refreshed and comforted just as the sun was going down, and I
+felt, as it were, a hope and expectation that some change would soon
+come over my fate. But you need at least refreshment, Charles. In the
+next room remains my last untasted meal--the last that the poor
+frightened beings who abandoned me, set before their mistress
+yesterday. I fear not to take you there, Charles, for no one has died
+in this part of the house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau followed her, and persuaded her also to take
+some light refreshment; and there they sat through the live-long
+night, speaking kind words from time to time, and watching each
+other's countenances with hope strong at the hearts of both, though
+somewhat chequered by fears, each for the other.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_08" href="#div1Ref_08">CHAP. VIII.</a></h2>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">By the time that the first grey streak chequered the dark expanse of
+the eastern sky, the horses of Charles of Montsoreau, with three
+others, were standing on the terrace at the foot of the marble
+steps. The page and Gondrin were there, and also the old groom, a
+white-headed man of some sixty years of age, who had booted and
+spurred himself, and buckled on a sword, declaring that he would
+accompany his young mistress, if it were but to lead the sumpter horse
+which carried her baggage. A moment after, Marie herself appeared, and
+Charles of Montsoreau placed her on the beast that had been prepared
+for her, while the old groom kissed her hand, saying, &quot;I am glad to
+see you well, dear lady. But fear not; none of your race and none of
+mine ever died of the plague either, though I have seen it pass by
+this place twice before now, and I remember eleven corpses lying on
+those steps at once.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There are six within those chambers now,&quot; replied Marie, shaking her
+head mournfully. &quot;But I fear not, good Robin,--for myself at least.
+But you had better lead the way towards Chalet, for the Count tells me
+that Morvillette is deserted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, I will lead you safely, Lady,&quot; replied the old man; &quot;and though
+very likely they may keep us out of many a house on account of where
+we come from, there is my daughter's cottage where they will take us
+in, for they do not fear the plague there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus saying, he mounted his horse, and rode on before, through the
+forest roads, while the lady and her lover followed side by side. As
+they went on circling round the highest parts of the hills, the grey
+streaks gradually turned into crimson; the dim objects became more
+defined in the twilight of morning; a few far distant clouds at the
+edge of the sky, tossed into fantastic shapes, began to glow like the
+burning masses of a furnace; the crimson floated like the waves of a
+sea up towards the zenith; the fiery red next became mingled with
+bright streaks of gold; the forest world, just budding into light
+green, was seen below with its multitude of hills and dales, and rocks
+and streams; the air blew warm and sweet, and full of all the balm of
+spring; and a thousand birds burst forth on every tree, and carolled
+joyous hymns to the dawning day.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Never broke there a brighter morning upon earth; never rose the sun in
+greater splendour; never was the air more balmy, or the voices of the
+birds more sweet. It seemed as if all were destined to afford to those
+two lovers the strongest, the strangest, the brightest contrast to the
+dark dull night of anxiety and emotion which they had passed within
+the palace they had just left behind them. It seemed to both as an
+image of the dawn of immortality after the tomb--anxiety, sorrow,
+danger, death, left behind, and brightness and splendour spread out
+before.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Each instinctively drew in the rein as the sun's golden edge was
+raised above the horizon; each gazed in the countenance of the other,
+as if to see that no trace of the pestilence was there; and each held
+out the hand to grasp that of the being most loved on earth, and then
+they raised their eyes to Heaven in thankfulness and joy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old man led them on with scarcely a pause towards Chalet; but
+about a mile from that place he turned to a little hamlet near, where,
+in a good farm-house inhabited by his daughter and her husband, they
+found their first resting-place. They were gladly received and
+heartily welcomed, without the slightest appearance of fear, though
+the circumstances of their flight were known. The farmer and the
+farmer's wife set before them the best of all they had, the children
+served them at the table, and the good woman of the house brought
+forth a large flask of plague water, and made them drink abundantly,
+assuring them that it was a sovereign antidote that was never known to
+fail. They then assigned a room to each, and though it was still
+daylight they gladly retired to rest. Charles of Montsoreau, though
+much fatigued, slept not for near an hour, but the house was all kept
+quiet and still, and, with his thoughts full of her he loved, he
+fancied and trusted that she was sleeping calmly near him, and in an
+earnest prayer to Heaven he called down blessings on her slumber. At
+length sleep visited his own eyes, and he rose refreshed and well.
+Some fears, some anxieties still remained in his bosom till he again
+saw the countenance of Marie de Clairvaut. When he did see it,
+however, fears on her account vanished altogether, for the paleness
+which had overspread her face the night before had been banished by
+repose, and the soft warm glow of health was once more upon her cheek.
+He saw the same anxious look of inquiry upon her countenance; and oh!
+surely there is something not only sweet and endearing, but elevating
+also, in the knowledge of such mutual thoughts and cares for each
+other; something that draws forth even from scenes of pain and peril a
+joy tender and pure and high for those who love well and truly!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Fear not, dear Marie,&quot; he said; &quot;fear not; for I feel well, and you
+too look well, so that I trust the danger is over.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pray God it be!&quot; said Marie de Clairvaut. &quot;But now, when you will,
+Charles, I am ready to go on; we may soon reach Maintenon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We must avoid the road by Maintenon,&quot; replied Charles of Montsoreau,
+&quot;for that would bring us on the lands of the grasping Duke of Epernon,
+and we could not run a greater risk. Chartres itself is doubtful; but
+we must take our way thither, and act according to circumstances.
+However, dear Marie, our next journey must be long and fatiguing:
+would it not be better for you to stay here to-night, and take as much
+repose as you can obtain before you go on?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh no,&quot; replied Marie de Clairvaut; &quot;I am well and strong now, and
+eager to get forward out of all danger. The bright moon will soon be
+rising, the sun has not yet set, and we may have five or six hours of
+calm light to pursue our way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Her wishes were followed; and they were soon once more upon their way
+towards the fair old town of Chartres. Their former journey had passed
+greatly in thought, for deep emotions lay fresh upon their hearts, and
+burthened them: but now they spoke long and frequently upon every part
+of their mutual situation. The history of every event that had
+happened to either, since they had parted at Montsoreau, was told and
+dwelt upon with all its details: and while the love of Charles of
+Montsoreau for his fair companion certainly did not diminish, every
+word that fell from his lips, every act that she heard him relate, and
+the manner of relating it also, increased in her bosom that love which
+she had at first perceived with shame, but in which she now began to
+take a pride as well as a joy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nor, indeed, did his conduct and demeanour to herself in the
+circumstances which surrounded them--circumstances of some difficulty
+and delicacy--change one bright feeling of her heart towards him.
+There was very much of that tenderness in his nature, that soft, that
+gentle kindness, which, when joined with courage and strength, is more
+powerful on the affections of woman than, perhaps, any other quality;
+and her feelings were changed and rendered more devoted by being
+dependent upon him for every thing--protection, and consolation, and
+support, and affection, and all those little cares and kindnesses
+which their mutual situation enabled him to show.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus they journeyed on for several hours, and at length reached the
+town of Chartres, having agreed to pass for brother and sister, as the
+safest means of escaping observation. It was about eleven o'clock at
+night when they reached the inn, but they were received with all
+kindness and hospitality, such as innkeepers ever show to those who
+seem capable of paying for good treatment. No questions were asked,
+supper was set before them, and the night passed over again in ease
+and comfort. Every hour, indeed, that went by without displaying any
+sign of illness was in itself a joy; and there was a stillness and a
+quietness about the old town of Chartres which seemed to quiet all
+fears of annoyance or interruption.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau was early up, and was waiting for the appearance
+of Marie de Clairvaut, when the landlord of the inn appeared to inform
+him that a horse-litter, which he had ordered to be ready for his
+inspection, had been brought into the court-yard, and was waiting for
+him to see. At that moment, however, there was a flourish of trumpets
+in the street; and, looking forth from the window, the young Count saw
+a considerable band of mounted soldiers, drawn up, as if about to
+proceed on their march.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My sister,&quot; he said, turning to the host, &quot;has not yet risen, and she
+must see the litter, too, as it is for her convenience. But who are
+these gallant gentlemen before the house, and whither are they going?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, you might know them, sir, by their plumes and their scarfs,&quot;
+replied the host. &quot;They are a body of the light horse of the guard of
+the Queen-mother. They are easily distinguished, I ween.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, but I am a rustic from the provinces,&quot; replied the young
+nobleman: &quot;but they seem gallant-looking soldiers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Captain was making manifold inquiries about you and the young
+lady who arrived last night,&quot; replied the landlord, &quot;for he has come
+with orders to seek and bring back to Paris some young lady and
+gentleman that have made their escape lately with eight or nine
+attendants. But when I told him that you were going to Paris, not
+coming from it, and that you had only three servants with you, and the
+young lady was your sister, he said it was not the same, and is now
+going on. But I must go, lest he should ask for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, well,&quot; answered the young Count with an air of indifference. &quot;I
+will be down presently to see the litter; let it wait.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He watched, however, with some anxiety the departure of the body of
+light horse, for though he did not feel by any means sure that it was
+himself whom they sought, he did not feel at all secure till the last
+faint note of their trumpets was heard, as they issued forth from one
+of the further gates of Chartres. As soon as Marie de Clairvaut
+appeared, he purchased the litter without much hesitation, and
+determined to proceed with all speed towards Dourdan and Corbeil.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The host of the inn would have fain had them stay some time longer,
+for the young Count had paid so readily for the litter, that he judged
+some gold might be further extracted from his purse. He asked him,
+therefore, whether there was nothing in the good town of Chartres to
+excite his curiosity, and was beginning a long list of marvels; but
+Charles of Montsoreau cut him short, saying, as he looked up at the
+sign covered with fleurs-de-lis, &quot;No, no, my good host. I have much
+business on my hands in which his Majesty is not a little concerned,
+and therefore I must lose no time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The host nodded his head, looked wise, and suffered the Count and his
+party to depart without further opposition.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As it was not a part of their plan to follow the high road more than
+they were actually obliged to do, soon after leaving Chartres they
+took a path to the left, which they were informed would lead them by
+Gellardon to Bonnelle, through the fields and woods. Before they had
+gone a league, however, the noise of dogs and horses, and the shouts,
+as it seemed, of huntsmen, were heard at no great distance; and
+turning towards Gondrin the young Count asked, &quot;What can they be
+hunting at this time of year?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The wolf, my Lord, the wolf,&quot; replied the man. &quot;They hunt wolves at
+all times.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Scarcely had he spoken, when a loud yell of the dogs was heard; and
+nodding his head sagaciously, as if he had seen the whole proceeding
+with his mind's eye, Gondrin added, &quot;They have killed him;&quot; which was
+confirmed by a number of joyous morts on the horns of the huntsmen.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us proceed as fast as possible,&quot; said Charles of Montsoreau; &quot;we
+know not who those huntsmen may be:&quot; and he was urging the driver of
+the litter to hurry on his horses rapidly, when the whole road before
+them was suddenly filled with a gay party of cavaliers, splendidly
+dressed and accoutred, and coming direct towards them. There was
+nothing now to be done but to pass on quietly if possible; and, taking
+no apparent notice, but bending his head and speaking into the litter,
+without even seeing of whom the other party was composed, Charles of
+Montsoreau was riding on, when a loud voice was heard exclaiming &quot;Halt
+there! halt! A word with you if you please, young sir;&quot; and, looking
+up, he saw the Duke of Epernon.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Without suffering the slightest surprise to appear upon his
+countenance, or the slightest apprehension, Charles of Montsoreau
+turned his head, demanding calmly, &quot;Well, my Lord, what is your
+pleasure with me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My pleasure is,&quot; replied the Duke, &quot;that you instantly turn your
+horse's head and go back to Epernon with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am extremely sorry, my Lord,&quot; replied the Count, &quot;that it is quite
+impossible for me to do what you propose, as I am upon urgent business
+for the Duke of Guise, and bear the King's passport and safe-conduct,
+which I presume your Lordship will not despise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You may bear the King's passport, sir,&quot; said the Duke, &quot;but you
+certainly do not bear his authorisation to carry away from his power
+the young lady who I suppose is in that litter. As to the Duke of
+Guise, your authority from him is very much doubted also.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That doubt is easily removed, my Lord,&quot; replied the Count, seeing
+clearly that he would be forced to yield, but fully resolved not to do
+so till he had tried every means to avoid it. &quot;That doubt is easily
+removed, my Lord. Allow me to show you the authority given me by the
+Duke under his own hand, which I think even the Duke of Epernon must
+respect.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke took the paper which he tendered him, and then saying, &quot;I
+will show you how I respect it,&quot; he tore it into a thousand pieces,
+and cast it beneath his horse's feet, while a laugh ran through the
+men that attended him. &quot;Turn your horse's head,&quot; he continued,
+&quot;without more ado, or I will have your arms tied behind your back, and
+the horse led.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My Lord,&quot; replied the young Count, &quot;I must obey, for I have no means
+of resisting; but let me remind you, that the Duke of Epernon was
+always considered, even before what he is now, a gallant gentleman and
+a man of good feeling, who would not insult those who were too weak to
+oppose him, and who did their duty honourably as far as it was
+possible for them to do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your civility now, sir,&quot; replied the Duke, &quot;like your rash folly a
+week or two ago, is too contemptible to make any change in the Duke of
+Epernon. That foolish party of light horse,&quot; he continued, speaking to
+one of his attendants, &quot;must have suffered this malapert youth and his
+fair charge to have passed it. Turn the litter round there; take care
+that none of them escape.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The boy has made off already,&quot; replied one of the men. &quot;Shall I
+gallop after him, my Lord? He may tell the Duke of Guise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let him!&quot; answered Epernon. &quot;Go not one of you; but bring the rest of
+them along hither.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Without giving any intimation of his intent, Charles of Montsoreau
+turned his horse suddenly back to the side of the litter, and drew the
+curtain back, saying to Marie de Clairvaut, who sat pale and anxious
+within it, &quot;You hear what has happened; there is no power of
+resistance, for they are ten to one: but the boy has escaped, and will
+give the Duke notice of where you are. In the mean time it is one
+comfort, that now you are in the hands of one who is, at all events, a
+man of honour and a gentleman in feeling.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What he said was intended to give comfort and consolation to Marie de
+Clairvaut; but it reached the ear of the Duke of Epernon likewise. &quot;I
+must suffer no farther conversation,&quot; he said in a gentler tone than
+he had before used. &quot;You will understand, Monsieur de Logères, that I
+have authority for what I do; and that I arrest you out of no personal
+vengeance, but because the order has been already given to that
+effect.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My Lord,&quot; replied the young Count, &quot;I care very little for my own
+arrest, as I know that I can but be detained a short time: but I
+confess I am most anxious for the young lady placed under my especial
+charge by the Duke of Guise, as I have shown your Lordship by the
+paper you have torn. If she is to remain in your Lordship's charge, I
+shall be more satisfied; but if she is to be given up to Monsieur de
+Villequier, the consequences will indeed be painful to all. You are
+perhaps not aware, my Lord, that he sent her to a place where the
+plague was raging at the time, where six persons of her household died
+of it, and the rest fled, leaving her utterly alone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke seemed moved, and after remaining silent for a minute, he
+replied, &quot;I did not know it; the man who would murder his wife, would
+make no great scruple of killing his cousin, I suppose. However, sir,
+set your mind at ease: though I cannot promise that she shall remain
+with the Duchess of Epernon, she shall not be given up to Villequier
+either by myself or by any body in whose hands I may place her. Is
+that assurance sufficient for you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perfectly, my Lord,&quot; replied Charles of Montsoreau. &quot;The Duke of
+Epernon's promise is as good as the bond of other men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, follow me, then,&quot; replied the Duke, and, riding on alone, he
+left the young Count in the hands of his attendants.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_09" href="#div1Ref_09">CHAP. IX.</a></h2>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">It was in one of the saloons of the old Cardinal de Bourbon, in the
+town of Soissons, that Henry Duke of Guise, princely in his habit,
+princely in his aspect, with his foot raised upon a footstool of
+crimson and gold, a high plumed Spanish hat upon his head, manifold
+parchments before him, and a pen in his hand, sat alone on a day in
+the month of April with his eyes fixed upon a door at the other end of
+the room, as if waiting for the entrance of some one.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The next moment the door was thrown wide open, and, preceded by two
+servants announcing him to the Duke, appeared a small and not very
+striking personage plainly habited in black velvet. The moment the
+Duke saw him, he rose, and for an instant uncovered his head, then
+covering himself again he advanced to meet him, and took him by the
+hand, saying &quot;Monsieur de Bellievre, I am delighted to see you. The
+King could not have chosen any one more gratifying to myself to
+receive: in the first place, because I know that I shall hear nothing
+but truth from the lips of Monsieur de Bellievre; and, in the next
+place, because I am sure no one will bear more exactly to his Majesty
+any reply I may have to make to the message with which I understand
+you are charged.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The confidence which your Highness expresses in me,&quot; replied
+Bellievre, as the Duke led him towards the table, and made him seat
+himself beside him, &quot;does great honour to so humble an individual as
+myself. Nevertheless, I must deliver the King's message, my Lord,
+precisely as it was given to me; and should there be any thing in it
+disagreeable to your Highness, I trust that you will excuse the
+bearer, and consider the matter dispassionately.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Proceed, proceed,&quot; replied the Duke; &quot;as in duty bound I shall
+receive his Majesty's communication with all deference and humility.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, then,&quot; replied Bellievre, &quot;I am charged by his Majesty to
+assure your Highness that his personal esteem and respect for you is
+very great; and that he has never, in any degree, given ear to the
+injurious reports which persons inimical to your Highness have been
+industrious in circulating to your disadvantage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your pardon, Monsieur de Bellievre, for one moment,&quot; said the Duke,
+interrupting him. &quot;To what injurious reports does his Majesty allude?
+I am ignorant that any one has dared to circulate injurious reports of
+me; and if such be the case, it is high time that I should proceed to
+the capital to confront and shame my accusers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As this was not at all the point to which the King's envoy wished to
+bring the Duke, he looked not a little embarrassed what to reply. He
+answered, however, after a moment's pause, &quot;It would, indeed, be
+requisite for you to do so, my Lord, if I did not bear you the King's
+most positive assurance that he gives no ear to such reports. But to
+proceed: his Majesty has bid me strongly express his full conviction
+of your attachment, fidelity, and affection, but has commanded me to
+add that, having heard it reported your intention is immediately to
+present yourself in Paris, he is unwillingly obliged, by state reasons
+of the utmost importance, to request that you would forbear the
+execution of that purpose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was not without some hesitation and apparent emotion that Bellievre
+spoke; but the Duke heard him with perfect calmness, though with a
+slight contraction of the brow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The report,&quot; he answered, &quot;of my intention of visiting Paris is
+perfectly correct, Monsieur de Bellievre; nor can I, indeed, refrain
+from executing that purpose, with all due deference to his Majesty,
+for many reasons, amongst which those that you yourself give me of
+injurious rumours being rife in the capital regarding me, are not the
+least cogent. Thus, unless the King intends to signify by you,
+Monsieur de Bellievre, that he positively prohibits my coming into
+Paris--which, of course, he would not do--I see not how I can avoid
+doing simple justice to myself by returning to my own dwelling in the
+capital of this country.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I grieve to say, your Highness,&quot; replied Bellievre, seeing that the
+worst must be told, &quot;I grieve to say, that while the King has charged
+me to assure you of his regard and his confidence in you, he none the
+less instructed me to make the prohibition on his part absolute and
+distinct.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke of Guise started up with his brow knit and his eyes flashing.
+&quot;Is this the reward,&quot; he exclaimed, &quot;of all the services I have
+rendered the state? Is this the recompense for having shed my blood so
+often in defence of France? to be dishonoured in the eyes of all the
+people, by being banished from the metropolis, to be excluded from the
+companionship of all my friends, to be cut off from transacting my own
+private affairs, to be talked of and pointed at as the exiled Duke of
+Guise, and to have the boys singing in the streets the woeful ditty of
+my sufferings and a King's ingratitude?&quot; And as he spoke, the Duke
+took two or three rapid strides up and down the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed, indeed, your Highness,&quot; cried Bellievre, &quot;you take it up too
+warmly. The King is far from ungrateful, but most thankful for your
+high services; but it is for the good of the state that you love, for
+the safety and security of the people of the capital who are in a
+tumultuous and highly excitable state, that he wishes you to refrain
+from coming----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That he sends me a message dishonouring to myself and to my House,&quot;
+replied the Duke. &quot;That he marks me out from the rest of the nobles of
+the land, by a prohibition which I may venture to say is unjust and
+unmerited. I must take some days to think of this, Monsieur de
+Bellievre; nor can I in any way promise not to visit Paris. Were it
+but to protect, support, and guide my friends and relations, I ought
+to go; were it but on account of the church for which I am ready to
+shed my blood if it be necessary, persecuted, reviled, assailed as
+that holy church is; were it but for my attendants and supporters, who
+are attacked, abused, and ill-treated in the streets and public ways.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As for the church, your Highness,&quot; replied Bellievre, &quot;none is more
+sincerely attached to it than the King and the King's advisers. It
+will stand long, my Lord, depend upon it, without any further
+assistance than that which you have already so ably given it. Your
+relations, my Lord, and household,&quot; he said, &quot;are not and cannot be
+ill-treated.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How?&quot; exclaimed the Duke. &quot;Is not my dear sister Margaret even now,
+as it were, proscribed by the King and his court? Is not every thing
+done to drive her from Paris? Have not her servants been struck by
+those of Villequier in the open streets?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know,&quot; replied Bellievre, &quot;that a month or two ago Madame de
+Montpensier was subject to some little annoyance, but as soon as it
+came to the King's ears he had it instantly remedied, and only wished
+her to quit Paris for her own security.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The House of Guise, sir, have always been secure in the capital of
+France,&quot; replied the Duke; &quot;and I trust always will be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing has occurred since I trust, my Lord,&quot; continued Bellievre.
+&quot;The King is most anxious that you should have satisfaction in every
+thing, and will give you the strongest assurances that your family,
+your household, and your friends, shall be in every respect well
+treated and protected, as indeed he has always wished them to be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke threw himself down in his chair and rang the bell that stood
+upon the table violently. &quot;Ho! without there!&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;Bring in
+that page that arrived hither a night or two ago, when I was absent at
+Jamets.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The attendant who had appeared retired, and the Duke sat silent,
+gazing with a frown at the papers on the table. &quot;May I ask your
+Highness,&quot; said Bellievre, not knowing what interpretation to put upon
+this conduct, &quot;May I ask your Highness whether I am to conceive my
+audience at an end?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, Monsieur de Bellievre, no,&quot; replied the Duke in a milder tone;
+&quot;for <i>you</i> I have a high respect and esteem, and will listen to you
+upon this subject longer than I would to most men. I wish you to hear
+and to know how the friends of the Duke of Guise are treated, what
+protection and favour is shown to them at the court of France. Perhaps
+you will hear some things that are new to you--perhaps they may be new
+to the King too,&quot; he added, a slight sneer curling his haughty lip.
+&quot;But be that as it may, Monsieur de Bellievre, I think I can show you
+good cause why the Duke of Guise should be no longer absent from
+Paris. Come hither, boy,&quot; he added, as the page Ignati entered the
+room, &quot;Come hither, boy, and answer my questions. Thou art both witty
+and honest, but give me plain straightforward replies. Stand at my
+knee and answer, so that this gentleman may hear.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The boy advanced, and did as the Duke bade him, turning his face
+towards Bellievre, with his left hand to the Duke.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You went to Paris,&quot; said Guise, &quot;with my friend the young Count of
+Logères; did you not? Were you aware of the cause of his going?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He went, I understood your Highness,&quot; replied the boy, &quot;to seek a
+young lady, a relation of your own, who had been carried to Paris by a
+body of the King's troops while on her way to join your Highness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Can you tell what was Monsieur de Logères' success?&quot; said the Duke.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know he saw the King,&quot; replied the boy, &quot;and heard that he had been
+promised a letter to all the governors and commanders in different
+places to aid him in seeking for the young Lady, and bringing her back
+to your Highness. I heard also that it was for this paper he waited
+from day to day in Paris, but that it never came.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I beg your Highness's pardon,&quot; said Bellievre interrupting the boy,
+&quot;but you will remark that this is all hearsay. He does not seem to
+speak at all from his own knowledge.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That will come after,&quot; answered the Duke somewhat sharply. &quot;Go on,
+Ignati. What do you know more?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What I have said,&quot; replied the boy, &quot;is more than hearsay, my Lord,
+for while we staid in Paris the good Count bade us always be ready at
+a moment's notice to set out, for he could not tell when the letter
+from Monsieur de Villequier would arrive. It never came, however, and
+one night the Count having, as I understood, gained information of
+where Mademoiselle de Clairvaut was, set out with his man Gondrin and
+myself to seek her. We found that she had been brought by a body of
+the King's troops to a château or a palace, for it looked more like a
+palace than a château, called Morvillette, I believe near Chateauneuf,
+where the plague was then raging, when the King's soldiers left her.
+By the time we arrived the plague had reached the château, six or
+seven people were dead, and all the rest had fled, leaving the young
+lady with nobody in the palace, and none but one old groom in the
+stables.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke's eye fixed sternly upon the countenance of Bellievre, and he
+muttered between his teeth, &quot;This is the doing, Monsieur de Bellievre,
+of my excellent good friend, the King of France. Go on, boy; go on!
+Proceed. What happened next?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The lady was most joyous of her deliverance,&quot; continued the boy, &quot;and
+eager to come to your Highness; and we set out the next morning before
+day-break, and reached Chartres, where the Count bought a litter for
+her greater convenience. At a short distance from Chartres, however,
+we were met by the Duke of Epernon and his train wolf-hunting, and the
+Duke immediately stopped us, and insisted upon the Count going back
+with him to Epernon. The Count produced the King's passports, but the
+Duke said that there were doubts of his being authorised by you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did he not show him my own letter?&quot; exclaimed the Duke. &quot;Did he not
+show him the authority I gave him under my own hand?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He did, my Lord; he did,&quot; replied the boy; &quot;but the Duke of Epernon
+said he would show in what respect he held your Highness's letter, and
+tearing it in several pieces he threw it down under his horse's feet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Bellievre continued to look down upon the ground with a brow which
+certainly displayed but little satisfaction. The Duke of Guise,
+however, though he had been frowning the moment before, now only
+smiled as the boy related the incident of the letter; the smile was
+somewhat contemptuous, indeed; but he said merely, &quot;Go on, boy. What
+happened next?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, my Lord,&quot; replied the boy, &quot;what happened to them I know not,
+for seeing that the Duke held them prisoners, and was taking them back
+to Epernon, I made my escape as fast as I well could, and came hither
+to tell you into whose hands the young lady and Monsieur de Logères
+had fallen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You did quite right, boy,&quot; said the Duke; &quot;and now you may retire.
+You hear, Monsieur de Bellievre,&quot; he continued, &quot;with what kindness,
+protection, support, and generosity the King treats the friends of the
+Duke of Guise! First he casts my poor niece's child into the hands of
+Villequier, something worse than those of the hangman of Paris, and
+then between them they send her into the midst of the pestilence; then
+comes Monsieur d'Epernon to confirm all, arrests my friend bearing the
+King's own passports and safeguard, seizes upon my own relation and
+ward, and carries them both I know not whither.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps your Highness,&quot; said Bellievre, &quot;the Duke of Epernon might
+have motives that we do not know. At all events the King----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Fie, Monsieur de Bellievre, fie!&quot; exclaimed the Duke vehemently. &quot;I
+will tell you what! It is time the Duke of Guise were in Paris, if but
+to deliver the King from such Dukes of Epernon who abuse his
+authority, disgrace his name, absorb his favours, ruin the state,
+overthrow the church, and dare do acts that make men blush for shame.
+France will no longer suffer him, sir; France will no longer suffer
+him! If I free not the King from him and such as he is, the people
+will rise up and commit some foul attempt upon the royal authority.
+What,&quot; he continued, with fierce scorn, &quot;What, though he be Baron of
+Caumont, Duke of Epernon, raised out of his place to sit near the
+princes of the blood, Governor of Metz and Normandy, of the
+Boulonnais, and Aunis, of Touraine, Saintonge, and Angoumois,
+Colonel-general of Infantry, and Governor of Anjou, a Knight of the
+order of the Holy Ghost! he shall find this simple steel sword of
+Henry of Guise sufficiently sharp to cut his parchments into pieces,
+and send him back a beggar to the class he sprung from.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke spoke so rapidly, that to interrupt him was impossible; and
+so angrily, that Bellievre, overawed, remained silent for a moment or
+two after he had done, while the Prince bent his eyes down upon the
+table, and played with the golden tassels of his sword-knot, as if
+half ashamed of the vehemence he had displayed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did not come here, your Highness,&quot; he said, &quot;either as the envoy or
+the advocate of the Duke of Epernon. You must well know that there is
+no great love between us; and I doubt not, when your Highness comes to
+call him to account for his deeds, that justice will be found entirely
+on your side. But I came on the part of the King; and I beseech you to
+consider, my good Lord, what may be the consequences of pressing even
+any severe charges against the Duke of Epernon at this moment, when
+his Majesty is contending with the heretics on the one side, and is
+somewhat troubled by an unruly people on the other.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is he indeed contending with any body or any thing, Bellievre?&quot;
+demanded the Duke. &quot;Is he indeed contending against the Bearnois? Is
+he contending against the indolence of his own nature, or rather
+against the indolence into which corrupt favourites have cast him? Is
+he contending against the iniquities of Villequier, or the exactions
+of Epernon? Is he contending against any thing less contemptible than
+a spaniel puppy or an unteachable parrot? My love and attachment to
+the King and his crown, Bellievre, are greater than yours; and, as my
+final reply, I beg you humbly to inform his Majesty on my part, that
+if I do not promptly and entirely obey him in this matter of not
+coming to Paris, it is solely because I am compelled to do as I do,
+for the good of the church, for the safety of the state, for the
+security of my own relations and friends, and even for the benefit of
+his Majesty himself. This is my final reply.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yet one word, my Lord,&quot; replied Bellievre. &quot;At all events, if your
+determination to visit the capital be taken, will you not at least, at
+my earnest prayer, delay your journey till I myself can return to
+Paris, and obtaining more ample explanations of the King's purposes,
+come back to you and confer with you farther on the subject.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I see not, Monsieur de Bellievre,&quot; said the Duke of Guise, &quot;what good
+could be obtained by such delay. I do not at all mean to say that you
+would take advantage of my confidence to prepare any evil measures
+against me; but others might do so: and besides, my honour calls me
+not to leave my friends in peril for a moment, even though I called
+upon my head the enmity of a whole host in stepping forward to rescue
+them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I pledge you my honour, my Lord,&quot; replied Bellievre, &quot;that if you
+will consent to delay, no measures shall be taken against you; and I
+will do the very best I can to induce the King to make any atonement
+in his power to your friends. As to this young Count of Logères, I
+never heard of him before to-day, and know not what has been done with
+him at all; and in regard to Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, she is
+doubtless in the hands of Villequier, who, I understand, claims the
+guardianship.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To which he has less right,&quot; replied the Duke angrily, &quot;than that
+footstool; and if he contends with me, I will spurn him as I do it;&quot;
+and he suited the gesture to the word. &quot;But still I see not,&quot;
+continued the Duke, &quot;what is to be gained by this delay to either
+party.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This, my good Lord,&quot; replied Bellievre. &quot;I am well aware that his
+Majesty the King has sent me here without sufficient powers to make
+you just and definite proposals. This I believe to have been entirely
+from the haste in which I came away, there being no time for thought.
+But if you permit me to return with assurance that you will wait but a
+few days, I feel convinced that I shall come back to you with offers
+so abundant, so satisfactory, and so well secured, that your Lordship
+will change your resolution.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke mused for a moment or two. &quot;Well, Monsieur de Bellievre,&quot; he
+said at length, &quot;though I entertain no such hopes as you do, I must
+yield something to my loyalty, and to my real desire of obeying the
+King; although, perhaps, my duty to my country and to the church might
+well lead me to more prompt proceedings. I will, therefore, delay my
+journey for a day or two; but you must use all speed, and I must have
+no trifling. You know all my just grievances: those must be remedied,
+the church must be secured; and for the quiet and the satisfaction of
+the people who abhor and detest him, as well as for the relief of the
+nobles who have long been shut out from all favour by that unworthy
+minion, this John of Nogaret, this Duke of Epernon, must be banished
+from the court and councils of the King, and stripped of the places
+and dignities which he has won from the weak condescension of the
+Monarch. You understand me, Monsieur de Bellievre,&quot; he said in a
+sterner tone, seeing that Bellievre looked somewhat dismayed at the
+extent of his demands. &quot;Undertake not the mission if you think that
+you cannot succeed in it; but let me on my way without more
+opposition.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My Lord, I will do my best to succeed,&quot; replied Bellievre; &quot;and trust
+that I shall do so. How many days will your Highness give me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, nay,&quot; replied the Duke; &quot;that I cannot tell, Monsieur de
+Bellievre. Suffice it, I will delay as long as my honour permits me;
+and you on your part lose not an hour in making the necessary
+arrangements, and bringing the King's reply.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As he spoke the Duke rose to terminate the conference; and then added,
+&quot;I fear, Monsieur de Bellievre, as I am expecting every moment my
+brother, the Cardinal de Guise, and his Eminence of Bourbon, to confer
+with me upon matters of importance, I cannot do the honours of the
+house to you as I could wish; but Pericard, my secretary and friend,
+will attend upon you, and insure that you have every sort of
+refreshment. I will send for him this moment.&quot; And so doing, he placed
+Bellievre in the hands of his secretary, and turned once more to other
+business.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The King's envoy sped back to Paris, scarcely giving himself time to
+take necessary refreshment; but on his arrival in the capital he first
+found a difficulty even in seeing the Monarch; and when he did see
+him, found him once more plunged in that state of luxurious and
+effeminate indolence from which he was only roused by occasional fits
+of excitement, which sometimes enabled him to resume the monarch and
+the man, but more frequently carried him into the wildest and most
+frantic excesses of debauchery.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Henry would scarcely listen to the business of Bellievre even when he
+granted him an audience on the following morning. He asked many a
+question about his cousin of Guise, about his health, about his
+appearance, about his dress itself; whether his shoes were pointed or
+square, and how far the haut-de-chausses came down above his knees.
+Bellievre was impatient, and pressed the King with some fire; but
+Henry only laughed, and tickled the ears of a monkey that sat upon the
+arm of his chair with a parrot's feather. The animal mouthed and
+chattered at the King, and strove to snatch the feather out of his
+hands; and Henry, stroking it down the head, called it &quot;Mon Duc de
+Guise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Bellievre bowed low, and moved towards the door. &quot;Come back to-morrow,
+Bellievre; come back to-morrow,&quot; said the King; &quot;Villequier will be
+here then. You see at present how importantly I am occupied with my
+fair cousin of Guise here;&quot; and he pulled the monkey's whiskers as he
+spoke. &quot;Villequier has told me all about it,&quot; he added. &quot;He says the
+Duke will not come, and so says my mother; and if they both say the
+same thing who never agreed upon any point before, it must be true,
+Bellievre, you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I trust it may, Sire,&quot; replied Bellievre dryly, and quitted the room
+with anger and indignation at his heart. Before he had crossed the
+anteroom, he heard a loud laugh ringing like that of a fool from the
+lips of the Monarch; and although it was doubtless occasioned by some
+new gambol of the monkey, it did not serve to diminish the bitter
+feelings which were in the diplomatist's bosom.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_10" href="#div1Ref_10">CHAP. X.</a></h2>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">In a small, dark, oaken cabinet with one window high up and barred, a
+lamp hanging from the ceiling, a table with books and a musical
+instrument, several chairs, and a silver bell, Charles of Montsoreau
+was seated several days after the period at which we last left him. A
+bedroom well furnished in every respect was beyond; the least sound of
+the silver bell produced immediate attendance; nothing was refused him
+that he demanded; nothing was wanting to his comfort except liberty
+and the sound of some other human being's voice. Yet, strange to say,
+although he knew that he was in the city of Paris, he knew nothing
+more of the position of the building in which he was placed. He had
+been brought into the capital at night, had been conducted through a
+number of narrow and tortuous streets, and had at length been led
+through a deep archway and several large courts, to the place in which
+he was now confined.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It may seem perhaps that such a state of imprisonment did not offer
+much to complain of; and yet it had bent his spirit and bowed down his
+heart. The want of all knowledge of what was passing around him, the
+absence of every one that he loved, the loss of liberty, the perfect
+silence, joined with anxiety for one who was dearer to him than
+himself, wore him day by day, and took from him the power of enjoying
+any of those things which were provided for his convenience or
+amusement.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The servant who attended upon him never opened his lips, he obeyed any
+orders that were given to him, he brought any thing that was demanded;
+but he replied to no questions, he made no observations, he afforded
+no information even by a look. Every bolt and bar that was on the
+outside of the door was invariably drawn behind him, and the high
+window in either room could only be so far reached even by standing on
+the table or one of the chairs, as to enable the young nobleman to
+open or shut it at pleasure, so to admit the free air from without.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Such had been the condition of Charles of Montsoreau, as we have said,
+for many days; but he had not yet become reconciled in any degree to
+his fate, though he strove, as far as possible, to while away the
+moments in any way that was permitted, either by books or music. But
+it was with impatience and disgust that he did so, and the lute was
+taken up and laid down, the book read and cast away, without remaining
+in his hands for the space of five minutes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The sun shone bright through the high window, and traced a moving spot
+of golden light upon the dark oak of the opposite wainscot; the air of
+spring came sweet and pleasantly through, and gave him back the
+thoughts and dreams of liberty; a wild plant rooted in the stonework
+of the building without, cast its light feathery shadow on the wall
+where the sun shone, and the hum and roar of distant multitudes,
+pursuing their busy course in the thronged thoroughfares of the city,
+brought him his only tidings from the hurried and struggling scene of
+human life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He took a pleasure in watching the leaves of the little plant as,
+waved about by the wind, they played against the bars of the window,
+and he was thus occupied on the day we have mentioned, when suddenly
+something crossed the light for a moment, as if some small bird had
+flown by; but at the same instant a roll of paper fell at his feet,
+and taking it up, he recognised the well-known writing of the Duke of
+Guise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have suffered for my sake,&quot; the paper said, &quot;and I hastened to
+deliver you. The day of the Epernons is over; your place of
+imprisonment is known. Be not dispirited, therefore, for relief is at
+hand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It cannot be told how great was the relief which this note itself
+brought to the mind of the young Count, not alone by the promise that
+it held out, but by the very feeling that it gave him of not being
+utterly forgotten, of being not entirely alone and desolate. He read
+it over two or three times, and then hearing one of the bolts of the
+door undrawn, he concealed it hastily lest the attendant should see
+it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Another bolt was immediately afterwards pulled back, and then the door
+was unlocked, though far more slowly than usual. It seemed to the
+young Count that an unaccustomed hand was busy with the fastenings,
+and a faint hope of speedy deliverance shot across his mind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The next instant, however, the door was opened, and though it
+certainly was not the usual attendant who appeared, no face presented
+itself that was known to Charles of Montsoreau. The figure was that of
+a woman, tall, stately, and dressed in garments of deep black, fitting
+tightly round the shoulders and the waist, and flowing away in ample
+folds below. Her hair was entirely covered by black silk and lace, but
+her face was seen, and that face was one which instantly drew all
+attention to itself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was not indeed the beauty which attracted, though there were great
+remains of beauty too, but it was the face not only of an old woman,
+but of one who had been somewhat a spendthrift of youth's charms.
+There was, however, a keen fire in the eyes, a strong determination on
+the brow, an expansion of the nostril, which gave the idea of quick
+and eager feelings, and a degree of sternness about the whole line of
+the features, which would have made the whole countenance commanding,
+but harsh and severe, had it not been for a light and playful smile
+that gleamed across the whole, like some of the bright and sudden rays
+of light that from to time we see run across the bosom of deep still
+shady waters.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was a degree of mockery in that smile, too; and yet it spoke
+affections and feelings which as strangely blended with the general
+character of that woman's life, as the smile itself did with the
+general expression of her countenance. The hands were beautiful and
+delicately small, and the figure good, with but few signs of age about
+it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The young Count gazed upon her with some surprise as she entered, but
+instantly rose from the seat in which he had been sitting while
+reading the Duke of Guise's note; and the lady, with a graceful
+inclination of the head, closed the door, advanced and seated herself,
+examining the young Count from head to foot with a look of calm
+consideration, which he very well understood implied the habitual
+exercise of authority and power.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After thus gazing at him for a moment or two, she said, &quot;Monsieur le
+Comte de Logères, do you know me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you mean, madam,&quot; he replied, &quot;to ask me if I recognise your
+person, I believe I do; but if you would ask absolutely whether I know
+you, I must say, no.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One of those light smiles passed quick across her countenance, and she
+said in a low voice, as if speaking to herself, &quot;Who ever did know
+me?&quot; She then added, &quot;Who then do you suppose I am?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I conclude, madam,&quot; replied the young Count, &quot;that I stand in the
+presence of her Majesty the Queen-mother.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Such is the case,&quot; replied the Queen, &quot;and I have come to visit you,
+Monsieur de Logères, with views and purposes which, were I to tell
+them to any person at my son's court, would hardly be believed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Queen paused, as if waiting for an answer; and the young Count
+replied, &quot;I trust, madam, that if I am detained here by the
+directions, and in the power of your Majesty, that you have come to
+give me liberty, which would, I suppose,&quot; he added with somewhat of a
+smile, &quot;be rather marvellous to the courtiers of the King.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Catharine de Medici smiled also, but at the same time shook her head.
+&quot;I fear I must not give you liberty,&quot; she said, &quot;for I have promised
+not: but I have come with no bad intent towards you. I knew your
+mother, Monsieur de Logères, and a virtuous and beautiful woman she
+was. God help us! it shows that I am growing old, my praising any
+woman for her virtue. However, she was what I have said, and as unlike
+myself as possible. Perhaps that was the reason that I liked her, for
+we like not things that are too near ourselves. However, I have come
+hither to see her son, and to do him a pleasure. You play upon the
+lute?&quot; she continued. &quot;Come, 'tis a long time since I have heard the
+lute well played. Take up the instrument, and add your voice to it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Alas, madam,&quot; replied the young Count, &quot;I am but in an ill mood for
+music. If I sang you a melancholy lay it would find such stirring
+harmonies in my own heart, that I fear I should drown the song in
+tears; and if I sang you a gay one, it would be all discord. I would
+much rather open that door which you have left unlocked behind you,
+and go out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Queen did not stir in the slightest degree, but gazed upon him
+attentively with a look of compassion, answering, &quot;Alas! poor bird,
+you would find that your cage has a double door. But come, do as I bid
+you; sit down there, take up the lute and sing. Let your song be
+neither gay nor sad! Let it be a song of love. I doubt not that such a
+youth as you are, will easily find a love ditty in your heart, though
+the present inspiration be no better than an old woman. Come, Monsieur
+de Logères, come: sit down and sing. I am a judge of music, I can tell
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With a faint smile the Count did as she bade him; and taking up the
+lute, he ran his fingers over the chords, thought for a moment or two,
+and recollecting nothing better suited to the moment, he sang an
+Italian song of love, in which sometime before he had ventured to
+shadow forth to Marie de Clairvaut, when she was at Montsoreau, the
+first feelings of affection that were growing up in his heart. The
+Queen sat by in the mean time, listening attentively, with her head a
+little bent forward, and her hand marking the cadences on her knee.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Beautifully sung, Monsieur de Logères,&quot; she said at length when he
+ended. &quot;Beautifully sung, and as well accompanied. You do not know how
+much pleasure you have given.--Now, let us talk of other things. Are
+you sincere, man?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I trust so, madam,&quot; replied the Count. &quot;I believe I have never borne
+any other character.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who taught you to play so well on the lute?&quot; demanded the Queen
+abruptly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have had no great instruction, madam,&quot; answered the Count somewhat
+surprised. &quot;I taught myself a little in my boyhood. But afterwards my
+preceptor, the Abbé de Boisguerin, was my chief instructor. He had
+learned well in Italy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did he teach you sincerity too?&quot; demanded the Queen with a keen look;
+&quot;and did he learn that in Italy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count was not a little surprised to find Catherine's questions
+touch so immediately upon the late discoveries he had made of the
+character of the Abbé de Boisguerin, and he replied with some
+bitterness, &quot;He could but teach me, madam, that which he possessed
+himself. I trust that to my nature and my blood I owe whatever
+sincerity may be in me. I learned it from none but from God and my own
+heart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then you know him,&quot; said the Queen, reaching the point at once; &quot;that
+is sufficient at present on that subject. I know him too. He came to
+the court of France several years ago, with letters from my fair
+cousin the Cardinal; but he brought with him nothing that I wanted at
+that time. He had a wily head, a handsome person, manifold
+accomplishments, great learning, and services for the highest bidder.
+We had too many such things at the court already, so I thought that
+the sooner he was out of it the better, and looked cold upon him till
+he went. He understood the matter well, and did not return till he
+brought something in his hand to barter for favour. However, Monsieur
+de Logères, to turn to other matters; I do believe you may be sincere
+after all. I shall discover in a minute, however. Will you answer me a
+question or two concerning the Duke of Guise?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It depends entirely upon what they are, madam,&quot; replied the Count at
+once.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then you will not answer me every question, even if it were to gain
+your liberty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly not, madam,&quot; replied the Count.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then the Duke has been speaking ill of me,&quot; said Catherine at once,
+&quot;otherwise you would not be so fearful.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not so, indeed,&quot; replied the Count, eagerly. &quot;The Duke never, in my
+presence, uttered a word against your Majesty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then will you tell me, as a man of honour,&quot; demanded the Queen,
+&quot;exactly, word for word what you have ever heard the Duke say of me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau paused and thought for a moment, and then
+answered, &quot;I may promise you to do so in safety, madam, for I never
+heard the Duke speak of you but twice, and then it was in high
+praise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed!&quot; she replied. &quot;But still I believe you, for Villequier has
+been assuring me of the contrary, and, of course, what he says must be
+false. He cannot help himself, poor man. Now, tell me what the Duke
+said, Monsieur de Logères. Perhaps I may be able to repay you some
+time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I seek for no bribe, your Majesty,&quot; replied the Count smiling; &quot;and,
+indeed, the honour and the pleasure of this visit----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, nay! You a courtier, young gentleman!&quot; exclaimed the Queen,
+shaking her finger at him. &quot;Another such word as that, and you will
+make me doubt the whole tale.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The speech would not have been so courtier-like, madam, if it had
+been ended,&quot; replied the Count. &quot;I was going to have said, that the
+honour and pleasure of this visit, after not having heard for many
+days, many weeks I believe, the sound of a human voice, or seen any
+other face but that of one attendant, is full repayment for the little
+that I have to tell. However, madam, to gratify you with regard to
+the Duke, the first time that I ever heard him mention you was in the
+city of Rheims, where a number of persons were collected together, and
+many violent opinions were expressed, with which I will not offend
+your ears; your past life was spoken of by some of the gentlemen
+present----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pass over that, pass over that! I understand!&quot; replied the Queen with
+a sarcastic smile; &quot;I understand. But those things are not worth
+speaking of. What of the present, Monsieur de Logères? What of the
+present?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, some one expressed an opinion, madam,&quot; the Count continued,
+&quot;that in order to retain a great share of power, you did every thing
+you could to keep his Majesty in the lethargic and indolent state in
+which I grieve to say he appears to the great mass of his subjects.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What said the Duke?&quot; demanded the Queen. &quot;What said the Duke? surely
+he knows me better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, madam,&quot; replied the Count, &quot;his eye brightened and his colour
+rose, and he replied indignantly that it could not be so. 'Oh no,' he
+said, 'happy had it been for France if, instead of divided power, the
+Queen-mother had possessed the whole power. It is by petty minds
+mingling their leven with their great designs that ruin has come upon
+the land. She has had to deal with great men, great events, and great
+difficulties, and she was equal to deal with, if not to bow them all
+down before her, had she but been permitted to deal with them
+unshackled.'&quot;<a name="div3Ref_04" href="#div3_04"><sup>[4]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed!&quot; exclaimed the Queen; &quot;did he say so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He did, madam, upon my honour,&quot; replied the Count.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know not whether he was right or wrong,&quot; rejoined the Queen
+thoughtfully; &quot;for though perhaps, Monsieur de Logères, I possessed
+in some things the powers of a man--say, if you will, greater powers
+than most men--yet, alas! in others, I had all the weaknesses of a
+woman--perhaps I should say, to balance other qualities, more
+weaknesses than most women. But he must have said more. The answer was
+not pertinent to the remark, and Henry of Guise is not a man either in
+speech or action ever to forget his object.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nor did he in this instance,&quot; replied the Count; &quot;but he said that,
+wearied out with seeing your best and greatest schemes frustrated by
+the weakness of others, you now contented yourself with warding off
+evils as far as possible from your son and from the state; that it was
+evident that such was your policy; and that, like Miron, the King's
+physician, unable from external circumstances to effect a cure, you
+treated the diseases of the times with a course of palliatives; that,
+as the greatest of all evils, you knew and saw the apathy of his
+Majesty, and did all that you could to rouse him, but that the
+poisonous counsels of Villequier, the soft indolence of his own
+nature, and the enfeebling society of Epernon and others, resisted all
+that you could do, and thwarted you here likewise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He spoke wisely, and he spoke truly,&quot; replied the Queen; &quot;and I will
+tell you, Monsieur de Logères, though Henry of Guise and I can never
+love each other much, yet I felt sure that he knew me too well to say
+all those things of me that have been reported by his enemies. I am
+satisfied with what I have heard, Count, and shall ask no further
+questions. But you have given me pleasure, and I will do my best to
+serve you. Once more, let us speak of other things. Have you all that
+you desire and want here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, madam,&quot; replied the young Count. &quot;I want many things--liberty,
+the familiar voices of my friends, the sight of those I love. Every
+thing that the body wants I have; and you or some of your attendants
+have supplied me with books and music; but it is in such a situation
+as this, your Majesty, that one learns that the heart requires food as
+well as the body or the mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The heart!&quot; replied Catharine de Medici thoughtfully. &quot;I once knew
+what the heart was, and I have not quite forgotten it yet. Did you
+mark my words after you had sung, Monsieur de Logères?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You were pleased to praise my poor singing much more than it
+deserved, madam,&quot; replied the young Count.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Something more than that, my good youth,&quot; replied the Queen. &quot;I told
+you that it had given more pleasure than you knew of. I might have
+added, that it gave pleasure to more than you knew of, for there was
+another ear could hear it besides mine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed!&quot; exclaimed the Count gazing eagerly in the Queen's face; &quot;and
+pray who might that be?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One that loves you,&quot; replied Catharine de Medici. &quot;One that loves
+you very well, Monsieur de Logères.&quot; And rising from her chair she put
+her hand to her brow, as if in deep thought. &quot;Well,&quot; she said at
+length; &quot;something must be risked, and I will risk something for
+that purpose. The time is not far distant, Monsieur de Logères--I
+see it clearly--when by some means you will be set at liberty; but,
+notwithstanding that, it may be long before you find such a thing even
+as an hour's happiness. You are a frank and generous man, I believe;
+you will not take advantage of an act of kindness to behave
+ungenerously. I go away from you for a moment or two, and leave that
+door open behind me, trusting to your honour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She waited for no reply, but quitted the room; and Charles of
+Montsoreau stood gazing upon the door, doubtful of what was her
+meaning, and how he was to act. Some of her words might be interpreted
+as a hint to escape; but others had directly a contrary tendency, and
+a moment after he heard her unlock and pass another door, and close
+but not lock it behind her.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_11" href="#div1Ref_11">CHAP. XI.</a></h2>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is her meaning?&quot; demanded Charles of Montsoreau, as he gazed
+earnestly upon the door; and as he thus thought his heart beat
+vehemently, for there was a hope in it which he would not suffer his
+reason to rest upon for a moment, so improbable did it seem, and so
+fearful would be disappointment. &quot;What is her meaning?&quot; And he still
+asked himself the question, as one minute flew by after another, and
+to his impatience it seemed long ere she returned.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But a few minutes elapsed, however, in reality, ere there were steps
+heard coming back, and in another minute Catharine de Medici again
+appeared, saying, &quot;For one hour, remember! For one hour only!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was somebody behind her, and the brightest hope that Charles of
+Montsoreau had dared to entertain was fully realised.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Queen had drawn Marie de Clairvaut forward; and passing out again,
+she closed the door, leaving her alone with her lover. If his heart
+had wanted any confirmation of the deep, earnest, overpowering
+affection which she entertained towards him, it might have been found
+in the manner in which--apparently without the power even to move
+forward, trembling, gasping for breath--she stood before him on so
+suddenly seeing him again, without having been forewarned, after long
+and painful and anxious absence. As he had himself acknowledged, he
+was ignorant in the heart of woman; but love had been a mighty
+instructor, and he now needed no explanation of the agitation that he
+beheld.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Starting instantly forward, he threw his arms around her; and it was
+then, held to his bosom, pressed to his heart, that all Marie de
+Clairvaut's love and tenderness burst forth. Gentle, timid, modest in
+her own nature as she was, love and joy triumphed over all. The agony
+of mind she had been made to suffer, was greater than even he could
+fancy, and the relief of that moment swept away all other thoughts:
+the tears, the happy but agitated tears, flowed rapidly from her eyes;
+but her lips sought his cheek from time to time, her arms clasped
+tenderly round him, and as soon as she could speak, she said, &quot;Oh
+Charles, Charles, do I see you again? Am I, am I held in your arms
+once more; the only one that I have ever loved in life, my saviour, my
+protector, my defender. For days, for weeks, I have not known whether
+you were living or dead. They had the cruelty, they had the barbarity
+not even to let me know whether you had or had not escaped the plague.
+They have kept me in utter ignorance of where you were, of all and of
+every thing concerning you.&quot; And again she kissed his cheek, though
+even while she did so, under the overpowering emotions of her heart,
+the blush of shame came up into her own: and then she hid her eyes
+upon his bosom, and wept once more in agitation but in happiness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As they have acted to you, dearest Marie,&quot; he replied, &quot;as they have
+acted to you, so they have acted to me. The day they separated me from
+you at Epernon, was the last day that I have spoken with any living
+creature up to this morning. No answers have been returned to my
+questions; not a word of intelligence could I obtain concerning your
+fate; and oh, dear, dear Marie, you would feel, you would know how
+terrible has been that state to me, if you could tell how ardently,
+how deeply, how passionately I love you.&quot; And his lips met hers, and
+sealed the assurance there.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know it, I know it all, Charles,&quot; replied Marie. &quot;I know it by what
+I have felt; I know it by what I feel myself, for I believe, I do
+believe, from my very heart, that if it be possible for two people to
+feel exactly alike, we so feel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But tell me, dear Marie, tell me,&quot; exclaimed her lover, &quot;tell me
+where you have been. Have they treated you kindly? Does the Duke of
+Guise know where you are?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Alas, no, Charles!&quot; replied Marie de Clairvaut; &quot;he does not, I
+grieve to say. Well treated indeed I may say that I have been, for all
+that could contribute to my mere comfort has been done for me. Nothing
+that I could desire or wish for, Charles, has been ungiven, and I have
+ever had the society of the good sisters in the neighbouring convent.
+But the society that I love has of course been denied me; and no news,
+no tidings of any kind have reached me. I have lived in short with
+numbers of people surrounding me, as if I were not in the world at
+all, and the moment that I asked a question, a deep silence fell upon
+every one, and I could obtain no reply.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This is strange indeed,&quot; said Charles, &quot;very strange. However, we
+must be grateful that our treatment has been kind indeed in some
+respects.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, and most grateful,&quot; replied Marie de Clairvaut, &quot;for these bright
+moments of happiness. Do you not think, Charles, do you not think,
+that perhaps the Queen may kindly grant us such interviews again?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Who is there that does not know how lovers while away the time? Who is
+there that has not known how short is a lover's hour? But with Charles
+of Montsoreau and Marie de Clairvaut that hour seemed shorter than it
+otherwise would have done; for it was not alone the endearing caress,
+the words, the acknowledgments, the hopes of love, but they had a
+thousand things in the past to tell each other; they had cares and
+fears, and plans and purposes for the future, to communicate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Even had not all shyness, all timidity been done away before, that was
+not a moment in which Marie de Clairvaut could have affected aught
+towards her lover; so that what between tidings of the past and
+thoughts of the future, and the dear dalliance of that spendthrift of
+invaluable moments, love, an envious clock in some church-tower hard
+by, had marked the arrival of the last quarter of an hour they were to
+remain together, ere one tenth part of what they had to think of or to
+say was either thought or said. The sound startled them, and it became
+a choice whether they should give up the brief remaining space to
+serious thoughts of the future, or whether they should yield it all to
+love. Who is it with such a choice before him that ever hesitated
+long?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The space allotted for their interview had drawn near its close, and
+the very scantiness of the period that remained was causing them to
+spend it in regrets that it was not longer, when suddenly the general
+sounds which came from the streets became louder and more loud, as if
+some door or gate had been opened which admitted the noise more
+distinctly. Both Marie de Clairvaut and her lover listened, and almost
+at the same instant loud cries were heard of &quot;The Duke of Guise! The
+Duke of Guise! Long live the Duke of Guise! Long live the great pillar
+of the Catholic church! Long live the House of Lorraine!&quot; And this was
+followed by the noise and trampling of horses, as if entering into a
+court below.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marie and her lover gazed in each other's faces, but she it was that
+first spoke the joyful hopes that were in the heart of both.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He has come to deliver us!&quot; she cried. &quot;Oh Charles, he has come to
+deliver us! Hear how gladly the people shout his well-loved name!
+Surely they will not deceive him, and tell him we are not here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh no, dear Marie,&quot; replied her lover; &quot;he has certain information,
+depend upon it, and will not be easily deceived. He has already
+discovered my abode, dear Marie; and this letter was thrown through
+the window this morning, though I myself know not where we are--that
+is to say, I am well aware that we are now in Paris, but I know not in
+what part of the city.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, that I discovered from one of the nuns,&quot; replied Marie. &quot;We are
+at the house of the Black Penitents, in the Rue St. Denis. I remember
+the outside of it well; a large dark building with only two windows to
+the street. Do you not remember it? You must have seen it in passing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am not so well acquainted with the city as you are, dear Marie,&quot;
+replied Charles of Montsoreau; &quot;but, depend upon it, where they have
+confined me is not in the house of the Black Penitents. It would be a
+violation of the rules of the order which could not be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It communicates with their dwelling,&quot; replied Marie de Clairvaut; &quot;of
+that at least I am certain; for the Queen, when she brought me hither,
+took me not into the open air. She led me indeed through numerous
+passages, one of which, some ten or twelve yards in length, was nearly
+dark, for it had no windows, and was only lighted by the door left
+open behind us. I was then placed in a little room while the Queen
+went on, and a short time after I heard a voice, that made my heart
+beat strangely, begin to sing a song that you once sung at Montsoreau;
+and when I was thinking of you Charles, and all that you had done for
+me--how you had first saved me from the reiters, and then rescued me
+from the deep stream, and had then come to seek me and deliver me in
+the midst of death and pestilence--I was thinking of all these things,
+when Catherine came back, and without telling me what was her
+intention, led me hither.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hark!&quot; cried Charles of Montsoreau. &quot;They shout again. I wonder that
+we have heard no farther tidings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And they both sat and listened for some minutes, but no indication of
+any farther event took place, and they gradually resumed their
+conversation, beginning in a low tone, as if afraid of losing a sound
+from without. Marie de Clairvaut had already told her lover how she
+had remained at Epernon for a day or two under the protection of the
+wife of the Duke, and had been thence brought by her to Paris and
+placed in the convent at a late hour of the evening; but as the time
+wore away, and their hopes of liberation did not seem about to be
+realized, she recurred to the subject of her arrival, saying, &quot;There
+is one thing which makes me almost fear they will deceive him,
+Charles. I forgot to tell you, that as we paused before this building
+on the night that I was brought hither, while the gates were being
+opened by the portress, a horseman rode up to the side of the carriage
+and gazed in. There were torches on the other side held by the
+servants round the gate, and though I could not see that horseman as
+well as he could see me, yet I feel almost sure that it was the face
+of the Abbé de Boisguerin I beheld.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know he was to return to Paris,&quot; said Charles of Montsoreau, &quot;after
+accompanying my brother some part of the way back to the château. But
+fear not him, dear Marie; he has no power or influence here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, but I fear far more wile and intrigue,&quot; cried Marie de Clairvaut,
+&quot;than I do power and influence, Charles. Power is like a lion, bold
+and open; but when once satisfied, injures little; but art is like a
+serpent that stings us, without cause, when we least expect it. But
+hark!&quot; she continued again. &quot;They are once more shouting loudly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Charles of Montsoreau listened also, and the cries, repeated again and
+again, of &quot;Long live the Duke of Guise! Long live the House of
+Lorraine! Long live the good Queen Catherine!<a name="div3Ref_05" href="#div3_05"><sup>[5]</sup></a> Life to the Queen!
+Life to the Queen!&quot; were heard mingled with thundering huzzas and
+acclamations. The heart of the young Count sank, for he judged that
+the Duke had gone forth again amongst the people, and had either
+forgotten his fate altogether in more important affairs, or had been
+deceived by false information regarding himself and Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The cries, which were at first loud and distinct, gradually sunk,
+till first the words could no longer be distinguished; then the
+acclamations became more and more faint, till the whole died away into
+a distant murmur, rising and falling like the sound of the sea beating
+upon a stormy shore. The young Count gazed in the countenance of Marie
+de Clairvaut, and saw therein written even more despairing feelings
+than were in his own heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Fear not, dear Marie,&quot; he said pressing her to his bosom. &quot;Fear not;
+the Duke must know that I am here by this letter: nor is he one to be
+easily deceived. Depend upon it he will find means to deliver us ere
+long.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marie de Clairvaut shook her head with a deep sigh and with her eyes
+filled with tears. But she had not time to reply, for steps were heard
+in the passage, and the moment after the door of the room was opened.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was no longer, however, the figure of Catherine de Medici that
+presented itself, but the homely person and somewhat unmeaning face of
+a good lady, dressed in the habit of a prioress. Behind her, again,
+was a lay-sister, and beside them both the attendant who was
+accustomed to wait upon the young Count. The good lady who first
+appeared looked round the scene that the opening door disclosed to her
+with evident marks of curiosity and surprise; and, indeed, the whole
+expression of her countenance left little doubt that she had never
+been in that place before.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After giving up a minute to her curiosity, however, she turned to
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, saying, &quot;I have been sent by the Queen,
+madam, to conduct you back to your apartments.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let me first ask one question,&quot; replied Marie de Clairvaut. &quot;Has not
+the Duke of Guise been here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The nun answered not a word.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We need no assurance of it, dear Marie,&quot; said Charles of Montsoreau,
+hoping to drive the Prioress to some answer. &quot;We know that he has, and
+must have been deceived in regard to your state and mine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Prioress was still silent; and Marie de Clairvaut, after waiting
+for a moment, added, &quot;If he have been deceived, Charles, woe to those
+who have deceived him. He is not a man to pass over lightly such
+conduct as has been shown to me already.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madam,&quot; said the Prioress, &quot;I have been sent by the Queen to show you
+to your apartments.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was vain to resist or to linger. Marie de Clairvaut gave her hand
+to her lover, and they gazed in each other's faces for a moment with a
+long and anxious glance, not knowing when they might meet again.
+Charles of Montsoreau could not resist; and notwithstanding the
+presence of nun, prioress, and attendant, he drew the fair creature
+whose hand he held in his gently to his bosom, and pressed a parting
+kiss upon her lips.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marie turned away with her eyes full of tears, and leaving her hand in
+his till the last moment, she slowly approached the door. She turned
+for one other look ere she departed, and then, dashing the tears from
+her eyes, passed rapidly out. The door closed behind her, and Charles
+of Montsoreau alone, and almost without hope, buried his face in his
+hands, and gave himself up to think over the sweet moments of the
+past.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_12" href="#div1Ref_12">CHAP. XII.</a></h2>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">It was on the morning of Monday, the 9th of May, 1588, at about half
+past eleven o'clock, that a party, consisting of sixteen horsemen, of
+whom eight were gentlemen and the rest grooms, appeared at the gates
+of Paris. But though each of those eight persons who led the cavalcade
+were strong and powerful men, in the prime of life, highly educated,
+and generally distinguished in appearance, yet there was one on whom
+all eyes rested wherever he passed, and rested with that degree of
+wonder and admiration which might be well called forth by the union of
+the most perfect graces of person, with the appearance of the greatest
+vigour and activity, and with a dignity and beauty of expression which
+breathed not only from the countenance, but from the whole person, and
+shone out in every movement, as well as in every look.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The gates of the city were at this time open, and though a certain
+number of guards were hanging about the buildings on either hand, yet
+no questions were asked of any one who came in or went out of the
+city. The moment, however, that the party we have mentioned appeared,
+and he who was at its head paused for a moment on the inside of the
+gate and gazed round, as if looking for some one that he expected to
+see there, one of the bystanders whispered eagerly to the other, &quot;It
+is the Duke! It is the Duke of Guise!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All hats were off in a moment; all voices cried, &quot;The Duke! The Duke!&quot;
+A loud acclamation ran round the gate, and the people from the small
+houses in the neighbourhood poured forth at the sound, rending the air
+with their acclamations, and pressing forward round his horse with
+such eagerness that it was scarcely possible for him to pass along his
+way. Some kissed his hand, some threw themselves upon their knees
+before him, some satisfied themselves by merely touching his cloak, as
+if it had saintly virtue in it, and still the cry ran on of &quot;The Duke
+of Guise! The Duke of Guise! Long live the Duke of Guise!&quot; while every
+door-way and alley and court-yard poured forth its multitudes, till
+the people seemed literally to crush each other in the streets, and
+all Paris echoed with the thundering acclamations.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After that momentary pause at the gates, the Duke of Guise rode on,
+uncovering his splendid head, and bowing lowly to the people as he
+went. His face had been flushed by exercise when he arrived, but now
+the deep excitement of such a reception had taken the colour from his
+cheek; he was somewhat pale, and his lip quivered with intense
+feeling. But there was a fire in his eye which seemed to speak that
+his heart was conscious of great purposes, and ready to fulfil its
+high emprise; and there was a degree of stern determination on that
+lordly brow, which spoke also the knowledge but the contempt of
+danger, and the resolution of meeting peril and overcoming resistance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus passing on amidst the people, and bowing as he went to their
+repeated cheers, the Duke of Guise reached the convent of the Black
+Penitents, where for the time the Queen-mother had taken up her abode.
+The gates of the outer court into which men were suffered to enter
+were thrown open to admit him; and signifying to such of the crowd as
+were nearest to the gate that they had better not follow him into the
+court, the Duke of Guise rode in with his attendants, and the gates
+were again closed. The servants and the gentlemen who accompanied him
+remained beside their horses in the court, while he alone entered the
+parlour of the convent to speak with the Queen-mother.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She did not detain him an instant, but came in with a countenance on
+which much alarm was painted, either by nature or by art. The Duke at
+once advanced to meet her, and bending low his towering head, he
+kissed the hand which she held out to him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Alas! my Lord of Guise,&quot; she said, &quot;I must not so far falsify the
+truth as to say that I am glad to see you. Glad, most glad should I
+have been to see you, any where but here. But, alas! I fear you have
+come at great peril to yourself, good cousin! You know not how angry
+the minds of men are; you know not how much hostility reigns against
+you in the breasts of many of the highest of the land; you have not
+bethought you, that on every step to the throne there stands an
+enemy----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who shall fall before me, madam,&quot; replied the Duke of Guise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Till you have reached the throne itself, fair cousin?&quot; said the
+Queen-mother.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, madam, no,&quot; answered the Duke of Guise eagerly. &quot;I thought your
+Majesty had known me better. I have always believed that you were one
+of those who felt and understood that I never dreamt of wronging my
+master and my king, or of snatching, as you now hinted, the crown from
+its lawful possessor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I <i>have</i> felt it, and I <i>have</i> understood it, cousin of Guise,&quot;
+replied Catharine de Medici. &quot;But, alas! my Lord, I know how ambition
+grows upon the heart. It begins with an acorn, Guise, but it ends with
+an oak. Those that watch it, the very soil that bears it, perceive not
+its increase; and yet it soon overshadows all things, and root it out
+who can!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madam,&quot; answered the Duke of Guise, boldly, &quot;to follow the figure
+that you have used, the axe soon reduces the oak; and may the axe be
+used on me, and ease me of earth's ambition for ever, if any such
+designs as have been attributed to me exist within my bosom! You see,
+madam, I meet you boldly, look to ultimate consequences of ambitious
+designs, and fear not the result. It is such accusations that I come
+to repel, and it is those who have propagated them, and instilled them
+both into the mind of his Majesty, and, as it would appear, your own,
+that I come to punish. Trusting that, humble though I be, your Majesty
+was the best friend I had at the court of France, I have ridden
+straight hither, without even stopping at my own abode, to beseech you
+to accompany me to the presence of the King.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do believe, cousin of Guise, that I am your best friend at the
+court of France,&quot; replied the Princess. &quot;In fact, I may say, I know
+that none there loves you but myself. Nor must you think that I accuse
+you of actual ambition, or believe the rumours that have been
+circulated against you. I merely wish to warn you of the growth of
+such things in your own bosom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dear madam,&quot; replied the Duke, &quot;had I been ambitious, what might I
+not have become? Here am I simply the Duke of Guise; a poor officer,
+commanding part of the King's troops, and contributing no small part
+of my own to swell his forces; with scarcely a place, a post, a
+government, an emolument, or a revenue, except what I derive from my
+own estates. Am I the most ambitious man in France? Am I so ambitious
+as he who adds, to the government of Metz, the government of Normandy,
+and piles upon that Touraine, Anjou, Saintonge, the Angoumois, seizes
+upon the office of High-admiral, creates himself Colonel-general of
+the Infantry? This, lady, is the ambitious man; but of him you seem to
+entertain no fear.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There are two ambitions, my Lord Duke,&quot; replied the Queen: &quot;the
+ambition which grasps at power, and the ambition which snatches at
+wealth: the moment that ambition mingles itself with avarice, the
+grovelling passion, chained in its own sordid bonds, is no longer to
+be feared. It is where the object is power; where there is a mind to
+conceive the means, and a heart to dare all the risks, that there is
+indeed occasion for apprehension and for precaution. Still, my Lord, I
+believe you; still I believe that the hand of Guise will never be
+raised to pull down the bonnet of Valois. You may strip the minion
+Epernon of the golden plumes with which he has decked his mid-air
+wings, for aught I care or think of; you may cast down the dark and
+plotting Villequier, and sweep the court of apes and parrots, fools
+and villains, and the whole tribe of natural and human beasts, without
+my saying one word to oppose you, or without my dreaming for a moment
+that you aim at higher things; you may even soar higher still, and
+like your great father become at once the guide and the defender of
+the state, and still I will not fear you. But Guise,&quot; she added in a
+softer tone, &quot;I must and will still fear <i>for</i> you; and though I will
+go with you to the King if you continue to demand it, yet I tell you,
+and I warn you, that every step you take is perilous, and that I
+cannot be your safeguard nor your surety for a moment!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madam, I must fulfil my fate,&quot; replied the Duke of Guise looking up.
+&quot;I came here to justify myself; I came here to deliver and to support
+my friends; I came here to secure honour and safety to the Catholic
+Church; and did I know that the daggers of a hundred assassins would
+be in my bosom at the first step I took beyond those gates, I would go
+forth as resolutely as I came hither.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then I must send to announce your coming to the King,&quot; said the
+Queen. &quot;Of course I cannot take you to the Louvre unannounced.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus saying she quitted the room for a moment, and the Duke remained
+behind with his arms crossed upon his bosom in deep thought. She
+returned in a moment, however, saying that she had sent one of her
+gentlemen upon the errand, and the next minute as the gates were
+opened for some one to go out, long and reiterated shouts of &quot;A Guise!
+A Guise! Long live the Guise!&quot; were heard echoing round the building.
+Catharine de Medici smiled and looked at the Duke. &quot;How often have I
+heard,&quot; she said, &quot;those same light Parisian tongues exclaim the name
+of different princes! I remember well, Guise, when first I came from
+my fair native land, how the glad multitude shouted on my way; how all
+the streets were strewed with flowers; and how, if I had believed the
+words I heard, I should have fancied that not a man in all the land
+but would have died to serve me; and yet, not long after, I have heard
+execrations murmured in the throats of the dull multitude while I
+passed by, and the name of Diana of Poitiers echoed through the
+streets. Then have I not heard the names of a Francis and a Henry
+shouted far and wide? and after Jarnac and Moncontour, the heavens
+were scarcely high enough to hold the sounds of his name who now sits
+upon the throne of France. To-day it is Guise they call upon!--Who
+shall it be to-morrow? And then another and another still shall come,
+the object of an hour's love changed into hatred in a moment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is too true, madam,&quot; replied the Duke. &quot;Popularity is the most
+fleeting, the most vacillating--if you will, the most contemptible--of
+all those means and opportunities which Heaven gives us to be made use
+of for great ends. But nevertheless, madam, we must so make use of
+them all; and as this same popularity is one of the briefest of the
+whole, so must we be the more ready, the more prompt, the more decided
+in taking advantage of the short hour of brightness. I may be wrong in
+thinking,&quot; he continued after the pause of a moment or two, &quot;I may be
+wrong in thinking that my well-being and that of the state and church
+of this realm are intimately bound up together. It may be, and
+probably is, a delusion of human vanity. Nevertheless, such being my
+opinion, none can say that I am wrong in taking advantage of the
+moment of my popularity to do the best that I can both for the church
+and for the state. Such, I assure you, madam, is my object; and if I
+benefit myself at all in these transactions, it can be, and shall be,
+but collaterally; while in the mean time I incur perils which I know
+and yet fear not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus went on the conversation between the Queen and the Duke of Guise
+for nearly half an hour, at the end of which time the gentleman who
+had been dispatched to the King returned, bearing his Majesty's reply,
+which was, that since his mother desired it, she might bring the Duke
+of Guise to his presence, and Catherine prepared immediately to set
+out. Her chair was brought round; and after speaking a few words with
+the superior of the convent, she placed herself in the vehicle, the
+Duke of Guise walking by her side. The gentlemen who had come with him
+gave their horses to the grooms, and followed on foot; and several
+servants and attendants ran on before to clear the way through the
+people.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The moment the gates were opened, a spectacle struck the eyes of the
+Queen and the Duke, such as no city in the world perhaps, except
+Paris, could produce. In the short period which had elapsed since the
+Duke's arrival, the news had spread from one end of the capital to the
+other, and the whole of its multitudes were poured out into the
+streets or lining the windows, or crowning the house-tops. With a
+rapidity scarcely to be conceived, scaffoldings had been raised in
+that short space of time in different parts of the streets, to enable
+the multitude to see the Duke better as he passed<a name="div3Ref_06" href="#div3_06"><sup>[6]</sup></a>; in many places,
+velvets and rich tapestries were hung out upon the fronts of the
+houses, as if some solemn procession of the church were taking place;
+the ladies of the higher classes at the windows, or on their
+scaffolds, were generally without the masks which they usually wore in
+the streets; and again, when the gates of the convent opened, and the
+Queen and the Duke issued forth, the air seemed actually rent with the
+acclamations of the people, and a long line of waving hats and
+handkerchiefs was seen all the way up the Rue St. Denis.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The same gratulations as before met the Duke on every side as he
+passed along; the populace seemed absolutely inclined to worship him,
+and many threw themselves upon their knees as he passed. He looked
+round upon the dense mass of people, upon the crowded houses, upon the
+waving hands; he heard from every tongue a welcome, at every step a
+gratulation, and it was impossible for the heart of man not to feel at
+that moment a pride and a confidence fit to bear him strongly on his
+perilous way.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All the way down the Rue St. Denis, and through every other street
+that he passed, the same scene presented itself, the same acclamations
+followed him, so that the shouts thundered in the ear of the King as
+he sat in the Louvre.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At length the Queen and those who accompanied her approached the
+palace; and in the open space before it, which was at that time railed
+off, was drawn up a long double line of guards, forming a lane through
+which it was necessary to pass to the gates. The well-known Crillon,
+celebrated for his determination and bravery, was at their head; and
+the Duke of Guise, obliged to pause in order to suffer the chair of
+the Queen-mother to pass on first, bowed to the commander, whom he
+knew and respected.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Crillon scarcely returned his salutation, but looked frowning along
+the double row of his soldiery. The people, close by the railings,
+watched every movement, and a murmur of something like apprehension
+for their favourite ran through them as they watched these signs. But
+not a moment's pause marked the slightest hesitation in the Duke of
+Guise. With his head raised and his eyes flashing, he drew forward the
+hilt of his unconquered sword ready for his hand, and holding the
+scabbard in his left, strode after the chair of the Queen till the
+gates of the Louvre closed upon him and his train.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A number of officers and gentlemen were waiting in the vestibule to
+receive the Queen-mother, who however gave her hand to the Duke of
+Guise to assist her from her chair. On him they gazed with eyes of
+wonder and of scrutiny, as if they would fain have discovered what
+feelings were in the heart of one so hated and dreaded by the King, at
+a moment when he stood with closed doors within a building filled with
+his enemies, and surrounded by soldiers ready to massacre him at a
+word. But the fire which the menacing look of Crillon had brought into
+the eyes of the Duke had now passed away, and all was calm dignity and
+easy though grave self-possession. The eye wandered not round the
+hall; the lip, though not compressed, was firm and motionless, except
+when he smiled in saluting some of those around whom he knew, or in
+speaking a few words to the Queen-mother, whose dress had become
+somewhat entangled with a mantle of sables which she had worn in the
+chair.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as it was detached, one of the officers of the household said,
+bowing low, &quot;His Majesty has commanded me, Madam, to conduct you and
+his Highness of Guise to the chamber of her Majesty the Queen, where
+he waits your coming.&quot; And he led the way up the stairs of the Louvre
+to the somewhat extraordinary audience chamber which the King had
+selected.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Henry, when the party entered, was sitting near the side of the bed,
+surrounded by several of his officers, one of whom, Alphonzo d'Ornano
+by name, whispered something over the King's shoulder with his eyes
+fixed upon the Duke of Guise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The words, which were, &quot;Do you hold him for your friend or your
+enemy?&quot; were spoken in such a tone as almost to reach the Duke
+himself. The King did not reply, but looked up at the Duke with a
+frown that was quite sufficient.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Speak but the word,&quot; said Ornano in a lower tone, &quot;speak but the
+word, and his head shall be at your feet in a minute.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The King measured Ornano and the Duke of Guise with his eyes, then
+shook his head with somewhat of a scornful smile; and then, looking up
+to the Duke, who had by this time come near him, he said in a dull
+heavy tone, &quot;What brings you here, my cousin?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My Lord,&quot; replied the Duke, &quot;I have found it absolutely necessary to
+present myself before your Majesty, in order to repel numerous
+calumnies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stay, cousin of Guise,&quot; said the King; and turning to Bellievre, who
+stood amongst the persons behind him, he demanded abruptly, &quot;Did you
+not tell me that he would not come to Paris?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My Lord Duke,&quot; exclaimed Bellievre, not replying directly to the
+King's question, but addressing the Duke, &quot;did not your Highness
+assure me that you would delay your journey till I returned?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, Monsieur de Bellievre,&quot; replied the Duke. &quot;But you did not
+return.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But I wrote you two letters, your Highness,&quot; replied Bellievre,
+&quot;reiterating his Majesty's commands for you not to come to Paris.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Those letters,&quot; replied the Duke of Guise, with a bitter smile, &quot;like
+some other letters which have been written to me upon important
+occasions, have, from some cause, failed to reach my hands.
+Nevertheless, Sire, believe me when I tell you, that my object in
+coming is solely to prove to your Majesty that I am not guilty either
+of the crimes or the designs which base and grasping men have laid to
+my charge. Believe me, that after my devotion to God and our holy
+religion, there is no one whom I am so anxious to serve zealously and
+devotedly as your Majesty. This you will find ever, Sire, if you will
+but give me the opportunity of rendering you any service.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The King was about to reply, but the Queen-mother, who had advanced
+and stood by his side, touched his arm saying, &quot;You have not yet
+spoken to me, my son.&quot; And the King turning towards her, she added
+something in a low voice. The King replied in the same tone; and the
+Duke of Guise, passing through the midst of the frowning faces ranged
+around the royal seat, approached the Queen-consort, the mild and
+unhappy Louisa, and addressed a few words to her of reverence and
+respect which were gratifying to her ear. He then turned once more to
+the King, who seemed to have heard what Catharine de Medici had
+to say, and having given his reply, sat in moody silence. The
+Queen-mother stood by with some degree of apprehension in her
+countenance, as if feeling very doubtful still how the affair would
+terminate. The brows of the courtiers were gloomy and undecided, and
+the few followers of the Duke of Guise ranged at some distance from
+the spot to which he had now advanced, kept their eyes fixed either on
+him or on those surrounding the King, as if, at the least menacing
+movement, they were ready to start forward in defence of their leader.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The only one that was perfectly calm was Guise himself; but he,
+retreading his steps till he stood opposite the King, again addressed
+the Monarch saying, &quot;I hope, Sire, that you will give me a full
+opportunity of justifying myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your conduct, cousin of Guise,&quot; replied the King, &quot;must best justify
+you for the past; and I shall judge by the event, of your intentions
+for the future.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let it be so,&quot; replied the Duke, &quot;and such being the case, I will
+humbly take my leave of your Majesty, wishing you, from my heart,
+health and happiness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus saying he once more bowed low, and retired from the presence of
+the King, followed by the gentlemen who had accompanied him. Not an
+individual of the palace stirred a step to conduct him on his way,
+though his rank, his services, his genius, and his vast renown,
+rendered the piece of neglect they showed disgraceful to themselves
+rather than injurious to him. He was accompanied from the gates of the
+Louvre, however, and followed to the Hôtel de Guise, by an infinite
+number of people, who ceased not for one moment to make the streets
+ring with their acclamations.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nor were these by any means composed entirely of the lowest classes of
+the people, the least respectable, or the least well-informed. On the
+contrary, it must, alas! be said, that the great majority of all that
+was good, upright, and noble in the city hailed his coming loudly as a
+security and a safeguard.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A number, an immense number, of the inferior nobility of the realm
+were mingled with the crowd that followed him, or joined the acclaim
+from the windows. The robes of the law were seen continually in the
+dense multitude, and almost all the courts had there numbers of their
+principal members; while the municipal officers of the city, with the
+exception of two or three, were there in a mass, accompanied by a
+large body of the most opulent and respectable merchants.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus followed, the Duke of Guise proceeded to his hotel on foot as he
+came, speaking from time to time with those who pressed near him with
+that peculiar grace which won all hearts, and smiling with the
+far-famed smile of his race, which was said never to fall upon any man
+without making him feel as if he stood in the sunshine.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Already collected on the steps of the Hôtel de Guise, at the news that
+he was returning from the Louvre, was a group of the brightest, the
+bravest, the most talented, and the most beautiful of the French
+nobility,--Madame de Montpensier, Mademoiselle de St. Beuve, the
+Chevalier d'Aumale, Brissac, and a thousand others. The servants and
+attendants of his household in gorgeous dresses kept back the crowd
+with courteous words and kindly gestures; and when he reached the
+steps that led to the high doorway of the porter's lodge, on the right
+of the porte cochère, he ascended a little way amongst his gratulating
+friends, and then turned and bowed repeatedly to the people, pointing
+out here and there some of the most popular of the citizens and
+magistrates, and whispering a word to the nearest attendant, who
+instantly made his way through the crowd to the spot where the
+personage designated stood, and in his master's name requested that he
+would come in and take some refreshment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When this was over, he again bowed and retired; and while the
+multitude separated, he walked on into his lordly halls with a number
+of persons clinging round him, whom he had not seen for months--for
+months which to him had been full of activity, thought, care, and
+peril, and to them of anxiety for the head of their race.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As he passed along, however, to a chamber where the dinner which had
+been prepared for him had remained untouched for many an hour, his eye
+fell upon a boy dressed in the habit of one of his own pages; and
+taking suddenly a step forward, he called the boy apart into a window,
+demanding eagerly, &quot;Well, have you found your master?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have, your Highness,&quot; replied the boy, &quot;and have found means to
+give him the letter?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What!&quot; exclaimed the Duke, &quot;outwitted Villequier, and Pisani, and
+all! The wit of a page against that of a politician for a thousand
+crowns!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I dressed myself as a girl, your Highness,&quot; replied the boy, &quot;and got
+into the convent, and then through a gate into what is called the
+rector's court, where Doctor Botholph and the Curé live, and where men
+are admitted, and women not shut out when they like to go in; and I
+got talking to the old verger of the church by the side, and he called
+me a pretty little fool, and said he dared to say I would soon be
+among the penitents within there; and with that I got him to tell me
+every thing, and the whole story of the young Count being brought
+there at night, and shut up in what are called the rector's
+apartments.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As he spoke, one or two of the higher class of those whom the Duke had
+selected from the crowd below, and who felt themselves privileged to
+present themselves in his private apartments, entered the hall, and
+instantly caught his eye.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I cannot speak with you more at present, Ignati,&quot; he said, &quot;nor,
+perhaps, during the whole day, for there is business of life and death
+before me; but come to me while I am rising to-morrow, and only tell
+me in the mean time where our poor Logères is, for I know not what
+convent you mean.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He is in the rector's court,&quot; replied the boy, &quot;close by the convent
+of the Black Penitents, in the Rue St. Denis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;By my faith!&quot; exclaimed the Duke in no slight surprise, &quot;I have been
+there this very day myself, and there the Queen-mother has made her
+abode for the last ten days. She must be deceiving me; and yet,
+perhaps, the mighty matters that occupied her mind when I saw her
+might have made her forget all other things. However, Logères shall
+not be long so fettered. Come to me to-morrow, Ignati; come to me
+to-morrow, as I am rising; and in the mean time, if you can find some
+means of giving the Count intimation that he is not forgotten, it were
+all the better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will try, my Lord,&quot; replied the boy. And the Duke hurried on to
+welcome his new guests, making them sit down at table with him, and
+covering them with every sort of honour and distinction.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_13" href="#div1Ref_13">CHAP. XIII.</a></h2>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">In our dealings with each other there is nothing which we so much
+miscalculate as the ever varying value of time, and indeed it is but
+too natural to look upon it as it seems to us, and not as it seems to
+others. The slow idler on whose head it hangs heavy, holds the man of
+business by the button, and remorselessly robs him on the king's
+highway of a thing ten times more valuable than the purse that would
+hang him if he took it. The man of action and of business whose days
+seem but moments, forgets in his dealing with the long expecting
+applicant, and the weary petitioner, that to them each moment is far
+longer than his day.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The hours, not one minute of which were unfilled to the Duke of Guise,
+passed slowly over the head of Charles of Montsoreau, and it seemed as
+if the brief gleam of happiness which had come across his path had but
+tended to make the long solitary moments seem longer and more dreary;
+in fact, to give full and painful effect to solitude and want of
+liberty, and yet he would not have lost that gleam for all the world.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He thought of it, he dwelt upon it, he called to mind each and every
+particular; and, though it was crossed, as the memory of all such
+brief meetings are, with the recollection of a thousand things which
+he could have wished to have said, but which he had forgotten, and
+also by many a speculation of a painful kind concerning the visit of
+the Duke of Guise to the very place in which he was confined, without
+the slightest effort being made for his liberation, yet it was a
+consolation and a happiness and a joy to him--one of those blessings
+which have been stamped by the past with the irrevocable seal of
+enjoyment, which are our own, the unalienable jewels of our fate, held
+for ever in the treasury of memory.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nothing occurred through the rest of the day to call his attention, or
+to rouse his feelings. He heard the distant murmur, and the shouts of
+the people from time to time; but the gates were now shut, and the
+sounds dull, and all passed on evenly till darkness shut up the world.
+In the mean time he knew--as if to make his state of imprisonment and
+inactivity more intolerable--that busy actions were taking place
+without, that his own fate was deciding by the hands of others, that
+his happiness and that of Marie de Clairvaut formed but a small matter
+in the great bulk of political affairs which were then being weighed
+between the two angry parties in the capital, and might be tossed into
+this scale or that, as accident, or convenience, or policy might
+direct.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Though he retired to rest as usual, he slept not, and ever and anon
+when a sort of half slumber fell upon his eyes he started up, thinking
+he heard some sound, a distant shout of the people, the tolling of a
+bell, or the roll of some far off drum. Nothing however occurred, and
+the night passed over as the day.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the grey of the morning, however, just when the slow creaking of a
+gate, or the noise of footsteps here and there breaking the previous
+stillness, told that the world was beginning to awake, a few sweet
+notes suddenly met his ear like those of a musical instrument, and in
+a moment after he heard the same air which the boy Ignati had played
+with such exquisite skill just before he freed him from his Italian
+masters.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A blessing be upon that boy,&quot; he cried, as he instantly recognised
+not only the sounds but the touch. &quot;He has come to tell me that I am
+not forgotten.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Suddenly, however, before the air was half concluded, the music
+stopped, and voices were heard speaking, but not so loud that the
+words could be distinguished. It seemed to the young Count, and seemed
+truly, that some one had sent the boy away; but though he heard no
+more, those very sounds had given him hope and comfort.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Driven away by the old verger, who had now discovered the trick which
+had been put upon him the day before, the boy returned with all speed
+to the Hôtel de Guise, and, according to the Duke's order, presented
+himself in his chamber at the hour of his rising. But the Duke was
+already surrounded with people, all eager to speak with him on
+different affairs, and his brow was evidently dark and clouded by some
+news that he had just heard.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Send round,&quot; he was saying as the boy entered, &quot;Send round speedily
+to all the inns, and let those who are known for their fidelity be
+informed that the doors of this hotel will never be shut against any
+of those who have come to Paris for my service, or for that of the
+church, as long as there is a chamber vacant within. And you, my good
+Lords,&quot; he continued, turning to some of the gentlemen who surrounded
+him, &quot;I must call upon your hospitality, also, to provide lodging for
+these poor friends of ours, whom this new and iniquitous proceeding of
+the court is likely to drive from Paris. But stay, Bussi,&quot; he
+continued, and his eye fell upon the page as he spoke; &quot;you say you
+saw the Prévôt des Marchands but a minute ago in the Rue d'Anvoye
+seeking out the lodgers in the inns, and ordering them to quit Paris
+immediately. Hasten down after him quickly, and tell him from Henry of
+Guise that there is a very dangerous prisoner and a zealous servant of
+the church lodged in the Rue St. Denis; that he had better drive him
+forth also; and that, if he wants direction to the place where he
+sojourns, one of my pages shall lead him thither. You may add,
+moreover, that if he do not drive him forth, I will bring him forth
+before the world be a day older.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke of Guise then took the pen from the ink which was standing
+before him, and, though not yet half-dressed, wrote hastily the few
+following words to the Queen-mother:--</p>
+<br>
+
+<p style="text-indent:10%">&quot;<span class="sc">Madam</span>,</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am informed, on authority which I cannot doubt, that my friend, the
+young Count de Logères, is at present in your hands, kept under
+restraint in the Rue St. Denis, after having been arrested in the
+execution of business with which I charged him, while bearing a
+passport from the King. I beseech you to set him immediately at
+liberty, and also at once to order that my niece and ward,
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, be brought to the Hôtel de Guise without an
+hour's delay. Let me protest to your Majesty that you have not a more
+faithful and devoted servant than</p>
+
+<p class="right">&quot;<span class="sc">Henry of Guise</span>.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will not send this by you, Ignati,&quot; said the Duke; &quot;they would
+laugh at a boy. Here, Mestroit, bear this to the Queen-mother.
+Say I cast myself at her feet; and bring me back an answer without
+delay.--Why, how now, St. Paul!&quot; he continued, turning to a gentleman
+who had just entered. &quot;Your brow is as dark as a thunder-cloud. What
+has happened now? Shall we be obliged to make our hotel our fortress,
+and defend it to the last, like gallant men?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not so, my Lord,&quot; replied the Count of St. Paul; &quot;not near so bad as
+that: but still these are times that make men look thoughtful; and,
+depend upon it, the King, aided by his minions and the Politics<a name="div3Ref_07" href="#div3_07"><sup>[7]</sup></a>, is
+seeking to inclose your Highness, as it were in a net.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We will break through, St. Paul! We will break through!&quot; replied the
+Duke with a smile. &quot;But what are your tidings?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, that orders have been sent to the Swiss to come up from Corbeil,
+as well as those from Meulan and Château Thierry; also the companies
+of French guards from every quarter in the neighbourhood are called
+for, and I myself saw come in, by the Faubourg St. Germain, a body of
+two hundred horse, which, upon inquiry, I found to be a new levy from
+some place in the South, led by a young Marquis of Montsoreau, whose
+name I never heard of before.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Whenever you hear it again, St. Paul,&quot; replied the Duke sternly,
+&quot;couple with it the word 'Traitor!' and you will do him justice. But
+what force is it said they are bringing into Paris? What stay you for,
+Mestroit?&quot; he continued, seeing that the gentleman to whom he had
+given the letter had not taken his departure. &quot;What stay you for? I
+would have had you there now. Go with all speed! There are horses
+enough saddled in the court. I would give a thousand crowns that
+letter should be in the Queen's hand before this youth's coming is
+known to her. It may save us much trouble hereafter. Fail not to bring
+me an answer quick. Now, St. Paul, how many men say you on your best
+judgment are they bringing into Paris?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, your Highness,&quot; replied the Count, &quot;some say ten thousand; but,
+to judge more moderately from what I hear, the moment your Highness's
+arrival in Paris was known, orders were sent for the march of full
+seven thousand men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We must be very formidable creatures, Brissac,&quot; cried the Duke, &quot;that
+my coming with seven of you should need seven thousand men to meet us.
+On my soul, they will make me think myself a giant. I always thought I
+was a tall man--some six foot three, I believe--but, by Heavens! I
+must be a Gargantua, indeed, to need seven thousand men to hold me.
+Seven thousand men!&quot; he added thoughtfully: &quot;he has not got them, St.
+Paul. There are not five thousand within fifty miles of Paris, unless
+Epernon and Villequier have contrived to raise more of such
+Montsoreaus against us. However, we must have eyes in all quarters.
+Send out parties to watch the coming of the troops and give us their
+numbers. Let some one speak to the inferior officers of the French
+guards, and remind them that the Duke of Guise and the Holy League are
+only striving for the maintenance of the true faith, and for the
+overthrow of those minions who have swallowed up all the honours and
+favours of the crown. It were well also, Brissac, that a good watch
+was kept upon the proceedings in the city. I can trust, methinks, to
+The Sixteen to do all that is necessary in their different quarters,
+and to make full reports of all that takes place; but still a military
+eye were as well here and there, from time to time, Brissac, and I
+will trust that to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The rest of the morning passed in the same incessant activity with
+which it had begun; tidings were constantly brought in from all parts
+of the town and the country round concerning every movement on the
+part of the court; and the hotel of the Duc de Guise was literally
+besieged by his followers and partisans. Train after train of noblemen
+and officers, of lawyers and citizens, followed each other during the
+whole day, each bringing him information, or claiming audience on some
+account. Nor were the clergy less numerous; for scarce a parish in the
+capital but sent forth, in the course of that day, its train of
+priests and monks to congratulate him on his arrival, or to beseech
+him to hold up the tottering church of France with a strong hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the same time, the order which had been given by the King in the
+morning, for every stranger not domiciled in Paris to quit it within
+six hours, and the proceedings of the Prévôt des Marchands to execute
+that order had--by driving out of the inns and taverns the multitudes
+of the Duke's partisans who had followed him in scattered bodies into
+Paris--now filled the Hôtel de Guise with all those of the higher
+classes who were thus expelled. The houses of other members of the
+faction received the rest. But the stables of the hotel were all
+filled to the doors; the great court itself could scarcely be crossed,
+on account of the number of horses; and more than once the street
+became impassable from the multitude of carriages, chairs, horses, and
+attendants, who were waiting while their masters conferred with the
+Duke.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was near mid-day when the gentleman who had been dispatched to
+Catharine de Medici again presented himself; and the Duke demanded,
+somewhat impatiently, what had detained him so long.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was the Queen-mother, your Highness,&quot; replied Mestroit. &quot;More than
+an hour passed before I could obtain an audience; and when I was
+admitted to present your Highness's letter, I found Monsieur de
+Villequier with her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did she show the letter to that son of Satan?&quot; demanded the Duke.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, sir,&quot; replied the other; &quot;on the contrary, she seemed not to wish
+that he should see it, for she kept it tight in her hand after she had
+read it, and told me to wait a moment, that she would give me an
+answer directly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I would sooner unriddle the enigma of the sphynx,&quot; said the Duke,
+&quot;than I would say from what motive any one of that woman's acts
+proceed; and yet she has a great mind, and a heart not altogether so
+vicious as it seems. What happened then, Mestroit?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, my Lord, Villequier seemed anxious to know what the letter
+contained, and I saw his head a little raised, and his eyes turned
+quietly towards it while she was reading, as I have seen a cat regard
+a mouse-hole towards which she was stealing upon tiptoes; and he
+lingered long, and seem inclined to stay. The Queen, however, begged
+him not to forget the orders she had given, but to execute them
+instantly; and then he went away. When he was gone, the Queen again
+read your Highness's letter, and replied at first, 'The Duke asks what
+is not in my power. Tell my noble cousin of Guise that he has been
+misinformed; that I hold none of his friends in my power--' Then,
+after a moment, she bade me wait, and she would see what persuasion
+would do?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She must not think to deceive me!&quot; replied the Duke of Guise. &quot;But
+what more?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She went away,&quot; replied the gentleman, &quot;and was absent for full two
+hours, leaving me there alone, with nothing to amuse me but the pages
+and serving women that came and looked at me from time to time as at a
+tiger in a cage. At length she came back, and bade me tell your
+Highness these exact words: 'My cousin has been misinformed. I have
+none of his people in my hands, or in my power. The Count of Logères,
+however, shall be set free before eight and forty hours are over. He
+may be set free to-morrow; but by leaving him for a few hours more
+where he is, I trust to accomplish for the Duke that which he demands
+concerning his ward, although I have no power whatever in the matter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is nothing upon earth,&quot; said the Duke thoughtfully, &quot;so
+convenient as to have the reality without the name of power. We have
+the pleasure without the reproach! Catharine de Medici has not the
+power!--Who then has?--I may have the power also, it is true, to right
+myself and those who attach themselves to me; and in this instance I
+will use it. But still it were better to wait the time she states; for
+I know her fair Majesty well, and she never yields any thing without a
+delay, to make what she grants seem more important:--and yet, the day
+after to-morrow--the day after to-morrow--who shall say what may be,
+ere the day after to-morrow comes? This head may be lowly in the dust
+ere then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Or circled with the crown of France,&quot; said the Count de St. Paul.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;God forbid!&quot; exclaimed the Duke earnestly. If I thought that it would
+ever produce a scheme to wrest the sceptre from the line that
+rightfully holds it, I would bear it to-morrow to the foot of the
+throne, myself, as my own accuser. No, no! bad kings may die or be
+deposed: but there is still some one on whose brow the crown descends
+by right. And let him have it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Cardinal of Bourbon, your Highness,&quot; said an attendant entering,
+&quot;has just arrived from Soissons. His Eminence is upon the stairs coming
+up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A smile played over the lips of most of the persons present at such an
+announcement at that moment, for every one well knew that it was to
+the old Cardinal de Bourbon that the party of the League looked, as
+the successor to the crown on the death of Henry III., to the
+exclusion of the direct line of Navarre, held to be incapable of
+succeeding on account of religion. The Duke, however, advanced
+immediately with open arms to meet the Cardinal, and many hours were
+passed in long conferences between them and the principal officers and
+supporters of the League.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the end of that time, however, towards seven o'clock, a message was
+brought into the room where they were in consultation, from Monsieur
+de Sainctyon, a well-known adherent of the League, begging earnestly
+to speak with the Duke upon matters of deep importance. On the Duke
+going out, he found the worthy Leaguer in a state of great excitement
+and agitation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My Lord,&quot; he said, as soon as Guise appeared in the room where he had
+been left alone, &quot;I fear that they are busily labouring, at the
+palace, for the destruction of your Highness and of the Holy League.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How so, Monsieur de Sainctyon?&quot; demanded the Duke, who entertained
+doubts, it seems, of the Leaguer's sincerity, which were never wholly
+removed. &quot;Some of my friends have just returned from the palace, who
+tell me that all is as still and quite as the inside of a vault.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They told your Highness also, I hope,&quot; said the Leaguer, &quot;that they
+had trebled the guard, both Swiss and French.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, I was informed of that,&quot; replied the Duke. &quot;But that shows fear,
+not daring, Monsieur de Sainctyon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps so, my Lord,&quot; replied Sainctyon, who was one of the échevins,
+or sheriffs of the town; &quot;but perhaps not. However, what I have now to
+tell, shows more daring than fear. We were summoned this afternoon at
+five o'clock to the Hôtel de Ville, where we found not only Pereuse,
+the Prévôt, and Le Comte, who is worse than a Politic, and half a
+Huguenot, but the Marquis d'O----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who is worse,&quot; said the Duke of Guise, &quot;than minion, or Politic, or
+Huguenot, or reiter, equally foul in his debaucheries and his
+peculations; equally impudent in his vices and his follies; fit
+son-in-law of Villequier; well-chosen master of the wardrobe to the
+King of France! Who was there besides, Monsieur de Sainctyon? Some
+expedient infamy was of course to be committed, otherwise d'O----
+would not have been there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There were a number of captains and colonels of the different
+quarters,&quot; replied Sainctyon, well pleased to see that the Duke now
+felt the importance of his intelligence, &quot;and the Prévôt and Le Comte
+began to speak what seemed to me at first simple nonsense, in a
+confused way, saying, that it was necessary to keep guard in a very
+different manner in Paris from that which we were accustomed to use,
+for that your coming had excited the minds of the people, and that
+there was hourly danger of a revolt, and that it would be better for
+all the captains to meet with their companies together in some
+particular place, in order to see to the matter. But I replied, that
+nothing could be more dangerous than that which was proposed, for that
+the companies of armed citizens would be much better as usual, each in
+its separate quarter, taking care of that quarter, rather than meeting
+altogether in one large body of armed men, which was likely to cause a
+tumult immediately. A number of the other colonels cried out the same
+thing; but then Monsieur d'O---- cut us all short, saying, 'Give me
+none of your reasons, gentlemen. What the Prévôt has stated to you is
+the will of the King, and he <i>must</i> be obeyed. The place of your
+meeting is the Cemetery of the Innocents, and there you are all
+expected to be with your companies at nine o'clock this evening.' Now,
+my Lord, I have come to your Highness, by the authority of all the
+other colonels in whom we can trust, for counsel and direction in this
+business, assuring you that we have heard it is the intention of the
+Court to pick out from amongst us thus assembled six or seven of your
+most zealous friends and supporters, and execute them early to-morrow
+in the Place de Grève.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Duke paused and thought for a moment ere he replied; but he then
+said, &quot;I thank you most sincerely, Monsieur de Sainctyon, for the
+intelligence you have brought me. You are mistaken, however, with
+regard to what are the intentions of the Court, as you will see in one
+moment. The large body of men in arms which you will have with you
+when all assembled together, trebles the number of any force in Paris,
+so that the least attempt to do you wrong at that moment would be a
+signal for the overthrow of the monarchy. On the contrary, Monsieur de
+Sainctyon, I believe the thus calling you together in one place has
+solely for its object to remove you from the quarters where your
+presence would be useful in opposition to the iniquitous proceedings
+of your enemies. To arrest somebody--perhaps myself--is doubtless the
+object of these persons; and if you would follow my advice, the course
+you pursue would be this,--to meet as you have been ordered by the
+King, having first communicated all the facts to the persons under
+your command whom you can trust. Some one will come to bring you
+farther orders, depend upon it; find out what those orders are, and
+let them instantly be communicated to me; but on no account or
+consideration suffer yourselves to be kept together in one place. On
+the contrary, as soon as you have discovered as far as possible what
+the designs of your enemies are, lead your companies to their
+different quarters, or wherever you may think best to station them. If
+you want any farther assistance, send hither; and I will dispatch
+experienced officers to take counsel with you as to what is to be
+done. I hope your opinion coincides with mine, Monsieur de Sainctyon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your words always carry conviction with them, my Lord,&quot; replied the
+sheriff; &quot;and I will instantly proceed to obey you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus saying he took his leave, and quitted the Duke, hastening with
+the rest of the officers of the city to arm himself cap-a-pie, and
+present himself with the burgher guard in the Cemetery of the
+Innocents at the appointed hour. When that hour arrived, every thing
+through the rest of the city was dark and silent, and but little light
+shone from the dim lanterns round the Cemetery upon the dark masses of
+armed men that now surrounded it. The officers commanding them looked
+in each other's faces, as if expecting that some one amongst them had
+orders in regard to what they were farther to do, but for several
+minutes no one announced himself as empowered to direct them, and they
+had even proposed to separate, when the sheriff Le Comte arrived on
+horseback at great haste from the side of the Louvre. Having called
+the colonels of the quarters together he said, &quot;The King, having been
+informed that this night an enterprise is to be undertaken against his
+authority by his enemies, trusts entirely to his citizens of Paris for
+the defence of the capital, and consequently commands you, in order to
+have a strong point of resistance, to occupy this Cemetery, of which I
+have here the keys, till to-morrow morning. All the gates will be shut
+except one wicket, and in a very short time the Marquis de Beauvais
+Nangis, an experienced officer, will be sent down by the King to
+command you.&quot;<a name="div3Ref_08" href="#div3_08"><sup>[8]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">A murmur ran through the officers and through the men, who, as Le
+Comte spoke loud, heard every word that passed; but an old captain of
+one of the quarters burst forth, a moment after, exclaiming, &quot;What,
+shut myself up there, as if in a prison? They must think me mad! Not
+I, indeed, for any of them! I have nothing to do with you, Monsieur le
+Comte, nor with any of you, except with the inhabitants of my own
+quarter, and there I shall go directly. Those may go and shut
+themselves up with you that like. Come, my men; march! Who gave
+Beauvais Nangis a right to command me, I should like to know? Not the
+citizens of Paris, I'm sure: so those may obey him that like him.&quot; And
+putting himself at the head of his men, he marched out, followed by
+almost all the other companies except one or two, who suffered
+themselves to be persuaded to enter into the Cemetery, where they were
+locked up by Le Compte, to await whatever fate might befall them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the mean time the other officers of the burgher guard held a
+consultation together, and determined, instead of proceeding
+immediately to their different quarters to occupy the principal points
+of the city, where they fancied that attempts might be made upon the
+life or liberty of the chiefs of the League. The avenues to the Hôtel
+de Guise were strongly guarded, the Rue St. Denis was patrolled by a
+large party, two companies occupied the Rue St. Honoré, and the
+utility of these precautions was strongly demonstrated ere they had
+been long taken.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Before midnight the sound of horses was heard by the two companies in
+the Rue St. Honoré, and in a moment after appeared the Marquis
+d'O----, with as many horse arquebusiers as could be spared from the
+palace. The citizens stood to their arms and barred the way, and
+d'O----, never very famous for his courage, demanded, in evident
+trepidation and surprise, what they did there, when they had been
+ordered to be in the Cemetery of the Innocents?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We came here to do our duty to our fellow-citizens,&quot; replied the same
+old captain who had spoken before, &quot;and to guard our houses and our
+property, for which purpose we are enrolled.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, well, you are right,&quot; replied the Marquis, evidently confounded
+and undecided; and turning his horse's rein he rode back by the same
+way he came, showing evidently that he had been bound upon some
+attempt which had been frustrated.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">About the same time the party in the Rue St. Denis had been drawn
+towards the further end by the noise of horses and the light of
+torches; and on advancing they found a number of men on horseback, and
+a vacant carriage, with two lights before it, just halting at the
+Convent of the Black Penitents. The good citizens, however, were in an
+active and interfering mood, and they determined to inquire into an
+occurrence which otherwise would have passed over without the
+slightest notice. The horsemen, however, did not wait for many
+questions; but, evidently as much surprised and embarrassed as the
+Marquis d'O----, turned their horses' heads, and made the best of
+their way out of the street.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>FOOTNOTES</h3>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div3_01" href="#div3Ref_01">Footnote 1</a>: All these charges were but too true.</p>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div3_02" href="#div3Ref_02">Footnote 2</a>: One or two of these houses with barriers were still
+existing in Paris not many years ago.</p>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div3_03" href="#div3Ref_03">Footnote 3</a>: The word Monseigneur, my Lord, which in the days of Louis
+XIV. had become restricted to a very few high dignitaries, or only
+given to other noblemen by their own servants and tenantry, was in the
+reign of Henry III. commonly used to all high noblemen, and we find
+constantly titles addressed <i>A mon tres illustre et tres honoré
+Seigneur le Marquis</i>; or, <i>A l'illustre Seigneur, Monseigneur le Comte
+de</i> ----.</p>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div3_04" href="#div3Ref_04">Footnote 4</a>: Such was undoubtedly the expressed opinion of the Duke of
+Guise.</p>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div3_05" href="#div3Ref_05">Footnote 5</a>: The progress of the Duke of Guise and the Queen-mother,
+from the convent of the Penitents to the Louvre, was in triumph. &quot;Il y
+en avoit,&quot; says Auvigny, &quot;qui se mettoient à genoux devant lui,
+d'autres lui baisoient les mains; quelques uns se trouvèrent trop
+heureux de pouvoir en passant toucher son habit,&quot; A farther account of
+this famous event is given a few pages farther on.</p>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div3_06" href="#div3Ref_06">Footnote 6</a>: This fact is recorded in every account of the proceedings
+of that day.</p>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div3_07" href="#div3Ref_07">Footnote 7</a>: That party was so called which affected to hold the
+balance between the Court and the League, without giving countenance
+to the Huguenots.</p>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div3_08" href="#div3Ref_08">Footnote 8</a>: This most absurd and impudent proposal would scarcely be
+credited, were it not to be found in the <i>Histoire très veritable,
+&amp;c</i>., written by Sainctyon himself, and published by Michel Jouin in
+the very year 1588.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h5>London:<br>
+Printed by A. Spottiswoode,<br>
+New-Street-Square.</h5>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Henry of Guise; (Vol. II of 3), by 
+G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
+
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+</pre>
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+</body>
+</html>
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+
+
+
diff --git a/39412.txt b/39412.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e5964f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/39412.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6587 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Henry of Guise; (Vol. II of 3), by
+G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Henry of Guise; (Vol. II of 3)
+       or, The States of Blois
+
+Author: G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
+
+Release Date: April 9, 2012 [EBook #39412]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HENRY OF GUISE; (VOL. II OF 3) ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the
+Web Archive (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+   1. Page scan source:
+      http://archive.org/details/henryofguiseorst02jame
+     (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                           HENRY OF GUISE;
+
+                                 OR,
+
+                         THE STATES OF BLOIS.
+
+                               VOL. II.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                               London:
+                     Printed by A. Spottiswoode,
+                          New-Street-Square
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                            HENRY OF GUISE
+
+
+
+                                 OR,
+
+
+
+                         THE STATES OF BLOIS.
+
+
+
+
+                                  BY
+
+
+
+                         G. P. R. JAMES, ESQ.
+
+                              AUTHOR OF
+
+           "THE ROBBER," "THE GENTLEMAN OF THE OLD SCHOOL,"
+                            ETC. ETC. ETC.
+
+
+
+
+                          IN THREE VOLUMES.
+
+                               VOL. II.
+
+
+
+
+                               LONDON:
+
+                             PRINTED FOR
+               LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS,
+                           PATERNOSTER-ROW.
+
+                                1839.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                           HENRY OF GUISE;
+
+                                 OR,
+
+                         THE STATES OF BLOIS.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+
+All was bustle round the door of the little inn of Montigny; twenty or
+thirty horses employed the hands and attention of as many grooms and
+stable-boys; and while they put their heads together, and talked over
+the perfections or imperfections of the beasts they held, sixty or
+seventy respectable citizens, the great cloth merchant, and the
+wholesale dealer in millstones, the cure of the little town, the
+bailiff of the high-justiciary, the ironmonger, the grocer, and the
+butcher, stood in knots on the outside, discussing more important
+particulars than the appearance of the horses. The sign of the inn was
+the _Croix de Lorraine_, and the name of the Duke of Guise was
+frequently heard mingling in the conversation of the people round the
+door.
+
+"A great pity," cries one, "that his Highness does not stay here the
+night."
+
+"Some say that the King's troops are pursuing him," replied another.
+
+"Sure enough he came at full speed," said a third; "but I heard his
+people talk about the reiters."
+
+"Oh, we would protect him against the reiters," cried one of the bold
+citizens of Montigny.
+
+"Well," said another, "if he be likely to bring the reiters upon us, I
+think his Highness very wise to go. How could we defend an open town?
+and he has not twenty men behind him."
+
+"I will tell you something, my masters," said another, with an air of
+importance, and a low bow:--"When my boy was over towards Montreuil
+to-night, he heard a report of the reiters having been defeated near
+Gandelu."
+
+"Oh, nonsense!" replied the courageous burgher; "who should defeat
+them if the Duke was not there?"
+
+"But hark!" cried another, "I hear trumpets, as I live. Now, if these
+should be the King's troops we will defend the Duke at the peril of
+our lives. But let us look out and see."
+
+"Come up to my windows," cried one.
+
+"Go up the tower of the church," said the cure.
+
+But another remarked that the sounds did not come from the side of
+Paris; and, in a minute or two after, a well-dressed citizen like
+themselves rode gaily in amongst them, jumped from his horse, threw up
+his cap in the air, and exclaimed, "Long life to the Duke of Guise!
+The reiters have been cut to pieces!"
+
+"What is that you say, young man?" exclaimed a voice from one of the
+windows of the inn above; and looking up, the citizen saw a young and
+gay-looking man sitting in the open casement, and leaning out with his
+arm round the iron bar that ran up the centre.
+
+"I said, my Lord," replied the man, "that the reiters have been cut to
+pieces, and I saw the troops that defeated them bring in the wounded
+and prisoners last night into La Ferte."
+
+"Ventre bleu! This is news indeed," cried the other; and instantly
+turning, he quitted the window and advanced into the room.
+
+While this conversation had been going on without, a quick conference
+had been going on between the personages whose horses were held
+without. The chamber in which they were assembled was an upstairs'
+room, with two beds in two several corners, and a table in the midst
+covered with a clean white table-cloth, and ornamented in the centre
+with a mustard-pot, a salt-seller, and a small bottle of vinegar,
+while four or five spoons were ranged around.
+
+At the side of the table appeared the Duke of Guise, dining with as
+good an appetite off a large piece of unsalted boiled beef, as off any
+of the fine stews and salmis of his cook Maitre Lanecque. Five or six
+other gentlemen were around, diligently employed in the same
+occupation; and one who had finished two bowls of soup at a place
+where they had previously stopped, now declaring that he had no
+appetite, had taken his seat in the window. The servants of the Duke
+and of his companions were at dinner below, and the landlord himself
+was excluded from the room, that dining and consultation might go on
+at the same time.
+
+"It is most unfortunate," said the Duke of Guise, as soon as he had
+seated himself at the table, "it is most unfortunate that this youth
+has not kept his word with me. Our horses and men are both fatigued to
+death; and yet, after what happened the other day at Mareuil, it would
+be madness to remain here all night with only twenty horsemen."
+
+"You have got timid, fair cousin," replied one of the gentlemen
+present. "We shall have you wrapping yourself up in a velvet gown, and
+setting up a conferrie, in imitation of our excellent, noble, and
+manly king."
+
+The Duke w as habitually rash enough to be justified in laughing at
+the charge, and he replied, "It is on your account, my pretty cousin,
+that I fear the most. You know what the reiters have sworn to do with
+you, if they catch you."
+
+"It is most unfortunate indeed," said an older and a graver man; "most
+unfortunate, that this Count de Logeres should have deceived you. It
+might have been better, perhaps, to trust to some more tried and
+experienced friend."
+
+"Oh, you do him wrong, Laval; you do him wrong," replied the Duke. "It
+is neither want of faith or good will, I can be sworn. Some accident,
+such as may happen to any of us, has detained him. I am very anxious
+about him, and somewhat reproach myself for having made him march with
+only half his numbers. Had his whole band been with him, he might have
+made head against the reiters, if he met with them. But now he has
+less than half their reputed number. Nevertheless," he continued, "his
+absence is, as you say, most unfortunate; for--with these Germans on
+our left, and the movements of Henry's Swiss upon our right--they
+might catch us as the Gascons do wild ducks, in the net, through the
+meshes of which we have been foolish enough to thrust our own heads. I
+pray thee, Brissac, go down to mine host of the house, and gather
+together some of the notable men of the place, to see if we cannot by
+any means purchase horses to carry us on. Who are you speaking to,
+Aumale?" he continued, raising his voice, and addressing the youth who
+sat in the window.
+
+"Good news, good news!" cried the young man springing down, and coming
+forward into the room. "The reiters have been cut to pieces near
+Gandelu. There is a fellow below who has seen the victorious troops,
+and the wounded and the prisoners."
+
+"My young falcon for a thousand crowns!" cried the Duke of Guise. "If
+that be the case, we shall soon hear more of him. Hark! are not those
+trumpets? Yet go out, Brissac; go out. We must not suffer ourselves to
+be surprised whatever we do. Aumale, have the horses ready. If they
+should prove the Swiss, we must march out at the one gate while they
+march in at the other."
+
+But at that moment Brissac, who had run down at a word, and was by
+this time in the street, held up his hand to one of the others who was
+looking out of the window, exclaiming, "Crosses of Lorraine, crosses
+of Lorraine! A gallant body of some fifty spears; but all crosses of
+Lorraine.--Ay, and I can see the arms of Montsoreau and Logeres! All
+is right, tell the Duke; all is right!" And thus saying he advanced
+along the street to meet the troops that were approaching.
+
+The Duke of Guise, who had risen from the table, seated himself again
+quietly, drew a deep breath as a man relieved from some embarrassment,
+and filling the glass that stood beside him, half full of the good
+small wine of Beaugency, rested his head upon his hand, and remained
+in thought for several minutes.
+
+While he remained in this meditative mood the sounds of the trumpets
+became louder and louder; the trampling of horses' feet were heard
+before the inn, and then was given, in a loud tone, the order to halt.
+Several of the companions of the Duke had gone down stairs to witness
+the arrival of the troops, and in a minute or two after, feet were
+heard coming up, and the Duke turned his head to welcome the young
+Count on his arrival. He was somewhat surprised, however, to see an
+old white-headed man, who had doffed his steel cap to enter the Duke's
+presence, come in between Brissac and Laval, and make him a low
+inclination of the head.
+
+"Who are you, my good friend?" demanded the Duke. "And where is the
+young Count of Logeres?"
+
+"I know not, your Highness," replied the other. "I am the Count's
+seneschal, and expected to find him here. He set off four days ago
+with one half of his men, commanding me to join him at Montigny with
+the rest, as soon as their arms arrived from Rhetel. They came sooner
+than we expected, so I followed him the day after."
+
+"Then is it to you, my worthy old friend," said the Duke, "that the
+country is obliged for the defeat of this band of marauders?"
+
+"No, your Highness," replied the old man bluntly. "I have not had the
+good fortune to meet with any thing to defeat, though, indeed, we
+heard of something of the kind this morning as we passed by
+Grisolles."
+
+"I hope the news is true," said the Duke; "I have heard of many a
+victory in my day, where it turned out that the victors were
+vanquished; and I hear that these reiters numbered from a hundred to a
+hundred and fifty men. How many had your Lord with him, good
+seneschal?"
+
+"He had fifty-one men at arms," replied the old soldier, "besides some
+lackeys and a page; and some men leading horses with the baggage he
+could not do without."
+
+"I shall not be easy till I hear more of him," said the Duke, walking
+up and down the room. "However, your coming, good seneschal, will
+enable us to make good this place against any force that may be
+brought against it. Quick, send me up the aubergiste. We must despatch
+some one to bring us in intelligence: and now, good seneschal, rest
+and refresh your horses, get your men some food, and have every thing
+ready to put foot in stirrup again at a moment's notice; for if we
+find that your Lord has fallen into the hands of these reiters, we
+must mount to deliver him. Let their numbers be what they may, Henry
+of Guise cannot make up his mind to leave a noble friend in the hands
+of the foemen."
+
+"We are all ready this minute, my Lord," replied the old seneschal.
+"There is not a man of Logeres who is not ready to ride forty miles,
+and fight two reiters this very night in defence of his Lord."
+
+"The old cock's not behind the young one," said the Chevalier d'Aumale
+to Brissac. But the Duke of Guise overruled the zealous eagerness of
+the old soldier; and as soon as the aubergiste appeared, directed him
+to send off a boy in the direction of Montreuil and La Ferte, in order
+to gain intelligence of the movements of the Count de Logeres, and to
+ascertain whether the report of the defeat of the reiters was correct
+or not. His own horses he ordered now to be unsaddled, and casting off
+his corselet, gave himself up to repose for the evening.
+
+During the next hour, or hour and a half, manifold were the reports
+which reached the town concerning the conflict which had taken place
+between the Count of Logeres and the reiters on the preceding evening.
+All sorts of stories were told: every peasant that brought in a basket
+of apples had his own version of the affair; and the accounts were the
+most opposite, as well as the most various. The Duke of Guise,
+however, was too much accustomed to sifting the various rumours of the
+day, not to be able to glean some true information from the midst of
+these conflicting statements. It seemed clear to him that the reiters
+had been defeated, and without having any very certain cause for his
+belief, he felt convinced that Charles of Montsoreau was already upon
+his way towards Montigny.
+
+"Come," he added, after expressing these opinions to the Chevalier
+d'Aumale, "we must at least give our young champion a good meal on his
+arrival. See to it, Brissac; see to it. You, who are a connoisseur in
+such things, deal with our worthy landlord of the Cross, and see if he
+cannot procure something for supper more dainty than he gave us for
+dinner."
+
+"The poor man was taken by surprise," replied Brissac; "but since he
+heard that you were to remain here, there has been such a cackling and
+screaming in the court-yard, and such a riot in the dovecote, that I
+doubt not all the luxuries of Montigny will be poured forth this night
+upon the table."
+
+In less than an hour after this order was given, the arrival of fresh
+horses was heard; and Laval, who went to the window, announced, that
+as well as he could see through the increasing darkness, for it was
+now night, this new party consisted only of five or six persons. In a
+few minutes, however, the door was thrown open by the aubergiste, and
+Charles of Montsoreau himself appeared, dusty with the march, and with
+but few traces of triumph or satisfaction on his countenance.
+
+"What, my young hero!" cried the Duke, rising and taking him by the
+hand; "you look as gloomy as if you had suffered a defeat, rather than
+gained a victory. Are the tidings which we have heard not true then,
+or are they exaggerated? If you have even brought off your forces safe
+from the reiters, that is a great thing, so overmatched as you were."
+
+"It is not that, your Highness," replied Charles of Montsoreau: "the
+numbers were not very disproportionate, but the reiters have certainly
+suffered a complete rout, and I do not think that they will ever meet
+in a body again. They lost a good many men on the field, and I fear
+the peasantry have murdered all the wounded."
+
+"So much the better," cried the Chevalier d'Aumale; "so much the
+better. One could have done nothing with them but hang them."
+
+"I fear then," said the Duke of Guise, addressing the Count, "I fear
+then that your own loss has been severe by the gloominess of your
+countenance, Logeres."
+
+"There are a good many severely wounded, sir," replied the Count; "but
+very few killed. This, however, is not the cause of my vexation, which
+I must explain to your Highness alone. I have, however, to apologise
+to you for not being here last night, as I fully intended. I did not
+go to seek the reiters, but fell in with them accidentally, and after
+the skirmish I was forced to turn towards La Ferte instead of coming
+here, in order to get surgeons to my wounded men. I find, however,
+sir," he continued, "that my good old seneschal has made more speed
+than his master, and has arrived here with his band before me. I must
+go and take order for the comfort of my people, and prepare lodging
+for the rest who are coming up, for I rode on at all speed as soon as
+I met with the messenger whom you had sent out to seek me. After that
+I will return and crave a few minutes' audience of your Grace alone."
+
+"Come back to supper, dear friend," replied the Duke; "we must let our
+gay friends now sup with us; but then we will drive them to their
+beds, and hold solitary council together, and be not long Logeres, for
+you need both refreshment and repose."
+
+When the young Count returned to the apartments of the Duke, after he
+had seen the rest of his troop arrive, and had taken every measure to
+secure the comfort of the men under his command, he found that Prince
+standing in one of the deep windows speaking in a low tone with the
+page Ignati, while his own officers were gathered together in the
+window on the other side.
+
+The Duke instantly took him by the hand as he approached, and said in
+a low but kindly tone, "You see I have been questioning the spy I set
+upon you, Logeres, and he has let me into a number of your secrets;
+but you must not be angry with him on that account, for Henry of Guise
+will not abuse the trust. Come, let us sit down to table, and we will
+afterwards find an opportunity of talking over all these affairs. You
+have acted nobly and gallantly, my young friend, and have served your
+country while you benefited me. For your brother's conduct you are not
+responsible: but I think this morning's events, if the boy speaks
+correctly, must bar your tongue from speaking his praises for the
+future."
+
+"Indeed, my Lord," exclaimed the young Count, "my brother may----"
+
+"Hush! hush!" cried the Duke. "There is nothing sits so ill upon the
+lips of a noble-hearted man as an excuse for bad actions, either in
+himself or others. It is false generosity, Charles of Montsoreau, to
+say the least of it. But let us to table. Come, Aumale. See! our good
+Aubergiste looks reproachfully at you for letting his fragrant ragouts
+grow cold. Come, we will to meat, gentlemen. Sit down, sit down, We
+will have no ceremony here at the Cross of Lorraine."
+
+Thus saying, the Duke seated himself at table, and the rest took their
+places around. The supper proved better than had been expected, and
+wine and good appetites supplied the place of all deficiencies. The
+Chevalier d'Aumale indeed had every now and then a light jest at some
+of the various dishes: he declared that a certain capon had blunted
+his dagger, and asked Charles of Montsoreau whether it was not tougher
+than a veteran reiter. He declared that a matelote d'anguille which
+was placed before him, had a strong flavour of a hedge; but added,
+that as his own appetite was viperous, he must get through it as best
+he might. He was not without a profane jest either, upon a dish of
+pigeons; but though he addressed the greater part of these gaily to
+the young Count de Logeres, he could hardly wring a smile from one who
+in former days would have laughed with the best, but whose heart was
+now anxiously occupied with many a bitter feeling.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau was eager, too, that the meal should be over,
+for he longed for that private communication with the Duke which
+weighed upon his mind in anticipation. He felt that it would be
+difficult to exculpate his brother; and yet, in pursuance of his own
+high resolutions, he longed to do so: and then again he eagerly hoped
+that the powerful prince beside whom he sat would find some means of
+delivering Marie de Clairvaut from the hands into which she had
+fallen; and yet he feared, from all he heard and saw, that that
+deliverance might be difficult and remote.
+
+Thus the banquet passed somewhat cheerlessly to him; and it was not
+very much enlivened by a little incident which happened towards the
+close of supper, when the landlord, who had come into the room
+followed by a man dressed in the garb of a surgeon, whispered
+something in the Duke's ear which called his attention immediately.
+
+"How many did you say?" demanded the Duke.
+
+"Only two at present, your Highness," replied the surgeon; "but three
+more sinking, I think."
+
+"All in the same house?" said the Duke.
+
+"No, my Lord, in different houses," replied the man; "but near the
+same spot."
+
+"The only thing to be done," replied the Duke, "is to draw a barrier
+across the end of that street, and mark the houses with a white
+cross."
+
+"What is the matter, your Highness?" said Laval, from the other end of
+the table.
+
+"Oh, nothing," replied the Duke of Guise, "only a few cases of the
+plague; and because it was very bad last autumn at Morfontaine, the
+people here have got into a fright."
+
+The Duke of Guise concluded his supper as lightly and gaily as if
+nothing had happened, for his mind had become so accustomed to deal
+with and to contemplate things of great moment, that they made not
+that impression upon him which they do upon those whose course is laid
+in a smoother and evener path.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau, however, could not feel in the same way. "War
+and pestilence!" he thought, "bloodshed and death! These are the
+common every-day ideas of men in this unhappy country, now. Perhaps
+famine may be added some day soon, and yet there will be light
+laughter, and merriment, and jest. Well, let it be so. Why should we
+cast away enjoyment because it can but be small? Life is at best but
+made up of chequered visions: let us enjoy the bright ones while we
+may, and make the dark ones short if we can."
+
+While he thus thought, the Duke of Guise whispered a word or two to
+the Count of Brissac, and that gentleman nodded to Laval. Shortly
+after, both rose; and, with an air of affected unwillingness, the
+Chevalier d'Aumale followed their example. The two or three other
+gentlemen who had partaken of the meal, but who either from inferior
+situation or natural taciturnity had mingled but little in the
+conversation, left the table at the same time, and accompanied the
+others out of the room, so that the Duke of Guise and the young Count
+were left alone.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. II.
+
+
+The weak-minded and the vulgar are cowed by the aspect of high
+station; the humble in mind, and the moderate in talent, are subdued
+by high genius, and bend lowly to the majesty of mind; the powerful,
+the firm, and the elevated spring up to meet their like, and with them
+there is nothing earthly that can overawe but a consciousness of evil
+in themselves, or a sensation of abasement for those they love.
+
+Such was the case with Charles of Montsoreau, who undoubtedly was a
+man of high and powerful mind. He was in his first youth, it is true;
+he had no great or intimate knowledge of the world, except that
+knowledge of the world which, in a few rare instances, comes as it
+were by intuition. He had been bred up from his youth in love and
+admiration for the princes of the House of Lorraine, and especially of
+Henry, Duke of Guise; and yet, when he had met him for the first time,
+and recognised him at once in the inn at Mareuil, he felt no
+diffidence--no alarm. Nor had this confidence in himself any thing
+whatsoever to do with conceit: he thought not of himself for a moment;
+he thought only of the Duke of Guise and his situation, and impulse
+guided by habit did the rest. Seeing that the Duke had assumed an
+inferior character, he treated him accordingly; and acting as nature
+dictated to him, he acted right.
+
+Neither, at Rheims, when the Duke appeared surrounded by pomp and
+splendour, did the young nobleman feel differently. He paid every
+tribute of external reverence to the Prince's station and high renown;
+but he conferred with him upon equal terms, feeling that if in mind he
+was not absolutely equal to that great leader, he was competent to
+appreciate his character, and was not inferior to him in elevation of
+thought and purpose.
+
+But now, how changed were all his feelings, when, sitting by one whom
+he venerated and respected--more than perhaps was deserved--he had to
+discuss with him the painful subject of a brother's errors, and
+torture imagination to find excuses which judgment would not ratify!
+He sat humiliated, and pained, and hesitating: he knew not what to
+say, and he felt that any thing he could say was vain.
+
+For a few minutes after the rest of the party quitted the room, the
+Duke of Guise remained silent, sometimes gazing down, as was his
+habit, upon his clasped hands, sometimes raising his eyes for a single
+moment to the countenance of his young companion. He seemed to feel
+for him, indeed; and when he did speak, led the conversation to the
+subject gradually and delicately.
+
+"Well, my dear Count," he said, "let us speak of this affair of the
+reiters. You made me as many excuses but now, for defeating our
+enemies, as if you had let them defeat you. Such gallant actions are
+easily pardoned, Logeres; and if you but proceed to commit many such
+faults, Henry of Navarre and Henry of Guise had both need look to
+their renown. There was a third Henry once," he continued, half
+closing his eyes, and speaking with a sigh, as he thought of Henry
+III. and fair promises of his youth; "there was a third Henry once,
+who might perhaps have borne the meed of fame away from us both: but
+that light has gone out in the socket, and left nothing but an
+unsavory smell behind. However, there was no excuse needed, good
+friend, for cutting to pieces double your own number of German
+marauders."
+
+"My excuse was not for that," replied the Count, calmly, "but your
+Highness directed me to go no farther than Montigny, and I went to La
+Ferte, on account of the wounded men."
+
+"That is easily excused too," said the Duke. "But now give me your own
+account of the affair. The boy told me the story but imperfectly. How
+fell you in with the reiters at first?"
+
+Charles of Montsoreau did as the Prince required, giving a full and
+minute, but modest, account of all that had taken place. But when he
+spoke of retreating up the river to the spot where the banks were
+deeper, and the stream more profound, Guise caught him by the hand,
+exclaiming eagerly, "Did you know that the banks were steeper? Did you
+see that they would guard your flank?"
+
+"That was my object, my Lord," replied the young Count, somewhat
+surprised. "I noticed the nature of the ground as we charged them at
+first."
+
+"Kneel down!" cried the Duke; "kneel down! Would to God that I were a
+Bayard for thy sake!--In the name of God, St. Michael and St. George,
+I dub thee knight;" and drawing his sword he struck him on the collar
+with the blade, adding with a smile, in which melancholy was blended
+with gaiety, "Perchance this may be the last chivalrous knighthood
+conferred in France. Indeed, as matters go, I think it will be: but if
+it should, I can but say that it never was won more nobly."
+
+The young Count rose with sparkling eyes. The memory of the chivalrous
+ages was not yet obliterated by dust and lichens; the fire of a more
+enthusiastic epoch was not yet quite extinct; and he felt as if what
+had passed gave him greater strength to go through what was to come.
+
+The Duke, however, relaxing soon into his former manner, made him a
+sign to proceed; and Charles of Montsoreau went on to detail the
+complete defeat and dispersion of the different bodies of reiters. He
+then began to hesitate again: but Guise was determined to hear all,
+and said, "But your brother; where did you find your brother? Be frank
+with me, Logeres."
+
+Thus pressed, the young Count went on to say, that he did not again
+meet with his brother till he found him in the market-place at La
+Ferte. "My brother," he continued, "having been driven by the party
+that pursued him beyond the carriage, and judging that I was coming up
+with a superior force, imagined that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut and her
+attendants had fallen under my protection: but finding that such was
+not the case, he mounted his horse again, and proceeded to seek for
+her during the greater part of the night, while I did the same in
+another direction."
+
+He was then hurrying on as fast as possible to speak of the following
+morning, but the Duke interrupted him, demanding, "There was a sharp
+dispute in the market-place, I think; was there not, Monsieur de
+Logeres? Pray let me hear the particulars."
+
+But Charles of Montsoreau, driven to the point, answered boldly and at
+once, "It was a dispute between two brothers, my Lord; in regard to
+which none but God and their own consciences can judge. You will
+therefore pardon me if I keep that which is private to my private
+bosom."
+
+Guise gazed at him for a long--a very long time, with eyes full of
+deep feeling, and then replied, "By Heaven! you are one of the most
+extraordinary young men I ever met with. I know the whole, Monsieur de
+Logeres; and the words there spoken let me into the secrets of your
+bosom which I wished to know. I now understand how to deal with you;
+and while I do my best to secure your happiness, trust to the Duke of
+Guise to avoid, as far as possible, any thing that is painful to you
+in the course. But go on; let me hear the rest."
+
+"If you know all, my Lord," said Charles of Montsoreau, a good deal
+affected by the Duke's kindness, "will you not spare me the telling of
+that which must be painful to me?"
+
+"I fear I must ask you to go on," replied the Duke. "What you have now
+to tell me is the most important part of all to me at the present
+moment, for by it must my conduct be regulated, in regard to the
+measures for rescuing our poor Marie from the hands of that----." He
+checked himself suddenly, and then added, "the King, in short. A
+single word may cause a difference in our view of the matter; and
+therefore I would fain hear you tell it, if you will do me that
+favour."
+
+"All that I know, my Lord, I will tell," replied the Count; "but of my
+own knowledge I have little to tell, for the principal part of my
+information was derived from the boy with whom you have already
+spoken. All then that I personally know is, that, having slept long
+from great fatigue, I was roused by the boy in the morning; that he
+told me my brother was about to depart; and that, on descending, I
+found his report true. My brother was already on horseback, and his
+troop in the act of setting out; but he was accompanied by a gentleman
+whom I had never seen before, whose name is Colombel, and who, I found
+afterwards, is an officer in the service of the King."
+
+"Oh yes," said the Duke of Guise; "I have heard him named; a person of
+no great repute, but some cunning."
+
+"My conversation with my brother," continued the Count, "was not the
+most agreeable. On his side it was all taunts; but the only part of
+which it is needful to inform your Highness, was, that when I asked
+tidings of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, he would afford me no
+information, except that she was in safe hands. I am grieved, also, to
+be compelled to say that he told me, if I did not join you before he
+did, I should be long parted from you."
+
+"We have lost an ally," replied the Duke; "but one which, to say
+sooth, I do not covet. If he be not treacherous, he is at best
+unsteady; but I cannot help fearing, Charles of Montsoreau, that your
+brother himself, apprehending that my regard for you might not suit
+his purposes, has had some share in suffering Marie to fall into the
+hands of Henry."
+
+"Oh no, my Lord, oh no!" exclaimed Charles of Montsoreau; "you do him
+wrong, believe me. My Lord, a few words will explain to you the cause
+of his conduct. He is possessed with a passion for Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut, so strong, so vehement, so intense, as to have a portion of
+madness in it,--a sufficient portion to make him cast away his former
+nature altogether, to hate his brother, to abandon his friends, to
+abjure all the thoughts and feelings of his youth, and to follow her
+still where-ever she goes, seeking to obtain her by means which the
+very blindness of his passion prevents him from seeing are those which
+must insure his losing her."
+
+"This is the passion of a weak and unstable mind," said the Duke.
+"Love, my young friend, is in itself a grand and ennobling thing,
+leading us to do great actions for the esteem and approbation of her
+we love. The love of a bright woman," he added, "the love of a bright
+woman--I speak it with all due reverence," and he put his hand to his
+hat, "is the next finest sensation, the next grand mover in human
+actions, to the love of God. The object is undoubtedly inferior, but
+the course is the same, namely, the striving to do high and excellent
+things for the approbation of a being that we love and venerate. Alas
+that it should be so! but in this world I fear the love of woman is
+amongst us the strongest mover of the two: the other is so remote, so
+high, so pure, that our dull senses strain their wings in reaching it.
+The love of woman appeals to the earthly as well as to the heavenly
+part of man's nature, and consequently is heard more easily.
+Perhaps--and Heaven grant it!--that, as some of our fathers held, the
+one love may lead us on to the other, and the perishable be but a step
+to the immortal. However," he added, "such love as that which you say
+possesses your brother, will certainly never lead him on to any thing
+that is great, or high, or noble. Most certainly it will not lead him
+to the hand of Marie de Clairvaut as long as Henry of Guise can draw a
+sword. If he have not betrayed me, he has abandoned me; if he have not
+shown himself a coward, he has shown himself a weak defender of those
+intrusted to his charge; and under such circumstances, had he the
+wealth of either India and the power of Caesar, he should never wed
+Marie de Clairvaut." He laid his hand upon the shoulder of Charles of
+Montsoreau, and he said, "You have heard my words, good friend; those
+words are irrevocable: and now knowing that your brother can never be
+really your rival, act as you will. I would fain have your confidence,
+Charles, but I will not wring it from you. This girl is beautiful and
+sweet and fascinating; and if I judge right, you love her not less but
+more nobly than your brother. Tell me, or tell me not as you will, but
+we all feel pleased with confidence."
+
+"Oh, my Lord," replied Charles of Montsoreau, "how can I deny you my
+confidence when you load me with such proofs of your goodness? I do
+love Mademoiselle de Clairvaut as deeply, as intensely, as
+passionately, as my brother,--more, more a thousand fold than he or
+any body else, I believe, is capable of loving. I had some
+opportunities of rendering her services, and on one of those occasions
+I was betrayed into words and actions which I fancied must have made
+her acquainted with all my feelings. It was after that I discovered,
+my Lord, how madly my brother loved her: it was after that I
+discovered that the pursuit of my love must bring contention and
+destruction on my father's house. Had I believed that she loved me,
+nothing should have made me yield her to any one; for I had the prior
+claim, I had the prior right: but when I had reason to believe that
+she had not marked, and did not comprehend all the signs of my
+affection; when I felt that I could quit her without the appearance of
+trifling with her regard, though not without the continued misery of
+my own life, my determination was taken in a moment, and I determined
+to make the sacrifice, be the consequences what they might. Such, my
+Lord, is the simple truth; such is the only secret of all my actions."
+
+The Duke of Guise bent down his eyes upon the ground with a smile, in
+the expression of which there was a degree of cynical bitterness. It
+was somewhat like one of the smiles of the Abbe de Boisguerin; but the
+Duke's words explained it at once, which the Abbe's never did.
+
+"I fear, my young friend," he said, "that the science of women's
+hearts is a more difficult one than the science of war. You have
+learnt the one, it would seem, by intuition; in the other you are yet
+a novice. However, you shall pursue your own course, bearing with you
+the remembrance that I swear by my own honour--"
+
+"Oh swear not, my Lord," replied Charles of Montsoreau; "circumstances
+may change; she may love him; her love may alter him, and lead him
+back to noble things."
+
+The Duke smiled again. "What I have said," he answered, "is as good as
+sworn. But have it your own way; I thank you for the confidence you
+have reposed in me. And now, to show you how I can return it, I have a
+task to put upon you, an adventure on which to send forth my new made
+knight. I do not think that Henry either will or dare refuse to give
+up to me my own relation and ward. The king and I are great friends,
+God wot! But still I must demand her, and somebody must take a journey
+to Paris for that purpose. To the capital, doubtless, they have
+conveyed her; and I trust, my good Logeres, that you will not think it
+below your dignity and merit to seek and bring back a daughter of the
+House of Guise."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau paused thoughtfully for a moment, ere he
+replied. All the difficulties and dangers to which he might be
+exposed, in acting against the views of the King of France, were to
+him as nothing; but the difficulties and dangers which might arise
+from his opposition to his own brother, were painful and fearful to
+him to contemplate. He saw not, however, how he could refuse the task;
+and it cannot be denied that love for Marie de Clairvaut had its share
+also in making him accept it. He doubted not for a moment, that if she
+were in the hands of the King, she was there against her own will; and
+could he, he asked himself, could he even hesitate to aid in
+delivering her from a situation of difficulty, danger, and distress?
+The thought of aiding her, the thought of seeing her again, the
+thought of hearing the sweet tones of that beloved voice, the thought
+of once more soothing and supporting her, all had their share; the
+very contemplation made his heart beat; and lifting his eyes, he found
+those of the Duke of Guise fixed upon his countenance, reading all the
+passing emotions, the shadows of which were brought across him by
+those thoughts. The colour mounted slightly into his cheek as he
+replied, "My Lord, I will do your bidding to the best of my ability.
+When shall I march?"
+
+"Oh, you mistake," said the Duke, laughing; "you are not to go at the
+head of your men, armed _cap-a-pie_, to deliver the damsel from the
+giant's castle; but in the quality of my envoy to Henry; first of all
+demanding, quietly and gently, where the Lady is, and then requiring
+him to deliver her into your hands, for the purpose of escorting her
+to me, where-ever I may be. You shall have full powers for the latter
+purpose; but you must keep them concealed till such time as you have
+discovered, either from the King's own lips--though no sincerity
+dwells upon them--or by your own private inquiries and investigations,
+where this poor girl is. Then you may produce to the King your powers
+from me, and to herself I will give you a letter, requesting her to
+follow your directions in all things. Now, you must show yourself as
+great a diplomatist as a soldier, for I can assure you that you will
+have to deal with as artful and as wily a man as any now living in
+Europe."
+
+"I will do my best, my Lord; and to enable me to deal with them before
+all their plans are prepared, I had better set out at break of day
+to-morrow, with as many men as your Highness thinks fit should
+accompany me."
+
+The Duke mused for a moment or two; "No," he said, "no; I must not let
+you go, Logeres, without providing for your safety. You have risked
+your life sufficiently for me and mine already. You go into new
+scenes, with which you are unacquainted; into dangers, with which you
+may find it more difficult to cope than any that you have hitherto met
+with. I cannot then suffer you to depart without such passports and
+safeguards as may diminish those dangers as far as possible."
+
+"Oh, I fear not, my Lord," replied Charles of Montsoreau, "the King
+and your Highness are not at war. I have done nothing to offend,
+and--"
+
+"It cannot be, it cannot be," replied the Duke. "You must go back with
+me to Soissons. I will send a messenger from this place to demand the
+necessary passports for you. No great time will be lost, for a common
+courier can pass where you or I would be stopped. Then," he continued,
+"as to the men that you should take with you, I should say, the fewer
+the better. Mark me," he continued, with a smile, "there are secret
+springs in all things; and I will give you letters to people in Paris,
+which will put at your disposal five hundred men on the notice of half
+an hour. Ay, more, should you require them. But use not these letters
+except in the last necessity, for they might hurry on events which I
+would rather see advance slowly till they were forced upon me, than do
+aught to bring them forward myself. No; you shall go back with me to
+Soissons, guarding me with your band; and I doubt not, our messenger
+from Paris will not be many hours after us. Now leave me, and to rest,
+good Logeres, and send in the servant, whom you will find half way
+down the stairs."
+
+The young Count withdrew without another word, and he found that while
+the conversation between himself and the Duke had been going on, a man
+had been stationed, both above and below the door of the apartment, as
+if to insure that nobody approached to listen. Such were the sad
+precautions necessary in those days.
+
+Early on the following morning the whole party mounted their horses,
+the wounded men of Logeres were left under the care and attendance of
+the good townsmen of Montigny, and the young Count riding with the
+party of the Duke of Guise, proceeded on the road to Soissons. No
+adventure occurred to disturb their progress; and, as so constantly
+happens in the midst of scenes of danger, pain, and difficulty, almost
+every one of the whole party endeavoured to compensate for the
+frequent endurance of peril and pain by filling up the intervals with
+light laughter and unthinking gaiety. The Duke of Guise himself was
+not the least cheerful of the party, though occasionally the cloud of
+thought would settle again upon his brow, and a pause of deep
+meditation would interrupt the jest or the sally. It was late at night
+when they arrived at Soissons, and the Duke, after supping with the
+Cardinal de Bourbon, retired to rest, without conversing with any of
+his party. It was about eight o'clock on the following morning, and
+while, by the dull grey light of a cloudy spring day, Charles of
+Montsoreau was dressing himself, with the aid of one of his servants,
+that the door opened without any previous announcement, and the Duke
+of Guise, clad in a dressing-gown of crimson velvet trimmed with
+miniver, entered the room, bearing in his hand a packet of sealed
+letters, and one open one. A page followed him with something wrapped
+up in a skin of leather, which he placed upon one of the stools, and
+instantly retired.
+
+"Send away your man, Count," said the Duke, seating himself; "resume
+your dressing-gown, and kindly give me your full attention for
+half an hour. You will be so good," he continued, turning to the man
+who was quitting the chamber, "as to take your stand on the first
+landing-place below this door. You will tell any body whom you see
+coming up to pass by the other staircase; any one you may see coming
+down, you will direct to pass by this door quickly."
+
+There was a stern command in the eye of the Duke of Guise which had a
+strong effect upon those it rested on; and the man to whom he now
+spoke made his exit from the room, stumbling over twenty things in his
+haste to obey. As soon as he was gone, the Duke turned to his young
+friend, and continued, "Here is the King's safeguard under his own
+hand, and the necessary passports for yourself and two attendants.
+Here is your letter of credit to him in my name, requiring him to give
+you every sort of information which he may be possessed of regarding
+the subjects which you will mention to him; and here is a third
+letter giving you full power to demand at his hands the person of
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, for the purpose of escorting her and
+placing her under my protection. This, again, is to Mary herself,
+bidding her follow your counsels and direction in every thing; and
+these others are to certain citizens of Paris, whose names you will
+find written thereon. If you will take my advice, you will again take
+with you the boy Ignati, and one stout man-at-arms, unarmed, however,
+except in such a manner as the dangers of the road require. You
+understand, I think, clearly, all that I wish."
+
+"I believe, my Lord, I do," replied the Count. "But how am I to insure
+safety for Mademoiselle de Clairvaut on the road, without an adequate
+force?"
+
+"Write to me but one word," replied the Duke of Guise, "as soon as she
+is delivered into your hands, and I will send you with all speed
+whatever forces I can spare. But I have one or two things to
+communicate to you, which it is necessary for you to know, both for
+your own security and the success of your mission. The principal part
+of my niece's lands lie in the neighbourhood of Chateauneuf, between
+Dreux and Mortagne in Normandy. It is not at all unlikely, that, if
+driven to remove her from your sight, Henry may be tempted to send her
+thither, well knowing that it is what I have always opposed, and that
+I preferred rather that she should dwell even in Languedoc than be in
+that neighbourhood. For this I had a reason; and that reason is the
+near relationship in which her father stood to the most daring and the
+most dangerous man in France. One of the first of those whom you will
+see near the person of the King, the man who governs and rules him to
+his own infamy and destruction, in whose hands the minions are but
+tools and Henry an instrument, who, more than any one else, has tended
+to change a gracious prince, a skilful general, and a brave man, into
+an effeminate and vicious king, is Rene de Villequier, Baron of
+Clairvaut. He was first cousin to Marie de Clairvaut's father, and he
+is consequently her nearest male relation out of the family of Guise.
+He has, indeed, sometimes hinted at a right to share in the
+guardianship of his cousin's daughter. But such things a Guise permits
+not. However, with this claim upon the disposal of her hand, Henry
+may, perhaps, hesitate to yield her, unless with the consent of
+Villequier. With him, then, you may be called upon to deal; but
+Villequier, I think, knows the hand of a Guise too well to call down a
+blow from it unnecessarily. However, he is as daring as he is artful,
+and impunity in crime has rendered him perfectly careless of
+committing it. He is Governor of Paris, one of the King's ministers, a
+Knight of the Holy Ghost. Now hear what he has done to merit all this.
+More than one assassin broken on the wheel has avowed himself the
+instrument of Villequier, sent to administer poison to those he did
+not love. Complaisant in every thing to his King, he sought to
+sacrifice to him the honour of his wife: but she differed from him in
+her tastes; and, on the eighteenth of last September, in broad
+daylight, in the midst of an effeminate court, he murdered her with
+his own hand at her dressing-table. Nor was this all: there was a
+girl--a young sweet girl--the natural daughter of a noble house, who
+was holding before the unhappy lady a mirror to arrange her dress when
+the fatal blow was struck. The fiend's taste for blood was roused. One
+victim was not enough, and he murdered the wretched girl by the side
+of her dead mistress. This was done in open day, was never disowned,
+was known to every one, and was rewarded by the order of the Holy
+Ghost--an insult to God, to France, and to humanity.[1] However, as
+with this man you may have to deal, I have to give you two cautions.
+Never drink wine with him, or eat food at his table; never go into his
+presence without wearing under your other dress the bosom friend which
+I have brought you there;" and he took from the leathern skin in which
+it was wrapped, a shirt of mail, made of rings linked together, so
+fine that it seemed the lightest stroke would have broken it, and yet
+so strong, that the best tempered poinard, driven by the most powerful
+hand, could not have pierced it. "Have also in your bosom," continued
+the Duke of Guise, "a small pistol; and if the villain attempts to lay
+his hand upon you, kill him like a dog. This is the only way to deal
+with Rene de Villequier."
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 1: All these charges were but too true.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+The young Count smiled: "And is it needful my Lord Duke," he asked,
+"to take all these precautions in the courtly world of Paris?--Do you
+yourself take them, my Lord?--I fear not sufficiently."
+
+"Oh! with regard to myself," replied the Duke, it is different. "I am
+so marked out and noted, they dare not do any thing against me. They
+would raise up a thousand vengeful hands against them in a moment, and
+they know that, too well to run such a risk. Neither Henry nor
+Villequier would hold their lives by an hour's tenure after Guise was
+dead. But you must take these precautions, my young friend. And now I
+have nothing more to say, except that, whatever you do to withdraw
+Marie de Clairvaut from the hands into which she has fallen, I will
+justify. If any ill befall you, I will avenge you as my brother; and
+if you deliver her from those whom she hates and abhors, she shall,
+give you any testimony of her gratitude that she pleases, without a
+man in France saying you nay."
+
+"Oh, my Lord, it is not for that I go!" exclaimed Charles of
+Montsoreau, with the blood rushing up again into his cheek. "It is
+not; surely you believe--"
+
+"Hush! hush!" replied the Duke. "I have fallen into the foolish error
+of saying too much, my good young friend. But now, fare you well. Make
+your arrangements as speedily as you can; mount your horse, and onward
+to Paris, while I apply myself to matters which may well occupy every
+minute and every thought."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. III.
+
+
+It was about nine o'clock at night, in the spring of the year 1588,
+that Charles of Montsoreau, with two companions, his faithful Gondrin
+and the little page, presented himself at the gate of Paris which
+opened upon the Soissons road. A surly arquebusier with a steel cap on
+his head, his gun upon his shoulder, and the rest thereof in his hand,
+was the first person that he encountered at the bridge over the fosse.
+Some other soldiers were sitting before the guardhouse; and the
+wicket-gate of the city itself was open, with an armed head protruded
+through, talking to a country girl with a basket on her arm, who had
+just passed out of the gate, none the better probably for her visit to
+the city.
+
+The arquebusier planted himself immediately in the way of the young
+cavalier and his followers, and seemed prepared to stop them, though
+on the young Count applying to him for admission, he replied in a
+surly tone, "I have nothing to do with it. Ask the lieutenant at the
+gate."
+
+To him, in the next place, then, Charles of Montsoreau applied; but
+though his tone was somewhat more civil than that of the soldier, he
+made a great many difficulties, examining the young nobleman all over,
+and looking as if he thought him a very suspicious personage. The
+Count after a certain time grew impatient, and asked, "You do not
+mean, I suppose, to refuse the passport of the King?"
+
+"No," replied the other grinning. "We won't refuse the passport of the
+King, or the King's passport; but in order that the passport may be
+verified, it were as well, young gentleman, that you come to the gates
+by day. You can sleep in the faubourg for one night I take it."
+
+"Certainly not without great inconvenience to myself," replied the
+Count, "and more inconvenience to the affairs of the Duke of Guise."
+
+"The Duke of Guise!" said the man starting. "Your tongue has not the
+twang of Lorraine."
+
+"But nevertheless," replied the Count, "the business I come upon is
+that of the Duke of Guise, which you would have seen if you had read
+the passport and safe-conduct. Does it not direct therein, to give
+room and free passage, safeguard, and protection to one gentleman of
+noble birth and two attendants, coming and going hither and thither in
+all parts of the realm of France, on the especial business of our true
+and well-beloved cousin, Henry, Duke of Guise? and is there not
+written in the Duke's own hand underneath, 'Given to our faithful
+friend and counsellor, Charles of Montsoreau, Count of Logeres, for
+the purposes above written, by me, Henry of Guise?'"
+
+The man held the paper for a moment to a lantern that hung up against
+the heavy stonework of the arch, and then exclaimed in a loud voice,
+"Throw open the gates there, bring the keys. Monseigneur, I beg you a
+thousand pardons for detaining you a minute. If I had but seen the
+writing of the Duke of Guise the doors would have been opened
+instantly."
+
+As rapidly as possible the heavy gates, which had remained immoveable
+at the order of the King, swang back at the name of the Guise, and one
+of the attendants and the captain of the night running by the side of
+the Count's horse to prevent all obstruction, caused the second gate
+to be opened as rapidly, and the Count entered the capital city of his
+native country for the first time in his life.
+
+The streets were dark and gloomy, narrow and high; and as one rode
+along them looking up from time to time towards the sky, the small
+golden stars were seen twinkling above the deep walls of the houses,
+as if beheld from the bottom of a well. Charles of Montsoreau had not
+chosen to ask his way at the gate, and though utterly unacquainted
+with the great city in which he now plunged, he rode on, trusting to
+find some shop still open where he might inquire his way without the
+chance of being deceived. Every booth and shop was then shut, however;
+and for a very long way up the street which he had first entered, he
+met with not a single living creature to whom he could apply for
+direction. At length, however, that street ended abruptly in another
+turning to the left, and a sudden glare of light burst upon his eyes,
+proceeding from a building about a hundred yards farther on, which
+seemed to be on fire.
+
+There was no bustle, however, or indication of any thing unusual in
+the street; and Charles of Montsoreau riding on, found that the blaze
+proceeded from a dozen or more of flambeaus planted in a sort of
+wooden barricade[2] before a large mansion, which fell back some yards
+from the general facade of the street, while a fat porter clothed in
+manifold colours, with a broad shoulder-belt and a sword by his side,
+walked to and fro in the light, trimming the torches with stately
+dignity. The young Count then remembered having heard of the custom of
+thus illuminating the barriers, which were before all the principal
+mansions in Paris during the first part of every night; and riding up
+towards the porter, he demanded whose hotel it was, and begged to be
+directed to one of the best inns in the neighbourhood.
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 2: One or two of these houses with barriers were still
+existing in Paris not many years ago.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+The man gazed at him for a moment with the evident purpose of looking
+upon him as a bumpkin; but the porters of that day were required to be
+extremely discriminating, and the air and appearance of the young
+Count were not to be mistaken, and bowing low he replied, "I see you
+are a stranger, sir. This is the house of Monsieur d'Aumont. As to the
+best inn, inns are always but poor places; but I have heard a good
+account of the White House in the next street, at the sign of the
+Crown of France. If you go on quite to the end of this street and then
+turn to your right, you will come into another street as large and
+longer, at the very end of which, just looking down to the Pont Neuf,
+you will see a large white house with a gateway and the crown hanging
+over it. I have heard that every thing is good there, and the host
+civil; but he will make you pay for what you have."
+
+"That is but just," replied the young Count; and giving the porter
+thanks for his information, he rode on and took up his abode at the
+sign of the Crown of France.
+
+The aspect of the inn was very different from that of an auberge in
+the country; for, though the court-yard into which Charles of
+Montsoreau rode was littered with straw, and a large and splendid
+stable appeared behind, it was not now grooms and stable-boys that
+appeared on the first notice of a traveller's approach, but cooks and
+scullions and turnspits; while the master himself with a snow-white
+cap upon his head, a jacket of white cloth, and a white apron turned
+up sufficiently to show his black breeches and stockings with red
+clocks, appeared more like what he really was, the head of the
+kitchen, than the master of the house.
+
+He looked a little suspiciously, at first, at the young stranger
+arriving with only two attendants, and with no other baggage than a
+small valise upon each horse, and an additional upon that of Ignati,
+to render the boy's weight equal to that of his fellow travellers. But
+the host was accustomed to deal with many kinds of men; and like the
+porter, after examining the Count for a moment, seeing some gold
+embroidery, but not much, upon his riding-dress, gilded spurs over his
+large boots of untanned leather, and a sword, the hilt and sheath of
+which were of no slight value, he also made a lowly reverence, and
+conducted him to one of the best apartments in his house. It consisted
+of three rooms, each entering into the other with a small cabinet
+beyond the chief bed-room; and the arrangements which the Count made
+at once--placing Gondrin's bed in the antechamber, and having the
+page's truckle-bed removed from his own bed-side to occupy the cabinet
+beyond--gave the host of the Crown of France a still greater idea of
+his importance.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau did not fail to examine the face of the
+aubergiste, and to remark his proceedings with as much accuracy. The
+man's countenance was intelligent, his eyes quick and piercing, but
+withal there was an air of straightforward frankness, tempered by
+civility and habitual politeness, which was prepossessing; and as the
+young Count knew that he might have occasion to make use of him in
+various ways during his stay in Paris, he resolved to try him with
+those things which were the most immediately necessary, and which at
+the same time were of the least importance.
+
+"Stop a minute, my good host," he said, as the man was about to
+withdraw to order fires to be lighted and suppers to be cooked. "There
+are some things which press for attention, and in which I must have
+your assistance."
+
+"This youngster speaks with a tone of authority," thought the
+aubergiste; but he bowed low and said nothing, whilst the young Count
+went on, "What is your name, my good friend?" demanded Charles of
+Montsoreau.
+
+"I am called Gamin la Chaise," replied the aubergiste with a smile.
+
+"Well then, Master la Chaise, as you see," he continued, "I have come
+hither to Paris on some business which required a certain degree of
+despatch, and have ventured with few attendants and little baggage. As
+however the business on which I did come will call me into scenes
+where some greater degree of splendour is necessary than perhaps
+either suits my taste or my general convenience, I must before I go
+forth to-morrow morning, have my train increased by at least six
+attendants, who are always to be found in Paris ready fashioned I
+know; and therefore I must beseech you to find them for me in proper
+time, having them equipped in my proper colours and livery, according
+as the same shall be described to you by my good friend Gondrin here.
+This is the first service you must do me, my good host."
+
+"Sir," replied the landlord, "the six lackeys shall be found and
+equipped in less time than would roast a woodcock. They are as plenty
+as sparrows or house-rats, and are caught in a moment."
+
+"Yes, but my good host," answered the Count, "there is one great
+difficulty which you will understand in a moment. Amongst the six, I
+want you to find me one honest man if it be possible."
+
+The landlord raised his shoulders above his ears, stuck out his two
+hands horizontally from his sides, and assumed an appearance of
+despair at the unheard of proposition of the Count, which had nearly
+brought a smile into the young nobleman's countenance. "That indeed,
+sir," he said, "is another affair; and I believe you might just as
+well ask me to catch you a wild roe in the garden of the Louvre, as to
+find you the thing that you demand. Nevertheless, labour and
+perseverance conquer all difficulties: and now I think of it, there is
+a youth who may answer your purpose; he knows Paris well too; but,
+strange to say, by some unaccountable fit of obstinacy, he would not
+tell a lie the other day to the Duke of Epernon in order to pass an
+item of the intendant's accounts, which would have come in for a good
+round sum every month if he would but have sworn that he used five
+quarts of milk every week to whiten the leather of his master's boots.
+He would not swear to this, and therefore the intendant discharged
+him, as he was a hired servant."
+
+"Let me have him; let me have him," cried the Count. "I will only ask
+him to tell the truth, and hope he may not find that so difficult."
+
+The Count then proceeded to speak about horses, and the host readily
+undertook, finding that money was abundant, to procure all the
+horse-dealers in Paris with their best steeds, before nine o'clock on
+the following day. The demeanour of the young nobleman, it must be
+confessed, puzzled the good aubergiste a good deal; and on going down
+to his own abode, he acknowledged to his wife, what he seldom
+acknowledged to any one, that he could not make his guest out at all.
+
+"I should think," he said, "from the plenty of money, and the
+expensive way in which he seems inclined to deal, that he was some
+wild stripling from the provinces, the son of a rich president or
+advocate lately dead, who came hither to call himself Count, and spend
+his patrimony in haste. But then, again, in some things he is as
+shrewd as an old hawk, and can jest withal about rogues and honest
+men, while he keeps his own secrets close, and lets no one ask him a
+question."
+
+On the following morning, at an early hour, the six attendants whom he
+had required were brought before him in array, exhibiting, with one
+exception, as sweet a congregation of roguish faces as the great
+capital of roguery ever yet produced. The countenance of the lad who
+had been discharged from the service of the Duke of Epernon pleased
+the young Count much, and without waiting till he was farther
+equipped, he put Gondrin under his charge for the purpose of notifying
+at the palace of the Louvre that he had arrived in the capital,
+bearing a letter from the Duke of Guise to the King, and of begging to
+have an hour named for its delivery. He found, however, with some
+mortification--for his eager spirit and his anxiety brooked no
+delay--that the King was at Vincennes; and his only consolation was
+that the communication which he had sent to the palace, bearing the
+fearful name of the Duke of Guise, was certain to be communicated to
+the monarch as soon as possible. Some short time was expended in the
+purchase of horses, and in making various additions to his own
+apparel, well knowing the ostentatious splendour of the court he was
+about to visit.
+
+We have indeed remarked that there was perhaps a touch of foppery in
+his own nature, though it was but slight. Nevertheless, splendour of
+appearance certainly pleased him, even while a natural good taste led
+him to admire, and to seek in his own dress, all that was graceful and
+harmonising, rather than that which was rich or brilliant.
+
+He was thus engaged, with several tradesmen around him, ordering the
+materials for various suits of apparel, which a tailor standing by
+engaged to produce in a miraculously short time, when the door of his
+apartment was opened, and a somewhat fat pursy man in black was
+admitted, entering with an air of importance, and receiving the lowly
+salutations of the good citizens who were present. Charles of
+Montsoreau gazed at him as a stranger; but the good man, with an air
+of importance, and an affectation of courtly breeding, besought him to
+finish what he was about, adding, that he had a word for his private
+ear which he would communicate afterwards. The young Count, without
+further ceremony, continued to give his orders, examining his new
+visiter from time to time, and with no very great feelings of
+satisfaction.
+
+The countenance was fat, reddish, and, upon the whole, stupid, with an
+air of indecision about it which was very strongly marked, though
+there was every now and then a certain drawing in of the fringeless
+eyelids round the small black eyes, which gave the expression of
+intense cunning to features otherwise dull and flat.
+
+When he had completely done with his mercers, and tailors, and
+cloth-makers--who had occupied him some time, for he did not hurry
+himself--Charles of Montsoreau dismissed them; and turning to his
+visiter said, "Now, sir, may I have the happiness of knowing your
+business with me?"
+
+"Sir," replied the other, rising and speaking in a low and
+confidential tone, "my name is Nicolas Poulain. I am Lieutenant of the
+Prevot de l'Isle."
+
+He stopped short at this announcement; and the Count, after waiting a
+moment for something more, replied somewhat angrily, "Well, sir, I am
+very happy to hear it. I hope the office suits Nicolas Poulain, and
+Nicolas Poulain suits the office."
+
+A slight redness came into the man's face, rendering it a shade deeper
+than it ordinarily was; but finding it necessary to reply, as the
+Count, without sitting down, remained looking him stedfastly in the
+face, he answered, "I thought, sir,--indeed I took it for granted,
+sir, that you might have some communication for me from the Duke of
+Guise."
+
+"None whatever, sir," replied the young Count drily. "Have you any
+thing to tell me, Monsieur Nicolas Poulain, on the part of his
+Highness?"
+
+"No, sir, no," replied the other, attempting to assume an air of
+spirit which did not become him. "If you have not seen him more lately
+than I have, I am misinformed."
+
+"And pray, my good sir," demanded the Count, "who was it that took the
+trouble of informing you of any thing regarding me?"
+
+"That question is soon answered, sir," replied Nicolas Poulain,
+"though you seem to make so much difficulty in regard to answering
+mine. The person who informed me of your arrival was good Master
+Chapelle Marteau, who saw you last night at the gates when you
+entered."
+
+The name immediately struck the young Count as the same with one of
+those written on the letters which the Duke of Guise had given him to
+be used in case of need; but feeling how necessary it was to deal
+carefully with any of the faction of the Sixteen, to which both
+Chapelle Marteau and Nicolas Poulain belonged, he determined to say
+not one word upon the subject of his mission to any one. Much less,
+indeed, was he inclined to do so in the case of Nicolas Poulain, in
+whose face nature had stamped deceit and roguery in such legible
+characters, that the young Count, had he been forced to trust him with
+any secret, would have felt sure that the whole would be betrayed
+within an hour. All, then, that he replied to Master Nicolas Poulain
+was, that though he knew well the personage he mentioned by name, he
+had not the pleasure of his personal acquaintance.
+
+The answers were so short, the tone and manner so dry, that the worthy
+citizen found it expedient to make his retreat; and taking a short and
+unceremonious leave of one who had given him so cool a reception, he
+left the Count's apartments, and descended the stairs. The moment he
+was gone, some suspicion, which crossed the young cavalier's mind
+suddenly, made him call the page, and bid him follow his late visiter
+till he marked the house which Master Nicolas entered, taking care to
+remember the way back.
+
+The boy set off without a word, and returned in less than half an
+hour, informing the young Count that he had tracked Master Nicolas
+Poulain into a large house, which, on inquiry, he found to be the
+private dwelling of the Lord of Villequier.
+
+"The Duke is betrayed by some of these leaguers,--that is clear
+enough!" thought the young Count. "I have heard that many of his best
+enterprises have been frustrated by some unknown means. Who is there
+on earth that one can trust?" And leaning his head upon his hand he
+fell into deep thought, for to him the question of whom he could trust
+was at that moment one, not only entirely new, but one of deep and
+vital importance also. In his journey to Paris he had two great and
+all-important objects before him. To find out his brother, and, if
+possible, to persuade him to change a course of conduct which he felt
+to be dishonourable to himself and to his house, was one of these
+objects; and he doubted not that--if he could fully explain, and make
+the Marquis comprehend, his own conduct and his purposes--if he could
+show him that his only chance of obtaining the hand of Marie de
+Clairvaut was by attaching himself to the House of Guise, and that he
+had not a brother's rivalry to fear--Gaspar de Montsoreau might be
+induced to return to the party he had quitted, and not finally to
+commit himself to conduct so little to his own interest as that which
+he was pursuing.
+
+The other object, however, was much more important even than that, to
+the heart of Charles of Montsoreau; and the feelings which were
+connected with it--as so often happens with the feelings which affect
+every one in human life--were sadly at variance with other purposes.
+That object was to discover and guide to the court of the Duke of
+Guise, her whom he himself loved best on all the earth; to free her
+from the hands of the base and dangerous people into whose power she
+had fallen, and to leave her in security, if not in happiness.
+
+When he thought of seeing her again,--when he thought of passing days
+with her on the journey, of being her guide, her protector, her
+companion, the overpowering longing and thirst for such a joyful time
+shook and agitated him, made his heart thrill and his brain reel; and,
+bending down his face upon his hands, he gave himself up for a long
+time to whirling dreams of happiness. But then again he asked himself
+if, after such hours, he could ever quit her; if--following the firm
+purpose with which he had left Montsoreau--he could resist all
+temptation to seek her love further, and after plunging into the
+contentions of the day could dedicate his sword and his life, as he
+had intended, to warfare against the infidels in the order of St.
+John? There was a great struggle in his mind when he asked himself the
+question--a great and terrible struggle; but at length he answered it
+in the affirmative. "Yes," he said; "yes, I can do so!" But there was
+a condition attached to that decision. "I can do so," he said, "if I
+find that there is a chance of her wedding him; if I find that, in
+reality and truth, the first bright hopes I entertained were indeed
+fallacious."
+
+To say the truth, doubts had come over his mind as to whether he had
+construed Marie de Clairvaut's conduct rightly. Those doubts had been
+instilled into his imagination by the words of the Duke of Guise.
+Fancy lingered round them: shall we say that Hope, too, played
+with them? If she did so, it was against his will; for he was in
+that sad and painful situation where hope, reproved by the highest
+feelings of the heart, dare scarcely point to the objects of desire.
+Terrible--terrible is that situation where Virtue, or Honour, or
+Generosity bind down imagination, silence even hope, and shut against
+us the gates of that paradise we see, but must not enter. These,
+indeed, are the angels with the flaming swords.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau would not suffer himself to hope any thing that
+might make his brother's misery; but yet fancy would conjure up bright
+dreams; and knowing and feeling that if those dreams were realised, a
+complete change must come over his actions and his conduct, he saw
+that it would be needful to use guarded language to his brother,--or
+rather to use only the guard of perfect frankness. He resolved, then,
+to tell him fully his purposes, but to tell him at the same time the
+conditions under which those circumstances were to be executed.
+
+As he pondered, however, and thought over the changed demeanour of his
+brother, over the fiery impetuosity and impatience of his whole temper
+and conduct, he remembered that it might be with difficulty that he
+could obtain a hearing for a sufficient length of time to explain
+himself fully, and he consequently determined to write clearly and
+explicitly, so that there might be no error or mistake whatever, and
+that his conduct might remain clear and undoubted; and sitting down at
+once, he did as he proposed, that he might have the letter ready to
+send or to deliver as soon as he discovered where his brother was.
+
+The epistle was short, but it was distinct. He referred boldly and
+directly to his conversation with the Abbe de Boisguerin; he explained
+his conduct since; and he told his decided and unchangeable purpose of
+seeking in no way the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, unless he had
+reason to believe that the deep attachment which he felt and
+acknowledged towards her were already returned. He ended by exhorting
+his brother to do that which his pledges and professions to the Duke
+of Guise had bound him to do, to guide back Mademoiselle de Clairvaut
+himself to the protection of her uncle, and to avert the necessity of
+his seeking her and conducting her to Soissons.
+
+In thus letting his thoughts flow on in collateral channels from
+subject to subject, he had deviated from the original object of his
+contemplations, which was, the method to be pursued for instituting
+private inquiries throughout the city, in regard to the arrival, both
+of his brother and Mademoiselle de Clairvaut. Unacquainted with any
+persons in Paris, he knew not how to set on foot the inquiry; and his
+mind had just reverted to the subject, which appeared more and more
+embarrassing each time he thought of it, when he was informed, with an
+air of great importance, by the host, that Monsieur Chapelle Marteau
+demanded humbly to have the honour of paying him his respects.
+
+The Count ordered him instantly to be ushered in; and, during the
+brief moment that intervened before he appeared, considered hastily,
+whether he should employ this personage in any way in making the
+inquiries that were necessary. He knew that he was highly esteemed by
+the Duke of Guise; but yet it was evident that, by some of the members
+of, or the followers of, the League in Paris, the Duke was himself
+entirely deceived; and yet Charles of Montsoreau was more inclined to
+trust this man's sincerity than that of the person who had left him
+some short time before, inasmuch as the Duke had addressed one of the
+private letters we have before mentioned to him, while he had never
+named the other. The countenance and appearance of Chapelle Marteau
+confirmed any prepossession in his favour. It was quick, and
+intelligent, and frank, though somewhat stern; and he had moreover the
+air and bearing of a man in the higher ranks of life, although he held
+but an office which was then considered inferior, that of one of the
+Masters in the Chamber of Accounts.
+
+"I come, sir," he said, as soon as the first civilities were over, "to
+ask your pardon for some quickness on my part in refusing you
+admittance at the gates last night. The fact is, that bad-intentioned
+people have been endeavouring to introduce into the city of Paris,
+under the King's name, a multitude of soldiery, in twos and threes,
+for the purpose of overawing us in the pursuit of our rights and
+liberties."
+
+"Say no more, say no more, Monsieur Chapelle," said the Count; "I
+doubt not you had very good reasons for what you did."
+
+He then paused, leaving his companion to pursue the subject as he
+might think fit; and the leaguer seemed somewhat embarrassed as to how
+he should proceed, though his embarrassment showed itself in a
+different manner from that of Master Nicolas Poulain. At length he
+said, "I entertained some hope, sir, that you might bring me a
+communication from the Duke of Guise, as, when I had the honour of
+seeing him at Gonesse three days ago, he gave me the hope that he
+would write to me ere long."
+
+"No, Monsieur Chapelle," replied the Count deliberately; "I have no
+message for you. His Highness directed me indeed to apply to you in
+case of need; and I know that he has the highest esteem for you,
+believing you to be a zealous defender of our holy faith, and a man
+well worthy of every consideration;--but I have no present message to
+you from the Duke; and the case in which it may be necessary to apply
+to you for assistance, according to his Highness's direction, has not
+yet arrived."
+
+"Most delighted shall I be, my Lord[3] Count," replied the leaguer,
+"to afford you any aid or assistance or council in my power, both on
+account of his Highness the Duke of Guise and on your own. Might I ask
+what is the case foreseen, in which you are to apply to me?"
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 3: The word Monseigneur, my Lord, which in the days of Louis
+XIV. had become restricted to a very few high dignitaries, or only
+given to other noblemen by their own servants and tenantry, was in the
+reign of Henry III. commonly used to all high noblemen, and we find
+constantly titles addressed _A mon tres illustre et tres honore
+Seigneur le Marquis_; or, _A l'illustre Seigneur, Monseigneur le Comte
+de_ ----.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+The Count smiled. "In case, Monsieur Chapelle," he said, "that I do
+not succeed in objects which the Duke has entrusted to me by other
+means, you shall know. At present, however, I have had no opportunity
+of ascertaining what may be necessary to be done, finding that the
+King is at Vincennes. In the mean time I am employing myself about
+some personal business of my own, which I am afraid is likely to give
+me trouble."
+
+He spoke quite calmly; but a look of intelligence came immediately
+over the countenance of Chapelle Marteau, and he said, "Perhaps I
+might be enabled to assist your Lordship. My knowledge of Paris, and
+all that is transacted therein, is very extensive."
+
+"You are very kind," replied the Count, "and I take advantage of your
+offer with the greatest pleasure. The matter is a very simple one. My
+elder brother, the Marquis de Montsoreau, set out some time ago to
+join the Duke of Guise, having under his charge and escort a young
+lady, named Mademoiselle de Clairvaut."
+
+"Daughter of the Duke of Guise's niece," said Chapelle Marteau with
+some emphasis.
+
+"I believe that is the relationship," answered the young nobleman.
+"But, however, the facts are these: I have reason to believe that my
+brother was interrupted in his journey by the attack of a party of
+reiters, and was obliged in consequence to put himself and
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut under the protection of a body of the King's
+troops coming to Paris. Now, my wish is, to ascertain whether he or
+any of his party, either separately or together, are now in Paris, and
+where they are to be found."
+
+The leaguer gazed in his face for a minute or two with an inquiring
+look, and then replied, "I can tell you at once, my Lord, that no
+considerable party whatever has entered the gates of Paris under the
+protection of the King's troops for the last ten days, no party of
+even ten in number having the ensigns of Valois having appeared during
+that time. But the party you mention may have come in by themselves
+without the King's troops; and I rather suspect that they have so
+done. However, I will let you know the exact particulars within four
+and twenty hours from this moment, and every other information that I
+can by any means glean regarding the persons you speak of; for I very
+well understand, my Lord, that there may be more intelligence required
+about them than you choose to ask for at once."
+
+The young Count smiled again, but merely replied, "Any information
+that you can obtain for me, Monsieur Chapelle, will be received by me
+most gratefully; and in the mean time will you do me the honour of
+partaking my poor dinner which is about to be served?"
+
+The leaguer, however, declined the high honour, alleging important
+business as his excuse; and, after having dined, the young Count rode
+out through the streets of Paris, endeavouring to make himself
+somewhat familiar with them, and feeling all those sensations which
+the sight of that great capital might well produce on one who had
+never beheld it before. On those sensations, however, we must not
+pause, as matters of more importance are before us. A couple of hours
+after nightfall he received a note to the following effect:--
+
+"The Marquis de Montsoreau, with a body of horsemen, bearing no
+badge or ensign, entered Paris yesterday at about four o'clock, and
+lodged at the Fleur-de-lis. He is not there now, however, and is
+supposed to have quitted Paris. Mademoiselle de Clairvaut is not known
+to have entered the capital; but a carriage, containing ladies and
+waiting-women, was escorted to Vincennes this morning by a body of
+troops of Valois. The name of one of the ladies was ascertained to be
+the Marquise de Saulny."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau received these tidings with a beating heart, and
+sleep did not visit his eyelids till the clock of a neighbouring
+church had struck five in the morning.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. IV.
+
+
+Dark heavy clouds hung over the world, and totally obscured the face
+of the sky; the morning was chill, the air keen, and the eye of the
+peasant was often turned up towards the leaden-looking masses of
+vapour above his head, as if to inquire whether their stores would be
+poured forth in lightning or in snow; and as Charles of Montsoreau
+rode on through the park to the Donjon of Vincennes, he felt the
+gloomy aspect of the whole scene more than he might have done at any
+other time.
+
+There, before his eyes, with the whole face of nature harmonising well
+with its dark and frowning aspect, rose the grey gigantic keep, which
+the vanquished opponent of Edward III., the rash and half-insane
+founder of the race of Valois, erected at an early period of his
+melancholy reign. Story above story, the large quadrangular mass, with
+its flanking towers, rose up till it seemed to touch the gloomy sky
+above; but in those days it had at least the beauty of harmony, for no
+one had added to the harsh and solemn features of the feudal
+architecture the gewgaw ornaments of a later age. The gallery of Marie
+de Medici was not built, and nothing was seen but the antique form of
+the Donjon itself, with the mass of walls surrounding its base with
+their flanking turrets, a pinnacle or two rising above--as if from
+some low Gothic building within the walls--and the still dark fosse
+surrounding the whole.
+
+We form but a faint idea to ourselves--a very very faint idea of the
+manners and customs of feudal times; but still less, perhaps, can we
+form any just idea of the every-day enormities, crimes, and vices,
+that were committed at the period we now speak of, and of what it was
+to live familiarly in the midst of such scenes, and to hear daily of
+such occurrences. The mind of most men got hardened, callous, or
+indifferent to acts of darkness and of shame, even if they did not
+commit them themselves; and the world of Paris heard with scarcely an
+emotion that this nobleman had been poisoned by another--that the hand
+of the assassin had delivered one high lord of this troublesome friend
+or that pertinacious enemy--that the husband had "drugged the posset"
+for the wife, or the wife for the husband--or that persons obnoxiously
+wise or virtuous disappeared within the walls of such places as
+Vincennes, and passed suddenly with their good acts into that oblivion
+which is the general recompense of all that is excellent upon earth.
+No one noted such deeds; the sword of justice started from the
+scabbard once or twice in a century, but that was all; and the world
+laughed as merrily--the jest and the repartee went on--sport, love,
+and folly revelled as gaily through the streets of Paris, as if it had
+been a world of gentleness, and security, and peace.
+
+Though of course Charles of Montsoreau felt in some degree the spirit
+of the day--though he thought it nothing at all extraordinary to be
+attacked by reiters in his own chateau, or stopped by fifty or sixty
+plunderers on the broad highway--though it seemed perfectly natural to
+him that man should live as in a state of continual warfare, always on
+his defence, yet the whole of his previous life having passed far from
+the daily occurrence of still more revolting scenes, in spots where
+calm nature and God's handiwork were still at hand to purify and heal
+men's thoughts, he had very different feelings in regard to the events
+and customs of the day from those which were generally entertained by
+the people of the metropolis. Thus, when he gazed up at the gloomy
+tower of Vincennes, and thought of the deeds which had been committed
+within its walls, together with the crimes and follies that were daily
+there enacted, a feeling of mingled horror and disgust took possession
+of his bosom; and had he not been impelled by a sense of duty, he
+would not have set his foot upon the threshold of those polluted
+gates.
+
+The order to appear before the King at Vincennes had been communicated
+to him early in the morning, and notice of his coming had been given
+to the officers at the gates of the castle. He was punctual to a
+moment at the appointed time, and was instantly led into the chateau,
+and conducted up a long, darksome, winding stone staircase in one of
+the towers. Everything took place almost in silence; few persons were
+to be seen moving about in the building; and, while winding up those
+stairs, nothing was heard but the footfalls of himself and the
+attendant who conducted him.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau certainly felt neither awe nor fear as he thus
+advanced, though some of the warnings of the Duke of Guise might cross
+his mind at the moment; but at the end of what seemed to be the first
+story, the attendant said, "Wait a moment;" and, pushing open a door,
+entered a room to the right. There was another door beyond, but both
+were left partly unclosed, and the previous silence was certainly no
+longer to be complained of, for such a jabbering, and screaming, and
+yelling, and howling, as was now heard, was probably never known in
+the palace of a king, before or since.
+
+Human sounds they seemed certainly not to be, and yet words in various
+languages were to be distinguished, so that conjecture was quite put
+at fault, till after an absence of several minutes the attendant
+returned, and, bidding the young nobleman follow him, led the way once
+more into this den of noise and confusion.
+
+The scene that then burst upon the eyes of Charles of Montsoreau was
+as curious as can well be conceived. Innumerable parrots, macaws, and
+cockatoos were ranged on perches and in cages along the sides of a
+large apartment, with intervals of monkeys and apes rattling their
+chains, springing forward at every object near them, mouthing,
+chattering, and writhing themselves into fantastic forms; six or seven
+small beautiful dogs of a peculiar breed were running about on the
+floor, snarling at one another, barking at the stranger, or teazing
+the other animals in the same room with themselves; baskets filled
+with litters of puppies were in every corner of the room; and several
+men and women were engaged in tending the winged and quadruped
+favourites of the King. Not only, however, were the regular attendants
+present, but, as one of the known ways to Henry's regard, a great
+number of other persons were always to be found busily engaged in
+tending the monkeys, parrots, and dogs. Amongst the rest here present,
+were no less than five dwarfs, four others being in actual attendance
+upon the King. None were above three feet and a half in height, and
+some were deformed and distorted in the most fearful manner, while one
+was perfectly and beautifully formed, and seemed to hold the others in
+great contempt. The voices of almost all of them, however, were
+cracked and screaming; and it was the sounds of their tongues, mingled
+with the yelping of the dogs, the chattering of the monkeys, and the
+various words repeated in different languages by the loquacious birds
+along the wall, which had made the Babel of sounds that reached the
+ears of Charles of Montsoreau while he stood without.
+
+Passing through this room, with the envious eyes of the dwarfs staring
+upon his fine figure, the young Count entered the chamber of the
+pages--where, as if for the sake of contrast, a number of beautiful
+youths were seen--and was thence led on into the royal apartments, in
+which every thing was calm splendour and magnificence. Here and there
+various officers of the royal household were found lounging away the
+idle hours as they waited for the King's commands; and at length, in
+an ante-room, the young Count was bade to wait again, while the
+attendant once more notified his coming to the King. He was scarcely
+detained a moment now, however; but, the door being opened, he was
+ushered into the monarch's presence.
+
+Henry on the present occasion presented an aspect different from that
+which the young Count had expected to behold. The Monarch had
+recalled, for a moment or two, the princely and commanding air of his
+youth, and received the young Count with dignity and grace. His person
+was handsome, his figure fine, and his dress in the most exquisite
+taste that it was possible to conceive. It was neither so effeminate
+nor so overcharged with ornament as it sometimes was; and the black
+velvet slashed and laced with gold, the toque with a single large
+diamond on his head, the long snowy-white ostrich feather, and the
+collar of one or two high orders round his neck, became him well, and
+harmonised with the air of dignity he assumed.
+
+There were two or three gentlemen who stood around him more gaudily
+dressed than himself, and amongst them was the Duke of Epernon, whom
+Charles of Montsoreau remembered to have seen at his father's chateau
+some years before. All, however, held back so as to allow the monarch
+a full view of the young cavalier, as he advanced.
+
+"You are welcome to Vincennes, Monsieur de Logeres," said the King.
+"Our noble and princely cousin of Guise has notified to us that he has
+sent you to Paris on business of importance; and, having given you
+that praise which we are sure you must merit, has besought us to put
+every sort of trust and confidence in you, and to listen to you as to
+himself, while you speak with us upon the affairs which have brought
+you hither. We beseech you, therefore, to inform us of that which he
+has left dark, and tell us how we may pleasure our fair cousin, which
+is always our first inclination to do--the good of our state and the
+welfare of our subjects considered."
+
+"His Highness the Duke of Guise, Sire," replied Charles of Montsoreau,
+not in the slightest degree abashed by the many eyes that were fixed
+upon him, scrutinising his person and his dress in the most
+unceremonious manner, "his Highness the Duke of Guise, Sire, has sent
+me to your Majesty, to ask information regarding a young lady, his
+near relation, who, he has reason to believe, was protected by a body
+of your Majesty's troops in a situation of some difficulty, for which
+protection the Duke is most grateful. She was then, he understood,
+conducted to this your Majesty's castle of Vincennes, doubtless for
+the purpose of affording her a safe asylum till you could restore her
+to his Highness, who is her guardian."
+
+Henry turned with a sneering smile towards a dark but handsome man,
+with a somewhat sinister expression of countenance, on his left hand,
+saying, in an under tone, "Quick travelling, Villequier! to Soissons
+and back to Paris in four and twenty hours, ha! Had the swallow ever
+wings like rumour?"
+
+This was said affectedly aside, but quite loud enough for the young
+nobleman to hear the whole. He, of course, made no reply, as the words
+were not addressed to him; but waited, with his eyes bent down,
+apparently in thoughtful meditation, till the King should give him his
+answer.
+
+"You have given us, Monsieur le Comte de Logeres," said the King, "but
+a faint idea of this business; and, as unhappily the commanders of our
+troops are but too little accustomed to afford us any very full
+account of their proceedings, we are ignorant of the occasion on which
+any one of them rendered this service to the young lady you mention."
+
+This affected unconsciousness, displayed absolutely in conjunction
+with a scarcely concealed knowledge of the whole affair, Charles of
+Montsoreau felt to be trifling and insulting: but he lost not his
+reverence for the kingly authority; and he replied, with every
+appearance of deference, "I had imagined, Sire, that the quick wings
+of rumour must have carried the whole particulars to your Majesty,
+otherwise I should have been more particular in my account. The
+service was rendered to the young lady very lately, between Jouarre
+and Gandelu. I am not absolutely aware of the name of the officer in
+command of the troops at the time, but one gentleman present bore the
+name of Colombel."
+
+"And pray what was the name of the young lady herself?" demanded the
+King, with a sneer. "The Duke of Guise has many she relations, as we
+sometimes find to our cost. It could not be our pretty, mild, and
+virtuous friend, the Duchess of Montpensier, nor the delicate and
+fair-favoured Mademoiselle de St. Beuve; for the one is staying in
+Paris in disobedience to the orders of the King, and the other is
+remaining there, waiting for the tender consolations of the Chevalier
+d'Aumale."
+
+The young Count turned somewhat red, both at the coarseness and the
+scornfulness of the King's reply. "The young lady," he answered,
+however, still keeping the same tone, "is named Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut, daughter of the late Count de Clairvaut."
+
+"Your first cousin, Villequier," said the King, turning to his
+minister. "You should know something of this affair?"
+
+"Not more than your Majesty," replied Villequier, bowing low, and
+perceiving very clearly that Henry had maliciously wished to embarrass
+him.
+
+The King smiled at the double-meaning answer, and then, turning to the
+young Count, replied, "Well, sir, you have fulfilled your mission, and
+may tell the Duke of Guise, our true and well-beloved cousin, that we
+will cause immediate inquiry and investigation to be made into the
+whole affair; and let him know the particulars as soon as we are
+sufficiently well-informed to speak upon it with that accuracy which
+becomes our character. You may retire."
+
+This was of course not the conclusion of the affair to which Charles
+of Montsoreau was inclined to submit; and it was evident to him that
+the King and his minions presumed upon his apparent youth and
+inexperience. But there was a firm decision in his character which
+they were not prepared for; and after pausing for a moment in thought,
+during which time the King's brows began to bend angrily upon him, he
+raised his eyes, looking Henry calmly and stedfastly in the face, and
+replying, "Your Majesty must pardon me if I do not take instant
+advantage of your permission to retire, as you have conceived a false
+impression when you imagine that my mission is fulfilled."
+
+The King looked with an air of astonishment, first to Epernon and then
+to Villequier: but the former turned away his head with a look of
+dissatisfaction; while the latter bit his lip, let his hand fall upon
+a jewelled dagger in his belt, and said nothing.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau, however, went on in the same calm but
+determined tone. "His Highness the Duke of Guise," he said, "directed
+me to inform your Majesty of the facts I have mentioned, and to beg in
+general terms information regarding them; but in case the general
+information that I obtained was not sufficiently accurate to enable me
+to write to him distinctly that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut is in this
+place, or in that place, he further directed me humbly to request that
+your Majesty would answer in plain terms the following plain
+questions:--Is Mademoiselle de Clairvaut in the chateau of Vincennes?
+Is she under the charge and protection of your Majesty? Does your
+Majesty know where she is?"
+
+"By the Lord that lives," exclaimed Henry, "this Duke of Guise chooses
+himself bold ambassadors to his King!"
+
+"Do you dare, malapert boy," exclaimed Villequier, "with that bold
+brow, to cross-question your sovereign?"
+
+"I do dare, sir," answered Charles of Montsoreau, "to ask my
+sovereign, in the name of the Duke of Guise, these plain questions,
+which, as he is a just and noble monarch, he can neither find any
+difficulty in answering, nor feel any anger in hearing."
+
+"And what if I refuse to answer, sir?" demanded the King. "What is to
+be the consequence then? Is the doughty messenger charged to make a
+declaration of war on the part of our obedient subject, the Duke of
+Guise?"
+
+The young Count was not prepared for this question, and hesitated how
+to answer it, though a full knowledge of how terrible the Duke of
+Guise was to the weak and effeminate monarch he addressed, brought a
+smile over his countenance, which had in reality more effect than any
+words he could have spoken. After a pause, however, he replied,--"Oh
+no, Sire. The Duke of Guise is, as you say, your Majesty's most
+devoted and obedient subject; and never conceiving it possible that
+you would refuse to answer his humble questions, he gave me no
+instructions what to say in a case that he did not foresee. I can only
+suppose," he added, with a low and reverent bow to the King, "that the
+Duke will be obliged to come to Paris himself to make those inquiries
+and investigations, concerning his young relation, in which I have not
+been successful."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau could see, notwithstanding the paint, which
+delicately furnished the King with a more stable complexion than his
+own, that at the very thought of the Duke of Guise coming to Paris the
+weak monarch turned deadly pale. The same signs also were visible to
+Villequier, who whispered, "No fear, Sire; no fear; he will not come!"
+
+The King answered sharply, however, and sufficiently loud for the
+young nobleman to hear, "We must give him no excuse, Rene! we must
+give him no excuse! Monsieur de Logeres," he continued, putting on a
+more placable air than before, "we are glad to find that neither the
+Duke of Guise nor his envoy presumes to threaten us; and in
+consideration of the questions being put in a proper manner, we are
+willing to answer them to the best of our abilities."
+
+Villequier, at these words, laid his hand gently upon the King's
+cloak; but Henry twitched it away from his grasp with an air of
+impatience, and continued, "I shall therefore answer you frankly and
+freely, young gentleman; telling you that the Lady whom you are sent
+to seek is in fact not at Vincennes; nor, to the best of our knowledge
+and belief, in our good city of Paris; neither do we know or have any
+correct information of where she may be found, though it is not by any
+means to be denied that she has visited this our castle of Vincennes."
+
+The first part of the King's speech had considerably relieved the mind
+of Villequier; but when he proceeded to make the somewhat unnecessary
+admission, that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut had visited Vincennes, the
+minister again attempted to interrupt the King, saying, "You know,
+Sire, her pause at Vincennes was merely momentary, and absolutely
+necessary for those passports and safeguards without which it might be
+dangerous to travel, in the distracted state of the country."
+
+"Perfectly true," replied Henry: but the King's apprehension of the
+Duke of Guise appearing in Paris was much stronger than his respect
+for his minister's opinion; and he proceeded with what he had to say,
+in spite of every sign or hint that could be given him.
+
+"You must know, Monsieur de Logeres," he said, "that, as I before
+observed, she did visit Vincennes for a brief space; but, there being
+something embarrassing in the whole business, we were, to say the
+truth--albeit not insensible to beauty--we were not at all sorry to
+see her depart."
+
+Although Charles of Montsoreau judged rightly that the abode of
+Vincennes, to the high and pure-minded girl whom he sought, could only
+have been one of horror, he could not conceive any thing in her
+situation which should have proved embarrassing to the King, and he
+answered bluntly, "Then your Majesty of course has caused her to be
+escorted in safety to the Duke of Guise, as the means of relieving
+yourself from all embarrassment concerning her."
+
+"Not so, not so, Monsieur de Logeres," replied the King. "Young
+diplomatists and young greyhounds run fast and overleap the game. It
+so happens that there are various claims regarding the wardship of
+this young Lady. She has many relations, as near or nearer than the
+Duke of Guise. The care and guidance of her, too, under the
+authorisation of the Duke himself, has been claimed by a young
+nobleman whom you may have heard of, called the Marquis of
+Montsoreau;" and he fixed his eyes meaningly upon the young Count's
+face. "All these circumstances rendered the matter embarrassing; and
+as I was not called upon to decide the matter judicially; and the
+Lady, if not quite of an age by law to judge for herself, being very
+nearly so, I thought it far better to leave the whole business to her
+own discretion, and let her take what course she thought fit, offering
+her every assistance and protection in my power, which, however, she
+declined. You may therefore assure the Duke of Guise, on my part, that
+she is not at Vincennes, and that I am unacquainted with where she is
+at this moment. I now think, therefore, that all your questions are
+answered, and the business is at an end."
+
+"I fear I must intrude upon your Majesty still farther," replied the
+young Count; "for besides the letter from the Duke of Guise, which I
+have had the honour of delivering to your Majesty, he has also
+furnished me with this document, giving me full power and authority to
+inquire, seek for, and require, at the hands of any person in whose
+power she may be, the young Lady whom he claims as his ward. He has
+directed me to request your Majesty's approbation of the same,
+expressed by your signature to that effect, giving me authority to
+search for her in your name also, and to require the aid and
+assistance of all your officers, civil and military, in executing the
+said task."
+
+Henry looked both agitated and angry; and Villequier spoke for a
+moment to Epernon behind the King's back.
+
+"Monsieur de Logeres," exclaimed the latter, taking a step forward,
+"this is too much. I can hardly suppose that his Highness the Duke of
+Guise has authorised you to make such a demand."
+
+"My Lord Duke of Epernon," replied the Count, "were it not that I hold
+in my hand the Duke's authority for that which I state, I would call
+upon you to put your insinuation in plainer terms, that I might give
+it the lie as plainly as I would do any other unjust accusation."
+
+The Duke turned very red; but he replied, "And you would be treated,
+sir Count, as a petty boy of the low nobility of this realm deserves,
+for using such language to one so much above yourself."
+
+"There is no one in France so much above myself, sir," replied the
+Count, gazing on him sternly, and with a look of some contempt, "as to
+dare to insult me with impunity; and though you be now High-admiral of
+France, Colonel-general of Infantry, Governor of half the provinces of
+this country, Duke, Peer, and hold many another rich and honourable
+office besides, I tell you, John of Nogaret, that when the Baron de
+Caumont dined at my father's table, he sat nearer the salt than
+perhaps now may suit the proud Duke of Epernon to remember."
+
+"Silence!" exclaimed the King, rousing himself for a moment from his
+effeminate apathy, while, for a brief space, an expression of power
+and dignity came over his countenance, such as that which had
+distinguished him while Duke of Anjou. "Silence, insolent boy!
+Silence, Epernon! I forbid you, on pain of my utmost displeasure, to
+take notice, even by a word, of what this young man has said. You were
+yourself wrong to answer for the King in the King's presence. The Duke
+of Guise shall have no just occasion to complain of us," he added, the
+brightness which had come upon him gradually dying away like the false
+promising gleam of sunshine which sometimes breaks for a moment
+through a rainy autumnal day, and fades away again as soon, amidst the
+dull grey clouds; "the Duke of Guise shall have no occasion to
+complain of us. We will give this young man the authority which he has
+so insolently demanded, to seek for Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, and
+having found her--if she have not joined the Duke of Guise long
+before--to escort her in safety to our cousin's care. But, Monsieur de
+Logeres, you show your ignorance of every custom of the court and
+state, by supposing that the King of France can write down at the
+bottom of the powers given you by the Duke of Guise his name in
+confirmation of the same, like a steward at the bottom of a butcher's
+bill. The authority which we give you must pass through the office of
+our secretary of state, and it shall be drawn out and sent to you as
+speedily as possible. I think that Monsieur de Villequier already
+knows where to send this authority. You may now retire; and rest
+assured that it shall reach you as soon as possible. At the same time
+we pardon you for your conduct in this presence, which much needs
+pardon, though it does not merit it."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau bowed low, and retired from the King's presence,
+fully convinced that Henry was deceiving him; that he knew, or, at all
+events, had every means of judging, where Marie de Clairvaut was; and
+that he had not the slightest intention of sending him the
+authorisation he had promised, unless absolutely driven to do so.
+
+The moment that the young Count had quitted the presence, the King
+turned angrily to Villequier, exclaiming, "Are you mad, Villequier, to
+risk bringing that fiery and ambitious pest upon us? 'Tis but four
+days ago he was within ten miles of Paris!"
+
+"Pshaw, Sire!" replied Villequier; "there is not the slightest chance
+of his coming. Did I not tell you when he was at Gonesse that I would
+find means to make him run like a frightened hare back again to
+Soissons? I fear your Majesty has ruined all our plans by promising
+this authority to that malapert youth, who doubtless already knows, or
+easily divines, that he is deceived."
+
+"I have not deceived him," said the King: "I told him the girl was not
+at Vincennes; nor is she. I told him that I did not know where she is
+at this moment; nor do I; for she may be three miles on this side of
+Meulan, or three miles on that, for aught I know. It depends upon the
+quickness of the horses, and the state of the roads. I promised him
+the authority to seek her; and he shall have it in good due form, if
+he live long enough, and wait in Paris a sufficient time."
+
+"If he have it not within three days," replied Villequier, "be you
+sure, Sire, that he will write to the Duke of Guise."
+
+"But, Villequier," said the King in a soft tone, "could you not find
+means to prevent his making use of pen and ink to such bad purposes?
+In short, friend Rene, it is altogether your affair. You seem to think
+that the fact of this girl falling into our hands is quite the
+discovery of a treasure which may fix on our side this young Marquis
+of Montsoreau and the crafty Abbe that you talk of, and I don't know
+how many more people besides. Now I told you from the beginning that
+you should manage it all yourself: so look to it, good Villequier;
+look to it."
+
+"He has let me manage it all myself, truly!" said Villequier, in a low
+tone, "But I wish to know more precisely, your Majesty," he added
+aloud, "what am I to do with this youth and the girl? Is he to have
+the authorisation, or not? Am I, or am I not, to give her up when he
+demands her?"
+
+"Now, good faith," replied the King, "would not one think, Epernon,
+that our well-beloved friend and minister here was a mere novice out
+of a convent of young girls, a tender and scrupulous little thing,
+thinking evil, in every stray look or soft word addressed to her. He
+who has dealt with so many in his day, diplomatists and warriors and
+statesmen, has not wit enough to deal with a raw boy, whom, doubtless,
+our fair and crafty cousin of Guise has sent upon a fool's errand to
+get him out of the way."
+
+"Certainly," replied the Duke of Epernon, "our wise friend Villequier
+seems to be somewhat prudent and cautious this morning. The young lady
+is in your hands, I think, Villequier; is she not? and you have sent
+her off into Normandy, I think you told me, with an escort of fifty of
+your archers. She goes there, doubtless, as his Majesty has said, with
+her own will and consent, and by her own choice, for there is a soft
+persuasiveness in fifty archers which it is very difficult for a
+woman's heart to resist; and, doubtless, by the same cogent arguments,
+you will induce her to marry whom you please. Come, tell us who it is
+to be; the hand of a rich heiress to dispose of, may be made a
+profitable thing, under such management as yours, Villequier."
+
+"I have not discovered the philosopher's stone, like you, Monsieur
+d'Epernon," replied the other.
+
+The King laughed gaily, for Epernon's extraordinary cupidity was no
+secret even to the monarch that fed it. But the Duke was proof to all
+jest upon that score; and looking at Villequier with the same sort of
+musing expression which he had before borne, he repeated his question,
+saying, "Come, come, disinterested chevalier, tell us to whom do you
+intend to give her?"
+
+"Perhaps to my own nephew," replied the other. "What think you of
+that, Monsieur le Duc?"
+
+The brow of Epernon grew clouded in a moment. "I think," he said,
+"that you will not do it, for two reasons: in the first place, you
+destine your nephew for your daughter Charlotte."
+
+"Not I," replied the Marquis; "I never dreamt of such a thing. She
+shall wed higher than that, or not at all. But what is your second
+reason, Monsieur d'Epernon?"
+
+"Because you dare not," replied the Duc d'Epernon: and he added,
+speaking in a low tone, "You dare not, Villequier, mingle your race
+with that of Guise. The moment you do, your object will be clear, and
+your ruin certain."
+
+"It is a curious thing, Sire," said Villequier, turning to the King
+with a smile, "it is a curious thing to see how my good Lord of
+Epernon grudges any little advantage to us mean men. However, to set
+his Grace's mind at ease, I neither destine Mademoiselle de Clairvaut
+for one nor for the other; but I think she may prove a wonderful good
+bait for the wild young Marquis of Montsoreau. By the promise of her
+hand, as far as my interest and influence is concerned, he will not
+only be bound to your Majesty's cause on every occasion, but will
+exert himself more zealously and potently for that, than any other
+inducement could lead him to do. Even if he should fail in the
+trial--for we must acknowledge that he shows himself somewhat unstable
+in his purposes--he will, at all events, have so far committed himself
+as to give your Majesty good cause for confiscating all his land,
+cutting down all his timber, and seizing upon all his wealth. However,
+I must think, in the first place, of how to deal with this brother of
+his."
+
+"No very difficult task, I should judge," said the Duke of Epernon,
+"for one so practised in the art of catching gudgeons as you,
+Villequier."
+
+"I don't know that," answered Villequier; "I would fain detach that
+youth, also, from the Guises. You see, most noble Duke, I am thinking
+of the King's interest all the time, while you are thinking of your
+own. However, I must find a way to manage him, for, as their wonderful
+friend and tutor, this wise Abbe de Boisguerin, admitted to me last
+night, there are three means all powerful in dealing with our
+neighbours--love, interest, and ambition; and we might thus exemplify
+it,--the King would do any thing for the first, the Duke of Epernon
+any thing for the second, and his Highness of Guise any thing for the
+third."
+
+"There are two other implements frequently used, which I wonder
+Monsieur de Villequier did not add," said the Duke, "as I rather
+expect he may have to use one or other of them on the present
+occasion; and men say he is fully as skilful in using them as in
+employing love, interest, or ambition, for his ends."
+
+"Pray what are those?" demanded Villequier, somewhat sharply.
+
+"Vicenza daggers," replied the Duke of Epernon, "and wine that splits
+a Venice glass!"
+
+"Come, come, Epernon," cried the King, "you and Villequier shall not
+quarrel. Come away from him, come away from him, or you will be using
+your daggers on each other presently:" and, throwing his arm
+familiarly round his neck, he drew the Duke away.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. V.
+
+
+Charles of Montsoreau rode homeward in painful and anxious thought: he
+had flattered himself vainly, before he had proceeded to Vincennes,
+that the redoubted name of Henry of Guise would be found fully
+sufficient immediately to cause the restoration of Marie de Clairvaut
+to him, who had naturally a right to protect her. It less frequently
+happens that youth fails to reckon upon the fiery contention it is
+destined to meet with from adversaries, than that it miscalculates the
+force of the dull and inert opposition which circumstances continually
+offer to its eager course, throwing upon it a heavy, slow, continual
+weight, which, like a clog upon a powerful horse, seems but a nothing
+for the moment, but in the end checks its speed entirely. None knew
+better than Henry III. that it is by casting small obstacles in the
+way of impetuous youth, that we conquer and tame it sooner than by
+opposing it; and such had been his purpose with Charles of Montsoreau.
+
+In his idle carelessness he cared but little what became of
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, or into whose hands she fell. He was
+willing to countenance and assist the politic schemes of his favourite
+Villequier; and cared not, even in the slightest degree, whether that
+personage employed poison or the knife to rid himself of the young
+Count of Logeres, provided always that he himself had nothing to do
+with it. The only part that he was inclined to act was to thwart the
+Duke's young envoy by obstacles and long delays; and this he had
+suffered to become so far evident to Charles of Montsoreau, that he
+became angry and impatient at the very prospect before him. He
+doubted, however, whether it would be right to send off a courier with
+this intelligence immediately to the Duke of Guise, or to wait for two
+or three days, in order to see whether the powers promised him were
+effectually granted; and he was still pondering the matter, while
+riding through the streets of Paris, when, in passing by a large and
+splendid mansion in one of the principal streets, he caught a glimpse
+of two figures disappearing through the arched portal of the building.
+The faces of neither were visible to him; their figures only for a
+moment, and that at a distance. But he felt that he could not be
+mistaken--that all the thoughts and feelings and memories of youth
+could not so suddenly, so magically, be called up by the sight of any
+one but his brother,--and if so, that the other was the Abbe de
+Boisguerin.
+
+"Whose is that house?" he exclaimed aloud, turning to his attendants.
+
+"That of Monsieur Rene de Villequier," replied the page instantly;
+and, springing from his horse at the gate, the young Count knocked
+eagerly for admission. The portals were instantly thrown open, and a
+porter in crimson, with a broad belt fringed with gold, appeared in
+answer to the summons.
+
+"I think," said the young Count, "that I saw this moment the Marquis
+de Montsoreau and the Abbe de Boisguerin pass into this house."
+
+The porter looked dull, and shook his head, replying, "No, sir; nobody
+has passed in here but two of my noble Lord's attendants--the old Abbe
+Scargilas, and Master Nicolas Prevot, who used formerly to keep the
+Salle d'Armes, opposite the kennel at St. Germain."
+
+Although Charles of Montsoreau knew the existence and possibility of
+such a thing as the lie circumstantial, yet the coolness and readiness
+of the porter surprised him. "Pray," he said, after a moment's pause,
+"is there any such person as either Monsieur de Montsoreau or the Abbe
+de Boisguerin dwelling here at present?"
+
+"None, sir," replied the man. "There is no one here but the attendants
+of my Lord, who is at present absent with the King."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau would have given a good deal to have searched
+the house from top to bottom; but as it would not exactly do to storm
+the dwelling of Rene de Villequier, he rode on, no less convinced than
+ever that his brother was at that moment in the dwelling of the
+minister.
+
+This conviction determined his conduct at once. That his brother was
+in Paris, and in the hands of the most dangerous and intriguing man of
+that day, he had no doubt; and it seemed to him also clear, that
+schemes were going on and contriving, of which the obstacles and
+delays thrown in his way might be, perhaps, a part. To what they
+tended he could not, of course, tell directly; but he saw that the
+only hope of frustrating them lay in exertion without the loss of a
+moment, and he accordingly dispatched his faithful attendant Gondrin
+to Soissons as soon as he reached the inn.
+
+We must follow, however, for a moment, the two persons whom the young
+Count had seen enter the hotel of Villequier, and accompany them at
+once into the chamber to which they proceeded after passing the
+portal. It was a splendid cabinet, filled with every sort of rare and
+costly furniture, which was displayed to the greater perfection by the
+dark but rich tapestry that covered the walls. Another larger room
+opened beyond, and through the door of that again, which was partly
+open, a long suite of bed-rooms and other apartments were seen, with
+different rich and glittering objects placed here and there along the
+perspective, as if for the express purpose of catching the eye.
+
+Into one of the large arm-chairs which the cabinet contained, the
+Marquis of Montsoreau threw himself as if familiar with the scene.
+"Villequier is long," he said, speaking to the Abbe. "He promised to
+have returned before this hour."
+
+"Impatience, Gaspar, impatience," replied the Abbe, "is the vice of
+your disposition. How much have you lost already by impatience? Was it
+not your impatience which hurried me forward to represent his own
+situation and that of yourself, to your brother Charles, which drove
+him directly to the Duke of Guise? Was it not your impatience which
+made you speak words of love to Marie de Clairvaut before she was
+prepared to hear them, drawing from her a cold and icy reply? Was it
+not your impatience that made us leave behind at Provins all the tired
+horses and one half of the men, rather than wait a single day to
+enable them to come on with us; and did not that very fact put us
+almost at the mercy of the reiters, and give your brother an
+opportunity of showing his gallantry and skill at our expense?"
+
+"It is all true, my friend; it is all true," replied the Marquis. "But
+in regard to my speaking those fiery words to Marie de Clairvaut, how
+could I help that? Is it possible so to keep down the overflowing
+thoughts of our bosom as to prevent their bursting forth when the
+stone is taken off from the fountain, and when the feelings of the
+heart gush out, not as from the spring of some ordinary river, but,
+like the waters of Vaucluse, full, powerful, and abundant even at
+their source."
+
+"It was that I wished you to guard against," replied the Abbe. "Had
+you appeared less to seek, you would have been sought rather than
+avoided. It may be true, Gaspar, what authors have said, that a woman,
+like some animals of the chase, takes a pleasure in being pursued; but
+depend upon it, if she do so, she puts forth all her speed to insure
+herself against being caught. Unless you are very sure of your own
+speed and strength, you had better steal quietly onward, lest you
+frighten the deer. Had she heard much from my lips, and from those of
+her good but weak friend Madame de Saulny, of your high qualities, and
+of all those traits in your nature calculated to captivate and attract
+such a being as herself, while you seemed indifferent and somewhat
+cool withal, every thing--good that is in her nature would have joined
+with every thing that is less good--the love of high qualities and of
+manly daring would have combined with vanity and caprice to make her
+seek you, excite your attention, and court your love."
+
+"I have never yet seen in her," said the young Marquis, "either vanity
+or caprice; and besides, good friend, such things to me at least are
+not matters of mere calculation. I act upon impulses that I cannot
+resist. Mine are feelings, not reasonings: I follow where they lead
+me, and even in the pursuit acquire intense pleasure that no reasoning
+could give."
+
+"True," replied the Abbe, bending down his head and answering
+thoughtfully. "There is a great difference between your age and mine,
+Gaspar. You are at the age of passions, and at that period of their
+sway when they defeat themselves by their own intensity. I had
+thought, however, that my lessons might have taught you, my counsel
+might have shown you, that with any great object in view it is
+necessary to moderate even passion in the course, in order to succeed
+in the end."
+
+"But there is joy in the course also," exclaimed Gaspar de Montsoreau.
+"Think you, Abbe, that even if it were possible to win the woman we
+love by another's voice, we could lose the joy of winning her for
+ourselves--the great, the transcendant joy of struggling for her
+affection, even though it were against her coldness, her indifference,
+or her anger?"
+
+"I think, Gaspar," replied the Abbe, "that if to a heart constituted
+as yours is, there be added a mind of equal power, nothing--not even
+the strongest self-denial--will be impossible for the object of
+winning her you love. But I am not a good judge of such matters," he
+continued with a slight smile curling his lip--a smile not altogether
+without pride. "I am no judge of such matters. The profession which I
+have chosen, and followed to a certain point, excludes them from my
+consideration. All I wish to do in the present instance is to warn
+you, Gaspar, against your own impetuosity in dealing with this
+Villequier. Be warned against that man! be careful! Promise him
+nothing; commit yourself absolutely to nothing, unless upon good and
+sufficient proof that he too deals sincerely with you. He is not one
+to be trusted, Gaspar, even in the slightest of things; and promise me
+not to commit yourself with him in any respect whatsoever."
+
+"Oh, fear not, fear not," replied the Marquis. "In this respect at
+least, good friend, no passions hurry me on. Here I can deal calmly
+and tranquilly, because, though the end is the same, I have nothing
+but art to encounter, which may always be encountered by reason. When
+I am with her, Abbe, it is the continual strife of passion that I have
+to fear; at every word, at every action, I have to be upon my guard;
+and reason, like a solitary sentinel upon the walls of a city attacked
+on every side, opposes the foes in vain at one point, while they pour
+in upon a thousand others."
+
+While he was yet speaking, a servant with a noiseless foot entered the
+room, and in a low sweet tone informed the Marquis, that Monsieur de
+Villequier had just returned from Vincennes, and desired earnestly to
+speak with him, for a moment, _alone_ in his own cabinet. The word
+"alone" was pronounced more loud than any other, though the whole was
+low and tuneful; for Villequier used to declare that he loved to have
+servants with feet like cats and voices like nightingales.
+
+The Abbe marked that word distinctly, and was too wise to make the
+slightest attempt to accompany his former pupil. The Marquis, however,
+did not remark it; and, perhaps a little fearful of his own firmness
+and skill, asked his friend to accompany him. But the Abbe instantly
+declined. "No, Gaspar," he said, "no; it were better that you should
+see Monsieur Villequier alone. I will wait for you here;" and, turning
+to the table, he took up an illuminated psalter, and examined the
+miniatures with as close and careful an eye as if he had been deeply
+interested in the labours of the artist.
+
+He saw not a line which had there been drawn; but after the Marquis
+had followed the servant from the room he muttered to himself, "So,
+Monsieur de Villequier, you think that I am a mean man, who may be
+over-reached with impunity and ease? You know me not yet, but you
+shall know me, and that soon." And laying down the psalter, he took up
+another book of a character more suited to his mind at the moment, and
+read calmly till his young friend returned, which was not for near an
+hour.
+
+In the mean time the Marquis had proceeded to the cabinet of
+Villequier, who, the moment he saw him, rose from the chair in which
+he had been seated busily writing, and pressed him warmly by the hand.
+
+"My dear young friend," he said, "one learns to love the more those in
+whose cause one suffers something; and, since I saw you, I have had to
+fight your battle manfully."
+
+"Indeed! and may I ask, my Lord, with whom?" demanded the young
+Marquis.
+
+"With many," answered Villequier. "With the King,--with Epernon,-with
+your own brother."
+
+"With my brother?" exclaimed Gaspar of Montsoreau, while the blood
+rushed up in his face. "Does he dare to oppose me after all his loud
+professions of disinterestedness and generosity? But where is he, my
+Lord? Leave me to deal with him. Where does he dwell? Is he in Paris?"
+
+Villequier smiled, but so slightly, that it did not attract the eyes
+of his companion. That smile, however, was but the announcement of a
+sudden thought that had passed through his own mind.
+
+Shrewd politicians like himself, fertile in all resources, and
+unscrupulous about any, feel a pride and pleasure in their own
+abundance of expedients, which makes the conception of a new means to
+their end as pleasant as the finding of a diamond. On the present
+occasion the subtle courtier thought to himself with a smile, as he
+saw the angry blood mount into the cheek of the young Marquis of
+Montsoreau at the very mention of his brother's name,--"Here were a
+ready means of ridding ourselves, were it needful, of one if not both
+of these young rash-headed nobles, by setting them to cut each other's
+throats."
+
+It suited not his plan however at the moment to follow out the idea,
+and he consequently replied, "No, no, Monsieur de Montsoreau. I should
+take no small care, seeing how justly offended you are with your
+brother, to prevent your finding out his abode, as I know what
+consequences would ensue. But in all probability, by this time, he has
+gone back to the Duke of Guise, having with difficulty been
+frustrated, for the King was much inclined to yield to his demands."
+
+"What did he demand?" exclaimed the Marquis vehemently. "What did he
+dare to demand, after the professions he made to me at La Ferte?"
+
+"That matters not," answered Villequier. "Suffice it that his demands
+were such as would have ruined all your hopes for ever."
+
+"But why should the King support his demands," said the Marquis, "when
+well assured of how attached he is to the great head of the League
+that tyrannises over him?"
+
+"Hush, hush!" said Villequier. "The League only tyrannises so long as
+the King chooses. Henry wields not the sword at present, but the sword
+is still in his hands to strike when he thinks fit. But to answer your
+question, my young friend. The King knows well, as you say, that your
+brother is attached to the Duke of Guise: but you must remember at the
+same time, Monsieur de Montsoreau, that as yet he is not fully assured
+that you are attached to himself. Nay, hear me out, hear me out! The
+King's arguments, I am bound to say, were not only specious but
+reasonable. He had to consider, on the one hand, that the Duke of
+Guise, with whom it is his strongest interest to keep fair, demands
+this young lady as his ward, which, according to the laws of the land,
+Henry has no right to refuse. Your brother, on the Duke's part,
+threatens loudly; and what have I to oppose to a demand to which it
+seems absolutely necessary in good policy that the King should yield?
+Nothing; for, on the other hand, Henry affirms that he can be in no
+degree sure of yourself; that your family for long have shown
+attachment for the House of Guise; that you yourself were upon your
+march to join the Duke, when this lady, falling into the hands of the
+King's troops, induced you to abandon your purpose for the time; but
+that the moment he favours your suit, or gives his consent to your
+union with her, you may return to your former attachments, and
+purchase the pardon and good will of the Duke of Guise by returning to
+his faction."
+
+"I am incapable of such a thing!" exclaimed the Marquis vehemently:
+but the recollection of his abandonment of the Duke's party came over
+him with a glow of shame, and he remained for a moment or two without
+making any farther reply, while Villequier was purposely silent also,
+as if to let what he had said have its full effect. At length he
+added:
+
+"I believe you are incapable of it, Monsieur de Montsoreau, and so I
+assured the King. He, however, still urged upon me that I had no
+proof, and that you had taken no positive engagement to serve his
+Majesty. All the monarch's arguments were supported by Epernon, who, I
+believe, wishes for the hand of the young lady for some of his own
+relations, in order to arrange for himself such an alliance with the
+House of Guise as may prove a safeguard to him in the hour of need."
+And again Villequier smiled at his own art in turning back upon the
+Duke of Epernon the suspicion which the Duke had expressed in regard
+to himself.
+
+The warning of the Abbe de Boisguerin, however, at that moment rang in
+the ears of Gaspar of Montsoreau, and he roused himself to deal with
+Villequier not exactly as an adversary, but certainly less as a
+friend.
+
+"In fact, Monsieur de Villequier," he said, "his Majesty wishes that I
+should devote my sword and fortune to his service; and I am to
+understand, through you, that he holds out to me the hope of obtaining
+the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut in return. Now, it was not at
+all my purpose to take any part in the strifes that are agitating the
+country at this moment. I am neither Leaguer nor Huguenot, nor Zealot
+nor Moderate; and, though most loyal, not what is called Royalist. I
+was merely conducting Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, with a very small
+force, not the tenth part of what I can bring into the field at a
+week's notice, when the events took place which brought me to Paris.
+Now, Monsieur, if the King does not rest satisfied with my expressions
+of loyalty, and desires some express and public engagement to his
+service, I see no earthly reason why I should rest satisfied with mere
+vague hopes of obtaining the hand of the lady I love; and though, of
+course, I cannot deal with his Majesty upon equal terms, yet I must
+demand some full, perfect, and permanent assurance that I am not to be
+disappointed in my hopes, before I draw my sword for one party or
+another."
+
+Villequier gazed thoughtfully in his face for a moment or two, biting
+his under lip, and saying internally, "The Abbe de Boisguerin--this
+comes from him." His next thought was, "Shall I endeavour to pique
+this stripling upon his honour, and generosity, and loyalty, and all
+those fine words?" But he rejected the idea the moment after thinking.
+"No; that would do better with his brother. When a man boldly leaps
+over such things, it is insulting him to talk about them any more."
+
+And after a moment's farther thought, he replied, "It is all very
+fair, Monsieur de Montsoreau, that you should have such assurances;
+though, if we were not inclined to deal straightforwardly with you in
+the matter, we might very very easily refuse every thing of the kind,
+and leave you not in the most pleasant situation."
+
+"How so?" demanded the Marquis with some alarm. "How so?"
+
+"Easily, my dear young friend," replied Villequier. "Thus: by
+informing you that the King could give you no such assurance--which,
+indeed, is nominally true, though not really--and by showing you, at
+the same time, that as the young lady is in his Majesty's hands, and
+he is determined not to give her up to the Duke of Guise or to any
+body else, but some tried and faithful friend, the only means by which
+you can possibly obtain her is by serving the King voluntarily, in the
+most devoted manner. Suppose this did not suit you, what would be your
+resource? If you go to the Duke of Guise, you find the ground occupied
+before you by your brother, and the Duke accuses you of having
+betrayed his young relation into the hands of the King--perhaps sends
+you under a guard into Lorraine, and has you tried, and your head
+struck off. Such things have happened before now, Monsieur de
+Montsoreau. At all events, not the slightest chance exists of your
+winning the fair heiress of Clairvaut from him. But, even if you did
+gain his consent, she is still in the hands of the King, who would
+certainly not give her up to one who had proved himself a determined
+enemy."
+
+Gaspar of Montsoreau looked down, with somewhat of a frowning brow,
+upon the ground. He saw, indeed, that the alternative was one that he
+could not well adopt; and, from the showing of Villequier, he fancied
+himself of less power and consequence in the matter than he really
+was. He resolved, however, not to admit the fact if he could help it.
+
+"Suppose, Monsieur de Villequier," he said, "that the League were to
+prevail, and to force his Majesty to concede all the articles of
+Nancy, think you not that one thing exacted from him might well be, to
+yield Mademoiselle de Clairvaut to her lawful guardian?"
+
+"It might," answered Villequier immediately. "But then I come in. The
+question of guardianship has never been tried between the Duke and
+myself. I stand as nearly related to her as he does; and I should
+instantly bring the cause before the Parliament, demanding that the
+young lady should remain in the hands of the King as suzerain till the
+cause is decided, which might be this time ten years."
+
+"I did not know," said the young nobleman, "that the relationship was
+so near, though I was aware that Clairvaut is the family name of
+Villequier. However, sir, there is yet another alternative. Suppose I
+were to keep the sword in the sheath, and retire once more to
+Montsoreau."
+
+"Why there, then," replied Villequier with a slight sneer, "you might
+happily abide, watching the progress of events, till either the
+royalist party or the League prevailed; and then, as chance or
+accident might will it, see the hand of the fair Lady rewarding one of
+the King's gallant defenders, or bestowed by the Duke of Guise upon
+his brave and prudent partisan, the Count of Logeres."
+
+He paused for a moment or two, to let all he said have its full
+effect, and then added, in a familiar tone, "Come, come, Monsieur de
+Montsoreau, see the matter in its true light. There is no possible
+chance of your obtaining the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, except
+by attaching yourself to the King's service, and defending the royal
+cause with the utmost zeal. If you persist in doing so simply as a
+voluntary act to be performed or remitted at pleasure, be you sure
+that as you make the King depend upon your good will for your services
+towards him, so will you be made to depend upon his good will, his
+caprices if you like, for the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut. If,
+however, on the contrary, you frankly and generously determine to take
+service with the King, and bind yourself irrevocably to his cause, I
+do not scruple to promise you, under his hand, his full consent to
+your union with Mademoiselle de Clairvaut. I will give you the same
+consent under mine, assuming the title of her guardian. Your marriage
+cannot, of course, take place till the great struggle that is now
+impending is over. In a few months, nay, in a few weeks, the one party
+or the other--who are now directing their efforts against each other,
+instead of turning, as they ought, their united forces against the
+common enemies of our religion--must have triumphed over its
+adversary. I need not tell you which I feel, which I know, must be
+successful; but your part will now be, to exert yourself to the
+utmost, to traverse the country with all speed to Montsoreau, to raise
+every soldier that you can, and to gather every crown that you can
+collect, to join the King with all your forces, wherever he may be,
+and, by your exertions, to render that result certain, which is,
+indeed, scarcely doubtful even as it is; remembering that upon the
+destruction of the Duke of Guise's party, and upon the overthrow of
+his usurped and unreasonable power, depends not only the welfare of
+your King and master, but the realisation of your best and sweetest
+hopes."
+
+"You grant all that I demand, Monsieur de Villequier," replied Gaspar
+of Montsoreau. "All I wish is the King's formal consent in writing,
+and yours, to my marriage with Marie de Clairvaut, as the condition of
+my absolute and public adhesion to the royal cause."
+
+"I know," replied Villequier, "that I grant all you demand, and I was
+prepared to do so from the first, only we were led into collateral
+discussions as we went on. You will, of course, take an oath to the
+King's service, and confirm it under your hand."
+
+"We will exchange the papers, Monsieur de Villequier," replied the
+Marquis, thinking himself extremely cautious. "But now, pray tell me,
+how ended the discussion with my brother?"
+
+"The only way that it could end," replied Villequier, "when all
+parties were determined to evade his demand. The King, you may easily
+suppose, was not inclined to give the young heiress of Clairvaut to
+any of the partisans of an enemy. Epernon knew well that if the hand
+of a Guise were upon her shoulder, the ring of a La Valette would
+never pass upon her finger; and I, when last we met, had half given my
+promise to you, and was, at all events, determined that the question
+of wardship should be settled before I parted with her. The King,
+therefore, evaded the demands of the young Count, though he was not a
+little inclined to yield to them at one time, in order to pacify the
+Duke of Guise. However, I took the brunt of the business upon myself,
+and underwent the hot indignation of your brother, who thought to find
+in me an Epernon, or a Montsoreau, who would measure swords with him
+for an angry word."
+
+"They had better be skilful as well as brave," said the young Marquis
+thoughtfully, "who measure swords with my brother Charles."
+
+"Indeed!" said Villequier, "is he then so much a master of his
+weapon?"
+
+"The most perfect I ever beheld--ay, more skilful now, than even our
+friend the Abbe de Boisguerin; though I have heard that, some years
+ago, when the Abbe was studying at Padua, he challenged the famous
+Spanish sword-player, Bobez, to display his skill with him in the
+schools, in single combat, and hit him three times upon the heart
+without Bobez touching him once."
+
+"I remember, I remember!" cried Villequier. "The master broke the
+buttons from the swords in anger, and the student ran him through the
+body at the first pass, whereof he died within five minutes after in
+the Deacon's chamber."
+
+"I never heard that he died," replied the Marquis with some surprise.
+
+"He did indeed, though," replied Villequier with a meditative air.
+"And so this was the Abbe de Boisguerin. One would have thought the
+army, rather than the church, would have called such a spirit to
+itself."
+
+"I know not," replied the young Marquis, "but in all things he is
+equally skilful; and, doubtless, you know he has taken but the first
+step towards entering the church, pausing as it were even on the
+threshold."
+
+"Do you think," said Villequier, "that he is as skilful in conveying
+intelligence as in other things?"
+
+"What do you mean, my Lord?" exclaimed his young companion.
+
+"Nay, I mean nothing," replied the politician, satisfied with having
+sown the first seed of suspicion in the young nobleman's mind,
+without, perhaps, any definite design, but simply for the universal
+purpose of making men doubt and distrust each other, with a view of
+ruling them more easily. "Nothing, except a mere question concerning
+his skill. I have no latent meaning, I assure you."
+
+The brow of the Marquis grew clear again, and Villequier saw that he
+believed the latter assertion more fully than he had intended. He let
+the subject pass, however, and spoke of many other things, giving his
+own account of various matters which had occurred during the Count de
+Logeres's audience of the King, and urging Gaspar de Montsoreau to set
+off with all speed to raise his forces in his native province. Then
+abruptly turning the conversation, he demanded, "You or the Abbe told
+me, I think, that you suspected your brother of having communicated
+your march to the reiters. Is it like his general character so to act?
+I'm sure, if it be his custom to do such things, I would much rather
+that he was upon the opposite party than our own."
+
+The Marquis bent down his head, and gazed sternly upon the ground for
+two or three moments. He then answered, with a deep sigh, "No,
+Monsieur de Villequier; no, it is not like Charles's character. He has
+all his life been frank and free as the summer air, open, and
+generous. I fear I did him wrong to suspect him. We are rivals where
+no man admits of rivalry: but I must do him justice. If he have done
+such a thing, his nature must be changed, changed indeed--changed,
+perhaps, as much as my own."
+
+"I thought," replied Villequier, "that he seemed frank and
+straightforward enough, bold and haughty as a lion; gave the King look
+for look; bearded Epernon, and threatened to bring him to the field;
+and spared not me myself, whom men don't for some reason love to
+offend. But he did not seem a man likely to betray his friend, or
+practise treachery upon his brother. It is a very strange thing, too,"
+he continued in an easier tone, "that Colombel and the other officers
+of the King's troops at Chateau Thierry should have received news of
+your coming a day before you did cross the Marne, together with the
+information that the reiters might attack you near Gandelu. Was not
+this strange?"
+
+"Most strange," replied the Marquis, knitting his brows, and setting
+his teeth hard. But Villequier, now seeing that he had said quite
+enough, again turned the conversation; and after letting it subside
+naturally to ordinary subjects, he told the young Marquis that he
+would immediately write to the King, and obtain his signature to the
+paper required, before bed-time. "It is late already," he said; "I
+think even now I see a shade in the sky, so I must about my work
+rapidly. But remember, Monsieur de Montsoreau, nine is my supper hour
+exactly; and then, care and labour being past, we will sit down and
+enjoy ourselves, though I fear the accommodation which I can offer you
+in my poor dwelling must seem but rude in your eyes."
+
+The Marquis said all that such a speech required, and then withdrew.
+
+When he was gone, Villequier applied himself for some time to other
+things; but when they were concluded, he rose from his chair, and
+walked once or twice thoughtfully across the cabinet.
+
+"I had better," he said to himself at length, "I had better deal with
+him at once, and then I can ascertain what are his demands, and how to
+treat them."
+
+Thus saying, he took up his bell and rang it, directing the servant
+who appeared to see if he could find the Abbe de Boisguerin alone, in
+which case he was to invite him to a conference. "He will be alone,"
+thought the wily courtier, "for I have sown seeds of those things
+which will not suffer them to be long together."
+
+The Abbe, however, was absent from the house, much to the surprise of
+Villequier; and another hour had well nigh passed before he made his
+appearance. The moment that he did so, he advanced towards Villequier
+with his mild and graceful calmness, saying that he understood his
+Lordship had sent for him. Villequier pressed his hand tenderly, and
+with soft and courtly words assured him that, in sending for him, he
+had only sought to enjoy the pleasure of his unrivalled conversation
+for a few minutes before supper.
+
+The Abbe replied exactly in the same tone; that he was profoundly
+grieved to have lost even a moment of the society of one who
+fascinated from the first, and sent away every one charmed and
+delighted.
+
+A slight and bitter smile curled the lip of each as he ended his
+speech, like a seal upon a treaty, the confirmation and mockery of a
+falsehood.
+
+The Abbe, however, added to his speech a few words more, saying that
+he should have been back earlier, but that his conversation at the
+White Penitent's had been so interesting that he could not withdraw
+himself earlier from her Majesty the Queen-mother.
+
+Villequier started. "Are you acquainted with the Queen?" he said.
+"What a surprising-being Catherine is!"
+
+"She is indeed," answered the Abbe. "My long sojourn at Florence some
+years ago made me fully acquainted with every member of the House of
+Medici, and I now bring you this letter on her part, Monsieur de
+Villequier."
+
+Villequier took the paper that the Abbe handed to him, and read
+apparently with some surprise. "Her Majesty," he said, "knows that I
+am her devoted slave, but at the same time she cannot doubt, knowing
+as she does so well your high qualities, that I will do every thing to
+serve and assist you, and prevent all evil machinations against you."
+
+"Oh, she doubts it not; she doubts it not," replied the Abbe. "She
+doubts it not, Monsieur de Villequier, any more than I do; and has
+written this note only in confirmation of your good intentions towards
+me. However, there is one thing I wish you to do for me, Monsieur de
+Villequier."
+
+"Name it, my dear friend," exclaimed the Marquis; "but give me an
+opportunity of making myself happy in gratifying your wishes."
+
+"The fact is, Monsieur de Villequier," replied the Abbe, "that some
+malicious person has been endeavouring to persuade the young Marquis
+de Montsoreau, my friend, and formerly my pupil, that it was I who
+intimated to the reiters the course we were pursuing to meet the Duke
+of Guise, and who also intimated the facts to the King's troops at
+Chateau Thierry, that they might have an opportunity of coming up to
+rescue us and bring us hither--though they showed no great activity in
+doing the first. Now, doubtless, the person who did this, if there
+were any one, had the King's service solely in view, and deserved to
+be highly rewarded, as he probably will be; but----"
+
+"Doubtless," replied Villequier with a sneering smile. "But surely he
+could not object to such honourable service being known."
+
+"Of course not," replied the Abbe; "nor that he had given intimation
+of the facts to, and taken his measures with, her Majesty the
+Queen-mother; by an order, under whose hand the troops at Chateau
+Thierry acted, and at whose suggestion Monsieur de Montsoreau and
+his friends threw themselves into the hands of Monsieur de
+Villequier.--All this her Majesty declares he did; and he could not,
+of course, object to any of these things being known, except as it is
+contrary to good policy and to the wishes of the Queen-mother: and
+more especially contrary to every wise purpose, if he be a person
+possessed of much habitual influence with the young Marquis."
+
+"Monsieur de Boisguerin," said Villequier, seeming suddenly to break
+away from the subject, but in truth following the scent as truly as
+any well-trained hound, "the bishopric of Seez is at present vacant. I
+know none who would fill it better than the Abbe de Boisguerin."
+
+The Abbe drew himself up and waved his hand. "You mistake me entirely,
+Monsieur de Villequier," he said. "I take no more vows. I have taken
+too many already; and those, by God's grace and the good will of our
+holy father the Pope, I intend to get rid of very speedily. I have
+nothing to request of your Lordship at present. I know, see, and
+understand your whole policy, and think you quite right in every
+respect. The promises which you and the King are to give to Monsieur
+de Montsoreau concerning the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut can of
+course be broken, changed, or modified in a moment at any future
+time."
+
+"We have no intention of breaking them," replied Villequier. "We are
+acting in good faith, I can assure you."
+
+"Doubtless," replied the Abbe, "doubtless: but they can be broken?"
+
+"Of course," replied Villequier; "of course any thing on earth can be
+broken."
+
+"That is sufficient," replied the Abbe. "It is quite enough, Monsieur
+de Villequier: I only desire to know, whether you and the King
+consider it as a final arrangement, that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut is
+to marry the young Lord of Montsoreau, or whether the matter is not
+now as much unsettled and within your own power and grasp as ever."
+
+"Why," replied Villequier thoughtfully, "it is, as I dare say you well
+know, Monsieur l'Abbe, a very difficult thing indeed to devise any
+sort of black lines, which, written down upon sheep skin, will prove
+sufficiently strong to bind the actions of kings, princes, or common
+men, at a future period. But it seems to me, Monsieur l'Abbe, that the
+time is come when we had better be frank with each other! What is it
+that you aim at? You seem not displeased to think the arrangement
+doubtful or contingent; and yet I, who am not accustomed to guess very
+wrongly in such matters, have entertained no doubtful suspicion that
+you prompted the demand for a definite and conclusive bargain."
+
+"I did," replied the Abbe. "When you asked to see him alone, I was
+very well assured that, though a game of policy skilfully played may
+occasionally afford sport to Monsieur de Villequier, you were quite as
+well pleased in the present business to deal with a young and
+inexperienced head as with an old and a worldly one. He sought my
+opinion and advice, and, as I uniformly do when it is sought, I gave
+it him sincerely, though it was against my own views and purposes.
+Now, Monsieur de Villequier, I see hovering round your lips a
+question, which, in whatever form of words you place it, whatever
+Proteus form it may assume, will have this for its substance and
+object; namely, What are the plans and purposes of the Abbe de
+Boisguerin? Now, my plans and purposes are these,--remember, I do not
+say my objects; the object of every man in life is one, though we all
+set out upon different roads to reach it. My purpose is to serve his
+Majesty and the Queen-mother far more than I have hitherto been able
+to do. What I have done is a trifle; but if I detach from the party of
+the League, separate for ever from the Duke of Guise, and bring over
+to the royal cause Charles of Montsoreau as well as his brother, I
+shall confer no trifling service, for I can now inform you, Monsieur
+de Villequier, that, besides the great estates of Logeres, he is lord
+of all the possessions lately held by the old Count de Morly, who
+amassed much treasure during the avaricious part of age, and died
+little more than a week ago, leaving this young Lord the heir of all
+his wealth. I have received the intelligence this very morning; so
+that, what between his riches, his skill, and his courage, he is worth
+any two, excepting Epernon perhaps, of the King's court."
+
+"If you do what you say, Monsieur de Boisguerin," replied the Marquis
+in a low, deep, sweet-toned voice, "you may command any thing you
+please in France, bishoprics, abbeys----"
+
+"If it rained bishoprics," replied the Abbe, "I would not wear a
+mitre. I do not pretend to say, Monsieur de Villequier, that I am more
+disinterested than my neighbours; that I have not great rewards in
+view, and objects of importance--to me, if not to others. But these
+objects are not quite fixed or determined yet, and I am not one of
+those men, Monsieur de Villequier, who hesitate to render the services
+first from a fear of losing the reward afterwards. I know how to make
+my claims heard when the time comes for demanding; and in the present
+instance, although I cannot distinctly promise to bring Charles of
+Montsoreau absolutely and positively over to the King's cause, yet I
+am sure of being able both to detach him from the Duke of Guise and
+separate him from the faction of the League. I think, indeed, that all
+three can be done: but nothing can be done unless the promise given to
+his brother be made contingent. The one loves her as vehemently as the
+other; and I, who know how to deal with him, can change his whole
+views in an hour, or at least in a few days."
+
+"Indeed!" said Villequier. "He is now in Paris; the trial could be
+speedily made."
+
+"I know it--" replied the Abbe, seeing the Marquis fix his eyes upon
+him eagerly, thinking, perhaps, 'he has promised more than he could
+perform.'
+
+"I know it, and that is the precise reason why I have hurried on this
+matter, and urged it to the present point. No time is to be lost, or I
+see storms approaching, Monsieur de Villequier, that I think escape
+your eyes."
+
+"What do you intend to do?" demanded Villequier; "and what means do
+you require to do it?"
+
+"My purposes I have already told you," replied the Abbe. "The means I
+require--to come to the point at once--consist of a document under
+your own hand, making over to me, as far as your relationship to
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut goes, the right of disposing of her hand in
+marriage to whomsoever I may think fit: that is to say, the voice for,
+or the voice against, any particular candidate for her hand, when
+given by me, is to be held as if given by yourself."
+
+"This is a great thing that you demand, Monsieur de Boisguerin,"
+replied Villequier, gazing in his face with no inconsiderable
+surprise; "and I see not how I can give such a paper at the very same
+time that I give the one which I have promised to the Marquis of
+Montsoreau."
+
+"Nothing, I fear, can be done without it," replied the Abbe; "but I
+think it may be done without risk or exposure of any kind, for I in
+return can bind myself not to employ that paper for nine months, by
+which time all will be complete; and in both the documents you can
+speak vaguely of other promises and engagements, and can declare your
+great object in giving me that paper to be, the final settlement of
+difficult claims, by a person in whom you have full confidence."
+
+Villequier looked in his face with a meaning and somewhat sarcastic
+smile: then turned to the note which the Queen-mother, Catharine de
+Medici, had sent him; read it over again as if carelessly, but marking
+every word as he did so; and then said, with somewhat of a sigh,
+"Well, Monsieur de Boisguerin, pray draw up on that paper what you
+think would be required."
+
+The Abbe took up the pen and ink, and wrote rapidly for a moment or
+two; while Villequier looked over his shoulder, fingering the hilt of
+his dagger as he did so, in a manner which might have made the periods
+of any man but the Abbe de Boisguerin, who knew as he did his
+companion's habits and views, less rounded and eloquent than they
+usually were. The Abbe, however, wrote on without the slightest sign
+of apprehension, and at length Villequier exclaimed, "That would tie
+my hands sufficiently tight, Monsieur de Boisguerin."
+
+"Not quite, my Lord," replied the other. "I never make a covenant
+without a penalty; and what I am now going to add provides that, in
+case of your failing to confirm my decision, or attempting in any way
+to rescind this paper and the power hereby given to me, you forfeit to
+my use and benefit one hundred thousand golden crowns, to be sued for
+from you in any lawful court of this kingdom."
+
+"Nay, nay, nay!" cried Villequier, now absolutely laughing. "This is
+going too far, Monsieur de Boisguerin."
+
+"Faith, not a whit, my Lord," replied the Abbe. "I take care when men
+make me promises, that they are not such as can be trifled with, at
+least if I am to act upon them."
+
+"Why, you do not suppose----" exclaimed Villequier.
+
+"I suppose nothing, my Lord," interrupted the Abbe, "but that you are
+a statesman and a courtier, and must in your day have seen more than
+one promise broken."
+
+"By some millions," replied Villequier. "I told you to speak frankly,
+Monsieur de Boisguerin, and you have done so with a vengeance. I must
+have my turn, too, and tell you that neither to you nor any other man
+on earth will I give such a promise, without in the first place seeing
+a probability of the object for which it is given being accomplished,
+and, in fact, some steps taken towards the accomplishment of that
+object; and, in the next place, without having a distinct notion of
+the means by which it is to effect its end. That is a beautiful ring
+of yours," continued the statesman, suddenly breaking away from the
+subject as if to announce that what he had just said was final, but
+perhaps in reality to consider what was to be the next step. "That is
+a beautiful ring of yours, Monsieur de Boisguerin, and of some very
+peculiar stone it seems; a large turquoise semi-transparent."
+
+"It is an antidote against all poisons," answered the Abbe coolly,
+"whether they be eaten in the savoury ragout, drunk in the racy cup,
+smelt in the odour of a sweet flower, or inhaled in the balmy air of
+some well-prepared apartment. My dear friends will not find me so
+tender a lamb as Jeanne d'Albret."
+
+"No, I should think not," replied Villequier with a laugh, and still
+holding off from the original subject of conversation. "I should think
+not, if I may judge by some of your attendants, Monsieur de
+Boisguerin, for there is one of them at least, an Italian, whom I
+passed in the court but now, who looks much more like the follower of
+a wolf than of a lamb. He was dressed somewhat in the guise of a
+wandering minstrel, with a good strong dagger, which I dare say is
+serviceable in time of need."
+
+"I have not the slightest doubt of it," replied the Abbe de Boisguerin
+with the most imperturbable coolness, "though I have not had occasion
+to make use of him much in that way yet. But the man's a treasure,
+Monsieur de Villequier; and as to his garb the fact is, that I have
+not had time yet to have it changed and made more becoming. You shall
+see in a few days, Monsieur de Villequier, what a change can be
+effected by razors, soap, cold water, and good clothing. He's a
+complete treasure, I can assure you, and well worth any pains."
+
+"But," said Villequier, "if you have had him so short a time as not to
+be able to clothe him yet, how do you know all these magnificent
+qualities?"
+
+"It is a singular business enough," answered the Abbe. "I knew him
+long ago in Italy, where he was exercising various professions: but he
+had skill enough almost to cheat me, which, of course, made me judge
+highly of his abilities. One day, not long ago, he presented himself
+at the Chateau de Montsoreau, where it seems he had been upon some
+vagabond excursion a week or a fortnight before. He had on the first
+occasion seen and recognised me, and he now came back, having spent
+all the money he had gained by selling a young Italian pipe-player to
+my good cousin Charles, and being consequently in not the best
+provided state. He was in hopes that I would take him into my service,
+which, from ancient recollection of his character, I was very willing
+to do; dismissing, however, without much ceremony, another man and a
+low Italian woman whom he had brought with him. They seemed very
+willing to go, it is true, and he to part with them; and my good
+friend Orbi has already shown himself on more than one occasion fully
+as serviceable as I had expected he would prove. My former knowledge
+of him gives me means of binding him to me by very strong ties; and I
+will acknowledge that never was there man to all appearance so well
+calculated to remove a troublesome friend or a pertinacious enemy."
+
+"Doubtless, doubtless," replied Villequier; "though he seems not to be
+particularly strong in frame."
+
+"But he is active," answered the Abbe, "and full of skill, and
+thought, and ingenuity. But to return to what we were saying
+concerning the paper, Monsieur de Villequier, which we have left
+somewhat too long," added the Abbe, thinking this sort of farce had
+been carried quite far enough. "Every objection that you have raised
+can be overthrown at once. I ask this promise, not for my own sake,
+but to satisfy this youth Charles of Montsoreau. He will trust you as
+soon as the fox will the tiger; but he will trust to me implicitly, if
+he believes that I have the power to aid him in obtaining her he
+loves. Thus you see at once the means by which this promise is to work
+to the ends that we propose. Then, as to seeing clearly what the
+effect will be, I will show it to you in the very course of this
+night. Read that letter, written by the young Count of Logeres to his
+brother, no later than yesterday evening! You see," the Abbe
+continued, after Villequier had read, "he renounces all claim
+whatsoever to the hand of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, and this in
+favour of his brother. The letter was brought hither not two hours
+ago. Now, ere two hours more be over, you shall yourself see the whole
+feelings of this young man changed, and the pursuit renewed as eagerly
+as ever. If it be so, what say you? Will you go forward in the way I
+propose?--Yea or nay, Monsieur de Villequier? I trifle not, nor am
+trifled with."
+
+"I will then go forward, beyond all doubt," replied the Marquis.
+
+The Abbe thereupon took up the pen, wrote five lines on a sheet of
+paper, sealed them with some of the yellow wax which lay ready,
+addressed the note to Charles of Montsoreau, and placing it in the
+hands of Villequier, bade him to send it by a page, with orders to
+require an answer. The page seemed winged with the wind, and in a
+marvellous short time he returned, bearing a note from the young Count
+of Logeres, containing these few words:--
+
+"My renunciation was entirely conditional. If it be as you say,
+nothing on earth shall induce me to yield the hand of Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut to any man. The time that you allow me for writing does not
+permit me to say more, but come to me as early as possible to-morrow,
+and let all things be explained; for a state of doubt and suspicion
+was always to me worse than the knowledge of real evil or real wrong."
+
+The Abbe gave it to Villequier, and the Minister only replied by
+signing and sealing the paper which the Abbe had drawn up.
+
+"Now, quick! Monsieur l'Abbe," said the Minister. "Go for a few
+minutes to your own apartments, and then join us at supper, which I
+hear is already served, as if we had not met during the evening. You
+will not need your ring, I can assure you."
+
+The Abbe bowed low and retired in silence; but in his heart he said,
+"And this, the fool Henry holds to be a great politician."
+
+No knave can be a great politician; but every knave thinks himself so.
+The mistake they make is between wisdom and cunning. The knave prides
+himself on deceiving others, the wise man on not deceiving himself.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. VI.
+
+
+When the Abbe de Boisguerin on the following morning entered the
+presence of Charles of Montsoreau, his mind was prepared for every
+thing he was to say and do, for every thing he was to assert or
+to imply. But there was one thing for which his mind was not
+prepared--all shrewd, keen, politic, and experienced as it was.
+
+There are points in the deep study of human nature which those who
+would use that mighty science for selfish purposes almost always
+overlook. Amongst these are the changes, both sudden and progressive,
+which take place in themselves and in others, and the changes in
+relative situations which they produce. In this respect it was that
+the Abbe de Boisguerin, thoughtful and calculating as he was, had not
+prepared himself for the meeting with Charles of Montsoreau. The time
+was short since they had parted. Not above six weeks had elapsed, if
+so much; and the Abbe had come ready to deal with a youth of keen and
+penetrating mind, of quick perceptions and extensive powers; of all
+whose feelings and thoughts he fancied that he knew the scope and
+quality; whose mind he believed that he had gauged and tested as if it
+were some material substance. But he knew not at all, what an effect
+the space of six weeks may have when spent in communication with great
+minds, and in dealing with great events; and the moment he entered the
+room he saw a change which he had never dreamt of--a change which
+through the mind affected the body, the countenance, and the
+demeanour.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau, in short, had left him a youth high-spirited,
+feeling, intelligent, graceful,--he stood before him a man, calm,
+thoughtful, grave, dignified. There were even lines of care already
+upon his brow, which gave it a degree of sternness not natural to it;
+and the whole look and aspect of his former pupil was so powerfully
+intellectual, that the Abbe felt he must be more cautious and careful
+than he had prepared to be; that his words, his thoughts, and his
+looks would not alone be tested by old affection, nor even by the
+simple powers of an undoubting mind, but would be tried by experience
+likewise, and tried moreover with that degree of suspicion which is
+more active within us when we first learn the painful lessons taught
+by human deceit, than it is when we learn fully our own powers of
+separating truth from falsehood.
+
+He saw that it would be necessary to be more cautious than he had
+proposed to be, and that, consequently, he must change much that he
+had intended to say and do. The very caution affected his manner, and
+his alteration of purposes caused occasional hesitation. Charles of
+Montsoreau, who remembered his whole character and demeanour during
+many years, found, without seeking it, a touchstone in the past by
+which to try the present, and the conclusion in his own heart was,
+"This man is not true."
+
+The explanation given by the Abbe of all that had occurred on their
+route did not satisfy his hearer. He told him that he had remained
+with Mademoiselle de Clairvaut and the carriage till the reiters had
+passed, and then had caused the horses to be turned into a bye-road,
+in the hope of escaping any returning parties: they had thus
+accidentally met with the King's troops, whose offered protection, of
+course, they could not refuse. But he touched vaguely and lightly upon
+the mission of Colombel to the young Marquis de Montsoreau; and the
+Count de Logeres did not press him upon the subject, for he felt
+sufficiently upon his guard, and had a repugnance openly to convict
+one whom he had loved of falseness and treachery.
+
+He turned then to the note which he had received on the preceding
+evening.
+
+"You tell me now," he said, "Abbe, that you have some reason to
+believe that Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, as I at first supposed, has
+seen my affection, and did not intend to discourage it. What are those
+reasons?"
+
+The Abbe stated vaguely that some words, dropped by Madame de Saulny,
+had produced that belief in his mind.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau mused, and made no answer. The time had been
+when he would have replied at once, and have discussed the question
+fully with his former preceptor; but now he held counsel with his own
+heart in his own bosom, and said, "This man has some object in telling
+me this. Her own words were sufficiently conclusive, that she did not
+see, that she did not remark, the signs of affection which I had
+fancied undoubted."
+
+He still maintained silence, however, towards the Abbe, in regard to
+his own views, his own purposes, and his own feelings. Nor could the
+other, though he used all his skill, draw from him the slightest
+indication of what he intended to do, except that he waited in Paris
+for the arrangement of some affairs, which were not yet concluded,
+with the King. He in turn, however, questioned the Abbe much
+concerning his brother, expressing not only a wish but a determination
+to see him.
+
+"I am happy," he said, "that my letter reached him; for--by whom or
+for what reason instructed to falsify the truth, I do not know--the
+porter of Monsieur de Villequier denied the fact of your being in the
+house. As nothing could shake my own belief that it was Gaspar and
+yourself I had seen, and as both Gondrin and the page confirmed my
+opinion, I sent the letter at all risks: and now, good Abbe, if you
+love Gaspar and myself as you used to do, contrive that we may meet
+again to-morrow, in order that all these clouds may be cleared away
+from between us, and that we may feel once more as brothers ought to
+feel towards each other."
+
+The Abbe promised to do as the young Count desired, beseeching him,
+however, not to press his brother to an interview too suddenly, and
+assuring him that he would use every effort.
+
+The still more important subject of what had become of Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut remained to be discussed; and Charles of Montsoreau, though
+resolved to make the inquiry, approached it with distaste and with
+caution, from a feeling that the Abbe would not deal truly with him,
+and would only endeavour, in the course of any conversation upon that
+point, to discover what were his secret intentions, even while he
+concealed from him the true circumstances.
+
+It was as he expected. The Abbe told him that, in some degree under
+the care, and in some degree under the guard, of the King's troops,
+the whole party had been brought to the neighbourhood of Paris, where
+a messenger from the monarch had conveyed to himself and the young
+Marquis an invitation to take up their abode at the house of
+Villequier, while Mademoiselle de Clairvaut was conveyed to Vincennes.
+They had done all that was possible, he said, to prevent such a
+separation; but the King's commands were peremptory; and he had since
+learnt, or at least had reason to believe, that the young lady had
+been sent in the direction of Beauvais, to the care of some distant
+relations.
+
+The young Count smiled, and said nothing; and the Abbe then, with an
+air of grave sincerity, proceeded to ask him what had best be done
+under such circumstances. He replied that he could give no advice; and
+many a vain effort was again made to discover what were his purposes
+in regard to Mademoiselle de Clairvaut. Finding that no indirect means
+succeeded, the Abbe, trusting to their former familiarity, asked the
+question directly, "What do you intend to do in this business,
+Charles."
+
+"Indeed, my dear Abbe," replied the young Count, "it is difficult to
+tell you. I have no definite plan of action at present, and must be
+guided by circumstances as they arise."
+
+Thus ended their interview; and it formed a strange contrast to that
+between the Abbe and Villequier,--showing how simple honesty may often
+baffle cunning which has succeeded against astuteness like itself. The
+following day passed without any communication reaching the young
+Count, either from the Abbe or from his brother, from the King or the
+Duke of Guise; and expectation of receiving tidings from some one
+caused him to remain at home during the greater part of the day.
+
+On the succeeding morning, however, he determined to proceed to the
+house of Villequier, and to demand peremptorily the fulfilment of the
+promise which the King had made. Ere he set out, however, he received
+a note in the hand of the Abbe de Boisguerin, informing him briefly
+that his brother, having determined to return to Montsoreau, was upon
+the very point of setting out. He, the Abbe, was to accompany him for
+two days' march upon the road, but would return to Paris in four or
+five days without fail.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau read the note with a faint and melancholy smile,
+and again said, "This man is not true!"
+
+He rode at once, however, to the hotel of Villequier, but found that
+the minister had once more gone to Vincennes. He inquired for the
+Marquis of Montsoreau of the same porter who had denied the fact of
+his being there. The porter, not at all discomposed, replied that the
+Marquis and the Abbe de Boisguerin, with their train, had set out
+fully two hours before for Montl'hery; which, being confirmed upon
+farther inquiry by an Italian confectioner on the opposite side of the
+street, was believed by the young Count, who returned home with a
+heart but ill at ease.
+
+Another day was passed in gloomy and impatient expectation; but at
+night Gondrin reappeared from Soissons, bringing with him a brief note
+from the Duke of Guise:--
+
+"Your interview," it said, "was such as might be expected; your
+conduct all that it should have been; your view of the result right.
+They are endeavouring to trifle both with you and me; but we must show
+them that this cannot be done. I send off a courier at once to
+Villequier, requiring that the King's authorisation shall be
+immediately given to you. If it reach you not before to-morrow night,
+I pray you set off at once with the passports you possess for
+Chateauneuf; for I have information scarcely to be doubted, that our
+poor Marie has been conveyed thither. Show her the letter which I gave
+you, requiring her to follow your directions in every thing. Endeavour
+to bring her at once, with what people you can collect upon her lands,
+across the country towards Rheims, avoiding Paris. If any one stops
+you, or attempts either to delay your progress or dispute your
+passage, show them my letter of authority, as well as the passports
+that you already possess; and if they farther molest or delay you,
+they shall not be forgotten, be they great or small, when they come to
+reckon with your friend, Henry of Guise."
+
+In a postscript was written at the bottom--"In going, avoid Dreux and
+Montfort, for the plague is raging there. If there be any force
+stationed at Chateauneuf to prevent the removal of Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut, only ascertain distinctly the fact of her presence in the
+chateau, and come back to rejoin me with all speed."
+
+The tidings brought by Gondrin showed Charles of Montsoreau that great
+events of some kind were in preparation. Various bodies of troops
+attached to the House of Lorraine were moving here and there in
+Champaign and the Ardennes; daily conferences were held between the
+Duke of Guise, the Cardinal of Bourbon, the Cardinal of Guise, and a
+number of other influential noblemen; the propriety of deposing the
+King was said to be openly discussed at Soissons, and ridicule and
+hatred were unsparingly busy with the names of Epernon, Villequier,
+and others. Couriers, totally independent of those which were sent
+upon the business that brought the young Count to Paris, were almost
+hourly passing between the capital and Soissons; and it was daily
+whispered in the latter city, that experienced officers and small
+bodies of troops were daily gliding into the capital from the army
+which the Duke had led to victory on so many previous occasions.
+
+Early on the following morning, Charles of Montsoreau again proceeded
+to the Hotel de Villequier, in order that nothing might be wanting on
+his part. But the reply once more was, that the minister was absent;
+and the day passed over without any tidings from either the King or
+his favourite. As he passed through various parts of the city,
+however, the young Count remarked many things that somewhat surprised
+him. He had hitherto ridden amongst the people quite unnoticed, but
+now many persons whom he met bowed low to him, and those seemingly of
+the most respectable classes of citizens. On two or three occasions
+the burgher guard saluted him as he passed; and in one place, where
+several people were collected together, there was a cry of "Long live
+the Duke of Guise!"
+
+All these indications of some approaching event of importance at any
+other moment might have given him an inclination to remain in Paris:
+but he had other interests more deeply at heart; and having waited
+till the last moment to make sure that the King's authorisation was
+still delayed, he prepared to set out that very night, taking with him
+only the number of persons specified in the passports which he had
+brought from Soissons.
+
+In a brief and hurried note which he wrote to Chapelle Marteau, he
+informed him that he was about to absent himself from Paris for a
+short time on business of importance; and begged him, as it was his
+intention to pass out of the city by the Faubourg St. Germain that
+very night, to facilitate his so doing as quietly as possible. That
+his absence might remain for some time concealed from those who might
+obstruct his proceedings, he retained his apartments at the inn, and
+the servants he had hired, paying the whole for some time in advance,
+and directing that if any inquiries were made, the reply should be,
+that he was only absent for a few days.
+
+When all was prepared he set out, and at the gates found his friend of
+the Seize, with another personage, who seemed to consider himself of
+great importance. No words, however, were spoken, no passports were
+demanded, the two Leaguers bowed lowly to the Count, the gates opened
+as if of themselves, and, issuing forth, the young Count rode on upon
+the way, anxious to place as great a distance between Paris and
+himself ere the next morning as possible.
+
+It was a soft calm night in April, the sky was unclouded and filled
+with stars, the dew thick upon the grass, and the air balmy; and the
+young nobleman pursued his way with a mind filled with thoughts which,
+though certainly in part melancholy, were still tinged with the soft
+light of hope. His horses were strong and fresh, and just in the grey
+of the morning, on the following day, he reached the small town of
+Rambouillet.
+
+The signs and indications of the disturbed and anxious state of
+society in France were visible in the little town as the young Count
+gazed from the door of the inn, after seeing that his horses were well
+taken care of. There were anxious faces and eyes regarding the
+stranger with the expression of doubt, and perhaps suspicion; there
+were little knots gathered together and talking gloomily at the
+corners of different streets; the whistle of the light-hearted peasant
+was unheard; and the cart or the flock was driven forth in silence.
+
+The Count's horses required rest; none were to be procured with which
+he could pursue his journey, and he determined to take what repose he
+could get ere he proceeded on his way. Casting himself down then upon
+a bed, he closed his eyes and sought to sleep: but suddenly something
+like a wild cry sounded from the other side of the street, and
+springing up he looked out of the window. He could almost have touched
+the opposite house, so narrow was the way, and he saw completely into
+a room thereof through the window that faced his own.
+
+There was a woman in it of about the middle age, kneeling by the
+bedside of a youth who seemed just dead; and on looking down a little
+below he saw a man, dressed in a black serge robe, standing on a
+ladder, and marking the front of the building with a large white
+cross. On the impulse of the moment, Charles of Montsoreau ran down
+stairs, and approached the door of the house, intending to enter. But
+he was stopped at the door by two of the guards of the city. "Do you
+not see the mark of the plague?" they said. "You must not go in; or,
+if you go in, you must not come out again."
+
+With a sorrowful heart, Charles of Montsoreau turned back into the
+inn, but he found no sleep, and the image of the woman clasping her
+dead son still haunted him in waking visions.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. VII.
+
+
+It was about nine o'clock at night, and the moon, rising later than
+the night before, had not yet gone down, as Charles of Montsoreau
+passed through the wide forest that then surrounded Chateauneuf en
+Thimerais. It was a beautiful moonlight scene, affording to the eye
+many various and pleasant objects. The greater part of the forest,
+indeed, consisted of old trees far apart from each other, and only
+surrounded by brushwood in patches here and there. Occasionally,
+indeed, deeper and thicker parts of the forest presented themselves,
+where the axe had not been plied so unsparingly; but the ground was
+hilly and broken, and the road ascended and descended continually,
+showing every change of the forest ground. There were manifold streams
+too in that part of the country, and small gushing fountains, while a
+chapel or two, here and there raised by the pious inhabitants of the
+neighbourhood, broke the desolate appearance of the wood by showing
+sweet traces of human hope or gratitude. The heart, however, of
+Charles of Montsoreau enjoyed not that scene as it might at any other
+time, for many dark and painful reports had reached him of the state
+of the country in that district, and he looked anxiously forward to
+his arrival at the little village of Morvillette seated in the midst
+of the forest, to hear further tidings of Chateauneuf and its
+neighbourhood. A party of soldiers he had already heard had passed
+along some days before, escorting a carriage, and it was understood
+their destination was Chateauneuf; but the people of Tremblay, where
+he received this intelligence, shook the head doubtingly, and added,
+that the traveller would hear more at Morvillette, and could there get
+a guide to the chateau, which was two miles from the town.
+
+At length, lying in a hollow of the woodland, the moonlight showed him
+a group of dark cottages; but no friendly light appeared in the
+windows; and as he rode on amongst the houses, there was a sort of
+awful stillness about the place, which seemed to indicate that it was
+not slumber that kept the tongues of the peasantry silent. There were
+no dogs in the streets; there was no smoke curling up from any of the
+chimneys; all was still, and many of the doors stood wide open in the
+night air, exhibiting nothing but solitude within.
+
+"There must be somebody in the place," cried Gondrin, springing from
+his horse and approaching one of the cottages, the door of which was
+shut.
+
+Without knocking, the man threw open the door at once, and went in as
+far as the bridle of his horse would let him; but he came out again
+immediately, and his master could see that his face was pale and its
+expression horrified.
+
+"A man and a woman," he said in a low voice, "both dead! the one in
+the bed and the other on the floor, and both of them looking as blue
+as a cloud."
+
+The boy Ignati pressed up his horse to hear; and the Count said, "In
+all probability there may be things still more horrible before us. I
+shall go on, Gondrin; I must go on: but there is no need for either
+yourself or the page to do so. You had better both go back. Make the
+best of your way to Soissons, there tell the Duke what you have seen,
+and assure him that I will do my best to fulfil his wishes if I live."
+
+"My Lord," said the boy, "I might quit you for a kind and noble master
+when danger was not about you, but I will only quit you now with
+life."
+
+"And so say I," replied Gondrin in a somewhat reassured but still
+anxious tone. "But let us ride on, my Lord, and get out of this
+horrible place. We shall find no one here to show us the way."
+
+"I believe I can find it myself," replied the Count. "We turn to the
+left as soon as we have passed the village. Come on!"
+
+Thus saying, he somewhat quickened his pace and rode away, the moon
+now declining towards her setting, throwing longer shadows, and giving
+more uncertain light. Anxiously did the young Count gaze from the brow
+of every rise, hoping to see the form of the chateau rising upon the
+eminence before him. Several times he disappointed himself by fancying
+that he saw it when it was not there, so that, when at length he
+beheld a single faint point of light, like the spark of a firefly
+amongst the distant branches, he could scarcely believe that it
+afforded any true indication of that which he sought.
+
+Riding on, however, he again and again caught sight of it, till at
+length the forms of the building grew more clear and defined, and
+after about half a mile more he rode up the gentle slope that
+conducted towards the chateau.
+
+It was situated in the midst of a wild game park, not unlike that of
+Vincennes, only that the ground was more irregular. The building,
+however, was very different: it had been erected by that Count de
+Clairvaut who had been sent ambassador in the reign of Henry II. to
+the Republic of Venice. He had formed his ideas of beauty in
+architecture under another sky, and, but that it was somewhat larger
+and heavier, it might have been supposed that the building had been
+transported by some Geni from the banks of the Brenta. There was a
+strong old castellated gate, however, in the walls of the park, which
+had belonged to some former building. But the heavy iron gates were
+wide open, and the voice of no porter responded to the call of the
+young Count and his companions.
+
+Still, however, he saw a light in the windows of the chateau, and he
+eagerly rode on along the path which conducted to the principal gates
+of the building. Here there was a wide flight of marble stairs, which
+had been brought ready polished at an immense expense from Italy,
+yellow and green with the damp, but still altogether of a different
+hue and consistence from the ordinary stone of the place. From those
+steps the wide forest scene beyond was fully displayed to the eye, the
+chateau being built very near the highest point of the acclivity, and
+the whole ground towards Dreux, Maintenon, and Chartres lying below,
+with the forest itself sweeping down the edge of that chain of high
+hills which separates the southern parts of Normandy from the northern
+parts and Maine.
+
+The moon at that moment was just sinking beyond the trees on the left,
+and poured over the woods and plains below a flood of silver light,
+caught and reflected here and there by some open stream or wide piece
+of water, and, shining full upon the front of the marble building,
+which, with its pillars, its capitals, and its cornices, its wide
+doors and spreading porticoes, looked like the spectre of some bright
+enchanted palace from another land.
+
+The large doors that opened upon the terrace were ajar; and Charles of
+Montsoreau, leaving his horse with the page, mounted the steps and
+knocked hard with the haft of his dagger. A long melancholy echo was
+all the sound that was returned. He knocked again, there was no
+answer; and then pushing open the door, he entered the wide marble
+hall. The moonlight was pouring through the tall windows, but all was
+solitary; and putting his foot upon the first step of the staircase,
+he was beginning to ascend. At that moment, he thought he heard a
+distant sound as of an opening door; and a ray of light, streaming
+down some long corridor at the top of the broad staircase, crossed the
+balustrade and chequered the iron work with a different hue from the
+moonlight. He now called loudly, asking if there was any one in the
+building.
+
+In a moment after, there were steps heard coming along towards the
+staircase, and a voice replied, "There is death and pestilence in the
+house. If you come for plunder, take it quickly; if you come by
+accident, fly as fast as you may, for every breath is tainted."
+
+The tones of that voice were not to be mistaken, even before Charles
+of Montsoreau beheld the speaker; but, ere the last words were spoken,
+Marie de Clairvaut herself was at the top of the staircase, bearing a
+small lamp in her hand, and Charles of Montsoreau eagerly sprang up
+the steps.
+
+The lamp flashed upon the form and features which she had not at first
+seen, and with a loud cry she darted forward to meet him.
+
+The next moment, however, nearly dropping the lamp, she rushed back,
+exclaiming, "Come not near, Charles! Dear, dear Charles, come not
+near! These hands, not twelve hours ago, have closed the eyes of the
+dead. The plague most likely is upon me now!"
+
+But before she could add more, the arms of Charles of Montsoreau were
+round her.
+
+"You have called me dear," he said, "and what privilege can be dearer
+than sharing your fate, whatever it may be? Dear, dear, dear Marie!
+oh, say those words again, and make me happy!"
+
+"But I fear for you, Charles," she said; "I fear for you. All are
+either dead or have fled and left me, and I shall see you die
+too,--you, you die also by the very touch, by the very breath, of one
+to whom you have restored life."
+
+"I fear not, Marie," answered Charles; "I fear not; and that is the
+safest guard. Certainly you shall not see me fly and leave you; and I
+fear not, either, that you will see death overtake me. But oh, if even
+it did, how sweet would death itself be, watched by that dear face,
+wept by those beloved eyes!"
+
+Marie bent down her head, and said nothing; but she strove no more
+against the arm that was cast round her; her hand remained in his, and
+the colour rose warmly into her cheek, which had before been deadly
+pale.
+
+"If," she said at length, after a long pause, during which he had
+continued to gaze earnestly, fondly, sadly upon her,--"If it were not
+that I feared for you, your presence would indeed be a comfort and a
+consolation to me: not that I fear for myself," she added; "I know not
+why, but I have never feared. It has seemed to me as if there were no
+danger to myself--as if I should certainly escape. But oh, how
+terrible it would be to see you struck by the pestilence also!"
+
+"Say no more, dear Marie; say no more," replied Charles of Montsoreau,
+feeling and knowing by every word that she was his own. "I fear not; I
+have no fear; and even if I had, love would trample it under foot in a
+moment. I would not leave you in such an hour, not if by descending
+that short flight of steps I could save myself from death: unless
+indeed you told me to go, and that you loved me not."
+
+The tears sprang into Marie de Clairvaut's eyes. "I must not tell such
+a falsehood," she cried, clasping her hands together, "in an hour like
+this. I never told you so; indeed I never did, though Madame de
+Saulny, poor Madame de Saulny, with her dying lips assured me that you
+thought so."
+
+"There have been many errors, dear Marie," replied Charles of
+Montsoreau, "which have pained both your heart and mine, I fear. But
+now, my beloved, I must call in those that are with me, for we have
+travelled far and ridden hard."
+
+"Oh, call them not in!" said Marie de Clairvaut, "for they will be
+frightened when they see the state of the house, and catch the
+pestilence and die! Bid them lead their horses to the stables, and
+sleep there. Perhaps they may find some one still living there, for
+this evening at sunset I saw my father's old groom still wandering
+about as usual; but you must go yourself to tell them, Charles, for I
+do not believe that there is any one in the house but you and I. The
+stables lie away to the left. I will wait here for you till you come
+back. Go through the great doors," she said, as he descended, "and go
+not into the rooms either to the right or left, for there is death in
+all of them."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau descended with a rapid step, and in a few words
+gave his directions to the servants. He then returned, and taking
+Marie de Clairvaut's hand in his, he pressed his lips warmly upon it,
+and gazed tenderly upon her as she led him along through a wide
+corridor to the room in which she had been sitting.
+
+It formed a strange contrast,--the aspect of that room, with the
+desolate knowledge that all was death and solitude through the rest of
+the house. Beautiful pictures, rich ornaments, fine tapestry, gave it
+an air of life and cheerfulness, which seemed strange to the feelings
+of Charles of Montsoreau. But an illuminated book of prayer that lay
+upon the table told how Marie de Clairvaut's thoughts had been
+employed; and Charles of Montsoreau paused, and, lifting his thoughts
+to Heaven, prayed earnestly, fervently, that that bright and beautiful
+and beloved being might still be protected by the hand of the Almighty
+in every scene of peril and danger which might yet await her.
+
+She sat down on the chair in which she had been reading with a look of
+melancholy thoughtfulness, and Charles of Montsoreau sat down beside
+her, and there was a long silent pause, for the hearts of both were
+too full of agitating feelings for words to be plentiful at first. The
+moment and the circumstances, indeed, took from love all shame and
+hesitation. Death and deprivation and desolation gave affection a
+brighter, a holier light,--it was like some eternal flame burning upon
+the altar of a ruined temple.
+
+Marie de Clairvaut felt that at that moment she could speak things
+that at any other time she would have sunk into the earth to say; she
+felt that--with the exception of their trust in God--his love for her
+and hers for him formed the grand consolation of the moment, the
+healing balm, the great support of that hour of peril and of terror.
+She looked at him and he at her, and they mutually thought that a few
+hours perhaps might see them there, dying or dead by each other's
+side, with love for the only comfort of their passing hour--with the
+voice of death pronouncing their eternal union, and the grave their
+bridal bed.
+
+They thus thought, and it may seem strange to say, but--prepared as
+their minds were for leaving the life of this earth behind them--such
+a death to them appeared sweet; and neither feared it, but looked
+forward upon the grim enemy of human life, not with the stern defying
+frown of the martyr, not with the fierce and angry daring of the
+warrior, but with the calm sweet smile of resignation to the will of
+Heaven, and hopes beyond the tomb.
+
+Thus they remained silent, or with but few words, for some time; and
+Charles of Montsoreau felt that he was beloved. Indeed, there was not
+a word, there was not a look, that did not tell him so: and yet he
+longed to hear more; he longed that those words should be spoken which
+would confirm, by the living voice of her he loved, the assurance of
+his happiness. Gradually he won her from conversing of the present to
+speak of the past; and she gently reproached him for leaving her at
+Montsoreau so suddenly as he had done.
+
+"Marie," he said, with that frankness which had always characterised
+him, "let me tell you all; and then see if I did right or wrong. If I
+did wrong, you shall blame me still, and I will grieve and make any
+atonement in my power; but if I only mistook, and did not act wrong
+intentionally, you shall forgive me, and tell me that you love me."
+
+Marie de Clairvaut gazed in his face, and asked, "And do you doubt it
+now, Charles?"
+
+"Oh, no!" he cried, "oh, no! I ought not to doubt it, for Marie de
+Clairvaut could not speak such words as she has spoken without
+loving." And gently bending down his head over her, he pressed a kiss
+upon that dear fair brow. "Marie," he said, "it is our fate to meet in
+strange scenes. The last time that I kissed that brow, the last time
+that I held you to my heart, was when I thought you dead, and lost to
+me for ever."
+
+"And when I woke up," replied Marie de Clairvaut, "and was not only
+grateful to God and to you for having saved me, but happy in its being
+you that did save me, and happy," she added, slightly dropping her
+eyes, "in the signs of deep affection which I saw."
+
+"And yet," he exclaimed, "and yet, when my stay or my departure hung
+upon a single word from your lips, you gave me to understand that you
+had not received those signs of affection as signs of affection; that
+you looked upon them but as the natural effect of my witnessing your
+restoration to life, when I thought you dead."
+
+"Oh, Charles!" exclaimed Marie de Clairvaut, with a slight smile,
+"could you not pardon and understand such small hypocrisy as that? Did
+you not know that woman's heart is shy, and seeks many a hiding-place,
+even from the pursuit of one it loves?"
+
+"I never loved but you, Marie," replied the Count, "and I am sadly
+ignorant, I fear, of woman's heart. Nevertheless, upon those few words
+and that moment depended my fate."
+
+"I knew not that," cried Marie de Clairvaut, eagerly; "I knew not
+that, or, upon my honour, I would have been more sincere: but what was
+it, Charles, made you take so sudden a resolution? what was it made
+you leave me, without a reply, in the hands of those who have striven
+constantly ever since to make me believe that you cared not for me?"
+
+"I will tell you all," replied her lover; and, pouring forth in
+eloquent words all the passion of his heart towards her, he told her
+how his love had grown upon him, how it had increased each hour; and
+making that the main subject of his tale, he told but as adjuncts to
+it the pain which his brother's conduct had inflicted upon him, and
+all the signs of rivalry which he had remarked. He then spoke of his
+conversation with the Abbe de Boisguerin on their way to visit the
+Count de Morly; and he told how agonised were all his feelings--how
+terrible was the struggle in his heart,--and what was the resolution
+that he took, to ascertain whether her affections were really gained,
+and by the result to shape his conduct. He next spoke of his
+conversation with her immediately preceding his departure, and of the
+words which had led him to believe that she was unconscious of his
+love, and did not return it.
+
+As she listened, the tears rose in her eyes, and, laying her soft fair
+hand on his, she said, "Forgive me, Charles! oh, forgive me! but do
+believe that there is not another woman on all the earth who would not
+have done the same."
+
+"Alas! dear Marie," he replied, "in such knowledge you have but a
+child to deal with."
+
+"Oh, be so ever, Charles!" she cried, clasping her hands and looking
+up in his face. "There may be women who would love you less for being
+so; but I trust and hope that you will never love any one but Marie de
+Clairvaut, and she will value your love all the more for its being,
+and having ever been, entirely her own. But you were speaking of the
+Abbe de Boisguerin, Charles--you have told me of his conversation with
+you--I saw, when I was at Montsoreau, that you loved and esteemed
+him."--She paused, and hesitated. "I fear," she added, "that what I
+must speak, that what I ought to tell you, may pain and grieve you:--I
+doubt that man, Charles--I more than doubt him."
+
+"And so do I, Marie," replied her lover with a melancholy shake of the
+head; "and so do I doubt him much. Indeed, as you say, I more than
+doubt him, for I know and feel that he is not true."
+
+"Alas! Charles," she replied, "I fear that in that very first
+conversation with you he meditated treachery towards you. I fear much,
+very much, that his design and purpose even then was to separate us."
+
+"Perhaps it might be so, Marie," replied her lover: "though he has
+never shown any strong preference, I have often thought he loves
+Gaspar better than he does me."
+
+"But it was no love of your brother, Charles," she said; "it was no
+love of your brother moved him then; for if your brother trusted him,
+he betrayed him too. Now hear me, Charles, and let me, as quickly as
+possible, tell a tale that makes my cheek burn, for it must be told.
+After you were gone, I avoided your brother's presence as far as might
+be. I was never with him for a moment alone if I could help it, for I
+could not but see feelings that were never to be returned. Although
+there was something from the first in the Abbe de Boisguerin that I
+loved not, though I could not tell why--something in his eye that made
+me shrink into myself with a kind of fear,--I now courted him to be
+with me, in order to avoid the persecution of love for which I could
+not feel even grateful. At first he seemed inclined to give your
+brother opportunities; and I believe, I firmly believe, that he did so
+because he knew that those opportunities would but serve to confirm
+the coldness of my feelings towards him. When he saw that I sought him
+to be with us, he seemed to yield, and was now with me often almost
+alone, when there was none but one or two of my women in the further
+end of the room. He timed his visits well; and, for a space, well did
+he choose his conversation too. It was such as he knew must please my
+ear. He told me of other lands, and of princely scenes beyond the
+Alps, the beauties of nature, the miracles of art, the graceful but
+dangerous race of the Medici, the treasures, the unrivalled treasures
+of Florence and of Rome. I learned to forget the prejudices--I had
+first taken towards him, and he saw that I listened well pleased, and
+then he ventured to speak of you and of your brother. But oh, Charles,
+he spoke not as a friend to either. He blamed not, indeed; he even
+somewhat praised; but he undervalued all and every thing. There was
+not a word of censure, but there was every now and then a light sneer
+in the tone, a scornful turn of the lip, and curl of the nostril. It
+pleased me not, and seeing it, he wisely dropped such themes. He spoke
+of you no more; but he spoke of himself and of his own history. He
+told me that his was the more ancient branch of your own family, but
+that reverses and misfortunes had overtaken it; and that, careless of
+wealth or station, and any of the bubbles which the world's grown
+children follow, he had made no effort to raise his own branch from
+the ground to which it had fallen. But he said, however, that if he
+had had an object, a great and powerful object, he felt within himself
+those capabilities of mind which might raise him over some of the
+highest heads in the land: and none could hear his voice, and see the
+keen astuteness of his eye, without believing that what he said was
+true. And then again he spoke of the objects, the few, the only
+objects, which could induce a man of great and expansive intellect to
+mingle in the strife and turmoil of the world; and the chief of those
+objects, Charles, was woman's love. He was a churchman, Charles, and
+had taken vows which should have frozen such words upon his lips. I
+was silent, and I think turned pale, and he instantly changed the
+conversation to other things, speaking eloquently and nobly upon great
+and fine feelings, as I have seen one of the modellers in wax cast on
+the rough harsh form that he intended to give, and then soften it down
+with fine and delicate touches, so as to leave it smooth and pleasant
+to the eye. At length we set out to join my uncle; and your brother
+now had opportunities of paining me greatly by the open and the
+rash display of feelings that grieved and hurt me. He took means
+too to find moments to speak with me alone, which I must not dwell
+upon--means which were unworthy of one of your race, Charles. He tried
+to deceive me into such interviews by every sort of petty art; and if
+the Abbe de Boisguerin came to my relief, alas! it was but now to
+inflict upon me worse persecution. He dared to speak to me, Charles,
+words that none had ever dared to speak before--words that I must not
+repeat, that I must not even think of here, so near the holy calmness
+of the dead. These words were not, indeed, addressed to me directly;
+but they were used to figure forth what were the passions which an
+ardent and fiery heart might feel. They were intended evidently to let
+me know of what he himself was capable: though they breathed of love,
+there was somewhat of menace in them likewise. The very sound of his
+voice, the very glare of his eyes, now became terrible to me: but he
+seemed to consider that I was more in his power now than I had been at
+Montsoreau; and I need not tell you that to me the journey was a
+terrible one. To end it all, Charles--as I take it for granted that
+you know some part of what has taken place, even by seeing you here
+this night--I feel sure that it was by his machinations that I was
+betrayed into the hands of the King, whom I have all my life been
+taught to abhor, and by him given up to the power of a relation, from
+whom I have been sheltered by all my better friends as from the most
+venomous of serpents."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau had heard all in deep silence, without
+interrupting her once. He gazed indeed, from time to time, upon her
+fair face, watching with love and admiration the bright but transient
+expressions that came across it: but he listened with full attention
+and deep thought; and when she had done, he replied, "What you have
+told me, dear Marie, indignant as it well may make me, was most
+necessary for me to hear, and is most satisfactory, for it explains
+all that I did not before comprehend or understand. His machinations,
+however, dear Marie, I now trust are at an end. What may be between
+Villequier and him I do not know; but I trust, dear Marie, I trust in
+that God who never does fail them that trust in him, that I come to
+bring you deliverance and to lead you to happiness. It would be long
+and tedious to tell you, beloved, all that has happened to me since I
+left you at Montsoreau. Suffice it that I have seen the Duke of Guise;
+that I have spent the greater part of the time with him; that I have
+been able, Marie, to serve him--he says, to save his life; and that to
+me he has entrusted the charge of seeking you and bringing you to join
+him at Soissons, in despite of any one that may oppose us."
+
+"Oh, joy, joy!" cried Marie de Clairvaut. "When can we set out?" And
+she rose from her seat as if she hoped their departure might take
+place that minute. Charles of Montsoreau drew her gently to his heart,
+and, gazing into her deep tender eyes, he asked, "Will your joy be
+less, dear Marie, if you know that you go to be at once the bride of
+Charles of Montsoreau, with the full consent of your princely
+guardian, given by one who is well worthy to give, to one who is
+scarcely worthy to receive, such a jewel as yourself?"
+
+Marie de Clairvaut hid her face upon his bosom, murmuring, in a
+scarcely audible tone, "Can you ask me, Charles?--But oh, let us speed
+away quickly; for though I, who have been here now several days, and
+have seen nothing but death and desolation round me ever since I came,
+have become accustomed to the scene, and doubtless to the air also,
+yet I fear for every moment that you remain here."
+
+"I still fear not, dear Marie," replied Charles of Montsoreau.
+"Nevertheless, most glad am I to bear you away to happier scenes; and
+as soon as the horses have taken some rest, we will set out. And now,
+dear girl," he added, "I will send you from me. You need some repose,
+Marie; you need some tranquillity. Leave me then, dear girl, and try
+to sleep till the hour of our departure, while I will watch here for
+you, and call you before break of day."
+
+"If you watch, Charles," replied Marie, "I will watch with you, for I
+need not repose. This morning, after closing the eyes of poor Madame
+de Saulny, and weeping long and bitterly over her and the poor girl
+who was the only one that chose to remain with me, exhausted with
+watching, anxiety, and grief, I fell asleep, and slept long. Before
+that, I had felt so weary and so heated, that I almost fancied--though
+without fearing it--that the plague might be coming upon me; but I
+woke refreshed and comforted just as the sun was going down, and I
+felt, as it were, a hope and expectation that some change would soon
+come over my fate. But you need at least refreshment, Charles. In the
+next room remains my last untasted meal--the last that the poor
+frightened beings who abandoned me, set before their mistress
+yesterday. I fear not to take you there, Charles, for no one has died
+in this part of the house."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau followed her, and persuaded her also to take
+some light refreshment; and there they sat through the live-long
+night, speaking kind words from time to time, and watching each
+other's countenances with hope strong at the hearts of both, though
+somewhat chequered by fears, each for the other.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAP. VIII.
+
+
+By the time that the first grey streak chequered the dark expanse of
+the eastern sky, the horses of Charles of Montsoreau, with three
+others, were standing on the terrace at the foot of the marble
+steps. The page and Gondrin were there, and also the old groom, a
+white-headed man of some sixty years of age, who had booted and
+spurred himself, and buckled on a sword, declaring that he would
+accompany his young mistress, if it were but to lead the sumpter horse
+which carried her baggage. A moment after, Marie herself appeared, and
+Charles of Montsoreau placed her on the beast that had been prepared
+for her, while the old groom kissed her hand, saying, "I am glad to
+see you well, dear lady. But fear not; none of your race and none of
+mine ever died of the plague either, though I have seen it pass by
+this place twice before now, and I remember eleven corpses lying on
+those steps at once."
+
+"There are six within those chambers now," replied Marie, shaking her
+head mournfully. "But I fear not, good Robin,--for myself at least.
+But you had better lead the way towards Chalet, for the Count tells me
+that Morvillette is deserted."
+
+"Oh, I will lead you safely, Lady," replied the old man; "and though
+very likely they may keep us out of many a house on account of where
+we come from, there is my daughter's cottage where they will take us
+in, for they do not fear the plague there."
+
+Thus saying, he mounted his horse, and rode on before, through the
+forest roads, while the lady and her lover followed side by side. As
+they went on circling round the highest parts of the hills, the grey
+streaks gradually turned into crimson; the dim objects became more
+defined in the twilight of morning; a few far distant clouds at the
+edge of the sky, tossed into fantastic shapes, began to glow like the
+burning masses of a furnace; the crimson floated like the waves of a
+sea up towards the zenith; the fiery red next became mingled with
+bright streaks of gold; the forest world, just budding into light
+green, was seen below with its multitude of hills and dales, and rocks
+and streams; the air blew warm and sweet, and full of all the balm of
+spring; and a thousand birds burst forth on every tree, and carolled
+joyous hymns to the dawning day.
+
+Never broke there a brighter morning upon earth; never rose the sun in
+greater splendour; never was the air more balmy, or the voices of the
+birds more sweet. It seemed as if all were destined to afford to those
+two lovers the strongest, the strangest, the brightest contrast to the
+dark dull night of anxiety and emotion which they had passed within
+the palace they had just left behind them. It seemed to both as an
+image of the dawn of immortality after the tomb--anxiety, sorrow,
+danger, death, left behind, and brightness and splendour spread out
+before.
+
+Each instinctively drew in the rein as the sun's golden edge was
+raised above the horizon; each gazed in the countenance of the other,
+as if to see that no trace of the pestilence was there; and each held
+out the hand to grasp that of the being most loved on earth, and then
+they raised their eyes to Heaven in thankfulness and joy.
+
+The old man led them on with scarcely a pause towards Chalet; but
+about a mile from that place he turned to a little hamlet near, where,
+in a good farm-house inhabited by his daughter and her husband, they
+found their first resting-place. They were gladly received and
+heartily welcomed, without the slightest appearance of fear, though
+the circumstances of their flight were known. The farmer and the
+farmer's wife set before them the best of all they had, the children
+served them at the table, and the good woman of the house brought
+forth a large flask of plague water, and made them drink abundantly,
+assuring them that it was a sovereign antidote that was never known to
+fail. They then assigned a room to each, and though it was still
+daylight they gladly retired to rest. Charles of Montsoreau, though
+much fatigued, slept not for near an hour, but the house was all kept
+quiet and still, and, with his thoughts full of her he loved, he
+fancied and trusted that she was sleeping calmly near him, and in an
+earnest prayer to Heaven he called down blessings on her slumber. At
+length sleep visited his own eyes, and he rose refreshed and well.
+Some fears, some anxieties still remained in his bosom till he again
+saw the countenance of Marie de Clairvaut. When he did see it,
+however, fears on her account vanished altogether, for the paleness
+which had overspread her face the night before had been banished by
+repose, and the soft warm glow of health was once more upon her cheek.
+He saw the same anxious look of inquiry upon her countenance; and oh!
+surely there is something not only sweet and endearing, but elevating
+also, in the knowledge of such mutual thoughts and cares for each
+other; something that draws forth even from scenes of pain and peril a
+joy tender and pure and high for those who love well and truly!
+
+"Fear not, dear Marie," he said; "fear not; for I feel well, and you
+too look well, so that I trust the danger is over."
+
+"Pray God it be!" said Marie de Clairvaut. "But now, when you will,
+Charles, I am ready to go on; we may soon reach Maintenon."
+
+"We must avoid the road by Maintenon," replied Charles of Montsoreau,
+"for that would bring us on the lands of the grasping Duke of Epernon,
+and we could not run a greater risk. Chartres itself is doubtful; but
+we must take our way thither, and act according to circumstances.
+However, dear Marie, our next journey must be long and fatiguing:
+would it not be better for you to stay here to-night, and take as much
+repose as you can obtain before you go on?"
+
+"Oh no," replied Marie de Clairvaut; "I am well and strong now, and
+eager to get forward out of all danger. The bright moon will soon be
+rising, the sun has not yet set, and we may have five or six hours of
+calm light to pursue our way."
+
+Her wishes were followed; and they were soon once more upon their way
+towards the fair old town of Chartres. Their former journey had passed
+greatly in thought, for deep emotions lay fresh upon their hearts, and
+burthened them: but now they spoke long and frequently upon every part
+of their mutual situation. The history of every event that had
+happened to either, since they had parted at Montsoreau, was told and
+dwelt upon with all its details: and while the love of Charles of
+Montsoreau for his fair companion certainly did not diminish, every
+word that fell from his lips, every act that she heard him relate, and
+the manner of relating it also, increased in her bosom that love which
+she had at first perceived with shame, but in which she now began to
+take a pride as well as a joy.
+
+Nor, indeed, did his conduct and demeanour to herself in the
+circumstances which surrounded them--circumstances of some difficulty
+and delicacy--change one bright feeling of her heart towards him.
+There was very much of that tenderness in his nature, that soft, that
+gentle kindness, which, when joined with courage and strength, is more
+powerful on the affections of woman than, perhaps, any other quality;
+and her feelings were changed and rendered more devoted by being
+dependent upon him for every thing--protection, and consolation, and
+support, and affection, and all those little cares and kindnesses
+which their mutual situation enabled him to show.
+
+Thus they journeyed on for several hours, and at length reached the
+town of Chartres, having agreed to pass for brother and sister, as the
+safest means of escaping observation. It was about eleven o'clock at
+night when they reached the inn, but they were received with all
+kindness and hospitality, such as innkeepers ever show to those who
+seem capable of paying for good treatment. No questions were asked,
+supper was set before them, and the night passed over again in ease
+and comfort. Every hour, indeed, that went by without displaying any
+sign of illness was in itself a joy; and there was a stillness and a
+quietness about the old town of Chartres which seemed to quiet all
+fears of annoyance or interruption.
+
+Charles of Montsoreau was early up, and was waiting for the appearance
+of Marie de Clairvaut, when the landlord of the inn appeared to inform
+him that a horse-litter, which he had ordered to be ready for his
+inspection, had been brought into the court-yard, and was waiting for
+him to see. At that moment, however, there was a flourish of trumpets
+in the street; and, looking forth from the window, the young Count saw
+a considerable band of mounted soldiers, drawn up, as if about to
+proceed on their march.
+
+"My sister," he said, turning to the host, "has not yet risen, and she
+must see the litter, too, as it is for her convenience. But who are
+these gallant gentlemen before the house, and whither are they going?"
+
+"Why, you might know them, sir, by their plumes and their scarfs,"
+replied the host. "They are a body of the light horse of the guard of
+the Queen-mother. They are easily distinguished, I ween."
+
+"Ay, but I am a rustic from the provinces," replied the young
+nobleman: "but they seem gallant-looking soldiers."
+
+"The Captain was making manifold inquiries about you and the young
+lady who arrived last night," replied the landlord, "for he has come
+with orders to seek and bring back to Paris some young lady and
+gentleman that have made their escape lately with eight or nine
+attendants. But when I told him that you were going to Paris, not
+coming from it, and that you had only three servants with you, and the
+young lady was your sister, he said it was not the same, and is now
+going on. But I must go, lest he should ask for me."
+
+"Well, well," answered the young Count with an air of indifference. "I
+will be down presently to see the litter; let it wait."
+
+He watched, however, with some anxiety the departure of the body of
+light horse, for though he did not feel by any means sure that it was
+himself whom they sought, he did not feel at all secure till the last
+faint note of their trumpets was heard, as they issued forth from one
+of the further gates of Chartres. As soon as Marie de Clairvaut
+appeared, he purchased the litter without much hesitation, and
+determined to proceed with all speed towards Dourdan and Corbeil.
+
+The host of the inn would have fain had them stay some time longer,
+for the young Count had paid so readily for the litter, that he judged
+some gold might be further extracted from his purse. He asked him,
+therefore, whether there was nothing in the good town of Chartres to
+excite his curiosity, and was beginning a long list of marvels; but
+Charles of Montsoreau cut him short, saying, as he looked up at the
+sign covered with fleurs-de-lis, "No, no, my good host. I have much
+business on my hands in which his Majesty is not a little concerned,
+and therefore I must lose no time."
+
+The host nodded his head, looked wise, and suffered the Count and his
+party to depart without further opposition.
+
+As it was not a part of their plan to follow the high road more than
+they were actually obliged to do, soon after leaving Chartres they
+took a path to the left, which they were informed would lead them by
+Gellardon to Bonnelle, through the fields and woods. Before they had
+gone a league, however, the noise of dogs and horses, and the shouts,
+as it seemed, of huntsmen, were heard at no great distance; and
+turning towards Gondrin the young Count asked, "What can they be
+hunting at this time of year?"
+
+"The wolf, my Lord, the wolf," replied the man. "They hunt wolves at
+all times."
+
+Scarcely had he spoken, when a loud yell of the dogs was heard; and
+nodding his head sagaciously, as if he had seen the whole proceeding
+with his mind's eye, Gondrin added, "They have killed him;" which was
+confirmed by a number of joyous morts on the horns of the huntsmen.
+
+"Let us proceed as fast as possible," said Charles of Montsoreau; "we
+know not who those huntsmen may be:" and he was urging the driver of
+the litter to hurry on his horses rapidly, when the whole road before
+them was suddenly filled with a gay party of cavaliers, splendidly
+dressed and accoutred, and coming direct towards them. There was
+nothing now to be done but to pass on quietly if possible; and, taking
+no apparent notice, but bending his head and speaking into the litter,
+without even seeing of whom the other party was composed, Charles of
+Montsoreau was riding on, when a loud voice was heard exclaiming "Halt
+there! halt! A word with you if you please, young sir;" and, looking
+up, he saw the Duke of Epernon.
+
+Without suffering the slightest surprise to appear upon his
+countenance, or the slightest apprehension, Charles of Montsoreau
+turned his head, demanding calmly, "Well, my Lord, what is your
+pleasure with me?"
+
+"My pleasure is," replied the Duke, "that you instantly turn your
+horse's head and go back to Epernon with me."
+
+"I am extremely sorry, my Lord," replied the Count, "that it is quite
+impossible for me to do what you propose, as I am upon urgent business
+for the Duke of Guise, and bear the King's passport and safe-conduct,
+which I presume your Lordship will not despise."
+
+"You may bear the King's passport, sir," said the Duke, "but you
+certainly do not bear his authorisation to carry away from his power
+the young lady who I suppose is in that litter. As to the Duke of
+Guise, your authority from him is very much doubted also."
+
+"That doubt is easily removed, my Lord," replied the Count, seeing
+clearly that he would be forced to yield, but fully resolved not to do
+so till he had tried every means to avoid it. "That doubt is easily
+removed, my Lord. Allow me to show you the authority given me by the
+Duke under his own hand, which I think even the Duke of Epernon must
+respect."
+
+The Duke took the paper which he tendered him, and then saying, "I
+will show you how I respect it," he tore it into a thousand pieces,
+and cast it beneath his horse's feet, while a laugh ran through the
+men that attended him. "Turn your horse's head," he continued,
+"without more ado, or I will have your arms tied behind your back, and
+the horse led."
+
+"My Lord," replied the young Count, "I must obey, for I have no means
+of resisting; but let me remind you, that the Duke of Epernon was
+always considered, even before what he is now, a gallant gentleman and
+a man of good feeling, who would not insult those who were too weak to
+oppose him, and who did their duty honourably as far as it was
+possible for them to do it."
+
+"Your civility now, sir," replied the Duke, "like your rash folly a
+week or two ago, is too contemptible to make any change in the Duke of
+Epernon. That foolish party of light horse," he continued, speaking to
+one of his attendants, "must have suffered this malapert youth and his
+fair charge to have passed it. Turn the litter round there; take care
+that none of them escape."
+
+"The boy has made off already," replied one of the men. "Shall I
+gallop after him, my Lord? He may tell the Duke of Guise."
+
+"Let him!" answered Epernon. "Go not one of you; but bring the rest of
+them along hither."
+
+Without giving any intimation of his intent, Charles of Montsoreau
+turned his horse suddenly back to the side of the litter, and drew the
+curtain back, saying to Marie de Clairvaut, who sat pale and anxious
+within it, "You hear what has happened; there is no power of
+resistance, for they are ten to one: but the boy has escaped, and will
+give the Duke notice of where you are. In the mean time it is one
+comfort, that now you are in the hands of one who is, at all events, a
+man of honour and a gentleman in feeling."
+
+What he said was intended to give comfort and consolation to Marie de
+Clairvaut; but it reached the ear of the Duke of Epernon likewise. "I
+must suffer no farther conversation," he said in a gentler tone than
+he had before used. "You will understand, Monsieur de Logeres, that I
+have authority for what I do; and that I arrest you out of no personal
+vengeance, but because the order has been already given to that
+effect."
+
+"My Lord," replied the young Count, "I care very little for my own
+arrest, as I know that I can but be detained a short time: but I
+confess I am most anxious for the young lady placed under my especial
+charge by the Duke of Guise, as I have shown your Lordship by the
+paper you have torn. If she is to remain in your Lordship's charge, I
+shall be more satisfied; but if she is to be given up to Monsieur de
+Villequier, the consequences will indeed be painful to all. You are
+perhaps not aware, my Lord, that he sent her to a place where the
+plague was raging at the time, where six persons of her household died
+of it, and the rest fled, leaving her utterly alone."
+
+The Duke seemed moved, and after remaining silent for a minute, he
+replied, "I did not know it; the man who would murder his wife, would
+make no great scruple of killing his cousin, I suppose. However, sir,
+set your mind at ease: though I cannot promise that she shall remain
+with the Duchess of Epernon, she shall not be given up to Villequier
+either by myself or by any body in whose hands I may place her. Is
+that assurance sufficient for you?"
+
+"Perfectly, my Lord," replied Charles of Montsoreau. "The Duke of
+Epernon's promise is as good as the bond of other men."
+
+"Well, follow me, then," replied the Duke, and, riding on alone, he
+left the young Count in the hands of his attendants.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. IX.
+
+
+It was in one of the saloons of the old Cardinal de Bourbon, in the
+town of Soissons, that Henry Duke of Guise, princely in his habit,
+princely in his aspect, with his foot raised upon a footstool of
+crimson and gold, a high plumed Spanish hat upon his head, manifold
+parchments before him, and a pen in his hand, sat alone on a day in
+the month of April with his eyes fixed upon a door at the other end of
+the room, as if waiting for the entrance of some one.
+
+The next moment the door was thrown wide open, and, preceded by two
+servants announcing him to the Duke, appeared a small and not very
+striking personage plainly habited in black velvet. The moment the
+Duke saw him, he rose, and for an instant uncovered his head, then
+covering himself again he advanced to meet him, and took him by the
+hand, saying "Monsieur de Bellievre, I am delighted to see you. The
+King could not have chosen any one more gratifying to myself to
+receive: in the first place, because I know that I shall hear nothing
+but truth from the lips of Monsieur de Bellievre; and, in the next
+place, because I am sure no one will bear more exactly to his Majesty
+any reply I may have to make to the message with which I understand
+you are charged."
+
+"The confidence which your Highness expresses in me," replied
+Bellievre, as the Duke led him towards the table, and made him seat
+himself beside him, "does great honour to so humble an individual as
+myself. Nevertheless, I must deliver the King's message, my Lord,
+precisely as it was given to me; and should there be any thing in it
+disagreeable to your Highness, I trust that you will excuse the
+bearer, and consider the matter dispassionately."
+
+"Proceed, proceed," replied the Duke; "as in duty bound I shall
+receive his Majesty's communication with all deference and humility."
+
+"Well, then," replied Bellievre, "I am charged by his Majesty to
+assure your Highness that his personal esteem and respect for you is
+very great; and that he has never, in any degree, given ear to the
+injurious reports which persons inimical to your Highness have been
+industrious in circulating to your disadvantage."
+
+"Your pardon, Monsieur de Bellievre, for one moment," said the Duke,
+interrupting him. "To what injurious reports does his Majesty allude?
+I am ignorant that any one has dared to circulate injurious reports of
+me; and if such be the case, it is high time that I should proceed to
+the capital to confront and shame my accusers."
+
+As this was not at all the point to which the King's envoy wished to
+bring the Duke, he looked not a little embarrassed what to reply. He
+answered, however, after a moment's pause, "It would, indeed, be
+requisite for you to do so, my Lord, if I did not bear you the King's
+most positive assurance that he gives no ear to such reports. But to
+proceed: his Majesty has bid me strongly express his full conviction
+of your attachment, fidelity, and affection, but has commanded me to
+add that, having heard it reported your intention is immediately to
+present yourself in Paris, he is unwillingly obliged, by state reasons
+of the utmost importance, to request that you would forbear the
+execution of that purpose."
+
+It was not without some hesitation and apparent emotion that Bellievre
+spoke; but the Duke heard him with perfect calmness, though with a
+slight contraction of the brow.
+
+"The report," he answered, "of my intention of visiting Paris is
+perfectly correct, Monsieur de Bellievre; nor can I, indeed, refrain
+from executing that purpose, with all due deference to his Majesty,
+for many reasons, amongst which those that you yourself give me of
+injurious rumours being rife in the capital regarding me, are not the
+least cogent. Thus, unless the King intends to signify by you,
+Monsieur de Bellievre, that he positively prohibits my coming into
+Paris--which, of course, he would not do--I see not how I can avoid
+doing simple justice to myself by returning to my own dwelling in the
+capital of this country."
+
+"I grieve to say, your Highness," replied Bellievre, seeing that the
+worst must be told, "I grieve to say, that while the King has charged
+me to assure you of his regard and his confidence in you, he none the
+less instructed me to make the prohibition on his part absolute and
+distinct."
+
+The Duke of Guise started up with his brow knit and his eyes flashing.
+"Is this the reward," he exclaimed, "of all the services I have
+rendered the state? Is this the recompense for having shed my blood so
+often in defence of France? to be dishonoured in the eyes of all the
+people, by being banished from the metropolis, to be excluded from the
+companionship of all my friends, to be cut off from transacting my own
+private affairs, to be talked of and pointed at as the exiled Duke of
+Guise, and to have the boys singing in the streets the woeful ditty of
+my sufferings and a King's ingratitude?" And as he spoke, the Duke
+took two or three rapid strides up and down the room.
+
+"Indeed, indeed, your Highness," cried Bellievre, "you take it up too
+warmly. The King is far from ungrateful, but most thankful for your
+high services; but it is for the good of the state that you love, for
+the safety and security of the people of the capital who are in a
+tumultuous and highly excitable state, that he wishes you to refrain
+from coming----"
+
+"That he sends me a message dishonouring to myself and to my House,"
+replied the Duke. "That he marks me out from the rest of the nobles of
+the land, by a prohibition which I may venture to say is unjust and
+unmerited. I must take some days to think of this, Monsieur de
+Bellievre; nor can I in any way promise not to visit Paris. Were it
+but to protect, support, and guide my friends and relations, I ought
+to go; were it but on account of the church for which I am ready to
+shed my blood if it be necessary, persecuted, reviled, assailed as
+that holy church is; were it but for my attendants and supporters, who
+are attacked, abused, and ill-treated in the streets and public ways."
+
+"As for the church, your Highness," replied Bellievre, "none is more
+sincerely attached to it than the King and the King's advisers. It
+will stand long, my Lord, depend upon it, without any further
+assistance than that which you have already so ably given it. Your
+relations, my Lord, and household," he said, "are not and cannot be
+ill-treated."
+
+"How?" exclaimed the Duke. "Is not my dear sister Margaret even now,
+as it were, proscribed by the King and his court? Is not every thing
+done to drive her from Paris? Have not her servants been struck by
+those of Villequier in the open streets?"
+
+"I know," replied Bellievre, "that a month or two ago Madame de
+Montpensier was subject to some little annoyance, but as soon as it
+came to the King's ears he had it instantly remedied, and only wished
+her to quit Paris for her own security."
+
+"The House of Guise, sir, have always been secure in the capital of
+France," replied the Duke; "and I trust always will be."
+
+"Nothing has occurred since I trust, my Lord," continued Bellievre.
+"The King is most anxious that you should have satisfaction in every
+thing, and will give you the strongest assurances that your family,
+your household, and your friends, shall be in every respect well
+treated and protected, as indeed he has always wished them to be."
+
+The Duke threw himself down in his chair and rang the bell that stood
+upon the table violently. "Ho! without there!" he exclaimed. "Bring in
+that page that arrived hither a night or two ago, when I was absent at
+Jamets."
+
+The attendant who had appeared retired, and the Duke sat silent,
+gazing with a frown at the papers on the table. "May I ask your
+Highness," said Bellievre, not knowing what interpretation to put upon
+this conduct, "May I ask your Highness whether I am to conceive my
+audience at an end?"
+
+"No, Monsieur de Bellievre, no," replied the Duke in a milder tone;
+"for _you_ I have a high respect and esteem, and will listen to you
+upon this subject longer than I would to most men. I wish you to hear
+and to know how the friends of the Duke of Guise are treated, what
+protection and favour is shown to them at the court of France. Perhaps
+you will hear some things that are new to you--perhaps they may be new
+to the King too," he added, a slight sneer curling his haughty lip.
+"But be that as it may, Monsieur de Bellievre, I think I can show you
+good cause why the Duke of Guise should be no longer absent from
+Paris. Come hither, boy," he added, as the page Ignati entered the
+room, "Come hither, boy, and answer my questions. Thou art both witty
+and honest, but give me plain straightforward replies. Stand at my
+knee and answer, so that this gentleman may hear."
+
+The boy advanced, and did as the Duke bade him, turning his face
+towards Bellievre, with his left hand to the Duke.
+
+"You went to Paris," said Guise, "with my friend the young Count of
+Logeres; did you not? Were you aware of the cause of his going?"
+
+"He went, I understood your Highness," replied the boy, "to seek a
+young lady, a relation of your own, who had been carried to Paris by a
+body of the King's troops while on her way to join your Highness."
+
+"Can you tell what was Monsieur de Logeres' success?" said the Duke.
+
+"I know he saw the King," replied the boy, "and heard that he had been
+promised a letter to all the governors and commanders in different
+places to aid him in seeking for the young Lady, and bringing her back
+to your Highness. I heard also that it was for this paper he waited
+from day to day in Paris, but that it never came."
+
+"I beg your Highness's pardon," said Bellievre interrupting the boy,
+"but you will remark that this is all hearsay. He does not seem to
+speak at all from his own knowledge."
+
+"That will come after," answered the Duke somewhat sharply. "Go on,
+Ignati. What do you know more?"
+
+"What I have said," replied the boy, "is more than hearsay, my Lord,
+for while we staid in Paris the good Count bade us always be ready at
+a moment's notice to set out, for he could not tell when the letter
+from Monsieur de Villequier would arrive. It never came, however, and
+one night the Count having, as I understood, gained information of
+where Mademoiselle de Clairvaut was, set out with his man Gondrin and
+myself to seek her. We found that she had been brought by a body of
+the King's troops to a chateau or a palace, for it looked more like a
+palace than a chateau, called Morvillette, I believe near Chateauneuf,
+where the plague was then raging, when the King's soldiers left her.
+By the time we arrived the plague had reached the chateau, six or
+seven people were dead, and all the rest had fled, leaving the young
+lady with nobody in the palace, and none but one old groom in the
+stables."
+
+The Duke's eye fixed sternly upon the countenance of Bellievre, and he
+muttered between his teeth, "This is the doing, Monsieur de Bellievre,
+of my excellent good friend, the King of France. Go on, boy; go on!
+Proceed. What happened next?"
+
+"The lady was most joyous of her deliverance," continued the boy, "and
+eager to come to your Highness; and we set out the next morning before
+day-break, and reached Chartres, where the Count bought a litter for
+her greater convenience. At a short distance from Chartres, however,
+we were met by the Duke of Epernon and his train wolf-hunting, and the
+Duke immediately stopped us, and insisted upon the Count going back
+with him to Epernon. The Count produced the King's passports, but the
+Duke said that there were doubts of his being authorised by you."
+
+"Did he not show him my own letter?" exclaimed the Duke. "Did he not
+show him the authority I gave him under my own hand?"
+
+"He did, my Lord; he did," replied the boy; "but the Duke of Epernon
+said he would show in what respect he held your Highness's letter, and
+tearing it in several pieces he threw it down under his horse's feet."
+
+Bellievre continued to look down upon the ground with a brow which
+certainly displayed but little satisfaction. The Duke of Guise,
+however, though he had been frowning the moment before, now only
+smiled as the boy related the incident of the letter; the smile was
+somewhat contemptuous, indeed; but he said merely, "Go on, boy. What
+happened next?"
+
+"Nay, my Lord," replied the boy, "what happened to them I know not,
+for seeing that the Duke held them prisoners, and was taking them back
+to Epernon, I made my escape as fast as I well could, and came hither
+to tell you into whose hands the young lady and Monsieur de Logeres
+had fallen."
+
+"You did quite right, boy," said the Duke; "and now you may retire.
+You hear, Monsieur de Bellievre," he continued, "with what kindness,
+protection, support, and generosity the King treats the friends of the
+Duke of Guise! First he casts my poor niece's child into the hands of
+Villequier, something worse than those of the hangman of Paris, and
+then between them they send her into the midst of the pestilence; then
+comes Monsieur d'Epernon to confirm all, arrests my friend bearing the
+King's own passports and safeguard, seizes upon my own relation and
+ward, and carries them both I know not whither."
+
+"Perhaps your Highness," said Bellievre, "the Duke of Epernon might
+have motives that we do not know. At all events the King----"
+
+"Fie, Monsieur de Bellievre, fie!" exclaimed the Duke vehemently. "I
+will tell you what! It is time the Duke of Guise were in Paris, if but
+to deliver the King from such Dukes of Epernon who abuse his
+authority, disgrace his name, absorb his favours, ruin the state,
+overthrow the church, and dare do acts that make men blush for shame.
+France will no longer suffer him, sir; France will no longer suffer
+him! If I free not the King from him and such as he is, the people
+will rise up and commit some foul attempt upon the royal authority.
+What," he continued, with fierce scorn, "What, though he be Baron of
+Caumont, Duke of Epernon, raised out of his place to sit near the
+princes of the blood, Governor of Metz and Normandy, of the
+Boulonnais, and Aunis, of Touraine, Saintonge, and Angoumois,
+Colonel-general of Infantry, and Governor of Anjou, a Knight of the
+order of the Holy Ghost! he shall find this simple steel sword of
+Henry of Guise sufficiently sharp to cut his parchments into pieces,
+and send him back a beggar to the class he sprung from."
+
+The Duke spoke so rapidly, that to interrupt him was impossible; and
+so angrily, that Bellievre, overawed, remained silent for a moment or
+two after he had done, while the Prince bent his eyes down upon the
+table, and played with the golden tassels of his sword-knot, as if
+half ashamed of the vehemence he had displayed.
+
+"I did not come here, your Highness," he said, "either as the envoy or
+the advocate of the Duke of Epernon. You must well know that there is
+no great love between us; and I doubt not, when your Highness comes to
+call him to account for his deeds, that justice will be found entirely
+on your side. But I came on the part of the King; and I beseech you to
+consider, my good Lord, what may be the consequences of pressing even
+any severe charges against the Duke of Epernon at this moment, when
+his Majesty is contending with the heretics on the one side, and is
+somewhat troubled by an unruly people on the other."
+
+"Is he indeed contending with any body or any thing, Bellievre?"
+demanded the Duke. "Is he indeed contending against the Bearnois? Is
+he contending against the indolence of his own nature, or rather
+against the indolence into which corrupt favourites have cast him? Is
+he contending against the iniquities of Villequier, or the exactions
+of Epernon? Is he contending against any thing less contemptible than
+a spaniel puppy or an unteachable parrot? My love and attachment to
+the King and his crown, Bellievre, are greater than yours; and, as my
+final reply, I beg you humbly to inform his Majesty on my part, that
+if I do not promptly and entirely obey him in this matter of not
+coming to Paris, it is solely because I am compelled to do as I do,
+for the good of the church, for the safety of the state, for the
+security of my own relations and friends, and even for the benefit of
+his Majesty himself. This is my final reply."
+
+"Yet one word, my Lord," replied Bellievre. "At all events, if your
+determination to visit the capital be taken, will you not at least, at
+my earnest prayer, delay your journey till I myself can return to
+Paris, and obtaining more ample explanations of the King's purposes,
+come back to you and confer with you farther on the subject."
+
+"I see not, Monsieur de Bellievre," said the Duke of Guise, "what good
+could be obtained by such delay. I do not at all mean to say that you
+would take advantage of my confidence to prepare any evil measures
+against me; but others might do so: and besides, my honour calls me
+not to leave my friends in peril for a moment, even though I called
+upon my head the enmity of a whole host in stepping forward to rescue
+them."
+
+"I pledge you my honour, my Lord," replied Bellievre, "that if you
+will consent to delay, no measures shall be taken against you; and I
+will do the very best I can to induce the King to make any atonement
+in his power to your friends. As to this young Count of Logeres, I
+never heard of him before to-day, and know not what has been done with
+him at all; and in regard to Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, she is
+doubtless in the hands of Villequier, who, I understand, claims the
+guardianship."
+
+"To which he has less right," replied the Duke angrily, "than that
+footstool; and if he contends with me, I will spurn him as I do it;"
+and he suited the gesture to the word. "But still I see not,"
+continued the Duke, "what is to be gained by this delay to either
+party."
+
+"This, my good Lord," replied Bellievre. "I am well aware that his
+Majesty the King has sent me here without sufficient powers to make
+you just and definite proposals. This I believe to have been entirely
+from the haste in which I came away, there being no time for thought.
+But if you permit me to return with assurance that you will wait but a
+few days, I feel convinced that I shall come back to you with offers
+so abundant, so satisfactory, and so well secured, that your Lordship
+will change your resolution."
+
+The Duke mused for a moment or two. "Well, Monsieur de Bellievre," he
+said at length, "though I entertain no such hopes as you do, I must
+yield something to my loyalty, and to my real desire of obeying the
+King; although, perhaps, my duty to my country and to the church might
+well lead me to more prompt proceedings. I will, therefore, delay my
+journey for a day or two; but you must use all speed, and I must have
+no trifling. You know all my just grievances: those must be remedied,
+the church must be secured; and for the quiet and the satisfaction of
+the people who abhor and detest him, as well as for the relief of the
+nobles who have long been shut out from all favour by that unworthy
+minion, this John of Nogaret, this Duke of Epernon, must be banished
+from the court and councils of the King, and stripped of the places
+and dignities which he has won from the weak condescension of the
+Monarch. You understand me, Monsieur de Bellievre," he said in a
+sterner tone, seeing that Bellievre looked somewhat dismayed at the
+extent of his demands. "Undertake not the mission if you think that
+you cannot succeed in it; but let me on my way without more
+opposition."
+
+"My Lord, I will do my best to succeed," replied Bellievre; "and trust
+that I shall do so. How many days will your Highness give me?"
+
+"Nay, nay," replied the Duke; "that I cannot tell, Monsieur de
+Bellievre. Suffice it, I will delay as long as my honour permits me;
+and you on your part lose not an hour in making the necessary
+arrangements, and bringing the King's reply."
+
+As he spoke the Duke rose to terminate the conference; and then added,
+"I fear, Monsieur de Bellievre, as I am expecting every moment my
+brother, the Cardinal de Guise, and his Eminence of Bourbon, to confer
+with me upon matters of importance, I cannot do the honours of the
+house to you as I could wish; but Pericard, my secretary and friend,
+will attend upon you, and insure that you have every sort of
+refreshment. I will send for him this moment." And so doing, he placed
+Bellievre in the hands of his secretary, and turned once more to other
+business.
+
+The King's envoy sped back to Paris, scarcely giving himself time to
+take necessary refreshment; but on his arrival in the capital he first
+found a difficulty even in seeing the Monarch; and when he did see
+him, found him once more plunged in that state of luxurious and
+effeminate indolence from which he was only roused by occasional fits
+of excitement, which sometimes enabled him to resume the monarch and
+the man, but more frequently carried him into the wildest and most
+frantic excesses of debauchery.
+
+Henry would scarcely listen to the business of Bellievre even when he
+granted him an audience on the following morning. He asked many a
+question about his cousin of Guise, about his health, about his
+appearance, about his dress itself; whether his shoes were pointed or
+square, and how far the haut-de-chausses came down above his knees.
+Bellievre was impatient, and pressed the King with some fire; but
+Henry only laughed, and tickled the ears of a monkey that sat upon the
+arm of his chair with a parrot's feather. The animal mouthed and
+chattered at the King, and strove to snatch the feather out of his
+hands; and Henry, stroking it down the head, called it "Mon Duc de
+Guise."
+
+Bellievre bowed low, and moved towards the door. "Come back to-morrow,
+Bellievre; come back to-morrow," said the King; "Villequier will be
+here then. You see at present how importantly I am occupied with my
+fair cousin of Guise here;" and he pulled the monkey's whiskers as he
+spoke. "Villequier has told me all about it," he added. "He says the
+Duke will not come, and so says my mother; and if they both say the
+same thing who never agreed upon any point before, it must be true,
+Bellievre, you know."
+
+"I trust it may, Sire," replied Bellievre dryly, and quitted the room
+with anger and indignation at his heart. Before he had crossed the
+anteroom, he heard a loud laugh ringing like that of a fool from the
+lips of the Monarch; and although it was doubtless occasioned by some
+new gambol of the monkey, it did not serve to diminish the bitter
+feelings which were in the diplomatist's bosom.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. X.
+
+
+In a small, dark, oaken cabinet with one window high up and barred, a
+lamp hanging from the ceiling, a table with books and a musical
+instrument, several chairs, and a silver bell, Charles of Montsoreau
+was seated several days after the period at which we last left him. A
+bedroom well furnished in every respect was beyond; the least sound of
+the silver bell produced immediate attendance; nothing was refused him
+that he demanded; nothing was wanting to his comfort except liberty
+and the sound of some other human being's voice. Yet, strange to say,
+although he knew that he was in the city of Paris, he knew nothing
+more of the position of the building in which he was placed. He had
+been brought into the capital at night, had been conducted through a
+number of narrow and tortuous streets, and had at length been led
+through a deep archway and several large courts, to the place in which
+he was now confined.
+
+It may seem perhaps that such a state of imprisonment did not offer
+much to complain of; and yet it had bent his spirit and bowed down his
+heart. The want of all knowledge of what was passing around him, the
+absence of every one that he loved, the loss of liberty, the perfect
+silence, joined with anxiety for one who was dearer to him than
+himself, wore him day by day, and took from him the power of enjoying
+any of those things which were provided for his convenience or
+amusement.
+
+The servant who attended upon him never opened his lips, he obeyed any
+orders that were given to him, he brought any thing that was demanded;
+but he replied to no questions, he made no observations, he afforded
+no information even by a look. Every bolt and bar that was on the
+outside of the door was invariably drawn behind him, and the high
+window in either room could only be so far reached even by standing on
+the table or one of the chairs, as to enable the young nobleman to
+open or shut it at pleasure, so to admit the free air from without.
+
+Such had been the condition of Charles of Montsoreau, as we have said,
+for many days; but he had not yet become reconciled in any degree to
+his fate, though he strove, as far as possible, to while away the
+moments in any way that was permitted, either by books or music. But
+it was with impatience and disgust that he did so, and the lute was
+taken up and laid down, the book read and cast away, without remaining
+in his hands for the space of five minutes.
+
+The sun shone bright through the high window, and traced a moving spot
+of golden light upon the dark oak of the opposite wainscot; the air of
+spring came sweet and pleasantly through, and gave him back the
+thoughts and dreams of liberty; a wild plant rooted in the stonework
+of the building without, cast its light feathery shadow on the wall
+where the sun shone, and the hum and roar of distant multitudes,
+pursuing their busy course in the thronged thoroughfares of the city,
+brought him his only tidings from the hurried and struggling scene of
+human life.
+
+He took a pleasure in watching the leaves of the little plant as,
+waved about by the wind, they played against the bars of the window,
+and he was thus occupied on the day we have mentioned, when suddenly
+something crossed the light for a moment, as if some small bird had
+flown by; but at the same instant a roll of paper fell at his feet,
+and taking it up, he recognised the well-known writing of the Duke of
+Guise.
+
+"You have suffered for my sake," the paper said, "and I hastened to
+deliver you. The day of the Epernons is over; your place of
+imprisonment is known. Be not dispirited, therefore, for relief is at
+hand."
+
+It cannot be told how great was the relief which this note itself
+brought to the mind of the young Count, not alone by the promise that
+it held out, but by the very feeling that it gave him of not being
+utterly forgotten, of being not entirely alone and desolate. He read
+it over two or three times, and then hearing one of the bolts of the
+door undrawn, he concealed it hastily lest the attendant should see
+it.
+
+Another bolt was immediately afterwards pulled back, and then the door
+was unlocked, though far more slowly than usual. It seemed to the
+young Count that an unaccustomed hand was busy with the fastenings,
+and a faint hope of speedy deliverance shot across his mind.
+
+The next instant, however, the door was opened, and though it
+certainly was not the usual attendant who appeared, no face presented
+itself that was known to Charles of Montsoreau. The figure was that of
+a woman, tall, stately, and dressed in garments of deep black, fitting
+tightly round the shoulders and the waist, and flowing away in ample
+folds below. Her hair was entirely covered by black silk and lace, but
+her face was seen, and that face was one which instantly drew all
+attention to itself.
+
+It was not indeed the beauty which attracted, though there were great
+remains of beauty too, but it was the face not only of an old woman,
+but of one who had been somewhat a spendthrift of youth's charms.
+There was, however, a keen fire in the eyes, a strong determination on
+the brow, an expansion of the nostril, which gave the idea of quick
+and eager feelings, and a degree of sternness about the whole line of
+the features, which would have made the whole countenance commanding,
+but harsh and severe, had it not been for a light and playful smile
+that gleamed across the whole, like some of the bright and sudden rays
+of light that from to time we see run across the bosom of deep still
+shady waters.
+
+There was a degree of mockery in that smile, too; and yet it spoke
+affections and feelings which as strangely blended with the general
+character of that woman's life, as the smile itself did with the
+general expression of her countenance. The hands were beautiful and
+delicately small, and the figure good, with but few signs of age about
+it.
+
+The young Count gazed upon her with some surprise as she entered, but
+instantly rose from the seat in which he had been sitting while
+reading the Duke of Guise's note; and the lady, with a graceful
+inclination of the head, closed the door, advanced and seated herself,
+examining the young Count from head to foot with a look of calm
+consideration, which he very well understood implied the habitual
+exercise of authority and power.
+
+After thus gazing at him for a moment or two, she said, "Monsieur le
+Comte de Logeres, do you know me?"
+
+"If you mean, madam," he replied, "to ask me if I recognise your
+person, I believe I do; but if you would ask absolutely whether I know
+you, I must say, no."
+
+One of those light smiles passed quick across her countenance, and she
+said in a low voice, as if speaking to herself, "Who ever did know
+me?" She then added, "Who then do you suppose I am?"
+
+"I conclude, madam," replied the young Count, "that I stand in the
+presence of her Majesty the Queen-mother."
+
+"Such is the case," replied the Queen, "and I have come to visit you,
+Monsieur de Logeres, with views and purposes which, were I to tell
+them to any person at my son's court, would hardly be believed."
+
+The Queen paused, as if waiting for an answer; and the young Count
+replied, "I trust, madam, that if I am detained here by the
+directions, and in the power of your Majesty, that you have come to
+give me liberty, which would, I suppose," he added with somewhat of a
+smile, "be rather marvellous to the courtiers of the King."
+
+Catharine de Medici smiled also, but at the same time shook her head.
+"I fear I must not give you liberty," she said, "for I have promised
+not: but I have come with no bad intent towards you. I knew your
+mother, Monsieur de Logeres, and a virtuous and beautiful woman she
+was. God help us! it shows that I am growing old, my praising any
+woman for her virtue. However, she was what I have said, and as unlike
+myself as possible. Perhaps that was the reason that I liked her, for
+we like not things that are too near ourselves. However, I have come
+hither to see her son, and to do him a pleasure. You play upon the
+lute?" she continued. "Come, 'tis a long time since I have heard the
+lute well played. Take up the instrument, and add your voice to it."
+
+"Alas, madam," replied the young Count, "I am but in an ill mood for
+music. If I sang you a melancholy lay it would find such stirring
+harmonies in my own heart, that I fear I should drown the song in
+tears; and if I sang you a gay one, it would be all discord. I would
+much rather open that door which you have left unlocked behind you,
+and go out."
+
+The Queen did not stir in the slightest degree, but gazed upon him
+attentively with a look of compassion, answering, "Alas! poor bird,
+you would find that your cage has a double door. But come, do as I bid
+you; sit down there, take up the lute and sing. Let your song be
+neither gay nor sad! Let it be a song of love. I doubt not that such a
+youth as you are, will easily find a love ditty in your heart, though
+the present inspiration be no better than an old woman. Come, Monsieur
+de Logeres, come: sit down and sing. I am a judge of music, I can tell
+you."
+
+With a faint smile the Count did as she bade him; and taking up the
+lute, he ran his fingers over the chords, thought for a moment or two,
+and recollecting nothing better suited to the moment, he sang an
+Italian song of love, in which sometime before he had ventured to
+shadow forth to Marie de Clairvaut, when she was at Montsoreau, the
+first feelings of affection that were growing up in his heart. The
+Queen sat by in the mean time, listening attentively, with her head a
+little bent forward, and her hand marking the cadences on her knee.
+
+"Beautifully sung, Monsieur de Logeres," she said at length when he
+ended. "Beautifully sung, and as well accompanied. You do not know how
+much pleasure you have given.--Now, let us talk of other things. Are
+you sincere, man?"
+
+"I trust so, madam," replied the Count. "I believe I have never borne
+any other character."
+
+"Who taught you to play so well on the lute?" demanded the Queen
+abruptly.
+
+"I have had no great instruction, madam," answered the Count somewhat
+surprised. "I taught myself a little in my boyhood. But afterwards my
+preceptor, the Abbe de Boisguerin, was my chief instructor. He had
+learned well in Italy."
+
+"Did he teach you sincerity too?" demanded the Queen with a keen look;
+"and did he learn that in Italy?"
+
+The Count was not a little surprised to find Catherine's questions
+touch so immediately upon the late discoveries he had made of the
+character of the Abbe de Boisguerin, and he replied with some
+bitterness, "He could but teach me, madam, that which he possessed
+himself. I trust that to my nature and my blood I owe whatever
+sincerity may be in me. I learned it from none but from God and my own
+heart."
+
+"Then you know him," said the Queen, reaching the point at once; "that
+is sufficient at present on that subject. I know him too. He came to
+the court of France several years ago, with letters from my fair
+cousin the Cardinal; but he brought with him nothing that I wanted at
+that time. He had a wily head, a handsome person, manifold
+accomplishments, great learning, and services for the highest bidder.
+We had too many such things at the court already, so I thought that
+the sooner he was out of it the better, and looked cold upon him till
+he went. He understood the matter well, and did not return till he
+brought something in his hand to barter for favour. However, Monsieur
+de Logeres, to turn to other matters; I do believe you may be sincere
+after all. I shall discover in a minute, however. Will you answer me a
+question or two concerning the Duke of Guise?"
+
+"It depends entirely upon what they are, madam," replied the Count at
+once.
+
+"Then you will not answer me every question, even if it were to gain
+your liberty."
+
+"Certainly not, madam," replied the Count.
+
+"Then the Duke has been speaking ill of me," said Catherine at once,
+"otherwise you would not be so fearful."
+
+"Not so, indeed," replied the Count, eagerly. "The Duke never, in my
+presence, uttered a word against your Majesty."
+
+"Then will you tell me, as a man of honour," demanded the Queen,
+"exactly, word for word what you have ever heard the Duke say of me?"
+
+Charles of Montsoreau paused and thought for a moment, and then
+answered, "I may promise you to do so in safety, madam, for I never
+heard the Duke speak of you but twice, and then it was in high
+praise."
+
+"Indeed!" she replied. "But still I believe you, for Villequier has
+been assuring me of the contrary, and, of course, what he says must be
+false. He cannot help himself, poor man. Now, tell me what the Duke
+said, Monsieur de Logeres. Perhaps I may be able to repay you some
+time."
+
+"I seek for no bribe, your Majesty," replied the Count smiling; "and,
+indeed, the honour and the pleasure of this visit----"
+
+"Nay, nay! You a courtier, young gentleman!" exclaimed the Queen,
+shaking her finger at him. "Another such word as that, and you will
+make me doubt the whole tale."
+
+"The speech would not have been so courtier-like, madam, if it had
+been ended," replied the Count. "I was going to have said, that the
+honour and pleasure of this visit, after not having heard for many
+days, many weeks I believe, the sound of a human voice, or seen any
+other face but that of one attendant, is full repayment for the little
+that I have to tell. However, madam, to gratify you with regard to
+the Duke, the first time that I ever heard him mention you was in the
+city of Rheims, where a number of persons were collected together, and
+many violent opinions were expressed, with which I will not offend
+your ears; your past life was spoken of by some of the gentlemen
+present----"
+
+"Pass over that, pass over that! I understand!" replied the Queen with
+a sarcastic smile; "I understand. But those things are not worth
+speaking of. What of the present, Monsieur de Logeres? What of the
+present?"
+
+"Why, some one expressed an opinion, madam," the Count continued,
+"that in order to retain a great share of power, you did every thing
+you could to keep his Majesty in the lethargic and indolent state in
+which I grieve to say he appears to the great mass of his subjects."
+
+"What said the Duke?" demanded the Queen. "What said the Duke? surely
+he knows me better."
+
+"Why, madam," replied the Count, "his eye brightened and his colour
+rose, and he replied indignantly that it could not be so. 'Oh no,' he
+said, 'happy had it been for France if, instead of divided power, the
+Queen-mother had possessed the whole power. It is by petty minds
+mingling their leven with their great designs that ruin has come upon
+the land. She has had to deal with great men, great events, and great
+difficulties, and she was equal to deal with, if not to bow them all
+down before her, had she but been permitted to deal with them
+unshackled.'"[4]
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 4: Such was undoubtedly the expressed opinion of the Duke of
+Guise.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed the Queen; "did he say so?"
+
+"He did, madam, upon my honour," replied the Count.
+
+"I know not whether he was right or wrong," rejoined the Queen
+thoughtfully; "for though perhaps, Monsieur de Logeres, I possessed
+in some things the powers of a man--say, if you will, greater powers
+than most men--yet, alas! in others, I had all the weaknesses of a
+woman--perhaps I should say, to balance other qualities, more
+weaknesses than most women. But he must have said more. The answer was
+not pertinent to the remark, and Henry of Guise is not a man either in
+speech or action ever to forget his object."
+
+"Nor did he in this instance," replied the Count; "but he said that,
+wearied out with seeing your best and greatest schemes frustrated by
+the weakness of others, you now contented yourself with warding off
+evils as far as possible from your son and from the state; that it was
+evident that such was your policy; and that, like Miron, the King's
+physician, unable from external circumstances to effect a cure, you
+treated the diseases of the times with a course of palliatives; that,
+as the greatest of all evils, you knew and saw the apathy of his
+Majesty, and did all that you could to rouse him, but that the
+poisonous counsels of Villequier, the soft indolence of his own
+nature, and the enfeebling society of Epernon and others, resisted all
+that you could do, and thwarted you here likewise."
+
+"He spoke wisely, and he spoke truly," replied the Queen; "and I will
+tell you, Monsieur de Logeres, though Henry of Guise and I can never
+love each other much, yet I felt sure that he knew me too well to say
+all those things of me that have been reported by his enemies. I am
+satisfied with what I have heard, Count, and shall ask no further
+questions. But you have given me pleasure, and I will do my best to
+serve you. Once more, let us speak of other things. Have you all that
+you desire and want here?"
+
+"No, madam," replied the young Count. "I want many things--liberty,
+the familiar voices of my friends, the sight of those I love. Every
+thing that the body wants I have; and you or some of your attendants
+have supplied me with books and music; but it is in such a situation
+as this, your Majesty, that one learns that the heart requires food as
+well as the body or the mind."
+
+"The heart!" replied Catharine de Medici thoughtfully. "I once knew
+what the heart was, and I have not quite forgotten it yet. Did you
+mark my words after you had sung, Monsieur de Logeres?"
+
+"You were pleased to praise my poor singing much more than it
+deserved, madam," replied the young Count.
+
+"Something more than that, my good youth," replied the Queen. "I told
+you that it had given more pleasure than you knew of. I might have
+added, that it gave pleasure to more than you knew of, for there was
+another ear could hear it besides mine."
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed the Count gazing eagerly in the Queen's face; "and
+pray who might that be?"
+
+"One that loves you," replied Catharine de Medici. "One that loves
+you very well, Monsieur de Logeres." And rising from her chair she put
+her hand to her brow, as if in deep thought. "Well," she said at
+length; "something must be risked, and I will risk something for
+that purpose. The time is not far distant, Monsieur de Logeres--I
+see it clearly--when by some means you will be set at liberty; but,
+notwithstanding that, it may be long before you find such a thing even
+as an hour's happiness. You are a frank and generous man, I believe;
+you will not take advantage of an act of kindness to behave
+ungenerously. I go away from you for a moment or two, and leave that
+door open behind me, trusting to your honour."
+
+She waited for no reply, but quitted the room; and Charles of
+Montsoreau stood gazing upon the door, doubtful of what was her
+meaning, and how he was to act. Some of her words might be interpreted
+as a hint to escape; but others had directly a contrary tendency, and
+a moment after he heard her unlock and pass another door, and close
+but not lock it behind her.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. XI.
+
+
+"What is her meaning?" demanded Charles of Montsoreau, as he gazed
+earnestly upon the door; and as he thus thought his heart beat
+vehemently, for there was a hope in it which he would not suffer his
+reason to rest upon for a moment, so improbable did it seem, and so
+fearful would be disappointment. "What is her meaning?" And he still
+asked himself the question, as one minute flew by after another, and
+to his impatience it seemed long ere she returned.
+
+But a few minutes elapsed, however, in reality, ere there were steps
+heard coming back, and in another minute Catharine de Medici again
+appeared, saying, "For one hour, remember! For one hour only!"
+
+There was somebody behind her, and the brightest hope that Charles of
+Montsoreau had dared to entertain was fully realised.
+
+The Queen had drawn Marie de Clairvaut forward; and passing out again,
+she closed the door, leaving her alone with her lover. If his heart
+had wanted any confirmation of the deep, earnest, overpowering
+affection which she entertained towards him, it might have been found
+in the manner in which--apparently without the power even to move
+forward, trembling, gasping for breath--she stood before him on so
+suddenly seeing him again, without having been forewarned, after long
+and painful and anxious absence. As he had himself acknowledged, he
+was ignorant in the heart of woman; but love had been a mighty
+instructor, and he now needed no explanation of the agitation that he
+beheld.
+
+Starting instantly forward, he threw his arms around her; and it was
+then, held to his bosom, pressed to his heart, that all Marie de
+Clairvaut's love and tenderness burst forth. Gentle, timid, modest in
+her own nature as she was, love and joy triumphed over all. The agony
+of mind she had been made to suffer, was greater than even he could
+fancy, and the relief of that moment swept away all other thoughts:
+the tears, the happy but agitated tears, flowed rapidly from her eyes;
+but her lips sought his cheek from time to time, her arms clasped
+tenderly round him, and as soon as she could speak, she said, "Oh
+Charles, Charles, do I see you again? Am I, am I held in your arms
+once more; the only one that I have ever loved in life, my saviour, my
+protector, my defender. For days, for weeks, I have not known whether
+you were living or dead. They had the cruelty, they had the barbarity
+not even to let me know whether you had or had not escaped the plague.
+They have kept me in utter ignorance of where you were, of all and of
+every thing concerning you." And again she kissed his cheek, though
+even while she did so, under the overpowering emotions of her heart,
+the blush of shame came up into her own: and then she hid her eyes
+upon his bosom, and wept once more in agitation but in happiness.
+
+"As they have acted to you, dearest Marie," he replied, "as they have
+acted to you, so they have acted to me. The day they separated me from
+you at Epernon, was the last day that I have spoken with any living
+creature up to this morning. No answers have been returned to my
+questions; not a word of intelligence could I obtain concerning your
+fate; and oh, dear, dear Marie, you would feel, you would know how
+terrible has been that state to me, if you could tell how ardently,
+how deeply, how passionately I love you." And his lips met hers, and
+sealed the assurance there.
+
+"I know it, I know it all, Charles," replied Marie. "I know it by what
+I have felt; I know it by what I feel myself, for I believe, I do
+believe, from my very heart, that if it be possible for two people to
+feel exactly alike, we so feel."
+
+"But tell me, dear Marie, tell me," exclaimed her lover, "tell me
+where you have been. Have they treated you kindly? Does the Duke of
+Guise know where you are?"
+
+"Alas, no, Charles!" replied Marie de Clairvaut; "he does not, I
+grieve to say. Well treated indeed I may say that I have been, for all
+that could contribute to my mere comfort has been done for me. Nothing
+that I could desire or wish for, Charles, has been ungiven, and I have
+ever had the society of the good sisters in the neighbouring convent.
+But the society that I love has of course been denied me; and no news,
+no tidings of any kind have reached me. I have lived in short with
+numbers of people surrounding me, as if I were not in the world at
+all, and the moment that I asked a question, a deep silence fell upon
+every one, and I could obtain no reply."
+
+"This is strange indeed," said Charles, "very strange. However, we
+must be grateful that our treatment has been kind indeed in some
+respects."
+
+"Oh, and most grateful," replied Marie de Clairvaut, "for these bright
+moments of happiness. Do you not think, Charles, do you not think,
+that perhaps the Queen may kindly grant us such interviews again?"
+
+Who is there that does not know how lovers while away the time? Who is
+there that has not known how short is a lover's hour? But with Charles
+of Montsoreau and Marie de Clairvaut that hour seemed shorter than it
+otherwise would have done; for it was not alone the endearing caress,
+the words, the acknowledgments, the hopes of love, but they had a
+thousand things in the past to tell each other; they had cares and
+fears, and plans and purposes for the future, to communicate.
+
+Even had not all shyness, all timidity been done away before, that was
+not a moment in which Marie de Clairvaut could have affected aught
+towards her lover; so that what between tidings of the past and
+thoughts of the future, and the dear dalliance of that spendthrift of
+invaluable moments, love, an envious clock in some church-tower hard
+by, had marked the arrival of the last quarter of an hour they were to
+remain together, ere one tenth part of what they had to think of or to
+say was either thought or said. The sound startled them, and it became
+a choice whether they should give up the brief remaining space to
+serious thoughts of the future, or whether they should yield it all to
+love. Who is it with such a choice before him that ever hesitated
+long?
+
+The space allotted for their interview had drawn near its close, and
+the very scantiness of the period that remained was causing them to
+spend it in regrets that it was not longer, when suddenly the general
+sounds which came from the streets became louder and more loud, as if
+some door or gate had been opened which admitted the noise more
+distinctly. Both Marie de Clairvaut and her lover listened, and almost
+at the same instant loud cries were heard of "The Duke of Guise! The
+Duke of Guise! Long live the Duke of Guise! Long live the great pillar
+of the Catholic church! Long live the House of Lorraine!" And this was
+followed by the noise and trampling of horses, as if entering into a
+court below.
+
+Marie and her lover gazed in each other's faces, but she it was that
+first spoke the joyful hopes that were in the heart of both.
+
+"He has come to deliver us!" she cried. "Oh Charles, he has come to
+deliver us! Hear how gladly the people shout his well-loved name!
+Surely they will not deceive him, and tell him we are not here."
+
+"Oh no, dear Marie," replied her lover; "he has certain information,
+depend upon it, and will not be easily deceived. He has already
+discovered my abode, dear Marie; and this letter was thrown through
+the window this morning, though I myself know not where we are--that
+is to say, I am well aware that we are now in Paris, but I know not in
+what part of the city."
+
+"Oh, that I discovered from one of the nuns," replied Marie. "We are
+at the house of the Black Penitents, in the Rue St. Denis. I remember
+the outside of it well; a large dark building with only two windows to
+the street. Do you not remember it? You must have seen it in passing."
+
+"I am not so well acquainted with the city as you are, dear Marie,"
+replied Charles of Montsoreau; "but, depend upon it, where they have
+confined me is not in the house of the Black Penitents. It would be a
+violation of the rules of the order which could not be."
+
+"It communicates with their dwelling," replied Marie de Clairvaut; "of
+that at least I am certain; for the Queen, when she brought me hither,
+took me not into the open air. She led me indeed through numerous
+passages, one of which, some ten or twelve yards in length, was nearly
+dark, for it had no windows, and was only lighted by the door left
+open behind us. I was then placed in a little room while the Queen
+went on, and a short time after I heard a voice, that made my heart
+beat strangely, begin to sing a song that you once sung at Montsoreau;
+and when I was thinking of you Charles, and all that you had done for
+me--how you had first saved me from the reiters, and then rescued me
+from the deep stream, and had then come to seek me and deliver me in
+the midst of death and pestilence--I was thinking of all these things,
+when Catherine came back, and without telling me what was her
+intention, led me hither."
+
+"Hark!" cried Charles of Montsoreau. "They shout again. I wonder that
+we have heard no farther tidings."
+
+And they both sat and listened for some minutes, but no indication of
+any farther event took place, and they gradually resumed their
+conversation, beginning in a low tone, as if afraid of losing a sound
+from without. Marie de Clairvaut had already told her lover how she
+had remained at Epernon for a day or two under the protection of the
+wife of the Duke, and had been thence brought by her to Paris and
+placed in the convent at a late hour of the evening; but as the time
+wore away, and their hopes of liberation did not seem about to be
+realized, she recurred to the subject of her arrival, saying, "There
+is one thing which makes me almost fear they will deceive him,
+Charles. I forgot to tell you, that as we paused before this building
+on the night that I was brought hither, while the gates were being
+opened by the portress, a horseman rode up to the side of the carriage
+and gazed in. There were torches on the other side held by the
+servants round the gate, and though I could not see that horseman as
+well as he could see me, yet I feel almost sure that it was the face
+of the Abbe de Boisguerin I beheld."
+
+"I know he was to return to Paris," said Charles of Montsoreau, "after
+accompanying my brother some part of the way back to the chateau. But
+fear not him, dear Marie; he has no power or influence here."
+
+"Oh, but I fear far more wile and intrigue," cried Marie de Clairvaut,
+"than I do power and influence, Charles. Power is like a lion, bold
+and open; but when once satisfied, injures little; but art is like a
+serpent that stings us, without cause, when we least expect it. But
+hark!" she continued again. "They are once more shouting loudly."
+
+Charles of Montsoreau listened also, and the cries, repeated again and
+again, of "Long live the Duke of Guise! Long live the House of
+Lorraine! Long live the good Queen Catherine![5] Life to the Queen!
+Life to the Queen!" were heard mingled with thundering huzzas and
+acclamations. The heart of the young Count sank, for he judged that
+the Duke had gone forth again amongst the people, and had either
+forgotten his fate altogether in more important affairs, or had been
+deceived by false information regarding himself and Mademoiselle de
+Clairvaut.
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 5: The progress of the Duke of Guise and the Queen-mother,
+from the convent of the Penitents to the Louvre, was in triumph. "Il y
+en avoit," says Auvigny, "qui se mettoient a genoux devant lui,
+d'autres lui baisoient les mains; quelques uns se trouverent trop
+heureux de pouvoir en passant toucher son habit," A farther account of
+this famous event is given a few pages farther on.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+The cries, which were at first loud and distinct, gradually sunk,
+till first the words could no longer be distinguished; then the
+acclamations became more and more faint, till the whole died away into
+a distant murmur, rising and falling like the sound of the sea beating
+upon a stormy shore. The young Count gazed in the countenance of Marie
+de Clairvaut, and saw therein written even more despairing feelings
+than were in his own heart.
+
+"Fear not, dear Marie," he said pressing her to his bosom. "Fear not;
+the Duke must know that I am here by this letter: nor is he one to be
+easily deceived. Depend upon it he will find means to deliver us ere
+long."
+
+Marie de Clairvaut shook her head with a deep sigh and with her eyes
+filled with tears. But she had not time to reply, for steps were heard
+in the passage, and the moment after the door of the room was opened.
+
+It was no longer, however, the figure of Catherine de Medici that
+presented itself, but the homely person and somewhat unmeaning face of
+a good lady, dressed in the habit of a prioress. Behind her, again,
+was a lay-sister, and beside them both the attendant who was
+accustomed to wait upon the young Count. The good lady who first
+appeared looked round the scene that the opening door disclosed to her
+with evident marks of curiosity and surprise; and, indeed, the whole
+expression of her countenance left little doubt that she had never
+been in that place before.
+
+After giving up a minute to her curiosity, however, she turned to
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, saying, "I have been sent by the Queen,
+madam, to conduct you back to your apartments."
+
+"Let me first ask one question," replied Marie de Clairvaut. "Has not
+the Duke of Guise been here?"
+
+The nun answered not a word.
+
+"We need no assurance of it, dear Marie," said Charles of Montsoreau,
+hoping to drive the Prioress to some answer. "We know that he has, and
+must have been deceived in regard to your state and mine."
+
+The Prioress was still silent; and Marie de Clairvaut, after waiting
+for a moment, added, "If he have been deceived, Charles, woe to those
+who have deceived him. He is not a man to pass over lightly such
+conduct as has been shown to me already."
+
+"Madam," said the Prioress, "I have been sent by the Queen to show you
+to your apartments."
+
+It was vain to resist or to linger. Marie de Clairvaut gave her hand
+to her lover, and they gazed in each other's faces for a moment with a
+long and anxious glance, not knowing when they might meet again.
+Charles of Montsoreau could not resist; and notwithstanding the
+presence of nun, prioress, and attendant, he drew the fair creature
+whose hand he held in his gently to his bosom, and pressed a parting
+kiss upon her lips.
+
+Marie turned away with her eyes full of tears, and leaving her hand in
+his till the last moment, she slowly approached the door. She turned
+for one other look ere she departed, and then, dashing the tears from
+her eyes, passed rapidly out. The door closed behind her, and Charles
+of Montsoreau alone, and almost without hope, buried his face in his
+hands, and gave himself up to think over the sweet moments of the
+past.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. XII.
+
+
+It was on the morning of Monday, the 9th of May, 1588, at about half
+past eleven o'clock, that a party, consisting of sixteen horsemen, of
+whom eight were gentlemen and the rest grooms, appeared at the gates
+of Paris. But though each of those eight persons who led the cavalcade
+were strong and powerful men, in the prime of life, highly educated,
+and generally distinguished in appearance, yet there was one on whom
+all eyes rested wherever he passed, and rested with that degree of
+wonder and admiration which might be well called forth by the union of
+the most perfect graces of person, with the appearance of the greatest
+vigour and activity, and with a dignity and beauty of expression which
+breathed not only from the countenance, but from the whole person, and
+shone out in every movement, as well as in every look.
+
+The gates of the city were at this time open, and though a certain
+number of guards were hanging about the buildings on either hand, yet
+no questions were asked of any one who came in or went out of the
+city. The moment, however, that the party we have mentioned appeared,
+and he who was at its head paused for a moment on the inside of the
+gate and gazed round, as if looking for some one that he expected to
+see there, one of the bystanders whispered eagerly to the other, "It
+is the Duke! It is the Duke of Guise!"
+
+All hats were off in a moment; all voices cried, "The Duke! The Duke!"
+A loud acclamation ran round the gate, and the people from the small
+houses in the neighbourhood poured forth at the sound, rending the air
+with their acclamations, and pressing forward round his horse with
+such eagerness that it was scarcely possible for him to pass along his
+way. Some kissed his hand, some threw themselves upon their knees
+before him, some satisfied themselves by merely touching his cloak, as
+if it had saintly virtue in it, and still the cry ran on of "The Duke
+of Guise! The Duke of Guise! Long live the Duke of Guise!" while every
+door-way and alley and court-yard poured forth its multitudes, till
+the people seemed literally to crush each other in the streets, and
+all Paris echoed with the thundering acclamations.
+
+After that momentary pause at the gates, the Duke of Guise rode on,
+uncovering his splendid head, and bowing lowly to the people as he
+went. His face had been flushed by exercise when he arrived, but now
+the deep excitement of such a reception had taken the colour from his
+cheek; he was somewhat pale, and his lip quivered with intense
+feeling. But there was a fire in his eye which seemed to speak that
+his heart was conscious of great purposes, and ready to fulfil its
+high emprise; and there was a degree of stern determination on that
+lordly brow, which spoke also the knowledge but the contempt of
+danger, and the resolution of meeting peril and overcoming resistance.
+
+Thus passing on amidst the people, and bowing as he went to their
+repeated cheers, the Duke of Guise reached the convent of the Black
+Penitents, where for the time the Queen-mother had taken up her abode.
+The gates of the outer court into which men were suffered to enter
+were thrown open to admit him; and signifying to such of the crowd as
+were nearest to the gate that they had better not follow him into the
+court, the Duke of Guise rode in with his attendants, and the gates
+were again closed. The servants and the gentlemen who accompanied him
+remained beside their horses in the court, while he alone entered the
+parlour of the convent to speak with the Queen-mother.
+
+She did not detain him an instant, but came in with a countenance on
+which much alarm was painted, either by nature or by art. The Duke at
+once advanced to meet her, and bending low his towering head, he
+kissed the hand which she held out to him.
+
+"Alas! my Lord of Guise," she said, "I must not so far falsify the
+truth as to say that I am glad to see you. Glad, most glad should I
+have been to see you, any where but here. But, alas! I fear you have
+come at great peril to yourself, good cousin! You know not how angry
+the minds of men are; you know not how much hostility reigns against
+you in the breasts of many of the highest of the land; you have not
+bethought you, that on every step to the throne there stands an
+enemy----"
+
+"Who shall fall before me, madam," replied the Duke of Guise.
+
+"Till you have reached the throne itself, fair cousin?" said the
+Queen-mother.
+
+"No, madam, no," answered the Duke of Guise eagerly. "I thought your
+Majesty had known me better. I have always believed that you were one
+of those who felt and understood that I never dreamt of wronging my
+master and my king, or of snatching, as you now hinted, the crown from
+its lawful possessor."
+
+"I _have_ felt it, and I _have_ understood it, cousin of Guise,"
+replied Catharine de Medici. "But, alas! my Lord, I know how ambition
+grows upon the heart. It begins with an acorn, Guise, but it ends with
+an oak. Those that watch it, the very soil that bears it, perceive not
+its increase; and yet it soon overshadows all things, and root it out
+who can!"
+
+"Madam," answered the Duke of Guise, boldly, "to follow the figure
+that you have used, the axe soon reduces the oak; and may the axe be
+used on me, and ease me of earth's ambition for ever, if any such
+designs as have been attributed to me exist within my bosom! You see,
+madam, I meet you boldly, look to ultimate consequences of ambitious
+designs, and fear not the result. It is such accusations that I come
+to repel, and it is those who have propagated them, and instilled them
+both into the mind of his Majesty, and, as it would appear, your own,
+that I come to punish. Trusting that, humble though I be, your Majesty
+was the best friend I had at the court of France, I have ridden
+straight hither, without even stopping at my own abode, to beseech you
+to accompany me to the presence of the King."
+
+"I do believe, cousin of Guise, that I am your best friend at the
+court of France," replied the Princess. "In fact, I may say, I know
+that none there loves you but myself. Nor must you think that I accuse
+you of actual ambition, or believe the rumours that have been
+circulated against you. I merely wish to warn you of the growth of
+such things in your own bosom."
+
+"Dear madam," replied the Duke, "had I been ambitious, what might I
+not have become? Here am I simply the Duke of Guise; a poor officer,
+commanding part of the King's troops, and contributing no small part
+of my own to swell his forces; with scarcely a place, a post, a
+government, an emolument, or a revenue, except what I derive from my
+own estates. Am I the most ambitious man in France? Am I so ambitious
+as he who adds, to the government of Metz, the government of Normandy,
+and piles upon that Touraine, Anjou, Saintonge, the Angoumois, seizes
+upon the office of High-admiral, creates himself Colonel-general of
+the Infantry? This, lady, is the ambitious man; but of him you seem to
+entertain no fear."
+
+"There are two ambitions, my Lord Duke," replied the Queen: "the
+ambition which grasps at power, and the ambition which snatches at
+wealth: the moment that ambition mingles itself with avarice, the
+grovelling passion, chained in its own sordid bonds, is no longer to
+be feared. It is where the object is power; where there is a mind to
+conceive the means, and a heart to dare all the risks, that there is
+indeed occasion for apprehension and for precaution. Still, my Lord, I
+believe you; still I believe that the hand of Guise will never be
+raised to pull down the bonnet of Valois. You may strip the minion
+Epernon of the golden plumes with which he has decked his mid-air
+wings, for aught I care or think of; you may cast down the dark and
+plotting Villequier, and sweep the court of apes and parrots, fools
+and villains, and the whole tribe of natural and human beasts, without
+my saying one word to oppose you, or without my dreaming for a moment
+that you aim at higher things; you may even soar higher still, and
+like your great father become at once the guide and the defender of
+the state, and still I will not fear you. But Guise," she added in a
+softer tone, "I must and will still fear _for_ you; and though I will
+go with you to the King if you continue to demand it, yet I tell you,
+and I warn you, that every step you take is perilous, and that I
+cannot be your safeguard nor your surety for a moment!"
+
+"Madam, I must fulfil my fate," replied the Duke of Guise looking up.
+"I came here to justify myself; I came here to deliver and to support
+my friends; I came here to secure honour and safety to the Catholic
+Church; and did I know that the daggers of a hundred assassins would
+be in my bosom at the first step I took beyond those gates, I would go
+forth as resolutely as I came hither."
+
+"Then I must send to announce your coming to the King," said the
+Queen. "Of course I cannot take you to the Louvre unannounced."
+
+Thus saying she quitted the room for a moment, and the Duke remained
+behind with his arms crossed upon his bosom in deep thought. She
+returned in a moment, however, saying that she had sent one of her
+gentlemen upon the errand, and the next minute as the gates were
+opened for some one to go out, long and reiterated shouts of "A Guise!
+A Guise! Long live the Guise!" were heard echoing round the building.
+Catharine de Medici smiled and looked at the Duke. "How often have I
+heard," she said, "those same light Parisian tongues exclaim the name
+of different princes! I remember well, Guise, when first I came from
+my fair native land, how the glad multitude shouted on my way; how all
+the streets were strewed with flowers; and how, if I had believed the
+words I heard, I should have fancied that not a man in all the land
+but would have died to serve me; and yet, not long after, I have heard
+execrations murmured in the throats of the dull multitude while I
+passed by, and the name of Diana of Poitiers echoed through the
+streets. Then have I not heard the names of a Francis and a Henry
+shouted far and wide? and after Jarnac and Moncontour, the heavens
+were scarcely high enough to hold the sounds of his name who now sits
+upon the throne of France. To-day it is Guise they call upon!--Who
+shall it be to-morrow? And then another and another still shall come,
+the object of an hour's love changed into hatred in a moment."
+
+"It is too true, madam," replied the Duke. "Popularity is the most
+fleeting, the most vacillating--if you will, the most contemptible--of
+all those means and opportunities which Heaven gives us to be made use
+of for great ends. But nevertheless, madam, we must so make use of
+them all; and as this same popularity is one of the briefest of the
+whole, so must we be the more ready, the more prompt, the more decided
+in taking advantage of the short hour of brightness. I may be wrong in
+thinking," he continued after the pause of a moment or two, "I may be
+wrong in thinking that my well-being and that of the state and church
+of this realm are intimately bound up together. It may be, and
+probably is, a delusion of human vanity. Nevertheless, such being my
+opinion, none can say that I am wrong in taking advantage of the
+moment of my popularity to do the best that I can both for the church
+and for the state. Such, I assure you, madam, is my object; and if I
+benefit myself at all in these transactions, it can be, and shall be,
+but collaterally; while in the mean time I incur perils which I know
+and yet fear not."
+
+Thus went on the conversation between the Queen and the Duke of Guise
+for nearly half an hour, at the end of which time the gentleman who
+had been dispatched to the King returned, bearing his Majesty's reply,
+which was, that since his mother desired it, she might bring the Duke
+of Guise to his presence, and Catherine prepared immediately to set
+out. Her chair was brought round; and after speaking a few words with
+the superior of the convent, she placed herself in the vehicle, the
+Duke of Guise walking by her side. The gentlemen who had come with him
+gave their horses to the grooms, and followed on foot; and several
+servants and attendants ran on before to clear the way through the
+people.
+
+The moment the gates were opened, a spectacle struck the eyes of the
+Queen and the Duke, such as no city in the world perhaps, except
+Paris, could produce. In the short period which had elapsed since the
+Duke's arrival, the news had spread from one end of the capital to the
+other, and the whole of its multitudes were poured out into the
+streets or lining the windows, or crowning the house-tops. With a
+rapidity scarcely to be conceived, scaffoldings had been raised in
+that short space of time in different parts of the streets, to enable
+the multitude to see the Duke better as he passed[6]; in many places,
+velvets and rich tapestries were hung out upon the fronts of the
+houses, as if some solemn procession of the church were taking place;
+the ladies of the higher classes at the windows, or on their
+scaffolds, were generally without the masks which they usually wore in
+the streets; and again, when the gates of the convent opened, and the
+Queen and the Duke issued forth, the air seemed actually rent with the
+acclamations of the people, and a long line of waving hats and
+handkerchiefs was seen all the way up the Rue St. Denis.
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 6: This fact is recorded in every account of the proceedings
+of that day.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+The same gratulations as before met the Duke on every side as he
+passed along; the populace seemed absolutely inclined to worship him,
+and many threw themselves upon their knees as he passed. He looked
+round upon the dense mass of people, upon the crowded houses, upon the
+waving hands; he heard from every tongue a welcome, at every step a
+gratulation, and it was impossible for the heart of man not to feel at
+that moment a pride and a confidence fit to bear him strongly on his
+perilous way.
+
+All the way down the Rue St. Denis, and through every other street
+that he passed, the same scene presented itself, the same acclamations
+followed him, so that the shouts thundered in the ear of the King as
+he sat in the Louvre.
+
+At length the Queen and those who accompanied her approached the
+palace; and in the open space before it, which was at that time railed
+off, was drawn up a long double line of guards, forming a lane through
+which it was necessary to pass to the gates. The well-known Crillon,
+celebrated for his determination and bravery, was at their head; and
+the Duke of Guise, obliged to pause in order to suffer the chair of
+the Queen-mother to pass on first, bowed to the commander, whom he
+knew and respected.
+
+Crillon scarcely returned his salutation, but looked frowning along
+the double row of his soldiery. The people, close by the railings,
+watched every movement, and a murmur of something like apprehension
+for their favourite ran through them as they watched these signs. But
+not a moment's pause marked the slightest hesitation in the Duke of
+Guise. With his head raised and his eyes flashing, he drew forward the
+hilt of his unconquered sword ready for his hand, and holding the
+scabbard in his left, strode after the chair of the Queen till the
+gates of the Louvre closed upon him and his train.
+
+A number of officers and gentlemen were waiting in the vestibule to
+receive the Queen-mother, who however gave her hand to the Duke of
+Guise to assist her from her chair. On him they gazed with eyes of
+wonder and of scrutiny, as if they would fain have discovered what
+feelings were in the heart of one so hated and dreaded by the King, at
+a moment when he stood with closed doors within a building filled with
+his enemies, and surrounded by soldiers ready to massacre him at a
+word. But the fire which the menacing look of Crillon had brought into
+the eyes of the Duke had now passed away, and all was calm dignity and
+easy though grave self-possession. The eye wandered not round the
+hall; the lip, though not compressed, was firm and motionless, except
+when he smiled in saluting some of those around whom he knew, or in
+speaking a few words to the Queen-mother, whose dress had become
+somewhat entangled with a mantle of sables which she had worn in the
+chair.
+
+As soon as it was detached, one of the officers of the household said,
+bowing low, "His Majesty has commanded me, Madam, to conduct you and
+his Highness of Guise to the chamber of her Majesty the Queen, where
+he waits your coming." And he led the way up the stairs of the Louvre
+to the somewhat extraordinary audience chamber which the King had
+selected.
+
+Henry, when the party entered, was sitting near the side of the bed,
+surrounded by several of his officers, one of whom, Alphonzo d'Ornano
+by name, whispered something over the King's shoulder with his eyes
+fixed upon the Duke of Guise.
+
+The words, which were, "Do you hold him for your friend or your
+enemy?" were spoken in such a tone as almost to reach the Duke
+himself. The King did not reply, but looked up at the Duke with a
+frown that was quite sufficient.
+
+"Speak but the word," said Ornano in a lower tone, "speak but the
+word, and his head shall be at your feet in a minute."
+
+The King measured Ornano and the Duke of Guise with his eyes, then
+shook his head with somewhat of a scornful smile; and then, looking up
+to the Duke, who had by this time come near him, he said in a dull
+heavy tone, "What brings you here, my cousin?"
+
+"My Lord," replied the Duke, "I have found it absolutely necessary to
+present myself before your Majesty, in order to repel numerous
+calumnies."
+
+"Stay, cousin of Guise," said the King; and turning to Bellievre, who
+stood amongst the persons behind him, he demanded abruptly, "Did you
+not tell me that he would not come to Paris?"
+
+"My Lord Duke," exclaimed Bellievre, not replying directly to the
+King's question, but addressing the Duke, "did not your Highness
+assure me that you would delay your journey till I returned?"
+
+"Yes, Monsieur de Bellievre," replied the Duke. "But you did not
+return."
+
+"But I wrote you two letters, your Highness," replied Bellievre,
+"reiterating his Majesty's commands for you not to come to Paris."
+
+"Those letters," replied the Duke of Guise, with a bitter smile, "like
+some other letters which have been written to me upon important
+occasions, have, from some cause, failed to reach my hands.
+Nevertheless, Sire, believe me when I tell you, that my object in
+coming is solely to prove to your Majesty that I am not guilty either
+of the crimes or the designs which base and grasping men have laid to
+my charge. Believe me, that after my devotion to God and our holy
+religion, there is no one whom I am so anxious to serve zealously and
+devotedly as your Majesty. This you will find ever, Sire, if you will
+but give me the opportunity of rendering you any service."
+
+The King was about to reply, but the Queen-mother, who had advanced
+and stood by his side, touched his arm saying, "You have not yet
+spoken to me, my son." And the King turning towards her, she added
+something in a low voice. The King replied in the same tone; and the
+Duke of Guise, passing through the midst of the frowning faces ranged
+around the royal seat, approached the Queen-consort, the mild and
+unhappy Louisa, and addressed a few words to her of reverence and
+respect which were gratifying to her ear. He then turned once more to
+the King, who seemed to have heard what Catharine de Medici had
+to say, and having given his reply, sat in moody silence. The
+Queen-mother stood by with some degree of apprehension in her
+countenance, as if feeling very doubtful still how the affair would
+terminate. The brows of the courtiers were gloomy and undecided, and
+the few followers of the Duke of Guise ranged at some distance from
+the spot to which he had now advanced, kept their eyes fixed either on
+him or on those surrounding the King, as if, at the least menacing
+movement, they were ready to start forward in defence of their leader.
+
+The only one that was perfectly calm was Guise himself; but he,
+retreading his steps till he stood opposite the King, again addressed
+the Monarch saying, "I hope, Sire, that you will give me a full
+opportunity of justifying myself."
+
+"Your conduct, cousin of Guise," replied the King, "must best justify
+you for the past; and I shall judge by the event, of your intentions
+for the future."
+
+"Let it be so," replied the Duke, "and such being the case, I will
+humbly take my leave of your Majesty, wishing you, from my heart,
+health and happiness."
+
+Thus saying he once more bowed low, and retired from the presence of
+the King, followed by the gentlemen who had accompanied him. Not an
+individual of the palace stirred a step to conduct him on his way,
+though his rank, his services, his genius, and his vast renown,
+rendered the piece of neglect they showed disgraceful to themselves
+rather than injurious to him. He was accompanied from the gates of the
+Louvre, however, and followed to the Hotel de Guise, by an infinite
+number of people, who ceased not for one moment to make the streets
+ring with their acclamations.
+
+Nor were these by any means composed entirely of the lowest classes of
+the people, the least respectable, or the least well-informed. On the
+contrary, it must, alas! be said, that the great majority of all that
+was good, upright, and noble in the city hailed his coming loudly as a
+security and a safeguard.
+
+A number, an immense number, of the inferior nobility of the realm
+were mingled with the crowd that followed him, or joined the acclaim
+from the windows. The robes of the law were seen continually in the
+dense multitude, and almost all the courts had there numbers of their
+principal members; while the municipal officers of the city, with the
+exception of two or three, were there in a mass, accompanied by a
+large body of the most opulent and respectable merchants.
+
+Thus followed, the Duke of Guise proceeded to his hotel on foot as he
+came, speaking from time to time with those who pressed near him with
+that peculiar grace which won all hearts, and smiling with the
+far-famed smile of his race, which was said never to fall upon any man
+without making him feel as if he stood in the sunshine.
+
+Already collected on the steps of the Hotel de Guise, at the news that
+he was returning from the Louvre, was a group of the brightest, the
+bravest, the most talented, and the most beautiful of the French
+nobility,--Madame de Montpensier, Mademoiselle de St. Beuve, the
+Chevalier d'Aumale, Brissac, and a thousand others. The servants and
+attendants of his household in gorgeous dresses kept back the crowd
+with courteous words and kindly gestures; and when he reached the
+steps that led to the high doorway of the porter's lodge, on the right
+of the porte cochere, he ascended a little way amongst his gratulating
+friends, and then turned and bowed repeatedly to the people, pointing
+out here and there some of the most popular of the citizens and
+magistrates, and whispering a word to the nearest attendant, who
+instantly made his way through the crowd to the spot where the
+personage designated stood, and in his master's name requested that he
+would come in and take some refreshment.
+
+When this was over, he again bowed and retired; and while the
+multitude separated, he walked on into his lordly halls with a number
+of persons clinging round him, whom he had not seen for months--for
+months which to him had been full of activity, thought, care, and
+peril, and to them of anxiety for the head of their race.
+
+As he passed along, however, to a chamber where the dinner which had
+been prepared for him had remained untouched for many an hour, his eye
+fell upon a boy dressed in the habit of one of his own pages; and
+taking suddenly a step forward, he called the boy apart into a window,
+demanding eagerly, "Well, have you found your master?"
+
+"I have, your Highness," replied the boy, "and have found means to
+give him the letter?"
+
+"What!" exclaimed the Duke, "outwitted Villequier, and Pisani, and
+all! The wit of a page against that of a politician for a thousand
+crowns!"
+
+"I dressed myself as a girl, your Highness," replied the boy, "and got
+into the convent, and then through a gate into what is called the
+rector's court, where Doctor Botholph and the Cure live, and where men
+are admitted, and women not shut out when they like to go in; and I
+got talking to the old verger of the church by the side, and he called
+me a pretty little fool, and said he dared to say I would soon be
+among the penitents within there; and with that I got him to tell me
+every thing, and the whole story of the young Count being brought
+there at night, and shut up in what are called the rector's
+apartments."
+
+As he spoke, one or two of the higher class of those whom the Duke had
+selected from the crowd below, and who felt themselves privileged to
+present themselves in his private apartments, entered the hall, and
+instantly caught his eye.
+
+"I cannot speak with you more at present, Ignati," he said, "nor,
+perhaps, during the whole day, for there is business of life and death
+before me; but come to me while I am rising to-morrow, and only tell
+me in the mean time where our poor Logeres is, for I know not what
+convent you mean."
+
+"He is in the rector's court," replied the boy, "close by the convent
+of the Black Penitents, in the Rue St. Denis."
+
+"By my faith!" exclaimed the Duke in no slight surprise, "I have been
+there this very day myself, and there the Queen-mother has made her
+abode for the last ten days. She must be deceiving me; and yet,
+perhaps, the mighty matters that occupied her mind when I saw her
+might have made her forget all other things. However, Logeres shall
+not be long so fettered. Come to me to-morrow, Ignati; come to me
+to-morrow, as I am rising; and in the mean time, if you can find some
+means of giving the Count intimation that he is not forgotten, it were
+all the better."
+
+"I will try, my Lord," replied the boy. And the Duke hurried on to
+welcome his new guests, making them sit down at table with him, and
+covering them with every sort of honour and distinction.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAP. XIII.
+
+
+In our dealings with each other there is nothing which we so much
+miscalculate as the ever varying value of time, and indeed it is but
+too natural to look upon it as it seems to us, and not as it seems to
+others. The slow idler on whose head it hangs heavy, holds the man of
+business by the button, and remorselessly robs him on the king's
+highway of a thing ten times more valuable than the purse that would
+hang him if he took it. The man of action and of business whose days
+seem but moments, forgets in his dealing with the long expecting
+applicant, and the weary petitioner, that to them each moment is far
+longer than his day.
+
+The hours, not one minute of which were unfilled to the Duke of Guise,
+passed slowly over the head of Charles of Montsoreau, and it seemed as
+if the brief gleam of happiness which had come across his path had but
+tended to make the long solitary moments seem longer and more dreary;
+in fact, to give full and painful effect to solitude and want of
+liberty, and yet he would not have lost that gleam for all the world.
+
+He thought of it, he dwelt upon it, he called to mind each and every
+particular; and, though it was crossed, as the memory of all such
+brief meetings are, with the recollection of a thousand things which
+he could have wished to have said, but which he had forgotten, and
+also by many a speculation of a painful kind concerning the visit of
+the Duke of Guise to the very place in which he was confined, without
+the slightest effort being made for his liberation, yet it was a
+consolation and a happiness and a joy to him--one of those blessings
+which have been stamped by the past with the irrevocable seal of
+enjoyment, which are our own, the unalienable jewels of our fate, held
+for ever in the treasury of memory.
+
+Nothing occurred through the rest of the day to call his attention, or
+to rouse his feelings. He heard the distant murmur, and the shouts of
+the people from time to time; but the gates were now shut, and the
+sounds dull, and all passed on evenly till darkness shut up the world.
+In the mean time he knew--as if to make his state of imprisonment and
+inactivity more intolerable--that busy actions were taking place
+without, that his own fate was deciding by the hands of others, that
+his happiness and that of Marie de Clairvaut formed but a small matter
+in the great bulk of political affairs which were then being weighed
+between the two angry parties in the capital, and might be tossed into
+this scale or that, as accident, or convenience, or policy might
+direct.
+
+Though he retired to rest as usual, he slept not, and ever and anon
+when a sort of half slumber fell upon his eyes he started up, thinking
+he heard some sound, a distant shout of the people, the tolling of a
+bell, or the roll of some far off drum. Nothing however occurred, and
+the night passed over as the day.
+
+In the grey of the morning, however, just when the slow creaking of a
+gate, or the noise of footsteps here and there breaking the previous
+stillness, told that the world was beginning to awake, a few sweet
+notes suddenly met his ear like those of a musical instrument, and in
+a moment after he heard the same air which the boy Ignati had played
+with such exquisite skill just before he freed him from his Italian
+masters.
+
+"A blessing be upon that boy," he cried, as he instantly recognised
+not only the sounds but the touch. "He has come to tell me that I am
+not forgotten."
+
+Suddenly, however, before the air was half concluded, the music
+stopped, and voices were heard speaking, but not so loud that the
+words could be distinguished. It seemed to the young Count, and seemed
+truly, that some one had sent the boy away; but though he heard no
+more, those very sounds had given him hope and comfort.
+
+Driven away by the old verger, who had now discovered the trick which
+had been put upon him the day before, the boy returned with all speed
+to the Hotel de Guise, and, according to the Duke's order, presented
+himself in his chamber at the hour of his rising. But the Duke was
+already surrounded with people, all eager to speak with him on
+different affairs, and his brow was evidently dark and clouded by some
+news that he had just heard.
+
+"Send round," he was saying as the boy entered, "Send round speedily
+to all the inns, and let those who are known for their fidelity be
+informed that the doors of this hotel will never be shut against any
+of those who have come to Paris for my service, or for that of the
+church, as long as there is a chamber vacant within. And you, my good
+Lords," he continued, turning to some of the gentlemen who surrounded
+him, "I must call upon your hospitality, also, to provide lodging for
+these poor friends of ours, whom this new and iniquitous proceeding of
+the court is likely to drive from Paris. But stay, Bussi," he
+continued, and his eye fell upon the page as he spoke; "you say you
+saw the Prevot des Marchands but a minute ago in the Rue d'Anvoye
+seeking out the lodgers in the inns, and ordering them to quit Paris
+immediately. Hasten down after him quickly, and tell him from Henry of
+Guise that there is a very dangerous prisoner and a zealous servant of
+the church lodged in the Rue St. Denis; that he had better drive him
+forth also; and that, if he wants direction to the place where he
+sojourns, one of my pages shall lead him thither. You may add,
+moreover, that if he do not drive him forth, I will bring him forth
+before the world be a day older."
+
+The Duke of Guise then took the pen from the ink which was standing
+before him, and, though not yet half-dressed, wrote hastily the few
+following words to the Queen-mother:--
+
+
+"Madam,
+
+"I am informed, on authority which I cannot doubt, that my friend, the
+young Count de Logeres, is at present in your hands, kept under
+restraint in the Rue St. Denis, after having been arrested in the
+execution of business with which I charged him, while bearing a
+passport from the King. I beseech you to set him immediately at
+liberty, and also at once to order that my niece and ward,
+Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, be brought to the Hotel de Guise without an
+hour's delay. Let me protest to your Majesty that you have not a more
+faithful and devoted servant than
+
+                                  "Henry of Guise."
+
+
+"I will not send this by you, Ignati," said the Duke; "they would
+laugh at a boy. Here, Mestroit, bear this to the Queen-mother.
+Say I cast myself at her feet; and bring me back an answer without
+delay.--Why, how now, St. Paul!" he continued, turning to a gentleman
+who had just entered. "Your brow is as dark as a thunder-cloud. What
+has happened now? Shall we be obliged to make our hotel our fortress,
+and defend it to the last, like gallant men?"
+
+"Not so, my Lord," replied the Count of St. Paul; "not near so bad as
+that: but still these are times that make men look thoughtful; and,
+depend upon it, the King, aided by his minions and the Politics[7], is
+seeking to inclose your Highness, as it were in a net."
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 7: That party was so called which affected to hold the
+balance between the Court and the League, without giving countenance
+to the Huguenots.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+"We will break through, St. Paul! We will break through!" replied the
+Duke with a smile. "But what are your tidings?"
+
+"Why, that orders have been sent to the Swiss to come up from Corbeil,
+as well as those from Meulan and Chateau Thierry; also the companies
+of French guards from every quarter in the neighbourhood are called
+for, and I myself saw come in, by the Faubourg St. Germain, a body of
+two hundred horse, which, upon inquiry, I found to be a new levy from
+some place in the South, led by a young Marquis of Montsoreau, whose
+name I never heard of before."
+
+"Whenever you hear it again, St. Paul," replied the Duke sternly,
+"couple with it the word 'Traitor!' and you will do him justice. But
+what force is it said they are bringing into Paris? What stay you for,
+Mestroit?" he continued, seeing that the gentleman to whom he had
+given the letter had not taken his departure. "What stay you for? I
+would have had you there now. Go with all speed! There are horses
+enough saddled in the court. I would give a thousand crowns that
+letter should be in the Queen's hand before this youth's coming is
+known to her. It may save us much trouble hereafter. Fail not to bring
+me an answer quick. Now, St. Paul, how many men say you on your best
+judgment are they bringing into Paris?"
+
+"Why, your Highness," replied the Count, "some say ten thousand; but,
+to judge more moderately from what I hear, the moment your Highness's
+arrival in Paris was known, orders were sent for the march of full
+seven thousand men."
+
+"We must be very formidable creatures, Brissac," cried the Duke, "that
+my coming with seven of you should need seven thousand men to meet us.
+On my soul, they will make me think myself a giant. I always thought I
+was a tall man--some six foot three, I believe--but, by Heavens! I
+must be a Gargantua, indeed, to need seven thousand men to hold me.
+Seven thousand men!" he added thoughtfully: "he has not got them, St.
+Paul. There are not five thousand within fifty miles of Paris, unless
+Epernon and Villequier have contrived to raise more of such
+Montsoreaus against us. However, we must have eyes in all quarters.
+Send out parties to watch the coming of the troops and give us their
+numbers. Let some one speak to the inferior officers of the French
+guards, and remind them that the Duke of Guise and the Holy League are
+only striving for the maintenance of the true faith, and for the
+overthrow of those minions who have swallowed up all the honours and
+favours of the crown. It were well also, Brissac, that a good watch
+was kept upon the proceedings in the city. I can trust, methinks, to
+The Sixteen to do all that is necessary in their different quarters,
+and to make full reports of all that takes place; but still a military
+eye were as well here and there, from time to time, Brissac, and I
+will trust that to you."
+
+The rest of the morning passed in the same incessant activity with
+which it had begun; tidings were constantly brought in from all parts
+of the town and the country round concerning every movement on the
+part of the court; and the hotel of the Duc de Guise was literally
+besieged by his followers and partisans. Train after train of noblemen
+and officers, of lawyers and citizens, followed each other during the
+whole day, each bringing him information, or claiming audience on some
+account. Nor were the clergy less numerous; for scarce a parish in the
+capital but sent forth, in the course of that day, its train of
+priests and monks to congratulate him on his arrival, or to beseech
+him to hold up the tottering church of France with a strong hand.
+
+At the same time, the order which had been given by the King in the
+morning, for every stranger not domiciled in Paris to quit it within
+six hours, and the proceedings of the Prevot des Marchands to execute
+that order had--by driving out of the inns and taverns the multitudes
+of the Duke's partisans who had followed him in scattered bodies into
+Paris--now filled the Hotel de Guise with all those of the higher
+classes who were thus expelled. The houses of other members of the
+faction received the rest. But the stables of the hotel were all
+filled to the doors; the great court itself could scarcely be crossed,
+on account of the number of horses; and more than once the street
+became impassable from the multitude of carriages, chairs, horses, and
+attendants, who were waiting while their masters conferred with the
+Duke.
+
+It was near mid-day when the gentleman who had been dispatched to
+Catharine de Medici again presented himself; and the Duke demanded,
+somewhat impatiently, what had detained him so long.
+
+"It was the Queen-mother, your Highness," replied Mestroit. "More than
+an hour passed before I could obtain an audience; and when I was
+admitted to present your Highness's letter, I found Monsieur de
+Villequier with her."
+
+"Did she show the letter to that son of Satan?" demanded the Duke.
+
+"No, sir," replied the other; "on the contrary, she seemed not to wish
+that he should see it, for she kept it tight in her hand after she had
+read it, and told me to wait a moment, that she would give me an
+answer directly."
+
+"I would sooner unriddle the enigma of the sphynx," said the Duke,
+"than I would say from what motive any one of that woman's acts
+proceed; and yet she has a great mind, and a heart not altogether so
+vicious as it seems. What happened then, Mestroit?"
+
+"Why, my Lord, Villequier seemed anxious to know what the letter
+contained, and I saw his head a little raised, and his eyes turned
+quietly towards it while she was reading, as I have seen a cat regard
+a mouse-hole towards which she was stealing upon tiptoes; and he
+lingered long, and seem inclined to stay. The Queen, however, begged
+him not to forget the orders she had given, but to execute them
+instantly; and then he went away. When he was gone, the Queen again
+read your Highness's letter, and replied at first, 'The Duke asks what
+is not in my power. Tell my noble cousin of Guise that he has been
+misinformed; that I hold none of his friends in my power--' Then,
+after a moment, she bade me wait, and she would see what persuasion
+would do?"
+
+"She must not think to deceive me!" replied the Duke of Guise. "But
+what more?"
+
+"She went away," replied the gentleman, "and was absent for full two
+hours, leaving me there alone, with nothing to amuse me but the pages
+and serving women that came and looked at me from time to time as at a
+tiger in a cage. At length she came back, and bade me tell your
+Highness these exact words: 'My cousin has been misinformed. I have
+none of his people in my hands, or in my power. The Count of Logeres,
+however, shall be set free before eight and forty hours are over. He
+may be set free to-morrow; but by leaving him for a few hours more
+where he is, I trust to accomplish for the Duke that which he demands
+concerning his ward, although I have no power whatever in the matter."
+
+"There is nothing upon earth," said the Duke thoughtfully, "so
+convenient as to have the reality without the name of power. We have
+the pleasure without the reproach! Catharine de Medici has not the
+power!--Who then has?--I may have the power also, it is true, to right
+myself and those who attach themselves to me; and in this instance I
+will use it. But still it were better to wait the time she states; for
+I know her fair Majesty well, and she never yields any thing without a
+delay, to make what she grants seem more important:--and yet, the day
+after to-morrow--the day after to-morrow--who shall say what may be,
+ere the day after to-morrow comes? This head may be lowly in the dust
+ere then."
+
+"Or circled with the crown of France," said the Count de St. Paul.
+
+"God forbid!" exclaimed the Duke earnestly. If I thought that it would
+ever produce a scheme to wrest the sceptre from the line that
+rightfully holds it, I would bear it to-morrow to the foot of the
+throne, myself, as my own accuser. No, no! bad kings may die or be
+deposed: but there is still some one on whose brow the crown descends
+by right. And let him have it.
+
+"The Cardinal of Bourbon, your Highness," said an attendant entering,
+"has just arrived from Soissons. His Eminence is upon the stairs coming
+up."
+
+A smile played over the lips of most of the persons present at such an
+announcement at that moment, for every one well knew that it was to
+the old Cardinal de Bourbon that the party of the League looked, as
+the successor to the crown on the death of Henry III., to the
+exclusion of the direct line of Navarre, held to be incapable of
+succeeding on account of religion. The Duke, however, advanced
+immediately with open arms to meet the Cardinal, and many hours were
+passed in long conferences between them and the principal officers and
+supporters of the League.
+
+At the end of that time, however, towards seven o'clock, a message was
+brought into the room where they were in consultation, from Monsieur
+de Sainctyon, a well-known adherent of the League, begging earnestly
+to speak with the Duke upon matters of deep importance. On the Duke
+going out, he found the worthy Leaguer in a state of great excitement
+and agitation.
+
+"My Lord," he said, as soon as Guise appeared in the room where he had
+been left alone, "I fear that they are busily labouring, at the
+palace, for the destruction of your Highness and of the Holy League."
+
+"How so, Monsieur de Sainctyon?" demanded the Duke, who entertained
+doubts, it seems, of the Leaguer's sincerity, which were never wholly
+removed. "Some of my friends have just returned from the palace, who
+tell me that all is as still and quite as the inside of a vault."
+
+"They told your Highness also, I hope," said the Leaguer, "that they
+had trebled the guard, both Swiss and French."
+
+"Yes, I was informed of that," replied the Duke. "But that shows fear,
+not daring, Monsieur de Sainctyon."
+
+"Perhaps so, my Lord," replied Sainctyon, who was one of the echevins,
+or sheriffs of the town; "but perhaps not. However, what I have now to
+tell, shows more daring than fear. We were summoned this afternoon at
+five o'clock to the Hotel de Ville, where we found not only Pereuse,
+the Prevot, and Le Comte, who is worse than a Politic, and half a
+Huguenot, but the Marquis d'O----"
+
+"Who is worse," said the Duke of Guise, "than minion, or Politic, or
+Huguenot, or reiter, equally foul in his debaucheries and his
+peculations; equally impudent in his vices and his follies; fit
+son-in-law of Villequier; well-chosen master of the wardrobe to the
+King of France! Who was there besides, Monsieur de Sainctyon? Some
+expedient infamy was of course to be committed, otherwise d'O----
+would not have been there."
+
+"There were a number of captains and colonels of the different
+quarters," replied Sainctyon, well pleased to see that the Duke now
+felt the importance of his intelligence, "and the Prevot and Le Comte
+began to speak what seemed to me at first simple nonsense, in a
+confused way, saying, that it was necessary to keep guard in a very
+different manner in Paris from that which we were accustomed to use,
+for that your coming had excited the minds of the people, and that
+there was hourly danger of a revolt, and that it would be better for
+all the captains to meet with their companies together in some
+particular place, in order to see to the matter. But I replied, that
+nothing could be more dangerous than that which was proposed, for that
+the companies of armed citizens would be much better as usual, each in
+its separate quarter, taking care of that quarter, rather than meeting
+altogether in one large body of armed men, which was likely to cause a
+tumult immediately. A number of the other colonels cried out the same
+thing; but then Monsieur d'O---- cut us all short, saying, 'Give me
+none of your reasons, gentlemen. What the Prevot has stated to you is
+the will of the King, and he _must_ be obeyed. The place of your
+meeting is the Cemetery of the Innocents, and there you are all
+expected to be with your companies at nine o'clock this evening.' Now,
+my Lord, I have come to your Highness, by the authority of all the
+other colonels in whom we can trust, for counsel and direction in this
+business, assuring you that we have heard it is the intention of the
+Court to pick out from amongst us thus assembled six or seven of your
+most zealous friends and supporters, and execute them early to-morrow
+in the Place de Greve."
+
+The Duke paused and thought for a moment ere he replied; but he then
+said, "I thank you most sincerely, Monsieur de Sainctyon, for the
+intelligence you have brought me. You are mistaken, however, with
+regard to what are the intentions of the Court, as you will see in one
+moment. The large body of men in arms which you will have with you
+when all assembled together, trebles the number of any force in Paris,
+so that the least attempt to do you wrong at that moment would be a
+signal for the overthrow of the monarchy. On the contrary, Monsieur de
+Sainctyon, I believe the thus calling you together in one place has
+solely for its object to remove you from the quarters where your
+presence would be useful in opposition to the iniquitous proceedings
+of your enemies. To arrest somebody--perhaps myself--is doubtless the
+object of these persons; and if you would follow my advice, the course
+you pursue would be this,--to meet as you have been ordered by the
+King, having first communicated all the facts to the persons under
+your command whom you can trust. Some one will come to bring you
+farther orders, depend upon it; find out what those orders are, and
+let them instantly be communicated to me; but on no account or
+consideration suffer yourselves to be kept together in one place. On
+the contrary, as soon as you have discovered as far as possible what
+the designs of your enemies are, lead your companies to their
+different quarters, or wherever you may think best to station them. If
+you want any farther assistance, send hither; and I will dispatch
+experienced officers to take counsel with you as to what is to be
+done. I hope your opinion coincides with mine, Monsieur de Sainctyon."
+
+"Your words always carry conviction with them, my Lord," replied the
+sheriff; "and I will instantly proceed to obey you."
+
+Thus saying he took his leave, and quitted the Duke, hastening with
+the rest of the officers of the city to arm himself cap-a-pie, and
+present himself with the burgher guard in the Cemetery of the
+Innocents at the appointed hour. When that hour arrived, every thing
+through the rest of the city was dark and silent, and but little light
+shone from the dim lanterns round the Cemetery upon the dark masses of
+armed men that now surrounded it. The officers commanding them looked
+in each other's faces, as if expecting that some one amongst them had
+orders in regard to what they were farther to do, but for several
+minutes no one announced himself as empowered to direct them, and they
+had even proposed to separate, when the sheriff Le Comte arrived on
+horseback at great haste from the side of the Louvre. Having called
+the colonels of the quarters together he said, "The King, having been
+informed that this night an enterprise is to be undertaken against his
+authority by his enemies, trusts entirely to his citizens of Paris for
+the defence of the capital, and consequently commands you, in order to
+have a strong point of resistance, to occupy this Cemetery, of which I
+have here the keys, till to-morrow morning. All the gates will be shut
+except one wicket, and in a very short time the Marquis de Beauvais
+Nangis, an experienced officer, will be sent down by the King to
+command you."[8]
+
+
+---------------------
+
+[Footnote 8: This most absurd and impudent proposal would scarcely be
+credited, were it not to be found in the _Histoire tres veritable,
+&c_., written by Sainctyon himself, and published by Michel Jouin in
+the very year 1588.]
+
+---------------------
+
+
+A murmur ran through the officers and through the men, who, as Le
+Comte spoke loud, heard every word that passed; but an old captain of
+one of the quarters burst forth, a moment after, exclaiming, "What,
+shut myself up there, as if in a prison? They must think me mad! Not
+I, indeed, for any of them! I have nothing to do with you, Monsieur le
+Comte, nor with any of you, except with the inhabitants of my own
+quarter, and there I shall go directly. Those may go and shut
+themselves up with you that like. Come, my men; march! Who gave
+Beauvais Nangis a right to command me, I should like to know? Not the
+citizens of Paris, I'm sure: so those may obey him that like him." And
+putting himself at the head of his men, he marched out, followed by
+almost all the other companies except one or two, who suffered
+themselves to be persuaded to enter into the Cemetery, where they were
+locked up by Le Compte, to await whatever fate might befall them.
+
+In the mean time the other officers of the burgher guard held a
+consultation together, and determined, instead of proceeding
+immediately to their different quarters to occupy the principal points
+of the city, where they fancied that attempts might be made upon the
+life or liberty of the chiefs of the League. The avenues to the Hotel
+de Guise were strongly guarded, the Rue St. Denis was patrolled by a
+large party, two companies occupied the Rue St. Honore, and the
+utility of these precautions was strongly demonstrated ere they had
+been long taken.
+
+Before midnight the sound of horses was heard by the two companies in
+the Rue St. Honore, and in a moment after appeared the Marquis
+d'O----, with as many horse arquebusiers as could be spared from the
+palace. The citizens stood to their arms and barred the way, and
+d'O----, never very famous for his courage, demanded, in evident
+trepidation and surprise, what they did there, when they had been
+ordered to be in the Cemetery of the Innocents?
+
+"We came here to do our duty to our fellow-citizens," replied the same
+old captain who had spoken before, "and to guard our houses and our
+property, for which purpose we are enrolled."
+
+"Well, well, you are right," replied the Marquis, evidently confounded
+and undecided; and turning his horse's rein he rode back by the same
+way he came, showing evidently that he had been bound upon some
+attempt which had been frustrated.
+
+About the same time the party in the Rue St. Denis had been drawn
+towards the further end by the noise of horses and the light of
+torches; and on advancing they found a number of men on horseback, and
+a vacant carriage, with two lights before it, just halting at the
+Convent of the Black Penitents. The good citizens, however, were in an
+active and interfering mood, and they determined to inquire into an
+occurrence which otherwise would have passed over without the
+slightest notice. The horsemen, however, did not wait for many
+questions; but, evidently as much surprised and embarrassed as the
+Marquis d'O----, turned their horses' heads, and made the best of
+their way out of the street.
+
+
+
+                      END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
+
+
+
+
+
+                               London:
+                     Printed by A. Spottiswoode,
+                          New-Street-Square.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Henry of Guise; (Vol. II of 3), by
+G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
+
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