La Dame de Monsoreau (111 page)

" There are -some people even," replied Remy, " who find a pleasure in talking about her before seeing her."

" By the way, it strikes me," said. Bussy, " that the weather is very uncertain."

" Yes, the sky has been at one time cloudy, at another clear. So much the better; I like it so, I 'in rather fond of variety. Thanks, Jourdain," he added, addressing the groom who brought him his rapier.

Then turning to the count:

" Now I am at your orders, monseigneur," said he ; " let us start."

Bussy took the young doctor's arm, and they both set out for the Bastile.

Remy had said to the count that he intended giving him a great deal of good advice, and, as soon as they were outside the hotel, the doctor began to keep his promise. He made use of a number of Latin quotations to prove that Bussy did

wrong to visit Diane that night, instead of remaining quietly in bed, for a man usually fights badly if he has slept badly. Then he passed from the weighty maxims of the faculty to the myths of fable and tried to convince him that it was generally Venus who disarmed Mars.

Bussy smiled; Remy insisted.

" You see, Remy," said the count, " when my arm holds a sword, it becomes so assimilated to the latter that the fibres of the flesh take on the hardness and suppleness of steel, while the steel appears to grow warm and animated like living flesh. From that moment my sword is an arm, and my arm a sword. From that moment — you understand me ? — strength and energy have really nothing to do in the matter. A sword never grows tired."

" But it sometimes gets blunt."

" Fear nothing."

" Ah, my dear monseigneur," continued Remy, " the combat in which you engage to-morrow will be like that in which Hercules fought against Antaeus, Theseus against the Minotaur ; it will be like that of the Thirty, like that of Bayard — it will be something Homeric, gigantic, impossible. I would have men speak of it in future times as the combat of Bussy, the combat without a parallel; and, as for yourself, it would disappoint me if you received even a scratch."

" Rest easy, my dear Remy, you shall see wonders. This morning I fenced with 'four old fire-eaters, who, during eight minutes, were never able to touch me once, while I slashed their doublets to pieces. I bounded like a tiger."

" I do not contradict you, my dear master; but are you sure your legs will be as strong to-morrow as they are to-day ? "

Here Bussy and the doctor began talking in Latin, their dialogue being interrupted by frequent bursts of laughter.

At last they arrived at the end of the Rue Saint'-Antoine.

" Adieu," said Bussy, " we are at the place."

" What if I were to wait for you ? " said Remy.

" Why should you do so ? "

" To make sure that you 're home before two o'clock, and have, at least, five or six hours' sound sleep before the duel."

" If I pledge you my word ? "

"Oh, that is all I want — Bussy's word ! Hang it! things would be at a pretty pass if I were not satisfied with the word of Bussy."

"Well, you have it. In two hours, Remy, I will be in the hotel."

" Then adieu, monseigneur."

" Adieu, Remy."

The young men parted, but Remy did not go far from where he had been standing.

Reniy watched the count as he advanced toward the house, and, as the absence of Monsoreau made everything secure, he saw him enter, not this time by the window, but through the door, which Gertrude opened for him.

Then he turned back and quietly proceeded through the deserted streets on his way to the Hotel de Bussy.

As he was passing out of the Place Beaudoyer he noticed five men approaching him, all muffled up in cloaks, and apparently perfectly armed.

For five men to be out at this hour was rather singular. He hid behind a corner of a house that was set back considerably from the street.

When they were within ten yards of him, they halted, and, after a cordial good night, four of them went in different directions, while the fifth remained where he was, apparently considering what he should do.

After a moment or so, the moon issued forth from a cloud and its beams fell upon the face of this night-walker.

" M. de Saint-Luc ! " cried Remy.

Saint-Luc raised his head when he heard his name, and saw a man running up to him.

" Remy ! " he cried, in his turn.

" Remy himself, but I am happy not to be able to say, at your service: for you seem to be in the very best of health. Would it be indiscreet to ask you, monseigneur, what are you doing so far away from the Louvre ? "

" Faith, not at all, my dear fellow. By order of the King I am examining the physiognomy of the city. He said to me: ( Saint-Luc, take a stroll through the streets of Paris, and if you hear any one say I have abdicated, contradict it boldly !''

"And have you heard anything? "

" Not a whisper. Now, as it is near midnight, as everything is quiet, and as I met nobody but M. de Monsoreau, I have dismissed my friends, and was thinking of returning when you saw me."

" What is that you say ? M. de Monsoreau ! "

« Yes."

" You met M. de Monsoreau ? "

" With a band of armed men, ten or twelve, at the very least."

" M. de Monsoreau ! Impossible."

" Why impossible ? "

" Because he ought to be at Compiegne."

" He ought to be, but he is not."

« But the King's order ? "

" Pshaw ! who obeys the King's orders ? "

" You met M. de Monsoreau with ten or twelve men ? "

" Certainly."

" And you recognized him ? "

" I think so."

" You were only five ? "

" My four friends and myself, not a soul more."

" And he did not attack you ? "

" He avoided me, on the contrary, and this astonished me exceedingly. When I recognized him, I expected there would be a terrible battle."

" In what direction was he going ? "

" In the direction of the Rue de la Tixeranderie."

" Ah ! my God ! " cried Remy.

" What ? " asked Saint-Luc, frightened by the tone in which the young man spoke.

" M. de Saint-Luc, a great misfortune is about to happen."

" A great misfortune ! To whom ? "

"To M. de Bussy."

" To Bussy. Mordieu ! speak out, Remy. I am his friend, as you know."

" What a misfortune ! M. de Bussy believed him at Compiegne."

« Well ? "

" Well! he decided to take advantage of his absence."

" So that he is " —

" With Madame Diane."

" Ah ! " murmured Saint-Luc," this is sure to cause trouble."

" Yes. You understand, don't you?" said Remy. " He had suspicions, either originating with himself or suggested by others, and he pretended to leave Paris, so that he might appear unexpectedly at his home."

" Hold on for a moment," said Saint-Luc, striking his forehead.

" Have you any idea on the subject ? " asked Remy.

" The Duke d'Anjou is at the bottom of all this."

" But it was the Due d'Anjou who brought about Monso-reau's departure this morning."

" That only strengthens my conviction. Have you good lungs, Remy ? "

" Corbleu ! They 're like a blacksmith's bellows."

" Then let us run without losing a moment. You know the house ? "

« Yes."

" Go before me, then."

And the two young men started through the streets at a gait that would have done honor to hunted stags.

" Is he much in advance of us ? " asked Remy, without pausing.

" Who ? Monsoreau ? "

« Yes."

" Nearly a quarter of an hour," said Saint-Luc, clearing a pile of stones five feet high.

" Oh ! if we should only arrive in time ! " said Remy, drawing his sword, so as to be prepared for every event.

CHAPTER XCII.

THE ASSASSINATION.

BUSSY felt neither doubtful nor uneasy, and Diane received him without fear, for she was sure of her husband's absence.

Never had the beautiful young woman been so joyous; never had she been so happy. There are certain moments in our lives — moments whose significance is revealed to us by our souls, or rather by the instinct of self-preservation within us — when a man unites his moral faculties with all the physical resources supplied by his senses ; he at once concentrates and multiplies his energies, and absorbs life through every pore; life which he may lose at any moment, unconscious of the catastrophe that will force him to relinquish it.

Yet Diane was moved, and moved the more deeply because

she tried to hide her emotion, and, being thus moved by the dread of a threatening morrow, she seemed more tender than usual, for sadness must be an element in all true love, giving to it that perfume of poesy it would otherwise lack; true passion is never light-hearted, and the eyes of the woman that sincerely loves will be oftener moist with tears than sparkling with'mirth.

So she began by arresting the amorous advances of the young man; what she had to tell him to-night was that his life was her life ; what she had to discuss with him was the surest way to escape.

To conquer was not everything; after conquering, he must flee the wrath of the King; for, in all probability, never would Henri pardon the defeat or death of his favorites.

" And besides," said Diane, with her arm round her lover's neck, and her eyes passionately riveted on his, " are you not the paladin of France ? Why make it a point of honor to augment your glory ? You tower so high above other men that it would be almost ungenerous in you to seek to rise higher. You would not care to please other women, for you love me and would dread to lose me, would you not, my Louis ? Louis, defend your life. I do not say : l Beware of death !' for I do not think there exists in the whole world a man strong enough, a man powerful enough to kill my Louis, except by treachery; but beware of wounds. You may be wounded, as you well know, since it was through a wound received in fighting these same men that I first made your acquaintance."

" Do not be uneasy," answered Bussy, laughing ; " I will take care of my face, anyway; I should not like to be disfigured."

"Oh, take'care of your entire person! Let it be as sacred to you, my Bussy, as if it were mine. Think what your agony should be if you saw me return wounded and bleeding. Well, the agony that you would feel would be mine if I saw your blood. Be prudent, my too courageous lion, that is all I ask. Do as did the Roman whose history you read me the other day, to reassure me. Oh! imitate him well; let your three friends fight, and aid the one of the three who is in the most danger; but if two, if three men attack you at once, fly; you can turn back, like Horatius, and when they are separated, kill them one after another."

" Yes, my darling," answered Bussy.

" Oh, you answer without listening, Louis ; you look at me, and do not hear me."

" Yes, but I see you, and you are very beautiful ! "

" My God! Louis, it is not my beauty that is in question now, but your life, your life, my life — Stay, what I am about to tell you is frightful, but I want you to know it — not that it will render you more valiant, but it may render you more prudent — Well! I shall have the courage to witness the duel ! »

"You!"

" Yes, I intend to be present."

" You present ? Oh, impossible, Diane ! "

" No ! Listen: there is in the apartment next to this, as you know, a window that looks into a little court, and gives a side view of the paddock at Les Tournelles."

" Yes, I recollect, the window is about twenty feet from the ground ; there is an iron trellis below it, and the birds came the other day to pick up the crumbs I threw on it."

" Then you understand I shall be able to see you, Bussy ; therefore, be sure to stand so that I may have a good view of you. You will know I am there and can see me yourself. But no — I must be bereft of reason ! — no, do not look at me, your enemy might profit by the movement."

" And kill me ? — kill me while I had my eyes fixed on you. If death were my portion and I were allowed to choose the manner of it, no other death, Diane, would please me as well."

" Yes, but death is not your portion; you are not to die, but to live, on the contrary."

" And I will live, do not be alarmed. Besides, I am well seconded ; you do not know my friends, but I know them. Antraguet is as much master of the sword as I a'm; Bibeirac is so impassive on the ground that his eyes and arm alone seem alive, the former to affright his enemy, the latter to strike him. Livarot has the agility of a tiger. The victory will be easy, too easy, Diane. I should like if there were more danger, because then there would be more honor."

" Well, I believe you, my love, and I can smile because I can hope ; but listen and promise to obey me."

" Yes, if you do not bid me leave you."

" But that is what I am about to do; I appeal to your reason."

" Then you should not have first deprived me of it."

"YOU WILL GET ME KILLED, MADAME," SAID HE.

" None of your Italian concetti, my fine gentleman, but obedience ; love is proved by obedience."

" Well, give your orders."

" My darling, your eyes are heavy; you need a good night's rest; leave me."

" Oh ! so soon !"

" I am going to say a prayer; then you may kiss me."

" It is to you that prayers ought to be offered, just as they are offered to the angels."

" And do you not believe that the angels pray to God ?" said Diane, kneeling.

And from the depths of her heart, with an upturned gaze that seemed to penetrate the ceiling, and fly in search of God through the azure fields of heaven, she said :

" 0 Lord, if it be thy will that thy servant live happy and do not die of despair, protect him whom thou hast placed in my path, that I may love him and love him only."

When she had finished her prayer, Bussy stooped down to fold her in his arms and raise her lips to his. Suddenly a pane of glass was shattered into fragments, then the window itself, and three armed men appeared on the balcony, while a fourth climbed over the balustrade. The latter was masked and, held in one hand a pistol, in the other a naked sword.

Bussy was for a moment riveted to the floor, paralyzed by the terrible shriek uttered by Diane as she flung herself on his neck.

The man in the mask made a sign, and his three companions advanced a step; one of the^ three was armed with an arquebtise.

Bussy put Diane aside with his left hand, and drew his sword with his right.

Then, falling back, he slowly lowered the weapon, never taking his eyes off his adversaries.

" On ! my brave fellows, on ! " cried a sepulchral voice from beneath what appeared to be a mask of velvet ; " he is half dead ; fear has killed him."

" You are mistaken," said Bussy; " I never fear."

Diane drew near him.

" Stand aside, Diane," he said, firmly.

But Diane, instead of obeying, again flung herself on his neck.

" You will get me killed, madame," said he.

Diane drew back, leaving him entirely uncovered.

She saw the only way to help her lover was to obey him implicitly and passively.

" Ah ! " said the same hollow voice, " so it is really M. de Bussy. I would not believe it, simpleton that I am. What a friend, in good sooth, what a faithful, what an excellent friend! "

Bussy bit his lips and said nothing ; but he looked round to see what means of defence were within his reach when the fighting should begin.

" He learns," continued the same voice, but with an accent of mockery that rendered its thrilling vibrations more terrible still, " he learns that the grand huntsman is absent, that he has left his wife alone, that this wife is alarmed by her loneliness, and so he comes to cheer her with his society - And when does he do this ? Why, on the eve of a duel! What a kind and excellent friend is the Seigneur de Bussy ! "

" Ah ! it is you, M. de Monsoreau," said Bussy. " 'T is well. Fling away your mask. I know now with whom I have to deal."

" Yes, I will do so," answered the grand huntsman, and he threw off the black velvet mask.

Diane uttered a faint cry.

The count was as livid as a corpse ; his smile was the smile of one of the damned.

" Oh, let us have done with this, monsieur," said Bussy ; " I am not fond of such oratorical outbursts; it was all very well for the heroes of Homer, who were demigods, to talk before fighting; but I am a man ; a man, however, who knows not fear ; fight or let me pass."

The answer of Monsoreau was a hoarse, discordant laugh that made Diane shudder, but excited the most violent anger in Bussy.

" Stand out of my way ! let me pass, I say !" repeated the young man, whose blood, for a moment driven back to his heart, now surged to his temples.

" Oh ! — * Let me pass ! ? " answered Monsoreau. " Would you please to repeat that again, M. de Bussy ? "

" Then let us cross swords and make an end of the matter. I want to return home, and I live far from here."

During this time the heads of two more men rose above the bars of the balcony, and these two men, striding over the balustrade, went and placed themselves beside their comrades.

" Four and two make six," said Bussy; " where are the others?"

" They are waiting at the door," answered the grand huntsman.

Diane fell upon her knees, and, although she tried to keep back her sobs, Bussy heard them.

After a quick glance at her, he reflected for a moment, turned his eyes on the count, and said :

" My dear count, you know that I am a man of honor ? "

" Yes," answered Monsoreau, " your honor is as stainless as the chastity of madame."

" Well, monsieur," said Bussy, with a slight shake of the head, " your words are bitter, but they are deserved, and all that must be settled for in good season. However, as I have an engagement to-morrow with four gentlemen whom you know, and as their claim on me is prior to yours, I ask your permission to be allowed to retire to-night, pledging you my word that you shall find me again, when and wherever you like."

Monsoreau shrugged his shoulders.

" Hear me," said Bussy ; " I swear by the living God, monsieur, that when I have given satisfaction to Schomberg, D'^lp-ernon, Quelus, and Maugiron, I shall be at your service, wholly and entirely at your service, and at yours alone. Should they kill me, your vengeance will be executed through their agency, and all will be over; should I be, on the other hand, in a condition to meet you "

Monsoreau turned to his men.

" Forward, my brave fellows ! " said he ; " fall on him ! "

" Ah! " cried Bussy, " I was mistaken; it is not a duel, it is an assassination."

" You think so, do you ? " retorted Monsoreau.

" Yes, I see it now : we were each of us mistaken with regard to the other. But have a care, monsieur, the Due d'Anjou will take offence at this."

" It is he who sends me," answered Monsoreau.

Bussy shuddered. Diane raised her hands to heaven, with a groan.

" In that case," said the young man, " my appeal is to Bussy alone. Look out for yourselves, cut-throats ! "

And, with a turn of the hand, he upset the prie-Dieu, drew a table toward him and placed a chair 011 top of it, so that in

a second he had improvised a rampart between himself and his enemies.

His action had been so rapid that the bullet fired at him from an arquebuse struck only the prie-Dieu, into which it penetrated far; but, in the meantime, Bussy had thrown down a magnificent side-table of the time of Francois I. and added it to his defences.

Diane discovered that this last piece of furniture had been so placed as to hide her; she felt that only by her prayers could she aid Bussy, and she prayed. Bussy glanced at her, then at his assailants, then at his improvised rampart.

" Come on, now," he said; " but have a care, my sword stings."

The bravoes, urged onward by Monsoreau, advanced toward Bussy, who awaited them with body bent forward and flaming eyes. One of them attempted to sieze the prie-Dieu, but, before his hand had touched this part of the bulwark, the count's sword passed through an opening and ran through the small of his arm up to the shoulder. The man screamed and retreated to the window.