La Dame de Monsoreau (2 page)

" Hush ! " said he. « Why, surely that must be Chicot's voice. Do you hear, Saint-Luc ? The King is angry."

" Yes, sire," said Saint-Luc, without seeming to notice the covert allusion of his Majesty, " he is apparently quarrelling with some one or other."

" Go and see what is the matter, and return at once with the news."

Saint-Luc withdrew.

Arid, in fact, it was Chicot, who was crying out, in the nasal tones used by the King on certain occasions,

" I have issued sumptuary edicts, however. But if they are not numerous enough, I will issue more; I will issue so many that you '11 have enough of them ; if they be not good, at least you'll have enough of them to content ye. Six pages, M. de Bussy ! By the horn of Beelzebub, cousin, this is too much! "'

And Chicot, puffing out his cheeks, arching his hips, and putting his hand to his side, imitated the King to perfection.

" What is he saying about Bussy ?" asked the King, frowning.

Saint-Luc, who had returned, was about to answer, when the crowd opened and six pages appeared in sight, clad in cloth of gold, covered with carcanets, and having on their breasts their master's arms, sparkling in precious stones.

Behind them came a young man, handsome and haughty. He walked with head erect and a scornful light in his eyes. There was a contemptuous expression in the fold of his lips, and his plain dress of black velvet contrasted strikingly with the rich garb of these pages.

" Bussy ! " " Bussy d'Amboise !" was repeated from mouth to mouth. And every one ran to meet the young man who created all this excitement, and then stood aside to let him pass.

Maugiron, Schomberg, and Quelus had drawn near to the King, as if to defend him.

" Hullo ! " said the first, alluding to the unexpected presence of Bussy and the continued absence of the Due d'Alenqon, to whom Bussy belonged, — " hullo ! the valet we have, but we don't see the valet's master."

" Patience !" rejoined Quelus; " in front of the valet we

have had the valet's valets ; the valet's master is, perhaps, coming behind the first valets' master."

" I say, Saint-Luc," said Schomberg," youngest of Henri's minions and also one of the bravest, " do you know that M. de Bussy is doing you very little honor ? Don't you notice his black doublet ? God's death ! is that the sort of dress for a wedding? Eh?"

" No," retorted Quelus, — " for a funeral!"

" Ah! " murmured Henri, " why should it not be for his own — and worn in advance of the ceremony ? "

" For all that, Saint-Luc," said Maugiron, " M. d'Anjou does not follow Bussy. Might it be that you are in disgrace in that quarter also ?''

The also smote Saint-Luc to the heart.

" But why should he follow Bussy ?" replied Quelus. " Surely you must remember that when his Majesty did M. de Bussy the honor of asking him to belong to himself, M. de Bussy's answer was that, being of the House of Clerrnont, there was no reason why he should belong to anybody, and he was satisfied with belonging purely and solely to himself, being confident he should find in himself the best prince in the world."

The King frowned and bit his mustache.

" Say what you like about it," returned Maugiron, " to my mind he is M. d'Anjoil's servant, beyond a doubt."

"Then," retorted Quelus coolly, "it is so because M. d'Anjou is a greater lord than the King."

This observation was the most poignant that could be made in Henri's presence, for he had ever had a quite brotherly detestation for the Due d'Anjou.

So, although he did not utter a syllable, he was seen to turn pale.

" Come, come, gentlemen," Saint-Luc ventured, in trembling tones, " have a little charity for my guests; do not spoil my wedding-day."

This remark probably recalled Henri to another train of thought.

" Yes," said he, " we must not spoil Saint-Luc's wedding-day, gentlemen."

And he twisted his mustache, uttering the words in a mocking tone that did not escape the poor husband.

" So," cried Schomberg, " Bussy is now connected with the Brissacs, is he not ? "

" How ? " said Maugiron.

" Why, you see Saint-Luc defends him. What the devil ! in this poor world of ours where we have enough to do to defend ourselves, we defend only our relations, allies, and friends ; at least, that 's my idea."

" Gentlemen," said Saint-Luc, " M. de Bussy is neither my ally, friend, nor relation : he is my guest."

The King darted an angry look at Saint-Luc.

" And besides," the latter hastened to say, terrified by the look of the King, " I am not defending him the least bit in the world."

Bussy walked behind his pages with an air of great seriousness and was drawing near to salute the King, when Chicot, hurt that any but himself should have priority in rank, cried:

" Ho, there ! Bussy, Bussy d'Amboise, Louis de Clermont, Count de Bussy, — since it seemeth we must give thee all thy names, to the end that thou mayest recognize it is to thee we speak. Dost not see the true Henri ? Dost not distinguish the King from the fool ? He whom thou goest to is Chicot, my fool, my jester, a fellow who worketh so many antic follies that sometimes he makes me almost die from laughing."

Bussy continued his way until he was in front of Henri. He was about to make his bow, when Henri said :

" Do you not hear, M. de Bussy ? You are called."

And, in the midst of a roar of laughter from his minions, he turned his back on the young captain.

Bussy reddened with anger. But checking his first impulse, he pretended to take the remark of the King seriously; and, without seeming to have noticed the merriment of Quelus, Maugiron, and Schomberg, or their insolent smiles, he turned back to Chicot.

" Ah, you must pardon me, sire !" said he, " there are kings who bear such a close resemblance to buffoons that you will, I hope, excuse me for taking your buffoon for a king."

" Eh !" murmured Henri, turning round ; " what is that he's saying ? "

" Nothing, sire," said Saint-Luc, who, that evening, appeared really to have received from Heaven the mission of pacificator, " nothing, really."

" No matter, Master Bussy ! " cried Chicot, standing on tiptoe, as the King did when he wanted to look majestic, " your conduct was unpardonable."

" Sire," answered Bussy, "pardon me. I was preoccupied."

" With your pages, monsieur ?" retorted Chicot, crossly. " God's death, man! you are ruining yourself in pages. Why, it is encroaching on our prerogatives !"

" How can that be ? " said Bussy, who saw that by giving the jester a loose rein he should make it all the unpleasanter for the King. " I beseech your Majesty to explain ; and if I have in truth done wrong I am ready to confess my sin in all humility."

"Cloth of gold on these rapscallions!- Did one ever hear the like ?" exclaimed Chicot, pointing to the pages; " while you, a nobleman, a colonel, a Clermont, almost a prince, in fact, are dressed in plain black velvet."

"Sire," said Bussy, facing the King's minions, " the reason is obvious. At a time when we see rapscallions in the dress of princes, I think it is good taste for princes, in order to mark the difference between them, to dress like rapscallions."

And he repaid the splendidly apparelled and jewelled young minions with the same insolent smile they had bestowed on him a moment before.

Henri saw his favorites turn pale with fury. They seemed just to be waiting for a word from their master to fling themselves on Bussy. Quelus, the most enraged of any of them with this gentleman, whom he would have already fought but for the King's express prohibition, had his hand on his sword-hilt.

" Do you refer to me and mine in these remarks of yours ? " cried Chicot, who, having usurped the King's seat, answered as Henri might have answered.

And the jester, while speaking, assumed an attitude of such extravagant swagger that one-half of those present burst out laughing. The other half did not laugh, for a very simple reason : the half that laughed, laughed at the other half.

However, three of Bussy's friends, believing perhaps there was going to be a scuffle, came and took their places near him. They were Charles Balzac d'Entragues, better known as An-traguet, Francois d'A udie, Vicomte de Ribeirac, and Livarot.

On seeing these hostile preliminaries Saint-Luc guessed that Bussy had come by order of Monsieur,, with the intention of creating a scandal or sending a challenge. He trembled more than ever, for he felt he was caught between the flaming rage of two powerful enemies who selected his house as their field of battle.

He ran up to Quelus, apparently the most violent of them all, and laying his hand on the hilt of the young man's sword:

" For God's sake !" said he, " keep quiet, my friend, and let us wait."

" Egad ! you can keep quiet if it suit you ! " he cried. " The blow of that booby's fist has fallen on your cheek as well as on mine : he who says anything against one of us says it against all of us, and he who says it against all of us touches the King."

« Quelus, Quelus," said Saint-Luc, « think of the Due d'An-jou, who is behind Bussy, the more on the watch because he is absent, the more to be dreaded because he is invisible. You will not surely insult me by believing, I hope, that I am afraid of the valet, though I am of the master."

" And, God's death ! " cried Quelus, " what has any one to fear when he belongs to the King of France ? If we get into danger for his sake,.the King of France will defend us."

" You, yes; but me ! " said Saint-Luc, piteously.

" Ah! but why the devil did you also go and marry, when you knew how jealous the King is in his friendships? "

" Good! " said Saint-Luc to himself, " every one is thinking only of his own interests; then I must not forget mine, and as I want to have a quiet life, at least during the first fortnight of my marriage, I '11 try to make a friend of M. d'Anjou." And thereupon he left Quelus and advanced toward Bussy.

After his impertinent apostrophe Bussy had raised his head proudly and looked round every part of the hall, on the watch for any impertinence that would be a retort on his own. But every head was turned aside, every mouth dumb : some were afraid of approving, in presence of the King; others of disapproving, in the presence of Bussy.

The latter, seeing Saint-Luc approach, thought that at length he had found what he was on the watch for.

" Monsieur," said he, " do I owe the honor of the conversation with me which you seem to desire to what I have just said?"

" What you have just said ? " asked Saint-Luc, in his most gracious manner. " Pray, what have you said ? I heard nothing of it, certainly. No, as soon as I saw you, I wished to have the pleasure of bidding you welcome, and, while clDing so, offering my sincere thanks for the honor your presence here confers on my house."

Bussy was a man of superior quality in everything. Brave to rashness, he was at the same time scholarly, sharp-witted, and most interesting in company; he knew Saint-Luc's courage and saw clearly that at this moment the duty of the host had got the better of the touchiness of the duellist. If it had been any person else he would have repeated his phrase, that is to say, his challenge ; but he contented himself with bowing profoundly to Saint-Luc and thanking him in some gracious words.

" Oho ! " said Henri, on seeing Saint-Luc so close to Bussy. " I fancy my young rooster is pitching into the braggadocio. He has done right, but I don't want him to be killed. You, Quelus, then, go and see — But no, not you, Quelus, you 're too hotheaded. You see to the matter, Maugiron."

Saint-Luc, however, did not let him approach Bussy, but met him on the way, and together they returned to the King.

" What were you saying to that coxcomb Bussy ? " inquired the King.

« I, sire ? "

" Yes, you."

" I bade him good evening," said Saint-Luc.

" Oh, indeed ! that was all, was it ? " growled the King.

Saint-Luc saw he had made a blunder.

" I bade him good evening, and told him I should have the honor to bid him good day to-morrow morning," he returned.

" Good!" said Henri. " I suspected as much, you madcap."

" But will your gracious Majesty deign to keep my secret ? " added Saint-Luc, affecting to speak in a whisper.

" Oh, pardieu ! " returned Henri, «it is not because I want to stand between you that I speak of the matter. Assuredly, if you could rid me of the fellow without getting a scratch yourself " —

The minions exchanged rapid glances, which Henri appeared not to notice.

" For the fact is," continued the King, " the rascal's insolence is beyond" —

" Yes, yes," exclaimed Saint-Luc. " But you may rest assured, sire, he '11 find his master some day or other."

" Humph!" grumbled the King, shaking his head up and down, " he knows what he's about when he has a sword in his hand! I wish to Heaven some mad dog would bite him ; that would put him out of the way in a fashion that would suit us better than any other."

And he flashed a look at Bussy, who, attended by his three friends, was walking up and down, jostling and jibing at those he knew to be especially hostile to the Due d'Anjou, and, consequently, the King's greatest friends.

" Corbleu ! " cried Chicot, " don't maul my noble minions in this fashion, Master Bussy, for, though I am a king, I can wield a sword just as well as if I were a jester, no better and no worse."

" Hah! the rascal ! " murmured Henri; " upon my word his view of the matter is right enough."

" Sire," said Maugirou, " if Chicot does not stop these scurvy jests, I '11 be obliged to chastise him."

" Don't meddle with him, Maugiron; Chicot is a gentleman and very ticklish on the point of honor. Besides, he is not the one who deserves chastisement the most, for he is not the one that is most insolent."