La Dame de Monsoreau (51 page)

Henri III. heard a strange sound amid the general silence; it was like a burst of stifled laughter, and, from habit, he looked to see if Chicot was not there, for, to his mind, none but Chicot would have dared to laugh at such a moment.

It was not Chicot, however. Chicot, alas! was absent, a source of much sorrow to the King, who, it will be remembered, had lost sight of him suddenly on the Fontainebleau highway and not heard of him since. This was a cavalier who had been carried to the church by a horse that was still steaming, and who had made his way with his muddy boots and soiled clothes through the barefooted courtiers in their penitent robes and sacks.

Although he saw the King turn round, he stood boldly in the choir, for this cavalier was a courtier, as was denoted by his attitude even more than by the elegance of his costume.

Henri, irritated at seeing so unpunctual a cavalier making such a noise and exhibiting by his dress so insolent a disregard for the monastic garb that had been prescribed for the day, darted a glance at him that was full of reproof and anger.

The newcomer did not pretend to perceive it, and, crossing some flagstone upon which were carved the effigies of certain bishops, he knelt beside the velvet chair of M. le Due d'Anjou, who, being absorbed in his thoughts rather than in his prayers, was not paying the slightest attention to what was passing around him.

However, when he felt the touch of this newcomer, he turned quickly, and, in a low voice, exclaimed:

" Bussy ! "

" Good-day, monseigneur," answered the cavalier, as indifferently as if he had left the duke the evening before and nothing unusual had occurred since they were together.

" But," said the prince, " are you crazy ? ? '

" Why so, monseigneur ? "

" To leave any place, no matter where, and come here to see the chemises of Our Lady."

" The reason is, monseigneur, that I must speak with you immediately."

" Why did you not come sooner ? "

" Probably because I could not."

" But what has occurred during the three weeks you have disappeared ? "

" That is just what I want to speak to you about."

" Well, you must wait until we get out of the church."

" Alas! I see I must, and that is the very thing that annoys me."

" Hush ! we 're at the end ; have patience, and we '11 go home together."

" It is what I reckoned on doing, monseigneur."

The ceremony, as the prince stated, was nearly over. The King had just passed the rather coarse chemise of Our Lady over his own tine linen, and the Queen, aided by her maids of honor, was now doing the same.

Then the King knelt and the Queen imitated him; both remained for a moment in earnest prayer under a vast canopy, while the courtiers prostrated themselves on the floor, with a view to gaining the good graces of their sovereign.

After this, the King rose, doffed the holy tunic, saluted the archbishop, saluted the Queen, and proceeded to the door of the cathedral.

But he stopped on the way : he had perceived Bussy.

" Ah ! monsieur," said he, " it would seem our devotions are not to your taste, else you would hardly wear gold and silk when your sovereign wears drugget and serge."

" Sire," answered Bussy, with dignity, though his impatience under the rebuke made him change color, " no one, even among those whose garb is humblest and whose feet are most lacerated, has a keener zeal for your Majesty's service than I. But I have arrived after a long and wearisome journey, and I only learned this mornirig of your Majesty's departure for Chartres ; I have, therefore, travelled twenty-two leagues in five hours, sire, for the purpose of joining your Majesty; that is the reason I had not time to change my dress, a circumstance your Majesty, for that matter, would never have noticed if, instead

of coming to unite my humble prayers with yours, I had remained in Paris."

The King appeared satisfied, but, when he perceived that his friends shrugged their shoulders during Bussy's explanation, he feared to offend them by showing any favor to his brother's gentleman, and went on.

Bussy, not troubled in the slightest, let him pass.

" What! " said the Due d'Anjou, « did you not see ? "

" See what ? "

" Schomberg, Quelus, and Maugiron shrugging their shoulders at your expense."

" Oh, yes, monseigneur, I saw all that perfectly," answered Bussy, with great calmness.

« Well ? » .

" Well! do you believe I am going to cut the throats of my fellow-men in a church, or, at least, quite close to one ? I am too good a Christian to think of it."

" Oh, all right," said the Due dfAujou, in amazement; " I imagined that either you did not see or did not wish to see."

Bussy shrugged his shoulders in his turn, and, taking the prince aside, when they were out of the church :

" We are going to your lodgings, are we not, monseigneur ? " he inquired.

" Immediately, for you ought certainly to have a good deal to tell me."

" Yes, monseigneur, you guess correctly ; I am perfectly sure of certain things of which you have no suspicion."

The duke looked at Bussy in open-eyed amazement.

" Well, let me salute the King, and I am with you."

The prince went and took leave of his brother, who gave him permission to return to Paris whenever he liked.

Then, returning to Bussy with all speed, he took him with him to one of the apartments in the hotel assigned him as a residence.

" Now, my friend," said he, " sit down there, and tell me of all your adventures. Do you know I thought you were dead ? "

" I can well imagine it, monseigneur." .

" Do you know that every one at court dressed in white to mark his joy at your disappearance, and that many a breast has breathed freely for the first time since you could draw a sword ? But that is not the question at present. Well, then,

you left me to follow the track of a beautiful unknown ! Who was this woman and what am I to hope for ? "

" You must reap what you have sown, monseigneur, that is to say, a considerable harvest of shame! "

" What do you mean ? " inquired the duke, more astonished at the words than even at the disrespectful tone in which they were uttered.

" You have heard me, monseigneur," said Bussy, coldly ; " it is useless, then, for me to repeat."

" Explain yourself, monsieur, and leave such enigmas and anagrams to Chicot."

" Oh, nothing is easier, monseigneur; all I have to do is to appeal to your memory."

" But who is this woman ? "

" I thought you had recognized her, monseigneur."

" Then it was she! " cried the duke.

" Yes, monseigneur."

" You have seen her ? "

« Yes."

" Did she speak ? "

" Certainly ; it is only ghosts who do not speak. After what had occurred, you had reason to believe her dead, and you may have hoped that she was."

The duke turned pale, crushed by the stern words of him who ought to be his champion.

(( Yes, monseigneur," continued Bussy, " although you have driven to martyrdom a young girl of noble birth, that young girl has escaped her martyrdom ; but do not breathe yet, do not think yourself absolved, for, though she has saved her life, she has met with a misfortune worse than death."

" What is it ? What has happened to her ? " said the prince, trembling.

" What has happened to her, monseigneur, is that a man has saved her honor, has saved her life, but his help has cost her so dear that she regrets it was ever rendered."

" Finish, finish, I say."

"Well, then, monseigneur, the Demoiselle de Meridor, to escape from the arms of the Due d'Anjou, whose mistress she would not be, has flung herself into the arms of a man she execrates."

" What do you say ? "

" I say that Diane de Meridor is known to-day as Madame de Monsoreau."

At these words, instead of the paleness that ordinarily was spread over the cheeks of Francois, such a flush of blood surged to his face that it seemed to gush from his eyes.

" Sang du Christ ! " cried the prince, furiously, " can this be true ? "

" It must be, since I have said it," answered Bussy, haughtily.

" I did not mean that," said the prince, " I never doubted your loyalty, Bussy. I was only wondering if a Monsoreau, one of my own gentlemen, could have dared to interfere between me and a woman I honored with my love."

" And why not ? " asked Bussy.

" Then you would have done what he has done — you, too ? "

" I would have done more, I would have warned you that you were dishonoring yourself."

" Listen, Bussy," said the duke, becoming suddenly calm, " listen, if you please ; you understand, of course, that I do not condescend to justify myself."

" There you are wrong, my prince ; where honor is concerned you are only a gentleman, like the rest of us."

" "Well, for that very reason, I will ask you to be the judge of M. de Monsoreau."

" I ? "

" Yes, you, and to tell me whether he is not a traitor — a traitor to me."

« To you ? "

" To me, whose intentions he knew."

" And the intentions of your highness were " —

" Of course, to win the love of Diane."

« To win her love ? "

" Yes, but in no case to employ violence."

" Then these were your intentions, monseigneur ? " asked Bussy, with an ironical smile.

" Undoubtedly, and these intentions I kept to up to the last moment, although M. de Monsoreau argued against them with all the logic of which he is capable."

" Monseigneur ! monseigneur ! what is this you say ? This man has urged you to dishonor Diane ? "

"Yes."

" By his counsels ? "'

" By his letters. Should you like to see one of them ? "

" Oh ! " cried Bussy, " if I could believe that! "

" Wait a second and you '11 see."

And the duke ran to his study for a little box, over which a page always kept guard, and took a note from it which he gave to Bussy.

" Read," said he, " since you doubt the word of your prince."

Bussy seized the note, his hand trembling with uncertainty, and read: " Monseigneur :

" Your highness may be at your ease ; this enterprise does not involve any risk, for the young lady starts this evening to spend a week with an aunt who lives at the Castle of Lude; I take charge of the whole matter, then, and you need not be anxious. As for the young lady's scruples, I am pretty sure they will vanish when she finds herself in your highness' presence; meanwhile, I act, and this evening she will be in the Castle of Beauge.

" Of your highness the respectful servant,

" Bryant de Monsoreau."

" Well! what do you say to that, Bussy ? " asked the prince, after his gentleman had read the letter a second time.

" I say that you are well served, monseigneur."

" Which means that I am betrayed."

" Ah, you are right ; I forgot the end."

" Tricked ! the wretch! He made me believe in the death of a woman "

" He stole from you; his crime is very black, indeed ; but," added Bussy, with caustic irony, " M. de Monsoreau's love is an excuse."

" Ah ! that is your opinion, is it," said the duke, with his devilish smile.

" Faith," answered Bussy, " I have no opinion on the matter at all; if it 's your opinion it 's my opinion."

" What should you do in my place ? But first, wait a moment. What did he do himself ? "

" He made the father believe you were the ravisher, offered his help, and appeared at the Castle of Beauge with a letter from the Baron de Meridor. Then he brought a boat under the windows, carried off the prisoner, shut her up in the house

you know of, and, by constantly working on her fears, forced her to become his wife."

" And is not such treachery infamous ? " cried the duke.

" Placed under the shelter of your own, monseigneur," answered Bussy, with his ordinary boldness.

" Ah, Bussy, you shall see how I will avenge myself! "

" Avenge yourself ! Nonsense, monseigneur, you will do no such thing."

" Why ? "

" Princes do not avenge themselves, monseigneur, they punish. You will charge this Monsoreau with his infamous conduct, and punish him."

" But how ? "

" By restoring happiness to Mademoiselle de Meridor."

"And can I?"

" Certainly."

" In what way ? "

" By restoring to her her liberty."

"Come, now, explain."

" Nothing more easy ; the marriage was forced, therefore it is null."

" You are right."

" Have the marriage annulled, and you will have acted, monseigneur, like a loyal gentleman and a noble prince."

" Ah ! " said the prince, suspiciously, " what warmth ! You are interested in this, Bussy ? "

" I ? Not the least in the world, monseigneur; what interests me, monseigneur, is that no one may be able to say that Louis de Clermont, Comte de Bussy, is in the service of a perfidious prince and a dishonorable man."

"Well, you shall see. But how are we to break the marriage ? "

" Nothing more easy. Make her father act."

" The Baron de Meridor ? "

« Yes."

" But he is away in Anjou."

" No, monseigneur, he is in Paris."

" At your house ? "

"No, at his daughter's. Tell him, monseigneur, that he may rely on you, that, instead of regarding you as an enemy, as he does at present, he may regard you as a protector, and he, who cursed your name, will bless it as that of his good genius."

" He is a powerful nobleman in his own country/' said the duke, "and is said to be very influential throughout the province."

" Yes, monseigneur, but what you ought to remember before anything else is that he is a father, that his daughter is unhappy, and that her unhappiness is the cause of his."

" And when can I see him ? "

" As soon as you return to Paris."

" Very well."

"It is agreed, then, is it not, monseigneur ? "

« Yes."

" On your honor as a gentleman ? "

" On my honor as a prince."

" And when do you start ? "

" This evening. Will you come with me ? "

" No, I must precede you."

" Go, and be sure to be at hand."

" I am yours forever, monseigneur. Where shall I find you ? "

" A.t> the King's levee, about noon to-morrow."

" I will be there, monseigneur ; adieu."

Bussy did not lose a moment, and the" distance which it took the duke, sleeping in his litter, fifteen hours to accomplish, the young man, who was returning to Paris in an ecstasy of love and joy, got through in five, in order that he might console the baron, to whom he had offered his help, and comfort Diane, to whom he was about to offer the half of his life.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

HOW CHICOT RETURNED TO THE LOUVRE AND WAS RECEIVED BY KING HENRI III.

EVERYBODY was asleep in the Louvre, for it was not yet eleven in the morning; the sentries in the courtyard seemed to move with cautious footsteps; the gentlemen who relieved guard walked their horses slowly.

The King was exhausted by his pilgrimage and had need of repose.

Two men appeared at the same time in front of the principal

gate of the Louvre, the one on a magnificent barb, the other on an Andalusian covered with perspiration.

They halted before the gate and exchanged looks, for, having coine from opposite directions, they met at this point.

" M. de Chicot," cried the younger of the two, with a polite salutation, " how do you feel this morning ? "

" What ! it is Seigneur de Bussy. Wonderfully well, thank you, monsieur," answered Chicot with an ease and courtesy that betrayed the gentleman to quite as great a degree as the salutation of Bussy betrayed the great nobleman and the elegant courtier.

" You come for the levee of the King, do you not, monsieur ? " inquired Bussy.

" And you also, 1 presume ? "

" No. I come to pay my respects to Monseigneur le Due d'Anjou. You are aware, M. de Chicot," added Bussy, with a smile, " that I have not the honor of being among his Majesty's favorites."

" The reproach is for the King and not for you, monsieur ! "

Bussy bowed.

" Have you come from a distance ? " inquired Bussy. " I was told you were travelling."

" Yes, monsieur, I was hunting," answered Chicot. " But, by the way, have you not been travelling, too ? "

" Yes, I have been making a tour in the provinces. And now, monsieur," continued Bussy, " would you be kind enough to do me a favor ? "

" Certainly, I shall feel infinitely honored if I have it in my power to render any service to M. de Bussy," said Chicot.

" Well, then, as you are a privileged person, and can enter the Louvre, while I must remain in the antechamber, will you oblige me by informing the Due d'Anjou that I am waiting for him ? "

" M. le Due d'Anjou is in the Louvre and will doubtless be present at the King's levee; why not enter along with me, monsieur ? "

" I am afraid his Majesty would not view my appearance with pleasure."

"Pshaw!"

" Faith, he has not, so far, accustomed me to his gracious smiles."

" You may rest assured that, from this time forward, all that is going to change."

" Aha ! are you a sorcerer, M. de Chicot ? "

" Sometimes. Courage, M. de Bussy, come with me."

Bussy yielded, and they entered together, the one going to the apartments of the Due d'Anjou, who, as we think we have already stated, lodged in the suite that had once belonged to Queen Marguerite, the other to the chamber of the King.

Henri III. was awake and had rung; a throng of valets and friends had hurried into the royal chamber ; the chicken broth, spiced wine, and meat pies had been already served, when Chicot appeared in his august majesty's presence, with as frisky a gait as ever, and, without saying by your leave, began eating from the King's dish and drinking from the golden goblet.

" Par le mordieu ! " cried the enraptured monarch, pretending to be in a great rage, " if it is n't that rascal Chicot! a fugitive, a vagabond, a miscreant! "

" I say ! 1 say, my good son ! what ails you ? " said Chicot, sitting down unceremoniously in his dusty boots ; " so we are forgetting our forced march from Poland, when we played the part of the stag, with all the magnates shouting : ' Yoicks ! tally-ho !' at our tail "