La Dame de Monsoreau (56 page)

" With confidence ? " repeated Henri. " Do you not always come to me with confidence, cousin ? "

" Sire, that is a matter of course ; but the confidence of which I speak refers to the proposition I am about to make to you."

" Ah, you have a proposition to make to me, cousin ! Then you may speak with all the confidence to which you alluded. What is your proposition ? "

" The execution of one of the finest ideas that ever moved the Christian world since the Crusades became impossible."

" Speak, duke."

" Sire," continued the duke, now raising his voice so as to be heard in the ante-chamber, "the title of Most Christian King is not a vain one ; it exacts from him who bears it an ardent zeal for the defence of religion. The eldest son of the Church —

and that, sire, is your title — must always be ready to defend his mother."

" Ha ! " said Chicot, " this cousin of mine who preaches with a rapier by his side, and helm on head, is rather droll ! I am no longer astonished that the monks want to make war. Henri, I insist that you give a regiment to Brother Go-renflot! "

The duke feigned not to hear ; Henri crossed his legs, rested his elbow on his knee and his chin on his hand.

" Is the Church threatened by the Saracens, my dear duke ? " he asked, " or can it be that you aspire to be king — of Jerusalem ? "

" Sire," returned the duke, " the great throng of people who followed me, blessing my name, honored me with this reception solely, I assure you, for the purpose of rewarding my ardent zeal in defending the faith. I have already had the honor of speaking to your Majesty, before your accession to the throne, of a plan for an alliance between all true Catholics."

" Yes, yes," said Chicot, " I remember the League; by Saint Bartholomew, I do. The League, my sovereign, — venire de biche, — my son, you must be awfully forgetful not to remember that triumphant idea."

The duke turned round at these words and glanced disdainfully at the speaker, quite unaware of their effect on the King's mind since the recent revelations of M. de Mor-villiers.

The Due d'Anjou was alarmed by them, and, laying a finger on his lips, he gazed fixedly on the Due de Guise, pale and motionless as a statue of Prudence.

This time Henri did not see the signs of an understanding that showed the two princes had interests in common ; but Chicot, approaching his ear under pretence of fixing one of his two paper hens between the little chains of rubies in his cap, whispered :

" Look at your brother, Henri."

Henri raised his eyes quickly ; the finger of the prince was lowered almost as quickly, but it was too late. Henri had seen the gesture and guessed its meaning.

" Sire," continued the Due de Guise, Avho had noticed Chi-cot's action, but could not hear his words, " the Catholics have, indeed, called their association the holy League, and its prin-

cipal object is to strengthen the throne against the Huguenots, the mortal enemies of that throne."

" Well spoken/' cried Chicot. " I approve pedibus et nutu"

" But," the duke went on, " to form an association is of little importance, no matter how compact the body may be, except it be directed in the course it should take. Now, in a kingdom like France, several millions of men cannot assemble without the consent of the king."

" Several millions of men! " cried Henri, making no effort to suppress his astonishment, which, in fact, might reasonably be interpreted as terror as well as amazement.

" Several millions of men," repeated Chicot. " Oh, it is but a small seed of discontent ; but if planted by skilful hands — as I have no doubt it shall be — likely to produce quite a pretty crop."

The duke's patience was at length exhausted; he tightened his scornful lips, and, pressing his foot firmly on the floor, upon which he did not dare to stamp, he said:

" I am astonished, sire, that your Majesty should allow me to be interrupted when I am speaking to you of such serious matters."

Chicot, who pretended to feel all the justice of the duke's indignation, cast furious glances around him on every side, and, imitating the squeaking voice of the usher of the Parliament :

" Silence, I say !" cried he, " or, ventre de biche ! you '11 have a bone to pick with me ! "

" Several millions of men ! " said the King, who had considerable difficulty in swallowing these figures; " it is very flattering for the Catholic religion ; and how many Protestants are there in my kingdom who oppose this association of so many millions ? "

The duke seemed to be calculating.

" Four," said Chicot.

This fresh sally produced a burst of laughter among the King's friends, while the Due de Guise frowned, and the gentlemen in the ante-chamber murmured loudly at the Gascon's audacity.

The King turned slowly toward the door from whence these murmurs proceeded, and as Henri, when he liked, could assume a look of great dignity, the murmurs ceased.

Then, fixing the same look on the duke, he said :

" Let us see, monsieur, what you wish; to the point, to the point! "

" I ask, sire, — for the popularity of my sovereign is, perhaps, even dearer to me than my own, — I ask that your Majesty show you are as superior to us in your zeal for the Catholic religion as you are in everything else, and so deprive the discontented of every pretext for renewing the wars."

" Oh, if it is a question of war, cousin/' said Henri, " I have troops. In fact, you have some twenty-five thousand of them under your orders in the camp which you have just quitted with the object of aiding me with your excellent advice."

" Sire," said the duke, " when I speak of war I ought, perhaps, to explain myself."

" Explain yourself, cousin ; you are a great captain, and it will give me, I assure you, great pleasure to hear you discourse on such subjects."

" Sire, I meant that, at the present time, kings have to sustain two wars, a moral war, if I may so express myself, and a political war; a war against ideas and a war against men."

" Mordieu ! " cried Chicot, " what a powerful exposition ! "

" Silence, fool! " said the King.

" Men," continued the duke, " men are visible, palpable, mortal. You can meet, attack, conquer them; and, when you have conquered them, you can have them tried and hanged ; or, better still "

" — you can hang them without trying them," said Chicot; " it is shorter and more kinglike."

" But ideas," the duke went on, " cannot be met in the same way, sire. They glide unseen and penetrate; they hide, especially from the eyes of those who wish to destroy them; concealed in the depths of souls, they there throw out deep roots ; the more you cut off the branches that imprudently appear, the more potent and indestructible become the roots below. An idea, sire, is a young giant which must be watched night and day ; for the idea that crept yesterday at your feet may tomorrow tower above your head. An idea, sire, is like a spark falling upon straw ; there is need of good eyes to discover the beginning of the conflagration, and that, sire, is the reason why millions of watchers are needed."

" And therefore my four French Huguenots must be sent promptly to the devil! " cried Chicot; " venire de biche ! I pity them !"

" And it is in order to provide for and direct those watchers that I propose to your Majesty that you appoint a chief for this holy Union."

" Have you spoken, cousin ? " asked Henri of the duke.

" Yes, sire, and without ambiguity, as your Majesty must have perceived."

Chicot heaved a tremendous sigh, while the Due d'Anjou, recovered from his first alarm, smiled on the Lorraine prince.

" Well!" said the King to those around him, " what do you think of the matter, gentlemen ? "

Chicot made no answer; he took off his hat and gloves, and, seizing a lion's skin by the tail, he dragged it into a corner of the apartment and lay down on it.

" What 's that you are doing, Chicot ? " inquired the King.

" Sire," said Chicot, " it is claimed that night brings good counsel. Why is this said to be so ? because during night we sleep. I am going to sleep, sire, and to-morrow, when my brain is quite rested, I will give an answer to my cousin of Guise."

And he stretched his Jegs out over the animal's claws.

The duke hurled a furious look at the Gascon, to which the latter, opening one eye, replied with a snore that resembled the rumbling of thunder.

" Well, sire," asked the duke, " what is your Majesty's opinion ? "

" My opinion is that you are quite right, as you always are, cousin. Assemble, then, your principal Leaguers, come to me at their head, and I will choose the man who ought to be their chief in the interests of religion."

" And when am I to come, sire ? " inquired the duke.

" To-morrow."

While the King uttered the last word he skilfully divided his smile. The Due de Guise had the first part of it, the Due d'Anjou the second.

The latter was about to retire with the rest of the court; but, at the first step he took toward the door, Henri said :

" Stay, brother, I want to speak with you."

The Due de Guise pressed his forehead for an instant with his hand, as if he would thereby thrust back a whole world of thoughts, and then set out with his suite, who quickly disappeared under the vaults of the gallery.

A few minutes after, were heard the shouts of the multitude,

CASTOR AND POLLUX. B75

cheering him on leaving the Louvre as they had cheered him on entering it.

Chicot still snored, but we should not venture to say that he slept.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

CASTOR AND POLLUX.

THE King, while retaining his brother, had dismissed his favorites.

The Due d'Anjou who, during the whole preceding scene, had been successful enough in assuming an air of indifference, except in the eyes of Chicot and M. de Guise, accepted Henri's invitation without distrust. He had no suspicion of the glance the King had, at the Gascon's instigation, darted at him, and which had caught his indiscreet finger too near his lips.

" Brother," said Henri, after making sure that every one except Chicot had left, and marching with great strides from the door to the window, " do you know that I am a very happy prince ? "

" Sire," said the duke, " if your Majesty be really happy, your happiness is but the reward which Heaven owes you on account of your merits."

Henri gazed on his brother.

" Yes, very happy," he continued, " for, when great ideas do not come to myself, they come to those who surround me. Now, the idea which has just entered the head of my cousin of Guise is a very great idea indeed !"

Chicot opened one eye, as if he did not hear so well with both eyes closed and as if he should understand the King's words better when he saw his face.

The duke bowed in sign of assent.

" In fact," went on Henri, " to unite all Catholics under one banner, to turn our kingdom into a church, and, without apparently intending to do so, to arm all France, from Calais to Languedoc, from Bretagne to Burgundy, so as to have an army always ready to march against England, Flanders, or Spain, without ever giving the slightest cause of suspicion to England, Flanders, or Spain, is, you must admit, Francois, a magnificent idea ! "

" Is it not, sire ? " said the Due d'Anjou, delighted to see that his brother shared the views of his own ally, the Due de Guise.

" Yes, and I confess I have the strongest feeling that the author of such a fine project should be amply rewarded."

Chicot opened both his eyes, but only to shut them again; he had detected on the King's face one of those imperceptible smiles, visible to him alone, for he knew his Henri better than any one, and this smile made him feel quite easy in his mind.

" Yes," continued Henri, " I repeat it, such a project deserves to be rewarded, and I am resolved to do everything in my power for its originator. But is the Due de Guise, Francois, truly the father of this fine idea, or rather, of this fine work ? for the work has begun, has it not, brother ? "

The duke indicated by a sign that, in fact, the plan was already in operation.

" Better and better," returned the King. " I said I was a very happy prince ; I ought to have said too happy, Franqois, since not only do these ideas come to my neighbors, but, in the eagerness to be useful to their King and relative, they proceed at once to put them into execution. But I have already asked you, my dear Francois," said Henri, placing his hand on his brother's shoulder, «I have already asked you is it to the Due de Guise that I am really indebted for a thought worthy of a king."

" No, sire ; Cardinal de Lorraine had the same idea twenty years ago, and the massacre of Saint Bartholomew alone prevented its execution, or rather rendered its execution needless at the time."

" Ah ! how unfortunate it is that the cardinal is dead! " said Henri, " I should have had him elected Pope on the death of his Holiness Gregory XIII.; but," continued Henri, with that wonderful seeming frankness which made him the first comedian in his kingdom, " after all, his nephew has inherited his idea and has made it bear abundant fruit. Unfortunately, however, I cannot make him Pope, but I will make him — What can I make him, Franqois that he is not already?"

" Sire," said Francois, completely deceived by his brother's words, " you exaggerate your cousin's merits; he has only inherited the idea, as I have already told you, and he has been powerfully aided in turning this idea to account."

" By his brother the cardinal ? "

" Doubtless he has had something to do with cultivating it, but I do not mean him."

" Ah ! the Due de Mayenne ? "