La Dame de Monsoreau (7 page)

" My dear lord," said the doctor, " if you care to have a speedy cure you must not excite yourself in this fashion."

" Always making an exception, however, of my honest friend Saint-Luc," went on Bussy, without listening to the doctor. " He is quite a different sort of person; he has acted like a friend to me. Consequently, I must pay him my first visit."

" But not before five in the evening," said the doctor.

" As you like," answered Bussy ; " but I assure you it is not going out and seeing somebody, but staying in and seeing nobody, that will retard my recovery."

" What you say is likely enough," said the doctor; " you are, in every respect, a very queer patient. Act as you wish, monseigneur. I have only one thing more to advise : do not get another sword-thrust until you are cured of this."

Bussy promised the doctor to do his best to follow his counsel ; and, having dressed, he called for his litter and was carried to the Hotel de Montinorency.

CHAPTER IV.

HOW MADAME DE SAINT-LUO SPENT HER WEDDING-NIGHT.

A HANDSOME cavalier and perfect gentleman was this Louis de Clermont, better known as Bussy d'Amboise, whom his cousin, Bran tome, has placed in the ranks of the great captains of the sixteenth century. None, for a long time before him, had made more glorious conquests. Kings and princes sought his friendship. Queens and princesses sent him their sweetest smiles. Bussy had succeeded La Mole in the affections of Marguerite of Navarre ; and the good Queen, with the tender heart, needing, no doubt, to be consoled, after the death of the favorite, whose career we have described, had committed so many extravagant follies for the sake of the brave and comely Bussy that her husband, Henri, who did not usually bother his head about that sort of things, was ruffled, while Francois d'Anjou would never have forgiven the love of his sister for Bussy, but that her love for Bussy had gained him over to his interests. Here again the prince sacrificed his enmity to that secret and wavering ambition which was fated to bring him so many troubles and so little real fruit.

But, amid all his successes in war, gallantry, and ambition, Bussy's soul was unmoved by any human weakness, and the man who had never known fear had never, until the period we have reached, known love, either. The emperor's heart which, as he said himself, throbbed in the gentleman's breast, was pure and virginal, like unto the diamond, as yet untouched by the hand of the lapidary, when it leaves the mine where it has ripened beneath the gaze of the sun. Consequently, there was no room in Bussy's mind for ideas that would have rendered him still more like a real emperor. He believed himself worthy of a crown, and was, assuredly, worthier than the wearer of the crown he had in his mind.

Henri III. had offered him his friendship, and Bussy had refused it, saying that the friends of a king are his lackeys, and often something worse; so, such a condition by no means suited him. Henri swallowed the affront in silence, an affront rendered still more bitter when Bussy chose Due Francois for his master. It is true Due Francois was Bussy's master somewhat in the sense in which the lion-keeper is the master of

the lion. He serves and feeds the lion for fear the lion might eat him. Such a lion was this Bussy whom Francois egged on to champion his private quarrels. Bussy saw this clearly enough, but he rather liked the part of champion.

He had made for himself a line of conduct hot unlike that described in the motto of the Rohans : " Cannot be king, scorn to be prince, Rohan I am/' Bussy said to himself: " I cannot be King of France, but M. le Due d'Anjou can and would be. I will be the King of M. le Due d'Anjou."

And, in fact, he was.

When Saint-Luc's people saw the terrible Bussy coming toward the building they ran to notify M. de Brissac.

" Is M. de Saint-Luc at home ? " asked Bussy, thrusting his head through the curtains as his litter entered the gateway.

" No, monsieur," answered the concierge.

"Where shall I find him?"

" I do not know, monsieur," said the dignified servitor. " Indeed, we are very anxious, for M. de Saint-Luc has not returned to the hotel since yesterday evening."

" Oh, nonsense ! " returned Bussy, astounded.

" It is as I have the honor to tell you."

" And Madame de Saint-Luc ? "

" Oh, as to Madame de Saint-Luc it is another matter."

« She is in the hotel ? "

« Yes."

" Be good enough to tell her I shall be charmed if she permit me to pay her my respects."

Five minutes later the messenger returned, saying Madame de Saint-Luc would receive M. de Bussy with pleasure.

Bussy climbed down from his velvet cushions and ascended the grand staircase. When the young man entered the reception-room, Jeanne de la Cosse ran to meet him. She was very pale, and her hair, dark as a raven's wing, gave that paleness the tone of ivory when it is turning yellow. Her eyes were reddened by sorrow and sleeplessness, and the silvery furrow of a recent tear could be traced on her cheek. Bussy, who at first was inclined to smile at this paleness and who was preparing a compliment to these heavy eyes adapted to the occasion, stopped improvising when he saw such signs of real grief.

" You are welcome, M. de Bussy," said the young woman, "notwithstanding the fear your presence arouses in me."

" What do you mean, madame ? " asked Bussy, " and how could my presence betoken a misfortune ? "

" Ah ! there was a meeting between you and M. de Saint-Luc last night, was there not ? Come, confess it."

" Between me and Saint-Luc ? " repeated Bussy, astonished.

" Yes, he left me to speak to you. You belong to the Due d'Anjou, he to the King; you had a quarrel. Hide nothing from me, monsieur, I beseech you. You must understand my anxiety. It is true he left with the King, but he must have returned and met you. Confess the truth. What has become of M.'de Saint-Luc ?"

" Madame," said Bussy, " this is really marvellous. I was expecting you to ask about my wound, and you question me about "

" M. de Saint-Luc wounded you ! He has fought, then ! " cried Jeanne. " Ah, you see now "

" No, madame, he has not fought at all, certainly not with me, and, thank God, it was not my dear friend Saint-Luc who wounded me. On the contrary, he did all he could to prevent my being wounded. Why, he must have told you we are now like Damon and Pythias ! "

" He told me ! Why, how could he, since I have not seen him since ? "

" Have not seen him since ? Then what your concierge told me is true ? "

" What did he tell you ? "

"That Saint-Luc has not returned since eleven o'clock yesterday evening. You have not seen your husband, you say, since eleven o'clock yesterday evening ? "

"Alas! no."

" But where can he be ? "

" That is what I am" asking you."

" For goodness' sake, madame, relate what happened," said Bussy, who suspected what had occurred, "it must be very droll."

The poor woman looked at Bussy with the greatest astonishment.

" Oh, no," Bussy continued hastily, " what I mean is that it is very sad. I have lost a good deal of blood and am not in possession of all my faculties. Tell me, madame, your lamentable story. I am anxious to hear it."

And Jeanne related all that she knew ; namely, the order

given by Henri to Saint-Luc to attend him, the closing of the Louvre gates, the answer of the guards, and the continued absence of her husband afterward.

" Ha! " said Bussy, "now I understand it all."

;( What ! you understand it ? " exclaimed Jeanne.

" Yes; his Majesty carried Saint-Luc to the Louvre, and once inside the Louvre, he has been unable to get out."

" And why has he been unable to get out ? "

" Oh ! " said Bussy, much embarrassed, " you are now asking me to reveal state secrets."

" But," said the young woman, " I went to the Louvre, and my father also."

"Well?"

" Well, the guards answered they did not know what we meant, and that M. de Saint-Luc must have returned home."

"It is only surer than ever M. de Saint-Luc is in the Louvre," said Bussy.

" You think so ? "

" Most certainly, and, if you wish, you can be equally certain on your side."

« How ? "

" By seeing for yourself."

" Is that possible, then ? "

" Certainly."

" But it is useless for me to go to the palace. I should be sent away with the same words I heard before. For, if he is there, why should I be prevented from seeing him ? "

" Would you like to enter the Louvre ? "

" For what purpose ? "

" To see Saint-Luc."

" But if he is not there ? "

" Why, mordieu ! I tell you he is there ; I ? m sure of it."

" That is strange ! "

" No, it 's royal."

" So, then, you can enter the Louvre ? "

" Certainly. I am not Saint-Luc's wife."

" You confound me."

" Even so. Come ! "

" But what is your meaning ? You claim the wife of Saint-Luc cannot enter the Louvre, and yet you want to bring me to it along with you ! "

" Not at all, madame; it is not Saint-Luc's wife I want to bring with me — A woman ! You make me blush ! "

" Then you are laughing at me, and, considering my distress, you are very cruel."

" Ah, no! dear lady. Just listen to me : You are twenty, your eyes are black, you are tall and slim, you resemble my youngest page ; you understand ? — the pretty lad who looked so well in his cloth of gold costume, yesterday evening ? "

" Oh, what nonsense, M. de Bussy ! " cried Jeanne, blushing.

" But listen. I have no other means than the one I proposed. Take it or leave it. Do you want to see Saint-Luc or do you not ? "

" Oh, I would give the world to see him! "

" Well, then, I promise that you '11 see him without giving anything."

« Yes — but "

" Oh, I have told you the only way."

" Then, M. de Bussy, I will do what you propose ; you tell the boy I want one of his dresses, and I shall send one of my women for it."

" No, I have nine new ones at home I had made for those scamps for the Queen-mother's next ball. I '11 select the one I think best suited to your figure and send it ; then you will meet me at a place agreed on ; let it be, if you like, at the corner of the Rue des Proving in the Rue Saint-Honore ; from there "

" From there ? "

" Well, from there we '11 go to the Louvre together."

Jeanne burst out laughing and held out her hand to Bussy.

" Forgive me my suspicions," said she.

" With all my heart. You will gratify me with an adventure that will make all Europe laugh. I am the obliged party."

And, taking leave of the young woman, he returned home to make his preparations for the masquerade.

That night, at the appointed hour, Bussy and Madame de Saint-Luc met at the top of the Barriere des Sergents. If the young woman had not worn his page's costume, Bussy would not have recognized her. She was adorable in her disguise. Both, after exchanging a few words, proceeded to the Louvre.

At the end of the Rue des Fosses Saint-Germain-!'Auxer-rois they met a large party. This party filled the entire street and barred their passage.

Jeanne was frightened. Bussy recognized by the torches the Due d' An jou's arquebusiers, and the prince himself could be recognized anywhere by the piebald horse-he always rode and the white velvet cloak he usually wore.

" Ah," said Bussy, turning to Jeanne, " so you were puzzled, my fair page, to know how you were to enter the Louvre ! You may rest easy now ; you shall enter it in triumph."

" Ho, monseigneur ! " shouted Bussy, with all the power of his lungs, to the Due d'Anjou.

The call penetrated the air, and, despite the tramping of horses and the hum of voices, reached the prince, who turned round.

" What! Bussy ? " he cried, delighted. " I was afraid they had killed you, and was going to your house in the Rue de Grenelle."

" Faith, monseigneur," said Bussy, without even thanking the prince for this mark of attention, «if I am not dead, it is nobody's fault except my own. In good truth, monseigneur, you get me into pleasant situations, nice pitfalls, and then leave me there. Yesterday night, after that ball of Saint-Luc, I got among regular cut-throats. There was not another Angevin with me, and I give you my word of honor they have drained every drop of blood in my body."

" God's death, Bussy, they ? 11 pay for the blood you lost with every drop of their own !"

" Yes, you say that," said Bussy, with his usual freedom, " and you '11 have a smile for the first of them you meet. If only you showed your teeth when you smiled ; but you keep your lips too tight for that."

" Well," returned the prince, " follow me to the Louvre and you shall see."

" Stay, monseigneur. I am not going to the Louvre if it is to receive any insults. That may do very well for princes of the blood and for minions, not for me."

" Rest easy, I have taken the matter to heart."

" Do you promise that the reparation will be ample ? "

" I promise you '11 have satisfaction. You are still hesitating, it seems ? "

" Monseigneur, I know you so well."

" Come, I tell you ; we '11 talk the matter over."

" Nothing could be better for your business than this,"

whispered Bussy in the countess' ear ; " there will be a scandalous quarrel between these good brothers, who detest each other, and, during the scene, you will easily find Saint-Luc."

" Well, now," said the prince, " have you decided, or do you require me to pledge you my honor as a prince ? "