La Dame de Monsoreau (75 page)

She had scarcely finished when the foliage of the oak rustled; a quantity of moss and broken mortar rolled down from the old wall, and a man, bounding through the middle of the ivy and wild mulberries, appeared before Diane. He flung himself on his knees, and the young woman uttered a cry of terror.

Jeanne stole away the moment she saw and recognized this man.

" You know now you are not forgotten," murmured Bussy,

kissing, as he knelt, the hem of Diane's robe, which he held respectfully in his trembling hand.

She, too, recognized the voice, the smile of the count, and, stunned, overpowered, maddened by this unlooked-for happiness, she opened her arms, and fell, swooning and unconscious, on the breast of the man she had just accused of indifference.

CHAPTER LIV.

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THE LOVERS.

SWOONS occasioned by joy are neither very long nor very dangerous. There have been cases where such swoons resulted in death, but they are exceedingly rare.

Diane, therefore, soon opened her eyes and found herself lying in Bussy's arms, for Bussy had determined that the first look of his mistress should not be for Madame de Saint-Luc.

" Oh ! " she murmured, when she awoke, " oh ! to surprise us in this manner, count, is frightful!"

Bussy had expected to be greeted by words of a different kind.

And who knows — men are so unreasonable — who knows, we repeat, if he did not expect something more than words, having so large an experience of women who returned to life after fainting-fits and trances ?

Not only did Diane disappoint any such expectation, if he entertained it, but she gently freed herself from the arms that held her captive, and returned to her friend. That friend had at first proved her discretion by going for a walk under the adjoining trees ; then, interested, as every woman would be, in the charming spectacle of a reconciliation of lovers, she came back at a leisurely pace, not with the intention of taking part in the conversation, but determined not to lose a word of it, either.

" What, madame, is this the way you receive me ? " asked Bussy.

" No," said Diane, " for, in good truth, M. de Bussy, I am conscious of the tenderness and affection that led you here — But"

" Oh, for mercy's sake, no ' buts/" sighed Bussy, falling again on his knees before Diane.

" No, no, not on your knees, pray, M. de Bussy."

" Oh! " said the count, clasping his hands, " allow me to stay here and pray to you as I am doing. I have so longed for this moment."

" Yes, but in order to come here you have climbed over the wall, a proceeding unbecoming in a man of your rank, and decidedly imprudent in a man who has some concern for my honor."

u Why 9 »

" What if you have been seen ? "

" Who could see me ? "

" Our hunters, who rode through the thicket behind the wall scarcely a quarter of an hour ago."

" Oh, do not be uneasy, madarne, I am too careful to allow myself to be discovered; I am too well disguised."

" Disguised ! " cried Jeanne, " how romantic ! Tell us about it, M. de Bussy."

" Let me say, in the first place, that, if I did not overtake you, it was not my fault: I took one road, you another ; you went by Kambouillet, I by Chartres. Besides, just listen and judge whether your poor Bussy is in love. I did not dare to join you, although I have very little doubt that I could : T was pretty well aware that Jarnac was not in love and that the worthy animal would not be' in any great hurry to return to Meridor ; your father, too, must have been but little inclined to push forward, for he had you beside him. But I did not care to meet you in the company of your father or in the presence of your servants, for I am more anxious than you believe to do nothing that might compromise you; sol made the journey stage by stage, too excited to eat or drink ; in fact, the knob of my riding-switch was my only food during the time ; I gnawed it incessantly in my impatience."

" Poor boy ! " said Jeanne ; " no wonder he has grown so thin." '

" At length you reached Angers," continued Bussy ; " I had hired lodgings in a suburb of the city, and, hidden behind a window-blind, I saw you pass."

" But," asked Diane, " you are surely not staying at Angers under your own name ? "

" For whom do you take me ?" answered Bussy, with a smile; " no, I am a travelling merchant; admire my cinnamon-colored costume; it disguises me, I think, perfectly, and

is a color very fashionable among drapers and goldsmiths, and then again, my restless, bustling manners would square admirably with an apothecary searching for simples. In short, no one has taken the slightest notice of me."

" Bussy, the handsome Bussy, two successive days in a provincial city and never noticed! " exclaimed Madame de Saint-Luc. " It will never be believed at court."

" Continue, count," said Diane, blushing, " tell us how x you came here from the city."

" I have two fine thoroughbreds ; I mount one of them and ride slowly from the city, stopping occasionally to gape at the placards and signs. But, as soon as I am far enough from prying eyes, I set my horse to a gallop, and in twenty minutes I clear the ten and a half miles between here and the city. Once in the wood of Meridor, I set about finding my way and reach the park wall. But it is long, oh, very long, indeed, and the park, too, is very large. Yesterday I spent more than four hours in taking the bearings of this wall, climbing here and there in hopes to catch a glimpse of you. I had grown almost desperate, when I perceived you last evening returning to the house; the baron's two big dogs were leaping after you, and Madame de Saint-Luc was holding up a partridge which they tried to jump at; then you vanished.

"With a jump and a leap, I was myself on the spot where you were sitting just now ; I noticed the trampled appearance of the grass and moss, and concluded that this charming place was your preferred retreat during the heat of the sun ; to make sure of not mistaking my way to this point again, I did as hunters are in the habit of doing, I broke off brambles here and there on my return, all the while sighing ; a thing that hurts me frightfully "

" Because you are not accustomed to it," said Jeanne, smiling.

" You maj 7 " be right, madame, but allow me to repeat the phrase : all the while sighing, a thing that hurts me frightfully, I make my way back to the city ; I was awfully tired, and, to add to my misery, I had torn my cinnamon doublet while climbing the trees; still, despite the rents in my raiment, despite the weight on my breast, there was joy in my heart: I had seen you."

" Why, your tale is admirable, and admirably told," said Jeanne ; " and what terrible obstacles you have surmounted !

No wonder they call you a hero ! Still, if I, who would not climb a tree for the world, had happened to be in your place, I should have taken a little care of my doublet and spared.my beautiful white hands. Look in what a lamentable condition yours are, all scratched by thorns."

" Yes, but in that case I should not have seen the person I came to see."

" You are quite mistaken; I should have seen Diane de Meridor, and Madame de Saint-Luc, too, if I cared to, without taking half the trouble you did."

" What would you have done, then ? " inquired Bussy, eagerly.

" I should have gone straight to the bridge of the castle of Meridor, and then crossed it. M. le Baron would have taken me in his arms, Madame de Monsoreau would have invited me to a seat by her side at table, M. de Saint-Luc would have been delighted to see me, and I and Madame de Saint-Luc should have made anagrams together. Why, it would have been the simplest thing in the world; but the simplest thing in the world is just the thing lovers never think of."

Bussy shook his head with a smile and a glance addressed to Diane.

" Oh, no!" he said, " no; that might have been all very well for any one else to do, but not for me."

Diane blushed like a child, and the same smile and glance were reflected in her eyes and on her lips.

" Upon my word ! " exclaimed Jeanne; " so now, it seems, I am quite ignorant of the manners of polite society!"

" No !" said Bussy, with another shake of the head. " No ! I eould not go to the castle. Madame is married ; it is M. le Baron's duty to watch over his daughter with the strictest vigilance, a duty he owes his daughter's husband."

" Oh, thank you, M. de Bussy ! " said Jeanne; " you are kind enough to give me another lesson in the art of good breeding; thanks again, M. de Bussy, I deserved it at your hands; this will teach me to meddle with the affairs of mad people in future."

" Mad people ? " repeated Diane.

" Mad people or lovers," answered Madame de Saint-Luc, " and consequently "

She kissed Diane on the forehead, made a sweeping courtesy to Bussy, and fled.

Diane tried to detain her with a hand which Bussy seized ; being interfered with by her lover in this imperious fashion, she had to let Jeanne go.

Bussy and Diane were now alone.

Diane turned her eyes reproachfully on Madame de Saint-Luc, who was picking flowers as she went along, and then sat down blushing

Bussy flung himself at her feet.

" Have I not acted rightly, madame," said he ; " and do you not approve of what I have done ? "

" I will not feign," answered Diane; " and besides, you know what is in my heart. Yes, I approve ; but my indulgence must not go further. When I wished for you, called for you, as I did just now, I was beside myself — and I was guilty."

" Great heavens ! what are you saying now, Diane ? "

" Alas, count, I am saying the truth ! I have the right to render M. de Monsoreau, who has driven me to this extremity, unhappy, but this right belongs to me only as long as I decline to make another happy. I may refuse him my society, my smiles, my love; but if I granted those favors to another, I should be robbing one who, after all, is my master."

Bussy listened impatiently to this ethical disquisition, softened, it is true, by the gracious gentleness of Diane.

" It is my turn to speak now, is it not ? " said he.

" Speak," answered Diane.

« Frankly ? "

" Speak!"

" Well, madame, of all you have just said you have not found a single word in your heart." *

« Why ? "

" Listen to me patiently, madame ; you will acknowledge that I have listened patiently to you. You have, literally, overwhelmed me with sophisms."

Diane started.

" The commonplaces of morality," continued Bussy, " have not the slightest bearing on the present situation. In exchange for your sophisms, madame, I will give you truths. A man, you say, is your master, but did you choose this master ? No; an evil fate imposed him on you, and you submitted. You mean to endure for a whole lifetime the consequences of that odious infliction ? Then it is my duty to save you from them."

Diane opened her lips to speak. Bussy stopped her with a gesture.

" Oh, I know what you would answer/' said the young man. " You would answer that, should I challenge M. de Monso-reau, and kill him, you would never see me again — so be it, then ! I shall die of the grief of not seeing you, but you will live free, will live happy, will have it in your power to bestow happiness on some worthy man, who, in his joy, will now and then bless my name, and say : ' Thanks, Bussy, thanks, for rescuing us from that abominable Monsoreau !' and you yourself, Diane, who would not dare to thank me while living, would thank me when I am dead."

The young woman seized the count's hand and pressed it tenderly.

" You threaten me, Bussy," said she, " even before you have sued me for a single favor."

" Threaten you ? Ah ! God is listening to me and he knows what my intentions are ; I love you so ardently, Diane, that I shall not act like other men, I know you love me. Great God! why should you deny it and class yourself with those vulgar souls whose deeds belie their words ! I know you love me, for you have confessed it. Now, a love like mine is like the genial sunlight and quickens every heart it touches ; and so, I will not sue, I will not waste away in despair. No, I will fall down at your knees and kiss them, and, with my right hand on my heart, that heart that has never lied, either from interest or fear, I will say to you: ' Diane, I love you, and that love is the love of my entire life ! I swear in the face of Heaven that I am ready to die for you, and die adoring you.' If you still answer : ' Go, do not rob another of his happiness,' I will rise without a sigh, without a sign, from this spot where I am so happy, and after a last farewell, I will say to myself : < This woman does not love me; this woman will never love me.' Then I will depart and never more shall you set eyes on me again. But, as my devotion is even greater than my love, as my desire to see you happy will survive the certainty that I cannot be happy myself, as I shall not have deprived another of his happiness, I shall have the right of depriving him of his life while, at the same time, sacrificing my own. This is what I shall do, madame, and I shall do it that you may not be a slave forever and may no longer point

to your present situation as an excuse for making unhappy the generous hearts that love you."

Bussy had been deeply moved while uttering these words. Diane read in his faithful and brilliant eyes the strength of his resolve; she knew that he would do what he said he would do, that his words would infallibly have their fulfilment in his deeds ; and, as the snows of April melt away under the rays of the sun, her resistance melted away under the fire of his eyes.

" Well," said she, " I thank you for the violence with which you assail me. It is another proof of your delicacy to save me in this way from the remorse of having yielded to you. And now, will you love me, as you have said, even till death ? Shall I not, perhaps, be the plaything of your fancy for a time and then left to regret that I did not listen to the odious love of M. de Monsoreau ? But no, I have no conditions to make. I am vanquished ; I surrender. I am yours, Bussy, at least in love. Remain, then, dearest, and since now my life is yours, watch over yourself as well as over me."