22 THE BALLET OF LA MERLAISON
On the morrow, nothing was talked of in Paris but the ball which thealdermen of the city were to give to the king and queen, and in whichtheir Majesties were to dance the famous La Merlaison--the favoriteballet of the king.
Eight days had been occupied in preparations at the Hotel de Ville forthis important evening. The city carpenters had erected scaffolds uponwhich the invited ladies were to be placed; the city grocer hadornamented the chambers with two hundred FLAMBEAUX of white wax, a pieceof luxury unheard of at that period; and twenty violins were ordered,and the price for them fixed at double the usual rate, upon condition,said the report, that they should be played all night.
At ten o'clock in the morning the Sieur de la Coste, ensign in theking's Guards, followed by two officers and several archers of thatbody, came to the city registrar, named Clement, and demanded of him allthe keys of the rooms and offices of the hotel. These keys were given upto him instantly. Each of them had ticket attached to it, by which itmight be recognized; and from that moment the Sieur de la Coste wascharged with the care of all the doors and all the avenues.
At eleven o'clock came in his turn Duhallier, captain of the Guards,bringing with him fifty archers, who were distributed immediatelythrough the Hotel de Ville, at the doors assigned them.
At three o'clock came two companies of the Guards, one French, the otherSwiss. The company of French guards was composed of half of M.Duhallier's men and half of M. Dessessart's men.
At six in the evening the guests began to come. As fast as they entered,they were placed in the grand saloon, on the platforms prepared forthem.
At nine o'clock Madame la Premiere Presidente arrived. As next to thequeen, she was the most considerable personage of the fete, she wasreceived by the city officials, and placed in a box opposite to thatwhich the queen was to occupy.
At ten o'clock, the king's collation, consisting of preserves and otherdelicacies, was prepared in the little room on the side of the church ofSt. Jean, in front of the silver buffet of the city, which was guardedby four archers.
At midnight great cries and loud acclamations were heard. It was theking, who was passing through the streets which led from the Louvre tothe Hotel de Ville, and which were all illuminated with coloredlanterns.
Immediately the aldermen, clothed in their cloth robes and preceded bysix sergeants, each holding a FLAMBEAU in his hand, went to attend uponthe king, whom they met on the steps, where the provost of the merchantsmade him the speech of welcome--a compliment to which his Majestyreplied with an apology for coming so late, laying the blame upon thecardinal, who had detained him till eleven o'clock, talking of affairsof state.
His Majesty, in full dress, was accompanied by his royal Highness, M. leComte de Soissons, by the Grand Prior, by the Duc de Longueville, by theDuc d'Euboeuf, by the Comte d'Harcourt, by the Comte de la Roche-Guyon,by M. de Liancourt, by M. de Baradas, by the Comte de Cramail, and bythe Chevalier de Souveray. Everybody noticed that the king looked dulland preoccupied.
A private room had been prepared for the king and another for Monsieur.In each of these closets were placed masquerade dresses. The same hadbeen done for the queen and Madame the President. The nobles and ladiesof their Majesties' suites were to dress, two by two, in chambersprepared for the purpose. Before entering his closet the king desired tobe informed the moment the cardinal arrived.
Half an hour after the entrance of the king, fresh acclamations wereheard; these announced the arrival of the queen. The aldermen did asthey had done before, and preceded by their sergeants, advanced toreceive their illustrious guest. The queen entered the great hall; andit was remarked that, like the king, she looked dull and even weary.
At the moment she entered, the curtain of a small gallery which to thattime had been closed, was drawn, and the pale face of the cardinalappeared, he being dressed as a Spanish cavalier. His eyes were fixedupon those of the queen, and a smile of terrible joy passed over hislips; the queen did not wear her diamond studs.
The queen remained for a short time to receive the compliments of thecity dignitaries and to reply to the salutations of the ladies. All atonce the king appeared with the cardinal at one of the doors of thehall. The cardinal was speaking to him in a low voice, and the king wasvery pale.
The king made his way through the crowd without a mask, and the ribbonsof his doublet scarcely tied. He went straight to the queen, and in analtered voice said, "Why, madame, have you not thought proper to wearyour diamond studs, when you know it would give me so muchgratification?"
The queen cast a glance around her, and saw the cardinal behind, with adiabolical smile on his countenance.
"Sire," replied the queen, with a faltering voice, "because, in themidst of such a crowd as this, I feared some accident might happen tothem."
"And you were wrong, madame. If I made you that present it was that youmight adorn yourself therewith. I tell you that you were wrong."
The voice of the king was tremulous with anger. Everybody looked andlistened with astonishment, comprehending nothing of what passed.
"Sire," said the queen, "I can send for them to the Louvre, where theyare, and thus your Majesty's wishes will be complied with."
"Do so, madame, do so, and that at once; for within an hour the balletwill commence."
The queen bent in token of submission, and followed the ladies who wereto conduct her to her room. On his part the king returned to hisapartment.
There was a moment of trouble and confusion in the assembly. Everybodyhad remarked that something had passed between the king and queen; butboth of them had spoken so low that everybody, out of respect, withdrewseveral steps, so that nobody had heard anything. The violins began tosound with all their might, but nobody listened to them.
The king came out first from his room. He was in a most elegant huntingcostume; and Monsieur and the other nobles were dressed like him. Thiswas the costume that best became the king. So dressed, he reallyappeared the first gentleman of his kingdom.
The cardinal drew near to the king, and placed in his hand a smallcasket. The king opened it, and found in it two diamond studs.
"What does this mean?" demanded he of the cardinal.
"Nothing," replied the latter; "only, if the queen has the studs, whichI very much doubt, count them, sire, and if you only find ten, ask herMajesty who can have stolen from her the two studs that are here."
The king looked at the cardinal as if to interrogate him; but he had nottime to address any question to him--a cry of admiration burst fromevery mouth. If the king appeared to be the first gentleman of hiskingdom, the queen was without doubt the most beautiful woman in France.
It is true that the habit of a huntress became her admirably. She wore abeaver hat with blue feathers, a surtout of gray-pearl velvet, fastenedwith diamond clasps, and a petticoat of blue satin, embroidered withsilver. On her left shoulder sparkled the diamond studs, on a bow of thesame color as the plumes and the petticoat.
The king trembled with joy and the cardinal with vexation; although,distant as they were from the queen, they could not count the studs. Thequeen had them. The only question was, had she ten or twelve?
At that moment the violins sounded the signal for the ballet. The kingadvanced toward Madame the President, with whom he was to dance, and hisHighness Monsieur with the queen. They took their places, and the balletbegan.
The king danced facing the queen, and every time he passed by her, hedevoured with his eyes those studs of which he could not ascertain thenumber. A cold sweat covered the brow of the cardinal.
The ballet lasted an hour, and had sixteen ENTREES. The ballet endedamid the applause of the whole assemblage, and everyone reconducted hislady to her place; but the king took advantage of the privilege he hadof leaving his lady, to advance eagerly toward the queen.
"I thank you, madame," said he, "for the deference you have shown to mywishes, but I think you want two of the studs, and I bring them back toyou."
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With these words he held out to the queen the two studs the cardinal hadgiven him.
"How, sire?" cried the young queen, affecting surprise, "you are givingme, then, two more: I shall have fourteen."
In fact the king counted them, and the twelve studs were all on herMajesty's shoulder.
The king called the cardinal.
"What does this mean, Monsieur Cardinal?" asked the king in a severetone.
"This means, sire," replied the cardinal, "that I was desirous ofpresenting her Majesty with these two studs, and that not daring tooffer them myself, I adopted this means of inducing her to accept them."
"And I am the more grateful to your Eminence," replied Anne of Austria,with a smile that proved she was not the dupe of this ingeniousgallantry, "from being certain that these two studs alone have cost youas much as all the others cost his Majesty."
Then saluting the king and the cardinal, the queen resumed her way tothe chamber in which she had dressed, and where she was to take off hercostume.
The attention which we have been obliged to give, during thecommencement of the chapter, to the illustrious personages we haveintroduced into it, has diverted us for an instant from him to whom Anneof Austria owed the extraordinary triumph she had obtained over thecardinal; and who, confounded, unknown, lost in the crowd gathered atone of the doors, looked on at this scene, comprehensible only to fourpersons--the king, the queen, his Eminence, and himself.
The queen had just regained her chamber, and d'Artagnan was about toretire, when he felt his shoulder lightly touched. He turned and saw ayoung woman, who made him a sign to follow her. The face of this youngwoman was covered with a black velvet mask; but notwithstanding thisprecaution, which was in fact taken rather against others than againsthim, he at once recognized his usual guide, the light and intelligentMme. Bonacieux.
On the evening before, they had scarcely seen each other for a moment atthe apartment of the Swiss guard, Germain, whither d'Artagnan had sentfor her. The haste which the young woman was in to convey to the queenthe excellent news of the happy return of her messenger prevented thetwo lovers from exchanging more than a few words. D'Artagnan thereforefollowed Mme. Bonacieux moved by a double sentiment--love and curiosity.All the way, and in proportion as the corridors became more deserted,d'Artagnan wished to stop the young woman, seize her and gaze upon her,were it only for a minute; but quick as a bird she glided between hishands, and when he wished to speak to her, her finger placed upon hermouth, with a little imperative gesture full of grace, reminded him thathe was under the command of a power which he must blindly obey, andwhich forbade him even to make the slightest complaint. At length, afterwinding about for a minute or two, Mme. Bonacieux opened the door of acloset, which was entirely dark, and led d'Artagnan into it. There shemade a fresh sign of silence, and opened a second door concealed bytapestry. The opening of this door disclosed a brilliant light, and shedisappeared.
D'Artagnan remained for a moment motionless, asking himself where hecould be; but soon a ray of light which penetrated through the chamber,together with the warm and perfumed air which reached him from the sameaperture, the conversation of two of three ladies in language at oncerespectful and refined, and the word "Majesty" several times repeated,indicated clearly that he was in a closet attached to the queen'sapartment. The young man waited in comparative darkness and listened.
The queen appeared cheerful and happy, which seemed to astonish thepersons who surrounded her and who were accustomed to see her almostalways sad and full of care. The queen attributed this joyous feeling tothe beauty of the fete, to the pleasure she had experienced in theballet; and as it is not permissible to contradict a queen, whether shesmile or weep, everybody expatiated on the gallantry of the aldermen ofthe city of Paris.
Although d'Artagnan did not at all know the queen, he soon distinguishedher voice from the others, at first by a slightly foreign accent, andnext by that tone of domination naturally impressed upon all royalwords. He heard her approach and withdraw from the partially open door;and twice or three times he even saw the shadow of a person interceptthe light.
At length a hand and an arm, surpassingly beautiful in their form andwhiteness, glided through the tapestry. D'Artagnan at once comprehendedthat this was his recompense. He cast himself on his knees, seized thehand, and touched it respectfully with his lips. Then the hand waswithdrawn, leaving in his an object which he perceived to be a ring. Thedoor immediately closed, and d'Artagnan found himself again in completeobscurity.
D'Artagnan placed the ring on his finger, and again waited; it wasevident that all was not yet over. After the reward of his devotion,that of his love was to come. Besides, although the ballet was danced,the evening had scarcely begun. Supper was to be served at three, andthe clock of St. Jean had struck three quarters past two.
The sound of voices diminished by degrees in the adjoining chamber. Thecompany was then heard departing; then the door of the closet in whichd'Artagnan was, was opened, and Mme. Bonacieux entered.
"You at last?" cried d'Artagnan.
"Silence!" said the young woman, placing her hand upon his lips;"silence, and go the same way you came!"
"But where and when shall I see you again?" cried d'Artagnan.
"A note which you will find at home will tell you. Begone, begone!"
At these words she opened the door of the corridor, and pushedd'Artagnan out of the room. D'Artagnan obeyed like a child, without theleast resistance or objection, which proved that he was really in love.
Les trois mousquetaires. English Page 23