CHAPTER XXVIII
THE HESITATION OF THE MARQUIS
The day of my lady's riding party dawned; in the east a tender flameburned, and, vanishing, left the heavens an unbroken blue. Shorewardthe mists rolled up, until only in the neighborhood of the forest didthe white, soft vapor linger. On the Mount itself sunshine held sway;it radiated from the fortifications, "cuirass of the rock," and gleamedon the church, "tiara of its majesty." It warmed a cold palace ofmarble; looked in at its windows, and threw bold shafts to lighten darknooks and corners.
But my lady, mistress of the Mount, seemed not to feel its beneficenttouch; standing in the full glow and looking from her casement sheshivered a little. Already was she dressed, and her habit of darkgreen, fitting close, served to accentuate the whiteness of her cheekwhich general absence of color, in turn, made the more manifest certaindark lines beneath the restless, bright eyes.
"Your Ladyship!" After knocking in vain, Marie had entered the roomand set down the small tray she carried. "There is something yourLadyship ought to know!" with an air of excitement. The Governor'sdaughter half turned. "What now, Marie?" she said sharply.
"It's about Nanette!" My lady made a quick movement of annoyance,impatience. "I did not tell your Ladyship, but I was averse to havingher remain here. Your Ladyship does not understand, of course, and--"
"I do understand," said my lady unexpectedly. "And--you need notexplain. I overheard you talking with her that night of the banquet!"
"Your Ladyship!" startled.
"And I heard you speak of her father, Pierre Laroche, friend of theBlack Seigneur."
"And engaged her--after that!"
"Why not? I could watch--and I have! But you were wrong, Marie." Mylady's manner was feverish. "Your suspicions were ridiculous. Therehas been nothing--nothing! And day after to-morrow is the weddingcelebration, and the next day, he, the Black Seigneur--" She broke offabruptly.
Had Marie been less wrought up, less excited, less concerned with theinformation she had to impart, she could not have failed to notice theodd break in her young mistress' voice; something unusual, almost akinto despair, in her manner. As it was, that which weighed on the oldnurse's mind precluded close observation of the other.
"But something _has_ happened, my Lady!" the woman half stammered.
"_Comment!_" The girl turned to her sharply. "What? Explain, Marie!"
Disconnectedly, the woman launched into a narration of the events ofthe night before; my lady listened closely, with an interest andexcitement she strove to conceal, half turning so that the other saw nolonger her face.
"And here," ended Marie, extending a crumpled fragment of paper, "is apiece of the note she dropped on the beach. The man tore it up, but inthrusting the bits of paper into his pocket this fell out, and, afterhe walked away, I picked it up myself from the sand. I can't read, asyour Ladyship knows, and there isn't much on it--only a word or two!But it may tell something."
My lady's face was now composed; the hand she extended, steady; forseveral moments she regarded the fragment.
"What does it say?" asked the woman anxiously. "Is it--is itimportant?"
Her mistress did not at once answer; twisting the bit of paper in herfingers, stood as if in thought, and the old nurse repeated herquestion.
"This note might have been intended for some admirer!" said, at length,the Governor's daughter slowly.
"He looked more like an old privateersman!" murmured the woman. "Andthere may be some plot--some plan!"
"Privateersman!" The girl's manner underwent a change; she shruggedher shoulders. "What could they hope to do at the Mount! You areimaginative, Marie!" lightly. "Nanette is good-looking, and whatlittle is here would seem to signify a rendezvous. There may be nogreat harm in that."
"I am sorry, my Lady, to seem to think ill of my own kin," muttered thewoman dejectedly, "but--"
"Think no more of it! You have done your duty. Now leave the matterto me, and--thank you, Marie!"
When, however, the old nurse had gone, all pretense of lightness fadedfrom the face of the Governor's daughter, and, opening the bit ofpaper, once more she scrutinized it swiftly, intently.
"To-morrow--Monastery St. Ranu--" she read. "Yes; it must mean St.Ranulphe--where we are going. And where Beppo knew we were going!Beppo, she went down on the beach with!" Again she studied thefragment, striving to make out a word that had been blotted and wasalmost illegible. She frowned as she endeavored to decipher it. "LadyE." She gave an exclamation. "That refers, of course, to-- But why?"She kept asking herself the question. "Why?" she repeated, whensuddenly the brown eyes widened--changed; a new light shone in theirdepths. "It must be they intend to--what else?"
The sound of horns--signal for the party to gather--broke upon the air,and, nervously crushing in her palm the piece of the message, shestepped to the table, to the untasted breakfast. Like one in a dream,who yet feels the need for haste, she poured out the coffee; withunsteady hand raised the cup and drank; started to serve herself again;as if forgetful of the impulse, paused.
"And I?" she said with deeper breath. "To ride to the ambush they haveso cleverly planned? Allow myself to be taken prisoner by thesedesperate men? No; no; I could not! And yet--" A trampling ofhorses' hoofs in the court below interrupted. "They are ready tostart!" Uncertainly she lifted her head; looked around her; thenmechanically stepped forward and left the room.
A scene of animation greeted her in the court, alive with lords andladies, for the most part already in the saddle and waiting.
"Hail to Diana, who will lead us in the forests!"
"Fair nymph, let us away!" and the Marquis extended his hand.
With a seemingly merry nod she acknowledged their greetings; put out afoot, and lightly sprang to her place on the back of the nervousthoroughbred. But ere giving the signal to start, the girl's glanceswung around to a window opposite, where stood an austere figure,imperturbably looking down to watch them ride off.
"_Au revoir, mon pere!_" Her voice rose with an odd, unusual thrill."_Au revoir!_" she repeated, when a mistiness in her eyes suddenlyblurred sight of him, and she tightened the reins. Yet hesitating togo, her gaze cleared, and swerving, was abruptly arrested by anotherand more interested spectator, who, partly concealed by flowers andplants, peered with anxious expectancy from her own balcony. AsNanette's eyes met those of the Governor's daughter, they wavered halfguiltily; suddenly became steady, held by something--a flash ofimpelling intelligence in the other's gaze. A moment or two, my ladycontinued to regard the girl; then touching her horse, wheeled sharply,and set a pace downward not easy to follow.
At the base of the Mount they were met by a numerous guard bright inholiday trappings, and, under the care of the commandant, with flourishof horse, the party swept gaily from sands to shore.
"A gallant company, Monsieur le Commandant!" observed the Marquis tothe officer in charge, as they reached the green line at the yellowbasin's edge. "Now if we were to meet an enemy--"
"He would find us prepared, my Lord!" the officer declared.
"True!" And the nobleman complacently touched the jeweled hilt of hisown blade, accompanying the action with a tender glance at the LadyElise.
She, however, a little ahead, appeared not to hear; spoke suddenly toher horse, and, as they swung from the sward, started at a brisk gallopdown the road. Laughing, the others came after, lords and ladiesfirst; behind, with tumult and clatter, the commandant and his men. Asthey advanced, on either side the way thick trunks of moss-grownmonarchs uplifted their gnarled and hoary branches, to meet overhead;through leafy interstices bright flashes of sunlight shot downward,danced on fine garments and accoutrements, and then whisked elfishlyaway. In dim recesses finches and sparrows sang; beyond, murmuredstreams and rivulets, while at the feet of the riders, gay restlessflowers nodded, as if in accompaniment to the glad music of the morn.
"Small wonder his Excellency should have desired to add this fair
principality to his own!" muttered the Marquis, looking around. "Ofthe seven forests of Brittany, none will compare with this, theDesaurac woods. What think you, Elise?" spurring his horse near hisbetrothed's. "Are you not taken by its beauties?"
She looked at him with a start; since leaving the sands she had notspoken, and now, tugging at the reins, only said abruptly: "My saddle!I believe it is loose."
"Loose!" repeated the nobleman. "Careless lackeys! Let us see!" Andgrasping the bridle of her horse, pulled in his own, and drew bothanimals to a standstill at the side of the road.
As he dismounted to examine straps and fastenings, the others dashedup; my lady lightly motioned them on. "We'll soon overtake you! Don'twait!" Unquestioning, they obeyed; though the commandant, to whom afew moments later she delivered a similar injunction, brought his mento a halt and proffered his services. Whereupon the Marquis repeatedthe girl's words more sharply; reddening, the officer wheeled andstarted to ride on.
"I can't find anything wrong here!" Puzzled, the Marquis straightened.
But her eyes were directed ahead and she pointed with her whip to abreak in the woody barrier to the right--a path that, springing fromthe roadside, seemed to plunge into the very heart of the labyrinth.
"Look! the short cut!--that would bring us half an hour before them tothe ruins! Let us take it!"
A light seemed suddenly to break on her companion, and he sprang airilyto his saddle. "As my Lady wills!" gallantly.
"Then call to the commandant, and tell him we'll meet them there!"
The Marquis obeyed, and, without awaiting answer, or demur from theofficer in charge of the guard, the girl flicked her horse and sent himover a low bush into the narrow way.
Fairly in the path, she rode fast, and pressing hard behind, my lordsoon found reason for doubt as to the advisibility of that route, and asuspicion of regret at his own hasty assent to the departure from themain thoroughfare. As their surroundings grew wilder and the slendergreen figure flitted more and more recklessly before him, he evenventured to voice his misgivings--advise greater care. A shake of thefair head was all he received for answer and, regardless of theincreasing roughness of the way, she continued to sweep on, now uphill,then down, avoiding by a quick turn one obstacle here, leaping anotherthere! From a black ambush, a branch like the arm of a Titan reachedout to seize, but adroitly she swayed from its grasp and only the twigsand leaves touched lightly the bent figure.
My lord, however, they struck sharply, and at the sudden smart and aquick realization of falling behind, frowningly he drove his horseharder. The tete-a-tete he had naturally expected from her request topursue the lonelier way promised now not to materialize; the idea thatshe was fleeing, he pursuing, possessed him. The forest, a tangle ofshrubs and strange creepers, was the scene of the idyl; she, a spriteof the greenwood, danced illusively through the maze. At length whenmy lord had begun to grow weary of vainly endeavoring to overtake her,fate favored his efforts; brought to a standstill, at the edge of atorrent, the object of his pursuit.
"Are you mad, Elise?" A shadow on his brow, the Marquis rode down.
She made no reply; regarded only the water.
"I hope it is not in your mind to attempt to cross," he went on, ashade of petulance in his accents.
She urged her horse forward; it stopped.
"Elise! I beg of you! It is dangerous; better go back, and around!"
But the girl set her red lips, raised her whip, and brought it downhard. The animal sprang into the foam; breasting the current, itslipped once or twice, recovered, and, after an effort, managed toreach the bank opposite. My lord--less blithely than he had firstembarked on the adventure--followed; the cold waters surged around, andhe almost expected to be swept away. At length, however, chilled bythe icy touch of the torrent and somewhat more out of humor, he foundhimself on the other side. Near the top of the bank, where theGovernor's daughter had now the grace to await him, he rejoined her,disapproval on his face, reproach in his eyes. Yet still did the girlremain unconscious of her lover's wounded sensibilities; her own eyes,like stars beneath the flurry of hair, were turned, not to the youngman, but away, toward a gaunt-looking ruin that had suddenly uplifteditself, as if by magic, through a rift in the forest. But a fewhundred yards distant, the black crumbling walls bristled with rough,jagged edges--big, broken teeth that snarled at the rim of theever-young wood. The very brightness of the day seemed only toemphasize the ominous aspect of the place; to reveal more plainly thesolitary character of its wildness.
"The monastery, I suppose?" following the direction of her gaze, theMarquis, after a pause, grudgingly vouchsafed.
"Yes," said the girl in a low tone; "yes!"
"Shall we go on?"
Her eyes, passing over a tangle of shrubs, bushes and thick, naturalscreens, slowly settled on a spot, not far away, where a wild bird,about to alight, fled off with a scream.
"Shall we go on?"
With a start the girl turned; the clear-cut features were very grave;in her gaze shone sudden compunction. She raised her hand. "My veil!"she said quickly. "I--dropped it. Do you mind? You--you will find iton this side of the stream--a little way down."
"Mind?" He regarded her doubtfully a moment; then moved by theirresistible appeal in her eyes, rather abruptly he wheeled, and as hedid so, she gathered up the reins. Ere proceeding farther upon thiserrand of gallantry, my lord looked around.
"You seem to set great store on this veil," he, observed suspiciously."And I believe you were about to ride off!" he added, noting herexpression, when, before she had time for pretext or answer, a heavybody stirred in the bushes, near at hand, and a gruff voice called out.
"Stand where you are!"
The nobleman's face changed; his gaze, as if fascinated, now rested ona score of rough figures who, following the order, so unexpected andstartling, sprang simultaneously from neighboring thicket or covert,and advanced to surround them. Held by their grim aspect--thedesperate determined visages; the black, threatening looks--in thesurprise of the moment, too late my lord's hand sought the sword at hisside. Roughly plucked from his horse, he found himself flung to thesward; unceremoniously pinioned, and heard the voice of my lady raisedin his behalf.
The Lady of the Mount Page 28