CHAPTER XXXIII
ON THE SANDS
A man, bearing in his arms the motionless form of a woman, paused laterthat night in the shadow of a low stone hovel, near the lower gate ofthe Mount. As he crouched beneath the thatch projecting like the rimof an old hat above him his eyes, eager, fierce, studied the distancehe had yet to traverse from the end of the narrow alley, where he hadstopped, to the open entrance at the base of the rock to the sands.The goal was not far; but a few moments would have sufficed to reachit; only between him and the point he had so long been striving toattain, an obstacle, or group of obstacles, intervened. Before abonfire of wreckage of stuff--furniture and household goods--severalragged, dissolute fellows sat with bottles before them, drinking hardand quarreling the while over a number of glittering gems, goldsnuff-boxes and trinkets of all kinds.
"This bit of ivory for the white stone!"
"Add the brooch!"
"Not I! Look at the picture! Her ladyship, perhaps!"
"They have not found her?"
"No; for all the searching! But she is somewhere; can't have escapedfrom the Mount. And when the drabs and trulls lay hands on her!"
"Ay, when!" casting the dice.
The man, peering from the alley, hesitated no longer; behind soundedthe footsteps of others, and gathering his burden more firmly, hestrode boldly forth toward the group and the gate. At his approach,their talk--a jargon of "thieves' Latin" that smacked more of thecabarets of Paris than those of the coast--momentarily ceased; beneathlowering brows, they stared hard.
"What have you there, comrade?" said one.
"Look and see!" answered the man in a rough tone.
"Poor booty! A woman!" quoted another with a harsh laugh. "You'reeasily pleased. As if wenches were not plentiful enough on otheroccasions, without wasting time on a night like this, when diamonds andgold are to be had for the searching!"
"And silver plates and watches and rare liquors!" cried a third inknaves' _argot_. "Every one, however, to his taste! An you prefer alight-of-love to light such as these have," juggling with the gems,"you but stamp yourself a fool."
"You're welcome to your opinion, my friend!" The man with the burdenspoke bruskly. "Good night!"
"Stay; why such haste? You seem not a bad fellow. Set the wench down.We'll have sight of her, and, perhaps," with coarse expletives, "ifshe's a pretty face, and a taste for this fiery liquor the old monkslaid down, we'll find a gewgaw or two to her liking!"
But the man made no answer; was about to pass on, when the speakernoticed for the first time the woman's hand, white and small, hanginglimply. "What's this? More jewels?" His exclamation was caught up bythe others. "Not so fast, comrade! This puts a different face to thematter. Set down the booty, and," springing to his feet, "we'll seewhat it's worth."
"I'll not stop!" The man looked at him steadily. "On the Mount is, orshould be, plenty for all! Go seek for yourself!"
"_Pardi_!" softly. "Here's one dares speak his mind!"
"I speak plainly," in a tone of authority, "and you would do well toheed!"
"Perhaps," interposing. "What say you, comrades?"
Evil smiles illumined evil faces; they, who had just been on the pointof blows among themselves, now regarded one another with commonunderstanding. One weighed tentatively that delicate weapon, aspontoon; a second stroked his halberd, as liking to feel thesmoothness of the shaft, while a third reached for a gleaming "Folard'sPartizan." And in the glare of the fire every implement showed sign ithad been used that night. The point of the spontoon was as steelcrusted o'er; the ax of the halberd might have come from a _boucherie_;the blade of the "Partizan" resembled a great leaf at autumn-time.This last wavered perilously near the unconscious burden; had the manmade a movement to resist, would have struck; but the black eyes, only,combated--held the blood-shot ones. Though not for long; again theweapon seemed about to dart forth; the man about to hurl himself andhis burden desperately aside, when, from above, came the sound ofhoarse laughing and singing, and simultaneously a number of peasants,Bretons by their dress, burst into view.
"Eh, cockatoo, what now!"
Many of these new-comers were hurt; few free from cuts; but nonethought of stanching their wounds. Their principal concern seemed forarticles they carried--heavy, light; valuable, paltry--spoils from thehigh! Two staggered beneath a great chest stamped with the arms of theMount and its motto, and appeared anxious to hurry--perchance towardthe forest on the shore where they might bury their treasure. Othershad in their arms imposing pieces of silver; vases and a massive_surtout de table_ that had once belonged to the Cardinal Dubois. Awoman, gaunt, toothless, wore a voluminous bonnet _a l'Argus_, left atthe Mount by one of the ladies of the court; and waved before her afan, set with jewels. She it was who called out:
"Eh, cockatoo!" shrilly. "Who would you be killing?"
"A selfish fellow that refuses to share!" answered he of the halberd,as if little pleased at the interruption.
"Refuses to share, does he?" she repeated, and, swaggering down, peeredforward; only to start back. "The Black Seigneur!"
"The Black Seigneur!"
Those who accompanied her--a rough rabble from field and forest--gazed,not without surprise, or uncouth admiration, at one whose name and famewere well-known on that northern coast; but these evidences of roughapproval were not shared by the alien rogues. On my lady's finger thegem still sparkled: held their eyes like a lure. Black Seigneur, ornot, they muttered sullenly, what knew they of her he had with him;whose hand was not that of cinder-wench or scullery maid? Let themlook at her face! She might be a great lady--she might even be theGovernor's daughter herself!
"The Governor's daughter!" All, alike, caught at the word.
"An if she were!" fiercely the Black Seigneur confronted them.
While, hesitating, they sought for a reply, quickly he went on. Whohad a better right to her? The Black Seigneur! The Lady Elise!Harshly he laughed. Was it not fair spoil? His Excellency's enemy;his Excellency's daughter. Did they think treasure sweeter thanrevenge? Let them try to rob him of it! As for the ring?Contemptuously he took it from my lady's hand; threw it among them.
A few scrambled, others were still for finishing the tragedy then. Thepeople _versus_ the lords and their spawn. "Kill at once!" theinjunction had gone forth from Paris.
As he spoke, one of the fiercest put out his hand; touched my lady,when the fingers of the Black Seigneur gripped hard his throat; hurledhim so violently back, he lay still. Companions sprang to his aid;certain of the peasants interfered.
"Let him alone!"
"He speaks fair!"
"Bah! To-night are all equal."
"Your Black Seigneur no better than others!"
"You lie!" In a high tone the woman with the great lady's hat brokein. "At them, my chickens! Beat well these Paris rogues, who comeonly for the picking!"
"Yes; beat them well!"
But the runagates of the great city were not of a kind to submitlightly; curses and blows were exchanged; knives gleamed and swordsflashed. Amid a scene of confusion, the cause of it stayed not towitness the outcome; running down the sloping way, soon found himselfon the sands; then keeping to the shadows, passed around the corner ofthe wall.
Here, for the time concealed was he safe; none followed, and, leaningagainst the damp blocks of masonry, breathing hard, as a man weak fromfatigue, loss of blood, he sought to recover his strength. It returnedonly too slowly; the passing lassitude annoyed him; for the moment heforgot he had but recently come from the dungeon and the hardships thatsap elasticity and vigor. He was impatient to move on; looked at mylady--and a sudden fear smote him! How white she appeared! Had she--His hand trembled at her heart; a blank dismay overcame him; then joy--At that instant he thought not of the gulf between them; was consciousonly he held her--slender, beautiful--in his arms; that she seemed allhis own, with her breath on his cheek, her soft lips so close. Abovesounded the madness of t
he night; the crackling of flames; theintemperate voices! In the angle of the wall, with darkness a blanketaround them, he pushed back the hair from her clear brow, bent over,closer--suddenly straightened.
"_Pardi_!" he muttered, a flush on his face. "Am I, then, like theothers--pillagers, thieves?"
Several moments he yet stood, breathing deep; then, starting away, sethimself to the task of crossing the vast stretch of beach between theMount and the distant lights of a ship.
The sandy plain had never seemed so interminable; before him, hisshadow and that of my lady danced ever illusively away; behind, thegreat rock gave forth a hundred shooting flames, while, as emblematicof the demolition of so much that was beautiful, higher than saint withhelpless sword on cathedral top, a cloud of smoke belched up; wavedsidewise like a monstrous funeral plume. A symbol, it seemed to fillthe sky; to move and nod and flaunt its ominous blackness from thismajestic outpost of the land. Walking in a vivid crimson glow, theBlack Seigneur gazed only ahead, where now, on that monotonous desert,the rim of the sea on a sudden obtruded. As he advanced, sparkles redas rubies--laughing lights--leaped in the air; at the same time aseething murmur broke upon the stillness.
Toward those leaping bright points and the source of that deep-soundingcadence, the young man stumbled forward more rapidly, less cautiously,also, it may be; for while he was yet some distance from the water'srim, his feet fell on sand that gave way beneath them. He would havesprung back, but felt himself sinking; strove to get out, only tosettle the deeper! The edge of the _lise_, with safety beyond, well hecould see, where the satin-like smoothness of the treacherous slough!merged into a welcome silk-like shimmering of the trustworthy sands.That verge, however, was remote; out of reach of effort of his toattain; his very endeavors caused him to become the more firmlyimbedded. Had he cast my lady aside, possibly could he have extricatedhimself; but with her, an additional weight, weighing him down--
Loudly he called out; only the sea answered. Now were the clingingparticles at his waist; he lifted my lady higher; clear of them! Oncemore raised his voice--this time not in vain!
"_Mon capitaine_! Where are you?"
"Here!"
"We don't see you."
"You won't soon, unless--"
The end of a line struck the sand.
The night had almost passed; its last black hour, like a pall, lay overthe sea, where, far from the Mount, a ship swayed and tossed. In thenarrow confines of her master's cabin, the faint glimmering of a lamprevealed a man bending over a paper, yellow and worn; the lines sofaint and delicate, they seemed almost to escape him!
"How strange, after all these years, the sight of yourhandwriting!--and now, to be writing you! Yet is it meet--to sayfarewell! For that which you have heard, _mon ami_, is true. I amgoing to die. You say, you heard I was not well; I answer what reallyyou heard; the question, _mon ami_, beneath your words! ... And,dying, it is well with me. I have wronged no soul on earth--exceptyou, my friend, and you forgive me.... I had hoped the years wouldefface that old memory. You say they have not.... It is wise you aregoing away."
The reader paused; listened to the sea; the moaning and sighing, likevoices on the wings of the storm.
"You speak in your letter about 'trickery'--used to estrange us! Thinkno more of it, I beg you. What is past, is gone--as I, part of thatpast, when we were boy and girl together--soon shall be. And come notnear the Mount. There can be no meeting for us on earth. I send youmy adieu from afar.... It is only a shadow that speaks ... _mon ami_."
CHAPTER XXXIV
SOME TIME LATER
The little Norman isle, home of Pierre Laroche, so wild andbleak-looking many months of the year, resembles a flowering garden inthe spring; then, its lap full of buds and blossoms, smiling, redolent,it lifts itself from the broad bosom of the deep. And all the lightembellishments of the golden time it sets forth daintily; fringing theblack cliffs with clusters of sea campion, white and frothy as thespray, trailing green ivy from precipitous heights to the verge of thewooing waters, whose waves seem to creep up timorously, peep into themany caves, bright with sea-anemones, and retreat quickly, as awed by asudden glimpse of fairyland.
Near the entrance of one of these magical chambers, abloom withstrange, scentless flowers, sat, a certain afternoon in April, a manand a woman, who, looking out over the blue sea, conversed in desultoryfashion.
"From what your father tells me, Mistress Nanette," the man, an agedpriest, was speaking, "the Seigneur Desaurac should be here to-day?"
"My father had a letter from him a few days ago to that effect,"answered the young woman somewhat shortly.
"Let me see," apparently the old man did not notice the change in hiscompanion's manner, "he has been away now about a year? It was in Julyhe brought the Governor's daughter to the island one day and sailed thenext!" Nanette made a movement. "How time flies!" he sighed. "Let ushope it assuages grief, as they say! You think she is contented here?"
"The Lady Elise? Why not? At least, she seems so; has with her, herold nurse, my aunt, who fortunately escaped from the Mount--"
"But the death of her father? It must have been a terrible blow--onenot easy to forget!"
"Of course," said Nanette slowly, "she has felt his loss."
The old man gazed down. "I have sometimes wondered what she knowsabout the causes of the enmity that existed between his Excellency andthe Black Seigneur?"
The other's eyes lifted keenly. "When last did you see her, Father?"
"She comes often to my cottage to walk and--"
"Talk?"
"Well, yes!" The fine spiritual face expressed a twinge of uneasiness.
"About the past?"
The priest shifted slightly. "Sometimes! An old man lives much in thepast and it is natural to wander on a bit aimlessly at times, and--"
"Confess, Father, she has learned much from you?" Nanette laughed.
"No, no; I trust--"
"Surmised, then!" said the girl. "She is one not easily deceived.Clever is my lady! And you talk, she says nothing, but leads you on!If there's aught she wishes to learn that you know, be assured she'sfound out from your lips."
"Nay; I'll not believe--'tis true once or twice I've let a word slip.But she noticed not--"
"No doubt!" The island girl's voice expressed a fine scorn. "However,it matters little. Speaks she ever of the Black Seigneur?" suddenly.
"No. Why?"
"Why not?" Nanette's tone was enigmatic.
"I don't understand."
"At any rate, she is better off here than yonder in France, if tidingsbe true," said the other irrelevantly.
"Ah, _ma belle France_!" murmured the old man regretfully. "How she istorn within--threatened from without! But fortunately she has herdefenders," his voice thrilled, "brave men who have thronged to herneeds. I suppose," he continued abruptly, "it's to arrange about thenew ship that brings the Seigneur once more to the island?"
"I suppose so," assented the other briefly.
"A true Frenchman, Pierre Laroche, your father, has shown himself, ingiving one of his best ships to the cause! Although perhaps he wouldnot have been so ready," thoughtfully, "had not the Paris Assembly seenfit to appoint Andre Desaurac in command of all the vessels to guardthe coast against the intrigues of the French royalists with foreignpowers and aliens! Well, well, he will find here many old friends!"
"Yourself, for example, Father, who helped him in the courts toestablish his right to his name," said the young woman quickly.
"And you, Mistress Nanette," the kindly eyes lighting with a curious,indulgent look, "who went to the Mount alone, unaided, to--"
A frown gathered on the dark, handsome face of the girl. "Unaided?"she said, staring at the sparkles on the waves before her.
"Oh, the people never weary of talking about it! and how you--"
"Yon's a sail!" Abruptly the young woman rose; with skirts flutteringbehind her, gazed out to sea.
Several
hours later, just before dusk, a ship ran into the harbor,dropped anchor, and sent a boat to the shore. In the small craft sat anumber of men, and the first of these to spring to the beach and mountthe stone stairway to the inn, was met at the top; warmly greeted, byold Pierre himself! _Mon dieu_! To see the new-comer was like oldtimes! Only now, the landlord observed jestingly, the profits would besmall! But a fig to parsimony, in these days when men's patriotismshould be large; do what he, the Black Seigneur, would with the newship, even if he sunk her, provided it was in good company, and he wentnot down with her himself! To which protestations the other answered;presented his companions, and greeted the assembled company within.
Busy at a great board, laden with comestibles interspersed with flagonsof wines, Nanette welcomed him briefly, and again his glance--keen andassured, that of a man the horizon of whose vision had widened, sincelast he stood there--swept the gathering. But apparently, one helooked for was not present, and he had again turned to the young woman,a question on his lips, when on the garden side of the house a dooropened. It revealed a flowering background, a plateau, yellow in thelast rays of the sun; it framed, also, the slender, black-clad figureof a girl, above whose white brow the waving hair shone like threads ofgold.
"An old friend of yours, my Lady!" called out blunt Pierre.
A moment the clear, brown eyes seemed to waver; then became steady, asschooled to some purpose. She came forward composedly; gave the BlackSeigneur her hand.
"I--am always glad to see old friends!" said my lady, with a lift ofthe head, over-conscious, perhaps, of the concentrated gaze of thecompany.
He looked at her; made perfunctory answer; she seemed about to speakagain, when the hand he let fall was caught by another.
"Elise!" From among those who had come ashore, a man in fashionableattire sprang forward, a little thinner than when last she had seenhim, and more cynical-looking, as slightly soured by world-contact andthe new tendencies of society.
"My Lord!" Certainly was my lady taken unawares; a moment looked atthe Marquis as if a little startled; then at the Black Seigneur:
"A pleasant surprise for you, my Lady!" said the latter. "But you oweme no thanks! An order from the chief of the Admiralty, properlysigned and countersigned, directing me to transport the Marquis deBeauvillers hither, was not to be disregarded!"
"A somewhat singular dispensation of Providence, nevertheless!"observed the nobleman dryly. "After our--what shall we callit?--little passage of arms? You must acknowledge, however, that intruth the Lady Elise and myself had some reason to discredit yourassurances that night--"
"Far be it from me to dispute it, my Lord," and the Black Seigneurturned, while the Marquis, slightly shrugging his shoulders, addressedmy lady.
Half blithely, then half bitterly, relapsing occasionally from the old,debonair manner he had assumed, he spoke of his escape from the Mount;months of hiding in foul places, amid fields and forest, with no wordof her; his success, at last, in reaching Paris, and, through rumor,learning where she was, and hastening to her--
A bluff voice interrupted further explanations and avowals; thesteaming flesh-pots, it informed the company, awaited not soft wordsand honied phrases; monarch in his own dining-room, ostentatiouslyconscious, perhaps, of his own unwonted prodigality, Pierre Larochewaved them to their places--where they would!--so that they waited not!
Quizzically my lord lifted his brow; truly here was a Republican fellowwho appreciated not an honor when it was bestowed upon him, nor sawanything unusual in a Marquis' presence beneath that humble roof.Something of this he murmured to my lady, in a tone others might haveheard; but she answered not; took her place, with red lips the firmer,as if to conceal some weakness to which they sought to give way.
Not without constraint the meal passed; the host, desirous to learn thelatest political news, looked at the Marquis and curbed a naturalcuriosity, until a more favorable moment when he and the Black Seigneurshould be alone. My lady, although generally made to feel welcome andat home there, seemed now, perhaps, to herself, a little out of place,like a person that has wandered from a world of her own and strayedinto another's. Cross-currents, long at strife in her breast, surgedand flowed fast; the while she seemed to listen to my lord, whoappeared now in lighter, more airy humor. And as she sat thus, withfair head bent a little, she could but hear, at times, above the medleyof tones and the sound of servants' footsteps in clattering woodenshoes, the voice of the Black Seigneur--now pledging a toast to oldPierre; anon discussing winds, tides, or ships! A free reckless voice,that seemed to vibrate from the past--to stir anew bright, terribleflames.
Daylight slowly waned; lights were brought in, and, the meal over, oldPierre pushed back in his chair. My lady rose quickly; looked a littleconstrainedly at the company, at the Marquis, then toward the door.Anticipating her desire, attributing to it, perhaps, a significanceflattering to his vanity, the young nobleman expressed a wish for astroll; a sight of the garden. At once she assented; a slight tint nowon her cheeks, she moved to the door, and my lord followed; as theydisappeared, the Black Seigneur laughed--at one of Pierre's jokes!
"Have I not told it before?" said the host.
"Have you?" murmured the Black Seigneur. "Well, a good jest, like anexcellent dish, may well be served twice."
"Humph!" observed the landlord doubtfully.
After a pause: "I suppose he will be taking her away soon?"
"Her?" The young man rose.
"The Lady Elise!"
"I suppose so," shortly.
"We shall miss her!" grumbled the landlord as he, too, got up andwalked over to the fireplace. "I, who never thought to care for any ofthe fine folk--I, bluff old Pierre Laroche!--say we shall miss her."
"Knows she how it fared with his Excellency's--her father's--estate?That little, or nothing, is left?"
"Aye."
"And she will agree to the promise I wrote you about?" quickly.
"That you--now that the right to your name has been vindicated--arecontent to accept half the lands in dispute; her ladyship to retain theother half?"
"Yes; in consideration of that which his Excellency expended intaxes--no small sum!--and what it would cost to carry on vexatiouslitigation!"
"You are strangely faint-hearted to pursue your advantage," said oldPierre shrewdly. "But," as the other made a gesture, "I put it to herladyship as you desired me to, and--"
"She consented?" eagerly.
Pierre shook his head. "No, _mon capitaine_! She will have none ofthem. And you had heard her: 'A great wrong was unintentionally,' sheaccented the word, 'done the Seigneur Desaurac by my father, which hasnow been set right!' 'It has,' I assented, and would have urgedfurther your proposal, when she stopped me. 'Speak no more of thismatter!' 'Twas all she said; but--you should have seen her face, andhow her eyes shone!"
The young man, looking down, made no answer. "An you are notsatisfied," continued Pierre, "broach the question to my lady,yourself."
"I?" A look, half bitter, crossed the other's dark face. "Herfather's enemy! Through whose servant, all her misfortunes came about!To revive anew what must so often pass in her mind?"
"Well, well; no doubt you know best, and, _certes_, now you remind me,she did turn cold and distant when I spoke of your coming. But letidle prejudices enter into practical concerns--it's on a par--of allimprovidence! Why, 'twas not long ago, she brought me a jewel or two;Marie, it seems, had foresight enough to snatch them before fleeingfrom the Mount, and begged me to take them for our kindness, she said;which I did, seeing she would not have it otherwise--nor let herself beregarded as one who could not pay. But to business, _mon capitaine_!"
And thereafter, for some time, they, or rather, Pierre, talked; theothers, save the Marquis, returned to the ship, and only Nanette, busyputting everything to rights, lingered in the room. At length, afterpapers had been signed and changed hands, the conversation of the hostbegan to wane; frequently had he sipped from a bottle of liqueur a
t hiselbow and now found himself nodding; leaned back more comfortably inthe great chair and suffered his head to fall. The clock ticked outthe seconds; the young man continued to sit motionless.
"'_A mon beau_'--" Nanette's voice, lightly humming, caused him to lookup; with the old mocking expression on her face, the inn-keeper'sdaughter paused near his chair.
"It was kind of you, _mon capitaine_, to bring to my lady her Marquis!"As she spoke, she looked toward the garden.
"Why not?" he asked steadily. "The passport and orders were correct."
"Were they, indeed?" she said, tapping the floor with her foot. "Youremain with us a few days; or, as of old, must we be content with abrief visit?" she went on.
"We leave to-morrow."
"To-morrow?" The girl's eyes wore a tentative expression. "Late?"
"Early!"
"Oh! In that case, perhaps I shan't have time," Nanette paused; lookedat her father; old Pierre's slumbers were not to be broken.
"For what?" asked the Black Seigneur shortly.
"To tell you something!"
"Why not--now?"
"You--are inquisitive?"
"No!"
"Even if it were about--" she looked toward the door that led to thegarden.
"The Lady Elise?" he said quickly.
"Oh, you _are_ interested? '_A mon beau_'--" a moment she hummed."You do not urge me?"
"Wherefore," laconically, although his eyes flashed, "when you havemade up your mind to tell!"
"You are right!" She threw back her head. "I have made up my mind!How well you understand women! Almost as well," she laughed mockingly,"as a ship!" He made no response. "When you thanked me once, _moncapitaine_, for all it pleased you to say I did for you, you mayremember," her voice was defiant, "I did not once gainsay you!" Morecuriously he regarded her. "Perhaps it pleased me," her hand on herhip, "to be thought such a fine heroine. But now," her tone grew alittle fierce, "I am tired of hearing people say: 'Nanette risked somuch!' 'Nanette did this!--did that!'--when it was she who risked--didit all, one might say."
"She? What do you mean?" The black eyes probed hers now with sudden,fierce questioning.
"That 'twas the Lady Elise saved you. Went knowingly--willingly--ashostage--"
"The Lady Elise!" he cried, an abrupt glow on the dark face.
Nanette's eyes noted and fell, but she went on hurriedly: "She knew ofthe ambush in the forest; saw part of the note I dropped on thebeach--it was brought to her by my aunt who warned her." And in aquick rush of words, as if desirous to be done with it, Nanette toldall that had transpired at the Mount.
Incredulously, eagerly, he listened; when, however, she had finished,he said nothing; sat like a man bewildered.
"Well?" said the girl impatiently. Still he looked down. "Well?" sherepeated, so sharply old Pierre stirred; lifted his head.
"Eh, my dear?"
She went to the mantel; took from it a candle.
"The Seigneur finds you such poor company," she said, "he desires alight to retire!"
The dawn smote the heavens with fiery lashes of red; from the east thewind began to blow harder, and on the sea the waves responded with amore forcible sweep. At a window in the inn, the Black Seigneur amoment looked out on the gay flowers and the sea and the worn grim faceof the cliff; then left his room and made his way downstairs. No onewas yet, apparently, astir; an hour or so must elapse ere the time setfor departure, and, pending the turn of the tide and adieu to oldPierre, the young man stepped into the garden, through the gate, and,turning into a rocky path, strode out over the cliffs. The island wassmall; its walks limited, and soon, despite a number of difficulties inthe way he had chosen, he found himself at its end--the verge of agreat rock that projected out over the blue, sullen sea. For somemoments he stood there, listening to the sounds in caverns below,watching the snow-capped waves, the ever-shifting spots on a vast map,and then, shaking off his reverie, started to return.
"A brisk wind to take us back to France," he said to himself; but histhoughts were not of possible April storms, or of his ship. His eyes,bright, yet perplexed, as if from some problem whose solution he hadnot yet found, were bent downward, only to be raised where the pathdemanded his closer attention. As he looked up, he became suddenlyaware of the figure of a girl, who approached from the oppositedirection.
A quick glint sprang to the young man's eyes, and, pausing, he waited;watched. At that point, the way ran over a neck of rock, almost eatenthrough by the hungry sea, and she had already started to cross when hefirst saw her. The path was not dangerous; nor was it easy; only itcalled for certainty and assurance on the part of the one that electedto take it. My lady's light footstep was sure; although the wind sweptrather sharply there, she held herself with confident poise, while fromthe brown eyes shone a clear, steady light.
"I saw you leave the inn," she said, drawing near the comparativelysheltered spot, where he stood, "and knowing you would soon sail,followed. There is something I wanted to say, and--and felt I shouldhave no other chance to tell you!"
Had she read what was passing in his brain, she would not have facedhim, so confident; but, ignorant of what he had learned, the cause ofvarying lights in his dark eyes, the tender play of emotion on hisstrong features, she broached her subject with steadfastness of purpose.
"You went away so suddenly the last time, I had no opportunity, then,to thank you for all that you did; and so, I do now--thank you, I mean!Also," a touch of prouder constraint in her tone, "I appreciate yourover-generous proposal through Pierre Laroche; although, of course,"her figure very straight, "I could not--it was impossible--to entertainit. But I am glad you were able to prove. You will understand--and,"my lady ended quickly, "I thank you!"
He looked at her long. "It is I who am in your debt!"
"You?" Her brows lifted.
"Yes."
"I--don't think I quite understand." In spite of herself and herresolution, the proud eyes seemed to shrink from a nameless somethingin his gaze.
"Nor I! Nanette was talking with me last night!"
"Nanette!"
In words, direct, unequivocal, he told her what he had learned; andalthough my lady laughed, as at something absurd, and strove tomaintain an unvarying mien, his eyes challenged evasion; demandedtruth! At that moment the space where they stood seemed, perhaps, toosmall; to hem her very closely in--too closely--as, drawing back, shetouched the hard rocky wall!
"Why?" Still endeavoring to regard him as if the charge could only bepreposterous, too unreasonable to answer, she was, nevertheless,conscious of the flame on her face--tacit refutation of the denials inher eyes! "Why?" she repeated.
"That is just what I was asking myself when I saw you, my Lady."
"And, of course, knowing there could be no--that it was toosenseless--" The words she was searching for failed her; she lookedtoward the path over the neck of rock, but he continued to standbetween it and her.
"I have heard the story in all its details; all that passed at theMount, while Nanette was there. And," instead of having undermined hisbelief, she felt she had only strengthened it, "I am sure you went tothe Monastery St. Ranulphe, knowing--"
"You are sure!" she interrupted quickly. "It wasn't long ago you weresure it was I who betrayed you, and--"
"I was wrong, then; but," his eyes continued to meet hers, "I am notwrong now."
Behind her, my lady's hand closed hard on the rock.
"Deny it!" his voice went on. "In so many words!"
"Why should I?" She caught her breath quickly. "I denied something toyou once, and you did not believe."
"I'll believe you now!"
"I should feel very much flattered, I am sure; but after--" A spark ofdefiance began to gleam in her eyes. "You are sure one moment, andnot, the next! You are ready to believe, or not to believe!" Morecertain now, she lifted her head; she, whose assurance and wit hadnever failed her at court, would not be put to confusion by him!
&nb
sp; His answer was unexpected; to her; to himself. Perhaps it was thepeasant--the untamed half-peasant--in his blood that caused it; thatmade a sudden, unceremonious act, his reply! He caught both her hands;drew her to him. He knew she could never care for him--she, thebeautiful lady! But he forgot himself for the moment; thought only ofwhat she had done; her courage, her fineness, her delicate loveliness!Her life for his. To pay a fancied debt, perhaps? And all the whilehe had thought-- Self-reproaches fell from his lips; were followed bybolder, more daring words. All he would have said the night on thebeach, when he had borne her from the fiery rock to the ship, now burstfrom him; all he had felt when he had held her in his arms--motionless,unresisting, the still, white face upturned, offering itself freely tohis gaze!
At the neck of the rock, beneath his feet, the waves thundered; nearthem, wild birds circled, wheeled and were borne on by the strongbreath of the wind. Had he spoken; what had he said? A gradualconsciousness of the beating of the sea smote his senses, as withrhythmical regularity it arose. He listened; slowly in his eyes thatlight that demanded--claimed, as it were, its own--was replaced byanother; his hands released hers. My lady made no sound; her proudlips trembled. Very pale, she leaned back.
So silence lengthened. "Pardon, my Lady!" he said at last, veryhumbly. "It had not occurred to me my secret was not safe; that I,master of ships and men, should not be master of myself! But I had notexpected to be alone with your Ladyship, and," a shadow of a smilecrossed the strong, reckless face, "your Ladyship can weigh theprovocation! If the excuse will not serve, I have none other to offer.Certainly, will I retract nothing. What's said, is said, and--no lieswill unsay it!"
He looked at the water; the tide was nearly in; he turned. She wouldnever see him again, for which she would be very glad, since the sightof him must always have been hateful to her. Had not fatedecreed--bitterly--she should look upon him only as an enemy? It mightbe, in time, she would condone his presumption, when his presence wouldno longer vex her! He was going one way; she, another, soon, with--
"You--you are mistaken, Monsieur!" My lady's tone was tremulous.
"Mistaken?"
"The--Marquis de Beauvillers left last night, on a fishing bark."
"Left!" abruptly he wheeled. "Why?" She did not answer. "You mean?"Before the sudden swift question that shone from his eyes, hers fell.
"Speak!" He seized her hand; his dark, eager face was near hers now."You have sent him away? He will never return?" She lifted her head;answered not in words; but a new light in her eyes met the flash ofhis. "My Lady!" he cried, bewildered for the moment at what thatglance revealed. An instant she seemed once more striving to combathim, when, drawing her gently toward him, he bent lower; kissed softlyher lips.
His dark, eager face was near hers now]
"Is it, then, true--"
"You find it so hard to believe?"
"That you love me? That I seem no longer your enemy?"
"My enemy? You? Who risked so much--saved my life! Ah, no, no! Doyou not remember," softly, "he, too, said--'Forget!'"
"I only remember I have long loved you! For me have you ever been theprincess--who dwelt in the clouds--in a palace, enchanted--" Her facechanged. "That saddens you! Forgive me!"
"It seems like a dream--that life, then! All made up of lightness andgaiety; courtiers and fine masques, until--" Beneath the bright goldof her hair, my lady's brow knit.
"Until?"
"Nay; I know not until--just when! Only, for long, I seem to havelived in a world, unreal and false. Last night, when in the garden, Ifelt stifled. This marriage! Arranged--for what?" She made a quickgesture. "The words came--had to come--though they hurt my lord'spride; touched his vanity! Nothing deeper! It was gone. Besides--"
My lady stopped. "Go on!" he urged, his voice eager.
"That is all. At least, all I would acknowledge to myself, then."
"And now?" His arm tightened; he held my lady close. "Now?"
Her lips lifted; though silent, made answer in the abandonment of themoment, the past and all its vicissitudes vanished; only the presentheld them--the present and the future, beautiful as the horizon, nowrosy and glowing beneath the warm touch of the dawn.
The tide came in and the tide went out.
"_Mon capitaine_ must have changed his mind," said old Pierre at theinn. And he gazed toward a ship, stranded on the sands of the harbor.
THE END
The Lady of the Mount Page 33