CHAPTER XVII.
THE JACOBIN MONK.
Had I needed any reminder of the uncertainty of Court favour, or aninstance whence I might learn the lesson of modesty, and so stand inless danger of presuming on my new and precarious prosperity, I had itin this episode, and in the demeanour of the company round me. On thecircle breaking up in confusion, I found myself the centre of generalregard, but regard of so dubious a character, the persons who wouldhave been the first to compliment me had the king retired earlier,standing farthest aloof now, that I felt myself rather insulted thanhonoured by it. One or two, indeed, of the more cautious spirits didapproach me; but it was with the air of men providing against a dangerparticularly remote, their half-hearted speeches serving only to fixthem in my memory as belonging to a class, especially abhorrent tome--the class, I mean, of those who would run at once with the hareand the hounds.
I was rejoiced to find that on one person, and that the one whosedisposition towards me was, next to the king's, of first importance,this episode had produced a different impression. Feeling, as I madefor the door, a touch on my arm, I turned to find M. de Rambouillet atmy elbow, regarding me with a glance of mingled esteem and amusement;in fine, with a very different look from that which had been mywelcome earlier in the evening. I was driven to suppose that he wastoo great a man, or too sure of his favour with the king, to be swayedby the petty motives which actuated the Court generally, for he laidhis hand familiarly on my shoulder, and walked on beside me.
'Well, my friend,' he said,' you have distinguished yourself finely! Ido not know that I ever remember a pretty woman making more stir inone evening. But if you are wise you will not go home alone to-night.'
'I have my sword, M. le Marquis,' I answered, somewhat proudly.
'Which will avail you little against a knife in the back!' he retorteddrily. 'What attendance have you?'
'My equerry, Simon Fleix, is on the stairs.'
'Good, so far, but not enough,' he replied, as we reached the head ofthe staircase. 'You had better come home with me now, and two or threeof my fellows shall go on to your lodging with you. Do you know, myfriend,' he continued, looking at me keenly, 'you are either a veryclever or a very foolish man?'
I made answer modestly. 'Neither the one, I fear, nor the other, Ihope, sir,' I said.
'Well, you have done a very pertinent thing,' he replied, 'for good orevil. You have let the enemy know what he has to expect, and he is notone, I warn you, to be despised. But whether you have been very wiseor very foolish in declaring open war remains to be seen.'
'A week will show,' I answered.
He turned and looked at me. 'You take it coolly,' he said.
'I have been knocking about the world for forty years, marquis,' Irejoined.
He muttered something about Rosny having a good eye, and then stoppedto adjust his cloak. We were by this time in the street. Making me gohand in hand with him, he requested the other gentlemen to draw theirswords; and the servants being likewise armed and numbering half ascore or more, with pikes and torches, we made up a very formidableparty, and caused, I think, more alarm as we passed, through thestreets to Rambouillet's lodging than we had any reason to feel. Notthat we had it all to ourselves, for the attendance at Court thatevening being large, and the circle breaking up as I have describedmore abruptly than usual, the vicinity of the castle was in a ferment,and the streets leading from it were alive with the lights andlaughter of parties similar to our own.
At the door of the marquis's lodging I prepared to take leave of himwith many expressions of gratitude, but he would have me enter and sitdown with him to a light refection, which it was his habit to takebefore retiring. Two of his gentlemen sat down with us, and a valet,who was in his confidence, waiting on us, we made very merry over thescene in the presence. I learned that M. de Bruhl was far from popularat Court; but being known to possess some kind of hold over the king,and enjoying besides a great reputation for recklessness and skillwith the sword, he had played a high part for a length of time, andattached to himself, especially since the death of Guise, aconsiderable number of followers.
'The truth is,' one of the marquis's gentlemen, who was a littleheated with wine, observed, 'there is nothing at this moment which abold and unscrupulous man may not win in France!'
'Nor a bold and Christian gentleman for France!' replied M. deRambouillet with some asperity. 'By the way,' he continued, turningabruptly to the servant, 'where is M. Francois?'
The valet answered that he had not returned with us from the castle.The Marquis expressed himself annoyed at this, and I gathered,firstly, that the missing man was his near kinsman, and, secondly,that he was also the young spark who had been so forward to quarrelwith me earlier in the evening. Determining to refer the matter,should it become pressing, to Rambouillet for adjustment, I took leaveof him, and attended by two of his servants, whom he kindlytransferred to my service for the present, I started towards mylodging a little before midnight.
The moon had risen while we were at supper, and its light, whichwhitened the gables on one side of the street, diffused a glimmerbelow sufficient to enable us to avoid the kennel. Seeing this, I badethe men put out our torch. Frost had set in, and a keen wind wasblowing, so that we were glad to hurry on at a good pace; and thestreets being quite deserted at this late hour, or haunted only bythose who had come to dread the town marshal, we met no one and saw nolights. I fell to thinking, for my part, of the evening I had spentsearching Blois for Mademoiselle, and of the difference between thenand now. Nor did I fail while on this track to retrace it stillfarther to the evening of our arrival at my mother's; whence, as asource, such kindly and gentle thoughts welled up in my mind as werenatural, and the unfailing affection of that gracious woman required.These, taking the place for the moment of the anxious calculations andstern purposes which had of late engrossed me, were only ousted bysomething which, happening under my eyes, brought me violently andabruptly to myself.
This was the sudden appearance of three men, who issued one by onefrom an alley a score of yards in front of us, and after pausing asecond to look back the way they had come, flitted on in single filealong the street, disappearing, as far as the darkness permitted me tojudge, round a second corner. I by no means liked their appearance,and as a scream and the clash of arms rang out next moment from thedirection in which they had gone, I cried lustily to Simon Fleix tofollow, and ran on, believing from the rascals' movements that theywere after no good, but that rather some honest man was like to besore beset.
On reaching the lane down which they had plunged, however, I paused amoment, considering not so much its blackness, which was intense, theeaves nearly meeting overhead, as the small chance I had ofdistinguishing between attackers and attacked. But Simon and the menovertaking me, and the sounds of a sharp tussle still continuing, Idecided to venture, and plunged into the alley, my left arm welladvanced, with the skirt of my cloak thrown over it, and my sworddrawn back. I shouted as I ran, thinking that the knaves might desiston hearing me; and this was what happened, for as I arrived on thescene of action--the farther end of the alley--two men took to theirheels, while of two who remained, one lay at length in the kennel, andanother rose slowly from his knees.
'You are just in time, sir,' the latter said, breathing hard, butspeaking with a preciseness which sounded familiar. 'I am obliged toyou, sir, whoever you are. The villains had got me down, and in a fewminutes more would have made my mother childless. By the way, you haveno light, have you?' he continued, lisping like a woman.
One of M. de Rambouillet's men, who had by this time come up, criedout that it was Monsieur Francois.
'Yes, blockhead!' the young gentleman answered with the utmostcoolness. 'But I asked for a light, not for my name.'
'I trust you are not hurt, sir?' I said, putting up my sword.
'Scratched only,' he answered, betraying no surprise on learning whoit was had come up so opportunely; as he
no doubt did learn from myvoice, for he continued with a bow, 'A slight price to pay for theknowledge that M. de Marsac is as forward on the field as on thestairs.'
I bowed my acknowledgments.
'This fellow,' I said, 'is he much hurt?'
'Tut, tut! I thought I had saved the marshal all trouble,' M. Francoisreplied. 'Is he not dead, Gil?'
The poor wretch made answer for himself, crying out piteously andin a choking voice, for a priest to shrive him. At that moment SimonFleix returned with our torch, which he had lighted at the nearestcross-streets, where there was a brazier, and we saw by this lightthat the man was coughing up blood, and might live perhaps half anhour.
'Mordieu! That comes of thrusting too high!' M. Francois muttered,regretfully. 'An inch lower, and there would have been none of thistrouble! I suppose somebody must fetch one. Gil,' he continued, 'run,man, to the sacristy in the Rue St. Denys, and get a Father. Or--stay!Help to lift him under the lee of the wall there. The wind cuts like aknife here.'
The street being on the slope of the hill, the lower part of the housenearest us stood a few feet from the ground, on wooden piles, and thespace underneath it, being enclosed at the back and sides, was used asa cart-house. The servants moved the dying man into this rude shelter,and I accompanied them, being unwilling to leave the young gentlemanalone. Not wishing, however, to seem to interfere, I walked to thefarther end, and sat down on the shaft of a cart, whence I idlyadmired the strange aspect of the group I had left, as the glare ofthe torch brought now one and now another into prominence, andsometimes shone on M. Francois' jewelled fingers toying with his tinymoustache, and sometimes on the writhing features of the man at hisfeet.
On a sudden, and before Gil had started on his errand, I saw there wasa priest among them. I had not seen him enter, nor had I any ideawhence he came. My first impression was only that here was a priest,and that he was looking at me--not at the man craving his assistanceon the floor, or at those who stood round him, but at me, who sat awayin the shadow beyond the ring of light!
This was surprising; but a second glance explained it, for then I sawthat he was the Jacobin monk who had haunted my mother's dying hours.And, amazed as much at this strange _rencontre_, as at the man'sboldness, I sprang up and strode forwards, forgetting, in an impulseof righteous anger, the office he came to do. And this the more as hisface, still turned to me, seemed instinct to my eyes with triumphantmalice. As I moved towards him, however, with a fierce exclamation onmy lips, he suddenly dropped his eyes and knelt. Immediately M.Francois cried 'Hush!' and the men turned to me with scandalisedfaces. I fell back. Yet even then, whispering on his knees by thedying man, the knave was thinking, I felt sure, of me, glorying atonce in his immunity and the power it gave him to tantalise me withoutfear.
I determined, whatever the result, to intercept him when all was over;and on the man dying a few minutes later, I walked resolutely to theopen side of the shed, thinking it likely he might try to slip away asmysteriously as he had come. He stood a moment speaking to M.Francois, however, and then, accompanied by him, advanced boldly tomeet me, a lean smile on his face.
'Father Antoine,' M. d'Agen said politely, 'tells me that he knowsyou, M. de Marsac, and desires to speak to you, _mal-a-propos_ as isthe occasion.'
'And I to him,' I answered, trembling with rage, and only restrainingby an effort the impulse which would have had me dash my hand in thepriest's pale, smirking face. 'I have waited I long for this moment,'I continued, eyeing him steadily, as M. Francois withdrew out ofhearing, 'and had you tried to avoid me, I would have dragged youback, though all your tribe were here to protect you.'
His presence so maddened me that I scarcely knew what I said. Ifelt my breath come quickly, I felt the blood surge to my head,and it was with difficulty I restrained myself when he answered withwell-affected sanctity, 'Like mother, like son, I fear,' sir.Huguenots both.'
I choked with rage. 'What!' I said, 'you dare to threaten me as youthreatened my mother? Fool! know that only to-day for the purpose ofdiscovering and punishing you I took the rooms in which my motherdied.'
'I know it,' he answered quietly. And then in a second, as by magic,he altered his demeanour completely, raising his head and looking mein the face. 'That, and so much besides, I know,' he continued, givingme, to my astonishment, frown for frown, 'that if you will listen tome for a moment, M. de Marsac, and listen quietly, I will convince youthat the folly is not on my side.'
Amazed at his new manner, in which there was none of the madness thathad marked him at our first meeting, but a strange air of authority,unlike anything I had associated with him before, I signed to him toproceed.
'You think that I am in your power?' he said, smiling.
'I think,' I retorted swiftly, 'that, escaping me now, you will haveat your heels henceforth a worse enemy than even your own sins.'
'Just so,' he answered, nodding. 'Well, I am going to show you thatthe reverse is the case; and that you are as completely in my hands,to spare or to break, as this straw. In the first place, you are herein Blois, a Huguenot!'
'Chut!' I exclaimed contemptuously, affecting a confidence I was farfrom feeling. 'A little while back that might have availed you. But weare in Blois, not Paris. It is not far to the Loire, and you have todeal with a man now, not with a woman. It is you who have cause totremble, not I.'
'You think to be protected,' he answered with a sour smile, 'even onthis side of the Loire, I see. But one word to the Pope's Legate, orto the Duke of Nevers, and you would see the inside of a dungeon, ifnot worse. For the king----'
'King or no king!' I answered, interrupting him with more assurancethan I felt, seeing that I remembered only too well Henry's remarkthat Rosny must not look to him for protection, 'I fear you not awhit! And that reminds me. I have heard you talk treason--rank, blacktreason, priest, as ever sent man to rope, and I will give you up. Byheaven I will!' I cried, my rage increasing, as I discerned, more andmore clearly, the dangerous hold he had over me. 'You have threatenedme! One word, and I will send you to the gallows!'
'Sh!' he answered, indicating M. Francois by a gesture of the hand.'For your own sake, not mine. This is fine talking, but you have notyet heard all I know. Would you like to hear how you have spent thelast month? Two days after Christmas, M. de Marsac, you left Chizewith a young lady--I can give you her name, if you please. Four daysafterwards you reached Blois, and took her to your mother's lodging.Next morning she left you for M. de Bruhl. Two days later you trackedher to a house in the Ruelle d'Arcy, and freed her, but lost her inthe moment of victory. Then you stayed in Blois until your mother'sdeath, going a day or two later to M. de Rosny's house by Mantes,where mademoiselle still is. Yesterday you arrived in Blois with M. deRosny; you went to his lodging; you----'
'Proceed, sir,' I muttered, leaning forward. Under cover of my cloak Idrew my dagger half-way from its sheath. 'Proceed, sir, I pray,' Irepeated with dry lips.
'You slept there,' he continued, holding his ground, but shudderingslightly, either from cold or because he perceived my movement andread my design in my eyes. 'This morning you remained here inattendance on M. de Rambouillet.'
For the moment I breathed freely again, perceiving that though he knewmuch, the one thing on which M. de Rosny's design turned had escapedhim. The secret interview with the king, which compromised alike Henryhimself and M. de Rambouillet, had apparently passed unnoticed andunsuspected. With a sigh of intense relief I slid back the dagger,which I had fully made up my mind to use had he known all, and drew mycloak round me with a shrug of feigned indifference. I sweated tothink what he did know, but our interview with the king having escapedhim, I breathed again.
'Well, sir,' I said curtly, 'I have listened. And now, what is thepurpose of all this?'
'My purpose?' he answered, his eyes glittering. 'To show you that youare in my power. You are the agent of M. de Rosny. I, the agent,however humble, of the Holy Catholic League. Of your movements I knowall. What do you know of mine?'
&n
bsp; 'Knowledge,' I made grim answer, 'is not everything, sir priest.'
'It is more than it was,' he said, smiling his thin-lipped smile. 'Itis going to be more than it is. And I know much--about you, M. deMarsac.'
'You know too much!' I retorted, feeling his covert threats closeround me like the folds of some great serpent. 'But you are imprudent,I think. Will you tell me what is to prevent me striking you throughwhere you stand, and ridding myself at a blow of so much knowledge?'
'The presence of three men, M. de Marsac,' he answered lightly, wavinghis hand towards M. Francois and the others, 'every one of whom wouldgive you up to justice. You forget that you are north of the Loire,and that priests are not to be massacred here with impunity, as inyour lawless south-country. However, enough. The night is cold, and M.d'Agen grows suspicious as well as impatient. We have, perhaps, spokentoo long already. Permit me'--he bowed and drew back a step--'toresume this discussion to-morrow.'
Despite his politeness and the hollow civility with which he thussought to close the interview, the light of triumph which shone in hiseyes, as the glare of the torch fell athwart them, no less than theassured tone of his voice, told me clearly that he knew his power. Heseemed, indeed, transformed: no longer a slinking, peaceful clerk,preying on a woman's fears, but a bold and crafty schemer, skilled andunscrupulous, possessed of hidden knowledge and hidden resources; thepersonification of evil intellect. For a moment, knowing all I knew,and particularly the responsibilities which lay before me, and theinterests committed to my hands, I quailed, confessing myself unequalto him. I forgot the righteous vengeance I owed him; I cried outhelplessly against the ill-fortune which had brought him across mypath. I saw myself enmeshed and fettered beyond hope of escape, and byan effort only controlled the despair I felt.
'To-morrow?' I muttered hoarsely. 'At what time?'
He shook his head with a cunning smile. 'A thousand thanks, but I willsettle that myself!' he answered. 'Au revoir!' And muttering a word ofleave-taking to M. Francois d'Agen, he blessed the two servants, andwent out into the night.
Historical Romances: Under the Red Robe, Count Hannibal, A Gentleman of France Page 69