CHAPTER XXIV.
A ROYAL PERIL.
The elation with which I had heard the king announce his resolutionquickly diminished on cooler reflection. It stood in particular at avery low ebb as I waited, an hour later, at the little north posternof the Castle, and, cowering within the shelter of the arch to escapethe wind, debated whether his Majesty's energy would sustain him tothe point of action, or whether he might not, in one of those fits oftreacherous vacillation which had again and again marred his plans,send those to keep the appointment who would give a final account ofme. The longer I considered his character the more dubious I grew. Theloneliness of the situation, the darkness, the black front, unbrokenby any glimmer of light, which the Castle presented on this side, andthe unusual and gloomy stillness which lay upon the town, allcontributed to increase my uneasiness. It was with apprehension aswell as relief that I caught at last the sound of footsteps on thestone staircase, and, standing a little to one side, saw a streak oflight appear at the foot of the door.
On the latter being partially opened a voice cried my name. I advancedwith caution and showed myself. A brief conversation ensued betweentwo or three persons who stood within; but in the end, a maskedfigure, which I had no difficulty in identifying as the king, steppedbriskly out.
'You are armed?' he said, pausing a second opposite me.
I put back my cloak and showed him, by the light which streamed fromthe doorway, that I carried pistols as well as a sword.
'Good!' he answered briefly; 'then let us go. Do you walk on my lefthand, my friend. It is a dark night, is it not?'
'Very dark, sire,' I said.
He made no answer to this, and we started, proceeding with cautionuntil we had crossed the narrow bridge, and then with greater freedomand at a better pace. The slenderness of the attendance at Court thatevening, and the cold wind, which swept even the narrowest streets anddrove roisterers indoors, rendered it unlikely that we should bestopped or molested by any except professed thieves; and for these Iwas prepared. The king showed no inclination to talk; and keepingsilence myself out of respect, I had time to calculate the chances andto consider whether his Majesty would succeed where I had failed.
This calculation, which was not inconsistent with the keenestwatchfulness on my part whenever we turned a corner or passed themouth of an alley, was brought to an end by our safe arrival at thehouse. Briefly apologising to the king for the meanness and darknessof the staircase, I begged leave to precede him, and rapidly mounteduntil I met Maignan. Whispering to him that all was well, I did notwait to hear his answer, but, bidding him be on the watch, I led theking on with as much deference as was possible until we stood at thedoor of mademoiselle's apartment, which I have elsewhere stated toconsist of an outer and inner room. The door was opened by SimonFleix, and him I promptly sent out. Then, standing aside anduncovering, I begged the king to enter.
He did so, still wearing his hat and mask, and I followed and securedthe door. A lamp hanging from the ceiling diffused an imperfect lightthrough the room, which was smaller but more comfortable in appearancethan that which I rented overhead. I observed that Fanchette, whoseharsh countenance looked more forbidding than usual, occupied a stoolwhich she had set in a strange fashion against the inner door; but Ithought no more of this at the moment, my attention passing quickly tomademoiselle, who sat crouching before the fire, enveloped in a largeoutdoor cloak, as if she felt the cold. Her back was towards us, andshe was, or pretended to be, still ignorant of our presence. With amuttered word I pointed her out to the king, and went towards her withhim.
'Mademoiselle,' I said in a low voice, 'Mademoiselle de la Vire! Ihave the honour----'
She would not turn, and I stopped. Clearly she heard, but she betrayedthat she did so only by drawing her cloak more closely round her.Primed by my respect for the king, I touched her lightly on theshoulder. 'Mademoiselle!' I said impatiently, 'you are not aware ofit, but----'
She shook herself free from my hand with so rude a gesture that Ibroke off, and stood gaping foolishly at her. The king smiled, andnodding to me to step back a pace, took the task on himself.'Mademoiselle,' he said with dignity, 'I am not accustomed----'
His voice had a magical effect. Before he could add another word shesprang up as if she had been struck, and faced us, a cry of alarm onher lips. Simultaneously we both cried out too, for it was notmademoiselle at all. The woman who confronted us, her hand on hermask, her eyes glittering through the slits, was of a taller andfuller figure. We stared at her. Then a lock of bright golden hairwhich had escaped from the hood of her cloak gave us the clue.'Madame!' the king cried.
'Madame de Bruhl!' I echoed, my astonishment greater than his.
Seeing herself known, she began with trembling fingers to undo thefastenings of her mask; but the king, who had hitherto displayed atrustfulness I had not expected in him, had taken alarm at sight ofher, as at a thing unlocked for, and of which I had not warned him.'How is this?' he said harshly, drawing back a pace from her andregarding me with anger and distrust. 'Is this some pretty arrangementof yours, sir? Am I an intruder at an assignation, or is this a trapwith M. de Bruhl in the background? Answer, sirrah!' he continued,working himself rapidly into a passion. 'Which am I to understand isthe case?'
'Neither, sire,' I answered with as much dignity as I could assume,utterly surprised and mystified as I was by Madame's presence. 'YourMajesty wrongs Madame de Bruhl as much by the one suspicion as youinjure me by the other. I am equally in the dark with you, sire, andas little expected to see madame here.'
'I came, sire,' she said proudly, addressing herself to the king, andignoring me, 'out of no love to M. de Marsac, but as any personbearing a message to him might come. Nor can you, sire,' she addedwith spirit, 'feel half as much surprise at seeing me here, as I atseeing your Majesty.'
'I can believe that,' the king answered drily. 'I would you had notseen me.'
'The King of France is seen only when he chooses,' she replied,curtseying to the ground.
'Good,' he answered. 'Let it be so, and you will oblige the King ofFrance, madame. But enough,' he continued, turning from her to me;'since this is not the lady I came to see, M. de Marsac, where isshe?'
'In the inner room, sire, I opine,' I said, advancing to Fanchettewith more misgiving at heart than my manner evinced. 'Your mistress ishere, is she not?' I continued, addressing the woman sharply.
'Ay, and will not come out,' she rejoined, sturdily keeping her place.
'Nonsense!' I said. 'Tell her----'
'You may tell her what you please,' she replied, refusing to budge aninch. 'She can hear.'
'But, woman!' I cried impatiently, 'you do not understand. I _must_speak with her. I must speak with her at once! On business of thehighest importance.'
'As you please,' she said rudely, still keeping her seat. 'I have toldyou you can speak.'
Perhaps I felt as foolish on this occasion as ever in my life; andsurely never was man placed in a more ridiculous position. Afterovercoming numberless obstacles, and escaping as many perils, I hadbrought the king here, a feat beyond my highest hopes--only to bebaffled and defeated by a waiting-woman! I stood irresolute; witlessand confused; while the king waited half angry and half amused, andmadame kept her place by the entrance, to which she had retreated.
I was delivered from my dilemma by the curiosity which is,providentially perhaps, a part of woman's character, and which ledmademoiselle to interfere herself. Keenly on the watch inside, she hadheard part of what passed between us, and been rendered inquisitive bythe sound of a strange man's voice, and by the deference which shecould discern I paid to the visitor. At this moment, she cried out,accordingly, to know who was there; and Fanchette, seeming to takethis as a command, rose and dragged her stool aside, saying peevishlyand without any increase of respect, 'There, I told you she couldhear.'
'Who is it?' mademoiselle asked again, in a raised voice.
I was about to
answer when the king signed to me to stand back, and,advancing himself, knocked gently on the door. 'Open, I pray you,mademoiselle,' he said courteously.
'Who is there?' she cried again, her voice trembling.
'It is I, the king,' he answered softly; but in that tone of majestywhich belongs not to the man, but to the descendant, and seems to bethe outcome of centuries of command.
She uttered an exclamation and slowly, and with seeming reluctance,turned the key in the lock. It grated, and the door opened. I caught aglimpse for an instant of her pale face and bright eyes, and then hisMajesty, removing his hat, passed in and closed the door; and Iwithdrew to the farther end of the room, where madame continued tostand by the entrance.
I entertained a suspicion, I remember, and not unnaturally, that shehad come to my lodging as her husband's spy; but her first words whenI joined her dispelled this. 'Quick!' she said with an imperiousgesture. 'Hear me and let me go! I have waited long enough for you,and suffered enough through you. As for that woman in there, she ismad, and her servant too! Now, listen to me. You spoke to me honestlyto-day, and I have come to repay you. You have an appointment with myhusband to-morrow at Chaverny. Is it not so?' she added impatiently.
I replied that it was so.
'You are to go with one friend,' she went on, tearing the glove shehad taken off, to strips in her excitement. 'He is to meet you withone also?'
'Yes,' I assented reluctantly, 'at the bridge, madame.'
'Then do not go,' she rejoined emphatically. 'Shame on me that Ishould betray my husband; but it were worse to send an innocent man tohis death. He will meet you with one sword only, according to hischallenge, but there will be those under the bridge who will makecertain work. There, I have betrayed him now!' she continued bitterly.'It is done. Let me go!'
'Nay, but, madame,' I said, feeling more concerned for her, on whomfrom the first moment of meeting her I had brought nothing butmisfortune, than surprised by this new treachery on his part, 'willyou not run some risk in returning to him? Is there nothing I can dofor you--no step I can take for your protection?'
'None!' she said repellently and almost rudely, 'except to speed mygoing.'
'But you will not pass through the streets alone?'
She laughed so bitterly my heart ached for her. 'The unhappy arealways safe,' she said.
Remembering how short a time it was since I had surprised her in thefirst happiness of wedded love, I felt for her all the pity it wasnatural I should feel. But the responsibility under which hisMajesty's presence and the charge of mademoiselle laid me forbade meto indulge in the luxury of evincing my gratitude. Gladly would I haveescorted her back to her home--even if I could not make that homeagain what it had been, or restore her husband to the pinnacle fromwhich I had dashed him--but I dared not do this. I was forced tocontent myself with less, and was about to offer to send one of my menwith her, when a hurried knocking at the outer door arrested the wordson my lips.
Signing to her to stand still, I listened. The knocking was repeated,and grew each moment more urgent. There was a little grille, stronglywired, in the upper part of the door, and this I was about to open inorder to learn what was amiss, when Simon's voice reached me from thefarther side imploring me to open the door quickly. Doubting the lad'sprudence, yet afraid to refuse lest I should lose some warning he hadto give, I paused a second, and then undid the fastenings. The momentthe door gave way he fell in bodily, crying out to me to bar it behindhim. I caught a glimpse through the gap of a glare as of torches, andsaw by this light half a dozen flushed faces in the act of risingabove the edge of the landing. The men who owned them raised a shoutof triumph at sight of me, and, clearing the upper steps at a bound,made a rush for the door. But in vain. We had just time to close itand drop the two stout bars. In a moment, in a second, the fierceoutcry fell to a dull roar; and safe for the time, we had leisure tolook in one another's faces and learn the different aspects of alarm.Madame was white to the lips, while Simon's eyes seemed starting fromhis head, and he shook in every limb with terror.
At first, on my asking him what it meant, he could not speak. But thatwould not do, and I was in the act of seizing him by the collar toforce an answer from him when the inner door opened, and the king cameout, his face wearing an air of so much cheerfulness as proved bothhis satisfaction with mademoiselle's story and his ignorance of all wewere about. In a word he had not yet taken the least alarm; but seeingSimon in my hands, and madame leaning against the wall by the doorlike one deprived of life, he stood and cried out in surprise to knowwhat it was.
'I fear we are besieged, sire,' I answered desperately, feeling myanxieties increased a hundredfold by his appearance--'but by whom Icannot say. This lad knows, however,' I continued, giving Simon avicious shake, 'and he shall speak. Now, trembler,' I said to him,'tell your tale?'
'The Provost-Marshal!' he stammered, terrified afresh by the king'spresence: for Henry had removed his mask. 'I was on guard below. I hadcome up a few steps to be out of the cold, when I heard them enter.There are a round score of them.'
I cried out a great oath, asking him why he had not gone up and warnedMaignan, who with his men was now cut off from us in the rooms above.'You fool!' I continued, almost beside myself with rage, 'if you hadnot come to this door they would have mounted to my rooms and besetthem! What is this folly about the Provost-Marshal?'
'He is there,' Simon answered, cowering away from me, his faceworking.
I thought he was lying, and had merely fancied this in his fright. Butthe assailants at this moment began to hail blows on the door, callingon us to open, and using such volleys of threats as penetrated eventhe thickness of the oak; driving the blood from the women's cheeks,and arresting the king's step in a manner which did not escape me.Among their cries I could plainly distinguish the words, 'In theking's name!' which bore out Simon's statement.
At the moment I drew comfort from this; for if we had merely to dealwith the law we had that on our side which was above it. And Ispeedily made up my mind what to do. 'I think the lad speaks thetruth, sire,' I said coolly. 'This is only your Majesty'sProvost-Marshal. The worst to be feared, therefore, is that he maylearn your presence here before you would have it known. It should notbe a matter of great difficulty, however, to bind him to silence, andif you will please to mask, I will open the grille and speak withhim.'
The king, who had taken his stand in the middle of the room, andseemed dazed and confused by the suddenness of the alarm and theuproar, assented with a brief word. Accordingly I was preparing toopen the grille when Madame de Bruhl seized my arm, and forciblypushed me back from it.
'What would you do?' she cried, her face full of terror. 'Do you nothear? He is there.'
'Who is there?' I said, startled more by her manner than her words.
'Who?' she answered; 'who should be there? My husband! I hear hisvoice, I tell you! He has tracked me here! He has found me, and willkill me!'
'God forbid!' I said, doubting if she had really heard his voice. Tomake sure, I asked Simon if he had seen him; and my heart sank when Iheard from him too that Bruhl was of the party. For the first time Ibecame fully sensible of the danger which threatened us. For the firsttime, looking round the ill-lit room on the women's terrified faces,and the king's masked figure instinct with ill-repressed nervousness,I recognised how hopelessly we were enmeshed. Fortune had served Bruhlso well that, whether he knew it or not, he had us all trapped--alikethe king whom he desired to compromise, and his wife whom he hated,mademoiselle who had once escaped him, and me who had twice thwartedhim. It was little to be wondered at if my courage sank as I lookedfrom one to another, and listened to the ominous creaking of the door,as the stout panels complained under the blows rained upon them. Formy first duty, and that which took the _pas_ of all others, was to theking--to save him harmless. How, then, was I to be answerable formademoiselle, how protect Madame de Bruhl?--how, in a word, redeem allthose pledges in which my honour was concerned?
It was the tho
ught of the Provost-Marshal which at this moment ralliedmy failing spirits. I remembered that until the mystery of hispresence here in alliance with Bruhl was explained there was no needto despair; and turning briskly to the king I begged him to favour meby standing with the women in a corner which was not visible from thedoor. He complied mechanically, and in a manner which I did not like;but lacking time to weigh trifles, I turned to the grille and openedit without more ado.
The appearance of my face at the trap was greeted with a savage cry ofrecognition, which subsided as quickly into silence. It was followedby a momentary pushing to and fro among the crowd outside, which inits turn ended in the Provost-Marshal coming to the front. 'In theking's name!' he said fussily.
'What is it?' I replied, eyeing rather the flushed, eager faces whichscowled over his shoulders than himself. The light of two links, borneby some of the party, shone ruddily on the heads of the halberds, and,flaring up from time to time, filled all the place with wavering,smoky light. 'What do you want?' I continued, 'rousing my lodging atthis time of night?'
'I hold a warrant for your arrest,' he replied bluntly. 'Resistancewill be vain. If you do not surrender I shall send for a ram to breakin the door.'
'Where is your order?' I said sharply. 'The one you held this morningwas cancelled by the king himself.'
'Suspended only,' he answered. 'Suspended only. It was given out to meagain this evening for instant execution. And I am here in pursuanceof it, and call on you to surrender.'
'Who delivered it to you?' I retorted.
'M. de Villequier, 'he answered readily. 'And here it is. Now, come,sir,' he continued, 'you are only making matters worse. Open to us.'
'Before I do so,' I said drily, 'I should like to know what part inthe pageant my friend M. de Bruhl, whom I see on the stairs yonder,proposes to play. And there is my old friend Fresnoy,' I added. 'And Isee one or two others whom I know, M. Provost. Before I surrender Imust know among other things what M. de Bruhl's business is here.'
'It is the business of every loyal man to execute the king's warrant,'the Provost answered evasively. 'It is yours to surrender, and mine tolodge you in the Castle. But I am loth to have a disturbance. I willgive you until that torch goes out, if you like, to make up your mind.At the end of that time, if you do not surrender, I shall batter downthe door.'
'You will give the torch fair play?' I said, noting its condition.
He assented; and thanking him sternly for this indulgence, I closedthe grille.
Historical Romances: Under the Red Robe, Count Hannibal, A Gentleman of France Page 76