Historical Romances: Under the Red Robe, Count Hannibal, A Gentleman of France

by Stanley John Weyman

  CHAPTER XXVIII.

  THE CASTLE ON THE HILL.

  The certainty that Bruhl and his captives were not far off, and thelikelihood that we might be engaged within the hour, expelled from theminds of even the most, timorous among us the vapourish fears whichhad before haunted them. In the hurried scramble which presentlylanded us on the bank of the stream, men who had ridden for hours insulky silence found their voices, and from cursing their horses'blunders soon advanced to swearing and singing after the fashion oftheir kind. This change, by relieving me of a great fear, left me atleisure to consider our position, and estimate more clearly than Imight have done the advantages of hastening, or postponing, an attack.We numbered eleven; the enemy, to the best of my belief, twelve. Ofthis slight superiority I should have recked little in the daytime;nor, perhaps, counting Maignan as two, have allowed that it existed.But the result of a night attack is more difficult to forecast; and Ihad also to take into account the perils to which the two ladies wouldbe exposed, between the darkness and tumult, in the event of the issueremaining for a time in doubt.

  These considerations, and particularly the last, weighed sopowerfully with me, that before I reached the bottom of the gorge Ihad decided to postpone I the attack until morning. The answers tosome questions which I put to the inhabitant of the house by the fordas soon as I reached level ground only confirmed me in thisresolution. The road Bruhl had taken ran for a distance by theriverside, and along the bottom of the gorge; and, difficult by day,was repotted to be impracticable for horses by night. The castle hehad mentioned lay full two leagues away, and on the farther edge of atract of rough woodland. Finally, I doubted whether, in the absence ofany other reason for delay, I could have marched my men, weary as theywere, to the place before day break.

  When I came to announce this decision, however, and to inquire whataccommodation the peasant could afford us, I found myself in trouble.Fauchette, mademoiselle's woman, suddenly confronted me, her facescarlet with rage. Thrusting herself forward into the circle of lightcast by the lanthorn, she assailed me with a virulence and fiercenesswhich said more for her devotion to her mistress than her respect forme. Her wild gesticulations, her threats, and the appeals which shemade now to me, and now to the men who stood in a circle round us,their faces in shadow, discomfited as much as they surprised me.

  'What!' she cried violently, 'you call yourself a gentleman, and liehere and let my mistress be murdered, or worse, within a league ofyou! Two leagues? A groat for your two leagues! I would walk thembarefoot, if that would shame you. And you, you call yourselves men,and suffer it! It is God's truth you are a set of cravens andsluggards. Give me as many women, and I would----'

  'Peace, woman!' Maignan said in his deep voice. 'You had your way andcame with us, and you will obey orders as well as another! Be off, andsee to the victuals before worse happen to you!'

  'Ay, see to the victuals!' she retorted. 'See to the victuals,forsooth! That is all you think of--to lie warm and eat your fill! Aset of dastardly, drinking, droning guzzlers you are! You are!' sheretorted, her voice rising to a shriek. 'May the plague take you!'

  'Silence!' Maignan growled fiercely, 'or have a care to yourself! Fora copper-piece I would send you to cool your heels in the waterbelow--for that last word! Begone, do you hear,' he continued, seizingher by the shoulder and thrusting her towards the house, 'or worse mayhappen to you. We are rough customers, as you will find if you do notlock up your tongue!'

  I heard her go wailing into the darkness; and Heaven knows it was notwithout compunction I forced myself to remain inactive in the face ofa devotion which seemed so much greater than mine. The men fell awayone by one to look to their horses and choose sleeping-quarters forthe night; and presently M. d'Agen and I were left alone standingbeside the lanthorn, which the man had hung on a bush before his door.The brawling of the water as it poured between the banks, a score ofpaces from us, and the black darkness which hid everything beyond thelittle ring of light in which we stood--so that for all we could seewe were in a pit--had the air of isolating us from all the world.

  I looked at the young man, who had not once lisped that day; and Iplainly read in his attitude his disapproval of my caution. Though hedeclined to meet my eye, he stood with his arms folded and his headthrown back, making no attempt to disguise the scorn and ill-temperwhich his face expressed. Hurt by the woman's taunts, and possiblyshaken in my opinion, I grew restive under his silence, and unwiselygave way to my feelings.

  'You do not appear to approve of my decision, M. d'Agen?' I said.

  'It is yours to command, sir,' he answered proudly.

  There are truisms which have more power to annoy than the veriestreproaches. I should have borne in mind the suspense and anxiety hewas suffering, and which had so changed him that I scarcely knew himfor the gay young spark on whose toe I had trodden. I should haveremembered that he was young and I old, and that it behoved me to bepatient. But on my side also there was anxiety, and responsibility aswell; and, above all, a rankling soreness, to which I refrain fromgiving the name of jealousy, though it came as near to that feeling asthe difference in our ages and personal advantages (whereof thebalance was all on his side) would permit. This, no doubt, it waswhich impelled me to continue the argument.

  'You would go on?' I said persistently.

  'It is idle to say what I would do,' he answered with a flash ofanger.

  'I asked for your opinion, sir,' I rejoined stiffly.

  'To what purpose?' he retorted, stroking his small moustachehaughtily. 'We look at the thing from opposite points. You are goingabout your business, which appears to be the rescuing of ladies whoare--may I venture to say it?--so unfortunate as to entrust themselvesto your charge. I, M. de Marsac, am more deeply interested. Moredeeply interested,' he repeated lamely. 'I--in a word, I am prepared,sir, to do what others only talk of--and if I cannot, followotherwise, would follow on my feet!'

  'Whom?' I asked curtly, stung by this repetition of my own words.

  He laughed harshly and bitterly. 'Why explain? or why quarrel?' hereplied cynically. 'God knows, if I could afford to quarrel with you,I should; have done so fifty hours ago. But I need your help; and,needing it, I am prepared I to do that which must seem to a personof your calm passions and perfect judgment alike futile andincredible--pay the full price for it.'

  'The full price for it!' I muttered, understanding nothing, exceptthat I did not understand.

  'Ay, the full price for it!' he repeated. And as he spoke he looked atme with an expression of rage so fierce that I recoiled a step. Thatseemed to restore him in some degree to himself, for without giving mean opportunity of answering he turned hastily from me, and, stridingaway, was in a moment lost in the darkness.

  He left me amazed beyond measure. I stood repeating his phrase about'the full price' a hundred times over, but still found it and hispassion inexplicable. To cut the matter short, I could come to noother conclusion than that he desired to insult me, and aware of mypoverty and the equivocal position in which I stood towardsmademoiselle, chose his words accordingly. This seemed a thingunworthy of one of whom I had before thought highly; but calmerreflection enabling me to see something of youthful bombast in thetirade he had delivered, I smiled a little sadly, and determined tothink no more of the matter for the present, but to persist firmly inthat which seemed to me to be the right course.

  Having settled this, I was about to enter the house, when Maignanstopped me, telling me that the plague had killed five people in it,letting only the man we had seen; who had, indeed, been seized, butrecovered. This ghastly news had scared my company to such a degreethat they had gone as far from the house as the level groundpermitted, and there lighted a fire, round which they were going topass the night. Fanchette had taken up her quarters in the stable, andthe equerry announced that he had kept a shed full of sweet, hay forM. d'Agen and myself. I assented to this arrangement, and aftersupping off soup and black bread, which was
all we could procure, badethe peasant rouse us two hours before sunrise; and so, being too wearyand old in service to remain awake thinking, I fell asleep, and slept;soundly till a little after four.

  My first business on rising was to see that the men before mountingmade a meal, for it is ill work fighting empty. I went round also andsaw that all had their arms, and that such as carried pistols had themloaded and primed. M. Francois did not put in an appearance until thiswork was done, and then showed a very pale and gloomy countenance. Itook no heed of him, however, and with the first streak of daylight westarted in single file and at a snail's pace up the valley, thepeasant, whom I placed in Maignan's charge, going before to guide us,and M. d'Agen and I riding in the rear. By the time the sun rose andwarmed our chilled and shivering frames we were over the worst of theground, and were able to advance at some speed along, a track cutthrough a dense forest of oak-trees.

  Though we had now risen out of the valley, the close-set trunks andthe undergrowth round them prevented our seeing in any direction. Fora mile or more we rode on blindly, and presently started on findingourselves on the brow of a hill, looking down into a valley, thenearer end of which was clothed in woods, while the farther widenedinto green sloping pastures. From the midst of these a hill or mountrose sharply up, until it ended in walls of grey stone scarce to bedistinguished at that distance from the native rock on which theystood.

  'See!' cried our guide. 'There is the castle!'

  Bidding the men dismount in haste, that the chance of our being seenby the enemy--which was not great--might be farther lessened, I beganto inspect the position at leisure; my first feeling while doing sobeing one of thankfulness that I had not attempted a night attack,which must inevitably have miscarried, possibly with loss toourselves, and certainly with the result of informing the enemy of ourpresence. The castle, of which we had a tolerable view, was long andnarrow in shape, consisting of two towers connected by walls. Thenearer tower, through which lay the entrance, was roofless, and inevery way seemed to be more ruinous than the inner one, which appearedto be perfect in both its stories. This defect notwithstanding, theplace was so strong that my heart sank lower the longer I looked; anda glance at Maignan's face assured me that his experience was also atfault. For M. d'Agen, I clearly saw, when I turned to him, that he hadnever until this moment realised what we had to expect, but, regardingour pursuit in the light of a hunting-party, had looked to see it endin like easy fashion. His blank, surprised face, as he stood eyeingthe stout grey walls, said as much as this.

  'Arnidieu!' Maignan muttered, 'give me ten men, and I would hold itagainst a hundred!'

  'Tut, man, there is more than one way to Rome!' I answered oracularly,though I was far from feeling as confident as I seemed. 'Come, let usdescend and view this nut a little nearer.'

  We began to trail downwards in silence, and as the path led us for awhile out of sight of the castle, we were able to proceed with lesscaution. We had nearly reached without adventure the farther skirts ofthe wood, between which and the ruin lay an interval of open ground,when we came suddenly, at the edge of a little clearing, on an oldhag; who was so intent upon tying up faggots that she did not see usuntil Maignan's hand was on her shoulder. When she did, she screamedout, and escaping from him with an activity wonderful in a woman ofher age, ran with great swiftness to the side of an old man who lay atthe foot of a tree half a bowshot off; and whom we had not beforeseen. Snatching up an axe, she put herself in a posture of defencebefore him with gestures and in a manner as touching in the eyes ofsome among us as they were ludicrous in those of others; who cried toMaignan that he had met his match at last, with other gibes of thekind that pass current in camps.

  I called to him to let her be, and went forward myself to the old man,who lay on a rude bed of leaves, and seemed unable to rise. Appealingto me with a face of agony not to hurt his wife, he bade her again andagain lay down her axe; but she would not do this until I had assuredher that we meant him no harm, and that my men should molest neitherthe one nor the other.

  'We only want to know this,' I said, speaking slowly, in fear lest mylanguage should be little more intelligible to them than their_patois_ to me. 'There are a dozen horsemen in the old castle there,are there not?'

  The man stilled his wife, who continued to chatter and mow at us, andanswered eagerly that there were; adding, with a trembling oath, thatthe robbers had beaten him, robbed him of his small store of meal, andwhen he would have protested, thrown him out, breaking his leg.

  'Then how came you here?' I said.

  'She brought me on her back,' he answered feebly.

  Doubtless there were men in my train who would have done all thatthese others had done; but hearing the simple story told, they stampedand swore great oaths of indignation; and one, the roughest of theparty, took out some black bread and gave it to the woman, whom underother circumstances he would not have hesitated to rob. Maignan, whoknew all arts appertaining to war, examined the man's leg and made akind of cradle for it, while I questioned the woman.

  'They are there still?' I said. 'I saw their horses tethered under thewalls.'

  'Yes, God requite them!' she answered, trembling violently.

  'Tell me about the castle, my good woman,' I said. 'How many roadsinto it are there?'

  'Only one.'

  'Through the nearer tower?'

  She said yes, and finding that she understood me, and was less dull ofintellect than her wretched appearance led me to expect, I put aseries of questions to her which it would be tedious to detail.Suffice it that I learned that it was impossible to enter or leave theruin except through the nearer tower; that a rickety temporary, gatebarred the entrance, and that from this tower, which was a mere shellof four walls, a narrow square-headed doorway without a door led intothe court, beyond, which rose the habitable tower of two stories.

  'Do you know if they intend to stay there?' I asked.

  'Oh, ay, they bade me bring them faggots for their fire this morning,and I should have a handful of my own meal back,' she answeredbitterly; and fell thereon into a passion of impotent rage, shakingboth her clenched hands in the direction of the castle, and screamingfrenzied maledictions in her cracked and quavering voice.

  I pondered awhile over what she had said; liking very little thethought of that narrow square-headed doorway through which we mustpass before we could effect anything. And the gate, too, troubled me.It might not be a strong one, but we had neither powder, nor guns, norany siege implements, and could not pull down stone walls with ournaked hands. By seizing the horses we could indeed cut off Bruhl'sretreat; but he might still escape in the night; and in any case ourpains would only increase the women's hardships while adding fuel tohis rage. We must have some other plan.

  The sun was high by this time; the edge of the wood scarcely a hundredpaces from us. By advancing a few yards through the trees I could seethe horses feeding peacefully at the foot of the sunny slope, and evenfollow with my eyes the faint track which zigzagged up the hill tothe closed gate. No one appeared--doubtless they were sleeping offthe fatigue of the journey--and I drew no inspiration thence; but asI turned to consult Maignan my eye lit on the faggots, and I saw in aflash that here was a chance of putting into practice a stratagem asold as the hills, yet ever fresh, and not seldom successful.

  It was no time for over-refinement. My knaves were beginning to strayforward out of curiosity, and at any moment one of our horses,scenting those of the enemy, might neigh and give the alarm. Hastilycalling M. d'Agen and Maignan to me, I laid my plan before them, andsatisfied myself that it had their approval; the fact that I hadreserved a special part for the former serving to thaw the reservewhich had succeeded to his outbreak, of the night before. After somedebate Maignan persuaded me that the old woman had not sufficientnerve to play the part I proposed for her, and named Fanchette; whobeing called into council, did not belie the opinion we had formed ofher courage. In a few moments our preparations were complete: I haddonned the old charcoal-burner'
s outer rags, Fanchette had assumedthose of the woman, while M. d'Agen, who was for a time at a loss, andbetrayed less taste for this part of the plan than for any other,ended by putting on the jerkin and hose of the man who had served usas guide.

  When all was ready I commended the troop to Maignan's discretion,charging him in the event of anything happening to us to continue themost persistent efforts for mademoiselle's release, and on no accountto abandon her. Having received his promise to this effect, and beingsatisfied that he would keep it, we took up each of us a great faggot,which being borne on the head and shoulders served to hide thefeatures very effectually; and thus disguised we boldly left theshelter of the trees. Fanchette and I went first, tottering in a mostnatural fashion under the weight of our burdens, while M. d'Agenfollowed a hundred yards behind. I had given Maignan orders to make adash for the gate the moment he saw the last named start to run.

  The perfect stillness of the valley, the clearness of the air, and theabsence of any sign of life in the castle before us--which might havebeen that of the Sleeping Princess, so fairy-like it looked againstthe sky--with the suspense and excitement in our own breasts, whichthese peculiarities seemed to increase a hundred-fold, made the timethat followed one of the strangest in my experience. It was nearly teno'clock, and the warm sunshine flooding everything about us renderedthe ascent, laden as we were, laborious in the extreme. The crisp,short turf, which had scarcely got its spring growth, was slippery andtreacherous. We dared not hasten, for we knew not what eyes were uponus, and we dared as little after we had gone half-way--lay our faggotsdown, lest the action should disclose too much of our features.

  When we had reached a point within a hundred paces of the gate, whichstill remained obstinately closed, we stood to breathe ourselves, andbalancing my bundle on my head, I turned to make sure that all wasright behind us. I found that M. d'Agen, intent on keeping hisdistance, had chosen the same moment for rest, and was sitting in avery natural manner on his faggot, mopping his face with the sleeve ofhis jerkin. I scanned the brown leafless wood, in which we had leftMaignan and our men; but I could detect no glitter among the trees norany appearance likely to betray us. Satisfied on these points, Imuttered a few words of encouragement to Fanchette, whose face wasstreaming with perspiration; and together we turned and addressedourselves to our task, fatigue--for we had had no practice in carryingburdens on the head--enabling us to counterfeit the decrepitude of agealmost to the life.

  The same silence prevailing as we drew nearer inspired me with not afew doubts and misgivings. Even the bleat of a sheep would have beenwelcome in the midst of a stillness which seemed ominous. But no sheepbleated, no voice hailed us. The gate, ill-hung and full of fissures,remained closed. Step by step we staggered up to it, and at lengthreached it. Afraid to speak lest my accent should betray me, I struckthe forepart of my faggot against it and waited: doubting whether ourwhole stratagem had not been perceived from the beginning, and apistol-shot might not be the retort.

  Nothing of the kind happened, however. The sound of the blow, whichechoed dully through the building, died away, and the old silenceresumed its sway. We knocked again, but fully two minutes elapsedbefore a grumbling voice, as of a man aroused from sleep, was hearddrawing near, and footsteps came slowly and heavily to the gate.Probably the fellow inspected us through a loophole, for he paused amoment, and my heart sank; but the next, seeing nothing suspicious, heunbarred the gate with a querulous oath, and, pushing it open, bade usenter and be quick about it.

  I stumbled forward into the cool, dark shadow, and the woman followedme, while the man, stepping out with a yawn, stood in the entrance,stretching himself in the sunshine. The roofless tower, which smelleddank and unwholesome, was empty, or cumbered only with rubbish andheaps of stones; but looking through the inner door I saw in thecourtyard a smouldering fire and half a dozen men in the act ofrousing themselves from sleep. I stood a second balancing my faggot,as if in doubt where to lay it down; and then assuring myself by aswift glance that the man who had let us in still had his back towardsus, I dropped it across the inner doorway. Fanchette, as she had beeninstructed, plumped hers upon it, and at the same moment I sprang tothe door, and taking the man there by surprise, dealt him a violentblow between the shoulders, which sent him headlong down the slope.

  A cry behind me, followed by an oath of alarm, told me that the actionwas observed and that now was the pinch. In a second I was back at thefaggots, and drawing a pistol from under my blouse was in time to meetthe rush of the nearest man, who, comprehending all, sprang up, andmade for me, with his sheathed sword. I shot him in the chest as hecleared the faggots--which, standing nearly as high as a man's waist,formed a tolerable obstacle--and he pitched forward at my feet.

  This balked his companions, who drew back; but unfortunately it wasnecessary for me to stoop to get my sword, which was hidden in thefaggot I had carried. The foremost of the rascals took advantage ofthis. Rushing at me with a long knife, he failed to stab me--for Icaught his wrist--but he succeeded in bringing me to the ground. Ithought I was undone. I looked to have the others swarm over upon us;and so it would doubtless have happened had not Fanchette, with rarecourage, dealt the first who followed a lusty blow on the body with agreat stick she snatched up. The man collapsed on the faggots, andthis hampered the rest. The check was enough. It enabled M. d'Agen tocome up, who, dashing in through the gate, shot down the first he sawbefore him, and running at the doorway with his sword with incrediblefury and the courage which I had always known him to possess, clearedit in a twinkling. The man with whom I was engaged on the ground,seeing what had happened, wrested himself free with the strength ofdespair, and dashing through the outer door, narrowly escaped beingridden down by my followers as they swept up to the gate at a gallop,and dismounted amid a whirlwind of cries.

  In a moment they thronged in on us pell-mell, and as soon as I couldlay my hand on my sword I led them through the doorway with a cheer,hoping to be able to enter the farther tower with the enemy. But thelatter had taken the alarm too early and too thoroughly. The court wasempty. We were barely in time to see the last man dart up a flight ofoutside stairs, which led to the first story, and disappear, closing aheavy door behind him. I rushed to the foot of the steps and wouldhave ascended also, hoping against hope to find the door unsecured;but a shot which was fired through a loop hole and narrowly missed myhead, and another which brought down one of my men, made me pause.Discerning all the advantage to be on Bruhl's side, since he couldshoot us down from his cover, I cried a retreat; the issue of thematter leaving us masters of the entrance-tower, while they retainedthe inner and stronger tower, the narrow court between the two beingneutral ground unsafe for either party.

  Two of their men had fled outwards and were gone, and two lay dead;while the loss on our side was confined to the man who was shot, andFanchette, who had received a blow on the head in the _melee_, and wasfound, when we retreated, lying sick and dazed against the wall.

  It surprised me much, when I came to think upon it, that I had seennothing of Bruhl, though the skirmish had lasted two or three minutesfrom the first outcry, and been attended by an abundance of noise. OfFresnoy, too, I now remembered that I had caught a glimpse only. Thesetwo facts seemed so strange that I was beginning to augur the worst,though I scarcely know why, when my spirits were marvellously raisedand my fears relieved by a thing which Maignan, who was the first tonotice it, pointed out to me. This was the appearance at an upperwindow of a white 'kerchief, which was waved several times towards us.The window was little more than an arrow-slit, and so narrow and highbesides that it was impossible to see who gave the signal; but myexperience of mademoiselle's coolness and resource left me in no doubton the point. With high hopes and a lighter heart than I had worn forsome time I bestirred myself to take every precaution, and began bybidding Maignan select two men and ride round the hill, to make surethat the enemy had no way of retreat open to him.