CHAPTER XXIV.
THE ARREST.
"The details of this affair may some day escape my memory, but theimpression it made will never be effaced. I had not the shadow of adoubt; and this prediction took the aspect of a reality, as far as I wasconcerned. Yes," continued Pontcalec, "even though you should laugh,like my Uncle Crysogon, you would never change my opinion, or take awayfrom me the conviction that the prediction will be realized; therefore,I tell you, were it true that we are pursued by Dubois's exempts--werethere a boat ready to take us to Belle Isle to escape them, so convincedam I that the sea will be fatal to me, and that no other death has anypower over me, that I would give myself up to my pursuers, and say, 'Doyour worst; I shall not die by your hands.'"
The three Bretons had listened in silence to this strange declaration,which gathered solemnity from the circumstances in which they stood.
"Then," said Du Couedic, after a pause, "we understand your courage, myfriend; believing yourself destined to one sort of death, you areindifferent to all other danger; but take care, if the anecdote wereknown, it would rob you of all merit; not in our eyes, for we know whatyou really are; but others would say that you entered this conspiracybecause you can neither be beheaded, shot, nor killed by the dagger, butthat it would have been very different if conspirators were drowned."
"And perhaps they would speak the truth," said Pontcalec, smiling.
"But, my dear marquis," said Montlouis, "we, who have not the samegrounds for security, should, I think, pay some attention to the adviceof our unknown friend, and leave Nantes, or even France, as soon aspossible."
"But this may be wrong," said Pontcalec; "and I do not believe ourprojects are known at Nantes or elsewhere."
"And probably nothing will be known till Gaston has done his work," saidTalhouet, "and then we shall have nothing to fear but enthusiasm, andthat does not kill. As to you, Pontcalec, never approach a seaport,never go to sea, and you will live to the age of Methuselah!"
The conversation might have continued in this jocular strain; but atthis moment several gentlemen, with whom they had appointed a meeting,came in by different secret ways, and in different costumes.
It was not that they had much to fear from the provincial police--thatof Nantes, though Nantes was a large town, was not sufficiently wellorganized to alarm conspirators, who had in the locality the influenceof name and social position--but the police of Paris--the regent'spolice, or that of Dubois--sent down spies, who were easily detected bytheir ignorance of the place, and the difference of their dress andspeech.
Though this Breton association was numerous, we shall only occupyourselves with its four chiefs, who were beyond all the others in name,fortune, courage, and intelligence.
They discussed a new edict of Montesquieu's, and the necessity of armingthemselves in case of violence on the marshal's part: thus it wasnothing less than the beginning of a civil war, for which the pretextswere the impiety of the regent's court and Dubois's sacrileges; pretextswhich would arouse the anathemas of an essentially religious province,against a reign so little worthy to succeed that of Louis XIV.
Pontcalec explained their plan, not suspecting that at that momentDubois's police had sent a detachment to each of their dwellings, andthat an exempt was even then on the spot with orders to arrest them.Thus all who had taken part in the meeting, saw, from afar, the bayonetsof soldiers at their houses: and thus, being forewarned, they mightprobably escape by a speedy flight; they might easily find retreatsamong their numerous friends: many of them might gain the coast, andescape to Holland, Spain, or England.
Pontcalec, Du Couedic, Montlouis, and Talhouet, as usual, went outtogether; but, on arriving at the end of the street where Montlouis'shouse was situated, they perceived lights crossing the windows of theapartments, and a sentinel barring the door with his musket.
"Oh," said Montlouis, stopping his companions, "what is going on at myhouse?"
"Indeed, there is something," said Talhouet; "and just now I fancied Isaw a sentinel at the Hotel de Rouen."
"Why did you not say so?" asked Du Couedic, "it was surely worthmentioning."
"Oh, I was afraid of appearing an alarmist, and I thought it might beonly a patrol."
"But this man belongs to the regiment of Picardy," said Montlouis,stepping back.
"It is strange," said Pontcalec; "let me go up the lane which leads tomy house--if that also be guarded, there will be no further doubt."
Keeping together, in case of an attack, they went on silently till theysaw a detachment of twenty men grouped round Pontcalec's house.
"This passes a joke," said Du Couedic, "and unless our houses have allcaught fire at once, I do not understand these uniforms around them; asto me, I shall leave mine, most certainly."
"And I," said Talhouet, "shall be off to Saint-Nazaire, and from thenceto Le Croisic; take my advice and come with me. I know a brig about tostart for Newfoundland, and the captain is a servant of mine; if the airon shore becomes too bad, we will embark, set sail, and vogue lagaleres; come, Pontcalec, forget your old witch and come with us."
"No, no," said Pontcalec, "I will not rush on my fate; reflect, myfriends; we are the chiefs, and we should set a strange example byflying before we even know if a real danger exists. There is no proofagainst us. La Jonquiere is incorruptible; Gaston is intrepid; ourletters from him say that all will soon be over; perhaps, at this verymoment, France may be delivered and the regent dead. What would bethought of us if, at such a time, we had taken flight? the example ofour desertion would ruin everything here. Consider it well; I do notcommand you as a chief, but I counsel you as a friend; you are notobliged to obey, for I free you from your oath, but in your place Iwould not go. We have given an example of devotion; the worst that canhappen to us is to give that of martyrdom; but this will not, I hope, bethe case. If we are arrested, the Breton parliament will judge us. Ofwhat is it composed?--of our friends and accomplices. We are safer in aprison of which they hold the key, than on a vessel at the mercy of thewinds; besides, before the parliament has assembled, all Bretagne willbe in arms; tried, we are absolved; absolved, we are triumphant!"
"He is right," said Talhouet; "my uncle, my brothers, all my family arecompromised with me. I shall save myself with them, or die with him."
"My dear Talhouet," said Montlouis, "all this is very fine; but I have aworse opinion of this affair than you have. If we are in the hands ofany one, it is Dubois, who is not a gentleman, and hates those who are.I do not like these people who belong to no class--who are neithernobles, soldiers, nor priests. I like better a true gentleman, asoldier, or a monk: at least they are all supported by the authority oftheir profession. However, I appeal, as we generally do, to themajority; but I confess, that if it be for flight, I shall fly mostwillingly."
"And I," said Du Couedic; "Montesquieu may be better informed than wesuppose; and if it be Dubois who holds us in his clutches, we shall havesome difficulty in freeing ourselves."
"And I repeat, we must remain," said Pontcalec; "the duty of a generalis to remain at the head of his soldiers; the duty of the chief of aconspiracy is to die at the head of the plot."
"My dear friend," said Montlouis, "your sorceress blinds you; to gaincredence for her prediction, you are ready to drown yourselfintentionally. I am less enthusiastic about this pythoness, I confess;and as I do not know what kind of death is in store for me, I amsomewhat uneasy."
"You are mistaken, Montlouis," said Pontcalec, "it is duty above allwhich influences me, and besides, if I do not die for this, you willnot, for I am your chief, and certainly before the judges I shouldreclaim the title which I have abjured to-day. If I do not die byDubois, neither will you. We soldiers, and afraid to pay an officialvisit to parliament, for that is it, after all, and nothing else;benches covered with black robes--smiles of intelligence between theaccused and the judge: it is a battle with the regent; let us acceptit, and when parliament shall absolve us, we shall have done as well asif we had put to flight all
the troops in Bretagne."
"Montlouis proposed to refer it to a majority," said Du Couedic, "let usdo so."
"I did not speak from fear," said Montlouis; "but I do not see the useof walking into the lion's mouth if we can muzzle him."
"That was unnecessary, Montlouis," said Pontcalec; "we all know you, andwe accept your proposition. Let those who are for flight hold up theirhands."
Montlouis and Du Couedic raised their hands.
"We are two and two," said Montlouis; "we must, then, trust toinspiration."
"You forget," said Pontcalec, "that, as president, I have two votes."
"It is true."
"Let those, then, who are for remaining here hold up their hands."
Pontcalec and Talhouet raised their hands; thus the majority was fixed.
This deliberation in the open street might have seemed absurd, had itnot involved in its results the question of life or death to four of thenoblest gentlemen in Bretagne.
"Well," said Montlouis, "it appears, Du Couedic, that we were wrong: andnow, marquis, we obey your orders."
"See what I do," said Pontcalec, "and then do as you like."
And he walked straight up to his house, followed by his three friends.
Arriving at the door, he tapped a soldier on the shoulder.
"My friend," said he, "call your officer, I beg."
The soldier passed the order to the sergeant, who called the captain.
"What do you want?" asked the latter.----"I want to come into my house."
"Who are you?"
"I am the Marquis de Pontcalec."
"Silence!" said the officer, in a low voice, "and fly instantly--I amhere to arrest you." Then aloud, "You cannot pass," said he, pushingback the marquis, and closing in his soldiers before him.
Pontcalec took the officer's hand, pressed it, and said:
"You are a brave fellow, but I must go in. I thank you, and may Godreward you!"
The officer, surprised, opened his ranks, and Pontcalec, followed by hisfriends, crossed the court. On seeing him, his family uttered cries ofterror.
"What is it?" asked the marquis, calmly; "and what is going on here?"
"I arrest you, Monsieur le Marquis," said an exempt of the provost ofParis.
"Pardieu! what a fine exploit!" said Montlouis; "and you seem a cleverfellow--you, a provost's exempt, and absolutely those whom you are sentto arrest are obliged to come and take you by the collar."
The exempt saluted this gentleman, who joked so pleasantly at such atime, and asked his name.
"I am Monsieur de Montlouis. Look, my dear fellow, if you have not gotan order against me, too--if you have, execute it."
"Monsieur," said the exempt, bowing lower as he became more astonished,"it is not I, but my comrade, Duchevon, who is charged to arrest you;shall I tell him?"----"Where is he?"
"At your house, waiting for you."
"I should be sorry to keep you waiting long," said Montlouis, "and Iwill go to him. Thanks, my friend."
The exempt was bewildered.
Montlouis pressed Pontcalec's hand and those of the others; then,whispering a few words to them, he set out for his house, and wasarrested.
Talhouet and Du Couedic did the same; so that by eleven at night thework was over.
The news of the arrest ran through the town, but every one said, "Theparliament will absolve them."
The next day, however, their opinions changed, for there arrived fromNantes the commission, perfectly constituted, and wanting, as we havesaid, neither president, procureur du roi, secretary, nor evenexecutioners. We use the plural, for there were three.
The bravest men are sometimes stupefied by great misfortune. This fellon the province with the power and rapidity of a thunderstroke; it madeno cry, no movement; Bretagne expired.
The commission installed itself at once, and expected that, inconsideration of its powers, people would bow before it rather than giveoffense; but the terror was so great, that each one thought ofthemselves alone, and merely deplored the fate of the others.
This, then, was the state of affairs in Bretagne three or four daysafter the arrest of Pontcalec and his three friends. Let us leave themawhile at Nantes, in Dubois's toils, and see what was passing in Paris.
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