CHAPTER XXXVI.
NANTES.
The commission named by Dubois was to be permanent. Invested withunlimited powers, which in certain cases means that the decision issettled beforehand, they besieged the earth, supported by strongdetachments of troops.
Since the arrest of the four gentlemen, Nantes, terrified at first, hadrisen in their favor. The whole of Bretagne awaited a revolt, but in themeanwhile was quiet.
However, the trial was approaching. On the eve of the public audience,Pontcalec held a serious conversation with his friends.
"Let us consider," said he, "whether in word or deed we have committedany imprudence."
"No," said the other three.
"Has any one of you imparted our projects to his wife, his brother, afriend? Have you, Montlouis?"
"No, on my honor."
"You, Talhouet?"
"No."
"You, Couedic?"
"No."
"Then they have neither proof nor accusation against us. No one hassurprised us, no one wishes us harm."
"But," said Montlouis, "meanwhile we shall be tried."
"On what grounds?"
"Oh, secret information," said Talhouet, smiling.
"Very secret," said Du Couedic, "since they do not breathe a word."
"Ah, one fine night they will force us to escape, that they may not beobliged to liberate us some fine day."
"I do not believe it," said Montlouis, who had always been the mostdesponding, perhaps because he had the most at stake, having a youngwife and two children who adored him. "I do not believe it. I have seenDubois in England. I have talked with him; his face is like a ferret's,licking his lips when thirsty. Dubois is thirsty, and we are taken.Dubois's thirst will be slaked by our blood."
"But," said Du Couedic, "there is the parliament of Bretagne."
"Yes, to look on, while we lose our heads."
There was only one of the four who smiled; that was Pontcalec.
"My friends," said he, "take courage. If Dubois be thirsty, so much theworse for Dubois. He will go mad, that is all; but this time I answerfor it he shall not taste our blood."
And, indeed, from the beginning the task of the commission seemeddifficult. No confessions, no proofs, no witnesses. Bretagne laughed inthe commissioners' faces, and when she did not laugh, she threatened.The president dispatched a courier to Paris to explain the state ofthings, and get further instructions.
"Judge by their projects," said Dubois; "they may have done little,because they were prevented, but they intended much, and the intentionin matters of rebellion is equivalent to the act."
Armed with this terrible weapon, the commission soon overthrew the hopesof the province. There was a terrible audience, in which the accusedcommenced with raillery and ended with accusation. On re-entering theprison, Pontcalec congratulated them on the truths they had told thejudge.
"Nevertheless," said Montlouis, "it is a bad affair. Bretagne does notrevolt."
"She waits our condemnation," said Talhouet.
"Then she will revolt somewhat late," said Montlouis.
"But our condemnation may not take place," said Pontcalec. "Say,frankly, we are guilty, but without proofs who will dare to sentence us?The commission?"
"No, not the commission, but Dubois."
"I have a great mind to do one thing," said Du Couedic.
"What?"
"At the first audience to cry, 'Bretagne to the rescue!' Each time wehave seen faces of friends; we should be delivered or killed, but atleast it would be decided. I should prefer death to this suspense."
"But why run the risk of being wounded by some satellite of justice?"
"Because such a wound might be healed; not so the wound the executionerwould make."
"Oh!" said Pontcalec, "you will have no more to do with the executionerthan I shall."
"Always the prediction," said Montlouis. "You know that I have no faithin it."
"You are wrong."
"This is sure, my friends," said Pontcalec. "We shall be exiled, weshall be forced to embark, and I shall be lost on the way. This is myfate. But yours may be different. Ask to go by a different vessel fromme; or there is another chance. I may fall from the deck, or slip on thesteps; at least, I shall die by the water. You know that is certain. Imight be condemned to death, taken to the very scaffold, but if thescaffold were on dry ground I should be as easy as I am now."
His tone of confidence gave them courage. They even laughed at therapidity with which the deliberations were carried on. They did not knowthat Dubois sent courier after courier from Paris to hasten them.
At length the commission declared themselves sufficiently enlightened,and retired to deliberate in secret session.
Never was there a more stormy discussion. History has penetrated thesecrets of these deliberations, in which some of the least bold or leastambitious counselors revolted against the idea of condemning thesegentlemen on presumptions which were supported solely by theintelligence transmitted to them by Dubois; but the majority weredevoted to Dubois, and the committee came to abuse and quarrels, andalmost to blows.
At the end of a sitting of eleven hours' duration, the majority declaredtheir decision.
The commissioners associated sixteen others of the contumaciousgentlemen with the four chiefs, and declared:
"That the accused, found guilty of criminal projects, of treason, and offelonious intentions, should be beheaded: those present, in person,those absent, in effigy. That the walls and fortifications of theircastles should be demolished, their patents of nobility annuled, andtheir forests cut down to the height of nine feet."
An hour after the delivery of this sentence, an order was given to theusher to announce it to the prisoners.
The sentence had been given after the stormy sitting of which we havespoken, and in which the accused had experienced such lively marks ofsympathy from the public. And so, having beaten the judges on all thecounts of the indictment, never had they been so full of hope.
They were seated at supper in their common room, calling to mind all thedetails of the sitting, when suddenly the door opened, and in the shadeappeared the pale and stern form of the usher.
The solemn apparition changed, on the instant, into anxious palpitationstheir pleasant conversation.
The usher advanced slowly, while the jailer remained at the door, andthe barrels of muskets were seen shining in the gloom of the corridor.
"What is your will, sir?" asked Pontcalec, "and what signifies thisdeadly paraphernalia?"
"Gentlemen," said the usher, "I bear the sentence of the tribunal. Onyour knees and listen."
"How?" said Montlouis, "it is only sentences of death that must be heardkneeling."
"On your knees, gentlemen," replied the usher.
"Let the guilty and the base kneel," said Du Couedic; "we are gentlemen,and innocent. We will hear our sentences standing."
"As you will, gentlemen; but uncover yourselves, for I speak in theking's name."
Talhouet, who alone had his hat on, removed it. The four gentlemen stooderect and bare-headed, leaning on each other, with pale faces and asmile upon their lips.
The usher read the sentence through, uninterrupted by a murmur, or by asingle gesture of surprise.
When he had finished--
"Why was I told," asked Pontcalec, "to declare the designs of Spainagainst France, and that I should be liberated? Spain was an enemy'scountry. I declared what I believed I knew of her projects; and, lo! Iam condemned. Why is this? Is the commission, then, composed of cowardswho spread snares for the accused?"
The usher made no answer.
"But," added Montlouis, "the regent spared all Paris, implicated in theconspiracy of Cellamare; not a drop of blood was shed. Yet those whowished to carry off the regent, perhaps to kill him, were at least asguilty as men against whom no serious accusations even could be made.Are we then chosen to pay for the indulgence shown to the capital?"
The usher made no reply.<
br />
"You forget one thing, Montlouis," said Du Couedic, "the old familyhatred against Bretagne; and the regent, to make people believe that hebelongs to the family, wishes to prove that he hates us. It is not we,personally, who are struck at; it is a province, which for three hundredyears has claimed in vain its privileges and its rights, and which theywish to find guilty in order to have done with it forever."
The usher preserved a religious silence.
"Enough," said Talhouet, "we are condemned. 'Tis well. Now, have we, orhave we not, the right of appeal?"
"No, gentlemen," said the usher.
"Then you can retire," said Couedic.
The usher bowed and withdrew, followed by his escort, and the prisondoor, heavy and clanging, closed once more upon the four gentlemen.
"Well!" said Montlouis, when they were again alone.
"Well, we are condemned," said Pontcalec. "I never said there would beno sentence; I only said it would not be carried into execution."
"I am of Pontcalec's opinion," said Talhouet. "What they have done isbut to terrify the province and test its patience."
"Besides," said Du Couedic, "they will not execute us without theregent's ratification of the sentence. Now, without an extraordinarycourier, it will take two days to reach Paris, one to examine into theaffair, and two to return, altogether five days. We have, then, fivedays before us; and what may not happen in five days? The province willrise on hearing of our doom--"
Montlouis shook his head.
"Besides, there is Gaston," said Pontcalec, "whom you always forget."
"I am much afraid that Gaston has been arrested," said Montlouis. "Iknow Gaston, and were he at liberty, we should have heard of him erenow."
"Prophet of evil," said Talhouet, "at least you will not deny that wehave some days before us."
"Who knows?" said Montlouis.
"And the waters?" said Pontcalec; "the waters? You always forget that Ican only perish by the waters."
"Well, then, let us be seated again," said Du Couedic, "and a last glassto our healths."
"There is no more wine," said Montlouis; "'tis an evil omen."
"Bah! there is more in the cellar," said Pontcalec.
And he called the jailer.
The man, on entering, found the four friends at table; he looked at themin astonishment.
"Well, what is there new, Master Christopher?" said Pontcalec.
Christopher came from Guer, and had a particular respect for Pontcalec,whose uncle Crysogon had been his seigneur.
"Nothing but what you know," he replied.
"Then go and fetch some wine."
"They wish to deaden their feelings," said the jailer to himself; "poorgentlemen."
Montlouis alone heard Christopher's remark, and he smiled sadly.
An instant afterward they heard steps rapidly approaching their room.
The door opened, and Christopher reappeared without any bottle in hishand.
"Well," said Pontcalec, "where is the wine?"
"Good news," cried Christopher, without answering Pontcalec's inquiry,"good news, gentlemen."
"What?" said Montlouis, starting. "Is the regent--dead?"
"And Bretagne in revolt?" asked Du Couedic.
"No. I could not call that good news."
"Well, what is it then?" said Pontcalec.
"Monsieur de Chateauneuf has just ordered back to their barracks thehundred and fifty men who were under arms in the market-place, which hadterrified everybody."
"Ah," said Montlouis, "I begin to believe it will not take place thisevening."
At this moment the clock struck six.
"Well," said Pontcalec, "good news is no reason for our remainingthirsty; go and fetch our wine."
Christopher went out, and returned in ten minutes with a bottle.
The friends who were still at table filled their glasses.
"To Gaston's health," said Pontcalec, exchanging a meaning glance withhis friends, to whom alone this toast was comprehensible.
And they emptied their glasses, all except Montlouis, who stopped as hewas lifting his to his lips.
"Well, what is it?" said Pontcalec.
"The drum," said Montlouis, stretching out his hand in the directionwhere he heard the sound.
"Well," said Talhouet, "did you not hear what Christopher said? it isthe troops returning."
"On the contrary, it is the troops going out; that is not a retreat, butthe generale."
"The generale!" said Talhouet, "what on earth can that mean?"
"No good," said Montlouis, shaking his head.
"Christopher!" said Pontcalec, turning to the jailer.
"Yes, gentlemen, I will find out what it is," said he, "and be back inan instant."
He rushed out of the room, but not without carefully shutting the doorbehind him.
The four friends remained in anxious silence. After a lapse of tenminutes the door opened, and the jailer reappeared, pale with terror.
"A courier has just entered the castle court," said he; "he comes fromParis, he has delivered his dispatches, and immediately the guards weredoubled, and the drums beat in all the barracks."
"Oh, oh," said Montlouis, "that concerns us."
"Some one is ascending the stairs," said the jailer, more pale andtrembling than those to whom he spoke. In fact, they heard the butt endsof the muskets clanging on the stones of the corridor, and at the sametime several voices were heard speaking hastily.
The door opened, and the usher reappeared.
"Gentlemen," said he, "how long do you desire to set your worldlyaffairs in order, and to undergo your sentence?"
A profound terror froze even the hearers.
"I desire," said Montlouis, "time for the sentence to reach Paris andreturn, approved by the regent."
"I," said Talhouet, "only desire the time necessary for the commissionto repent of its iniquity."
"As for me," said Du Couedic, "I wish for time for the minister at Paristo commute the sentence into eight days' imprisonment, which we deservefor having acted somewhat thoughtlessly."
"And you," said the usher gravely, to Pontcalec, who was silent, "whatdo you ask?"
"I," said Pontcalec calmly, "I demand nothing."
"Then, gentlemen," said the usher, "this is the answer of thecommission: you have two hours at your disposal to arrange yourspiritual and temporal affairs; it is now half-past six, in two hoursand a half you must be on the Place du Bouffay, where the execution willtake place."
There was a profound silence; the bravest felt fear seizing the veryroots of their hair.
The usher retired without any one having made any answer; only thecondemned looked at each other, and pressed each other's hands.
They had two hours.
Two hours, in the ordinary course of life, seem sometimes an age, atothers two hours are but a moment.
The priests arrived, after them the soldiers, then the executioners.
The situation was appalling. Pontcalec, alone, did not belie himself.Not that the others wanted courage, but they wanted hope; stillPontcalec reassured them by the calmness with which he addressed, notonly the priests, but the executioners themselves.
They made the preparations for that terrible process called the toiletof the condemned. The four sufferers must proceed to the scaffolddressed in black cloaks, in order that in the eyes of the people, fromwhom they always feared some tumult, they might be confounded with thepriests who exhorted them.
Then the question of tying their hands was discussed--an importantquestion.
Pontcalec answered with his smile of sublime confidence.
"Oh, leave us at least our hands free; we will go without disturbance."
"That has nothing to do with us," replied the executioner who wasattending to Pontcalec; "unless by special order, the rules are the samefor all sufferers."
"And who gives these orders?" said Pontcalec, laughing, "the king?"
"No, marquis," answered the executioner, asto
nished by such unexampledpresence of mind, "not the king, but our chief."
"And where is your chief?"
"That is he, talking with the jailer Christopher."
"Call him then," said Pontcalec.
"Ho, Monsieur Waters!" cried the executioner, "please to come this way;there is one of these gentlemen asking for you."
A thunderbolt falling in the midst of them would not have produced amore terrible effect upon the four gentlemen than did this name.
"What did you say?" cried Pontcalec, shaking with affright; "what didyou say? What name did you pronounce?"
"Waters, our chief."
Pontcalec, pale and overcome, sank upon a chair, casting an unutterableglance upon his affrighted companions. No one around them understoodthis sudden despair, which so rapidly succeeded to so high a confidence.
"Well?" asked Montlouis, addressing Pontcalec in a tone of tenderreproach.
"Yes, gentlemen, you were right," said Pontcalec; "but I also was rightto believe in this prediction, for it will be accomplished, as theothers were. Only this time I yield, and confess that we are lost."
And by a spontaneous movement the four gentlemen threw themselves intoeach other's arms with fervent prayers to Heaven.
"What do you order?" asked the executioner.
"It is useless to tie their hands if they will give their words ofhonor; they are soldiers and gentlemen."
Une fille du régent. English Page 37