La reine Margot. English

by Alexandre Dumas

  CHAPTER XLVII.

  DE MOUY DE SAINT PHALE.

  This time Catharine had taken such precautions that she felt sure of herobject.

  Consequently, about ten o'clock she sent away Marguerite, thoroughlyconvinced, as was the case, that the Queen of Navarre was ignorant ofthe plot against her husband, and went to the King, begging him not toretire so early.

  Mystified by the air of triumph which, in spite of her usualdissimulation, appeared on his mother's face, Charles questionedCatharine, who merely answered:

  "I can say only one thing to your Majesty: that this evening you will befreed from two of your bitterest enemies."

  Charles raised his eyebrows like a man who says to himself:

  "That is well; we shall see;" and whistling to his great boar-hound, whocame to him dragging his belly along the ground like a serpent to layhis fine and intelligent head on his master's knee, he waited. At theend of a few minutes, during which Catharine sat with eyes and earsalert, a pistol-shot was heard in the courtyard of the Louvre.

  "What is that noise?" asked Charles, frowning, while the hound sprang upand pricked his ears.

  "Nothing except a signal," said Catharine; "that is all."

  "And what is the meaning of the signal?"

  "It means that from this moment, sire, your one real enemy can no longerinjure you."

  "Have they killed a man?" asked Charles, looking at his mother with thatlook of command which signifies that assassination and mercy are twoinherent attributes of royal power.

  "No, sire, they have only arrested two."

  "Oh!" murmured Charles, "always hidden plots, always conspiracies aroundthe King. And yet, the devil! mother, I am grown up, and big enough tolook out for myself. I need neither leading-strings nor padded caps. Goto Poland with your son Henry if you wish to reign; I tell you you arewrong to play this kind of game here."

  "My son," said Catharine, "this is the last time I shall meddle withyour affairs. But the enterprise in which you have always thwarted mewas begun long ago, and I have earnestly endeavored to prove to yourMajesty that I am right."

  At that moment several men stopped in the outer hall and the butt-endsof muskets were heard on the pavement. Almost at the same instantMonsieur de Nancey begged an audience of the King.

  "Let him enter," said Charles, hastily.

  Monsieur de Nancey appeared, saluted the King, and turning to Catharinesaid:

  "Madame, your majesty's orders are executed; he is captured."

  "What _he_?" cried Catharine, greatly troubled. "Have you arrested onlyone?"

  "He was alone, madame."

  "Did he defend himself?"

  "No, he was supping quietly in a room, and gave up his sword the momentit was demanded."

  "Who?" asked the King.

  "You shall see," said Catharine. "Bring in the prisoner, Monsieur deNancey."

  Five minutes later De Mouy was there.

  "De Mouy!" cried the King; "what is the matter now, monsieur?"

  "Well, sire," said De Mouy, with perfect composure, "if your Majestywill allow me the liberty, I will ask the same of you."

  "Instead of asking this question of the King," said Catharine, "have thekindness, Monsieur de Mouy, to tell my son who was the man found in thechamber of the King of Navarre a certain night, and who on that nightresisted the orders of his Majesty like the rebel that he is, killed twoguards, and wounded Monsieur de Maurevel?"

  "Yes," said Charles, frowning, "do you know the name of that man,Monsieur de Mouy?"

  "Yes, sire; does your Majesty wish to hear it?"

  "That will please me, I admit."

  "Well, sire, he is called De Mouy de Saint Phale."

  "It was you?"

  "It was I."

  Catharine, astonished at this audacity, recoiled a step.

  "How did you dare resist the orders of the King?" asked Charles.

  "In the first place, sire, I did not know that there was an order fromyour Majesty; then I saw only one thing, or rather one man, Monsieur deMaurevel, the assassin of my father and of the admiral. I rememberedthat a year and a half ago, in the very room in which we now are, on theevening of the 24th of August, your Majesty promised me to avenge us onthe murderer, and as since that time very grave events have occurred Ithought that in spite of himself the King had changed his mind. SeeingMaurevel within reach, I believed Heaven had sent him to me. YourMajesty knows the rest. Sire, I sprang upon him as upon an assassin andfired at his men as I would have fired at bandits."

  Charles made no reply. His friendship for Henry had for some time madehim look at many things in a different light from which he had at firstseen them, and more than once with terror.

  In regard to Saint Bartholomew the queen mother had registered in hermemory remarks which had fallen from her son's lips and which resembledremorse.

  "But," observed Catharine, "what were you doing at that hour in theapartments of the King of Navarre?"

  "Oh!" replied De Mouy, "it is a long story, but if his Majesty has thepatience to listen"--

  "Yes," said Charles; "speak, I wish to hear it."

  "I will obey, sire," said De Mouy, bowing.

  Catharine sat down, fixing an anxious look on the young chief.

  "We are listening," said Charles. "Here, Acteon!"

  The dog resumed the place he had occupied before the prisoner had beenadmitted.

  "Sire," said De Mouy, "I came to his majesty the King of Navarre as thedeputy of our brethren, your faithful subjects of the reformedreligion."

  Catharine signed to Charles IX.

  "Be quiet, mother," said the latter. "I do not lose a word. Go on,Monsieur de Mouy, go on; why did you come?"

  "To inform the King of Navarre," continued Monsieur de Mouy, "that hisabjuration had lost for him the confidence of the Huguenot party; butthat, nevertheless, in remembrance of his father, Antoine de Bourbon,and especially on account of his mother, the courageous Jeanne d'Albret,whose name is dear among us, the followers of the reformed religion owedhim this mark of deference, to beg him to desist from his claims to thecrown of Navarre."

  "What did he say?" asked Catharine, unable in spite of her self-controlto receive this unexpected blow calmly.

  "Ah! ah!" said Charles, "and yet this crown of Navarre, which without mypermission has been made to jump from head to head, seems to belong alittle to me."

  "The Huguenots, sire, recognize better than any one the principle ofsovereignty to which your Majesty has just referred. Therefore theyhope to induce your Majesty to place the crown on a head that is dear toyou."

  "To me!" said Charles; "on a head that is dear to me! The devil! whathead do you mean, monsieur? I do not understand."

  "On the head of Monsieur le Duc d'Alencon."

  Catharine became as pale as death, and gave De Mouy a flashing glance.

  "Did my brother D'Alencon know this?"

  "Yes, sire."

  "And did he accept the crown?"

  "Subject to the consent of your Majesty, to whom he referred us."

  "Ah!" said Charles, "it is a crown which would suit our brotherD'Alencon wonderfully well. And I never thought of it! Thanks, De Mouy,thanks! When you have such ideas you will always be welcome at theLouvre."

  "Sire, you would long since have been informed of this project had itnot been for that unfortunate affair of Maurevel's, which made me afraidI had fallen into disgrace with your Majesty."

  "Yes, but what did Henry say to this plan?" asked Catharine.

  "The King of Navarre, madame, yielded to the desire of his brethren, andhis renunciation was ready."

  "In that case," said Catharine, "you must have the renunciation."

  "It happens that I have it with me, madame, signed by him and dated."

  "Dated previous to the affair in the Louvre?" said Catharine.

  "Yes, the evening before, I think."

  De Mouy drew from his pocket an abdication in favor of the Ducd'Alencon, written and signed in Henry's hand, and bear
ing the dateindicated.

  "Faith, yes," said Charles, "and all is in due form."

  "What did Henry demand in return for this renunciation?"

  "Nothing, madame; the friendship of King Charles, he told us, wouldamply repay him for the loss of a crown."

  Catharine bit her lips in anger and wrung her beautiful hands.

  "All this is perfectly correct, De Mouy," said the King.

  "Then," said the queen mother, "if everything was settled between youand the King of Navarre, what was the object of your interview with himthis evening?"

  "I, madame! with the King of Navarre?" said De Mouy. "Monsieur deNancey, who arrested me, will bear witness that I was alone. Yourmajesty can ask him."

  "Monsieur de Nancey!" called the King.

  The captain of the guards entered.

  "Monsieur de Nancey," said Catharine, quickly, "was Monsieur de Mouyentirely alone at the inn of the _Belle Etoile_?"

  "In the room, yes, madame; in the hostelry, no."

  "Ah!" said Catharine, "who was his companion?"

  "I do not know if he was the companion of Monsieur de Mouy, madame, butI know that a man escaped by a back door after having stretched two ofmy men on the floor."

  "And you recognized this gentleman, no doubt?"

  "No, I did not, but my guards did."

  "Who was he?" asked Charles IX.

  "Monsieur le Comte Annibal de Coconnas."

  "Annibal de Coconnas!" exclaimed the King, gloomy and thoughtful; "theone who made such a terrible slaughter of the Huguenots during themassacre of Saint Bartholomew?"

  "Monsieur de Coconnas, a gentleman in the suite of Monsieur d'Alencon,"said Monsieur de Nancey.

  "Very good," said Charles IX. "You may go, Monsieur de Nancey, andanother time, remember one thing."

  "What is it, sire?"

  "That you are in my service, and that you are to obey no one but me."

  Monsieur de Nancey withdrew backwards, bowing respectfully.

  De Mouy smiled ironically at Catharine.

  There was an instant's silence. The queen twisted the tassels of hergirdle; Charles caressed his dog.

  "But what was your intention, monsieur?" continued Charles; "were youacting violently?"

  "Against whom, sire?"

  "Why, against Henry, or Francois, or myself."

  "Sire, we have the renunciation of your brother-in-law, the consent ofyour brother; and, as I have had the honor of telling you, we were onthe point of soliciting your Majesty's sanction when that unfortunateaffair occurred at the Louvre."

  "Well, mother," said Charles, "I see nothing wrong in all this. You wereright, Monsieur de Mouy, in asking for a king. Yes, Navarre may andought to be a separate kingdom. Moreover, it seems made expressly togive to my brother D'Alencon, who has always had so great a desire for acrown that when we wear ours he cannot keep his eyes off of it. The onlything which stood in the way of this coronation was Henriot's rights;but since Henriot voluntarily abdicates"--

  "Voluntarily, sire."

  "It seems that it is the will of God! Monsieur de Mouy, you are free toreturn to your brethren, whom I have chastised somewhat roughly,perhaps, but that is between God and myself. Tell them that since theydesire to have my brother d'Alencon for King of Navarre the King ofFrance accedes to their wishes. From this moment Navarre is a kingdom,and its sovereign is called Francois. I ask only eight days for mybrother to leave Paris with the brilliancy and pomp befitting a king.Now go, Monsieur de Mouy, go! Monsieur de Nancey, allow Monsieur de Mouyto pass; he is free."

  "Sire," said De Mouy, advancing a step, "will your Majesty permit me?"

  "Yes," said the King, and he extended his hand to the young Huguenot.

  De Mouy knelt and kissed the King's hand.

  "By the way," said Charles, detaining him as he was about to rise, "didyou not demand from me justice on that scoundrel of a Maurevel?"

  "Yes, sire."

  "I do not know where he is, as he is hiding; but if you meet him, takejustice into your own hands. I authorize you to do this and gladly."

  "Ah! sire," cried De Mouy, "your Majesty overwhelms me. Your Majesty mayrely on me. I have no idea where he is, but I will find him, you mayrest assured."

  De Mouy respectfully saluted King Charles and Queen Catharine, andwithdrew without hindrance from the guards who had brought him thither.He passed rapidly through the corridors, reached the gate, and onceoutside hurried to Place Saint Germain l'Auxerrois, to the inn of the_Belle Etoile_. Here he found his horse, thanks to which, three hoursafter the scene we have just described, the young man breathed in safetybehind the walls of Mantes.

  Catharine, consumed with rage, returned to her apartments, whence shepassed into those of Marguerite.

  She found Henry there in his dressing-gown, apparently ready for bed.

  "Satan!" she murmured, "aid a poor queen for whom God will do nothingmore!"