The Cornet of Horse: A Tale of Marlborough's Wars

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter 18: The Court of Versailles.

  As the King of France entered the antechamber a dead hush fell uponall there, and Rupert Holliday looked eagerly to see what sort ofman was the greatest sovereign in Europe.

  Louis was under middle height, in spite of his high-heeled shoes,but he had an air of dignity which fully redeemed his want ofstature. Although he was sixty-six years of age, he was stillhandsome, and his eyes were bright, and his movements quick andvivacious.

  The courtiers all bent low as the king moved slowly down the line,addressing a word here and there. The king's eye quickly caughtthat of the young Englishman, who with his companion was tallerthan the majority of those present.

  Louis moved forward until he stopped before him.

  "So, Sir Englishman," he said, "you are one of those who have beenmaltreating our soldiers. Methinks I have more reason than you haveto complain of the fortune of war, but I trust that in your casethe misfortune will be a light one, and that your stay in our courtand capital will not be an unpleasant one."

  "I have no reason, sire, to complain of the fortune of war," Rupertsaid, "since to it I owe the honour of seeing your graciousMajesty, and the most brilliant court in the world!"

  "Spoken like a courtier," the king said with a slight smile. "Prayconsider yourself invited to all the fetes at court and to all ourentrees and receptions, and I hope that all will do their best tomake your stay here agreeable."

  Then with a slight inclination of the head he passed on, saying inan audible tone to the nobles who walked next, but a little behindhim, "This is not such a bear as are his island countrymen ingeneral!"

  "In another hour, Rupert, is the evening reception, at which theladies of the court will be present; and although all set feteshave been arrested owing to the news of the defeat in Flanders, yetas the king chooses to put a good face upon it, everyone else willdo the same, therefore you may expect a brilliant assembly. Adelewill of course be there. Shall I introduce you, or leave it tochance?"

  "I would rather you left it to chance," Rupert said, "except, thatas you do not desire it to be known that we have met before, itwould be better that you should present me personally; but I shouldlike to see if she will recognize me before you do so."

  "My daughter is a young lady of the court of his most puissantMajesty Louis the 14th," the marquis said, somewhat bitterly, "andhas learned not to carry her heart upon her sleeve. But before youshow yourself near her, I will just warn her by a word that asurprise may take place in the course of the evening, and that itis not always expedient to recognize people unless introducedformally. That will not be sufficient to give her any clue to yourbeing here, but when she sees you she will recall my warning, andact prudently."

  Presently they entered the immense apartment, or rather series ofapartments, in which the receptions took place.

  Here were gathered all the ladies of the court; all the courtiers,wits, and nobles of France, except those who were in their placeswith the army. There was little air of ceremony. All present weremore or less acquainted with each other.

  In a room screened off by curtains, the king was playing at cardswith a few highly privileged members of the court, and he wouldpresently walk through the long suite of rooms, but while at cardshis presence in no ways weighed upon the assembly. Groups of ladiessat on fauteuils surrounded by their admirers, with whom volleys oflight badinage, fun, and compliments were exchanged.

  Leaving Rupert talking to some of those to whom he had beenintroduced in the king's antechamber, and who were anxious to obeythe royal command to make themselves agreeable to him, the Marquisde Pignerolles sauntered across the room to a young lady who wassitting with three others, surrounded by a group of gentlemen.

  Rupert was watching him, and saw him stoop over the girl, for shewas little more, and say a few words in her ear. A surprised andsomewhat puzzled expression passed across her face, and then as herfather left her she continued chatting as merrily as before.

  Rupert could scarcely recognize in the lovely girl of seventeen thelittle Adele with whom he had danced and walked little more thanfour years before.

  Adele de Pignerolles was English rather than French in her style ofbeauty, for her hair was browner, and her complexion fresher andclearer, than those of the great majority of her countrywomen. Shewas vivacious, but her residence in England had taught her acertain restraint of gesture and motion, and her admirers, and shehad many, spoke of her as l'Anglaise.

  Rupert gradually moved away from those with whom he was talking,and, moving round the group, went through an open window on to abalcony, whence he could hear what was being said by the livelyparty, without his presence being noticed.

  "You are cruel, Mademoiselle d'Etamps," one of the courtiers said."I believe you have no heart. You love to drive us to distraction,to make us your slaves, and then you laugh at us."

  "It is all you deserve, Monsieur le Duc. One would as soon think oftaking the adoration of a butterfly seriously. One is a flower,butterflies come round, and when they find no honey, flit awayelsewhere. You amuse yourself, so do I. Talk about hearts, I do notbelieve in such things."

  "That is treason," the young lady who sat next to her said,laughing. "Now, I am just the other way; I am always in love, butthen I never can tell whom I love best, that is my trouble. You areall so nice, messieurs, that it is impossible for me to say whom Ilove most."

  The young men laughed.

  "And you, Mademoiselle de Rohan, will you confess?"

  "Oh, I am quite different," she said. "I quite know whom I lovebest, but just as I am quite sure about it, he does somethingdisagreeable or stupid--all men are really disagreeable or stupidwhen you get to know them--and so then I try another, but it isalways with the same result."

  "You are all very cruel," the Duc de Carolan laughed. "And you,Mademoiselle de Pignerolles? But I know what you will say, you havenever seen anyone worth loving."

  Adele did not answer; but her laughing friends insisted that asthey had confessed their inmost thoughts, she ought to do the same.

  For a moment she looked serious, then she laughed, and again put ona demure air.

  "Yes," said she, "I have had a grande passion, but it came tonothing."

  A murmur of "Impossible!" ran round the circle.

  "It was nearly four years ago," she said.

  "Oh, nonsense, Adele, you were a child four years ago," one of hercompanions said.

  "Of course I was a child," Adele said, "but I suppose children canlove, and I loved an English boy."

  "Oh, oh, mademoiselle, an English boy!" and other amused cries ranround the circle.

  "And did he love you, mademoiselle?" the Duc de Carolan asked.

  "Oh, dear no," the girl answered. "I don't suppose I should haveloved him if he had. But he was strong, and gentle, and brave, andhe was nearly four years older than I was, and he always treated mewith respect. Oh, yes, I loved him."

  "He must have been the most insensible of boys," the Duc de Carolansaid; "but no doubt he was very good and gentle, this youthfulislander; but how do you know that he was brave?"

  The sneering tone with which the duke spoke was clearly resented byAdele, for her cheek flushed, and she spoke with an earnestnessquite different from the half-laughing tone she had hitherto spokenin.

  "I know that he was brave, Monsieur le Duc, because he fought with,and ran through the body, a man who insulted me."

  The girl spoke so earnestly that for a moment a hush fell upon thelittle group; and the Duc de Carolan, who clearly resented the warmtone in which she spoke, said:

  "Quite a hero of romance, mademoiselle. This unfortunate whoincurred your Paladin's indignation was clearly more insolent thanskillful, or Sir Amadis of sixteen could hardly have prevailedagainst the dragon."

  This time Adele de Pignerolles was seriously angry:

  "Monsieur le Duc de Carolan," she said quietly, "you have honouredme by professing some admiration of my poor person, and methinksthat good taste would
have demanded that you would have feigned, atleast, some interest in the boy who championed my cause. I waswrong, even in merry jest, to touch on such a subject, but Ithought that as French gentlemen you would understand that I washalf serious, half jesting at myself for this girlish love of mine.He is not here to defend himself against your uncourteous remarks;but, Monsieur le Duc, allow me to inform you that the fact that theperson who insulted me paid for it almost with his life was noproof of his great want of skill, for monsieur my father willinform you, if you care to ask him, that had you stood opposite tomy boy hero, the result would probably have been exactly the same;for, as I have often heard him say that this boy was fully a matchfor himself; I imagine that the chance of a nobleman who, with allhis merits, has not, so far as I have heard, any great pretensionsto special skill with his sword, would be slight indeed."

  The duke, with an air of bitter mortification on his face, bowedbefore the indignant tone in which Adele spoke; and as the littlecircle broke up, the rumour ran round the room that L'Anglaise hadsnubbed the Duc de Carolan in a crushing manner.

  Scarcely had the duke, with a few murmured excuses, withdrawn fromthe group, than the marquis advanced towards his daughter with atall figure by his side.

  "Adele," he said, "allow me to introduce to you the English officerwhose own unlucky fate threw him into my hands. He desires to havethe honour of your acquaintance. You may remember his name, for hisfamily lived in the county in which we passed some time. LieutenantRupert Holliday, of the English dragoons."

  Adele had not looked up as her father spoke. As he crossed the roomtowards her she had glanced towards his companion, whose dressshowed him to be the English officer who was, as she knew, withhim; but something in her father's tone of voice, still more thesentences with which he introduced the name, warned her that thiswas the surprise of which he had spoken, and the name, when it cameat last, was almost expected. Had it not been for the manner inwhich she had just been speaking, and the vague wonder that flashedthrough her mind whether he could have heard her, she could havemet Rupert, with such warning as she had had, as a perfectstranger. What she had said was perfectly true, that as a child hehad been her hero; but a young girl's heroes seldom withstand theordeal of a four years' absence, and Adele was no exception. Ruperthad gone out of her existence, and she had not thought of him,beyond an occasional feeling of wonder whether he was alive, foryears; and had it not been for that unlucky speech--which, indeed,she could not have made had any of her girlish feeling remained,she could have met him as frankly and cordially as in the days whenthey danced together.

  In spite, therefore, of her efforts, it was with a heightenedcolour that, as demanded by etiquette, Adele rose, and making adeep reverence in return to the even deeper bow of Rupert, extendedher hand, which, taking the tips of the fingers, Rupert bent overand kissed. Then, looking up in her face, he said:

  "The marquis your father has encouraged me to hope that you willtake pity upon a poor prisoner, and forget and forgive his havingfought against your compatriots."

  Adele adroitly took up the line thus offered to her, and was soon deepin a laughing contest with him as to the merits of their respectivecountries, and above all as to his opinion of French beauty. Rupertanswered in the exaggerated compliments characteristic of the time.After talking with her for some little time he withdrew, saying that heshould have the honour of calling upon the following day with her father.

  The next day when they arrived Rupert was greeted with a franksmile of welcome.

  "I am indeed glad to see you again, Monsieur Rupert; but tell mewhy was that little farce of pretending that we were strangers,played yesterday?"

  "It was my doing, Adele," her father said. "You know what the kingis. If he were aware that Rupert were an old friend of ours hewould imagine all sorts of things."

  "What sort of things, papa?"

  "To begin with, that Monsieur Rupert had come to carry you off fromthe various noblemen, for one or other of whom his Majesty destinesyour hand."

  The girl coloured.

  "What nonsense!

  "However," she went on, "it would anyhow make no difference so faras the king is concerned, for I am quite determined that I will gointo a convent and let all my lands go to whomsoever his Majestymay think fit to give them rather than marry any one I don't carefor. I couldn't do it even to please you, papa, so you may be quitesure I couldn't do it to please the king.

  "And now let me look at you, Monsieur Rupert. I talked to you lastnight, but I did not fairly look at you. Yes, you are really verylittle altered except that you have grown into a man: but I shouldhave known you anywhere. Now, would you have known me?"

  "Not if I had met you in the street," Rupert said. "When I talk toyou, and look at you closely, Mademoiselle Adele Dessin comes backagain; but at a casual glance you are simply Mademoiselle Adele dePignerolles."

  "I wish I were Adele Dessin again," she said. "I should be athousand times happier living with my father than in thisartificial court, where no one is what they seem to be; whereeveryone considers it his duty to say complimentary things; whereeveryone seems to be gay and happy, but everyone is as much slavesas if they wore chains. I break out sometimes, and astonish them."

  A slight smile passed over Rupert's face; and Adele knew that hehad overheard her the evening before. The girl flushed hotly. Herfather and Madame de Soissons were talking together in a deep baywindow at the end of the room.

  "So you heard me last night, Monsieur Rupert. Well, there isnothing to be ashamed of. You were my hero when I was a child; Idon't mind saying so now. If you had made me your heroine it wouldhave been different, but you never did, one bit. Now don't try totell stories. I should find you out in a moment; I am accustomed tohear falsehoods all day."

  "There is nothing to be ashamed of, mademoiselle. Every one musthave a hero, and I was the only boy you knew. No one could havemisunderstood you; and even to those artificial fops who werestanding round you, there seemed nothing strange or unmaidenly inyour avowal that when you were a little girl you made a hero of aboy. You are quite right, I did not make a heroine of you. Boys, Ithink, always make heroines of women much older than themselves. Ilooked upon you as a dear, bright little girl, whom I would havecared for and protected as I would my favourite dog. Some boys aregiven to heroine worship. I don't think that is my line. I am onlyjust getting out of my boyhood now, and I have never had a heroineat all."

  So they sat and chatted, easily and pleasantly, as if four yearshad been rolled back, and they were boy and girl again in thegarden of Windthorpe Chace.

  "I suppose I shall see you every evening at the court?" Rupertsaid.

  "I suppose so," the girl sighed. "But it will be much more pleasanthere. You will come with papa, won't you?"

  "Whenever he will be good enough to bring me," Rupert said.

  "You remember what I told you about Adele," the marquis said, asthey walked back to their rooms in the palace.

  "Surely, sir," Rupert replied.

  "I think it would be as well, both for her sake and your own, thatyou should not frequent her society in public, Rupert. His Majestyintends to give her hand to one of the half-dozen of his courtierswho are at present intriguing for it. Happily, as she is littleover sixteen, although marriages here are often made at that age,the question does not press; and I trust that he will not decidefor a year, or even longer. But if you were to be seen much at herside, it might be considered that you were a possible rival, andyou might, if the king thought that there was the slightest risk ofyour interfering with his plans, find yourself shut up in theBastille, or at Loches, or some other of the fortress dungeons, andAdele might be ordered to give her hand at once to the man heselected for her.

  "There is hope in time. Adele may in time really come to love oneof her suitors, and if he were one of those whom the king wouldlike to favour, he would probably consent to the match. Then, theking may die. It is treason even to suppose such a thing possible;still he is but mortal; or something e
lse may occur to change thecourse of the future.

  "Of one thing I have decided: I will not see Adele sacrificed. Ihave for the last four years managed to transmit a considerableportion of the revenues of my estates to the hands of a banker inHolland; and if needs be I will again become an exile with her, andwait patiently until some less absolute monarch mounts the throne."

  It was not so easy, however, to silence the mouths of the gossipsof Versailles as the Marquis de Pignerolles had hoped. It was truethat Rupert was seldom seen by the side of Adele in the drawingroom of the palace, but it was soon noticed that he calledregularly every morning with the marquis at Madame de Soissons',and that, however long the visits of the marquis might be, theyoung English officer remained until he left.

  Adele's English bringing up, and her avowed liking for thingsEnglish, were remembered; and the Duc de Carolan, and the otheraspirants to Adele's hand, began to scowl angrily at the youngEnglishman whenever they met him.

  Upon the other hand, among the ladies Rupert was a generalfavourite, but he puzzled them altogether. He was ready to chat, topay compliments, to act as chevalier to any lady, but hiscompliments never passed beyond the boundary of mere courtlyexpression; and in a court where it appeared to be almost the dutyof everyone to be in love, Rupert Holliday did not seem to knowwhat love meant.

  The oddness of this dashing-looking young officer--who was, theMarquis de Pignerolles assured everyone, a very gallant soldier,and who had killed in a duel the finest swordsman in the Germanarmy--being perfectly proof to all blandishments, and ready totreat every woman with equal courtesy and attention, was a mysteryto the ladies of the court of Versailles; and Rupert was regardedas a most novel and amusing specimen of English coldness andimpenetrability.

  Rupert himself was absolutely ignorant of the opinion with whichmen and women alike regarded him. He dreamt not that it was onlythe character which so high an authority as the Marquis dePignerolles had given him as a swordsman of extraordinary skill,that prevented the Duc de Carolan and some of Adele's otheradmirers from forcing a quarrel upon him. Still less did he imaginethat the ladies of the court considered it in the highest degreesingular that he did not fall in love with any of them. He went hisway, laughed, talked, was pleasant with everyone, and enjoyed hislife, especially his morning visits to Madame de Soissons.

  The first intimation that was given of the jealousy with which theDuc de Carolan and others regarded Rupert, was a brief order thatthe Marquis de Pignerolles received from the king to retire withhis prisoner to Paris; an intimation being given that although themarquis would as heretofore be received at court, yet that Rupertwas not to leave the circuit of the walls of Paris. The marquis,who had foreseen the gathering storm in a hundred petty symptoms,was not surprised at the order. He knew the jealousy with which theking regarded any person who appeared even remotely likely tointerfere with any plans that he had formed, and was sure that amere hint from some favourite as to the possibility of Rupert'sintimacy at Madame de Soissons proving an obstacle to the carryingout of his wishes with regard to the disposal of Adele's hand,would be sufficient to ensure the issue of an order for his instantdismissal from Versailles. Rupert was astonished and indignant atthe order.

  "At any rate I may call and say 'Goodbye' to mademoiselle, may Inot?"

  "I think that you had better not, Rupert; but I have simply ordersto leave Versailles at one o'clock today. I can therefore only askyou to be here at that hour. It is now eleven."

  "Very well, sir," Rupert said, "I will be here in time; and as I amnot a prisoner, and can go about where I like, I do not think thateven the king could object to my paying a visit of adieu."

  On presenting himself at Madame de Soissons', Rupert heard that, inaccordance with the king's command that morning received, Madame deSoissons and Mademoiselle de Pignerolles had gone out to the hunt,one of the royal carriages having come for them.

  Rupert, determined not to be baulked, hurried back to the stableswhere the horses of the marquis, one of which was always at hisdisposal, were kept. In a few minutes he was riding out towards theforest of Saint Germains, where he learned that the royal chase hadgone.

  He rode for some time, until at last he came up with one of theroyal carriages which had got separated from the others. He saw atonce that it contained two of the ladies of the court with whom hewas most intimate. They gave an exclamation of surprise as hereined up his horse at the window.

  "You, Monsieur Holliday! How imprudent! Everyone knows that you arein disgrace, and exiled to Paris. How foolish of you to come here!"

  "I have done nothing to be ashamed of," Rupert said. "Besides, Iwas ordered to leave at one o'clock, and it is not one o'clockyet."

  "Oh, we are all angry with you, Monsieur l'Anglais, for you havebeen deceiving us all for the last three months. But, now mind, webear no malice; but pray ride off."

  As she spoke she made a sign to Rupert to alight and come to thewindow, so that the coachman might not overhear what was said.

  "Do you know," she said, earnestly, "that you are trifling withyour safety; and, if la belle Anglaise loves you, with herhappiness? You have already done more than harm enough. The kinghas today, when he joined the hunt, presented to her formallybefore all the court the Duc de Carolan as her future husband.Remember, if you are found here you will not only be sent straightto some fortress, where you may remain till you are an old man, butyou will do her harm by compromising her still further, in whichcase the king might be so enraged, that he might order her to marrythe duke tomorrow."

  "You are right. Thank you," Rupert said, quietly; "and I haveindeed, although most unwittingly, done harm. Why you should allmake up your minds I love Mademoiselle de Pignerolles I know not. Ihave never thought of the matter myself. I am but just twenty, andat twenty in England we are still little more than boys. I onlyknow that I liked her very much, just as I did when she was alittle girl."

  "Oh, monsieur, but you are sly, you and l'Anglaise. So it was youthat she owned was her hero; and monsieur the marquis introducedyou as a stranger. Oh, what innocence!

  "But there," she went on kindly, "you know your secret is safe withus. And monsieur," and she leant forward, "although you would notmake love to me, I bear no malice, and will act as your deputy. Avery strict watch is certain to be kept over her. If you want towrite to her, enclose a note to me. Trust me, she shall have it.

  "There, do not stop to thank me. I hear horses' hoofs. Gallop away,please; it would ruin all were you caught here."

  Rupert pressed the hands the two ladies held out to him to hislips, mounted his horse, and rode furiously back to Versailles,where he arrived just in time to leave again for Paris at the hourbeyond which their stay was not to be delayed.