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

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter 24: Adele.

  "My dear, dear lad," the Marquis of Pignerolles said, as he madehis way with Rupert back out of the throng in the captured outwork;"what miracle is this? I heard that you had died at Loches."

  "A mistake, as you see," Rupert laughed. "But I shall tell you allpresently. First, how is mademoiselle?"

  "Well, I trust," the marquis said; "but I have not heard of her foreighteen months. I have been a prisoner in the Bastille, and wasonly let out two months since, together with some other officers,in order to take part in the defence of Lille. Even then I shouldnot have been allowed to volunteer, had it not been that the Duc deCarolan, Adele's persecutor, was killed; and his Majesty's planshaving been thus necessarily upset, he was for the time being lessanxious to know what had become of Adele."

  "In that case you have to thank me for your deliverance," Rupertsaid; "for it was I who killed monsieur le duc, and never in mylife did I strike a blow with a heartier goodwill."

  "You!" the marquis exclaimed in astonishment; "but I might haveguessed it. I inquired about his death when I reached Lille, andwas told by an officer who was there that he was killed in anextraordinary combat, in which General Mouffler, a trooper, andhimself were put hors de combat in sight of the whole army, by adeserter of demoniacal strength, skill, and activity. I ought tohave recognized you at once; and no doubt should have done so, hadI not heard that you were dead. I never was so shocked, dear boy,in all my life, and have done nothing but blame myself for allowingyou to run so fearful a risk."

  On arriving at the camp Rupert presented his prisoner to the Dukeof Marlborough, who having, when Rupert rejoined, heard the storyof his discovery in the Marquis de Pignerolles of his old friendMonsieur Dessin, received him with great kindness, and told himthat he was free to go where he liked until arrangements could bemade for his exchange. Rupert then took him to his tent, where theysat for many hours talking.

  Rupert learned that after his escape from Lille the marquis was forthree weeks confined to his bed. Before the end of that time amessenger brought him a letter from Adele, saying that she was welland comfortable. When he was able to travel he repaired at once toVersailles; having received a peremptory order from the king, a fewdays after Rupert left, to repair to the court the instant he couldbe moved. He found his Majesty in the worst of humours; thedisappearance of Adele had thwarted his plan, and Louis the 14thwas not a man accustomed to be baulked in his intentions. The newsof Rupert's escape from Lille had further enraged him, as heconnected it with Adele's disappearance; and the fact that thecapture of Rupert had thrown no light upon Adele's hiding place hadstill further exasperated him.

  He now demanded that the marquis should inform him instantly of herplace of concealment. This command the marquis had firmly declinedto comply with. He admitted that he could guess where she wouldtake refuge; but that as he sympathized with her in her objectionto the match which his Majesty had been pleased to make for her, hemust decline to say a word which could lead to her discovery. Uponleaving the king's presence he was at once arrested, and conveyedto the Bastille.

  Imprisonment in the Bastille, although rigorous, was not, except inexceptional cases, painful for men of rank. They were well fed andnot uncomfortably lodged; and as the governor had been a personalfriend of the marquis previous to his confinement, he had beentreated with as much lenity as possible. After he had been a yearin prison, the governor came to his room and told him that Ruperthad been drowned by the overflowing of the moat at Loches, and thatif therefore his daughter was, as it was believed, actuated by anaffection for the Englishman in refusing to accept the husband thatthe king had chosen for her, it was thought that she might nowbecome obedient. He was therefore again ordered to name the placeof her concealment.

  The marquis replied that he was not aware that his daughter had anyaffection for Rupert beyond the regard which an acquaintance ofmany years authorized; and that as he was sure the news would in noway overcome her aversion to the match with the Duc de Carolan, hemust still decline to name the place where he might suspect thatshe had hidden herself.

  He heard nothing more for some months; and then the governor toldhim privately that the duke was dead, and that as it was thoughtthat Lille would be besieged, two or three other officers in theBastille had petitioned for leave to go to aid in the defence. Hadthe duke still lived, the governor was sure that any such requeston the part of the marquis would have been refused. As it was,however, his known military skill and bravery would be so useful inthe defence, that it was possible that the king would now consent.The marquis had therefore applied for, and had received, permissionto go to aid in the defence of Lille.

  Rupert then told his story, which excited the wonder and admirationof the marquis to the highest point. When he concluded, he said:

  "And now, monsieur le marquis, I must say what I have never saidbefore, because until I travelled with her down to Poitiers I didnot know what my own feelings really were. Then I learned to knowthat which I felt was not a mere brotherly affection, but a deeplove. I know that neither in point of fortune nor in rank am I theequal of mademoiselle; but I love her truly, sir, and the Chace,which will some day be mine, will at least enable me to maintainher in comfort.

  "Monsieur le marquis, may I ask of you the hand of your daughter?"

  "You may indeed, my dear Rupert," the marquis said warmly, takinghis hand. "Even when in England the possibility that this mightsome day come about occurred to me; and although then I should haveregretted Adele's marrying an Englishman, yet I saw in yourcharacter the making of a man to whom I could safely entrust herhappiness. When we met again, I found that you had answered myexpectation of you, and I should not have allowed so great anintimacy to spring up between you had I not been willing that sheshould, if she so wished it, marry you.

  "I no longer wish her to settle in France. After what I have seenof your free England, the despotism of our kings and the feudalpower of our nobles disgust me, and I foresee that sooner or latera terrible upheaval will take place. What Adele herself will say Ido not know, but imagine that she will not be so obstinate inrefusing to yield to the wishes of her father as she has been tothe commands of her king.

  "But she will not bring you a fortune, Rupert. If she marries you,her estates will assuredly be forfeited by the crown. They are sovirtually now, royal receivers having been placed in possession,but they will be formally declared forfeited on her marriage withyou. However, she will not come to you a dowerless bride. In sevenyears I have laid by sufficient to enable me to give her a dowrywhich will add a few farms to the Chace.

  "And now, Rupert, let us to sleep; day is breaking, and althoughyour twenty-three years may need no rest, I like a few hours' sleepwhen I can get them."

  Upon the following day the conversation was renewed.

  "I think, Rupert, that my captivity is really a fortunate one forour plans. So long as I remained in France my every movement wouldbe watched. I dared not even write to Adele, far less think ofgoing to see her. Now I am out of sight of the creatures of Louis,and can do as I please.

  "I have been thinking it over. I will cross to England. Thence Iwill make my way in a smuggler's craft to Nantes, where thegovernor is a friend of mine. From him I will get papers under anassumed name for my self and daughter, and with them journey toPoitiers, and so fetch her to England."

  "You will let me go with you, will you not?" Rupert exclaimed. "Noone can tell I am not a Frenchman by my speech, and I might beuseful."

  "I don't know, Rupert. You might be useful, doubtless, but yoursize and strength render you remarkable."

  "Well, but there are big Frenchmen as well as big Englishmen,"Rupert said. "If you travel as a merchant, I might very well go asyour serving man, and you and I together could, I think, carrymademoiselle in safety through any odds. It will not be long towait. I cannot leave until Lille falls, but I am sure the duke willgive me leave as soon as the marshal surrenders the city, whichcannot be very many days now; for it is clear that
Vendome will notfight, and a desperate resistance at the end would be a mere wasteof life."

  So it was arranged, and shortly afterwards Rupert took his friendMajor Dillon into his confidence. The latter expressed the wildestjoy, shook Rupert's hand, patted him on the back, and absolutelyshouted in his enthusiasm. Rupert was astonished at the excess ofjoy on his friend's part, and was mystified in the extreme when hewound up:

  "You have taken a great load off my mind, Rupert. You have made PatDillon even more eternally indebted to you than he was before."

  "What on earth do you mean, Dillon?" Rupert asked. "What is allthis extraordinary delight about? I know I am one of the luckiestfellows in the world, but why are you so overjoyed because I am inlove?"

  "My dear Rupert, now I can tell you all about it. I told you, youknow, that in the two winters you were away I went, at theinvitation of Mynheer van Duyk, to Dort; in order that he mighthear whether there was any news of you, and what I thought of yourchance of being alive, and all that; didn't I?"

  "Yes, you told me all that, Dillon; but what on earth has that gotto do with it?"

  "Well, my boy, I stopped each time something like a month at Dort,and, as a matter of course, I fell over head and ears in love withMaria van Duyk. I never said a word, though I thought she liked mewell enough; but she was for ever talking about you and praisingyou, and her father spoke of you as his son; and I made sure it wasall a settled thing between you, and thought what a sly dog youwere never to have breathed a word to me of your good fortune. Ifyou had never come back I should have tried my luck with her; butwhen you turned up again, glad as I was to see you, Rupert, I madesure that there was an end of any little corner of hope I had had.

  "When you told me about your gallivanting about France with a younglady, I thought for a moment that you might have been in love withher; but then I told myself that you were as good as married toMaria van Duyk, and that the other was merely the daughter of yourold friend, to whom you were bound to be civil. Now I know you arereally in love with her, and not with Maria, I will try my luckthere, that is, if she doesn't break her heart and die when shehears of the French girl."

  "Break her heart! Nonsense, man!" Rupert laughed. "She was twoyears older than I was, and looked upon me as a younger brother.Her father lamented that I was not older, but admitted that anyidea of a marriage between us was out of the question. But I don'tknow what he will say to your proposal to take her over toIreland."

  "My proposal to take her over to Ireland!" repeated Dillon, inastonishment. "I should as soon think of proposing to take her tothe moon! Why, man, I have not an acre of ground in Ireland, nor ashilling in the world, except my pay. No; if she will have me, I'llsettle down in Dort and turn Dutchman, and wear big breeches, andtake to being a merchant."

  Rupert burst into a roar of laughter.

  "You a merchant, Pat! Mynheer van Duyk and Dillon! Why, man, you'dbring the house to ruin in a year. No, no; if Maria will have you,I shall be delighted; but her fortune will be ample without yourefforts--you who, to my positive knowledge, could never keep yourcompany's accounts without the aid of your sergeant."

  Dillon burst out laughing, too.

  "True for you, Rupert. Figures were never in my line, except it issuch a neat figure as Maria has. Ah, Rupert! I always thought you anice lad; but how you managed not to fall in love with her, thoughshe was a year or so older than yourself, beats Pat Dillonentirely. Now the sooner the campaign is over, and the army goesinto winter quarters, the better I shall be pleased."

  It was a dark and squally evening in November, when La BelleJeanne, one of the fastest luggers which carried on a contrabandtrade between England and France, ran up the river to Nantes. Shehad been chased for twelve hours by a British war ship, but had atlast fairly outsailed her pursuers, and had run in without mishap.On her deck were two passengers; Maitre Antoine Perrot, a merchant,who had been over to England to open relations with a large housewho dealt in silks and cloths; and his servant Jacques Bontemps,whose sturdy frame and powerful limbs had created the admiration ofthe crew of the Belle Jeanne.

  An hour later the lugger was moored against the quay, her crew hadscattered to their homes, and the two travellers were housed in aquiet cabaret near, where they had called for a private room.

  Half an hour later Maitre Perrot left the house, inquired the wayto the governor's residence, left a letter at the door, and thenreturned to the cabaret. At nine o'clock a cloaked stranger wasshown into the room. When the door was closed he threw off his hatand cloak.

  "My dear marquis, I am delighted to see you; but what means thiswild freak of yours?"

  "I will tell you frankly, de Brissac."

  And the Marquis de Pignerolles confided to the Count de Brissac hisplan for getting his daughter away to England.

  "It is a matter for the Bastille of his most Christian Majesty,should he learn that I have aided you in carrying your daughteraway; but I will risk it, marquis, for our old friendship's sake.You want a passport saying that Maitre Antoine Perrot, merchant ofNantes, with his servant, Jacques Bontemps, is on his way toPoitiers, to fetch his daughter, residing near that town, and thatthat damsel will return with him to Nantes?"

  "That is it, de Brissac. What a pity that it is not with us as inEngland, where every man may travel where he lists without a soulasking him where he goes, or why."

  "Ah! Well, I don't know," said the count, who had the usualaristocratic prejudice of a French noble of his time. "It may suitthe islanders of whom you are so fond, marquis, but I doubt whetherit would do here. We should have plotters and conspirators goingall over the country, and stirring up the people."

  "Ah! Yes, count; but if the people had nothing to complain of, theywould not listen to the conspirators. But there, I know we shallnever agree about this. When the war is over you must cross thechannel, and see me there."

  "No, no," de Brissac said, laughing. "I love you, de Pignerolles,but none of the fogs and mists of that chilly country for me. HisMajesty will forgive you one of these days, and then we will meetat Versailles."

  "So be it," the marquis said. "When Adele's estates have beenbestowed upon one of his favourites, he will have no reason forkeeping me in exile; but we shall see."

  "You shall have your papers without fail tomorrow early, so you cansafely make your preparations. And now goodbye, and may fortuneattend you."

  It was not until noon next day that Maitre Perrot and his servantrode out from Nantes, for they had had some trouble in obtainingtwo horses such as they required, but had at last succeeded inobtaining two animals of great strength and excellent breeding. Thesaddle of Maitre Perrot had a pillion attached behind for a lady,but this was at present untenanted.

  Both travellers carried weapons, for in those days a journey acrossFrance was not without its perils. Discharged soldiers, escapedserfs, and others, banded together in the woods and wild parts ofFrance; and although the governors of provinces did their best topreserve order, the force at their command was but small, as everyman who could be raised was sent to the frontier, which the fall ofLille had opened to an invading army.

  Until they were well beyond Nantes, Rupert rode behind the marquis,but when they reached the open country he moved up alongside.

  "I do not know when I have enjoyed a week so much as the time wespent at the Chace, Rupert. Your grandfather is a wonderful oldman, as hard as iron; and your lady mother was most kind andcordial. She clearly bore no malice for my interference in her loveaffair some years ago."

  "Upon the contrary," Rupert said. "I am sure that she feelsgrateful to you for saving her from the consequences of herinfatuation."

  Six days later, the travellers rode into Poitiers. They had metwith no misadventure on the way. Once or twice they had met partiesof rough fellows, but the determined bearing and evident strengthof master and man had prevented any attempt at violence.

  The next morning they started early, and after two hours' ridingapproached the cottage where Adele had for two years lived
with herold nurse. They dismounted at the door.

  "Go you in, sir," said Rupert. "I will hold the horses. Yourdaughter will naturally like best to meet you alone."

  The marquis nodded, lifted the latch of the door, and went in.There was a pause, and then he heard a cry of "Father!" just as thedoor closed. In another instant it opened again, and Margot stoleout, escaping to leave her mistress alone with her father.

  She ran down to the gate, looked at Rupert, and gave a littlescream of pleasure, leaping and clapping her hands.

  "I said so, monsieur. I always said so. 'When monsieur le marquiscomes, mademoiselle, you be sure monsieur l'Anglais will come withhim.'"

  "And what did mademoiselle used to say?"

  "Oh, she used to pretend she did not believe you would. But I knewbetter. I knew that when she said, over and over again, 'Is myfather never coming for me?' she was thinking of somebody else. Andare you come to take her away?"

  Rupert nodded.

  The girl's face clouded.

  "Oh, how I shall miss her! But there, monsieur, the fact is--thefact is--"

  "You need not pretend to be shy," Rupert said, laughing. "I canguess what 'the fact is.' I suppose that there is somebody in yourcase too, and that you are just waiting to be married tillmademoiselle goes."

  Margot laughed and coloured, and was going to speak, when the dooropened, and the marquis beckoned him in.

  "Mr. Holliday," he said, as Rupert on entering found Adele leaningon her father's shoulder, with a rosy colour, and a look ofhappiness upon her face. "I have laid my commands upon my daughter,Mademoiselle Adele de Pignerolles, to receive you as her futurehusband, and I find no disposition whatever on her part to defy myauthority, as she has that of his Majesty.

  "There, my children, may you be happy together!"

  So saying, he left the room, and went to look after the horse,leaving Adele and Rupert to their new-found happiness.