37. Cromwell's Letter.
At the very moment when the queen quitted the convent to go to thePalais Royal, a young man dismounted at the gate of this royal abode andannounced to the guards that he had something of importance tocommunicate to Cardinal Mazarin. Although the cardinal was oftentormented by fear, he was more often in need of counsel and information,and he was therefore sufficiently accessible. The true difficulty ofbeing admitted was not to be found at the first door, and even thesecond was passed easily enough; but at the third watched, besides theguard and the doorkeepers, the faithful Bernouin, a Cerberus whom nospeech could soften, no wand, even of gold, could charm.
It was therefore at the third door that those who solicited or werebidden to an audience underwent their formal interrogatory.
The young man having left his horse tied to the gate in the court,mounted the great staircase and addressed the guard in the firstchamber.
"Cardinal Mazarin?" said he.
"Pass on," replied the guard.
The cavalier entered the second hall, which was guarded by themusketeers and doorkeepers.
"Have you a letter of audience?" asked a porter, advancing to the newarrival.
"I have one, but not one from Cardinal Mazarin."
"Enter, and ask for Monsieur Bernouin," said the porter, opening thedoor of the third room. Whether he only held his usual post or whetherit was by accident, Monsieur Bernouin was found standing behind the doorand must have heard all that had passed.
"You seek me, sir," said he. "From whom may the letter be you bear tohis eminence?"
"From General Oliver Cromwell," said the new comer. "Be so good as tomention this name to his eminence and to bring me word whether he willreceive me--yes or no."
Saying which, he resumed the proud and sombre bearing peculiar at thattime to Puritans. Bernouin cast an inquisitorial glance at the person ofthe young man and entered the cabinet of the cardinal, to whom hetransmitted the messenger's words.
"A man bringing a letter from Oliver Cromwell?" said Mazarin. "And whatkind of a man?"
"A genuine Englishman, your eminence. Hair sandy-red--more red thansandy; gray-blue eyes--more gray than blue; and for the rest, stiff andproud."
"Let him give in his letter."
"His eminence asks for the letter," said Bernouin, passing back into theante-chamber.
"His eminence cannot see the letter without the bearer of it," repliedthe young man; "but to convince you that I am really the bearer of aletter, see, here it is; and kindly add," continued he, "that I am not asimple messenger, but an envoy extraordinary."
Bernouin re-entered the cabinet, returning in a few seconds. "Enter,sir," said he.
The young man appeared on the threshold of the minister's closet, in onehand holding his hat, in the other the letter. Mazarin rose. "Have you,sir," asked he, "a letter accrediting you to me?"
"There it is, my lord," said the young man.
Mazarin took the letter and read it thus:
"Mr. Mordaunt, one of my secretaries, will remit this letter ofintroduction to His Eminence, the Cardinal Mazarin, in Paris. He is alsothe bearer of a second confidential epistle for his eminence.
"Oliver Cromwell."
"Very well, Monsieur Mordaunt," said Mazarin, "give me this secondletter and sit down."
The young man drew from his pocket a second letter, presented it to thecardinal, and took his seat. The cardinal, however, did not unseal theletter at once, but continued to turn it again and again in his hand;then, in accordance with his usual custom and judging from experiencethat few people could hide anything from him when he began to questionthem, fixing his eyes upon them at the same time, he thus addressed themessenger:
"You are very young, Monsieur Mordaunt, for this difficult task ofambassador, in which the oldest diplomatists often fail."
"My lord, I am twenty-three years of age; but your eminence is mistakenin saying that I am young. I am older than your eminence, although Ipossess not your wisdom. Years of suffering, in my opinion, countdouble, and I have suffered for twenty years."
"Ah, yes, I understand," said Mazarin; "want of fortune, perhaps. Youare poor, are you not?" Then he added to himself: "These EnglishRevolutionists are all beggars and ill-bred."
"My lord, I ought to have a fortune of six millions, but it has beentaken from me."
"You are not, then, a man of the people?" said Mazarin, astonished.
"If I bore my proper title I should be a lord. If I bore my name youwould have heard one of the most illustrious names of England."
"What is your name, then?" asked Mazarin.
"My name is Mordaunt," replied the young man, bowing.
Mazarin now understood that Cromwell's envoy desired to retain hisincognito. He was silent for an instant, and during that time he scannedthe young man even more attentively than he had done at first. Themessenger was unmoved.
"Devil take these Puritans," said Mazarin aside; "they are carved fromgranite." Then he added aloud, "But you have relations left you?"
"I have one remaining. Three times I presented myself to ask his supportand three times he ordered his servants to turn me away."
"Oh, mon Dieu! my dear Mr. Mordaunt," said Mazarin, hoping by a displayof affected pity to catch the young man in a snare, "how extremely yourhistory interests me! You know not, then, anything of your birth--youhave never seen your mother?"
"Yes, my lord; she came three times, whilst I was a child, to my nurse'shouse; I remember the last time she came as well as if it were to-day."
"You have a good memory," said Mazarin.
"Oh! yes, my lord," said the young man, with such peculiar emphasis thatthe cardinal felt a shudder run through every vein.
"And who brought you up?" he asked again.
"A French nurse, who sent me away when I was five years old because noone paid her for me, telling me the name of a relation of whom she hadheard my mother often speak."
"What became of you?"
"As I was weeping and begging on the high road, a minister from Kingstontook me in, instructed me in the Calvinistic faith, taught me all heknew himself and aided me in my researches after my family."
"And these researches?"
"Were fruitless; chance did everything."
"You discovered what had become of your mother?"
"I learned that she had been assassinated by my relation, aided by fourfriends, but I was already aware that I had been robbed of my wealth anddegraded from my nobility by King Charles I."
"Oh! I now understand why you are in the service of Cromwell; you hatethe king."
"Yes, my lord, I hate him!" said the young man.
Mazarin marked with surprise the diabolical expression with which theyoung man uttered these words. Just as, ordinarily, faces are colored byblood, his face seemed dyed by hatred and became livid.
"Your history is a terrible one, Mr. Mordaunt, and touches me keenly;but happily for you, you serve an all-powerful master; he ought to aidyou in your search; we have so many means of gaining information."
"My lord, to a well-bred dog it is only necessary to show one end of atrack; he is certain to reach the other."
"But this relation you mentioned--do you wish me to speak to him?" saidMazarin, who was anxious to make a friend about Cromwell's person.
"Thanks, my lord, I will speak to him myself. He will treat me betterthe next time I see him."
"You have the means, then, of touching him?"
"I have the means of making myself feared."
Mazarin looked at the young man, but at the fire which shot from hisglance he bent his head; then, embarrassed how to continue such aconversation, he opened Cromwell's letter.
The young man's eyes gradually resumed their dull and glassy appearanceand he fell into a profound reverie. After reading the first lines ofthe letter Mazarin gave a side glance at him to see if he was watchingthe expression of his face as he read. Observing his indifference, heshrugged his shoulders, saying:
"Send on your business those who do theirs at the same time! Let us seewhat this letter contains."
We here present the letter verbatim:
"To his Eminence, Monseigneur le Cardinal Mazarini:
"I have wished, monseigneur, to learn your intentions relating to theexisting state of affairs in England. The two kingdoms are so near thatFrance must be interested in our situation, as we are interested in thatof France. The English are almost of one mind in contending against thetyranny of Charles and his adherents. Placed by popular confidence atthe head of that movement, I can appreciate better than any other itssignificance and its probable results. I am at present in the midst ofwar, and am about to deliver a decisive battle against King Charles. Ishall gain it, for the hope of the nation and the Spirit of the Lord arewith me. This battle won by me, the king will have no further resourcesin England or in Scotland; and if he is not captured or killed, he willendeavor to pass over into France to recruit soldiers and to refurnishhimself with arms and money. France has already received QueenHenrietta, and, unintentionally, doubtless, has maintained a centre ofinextinguishable civil war in my country. But Madame Henrietta is adaughter of France and was entitled to the hospitality of France. As toKing Charles, the question must be viewed differently; in receiving andaiding him, France will censure the acts of the English nation, and thusso essentially harm England, and especially the well-being of thegovernment, that such a proceeding will be equivalent to pronouncedhostilities."
At this moment Mazarin became very uneasy at the turn which the letterwas taking and paused to glance under his eyes at the young man. Thelatter continued in thought. Mazarin resumed his reading:
"It is important, therefore, monseigneur, that I should be informed asto the intentions of France. The interests of that kingdom and those ofEngland, though taking now diverse directions, are very nearly the same.England needs tranquillity at home, in order to consummate the expulsionof her king; France needs tranquillity to establish on solid foundationsthe throne of her young monarch. You need, as much as we do, thatinterior condition of repose which, thanks to the energy of ourgovernment, we are about to attain.
"Your quarrels with the parliament, your noisy dissensions with theprinces, who fight for you to-day and to-morrow will fight against you,the popular following directed by the coadjutor, President Blancmesnil,and Councillor Broussel--all that disorder, in short, which pervades theseveral departments of the state, must lead you to view with uneasinessthe possibility of a foreign war; for in that event England, exalted bythe enthusiasm of new ideas, will ally herself with Spain, alreadyseeking that alliance. I have therefore believed, monseigneur, knowingyour prudence and your personal relation to the events of the presenttime, that you will choose to hold your forces concentrated in theinterior of the French kingdom and leave to her own the new governmentof England. That neutrality consists simply in excluding King Charlesfrom the territory of France and in refraining from helping him--astranger to your country--with arms, with money or with troops.
"My letter is private and confidential, and for that reason I send it toyou by a man who shares my most intimate counsels. It anticipates,through a sentiment which your eminence will appreciate, measures to betaken after the events. Oliver Cromwell considered it more expedient todeclare himself to a mind as intelligent as Mazarin's than to a queenadmirable for firmness, without doubt, but too much guided by vainprejudices of birth and of divine right.
"Farewell, monseigneur; should I not receive a reply in the space offifteen days, I shall presume my letter will have miscarried.
"Oliver Cromwell."
"Mr. Mordaunt," said the cardinal, raising his voice, as if to arousethe dreamer, "my reply to this letter will be more satisfactory toGeneral Cromwell if I am convinced that all are ignorant of my havinggiven one; go, therefore, and await it at Boulogne-sur-Mer, and promiseme to set out to-morrow morning."
"I promise, my lord," replied Mordaunt; "but how many days does youreminence expect me to await your reply?"
"If you do not receive it in ten days you can leave."
Mordaunt bowed.
"That is not all, sir," continued Mazarin; "your private adventures havetouched me to the quick; besides, the letter from Mr. Cromwell makes youan important person as ambassador; come, tell me, what can I do foryou?"
Mordaunt reflected a moment and, after some hesitation, was about tospeak, when Bernouin entered hastily and bending down to the ear of thecardinal, whispered:
"My lord, the Queen Henrietta Maria, accompanied by an English noble, isentering the Palais Royal at this moment."
Mazarin made a bound from his chair, which did not escape the attentionof the young man and suppressed the confidence he was about to make.
"Sir," said the cardinal, "you have heard me? I fix on Boulogne becauseI presume that every town in France is indifferent to you; if you preferanother, name it; but you can easily conceive that, surrounded as I amby influences I can only muzzle by discretion, I desire your presence inParis to be unknown."
"I go, sir," said Mordaunt, advancing a few steps to the door by whichhe had entered.
"No, not that way, I beg, sir," quickly exclaimed the cardinal, "be sogood as to pass by yonder gallery, by which you can regain the hall. Ido not wish you to be seen leaving; our interview must be kept secret."
Mordaunt followed Bernouin, who led him through the adjacent chamber andleft him with a doorkeeper, showing him the way out.
Vingt ans après. English Page 37