CHAPTER X.
Shortly after Monsieur de Villardin's return, on the day of which Ihave just been speaking, I received notice that I should be requiredto accompany him in the evening to a great supper at the house of theDuke de Bouillon. As I was beginning, at that time, from onecircumstance or another, to imagine that I was in no degree uglierthan my fellow mortals, to find out that good looks were prized evenin a page, and that a handsome person was not shown to less advantageby appearing in becoming apparel, I took care that the finest of mywardrobe should be displayed on the present occasion, where I was sureof seeing, and in some sort mingling with, all that was bright, andnoble, and beautiful, in the French capital.
Although self-conceit has made many a man very comfortable throughlife, I do believe that the peculiar modification of the same feelingwhich is generally called vanity, seldom, if ever, produces anythingbut disappointment. We did not arrive at the Hotel de Bouillon tillmore than one half of the company had assembled; and though the scenewas certainly as splendid as youth, beauty, wealth, gaiety, good tasteand grace, could render it, my pleasure was of course confined toseeing others, without attracting the slightest attention myself.Confounded with the other pages, of whom there was an immenseprofusion, nobody, in all probability, ever saw me, except worthyMonsieur de Vitray, who recognised me instantly, and spoke a few wordsto me as he passed.
As is usually the case, I believe, all the visiters who appearedthere, came with their own thoughts and purposes, and gave not oneidea to anybody else, except as they were connected with their designsand pleasures. From the extraordinary twist, too, that everything hadgot in France at that time, the general order of all things seemedinverted. The bright, and the beautiful, and the young of the othersex gave up the whole of their conversation to politics and factiousintrigue; while cunning statesmen, deep lawyers, and reverend divines,old warriors, and grey-headed politicians, universally devotedthemselves to making love to everybody they should not have made loveto.
I came away, thinking a Parisian party very dull; and sitting in the_porti?re_ of the Duke's coach, who earned along with him one or twoof his particular friends in the body of the vehicle, I ruminated overmy disappointment, too young, indeed, to investigate metaphysicallythe sensations which I experienced, but quite old enough to resolvethat I would never again expect any one to take notice of me, eitherfor my fine clothes or my good looks.
When we reached home, Monsieur de Villardin's friends descended andwent in with him, to pay their respects to the Duchess, who, havingbeen slightly indisposed, had remained at home. He, of course,accompanied them into the hall, but, as he passed me, he paused amoment to say in an under voice, "Do not go to bed." There was a gooddeal of anxiety in his eye, and emphasis in his tone, which made meattach to his words a greater degree of importance than they seemed atfirst to bear. Nor was I wrong in my interpretation, for in less thanhalf an hour, the old major-domo called me out of the page's room,--inwhich I had been sitting with Gaspard de Belleville, whose spirits Ihad remarked to be extravagantly high,--and led me by the hand to hisown apartment.
When he had got me there, and shut the door, good Jerome Labordefolded me in his arms, and the tears actually rose in his eyes. "Ihave bad news for you, my son," he said; "and unfortunately it happensthat your kindness to my nephew is likely to prove your ruin. My lordthe Duke has just been telling me that it was you who saved my poornephew, and that the criminal lieutenant and his myrmidons have foundyou out."
Of course the first announcement of such a fact was not particularlyagreeable to me; but, as I came hastily to reflect upon my fate, andto think that I should again be obliged to scamper off, and do thebest I could for myself in the world, there seemed something so absurdin the sort of perversity with which fate destined me to be awanderer, that I could not help laughing, notwithstanding thedifficulties of my situation.
"You laugh, my son," cried the old man, in great astonishment; "but Ican tell you the business is a very serious one, and that you mightchance to be shut up for life in the Bastille."
"If that is the case," replied I, "the matter is serious indeed. Ithought they would only have hanged me; and I have been so accustomedto risk hanging every day of my life, that it was nothing new; but, asto spending my whole existence in a prison, that is a very differentaffair; and therefore, good Monsieur Jerome, I shall get out of theway directly, leaving you to make my excuses to my lord, for goingwithout asking his permission.
"You are too quick, my son--you are too quick," cried the old man; "itwas the Duke himself who told me but now to speak to you. Do notsuppose that he intends to leave you without protection. No, no; he isa kind-hearted man, though quick and jealous in his disposition from aboy; and he bade me tell you that he would have defended you to thelast for the act you have committed, even had it not been in favour ofmy nephew; but that, as it was so, he will defend you more eagerlystill. He thinks, however, that for your present safety, you hadbetter quit Paris as soon as possible; and, as he intended to sendsome one to his estates in Brittany to-morrow, he will give you thecommission, and order a groom to accompany you and show you the road."
"I am quite ready," replied I; "there is nothing to be done but tosaddle the horses."
"Never did I see so hasty a boy," cried the old man; "how will you getout of the gates, I should like to know, when they are closed asfirmly as locks and chains can make them?"
"I would get over the walls," replied I, smiling.
"And the horses?" said the old man, with a smile: "no, no, my son, youmust follow the plans laid down for you by my lord, who knows thiscountry, at least, better than you do. When you have everything ready,he says, go to bed, and sleep for two or three hours; rise twentyminutes before the dawn, and you will find horses, and the packet heintends you to take, all ready prepared for you. By the time you getto the gates, they will be opened, and you will have nothing else todo but to ride on as fast as possible, till you reach my lord's castleof the Pr?s Vall?e. Remain there quietly till you hear from him, and,in a few weeks, he will have negotiated your pardon with the court."
This plan was, of course, one that both suited my wishes and providedfor my safety, better than any I could have laid out for myself. Itoffered me the prospect, too, of new scenes and adventures of a naturesomewhat less appalling than those which might lead me into a dungeonfor life; and I consequently proceeded to put it into execution withevery feeling of joy and gratitude. Good Jerome Laborde undertook tohave me called at the appointed hour, and, accustomed from infancy totake repose at any scattered moments that offered the possibility ofdoing so, I laid down, and was soon asleep.
When I was called in the morning, I found, much to my surprise, thatMonsieur de Villardin was himself up; and, as I afterwards discovered,had risen at that early hour solely on my account--a mark of kindnessand interest that touched my heart the more, because it was totallyunexpected. After receiving from his own hands a packet of letters forhis different farmers and receivers in Brittany, accompanied by theassurance that he would leave no means untried to procure my pardon, Itook my leave, and descending to the courtyard, found the groom whowas to accompany me, holding two strong horses, on one of whichalready appeared the saddle-bags containing my wealth and apparel. OldJerome Laborde was also there, ready to embrace me before I took mydeparture; and ere we set out, he did not forget to burden the groomwith a _bissac_ loaded with various Parisian delicacies, to console meon my journey.
The Duke had strictly enjoined me to avoid all towns in theneighbourhood of Paris, and to make my first day's ride the longestand the most rapid of the whole expedition; and, consequently, whenonce we had passed the gates, which we were permitted to do withoutquestion, we set spurs to our beasts, and never drew a rein for twentymiles. By this time, however, I began to feel in security from thepursuit of anything but hunger, which was now pressing me hard; andafter riding on a few miles further, we saw a small open wood in theneighbourhood of Epernon, into which we r
etired for the purpose oflightening good Jerome Laborde's _bissac_ of some of its savourycontents. The groom, who, like most of Monsieur de Villardin'sdomestics, seemed to be a connoisseur in the good things of this life,spread forth the viands on the table-cloth afforded by the green grassat the bottom of the gentle slope in the wood, with infinite taste;and the fine _p?te_ of turkey and truffles which formed the staple ofthe _bissac_, looked none the worse for its crust having cracked inmore than one place under the jumbling of our ride, suffering thetopaz-like jelly to shine forth through the apertures.
Scarcely, however, had I time to help myself to a ponderous slice, andto add thereto a portion of wild boar's face, which exceeded anyHampshire chaw I ever tasted, when I fancied that I heard a low groanquite near. The sound made me start up and look around; but as I couldperceive nothing, as hunger was unruly, and as the groom, who by thistime was deep in the appropriate worship of the pasty, declared he hadheard nothing, I sat down again, and in one attack very nearlydemolished the slice I had first assigned to myself. I then added adraught of excellent Burgundy from a flask which the _bissac_ alsoafforded; but I now certainly began to think that our regale had madethe hamadryads envious, for another distinct groan followed, evidentlyproceeding from a large oak tree hard by, and the moment after, thebody of a man appeared, cautiously descending from the higher boughs.As he swarmed down the trunk, tightly embracing its ruggedcircumference with his arms, which operation was rendered somewhatdifficult by a certain degree of obesity in his own person, he everynow and then turned his head partly over his shoulder, as if to obtaina sight of the good things before us, exclaiming, as he did so, "It isirresistible!--philosophy is in vain--I resign myself to my fate!"
The next minute his feet touched the ground, and turning round with asort of joyous pirouette, he gave me a full view of my acquaintance,Jacques Marlot. I confess that a suspicion of the identity of thisgenius of the oak and the ci-devant printer had crossed my mind, as hedescended the tree, from various peculiar points of his rotundconformation; but it appeared that on his part, although he hadobtained a thorough perception of what we had been eating anddrinking, his bird's-eye view in the tree had not enabled him to seeenough of our faces to recognise my person, for his first exclamationwas, as he turned round, "Gentlemen, I am an hungered; and if ye donot give me food, ye have committed a heinous sin in displaying thatdelicious _p?t?_ before me.--Ye gods! what do I see?" he continued, ashis eye lighted full upon me: "My ph[oe]nix of pages--my master Jeanl'Anglais! My deliverer from a more elevated station than ever Icoveted! Let me embrace thee in token of thanks for my abasement."
As the best welcome I could give the unfortunate printer, I made himpartake liberally of our fare, and suffered him to cheer his heartwith our flask, till half his woes were forgotten. While he went on,which was nearly till pasty disappeared and bottle sounded empty, Itold him that I was now suffering on his account, and explained to himmy situation. At first, his whole soul being engrossed in oneoccupation, he seemed to feel but little for my misadventures; but assoon as he had a moment's leisure, he looked shocked; and when he hadfinished, and could absolutely eat no more, he expressed, gracefullyenough, both his gratitude for my services, and his grief for theinconveniences to which they had exposed me. He then told me that assoon as he was out of the hands of the archers the day before, he hadtaken leave of his friendly mob of deliverers, and trusting to nothingbut his own legs, had made the best of his way out of Paris.
"As soon as I was fairly beyond the gates," he added, "I set offrunning again, as hard as I could; and when I could run no more, Iwalked; and when I could walk no longer, I stood still, which wasexactly on the spot where I now am. I had nothing to eat; and youthere behold my beverage," he continued, pointing to a small streamthat danced before us. "I christened it, however, vin blanc d'Epernon;and though it was not quite so good as the vin blanc d'Epernay, itquenched my thirst; and having dug up as many pignuts as I could find,I mounted yonder oak with all the agility of a light diet, and soothedmyself to sleep by comparing myself to Diogenes. How I should havepassed over this day, I do not know; for I dared not visit my house,which, doubtless, was also pillaged long ago by the ministers ofjustice; and you may easily conceive that the archers of the criminallieutenant do not suffer those who are placed under their protectionto do so foolish a thing as go to the gallows with money in theirpockets. However, I never despair, doubting not now, as heretofore, tomake something out of whatever lot dame Fortune chooses to throw. Norhas she ever been unfavourable to those who trust to her bounty; forwhat can prove her kindness more strongly than sending you here for myrelief and consolation?"
I complimented Ma?tre Jacques upon his philosophy, which was much ofthe same quality as my own, and begged him to keep the wild boar'scheek, which had suffered less in the encounter than the pasty, asanother token of fortune's favour. I found, however, that he was verydesirous of accompanying us on our journey, and talked of my horsebeing strong enough to carry two. The groom also seconded his proposalin a way that I thought somewhat extraordinary; but, nevertheless, atthe risk of appearing selfish, I put a decided negative upon it, notso much upon my own account as because I thought that it might placemy lord in very unpleasant circumstances, if the criminal who had justbeen rescued from the gallows, and the page who had helped to rescuehim, were found riding to his estates in Brittany, guided by one ofhis own grooms.
I represented, however, to Jacques Marlot, that in all probability theofficers of justice were after us both by this time; and that,although in some cases union was security, in this instance our besthope of escape lay in separating, especially as it was more thanprobable that the knowledge of my being attached to Monsieur deVillardin might make the archers follow upon the very road I waspursuing.
This last argument was conclusive with the printer, and as, thanks tothe bounty of Lord Masterton, I was still furnished with more moneythan I knew how to employ, I added thirty crowns to the breakfast Ihad given my acquaintance, and left him to continue his journey fullof renewed hope and gratitude.
The groom who accompanied me seemed to take a greater interest inJacques Marlot than the length of their intercourse warranted, andinquired very particularly into the route he was likely to pursue; butthe printer, according to the good English proverb, was too old a birdto be taken by the chaff which my guide spread before him; and with acunning smile evaded his questions, whispering to me as he embraced meat parting, "Beware of your guide."
Early--too early--had I learned to distrust my fellow-creatures, alesson which we have unfortunately too frequent opportunities ofrepeating in our course through the world ever to forget, when oncethe sweet confidence of innocence and inexperience, like the bloomupon ripe fruit, has been brushed away by the first touch of thepolluting world. I had seen fully enough, however, to doubt the faithof my present conductor, and I resolved to watch him closely as weproceeded, not well knowing what particular line his roguery mighttake, but suspecting strongly that he was not the most honest ofservants, nor likely to prove the most infallible of guides.
It luckily so happened that the saddle-bags containing my stores ofall kinds were upon my own horse, and therefore I possessed the powerof directing all our movements, as well as the right of doing so,which my station and my lord's commands conferred. Nor was it at allunpleasant, I confess, to reflect, that in the event of any disputearising between myself and my companion, who had been directed in allrespects to consider himself as my servant, I had nothing to do butride away, and leave him to do the best for himself,--which reflectionwas the more especially gratifying, as I believed he might obtain aconsiderable reward by betraying me, and did not much doubt that hehad some thoughts of the kind in his own mind.
I showed him, at least, that expedition was part of my plan; for assoon as we were once more in our saddles, I pushed forward with allspeed, and accomplished nearly forty miles more before night. Aconsiderable town lay at the distance of a few miles to our right, andthither my guide strongly rec
ommended me to proceed, lauding to theskies the accommodation we should there meet with; but I took my ownplan, and riding on till I espied a neat cabaret in a village, haltedthere, preferring the risk of a bad supper to the risk of anunpleasant lodging.
The next day we proceeded in the same manner, though not at the samerate; taking whatever refreshment we needed at the smallest and mostretired places I could find; and though the worthy groom more thanonce attempted to prove restive, and to treat me as a mere boy, hefound that he had to do with one who had managed shrewder men thanhimself. It soon became apparent that, though our horses were strongand well seasoned to hard work, it would take us rather more than fourdays to reach the place of our destination; but for the last hundredmiles I found my companion much more easily managed, yielding at onceto my will with the best grace in the world, which conduct pleased,though it did not deceive me.
Sudden changes, without an apparent cause, always afford very goodreasons for suspicion; and it was clear enough that the alteration inthe good groom's behaviour had not taken place from any increasedreverence for myself.
"Whatever it is he intends to do," I thought, as I remarked thischange in his demeanour, "the fellow has laid out his plan, and thinksit quite secure. He must have fixed, too, upon some spot for executingit towards the end of our journey, since he is so indifferent as tothe way we take here. I will watch him well, however, at every mile."This resolution I kept to the letter, never suffering him to be out ofmy sight for a minute; but nothing suspicious occurred till the closeof our fourth day's journey, when he declared, that since I was sofond of hard riding, he thought we might get on to Rennes that night.
I did not exactly know how far it was to Rennes, for had I been awarethat it was at the distance of twenty miles, when our horses werealready nearly knocked up, I should have concluded that--calculatingon my distaste to anything he proposed--he wanted me to stay where wewere, and, therefore, suggested that we should proceed further. Icertainly fell into the trap; and simply because he desired to go on,determined to halt at the next village.
When we reached it, the first house I espied was a neat cabaret, anddrawing in my rein I sprang to the ground, announcing my determinationof sleeping there. A grin of satisfaction on the groom's face was thefirst thing that excited suspicion in my mind that I had overreachedmyself; but the countenance of mine host, who now appeared, confirmedmy doubts; and as he spoke to the servant as an old friend, I soonfound that I had made a terrible mistake. On inquiring the distance toRennes, too, and finding that our horses could by no means haveaccomplished it, I saw that the attempt had been proposed solely tomake me do the contrary; and thence deducing that, at this very spot,the consummation of the groom's man[oe]uvres was destined to takeplace, of course I determined to be all eyes, ears, and understanding.
The landlord's daughter, a very pretty frank-faced brunette, of abouttwenty, attracted by my gay dress, and feeling that kindness which allwomen experience towards extreme youth, soon came up to me, and in avery short time we were great friends; but I could not attend to halfher civil offers of the various sorts of refreshment that the houseafforded, on account of my anxiety to keep watch over the groom. Inthis endeavour I was tolerably successful for some time, and I do notthink he obtained an opportunity of exchanging one word with thelandlord, till we had concluded our supper, except, indeed, such asrelated to the general affairs of Monsieur de Villardin, whose namewas well known in that part of the country, and to the state of Paris.All this time, however, I had another subject of anxiety in mysaddle-bags, which were left up stairs in the chamber assigned to me;and after I had sufficiently refreshed myself, I was tempted thitherto see that all was safe, thinking that I should be down again in timeto prevent much private conversation.
I was wrong; and on again entering the kitchen I found the places ofboth the landlord and the groom vacant, while the host's mother sat bythe fire dozing, and the pretty brunette was spinning beside her withgreat eagerness.
As soon as ever I appeared, the latter beckoned me to her, and said ina low voice, "You are betrayed, _mon pauvre gar?on_; but if you wouldhear how, go out at the back-door, run along at the top of the bank asquietly as you can, and make the best use of your ears."
I instantly followed her advice, and opening the door to which shepointed, soon found myself in the little court of the auberge, whichagain opened into what seemed the garden of a _guingette_, surroundedon three sides by walls, and on the fourth, which lay to my righthand, flanked by a high cliffy bank that sloped down towards the doorat which I stood. It was night, and the moon had not yet risen, butthere was still light enough remaining to let me see or rather divineall this, and running up the bank, and along the edge, with asnoiseless a foot as possible, I soon heard voices speaking in thegarden below me. I crept on as fast as I could, and the next momentclearly distinguished the words made use of. The groom was acting theorator as I came up, and proceeded as follows:--
"No, no, that won't do at all, Monsieur Parnac, for if he were to betaken in your house, under my guidance, most likely my good lord wouldturn me to the door, if he did not throw me out of the window, andwould certainly ruin you here for your pains. You do not know what aman he is--so sharp, if you give him the least cause for suspicion! Ido believe he finds out when one is going to do any little trick, evenbefore one knows it oneself. I remember his turning off his chiefecuyer for merely whispering in the street with a maquignon, who wasbringing him a horse for sale. No, no, let it be managed my way. Sendoff some one to-night, and have the officers stationed about thewatering-place, by Meri, you know. Let them take me too, seemingly,for being in his company; and so my lord's suspicions will be set atrest, and I shall be carried back to Paris, too, where I shall get thereward."
"Ay, but, Ma?tre Pierre, are you quite sure of the reward?" demandedmine host.
"All I can tell thee, Parnac, is this," replied the groom. "I heard itoffered by proclamation, as we were riding home, the evening before Icame away. A thousand crowns were to be given to any one who woulddeliver up the leader of those that had rescued the criminal, and twothousand crowns to those who would deliver up the criminal himself. Iwould have done it myself, if I had known at the time that this boywas the person; and I could have managed it easily as we came throughthe city. But I never found it out, as I tell you, till we met withthis Jacques Marlot, and then I heard them talk about it quite as ifthey were in security."
"Well, well, Pierre, I think thou wilt get thy thousand crowns,"answered the landlord; "and they know how to do these things sosecretly at the Court, that thou mayest get them and not lose thymaster's service either; but tell me, what am I to get?"
"Why, of course, I will pay thee for the man and horse sent to thecity," replied the groom.
"Ay, but that will not be quite enough," answered mine host, "to payme for risking your good lord's custom and patronage. Something more!something more! good Pierre, or thou mayest ride to Rennes to-nightthyself."
"Well," answered Pierre, "I will tell you what, Parnac; the officersshall bring him on here, and while we halt to refresh, you and I willhave the picking of those saddle-bags of his, in which there are agood thousand crowns besides. If he finds them gone and complains, itwill pass for a piece of the archers' handiwork, and no inquiry willbe made."
"Ay, now thou speakest reason," answered his respectable friend, "andI will send off directly. At the half-way watering place, thou sayest;but at what hour? We must name some hour for the officers to bethere."
"Say nine o' the clock," answered the groom; "we shall not be theretill eleven; but they must wait, you know, they must wait."
"Well, it shall be done without delay," replied the host, "but now,hie you in, Pierre, for you say the boy is as sharp as your master,and may suspect us. Yet stay; remember, if you fail me about the bags,I will do for you with your lord. So keep faith."
The groom replied at some length, but as their farther conversationseemed likely to refer alone to their private affairs, I made
the bestof my way back to the house, and ere either groom or landlordreturned, had gained sufficient information from my pretty brunette,in regard to the roads, to serve my purpose for the next day. I foundthat, at the distance of about four miles from the village, thehighway was intersected by another, which led away in the verydirection I wished to take. It was neglected, however, and heavy, shesaid, passing through some wide forest ground, which always affords abad foundation; and since the new road had been made, she added, fewpeople ever travelled the old one except the couriers for St. Malo,who went that way for the purpose of dropping packets, and sometimessums of money, at various small towns through which it alone passed.It used, she said, to have a bad reputation for robbers, and aboutthree months before, one of the royal messengers had been plundered,but since that time she had heard of no farther outrage.
As she was speaking, the groom came in, and to break off aconversation I did not want him to hear, I asked him sharply where hehad been so long. He replied that he had been tending his horses; andto put him completely off his guard, I ordered them to be at the doorexactly at the hour on which I found he had already calculated. Hepromised to be punctual, and not doubting that he would be so, I soonafter retired to bed. Danger of any kind never made me sleep lesssoundly, but I confess that, on this occasion, it was long before Icould close my eyes; but it was self-reproach, not apprehension, keptme awake. I had been twice betrayed into an act of egregious follyduring that one journey, and I began to think I was losing theacuteness which had been my most serviceable quality. I could havepardoned myself, perhaps, for suffering the groom to cheat me intostaying where we then were; but for babbling myself, or sufferingJacques Marlot to babble in the hearing of a third person, I ratedmyself for a good hour after I was in bed.
The Little Ball O' Fire; or, the Life and Adventures of John Marston Hall Page 10