CHAPTER XXVIII.
Tired of delay, I at length resolved to apply once more to the Princein person, though Gourville shook his head, laughing, and told me thathe could see very plainly that his Highness was determined to keep mesome time longer. About noon, I went out to the camp, but, on arrivingat the door of the house in which the Prince de Cond? had taken up hisquarters, and which was the tapestry manufactory, called les Gobelins,then belonging to a private individual, I was agreeably surprised tofind half a dozen of the grooms and attendants of Monsieur deVillardin. From them I learned that the Duke had obtained asafe-conduct the preceding day, and had arrived on a visit to the Princeabout an hour before. In the ante-chamber I found the officer who hadbrought me to Paris, and who, informing me that messengers had alreadybeen sent to seek me, directed one of the attendants to let the Princeknow that I had arrived. The next moment I was admitted to hisHighness's presence, and found him seated with Monsieur de Villardin,while Gaspard de Belleville stood before them with a sullen anddowncast countenance, on which I plainly read the workings of reproofand correction upon a stubborn and an evil heart. The sound of my stepinstantly called upon me a glance from my adversary as quick aslightning, and full of rage and hatred. Cond?, however, took no noticeof my approach, and continued the interrogation of his officer, whichhad previously commenced.
"Pray, sir," he said, "how came you to fire the ch?teau at all, whenthe general order was given to keep silence, and conduct the advancewith as much secrecy as possible?"
"I caused the house to be burned, your Highness, by order of the Dukeof Nemours," replied Gaspard.
"But the Duke tells me," rejoined the Prince, "that the order wasgiven at your suggestion. How was that, sir? speak!"
"My reason for proposing it, my lord," replied the officer, "was, thatI thought the regiment of Latour might miss its way without somesignal from us; and by that time the Englishman there had discoveredour march and lighted a beacon on the hill."
"For which your Highness owes him no great thanks," said Monsieur deVillardin, with a smile: "for the tidings we received from him enabledus to keep you in check the next day."
"He did his duty, and he did it well, my good friend," answered thePrince; "I would to God that my officers would do the same. As foryou, sir," he continued, addressing Gaspard de Belleville, "it isquite sufficiently evident that your motives were not the best inburning the ch?teau of Virmont, and still more evident, that yourconduct towards your prisoner afterwards was unworthy and ungenerous.In regard to the first, you have certainly taken care to shelteryourself under an order from the Duke of Nemours; but as you suggestedthat order, I shall dismiss you from every post about my person,though you keep your company. In regard to the treatment of yourprisoner, of which Monsieur de Villardin has explained to me thecause, I can, of course, only reprove you for conduct unbecoming aFrench gentleman. There is no military law which enables me to punishsuch behaviour, except, indeed, by reducing the ransom which may bedemanded for him, and which I fix at 400 crowns."
Of course Gaspard de Belleville dared not reply to the severe terms ofthe Prince; but I saw his eye glare from my face to that of Monsieurde Villardin, with an expression which would have boded neither of usany good had his means of injuring us been equal to his desire ofdoing so. Monsieur de Villardin declared that he would pay my ransomhimself, and immediately gave an order for the sum, which Cond?delivered into the hands of my adversary, and bade him retire.
"I am obliged," said the Prince, in a sort of apologetic tone, as soonas we were left without other witnesses--"I am obliged to suffer thesefellows to make as much of their trade as they can, or a great numberof them would leave me. In other respects, the system of takingransoms, which, thank God, is becoming less common, is by no means oneI like. But, however, I have suffered you to escape at a cheap rate,Monsieur de Juvigny," he added, turning towards me, "and as I find youare determined not to stay with me, I suppose I must even let you go."
As these words might be considered as a hint that our audience was atan end, Monsieur de Villardin rose, and we took our leave, the Princelaying his hand familiarly upon my arm as we were departing, andsaying, in a kind tone, "I shall not forget Vincennes."
Without suffering me to return to Paris, Monsieur de Villardin madeone of his servants give me up a horse, and we rode together at onceto St. Denis, where the Court was then assembled. I now found thatsome interest had been excited concerning my fate amongst persons whomI had scarcely imagined to be acquainted with my existence. ToMonsieur de Turenne, to the Queen, to the young King, and to theCardinal, I was presented once more by Monsieur de Villardin, on theoccasion of my liberation, and I found that--each had something to sayto me upon my late adventures. Turenne told me, in his simple manner,that he was very much obliged to me for thinking of the beacons, asthe speedy information communicated to him of the march of the Princede Cond? had most likely saved the royal army at Briare. The Queensaid that she remembered seeing me at Poitiers, and added, that a longimprisonment must be a more beneficial thing than was generallysupposed, as my appearance was very much improved.
The Cardinal said something, with a strong Italian accent; I saw thatit was intended to be witty and pointed, and though I did not verywell understand it, I smiled, which did quite as well. The young Kingthanked me gracefully for my services and attachment to his cause, andadded, "I trust that means will occur, ere long, of rewarding yourexertions and compensating your sufferings in our cause."
All this promised well for my future success in life; and though atthat time my ambition was cooped within very narrow limits, I must ownthat I felt a good deal of joy at the prospect of rising to somestation where I might distinguish myself in the profession of arms.
The pleasure, however, of being free, and of meeting applause where Imost desired it, was, indeed, a little alloyed by the necessity ofcommunicating to Monsieur de Villardin the confession--for such, infact, it was--of Suzette. I knew not what effect it might ultimatelyhave upon his mind, whether good or bad--whether the knowledge ofhaving injured an innocent and virtuous woman who had loved himdearly, and was passionately loved by him, might not send the sting ofremorse still deeper into his heart--especially if the fearfulsuspicions which I entertained were just; or, whether, on the otherhand, the discovery that he had been worked upon and deceived bydesigning people and an artful scheme, that he had been cheated intoall the acts he had committed, and almost driven mad himself by a plotwhich he could hardly have divined, might not take away some portionof the responsibility which now weighed so heavy upon him, and cast apart of the load of culpability upon other shoulders. At all events, Iknew that the very renewal of a subject which had never been mentionedfor several years, would reawaken a world of painful memories, some ofwhich I trusted now slept; and I shrunk from the task I hadundertaken, hoping from day to day that something would occur torender its execution less difficult. Monsieur de Villardin, however,seemed also to avoid the topic altogether; and although he knew that Ihad seen Suzette several times, and must in his own mind haveconnected her name with the memory of his unhappy wife, yet he nevermentioned the circumstance after our arrival at St. Denis, and seemedpurposely to turn from any reference to Gaspard de Belleville and hiswife. The matter was thus rendered more difficult to me; and, as Icould not but remark that the gloom which I have before noticed, hadtaken a deeper hold of Monsieur de Villardin than ever--as, the momentthat any active exertion was over, all energy seemed to abandon hismind, and as it pained me to think of increasing the deep and bittermelancholy in which he passed all his solitary hours, I still, as Ihave said, put off the task from day to day, till at length the armywas ordered to march, and I had scarcely time to attend to anythingelse than the military duties in which I was now employed.
On my return to the regiment, I found that the troop which I commandedbefore my imprisonment had been nearly annihilated by the cross fireinto which I had so rashly led them at Virmont. Not above twenty men,inde
ed, had escaped of those of whom it was originally composed.Monsieur de Villardin, however, had recruited it by the addition ofabout forty more; and, while we stayed at St. Denis, I did all that Icould to gain volunteers. Thus, when we marched for Compiegne, thetroop amounted to about eighty men; but, I must confess, that it wasaltogether in a much better state than when I had left it, for thenumber of marches, skirmishes, and man[oe]uvres, which it had sincetaken part in under the command of Turenne, had done far more torender the men expert, veteran, and well-disciplined, than all thedrilling we could give them before.
It was very necessary, indeed, that our troops should be of the bestquality, for, at this time, with less than ten thousand men, we had tomake head against the Spanish army and the Duke of Loraine on thefrontiers of Flanders, while the force of the Princes was in ourrear--not sufficiently powerful, indeed, to meet us in the open field,but quite sufficiently so to render any check that we might receivefrom the superior numbers of the Spaniards utterly fatal to the royalcause.
It is unnecessary to relate the events that immediately succeeded, forthere are few people in the present day who are not well acquaintedwith the skilful man[oe]uvres by which Turenne, without striking astroke, compelled the Spanish army to evacuate the French territory;and it would be only wearisome in this place to detail the means whichhe employed to arrive at such a fortunate result. This having beeneffected, however, we returned to Gonesse, in order to watch themovements of the Prince de Cond?, who remained in the neighbourhood ofParis for the purpose of keeping his party in the capital from theruin with which it was continually threatened by the dissensions ofthe leaders.
We were soon again in activity; for the Duke of Loraine, having oncemore entered France with a force of sixteen thousand men, marchedforward, on the side of Champagne, to effect his junction with thePrince dc Cond?. At the same time, that Prince decamped from under thewalls of Paris to meet him, while Turenne hastened to pass the Marneat Lagni, and advanced with extraordinary rapidity upon Brie ComteRobert, where we first encountered the troops of the Duke of Loraine.Finding that we were not strong enough to contest that post with him,we turned, and hastened towards Villeneuve St. George, but here againthe troops of Loraine were before us, the town in their possession,and the bridge, as well as the heights which command it, alreadyoccupied by two companies of infantry and four pieces of artillery.For the purpose of proceeding with greater speed, our own infantry andartillery had both been left to follow; and when he first discoveredthat this post also was in possession of the enemy, Turenne had onlywith him three regiments of cavalry. We had all halted, while theMar?chal rode forward to ascertain the facts with his own eyes, but,in a minute or two after, he cantered back to the head of Monsieur deVillardin's regiment, and spoke a few words to him in a kindly andsmiling manner; and, as I was not far off, I heard him say, in replyto something which the Duke had observed, "Oh, no, my friend, onetroop can dislodge them; and then, with our fresh forces, we can keeppossession of the ground till the artillery comes up."
What Monsieur de Villardin replied, I did not hear; but Turenneimmediately answered, "We will give him the opportunity, at allevents;" and I instantly received an order to draw out from the littlewood that covered us, and charge the company that occupied theheights. An injunction was added not to follow the enemy too far, butto satisfy myself with dislodging them from their present post.
I found no difficulty in executing these commands. The enemy reservedtheir fire till we were within about fifty yards, and then received uswith a general discharge. Half a dozen men and horses went over atonce; but we were by this time in the very heat of the charge, and notone man who was capable of going forward tightened his rein. Theenemy, who had expected to see us waver, took fright at our approach,and, after a very faint resistance, were driven down the hill withconsiderable slaughter. Their guns and ammunition were left behind;and when, after some difficulty, I could halt my men and bring themback to the heights, I found the ground already occupied by Monsieurde Turenne, and the cannon which we had taken turned against thebridge.
The Duke of Loraine, however, not being aware that our infantry andartillery had been left behind, imagined that Turenne occupied theheights in force, and, knowing the town to be untenable under suchcircumstances, instantly decamped, and took post upon the Seine, abouta league farther up. No more skirmishing therefore occurred; and,without being obliged to fire upon either the bridge or the town, weremained in tranquil possession of our position till the rest of theforces came up, and rendered it completely secure.
Monsieur de Turenne made no observation at the moment upon the mannerin which I had executed his commands, nor did I expect him to do so,for I knew that I had not performed my duty ill, but yet felt quiteconscious that I had done no more than my duty. Towards six o'clock inthe evening, however, I was called to his tent, and found him justconcluding a despatch, giving notice to the Court of the differentman[oe]uvres that had taken place. As soon as I entered, he looked up,with one of his calm, intelligent smiles, saying merely, "Youperformed so well what I commanded you this morning, that I am goingto send you away from me. You must carry this despatch to Pontoise, orto whatever other town his Majesty may now be in; and I doubt not thathe will appreciate the services of an officer, who does gallantly andskilfully that which he is commanded, without overstepping the linethat is prescribed to him." A number of superior officers were presentat the moment; and it may be well conceived that such words from sucha man made my cheek glow with unexpected pleasure.
Monsieur de Villardin, who was also in the tent, followed me out, andtold me that, while my horses were preparing, he would write a briefnote to his cousin, Monsieur le Tellier, one of the King's ministers,who might teach me how to turn to some account the favourable terms inwhich Monsieur de Turenne had mentioned me in his despatch. As speedis in all these cases a great object, and the first bearer of goodtidings is always likely to be better received than those who followafter, I neither spared myself nor my horses till I reached Pontoise,which I accomplished, without the slightest interruption, in thecourse of the following day.
Great was the joy which my arrival spread; for neither King, norQueen, nor ministers, had felt themselves at all easy under theprospect of a junction between the Prince de Cond? and the Duke ofLoraine in the immediate vicinity of Paris; and, as Turenne now gavethem the most positive assurance that he would be able to keep boththose generals in check, for at least a month, while the Courtnegotiated with the Parisians, and raised new troops, it may beconceived that his despatch proved a very agreeable relief to theminds of all. It luckily so happened, also, that one of the personsmost interested in the tidings which I brought was precisely in thesituation which best enabled him to make my journey as satisfactory tomyself as it had proved to him. Cardinal Mazarin, having by this timebeen forced once more to quit France, had left his whole interest inthe hands of his friend, Monsieur le Tellier; and that minister, whoknew that the first reverse on the part of the Court would induce theParliament to pronounce the Cardinal's banishment eternal, was perhapsmore overjoyed than any one at the tidings that I brought. I found himout immediately after my arrival, and communicated the intelligence tohim before he had received it from any other person. At the very firstintelligence, he took me in his arms, and hugged me, as if I had beenhis own son; and then, making me sit down to dinner with him, at whichmeal he had been engaged when I entered, he asked me a multitude ofquestions, seeking evidently a confirmation of the hopes whichMonsieur de Turenne had held out.
I anticipated no immediate reward, however; and as I was very anxiousto see the rest of the campaign, I determined to depart the next dayor the one following, if I could obtain leave to do so; and,therefore, on the morning after my arrival, I again visited theminister, in order to request that he would solicit for me the King'spermission to that effect. Without making me any reply, he took me bythe hand, and led me, followed by a secretary with his portfolio, tothe presence of the young monarch and his mother, who were l
isteningto some news from Paris, not quite so agreeable in their nature as mytidings had proved.
"This young gentleman, sire," said Monsieur le Tellier, "is alleagerness to return to the camp, in order to serve your Majesty in thefield, but I think you said that you had some commands for him ere hisdeparture?"
"You are right," replied the monarch; "are the letters drawn up?"
Le Tellier instantly took a parchment from the portfolio which wascarried by his secretary, and placed it in the hands of the youngKing, who ran his eye hastily over it. Louis then addressed me, in atone and manner so dignified and kinglike, that I could not butperceive that a great change had wrought itself in his mind since Iwas first presented to him at Saumur; though I little anticipated atthe time that the alteration which I marked would go on progressivelybut rapidly, till the careless and somewhat indolent boy became thegreatest monarch of his age.
"Monsieur de Juvigny," he said, "we are informed by the Mar?chal deTurenne, that, when we held our court at Gien, by the prompt andskilful measures which your own judgment suggested, for conveyingimmediate information to our generals of the advance of the Prince deCond?, you saved us all from very imminent danger. He also informs us,in his despatch received yesterday, that you have again highlydistinguished yourself in dislodging a superior body of the enemy fromthe heights above Villeneuve St. George, and he recommends youstrongly to our notice and favour. We ourselves have not forgottenthat you have once been severely wounded, and have suffered a long andcruel imprisonment for your attachment to our cause, and youropposition to the rebels now in arms against us. Monsieur le Tellier,also, upon the authority of Monsieur de Villardin, informs us that inyour native country your father and mother were both of gentle blood;but, at all events, it is the prerogative of royalty to ennoble, andtherefore it is, that we have caused these letters to be drawn up, notonly for the purpose of expressing our thanks to you for the servicesyou have performed, but also as a proof to all others that no one everwill serve us without meeting due honour and recompence."
He then gave me the parchment that he had received from Le Tellier;and, though I knew not what it contained, I bent my knee and kissedhis Majesty's hand, with every token of gratitude. I then withdrew, incompany with the minister, who, as soon as we were in anotherapartment, bade me open the letters and read the contents. I did soimmediately, and found that the parchment contained letters patent,conferring on me the rank and title of Baron de Juvigny; and addingwhat seemed to me the more solid recompence, of a pension of threethousand crowns per annum, chargeable upon the receipts of the duchyof Brittany, "till such time--," so the letters ran, "till such timeas his Majesty thought fit to assign me an estate of equal value."
Monsieur le Tellier laid his left hand upon my shoulder as I read,and, pointing with his right to the words concerning the pension, herepeated, "Three thousand crowns!--that is, when you can get them, myyoung friend;" and laughing gaily, he added, "which will not be tillthe country is quiet, and these rebels put down. So go, and do yourbest against them; and God send that we may soon be delivered fromtheir company altogether!"
"Amen!" replied I; and I doubt not that Monsieur le Tellier devoutlybelieved that it was the prospect of my three thousand crowns whichgave such fervency to my aspirations; but it was perhaps that I washeartily tired of civil wars, having seen little else ever since I wasborn; and I certainly did long to be in one good stricken field,between nations of different tongues and dwelling-places, if it werebut for a change. I said nothing, however, to undeceive the minister;but taking my leave, with many thanks for honours and rewards, which Ifelt very sure had been obtained for me fully as much by interest asby merit, I withdrew with the letters patent of a barony in my pocket,but very little else besides.
The Little Ball O' Fire; or, the Life and Adventures of John Marston Hall Page 28