CHAPTER LIII.
CONVALESCENCE.
The queen walked straight up to where Charny lay, dressed, on a couch.He raised his head, wakened by her entrance.
"The queen!" cried he, trying to rise.
"Yes, sir, the queen," she replied, "who knows how you strive to loseboth reason and life; the queen, whom you offend both dreaming andwaking; the queen, who cares for your honor and your safety, andtherefore comes to you. Is it possible," continued she, "that agentleman, formerly renowned like you for his loyalty and honor, shouldbecome such an enemy as you have been to the reputation of a woman? Whatwill my enemies do, if you set them the example of treason?"
"Treason!" stammered Charny.
"Yes, sir. Either you are a madman, and must be forcibly prevented fromdoing harm; or you are a traitor, and must be punished."
"Oh, madame, do not call me a traitor! From the mouth of a king, such anaccusation would precede death; from the mouth of a woman, it isdishonor. Queen, kill me, or spare me!"
"Are you in your right mind, M. de Charny?" said the queen, in a movedvoice.
"Yes, madame."
"Do you remember your wrongs towards me, and towards the king?"
"Mon Dieu!" he murmured.
"For you too easily forget, you gentlemen, that the king is the husbandof the woman whom you insult, by raising your eyes to her--that he isthe father of your future master, the dauphin; you forget, also, thathe is a greater and better man than any of you--a man whom I esteem andlove."
"Oh!" murmured Charny, with a groan, and seemed ready to faint.
This cry pierced the queen's heart; she thought he was about to die, andwas going to call for assistance; but, after an instant's reflection,she went on: "Let us converse quietly, and be a man. Doctor Louis hasvainly tried to cure you; your wound, which was nothing, has beenrendered dangerous through your own extravagances. When will you ceaseto present to the good doctor the spectacle of a scandalous folly whichdisquiets him? When will you leave the castle?"
"Madame," replied Charny, "your majesty sends me away; I go, I go!" Andhe rose with a violent effort, as though he would have fled thatinstant, but, unable to stand, fell almost into the arms of the queen,who had risen to stop him.
She replaced him on the sofa; a bloody foam rose to his lips. "Ah, somuch the better!" cried he; "I die, killed by you!" The queen forgoteverything but his danger; she supported his drooping head on hershoulders, and pressed her cold hands to his forehead and heart. Hertouch seemed to revive him as if by magic--he lived again; then shewished to fly, but he caught hold of her dress, saying:
"Madame, in the name of the respect which I feel for you----"
"Adieu, adieu!" cried the queen.
"Oh, madame, pardon me!"
"I do pardon you."
"Madame, one last look."
"M. de Charny," said the queen, trembling, "if you are not the basest ofmen, to-morrow you will be dead, or have left this castle."
He threw himself at her feet; she opened the door, and rushed away.
Andree saw for an instant the young man on his knees before her, andfelt struck with both hate and despair. She thought, as she saw thequeen return, that God had given too much to this woman in adding to herthrone and her beauty this half-hour with M. de Charny.
The doctor, occupied only with the success of the negotiation, said,"Well, madame, what will he do?"
"He will leave," replied the queen; and, passing them quickly, shereturned to her apartment.
The doctor went to his patient, and Andree to her room.
Doctor Louis found Charny a changed man, declaring himself perfectlystrong, asking the doctor how he should be moved, and when he should bequite well, with so much energy that the doctor feared it was too much,and that he must relapse after it. He was, however, so reasonable as tofeel the necessity of explaining this sudden change. "The queen has doneme more good by making me ashamed of myself," he said, "than you, deardoctor, with all your science. She has vanquished me by an appeal to myamour propre."
"So much the better," said the doctor.
"Yes. I remember that a Spaniard--they are all boasters--told me oneday, to prove the force of his will, that it sufficed for him in a duelwhich he had fought, and in which he had been wounded, to will that theblood should not flow in the presence of his adversary in order toretain it. I laughed at him. However, I now feel something like itmyself; I think that if my fever and delirium wished to return, I couldchase them away, saying, Fever and delirium, I forbid you to appear!"
"We know such things are possible," replied the doctor. "Allow me tocongratulate you, for you are cured morally."
"Oh yes."
"Well, the physical cure will soon follow. Once sound in mind, you willbe sound in body within a week."
"Thanks, doctor."
"And, to begin, you must leave this place."
"I am ready immediately."
"Oh, we will not be rash; we will wait till this evening. Where will yougo?"
"Anywhere--to the end of the world if you like."
"That is too far for a first journey; we will content ourselves withVersailles. I have a house there where you shall go to-night."
Accordingly, that evening the four valets, who had been so rudelyrepulsed before, carried him to his carriage. The king had been huntingall day; Charny felt somewhat uneasy at leaving without apprizing him;but the doctor promised to make his excuses.
Andree, concealed behind her curtains, saw the carriage drive off.
"If he resumes his desire to die," thought the doctor, "at least it willnot be in my rooms, and under my care."
Charny arrived safely, however, and the next day the doctor found him sowell, that he told him he thought he would require him no longer.
He received a visit from his uncle, and from an officer sent by the kingto inquire after him. At the end of a week he could ride slowly onhorseback: then the doctor advised him to go for a time to his estatesin Picardy to regain strength. He accordingly took leave of the king,charged M. de Suffren with his adieus to the queen, who was ill thatevening, and set off for his chateau at Boursonnes.
Le collier de la reine. English Page 55