La Dame de Monsoreau (115 page)

" Oh, this time you shall not escape me, monsieur ; your crimes are about to be brought to an end. You are not going to have another chance of succeeding to my throne, my brother "

" Sire, sire, for mercy's sake, be moderate; some one must certainly have embittered you against me."

"Wretch!" cried Henri, beside himself with rage, "you shall die of hunger in a dungeon in the Bastile."

" I bow to^ your orders, sire, and bless them, though they should doom me to death."

" But do you refuse to tell me where you were, hypocrite ? "

" Sire, I was engaged in the task of defending your Majesty, and was working for the glory and tranquillity of your reign."

" Indeed!" exclaimed the King, almost paralyzed with amazement; " upon my honor, such audacity astounds me ! "

" Hum! " said Chicot, throwing himself back in his chair, "tell us all about it, prince; the story ought to be curious."

" Sire, I would have told your Majesty the whole affair already, had you treated me as a brother; now that you treat me as a criminal, I will wait until the result of my actions speak for me."

Then with a salutation to the King, more profound and reverential than the one before, he turned to Crillon and the other officers present:

" Now, gentlemen," said he, " which of you is to conduct the first prince of the blood of France to the Bastile ? "

Chicot had been reflecting: a sudden thought flashed through his mind.

^ Aha ! " he murmured, " I think I understand now why M. D'Epernon had so much blood on his feet and so little in his cheeks,"

CHAPTER XCV.

THE MORNING OF THE COMBAT.

A BEAUTIFUL day rose over Paris. The ordinary citizen never suspected that it would be a day marked by any unusual incident; but the gentlemen of the King's party and the gentlemen of the Due de Guise's party — the latter still in a dazed condition — were perfectly aware of what was going to happen and were already prudently preparing to offer timely congratulations to the side that would be victorious.

The King, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, did not sleep during the night: he wept and prayed; and as, with all his faults, he was a brave man, versed in war, and with a special knowledge of everything connected with duelling, he rose at three in the morning and started with Chicot to render his friends the only service he could render them now.

He went to visit the ground where the combat was to take place.

This expedition of the King was very noticeable, and, let us say so without being accused of jesting, —very little noticed.

Clad in a costume of sombre hue, enveloped in a large cloak, his sword by his side, and his hat slouched down over his hair and eyes, he followed the Rue Saint-Antoine until he came within a hundred yards of the Bastile; but when at that point, he remarked that there was a great crowd of people above the Rue Saint-Paul ; he did not care to venture among this crowd; so he turned into the Rue Sainte-Catherine and reached the paddock at Les Tournelles by a back way.

What the crowd were doing may be guessed; they were counting the dead of the night before.

Henri, by keeping at a distance from this excited multitude, missed an opportunity of learning what had occurred.

Chicot, who had been present at the quarrel, or rather at the agreement, made between the minions and Ange vines a week before, pointed out to the King, upon the field of battle itself, the places to be occupied by the combatants and explained to him the conditions of the combat.

Henri was so busy measuring the spaces, looking between the trees, and calculating the position of the sun, that he hardly attended to him.

" Quelus," said he, " will be badly exposed ; he will have the sun on his right, just in his only eye; l while Maugiron will be entirely in the shade. Quelus ought to have taken Maugiron's place, and Maugiron, who has excellent eyes, that of Quelus. Matters have been very badly managed so far. As for Schomberg, who is somewhat weak in the legs, he has a tree which he can lean against in case of need. I am not alarmed, then, about him; but Quelus, my poor Quelus ! "

And he shook his head sadly.

" You really make me feel uncomfortable, my King," said Chicot. " Come, now, do not give way to despair in this fashion; what the devil ! whatever is to be will be."

The King raised his eyes to heaven and sighed.

" Thou hearest, O Lord, how he blasphemes," he murmured, " but happily thou knowest he is a fool."

Chicot at this drew himself up.

"And D'Epernon," continued the Kiflg; " ah! how unjust I am ! I never thought of him ; and he will be Bussy's opponent, too ; look how he will be exposed, my dear Chicot! look at the lie of the ground: on his left, a^ barrier; on his right, a tree, and a ditch behind him; and D'Epernon will have to give way every moment, for Bussy is a lion, a tiger, a serpent; he is a living sword that leaps forward, springs back, expands, contracts."

" Bah !" said Chicot, " I have no anxiety about D'Epernon."

" You are wrong, he will get killed."

" He! not such a booby ; he '11 take good care of himself, you may rest assured."

" What do you mean by that ? "

" I mean that he won't fight, mordieu ! "

" Nonsense ! did n't you hear what he said an hour ago ? "

'< Plainly."

« Well ? "

" Well, it's because I heard what he said that I say he won't fight." t

" What a cynical sceptic you are ! "

" I know my Gascon, Henri; but if you take my advice, sire, we '11 get away from here and return to the Louvre ; you see it is broad daylight."

" You don't imagine I am going to stay in the Louvre during the combat ? "

Quelus had lost his left eye in a duel.

" Venire de bicke ! but you must. Why, if you were to be seen here, every one would say, in case your friends were victorious, that they owed their victory to certain magical practices of yours, and, if they were conquered, they were so because you brought them bad luck."

" And what care I for such gossip and calumny j I will show my love for them even to the end."

" I 'm not going to quarrel with you having a strong mind, Henri ; I think even I ought to compliment you on your affection for your friends, it i£ a virtue that is very seldom found among princes ; but I do not wish you to leave M. d'Anjou by himself in the Louvre."

" Is not Crillon there ? "

" Crillon ? Oh, Crillon is simply a buffalo, a rhinoceros, a wild boar, everything that is valorous and indomitable ; while your brother is a viper, a rattlesnake, is any animal you like whose power lies less in its strength than in its venom."

" You are right ; I should have thrown him into the Bastile."

" I told you you did wrong to see him."

" I know it, but his assurance, his coolness, and the service he claims to have rendered me got the better of me."

" The more reason why you should have distrusted him. But take my word for it, Henri, we ought to return."

Henri followed Chicot's advice and started with him on the way to the Louvre, after giving one last look at the field of combat.

Everybody was up in the Louvre when the King and Chicot entered.

The four young men were the first to awaken and were now being dressed by their valets.

The King inquired what they were doing.

He was told Schomberg was practising with his rapier, Quelus was bathing his eye, Maugiron was drinking a glass of Spanish wine, and D'Epernon was sharpening his sword on a stone. •

He could be seen at this task, having ordered a sandstone to be brought to the door of the common room for the purpose.

" And you say that man is not a Bayard ?" said Henri, gazing at him fondly.

" Yes, I say that he is a knife-grinder, and that 's the end of it," retorted Chicot.

D'Epernon looked up and cried : " The King !"

Then, in spite of the resolution he had taken, and which, in any case, he would have hardly had the strength to keep, Henri entered the chamber.

We have already stated that he had, when he liked, a most majestic mien, as well as great self-control.

His serene and almost smiling countenance did not betray the feelings of his heart.

" Good day, gentlemen," said he ; "I hope I find you in good spirits."

" Thank God! yes, sire," answered Quelus.

" Still, I fancy you look rather gloomy, Maugiron."

" Sire, I am very superstitious, as your Majesty is aware ; I had bad dreams last night; so I am drinking a little wine to restore my cheerfulness."

" My dear friend," said the King, " you ought to remember

— and I have the authority of Miron, who is a great doctor,

for what I say — you ought to remember, I repeat, that dreams

are the impressions of the previous day and have no influence on

the actions of the morrow, except, of course, by the will of God."

" Consequently, sire, you find me preparing for the combat," said D'Epernon; " I, too, had bad dreams last night; but, in spite of dreams, my arm is strong and my eye clear."

And he fenced against the wall, in which he made a cut with the sword he had just whetted.

"Yes," said Chicot, "you dreamed you had blood on your boots. That dream is not bad ; it signifies that you will one day be a great conqueror, after the manner of Alexander and Caesar."

" My brave friends," said Henri, " you know that the honor of your prince is at stake, since, in a certain sense, it is his cause that you defend; but his honor only — do not be mistaken on that point — therefore, give yourselves no concern about the safety of my person. The events of the past ni^lit have so strengthened my throne that, for some time at least, no shock, however violent, can harm it. Fight, then, for the sake of honor alone."

" Sire, you need not be uneasy," answered.Quelus, " we may, perhaps, lose our lives, but our honor will remain intact."

" Gentlemen," continued the King, " I love you tenderly, and I esteem you also. Let me, then, give you one advice : no false bravery ; it is not by dying that you can serve me, but by killing your enemies."

" Oh, as far as I am concerned/ 7 said D'Epernon, " I do not intend to give quarter."

"I," said Quelus, " will promise nothing; I will do what I can."

" And I," said Maugiron, " will promise your Majesty that, if I am to die, I shall first kill my adversary."

" Do you fight with the sword alone ? "

" With sword and dagger," answered Schomberg.

The King pressed his hand on his heart.

The hand and heart that then met may have told each other of their fears by their shuddering pulsations ; but, externally, Henri's bearing was high, his eye tearless, and his lips haughty ; he was, indeed, every inch a king, and looked as if he were sending his soldiers to battle, not his friends to death.

" In good sooth, my King,' 7 said Chicot, " at this moment you seem truly royal."

The gentlemen were ready; it only remained for them to bid farewell to their master.

" Do you ride to the ground ? " inquired Henri.

" No, sire," answered Quelus, " we walk ; it is a healthful exercise, it clears the head, and your Majesty has often said that it is the head rather than the arm which directs the sword."

" You are 5 right, my son. Your hand."

Quelus inclined and kissed the King's hand; the others did the same.

D'Epernon knelt, saying:

" Sire, bless my sword."

" No, D'Epernon," said the King ; " hand your sword to your page. I have better swords for you than your own ; bring the swords here, Chicot."

" No." said the Gascon, " give this commission to the captain of your guards, my son; I am but a fool, you know, and a pagan also; and the celestial benedictions might change into fatal incantations, if my good friend the devil chanced to look at my hands and saw what they were carrying."

" What swords are these, sire ?" inquired Schomberg, glancing at the box which an officer had brought in.

" Italian swords, my son; swords forged at Milan, basket-hilted, as you see; and as, with the exception of Schomberg, you all have delicate hands, you could be easily disarmed if your hands were not well protected."

"Thanks, thanks, your Majesty," said the four young men in unison.

" Go, it is time/' said the King, who could no longer control his emotion.

" Sire," asked Quelus, " shall we not have your Majesty's presence to encourage us ? "

" No, that would not be seemly ; you will be supposed to fight without my sanction and even without my knowledge. Nor must we attach any peculiar or solemn significance to the combat; it must be thought to be the result of a private quarrel."

And he dismissed them with a gesture that was truly majestic.

When they had vanished from his presence, and their valets had crossed the threshold of the Louvre, and the noise of the spurs and cuirasses worn by their squires was no longer heard, Henri flung himself on a dais, saying :

" This will kill me."

" Well," said Chicot, " I am determined to see this duel; I don't know why, but I have a notion that something queer will happen with respect to D'Epernon."

" And you, too, are leaving me, Chicot ? " said the King, dismally.

" Yes," answered Chicot; " for if any of them fail in his duty, I wish to be there, so as to take his place and sustain the honor of my King."

" Go, then," said Henri.

As soon as the Gascon received permission to depart, he was off like a shot.

The King returned to his chamber, ordered all the shutters to be closed, and forbade any person in the Louvre to utter a cry or a word. To Crillon, who knew everything that was about to happen, he said :

"If we are the victors, Crillon, you will tell me so; if, on the contrary, we are vanquished, you will knock thrice at my door."