La Dame de Monsoreau (20 page)

" It would have been ridiculous to refuse him an interview ; so, in spite of my repugnance, I yielded.

" The next day he presented himself. I had come to see the absurdity of my position ; hunting is a pleasure which even women often share. I saw I must defend myself on account of an emotion that must have seemed nonsensical, and I made the affection I felt for Daphne my excuse.

" It was then the count's turn to affect compunction. He swore upon his honor, a score of times, that if he had had the slightest notion of the interest I took in his victim, he would have spared her with the greatest pleasure. But his protestations did not convince me, and he left without effacing from my heart the painful impression he had stamped upon it.

" Before retiring, the count asked my father's permission to return. He had been born in Spain and educated at Madrid, and it gave my father the greatest pleasure to talk with him of a country in which he had lived so long. Besides, as M. de Monsoreau was of gentle birth, deputy-governor of our province, and a favorite, it was said, of the Due d'Anjou, there was no reason why he should not receive his request.

" Alas ! from that moment my tranquillity, if not my happiness, was at an end. I soon perceived the impression I had made on the count. At first he came but once a week, then

twice, then every day. My father, to whom he showed the utmost respect, liked him. I saw with what pleasure the baron listened to his conversation, which was always that of a singularly able man. I did not venture to complain; and of what could I have complained ? The count, while paying me all the courteous attentions of a lover, was as respectful as if I had been his sister.

" One morning my father entered my chamber, looking graver than usual, but there was an air of satisfaction blended with his gravity.

" ' My child,' said he, i you have always assured me that you would never like to leave me!'

" ' Ah ! father, are you not aware that it is my fondest desire to be with you forever ? '

"' Well, my own Diane,' he continued, stooping to kiss me, 1 it depends entirely 011 yourself whether that desire shall be realized or not.'

" I suspected what he was about to say, and I turned so frightfully pale that he paused before touching my forehead with his lips.

" ' Diane, my child ! Good heavens ! what is the matter ?'

" l It is M. de Monsoreau, is it not ?' I stammered.

" ' And supposing it is ?' he asked, in amazement.

" < Oh, never, father ! if you have any pity for your daughter, never!'

" ' Diane, my darling, it is not pity I have for you, it is idolatry, as you well know; take a week to reflect and, if in a week' —

" ' Oh, no, no,' I cried, i it is needless, — not a week, not twenty-four hours, not a minute. No, no; oh, no !'

" And I burst into tears.

" My father worshipped me; he had never seen me weep before ; he took me in his arms, and, with a few words, set me at my ease; he pledged his word of honor he would never again speak of this marriage.

" And now a month slipped by, during which I neither saw nor heard anything of M. de Monsoreau. One morning my father and I received an invitation to a great festival the count was to give in honor of the King's brother, who was about to visit the province from which he took his title. The festival was to be held in the town hall of Angers.

" With this letter came a personal invitation from the prince,

who wrote that he remembered having seen my father formerly at the court of King Henri, and would be pleased to meet him again.

" My first impulse was to entreat my father to decline, and I should certainly have persisted in my opposition if we had been invited by M. de Monsoreau alone; but my father feared a refusal of the prince's invitation might be viewed by his Highness as a mark of disrespect.

" We went to the festival, then. M. de Monsoreau received us as if nothing had passed between us; his conduct in my regard was neither indifferent nor affected; he treated me just as he did the other ladies, and it gave me pleasure to find I was neither the object of his friendliness nor of his enmity.

" But this was not the case with the Due d'Anjou. As soon as he saw me his eyes were riveted on me and never left me the rest of the evening. I felt ill at ease under his gaze, and, without letting my father know my reason for wishing to retire from the ball, I urged him so strongly that we were the first to withdraw.

" Three days later, M. de Monsoreau came to Meridor. I saw him at a distance coming up the avenue to the castle, and retired to my chamber.

" I was afraid my father might summon me ; but he did nothing of the kind, and, after half an hour, M. de Monsoreau left. No one had informed me of his visit, and my father never spoke of it; but I noticed that he was gloomier than usual after the departure of the deputy-governor.

" Some days passed. One morning, after returning from a walk in the grounds, I was told M. de Monsoreau was with my father. The baron had inquired for me two or three times, and on each occasion seemed to be specially anxious as to the direction I had taken. He gave orders that my return should be at once announced to him.

"And, in fact, I was hardly in my room when my father entered.

" ' My child,' said he, ' a motive which it is unnecessary you should be acquainted with compels me to send you away for a few days. Ask no questions ; you must be sure that my motive must be very urgent, since it forces me to remain a week, a fortnight, perhaps even a month, without seeing you.'

" I shuddered, although unconscious of the danger to which

I was exposed. But these two visits of M. de Monsoreau foreboded nothing good.

" ' But where am I to go, father ? ' I asked.

" < To the Castle of Lude, to my sister, who will conceal you from every eye. It is necessary that the journey be made at night.'

" ( Do you go with me ? '

" i No, I must stay here to divert suspicion; even the servants must not know where you are going.'

" ( But who are to be my escort ? '

" < Two men upon whom I can rely.'

" ' Oh, heavens ! But father ' -

" The baron kissed me.

" ' My child,' said he, ' it cannot be helped.'

" I was so assured of my father's love that I made no further objection and asked for 110 explanation.

" It was agreed between us that Gertrude, my nurse's daughter, should accompany me.

" My father retired, after bidding me get ready.

" We were in the long days of winter, and it was a very cold and dreary evening; at eight o'clock my father came for me. I was ready, as he had directed; we went downstairs noiselessly and crossed the garden ; he opened a little door that led into the forest; there we found a litter waiting and two men. My father talked to them at length, apparently enjoining them to take great care of me. After this, I took my place in the litter, and Gertrude sat down beside me. The baron kissed me for the last time, and we started.

" I was ignorant of the nature of the peril that threatened me and forced me to .leave the Castle of Meridor. I questioned Gertrude, but she was quite as much in the dark as I was. I did not dare to ask information of my conductors, whom I did not know. We went along quietly by roundabout and devious paths, when, after travelling nearly two hours, at the very moment I was falling asleep, in spite of my anxiety, lulled by the smooth, monotonous motion of the litter, I was awakened by Gertrude, who seized me by the arm, as well as by the sudden stopping of the litter itself.

"' Oh, mademoiselle !' cried the poor girl ; < what is happening ?'

" I passed my head through the curtains ; we were sur-

rounded by six masked men on horseback; our own men, who had tried to defend us, were prisoners.

" I was too frightened to call for help ; besides, who would have answered my appeal ? The man who appeared to be the leader of the band advanced to the litter.

" < Do not be alarmed, mademoiselle,' said he ; < no harm is intended you, but you must follow us.'

« ' Where ? ' I asked.

" ' To a place where, so far from having any cause for fear, you wilj .be treated as a queenfl'

" This promise frightened me more than if he had threatened me.

" * My father ! oh, my father !' I murmured.

" < Hear me, mademoiselle,' whispered Gertrude. < I am acquainted with this neighborhood ; you know I am devoted to you. I am strong; some misfortune will befall us if we do not escape.'

" The encouragement my poor maid was trying to give me was far from reassuring me. Still, it is comforting to know you have a friend when in trouble, and I felt a little relieved.

" ' Do as you like, gentlemen,' I answered, l we are only two poor women and cannot resist.'

" One of the men dismounted, took the place of our conductor, and changed the direction of the litter."

It may be easily understood with what profound attention Bussy listened to the narrative of Diane. The first emotions that inspire the dawning of a great love take the shape of an almost religious reverence for the beloved object. The woman the .heart has chosen is raised by this very choice above others of her sex ; she expands, becomes ethereal, divine; every one of her gestures is a favor she grants you, every one of her words a grace she bestows on you; does she look at you, you are delighted; does she smile on you, you are in ecstasy.

The young man had, therefore, allowed the fair speaker to unfold the story of her life, without daring to arrest it, without thought of interrupting it; not a single detail of that life, over which he felt he should be called upon to watch, but had a potent interest for him, and he listened to Diane's words, dumb, breathless, as if his very existence depended on catching every syllable.

So, when the young woman paused for a moment, doubtless

weakened by the twofold emotion she also experienced, an emotion in which all the memories of the past were blended with the present, Bussy had not strength to curb his anxiety, and, clasping his hands, he said :

" Oh, madame ! continue."

It was impossible for Diane to doubt of the interest she inspired ; everything in the young man's voice, gesture, and in the expression of his face, was in harmony with the entreaty his words contained. Diane smiled sadly, and resumed :

" We travelled nearly three hours ; then the litter halted; I heard a door opening; some words were exchanged; the litter went on again, and, from the echoes that struck my ear, I concluded we were crossing a drawbridge. I was not mistaken ; glancing through the curtains, I saw we were in the courtyard of a castle.

" What castle was it ? Neither Gertrude nor I could tell. We had often tried during the journey to find in what direction we were going, but all we were able to perceive was an endless forest. Both of us believed that the paths selected by our abductors were purposely circuitous, and designed to deprive us of any knowledge of where we were.

" The door of our litter was opened and we were invited to alight by the same man that had spoken before.

" I obeyed in silence. Two men, doubtless belonging to the castle, came with torches to receive us. In accordance with the alarming promise given to us before, we were treated with the greatest respect. We followed the men with the torches, and were conducted into a richly furnished bed-chamber, which had seemingly been furnished during the most elegant and brilliant period of the reign of Francois I.

" A collation awaited us on a table sumptuously laid out.

" ' You are at home, madame/ said the man who had already addressed me twice, 'and as, of course, you require the services of a maid, yours will not leave; her room is next to your own.'

" Gertrude and I exchanged a look of relief.

" ' Every time you want anything/ continued the masked man, ' all you have to do is to strike the knocker of this door, and the man who is always on duty in the ante-chamber will be at your orders.'

" This apparent attention indicated that we would be kept in sight.

" The masked man bowed and passed out, and we heard him double lock the door behind him.

" And now we were alone, Gertrude and I.

" For a moment we did not stir, but gazed into each other's eyes by the glare of the two candelabra which lit up the supper table. Gertrude wished to speak; I made her a sign to be silent ; some one, perhaps, was listening.

" The door of the room appointed for Gertrude was open ; the same idea of visiting it occurred to both of us. She seized one of the candelabra, and we entered on tiptoe.

" It was a large closet, evidently designed to serve as a dressing-room to the bed-chamber. It had another door, parallel to the one by which we had entered. This door was ornamented likewise with a little chiselled knocker of copper, which fell on a plate of the same metal, the whole so exquisitely wrought that it might have been the work of Benvenuto Cellini.

" It was evident both doors opened into the same antechamber.

" Gertrude brought the light close to the lock. The door was double-locked.

" We were prisoners.

" When two persons, though of different rank, are in the same situation and are partakers of the same perils, it is marvellous how quickly their ideas chime in together and how easily they pass beyond conventional phrases and useless words.

" Gertrude approached me.

" < Mademoiselle,' she said in a low voice, «did you notice that, after we left the yard, we mounted only five steps ? '

" < Yes,' I answered.

" { Then we are on the ground floor ?'

" < Certainly.'

" < So that,' she added, speaking still lower, and fastening her eyes on the outside shutters, ' so that ' -