Stories By English Authors: France

V >> Various >> Stories By English Authors: France


I could not continue, for the courtiers, on hearing this from my mouth,
and on discovering that the stranger's odd appearance was but a prelude
to the real diversion, could not restrain their mirth. The king,
concealing his own amusement, turned to them with an angry air, and
bade them be silent; and the Gascon, encouraged by this, and by the bold
manner in which I had stated his grievance, scowled at them gloriously.

"He alleges, sire," I continued, with the same gravity, "that the Baron
de Rosny, after promising him the government of Fecamp, bestowed it on
another, being bribed to do so, and has besides been guilty of many
base acts which make him unworthy of your Majesty's confidence. That, I
think, is your complaint, M. de Boisrose?" I concluded, turning to the
soldier, whom my deep seriousness so misled that he took up the story,
and, pouring out his wrongs, did not fail to threaten to trounce me, or
to add that I was a villain!

He might have said more, but at this the courtiers, perceiving that the
king broke into a smile, lost all control over themselves, and, giving
vent suddenly to loud peals of laughter, clasped one another by the
shoulders, and reeled to and fro in an ecstasy of enjoyment. This led
the king to give way also, and he laughed heartily, clapping me again
and again on the back; so that, in fine, there were only two serious
persons present--the poor Boisrose, who took all for lunatics, and
myself, who began to think that perhaps the jest had been carried far
enough.

My master presently saw this, and, collecting himself, turned to the
amazed Gascon.

"Your complaint is one," he said, "which should not be lightly made. Do
you know the Baron de Rosny?"

Boisrose, by this time vastly mystified, said he did not.

"Then," said the king, "I will give you an opportunity of becoming
acquainted with him. I shall refer your complaint to him, and he will
decide upon it. More," he continued, raising his hand for silence
as Boisrose, starting forward, would have appealed to him, "I will
introduce you to him now. This is the Baron de Rosny."

The old soldier glared at me for a moment with starting eyeballs, and a
dreadful despair seemed to settle on his face. He threw himself on his
knees before the king.

"Then, sire," said he, in a heartrending voice, "am I ruined! My six
children must starve, and my young wife die by the roadside!"

"That," answered the king, gravely, "must be for the Baron de Rosny to
decide. I leave you to your audience."

He made a sign to the others, and, followed by them, walked slowly
along the terrace; the while Boisrose, who had risen to his feet, stood
looking after him like one demented, shaking, and muttering that it was
a cruel jest, and that he had bled for the king, and the king made sport
of him.

Presently I touched him on the arm.

"Come, have you nothing to say to me, M. de Boisrose?" I asked, quietly.
"You are a brave soldier, and have done France service; why then need
you fear? The Baron de Rosny is one man, the king's minister is another.
It is the latter who speaks to you now. The office of lieutenant-general
of the ordnance in Normandy is empty. It is worth twelve thousand livres
by the year. I appoint you to it."

He answered that I mocked him, and that he was going mad, so that it was
long before I could persuade him that I was in earnest. When I at last
succeeded, his gratitude knew no bounds, and he thanked me again and
again with the tears running down his face.

"What I have done for you," I said, modestly, "is the reward of your
bravery. I ask only that you will not another time think that they who
rule kingdoms are as those gay popinjays yonder."

In a transport of delight he reiterated his offers of service, and,
feeling sure that I had now gained him completely, I asked him on a
sudden where he had seen Louis d'Entragues before. In two words the
truth came out. He had observed him on the previous day in conference at
the forest inn with the three bullies whom I had remarked there. I
was not surprised at this; D'Entragues's near kinship to the Count of
Auvergne, and the mingled feelings with which I knew that the family
regarded Henry, preparing me to expect treachery in that quarter.
Moreover, the nature of the ambush was proof that its author resided
in the neighbourhood and was intimately acquainted with the forest. I
should have carried this information at once to my master, but I learned
that he had already started, and thus baffled, and believing that his
affection for Mademoiselle d'Entragues, if not for her sister, would
lead him to act with undue leniency, I conceived and arranged a plan of
my own.

About noon, therefore, I set out as if for a ride, attended by La Trape
only, but at some distance from the palace we were joined by Boisrose,
whom I had bidden to be at that point well armed and mounted. Thus
reinforced, for the Gascon was still strong, and in courage a Grillon,
I proceeded to Malesherbes by a circuitous route which brought me within
sight of the gates about the middle of the afternoon. I then halted
under cover of the trees, and waited until I saw the king, attended by
several ladies and gentlemen, and followed by eight troopers, issue from
the chateau. His Majesty was walking, his horse being led behind him;
and seeing this I rode out and approached the party as if I had that
moment arrived to meet the king.

It would not ill become me on this occasion to make some reflections on
the hollowness of court life, which has seldom been better exemplified
than in the scene before me. The sun was low, but its warm beams,
falling aslant on the gaily dressed group at the gates and on the
flowered terraces and gray walls behind them, seemed to present a
picture at once peaceful and joyous. Yet I knew that treachery and death
were lurking in the midst, and it was only by an effort that, as I rode
up, I could make answer to the thousand obliging things with which I was
greeted, and of which not the least polite were said by M. d'Entragues
and his son. I took pains to observe Mademoiselle Susette, a beautiful
girl not out of her teens, but noways comparable, as it seemed to me, in
expression and vivacity, with her famous sister. She was walking
beside the king, her hands full of flowers, and her face flushed with
excitement and timidity, and I came quickly to the conclusion that she
knew nothing of what was intended by her family, who, having made the
one sister the means of gratifying their avarice, were now baiting the
trap of their revenge with the other.

Henry parted from her at length, and mounted his horse amid a ripple of
laughter and compliments, D'Entragues holding the stirrup and his son
the cloak. I observed that the latter, as I had expected, was prepared
to accompany us, which rendered my plan more feasible. Our road lay for
a league in the direction of the Rock of the Serpents, the track which
passed the latter presently diverging from it. For some distance we rode
along in easy talk, but, on approaching the point of separation, the
king looked at me with a whimsical air, as though he would lay on me
the burden of finding an excuse for avoiding the shorter way home. I
had foreseen this, and looked round to ascertain the position of our
company. I found that La Varenne and D'Entragues were close behind us,
while the troopers, with La Trape and Boisrose, were a hundred paces
farther to the rear, and Vitry and Coquet had dropped out of sight. This
being so, I suddenly reined in my horse so as to back it into that of
D'Entragues, and then wheeled round on the latter, taking care to be
between him and the king.

"M. Louis d'Entragues," I said, dropping the mask and addressing him
with all the scorn and detestation which I felt, and which he deserved,
"your plot is discovered! If you would save your life confess to his
Majesty here and now all you know, and throw yourself on his mercy!"

I confess that I had failed to take into account the pitch to which his
nerves would be strung at such a time, and had expected to produce
a greater effect than followed my words. His hand went indeed to his
breast, but it was hard to say which was the more discomposed, La
Varenne or he. And the manner in which, with scorn and defiance, he
flung back my accusation in my teeth, lacked neither vigour nor
the semblance of innocence. While Henry was puzzled, La Varenne was
appalled. I saw that I had gone too far, or not far enough, and at once
calling into my face and form all the sternness in my power, I bade the
traitor remain where he was, then turning to his Majesty I craved leave
to speak to him apart.

He hesitated, looking from me to D'Entragues with an air of displeasure
which embraced us both, but in the end, without permitting M. Louis to
speak, he complied, and, going aside with me, bade me, with coldness,
speak out.

As soon, however, as I had repeated to him Boisrose's words, his face
underwent a change, for he, too, had remarked the discomfiture which the
latter's appearance had caused D'Entragues in the morning.

"Ha! the villain!" he said. "I do not now think you precipitate. Arrest
him at once, but do him no harm!"

"If he resist, sire?" I asked.

"He will not," the king answered. "And in no case harm him! You
understand me?"

I bowed, having my own thoughts on the subject, and the king, without
looking again at D'Entragues, rode quickly away. M. Louis tried to
follow, and cried loudly after him, but I thrust my horse in the way,
and bade him consider himself a prisoner; at the same time requesting La
Varenne, with Vitry and Coquet, who had come up and were looking on like
men thunderstruck, to take four of the guards and follow the king.

"Then, sir, what do you intend to do with me?" D'Entragues asked,
the air of fierceness with which he looked from me to the six men who
remained barely disguising his apprehensions.

"That depends, M. Louis," I replied, recurring to my usual tone of
politeness, "on your answers to three questions."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Ask them," he said, curtly.

"Do you deny that you have laid an ambush for the king on the road which
passes the Rock of the Serpents?"

"Absolutely."

"Or that you were yesterday at an inn near here in converse with three
men?"

"Absolutely."

"Do you deny that there is such an ambush laid?"

"Absolutely," he repeated, with scorn. "It is an old wives' story. I
would stake my life on it."

"Enough," I answered, slowly. "You have been your own judge. The evening
grows cold, and as you are my prisoner I must have a care of you.
Kindly put on this cloak and precede me, M. d'Entragues. We return to
Fontainebleau by the Rock of the Serpents."

His eyes meeting mine, it seemed to me that for a second he held his
breath and hesitated, while a cold shadow fell and dwelt upon his sallow
face. But the stern, gloomy countenances of La Trape and Boisrose,
who had ridden up to his rein, and were awaiting his answer with their
swords drawn, determined him. With a loud laugh he took the cloak. "It
is new, I hope?" he said, lightly, as he threw it over his shoulders.

It was not, and I apologised, adding, however, that no one but the
king had worn it. On this he settled it about him; and having heard me
strictly charge the two guards who followed with their arquebuses ready,
to fire on him should he try to escape, he turned his horse's head into
the path and rode slowly along it, while we followed a few paces behind
in double file.

The sun had set, and such light as remained fell cold and gray between
the trees. The crackling of a stick under a horse's hoof, or the ring
of a spur against a scabbard, were the only sounds which broke the
stillness of the wood as we proceeded. We had gone some little way when
M. Louis halted, and, turning in his saddle, called to me.

"M. de Rosny," he said,--the light had so far failed that I could
scarcely see his face,--"I have a meeting with the Viscount de Caylus
on Saturday about a little matter of a lady's glove. Should anything
prevent my appearance--"

"I will see that a proper explanation is given," I answered, bowing.

"Or if M. d'Entragues will permit me," eagerly exclaimed the Gascon,
who was riding by my side, "M. de Boisrose of St. Palais, gently born,
through before unknown to him, I will appear in his place and make the
Viscount de Caylus swallow the glove."

"You will?" said M. Louis, with politeness. "You are a gentleman. I am
obliged to you."

He waved his hand with a gesture which I afterward well remembered, and,
giving his horse the rein, went forward along the path at a brisk walk.
We followed, and I had just remarked that a plant of box was beginning
here and there to take the place of the usual undergrowth, when a sheet
of flame seemed to leap out through the dusk to meet him, and, his horse
rearing wildly, he fell headlong from the saddle without word or cry.
My men would have sprung forward before the noise of the report had died
away, and might possibly have overtaken one or more of the assassins;
but I restrained them. When La Trape dismounted and raised the fallen
man, the latter was dead.

Such were the circumstances, now for the first time made public, which
attended the discovery of this, the least known, yet one of the most
dangerous, of the many plots which were directed against the life of
my master. The course which I adopted may be blamed by some, but it
is enough for me that after the lapse of years it is approved by my
conscience and by the course of events. For it was ever the misfortune
of that great king to treat those with leniency whom no indulgence could
win; and I bear with me to this day the bitter assurance that, had the
fate which overtook Louis d'Entragues embraced the whole of that family,
the blow which ten years later cut short Henry's career would never have
been struck.