A Gentleman of France

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M. de Rosny tells me that you desire a commission at Court, sir,'
the king said quickly.

'I, sire?' I stammered, scarcely able to believe my ears. I was
so completely taken aback that I could say no more, and I stopped
there with my mouth open.

'There are few things I can deny M. de Rosny,' Henry continued,
speaking very rapidly, 'and I am told that you are a gentleman of
birth and ability. Out of kindness to him, therefore, I grant
you a commission to raise twenty men for my service.
Rambouillet,' he continued, raising his voice slightly, 'you will
introduce this gentleman to me publicly to-morrow, that; I may
carry into effect my intention on his behalf. You may go now,
sir. No thanks. And M. de Rosny,' he added, turning to my
companion and speaking with energy, 'have a care for my sake that
you are not recognised as you go. Rambouillet must contrive
something to enable you to leave without peril. I should be
desolated if anything happened to you, my friend, for I could not
protect you. I give you my word if Mendoza or Retz found you in
Blois I could not save you from them unless you recanted.'

'I will not trouble either your Majesty or my conscience,' M. de
Rosny replied, bowing low, 'if my wits can help me.'

'Well, the saints keep you,' the king answered piously, going
towards the door by which he had entered; 'for your master and I
have both need of you. Rambouillet, take care of him as you love
me. And come early in the morning to my closet and tell me how
it has fared with him.'

We all stood bowing while he withdrew, and only turned to retire
when the door closed behind him. Burning with indignation and
chagrin as I was at finding myself disposed of in the way I have
described, and pitchforked, whether I would or no, into a service
I neither fancied nor desired, I still managed for the present to
restrain myself; and, permitting my companions to precede me,
followed in silence, listening sullenly to their jubilations.
The marquis seemed scarcely less pleased than M. de Rosny; and as
the latter evinced a strong desire to lessen any jealousy the
former might feel, and a generous inclination to attribute to him
a full share of the credit gained, I remained the only person
dissatisfied with the evening's events. We retired from the
chateau with the same precautions which had marked our entrance,
and parting with M. de Rambouillet at the door of our lodging--
not without many protestations of esteem on his part and of
gratitude on that of M. de Rosny--mounted to the first-floor in
single file and in silence, which I was determined not to be the
first to break.

Doubtless M. de Rosny knew my thoughts, for, speedily dismissing
Maignan and Simon, who were in waiting, he turned to me without
preface. 'Come, my friend,' he said, laying his hand on my
shoulder and looking me in the face in a way which all but
disarmed me at once, 'do not let us misunderstand one another.
You think you have cause to be angry with me. I cannot suffer
that, for the King of Navarre had never greater need of your
services than now.'

'You have played me an unworthy trick, sir,'I answered, thinking
he would cozen me with fair speeches.

'Tut, tut!' he replied. 'You do not understand.'

'I understand well enough,' I answered, with bitterness, 'that,
having done the King of Navarre's work, he would now be rid of
me.'

'Have I not told you,' M. de Rosny replied, betraying for the
first time some irritation, 'that he has greater need of your
services than ever? Come, man, be reasonable, or, better still,
listen to me.' And turning from me, he began to walk up and down
the room, his hands behind him. "the King of France--I want to
make it as clear to you as possible--' he said, 'cannot make head
against the League without help, and, willy-nilly, must look for
it to the Huguenots whom he has so long persecuted. The King of
Navarre, their acknowledged leader, has offered that help; and
so, to spite my master, and prevent a combination so happy for
France, has M. de Turenne, who would fain raise the faction he
commands to eminence, and knows well how to make his profit out
of the dissensions of his country. Are you clear so far, sir?'

I assented. I was becoming absorbed in spite of myself.

'Very well,' he resumed. 'This evening--never did anything fall
out more happily than Rambouillet's meeting with me--he is a good
man!--I have brought the king to this: that if proof of the
selfish nature of Turenne's designs be laid before him he will
hesitate no longer. That proof exists. A fortnight ago it was
here; but it is not here now.'

'That is unlucky!' I exclaimed. I was so much interested in his
story, as well as flattered by the confidence he was placing in
me, that my ill-humour vanished. I went and stood with my
shoulder against the mantelpiece, and he, passing to and fro
between me and the light, continued his tale.

'A word about this proof,' he said. 'It came into the King of
Navarre's hands before its full value was known to us, for that
only accrued to it on M. de Guise's death. A month ago it--this
piece of evidence I mean--was at Chize. A fortnight or so ago it
was here in Blois. It is now, 'M. de Marsac,' he continued,
facing me suddenly as he came opposite me, 'in my house at
Rosny.'

I started. 'You mean Mademoiselle de la Vire?' I cried.

'I mean Mademoiselle de la Vire!' he answered, 'who, some month
or two ago, overheard M. de Turenne's plans, and contrived to
communicate with the King of Navarre. Before the latter could
arrange a private interview, however, M. de Turenne got wind of
her dangerous knowledge, and swept her off to Chize. The rest
you know, M. de Marsac, if any man knows it.'

'But what will you do?' I asked. 'She is at Rosny.'

'Maignan, whom I trust implicitly, as far as his lights go, will
start to fetch her to-morrow. At the same hour I start
southwards. You, M. de Marsac, will remain here as my agent, to
watch over my interests, to receive Mademoiselle on her arrival,
to secure for her a secret interview with the king, to guard her
while she remains here. Do you understand?'

Did I understand? I could not find words in which to thank him.
My remorse and gratitude, my sense of the wrong I had done him,
and of the honour he was doing me, were such that I stood mute
before him as I had stood before the king. 'You accept, then?'
he said, smiling. 'You do not deem the adventure beneath you, my
friend?'

'I deserve your confidence so little, sir,' I answered, stricken
to the ground, 'that I beg you to speak, while I listen. By
attending exactly to your instructions I may prove worthy of the
trust reposed in me. And only so.'

He embraced me again and again, with a, kindness which moved me
almost to tears. 'You are a man after my own heart,' he said,
'and if God wills I will make your fortune. Now listen, my
friend. To-morrow at Court, as a stranger and a man introduced
by Rambouillet, you will be the cynosure of all eyes. Bear
yourself bravely. Pay court to the women, but attach yourself to
no one in particular. Keep aloof from Retz and the Spanish
faction, but beware especially of Bruhl. He alone will have your
secret, and may suspect your design. Mademoiselle should be here
in a week; while she is with you, and until she has seen the
king, trust no one, suspect everyone, fear all things. Consider
the battle won only when the king says, "I am satisfied."'

Much more he told me, which served its purpose and has been
forgotten. Finally he honoured me by bidding me share his pallet
with him, that we might talk without restraint, and that if
anything occurred to him in the night he might communicate it to
me.

'But will not Bruhl denounce me as a Huguenot?' I asked him.

'He will not dare to do so,' M. de Rosny answered, 'both as a
Huguenot himself, and as his master's representative; and,
further, because it would displease the king. No, but whatever
secret harm one man can do another, that you have to fear.
Maignan, when he returns with mademoiselle, will leave two men
with you; until they come I should borrow a couple of stout
fellows from Rambouillet. Do not go out alone after dark, and
beware of doorways, especially your own.'

A little later, when I thought him asleep, I heard him chuckle;
and rising on my elbow I asked him what it was. 'Oh, it is your
affair,' he answered, still laughing silently, so that I felt the
mattress shake under him. 'I don't envy you one part of your
task, my friend.'

'What is that?' I said suspiciously.

'Mademoiselle,' he answered, stifling with difficulty a burst of
laughter. And after that he would not say another word, bad,
good, or indifferent, though I felt the bed shake more than once,
and knew that he was digesting his pleasantry.

CHAPTER XVI.

IN THE KING'S CHAMBER.

M. de Rosny had risen from my side and started on his journey
when I opened my eyes in the morning, and awoke to the memory of
the task which had been so strangely imposed upon me; and which
might, according as the events of the next fortnight shaped
themselves, raise me to high position or put an end to my career.
He had not forgotten to leave a souvenir behind him, for I found
beside my pillow a handsome silver-mounted pistol, bearing the
letter 'R.' and a coronet; nor had I more than discovered this
instance of his kindness before Simon Fleix came in to tell me
that M. de Rosny had left two hundred crowns in his hands for me.

'Any message with it?' I asked the lad.

'Only that; he had taken a keepsake in exchange,' Simon answered,
opening the window as he spoke.

In some wonder I began to search, but I could not discover that
anything was missing until I came to put on my doublet, when I
found that the knot of ribbon which mademoiselle had flung to me
at my departure from Rosny was gone from the inside of the
breast, where I had pinned it for safety with a long thorn. The
discovery that M. de Rosny had taken this was displeasing to me
on more than one account. In the first place, whether
mademoiselle had merely wished to plague me (as was most
probable) or not, I was loth to lose it, my day for ladies'
favours being past and gone; in the second, I misdoubted the
motive which had led him to purloin it, and tormented myself with
thinking of the different constructions he might put upon it, and
the disparaging view of my trust worthiness which it might lead
him to take. I blamed myself much for my carelessness in leaving
it where a chance eye might rest upon it; and more when,
questioning Simon further, I learned that M. de Rosny had added,
while mounting at the door, 'Tell your master, safe bind, safe
find; and a careless lover makes a loose mistress.'

I felt my cheek burn in a manner unbecoming my years while Simon
with some touch of malice repeated this; and I made a vow on the
spot, which I kept until I was tempted to break it, to have no
more to do with such trifles. Meanwhile, I had to make the best
of it; and brisking up, and bidding Simon, who seemed depressed
by the baron's departure, brisk up also, I set about my
preparations for making such a figure at Court as became me:
procuring a black velvet suit, and a cap and feather to match;
item, a jewelled clasp to secure the feather; with a yard or two
of lace and two changes of fine linen.

Simon had grown sleek at Rosny, and losing something of the
wildness which had marked him, presented in the dress M. de Rosny
had given him a very creditable appearance; being also, I fancy,
the only equerry in Blois who could write. A groom I engaged on
the recommendation of M. de Rambouillet's master of the horse;
and I gave out also that I required a couple of valets. It
needed only an hour under the barber's hands and a set of new
trappings for the Cid to enable me to make a fair show, such as
might be taken to indicate a man of ten or twelve thousand livres
a year.

In this way I expended a hundred and fifteen crowns. reflecting
that this was a large sum, and that I must keep some money for
play, I was glad to learn that in the crowded state of the city
even men with high rank were putting up with poor lodging; I
determined, therefore, to combine economy with a scheme which I
had in my head by taking the rooms in which my mother died, with
one room below them. This I did, hiring such furniture as I
needed, which was not a great deal. To Simon Fleix, whose
assistance in these matters was invaluable, I passed on much of
M. de Rosny's advice, bidding him ruffle it with the best in his
station, and inciting him to labour for my advancement by
promising to make his fortune whenever my own should be assured.
I hoped, indeed, to derive no little advantage from the quickness
of wit; which had attracted M. de Rosny's attention; although I
did not fail to take into account at the same time that the lad
was wayward and fitful, prone at one time to depression, and at
another to giddiness, and equally uncertain in either mood.

M. de Rambouillet being unable to attend the LEVEE, had appointed
me to wait upon him at six in the evening; at which hour I
presented myself at his lodgings, attended by Simon Fleix. I
found him in the midst of half a dozen gentlemen whose habit it
was to attend him upon all public occasions; and these gallants,
greeting me with the same curious and suspicious glances which I
have seen hounds bestow on a strange dog introduced into their
kennel, I was speedily made to feel that it is one thing to have
business at Court, and another to be well received there.

M. de Rambouillet, somewhat to my surprise, did nothing to remove
this impression. On all ordinary occasions a man of stiff and
haughty bearing, and thoroughly disliking, though he could not
prevent, the intrusion of a third party into a transaction which
promised an infinity of credit, he received me so coldly and with
so much reserve as for the moment to dash my spirits and throw me
back on myself.

During the journey to the castle, however, which we performed on
foot, attended by half a dozen armed servants bearing torches, I
had time to recall M. de Rosny's advice, and to bethink me of the
intimacy which that great man had permitted me; with so much
effect in the way of heartening me, that as we crossed the
courtyard of the castle I advanced myself, not without some
murmuring on the part of others, to Rambouillet's elbow,
considering that as I was attached to him by the king's command,
this was my proper place. I had no desire to quarrel, however,
and persisted for some time in disregarding the nudges and
muttered words which were exchanged round me, and even the
efforts which were made as we mounted the stairs to oust me from
my position. But a young gentleman, who showed himself very
forward in these attempts, presently stumbling against me, I
found it necessary to look at him.

'Sir,' he said, in a small and lisping voice, 'you trod on my
toe.'

Though I had not done so, I begged his pardon very politely. But
as his only acknowledgment of this courtesy consisted in an
attempt to get his knee in front of mine--we were mounting very
slowly, the stairs being cumbered with a multitude of servants,
who stood on either hand--I did tread on his toe, with a force
and directness which made him cry out.

'What is the matter?' Rambouillet asked, looking back hastily.

'Nothing, M. le Marquis,' I answered, pressing on steadfastly.

'Sir,' my young friend said again, in the same lisping voice,
'you trod on my toe.'

'I believe I did, sir,' I answered.

'You have not yet apologised,' he murmured gently in my ear.

'Nay, there you are wrong,' I rejoined bluntly, 'for it is always
my habit to apologise first and tread afterwards.'

He smiled as at a pleasant joke; and I am bound to say that his
bearing was so admirable that if he had been my son I could have
hugged him. 'Good!' he answered. 'No doubt your sword is as
sharp as your wits, sir. I see,' he continued, glancing naively
at my old scabbard--he was himself the very gem of a courtier, a
slender youth with a pink-and-white complexion, a dark line for a
moustache, and a pearl-drop in his ear--'it is longing to be out.
Perhaps you will take a turn in the tennis-court to-morrow?'

'With pleasure, sir,' I answered, 'if you have a father, or your
elder brother is grown up.'

What answer he would have made to this gibe I do not know, for at
that moment we reached the door of the ante-chamber; and this
being narrow, and a sentry in the grey uniform of the Swiss Guard
compelling all to enter in single file, my young friend was
forced to fall back, leaving me free to enter alone, and admire
at my leisure a scene at once brilliant and sombre.

The Court being in mourning for the Queen-mother, black
predominated in the dresses of those present, and set off very
finely the gleaming jewels and gemmed sword-hilts which were worn
by the more important personages. The room was spacious and
lofty, hung with arras, and lit by candles burning in silver
sconces; it rang as we entered with the shrill screaming of a
parrot, which was being teased by a group occupying the farther
of the two hearths. Near them play was going on at one table,
and primero at a second. In a corner were three or four ladies,
in a circle about a red-faced, plebeian-looking man, who was
playing at forfeits with one of their number; while the middle of
the room seemed dominated by a middle-sized man with a peculiarly
inflamed and passionate countenance, who, seated on a table, was
inveighing against someone or something in the most violent
terms, his language being interlarded with all kinds of strange
and forcible oaths. Two or three gentlemen, who had the air of
being his followers, stood about him, listening between
submission and embarrassment; while beside the nearer fireplace,
but at some distance from him, lounged a nobleman, very richly
dressed, and wearing on his breast the Cross of the Holy Ghost;
who seemed to be the object of his invective, but affecting to
ignore it was engaged in conversation with a companion. A
bystander muttering that Crillon had been drinking, I discovered
with immense surprise that the declaimer on the table was that
famous soldier; and I was still looking at him in wonder--for I
had been accustomed all my life to associate courage with
modesty--when, the door of the chamber suddenly opening, a
general movement in that direction took place. Crillon,
disregarding all precedency, sprang from his table and hurried
first to the threshold. The Baron de Biron, on the other hand--
for the gentleman by the fire was no other--waited, in apparent
ignorance of the slight which was being put upon him, until M. de
Rambouillet came up; then he went forward with him. Keeping
close to my patron's elbow, I entered the chamber immediately
behind him.

Crillon had already seized upon the king, and, when we entered,
was stating his grievance is a voice not much lower than that
which he had used outside. M. de Biron, seeing this, parted from
the marquis, and, going aside with his former companion, sat
down on a trunk against the wall; while Rambouillet, followed by
myself and three or four gentlemen of his train, advanced to the
king, who was standing near the alcove. His Majesty seeing him,
and thankful, I think, for the excuse, waved Crillon off. 'Tut,
tut! You told me all that this morning,' he said good-naturedly.
'And here is Rambouillet, who has, I hope, something fresh to
tell. Let him speak to me. Sanctus! Don't look at me as if you
would run me through, man. Go and quarrel with someone of your
own size.'

Crillon at this retired grumbling, and Henry, who had just risen
from primero with the Duke of Nevers, nodded to Rambouillet.
'Well, my friend, anything fresh?' he cried. He was more at his
ease and looked more cheerful than at our former interview; yet
still care and suspicion lurked about his peevish mouth, and in
the hollows under his gloomy eyes. 'A new guest, a new face, or
a new game--which have you brought?'

'In a sense, sire, a new face,' the marquis answered, bowing, and
standing somewhat aside that I might have place.

'Well, I cannot say much for the pretty baggage,' quoth the king
quickly. And amid a general titter he extended his hand to me.
'I'll be sworn, though,' he continued, as I rose from my knee,
'that you want something, my friend?'

'Nay, sire,' I answered, holding up my head boldly--for Crillon's
behaviour had been a further lesson to me--'I have, by your
leave, the advantage. For your Majesty has supplied me with a
new jest. I see many new faces round me, and I have need only of
a new game. If your Majesty would be pleased to grant me--'

'There! Said I not so?' cried the king, raising his hand with a
laugh. 'He does want something. But he seems not undeserving.
What does he pray, Rambouillet?'

'A small command,' M. de Rambouillet answered, readily playing
his part. 'And your Majesty would oblige me if you could grant
the Sieur de Marsac's petition. I will answer for it he is a man
of experience.'

'Chut! A small command?' Henry ejaculated, sitting down
suddenly in apparent ill-humour. 'It is what everyone wants--
when they do not want big ones. Still, I suppose,' he continued,
taking up a comfit-box, which lay beside him, and opening it, 'if
you do not get what you want for him you will sulk like the rest,
my friend.'

'Your Majesty has never had cause to complain of me,' quoth the
Marquis, forgetting his role, or too proud to play it.

'Tut, tut, tut, tut! Take it, and trouble me no more,' the king
rejoined. 'Will pay for twenty men do for him? Very well then.
There, M. de Marsac,' he continued, nodding at me and yawning,
'your request is granted. You will find some other pretty
baggages over there. Go to them. And now, Rambouillet,' he went
on, resuming his spirits as he turned to matters of more
importance, 'here is a new sweetmeat Zamet has sent me. I have
made Zizi sick with it. Will you try it? It is flavoured with
white mulberries.'

Thus dismissed, I fell back; and stood for a moment, at a loss
whither to turn, in the absence of either friends or
acquaintances. His Majesty, it is true, had bidden me go to
certain pretty baggages, meaning, apparently, five ladies who
were seated at the farther end of the room, diverting themselves
with as many cavaliers; but the compactness of this party, the
beauty of the ladies, and the merry peals of laughter which
proceeded from them, telling of a wit and vivacity beyond the
ordinary, sapped the resolution which had borne me well hitherto.
I felt that to attack such a phalanx, even with a king's good
will, was beyond the daring of a Crillon, and I looked round to
see whether I could not amuse myself in some more modest fashion.

The material was not lacking. Crillon, still mouthing out his
anger, strode up and down in front of the trunk on which M. de
Biron was seated; but the latter was, or affected to be, asleep.
'Crillon is for ever going into rages now,' a courtier beside me
whispered.

'Yes,' his fellow answered, with a shrug of the shoulder; 'it is
a pity there is no one to tame him. But he has such a long
reach, morbleu!'

'It is not that so much as the fellow's fury,' the first speaker
rejoined under his breath. 'He fights like a mad thing; fencing
is no use against him.'

The other nodded. For a moment the wild idea of winning renown
by taming M. de Crillon occurred to me as I stood alone in the
middle of the floor; but it had not more than passed through my
brain when I felt my elbow touched, and turned to find the young
gentleman whom I had encountered on the stairs standing by my
side.

'Sir,' he lisped, in the same small voice, 'I think you trod on
my toe a while ago?'

I stared at him, wondering what he meant by this absurd
repetition. 'Well, sir,' I answered drily, 'and if I did?'

'Perhaps,' he said, stroking his chin with his jewelled fingers,
'pending our meeting to-morrow, you would allow me to consider it
as a kind of introduction?'

'If it please you,' I answered, bowing stiffly, and wondering
what he would be at.

'Thank you,' he answered. 'It does please me, under the
circumstances; for there is a lady here who desires a word with
you. I took up her challenge. Will you follow me?'

He bowed, and turned in his languid fashion. I, turning too,
saw, with secret dismay, that the five ladies, referred to above,
were all now gazing at me, as expecting my approach; and this
with such sportive glances as told only too certainly of some
plot already in progress or some trick to be presently played me.
Yet I could not see that I had any choice save to obey, and,
following my leader with as much dignity as I could compass, I
presently found myself bowing before the lady who sat nearest,
and who seemed to be the leader of these nymphs.

'Nay, sir,' she said, eyeing me curiously, yet with a merry face,
'I do not need you; I do not look so high!'

Turning in confusion to the next, I was surprised to see before
me the lady whose lodging I had invaded in my search for
Mademoiselle de la Vire--she, I mean, who, having picked up the
velvet; knot, had dropped it so providentially where Simon Fleix
found it. She looked at me blushing and laughing, and the young
gentleman, who had done her errand, presenting me by name, she
asked me, while the others listened, whether I had found my
mistress.

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