UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES "HE SAW MARGUERITE LIFTING THE TAPESTRY" Dumas, Vol. Three THE WORKS OF ALEXANDRE DUMAS IN THIRTY VOLUMES ILLUSTRATED WITH DRAWINGS ON WOOD BY EMINENT FRENCH AND AMERICAN ARTISTS NEW YORK P. F. COLLIER AND SON MCMIV V ^ U '-J < - fa 559 PQ ^ B ADVERTISEMENT. THE following introductory remarks are extracted from a review of Dumas' Novels, etc., in BLACKWOOD'S MAGA- ZINE. " On the eighteenth day of August, 1572, a great festi- val was held in the palace of the Louvre. It was to cele- brate the nuptials of Henry of Navarre and Marguerite de Valois. " This alliance between the chief of the Protestant party in France, and the sister of Charles IX. and daughter of Catherine de Medicis, perplexed, and in some degree alarmed, the Catholics, whilst it filled the Huguenots with joy and exultation. The king had declared that he knew and made no difference between Eomanist and Calvinist that all were alike his subjects, and equally beloved by him. He caressed the throng of Huguenot nobles and gentlemen whom the marriage had attracted to the court, was affectionate to his new brother-in-law, friendly with the Prince of Conde, almost respectful to the venerable Admiral de Coligny, to whom he proposed to confide the command of an army in a projected war with Spain. The chiefs of the Catholic party were not behindhand in'fol- lowing the example set them by Charles. Catherine de Medicis was all smiles and affability ; the Duke of Anjou, afterwards Henry III., received graciously the compli- ments paid him by the Huguenots themselves on his suc- cesses at Jarnac and Moncontour, battles which he had won before he was eighteen years old ; Henry of Guise, whose reputation as a leader already, at the age of two-and iii DUMAS VOL. III. 1 iv ADVERTISEMENT. twenty, almost equalled that of his great father, was cour- teous and friendly to those whose deadly foe he had so lately been. The Duke of Mayenne and the Admiral, the Guise and the Conde, were seen riding, conversing, and making parties of pleasure together. It was the lion lying down with the lamb. " On the twenty-second of August, four days after the marriage, in which the Huguenots saw a guarantee of the peaceful exercise of their religion, the Admiral de Coligny was passing through the street of St.-Germain-1'Auxerrois, when he was shot at and wounded by a captain of Petar- diers, one Maurevel, who went by the name of Le Tueur du Roi, literally, the King's Killer. At midnight on the twenty-fourth of August, the tocsin sounded, and the massacre of St. Bartholomew began. " It is at this stirring period of French history, abound- ing in horrors and bloodshed, and in plots and intrigues, that M. Alexandre Dumas commences ' Marguerite de Vt\lois.' Beginning with the marriage of Henry and Mar- garet, he narrates, in his spirited and attractive style, various episodes, real and imaginary, of the great massacre, from the first fury of which Henry himself, doomed to death by the remorseless Catherine de Medicis, was only saved by his own caution, by the indecision of Charles IX., and the energy of Margaret of Valois. The marriage be- tween the King of France's sister and the King of Navarre was merely one of convenance, agreed to by Henry for the sake of his fellow Protestants, and used by Catherine and Charles as a lure to bring 'those of the .Religion,' as they were called, to Paris, there to be slaughtered, unsuspecting and defenseless. Margaret, then scarcely twenty years of age", had already made herself talked of by her intrigues ; Henry, who was a few months younger, but who, even at that early period of his life, possessed a large share of the shrewdness and prudence for which his countrymen, the Bearnese, have at all times been noted, was, at the very time of his marriage, deeply in love with the Baroness de Sauve, one of Catherine de Medicis' ladies, by whom he was in his turn beloved. But although little affection ADVERTISEMENT. v existed between the royal pair, the strong links of interest and ambition bound them together ; and no sooner were they married, than they entered into a treaty of political alliance, to which, for some time, both steadily and truly adhered. * * * * * " The author, according to his custom, introduces a vast array of characters, for the most part historical, all spiritedly drawn and well sustained. M. Dumas may, in various respects, be held up as an example to our history spoilers, self-styled writers of historical romance, on this side the Channel. One does not find him profaning public edifices by causing all sorts of absurdities to pass, and of twaddle to be spoken, within their precincts ; neither does he make his kings and beggars, high-born dames and pri- vate soldiers, use the very same language, all equally tame, colorless, and devoid of character. The spirited and varied dialogue in which his romances abound, illustrates and brings out the qualities and characteristics of his actors, and is not used for the sole purpose of making a chapter out of what would be better told in a page. In many instances, indeed, it would be difficult for him to tell his story, by the barest narrative, in fewer words than he does by pithy and pointed dialogue. " CONTENTS. 5HAPTER. PACE I. M. De Guise's Latin 1 II. Henry of Navarre and Marguerite 13 III. The Poet-King 25 IV. The Evening of the 24th of August, 1572 36 V. Of the Louvre in Particular, and of Virtue in General 44 VI. The Debt Paid 51 VII. The Night of the 24th of August, 1572 62 VIII. The Victims 76 IX. The Murderers 86 X. Death, Mass, or the Bastille 99 XL The Hawthorn of the Cemetery of the Innocents. . 112 XII. Mutual Confidence 122 XIII. How there are Keys that Open Doors they are not Meant for 129 XIV. Catherine and Marguerite. 139 XV. What Woman Wills, Heaven Wills also 149 XVI. The Body of a Dead Enemy Always Smells Sweet. 163 XVII. The Rival of Maitre Ambroise Pare 173 XVIII. The Visit 179 XIX. The Abode of Maitre Rene,- Perfumer to the Queen- Mother 183 XX. The Black Hens 194 XXI. Madame de Sauve's Chamber 201 XXII. " Sire, you will be King ! " 210 XXIII. A New Convert 215 XXIV. The Rue Tizon and the Rue Cloche-Percee 227 XXV. Cherry Mantle 237 XXVI. Marguerite 245 XXVII. The Hand of Providence 250 XXVIII. The Letter from Rome..,;.. 256 XXIX. The Departure 360 Tii viil CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAQB XXX. Maurevel 265 XXXI. The Boar-Hunt 269 XXXII. Fraternity 276 XXXIII. The Gratitude of King Charles the Ninth 283 XXXIV. Man Proposes, but God Disposes 288 XXXV. The Two Kings 297 XXXVI. Marie Touchet 303 XXXVII. The Return to the Louvre . . 307 XXXVIII. Interrogatories 316 XXXIX. Projects of Vengeance 323 XL. The Atrides 333 XLI. The Horoscope 343 XLIL Mutual Confidences 349 XLIII. The Ambassadors 358 XLJV. Orestes and Py lades 363 XLV. Orthon 370 XL VI. The Hostelry of " La Belle Etoile " 382 XLVH. De Mouy de Saint-Phale 389 XLVHI. Two Heads for One Crown 396 XLJX. The Book of Venerie 405 L. The Hawking Party 411 LI. The Pavilion of Francois the First 417 LJI. The Examinations 422 LJH. Actaeon 432 LTV. Vincennes 439 LV. The Figure of Wax 444 LVI. The Invisible Bucklers 452 LVII. The Trial 457 LVIH. The Torture of the Boot 466 LIX. The Chapel 472 LX. The Place Saint- Jean-en-Gr6ve 477 LXI. The Headman's Tower 482 LXII. The Sweat of Blood 490 LXIII. The Platform of the Donjon at Vinceunes 494 LXIV. The Regency 497 LXV. The King is Dead ! God Save the King ! 500 LXVI. Epilogue . 504 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. CHAPTEE I. M. DE GUISE'S LATIN. ON Monday, the 18th of August, 1572, there was a splendid fete at the Louvre. The windows of the ancient royal residence were bril- liantly illuminated, and the squares and streets adjacent, usually so solitary after the clock of Saint Germain-!' Aux- errois had tolled nine, were now crowded with people, although it was past midnight. All this assemblage, threatening, pressing, and tur- bulent, resembled, in the gloom, a dark and rolling sea, each swell of which increases to a foaming wave ; this sea extending all along the quay, spent its waves at the base of the walls of the Louvre, on the one hand, and against the Hotel de Bourbon, which was opposite, on the other. There was in spite of the royal f 6te, and perhaps even be- cause of the royal fte, something threatening in the as- pect of the people. The court was celebrating the marriage of Madame Marguerite de Valois, daughter of Henry II. and sister of King Charles IX., with Henry de Bourbon, King of Navarre ; and that same morning the Cardinal de Bour- bon had united the young couple with the usual ceremonial observed at the marriages of the royal daughters of France, on a stage erected at the entrance to Ndtre Dame. 1 2 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. This marriage had astonished everybody, and occasioned much surmise to certain persons who saw clearer than others. They could not comprehend the union of two par- ties who hated each other so thoroughly as did, at this moment, the Protestant party and the Catholic party ; and they wondered how the young Prince de Conde could for- give the Duke d'Anjou, the king's father, for the death of his father, assassinated by Montesquieu, at Jarnac. They asked how the young Duke de Guise could pardon Admiral de Coligny for the death of his father, assassinated at Orleans by Poltrot de Mere. Moreover, Jeanne de Navarre, the courageous spouse of the weak Antoine de Bourbon, who had conducted his son Henry to the royal espousals which awaited him, had died scarcely two months before, and singular reports had been spread abroad as to this sudden death. It was everywhere whispered, and in some places said aloud, that she had discovered some terrible secret ; and that Catherine de Medicis, fearing its dis- closure, had poisoned her gloves, which had been made by one Ben6, her fellow-countryman, and deeply skilled in such affairs. This report was the more spread and be- lieved, when, after the death of this great queen, at her soii^s request, two celebrated physicians, one of whom was the famous Ambroise Pare, were instructed to open and examine the body, but not the skull. As it was by the smell that Jeanne de Navarre had been poisoned, it was the brain alone that could present any traces of the crime, and that was the sole part excluded from dissection. "We say crime, for no one doubted for a moment that a crime had been committed. This was not all. The king, Charles, in particular had set his heart on this union, which not only re-established peace in his kingdom, but also attracted to Paris the prin- cipal Huguenots of France, and his anxiety almost ap- proached to obstinacy. As the two betrothed belonged one to the Catholic religion and the other to the Reformed religion, they were obliged to obtain a dispensation from Gregory XIII., who then filled the papal chair. The dispensation was slow in coming, and the delay causing MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 3 great uneasiness to the late Queen of Navarre, she had one day expressed to Charles IX. her fears lest the dis- pensation should not arrive ; to which the king replied : " Be under no alarm, my dear aunt. I honor you more than I do the Pope, and I love my sister more than I fear his holiness. I am not a Huguenot, bub neither am I a fool ; and if the Pope makes any difficulties, I will my- self take Margaret by the hand, and unite her to your sou in the sight of open day." This speech was soon spread through the Louvre and the city, and whilst it greatly rejoiced the Huguenots, had given the Catholics wherewithal to reflect upon ; and they asked one another, with a low voice, if the king really meant to betray them, or was only playing a part which some fine morning or evening might have an unexpected finale. It was particularly with regard to Admiral de Coligny, who for five or six years had been so bitterly opposed to the king, that the conduct of Charles IX. appeared inex- plicable ; after having put on his head a price of a hun- dred and fifty thousand golden crowns, the king now swore by him, called him his father, and declared openly that he should in future confide the conduct of the war to him alone. To such a pitch was this carried, that Catherine de Medicis herself, who until then had controlled the actions, will, and even desires of the young prince, seemed beginning to be really uneasy, and not without reason ; for, in a moment of confidence, Charles IX. had said to the admiral, in reference to the war in Flanders, " My father, there is one other thing against which we must be on our guard, and this is, that the queen, my mother, who likes to poke her nose everywhere, as you well know, shall learn nothing of this undertaking ; we must keep it so quiet that she does not hear a word of it or, meddler as she is, she will spoil all." Now, wise and experienced as he was, Coligny had not kept this counsel secret ; and, albeit he had come to Paris with great suspicions, and albeit at his departure from Chatillon a peasant had thrown herself at his feet, crying, 4 MARGUERITE DE V ALOIS. " Ah ! sir, our good master, do not go to Paris, for if you do yon will die you and all who are with you ! " these suspicions were lulled and almost destroyed in his breast, and in that of Teligny, his son-in-law, to whom the king was especially kind and attentive, calling him " brother/' as he called the admiral his " father," and behaving to him as he did to his best friends. The Huguenots, then, excepting some few morose and suspicious spirits, were completely re-assured. The death of the Queen of Navarre passed over, as having been caused by a pleurisy, and the spacious apartments of the Louvre were filled with those brave Protestants to whom the marriage of their young chief, Henry, promised an un- expected return of good fortune. Admiral Coligny, La Eochefoucault, the young Prince de Cond6, Teligny, in short, all the leaders of the party, were triumphant when they saw so powerful at the Louvre, and so welcome in Paris, those whom, three months before, King Charles and Queen Catherine would have hanged on gibbets higher than those of assassins. The king, the queen, the Duke d'Anjou, and the Duke d'Aleii9on did the honors of the royal f4te with all courtesy and kindness. The Duke d'Anjou received from the Huguenots them- selves well-merited compliments as to the two battles of Jarnac and Moncontour, which he had gained before he was eighteen years of age, more precocious in that than either Caesar or Alexander, to whom they compared him, of course placing the conquerors of Pharsalia and Issns as inferior to the living prince. The Duke d'Alen9on looked on, with his bland, false smile, whilst Queen Catherine, radiant with joy and diffuse in compliment, congratulated Prince Henry de Cond6 on his recent marriage with Marie de Cloves, and the Messieurs de Guise themselves looked gracious on the formidable enemies of their house, and the Duke de Mayenne discoursed with M. de Tavanne and the admiral on the impending war, which was now more than ever threatened against Philippe II. In the midst of these groups moved backwards and for- wards, his head a little ou one side, his ear open to all MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 5 that was said, a young man about nineteen years of age, with a keen eye, black hair cut very close, thick eyebrows, and a nose curved like an eagle's, with a sneering smile and a growing mustache and beard. This young man, who had first distinguished himself at the battle of Arnay- le Due, for which he had been very highly complimented, was the dearly beloved pupil of Coligny, and the hero of the day. Three months anterior, that is to say, when his mother was living, they called him the Prince of Beam, now he was called the King of Navarre, and in aftertime, Henry IV. From time to time a gloomy cloud passed suddenly and rapidly over his brow ; questionless, he recollected that " two months, two little months," had scarce elapsed since his mother's death, and he less than any one doubted that she had Been poisoned. But the cloud was transitory, and disappeared like a fleeting shadow, for they who spoke to him, they who congratulated him, they who elbowed him, were they who had assassinated the brave Jeanne d'Albret. Some paces distant from the King of Navarre, almost as pensive and gloomy as the king affected to be joyous and free from cares, was the young Duke de Guise, con- versing with Teligny. More fortunate than the Bearnais, at two-and- twenty he had almost attained the reputation of his father, Franqois the great Duke de Guise. He was an elegant gentleman, very tall, with a noble and haughty look, and gifted with that natural majesty, which caused it to be said that by his side other princes seemed to belong to the people. Young as he was the Catholics looked up to him as the chief of their party, as the Huguenots considered Henry of Navarre, whose portrait we have just drawn, to be their chief. He had heretofore borne the title of Prince de Joinville, and at the siege of Orleans fought his first fight under his father, who died in his arms, de- nouncing Admiral Coligny as his assassin. It was then the young duke, like Hannibal, took a solemn oath to avenge his father's death on the admiral and his family, and to pursue the foes to his religion without truce or re- spite, promising God to be his exterminating augel on earth, 6 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. until the very last heretic should be cat off. It was there- fore with the deepest astonishment that the people saw this prince, usually so faithful to his word, extend the hand of fellowship to those whom he had sworn to hold as his eternal enemies, and discourse familiarly with the son-in-law of the man whose death he had promised to his dying father. But as we have said, this was an evening of astonish- ments. All continued smilingly within, and a murmur more soft and flattering than ever pervaded the Louvre at the moment when the youthful bride, after having laid aside her toilette of ceremony, her long mantle and flowing veil, returned to the ball-room, accompanied by the lovely Duchess de Nevers, her most intimate friend, and led by her brother, Charles IX., who presented her to the prin- cipal guests. The bride was the daughter of Henry II., was the pearl of the crown of France, MARGUERITE DE VALOIS, whom, in his familiar tenderness for her, King Charles IX., always called ma sceur Margot, " my sister Madge." Never was a more flattering reception, never one more merited, than that which awaited the new Queen of Na- varre. Marguerite at this period was scarcely twenty, and already she was the object of all the poets' eulogies, some of whom compared her to Aurora, others to Cytherea; she was, in truth, a beauty without rival in that court in which Catherine de Medicis had assembled the loveliest women of the age and country. She had black hair and a brilliant complexion ; a volup- tuous eye, veiled by long lids, coral and delicate lips, a graceful neck, a full, enchanting figure, and concealed in a satin slipper a tiny foot, scarce larger than an infant's. The French, who possessed her. were proud to see so lovely a flower flourishing in their soil, and foreigners who passed through France returned home dazzled with her beauty, if they had but seen her, and amazed at her knowledge, if they had discoursed with her ; for not only was Margue- rite the loveliest, she was also the most erudite, woman of MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. f her time, and on all sides was quoted the remark of an Italian savant who had been presented to her, and who, after having conversed with her for an hour in Italian, Spanish, and Latin, had said, on quitting her presence : " To see the court without seeing Marguerite de Valois, is to see neither France nor the court." Thus it may be supposed, that addresses to King Charles IX. and the Queen of Navarre were not wanting. The Huguenots were great hands at addresses. Many strong hints to the past, and stronger hints as to the future, were adroitly slipped into these harangues ; but to all such allu- sions and speeches he replied, with his pale lips and arti- ficial smiles : " In giving my sister Margot to Henry of Navarre, I give my sister to all the Protestants of the kingdom." This phrase assured some and made others smile, for it had really a double sense : the one paternal, and with which Charles IX. would not load his mind ; the other, injurious to the bride, her husband, and also to him who said it, for it recalled some scandalous rumors with which the chroniclers of the court had already found means to smirch the nuptial robe of Marguerite de Valois. However, M. de Guise was conversing, as we have de- scribed, with Teligny ; but he did not pay to the conver- sation such sustained attention but that he turned away somewhat, from time to time, to cast a glance at the group of ladies, in the center of whom glittered the Queen of Navarre. When the princess's eye thus met that of the young duke, a cloud seemed to overspread that lovely brow, around which stars of diamonds formed a tremulous circlet, and some agitating thought might be divined in her restless and impatient manner. The Princess Claude, the eldest sister of Marguerite, who had been for some years married to the Duke of Lor- raine, had observed this uneasiness, and going up to her, was about to inquire the cause, when all stood aside at the approach of the queen-mother, who came forward, leaning on the arm of the young Prince de Cond6, and the prin- cess was thus suddenly shut out from her sister. There 8 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. was then a general movement, by which the Duke de Guise profited to approach Madame de Nevers, his sister- in-law, and Marguerite. Madame de Lorraine, who had not lost sight of her sister, then remarked, instead of the cloud which she had before observed on her forehead, a burning blush come into her cheeks. The duke approached still nearer, and when he was within two steps of Marguerite, she appeared rather to feel than see his presence, and turned round, making a violent effort over herself in order to give her features an appearance of calmness and indifference. The duke, then respectfully bowing, murmured, in a low tone, " Ipse attulL"" I have brought it." Marguerite returned the salute of the young duke, and as she stooped, replied, in the same tone, " Noctu pro more." " To-night, as usual/' These words, uttered softly, were so lost in the enormous collar which the princess wore, as to be heard only by the person to whom they were addressed ; but brief as had been the conference, it doubtless composed all the young couple had to say, for after this exchange of two words for three, they separated, Marguerite more thoughtful, and the duke with his brow less clouded than when they met. This little scene took place without the person most interested appearing to remark it, for, on his side, the King of Navarre had eyes but for one individual amongst those whom Marguerite de Valois had around her, and that was the lovely Madame de Sauve. Charlotte de Beaune Semblanqay, granddaughter of the unfortunate Semblan9ay, and wife of Simon de Fizes, Baron de Sauve, was one of the ladies in waiting to Catherine de Medicis, and one of the most redoubtable auxiliaries of this queen, who poured forth to her enemies philters of love when she dared not pour out Italian poison. Delicately fair, and by turns sparkling with vivacity or languishing in melancholy, always ready for love or in- trigue, the two great occupations which for fifty years employed the court of the three succeeding kings : a woman in every acceptation of the word, and in all the MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 9 charm of the idea, from the blue eye, languishing or beaming fire, to the small and perfectly formed feet, hid- den in their slippers of velvet, Madame de Sauve had already for some months seized on every faculty of the King of Navarre, then making his debut as lover as well as politician, so completely, that Marguerite de Valois a magnificent and royal beauty, had not even excited admi- ration in the heart of her spouse ; and what was more strange, and astonished all the world, even on the part of that soul so full of darkness and mystery, Catherine de Medicis, whilst she prosecuted her project of union between her daughter and the King of Navarre, had not ceased to favor almost openly his amour with Madame de Sauve. But despite this powerful aid, and despite the easy manners of the age, the lovely Charlotte had hitherto resisted ; and this resistance, unheard-of, incredible, un- precedented, even more than the beauty and wit of her who resisted, had excited in the heart of the Bearnais a passion which, unable to satisfy itself, had destroyed in the young king's heart all timidity, pride, and even that carelessness, half philosophy, half idleness, which formed the basis of his character. Madame de Sauve had been only a few minutes in the apartment ; from spite or grief, she had at first resolved on not being present at her rival's triumph, and under the pretext of an indisposition, had allowed her husband, who had been for five years secretary of state, to go alone to the Louvre ; but when Catherine de Medicis saw the baron without his wife, had learned the cause that kept away her dear Charlotte, and that the indisposition was but slight, she wrote a few words to her, which the lady instantly obeyed. Henry, sad as he had at first been at her absence, had yet breathed more freely when he saw M. de Sanve enter alone ; but at the moment when, not expecting her appearance, he was about to pay some court to the charming creature whom he was condemned, if not to love, at least to treat as his wife, he saw Madame de Sauve arise, as it were, from the further end of the gallery. He was nailed to the place, his eyes fastened on 10 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. the Circe, who enthralled him as if by magic chains, and instead of continuing his steps towards his wife, by a movement of hesitation which betrayed more astonish- ment than alarm, he advanced to meet Madame de Sauve. The courtiers, seeing the King of Navarre, whose in- flammable heart they knew, approach the beautiful Char- lotte, had not the courage to prevent their meeting, but drew aside complaisantly ; so that at the same moment when Marguerite de Valois and M. de Guise exchanged the few words in Latin which we have noted above, Henry, having approached Madame de Sauve, began, in a French very intelligible, although with somewhat of a Gascon accent, a conversation by no means so mysterious. Ah, ma mie I " he said, " you have, then, come at the very moment when they assured me that you were unwell, and I had lost all hope of seeing you ? " " Your majesty," replied Madame de Sauve, " would perhaps wish me to believe that it had cost you something to lose this hope ? " " Sang Diou ! I believe it ! " replied the Bearnais ; ' ' know you not that you are my sun by day, and my star by night ? By my faith, I was in deepest darkness till you appeared and illumined all." " Then, monseigneur, I serve you a very ill turn. " What mean you, ma mie9" inquired Henry. " I mean that he who is master of the handsomest woman in France should only have one desire that the light should disappear, and give way to darkness and to happi- ness." " You know, cruel one, that my happiness is in the hands of one woman only, and that she laughs at poor Henry." "Oh !" replied the baroness, "I believe, on the con- trary, that it was this person who was the sport and jest of the King of Navarre. " " By my faith, dearest, you reproach me very unjustly, and I do not comprehend how so lovely a month can be BO cruel. Do you suppose for a moment that it is I who marry myself ? No, ventre-saint-gris, it is not 1 1 " MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. H " It is I, perhaps," said the baroness, sharply. "With your lovely eyes have you not seen farther, baroness ? No, no ; it is not Henry of Navarre who weds Marguerite de Valois." "And what is it, then ?" " Why, sang Diou ! it is the Reformed religion which marries the Pope that's all." " No, no ; your majesty loves Madame Marguerite. And can I blame you ? Heaven forbid ! She is beautiful enough to be adored/' Henry reflected for a moment, and, as he reflected, a meaning smile curled the corner of his lips. " Baroness," said he, " you have no right to seek a quarrel with me. What have you done to prevent me from espousing Madame Marguerite ? Nothing, On the con- trary, you have always driven me to despair, and I wed her because you love me not." " If I had loved you, sire, I must have died in another hour." " In another hour ! What do yon mean ? And of what death would you have died ? " "Of jealousy ! for in another hour the Queen of Navarre will send away her women, and your majesty your gentlemen." " Is that really the thought that occupies your mind, ma mie 9 " " I have not said so. I only say, that if I loved you it would occupy my mind most tormentingly. " " But suppose," said Henry, " that the King of Navarre should not send away his gentlemen this evening ? " " Sire," replied Madame de Sauve, looking at the king with astonishment for once unfeigned, "you say things impossible and incredible." " What must I do, to make you believe them ?" " Give me a proof and that proof you cannot give me." " Yes, baroness, yes ! By Saint Henry, I will give it you ! " exclaimed the king, gazing amorously on her. "Oh, your majesty !" murmured the lovely Charlotte, with downcast eyes, " I do not comprehend/' 12 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. "There are four Henries in this room, my adorable !" replied the king. " Henry de France, Henry de Conde", Henry de Guise : but there is only one Henry of Navarre/' "Well?" " Well ; if this Henry of Navarre is with you all night " All night 1 " " Yes ; then you will be certain that he is not with any other." " Ah ! if you do that, sire," said Madame Sauve. " On the honor of a gentleman, I will do it ! " Madame de Sauve raised her beaming and love-promis- ing eyes to the king, whose heart beat with joy. " And then," said Henry, " what will you say ? " " I will say," replied Charlotte, " that your majesty really loves me." " Ventre-saint-gris ! then you shall say it. Have you not about you some waiting- woman whom you can trust ?" " Yes, Dariole is devoted to me." " Sang-Diou ! then say to her, that I will make her fortune when I am King of France, as the astrologers prophesy." Charlotte smiled, for even at this period the Gascon reputation of the Bearnais was already established with respect to his promises. " Well, then, what do you desire of Dariole ? " " Little for her, a great deal for me. Your apartment is over mine ? " "Yes." "Let her wait behind the door. I will strike three blows gently, and " Madame de Sauve kept silence for several seconds, and then, as if she had looked around her to observe if she were overheard, she fastened her gaze for a moment on the group which environed the queen-mother : brief as the moment was, it was sufficient for Catherine and her lady-in-waiting to exchange a look. " Oh, if I were inclined," said Madame de Sauve, with a syren's accent that would have melted Ulysses himself MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 13 " if I were inclined to make your majesty tell a false- hood " " Ma mie, try '* 11 Ah, mafoi! I confess I am tempted to do so." " Women are never so strong as after their defeat." " Sire, I hold you to your promise for Dariole, when you shall be King of France." Henry uttered an exclamation of joy. It was at the precise moment when the cry escaped the lips of the Bearnais, that the Queen of Navarre replied to the Duke of Guise : " Noctu pro more." Then Henry quitted Madame de Sauve as happy as the Duke de Guise when he quitted Marguerite de Valois. An hour after the double scene we have just related, King Charles and the queen-mother also retired to their apartments. Almost immediately the apartments began to empty ; the galleries exhibited the bases of their marble columns. The admiral and the Prince de Conde were es- corted home by four hundred Huguenot gentlemen through the middle of the crowd, which groaned as they passed. Then Henry de Guise, with the Lorraine and Catholic gentlemen, left in their turn, greeted by the cries of joy and plaudits of the people. As to Marguerite de Valois, Henry of Navarre, and Madame de Sauve, they lived in the Louvre. CHAPTER II. HENRY OF NAVARRE AND MARGUERITE. THE Duke de Guise escorted his sister-in-law, the Duchess de Nevers, to his hotel in the Rue du Chaume, and then proceeded to his own apartment to change his dress, put on a night cloak, and arm himself with one of those short and sharp poniards which were called " foi de gentil- komme," and were worn without swords ; but at the moment 14 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. when he took it off the table on which it was placed, he perceived a small billet between the blade and the scab- bard. He opened it, and read as follows : " I hope M. de Guise will not return to the Louvre to- night ; or if he does, that he will at least take the precau- tion to arm himself with a good coat of mail and a proved sword/' "Ah ! ah !" said the duke, "this is a singular warn- ing ; but I always take good advice my steel jacket and my sword." The valet-de-chambre, accustomed to these changes of costume, brought both. The duke put on his jacket, which was made of rings of steel so fine that it was scarcely thicker than velvet ; he then drew on a pardessns and ponrpoint of gray and silver, his favorite colors, placed a dagger by his side, handed his sword to a page, the only attendant he allowed to accompany him, and took the way to the Louvre, which he reached in safety. In front of the royal chateau was a deep fosse, looking into which were the chambers of most of the princes who inhabited the palace. Marguerite's apartment was on the first floor, and, easily accessible but for the fosse, was, in consequence of the depth to which that was cut, thirty feet from the bottom of the wall, and consequently out of the reach of robbers or lovers ; but nevertheless the Duke de Guise approached it without hesitation. At the same moment was heard the noise of a window which opened on the ground floor. This window was grated, but a hand appeared, lifted out one of the bars that had been loosened, and dropped from it a silken lace. " Is that you, Gillonne ? " said the duke, in a low voice. " Yes, monseigneur," replied a female voice, in a still lower tone. " And Marguerite ?" " Awaits you." " 'Tiswell." Hereupon the duke made a signal to his page, who, MARGUERITE DE VALOI8. 15 opening his cloak, took out a small rope ladder. The prince fastened one end to the silk lace, and Gillonne drawing it, unfastened it, and the prince, after having buckled his sword to his belt, ascended without accident. When he entered, the bar was replaced and the window closed, whilst the page, having seen his master quietly en- ter the Louvre, to the windows of which he had accom- panied him twenty times in the same way, laid himself down in his cloak on the grass of the fosse, and beneath the shadow of the wall. The night was extremely dark, and several large rain- spots fe)l irom the heavy clouds charged with electric fluid. 7he Duke de Guise followed his conductress, who was AO other than the daughter of Jacques de Mantignon, marechal of France. She was the confidant of Marguerite, who kept no secret from her ; and it was said that amongst the number of mysteries entrusted to her incorruptible fidelity, there were some so terrible as to compel her to keep the rest. There was no light left either in the lower chamber or in the corridor, only from time to time a livid glare illu- minated the dark apartments with a vivid flash, which as instantly disappeared. " The duke, still guided by his conductress, who held his hand, reached a staircase formed in the thickness of the wall, and which opened by a secret and invisible door into the antechamber of Marguerite's apartment. In this antechamber, which was perfectly dark, Gillonne stopped. "Have you brought what the queen requested ?" she inquired, in a low voice. " Yes," replied the Duke de Guise ; " but I will only give it to her majesty in person." " Come, then, and do not lose an instant !" said a voice from the darkness, which made the duke start, for it was Marguerite's. At the same moment a curtain of violet velvet covered with fleurs-de-lis was raised, and the duke made out the 16 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. form of the queen, who, in her impatience, had come to meet him: " I am here, madame," he then said ; and he passed the curtain, which fell behind him. Gillonne remained in the antechamber. As if she comprehended the jealousies of the duke, Mar- guerite led him to the bed-chamber, and then paused. *' Well/' she said, " are you content, duke ? " " Content, madame ? " was the reply " and with what?" " Of the proof I give you," retorted Marguerite, with a slight tone of vexation in her voice, " that I belong to a man, who, on the very night of his marriage, makes me of such small importance that he does not even come to thank me for the honor I have done him, not in selecting, but in accepting him for my husband." "Oh! madame," said the duke, sorrowfully, "be as- sured he will come if you desire it." " And is it you who say that, Henry ? " ried Margue- rite ; " you, who better than any know the contrary of what you say. If I had that desire, should I have asked you to come to the Louvre ! " "You have asked me to come to the Louvre, Mar- guerite, because you are anxious to destroy every vestige of the past, and because that past lives not only in my memory, but in this silver casket which I bring to you." "Henry, shall I say one thing to you ?" replied Mar- guerite ; " it is that you are more like a schoolboy than a prince. I deny that I have loved you 1 I desire to quench a flame which will die, perhaps, but whose reflec- tion will never die ! No, no, duke ; you may keep the letters of your Marguerite, and the casket she has given you. From these letters she asks but one, and that only, because it is as dangerous for you as for herself." " It is all yours," said the duke. Marguerite searched anxiously in the open casket, and with a tremulous hand took, one after the other, a dozen letters, of which she examined the addresses only, as if by the inspection alone of these she could recall to her memory what the letters themselves contained ; bat MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 17 after a close scrutiny, she looked at the duke, pale and agitated : , " Sir," she said, " what I seek is not here. Have you lost it, by any accident ? " " What letter do you seek, madame ? " " That in which I told you to marry without delay." " As an excuse for your infidelity ? " Marguerite shrugged her shoulders. " No ; but to save your life. That one in which I say to you that the king, seeing our love and my exertions to break off your proposed espousals with the Infanta of Portugal, has sent for his brother, the Bastard of Angou- le'me, and said to him, pointing to two swords, '"With this slay Henry de Guise this night or with the other I will slaythee in the morning/ Where is that letter ?" " Here," said the duke, drawing it from his breast. Marguerite snatched it from his hands, opened it anxiously, assured herself that it was really that which she desired, uttered an exclamation of joy, and applying the lighted candle to it, the flames instantly consumed the paper : then, as if Marguerite feared that her imprudent words might be read in the very ashes, she trampled them underfoot. During all this, the Duke de Guise had watched his mistress attentively. " Well, Marguerite/' he said, when she had finished, " are you satisfied now ? " " Yes, for now you have wedded the Princess de Porcian, my brother will forgive me your love : whilst he nevei would have pardoned me for revealing a secret such as that which in my weakness for you I had not the strength to conceal from you." " True," replied De Guise, " then, you loved me." " And I love you still, Henry, as much more than ever ! " "You ....?" " I do ; for never more than at this moment did I need a sincere an.d devoted friend. Queen, I have no throne : wife, I have no husband 1 " 18 MARGUERITE DE VALOK. The young prince shook his head sorrowfully. " I tell you, I repeat to you, Henry, that my husband not only does not love me, but hates despises me ; besides, methinks, your presence in the chamber in which he ought to be is full of proof of this hatred, this con tempt. " " It is not yet late, inadame, and the King of Navarre requires time to dismiss his gentlemen ; and if he has not already come, he will not be long first." " And I tell you," cried Marguerite, with increasing vexation, " I tell you that he will not come ! " " Madame!" exclaimed Gillonne, suddenly entering " the King of Navarre is just leaving his apartment ! " " Oh, I knew he would come ! " exclaimed the Duke de Guise. " Henry/' said Marguerite, in a quick tone, and seizing the duke's hand, " Henry, you shall see if I am a woman of my word, and if I may be relied on. Henry, enter that closet." " Madame, allow me to go whilst it is yet time, for reflect that the first mark of love you bestow on him, I shall quit the cabinet, and then woe to him !" " Are you mad ? go in go in, I say, and I will be responsible for all." And she pushed the duke into the closet. It was time. The door was scarcely closed behind the prince, than the King of Navarre, escorted by two pages who carried eight flambeaux of pink wax in two candelabras, appeared, smiling, on the threshold of the chamber. Marguerite concealed her trouble, and made a very low courtesy. " You are not yet in bed, madame," observed the B6ar- nais, with his frank and joyous look. " Were you by chance waiting for me ? " " No, sir," replied Marguerite ; " for yesterday you repeated to me that our marriage was a political alliance, and that you would never thwart my wishes." " Assuredly ; but that is no reason why we sho-.ld not confer a little together. Gillonne, close the door, and leave us." . MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 19 Marguerite, who was sitting, then rose and extended her hand, as if to desire the pages to remain. " Must I call your women ? " inquired the king. " I will do so, if such be your desire, although I confess that what I have to say to you would make me prefer our being alone." And the King of Navarre advanced towards the closet. "No!" exclaimed Marguerite, hastily going before him ; " no there is no occasion for that ; I am ready to hear you." The BSarnais had learned what he desired to know he threw a rapid and penetrating glance towards the cabinet, as if, in spite of the thick curtain which hung before it, he would dive into its obscurity, and then, turning his looks to his lovely wife, pale with terror, he said with the utmost composure : " In that case, madame, let us confer for a few moments." " As your majesty pleases," said the lady, falling into, rather than sitting upon, the seat which her husband pointed out to her. The Bearnais placed himself beside her. " Madame," he continued, " whatever many persons may have said, I think our marriage is a good marriage. I stand well with you you stand well with me." " But " said Marguerite, alarmed. " Consequently, we ought," observed the King of Navarre, " to act to each other like good allies, since we were to-day allied in the presence of God. Don't you think so ? " " Unquestionably, sir." " I know, madame, how great your penetration is ; I know how the ground at court is intersected with danger- ous abysses ; now I am young, and although I never in- jured any person, I have a great many enemies. In which camp, madame, ought I to range her who bears my name, and who has vowed her affection to me at the foot of the altar?" " Sir, could you think " " I think nothing, madame ; I hope and I am anxious DUMAS VOL. III. 2 20 MARGUERITE DE V ALOIS. to know that my hope is well founded. It is quite cer- tain that our marriage is merely a pretext or a snare." Marguerite started, for perchance the same thought had occurred to her own mind. " Now, then, which of the two ? " continued Henry of Navarre. " The king hates me, the Duke d'Anjou hates me, the Duke d'Aleu9on hates me, Catherine de Medicis hated my mother too much not to hate me." " Oh, sir, what are you saying ? " " The truth, madame," replied the king ; " and I wish in order that it may not be supposed that I am the dupe of the assassination of M. de Mouy and the poisoning of my mother, that some one were here who could hear me." " Oh, sir," replied Marguerite, with an air as calm and smiling as she could assume, " you know very well that there is no person here but you and myself. " " It is for that very reason that I thus give vent to my thoughts ; this it is that emboldens me to declare that I am not the dupe of the caresses showered on me by the House of France or the House of Lorraine." " Sir, sir ! " exclaimed Maguerite. "Well, what is it, ma mie9" inquired Henry, smiling in his turn. "Why, sir, such remarks are very dangerous." " Not when we are alone," observed the king. " I was saying " Marguerite was evidently distressed ; she desired to stop every word the king uttered, but he continued, with his apparent indifference " I was telling you, that I was menaced on all sides ; menaced by the king, menaced by the Duke d'Alen9on, menaced by the Duke d'Anjou, menaced by the queen- mother, menaced by the Duke de Guise, by the Duke de Mayenne, by the Cardinal de Lorraine menaced, in fact, by everybody. One feels that instinctively, as you know, madame. Well, against all these menaces, which must soon become attacks, I can defend myself by your aid, for you are beloved by all the persons who detest me." " I ? " said Marguerite. MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 21 "Yes, you," replied Henry, with the utmost easiness of manner ; ''yes, you are beloved by King Charles, you are beloved (he laid strong emphasis on the word) by the Dake d'Alen9on, you are beloved by Queen Catherine, and you are beloved by the Duke de Guise." " Sir ! " murmured Marguerite. " Yes ; and what is there astonishing in the fact of all the world loving you ? All I have mentioned are your brothers or relatives. To love one's brothers and relatives is to live according to the heart of God." " But what, then," asked Marguerite, greatly over- come " what would you have ? " " I would say, that if you will I will not ask you to love me but if you will be my ally, I could brave every- thing ; whilst, on the other hand, if you become my enemy, I am lost." " Oh, your enemy ! never, sir ! " exclaimed Marguerite. " And my love never either ?" " Perhaps " " And my ally ? " " Most decidedly." And Marguerite turned round, and presented her hand to the king. Henry took it, kissed it gallantly, and retaining it in his own, more from a desire of investigation than from any sentiment of tenderness, said : " Well, madame, I believe you, and accept the alliance. They married us without our knowing each other with- out our loving each other ; they married us without con- sulting us us whom they united. We therefore owe nothing to each other, as man and wife ; but we ally our- selves freely and without any compulsion. We ally our- selves, as two loyal hearts who owe epch other mutual protection should ally themselves ; 'tis as such yon under- stand it ? " " Yes, sir," said Marguerite, endeavoring to withdraw her hand. " Well, then," continued the B6arnais, with his eyes fixed on the cabinet, " as the first proof of a frank alii- 22 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. ance is the most perfect confidence, I will now, madame, relate to you, in all its details, the plan I have formed, in order that we may victoriously meet and overcome all these enemies. " " Sir," said Marguerite, turning her eyes toward the closet, whilst the Bearnais, seeing his trick succeed, laughed in his sleeve. "This is what I mean to do," he continued, without appearing to remark the uneasiness of his young wife, " I intend " " Sir," said Marguerite, rising hastily, and seizing the king's arm " allow me a little breath ; my emotion the heat overpowers me." And, in truth, Marguerite was as pale and trembling as if she was about to fall on the carpet. Henry went straight to a window, some distance off, and opened it. This window looked on the river. Marguerite followed him. " Silence, sire silence, for pity's sake ! " she murmured. " What, madame," said the Bearnais, with his peculiar smile, " did you not say we were alone ? " " Yes, sir ; but have you not heard me say that by the aid of a tube introduced into the ceiling or the wall every- thing could be heard ?" " Well, madame, well," said the Bearnais, earnestly, and in a low voice ; " it is true you do not love me, but you are, at least, honorable." " What do you mean, sir ? " " I mean that if you were capable of betraying me, you would have allowed me to continue, as I might have be- trayed myself. You stopped me I now know that some one is concealed here that you are an unfaithful wife, but a faithful ally ; and at this moment I have more need of fidelity in politics than in love." " Sir ! " replied Marguerite, confused. " Good, good ; we will talk of this hereafter," said Henry, "when we know each other better." Then, raising his voice " Well," he continued, " do you breathe more freely now, madame ? " MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 23 " Yes, sir yes ! " " Well, then," said the BSarnais, " I will no longer in- trude on you. I owed you my respects and some advances towards better acquaintance ; deign, then, to accept them, as they are offered, with all my heart. Grood night, and happy slumbers ! " Marguerite raised to her husband her eyes, brilliant with gratitude, and in her turn, extended her hand. " It is agreed," she said. " Political alliance, frank and loyal ?" asked Henry. " Frank and loyal," was the reply. And the Bearnais went towards the door, followed by Marguerite's look. Then, when the curtain had fallen between them and the bedchamber : " Thanks, Marguerite," he said, in a quick and low tone, " thanks ! You are a true daughter of France. I leave you quite tranquil ; lacking your love, your friend- ship will not fail me. I rely on you, as you, for your part, may rely on me. Adieu, madame." And Henry kissed his wife's hand, and pressed it gently. Then with a quick step he returned to his own apartment, saying to himself in a low voice, in the corridor : " Who the devil is with her ? Is it the king, or the Duke d'Anjou, or the Duke d'Alen9on, or the Duke de Guise ? is it a brother or a lover is it both ? F faith, I am almost sorry now I asked the baroness for this rendez- vous ; but, as my word is pledged, and Dariole awaits me, no matter. Yet, ventre-saint-gris ! this Margot, as my brother-in-law, King Charles, calls her, is an adorable creature." And with a step which betrayed a slight hesitation, Henry of Navarre ascended the staircase which led to Madame de Sauve's apartments. Marguerite had followed him with her eyes until he disappeared. Then she returned to her chamber and found the duke at the door of the cabinet. The sight almost touched her with remorse. The duke was grave, and his knitted brow bespoke bitter reflection. 24 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. " Marguerite is neutral to-day," he said " Marguerite will be hostile in a week." " Ah ! you have been listening ? " said Marguerite. " What else could I do in the cabinet ? " "And did you find that I behaved otherwise than the Queen of Navarre should behave ? " " No ; but differently from the way in which the mis- tress of the Duke de Guise should behave. " " Sir," replied the queen, " I may not love my husband, but no one has the right to require me to betray him. Would you yourself reveal the secrets of the Princess de Porcian, your wife?" " Come, come, madame," answered the duke, shaking his head, " this is very well; I see that you do not love me as in those days when you disclosed to me the plot of the king against me and my party." " The king was strong, and you were weak ; Henry is weak, and you are strong. You see I play a consistent part." " Only you pass from one camp to another." "That was a right I acquired, sir, in saving your life." " Good, madame : and as when lovers separate, they return all the gifts that have passed between them, I will save your life, in my turn, and we shall be quits." And bowing politely, the duke left the room, nor did Marguerite attempt to retain him. In the antechamber he found Gillonne, who guided him to the window on the ground floor, and in the fosse he found his page, with whom he returned to the Hdtel de Guise. Marguerite went to the opened window. " What a marriage night ! " she murmured to herself ; " the husband flies the lover forsakes me ! " She shut the window, and called Gillonne to help her to undress aiid retire to bed. MARGUERITE DE VALOia 25 CHAPTER IIL THE P E T-K ING. THE morrow and the following days were passed in a succession of balls, tournaments, and banquets. The king seemed to have laid aside his usual melancholy and the queen-mother was so occupied with embroidery, orna- ments, and plumes that she could not sleep. The Huguenots, in some measure appeased, began to assume silken pourpoints, wear devices, and parade before certain balconies, as if they were Catholics. On every side the reaction in favor of the Protestants was so great, that it seemed that the Court was about to become Protestant itself ; even the admiral, in spite of his discernment, was deceived, and was so carried away, that one evening he forgot for two whole hours his tooth- pick, which he always used from two o'clock, the hour at which he dined, until eight o'clock at night, when he sat down to supper. The evening on which the admiral thus unaccountably deviated from his usual habit, King Charles IX. had in- vited Henry of Navarre and the Duke de Guise to sup with him : after the repast, he went into his chamber, and was busily explaining to them the mechanism of a wolf-trap he had invented, when interrupting himself "The Admiral does not come to-night," said he ; " who has seen him to-day, and can tell me anything about him?" " I have," said the King of Navarre ; " and should your majesty be anxious about him, I can reassure you, for I saw him this morning at six, and this evening at seven o'clock. " " Ah, ah ! " replied the king, whose eyes were instantly fixed with a searching expression on his brother-in-law ; " for a new-married man, Harry, you are very early." 26 MARGUERITE DE VALOB3. " Yes, sire," answered the King of Navarre, " I wished to inquire of the admiral, who knows everything, whether some gentlemen I expect are on their way hither." " More gentlemen ! why, you had eight hundred on the day of your wedding, and fresh ones join yon every day. you are surely not going to invade us? " said Charles IX., smiling. The Duke de Gnise frowned. " Sire," returned the Bearnais, " a war with Flanders is spoken of, and I am collecting round me all those gentle- men of my country whom I think can be useful to your majesty." The duke, calling to mind the pretended project Henry had mentioned to Marguerite the day of their marriage, listened still more attentively. " Well, well," replied the king, with a sinister smile, " the more the better ; let them all come. But who are these gentlemen? brave ones, I trust?" "I know not, sire, if my gentlemen will ever equal those of your majesty, of the Duke d'Anjou, or of the Duke de Guise, but I know that they will do their best." " Do you expect many? " " Ten or twelve, perhaps." "What are their names ?" " Sire, I cannot at this moment call any of them to mind, with the exception of one, whom Teligny recom- mends to me as a most accomplished gentleman, and whose name is De la Mole." " De la Mole ! " said the king, who was perfectly ac- quainted with the genealogy of all the noble families of France " is he not a Lerac de la Mole, a Provencal?" " Exactly so, sire; you see, I recruit even in Provence." " And I," added the Duke de Guise, with a sarcastic smile, " go even further than the King of Navarre, for I seek even in Piedmont all the brave Catholics I can find." " Catholic or Huguenot," interrupted the king, " it little matters to me, so they are brave." The expression of the king's face whilst he uttered these words, which thus united Catholics and Huguenots in his MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 27 thoughts, was so full of indifference, that the duke him- self was surprised. " Your majesty is occupied with the Flemings," said the admiral, to whom Charles had some days previously accorded the favor of entering without being announced, and who had overheard the king's last words. " Ah ! here is my father, the admiral," cried Charles, opening his arms. " We were speaking of battles, of gentlemen, of brave men and he comes. It is like the loadstone, that attracts the iron. My brother-in-law of Navarre and my cousin of Guise were speaking of rein- forcements they expect for your army. That was the subject of our conversation." " And these reinforcements are come," said the ad- miral. "Have you any intelligence of them, monsieur ?" asked the Bearnais. "Yes, my son, and particularly of M. de la Mole; he was at Orleans yesterday, and will be in Paris to-morrow, or the day after." " The devil ! You must be a sorcerer, M. 1' Admiral," said the Duke de Guise, " to know what is passing at thirty or forty leagues' distance. For my part, I should like to know for a certainty what will happen, or what has hap- pened, at Orleans." Coligny remained unmoved by this speech, which evi- dently alluded to the death of Frai^ois de Guise, the duke's father, killed before Orleans by Poltrot de M6re, and not without a suspicion of the admiral's having been concerned in the murder. " Sir," replied he, coldly, and with dignity, " I am a sorcerer whenever I wish to know anything that concerns my own affairs or those of the king. My courier arrived an hour ago from Orleans, having traveled, thanks to the post, thirty-two leagues in a day. As M. de la Mole only has his own horse, he rides bat ten leagues a day, and can only arrive in Paris on the 24th. Here is all my magic." "Bravo, my father 1" cried Charles IX. ; "teach these 28 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. young men what the wisdom is, accompanied by age, which has whitened your hair and beard ; so now we will send them to talk of love and tournaments, and we will ourselves discourse of our wars. Good councilors make good kings. Leave us, gentlemen ; we would be alone/* The two young men left the apartment ; the King of Navarre first, then the Duke de Guise ; but outside the door they separated, after a formal salute. Coligny followed them with his eyes, not without dis- quietude ; for he never saw these two men, who cherished so deadly a hate against each other, meet, without a dread that some spark would kindle a conflagration. Charles saw what was passing in his mind, and, laying his hand on his arm : " Fear nothing, my father : I am here to preserve peace and obedience. I am really a king, now that my mother is no longer queen, and she is no longer queen since Coligny became my father." "Oh, sire ! " said the admiral, " the Queen Cather- ine " " Is a quarrel-monger. Peace is impossible with her. These Italian Catholics are furious, and will hear of noth- ing but extermination ; now, for my part, I not only wish to pacify, but I wish to protect those of the Reformed religion. The others are too dissolute, and scandalize me with their amours and their quarrels. Shall I speak frankly to yon?" continued Charles, redoubling in energy. " I mistrust every one about me, except my new friends. I suspect the ambition of Tavannes ; Vieilleville only cares for good wine, and would betray his king for a cask of Malvoisie ; Montmorency only thinks of the chase, and lives amongst his dcgs and falcons ; the Count de Retz is a Spaniard ; the Guises are Lorraines. I think there are no true Frenchmen in France, except myself, my brother-in-law of Navarre, and yourself ; but I am chained to the throne, and cannot command the army ; it is as much as I can do to hunt at St. Germains or Ram- bouillet. My brother-in-law of Navarre is too young and too inexperienced, besides, he seems to me exactly like his MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 29 father Antoine, mined by women. There is but you, -my father, who can be called, at the same time, brave as Caesar and wise as Plato ; so that I scarcely know what to do keep you near me, as my adviser, or send you to the army, as its general. If you counsel me, who will command ? If you command, who will counsel me ? " " Sire/' said Coligny, " we must conquer first, and then take counsel after the victory." " That is your advice so be it. Monday you shall leave for Flanders, and I for Amboise." " Your majesty leaves Paris, then ? " 11 Yes ; I am weary of this confusion, and of these fe 1 tes. I am not a man of action ; I am a dreamer. I was not born to be a king : I was born to be a poet. You shall form a council as long as my mother has no influence there, all will go well. I have already sent word to Eonsard to meet me, and at this moment I must go and reply to a sonnet my dear and illustrious poet has sent me. I cannot, there- fore, now give you the documents necessary to make you acquainted with the question now debating between Philip II. and myself. There is, besides, a plan of the campaign drawn up by my ministers. I will find it all for you, and give it to you to-morrow." "At what o'clock, sire ?" " At ten o'clock ; and if by chance I am busy making verses, or in my cabinet writing, well you will find all the papers in this red morocco portfolio. The color is remarkable, and you .cannot mistake it. I am now going to write to Eonsard." " Adieu, sire ! " " Adieu, my father ! " " Your hand " " What, my hand ? In my arms, in my heart, there is your place ! Come, my old soldier, come ! " And Charles, drawing Coligny towards him as he in- clined himself before him, pressed his lips to his forehead. The admiral wiped a tear from his eyes as he left the room. Charles followed him with his eyes as long as he could 30 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. see, and listened as long as he conld catch a sound; and when he could no longer hear or see anything, he turned and entered his small armory. This armory was the favorite apartment of the king. It was there he took his fencing lessons with Pompee, and his lessons of poetry with Ronsard. He had assembled there all the most costly arms he had been able to collect. The walls were hung with axes, shields, spears, halberds, pistols, and muskets, and that day a famous armorer had brought him a magnificent arquebuas, on the barrel of which were encrusted, in silver, these four verses composed by the royal poet himself : " Pour main ten ir la foy, Je suis belle et fiddle, Aux ennemis du Roi, Je suis belle et cruelle." Charles entered, as we have said, this room, and after having shut the door by which he had entered, he raised the tapestry that masked a passage leading into a little chamber, where a female, kneeling, was saying her prayers. As this movement was executed noiselessly, and the foot- steps of the king were deadened by the thick carpet, the female heard no sound, and continued to pray. Charles stood for a moment pensively looking at her. She was a woman of thirty-four or thirty-five years of age, whose masculine beauty was set off by the costume of the peasants of Caux. She wore the high cap so much the fashion at the court of France during the time of Isabel of Bavaria, and her bodice was red and embroidered with gold, like those of the contadine of Nettuno and Sora. The apartment which she had for nearly twenty years occupied, was close to the bedchamber of the king, and presented a singular mixture of elegance and rusticity. The palace had encroached upon the cottage, and the cottage upon the palace, so that the chamber was between the simplicity of the peasant and the luxury of the court lady. on which she knelt was of oak, beautifully MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 31 carved, covered with velvet, and embroidered with gold, whilst the Bible (for she was of the Reformed religion), from which she was reading was very old and torn, like those found in the poorest cottages. "Eh, Madelon!" said the king. The kneeling female lifted her head smilingly at the well known voice, and rising from her knees, " Ah ! it is you, my son," said she. " Yes, nurse, come here." Charles IX. let fall the curtain, and sat down on the arm of a large chair. The nurse appeared. "What do you want with me, Charles ?" f( Come near, and answer in a low tone." The nurse approached him with familiarity. " Here I am," said she ; " speak !" " Is the person I sent for there ? " " He has been there half an hour." Charles rose from his seat, approached the window, looked to assure himself there were no eavesdroppers, went towards the door, and looked out there also, shook the dust from his trophies of arms, patted a large greyhound which followed him wherever he went, stopping when he stopped, and moving when he moved then returning to his nurse : " Let him come in, nurse," said he. The nurse disappeared by the same passage by which she had entered, whilst the king went and leaned against a table on which were scattered arms of every kind, scarcely had he done so, when the tapestry was again lifted, and the person whom he expected entered. He was a man of about forty, his large gray eyes full of treachery and falsehood, his nose curved like the beak of a screech-owl, his cheek-bones prominent. His face in vain sought to assume an expression of respect, but naught but fear appeared on his blanched lips. Charles gently put his hand behind him, and grasped the butt of a pistol of a new construction, that was dis- charged not by a match, as formerly, but by a flint brought in contact with a wheel of steel. He fixed his eyes steadily 32 MARGUERITE DE V ALOIS. on the newcomer, whilst he whistled with the most per- fect precision, one of his favorite hunting airs. After a pause of some minutes, during which the ex- pression of the stranger's visage grew more and more dis- composed. " You are the person," said the king, " called Franyois de Louviers Maurevel ? " "Yes, sire." " Captain of musqueteers ? " "Yes, Sire." " I wished to see you." Maarevel inclined himself profoundly. "You know," continued Charles, laying a stress on each word, " that I love all my subjects equally ?" " I know," stammered Maurevel, ' ' that your majesty is the father of your people." " And that the Huguenots and Catholics are equally my children ? " Maurevel remained silent, but his agitation was mani- fest to the piercing eyes of the king, although he was almost concealed in the obscurity. " This displeases yon," said the king, " who are so great an enemy to the Huguenots." Maurevel fell on his knees. " Sire," stammered he, " believe that " "I believe," continued Charles, whose eye now changed its glassy look for one that seemed of fire " I believe that you had a great desire at Moncontour to kill the ad- miral, who has just left me ; I believe you missed your aim, and that then you entered the army of my brother, the Due d'Anjou ; I believe that you enlisted into the company of M. de Mouy de St. Phale." " Oh, Sire ! " " A brave gentleman from Picardy." " Sire, sire 1 " cried Maurevel, " do not overwhelm me/' "He was a brave soldier," continued Charles, whose features assumed an aspect of almost ferocious cruelty, " who received you as if you had been his son ; fed you, lodged you, and clothed you." MARGtTERITE DE VALOIS. 33 Maurevel uttered a despairing sigh. " You called him your father, and a tender friendship existed between you and the young De Mouy." Maurevel, still on his knees, bent himself more and more ; the king stood immovable, like a statue whose lips only are endowed with vitality. "By the way," continued the king, " M. de Guise was to give you ten thousand crowns if you killed the admiral was he not ? " The assassin struck his forehead against the floor. " One day that your father, the Sieur de Mouy, recon- noitred near Chevreux, he let his whip fall, and dis- mounted to pick it up. You were then alone with him ; you took a pistol from your holster, and shot him in the back ; then seeing he was dead for you killed him on the spot you escaped on the horse he had given you. This is your history, I believe ? " And as Maurevel remained mute under this accusation, every circumstance of which was true, the king began to whistle again, with the same precision and melody, the same hunting air. " Now then, murderer ! " said he, " do you know I have a great mind to hang you ? " " Oh, sire I" cried Maurevel. " Young De Mouy entreated me to do so only yester- day, and I scarcely knew what answer to make him, for his demand was but just." Maurevel clasped his hands. " All the more just, since I am, as you say, the father of my people ; and that, as I answered you now, I being reconciled to the Huguenots, they are as much my chil- dren as the Catholics." " Sire," said Maurevel, in despair, " my life is in your hands ; do with it what you will." " You are quite right, and I would not give a halfpenny for it." " But, sire," asked the assassin, "is there no means of ysdeeming my crime ? " 8 34 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. " None, that I know of ; only in your place but thank God I am not " " Well, sire, were you in my place ? " murmured Mau- revel. " I think I could extricate myself," said the king. Maurevel raised himself on one knee and one hand, fixing his eyes upon Charles. " I am very fond of young De Mouy," said the king ; " but, I am equally fond of my cousin of Guise ; and if my cousin asked me to spare a man that the other wanted me to hang, I confess I should be embarrassed ; but for policy as well as religion's sake I should comply with Guise's request ; for De Mouy, although a brave gentle- man, is but a petty personage compared with a prince of Lorraine." During these words, Maurevel slowly rose, like a man whose life is saved. "As in your situation it is very important to gain the duke's favor, listen to what he said to me last night. Maurevel drew nearer. " ' Imagine, sire,' said he to me, ' that every morning, at ten o'clock, my deadliest enemy passes down the Rue Saint Germain-l'Auxerrois, on his return from the Louvre. I see him from a barred window in the room of my old preceptor, the Canon Pierre Pile, and I pray the devil to open the earth and swallow him in its abysses.' Now, Maurevel, perhaps if you were the devil, it would please the duke ? " " But, sire," stammered Maurevel, "I cannot make the earth open." "You made it open, however, wide enough for De Mouy. It was with a pistol that . Have you this famous pistol still ?" " I am a better marksman, sire, with an arquebnss than a pistol," replied Maurevel, now quite reassured. " Never mind," said the king ; " I am sure M. de Guise will not care how it is done, so it be done." " But," said Maurevel, " I must have a weapon I can MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 35 rely on, as, perhaps, I shall have to fire from a long dis- tance." "I have ten arquebnsses in this chamber," replied Charles IX., "with which I hit a crown-piece at a hun- dred and fifty paces will you try one ? " " Most willingly, sire ! " cried Maurevel, advancing to- wards the one that had been that day brought to the king. " No ; not that oue," said the king ; " I reserve that for myself. Some day I will have a grand hunt, and then I hope to use it. Take any other you like." Maurevel detached one from a trophy. " And who is this enemy, sire ? " asked he. " How should I know," replied Charles, with a contemp- tuous look. " I. must ask M. de Guise, then," faltered Maurevel. The king shrugged his shoulders. " Do not ask," said he ; " for M. de Guise will not an- swer. People do not generally answer such questions ; it is for those who do not wish to be hanged to guess." " But how shall I know him ? " " I tell you he passes the canon's house ever morning at ten o'clock." " So many pass, would your majesty deign to give me any certain sign ? " " Oh, to-morrow he will carry a red morrocco portfolio under his arm." "That is sufficient, sire." "You have still the horse M. de Mouy gave you, have you not ? " " Sire, I have a horse that is fleeter than any other in France." " Oh, I am not in the least anxious about you ; only it is as well to let you know there is a back-door." " Thanks, sire ; pray Heaven for me ! " " Oh, pray to the devil rather ; for by his aid only can you escape a halter." " Adieu, sire." "Adieu! By the way, M. de Maurevel, remember. 36 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. that if I hear of you before ten to-morrow, or do not hear of you afterwards, there is ail oubliette at the Louvre." And Charles began to whistle, with more than usual precision, his favorite air. CHAPTER IV. THE EVENING OF THE 24TH OF AUGUST, 1572. OUR readers have not forgotten that in the previous chapter Henry was anxiously expecting the arrival of a gentleman named De la Mole. This young gentleman, as the admiral had anticipated, entered Paris by the gate of Saint Marcel, the evening of the 24th of August, 1572 ; and bestowing a contemptuous glance on the numerous hostelries that displayed their picturesque signs on either side of him, he rode on into the heart of the city, and after having crossed the Place Maubert, Le Petit-Pont, the Pont-N6tre-Dame, and along the quay, he stopped at the end of the Rue de TArbre-Sec. The name pleased him, no doubt, for he entered the street, and finding on his left a large plate of iron swing- ing, creaking on its hinges, he stopped, and read these words, "La belle Etoile," written on a scroll beneath the sign, which was a most attractive one for a traveler, as it represented a fowl roasting in the midst of a black sky, whilst a man in a red cloak held out his hands and his purse towards it. " Here," said the gentleman to himself, "is an inn that promises well, and the landlord must be a most in- genious fellow. I have always heard that the Rue de TArbre-Sec was near the Louvre ; and provided that the interior answers to the exterior, I shall be admirably lodged." Whilst this monologue was going on, another person entered the other end of the street, and stopped also to admire the sign of La belle Etoile. MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 37 The gentleman whom we already know, at least, by name, rode a white horse, and wore a black doublet ornamented with jet ; his cloak was of violet velvet, his boots were of black leather, and the hilts of his sword and dagger were of steel, beautifully worked ; his age from twenty-four to twenty-five, his complexion dark, his eyes blue ; a small mustache shaded a beautifully cut mouth, full of pearly teeth, that seemed, whenever he showed them, to light up his whole face with a smile of melan- choly sweetness. Nothing could form a greater contrast with him than the second traveler. Beneath his slouched hat appeared a profusion of hair, rather red than brown ; large gray eyes that on the slightest occasion sparkled so fiercely, that they seemed black ; a fair complexion, a light mus- tache, and splendid teeth, completed his description ; and lie was, with his white skin and fine form, what is generally termed a handsome cavalier, and during the last hour, which he had employed in staring up at all the windows, the ladies had honored him with no small share of their attention. He it was who first addressed the other gentleman, who was with himself looking at the sign of La belle Etoile. " Mordi ! monsieur," s'aid he, with the accent that characterizes the natives of Piedmont "we are close to the Louvre, are we not ? At all events, I think your choice is the same as mine, and I am highly flattered by it." " Monsieur," replied the other, with a provincial ac- cent that rivaled that of his companion, " I believe this inn is near the Louvre, but I have not yet made up my mind to enter it." " You are undecided : the house is tempting, neverthe- less. You must allow the sign is very inviting." " Very ! and it is for that very reason I mistrust it, for Paris is full of sharpers, and you may be just as well tricked by a sign as by anything else." " Mordi !" replied the Piedmontese, "I don't care a fig for their tricks ; and if the host does not serve me a f < j ' \ o o V s i V s ; 38 MARGUERITE DE VALOES. chicken as well roasted as the one on his sign, I will put him on the spit and roast him instead. Come, let ns go in." " You have decided me," said the Provenqal, laughing ; st precede me, I beg." " Impossible, monsieur I could not think of it ; for I am only your most obedient servant, the Count Annibal de Coconnas." " And I, monsieur, but the Count Joseph Boniface de Lerac de la Mole, equally at your service." " Since that is the case, let us take each other's arm, and go in so." The result of this proposition was, that the two young men got off their horses, threw the bridles to the ostler, linked arms, adjusted their swords, and advanced towards the door of the inn, where stood mine host, who did not seem to notice them, so busy was he talking with a tall man, wrapped in a large sad-colored cloak like an owl buried in her feathers. The two gentlemen were so near the host and his friend in the sad-colored cloak, that Coconnas, impatient at being thus neglected, touched his sleeve. He appeared suddenly to perceive them, and dismissed his friend with an " Au revoir ! be sure and let me know the hour appointed." "Well, monsieur le drdle," said Coconnas, "do not you see we have business with you ? " " I beg pardon, gentlemen," said the host ; " I did not see you." " Eh, mordi I then you ought to have seen us ; and now that you do see us, say ' M. le comte/ and not merely ' Monsieur. ' )J La Mole stood by, leaving Coconnas, who seemed to have undertaken the affair, to speak ; but it was plain, from the expression of his face, that he was fully pre- pared to act upon occasion. " Well, what is your pleasure, M. le comte ? " asked the landlord, in a quiet tone. " Ah, that's better ; is it not ? " said Coconnas, turning MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 39 to La Mole, who inclined his head affirmatively. " Mon- sier le comte and myself wish to sup and sleep here to- night. " Gentlemen," said the host, " I am very sorry, but I have only one chamber, and I am afraid that would not suit you." " So much the better," said La Mole ; " we will go and lodge somewhere else." " I shall stay here," said Coconnas ; " my horse is tired. I will have the room, since you will not." " Ah ! that is quite different," replied the host, coolly. "I cannot lodge you at all, then." "Mordi!" cried Coconnas, "here's a pretty fellow! Just now you could not lodge us because we were two, and now you have not room for one. You will not lodge ns at all, then ? " " Since you take this high tone, gentlemen, I will an- swer you frankly." " Answer, then ; only answer quickly." " Well, then, I would rather not have the honor of lodg- ing you at all." "For what reason?" asked Coconnas, growing white with rage. " Because you have no servants, and for one master's room full, I should have two servants' rooms empty ; so that, if I let you have the master's room, I run the risk of not letting the others." " M. de la Mole," said Coconnas, " do you not think we ought to thrash this fellow ?" " Decidedly," said La Mole, preparing himself, together with Coconnas, to lay his whip over the host's back." But the landlord, despite this demonstration, contented himself with retreating a step or two. " It is easy to see," said he in a tone of raillery, " that these gentlemen are from the provinces. At Paris, it is no longer the fashion to kill innkeepers only great men are killed nowadays ; and if you make any disturbance, I will call my neighbors, and instead of you beating me, you shall be beaten yourselves." 40 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. " Mordi!" cried Coconnas, in a rage ; " he is laughing at us." " Gregoire, my arquebuss," said the host, with the same yoice with which he would have said, " Give these gentle- men a chair." " Trippe del papa ! " cried Coconuas, drawing his sword ; " rouse yourself M. de la Mole." "No, no ; for whilst we rouse ourselves, our supper will get cold." " What, you think " cried Coconnas. " That M. de la Belle Etoile is right ; only he does not know how to treat his guests, especially when they are gentlemen ; for instead of saying, ' Gentlemen I do not want you/ he should have said, ' Enter, gentlemen ' at the same time reserving to himself the right to charge in his bill Master's room, so much ; servants, so much." With these words, La Mole pushed the host, who was looking for his arquebuss, on one side, and entered with Coconnas. "Well," said Coconnas, "I am sorry to sheathe my sword before I have ascertained that it is as sharp as that rascal's larding-needle." " Patience, my dear friend/' said La Mole. " All the inns in Paris are full of gentlemen come to attend the King of Navarre's marriage, and we shall have great diffi- culty in finding another apartment ; besides, perhaps it is the custom to receive strangers at Paris in this manner." Mordi ! how quiet you are, M. de la Mole !" muttered Coconnas, curling his red mustache with rage. " But let the scoundrel take care ; for if his meat be not ex- cellent, if his bed be hard, his wine less than three years in bottle, and his waiter be not as pliant as a reed " " Ah, ah ! " said the landlord, whetting his knife on a strap, "you may make yourself easy ; you are in a laud of plenty." Then, in a low tone, he added " These are some Huguenots ; they have grown so insolent since the mar- riage of their B6arnais with Mademoiselle Marguerite ! " Then,with a smile that would have made his guests shudder had they seen it : MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 41 " How strange it would be if I were just to have two Huguenots come to my house, when " "Now, then," interrupted Coconnas, "are we going to have any supper ? " " Yes, as soon as you please, monsieur/' returned the host, softened, no doubt, by the last reflection. "Well, then, the sooner the better," said Coconnas; and turning to La Mole : " Pray, M. le comte, whilst our room is being prepared tell me, do you think Paris seems a gay city ? " "Ma foil no," said La Mole. "All the Parisians I saw had most forbidding faces ; perhaps they are afraid of the storm ; for the sky looks very black, and the air feels heavy." " Are you not looking for the Louvre, count ? " "Yes ! and you also, Monsieur de Coconnas." " Well, let us look for it together." " It is rather late to go out, is it not ? " said La Mole. " Early or late, I must go out : my orders are peremp- tory ' Come instantly to Paris, and communicate with the Duke de Guise without delay/ ' At the name of the Duke de Guise, the landlord drew nearer. "I think the rascal is listening to us," said Coconnas, who could not forgive the host his rude reception of them. " I am listening, gentlemen," replied he, taking off his cap ; " but it is to serve you. I heard the great duke's name mentioned, and I came immediately. What can I do for you ? " " Ah ! this name is magical, since it renders you so polite. Tell me, master what's your name ? " " La Huridre," replied the host, bowing. " Well, Master la Huriere do you think my arm is lighter than the Due de Guise's, who makes you so civil ? " " No, M. le comte ; but it is not so long ; besides, I must tell you, that the great Henry is the idol of th? Parisians." " What Henry ? " asked La Mole. " There is only one." 42 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. "Which ?" " Henry de Guise ! " " You are mistaken ; there is another, whom I desire you do not speak ill of, and that is Henry of Navarre, besides Henry de Cond6, who has his share of merit." " I do not know them/' said the landlord. " But I do ; and as I am directed to the King of Na- varre, I desire you not to speak slightingly of him before me." The host only replied by touching his cap, and con- tinued speaking to Coconnas : " Monsieur is going to see the great Duke de Guise. Monsieur is very fortunate. He is come, no doubt, for " " What ? " asked Coconnas. " For the fe'te," replied the host, with a singular smile. "For all the f6tes," replied Coconnas ; "for Paris is, I hear, a succession of fe'tes. Does not every one find plenty of amusement ?" " Pretty well ; but they will have more soon, I hope." " The marriage of the King of Navarre has brought a great many people to Paris, has it not ? " said La Mole. " A great many Huguenots yes," replied La Hnri^re, but suddenly changing his tone : " Pardon me, gentlemen," said he ; " perhaps you are of that religion ? " " I," cried Coconnas, " I am as good a Catholic as the pope himself." La Huri&re looked at La Mole, but La Mole did not, or would not comprehend him. " If you do not know the King of Navarre," said La Mole, " perhaps you know the admiral. I have heard he has some influence at court, and as I have letters for him, perhaps you will so far sully your mouth as to tell me where he lives ? " " He did live in the Rue de Bethisy," replied the host, with a satisfaction he could not conceal. " He did live ? " said La Mole. " He has left, then ? " " Yes this world, perhaps." MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 43 " What ! " cried both the gentlemen together, " the admiral dead ? " " What, M. de Coconnas, are you a friend of the Duke de Guise, and not know that ? " " Know what ? " " That the day before yesterday the admiral was passing before the house of the Canon Pierre Piles, when he was fired at " And killed ? " said La Mole. " No ; he had his arm broken and two fingers taken off j but it is hoped the balls were poisoned." " How, wretch ! " cried La Mole ; " hoped ? " " Believed, I mean/' said the host, winking at Cocon- nas ; " it was a slip of the tongue." ' ' Really ! " said Coconnas, joyfully. " Really ! " said La Mole, sorrowfully. " It is just as I tell you, gentlemen," said the host. " In that case," said La Mole, " I must go instantly to the Louvre. Shall I find the King of Navarre there ? " " Most likely, since he lives there." " And I," said Coconnas, " must also go to the Louvre. Shall I find the Duke de Guise there ? " " Most likely ; for he has this instant passed with two hundred gentlemen." " Come, then, M. de Coconnas," said La Mole. " I am ready," returned he. " But your supper, gentlemen !" cried La Huri^re^ " Ah," said La Mole, " I shall most likely sup with the King of Navarre." " And I," said Coconnas, " with the Duke de Guise." " And I," said the host, after having watched the two gentlemen take the road to the Louvre, " I will go and burnish my steel cap, put a match to my arqnebuss, and sharpen my partisan, for no one knows what may happen/ r DUMAS VOL. III. 3 44 MARGUERITE DE V ALOIS, CHAPTER V. OF THE LOUVEB IN PAETICULAE, AND OF VIETUE Iff GENERAL. THS two young men, directed by the first person they met, went down the Rue d'Averon, the Rue St. Germain- 1'Auxerrois, and soon found themselves before the Louvre, whose towers were beginning to be lost in the darkness of the night. " What is the matter with you ?" asked Coconnas of La Mole, who stopped before the old chateau, and gazed, not without awe, on the drawbridges, the narrow windows, and the pointed belfries, presented to him. " I scarcely know/* said La Mole ; " my heart beats strangely. I am not timid, but this old palace seems so gloomy and terrible." " For my part," replied Coconnas, " I feel in excellent spirits. My dress is rather disordered," continued he, "but never mind ; it will prove I have obeyed my instruc- tions, and come promptly on my arrival." The two young men continued their way, each influ- enced by the feelings he had expressed. The Louvre was guarded with more than usual care, and all the sentinels were doubled. Our cavaliers were somewhat embarrassed, therefore, but Coconnas, who had remarked that the Duke de Guise's name acted like a talis- man on the Parisians, approached the sentinel, and mak- ing use of the duke's name, demanded to enter. The name seemed to produce its ordinary effect upon the soldier, who, however, asked Coconnas if he had the countersign. Coconnas was forced to confess he had not. " Stand back, then," said the soldier. At this moment, a person who was talking with the MARGUERITE DE V ALOIS. 45 officer of the guard when Coconnas demanded leave to enter, advanced to him. " What do you want with M. de Guise?" asked he, with a strong German accent. " I wish to see him," said Cocounas. " Impossible the duke is with the king." " But I have a letter for him." " Ah, that is different. What is your name ? " " The Count Annibal de Coconnas." " Will Monsieur Annibal give me the letter ? " "On my word," said La Mole to himself, "I hope I may find another gentleman, equally polite, to conduct me to the King of Navarre." " Give me the letter," said the German gentleman, holding out his hand towards Coconnas. " Mordi ! " replied the Piedrnontese, " I scarcely know whether I ought, as I have not the honor of knowing you." "It is Monsieur de Besme," said the sentinel, "you may safely give him your letter, I'll answer for it." "M. de Besme !" cried Coconnas'; " with the greatest pleasure. Here is the letter. Pardon my hesitation ; but when one is entrusted with an important commission, one ought to be careful." " There is no need of any excuse," said De Besme. " Perhaps, sir," said La Mole, " you will be so kind as to do the same for my letter that you have done for that of my friend ? " " Who are you, monsieur ?" " The Count Lerac de la Mole." " I don't know the name." " No doubt ; for I am only just arrived in Paris, for the first time." " Where do you come from ?" " From Provence." " With a letter also ?" " Yes." " For the Duke de Guise ?" " No : for the King of Navarre." 46 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. " I am not in the service of the King of Navarre," said De Besme, coldly, " and therefore I cannot take your letter." And turning on his heel, he entered the Louvre, bid- ding Coconnas follow him. La Mole was left alone. At this moment a troop of cavaliers, p.bout a hundred in number, came out from the Louvre. " Ah, ah ! " said the sentinel to his comrade, " here come De Mouy and his Huguenots ! See how joyous they all are. The king has promised them, no doubt, to put to death the assassin of the admiral ; and as it was he who murdered De Mouy*s father, the son will kill two birds with one stone." " Did you not say/' interrupted La Mole, " that this officer is M. de Mouy ? " " Yes, monsieur." " Thank you," said La Mole. " That was all I wished to know ; " and advancing to the chief of the cavaliers. " Sir," said he, " I am told you are M. de Mouy." " Yes, sir," returriecl the officer, courteously. " May I inquire whom I have the honor of addressing ?" " The Count Lerac de la Mole." The young men bowed to each other. " What can I do for you, monsieur ? " asked De Mouy. " Monsieur, I am just arrived from Aix, and I have a letter from M. d'Aunac, governor of Provence, for the King of Navarre. How can I give it to him ? How can I enter the Louvre ? " " Nothing is easier than to enter the Louvre," replied De Mouy ; " but I fear the king will be unable to see you at this hour. I will, however, if you please, conduct you to his apartments, and then yon must manage for yourself." " A thousand thanks ! " " Come then," said De Mouy. De Mouy dismounted, advanced towards the wicket, passed the sentinel, conducted La Mole into the chateau, and, opening the door leading to the king's apartments : ff Enter, and inquire for yourself, monsieur," said he. MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 4-7 And saluting La Mole, he retired. La Mole, left alone, looked round. The anteroom was vacant. He advanced a few paces and found himself in a " I will walk straight on," thought he, "and I must meet some one." Suddenly the door opposite that by which he had en- tered opened, and two pages appeared, lighting a lady of noble bearing and exquisite beauty. The glare of the torches fell full on La Mole, who stood motionless. The lady stopped also. " What do you want, sir ? " said she, in a voice of exquisite sweetness. " Oh, madame," said La Mole, " pardon me ; I have just left M. de Mouy, who was so good as to conduct me here, and I wish to see the King of Navarre." " The king is not here, sir ; he is with his brother-in- law. But, in his absence, could you not say to the queen " "Oh, yes, madame," returned La Mole, "if I could obtain audience of her." " You have it already, sir " " What 1 " cried La Mole. " I am the Queen of Navarre." La Mole started with surprise. "Speak, sir," said Marguerite, "but speak quickly, for the queen-mother is waiting for me." " If the queen-mother waits for you, madame," said La Mole, " suffer me to leave you, for I am incapable of col- lecting my ideas, or of thinking of aught but admiration." Marguerite advanced graciously towards the handsome young man, who, without knowing it, acted like a finished courtier. " Eecover yourself, sir," said she ; " I will wait." " Pardon me, madame," said La Mole, " that I did not salute you with the respect due to you, but " " You took me for one of my ladies ? " said Marguerite, smiling. 48 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. " No ; but for the shade of the beautiful Diana of Poic- tiers, who is said to haunt the Louvre." " Come, sir," said Marguerite, " I see you will make your fortune at court ; your letter was not needed, but still, give it me : I will take care the King of Navarre has it."' In an instant La Mole threw open his doublet, and drew from his breast a letter enveloped in silk. Marguerite took the letter, and glanced at the writing. " Are you not M. de la Mole ? " asked she. " Yes, madame. Can I hope my name is not unknown to you?" " I have heard my husband, and the Due d'Alen9on, my brother, speak of you. I know they expect you." And she placed the letter in her corsage, glittering with gold and diamonds. "Now, sir," said she, "descend to the gallery below, and wait until some one comes to you from the King of Navarre. One of my pages will show you the way." And Marguerite disappeared, like a dream. " Are you coming, sir ? " cried the page who was to conduct La Mole to the lower gallery. " Oh, yes yes ! " cried La Mole, joyfully ; for, as the page led him the same way that Marguerite had gone by, he hoped to see her again. As he descended the staircase, he perceived her below ; and whether she heard his step, or by chance, she looked round, and La Mole saw her features a second time. The page preceding La Mole descended a story lower, opened one door, then another, and stopping " It is here you are to wait," said he. La Mole entered the gallery, the door- of which closed after him. The gallery was vacant, with the exception of one gen- tleman, who was sauntering up and down, and seemed also waiting for some one. It was so dark, that though not twenty paces apart, it was impossible for either to recognize the other's face. La Mole drew nearer. MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 49 " By Heaven ! " muttered he " here is M. de Coconnas again ! " At the sound of footsteps, Coconnas turned, and recog- nized La Mole. " Mordi!" cried he. "The devil take me, but here is M. de la Mole ! What am I doing ? Swearing in the king's palace. Well, never mind ; the king does not much care where he swears. Here we are at last, then, in the Louvre ! " " Yes : I suppose M. de Besme introduced you ? " " Oh, he is the most polite German I ever met with. Who brought you in ?" "M. de Mouy. I told you the Huguenots had some interest at court. Have you seen M. de Guise ? " " No not yet. Have you obtained an audience of the King of Navarre ? " " No but I soon shall. I was conducted here, and told to wait." " Ah, you will see we shall be invited to some grand sapper, and placed side by side. How singular! We seem inseparable. By the way, are you hungry ? " "No/' " And yet you seemed anxious to taste the good cheer of La Belle Etoile." At this moment the door communicating with the king's apartment opened, and M. de Besme entered. He scrutinized both gentlemen, and then motioned Coconnas to follow him. Coconnas waved his hand to La Mole. De Besme traversed a gallery, opened a door, and stood at the head of a staircase. He looked cautiously round, and, " M. de Coconnas," said he " where are you staying?" ' 'At the Belle Etoile, Hue de 1'Arbre-Sec." " Ah, that is close by. Keturn to your hotel, and to- night-" " Well, to-night? " " Come here, with a white cross in your hat. The pass- word is ' Guise.' Hush ! not a word." 50 MARGUERITE DE VALOI& " What time am I to come? " " When you hear the tocsin." " Good I shall be here," said Coconnas. And, saluting De Besme, he betook himself to the hostelry of La Belle Etoile. At this instant the door of the King of Navarre's apart- ment opened, and a page appeared. " You are the Count de la Mole?" said he. "That is my name/' "Where do you lodge?" "At the Belle Etoile." " That, is close to the Louvre. His majesty the King of Navarre has desired me to inform you that he cannot at present receive you : perhaps he may send for you to- night ; but, at all events, come to the Louvre to-morrow." "But the sentinel will refuse me admission." "True : the countersign is ' Navarre ;'that will secure your entrance." "Thanks." The first thing La Mole saw on entering the inn was Coconnas seated before a large omelette. " Oh, oh ! " cried Coconnas, laughing, " I see yon have no more dined with the King of Navarre than I have supped with the Duke de Guise." " Ma foil no." " Are you hungry now ? " " Yes, very." "Well, then, sit down, and partake of my omelette." " I see that fate makes us inseparable. Do you sleep here?" " I don't know." " More do I." "Well, then, I know where I shall pass the night." "Where?" "Wherever you do ; that is inevitable." Thus saying, the two gentlemen fell to work on the ome- let of Maitre la Huriere." MARGUERITE DE VALOISi 51 CHAPTER VI. THE DEBT PAID. Now, if the reader is curious to know why M. de la Mole had not been received by the King of Navarre, why M. de Cocouuas had not seen M. de Guise, and why both, in- stead of supping at the Louvre, on pheasants, partridges, and kid, supped at the hotel of the Belle Etoile on an omelette, he must kindly accompany us to the old palace of kings, and follow the queen, Marguerite of Navarre, of whom La Mole had lost sight at the entrance of the grand gallery. Whilst Marguerite was descending this staircase, the duke, Henry de G-uise, whom she had not seen since the night of her marriage, was in the king's closet. To this staircase, which Marguerite was descending, there was an outlet. To the closet in which M. de Guise was, there was a door, and this door and this outlet both led to a corridor, which corridor led to the apartments of the queen-mother Catherine de Medicis. Catherine de Medicis was alone, seated near a table, with her elbow leaning on a Prayer-book half open, and her head leaning on a hand still remarkably beautiful thanks to the cosmetics with which she was supplied by the Florentine, Rene, who united the double duty of per- fumer and poisoner to the queen-mother. The widow of Henry II. was clothed in mourning, which she had not thrown off since her husband's death. At this period she was about fifty-two or fifty-three years of age, and preserved a figure full of freshness and still of considerable beauty. Her, apartment like her costume, was all mourning. By her side was a small Italian grey- hound, called Phoebe, a present from her son-in-law, Henry of Navarre. Suddenly, and at a moment when the queen-mother 52 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. appeared plunged in some thought which brought a smile to her lips, colored with carmine, a man opened the door, raised the tapestry, and showed his pale visage, say- ing, " All goes badly." Catherine raised her head, and recognized the Duke de Guise. " How * all goes badly ' ?" she replied. " What mean you, Henry ?" " I mean that the king is more then ever taken with the accursed Huguenots ; and if we await his leave to ex- ecute the great enterprise, we shall wait a very long time, and perhaps forever/' " What, then, has happened ? " inquired Catherine, still preserving the tranquillity of countenance that was habitual to her, and yet to which when occasion served, she could give so different an expression. " Why, just now, for the twentieth time, I opened the conversation with his majesty as to whether he would still permit all those bravadoes which the gentlemen of the Eeformed religion indulge in, since the wound of their admiral. " "And what did my son reply ?" asked Catherine. " He replied, ' Monsieur le Due, you must necessarily be suspected by the people as the author of the attempted assassination of my second father, the admiral ; defend yourself from the imputation as best you may. As to me, I will defend myself properly, if I am insulted ; and then he turned away to feed his dogs." " And you made no attempt to retain him ! " " Yes ; but he replied to me, in that tone which yon so well know, and looking at me with the gaze peculiar to him, * M. le Due, my dogs are hungry ; and they are not men, whom I can keep waiting.' Whereupon I came straight to you." " And you have done right," said the queen-mother. "But what is now to be done F" " Try a last effort." "And who will try it ?" *' I ! Is the king alone ? *' MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 53 " No ; M. de Tavannes is with him." "Await me here ; or, rather, follow me at a distance." Catherine rose and went to the chamber, where, on Turkey carpets and velvet cushions, were the favorite greyhounds of the king. On perches ranged along the wall were two or three favorite falcons and a small pied hawk, with which Charles IX. amused himself in bringing down the small birds in the garden of the old Louvre, and that of the Tuileries, which they had just commenced building. On her way the queen-mother arranged her counte- nance into a pale and agonizing look, down which rolled a last or rather a first tear. She approached Charles IX. noiselessly, as he was giving his dogs fragments of cakes cut into equal por- tions. " My son," said the queen, with such a tremulous voice, so adroitly managed, that the king started. " What would you, madame ! " said Charles, turning round suddenly. " I would, my son," replied Catherine, "request your leave to retire to one of your chateaux, no matter which, so that it be as distant as possible from Paris." "And wherefore, madame?" inquired Charles IX., fixing on his mother that glassy eye, which, on certain occasions, became so penetrating. " Because every day I receive new insults from persons of the new faith ; because to-day I hear that you have been freshly menaced by the Protestants, even in your own Louvre, and I do not desire to be present at such spectacles." "But, then, madame," replied Charles IX. with an expression full of conviction, "they have attempted to kill their admiral. An infamous murderer has already assassinated the brave M. de Mouy. Mort de ma vie ! mother, there must be justice in a kingdom 1 " " Oh, be easy on that head, my son," said Catherine ; " justice will not be wanting to them ; for if you should refuse it, they will still have it in their own way : on 54 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. M. de Guise to-day, on me to-morrow, and yourself here- after." " Oh, madame ! " said Charles, allowing a first accent of doubt to break through, " do you think so ?" "Oh, my son," replied Catherine, giving way entirely to the violence of her thoughts, " do yon not see that it is no longer a question of the death of Frangois de Guise or the admiral, of Protestant religion or Catholic, but simply of the substitution of the son of Antoine de Bourbon for the son of Henry the Second ? " " Come, come, mother, you are falling again into your usual exaggeration," said the king. " What is, then, your opinion, my son ?" " To wait, mother to wait. All human wisdom is in this single word. The greatest, the strongest, the most skilful, is he who knows how to wait." " Do you wait, then : I will not." And on this Catherine made a curtsey, and, advancing towards the door, was about to return to her apartment. Charles IX. stopped her. " Well, then, really, what is best to be done, mother ? " he asked, " for I am just, before everything, and I would have every one satisfied with me." Catherine turned towards him. " Come, count," she said to Tavannes, who was caressing the pied hawk, "and tell the king your opinion as to what should be done." "Will your majesty permit me ?" inquired the count. " Speak, Tavannes ! speak." " What does your majesty do when, in the chase, the wounded boar turns on you ?" " Mordieu, sir, I await him, with firm foot and hand," replied Charles, "and stab him in the throat with my good sword." " Simply, that he may not hurt you," remarked Cath- erine. " And to amuse myself," said the king, with a smile which indicated courage pushed even to ferocity ; " but I will not amuse myself with killing my subjects j for, after MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 55 all, the Huguenots are my subjects, as well as the Cath- olics. " " Then, sire," said Catherine, " your subjects, the Huguenots, will do like the wild boar who escapes the sword thrast at his throat : they will bring down the throne/' " Bah 1 Do you really think so, madame ? " said Charles IX., with an air which denoted that he did not place great faith in his mother's predictions. "But have you not seen M. de Mouy and his party to-day ? " "Yes ; I have seen them, and indeed just left them. But what does he ask for that is not just ? He has re- quested the death of the murderer of his father and the assassin of the admiral. Did we not punish M. de Mont- gomery for the death of my father and your husband, although that death was a simple accident ? " *"Tis well, sir," said Catherine, piqued ; "let us say no more. Your majesty is under the protection of that God who gives strength, wisdom, and confidence. But I, a poor woman, whom God abandons, no doubt, on account of my sins, fear, and give way." And Catherine again curtseyed and left the room, making a sign to the Duke de Guise, who had at that moment entered, to remain in her place, and try a last effort. Charles IX. followed his mother with his eye, but this time did not recall her. He then began to caress his dogs, whistling a hunting air. He suddenly paused. " My mother," said he, " is a right royal spirit, and doubts of nothing. Really, now, it is a cool proposal, to kill off some dozens of Huguenots, because they come to demand justice, as if it were not their right !" " Some dozens ! " murmured the Duke de Guise. " Ah ! are you there, sir ? " said the king, appearing to see him for the first time. " Yes, some dozens. A tolerable waste of life ! Ah ! if any one came to me and said : * Sire, you shall be rid of all your enemies at once, and to-morrow there shall not remain one to reproach you with the death of the others/ why, then, I do not say " . "Well, sire!" 56 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. " Tavannes," said the king, "you will tire Margot ; put her back on her perch. It is no reason, because she bears the name of my sister, the Queen of Navarre, that all the world should caress her." Tavannes put the hawk on her perch, and amused him- self by playing with a greyhound's ears. 1 ' But, sire, if any one should say to your majesty : ' Sire, your majesty shall be delivered from all your enemies to-morrow ' ? " " And by the intercession of what saint would this great miracle be effected ? " " Sire, we are to-day at the 24th of August, and it will therefore be by the interposition of Saint Bartholomew." "A worthy saint/' replied the king, "who allowed himself to be skinned alive ! " " So much the better ; the more he suffered, the more he ought to have felt" a desire for vengeance on his execu- tioners." "And is it you, my cousin," said the king, "is it yon, with your pretty little gold-hilted sword, who will to- morrow slay ten thousand Huguenots ? Ah, ah ! mort de ma vie ! you are very amusing, M. De Guise ? " And the king burst into loud laughter, but a laughter so forced that the room echoed with its sinister sound. " Sire, one word and one only," continued the duke, shuddering in spite of himself at the sound of this laugh, which had nothing human in it " one sign, and all is ready. I have the Swiss and eleven hundred gentlemen ; I have the light horse and the citizens on my side ; your majesty has your guards ; your friends, the Catholic nobility. We are twenty to one." " Well, then, cousin of mine, since you are so strong, why the devil do yon come to fill my ears with all this ! Act without me act " And the king turned again to his dogs. Then the tapestry suddenly moved aside, and Catherine reappeared. " All goes well," she said to the duke ] " urge him, and he will yield." MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 57 And the tapestry fell on Catherine without the king seeing, or at least appearing to see her. " But yet," continued De Guise, " it is necessary I should know, if, in acting as I desire, I shall act agree- ably to your majesty's views." " Really, cousin Henry, you put your knife to my throat ! But I shall resist. Mordieu 1 am I not the king?" "No, not yet, sire ; but, if you will, you shall be so to- morrow." " Ah what ! " continued Charles, " you would kill the King of Navarre, the Prince de Cond6, in my Louvre ah 1 " Then he added, in a voice scarcely audible " With- out the walls, I do not say " "Sire," cried the duke, "they are going out this evening, to join in a revel with your brother, the Duke d'Alengon." "Tavannes," said the king, with well-affected impa- tience, " do not you see that you annoy Actason ? Here boy here 1" And Charles IX. quitted the apartment, without wait- ing to hear more, and leaving Tavannes and the Duke de Guise almost as uncertain as before. Another scene was passing in Catherine's apartments, who, after she had given the Duke de Guise her counsel to remain firm, had returned to her rooms, where she found assembled the persons who usually assisted at her going to bed. Her face was now as full of joy as it had been downcast when she set out. One by one she dismissed her women, and there only remained Madame Marguerite, who, seated on a coffer near the open window, was looking at the sky, absorbed in thought. Two or three times, when she thus found herself alone with her daughter, the queen-mother opened her mouth to speak, but each time a gloomy thought withheld the words ready to escape her lips. Suddenly the tapestry moved, and Henry of Navarre appeared. 58 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. The little greyhound, which was asleep on a sofa, leaped towards him at a bound. " You here, my son ! " said Catherine, starting. ' * Do you sup in the Louvre to-night ? " " No, madame," replied Henry, " we are going into the city to-night, with Messieurs d'Alen9on and De Oonde. I almost expected to find them here." Catherine smiled. " Ah ! you men are so happy to have such liberty ! Are they not, dear daughter ? " " Yes," replied Marguerite, " liberty is so glorious, so sweet a thing." "Would you imply that I restricted you, madame?" inquired Henry, bowing to his wife. "No, sir ; it is not for myself that I complain, but for women in general/' " Who goes there ? " asked Catherine, suddenly, and at the same moment the tapestry was raised, and Madame de Sauve showed her lovely head. " Madame," she said, " it is Ren6, the perfumer, whom your majesty sent for." Catherine cast a glance as quick as lightning at Henry of Navarre. The young prince turned slightly red, and then fearfully pale. The name of his mother's assassin had been mentioned in his presence ; he felt that his face betrayed his emotion, and he leaned against the bar of the window. The little greyhound growled. At the same moment, two persons entered ; the one an- nounced, and the other having no need to be so. The first was Ren6, the perfumer, who approached Catherine with all the servile obsequiousness of Florentine servants. He held in his hand a box, which he opened, and all the compartments were seen filled with powders and flasks. The second was Madame de Lorraine, the eldest sister of Marguerite. She entered by a small private door, which led from the King's closet, and. all pale and trembling, and hoping not to be observed by Catherine, who was ex- MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 59 amining, with Madame de Sauve, the contents of the box brought by Ren6, seated herself beside Marguerite, near whom the King of Navarre was standing, with his hand on his brow, like one who tries to rouse himself from some sudden shock. At this instant Catherine turned round. " Daughter/' she said to Marguerite, " you may retire to your chamber. My son, you may go and recreate yourself in the city." Marguerite rose, and Henry turned half round. Madame de Lorraine seized Marguerite's hand. " Sister," she whispered, with great quickness, " in the name of the Duke de Guise, who now saves you, as you saved him, do not go hence do not go to your apartments." "Eh ! what say you, Claude?" inquired Catherine, turning round. "Nothing, mother." " What did you whisper to Marguerite ? " " Only a message from the Duchess de Nevers." " And where is the lovely duchess ? *' " With her brother-in-law, M. de Guise." Catherine looked suspiciously at her two daughters, and frowned. " Come here, Claude," said the queen-mother. Claude obeyed, and the queen seized her hand. " What have you said to her, indiscreet girl that you are ? " she murmured, squeezing her daughter's wrist until she nearly shrieked with pain. " Madame," said Henry to his wife, he having lost nothing of the movements of the queen, Claude, or Mar- guerite " Madame, will you allow me the honor of kiss- ing your hand ? " Marguerite extended her trembling hand. " What did she say to you ? " murmured Henry, as he stooped to imprint a kiss on her hand. " Not to go out. In the name of Heaven, therefore, do not you go out either 1 " This was but a slight gleam ; but by its light, rapid as it was, Henry at once saw through the whole plot. 60 MARGUERITE DE VALOI8. " This is not all," added Marguerite ; " here is a letter, which a country gentleman brought." "M. do la Mole ?" " Yes." "Thanks," ho said, taking the letter, and putting it under his doublet ; and passing in front of his bewildered wife, he placed his hand on the shoulder of the Florentine. " Well, Master Ren6 ! " he said, " and how goes on busi- ness?" " Pretty well, monseigneur pretty well," replied the poisoner, with his perfidious smile. "I should think so," said Henry, "with men who, like you, supply all the crowned heads at home and abroad." " Except the King of Navarre," replied the Florentine, impudently. " Ventre-saint-gris, Master Rene," replied the king, " you are right ; and yet my poor mother, who also bought of you, recommended you to me with her dying breath. Come to me to-morrow, or the day after to-morrow, and bring your best perfumes." At this moment, the Duchess of Lorraine, who could no longer contain herself, burst into loud sobs. Henry did not even turn towards her. "Sister, dear, what is the matter ?" cried Marguerite, going towards her. "Nothing," said Catherine, passing between the two young women " nothing ; she has those nervous attacks, for which Mazille prescribed aromatic preparations ; " and again, and with more force than before, she pressed her eldest daughter's arm ; then, turning towards the youngest : "Why, Margot," she said, " did you hear me request you to retire to your room ? if that is not sufficient, I command you." " Excuse me madame," replied Marguerite, trembling and pale ; "I wish your majesty good night." " I hope your wishes may be heard. Good night good night!" Marguerite withdrew, staggering with affright, and in MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 61 rain seeking a glance from her husband, who did not even turn towards her. There was a moment's silence, during which Catherine remained with her eyes fastened on the Duchess of Lor- raine, who, on her side, without speaking, looked at her mother with clasped hands. Henry's back was still turned, but he was watching the scene in a glass, whilst seeming to curl his mustache with a pomade which Een6 had given to him. " And you, Henry, do you mean to go ? " asked Cath- erine. "Yes, that's true," exclaimed the king. "Ma foil I forgot that the Duke d'Alenqon and the Prince de Cond6 were awaiting me ! These are admirable perfumes ; they quite overpower one, and destroy one's memory. Good evening, madame." " Good evening ! To-morrow you will perhaps bring me tidings of the admiral." " Without fail. Well, Phceb6, what is it ?" " Phceb6 1 " said the queen-mother, impatiently. "Caliber, madame," said the Bearnais, "for she will not allow me to go out." The queen-mother rose, took the little greyhound by the collar, and held her whilst Henry left the apartment, with his features as calm and smiling as if he did not feel in his heart that his life was in imminent peril. Behind him the little dog, set free by Catherine de Medicis, rushed to try and overtake him, but the door was closed, and Phceb6 could only put her long nose under the tapestry and give a long and mournful howl. " Now, Charlotte," said Catherine to Madame de Sauve, " go and find M. de Guise and Tavannes, who are in my oratory, and return with them, and remain with tke Duchess of Lorraine, who iiaa the vapors." 08 MARGUERITE DE VALOia CHAPTER VIL THE NIGHT OF THE 34TH OF AUGUST, 1573. La Mole and Coconnas had finished their meager supper, Coconnas stretched his legs, leaned one elbow on the table, and drinking a last glass of wine, said : " Do you mean to go to bed instantly, Monsieur de la Mole?"* "Ma foil lam very much inclined, for it is possible that I may be called up in the night." " And I, too," said Coconnas ; " but it appears to me that, under the circumstances, instead of going to bed and making those wait who are to come to us, we should do better to call for cards and play a game. They will then find us quite ready." " I would willingly accept your proposal, sir, bat I have very little money for play. I have scarce a hundred gold crowns in my valise, for my whole treasure." "A hundred gold crowns !" cried Coconnas, "and you complain ? Mordi ! I have but six ! " "Why," replied La Mole, " I saw you draw from your pocket a purse which appeared not only full, but I should say, brimful." " Ah," said Cocounas, "that is to defray an old debt which I am compelled to pay to an old friend of my father, whom I suspect to be like yourself, somewhat of a Huguenot. Yes, there are here a hundred rose nobles," he added, slapping his pocket, " but these hundred rose nobles belong to a Master Mercandon. As to my personal patrimony, that, as I tell you, is limited to six crowns." " How, then, can you play ? " " Why, it is because of that I wish to play. Besides, an idea occurs to me." " What is it ? " MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 63 fi We both came to Paris on the same errand." " Yes/' " We have each sought a powerful protector." " Yes." " You rely on yours, as I rely on mine." " Yes." "Well, then, it occurred to me that we should play at first for our money, and afterwards for the first favor which came to us, either from the court or from our mis- tress." " Eeally, a very ingenious idea," said La Mole, with a smile, " but I confess I am not such a gamester as to risk my whole life on a card or a turn of the dice ; for the first favor which may come either to you or to me will, in all probability, involve our whole life. But, if you will, let us play until your six crowns be lost or doubled, and if lost, and you desire to continue the game, you are a gen- tleman, and your word is as good as gold." " Done," replied Coconnas ; "a gentleman's word is gold, especially when he has credit at court. Thus, be- lieve me, I did not risk too much when I proposed to play for the first favor we might receive at court." " Doubtless, and you might lose it, but I could not gain it ; for, being with the King of Navarre, I could not receive anything from the Duke de Guise." " Ah, the heretic ! " murmured the host, whilst rub- bing up his old casque " what I I smelt you out, did I ! " and he crossed himself devoutly. " Well, then," continued Coconnas, shuffling the cards which the waiter brought him, "you are of the " "What?" "New religion." "I?" " Yes, you." " Well, say that I am," said La Mole, with a smile, "have you anything against us ?" "No, thank God! I hate Huguenotry with all my heart, but I do not hate the Huguenots, for they are in fashion jusfc now." 44 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. " Yes/' replied La Mole, smiling ; " to wit, the shoot- ing at the admiral ; but let us play." " Yes, let us play, and fear not, for should I lose a hun- dred crowns of gold against yours, I shall have wherewithal to pay you to-morrow morning." " Then your fortune will come whilst you sleep." " No ; I shall go and find it." " Where ? I'll go with you." "At the Louvre." " Are you going back there to-night ?" " Yes ; I have, to-night, a private audience with tho great Duke de Guise." Since Coconnas had mentioned the Louvre, La Hnriere had left off cleaning his headpiece, and placed himself be- hind La Mole's chair, so that Coconnas alone could see him, and made signs to him, with the Piedmontese, ab- sorbed in his game and the conversation, did not remark. " Well, it is very strange," remarked La Mole ; "and you were right to say that we were born under the same star. I have also an appointment at the Louvre to-night, but not with the Duke de Guise j mine is with the King of Navarre." " Have you a countersign ?" " Yes." " A rallying sign ? " No." " Well, I have one, and my countersign is " At these words of the Piedmontese, La Huriere made so significant a gesture, that Coconnas, who had just raised his head, was greatly astonished, even more than by the game, at which he had lost three crowns. *' What's the matter ?" asked La Mole, but seeing noth- ing, he shuffled the cards again ; whilst La Huridre re- tired, placing his finger on his lips to recommend discre- tion, and leaving Coconnas so amazed, that he again lost almost as rapidly the second time as the first. " Well," observed La Mole, " this makes exactly your six crowns. Will you have your revenge on your future for- tune ?" MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 65 ' Willingly," replied (Joconnas. " But before you begin, did you not say you had an ap- pointment with the Duke de Guise ? " " Coconnas turned his looks towards the kitchen, and saw the great eyes of La Huriere. " Yes/' he replied, " but it is not yet the hour. But now let us talk a little about yourself, M. de la Mole." "We shall do better, I think, by talking of the game, my dear M. de Ooconnas ; for unless I am very much mistaken, you are in a fair way of losing six more crowns." " Mordi! and that is true! I always heard that the Huguenots had good luck at cards. Devil take me, if I haven't a good mind to turn Huguenot !" "Do, count, do," said La Mole; "and you shall be well received amongst us." Coconnas scratched his ear. "If I were sure that your good luck came from that," he said, " I would ; for I really do not hold so entirely with mass, and as the king does not think so much of it either " " Then it is such a simple religion," said La Mole ; "so pure " " And, moreover, it is in fashion," said Coconnas ; ' ' and it brings good luck at cards ; for, devil take me, if you do not hold all the aces, and yet I have watched you closely, and you play very fairly ; it must be the religion " "You owe me six crowns more," said La Mole, quietly. " Ah, how you tempt me ! " said Coconnas. " Hush ! " said La Mole, " you will get into a quarrel with our host." " Ah, that is true," said Coconnas, turning his eyes to- wards the kitchen ; " but no, he is not listening ; he is too much occupied at this moment." " What is he doing ? " inquired La Mole, who could see nothing from his place. " He is talking with devil take me ! it is he ! " "Who?" " Why. that night-bird with whom he was discoursing S 66 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. when we arrived. The man in the yellow doublet and sad-colored cloak,, Mordi! how earnestly he talks. " At this moment, La Huridre came hastily to Coconnas, and whispered in his ear : " Silence, for your life 1 and get rid of your companion." Coconnas, turning to La Mole, said : " My dear sir, I must beg you to excuse me. 1 have lost fifty crowns in no time. I am in bad luck to-night." ' ' Well, sir, as you please/' replied La Mole ; " besides, 1 shall not be sorry to lie down for a time. Master la Huriere ! " "Sir." " If any one comes for me from the King of Navarre, wake me immediately ; I shall be dressed, and consequently ready." " So shall I," said Coconnas ; " and that I may not keep his highness waiting, I will prepare the sign. Mas- ter la Huriere, some white paper and scissors I " " Good night, M. de Coconnas," said La Mole ; " and you, landlord, be so good as to light me to my room. Good luck, my friend ! " and La Mole disappeared up the staircase, followed by La Huriere. Then the mysterious personage, taking Coconnas by the arm, said to him, with much quickness : " Sir, you have very nearly betrayed a secret on which depends the fate of a kingdom. One word more, and I should have brought you down with my arquebuss. Now we are alone." " But who are you ? " " Did you ever hear talk of Maurevel ? " "The assassin of the admiral?" " And of Captain de Mouy." "Yes." " Well, I am De Maurevel." " Ah, ah ! " said Coconnas. " Hush ! " said Maurevel, putting his finger on hi* mouth. Coconnas listened. At this moment he heard the landlord close the door of MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 6Y a chamber, then the door of a corridor, and bolt it ; and then return precipitately to Coconnas and Maurevel, offer- ing each a seat, and taking a third for himself. " All is close now," he said, " and you may speak out, M. Maurevel." Eleven o'clock struck by Saint Germain FAuxerrois ; Maurevel counted each stroke of the clock, which sounded full and dull in the night, and, when the last sound had died away : "Sir," he said, turning to Coconnas, who was amazed at all the precautions taken, " are you a good Catholic ?" " I believe so," replied Coconnas. " Sir, are you devoted to the king ? " " Body and soul ! you offend me, sir, by asking such a question." " Will you follow us ? " "Whither?" "That is of no consequence let me guide you ; your fortune, and perhaps your life, are concerned in the result." " I tell you, sir, that at midnight I have an appoint- ment at the Louvre. " " That is where we are going." " M. de Guise awaits me there." " And us also ! " " But I have a written pass-word." " And so have we ! " " I have a sign of recognition." Maurevel drew from beneath his doublet a handful of crosses in white stuff, gave one to La Huriere, one to Coconnas, and took another for himself. La Huri&re fastened his to his helmet. Maurevel attached his to the side of his hat. " Ah, then," said Coconnas, amazed, " the appointment, the countersign, and the rallying mark were for every- body ?" " Yes, sir that is to say, for all good Catholics." "Then there is a fe'te at the Louvre some royal ban- quet, is there not ?" said Coconnas; "and they wish to DUMAS YOL. III. 4 68 MARGUERITE DE VALOI8. exclude those hounds of Huguenots, good, capital ex- cellent ! They have had the best of it too long." " Yes, there is a fete at the Louvre a royal banquet ; and the Huguenots are invited and more, they will be the heroes of the f6te, and will pay for the festival, and if you will be one of us, we will begin by going to invite their principal champion their Gideon, as they call him." " The admiral ! " cried Cocounas. " Yes, old Gaspard, whom I missed, like a fool, although I aimed at him with the king's arquebuss." " And this, my gentleman, is why I was furbishing my helmet, sharpening my sword, and putting an edge on my knives," said La Huridre, with a loud and bear-like voice. At these words, Ooconnas shuddered and turned very pale, for he began to comprehend. " Then really," he exclaimed, " this f6te this banquet is a " " You are a long time guessing, sir," said Maurevel, " and it is easy to see that you are not so weary of these insolent heretics as we are." " And you take on yourself," he said, "to go to the admiral and to " Maurevel smiled, and drawing Coconuas to the window, he said : " Look there ! do you see, in the small square at the end of the street, behind the church, a troop drawn up quietly in the shadow ? " " Yes." " The men who form that troop have, like Master la Huridre, and myself, and yourself, a cross in their hats." " Well ! " " Well, these men are a company of Swiss, from the smaller cantons, commanded by Toquenot you know they are friends of the king." " Ah, ah ! " said Coconnas. " Now, look at that troop of horse passing along the Quay do you recognize their leader ? " " How can I recognize him," asked Coconnas, with a MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 69 shudder, " when it was only this evening that I arrived in Paris ? " " Well, then, it is he with whom you have a rendez- vous at the Louvre at midnight. See, he is going to wait for you ! " " The Duke de Guise?" " Himself ! His escorts are, Marcel, the ex-provost of the tradesmen, and Jean Chorou, the present provost. These two are going to summon their companies, and here comes the captain of the quarter. See what he will do ? " " He knocks at each door ; but what is there on the doors at which he knocks ? " " A white cross, young man, such as that which we have in our hats." " But at each house at which he knocks they open, and from each house there come out armed citizens. " " He will knock here in turn, and we shall in turn go out." " But," said Coconnas, " if all the world is on foot to go and kill one old Huguenot Mordi ! it is shameful ? It is an affair of cut-throats, and not of soldiers." " Young man," replied Maurevel, " if the old are objectionable to you, you may choose young ones you will find plenty for all tastes. If you despise daggers, use your sword, for the Huguenots are not the men to allow their throats to be cut without defending themselves, and you know that Huguenots, young or old, are hard-lived." "But are they -going to kill them all, then ?" cried Coconnas. "All!" " By order of the king ? " " By order of the king and M. de Guise." " And when ? " " When you hear the clock of Saint Germain I'Auxer- rois strike." " Oh, it was for that, then, that the amiable German told me to hasten at the first sound of the tocsin. " " You have, then, seen M. de Besme ?" " I have seen and spoken to him." 70 MARGUERITE DE VALOia " Where ?" " At the Louvre." " Look there 1 * " Mordi /'tis he himself. " " Would you speak with him ? " " Why, really, I should like to do so." Mau revel opened the window instantly ; Besme was passing at the moment with twenty soldiers. " Guise and Lorraine I " said Maurevel. Besme turned round, and perceiving that it was himself who was accosted, he came under the window. " Oh, is it yon, Sir6 de Maurevel ?** " Yes, 'tis I, what seek yon ? " " I am seeking the hostelry of the Belle Etoile, to find a Monsieur Coconnas." " I am here, M. de Besme/' said the young man. " Good, good ; are you ready ? " Yes to do what? " " Whatever M. de Maurevel may tell you, for he is a good Catholic." " Do you hear ? " inquired Maurevel. "Yes/* replied Coconnas, "but M. de Besme ! where are you going ? " " I am going to saya word to the admiral." " Say two, if necessary," said Maurevel, " and this time, if he gets up again at the first, do not let him rise at the second." " Make yourself easy, M. de Maurevel, aud put the young gentleman in the right path." " Ah, have no fear for me ; the Coconnas have keen scent, and good bred dogs hunt from instinct." "Adieu 1 begin the chase, for we are in the slot of the deer." De Besme went on, and Maurevel closed the window. " You hear, young man," said Maurevel, " if you have any private enemy, although he is not altogether a Hu- guenot, you can put him on your list, and he will pass with the others." Coconnas, more bewildered than ever with what he saw MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. fl and heard, looked about him, at the host and Maurevel, who quietly drew a paper from his. pocket. " Here's my list," said he ; " three hundred. Let each good Catholic do this night one-tenth part of the business I shall do, and to-morrow there will not remain one single heretic in the kingdom." " Hush ! " said La Huriere. " What is it ? " inquired Coconnas and Maurevel to- gether. They heard the first stroke of the bell of Saint Germain 1'Auxerrois vibrate. " The signal ! " exclaimed Maurevel. " The time is put on for it was agreed for midnight. So much the better. When it is the interest of God and the king, it is better that the clock should be put forward than backward." And the sinister sound of the church bell was distinctly heard. Then a shot was fired, and in an instant, the light of several flambeaux blazed up like flashes of lightning in the Eue de PArbre-Sec. Coconnas passed his hand over his brow, which was damp with perspiration. "It has begun!" cried Maurevel. "Now to work away ! " "One moment, one moment !" said the host. " Be- fore we begin, let us make safe the house. I do not wish to have my wife and children killed in my absence. There is a Huguenot here." " M. de la Mole ! " said Coconnas, starting. " Yes, the fowl has thrown himself into the wolf's throat." "What!" said Coconnas; "would you attack your guest ? " " It was for him I gave an extra edge to my rapier." " Oh, oh ! " said the Piedmontese, frowning. " I never yet killed anything but rabbits, ducks, and chickens," replied the worthy host, " and I do not know very well how to kill a man ; but I can make my first trial on him, and if I am clumsy, no one will be there to laugh at me." 72 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. " Mordi. " it is hard," said Coconnas. " M. de la Mole is my companion ; M. de la Mole has supped with me ; M. de la Mole has played with me." " Yes ; but M. de la Mole is a heretic," said Maurevel. " M. de la Mole is doomed ; and if we do not kill him, others will." "Not to say," added the host, " that he has gained fifty crowns from you." " True," said Coconnas ; " but, fairly, I am sure." Fairly, or not, you must pay them, whilst, if I kill him, you are quits." " Come come ! " cried Maurevel ; " make haste, or we shall not be in time with the aid we have promised M. de Guise, at the admiral's." " Coconnas sighed. "Fll make haste!" cried La Huriere, "wait for me." " Mordi f" cried Coconnas, "he will put the poor gen- tleman to great pain, and, perhaps, rob him. I must be present to finish him, if requisite, and to prevent him from touching his money." And impelled by this happy thought, Coconnas followed La Huriere up-stairs, and soon overtook him, for the latter slackened his pace when he approached the intended victim. As he reached the door, Coconnas still following, several discharges of musquetry in the streets were heard. "Diable/" muttered La Huriere, somewhat discon- certed ; " that has awakened him, I think." "I should say so," observed Coconnas, "and he will defend himself ; I do not know a likelier man. Suppose, now, Master la Huridre, he were to kill you, that would be droll, eh ? " "Hum, hum ! " responded the host, but knowing him- self to be armed with a good arquebuss, he dashed the door in with a kick of his foot. La Mole, without his hat, but dressed, was entrenched behind his bed, his sword between his teeth, and his pis- tols in his hands. MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 73 " Ah, ah ! " said Coconnas, his nostrils expanding like a wild beast who smelt blood "this grows interesting, Master la Hurieire. Forward ! " " Ah, you would assassinate me, it seems ! " cried La Mole, whose eyes glared ; ' ' and it is you, wretch ! " Master la Huriere's reply to this was to take aim at the young man with his arquebuss ; but La Mole was on his guard, and as he fired, went on his knees, and the ball passed over his head. "Help I" cried La Mole ; "help, M. de Coconnas I" " Help, M. de Maurevel ! help ! " cried La Hurire. "Ma foil M. de la Mole," replied Coconnas, "all I can do in this affair is not to join the attack against you. It seems, all the Huguenots are to be put to death to- night, in the king's name. Get out of it as well as you can." "Ah, traitors ! assassins ! is it so ? Well, then, take this ! " And La Mole, aiming in his turn, fired one of his pistols. La Huriere, who had kept his eye on him, moved suddenly on one side ; but Coconnas, not anticipat- ing such a reply, had not stirred, and the ball grazed his shoulder. " Mordi /" he exclaimed, grinding his teeth " I have it. Well, then, let it be us two, since you will have it so ! " and drawing his rapier, he rushed on La Mole. Had he been alone, La Mole would, doubtless, have awaited his attack ; but Coconnas had La Huriere to aid him, who was reloading his gun, and Maurevel, who was coming rapidly up the stairs. La Mole, therefore, dashed into a small closet, which he bolted inside. " Ah, coward ! n cried Coconnas, furious, and striking at the door with the pommel of his sword " wait ! wait ! and I will make as many holes in your body as you have gained crowns of me to-night. Wait for me, poltroon wait for me ! " La Huriere fired his arquebuss at the lock, and the door flew open. Coconnas rushed into the closet, but it was empty, and the window open. 74 MARGUERITE DE V ALOIS. "He has thrown himself out," said the host, "and as we are on the fourth story, he must be killed." " Or, he has escaped by the roof of the next house/' said Coconnas, putting his leg over the bar of the window, and preparing to follow him over this narrow and slip- pery route ; but Maurevel and La Huriere drew him back into the apartment. " Are you mad ?" they both exclaimed at once ; *' you will kill yourself ! " "Bah ! " said Coconnas, "I am a mountaineer, and nsed to traverse the glaciers ; besides, when a man has once offended me, I will go up to heaven or descend to hell with him, by whatever route he pleases. Let me do as I wish.'* " Well," said Maurevel, " he is either dead or a long way off by this time. Come with us ; and if he escape you, there will be a thousand others in his place." " You are right/' cried Coconnas. " Death to the Huguenots ! I want revenge, and the sooner the better." And the three descended the staircase, like an avalanche. " To the admiral's ! " shouted Maurevel. " To the admiral's !" shouted La Hnriere. "To the admiral's, then, if it must be so!" shouted Coconnas. And all three, leaving the Belle Etoile in charge of Gre- goire and the other waiters, hastened towards the Eue de B6thisy, a bright light, and the report of fire-arms, guid- ing them in that direction. " Who comes here ? " cried Coconnas. " A man with- out his doublet or scarf ! " " It io some one escaping," said Maurevel. "Five ! fire !" said Coconnas; "you who have arque- busses." " Mafoi I not I," replied Maurevel. " I keep my pow- der for better game." " You, then, La Huriere ! " " Wait, wait ! " said the innkeeper, taking aim. " Oh, yes, wait, and he will escape," replied Coconnas. And he rushed after the unhappy wretch, whom he soon MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 75 overtook, as he was wounded ; but at the moment when, in order that he might not strike him behind, he ex- claimed, " Turn, turn ! " the report of an arquebuss was heard, a ball whistled by Coconnas' ears, and the fugitive rolled over, like a hare struck by the shot of the sports- man. A cry of triumph was heard behind Coconnas. The Piedmontese turned round, and saw La Huriere brandish- ing his weapon. 1 ' Ah, now," he exclaimed, " I have made my maiden shot !" " And only just missed making a hole in me, from one side to the other. " " Be on your guard ! be on your guard ! " Coconuas sprung back. The wounded man had risen on his knee, and, full of revenge, was about to stab him with his poniard, when the host's warning put the Pied- montese on his guard. " Ah, viper ! " shouted Coconnas ; and rushing at the wounded man, he thrust his sword through him three times up to the hilt. " And now," cried he, leaving the Huguenot in the agonies of death " to the admiral's*! to the admiral's ! " " Ah, ah ! my gentlemen," said Maurevel, " it seems to work." "Ma foil" yes," replied Coconnas. " I do not know if it is the smell of gunpowder that makes me drunk, or the sight of blood which excites me, but mordi! I am all anxious for slaughter. It is like a battue of men. I have as yet only had battues of bears and wolves, and, on my honor, a battue of men seems more amusing." And the three went on their way. 76 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. CHAPTER VIII. THE VICTIMS. THE hotel of the admiral was, as we have said, situated in the Rue de Bethisy. It was a large house, opening on a court in front, flanked by two wings. One principal and two small gates afforded entrance into this courtyard. When our three cut-throats entered the Rue Bethisy, which forms part of the Rue des Fosses-St.-Germain- 1'Auxerrois, they saw the hotel surrounded with Swiss sol- diers and citizens, all armed to the teeth, some holding drawn swords, others arquebusses loaded and the matches burning, and some, in their left hand, torches that threw a fitful and lurid glare on this sea of human heads and naked weapons. The work of destruction was proceeding in the Rues Tirechappe, Etienne, and Bertin-Poiree. Agonized cries and the reports of muskets were heard incessantly ; and, occasionally, some wretched fugitive rushed wildly through what, seen by the uncertain light, seemed a troop of demons. In an instant, Coconnas, Maurevel, and La Huriere, accredited by their white crosses, and received with cries of welcome, were in the midst of the tumult, though they could not have entered the throng, had not Maurevel been recognized. Coconnas and La Huriere followed him, and all three contrived to enter the court. In the center of this court, the three doors of which were burst open, a man, around whom a body of Catholics formed a respectful circle, stood leaning on his drawn rapier, and eagerly looking up at a balcony about fifteen feet above him, which extended in front of the principal window of the hotel. This man stamped impatiently on the ground, and, from time to time, questioned those around him. MARGUERITE DE VALOI8. 77 " Nothing yet ! " murmured he. " No one ! He has been warned, and has escaped. What do you think, Dn Gast ? " " Impossible, monseigneur." " Why ? Did you not tell me, that just before we ar- rived, a man, bareheaded, a drawn sword in his hand, came running, as if pursued, knocked at the door, and was admitted?" " Yes, monseigneur : but M. de Besme came up immedi- ately, broke open the doors, and surrounded the hotel. The man went in, sure enough, but he has not gone out." " Why," said Coconnas to La Huriere, " if my eyes do not deceive me, it is M. de Guise I see." " Himself, monsieur. Yes ; the great Henry de Guise is come in person to watch for the admiral and serve him as he served the duke's father. Every one has his day, and it is our turn now." " Hola, Besme!" cried the duke, with his powerful voice, " have you not finished yet ?" And he struck his sword so forcibly against the stones that sparks flew out. At this instant cries were heard in the hotel then sev- eral shots then a clashing of swords, and then all was again silent. The duke was about to rush into the house. " Monseigneur, monseigneur ! " said Du Gast, detain- ing him, "your dignity commands you to wait here." " You are right, Du Gast. I must stay here ; but I am dying with anxiety. If he were to escape ! " Suddenly the windows of the first floor were lighted up with what seemed the reflection of torches. The window, on which the duke's eyes were fixed, opened, or, rather, was shattered to pieces, and a man, his face and collar stained with blood, appeared on the balcony. " Ah ! at last, Besme ! " cried the duke ; " what news ? " " Here ! here ! " replied the German, with the greatest sang fr old, lifting as he spoke, a heavy body. " But where are the others ? " demanded the duke. 78 MARGUERITE DE V ALOIS. "The others are finishing the rest." " And what have you done ? " " You shall see. Stand back a little ! " The duke retreated a few paces. The object that Besme was trying to lift was now visible ; it was the body of an old man. He raised it above the balcony, and threw it, by a powerful effort, at his master's feet. The heavy fall, and the blood that gushed forth, star- tled even the duke himself ; but curiosity soon overpowered fear, and the light of the torches was speedily thrown on the body. A white beard, a venerable visage, and limbs contracted by death, were then visible. "The admiral!" cried twenty voices, as instantaneously hushed. "Yes, the admiral !" said the duke approaching the corpse, and contemplating it with silent ecstasy. " The admiral ! the admiral ! " repeated the witnesses of this terrible scene, timidly approaching the old man, majestic even in death. "Ah, at last, Gaspard ! " said the Duke de Guise, triumphantly. " Murderer of my father ! thus do I avenge him ! " And the duke dared to plant his foot on the breast of the Protestant hero. But instantly the dying warrior opened his eyes, his bleeding and mutilated hand clenched itself, and the admiral, with a sepulchral voice, said to the duke : " Henry de Guise, one day the foot of the assassin shall be planted on thy breast ! I did not kill thy father, and I curse thee ! " The duke, pale, and trembling in spite of himself, felt a cold shudder come over him. He passed his hand across his brow, as if to dispel the fearful vision ; and when he dared again to glance at the admiral,' his eyes were closed, his hand unclenched, and a stream of black blood poured over his silvery beard from that mouth which had so lately uttered the terrible denunciation against his mur- derer. MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 79 The duke lifted his sword with a gesture of desperate resolution. " Are you satisfied, monseigneur ? " asked Besme. " Yes," returned Henry ; " for thou hast avenged " " The Duke Fran9ois 1 " said De Besme. " The Catholic religion/' returned Henry. Then, turning to the soldiers and citizens who filled the court and street, " To work, my friends, to work ! " " Good evening, M. de Besme/' said Coconnas, ap- proaching the German, who stood on the balcony, wiping his sword. " It was you, then, who settled him 1 " cried La Huriere; " how did you manage it ? " " Oh, very easily : he heard a noise, opened his door, and I ran him through the body. But I think they are killing Teligny now, for I hear him yelling." At this moment, several cries of distress were heard, and the windows of the long gallery that formed a wing of the hotel were lighted up with a red glare ; two mpn were seen flying before a body of assassins. An arque- buss shot killed one ; the other sprang boldly and without stopping to look at the distance from the ground, through an open window into the court below, heeding not the enemies who awaited him there. " Kill ! kill ! " cried the assassins, seeing their prey about to escape them. The fugitive picked up his sword, which in his leap had fallen from his hand, dashed through the soldiers, upset three or four, ran one through the body, and amid the pistol-shots and imprecations of the furious Catholics, darted like lightning by Coconnas, who stood ready for him at the door. " Touched ! " cried the Piedmontese, piercing his arm with his sharp blade. " Coward ! " replied the fugitive, striking him on the face with the flat of his weapon, for want of room to thrust at him with its point. " A thousand devils ! " cried Coconnas j " it's M. de la Mole I" 80 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. " M. de la Mole ! " re-echoed La Huridre and Maurevel, " It is he who warned the admiral ! " cried several sol- diers. " Kill him kill him ! " was shouted on all sides. Coconnas, La Hurire, and half a score of soldiers, rushed in pursuit of La Mole, who, covered with blood, and having attained that state of desperation which is the last resource of human strength, dashed wildly through the streets, with no other guide than instinct. Behind him, the footsteps and shouts of his pursuers gave him wings. Occasionally a ball whistled by his ear, and made him dart forward with redoubled speed. He no longer seemed to breathe : it was a hoarse rattle which came from his chest. His pourpoint seemed to prevent his heart from beating, and he tore it off ; soon his sword became too heavy for his hand, and he threw it away. The blood and perspiration matted his hair, and trickled in heavy drops down his face. Sometimes it seemed to him that he was gaining on his pursuers, and he could hear their steps die away in the distance ; but at their cries, fresh murderers started up at every turn, and con- tinued the chase ; suddenly he perceived, on his left, the river, rolling silently on ; he felt, like the stag at bay, an invincible desire to plunge into it ; the supreme power of reason alone restrained him. On his right was the Louvre, dark and frowning, but full of strange and ominous sounds; soldiers on the drawbridge came and went, and helmets and cuirasses glittered in the moonlight. La Mole thought of the King of Navarre, as he had before thought of Col- igny : they were his only protectors, it was his last hope. He collected all his strength, and inwardly vowing to abjure his faith should he escape massacre, he rushed by the soldiers, on to the drawbridge, received another pon- iard stab in the side, and despite the cries of " Kill kill ! " that resounded on all sides, and the opposing weapons of the sentinels, darted like an arrow through the court, into the vestibule, mounted the staircase, then up two stories higher, recognized a door, and leaned against it, striking it violently with his hands and feet. MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. $J " Who is there ? " asked a woman's voice. " Oh, my God ! " murmured La Mole " they are com- ing, I hear them ; 'tis I 'tis I ! " " Who are you ?" said the voice. La Mole recollected the pass-word. " Navarre Navarre ! " cried he. The door instantly opened. La Mole, without thank- ing, or even seeing Gillonne, dashed into the vestibule, then along a corridor, through two or three chambers, until, at last, he entered a room lighted by a lamp sus- pended from the ceiling. Beneath curtains of velvet with gold fleurs-de-lis, in a bed of carved oak, a lady, wrapped in a dressing-gown, raised herself on her arm, and gazed with terror. La Mole precipitated himself towards her. " Madame," cried he, " they are killing, they are butch- ering my brothers they seek to kill me also ! You are queen save me ! " And he threw himself at her feet, leaving on the carpet a large track of blood. At the sight of a man, pale, exhausted, and bleeding at her feet, the Queen of Navarre, who, warned by Madame de Lorraine, had laid down without undressing herself, clasped her hands over her eyes, and shrieked for help. " Madame," cried La Mole, " for the love of Heaven, do not call ! If you do, I am lost, for my murderers are at hand ; they are on the stairs hark ! I hear them now ! " " Help ! " cried the queen" help ! " "Ah ! " said La Mole, despairingly, " you have killed me. I did not think it possible to die by so sweet a voice, so fair a hand ! " At the same time, the door flew open, and a troop of men, their faces covered with blood and blackened with powder, their swords drawn, and their pikes and arque- busses leveled, rushed into the apartment. Coconnas was at their head his red hair bristling, his eye flashing fire, and his cheek cut open by La Mole's sword. The Piedmontese was terrible to behold. " Mordil" cried he, " we have him at last." 6 82 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. La Mole looked round him for a weapon, but in vain ; he glanced at the queen, and saw profound commiseration depicted in her face ; he at once felt that she alone could save him ; he threw his arms round her. Coconnas advanced, and with the point of his long rapier again wounded his enemy's shoulder, and the crimson drops of warm blood stained the white and perfumed sheets of Marguerite's couch. Marguerite saw the blood flow, and felt the shudder that ran through La Mole's frame : she threw herself with him into the recess between the bed and the wall. It was time : for La Mole was incapable of flight or resistance, his head leaned on Marguerite's shoulder, and his hand convul- sively seized and tore its thin cambric covering. "Oh, madaine," murmured he, "save me." He could say no more. A mist came over his eyes, his head sunk back, his arms fell at his side, and he sunk on the floor, bathed in his blood, and dragging the queen with him. At this moment, Coconnas, excited by the sight of blood and exasperated by the long pursuit, advanced towards the recess ; in another instant, his sword would have pierced La Mole's heart, and perhaps that of Marguerite also. At the sight of the bare steel, and even more moved at the insolence of the man, the daughter of kings drew her- self up to her full height, and sent forth such a cry of fear, indignation, and rage, that Coconnas stood petrified. Suddenly, a door in the wall opened, and a young man of sixteen or seventeen, dressed in black and his hair in disorder, rushed in. " Hold ! hold 1 " cried he ; "I am here, my sister I am here ! " f< Fran9ois ! Fra^ois ! " cried Marguerite " help ! help ! " The Duke d'Alengon ! " murmured La Huri^re, grounding his arquebuss. " Mordi! a son of France I" growled Coconnas, draw- ing back. MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 83 The duke glanced round him. He saw Marguerite, disheveled, more lovely than ever, leaning against the wall surrounded by men, fury in her eyes, large drops of perspiration on her forehead. " Wretches ! " cried he. " Save me, my brother ! " shrieked Marguerite. " They are going to kill me \" The duke's pallid face became crimson. He was un- armed, but sustained, no doubt, by the consciousness of his rank, he advanced with clenched teeth and hands to- wards Coconnas and his companions, who retreated terri- fied at the lightning darting from his eyes. "Ha! and will you murder a son of France, too?" cried the duke. Then, as they recoiled " Without there ! captain of the guard ! Hang me every one of these ruffians ! " More alarmed at the sight of this weaponless young man than he would have been at the aspect of a regiment of lansquenets, Coconnas had already reached the door. La Huriere sprang after him like a deer, and the soldiers jostled and pushed each other in the vestibule, in their endeavors to escape, finding the door far too small for their great desire to be outside it. Meantime Marguerite had instinctively thrown the damask coverlid of her bed over La Mole, and withdrawn from him. No sooner had the last murderer departed, than the duke turned to his sister. " Are you hurt ? " cried he, seeing Marguerite covered with blood. And he darted towards his sister with an anxiety that did credit to his fraternal tenderness. "No/' said she, " I think not ; or if I am, it is but slightly/' " But this blood," said the duke ; " whence comes it ?" " I know not," replied she, " one of those wretches seized me, and perhaps he was wounded." "What !" cried the duke, "dare to touch my sister ? Oh, had you but shown him to me did I but know where to find him " " Leave me," said Marguerite. 84 MARGUERI/E DE VALOIS. " Well, Marguerite/' said he, " I will go ; but you can- not remain alone this dreadful night. Shall I call Gil- lonne ? " " No, no ! leave me, Fra^ois leave me ! " The prince obeyed; and hardly had he disappeared, than Marguerite, hearing a groan from the recess, hastily bolted the door of the secret passage, and then hastening to the other entrance, closed it just as a troop of archers dashed by in hot chase of some other Huguenot residents in the Louvre. After glancing round, to assure herself she was really alone, she lifted the covering that had concealed La Mole from the Duke d'Alenc.on, and tremblingly drawing the apparently lifeless body, by great exertion, into the middle of the room, and finding the victim still breathed, sat down, placed his head on her knees, and sprinkled his face with water. Then it was that the mask of blood, dust, and gun- powder which had covered his face being removed, Mar- guerite recognized the handsome cavalier who, full of life and hope, had but three or four hours before solicited her protection and that of the King of Navarre ; and whilst dazzled by her own beauty, had attracted her attention by his own. Marguerite uttered a cry of terror, for now it was more than mere pity that she felt for the wounded man it was interest. He was no longer a stranger ; he was almost an acquaintance. By her care, La Mole's fine features soon reappeared, free from stain, but pale and distorted by pain. A shudder ran through her whole frame, as she tremblingly placed her hand on his heart. It still beat. She then took a smelling-bottle from the table and applied it to his nostrils. La Mole opened his eyes. " Oh ! mon Dieu I " murmured he " where am I ? " "Saved! "said Marguerite. "Reassure yourself you are saved." La Mole turned his eyes on the queen, gazed earnestly for a moment, and murmuring "Oh, loveliest of the MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 85 lovely ! " closed his lids, as if overpowered, and sent forth a long, deep sigh. Marguerite started. He had become still paler than be- fore, if that were possible, and she feared that sigh was his last. " Oh, Heaven ! " she cried, " have pity on him ! " At this moment a violent knocking was heard at the door. Marguerite half raised herself, still supporting La Mole. " Who is there ?" she cried. "Madame, it is I it is I," replied a female voice; "the Duchess de Nevers." " Heuriette ! " cried Marguerite. " There is no danger ; it is my friend. Do you hear me, sir ? " La Mole contrived to raise himself on one knee. " Endeavor to support yourself," said the queen. La Mole, resting his hand on the ground, managed to keep his equilibrium. Marguerite advanced towards the door, but stopped suddenly. " Ah, you are not alone ! " she said, hearing the clash of arms outside. " No, I have twelve guards, that my brother-in-law, M. de Guise, assigned me." '' M. de Guise ! " murmured La Mole. " The assassin the assassin ! " " Silence ! " said Marguerite. "Not a word ! " And she looked round, to see where she could conceal the wounded man. " A sword ! a dagger ! " muttered La Mole. " To defend yourself useless ! Did you not hear ? They are twelve, and you alone." " Not to defend myself, but that I may not fall alive into their hands." "No, no ! " said Marguerite. " I will save you. Ah ! this cabinet ! Come ! come ! " La Mole made an effort, and, supported by Marguerite, dragged himself to the cabinet. Marguerite locked the door upon him, and hid the key in her alms-purse. 86 MARGUERITE DE V ALOIS. "Not a sound, not a movement/' whispered she, through the lattice- work, " and you are saved." Then hastily throwing a mantle round her, she opened the door for her friend, who tenderly embraced her. "Ah!" cried Madame Nevers, "you are unhurt then?" " Quite," replied Marguerite, wrapping the mantle still more closely round her, to conceal the blood on her dress. ' ( "Tis well. However, M. de Guise has given me twelve of his guards to escort me to his hotel, and as I do not need so many, I will leave six with your majesty. Six of the duke's guards are worth a regiment of the king's to-night." Marguerite dared not refuse : she placed the soldiers in the corridor, and embraced the duchess, who then re- turned to the H6tel de Guise, where she resided in her husband's absence. CHAPTEE IX. THE MURDERERS. COCONNAS had not fled, he had but retreated : La Huriere had not fled, he had flown. The one had dis- appeared like a tiger, the other like a wolf. The consequence was, that La Huriere had already reached the Place-Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, when Co- connas had only just quitted the Louvre. La Huriere was prudently thinking of returning home, but as he turned the corner, in the Rue de 1'Arbre-Sec, he fell in with a troop of Swiss and light horse, led by Maurevel. . " Well 1 " exclaimed the latter, who had christened himself the King's Killer, " have you finished already ? What the devil have you done with -our Piedmcntese gentleman ? Has any mischance happened to him ? It would be a pity, for he went to work like a hero." MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 87 "I hope not," responded La Hurie're ; "and where are you going to ? " " Oh, I have a small private affair." " Then let me go with you," said a voice which made Maurevel start ; " for you know all the good places/' "It is M. de Coconnas," said La Hurire. " Ah 1 you have come from the Louvre. Did your Huguenot, then, take refuge there ? " asked Maurevel. " Mon Dieu ! yes." " I gave him a pistol-shot at the moment when he was picking up his sword in the admiral's courtyard, but I somehow or other missed him." " I," added Coconnas, " did not miss him : I gave him such a thrust in the back that my sword was wet five inches up the blade. Besides, I saw him fall into the arms of Madame Marguerite, a fine woman, mordi I yet I confess I should not be sorry to hear he was really dead ; the vagabond is infernally spiteful, and capable of bear- ing me a grudge all his life. " " Do you mean to go with me ? " " Why, I do not like standing still. Mordi I I have only killed three or four as yet, and when I get cold my shoulder pains me. Forward ! forward ! " " Captain," said Maureve 1 to the commander of the troop, "give me three men, ancLgO-Qa your own way with the rest." Three Swiss were desired to follow Maurevel, who fol- lowed by Coconnas anrl La Huriere, went towards the Rue Sainte Avoid. " Where the devil -are we going ? " asked Coconnas. " To the Rue' de Chaume, where we have important business." ./ " Tell m.%,* said Coconnas, " is not the Rue du Chaume near the T'emple?" " Why. ? " Because an old creditor of our family lives there, one Lambent Mercandon, to whom my father has desired me to hsffd over a hundred rose nobles I have in my pocket for/toit purpose." 88 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. " Well," replied Manrevel, " this is a good opportunity for paying it. This is the day for settling old accounts. Is your Mercandon a Huguenot ? " " Oh, I understand ! " said Coconnas ; " he must be * " Hush I here we are." "What is that large hotel, with its entrance on the street ?" " The H6tel de Guise/* "Truly/* returned Coconnas, "I ought not to have failed coming here, as I am under the patronage of the great Henry. But mordi ! all is so very quiet in this quarter, we might fancy ourselves in the country. Devil fetch me, but everybody is asleep ! " And indeed the H6tel de Guise seemed as quiet as in ordinary times. All the windows were closed, and a soli- tary light burned behind the blind of the principal win- dow over the entrance. At the corner of the Rue des Quatre-Fils, Maurevel stopped. "This is the house of him we seek/' he said. "Do you, La Huriere, with your sleek look, knock at the door : hand your arquebuss to M. de Coconnas, who has been ogling it this last half hour. If you are introduced, you must ask to speak to M. de Mouy." "Oh!" said Coconnas, "now I understand you have a creditor in tfre^q*iaFteiuathe Temple, it would seem." " Exactly so ! " responded Maurevel. " You will go up to him in the character of a HiJguenot, and inform M. de Mouy of all that has passed : hd is brave, and will come down." " And once down ?" asked tasHuriere. " Once down, I will beg of him to crosswords with me." La Huriere, without making any reply\knocked at the door, and the sounds echoing in the silenceNof the night caused the doors of the Hdtel de Guise to opeP, and sev- eral heads to make their appearance from ouk them ; it was then evident that the hotel was quiet, after the fash- ion of citadels, that is to say, in being filled with soldiers. The heads were instantly withdrawn, guessing, what was the matter. MAKGUERITE DE VALOIS. 89 " Does your M. de Mouy live here ? " inquired Coconnas, pointing to the house at which La Huri^re continued to knock. " No, but his mistress does." " Mordi ! how gallant you are, to give him an occasion to draw sword in the presence of his lady-love ! We shall be the judges of the field. I should like very well to fight myself my shoulder burns. " " And your face/' asked Maurevel, "it is considerably damaged, is it not ?" Coconnas uttered a kind of growl. " Mordi ! " he said, " I hope he is dead ; if I thought not, I would return to the Louvre and finish him." La Huri^re still kept knocking. Soon the window on the first floor opened, and a man appeared in the balcony, in a nightcap and drawers, and unarmed. " Who's there ? " cried he. Maurevel made a sign to the Swiss, who retreated into a corner, whilst Coconnas stood close against the wall. "Ah ! Monsieur de Mouy ! " said the innkeeper, in his blandest tones, "is that you ?" "Yes; what then?" " It is he I" said Maurevel, joyfully. "Well, then, sir/' continued La Hurire, " do you not know what is going on ? They are murdering the admiral, and all of our religion. Hasten to their assistance ! " " Ah ! " exclaimed De Mouy, " I feared something was plotted for this night. I ought not to have quitted my brave comrades. I will come, my friend wait for me." And without closing the window, through which issued the voice of a female in alarm, uttering tender supplica- tions, M. de Mouy put on his doublet, cloak, and weapons. " He is coming down, he is coming down ; be ready !" murmured Maurevel, pale with joy, and taking the arque- buss from Coconnas, and blazing the match, to see that it was alight, returned it to La Huridre. " Mordi /" exclaimed Coconnas, "the moon is coming out, to see this beautiful little fight. I would give a great 90 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. deal if Lambert Mercandon were here, to serve as M. de Mouy's secpnd." " Wait, wait ! " said Maurevel ; " M. de Mouy is equal to several men himself, and it is likely that we six shall have enough to do to despatch him. Forward, my men ! " continued Maurevel, making a sign to the Swiss to stand by the door, in order to strike De Mouy as he came forth. "Ah ! ah \" said Coconnas, as he watched these ar- rangements, "it appears that this will not come off quite as I expected." Already was heard the sound of the bar which De Mouy moved aside. The Swiss were at the door ; Maurevel and La Huri^re came forward on tiptoe, whilst, from a feeling of honor, Coconnas remained where he was, when a young female, whom no one had expected, appeared, in her turn, in the balcony, and gave a terrible shriek when she saw the Swiss, Maurevel, and La Huriere. De Mouy, who had already half-opened the door paused. " Return, return ! " cried the damsel. " I see swords glitter, and the match of an arquebuss there is treach- ery ! " " Ah ! ah ! " said the young man, " let us see, then, what it means." And he closed the door, replaced the bar, and went up- stairs again. Maurevel's order of battle was changed, as soon as he saw that De Mouy did not come out. The Swiss went and posted themselves at the other corner of the street, and La Huriere, with his arquebuss in his hand, awaited the reappearance of the enemy at the window. He did not wait long. De Mouy came forward, holding before him two pistols of such respectable length, that La Huriere, who was tak- ing aim, suddenly reflected that the Huguenot's balls had no further to go in reaching him, than had his to reach the balcony. "It is true/' said he, " I may kill the gentleman ; but it is equally true that the gentleman may kill me 1 " and this reflection determined him to retreat MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 91 into an angle of the Ene de Brae, so far off, as to make any aim of his at De Mouy somewhat uncertain. De Mouy cast a glance around him, and advanced like a man preparing to fight a duel ; but seeing nothing, he exclaimed : " Why, it appears, my friend, that you have forgotten your arquebuss at my door ! I am here. What do you want with me ? " "Ah, ah !" said Ooconnas to himself ; "this is a brave fellow ! " " Well," continued De Mouy, " friends or enemies, whichever you are, do you not see I am waiting ? " La Huridre kept silence, Maurevel made no reply, and the three Swiss remained in covert. Coconnas paused an instant ; then, seeing that no one continued the conversation begun by La Hnri^re and fol- lowed by De Mouy, left his station, and advancing into the middle of the street, took off his hat, and said : " Sir, we are not here for an assassination, as you seem to suppose, but for a duel. Eh, mordi! come forward, Monsieur de Maurevel, instead of turning your back. The gentleman accepts." " Maurevel ! " cried De Mouy ; " Maurevel, the assassin of my father ! Maurevel, the king's assassin ! Ah, par- dieu! Yes, I accept." And taking aim at Maurevel, who was about to knock at the Hotel de Guise to request a reinforcement, he sent a ball through his hat. At the noise of the report and Maurevel's cries, the guard which had escorted Madame de Kevers came out, accompanied by three or four gentlemen, followed by their pages, and approached the house of young De Mouy's mistress. A second pistol-shot, fired into the midst of the troop, killed the soldier next to Manrevel ; after which, De Mouy, having no longer any loaded arms, sheltered him- self within the gallery of the balcony. Meantime, windows began to be opened in every direc- tion, and according to the respective dispositions of their DUMAS \ r OL. III. 6 92 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. pacific or bellicose inhabitants, were closed, or bristled with muskets and arquebusses. " Help ! my worthy Mercandon," shouted De Mouy, making a sign to a man in years, who from a window which opened in front of the Hdtel de Guise, was trying to make out the cause of the confusion. " Is it you who call, Sire de Mouy ? " cried the old man ; " is it you they are attacking ? " " Me you all the Protestants ; and there there is the proof !" That moment, De Mouy had seen La Huriere direct his arquebuss at him : it was fired ; but the young man stooped, and the ball broke a window behind him. " Mercandon I" exclaimed Coconnas, who, in his delight at sight of the tumult, had forgotten his creditor, but was reminded of him by this apostrophe of De Mouy " Mercandou, Rue du Chaume that is it ! Ah, he lives there ! Good ! We shall each arrange our affairs with our men ! " And, whilst the people from the Hdtel de Guise broke in the doors of De Mouy's house, and Mau revel, torch in hand, tried to set it on fire whilst, the doors once broken, there was a fearful struggle with an antagonist who at each pistol-shot and each rapier-thrust brought down his foe Coconnas tried, by the help of a paving-stone, to break in the door of Mercandon, who, unmoved by this solitary effort, was doing his best with his arquebuss out of his window. And now, all this desert and obscure quarter was lighted up, as if by open day peopled like the interior of an ant- hive ; for, from the H6tel de Montmorency, six or eight Huguenot gentlemen, with their servants and friends, issu- ing forth, made a furious charge, and began, supported by the firing from the windows, to repulse MaurevePs and the De Guises' force, whom at length they drove back to the place whence they had come. Coconnas, who had not yet managed to drive in Mer- candon's door, though he tried to do so with all his might, was surprised in this sudden retreat. Placing his back MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 93 to the wall, and grasping his sword firmly, he began, not only to defend himself, but to attack his assailants, with cries so terrible, that they were heard above all the up- roar. He struck right and left, hitting friends and enemies, until a wide space was cleared around him. In proportion as his rapier made a hole in some breast, and the warm blood spurted over on his hands and face, he, with dilated eye, expanded nostrils, and clenched teeth, regained the ground he had lost, and again approached the beleaguered house. De Mouy, after a terrible combat in the staircase and hall, had ended by coming out of the burning house like a true hero. In the midst of all the struggle, he had not ceased to cry : " Here, Maurevel ! Maurevel, where are you ? " insulting him by the most opprobrious epithets. He at length appeared in the street, supporting on one arm his mistress, half naked and nearly fainting, and holding a poniard between his teeth. His sword, flaming by the sweeping action he gave it, traced circles of white or red, according as the moon' glittered on the blade, or a flambeau glared on its blood-stained brightness. Maurevel had fled. La Huriere, driven back by De Mouy as far as Coconnas, who did not recognize him, and received him at sword's point, entreated mercy on both sides. At this moment, Mercandon perceived him, and knew him, by his white scarf, to be one of the murderers. He fired. La Huriere shrieked, threw up his arms, dropped his arquebuss, and, after having vainly attempted to reach the wall, in order to support himself, fell with his face flat on the earth. De Mouy, profiting by this circumstance, turned down the Rue de Paradis, and disappeared. Such had been the resistance of the Huguenots, that the De Guise party, quite repulsed, had retired into their hotel, fearing to be besieged and taken in their own habitation. Coconnas, who, drunk with blood and riot, had reached that degree of excitement when, with the men of the South more especially, courage changes into madness, had 94 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. not seen or heard anything, was going towards a man lying with his face downwards in a pool of blood, and whom he recognized for La Huriere, when the door of the house he had in vain tried to burst in opened, and old Mercandon, followed by his son and two nephews, rushed upon him. " Here he is ! here he is ! " cried they all, with one voice. Coconnas was in the middle of the street, and fearing to be surrounded by these four men who assailed him at once, gave one of those chamois bounds which he had so often practised in his native mountains, and in an instant found himself with his back against the wall of the H6tel de Guise. Once at ease as to not being surprised from behind, he put himself in a posture of defense, and said, jestingly, " Ah 1 ah ! Daddy Mercandon, don't you know me?" "Wretch!" cried the old Huguenot, "I know you well ; you are engaged against me me, the friend and companion of your father ! " " And his creditor, are you not ? " "Yes ; his creditor, as you say." " Well, then, " said Coconnas, " I have come to settle the account." " Seize him, bind him ! " said Mercandon to the young men who accompanied him, and who at his bidding rushed towards the Piedmontese. " One moment ! one moment ! " said Coconnas, laughing, " to seize a man you must have a writ, and you have forgotten that." And with these words, he crossed his sword with the young man nearest to him and at the first blow cut his wrist to the bone. The wounded man retreated, with a shriek of agony. " That will do for one !" said Coconnas. At the same moment, the window under which Cocon- nas had sought shelter, opened. He sprang on one side, fearing an attack from behind ; but, instead of an enemy, it was a woman he beheld ; instead of the enemy's weapon MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 95 he was prepared to encounter, it was a nosegay that fell at his feet. "Ah I "he said, " a woman!" He saluted the lady with his sword, and stooped to pick up the bouquet. "Be on your guard, brave Catholic 1 be on your guard ! " cried the lady. Coconnas rose, but not before the dagger of the second nephew had pierced his cloak, and wounded his other shoulder. The lady uttered a piercing shriek. Coconnas thanked her, assured her by a gesture, and then made a pass at the nephew, which he parried ; but at the second thrust, his foot slipped in the blood, and Co- connas, springing at him like a tiger-cat, drove his sword through his breast. " Good ! good ! brave cavalier ! " exclaimed the lady of the H6tel de Guise " good ! I will send you succor." " Do not give yourself any trouble about that, madame," was Coconnas's reply ; ' ' rather look on to the end, if it interests you, and see how the Comte Annibal de Coconnas settles the Huguenots." At this moment the son of old Mercandon placed a pistol almost close to Coconnas, and fired. The count fell on his knee. The lady at the window shrieked again ; but Coconnas rose instantly ; he had only knelt to avoid the ball, which struck the wall about two feet beneath where the lady was standing. Almost at the same moment there issued a cry of rage from the window of Mercandon's house, and an old woman who recognized Coconnas as a Catholic, from his white scarf and cross, threw a flower-pot at him, which struck him above the knee. " Bravo !" said Coconnas ; " one throws me flowers and the other flower-pots." " Thanks, mother thanks ! " said the young man.