THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES the last H~t ...OS HP' THE PAGE OF THE DUKE OF SAVOY. BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. VOL. I. BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 1896. 94 14 Copyright, 1891, 1893, BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. UNIVERSITY PRESS: JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. U-l HISTORICAL ROMANCES. THE PAGE OF THE DUKE OF SAVOY. VOL. I. Romances of $Uexantii;e umas* ROMANCES OF THE REIGN OF HENRY II. I. THE Two DIANAS 3 vols. II. THE PAGE OF THE DUKE OF SAVOY a vols. THE VALOIS ROMANCES. i. MARGUERITE DE VALOJS 2 vols. II. LA DAME DE MONSOREAU 2 vols. III. THE FORTY-FIVE 2 vols. THE D'ARTAGNAN ROMANCES. I. THE THREE MUSKETEERS 2 vols. II. TWENTY YEARS AFTER 2 vols. III. THE VICOMTE DE BRAGELONNE ; or, Ten Years Later . 6 vols. THE REGENCY ROMANCES. I. LE CHEVALIER D'HARMENTAL i vol. II. THE REGENT'S DAUGHTER i voL A ROMANCE OF THE REIGN OF LOUIS XV. OLYMPE DE CLEVES 2 vols. THE MARIE ANTOINETTE ROMANCES. I. MEMOIRS OF A PHYSICIAN 3 vols. II. THE QUEEN'S NECKLACE 2 vols. III. ANGE PITOU 2 vols. IV. LA COMTESSE L>E CHARNY 4 vols. V. LE CHEVALIER DE MAISON-ROUGE i vol. THE NAPOLEON ROMANCES. THE COMPANIONS OF JEHU 2 vols. THE WHITES AND THE BLUES 2 vols. THE BLACK TULIP i voL THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO 4 vols. THE SHE-WOLVES OF MACHECOUL\ . THE CORSICAN BROTHERS / NEW SERIES. ASCANIO : A Romance of Francis 1. and Benvenutq Cellini 2 vols. THE WAR OF WOMEN : A Romance of the Fronde . . 2 vols. BLACK: The Story of a Dog i vol. TALES OF THE CAUCASUS THE BALL OF SNOW, AND SULTANETTA I vol. THE DUKK'S 1'AGE. Drawn by Prank T. Merrill. THE PAGE OF THE DUKE OF SAVOY, I. PQ, INTRODUCTORY NOTE. IN " The Page of the Duke of Savoy " we meet again most of the members of the doughty band of adven- turers with whom Gabriel de Montgomery is said in the " Two Dianas " to have accomplished the marvellous feat of carrying the Old Fort of Calais by escalade: Malemort, the seamed and scarred hero of a hundred fights, whose first rush was always so impetuous and reckless that he inevit- ably received a fresh wound at the very beginning, and was incapacitated for further service ; Yvonnet the dandy, bold as a lion by daylight, and timid as a hare when the sun had gone down ; Pilletrousse, the rifler of dead men's pockets ; Lactance, whose excessive blood-thirstiness was only equalled by his devoutness ; and the two Scharfensteins, uncle and nephew, whose feats of strength out-Hercules Hercules. Procope, Maldent, and Fracasso are new acquaintances, equally diverting, each in his par- ticular line. VI INTRODUCTORY NOTE. The period of this tale was crowded with events of deepest import to the world's history : it em- braced the culmination of the world-empire of Charles V. and his abdication ; the early years of the reign of Philip II., in which his future policy and conduct were so clearly foreshadowed ; the struggle for supremacy between the Guises and Catherine de Me'dicis, the Florentine mother of the last three Valois Kings of France ; and the irre- sistible growth and spread of the Reformation. Of all the famous men who fought and governed in that age, perhaps the very noblest was Emman- uel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, whom Dumas selected as the central figure of his story. All that is here told us of him and his character is amply supported by authority. Many of the historical events woven into the plot of the "Two Dianas" are here presented to us again, mainly in forms which follow the chronicles more closely. This is especially true of the life of the Conite de Montgomery, and the circumstances attending the fatal disaster at the Tournelles. There is no reason to believe that the death of Henri II. was the result of anything but pure acci- dent, nor has history any more to say of the Conite de Montgomery than is said by our author in the INTRODUCTORY NOTE. vii following pages. It will be noticed, however, that the gloomy prognostications of Nostradamus re- appear here in slightly different form. As to the siege of Saint Quentin, too, the de- scription given in the present work is entitled to the credit of being more nearly in accord with the facts than that which omits to mention Dandelot's presence, and makes Gaspard de Coligny play a subordinate part to Gabriel de Montgomery. It was the failure of Philip II. to follow up the fall of the town (inexplicable unless it was due to his jealousy of the Duke of Savoy) which saved Paris, and not the defence made by the garrison and citi- zens, heroic and devoted as their conduct was. It would be perhaps more accurate to entitle "The Page of the Duke of Savoy" a part of the romance of history than an historical romance ; for aside from the scenes in which the exploits of Pro- cope and his associates appear, and the deeply touching love episode of Emmanuel Philibert and his pseudo-page, there are few chapters of which the historical accuracy can be impugned, from the famous scene at Brussels when Charles V. laid down his sceptre, to his mock obsequies at the little convent in Spain ; from Henri II. haughtily receiving the heralds of Spain and England, to Vlll INTRODUCTORY NOTE. Henri II. meekly consenting to the shameful treaty of Cateau-Cambresis ; from the brilliant pageant and superb jousting in the lists at the Tournelles, to the chamber of death, with Catherine de Mddicis hovering jealously about the bed of the dying king, who had been so long and consistently unfaithful to her. The epoch is one which readily lends itself to the romantic treatment, and under the hand of the master few opportunities of arousing the interest and moving the heart of the reader have been lost LIST OF CHARACTERS. Period, 1528-1580. THE EMPEROR, Charles V. MARY OP AUSTRIA, the Queen Dowager of Hungary, sister of Charles V. MARY, Queen of England. PHILIP, Prince of Spain, her husband, son of Charles V. QUEEN ELEANOR, sister of Charles V. DON CARLOS, the Emperor's grandson. EMMANUEL PHILIBERT, Due de Savoie, surnamed Tete de Fer, nephew of Charles V. SCIANCA-FERRO, his squire. GAETANO, his major-domo. CHARLES THE GOOD, of Portugal, father of Emmanuel Philibert BEATRICE OP PORTUGAL, Emmanuel Philibert's mother. LEONA MARAVIGLIA, passing as Leone, the page of the Duke of Savoy. COMTE FRANCESCO MARAVIGLIA, her father. LA COMTESSE MARAVIGLIA. COMTE ODOARDO MARAVIGLIA, Leona's brother, Ambassador of the Kings of France and Spain. JOHN FREDERICK, Elector of Saxony. ADMIRAL OF CASTILE, DUKE OF MEDINA COELI, R.UY GOMEZ DE SILVA, DUKE OP ALVA, DON Luis DE VARGAS, Spanish noblemen. X LIST OF CHARACTERS. FRANCESCO MARIA SFORZA, Duke of Milan. ARCHBISHOP OF TOLEDO. CARDINAL POLE. WILLIAM OF ORANGE. DON GUZMAN D'AVILA, Herald of Spain. SIGNOR ANGELO POLICASTRO, Astrologer to Charles V. COMTE WALDECK, in the cavalry service of Charles V. VICOMTE WALDECK, his sou. THE BASTARD SON OF COMTE WALDECK. ODINET DE MONTFORT, a Savoyard cavalier. COUNCILLOR PHILIBERT BRUSSELIUS. FRAN9OIS I., King of France. HENRI II., his successor. CATHERINE DE MEDICIS, DIANE DE POITIERS. DIANE DE CASTRO. MARGUERITE DE FRANCE, sister of Henri II. THE DAUPHIN, afterwards Fran9ois II. MARY STUART, married to the Dauphin. MARY FLEMING, MARY SEATON, I M Stuart's " Four Marys." MARY LIVINGSTON, MARY BEATON, ELIZABETH DE VALOIS, j d hters of Heuri IL MARGUERITE DE VALOIS, ) Due D'ORLEAXS, afterwards Charles IX. Due DE NEVERS, Lieutenant-general of the king. HENRI, his brother, afterwards Henri III. CONSTABLE DE MONTMORENCY. GABRIEL DE MONTMORENCY, his son. MONSIEUR DE CHATILLON, the Constable's nephew. FRAN90IS, Due de Guise. CARDINAL DE LORRAINE, Due D'AUMALE, |^ his brothers . MARQUIS D'ELB(EUF, CARDINAL GUISE. LIST OF CHARACTERS. XI surgeons. preceptors of the princes. ADMIRAL COLIGNY, Envoy extraordinary of Henri II. MONSIEUR DANDELOT DE COLIGNY, his brother. MONSIEUR DE BOISSY, Grand Equerry of France. MONSIEUR DE VIEILLEVILLE, Grand Chamberlain. ALPHOXSE D'ESTE, Due de Ferrara. DUCHKSSE DE NEMOURS. CARDINAL CARAFFA. GABRIEL DE LORGES. AMBROISE PARE, ANDREW VESALIUS, RONSARD, REMY BELLEAU, DORAT, Da BELLAY, JACQUES AMYOT, JACQUES DE LA MOTTE, Abbe de St. Prix. Due D'EXGHIEN, MARECHAL DE SAINT-ANDRE, Due DE NEVERS, MARECHAL STROZZI, MARECHAL DE BRISSAC, MONSIEUR DE THELIGNT, MONSIEUR DE BREUIL, MONSIEUR DE JARNAC, CAPTAIN LANGUETOT, CAPTAIN RAMBOUILLET, CAPTAIN Louis POY, MONSIEUR DANDELOT, the admiral's brother, VICOMTE DU MONT NOTRE-DAME, SlEUR DE LA CUREE, COMTE DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, Due DE MONTPENSIER, DUC DE LONGUEVILLE, Due DE BOUILLON, VICOMTE DE TURENNE, French officers. Xll LIST OF CHARACTERS. soldiers of fortune in the French service. HEINRICII SCHAHFENSTEIN, MARTIN PILLETROUSE, FRANTZ SCIIARFENSTEIN, CJESAR ANNIBAL MALEMORT, HONORS-JOSEPH MALDENT, JEAN-CHRYSOSTOME PROCOPE, VICTOR-FELIX YVONNET, CYRILLE-NEPOMUCENE LACTANCE, VITTORIO-ALBANI FRACASSO, COUNT EGMONT, COUNT HORN, COUNT SCHWARZBOURG, COUNT MANSFIELD, DUKE ERIC OF BRUNSWICK, DUKE ERNEST OF BRUNSWICK, FIELD-MARSHAL DE BINNSCOURT, CAPTAIN CARONDELET, COLONEL NARVAEZ, JULIAN ROMERON, ALONZO DE CAZIERES, MADEMOISELLE GERTRUDE, | seryants at the Chateau du p arcq PHILIPPIN, ) JEAN PAUQUET, captain of a company at St. Quentin. GUILLAUME PAUQUET, his brother. GUDULE, Guillaume Pauquet's daughter. MAITRE GOSSEU, a Picard peasant. CATHERINE, his wife. officers in the army besieg- ing St. Quentin. CONTENTS. PART I. CHAPTIB P* I. WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN SEEN FROM THE GREAT TOWER OP HESDIN-FERT ON MAY 5, 1555, AT ABOUT TWO O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON . . 1 II. THE ADVENTURERS 10 III. IN WHICH THE READER MAKES FURTHER ACQUAINT- ANCE WITH THE HEROES TO WHOM WE HAVE INTRODUCED HIM 23 IV. THE ARTICLES OF PARTNERSHIP 34 V. COUNT WALDECK 47 VI. THE JUSTICIARY 57 VII. HISTORY AND ROMANCE 71 VIII. THE SQUIRE AND THE PAGE 88 IX. LEONE-LEONA 98 X. THE THREE MESSAGES 114 XI. ODOARDO MARAVIGLIA 131 XII. WHAT TOOK PLACE IN THE FORTRESS OF MILAN ON THE NIGHT OP Nov. 14, 1534 .... 142 XIII. THE DEMON OF THE SOUTH 158 XIV. CHARLES V. KEEPS THE PROMISE GIVEN TO HIS SON DON PHILIP . . ' 172 XV. AFTER THE ABDICATION . . 202 XIV CONTENTS. PART II. CHAPTER PAGE I. THE COURT OP FRANCE 216 II. THE ROYAL HUNT 233 III. CONSTABLE AND CARDINAL 251 IV. WAR 267 V. IN CAMP AT LA FERE 286 VI. ST. QUENTIN 297 VII. THE ADMIRAL KEEPS HIS PROMISE 312 VIII. THE ADVENTURERS' TENT 324 IX. BATTLE 333 X. MONSIEUR DE THELIGNT 345 XI. A MESSAGE TO THE CONSTABLE 355 XII. THE ASSAULT . 363 THE PAGE OF THE DUKE OF SAVOY. PART I. CHAPTER I. WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN SEEN FROM THE GREAT TOWER OF HESDIN-FERT ON MAY 5, 1555, AT ABOUT TWO O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON. THOSE of our readers who do not fear to take with us a stride of three centuries into the past, we will transport at once into the presence of the men whose acquaintance we wish them to make, and into the midst of the events we wish them to witness. It is the fifth day of May in the year 1555. Henri II.- reigns over France, Mary Tudor over England, and Charles V. over Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the two Indies, that is to say, over a sixth part of the world. We are in the little town of Hesdin-Fert, which Em- manuel Philibert, Prince of Piedmont, has just built near the site of Hesdin-le-Vieux, which he captured and de- stroyed a year ago. We are travelling, therefore, in that part of ancient France which was called Artois, and is known to-day as the department of Pas-de-Calais. VOL. i. 1 2 THE DUKE'S PAGE. We say " of ancient France." for Artois was for a short time reunited to the patrimony of our kings by Philippe- Auguste, the conqueror of Saint-Jean-d'Acre and of Bou- vines ; but having been joined to the house of France in 1180, it was given by Saint Louis to his younger brother Robert in 1237, and passed successively, at the hands of three women, Mahaud, Jeanne I., and Jeanne II., into the possession of three different fam- ilies. Then, being owned by Marguerite, sister of Jeanne II., and daughter of Jeanne I., it fell into the hands of Comte Louis de Male, whose daughter conveyed it to the house of Burgundy. Finally, after the death of Charles the Bold, Marie de Bourgogne, sole inheritor of her father's great name and vast wealth, married Maxi- milian, son of the Emperor Frederick III., and carried both name and wealth to the house of Austria, where they were engulfed like a river which is merged in the ocean. This was a great loss to France, for Artois was a fair and fertile province ; and therefore for three years Henri II. and Charles V. had struggled, with varying fortune but with unflinching determination, the former to recover, the latter to retain it. During this desperate war in which the son met again the old enemy of his father, and like his father must have 4iis Marignano and his Pavia each had encountered his good and evil fortunes, his victories and his defeats. Charles V. had been forced to abandon the siege of Metz in disorder, and had lost Marienbourg, Bouvines, and Djnant ; but, on the other hand, he had carried Therou- anne and Hesdin by assault, and furious at his defeat at Metz, had burned one and razed the other to the ground We have compared Metz to Marignano, and we do not THE GREAT TOWER OF HESDIN-FERT. 3 exaggerate in making this comparison. An army of fifty thousand infantry and fourteen thousand horse, deci- mated by cold, by disease, and also, it may be said, by the bravery of the Due Frangois de Guise and the French garrison, vanished like mist, disappeared like smoke, leaving, as the only trace of its existence, ten thousand dead, two thousand tents, and one hundred and twenty cannon ! The rout had been so complete that the fugitives had not even sought to defend themselves ; and when Charles de Bourbon was pursuing a body of Spanish cavalry, their captain turned his horse, and riding up to the French officer, " Whether you be a prince or a simple gentle- man," said he, " if you fight for glory, seek some other occasion; for now you are slaughtering men who are not only too feeble to resist, but without strength to escape." Charles de Bourbon sheathed his sword and sounded a recall, and the Spaniards continued their flight without further molestation. Charles V. was far from imitating his rival's generosity, and after the capture of Therouanue gave up the town to pillage, and then razed it to the ground, respecting neither churches, monasteries, nor hospitals ; and finally, that he might not leave one stone upon another, he called in the peasants of Flanders and Artois to scatter the fragments. The summons to the work of destruction had been obeyed. The inhabitants of Artois and Flanders, who had sustained losses at the hands of the garrison at The'- rouanne, came flocking in, armed with pickaxes and ham- mers, and the city had disappeared like Saguntum under the foot of Hannibal, like Carthage blasted by the breath of Scipio. 4 THE DUKE'S PAGE. Hesdin had met the same fate as The'rouanne. But at this time Emmanuel Philibert had been appointed to the command of the imperial troops in the Netherlands, and not being able to save Therouanne, had determined at all events to rebuild Hesdin. A few months of in- cessant labor had accomplished this, and a new city had risen, as if by enchantment, about a quarter of a league from the old one. This new city, situated in the midst of the marshes of Mesnil upon the banks of the Canche, was so well fortified that one hundred and fifty years later it excited the admiration of Vauban, although dur- ing this period of time the system of fortifications had entirely changed. The founder had called this new town Hesdin-Fert, in memory of its origin ; that is to say, he had added to its name these four letters, " F. E. R. T.," given with the white cross by the Emperor of Germany to Amadeus the Great, thirteenth count of Savoy, after his successful de- fence of Rhodes, and which signified, " Fortitude ejus Rhodum tenuit," that is to say, "His courage saved Rhodes." This, moreover, was not the only marvel eifected by the young general to whom Charles V. had given the command of his army. Thanks to the rigid discipline which he had established, the unhappy province was beginning to breathe freely, after being devastated by four years of incessant war. The strictest orders for the suppression of all pillage and marauding had been issued and enforced ; every officer offending was placed under arrest, every soldier taken in the act was hanged. The consequence was, that, as hostilities had almost ceased during the winter of 1554 and 1555, the inhabi- tants of Artois had regarded the last four or five months, iii comparison with the three years which had intervened THE GREAT TOWER OF HESDIN-FERT. 5 between the siege of Metz and the rebuilding of Hesdin, as something like a revival of the golden age. It must be confessed that now and then some farm or chateau was burned or sacked, either by the French, who held Abbeville, Doulens, and Montreuil-sur-Mer, and who occasionally made incursions into the enemy's coun- try, or else by those incorrigible freebooters, the German mercenaries, who followed in the train of the imperial army ; but Emmanuel Philibert made so good head against the French, and inflicted so speedy punishment upon the freebooters, that such catastrophes were becom- ing rarer every day. This, then, was the condition of things in the province of Artois, and particularly in the neighborhood of Hesdin- Fert, at the time of the opening of our story on the 5th of May, 1555. And now, after giving our readers some idea of the moral and political state of the country, we must describe its material aspect, which was very different then from what industry and cultivation have since made it. Let us suppose, then, in order to perform this difficult task which we have undertaken, the object of which is to recall an almost forgotten period, what on that 5th of May, 1555, toward two o'clock in the afternoon, a man would have seen who from the highest tower of Hesdin, with his back to the sea, had looked along the horizon extending in a semi-circle before him, from the northern extremity of that little chain of hills behind which Bethune is hidden, to the last southern hillocks of the same chain, at the foot of which lies Doulens. At first he would have seen, immediately before him, narrowing to a point toward the banks of the Canche, the dense and dark forest of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise, whose vast expanse of green, like a mantle thrown over the 6 THE DUKE'S PAGE. shoulder of the hill, reached to the foot of the opposite slope and dipped its borders in the sources of the Scarpe, which is to the Escaut what the Saoue is to the Rhone, what the Moselle is to the Rhine. Upon the right of this forest, and consequently to the left of the observer whom we suppose to be standing upon the highest tower of Hesdin-Fert, in the valley under the shelter of these hills which form the horizon, are the villages of Enchin and Fruges, half hidden in the bluish smoke issuing from their own chimneys, and which en- velops them like a thin mist or a transparent veil, an indication that the chilly inhabitants of these northern provinces, although the spring days had made their ap- pearance, had not yet bidden a final adieu to the fire, that cheery and faithful friend of the winter season. In advance of these two villages stands a rustic dwell- ing, half chateau, half farm, which bears the name of " Le Parcq," and which seems like a sentinel placed in advance of his troop, but who does not altogether fancy the idea of being beyond the protection of his fellow- soldiers. The high-road, like a long golden ribbon, passes in front of Le Parcq, and winds among the bright green trees that border the sombre forest, until at length it branches out in two directions, one leading straight into Hes- din, and the other following the margin of the wood, finding its way, not in a very straight line, it must be confessed, to the villages of Frevent, Auxy-le-Chateau, and Nouvion-en-Ponthieu. The plain which extends from these three places to Hesdin lies exactly opposite to that which we have been describing ; that is to say, it forms the left of the valley of Saint-Pol, and consequently lies on the right of a per- son standing on the high tower of Hesdin-Fert. THE GREAT TOWER OF HESDIX-FEBT. 7 This plain forms the most interesting part of the view, not that it has any very remarkable natural character- istics, but only because at this moment it is animated by the result of fortuitous circumstances. While the opposite plain is carpeted with waving grass, this one is covered by the camp of the Emperor Charles V., which, surrounded by trenches and enclosed by palisades, constitutes a city of tents. In the centre of this city of tents, like Notre-Dame de Paris in the Cite, like the Chateau des Papes in Avignon, like some stately three-decker in the foaming waves of the ocean, towers the imperial pavilion, from whose corners hang four standards, any one of which might have satisfied the highest human ambition, the standard of the Em- pire, the standard of Spain, the standard of Home, and the standard of Lombardy ; for this hero, conquering, valiant, victorious as he is called, has been crowned four times. He has been crowned at Toledo with the diamond crown as King of Spain and the Indies ; at Aix-la- Chapelle with the silver crown as Emperor of Germany ; at Bologna with the golden crown as King of the Romans, and with the iron crown as King of the Lombards. And when opposition was made to his wish to be crowned at Bologna instead of going as was customary to Rome and Milan ; when he was reminded of the brief of Pope Stephen which prohibited the golden crown from leaving the Vatican, and of the decree of the Emperor Charle- magne, who declared that the iron crown should not be taken out of Monza, the conqueror of Franqois I., of Soliman, and of Luther haughtily replied that he had been accustomed not to run after crowns, but to expect crowns to come to him. Above these four standards waves his own flag, displaying the Pillars of Hercules, not as the confines of the Old World, but as the gates of 8 THE DUKE'S PAGE. the New, and bearing this ambitious device, greater for its mutilation, Plus ultra. Some fifty paces from the emperor's pavilion rises the tent of his commander-in-chief, Emmanuel Philibert, which is distinguished from those of the ordinary soldiery only by the two standards which adorn it, one of which displays the silver cross of Savoy on its red ground, with the four letters, " F. E. R. T.," whose meaning we have already explained ; and the other, Emmanuel's personal arms, a hand raising a trophy of lances, swords, and pistols, with the motto, Spoliatis arma supersunt (" The despoiled have still their arms "). The camp overlooked by these two tents is divided into four parts, through which winds the river, crossed by three bridges. The first division is assigned to the Ger- mans, the second to the Spanish, the third to the Eng- lish; the fourth contains the park of artillery entirely renewed since the defeat at Metz, and which, since the addition of French pieces taken at Therouanne and Hesdin, consists of one hundred and twenty cannon and fifteen bombards. Upon the breech of each of the pieces taken from the French, the emperor has caused to be engraved his two favorite words, Plus ultra. Behind the cannon and the bombards are ranged in three lines the wagons and carts containing the ammuni- tion ; sentinels, sword in hand, with neither arquebuse nor pistol, take care that no one approaches these vol- canoes, which a single spark would be sufficient to set on fire. Other sentinels are stationed just outside the enclosure. In the streets of this camp, arranged like those of a city, move thousands of men with military activity, tempered however by German gravity, Spanish pride, and English phlegm. THE GREAT TOWER OF HESDIN-FERT. 9 The sun shines upon all these arms, which give back its rays in flashes ; the wind plays with all these stand- ards, all these banners, all these pennons, whose silken folds and brilliant colors it rolls and unrolls according to its caprice. This activity and noise, which float always upon the surface of multitudes and of oceans, are in remarkable contrast with the silence and solitude on the other side of the plain, where the sun shines only upon the shifting mosaic of fields of waving grain, which are at different stages of maturity, and where the wind stirs only those flowers of the field which young girls delight to weave into garlands of purple and azure, with which to adorn themselves on Sunday. And now that in the first chapter of our book we have seen what might have been presented to the view of a man from the highest tower of Hesdin-Fert on the 5th of May, 1555, let us devote the second chapter to show- ing what would have escaped his sight, however pene- trating it might be. 10 THE DUKE'S PAGE. CHAPTER II. THE ADVENTURERS. THAT which would have escaped the notice of this man, however searching his gaze, is what was taking place in the thickest and consequently most gloomy spot in the forest of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise, in the remotest corner of a cavern which the trees covered with their shade and which the ivy enveloped with its network ; while for the greater security of those who occupied this cavern a sen- tinel hidden in the brushwood, lying flat on the ground, as motionless as one of the trunks of the trees by which he was surrounded, kept careful watch to prevent any disturbance of this important assembly, at which, in our capacity of romancer, that is to say, of magician, to whom all doors are open, we invite our readers to be present. Let us take advantage of the instant when, preoccupied by the noise made by a frightened hare in bounding through the brakes, this sentinel, who has not seen us but whom we have discovered, turns his eyes in the direction from which the noise comes, to slip unseen into the cavern, and concealing ourselves behind a projecting ledge of rock, let us observe, to the smallest details, what- ever may happen there. The cave is occupied by eight men, who differ from one another in face, dress, and character, but who ap- pear, from the arms they carry, to have adopted the same calling. One of them whose face expresses cunning and THE ADVENTURERS. 11 sharpness, and whose fingers are covered with ink, by reason of his repeated efforts to free his pen from the hairs so plentiful in the ill-made paper of the period, is writing fast, a large stone making an admirable table ; a second is standing like a statue by the side of the first, and holding a blazing pine-torch by way of light, whose red, smoky glare not only lights up the writer and his paper, but also casts fitful bursts of brilliant light upon the torch-bearer and his six companions. That the writing is some agreement which is of interest to the whole company is sufficiently proved by their eager countenances. Three of the men, however, appear less engrossed in it than the rest. The first is an elegant young man, who may be some twenty-five years of age. He is dressed in a beautiful buffalo-hide cuirass, which if not ball-proof is at least dagger- proof ; under this he wears a tight-fitting jerkin of claret-colored velvet, somewhat faded, it is true, but still presentable, the sleeves of which are cut d, V Espagnole, that is to say, in the very latest fashion, as are also his green velvet breeches. He wears cavalry boots, the legs of which are sufficiently high to protect the thigh when the wearer is on horseback, and flexible enough to settle down below the knees when he is walking. He is singing a rondeau by Clement Marot, as he strokes his fine black mustaches with one hand and with the other combs his hair, which he wears rather longer than is the fashion at this period, in order, doubtless, to retain the beauty of the soft, glossy waves with which Nature has endowed it. The next is a man of about thirty-six, but whose face is so scarred and disfigured that it is impossible to dis- cover in it what his age may be. His arm and a portion of the chest are naked, and upon every exposed part of 12 THE DUKE'S PAGE. his body there are a series of scars not less numerous than those which mark his face. He is engaged in bind- ing up a wound in the arm, which fortunately is the left one, and consequently he does not suffer so much incon- venience as if the right arm were disabled. He holds between his teeth the end of a linen bandage, with which he binds on the wound a handful of lint steeped in some marvellous unguent, of which a gypsy had given him the receipt, and in which he seems to have entire confidence. He utters no complaint, and appears as insensible to the pain as if the limb in the cure of which he is engaged were of oak or pine. The third is a tall, thin, ascetic-looking individual, about forty years of age, who is kneeling in a corner telling beads with a rapidity which would have done credit to the most active monk in the universe, and repeating, with a volubility peculiarly his own, a dozen Paters and a dozen Aves. From time to time his right hand abandons the chaplet, and resounds upon his breast like a cooper's hammer upon an empty cask ; but as he repeats two or three times in succession in a loud voice the Mea Culpa, his hand returns to his chaplet, which turns around as rapidly as a rosary in the hands of a monk, or the com- boloio in the hands of a dervis. The three personages who are yet to be described have characteristics, we are glad to say, not less marked than those of the five whom we have had the honor of present- ing to our readers. One of them is leaning his elbows on the stone which serves the writer for a table, and follows the movements of the pen with his eyes, as a spider watches every motion of the fly which is to serve for his dinner. His face is a strange mixture of cunning and common-sense, knavery and good-fellowship. He may be about forty years old, THE ADVENTURERS. 13 for the thick eyebrows which shade his deep-set eyes are already turning gray. Another is lying at full length on his face. He has found a stone suitable for sharpening swords and poniards, and is profiting by this circumstance with the help of an abundant supply of saliva and continued friction upon the stone to make a new point for his dirk, which has become very blunt. His tongue, which he presses be- tween his teeth and which is sticking out of the corner of his mouth, indicates the attention he gives and the great interest he takes in his work, with which, nevertheless, he is not so preoccupied as to be unable to attend to the discussion. If what he hears meets his approbation, he simply gives a nod of approval ; if on the contrary it wounds his moral sense or nms counter to his own ideas, he starts up, approaches the writer, places the point of his dirk on the paper, saying these four words, " Pardon, what do you say ? " and takes away his weapon only when an explanation is given to his satisfaction, which he ex- presses by a more abundant salivation and more vigorous friction between his dirk and the stone, thanks to which the lovely instrument promises soon to become again as sharp as ever. The last, and we begin to realize the mistake we have made in placing him in the category of those who seemed most interested in the discussion going on be- tween the scribe and his assistants, the last, we say, leaning against the side of the cave, his arms hanging by his side, his eyes lifted to the sky or rather to the damp and gloomy roof of the cave on which play like will-o'- the-wisps the flickering rays of the pine torch, seems at once a dreamer and a poet. What is he seeking at this moment ? The solution of some problem like those solved by Christopher Columbus and Galileo t Is it the 14 THE DUKE'S PAGE. form of a tiercet such as Dante made, or of a stanza such as Tasso sung ] No one knows except the demon which dwells in him, and which is so little interested in material things absorbed as it is in the contemplation of abstract things that it allows every portion of the worthy poet's clothing to fall in tatters, except those which are of iron, leather, or steel. We have drawn the portraits, both good and bad ; now let us give to each its name. The scribe is called Pro- cope ; he is a Norman and was educated for a lawyer, and he spices his conversation with quotations from the laws of Rome and of Charlemagne. Whoever makes a writ- ten agreement with him may expect a lawsuit. If however one is satisfied with his word, that is as good as gold ; but his way of keeping his word is not always in harmony with the common ideas of morality. We will give an example of this, which at the same time will ex- plain his present adventurous mode of life. A seigneur of the court of Franois I., with three of his companions, came one day to propose to him a transaction. He knew that the royal treasurer that very night was to carry from the Arsenal to the Louvre one thousand crowns in gold; the plan was to stop the treasurer at the corner of the Rue Saint-Paul, take from him the thousand gold crowns, and divide them among them- selves in this way, five hundred to the seigneur, who would wait at the Place Royale until the deed was ac- complished, and who oil account of his rank claimed one half of the sum ; the other half was to be divided among Procope and his three companions, who would each have one hundred and twenty-five crowns. The word was pledged on both sides, and the thing was done ac- cording to agreement ; but when the treasurer was duly robbed, murdered, and thrown into the river, the three THE ADVENTURERS. 15 companions of Procope ventured this proposition, that instead of going to the Place Royale, they should take their way toward Notre-Dame and keep the thousand gold crowns instead of remitting five hundred to the nobleman. But Procope reminded them of their pledged word. "Gentlemen," he said gravely, "you forget that thus we should fail to keep our agreement, that thus we should defraud a client ! We must have loyalty before all things. We will remit to the duke " (the seigneur was a duke) " the five hundred gold crowns which are due to him, in full count. But," he continued, perceiving that the proposition excited some murmurs, " distinguimus ; when he shall have received them and recognized us as honest men, there is nothing to prevent us from conceal- ing ourselves in the cemetery of Saint-Jean, which I am very sure that he will pass ; it is a lonely place and very favorable for ambuscades. We will treat the duke as we have treated the treasurer ; and as the cemetery of Saint-Jean is not very far from the Seine, they will both be found to-morrow in the nets at Saint-Cloud. So that instead of one hundred and twenty-five crowns, each one of us will have two hundred and fifty, which two hun- dred and fifty crowns we can enjoy and use without re- morse, having faithfully kept our word with this good duke." The proposition was accepted with enthusiasm, and was carried into execution. Unfortunately, in their haste to throw him into the river, the four associates did not perceive that the duke had not ceased to breathe ; the coolness of the water restored his strength, and in- stead of going as far as Saint-Cloud, as Procope hoped, he reached the Quai de Gevres, hastened on to Chatelet, and gave to the provost of Paris, who at this time was 16 THE DUKE'S PAGE. Monsieur d'Estourville, so exact a description of the four robbers that from that time forth they thought it best to keep away from Paris for fear of arrest ; in which case, in spite of Procope's profound knowledge of the law, they would have been obliged to give up that to which all persons, however philosophical, cling more or less, that is to say, existence. Our four blades had therefore left Paris, each one going in the direction of one of the four cardinal points. The northern course fell to the lot of Procope. Thus it happens that we have the pleasure of finding him wield- ing the pen in the cavern of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise, draw- ing up, by the choice of his new companions who had rendered this homage to his merit, the important instru- ment to which we shall presently give our attention. The individual who held the torch bore the name of Heinrich Scharfenstein. This unworthy disciple of Luther had been driven, by Charles V.'s persecution of the Huguenots, into the ranks of the French army, to- gether with his nephew Frantz, who is at this moment keeping watch at the mouth of the cave. These are two giants who may be said to be animated by one soul and actuated by one mind. Many persons contend that one mind is not sufficient for two bodies each six feet tall ; but the Scharfensteins are not of this opinion, and are wholly satisfied with the arrangement. In ordinary life they rarely condescend to have re- course to assistance, whether of man, instrument, or machine, in order to attain their ends. If some heavy body is to be moved, instead of trying to find out, like our modern men of science, by what dynamic force Cleo- patra transported her vessels from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, or what machinery Titus used to raise the gigantic blocks of the Circus of Flavian, they boldly THE ADVENTURERS. 17 surround the object to be moved with their four arms, they form an infrangible chain with their fingers of steel, they make a simultaneous effort with the precision which distinguishes all their movements, and the object leaves its place for that which they intend it to occupy. If a wall is to be scaled or a window to be reached, in- stead of dragging after them, as their companions do, a heavy ladder, which hinders their progress when the ex- pedition succeeds, or which must be abandoned as a proof of criminality in case of failure, they go empty- handed to the work in hand. One of them, no matter which, leans against the wall ; the other mounts upon his shoulders, and if necessary upon his hands raised above his head. With the aid of his own arms the second reaches thus a height of from eighteen to twenty feet, a height almost always sufficient to gain the top of a wall or the balcony of a window. In battle there is always the same system of physical association. They march side by side and with equal step. One strikes while the other plunders; when the one who strikes is tired of striking, he simply passes the sword, the sledge, or the axe to his companion with these words only, " It is your turn." Then the roles change ; the despoiler becomes the striker, and the striker takes the place of the despoiler. It is true that their manner of striking is well known and highly esteemed ; but we think that on the whole they are valued more for their arms than their brains, their strength than their intelli- gence. This is the reason why one has been appointed to stand sentry outside, and the other to act as chancellor within. As for the young man who is stroking his black mus- tache and combing his curly hair, he is called Yvounet ; he is a Parisian by birth and a Frenchman in feeling. VOL. i. 2 18 THE DUKE'S PAGE. Besides the physical advantages we have already de- scribed, he has feet and hands like a woman's. In time of peace he complains unceasingly. The fold of the rose- leaf hurts him, as it did the ancient Sybarite ; he is lazy when he is required to walk ; he is dizzy at the thought of climbing ; it gives him the headache to think. Im- pressionable and nervous as a young girl, his sensitiveness requires the most careful consideration. In the daytime he utterly detests spiders, he has a horror of toads, he becomes sick at the sight of a mouse. He requires to be beside himself with a grand passion before he will venture out into the darkness, to which he has an antipathy. To be sure, to do him justice, he always has some grand passion ; but almost always, if the rendezvous is ap- pointed for the night, he comes into the presence of his mistress frightened to death and trembling all over ; and as many reassui'ing words, ardent caresses, and considerate attentions are necessary to compose him as Hero lavished upon Leander when he entered her tower all dripping with the water of the Hellespont. It is true that the moment he hears the sound of the trumpet, as soon as he smells the powder and sees the standards borne along, Yvonnet is no longer the same man ; he undergoes a complete transformation, no more idleness, no more dizziness, no more headaches ! The young girl becomes a ferocious soldier, cutting and thrusting, a veritable lion, with paws of iron and teeth of steel. He who hesitates to ascend a pair of stairs to reach the bedchamber of a pretty woman climbs a lad- der, hangs by a rope, suspends himself by a thread even, in order to be the first to gain the top of the wall. The battle finished, be washes with the greatest care his hands and face, changes his linen and clothes, then gradually becomes again the young man whom we see at this THE ADVENTURERS. 19 moment stroking his mustache, combing his hair, and flipping off with the end of his fingers the impertinent dust which is sticking to his clothes. The one who is binding up the wound he has received in his left arm is called Malemort. His is a gloomy and melancholy mind, which has only one passion, one love, one joy, war. Unfortunate passion, love illy recom- pensed, joy fleeting and fatal ; for at the very first taste of caniage, thanks to that reckless fury with which he throws himself into the combat, and to his carelessness, while striking others, about his own safety, he receives some frightful pike-thrust, some terrible musket-shot, which stretches him on the ground, where he groans la- mentably, not from the pain of his wound, but from the pain of seeing the fete go on without him. Fortunately, his flesh heals quickly and his bones knit readily. At the present time he can count twenty-five wounds, three more than Caesar ! and he hopes, if the war con- tinues, to receive twenty-five more before the final one shall put an end to this career of glory and pain. The thin individual on his knees in the corner telling his beads is Lactance. He is an ardent Catholic, and can scarcely endure the presence of the two Scharfensteius, whose heresy he fears will contaminate him. Forced by the practice of his profession to fight against his brothers iu Jesus Christ, and to kill as many of them as possible, there is no penance he does not impose upon himself to atone for this cruel necessity. The gown with which he is at this moment clothed, and which he wears without vest or shirt, next to the skin, is lined with a coat of mail, although sometimes the coat of mail becomes the fabric, and the cloth the lining. For in combat he wears the coat of mail outside as a cuirass ; when the battle is ended he wears the coat of mail inside, and it serves as 20 THE DUKE'S PAGE. sackcloth. There is a certain satisfaction in being killed by him ; he who dies by the hand of this holy man is sure at least that prayers will be offered for him. In the last engagement Lactance has killed two Spaniards and one Englishman ; and as he is in arrears with them, espe- cially on account of the heresy of the Englishman, for whom an ordinary De profundis is not sufficient, he is saying, as we have seen, many a Pater and many an Ave, resigning to his companions his share of interest in the temporal concerns which are under discussion at this moment. The man who is resting his hands on the table, and who, unlike Lactance, follows with rapt attention every stroke of Procope's pen, is Maldent. He was born at Noyon ; his father was from Le Mans, and his mother from Picardy. His youth has been spent in extravagance and folly ; having arrived at mature age, he wishes to make up for lost time and attend to his affairs. He has met with a multitude of adventures, which he relates with a naivete not without its charm ; but it must be confessed, this naivete disappears completely when he argues with Procope some point of law. Then they make real the legend of the two Gaspards, of which they are perhaps the heroes, the one from Le Mans and the other from Normandy. Maldent gives and takes bravely a sword-thrust ; and although he may be far from having the strength of Heinrich or of Frantz Scharfenstein, the courage of Yvonnet, or the impetuosity of Malemort, he is a companion to rely upon in need, who would never desert a comrade. It is Pilletrousse who is sharpening his dirk and trying the point with the end of his finger. He is a thorough mercenary. He has served by turns the Spanish and the English. But the English bargained too much, and the THE ADVENTURERS. 21 Spanish did not pay enough ; he therefore determined to work on his own account. Pilletrousse prowls about the highways. At night, especially, the highways are infested with thieves of all nations. Pilletrousse robs the thieves ; but he respects the French, his fellow-countrymen, so to speak, Pilletrousse is Provencal. In respect to them he is even generous, if they are poor, he assists them ; if they are feeble, he protects them ; if they are sick, he takes care of them. But if he meets with a real fellow- countryman, that is to say, a man who was born in the country between Mount Viso and the mouth of the Rhone, between Comtat and Frejus, this man can dis- pose of Pilletrousse, body and soul, blood and money ; and it is Pilletrousse who will seem to be under obligation. Finally, the ninth and last, who stands with back to the wall, who is swinging his arms and looking upward, is Fracasso. He is, as we have said, a dreamer and a poet ; unlike Yvonnet, who shuns the darkness, he loves these fine nights lighted only by the stars ; he loves the indented banks of the river ; he loves the sound of the waves upon the sea-shore. Unfortunately, forced to fol- low the French army wherever it goes, for although an Italian, he has consecrated his sword to the cause of Henri II., he is not at liberty to wander at his own will. But what matter ] For the poet there is inspira- tion in everything ; for the dreamer everything is food for revery ; but then the characteristic of the dreamer is distraction, and distraction is fatal in the career adopted hy Fracasso. Often in the midst of a battle Fracasso stops suddenly to listen to the sound of the bugle, to look at a passing cloud, or admire some interesting feat of arms. Then the enemy who is nearest Fracasso profits by this preoccupation to aim at him quietly a fearful thrust, which restores him to his senses and arouses him 22 THE DUKE'S PAGE. from his ecstasy. But woe to this enemy if, in spite of his favorable opportunity, he has calculated badly and failed to stun Fracasso with the blow ! Fracasso will avenge himself, not for the attack upon himself, but to punish the intruder who has brought him down from the seventh heaven where he was soaring, borne on the bright- hued wings of fantasy and imagination. And now that we have given a description of our adventurers, some of whom cannot be wholly unknown to those of our friends who have read " Ascanio " and " The Two Dianas," let us state the circumstances which have brought them together in this cavern, and the character of the mysterious document to the wording of which they are giving their whole attention. FURTHER ACQUAINTANCE. 23 CHAPTER III. IN WHICH THE READER MAKES FURTHER ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE HEROES TO WHOM WE HAVE INTRODUCED HIM. ON the morning of that 5th of May, 1555, a little com- pany of four men, who apparently were a part of the garrison of Doulens, left that city, slipping out through the Arras gate, as soon as that gate, we will not say had been opened, but was in process of opening. These four men, wrapped in heavy cloaks, which might serve to conceal their arms as well as to protect them from the cold morning wind, had proceeded along the banks of the river Authie, which they followed with every precaution to its very source. From that point they had branched off to the chain of hillocks of which we have already spoken, followed, always with the same precautions, its western course, and after a two hours' walk entered the borders of the forest of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise. There one of them, who appeared to be more familiar than the others with the locality, took the lead, and rec- ognizing his whereabouts, now by means of a tree of denser foliage or more bare of branches than the others, now by means of a rock or pool of water, he reached with very little deviation the mouth of this cavern to which we conducted our readers at the beginning of the last pre- ceding chapter. Then he made a sign to his companions to wait a mo- ment, observing attentively the grass, which he thought 24 THE DUKE'S PAGE. newly trodden down, and certain branches which seemed to him to be freshly broken. Then he threw himself flat on the ground, and creeping like a snake, disappeared within the cavern. Very soon his companions, who had remained outside, heard the sound of his voice ; but there was nothing in its tone to alarm them. He was calling to the depths of the cavern ; and as his only answer was silence and soli- tude, as he heard, notwithstanding his twice-repeated call, only the echo of his own voice, he did not hesi- tate to come out and summon his companions to follow him. The three men followed him, and after some difficulties, soon however overcome, found themselves in the interior of the cavern. " Ah ! " murmured he who had so skilfully served as guide, breathing a sigh of relief, " tandem ad terminum eamus." " And what may that mean ? " asked one of the three adventurei-s, who had a very strong Picard accent. " That means, my dear Maldent, that we are nearing, or rather have reached, the end of our journej*." " Pardon, Monsieur Brogope," said another, " but I did n't understand. Did you, Heinrich 1 " " I did n't understand either." " And why the devil do you want to understand 1 " re- plied Procope, for the reader has already guessed that . it was our lawyer whom Frantz Scharfenstein addressed as "Brogope," "is it not enough if Maldent and I understand ? " " Yes," answered the two Germans, philosophically, " that is enough." "Well, then," said Procope, "let us sit down and eat and drink to pass the time while I unfold my plans." FURTHER ACQUAINTANCE. 25 " Yes, yes," said Fraiitz Scharfenstein, " let us eat and drink to pass the time, and he will unfold his plans." The adventurers looked about them ; and as their eyes were becoming accustomed to the darkness, which, be- sides, was not so great near the entrance as in the re- moter parts of the cavern, they saw three stones, which they placed near together that they might talk more confidentially. As they could not find a fourth stone, Heinrich Schar- fenstein politely offered his to Procope, who had no seat ; but Procope as politely declined it, spread his cloak upon the ground, and lay down upon it. Then they took from wallets carried by the two giants some bread, cold meat, and wine ; they put it all in the middle of the semicircle of which the three adventurers who were seated formed the arc, and of which Procope, who was lying down, formed the chord ; then they at- tacked this improvised breakfast with a ferocity which proved that the morning walk they had just taken had not been without its effect upon their appetites. For about ten minutes nothing was heard but the noise of teeth crauuching, with a regularity which would have done credit to machinery, bread and the flesh and even the bones of poultry which had been stolen from the neighboring farms, and which constituted the more deli- cute portion of the feast. Maldent was the first to recover speech. " You prom- ised, my dear Procope," said he, " that while we were lunching you would unfold your plan. Luncheon is more than half through, at least so far as I am con- cerned. Begin your exposition, then ; I am listening." "Yes, we are listening," said Frautz, with his mouth full. 26 THE DUKE'S PAGE. "Well, then, here it is, 'Ecce res judicanda/ as they say at court." " Be quiet, you Scharfensteins ! " said Maldent. " I have not said a single word," replied Frantz. " Neither have I," said Heinrich. " Ah ! I thought I heard " " I thought so too," said Procope. * Nonsense ! it is pi*obably some fox we have disturbed in its hole. Go on, Procope." " Well, then, I repeat, here it is : there is, about a quarter of a league from here, a pretty little farm." " You promised us a chateau," said Maldent. " Oh, mon Dieu ! how particular you are ! " said Pro- cope. " Well, I will begin again. There is, a quarter of a league from here, a pretty little chateau." " It makes no difference whether it is a farm or chateau if it only has money in it," said Heinrich Scharfenstein. " Bravo, Heinrich, that is the way to talk ! But this fellow Maldent quibbles like a lawyer. I will go on." " Go on, then," said Frantz. " There is, as I said before, about a quarter of a league from here, a charming country-house, occupied by the mistress alone, who has one man servant and one woman servant. It is true that the farmer and his people live close by." " How many of them are there ? " demanded Heinrich. "About ten persons," replied Procope. " Frantz and I will take charge of the ten persons, eh, Frantz ] " " Yes, Uncle," replied Frantz, laconic as a Spartan. " Well," continued Procope, " this is the plan : We will spend the day here eating, drinking, and telling Stories." " Especially eating and drinking," said Frantz. FURTHER ACQUAINTANCE. 27 "Then, at nightfall," continued Procope, "we will leave the cave as silently as we entered it ; we will make our way to the border of the forest ; from there we will follow an obscure road which I know as far as the foot of the wall. Once there, Frantz shall mount on his uncle's shoulders or vice versa ; the one who is upou the other's shoulders shall climb the wall and open the gate for us. The gate being open, you understand, Maldent ? the gate being opeu, you see, do you not, you Scharfen- steins ? the gate being open, we will go in." "Not without us, I hope," broke in, a few paces behind the group, a voice in a tone so emphatic as to make not only Procope and Maldent, but even the two giants, start. " Treason ! " cried Procope, leaping to his feet and taking a step backward. " Treason ! " cried Maldent, trying to see through the darkness, but keeping his seat. " Treason ! " exclaimed at the same time the two Scharfensteins, drawing their swords and taking a step forward. " Ah, battle 1 " said the same voice ; " you want to fight ? Well, come on. Here, Lactance ! here, Fracasso ! here, Malemort ! " A triple shout from the depths of the cavern showed that those who had been called were ready to respond. " Stop a moment, Pilletrousse," said Procope, who had recognized the voice of the fourth adventurer ; " what the deuce 1 we are not Turks or gypsies to cut one another's throats in this fashion without trying to come to an understanding." " Let us have a light first, one on each side ; let us look into one another's eyes, that we may know with whom we have to deal ; let us come to some agree 28 THE DUKE'S PAGE. ment if possible ; if we cannot agree, why, then we will fight." " Let us fight first," said a hollow voice, which, coming as it did from the depths of the cavern, seemed like a voice from the infernal regions. " Silence, Malemort ! " said Pilletrousse ; " it seems to me that Procope has made a very reasonable proposition. What do you say, Lactance ? What do you think about it Fracasso 1 " " I say," replied Lactance, " that if this proposition will save the life of our brothers, I agree to it." " It would, however, have been romantic to fight in a cavern, which might have served as a tomb for the vic- tims ; but since it is not necessary to sacrifice material interests to poetry," Fracasso continued in a melan- choly tone, " I embrace the opinion of Pilletrousse and Lactance." " But I want to fight ! " shouted Malemort. " Come, bind up your arm and hold your tongue ! " said Pilletrousse. " We are three against one ; and Pro- cope, who is a lawyer, will tell you that three always out- vote one." Malemort roared with rage at having to give up so good a chance of receiving a new wound ; but following the advice given him by Pilletrousse, he yielded to, if he did not accept, the opinion of the majority. Meanwhile Lactance, acting for his party, and Maldent, acting for his, had each struck a light ; and as each party had foreseen the necessity of seeing clearly, two pine torches, mounted with oakum smeared with pitch, began to burn at the same time, and their united flames illumi- nated the cavern and its occupants. We have explored the former, and made the acquain- tance of the latter ; there is therefore no need of describ- FURTHER ACQUAINTANCE. 29 ing the theatre or the actors therein ; we will only show the manner in which they were grouped. At the back of the cavern stood Pilletrousse, Male- mort, Lactance, and Fracasso. Near the entrance were the two Scharfensteius, Maldent, and Procope. Pilletrousse still remained in advance of his party ; behind him, Malemort was clinching liis fists in rage ; next to Malemort was Lactance, torch in hand, who was trying to pacify his pugnacious companion ; Fracasso, on his knees like Agis at the tomb of Leonidas, was, like him, tying the thongs of his sandals in order to be ready for war, while at the same time praying for peace. The two Scharfensteins, as we have said, formed the advance guard of the opposite party ; close behind them stood Maldent, and behind Maldent was Procope. The two torches lighted up all the central portion of the cavern. Only one recess near the entrance, contain- ing a pile of brakes destined doubtless to become the bed of the future hermit if he should choose to occupy it, remained in shadow. A ray of light stealing in through the opening of the cavern, tried, but in vain, with its feeble glimmer to vie with the almost blood-red rays cast by the two torches. All this formed a sombre and martial scene which would have been wonderfully effec- tive on the modern stage. Our adventurers were for the most part no strangers to one another; they had met on the field of battle, fighting against a common enemy, and were not eager to begin the game of slaughter. Utterly fearless as they were, each man found himself reviewing the situation in his own mind. But the man who had the most clear and just appreciation of what the battle would be, if it took place, was unquestionably the lawyer Procope. He therefore advanced toward his adversaries, taking 30 THE DUKE'S PAGE. good care however to keep within reach of the two Scharfensteins. " Gentlemen," he said, " we have by common accord wished to see one another ; and it is well, because by so doing we can understand our chances. We are four against four ; but we have on our side these two gentle- men," and he pointed to Frantz and Heinrich Scharfen- stein, " so that I consider myself almost warranted in saying that we are eight against four." The immediate consequence of this imprudent gas- conade was a shout of defiance from Malemort, Lactance, and Fracasso, and a general drawing of swords. Procope saw that he had not been as discreet as usual, and that he was on the wrong tack. He tried to retrace his steps. " Gentlemen," he said, " I do not mean to say that even with eight to four the victory would be ours, when that four consists of Pilletrousse, Malemort, Lactance, and Fracasso." This added remark seemed to quiet them somewhat, with the exception of Malemort, who was still muttering in an undertone. " Come to the point," said Pilletrousse. " Yes," replied Procope, " ad eventum festina. Well, I was saying, gentlemen, that setting aside the always uncertain chances of combat, we ought to try to come to some agreement. Now, there is a sort of lawsuit pend- ing between us, jacens sub judice lis est ; in what way shall we decide this lawsuit ] In the first place, by a clear and plain statement of the situation, in which the truth will appear. Who conceived yesterday the idea of taking possession to-night of the little farm, or little chateau, of The Parcq, whichever you choose to call it 1 These .gentlemen and I. Who left Doulens this morning to put this project into execution 1 These gentlemen FURTHER ACQUAINTANCE. Cl and I. Who came into this cavern to make arrange- ments for the night 1 ? Again, these gentlemen and I. Finally, who matured the plan, who has unfolded it to you, and who has inspired you with the desire to join the conspiracy 1 ? Always, these gentlemen and I. Answer this, Pilletrousse, and say if the management of an en- terprise does not fairly and fully belong to those who first conceived the idea and first planned to carry it into execution. Dixi." Pilletrousse burst out laughing ; Fracasso shrugged his shoulders ; Lactance shook his torch ; Malemort murmured, " Battle ! " " What makes you laugh, Pilletrousse 1 " asked Pro- cope gravely, disdaining to address the others and con- senting to argue only with the one who, for the moment at least, seemed to have made himself leader of his company. " I am laughing, my dear Procope," replied the adven- turer to whom the question had been addressed, " at the profound confidence with which you state your claims, a statement which, even admitting the force of the argu- ment you use, instantly destroys the claim of yourself and your companions. Yes, I agree with you that the conduct of an enterprise belongs fairly and fully to those who first conceived the idea of carrying it into execution." " Ah ! " said Procope, with a triumphant air. " Yes ; but did you not say that it was yesterday that you conceived the idea of sacking the little farm, or little chateau, of The Parcq, whichever you choose to call it ? Well, we thought of it day before yesterday. You left Doulens this morning to put it into execution, did you 1 We left Montreuil-sur-Mer last night for the same pur- pose. You arrived at this cavern an hour ago, but wf 32 THE DUKE'S PAGE. have been here four hours. You matured this plan and unfolded it to us? We had already matured and un- folded this plan to you. You intend attacking the farm to-night 1 We intend attacking it this evening ! We claim therefore the priority both of idea and execution, and consequently the right to conduct our undertaking without fear of molestation." And mimicking Procope's classical manner of ending his address, " Dixi," he added, with as much assurance and solemnity as the lawyer himself. " But," demanded Procope, somewhat disturbed by Pilletrousse's reasoning, " what assurance have I that you ai'e telling the truth ? " " My word as a gentleman," said Pilletrousse. " I should like something better." " The word of a highwayman, then ! " " Hum ! " said Procope, imprudently. Their blood was up ; the doubt cast upon Pilletrousse's word by Procope exasperated the three adventurers who were of his party. "Well, then, let us fight!" exclaimed Fracasso and Lactance in one breath. "Yes, fight, fight, fight !" shouted Malemort. " Fight, then, if you want to ! " said Procope. "Fight, since there is no other way of settling the affair ! " said Maldent. "Fight !" repeated Frantz and Heinrich Scharfenstein, preparing to draw their heavy, two-edged swords. And as all were agreed, each man drew his sword or his dirk, took up his axe or sledge, selected his adversaiy, and with menace on his lips, fury in his face, and death in his hand, was about to fall upon him. Suddenly there was a movement in the pile of brakes which were heaped up in the recess near the entrance of FURTHER ACQUAINTANCE. 33 the cavern. A young man elegantly dressed bounded out of the darkness into the light, extending his arms like Hersilia in the picture of " The Sabines," and exclaim- ing, "Come, put up your weapons, comrades ; I take upon myself to arrange everything to the general satisfaction." Every eye was turned upon this new-comer appearing upon the scene in such a brusque and unexpected man- ner, and every voice cried out, " Yvonnet ! " " Where the devil do you come from 1 " demanded at the same time Pilletrousse and Procope. " You shall know presently," said Yvonnet ; " but sheathe your swords and dirks first. The sight of all these naked blades irritates my nerves horribly." All the adventurers obeyed, except Malemort. " Come, come," said Yvonnet, addressing him, " what is all this about, comrade 1 " "Ah," said Malemort, with a deep sigh, "can a poor fellow never indulge in a little fight in peace 1 ?" And he put up his sword with a gesture indicating his anger and disappointment. VOL. i. 3 THE DUKE'S PAGE. CHAPTER IV. THE ARTICLES OF PARTNERSHIP. YVONNET cast a glance upon those about him, and seeing that if there was still fury in their hearts, at least the swords and daggers had returned to their sheaths, he turned, looked from one to the other, toward Pilletrousse and Procope, who, it will be remembered, had both done him the honor to put to him the same question. " Where do I come from ? " he repeated. " Pardieu ! a pretty question that ! I come out of that pile of brakes, where I hid when I first saw Pilletrousse, Lactance, Ma- lemort, and Fracasso coming in, and which I did not think it prudent to leave on seeing the arrival, later, of Procope, Maldent, and the two Scharfensteins." " But what were you doing in this cavern at that time of night ? for we got here before daybreak." "Ah, that," replied Yvonnet, "is my secret, which I will tell you soon if you are very good ; but first let us give our attention to the business which is most urgent." Then addressing Pilletrousse, he said, " So then, my dear Pilletrousse, you were thinking of paying a little visit to the farm or chateau of The Parcq, whichever you choose to call it ? " " Yes," said Pilletrousse. " And you too 1 " Yvonnet asked of Procope. " And we too," replied Procope. "And you were going to fight to establish the priority of your claims 1 " THE ARTICLES OF PARTNERSHIP. 35 " We were going to fight," said at the same time Pille- trousse and Procope. "For shame!" said Yvonnet; "you are comrades, Frenchmen, or at all events men pledged to the cause of France." "Well, we could not help it, since these gentlemen would not give up their purpose," said Procope. " We could not do otherwise, since these gentlemen re- fused us our rights," said Pilletrousse. " ' Could not help it ' ! ' Could not do otherwise ' ! " repeated Yvonnet, imitating the voices of the two speak- ers. " You could not help murdering one another] You could not do otherwise than cut one another's throats 1 And you were there, Lactance, and saw these prepara- tions for bloodshed, and your Christian soul did not groan 1 " " Yes," said Lactance, " it did groan, and profoundly ! " "And is that all with which your holy religion has inspired you, a groan 1 " "After the combat," replied Lactance, somewhat hu- miliated by the reproaches of Yvonnet, the justice of which he admitted to himself, "after the combat I should have prayed for the dead." " Just hear that ! " " What would you have had me do, my dear Monsieur Yvonnet ? " " Eh, pardieu ! do as I do, who am not a devotee, a saint, a prodigal in patemosters as you are. What would I have had you do 1 I would have had you throw your- self in among the blades and the swords, inter gladios et enses, to speak after the fashion of our lawyer Procope, and I would have had you say to your erring brothers, with that air of compunction which suits you so well, what I am going to say to them myself: Comrades, where 36 THE DUKE'S PAGE. there is anything for four there is also something for eight ; if the first transaction does not prove to be all that we expect, we will try another. Men are born to help one another over the rough paths of life, and not to place obstacles in the way already so difficult to travel. Instead of separating, let us combine ; four cannot at- tempt without enormous risks that which eight can ac- complish almost without danger. Let us keep our hatred, our daggers, our swords, for our enemies, reserving for one another only kind words and good actions. God, who protects France when he has nothing more pressing to do, will smile upon our fraternity and will send its reward. This is what you should have said, dear Lac- tance, and what you did not say." " That is true," replied Lactance, beating his breast ; "uiea culpa, raea culpa, mea maxima culpa." And ex- .tinguishing his torch, which was no longer needed, he fell on his knees and began to pray with fervor. " Well, then, I say it for you," continued Yvonnet ; " and I add also that it is I who bring you, Comrades, the divine recompense which Lactance would have prom- ised you." " You, Yvonuet," said Procope, in a doubtful tone. " Yes, I, who had conceived this very idea before any of you." "*\Yhat!" said Pilletrousse, "you too conceived the idea of getting into this chateau which we are all after 1 " " Not only have I thought of the plan," said Yvonnet, " but I have even carried it into execution." " Nonsense ! " cried all the listeners, paying renewed attention to what Yvonnet was saying. " Yes, I have an acquaintance in the place," replied the latter, "a charming little soubrette named Gertrude," he added, stroking his mustache, " who is quite ready to THE ARTICLES OF PARTNERSHIP. 37 leave for me father and mother, master and mistress, a soul which I am leading on." Lactance sighed. " You say that you have been in the chateau 1 " " I came from there last night. You know how I dis- like being out alone in the dark ; well, rather than walk three leagues to Doulens, or six leagues to Abbeville or Montreuil-sur-Mer, I preferred coming a quarter of a league to this cavern, which I remembered from having held here my first rendezvous with my sweetheart. I groped about until I found this pile of brakes, the posi- tion of which I knew ; and I was just going to sleep, in- tending in the morning to propose the affair to those of you whom I should meet first, when Pilletrousse arrived with his party ; and later, Procope came with his. Each party came for the same purpose. This tendency toward the same end has caused the discussion which you know was about to end in a tragic manner when I thought it time to interfere, and did interfere. Now I say to you : In- stead of fighting, will you form a partnership ? Will you enter by stratagem instead of by force ] Will you have the doors opened to you instead of breaking them in? Instead of taking your chances of finding the money and the jewels, would you prefer to have the plunder shown to you ? If so, give me your hand, I am your man ; and as a sign of disinterestedness and brother!} 7 feeling, notwithstanding the service I am about to render you, I will share with you equally. Now, if any one has any- thing better to propose, I am ready to listen to what he has to say." A murmur of admiration ran through the assembly. Lactance, stopping short in his prayers, drew near to Yvonnet and humbly kissed the hem of his garment. Procope, Pilletrousse, Maldent, and Fracasso pressed his 38 THE DUKE'S PAGE. hand. The two Scharfensteins almost stifled him with their embraces. Malemort alone grumbled from his corner, " There will not be a single bit of fighting, curse it ! " " Well, then," said Yvonnet, who had for some time desired some such association, and who seeing the god- dess of fortune passing within reach of his hand, did not wish to miss this opportunity of seizing her by the fore- lock, " do not let us lose a moment. Here we are, re- united, nine comrades, who fear neither God nor the devil " " Indeed ! " interrupted Lactance, making the sign of the cross, " we fear God." " True, true, only a mode of expression, Lactance. I was saying, then, that we were nine associates united by chance " "By Providence, Yvonnet," said Lactance. " By Providence, then. Fortunately we have among us Procope, a lawyer ; fortunately this lawyer has about him pen and ink, and, I am very sure, some paper bearing the stamp of our good king Henri II." " Upon my word, I have," said Procope ; " and as Yvonnet says, it is lucky." " Then make haste ; let us arrange a table and draw up our ai'ticles of partnership, while one of us stands guard in the forest near the entrance of the cavern, to see that we are not disturbed." " I," said Malemort, " will mount guard, and for every Spaniard, Englishman, or German prowling about the forest there will be one slain ! " " But," said Yvonnet, " that is just what we do not want, my dear Malemort. In our position, that is to say, not far from the camp of his Majesty the Emperor Charles Y., with a man in command of the quick hearing and practised eye of Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, we THE ARTICLES OF PARTNERSHIP. 39 must kill only when it is necessary, because, however sure one may be of his blows, they sometimes wound instead of killing ; the wounded scream like eagles, their cries attract attention, and, the forest once occupied, God knows what might happen to us. No, dear Malemort, you must stay here, and one of the two Scharfensteins shall mount guard. Both are Germans ; if the one who is on guard is discovered, he can pass himself off as a foot-soldier of the Due d'Aremberg or as a cavalry-man of Count Waldeck." " Count Waldeck would be best," said Heinrich Schaifenstein. "This giant is full of intelligence," said Yvonnet. " Yes, my brave fellow, ' Count Waldeck would be best/ because Count Waldeck is a marauder. Is not that what you mean 1 " " Yes, that is what I mean." " And it would not be surprising if a marauder were hid in the forest 1 " " No, not at all surprising." " But the Scharfeustein who shall be on guard must take care, with this honorable title of marauder, not to fall into the hands of Monseigneur le Due de Savoie. He does n't understand how to jest on the subject of marauding." " Faith," said Heinrich, " he had two more soldiers hanged yesterday." " Three," said Frantz. "Well, which of you two will mount guard?" " I," replied the uncle and nephew together. " My friends," said Yvonnet, "this devotion is appre- ciated by your comrades ; but one sentinel is enough. Draw lots therefore. A post of honor is reserved for him who shall remain here." 40 THE DUKE'S PAGE. The two Scharfensteins consulted together a moment. " Frantz has quick ears and keen eyes ; he will stand sentinel for you," said Heinrich. " Very well," said Yvonnet ; " go to your post, Frantz." Frantz directed his steps toward the mouth of the cavern with his usual gravity. " Understand, Frantz," said Yvonnet, " that if you are captured by any one else, it is of 110 consequence ; hut if you are captured by the Duke of Savoy you will be hanged." " Don't you fear that I shall let anybody take me," said Frautz. And he went out of the cavern to go to his post. " And where is the post of honor you promised ] " de- manded Heinrich. Yvonnet took the torch from Maldent, and giving it to Heinrich said, " Stand here, hold the light for Procope, and do not stir." " I will not stir," said Heinrich. Procope sat down, drew the paper from his pocket, his inkstand from his belt, and his pens from his inkstand. We saw him at work when we first entered the cavern of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise, ordinarily so solitary, and by a concurrence of strange circumstances so frequented to-day. We have shown that the task at which Procope was hard at work from eleven o'clock in the morning until three in the afternoon on the important day of the 5th of May, 1555, was no easy matter to accomplish to everybody's satisfaction. Each one had, according to his interest or his insight, offered his amendments and his second amendments, as if it had been the discussion of a bill in a modern delib- THE ARTICLES OF PARTNERSHIP. 41 erative assembly. These amendments and second amend- ments had been acted on by a majority vote, and it must be said to the credit of our adventurers that they had shown in this discussion much fairness, self-restraint, and impartiality. There are some cross-grained people, bold calumniators of judges and justice, who pretend to think that a code of laws drawn up by robbers, would be much more com- plete and especially much more equitable than one drawn up by honest men. We pity these unfortunate persons for their blindness, just as we pity the Calvinists and the Lutherans for their errors ; and we pray God to pardon them all. At the moment when Yvonnet's watch for rare as such trinkets were at this period, this fop of an adven- turer had managed to procure a watch pointed to a quarter after, three, Procope lifted his head, laid down his pen, took the paper in his hands, and regarding it with an air of satisfaction, uttered an exclamation of pleasure. " Ah," he said, " I think it is finished, and not badly done. Exegi monument um ! " At this announcement Heinrich Scharfenstein, who had been holding the torch for three hours and twenty minutes, began to stretch his arms, which were getting very tired. Yvonnet stopped singing, but kept on strok- ing his mustache ; Malemort finished the dressing of his left arm, and fastened the bandage with a pin ; Lactance muttered a final Ave ; Maldent, who had been leaning upon the table, straightened up ; Pilletrousse sheathed his now sufficiently sharp dagger, and Fracasso emerged from his poetic revery with the satisfaction of having given the final touch to a sonnet on which he had been meditating for more than a month. All approached the table except Frantz, who, leaving 42 THE DUKE'S PAGE. his uncle in charge of their common interests, had taken his position as sentinel about twenty steps from the en- trance to the cavern, with the firm resolution not only to defend his companions against intrusion but to defend himself against capture by any one, especially by Em- manuel Philibert of Savoy, the rough dispenser of justice. " Gentlemen," said Procope, looking round with satis- faction upon the circle formed about him, a circle even more regular than that ordinarily gathered about an offi- cer mustering his soldiers, "gentlemen, is every one here ? " " Yes," answered the adventurers in chorus. " Is everybody," continued Procope, " ready to listen to the reading of the eighteen articles of the document which we have drawn up conjointly, and which might be called articles of partnership ? For, in fact, we are form- ing a sort of company." The answer was affirmative and general, Hetnrich Scharfenstein answering, it was understood, for himself and nephew. " Listen, then," said Procope. And after coughing and spitting he began : "We the undersigned " " Pardon," interrupted Lactance, " I do not know how to sign." " Parbleu ! " said Procope, " that is a pretty piece of business ! You will have to make the sign of the cross." "Ah," murmured Lactance, "my engagement will be the more sacred." Procope continued : " We the undersigned, Jean-Chry- sostome Procope " " You don't stand on ceremony ! " said Yvonnet ; "you have put your own name first!" THE ARTICLES OF PARTNERSHIP. 43 " Somebody had to be first," said Procope, innocently. " All right ! " said Maldent, " go on." Procope resumed : " Jean-Chrysostome Procope, ex- solicitor at the bar of Caen, also of Rouen, Cherbourg, Valognes " " Corlleu ! " said Pilletrousse, " I am not surprised that it took you three hours and a half to write the document, if you have given to each one, as you have given to your- self, his rank and titles. On the contrary, I am surprised that it is finished so soon." " No," said Procope, " I have included you all under one title, and I have assigned to each of you a single and unique profession ; but I thought that in regard to my- self, the author of the document, a statement of my titles and rank was not only suitable, but absolutely necessary." "That is right," said Pilletrousse. " Go on ! " shouted Malemort. " We shall never get through if we are interrupted at every word. I am in a hurry to fight." " Well," said Procope, " I am not the one who is in- terrupting you, it strikes me ; " and he continued : " We the undersigned, Jean-Chrysostome Procope, etc., Ho- nor6-Joseph Maldent, Victor-Felix Yvonnet, Cyrille-Ne- pomucene Lactance, Ce"sar-Annibal Malemort, Martin Pilletrousse, Vittorio-Albani Fracasso, and Heinrich and Fnintz Scharfenstein, all captains in the service of King Henri II. " A murmur of applause interrupted Procope, and no one thought of disputing with him the titles and rank he had assigned them, so occupied was each in the adjust- ment of his cravat, bandage, handkerchief, or rags, symbols of their new rank as captains of the French army. 44 THE DUKE'S PAGE. Procope waited until the murmur of applause had sub- sided, then went on, " have agreed as follows " " Pardon," said Maldent, " but the deed is null." " How null 1 " said Procope. " You have forgotten one thing in making your deed." "What is that?" "The date." " The date is at the end." " Ah," said Maldent, " that is another thing. How- ever, it would have been better to put it at the beginning." " It makes no difference whether it is at the beginning or the end," said Procope. "The Institutes of Justinian say positively : ' Omne actum quo tempore scriptum sit. indicate; seu initio, sen fine, ut paciscentibus libuerit.' That is to say, ' Every agreement must be dated ; but the contracting parties may place the date at the end or at the beginning of said agreement.' " " How abominable is this language of the law," said Fracasso ; " and what a difference there is between this Latin and that of Virgil and Horace ! " And he began to scan in a sentimental manner these lines from the Third Eclogue of Virgil, " Halo me Galatea petit, lasciva puella, Et fugit ad salices, et se cupit ante videri " " Silence, Fracasso ! " said Procope. " Silence, if you wish it," replied Fracasso ; " but it is no less true that, however great an emperor Justinian may be, I prefer the second Homer, and I would rather have written the Bucolics, the Eclogues, and even the vEneid, than the ' Digest,' the ' Pandects,' the ' Insti- tutes,' and the whole ' Corpus juris civilis.' " Fracasso and Procope were doubtless about to enter THE ARTICLES OF PARTNERSHIP. 45 into a discussion of this important question, and God knows where it would have led the disputants ! when a stifled cry was heard outside the cavern, which turned the attention of the adventurers into a new channel. Suddenly the daylight was intercepted by some opaque body, which came between the artificial and ephemeral light of the torch and the divine and inextinguishable light of the sun. Finally, a creature, the species of which it was impossible to distinguish, so many vague forms it seemed to assume in the dim light, advanced to the cen- tre of the circle, which opened spontaneously before it. Then by the light of the torch which shone upon the amorphous mass, the astonished men recognized Frautz Scharfenstein holding in his arms a woman, over whose mouth he had placed his large hand as a gag. Every one awaited an explanation of this fresh incident. " Comrades," said the giant, " here is a little woman who wus prowling around near the entrance to the cav- ern ; I caught her and brought her in, what shall be done with her ? " " Pardieu ! " said Pilletrousse, " let her go. She will not eat the nine of us, probably." "Oh, I am not afraid of her eating the nine of us," said Frantz, with a coarse laugh ; " I would first eat her myself all alone. That I would ! " And right in the middle of the circle he set the wo- man down upon her feet, as Pilletrousse had ordered, and quickly withdrew into the background. The woman, who was young and pretty, and who by her dress appeared to belong to the estimable class of cooks who serve in good families, cast about her a fright- ened glance, as if to see what sort of company she had fallen among, and at first sight she was somewhat alarmed. But before her glance had taken in the whole of the scene 46 THE DUKE'S PAGE. before her, it had fastened upon the youngest and most elegant of our adventurers. " Oh, Monsieur Yvonnet," she cried, " for heaven's sake, protect me ! defend me ! " And she threw herself trembling into his arms. " Why ! " said Y vonnet, " it is Mademoiselle Ger- trude ! " And holding her to his breast to reassure her, he said : " Pardieu ! gentlemen, we shall have the latest news from The Parcq now, for this pretty child comes from there." Now, as the news which Yvonnet promised through Gertrude was of the greatest interest to everybody, our adventurers, abandoning, for a time at least, the reading of their articles of partnership, grouped themselves about the two young persons, and waited impatiently until Mademoiselle Gertrude's composure should be sufficiently restored to allow her to speak. COUNT WALDECK. 47 CHAPTER V. COUNT WALDECK. IT was some minutes before Yvonnet could pacify Made- moiselle Gertrude sufficiently to enable her to relate the cause of her sudden appearance ; and even then the nar- rative was so broken and so much interrupted by ques- tions on the part of her hearers, that, with the reader's permission, we will substitute our own language for that of the young lady, and relate, as truthfully as we can, the tragic events which had driven her from The Parcq, and brought her among our adventurers. Two hours after the departure of Yvonnet, just as Mademoiselle Gertrude doubtless somewhat fatigued after the visit of the handsome Parisian the previous evening was deciding that it was time to get up and go down to her mistress, who had already called her two or three times, the farmer's son, a lad sixteen or seven- teen years of age, named Philippin, came rushing into the chamber of the lady of the house trembling all over with fright, and announced to her that a troop of from forty to fifty horsemen, who appeared from their yellow and black scarfs to belong to the army of the Emperor Charles ^ 7 ., were approaching the chateau, bringing with them his father, whom they had taken prisoner while he was at work in the fields. Philippin, who had himself been working at a little distance from his father, had seen the captain of the company seize upon him, and had divined, from the ges- 48 THE DUKE'S PAGE. tures of the soldiers and of their prisoner, that they were talking about the chateau. He then threw himself on the ground and crept along until he came to a lonely path, where, seeing that the lay of the land would conceal his flight, he started up and ran as fast as his legs would carry him to announce to his mistress what had hap- pened, and give her time to make some plan. The mistress of the chateau arose, went to the window, and saw that the band was scarcely a hundred steps distant ; it consisted of fifty men, as Philippin had said, and seemed to be commanded by three leaders. By the side of one of the leaders walked the farmer, his hands tied behind him ; the officer by whose side he walked, had hold of the end of the cord, doubtless to prevent the farmer from trying to escape, or to prevent his flight in case he should make the attempt. This sight was not reassuring. However, as the cava- liers who were coming to visit the chateau wore, as we have said, the colors of the Empire ; as the helmets of the three leaders were surmounted with coronets, and their breastplates were engraved with coats-of-arms ; as the Duke Emmanuel Philibert had issued the most strin- gent orders against all pillage and marauding ; and more- over, as being a woman, she had no means of flight, the mistress of the house determined to receive the new- comers in her best possible manner. Accordingly she left her chamber, and descending the stairs went, as a special mark of respect, to welcome them at the door. As for Mademoiselle Gertrude, her terror at the sight of these men was so great that instead of following her mistress, as she ought to have done perhaps, she clung to Philippin, beseeching him in the most piteous tones to find her some place where she might hide until the soldiers had taken their departure, and where he COUNT WALDECK. 49 . Philippin could come from time to time to give her news of her mistress's affairs, which seemed to her to be in a pretty bad condition. Although Mademoiselle Gertrude had treated Phi- lippin badly for some time past, and although the latter who could not understand the reason for this sudden change of manner toward him had determined to have nothing to do with her even if she should need his services, she was so pretty in her terror, so charming in her entreaties, that Philippin yielded, and led her by a private stairway into the courtyard, and thence into the garden, where he hid her in a corner of a well-house in which his father and he were accustomed to keep the garden-tools. It was not likely that the soldiers, who evidently in- tended to occupy the chateau, its pantries, and its cellars, would trouble themselves about a place where, as Phi- lippin facetiously remarked, there was nothing to drink but water. Mademoiselle Gertrude would have been glad to keep Philippin with her, and perhaps, on his part, Philippin would have liked nothing better than to stay with Made- moiselle Gertrude ; but the pretty girl was even more curious than frightened, so that her desire for news overcame her fear of remaining alone. For greater security Philippin locked the door and put the key in his pocket, which at first alarmed Made- moiselle Gertrude, but from which, on reflection, she was able to derive consolation. Mademoiselle Gertrude held her breath and listened intently ; she heard at first a great clanking of arms and neighing of horses and the loud voices of the troopers ; but as Philippin had foreseen, these sounds seemed to centre in the chateau and its courtyard. VOL. i. 4 THE DUKE'S. PAGS. The prisoner was bursting with impatience and burn- ing with curiosity. More than once she went to the door and tried to open it. If she had succeeded, she would certainly have tried, at the risk of any difficulty which she might meet in such an undertaking, to hear what was said by listening at the doors, and tb see what was going on by looking over the walls. At last a step, light as that of those animals that prowl by night around poultry-yards and sheep-folds, came toward the well-house ; a key, cautiously inserted, grated in the lock, and the door opened slowly, and then closed quickly after admitting Master Philippiu. " Well, what are they doing 1 " asked Gertrude, even before the door was shut. " Well, Mademoiselle," said Philippin, " it appears that they are really gentlemen, as Madame la Baronne said ; but such gentlemen, bon Dieu I if you should hear them curse and swear, you would think they were veri- table Pagans." " Mon Dieu ! what are you saying, Monsieur Philip- pin ? " cried the young girl, trembling with fear. " The truth, Mademoiselle Gei'trude, God's own truth ! Why, when the chaplain wished to make some remarks to them, they answered that if he did not keep still, they would make him say Mass, hanging head down- ward from the bell-rope, while their own chaplain, a bully with beard and mustaches, should follow him in the prayer-book, so that not a single question or response should be omitted." " Why, then," said Mademoiselle Gertrude, " they are not .real gentlemen." " Oh, yes, pardieu ! they are of the very highest rank in Germany. They were not ashamed to give their names, a piece of impudence, you will agree, after COUNT WALDECK. 51 conducting themselves in that way. The oldest, who is a man of about fifty years, is Count Waldeck, and com- mands four thousand cavalry in the army of his Majesty Charles V. Of the two others, who may he, the first from twenty-four to twenty-five years of age, and the second from nineteen to twenty, one is his legitimate son, and the other his bastard son. But from the little I have seen, I think he likes the bastard better than the other, a very common thing. The legitimate son is a handsome fellow, of pale complexion, with large brown eyes, black hair and mustaches, and it is my opinion that he could be made to listen to reason. But the other is very different ; he is red, and has eyes like a wild-cat. Oh, Mademoiselle Gertrude, he is a veritable demon ! God keep you from meeting him ! He looks at Madame la Baronne oh, it is enough to make one shudder ! " " Ah, really ? " said Mademoiselle, who was evidently curious to know what such a look was like. " Oh, man Dieu ! yes," said Philippin, by way of pero- ration, " and there I left them. Now I will go to learn more news, which I will bring back to you." "Yes, yes, go," said Gertrude, "and come back soon ; but take good care that you don't get hurt." " Oh, don't be alarmed, Mademoiselle ! " replied Phi- lippin. " I never appear except with a bottle in each hand ; and as I know where the good wine is, the bri- gands are full of consideration for me." Philippin went out, and shut in Mademoiselle Gertrude, who immediately began to wonder what sort of eyes those could be whose glance was enough to make one shudder. She had not solved this question satisfactorily although she had been meditating upon it for nearly an hour, when the key again turned in the lock, and the messenger reappeared. 52 THE DUKE'S PAGE. He came not, however, like the dove to the ark, and he was very far from holding an olive-branch in his hand. Count "\Valdeck and his sons, by means of threats and even of violence, had forced the baroness to give up her jewels, her plate, and all the money she had in the chateau. But this was not sufficient for them ; and this first ransom having been paid, the poor woman, just as she believed herself to be free from the noble bandits who had de- manded her hospitality, had on the contrary been seized, bound to the foot of her bed, and shut up in her chamber, with the assurance that in two hours the chateau would be set on fire if within that time she had not found, either in her own purse or in that of her friends, two hundred rose-crowns. Mademoiselle Gertrude mourned very properly the fate of her mistress ; but as she had not two hundi-ed crowns to lend her to relieve her from her embarrassment, she strove to think of something else, and asked Philippin what that hateful bastard of Waldeck's with the red hair and terrible eyes was doing. Philippin answered that that bastard of Waldeck's was getting drunk, an occupation in which he was helped mightily by his father. The viscount alone kept his self-possession, as much as was possible in the midst of pillage and orgy. Mademoiselle Gertrude had a fierce desire to see with her own eyes what an orgy was. As for pillage she knew all about that, having seen it at Therouanne ; but of an orgy, she had not the slightest conception. Philippin explained to her that it was a meeting of men who drank, ate, used bad language, and insulted in different ways every woman who came within their reach. Mademoiselle Gertrude's curiosity was redoubled by this description, which would have made a stouter heart COUNT WALDECK. 53 than hers tremble with fear. She begged Philippiu to let her go out, if only for ten minutes ; but he told her so many times and so earnestly that she would risk her life by going out, that she decided to remain in conceal- ment, and to wait until Philippin's next visit before com- ing to a definite decision. This decision was made before Philippin's return. In spite of everything, she would force a passage, reach the chateau, slip in through the secret corridors and by the secret stairways, and see with her own eyes what was going on, since a narration, however eloquent it may be, never does justice to the scene it is intended to portray. So, when she heard for the third time the key turn in the lock, she made ready to rush out of the well-house, even against the advice of Philippiu ; but when she saw the young man she recoiled in terror. Philippin was as pale as death ; his words were inco- herent, and his eyes wore the haggai-d expression of one who has just witnessed some terrible scene. Gertrude wished to question him, but at the sight of his horror-stricken countenance she turned suddenly cold ; the paleness of Philippin's face was reflected on her own, and in presence of that frightful silence she could not utter a sound. The young man gave no explanation, but with that strength of despair which one never even tries to resist, seized her by the wrist and dragged her toward the little gate of the garden which opened into the plain, stammer- ing out these words only, " Dead murdered stabbed ! " Gertrude allowed herself to be led. Philippin left her for a moment to close the garden-gate behind them, a useless precaution, since no one thought of pursuing them. But the shock to Philippin had been so severe 54 THE DUKE'S PAGE. that the poor fellow's excited movements could not be checked until his strength should wholly fail; and his strength failed when they had gone about five hundred steps from the gate. He fell breathless, murmuring with a hoai'se voice, like that of a man in agony, those terrible words, the only words he had been able to speak, " Dead murdered stabbed ! " Then Gertrude looked about her, and saw that she was only about a hundred yards from the forest. She was well acquainted with that forest, and she knew the way to the cavern. The forest and the cavern would be for her a twofold refuge ; and besides, in the latter she might find Yvounet. She was reluctant to abandon Philippin, who had fainted by the side of the ditch ; but she saw approaching four or five horsemen who might be- long to the cavalry of Count Waldeck. She had not a second to lose if she would escape. She darted toward the forest, and without looking behind, ran without stopping, distracted with terror, her hair flying, until she reached the edge of the woods, where she leaned against a tree for support and took a survey of the open country before her. The five or six cavaliers had stopped at the place where Philippin had fainted. They had lifted him up ; but see- ing that it was impossible for him to take a step, one of them had placed him on the saddle, before him, and fol- lowed by his companions, had started for the camp. Now these men appeared to have only good intentions, and Gertrude concluded that nothing better could happen to poor Philippin than to fall into the hands of men who seemed so kind. Then, reassured as to her companion, and having some- what recovered her breath while resting, Gertrude turned her steps toward the cavern, or rather in the direction in COUNT WALDECK. 55 which she supposed the cavern to lie, for her flight had so confused her that the signs by which she was accus- tomed to recognize the path were passed unnoticed by her. She wandered about, therefore, until, accidentally or by instinct, she found herself in the vicinity of the cavern and within arm's length of Frantz Scharfenstein. The. rest may be easily imagined; Frantz threw one arm around Gertrude's waist, clapped a hand over her mouth, and taking her up as if she had been a feather, entered the cavern and deposited the frightened girl in the midst of the circle of adventurers, to whom, reassured by the kind words of Yvonnet, she related the events we have just described, and who received her story with a general howl of indignation. But it must not be supposed that the feeling which caused this indignation was not a thoroughly selfish one. The adventurers were not indignant at the lack of mo- rality shown by the pillagers with regard to the Chateau du Parcq and its occupants. No, they were indignant that Count Waldeck and his sons had pillaged in the morning a chateau which they had counted on pillaging at night. The result of this feeling of indignation was a general clamor followed by a unanimous resolution to sally out and see what was going on, both in the vicinity of the camp where Philippin had been carried and in the direc- tion of the Chateau du Parcq, the scene of the events which Gertrude had narrated with the eloquence and energy inspired by terror. But the adventurers' indignation did not overcome their prudence ; it was decided that some one of them should explore the forest and report the state of things to the rest on his return, when, according as they saw grounds for fear or for confidence, they would determine on their course of action. 56 THE DUKE'S PAGE. Yvonnet offered his services to beat up the forest, for which indeed he was well fitted ; he knew all the hidden paths, and was as agile as a deer and as wary as a fox. Gertrude screamed, and tried to prevent her lover from undertaking so dangerous a mission ; but she was given to understand in a few words that she had chosen a bad time for sentimental utterances, which would not be ap- preciated by the rather practical society in which she found herself. She was really a girl of good sense ; she became calm when she saw that her screams and tears not only would avail nothing, but would work to her dis- advantage. Besides, Yvonnet explained to her in a low tone that the mistress of an adventurer should not affect the nervous sensibility of a princess of romance ; and leaving her in the care of his friend Fracasso and under the special protection of the two Scharfensteins, he left the cavern to accomplish the important mission which he had taken upon himself. In ten minutes he came back. He reported that the forest was entirely deserted, and that there were no signs of danger. As the curiosity of the adventurers was almost as much aroused in their cavern by Mademoiselle Gertrude's story as Mademoiselle Gertrude's curiosity had been excited by the story of Philippin, and as old campaigners of their stamp could not have the same reasons for prudence which govern the actions of a pretty and timid young girl, they went out from the cavern, leaving Procope's articles of partnership in the care of the spirits of the earth, invited Yvounet to lead them, and guided by him, took their way toward the borders of the forest, each one making sure that his dirk or his sword had not rusted in its sheath. THE JUSTICIARY. 57 CHAPTER VI. THE JUSTICIARY. As our adventurers advanced toward that place where the forest stretched itself out into a point within a quarter of a league of Hesdin, separating the two valleys of the tract of open country already known to our readers, they passed from the comparatively open spaces among the tall trees, into a thick undergrowth, which with its thousands of interlacing stems, hound together by the rich luxuri- ance of the wild creepers, completely hid them as they glided cautiously through its shade. In this way the little baud reached the outskirts of the forest without be- ing seen. They paused at a short distance from the ditch which separated the forest from the open country. This ditch bordered the road to which we drew the read- er's attention in the first chapter of this book, as forming a line of communication between the Chateau du Parcq, the emperor's camp, and the neighboring villages. The spot was well suited for a halt ; an immense oak, which had been left, with some others of the same species and the same height, to show what giants had formerly fallen under the axe, spread above their heads its leafy dome, while, by advancing a step or two, they could over- look the whole plain without being seen themselves. All eyes were lifted instinctively to the rich vegetation of the venerable tree. Yvonnet understood what was ex- pected of him ; he nodded consent, borrowed Fracasso's note-book, which had only one unoccupied leaf remaining, 58 THE DUKE'S PAGE. which the poet pointed out to him, recommending him to respect the others, which contained his pensive lucubra- tions. He placed one of the two Scharfensteins against the rough column which was too large for him to encircle with his arms, mounted upon the folded hands of the giant, climbed from his hands to his shoulders, from his shoulders to the lower branches of the tree, and in a mo- ment was seated astride one of the strong branches with the carelessness and security of a sailor on a vessel's yard or bowsprit. Gertrude had watched this ascent anxiously ; but she had already learned to keep her fears to herself and re- strain her cries. Besides, seeing the graceful composure with which Yvonnet kept his seat upon the branches, the ease with which he turned his head from right to left, she felt that except for one of those dizzy turns to which he was subject, there was 110 danger for her lover. Yvonnet, shading his eyes with his hand, looking first to the north and then to the south, appeared to divide his attention between two equally interesting spectacles. These continued movements of the head aroused the curiosity of the adventurers, who, down in the thick un- dergrowth, could see nothing of that which offered itself to Yvonnet's view from the elevated region where he had established himself. Yvonnet understood this impatience, of which more- over they gave iudications by lifting up their heads, questioning him with their eyes, and even by venturing to call to him in suppressed tones, " What do you see 1 " Among these questioners with gesture and voice let us do her this justice Mademoiselle Gertrude was not the least eager. THE JUSTICIARY. 59 Yvonnet gave his companions to understand by a motion of his hand that in a few moments they should kuow as much as he. He opened Fracasso's note-book, tore out the blank leaf, wrote upon it some lines in pen- cil, rolled up the paper in his fingers, so that it should not blow away, and dropped it. Every hand was ex- tended to receive it, even the white and pretty hands of Mademoiselle Gertrude ; but it was into the big battle- doors of Frantz Scharfensteiu that the paper fell. The giant laughed at his good luck, and passing the paper to his neighbor, said, " The honor belongs to you, Monsieur Procope ; I do not know how to read French." Procope, no less eager than the others to kuow what was going on, unfolded the paper and read the following lines : " The Chateau du Parcq is on fire. Count Waldeck, his two sons, and his band of cavalry are returning along the road which leads from the chateau to the camp. They are about two hundred steps from the point of forest where we are concealed. In the other direction there is a small party coming from the camp toward the chateau. This party con- sists of seven men, an officer, a squire, a page, and four soldiers. As well as I can judge from here, the officer is Duke Emmanuel Philibert. His party is at about the same distance from us on our left, as Count Waldeck's on our right. If the two parties march with equal step, they must meet at the point of the forest and find themselves face to face when they least expect it. If Duke Emmanuel has been in- formed, as is probable, by Monsieur Philippin of what took place at the chateau, we shall see something interesting. Attention, comrades ! it really is the duke." Yvonnet's note ended here ; but it would have been difficult to say more in so few words, and to promise with more conciseness a spectacle which indeed would be of 60 THE DUKE'S PAGE. the greatest interest if the adventurer was not mistaken in the identity and intentions of the parties. So each of the associates approached cautiously the edge of the forest, in order to witness as comfortably as possible and without danger the spectacle promised by Yvonuet, to whom chance had assigned the best point of view. If the reader will follow our adventurers' example, we will not trouble ourselves about Count Waldeck and his sons, whom we already know through Mademoiselle Ger- trude's story ; but we too, stealing along by the left edge of the forest, will put ourselves in communication with the new-comer announced by Yvonnet, and who is no less a personage than the hero of our story. Yvonnet was not mistaken. The officer who advanced between his page and his squire, followed, as if he were making his ordinary daily patrol, by a little band of four horsemen, was indeed Duke Emmanuel Philibert, general- in-chief of the army of the Emperor Charles V. in the Netherlands. It was easy to recognize him from his custom of carry- ing his helmet suspended to the side of the saddle in- stead of wearing it on his head. This he did almost constantly, in sunshine and in rain, and even sometimes during battle ; from which remarkable insensibility to cold, heat, and blows, his soldiers had given him the surname, Tete de Fer. He was, at the period of which we write, a handsome young man twenty-seven years of age ; he had a slight but well-knit figure, with hair cut very short, with high forehead, brown eyebrows clearly marked, blue eyes bright and keen, straight nose, heavy mustaches, a beard trimmed to a point, and, finally, a rather thick-set neck, as is often the case with those who are born of war- THE JUSTICIARY. 61 like races, and whose ancestors have worn a helmet for several generations. When he spoke, his voice was infinitely sweet and at the same time remarkably firm. It could express, strange to say, the most violent menace without rising more than one or two tones ; the ascending scale of anger was hidden in an almost indiscernible shading of accent. The result was that only those persons who knew him intimately could understand to what perils those were exposed who were imprudent enough to arouse and brave this anger, an anger so well repressed that its violence could be perceived and its scope measured only at the moment when with an explosion, preceded by the light- ning of his eyes, it burst forth in its might, destructive as the thunderbolt; then, just as when the thunderbolt has struck the storm subsides and the weather becomes clear, so when the paroxysm has passed the countenance of the duke resumes its calmness and habitual serenity, to his eyes return their pleasant and firm expression, his mouth recovers its beneficent and royal smile. The squire who rode on his right hand and who wore his visor up, was a young man of fair complexion, of about the same age as the duke, and of precisely the same height. His clear blue eyes, full of power and pride ; his beard and mustaches of a warmer tint than that of his flaxen hair; his nostrils dilated like those of a lion; his lips whose ripe fulness the hair which covered them could not conceal; his complexion, rich both with the burning of the sun and with the glow of health, all be- tokened the perfection of his physical condition. Not hanging by his side, but swinging upon his back, clanked one of those terrible two-handed swords, three of which Francois I. broke at Marignano, and which on 62 THE DUKE'S PAGE. account of their length could be carried only over the shoulder, while upon the bow of his saddle hung one of those battle-axes which had an edge on one side, a head on the other, and at the end a triangular spike ; so that with this single weapon, one could, as occasion demanded, cleave as with an axe, fell as with a hammer, or stab as with a dagger. On the left of the duke rode his page. He was a handsome youth barely sixteen or eighteen years of age, with hair which looked blue from its very blackness, cut & FAllemande like that of Holbein's cavaliers and Ea- phael's angels. His eyes, shaded by long, velvety eye- lashes, were of an indescribable shade between chestnut and violet, which is rarely met with except in Arabs or Sicilians. His complexion, of that peculiar paleness found in the northern districts of the Italian peninsula, resembled the whiteness of a piece of Carrara marble from which the Roman sun has long and lovingly absorbed the color. His hands, small and white with tapering fingers, managed with remarkable skill an Arabian pony, his only saddle being a covering made of leopard's skin with eyes of enamel and teeth and paws of gold, and his only bridle a silken cord. His dress, simple but elegant, consisted of a black velvet tunic, opening just enough to show a cherry-colored vest slashed with white satin, drawn in at the waist by a gold cord, to which hung a dagger whose handle was made from a single agate. His feet, grace- fully modelled, were enclosed in morocco boots which reached to the knee, and at that height were entered by breeches of velvet similar to that of which the tunic was made. Lastly, his head was covered by a cap of the same material and color as the rest of his outside dress, and around it, fastened in front by a diamond clasp, wound a red plume, the end of which, moving with THE JUSTICIARY. 63 the least breath of air, drooped gracefully between his shoulders. And now, our new characters having been described and placed upon the stage, we return to the dramatic development, interrupted for a moment, which is about to exhibit even more vigorous and decided action than has yet been displayed. Emmanuel Philibert, his two companions, and the four men who followed in his train continued on their way, without either hastening or restraining the movement of their horses. But as they drew near to the point of the forest the duke's face became more serious, as if in antici- pation he viewed the scene of desolation which would meet his eyes when once he had turned that point. Sud- denly the two troops, coming at the same moment to the apex of the angle, found themselves face to face ; and, strange to say, it was the more numerous party which came to a pause, held to its place by force of surprise, in which some fear also was clearly apparent. Emmanuel Philibert, on the other hand, without indi- cating by any agitation of his person, gesture of his hand, or expression of his face, the sentiment, whatever it might be, by which he was animated, continued on his -way straight to Count Waldeck, who, with a son on either side, awaited his approach. At a distance of ten paces from the count, Emmanuel made a sign to his squire, his page, and his four soldiers, who stopped at once with military promptness and regu- larity, leaving the duke to advance alone. When he had come within arm's length of Viscount Waldeck, who meanwhile had placed himself as a ram- part between the duke and his father, Emmanuel in his turn came to a pause. The three gentlemen saluted by raising each a hand to 64 THE DUKE'S PAGE. his helmet ; but the bastard Waldeck, in raising his hand to his, lowered his visor as if to be prepared for whatever might happen. The duke responded to the triple salute by an inclina- tion of his uncovered head. Then, addressing Viscount Waldeck with that gentle voice which made his utter- ances musical, " Monsieur le Vicomte de Waldeck," said he, " you are a brave and honorable gentleman, one of those whom I like, and who are liked by my august master the Em- peror Charles V. I have had for a long time the inten- tion to do something for you ; within the last quarter of an hour an opportunity has offered of which I have has- tened to take advantage. I have but a moment ago re- ceived news that a company of one hundred and twenty lancers which has been raised by my orders in the name of his Majesty the Emperor, upon the left bank of the Rhine, has assembled at Spire; I have appointed you captain of this company." " Monseigneur " stammered the young man in amazement, and blushing with pleasure. " Here is your commission, signed by me and stamped with the seal of the Empire," continued the duke, draw- ing from the folds of his dress a parchment, which he presented to the viscount ; " take it, and set out in- stantly, without a moment's delay. We shall probably take the field again, and I shall have need of you and your men. Go, Monsieur le Vicomte de Waldeck ; prove yourself worthy of this favor which is shown you, and may God protect you ! " The favor was indeed a great one ; and the young man, obeying without a word the order to set out at once, immediately took leave of his father and brother, and turning to Emmanuel, " Monseigneur," he said, " you are THE JUSTICIAKY. 65 indeed the ' Justiciary,' as you are called, punishing evil- doers, and rewarding those who are worthy of praise. You have placed confidence in me ; I will prove myself worthy of it. Adieu, Monseigneur." And putting his horse to a gallop, the young man disappeared round the corner of the forest. Emmanuel Philibert watched him until he was entirely lost to view. Then turning round and fixing a stern look upon Count Waldeck, "And now, it is your turn, Mon- sieur le Comte ! " he said. " Monseigneur," interrupted the count, " in the first place, let me thank you for the kindness you have shown my son." " The kindness I have shown the Yicomte de Wal- deck," replied Emmanuel, coldly, " deserves no thanks, since it is simply a recognition of his worth. You have heard what he said, however, that I am a justiciary, punishing evil-doers and rewarding those who are worthy of praise. Deliver up your sword, Monsieur le Comte ! " The count started, and replied in atone which expressed no readiness to obey the order he had just received, "I deliver up my sword ! and why 1 " " You know of my order against pillage and marauding, under penalty of the whipping-post and the gallows for sol- diers, and of arrest or imprisonment for officers. You have violated my order in entering by force, in spite of the remonstrances of your elder son, the Chateau du Parcq, and in stealing the money, jewels, and plate of the occu- pants. You are a marauder and a pillager ; deliver up your sword, Monsieur le Comte de Waldeck ! " Count Waldeck turned pale ; but as we have said, it was difficult for a stranger to conjecture, from the tone of Emmanuel Philibert's voice, what dangers were threat- ened by his sense of justice or his anger. VOL. i. 5 66 THE DUKE'S PAGE. "My sword, Monseigneur ] " said Waldeck. "Oh, doubtless I have committed some other offeiice. A gen- tleman does not deliver up his sword for so slight a thing ! " And he tried to laugh disdainfully. " Yes, Monsieur," replied Emmanuel, " yes, you have committed another offence, but for the honor of the Ger- man nobility I was unwilling to speak of it. Do you wish me to speak 1 Well, listen then. When you had stolen the money, jewels, and plate, you were not satis- tied ; you had the mistress of the house bound to the foot of her bed, and you said to her, ' If within two hours you have not paid into our hands the sum of two hun- dred rose-crowns, I will set fire to your chateau j ' You said that, and at the end of two hours, as the poor wo- man, having given you her last farthing, found it impos- sible to give you the two hundred crowns demanded, in spite of the entreaties of your elder sou, you set fire to the chateau, beginning with the farm-house, so that the unfortunate victim might have time for reflection before the flames reached the main building. And you cannot deny it, for the flame and smoke can be seen from here. You are an incendiary ; deliver up your sword, Monsieur le Comte." The count ground his teeth, for he was beginning to understand what terrible resolution was hidden under the calm but stern demeanor of the duke. " Since you are so well informed as to the beginning of the affair, your intelligence of the end also is doubtless not less correct 1 " "You are right, Monsieur, I know everything; but I wished to spare you the rope which you deserve." " Monseigneur ! " exclaimed Waldeck, in a threatening tone. " Silence, Monsieur," said Emmanuel Philibert ; " have THE JUSTICIARY. 67 respect for your accuser, and tremble before your judge ! The end ? I will tell you what it was. At sight of the flames leaping into the air, your bastard, who had pos- session of the key of the chamber in which the prisoner was bound, entered that chamber. The unfortunate wo- man had uttered no cries when she saw the flames com- ing nearer ; that meant only death. She did cry out when she saw your bastard come toward her and seize her in his arms, for that meant dishonor ! The Vicomte de Waldeck heard these cries and ran to her aid. He called upon his brother to release the woman he was insulting ; but the latter, in answer to this appeal to his honor, threw his prisoner, bound as she was, upon the bed and drew his sword. The Vicomte de Waldeck drew his also, resolved to save this woman even at the peril of his life. The two brothers fought desperately, since they had for a long time hated each other. While this struggle was going on, you, Monsieur, entered, and thinking that your sons were fighting for the possession of this woman, you said, ' The prettiest woman in the world is not worth one drop of the blood from the veins of a soldier. Put down your weapons, boys ! I will settle your affair.' Then at the sound of your voice, the two brothers lowered their swords ; you stepped between them ; both watched you, to see what you were about to do. You went up to the woman who had been bound and thrown upon the bed, and before either of your sons had time to prevent this imfamous deed, you drew your dagger and plunged it into her breast. Do not tell me that this thing did not take place ; do not tell me that it is not true ; your dagger is still wet and your hands are still bloody. You are an assassin ; deliver up your sword, Comte de Waldeck ! " "That is easy to say, Monseigneur," replied the count; " but a Waldeck would not deliver his sword to you, princa 68 THE DUKE'S PAGE. crowned or uncrowned, whichever you may be, if he were alone against seven of you ; much more will he re- fuse when he has his son on his right and forty soldiers at his back." " Then," said Emmanuel, with a slight change in the tone of his voice, " if you will not hand ine your sword voluntarily, I must take it from you by force." And with one bound of his horse he was at Count "Waldeck's side. The latter, who was crowded so close that he had no room to draw his sword, put his hand to his holsters ; but before he had time to unbutton them, Emmanuel Phili- bert had plunged his hand into his own, already open, and had armed himself with pistol ready cocked. This movement was so quick that neither Waldeck's bastard, the squire, nor the duke's page could prevent it. Em- manuel, with a hand as calm and sure as that of justice, fired the pistol close to the head of the count, burning his face with the powder and penetrating his brains with the bullet. The count had scarcely time to utter a cry ; he threw up his arms, fell slowly backward from his saddle like an athlete whom an invisible wrestler doubles up backward, let go the stirrup with his left foot, then with his right foot, and finally rolled over upon the ground. The jus- ticiary had administered justice ; the count had died instantly. During the whole time occupied by this scene Wal- deck's bastard, completely covered with his coat of mail, had remained erect and motionless as an equestrian statue ; but when he heard the pistol-shot and saw his father fall, he gave a cry of rage which burst with a grat- ing sound through the visor of his helmet. Then ad- dressing the astonished and terrified soldiers, " Help, THE JUSTICIARY. 69 comrades ! " he cried in German ; " this man is not our countryman. Death ! death to the Duke Emmanuel ! " But the soldiers answered by shaking their heads in token of refusal. " Ah ! " cried the young man, with increasing violence, " you do not listen to me ! You refuse to avenge him who loved you as his children, who loaded you with money, who gorged you with booty ! Well, then I will be the one to avenge him, since you are iugrates and cowards ! " And drawing his sword he was about to rush upon the duke ; but two men leaped to the horse's head, seizing hold of the bit, one on each side, while a third encircled him with his arms. The young man struggled furiously, heaping abuse upon those who held him fast. The duke looked on with a degree of pity ; he understood the despair of a son who has just seen a father fall dead at his feet. "Your Highness," said the troopers, "what do you wish to have done with this man 1 " "Release him," said the duke. "He has threatened me, and if I should have him taken prisoner, he would think that I am afraid." The troopers took the sword from the bastard's hands and let him go. With a single bound of his horse the young man cleared the space which separated him from Emmanuel Philibert. The latter awaited him with his hand upon the stock of his second pistol. " Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, Prince of Pied- mont," cried Waldeck's bastard, stretching out his hand to him threateningly, " understand that from this day forth I hate you with a mortal hatred. Emmanuel Phil- ibert, you have killed my father ! " ( He lowered the visor of his helmet. ) " Observe carefully my face ; for whenever you shall see it, whether at night or in the 70 THE DUKE'S PAGE. daytime, whether at a fete or in combat, woe, woe to you, Emmanuel Philibert ! " And striking the spurs into his horse, he started off at full gallop, shaking his hand as if to hurl a parting malediction upon the duke, and shouting curses as he went. " Villain ! " exclaimed Emmanuel's squire, spurring on his horse in pursuit. But the duke, with an imperative wave of the hand, said, "Not a step farther, Scianca-Ferro; I forbid it." Then turning to his page, who, pale as death, looked as if he would fall from the saddle, " What is it, Leone 1 " he said, drawing near and taking his hand. " Why, any one who saw you so pale and trembling would take you for a woman." " Oh, my dear Duke," murmured the page, " assure me that you are not wounded, or I shall die ! " " My child," said the duke, " am I not in God's hands 1 " Then, addressing the troopers, " My friends," he said, pointing to the dead body of Count Waldeck, " see that this man has Christian burial, and let this example of my administration of justice prove to you that I am no respecter of persons." And with a sign to Scianca-Ferro and Leone to follow him, he retraced his steps toward the camp, his face bear- ing no mark of the terrible scene in which he had just been an actor, except that it wore a more thoughtful expression than usual. HISTORY AND ROMANCE. 71 CHAPTER VII. HISTORY AND ROMANCE. WHILE the adventurers, unseen witnesses of the catas- trophe we have just described, with regretful backward glances at the smoking ruins of the Chateau du Parcq are returning to their cavern to put the final touches to their articles of partnership, useless for the present, to be sure, but which cannot fail to be, in time to come, the source of great advantage to the new association ; while the soldiers, in obedience to the command, or rather the request, of Emmanuel to provide for their late chief Christian burial, are on their way to dig in a corner of the cemetery of Hesdin a grave for him who, having re- ceived on earth punishment for his crime, rests now in the hope of divine mercy ; while Emmanuel Philibert, with his squire Scianca-Ferro and his page Leone, is riding back to his tent ; abandoning the prologue, scenery, and secondary characters of our drama, for its real action and its leading actors, who have at last made their appearance, we will undertake that we may give the reader a fuller knowledge of their character, and of their situation, moral and political an excursion, at once historic for some and romantic for others, into the domain of the past, the magnificent realm of the poet and the historian, of which no revolution can deprive them. Emmanuel Philibert, the third son of Charles III., called " the Good," and Beatrice of Portugal, was born at the Chateau de Chambery on the 8th of July, 1528. 72 THE DUKE'S PAGE. These two names Emmanuel and Philibert were be- stowed on him, the former out of respect to his mater- nal ancestor Emmanuel, King of Portugal, and the latter in fulfilment of a vow made by his father to Saint Phili- bert de To urn us. At the time of his birth, which took place at four o'clock in the afternoon, he was so feeble that his respira- tion depended on the breathing of air into his lungs "by one of his mother's women ; and until the age of three years he could neither hold his head erect nor stand alone. So when the horoscope which at that time was cast at the birth of every prince's son declared that the prince who had just been born would be a great warrior, and would bring to the house of Savoy glory of a lustre superior to that of any which had been imparted to it, either by Pierre, surnamed "Le Petit Charlemagne," by Amadeus V., called " the Great," or by Amadeus VI., commonly called "the Green Count," his mother could not restrain her tears, and his father, a pious and gentle prince, said, with a shake of his head and in a tone ex- pressive of doubt, to the '"mathematician who announced to him this prediction, "May God hear you, my friend ! " Emmanuel Philibert was the nephew of Charles V. through his mother, Beatrice of Portugal, one of the most beautiful and accomplished princesses of her time. He was also cousin of Frangois I. through his aunt, Louise of Savoy, under whose pillow Constable de Bourbon pre- tended to have left the cordon of the order of Saint- Esprit when Frangois I. demanded it of him. Emmanuel Philibert had another aunt, the gifted Margaret of Austria, who left a collection of manuscript songs, still to be found in the national library of France, and who, overtaken by a storm on her way to Spain to marry the infante, son of Ferdinand and Isabella, after HISTORY AND ROMANCE. 73 previous betrothals to the dauphin of France and the king of England, thinking that she was about to die, composed for herself this curious epitaph, " Weep, Loves, weep ! fair Margot is dead ; Who was three times betrothed, yet never was wed. " Emmanuel Philibert was, as we have said, so feeble that in spite of the astrologer's prediction that he would become a mighty warrior, his father destined him for the Church. So, at the age of three years, he was sent to Bologna to kiss the feet of Pope Clement VII., who had just crowned his uncle the Emperor Charles V., at whose request the young prince obtained from the pope the promise of a cardinalship. This was the origin of the epithet " Cardinalin " which was given him in childhood, very much to his annoyance. Why should it annoy a child to be called by this name 1 ? We will state the reason. The reader will remember that woman, or, let us say, that intimate friend of the Duchess of Savoy, who attend- ing her in her sickness had kept alive with her breath the almost dying little Emmanuel Philibert. Six months before, she herself had given birth to a son who had come into the world as strong and vigorous as the son of the duchess was feeble and delicate. Now, the duchess, considering that her friend had saved the child's life, said to her, " My dear Lucrezia, I give this child to you, for he is now as much yours as mine ; take him, nourish him with your milk as you have nourished him with your breath, and I shall owe you more than he himself; he will owe to you only his life, while I shall owe to you my child ! " Lucrezia received as a sacred charge the child to whom she was to be foster-mother. Nevertheless, she feared 74 THE DUKE'S PAGE. that it would be at the expense of her own little Rinaldo that the heir of the Duke of Savoy would gain health and strength, since whatever portion of the nourishment would be required to revive the little Emmanuel, by just so much would his foster-brother's share be lessened. But Rinaldo at six months was as strong as many an- other child would have been at twelve months of age. Besides, Nature has its miracles, and the fount of mater- nal milk was never for a moment exhausted, although the two children drew their life from the same breasts. It gave pleasure to the duchess to see, hanging from the same living stem, her own child so delicate and the other so vigorous. It seemed, too, as if the little Rinaldo understood this weakness and had compassion for it. Often the capri- cious ducal infant wanted the breast at which the other infant was nursing ; and the latter, its little face all smiles and its lips running over with milk, would yield - its place to the exacting nursling. The two children grew up thus together on Lucrezia's lap. At the age of three years Rinaldo appeared like a boy of five ; at the age of three years, as we have said, Emmanuel Philibert could scarcely walk, and only with effort could he lift his head from its drooping position on his breast. It was at this time that he was sent to Bologna, and that Pope Clement VII. promised him a cardinal's hat. It seemed as if this promise brought good fortune to Emmanuel, and as if this name of " Cardinalin " pro- cured for him the protection of God ; for from this time when he was three years of age his health went on improving and his body grew strong. But the one who in this respect made wonderful pro- gress was Rinaldo. His strongest toys flew into pieces HISTORY AND ROMANCE. 75 under his fingers ; he could not even touch anything that did not break ; the idea was conceived of making his playthings of steel, and he broke them as if they had been china. So it happened that the good Duke Charles III., who liked to watch the children at play, gave Emmanuel's companion the nickname " Scianca- Ferro," which in the Piedmontese patois means, " Iron- Breaker." The name clung to him. It was very remarkable that Scianca-Ferro never made use of this miraculous strength except for the protection of Emmanuel, whom he adored, instead of being jealous of him as any other child would have been. The young Emmanuel coveted extraordinarily this strength of his foster-brother, and he would gladly have exchanged his sobriquet of Cardinalin for that of Scianca-Ferro. He seemed, however, to acquire vigor from the continued association with this lustiness so much greater than his own. Scianca-Ferro, moderating his own strength to that of the young prince, wrestled with him, ran races with him, and sometimes, for fear of discouraging him, would let himself be thrown in the struggle or passed in the race. All their exercises were practised together, horseback-riding, swimming, and fencing. In everything Scianca-Ferro was for the pres- ent superior; but it was understood that it was only a matter of time, and that although somewhat backward for the time being, Emmanuel had not said his last word. The two children were always together and loved each other like brothers. They were as jealous with regard to each other, as a mistress with her lover; but the time was approaching when a third companion whom they would adopt with equal love would join in their sports. One day when the court of Duke Charles III. was at 76 THE DUKE'S PAGE. Vercelli, on account of disturbances which had broken out at Milan, the two young men rode out with their riding-master. They proceeded along the left bank of the Sesia, continued on through Xovare, and went nearly to the river Tessin. The young duke was riding in advance, when suddenly a bull confined in a neighboring field began plunging and breaking down the fences which enclosed the pasture, and frightened, the prince's horse, which flew over the meadows, clearing streams, thickets, and hedges as he went. Emmanuel was an admirable horseman, and there was nothing to fear on that score ; nevertheless Sclauca-Ferro started in pursuit, taking the same route as his friend, and like him leaping over every obstacle in his way. The riding-master, more cautious, followed a winding road which would lead to the point in the direction of which the two young men were riding. After a quarter of an hour's frantic pursuit, Scianca- Ferro, not seeing Emmanuel, and fearing that he had met with some accident, shouted with all his might. He called twice without receiving any answer ; hut at last he thought he heard the prince's voice in the direc- tion of the village of Oleggio. He turned his horse, and soon, guided by Emmanuel's voice, found the latter by the bank of a stream which flows into the Tessin. At his feet lay the body of a dead woman, and in his arms a little boy from four to five years of age, who also seemed to be dying. The horse, which had become quiet, was browsing at his ease upon the young shoots of trees, while his mas- ter was trying to restore the child to consciousness. There was nothing to be done for the woman ; she was already dead. She appeared to have succumbed to fatigue, misery, and hunger. The child, who had doubt- HISTORY AND ROMANCE. 77 less shared the fatigues and misery of its mother, seemed to be dying of starvation. The village of Oleggio was only a mile distant. Scianca- Ferro put his horse to a gallop, and disappeared in the direction of the village. Emmanuel would have gone himself instead of sending his brother, but he had the child in his arms, and perceiving that the life which had almost departed was returning to the child, was unwilling to leave him. The poor little fellow had led him to the side of the dead woman, and had said to him in the pathetic tone of childhood, ignorant of the extent of its misfortunes, " Wake Mamma ! Wake Mamma ! " Emmanuel wept. What could he do, mere child him- self, looking for the first time on death 1 ? He had only his tears : those he gave. Scianca-Ferro returned at last, bringing bread and a flask of muscat wine. They tried to pour a few drops of wine into the mother's mouth, a vain attempt, for she was unquestionably dead. They then turned their at- tention to the child, who, although crying because his mother would not wake up, ate and drank, and was somewhat revived. Just then the peasants from the village whom Scianca- Ferro had informed of the affair came up, together with the riding-master, whom they had met quite terrified at the loss of his two pupils, and had brought back with them to the place indicated by Scianca-Ferro. They knew, therefore, that it was the young Prince of Savoy who had sent for them ; and as Duke Charles was adored by his subjects, they offered immediately to do anything for the little orphan and its dead mother that Emmanuel might choose to ask. Emmanuel selected from among the women one who 78 THE DUKE'S PAGE. appeared kind and sensible ; he gave her all the money that he and Scianca-Ferro had with them, took down in writing the woman's name, and begged her to attend to the burial of the mother and provide for the first needs of the child. Then, as it was growing late, the riding-master insisted that his pupils should return to Vercelli. The little orphan wept ; he wished to keep with him his good friend Emman- uel, whose name he knew, but of whose rank he was ignorant. Emmanuel promised to return the next day, which somewhat calmed the child's grief; but after he was taken away from Emmanuel he kept his arms ex- tended toward this savior whom chance had sent him. In fact, if the help sent to the poor child by chance, or rather by Providence, had been delayed even only two hours, he would have died by the side of his mother. Although the riding-master strove with all diligence to hasten the return, his two pupils did not reach the chateau of Vercelli until evening. Much anxiety had been felt on their account, and messengers had been sent out in all directions to seek them. When the duchess began to upbraid them, Emmanuel related his story to her, his gentle voice taking a tone of sadness from the sorrowful event. When he had finished his narration the duchess was no longer disposed to find fault, but on the contrary commended their conduct. Fully shar- ing her son's interest in the little orphan, she declared that on the day after the morrow that is to say, imme- diately after the funeral of the child's mother she would go herself to visit him; and in fact, on the day named she set out in a litter for the village of Oleggio, the two young men attending her on horseback. As they approached the village, Emmanuel could not restrain his impatience ; he put spurs to his horse and HISTORY AND ROMANCE. 79 rode on in advance, that he might see a little sooner the orphan child. His arrival gave great joy to the poor child. It had been necessary to tear him from his mother's body ; he would not believe that she was dead, and cried out repeatedly : " Don't put her in the ground ; don't put her in the ground ! I tell you she will wake up." From the moment when his mother was taken away from the house it had been necessary to keep him confined, he was so eager to go and rejoin her. The sight of his savior was comforting to him. Em- manuel told him that his mother, the duchess, had wished to see him and would arrive in a few moments. " Oh, have you your mamma 1 " said the little orphan. " Oh, I will pray the good God that she may not sleep never to wake again ! " To the peasants the news that Emmanuel gave them, that the duchess was coming to visit their house, was of the greatest importance. They hastened forth to meet her ; and as in going through the streets they told where they were going and whom they expected to meet, others joined them, until finally the whole village had turned out. Finally the cortege arrived, preceded by Scianca-Ferro, who had gallantly remained with the duchess as her es- cort. Emmanuel presented his protege* to his mother. The duchess asked the child a question which had not occurred to Emmanuel, that is to say, she asked him his name and that of his mother. The child replied that his name was Leone, and that his mother had been called Leona ; but he would give no further particulars, answering to every question put to him, "I don't know." And yet, strangely enough, one in- stinctively felt that this was a pretended ignorance, un- der which was concealed some secret. His mother, 80 THE DUKE'S PAGE. doubtless, before dying, had requested him to answer aD questions in that way ; and indeed, nothing less than the last request of a dying mother could have made such an impression upon a child of four years. Then the duchess examined the orphan with a woman's curiosity. Although dressed in coarse garments, his hands were soft and white, and had evidently been cared for by a refined and lady-like mother. Also his manner of speaking was that of the aristocracy, and at four years of age he spoke French and Italian equally well. The duchess asked to see the mother's clothes, and they were brought to her ; they were those of a country-wo- man. But the women who had undressed her said that they had never seen whiter skin, more delicate hands, nor smaller and more elegant feet. One article of dress also betrayed to what class of society the poor woman had belonged ; with her peasant's dress, her cotton skirt, her coarse woollen waist, and her heavy shoes, she wore silk stockings. Evidently she had taken flight in disguise, and of the clothes she had discarded before setting out, she had kept only the silk stockings which had betrayed her after death. The duchess returned to the little Leone, and questioned him on all these points ; but his answer was always, " I don't know." The duchess could elicit nothing else ; so, adding her own instructions to those of Emmanuel, she again committed the poor orphan to the care of the kind country-people who had until then attended to his wants, gave them a sum of money double that which they had already received, and directed them to make inquiries about the mother and child, promising them a liberal reward for any intelligence they might bring her con- cerning them. The little Leone wanted to go with Emmanuel ; and HISTORY AND ROMANCE. 81 the latter was very much inclined to insist on securing his mother's permission to take the child away with, him, so much did he pity him. But he assured Leone that he would come to see him as soon as possible, and the duchess herself promised a second visit. Unfortunately at about this time events took place which prevented the duchess from keeping her word. For the third time Francois I. declared war against Charles V. on the ground that he was heir to the dnchy of Milan, through Valeutina Visconti, wife of Louis d'Orleans, brother of Charles VI. In the first war Francois had been victorious at Marignano ; in the sec- ond, he had been routed at Pavia. One would have thought that after the treaty of Ma- drid, after the prison of Toledo, and especially after hav- ing taken his ofith, Frar^ois I. would have renounced all pretension to this unfortunate duchy, which if it were delivered up to him would make the King of France a vassal of the Empire ; but on the contrary, he only awaited an opportunity for demanding it again, and seized upon the first which offered. The present opportunity was a good one, as it happened ; but had it not been he would have embraced it with the same alacrity. Fran9ois I., it is well known, was not troubled by any of those silly scruples which govern the actions of that race of fools called honest men. The opportunity which chance now threw in his way was this : Maria Francesco Sforza, son of Lodovico il Moro, reigned at Milan ; but he reigned as vassal of the emperor, of whom he had bought his duchy, Dec. 23, 1529, for the sum of four hundred thousand ducats, payable during the first year of his reign, and the further sum of five hundred thousand, payable during the ten years following ; as security for these payments the cha- VOL. I. 6 82 THE DUKE'S PAGE. teaux of Milan, Coruo, and Pavia remained in the hands of the emperor. Now it happened about the year 1534 that Fra^ois I, sent a Milanese gentleman, whose fortune he, Frai^ois I., had made, as ambassador to the court of Duke Sforza. This gentleman's name was Francesco Maraviglia. Having attained riches and position at the court of France, it was with both joy and pride that Francesco Maraviglia returned to his native city surrounded by all the pomp of an ambassador. He had taken with him his wife and his daughter, who was three years old, but had left at Paris his son Odoardo, who was twelve years old, as one of the pages of King Fran