LADY ANNE WRITES TO THE KING
AFTER several days' journey they entered Bretagne, and before long drew
near to the city of Nantes and the castle of Lady Anne. This castle was
very large, and had many towers and gables and little turrets with
sharp-pointed, conical roofs. There was a high wall and a moat all
around it, and as Count Henri approached, he displayed a little banner
given him by King Louis, and made of blue silk embroidered with three
golden lilies.
At the sight of this, the keepers of the drawbridge (who in those days
always had to be very watchful not to admit enemies to their lord's
castle) instantly lowered the bridge, and Count Henri and his guard rode
over and were respectfully received within the gate.
They dismounted in the courtyard, and then, after resting awhile in one
of the rooms of the castle, Count Henri was escorted into the great hall
of state, where Lady Anne was ready to receive him.
This hall was very large and handsome, with a high, arched ceiling, and
walls hung with wonderful old tapestries. Standing about in groups were
numbers of picturesquely dressed pages, ladies-in-waiting, richly clad,
and Breton gentlemen gorgeous in velvets and lace ruffles, for a hundred
of these always attended Lady Anne wherever she went. At one end of the
hall was a dais spread with cloth of gold, and there, in a carved chair,
sat the Lady Anne herself. She wore a beautiful robe of brocaded crimson
velvet, and over her dark hair was a curious, pointed head-dress of
white silk embroidered with pearls and gold thread.
As Count Henri approached, she greeted him very cordially; and then,
kneeling before her, he said:
"My Lady, I have the happiness to deliver to your hands these bridal
gifts which our gracious sovereign, King Louis, did me the honour to
entrust to my care."
And then, as he handed to her the casket of jewels and the silken
package containing the hour book, she replied:
"Sir Count, I thank you for your courtesy in bearing these gifts to me,
and I am well pleased to receive them."
Then summoning a little page, she told him to carry the presents up to
her own chamber, where she might examine them at her leisure.
By and by, Count Henri withdrew, after asking permission to start the
next morning on his return to Paris; for he wished to report to the
king that he had safely accomplished his errand.
And then Lady Anne, having given orders that he and his followers be
hospitably entertained during their stay in the castle, mounted the
great stone staircase, and went to her own room, for she very much
wanted to look at the gifts from King Louis.
These she found on a table where the little page had placed them. The
casket was uncovered, while the book was still wrapped up in the piece
of silk, so that one could not tell just what it was.
[Illustration: "_Began slowly to turn over the pages_"]
Lady Anne opened the casket first, as it happened to be nearest to her;
and she drew in her breath, and her eyes sparkled with pleasure, as she
lifted out a magnificent necklace, and other rich jewels that gleamed
and glittered in the light like blue and crimson fires. She tried on all
the ornaments, and then, after awhile, when she had admired them to her
heart's content, she took up the silk-covered package, and curiously
unwrapped it. When she saw what it contained, however, her face grew
radiant with delight, and--
"Ah!" she exclaimed to herself, "King Louis's gifts are indeed princely,
and this one is the most royal of all!"
For King Louis had been entirely right in thinking nothing would please
the Lady Anne quite so much as a piece of fine illumination.
Still holding the book carefully in her hands, she at once seated
herself in a deep, cushioned chair, and began slowly to turn over the
pages, taking the keenest pleasure, as she did so, in every fresh beauty
on which her eyes fell. When she had gone about half through the book,
she lifted it up to look more closely at an especially beautiful initial
letter, and then, all at once, out fluttered the loose leaf which
Gabriel had put in.
As it fell to the floor, a little page near by hastened to pick it up,
and, bending on one knee, presented it to Lady Anne. At first she
frowned a little, for she thought, as had Brother Stephen, that the
book must have been badly bound. But when she took the leaf in her hand,
to her surprise, she saw that it was different from the others, and that
it had not been bound in with them; and then she read over the writing
very carefully. When she had finished, she sat for some time, just as
Brother Stephen had done, holding the page in her hand, while her face
wore a very tender expression.
Lady Anne was really deeply touched by Gabriel's little prayer, and she
wished greatly that she herself might find a way to help him and his
family out of their trouble.
But the more she thought about it, she realized that she had no
authority over a Norman nobleman, and that no one in France, except the
king, was powerful enough to compel Count Pierre to release the peasant
Viaud from imprisonment.
So going over to a little writing-table, she took out a thin sheet of
parchment, a quaint goose-quill pen, and a small horn full of ink, and
wrote a letter which she addressed to King Louis. Then she took the
loose leaf on which Gabriel's prayer was written, and, folding it in
with her letter, tied the little packet with a thread of scarlet silk
(for no one used envelopes then), and sealed it with some red wax. And
on the wax she pressed a carved ring which she wore, and which left a
print that looked like a tiny tuft of ermine fur encircled by a bit of
knotted cord; for this was Lady Anne's emblem, as it was called, and
King Louis, seeing it, would know at once that the packet came from her.
Then she went down into the great hall of the castle, and sent one of
her Breton gentlemen to bring Count Henri. When the latter entered, she
said to him:
"Sir Count, it would give me great pleasure to keep you longer as my
guest, but if you must return to Paris tomorrow, I will ask you to be my
bearer for a little packet which I am anxious to send to King Louis."
Then, as she handed it to him, she added with a smile, "I give it to
you now, for if you ride early in the morning, I must leave my Breton
gentlemen to do the honours of your stirrup-cup."
(This last was the cup of wine which it was considered polite to offer a
departing guest as he mounted his horse, and was a little ceremony over
which Lady Anne liked to preside herself; that is, when her guests went
away at agreeable hours.)
As Count Henri received the packet from her, he made a very deep bow,
and replied that he would be most happy to serve the Lady Anne in any
way he could, and that he only awaited her command to start at once on
his journey.
"Nay," said Lady Anne, with another little smile, "'tis no affair of
state importance! Only a matter of my own on which I have set my heart.
But I will not hear to your setting forth, until you have sat at my
table and rested overnight in the castle."
To this Count Henri again gallantly bowed his obedience; and then,
before long, Lady Anne led all the company into the great banquet-hall,
where a number of long tables were set out with roasted game, and bread
and wine and the many different cakes and sweetmeats of Bretagne.
The Lady Anne took her place at the head of the longest table of all,
and she placed Count Henri at her right hand. Near them sat many of the
ladies-in-waiting, and Breton gentlemen of the highest rank; while at
the farther end, beyond a great silver saltcellar standing in the middle
of the table, were seated those of less degree.
The dishes were of gold and silver, and Lady Anne herself was waited
upon by two noblemen of Bretagne, for she lived very magnificently, as
was fitting for the bride of King Louis.
When the supper was over, they all went back into the great castle hall,
where bright fires of logs were blazing in the huge fireplaces; and as
they sat in the firelight, they listened to the beautiful songs and
music of two troubadours who had that day chanced to come to the castle,
and who sang so sweetly that it was very late before the company broke
up for the night.
All through the evening, however, in spite of the pleasant
entertainment, Lady Anne, who was very sympathetic, could not help but
think many times of poor little Gabriel, and how cold and hungry and
miserable he must be! She had been much struck, too, with the beautiful
way in which he had written out and ornamented his little prayer, for
she was a good judge of such things; and, as she thought about it, she
determined some day to see the lad herself. Meantime she was very
anxious to help him as soon as possible. Indeed, she felt much happier
when the next morning came, and Count Henri set out for Paris; for then
she knew that her letter and Gabriel's little written page were on their
way to King Louis.
In due time, Count Henri arrived safely at the king's palace, and
delivered the packet from Lady Anne. And when King Louis broke the wax
seal, and read the letter and Gabriel's little prayer, he, too, was
deeply touched. Lady Anne's letter explained to him about finding the
loose page in the beautiful book he had sent her, and asked that he
would see to it that Count Pierre set the boy's father free.
This King Louis at once determined to do, for he was a just and
kind-hearted monarch, and during his reign did much to lighten the taxes
and oppression of the peasant-folk; and, moreover, in this trouble of
Gabriel's father, he now took an especial interest, as it gave him great
pleasure to grant any wish of the Lady Anne, whom he loved deeply.
So that very day he sent for a trusty messenger, and after explaining
things to him, directed him to set out as soon as possible for St.
Martin's Abbey, and there to seek out Brother Stephen and inquire about
the little peasant boy, Gabriel Viaud. And then, if he found everything
to be true that Gabriel had said in his prayer, he was to act according
to further orders which King Louis gave him.