indifference and a smile; "I fought neither for the heretics, because,
Heaven be praised, I am a good Catholic, nor for the minions, because
the hero of Jarnac and Montcoutour has passed away into a lover of pet
puppies and a pedant in cosmetics."
A sarcastic smile curled the lip of his companion while he spoke. "Two
good, wise, and sufficient reasons," he said, "such as a notary may
approve of. But tell me, young gentleman, have we ever met before?"
"Never," answered Charles of Montsoreau, "unless we met before we were
born. But, however, Maitre Henri, to put an end to all doubts, that I
see are in your mind, my name is Charles of Montsoreau, Count of
Logeres, whom you may have heard of, perhaps, though he has yet to
make a name in history, and hopes to do so with his sword."
The stranger instantly extended his hand to him, exclaiming, "Indeed,
young friend, indeed! How came you here? What brought you to this part
of the world?"
"I came for two purposes," replied Charles of Montsoreau. "In the
first place, it is long since I have seen Logeres; my tenantry need my
presence; and it is time that I should take the management of those
estates out of the hands of underlings, and defend, protect, and
direct them myself."
While he spoke, several of his attendants returned to the room,
accompanied by the host, to make preparation for the visiter's supper,
and the stranger instantly resumed the position he had at first been
standing in, after he approached the fire, while Charles of Montsoreau
went on, taking a hint to be cautious from his companion's eyes. "In
the next place," he continued, "my second purpose was to visit the
good Duke of Guise, who, I understand, is at Soissons, or in that
neighbourhood."
"He was at Nancy but a week or two ago," replied the other; "but,
after all, you may very likely find him at Soissons, for he is
continually moving about the country; and there was a report not long
ago, that he was to hold a private conference one of these days with
Monsieur de Bellievre, sent on the part of the king. But there is
little trust in this Henry, and Heaven knows whether he will send or
not.--Shall we sup together, sir?"
"With all my heart," replied the young count, not a little to the
surprise of some of his attendants who were in the room, and who did
not at all comprehend how their lord, whom they were themselves
accustomed to treat with much reverence and respect, came to sit down
with a person of such plain apparel.
Their astonishment was not less when they beheld the young nobleman,
after supper had been placed upon the table, wait till the other was
seated, before he took his own place. The only one who seemed to
understand the whole was the boy Ignati, who said, in an under voice,
to Gondrin, "He has forgotten himself, master huntsman! Or is Maitre
Henri gone for to-night?"
"And who is Maitre Henri?" demanded Gondrin, in the same tone.
"I could tell, if I would," answered the boy, "but our lord knows him,
if you do not."
Before he had well ended, a servant, dressed like his master, in grey,
entered the room in haste, and placed a written paper in the hands of
Maitre Henri, who read it with attention, and then bending over the
table towards Charles of Montsoreau, demanded, in a low tone, "How
many men have you with you, my young friend?"
"Only seven," replied Charles of Montsoreau, "besides myself and the
page. But they are all well-armed, resolute, and determined, and I,
the eighth, trust not to be behind any of them."
"Eleven!" said his companion, musing. "We should but muster eleven if
we were to set off this moment; for though we counted six amongst us
when I arrived, I have sent off three to a distance, and they cannot
be back ere the morning. No, we had better wait till daylight. I must
give them till twelve o'clock, too, to see if they will keep their
word with me: though, by these tidings, it seems to be broken
already.--Hark ye," he continued, speaking to the servant who had
brought him the paper, and who still stood beside his chair--"hark ye;
bend down your ear."
The man did as he was bidden; and, after whispering to him for several
minutes, the stranger added, in a louder tone, "If you go by Les
petites Loges, you will pass them. Tell him that fifty will do. I want
no more, and we must not leave any point weak."
After he had thus spoken, he tore off a bit of the paper he had
received, wrote a few words down upon it in a careless way, and tossed
it over to Charles of Montsoreau. Those words were, "Schelandre, who
you know is as brave as a lion and as cunning as a fox, is looking out
for me, with two squadrons, on the road by Hautvilliers. He has got
news of my coming by some means--very likely from Henry himself."
Charles turned an inquiring look upon his companion's face, as if to
ask, what is to be done? But the other glanced his eye over his
shoulder towards the attendants, and proceeded with his supper,
commenting upon the landlord's good cheer, praising his wine, and
laughing and talking gaily, as if there were no such thing as peril
upon the earth.
CHAP. X.
It was in the grey of the morning on the following day that a party of
horsemen, now amounting in all to the number of fifteen or sixteen,
was seen winding through the little wood, which at that time occupied
the ground in the neighbourhood of Chaumizy, a spot which in the
present day sends forth many an excellent bottle of sparkling wine, to
warm the hearts of many a distant potator.
To any eye which watched the progress of that party from a height--and
there was an eye which did so--the movements of the band might seem
complicated and curious,--now turning to the east, now winding to the
west--now marching on straight forward to the north. One thing,
however, was evident, that those horsemen affected by-paths and shady
roads, never crossing a hill where they could take their way through
the valley, never choosing the open ground where they could go through
the wood. Sometimes the eye which, as we have said, watched them from
the most elevated ground in the neighbourhood, lost them for several
minutes amongst the trees and vineyards, sometimes saw them emerge
when it least expected them, sometimes was baffled altogether in
regard to a conception of their onward course, by the strange turns
and windings which they took.
Nevertheless the band still continued to advance in its own way,
winding amidst the brown leafless woods, with Charles of Montsoreau
completely armed at its head; Gondrin, little less formidably equipped
by his side on the right hand, and the boy Ignati, now dressed
completely as a page, with pistols at his saddlebow, and a strong
dagger on his thigh, upon the left hand of the young nobleman. Then
came, mixed together, the attendants of the Count--all as we have
described them before, strongly armed;--two or three strangers of
military appearance, clothed in general in grey suits with a double
black cross observable on some parts of their garments; and two or
three hardy spirits from the little village of Mareuil, who had been
hired to swell the numbers of the Count's train, as they passed across
the dangerous part of the country between Chalons and Rheims.
Amongst the rest of the persons thus mixed together, might be observed
Maitre Henri, dressed precisely as he had been the night before,
though most of the other personages in grey had contrived to purchase
in the village of Mareuil several pieces of defensive and offensive
armour, such as steel caps, called salads, breast plates, and the
large heavy swords then in use against cavalry, which, like the
attendants of Charles of Montsoreau, they bore naked in their hands.
Very few words were uttered as the band rode along: sometimes an order
was given in a low voice by the young count, sometimes, while the rest
continued to advance, he rode back, to speak to some one in the rear,
sometimes he addressed a few words to Gondrin or the page; but in
general all passed in silence.
"Are you sure you know your way?" he demanded at length of the boy
Ignati, on their suddenly taking a path which appeared more than
usually out of the direct course.
"As well as I know the lines on my own hand, sir," replied the boy in
the Italian language, which he had discovered that his master
understood. "I would rather lose my eyes than lead you or him a step
wrong."
"Who do you mean by him?" demanded Charles of Montsoreau, in the same
tongue.
"I mean him with the scar," replied the boy.
"Why, what is he to thee?" asked his master.
"Why, he is the only one in all the land," replied the boy, "that ever
was kind to me before yourself; and I remember seven months ago, when
they made me dance and sing at a great banquet in the town of Nancy,
he patted my head, and called me a good youth, and while all the rest
showered money into the box my master carried round, he gave me a
broad piece, and told me it was for myself. They took it from me
afterwards: but he did not know that."
"Then recollect him, and you know him?" demanded his master.
"Grey cloth and brown baize will not hide him from me," replied the
boy, with an intelligent smile, "though when I saw him, it was crimson
velvet and gold. The heart has its eyes, dear lord, as well as the
head, and the heart's eyes never forget."
"Well then, Ignati," replied the Count, "in case of any attack--which
we cannot be sure will not take place--you attach yourself to his
side, quit him not for a moment, serve him in every thing; but in the
very first place guide him on towards Rheims, by the safest paths that
you know."
"But must I leave you?" demanded the boy--"must I leave you in the
hands of the enemy?"
"Never mind me," replied his master--"I will defend myself, good
Ignati. Besides, they can scarcely be called my enemies, as I have
taken no service against them."
Just as he spoke, the band issued forth from the little by-path which
they had been pursuing, into one of the main roads through the wood,
and saw before them, at the distance of about a hundred yards, an old
grey stone cross, raised upon several steps, in the very centre of the
road, marking the spot where two ways crossed. When first they came
within sight of that memento of past years, the ground around it was
completely solitary: but before they reached it, five or six heavy
armed horsemen came at a quick pace up the road leading to the left
and planted themselves round the cross. The moment they reached it,
one of their party took off his steel cap, and waved it in the air,
looking at the same time down the road by which he had come, as if
giving a signal to some persons who followed him.
To the eyes of Charles of Montsoreau and his companions these
indications wanted no explanation, nor was any consultation necessary;
for it was evident that there was but one thing to be done, namely, to
endeavour to force a passage through this little advanced party of the
reiters before the main body could come up.
"Quick to the side of Maitre Henri," exclaimed Charles of Montsoreau,
speaking to the page. "You, Gondrin, too, attach yourself to him.
Leave nothing undone to secure his escape; and now forward, my men!
Upon them!"
He turned one anxious glance round in the direction of his newly
acquired companion; but saw--with some surprise, perhaps--nothing but
a calm, unperturbed smile on his countenance. Maitre Henri was quietly
drawing his sword from its sheath, and in answer to the anxious look
of Charles of Montsoreau, only gave a familiar nod, saying, "Go on!"
The young count's orders had been already given, and his horse was
instantly put into the gallop. The reiters on their part seemed to
require neither parley nor explanation any more than the young count;
and instantly separating into two parties, they occupied the road on
either side of the cross: he, who was evidently the commander, again
waving his steel cap in the same direction as before.
Charles of Montsoreau saw that all depended upon speed, and the prompt
execution of his commands; and, turning to the man who followed
immediately behind him, he exclaimed, without at all checking his pace
as he did so, "Pass round to the right of the cross with two others;
but where the passage is forced, attach yourself to drive back the men
on the left of the cross, up the road to the left; while I with the
rest bar that road against those that are coming up."
The man seemed to understand at a word; and in a moment more they were
at the spot where the two roads crossed. As he came up, Charles of
Montsoreau turned his head for an instant, and, to his great
satisfaction, saw that a large body of horse, which was coming down at
full speed, was still at a considerable distance.
That turning of his head, however, had nearly cost him his life; for
the three men immediately behind him, having been detached to the
other side, one of the reiters, emboldened by this circumstance,
spurred suddenly forward, and aimed a long heavy stroke at the head of
the young nobleman, which struck him upon the neck, and had it not
been for the goodness of his arms, must inevitably have killed him on
the spot. As it was, the blow made the count bend almost to his
saddle-bow: but it was only to raise himself again immediately, and to
return the blow with a force and vigour which cast the reiter headlong
from his horse.
At the same time the three men whom he had detached, passed round to
the right of the cross. The reiters, who were opposed to them on that
side, prepared to stop their progress; but as they were about to do
so, they perceived Gondrin, the page, and Maitre Henri, with one of
his attendants, advancing at full speed a little further to the right.
This was enough to make them desist their opposition to the others,
and turn to close the path on that side, while the three followers of
Charles of Montsoreau, taking advantage of the space thus left,
wheeled upon the men on the left side of the cross, and drove them
back, trampling upon their fallen companion.
The young nobleman, as soon as he saw the success of this man[oe]uvre,
drew in his rein for a moment, in order to suffer it to be fully
executed, and the reiters to be driven back into the road up which
they had come. On the other hand, they, finding themselves decidedly
overmatched, suffered this to be accomplished with ease, and made the
best of their way back towards the larger body of their comrades, who
were now coming down at full speed to their support.
The moment that Charles of Montsoreau saw this accomplished, he turned
his head once more to Maitre Henri, exclaiming, "On, on, with all
speed! I will insure you at least ten minutes:". and then, without
waiting for any answer, he brought the greater part of his men into
the road down which the chief body of the reiters was advancing, and
prepared, as best he might, to stand the coming shock, which was
certain to be tremendous.
In the mean while, Maitre Henri, with Gondrin on one side, and the boy
on the other, had advanced at full speed towards the three reiters on
the right of the cross. One of the stranger's own attendants followed
only a step behind; but as they came up, a fierce-looking, powerful
man, from amongst their opponents, aimed his petronel right at the
head of Maitre Henri, exclaiming, "I know thee! I know thee!" and was
in the very act of firing, when the page, making his horse spring
forward, endeavoured to grasp the muzzle of the piece.
He did not succeed entirely, but was enabled to turn the weapon in
some degree, so that the ball passed through the tall Spanish hat of
Maitre Henri; and being fired from the higher ground on which the
cross stood, entered the head of the attendant who was coming up
behind, and killed him on the spot. The contest at that point was thus
rendered a very unequal one, there being but two men, and one of those
nearly unarmed, with a boy of fourteen or fifteen, opposed to three
strong and well-armed men.
As all knew, however, that the party headed by Charles of Montsoreau
could maintain the road but a very short time against the force coming
down upon him, the gain or loss of a minute was every thing to those
who were struggling on the right of the cross. The long heavy sword
usually borne by the reiter was but feebly opposed by the light weapon
of Maitre Henri; but that light weapon was used with a degree of
skill, coolness, and presence of mind which made up for the disparity;
and, with the page still close to his side, he was driving back his
immediate opponent, warding off every sweep of his heavy blade,
pressing him so hard whenever he paused for a moment, as to prevent
him from snatching one of the pistols from his saddle-bow, and
gradually urging his own charger onward, till he had very nearly
cleared the road before him, when one of the other two reiters--who
had hitherto attached themselves to Gondrin, as the only completely
equipped man-at-arms of the opposite party--turned suddenly upon
Maitre Henri, and assailed him on the right, while the other rapidly
recovered his ground upon the left.
Never, however, did skill, strength, and presence of mind, do so much
for one individual as they did for the man in grey. For a moment or
two he applied himself solely to the defensive, wheeling his horse
from the one to the other, as they attacked him with the most
extraordinary rapidity and skill,--now parrying one blow, now parrying
another, and still watching for an opportunity of resuming the
offensive. At length the reiter who was assailing him on his right
hand, seeing that their other companion had by this time been well
nigh mastered by Gondrin, determined to end all by killing the horse
of the man opposed to him, and with the bridle in his teeth, and his
sword in both hands, aimed a tremendous blow at the poor animal's
head; but Maitre Henri instantly divining his intention, turned the
spur sharply into the horse's side, and reined him to the left at the
same time.
The noble animal, practised for years to comprehend the slightest
indication of its rider's will, instantly took a demivolte, as it was
called, to the left with a sharp spring. The reiter's sword descended
with tremendous force; but the object at which he had aimed was just
beyond his reach, and the weight of the sword, with the impetus he had
given the blow, nearly threw him from the saddle, making him bend down
to his saddle-bow. The opportunity was all that his opponent desired;
his horse was turned like lightning, and before the man could raise
himself, he received a severe wound in the back of the neck, which
made heaven and earth, and the whole scene around, swim dizzily before
his eyes.
The other reiter on the left, however, was upon the successful
swordsman in a moment. By this time his pistol was in his hand, and a
very slight movement brought the muzzle within a foot of Maitre
Henri's bosom.
That advantage retained for one single second more might have changed
the destiny of many thousands of human beings; but at the very moment
that he was sure of his aim, and about to draw the trigger, a strong,
well-aimed, unhesitating blow from the hand of the page, drove the
dagger, with which he was armed, under the very arm which held the
pistol, between it and his corselet. So strong, so determined was that
blow, that the weapon entered to the very haft, and there remained,
fixed between the corselet and the brassard, so that the boy could not
withdraw it.
But that mattered not, the weapon had cut through many a vital part in
its passage; the sick faintness of death came upon the man's heart and
brain; the pistol and the reins dropped from his hands; and, after a
reeling attempt to keep the saddle, he fell headlong to the ground.
One glance of the eye had shown Maitre Henri all that took place; and
without uttering a word, he continued the fight with his other
antagonist, taking advantage of the wound he had given him, and
pressing him so hard, that at length the horse, reined back upon the
slippery ground of the forest road, reared, and fell over with his
rider, crushing him under its weight.
By this time, though the space that had elapsed was very short,
Gondrin had so far got the better of his antagonist, that the man's
steel cap had fallen off under the repeated blows of the huntsman, and
a deep bleeding wound in the forehead showed that the protection of
the casque was not a little wanting. The sight of one of his
companions dead upon the ground, and of the horse falling over with
the other, did not give him any very great encouragement to pursue the
strife; and he was making the best of his way, closely pursued by
Gondrin, towards the branch of the road which led up to the right,
when the voice of Maitre Henri attracted the huntsman's ear,
exclaiming, "Leave him, leave him! Let us make our way onward, with
all speed, now that the road is clear."
Gondrin certainly asked himself, "Is it fair and right to leave my
noble master thus?" But the orders of that master had been distinct,
and he obeyed at all risks, following Maitre Henri, who galloped on
with a degree of speed which, to the eyes of the huntsman, seemed
somewhat unseemly. At the distance of about a mile and a half,
however, the road took a turn to the left; and, in a moment, a large
body of horse was before the eyes of the fugitives, advancing at a
somewhat quick pace towards the scene where the late contest had taken
place. On the left breast of each corselet appeared a double cross;
and, without drawing his rein for a moment, Maitre Henri galloped up
towards them, while a loud shout of "The Duke! the Duke!" burst from
the ranks of the soldiery.
Few, however, were the words which the man in grey spoke. He wheeled
his horse at their head, bade Gondrin and the page get into the rear;
adding, "You have had fighting enough for to-day, my friends,"--and in
a moment the whole body was put to full speed, and advancing towards
the cross, in the heart of the wood.
They came but up in time, however; for Charles of Montsoreau, though
contending pertinaciously for every inch of ground, from a knowledge
of how needful was each moment to his companion, had been driven back
by superior numbers into the other road, and, though still keeping his
face to the enemy, and closing the path against them, was losing
ground rapidly.
In the first shock with the reiters, he had turned his head to
ascertain that there was no space left for the passage of the enemy,
and had beheld, to his surprise, that two or three of Maitre Henri's
servants had remained with him, instead of following their master. In
answer to an exclamation expressive of his surprise, however, one of
the men merely replied, "It was his order;" and the fierceness of the
struggle that ensued left no room for farther inquiry.
The number of reiters amounted to at least fifty men; and had the
space been open, the young cavalier must have been overpowered in a
moment. But the arrival, nay, the very sight, of the strong body that
now came down to his assistance, changed in a moment the aspect of the
whole scene.
At a single word from the lips of Maitre Henri, the lances of the
three first lines of his horsemen were levelled in an instant; the
reiters halted in mid-career; and Charles of Montsoreau, at once
comprehending what had occurred, opened the way, as far as possible,
by drawing his wounded and weary followers out of the road, and
plunging their horses, where they could, in amongst the trees. The
reiters wavered for a moment, as if hesitating whether to retreat at
once, or endeavour to make a stand; but so sudden and unexpected was
the appearance of the adverse horse, that nothing had been prepared
for retreat; and the commander found himself forced to maintain his
ground for a time, till the ranks that followed could be wheeled and
withdrawn.
In the mean time, with loud cries of "Lorraine! Lorraine[2]! A Guise!
a Guise!" the adverse cavalry came down; but the German horse could
not stand for a moment before the long lances of the men-at-arms, and
in a few minutes all was confusion, flight, and pursuit.
---------------------
[Footnote 2: The Duke of Guise was at this time employing several
bodies of troops levied in Lorraine, against the Princes of Sedan.]
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