THE REPULSE.
Eight weeks had passed away since the disappearance of the
Marchioness de Bonaletta--eight weeks of suffering and delirium for
Eugene of Savoy. A nervous fever had ensued, which, if it had well-
nigh proved mortal, had proved, in one sense, beneficent; for it had
stricken him with unconsciousness of woe. Blissful dreams of love
hovered about his couch, and lit up with feverish brilliancy his
pallid countenance. At such times SHE seemed to sit beside him; for
he smiled, held out his hand, and addressed her in words of burning
love and ecstasy. Perhaps these joyful phantasms gave him strength
to recuperate from his terrible prostration, for he recovered; and,
after four weeks of struggle between life and death, was declared
convalescent. His grandmother and his sisters had nursed him
tenderly throughout, and they had the satisfaction of hearing from
his physician, that to their loving care he owed his restoration to
health. The poor sufferer himself could not find it in his heart to
be grateful for the boon. With returning reason came awakening
anguish, sharp as the first keen stroke that had laid low the
beautiful fabric of his ephemeral happiness.
But he was resolved to face his sorrow--not to fly from it. "It
shall kill me or make a man of me, whom no shaft of adversity can
ever wound again," thought he. He confided his troubles to no one,
little dreaming that his secret was known not only to his
grandmother and his sisters, but to the Princes de Conti, who,
throughout their long watches by his bedside, had heard the history
of his love, its return by the beloved one, and its disastrous end.
But each and all respected the secret, and tacitly agreed to cover
it with a veil of profound silence.
So Eugene suffered and struggled alone, until the tempest of his
grief had passed, and light once more dawned upon his soul. His
dreamy eyes, in whose depths one visionary object had been mirrored,
now rested upon things with quick and apprehensive intelligence; his
ears, that had been pained with one monotonous dirge of woe, now
opened to the sounds of the outer world around; and his thoughts,
which hitherto had kept unceasing plaint for their buried love, now
shook off repining, and hearkened to the trumpet-call of ambition.
One morning he called Conrad, who (accustomed of late to see his
master reclining languidly on a sofa, seemingly interested in
nothing) was quite surprised to find him in the arsenal, busily
engaged in examining and cleaning his arms.
Conrad could not repress a smile, and a glance of mingled
astonishment and delight. Eugene saw it, and replied at once.
"You see," said he, gently, "that I am better, Conrad. I was very
slow to recover from my severe illness, but I believe that I am
quite sound again. I thank you for all your self-sacrificing
devotion to me, during that season of suffering; and never while my
heart beats will I forget it. Let me press your friendly hand within
my own, for well I know that your highest reward is to be found in
my esteem and affection."
Conrad grasped the hand that was so kindly proffered, and tears of
joy fell upon its pale, attenuated fingers.
"My dear lord," sobbed he, "how you have suffered! and oh, how
gladly I would have suffered for you!"
"I believe it, good, true heart; but let us try to forget the past,
and make ready for the future. First--tell me whether the letter you
took for me yesterday is likely to reach the cabinet of his
majesty."
"Yes, your highness," replied Conrad, with a happy smile. "My cousin
Lolo washes the plate at the Louvre, and is engaged to be married to
the king's second valet. I gave it to her, and charged her, as she
valued her salvation, to see that Leblond remitted it."
"So far, so well, then. Order my state-carriage, livery, and
outriders; and then return to assist me in dressing. I must go to
court in half an hour."
While Eugene was preparing to visit the king, his majesty with his
prime minister was in his cabinet, writing; while, not too far to be
out of reach of his majesty's admiring eyes, sat the demure De
Maintenon, profoundly engaged in tapestry-work. The conference over,
Louis signed to Louvois to gather up the papers to which the royal
signature had been attached, and to take his leave. Louvois hastened
to obey; put his portfolio under his arm, and was about to retire,
when the king bade him remain.
"Apropos," said he, "I was about to forget a trifle that may as well
be attended to. I have received a letter from Prince Eugene of
Savoy. There is a vacancy in the dragoons, and the little prince
asks for it. Methinks it can be granted."
Louvois smiled. "What, your majesty! Give a captaincy of dragoons to
that poor little weakling? Why, he would not survive one single
campaign." As he uttered these careless words, he glanced at the
marquise, who understood him at once.
"In truth," observed she, in her soft, musical voice, whose melody
was as bewitching as that of the sea-maids of Sicily "in truth, poor
Prince Eugene seems as unsuited to the career of a soldier as to
that of an ecclesiastic. The dissipated and debauched life which, in
imitation of his mother, he has led since his boyhood, has exhausted
his energies. He is prematurely old--older far than your majesty."
A complacent smile flitted over the features of the vain monarch.
"He certainly looked more dead than alive the last time we saw him,
and since then he has been very ill, has he not?"
"Yes," replied Louvois, carelessly, "and for a long time his
recovery was considered doubtful."
"Madame told me of it," resumed the king. "She seems very much
interested in the little prince."
"Madame is the impersonation of goodness," observed De Maintenon,
"and by her very innocence is unfitted to judge of character. The
old Princess de Carignan imposed upon her credulity with some story
of an unhappy attachment, while veritably his illness is nothing
more than the natural consequence of his excesses."
Louvois thanked his coadjutor with a second glance, and the marquise
acknowledged the compliment by a slight inclination of her head,
imperceptible to the king.
"Be all this as it may," replied the latter, "I cannot refuse so
paltry a favor to the nephew of Cardinal Mazarin. If we do no more,
we ought at least to throw him a bone to gnaw." [Footnote: Louis'
own words.--"Memoires do Jeanne d'Albret de Luynes," vol. i., p.
85.]
"Sire," said Louvois, hastily, "you do not know Prince Eugene. He is
a dangerous man, though a weakly one, for he is possessed of
insatiable ambition. He desires renown at any price."
"At any price!" repeated Louis, with a shrug. "Such a poor devil as
that covet renown at any price!"
"Sire!" exclaimed Louvois, earnestly, "he is an offshoot of the
ambitious house of Savoy, and a stranger besides. Strangers always
bring us ill-luck."
"You are right," interposed the marquise, with a sigh. "Strangers
never bring us any but ill-luck."
Louis turned and fixed his eyes upon her. Their glances met, and
there was such unequivocal love expressed in that of the pious
marquise, that her royal disciple blushed with gratification. He
went up to her and extended both his hands.
She took them passionately within her own, and covered them with
kisses. Then raising her eyes pleadingly to his, she whispered,
"Sire, he is the son of his mother; and if your majesty show him
favor, I shall think that you have not ceased to love the Countess
de Soissons, and my heart will break."
Louis was so touched by the charming jealousy unconsciously betrayed
by these words, that he whispered in return:
"I will prove, then, that I love nobody but yourself."
"Be so good," added he aloud to Louvois, "as to say to the usher
that the Prince of Savoy will have an audience."
This being equivalent to a dismission, Louvois backed out of his
master's presence, and retired. As he was passing through the
antechamber, congratulating himself upon having effectually muzzled
his adversary, the minister saw his pale, serious face at the door.
Eugene was in the act of desiring the usher to announce him.
"His majesty awaits the Prince of Savoy," said Louvois, and he
stepped aside to allow him entrance.
Eugene came in, and the door was closed. The two enemies were alone,
face to face; and they surveyed each other as two lions might do on
the eve of a deathly contest.
"It has pleased you to make an attempt to beg a commission in the
army, and to address yourself directly to the king," said Louvois,
after a pause. "And you presumed to do so without the intervention
of his majesty's minister of war."
"I have no business with the servants of his majesty," replied
Eugene, tranquilly. "If I have a request to make, I address it to
the king my kinsman, and require no influence of his subordinates."
"Sir!" exclaimed Louvois, angrily, "I counsel you--"
"I desire no counsel from a man whom I despise," interrupted Eugene.
"You shall give me satisfaction for this word," returned Louvois,
laying his hand on his sword. "You are a nobleman, and therefore--"
"And therefore," interrupted Eugene again, "you shall have no
satisfaction from me, for you are not a nobleman, and I shall not
measure swords with you. Peace, monsieur," continued he, as Louvois
was about to insult him, "we are in the antechamber of the king, and
a servant may not resent his grievances within earshot of his
master. Take care that you become not too obstreperous, lest I
publish to the world the story of your crimes toward your unhappy
daughter. And now let me pass: the king awaits me."
With these words Eugene crossed the antechamber, and stood near the
door that led to the king's cabinet. There he stopped, and,
addressing the indignant minister--
"Now, sir," said he, imperatively, "you can go out to the vestibule
and send the usher to announce me to his majesty."
Louvois made a rush at the prince, and almost shrieked with rage.
"Sir, this insolence--"
But at that moment the door of the king's cabinet opened, and the
voice of Louis asked, "Who presumes to speak so loud?" His angry
glances were launched first at one and then at the other offender,
and, as neither made any reply, his majesty resumed:
"Ah, you are there, little abbe? You asked for an audience: it is
granted."
He returned to his cabinet, Eugene following. The marquise was
assiduously occupied with her tapestry, but her large eyes were
raised for one glance; then, as quickly casting them down, she
appeared to be absorbed in her embroidery.
The king threw himself carelessly back in an arm-chair, and signed
to Eugene to advance.
"You would like to command a company of dragoons?" said Louis,
shortly.
"Such is my desire, your majesty. I wish to become a soldier; I
hope--a brave one."
Louis surveyed him with scorn. "I cannot grant your request," said
he. "You are too sickly to enter my service."
He then rose from his chair and turned his back. This of course
signified that the audience was at an end; but, to his unspeakable
astonishment, he felt the touch of a hand upon his arm, and, turning
round, beheld Eugene!
"Is that all your majesty has to say to me?" said the prince.
"That is all," cried Louis, imperiously. "The audience is at an end-
-begone!"
"Not yet," replied Eugene, "not yet."
Madame de Maintenon uttered a cry of horror, and her tapestry fell
from her hands.
"Do you know that you are a traitor?" exclaimed the king.
"No, sire. I am but a man who, driven to despair, can no longer
withhold the cry of a heart wrung by every species of contumely and
injustice. Were I tamely to submit to all that you have done to
wound me, I were a hound unfit to bear the name of nobleman. By the
memory of Cardinal Mazarin, your benefactor, nay, more, the spouse
of your mother, I claim the right to remonstrate with your majesty,
and to ask you to reverse your decision."
"You have summoned to your aid a name which I have ever cherished
and honored," replied Louis. "For his sake I grant you fifteen
minutes' audience. Be quick, then, and say what you will at once."
"Then, sire, may I ask if you remember the solemn promise you made
to the cardinal on his death-bed?"
"I do."
"To the man who, during your minority, transformed a distracted
country into a powerful and peaceful empire, you promised friendship
and protection for his kindred. But how has this promise been
fulfilled? The family of Mazarin have, one and all, been given over
to persecution and injustice, and that by a sovereign who--"
"Prince," cried Louis, "you forget that you address your king!"
"My king! when has your conduct ever been to me that of a king, and
therefore of a father? I know that my uncle was once king of the
King of France; and by the God above us! he was a gracious monarch,
for he left to his successor a prosperous kingdom and an overflowing
treasury!"
"Which was not fuller than his own private purse," retorted Louis.
"The cardinal named you his heir, sire--why did you not accept the
heritage?"
"Because I would not enrich myself at the expense of his family,"
replied Louis, haughtily.
"Because you knew very well that what you affected to relinquish,
that the world might admire your magnanimity, you intended to take
back by piecemeal. And to do this, you have persecuted the unhappy
family of your best friend with au ingenuity of malice that is
beneath the dignity not only of your station, but of your manhood!"
"Sire," cried Madame de Maintenon, hastening to the king, "I beseech
you, drive from your presence this insolent madman."
"Let him speak," said Louis, in a voice of suppressed rage. "I wish
to see how far he will carry his presumption."
"Sire, it reaches past your crown, as far as the judgment-seat of
God, where it stands as your accuser. Sire, what have we done to
merit your aversion? My mother--that you allowed your minions to
traduce and drive her into exile? My father--who fought and bled for
you, that you offered him public insult, and so wounded his proud
spirit, that he died from the effects of your cruelty? My sisters--
that you have robbed them of their patrimony! And I!--what have I
done that you should hold me up to the mockery of your court, and
deny me the paltry boon of a petty commission in your army? I had
forgiven your public affronts, so unworthy of a king and a
gentleman; and I had offered my hand and sword to your majesty as
proofs of my loyalty and superiority to resentment. As a kinsman and
your subject you have repulsed me: for the future, know me as an
alien and enemy."
The king laughed scornfully. "Puny braggart, what care I for your
enmity?"
"Time will show, sire; and, as truly as a lion once owed his life to
a mouse, your majesty will repent of your injustice to me."
"I never repent," returned the king, hastily.
"A day of repentance must come for all who have sinned, and it must
dawn for you. Beware lest it come so late that the prayers of yonder
sanctimonious marquise avail you nothing."
"By heavens!" cried the king, starting from his seat and clutching
his bell, "my patience is exhausted. This arch-traitor shall--"
But Madame de Maintenon was at his side in a moment.
"Sire," said she, beseechingly, "in the name of the love and loyalty
I bear my sovereign, pardon this misguided youth. Remember that the
highest prerogative of power is the exercise of mercy. I, for my
part, forgive him freely, and I thank God that I am here to mediate
between him and your majesty's just anger."
"You are an angel," cried Louis, clasping her hand in his own, and
covering them with kisses. "You are an angel whom God has sent for
my happiness in this world and the next." And turning to Eugene with
a lofty gesture, he said: "Go, young man. Madame de Maintenon's
magnanimity has earned your pardon. Go--that I may forget you and
your existence."
"Sire," replied Eugene with emphasis, "I do not intend that you
shall forget me. In your pride of power, you have likened yourself
to a god, but, great as you are, you shall rue the day on which
Eugene of Savoy turned his back upon your kingdom!"
"So you persist in believing yourself to be a man, do you?"
"Yes, sire; such is my conviction. I aim at renown, and, in spite of
my enemies, of my poverty, and of my friendless condition, I have
strength and energy to attain it. I am no longer a subject of
France. I bid farewell to my country forever."
With a slight inclination of his head, and without waiting for
permission, he turned his back, and left the room.
Louis gazed upon his receding figure, with an expression so strange,
that Madame de Maintenon in great alarm flew to his side. His eyes
were fixed, and great drops of sweat stood out upon his forehead.
The marquise wiped them away with her handkerchief, all the while
whispering words of tender encouragement.
Louis shivered, and seemed like one awakening from a dream. His
eyelids fell, the strained eyeballs moved, and he tried to smile.
"Dearest friend," said he, "I know not what has happened; but, as
the Prince of Savoy disappeared from my sight, a voice seemed to
speak to my soul, and say that his threats had been prophetic, and
that I would dearly rue the day on which the nephew of Mazarin had
left me in anger. Can such things be? or am I the sport of--"
"Sire, sovereign, beloved," cried the marquise, kneeling and
clasping his knees in her arms, "give no heed to this mocking voice.
'Tis but a temptation of the Evil One. Let us pray together."
"Yes, let us pray. Send for Pere la Chaise, and let us away to the
chapel."