USELESS DEVOTION
Aloyse, having rested a few moments, for she could hardly breathe as she
recalled this mournful story, collected herself once more, and at
Gabriel's earnest entreaty finished her narrative in these words:--
"One o'clock in the morning was striking when the dauphin and his
unscrupulous mentor took their leave. Perrot saw that his master was
lost beyond all hope of rescue if he gave Monsieur de Montmorency's
messenger time to arrive. The moment for him to act was at hand. He had
noticed that Monsieur de Montmorency had not mentioned any countersign
or any signal by which his envoy could be recognized; so after waiting
about half an hour, to give Monsieur time to have given him his
instructions, Perrot crept carefully out of his hiding-place, went down
a few stairs on his toes, and then ascended them again, making his tread
distinctly audible, and knocked at the door of the oratory.
"The scheme that he had formed on the spur of the moment was an
audacious one; but its very audacity gave it some chance of success.
"'Who's there?' asked the sentinel.
"'A messenger from Monseigneur le Baron de Montmorency.'
"'Open,' said the leader of the party to the sentinel.
"The door opened, and Perrot entered boldly and confidently.
"'I am,' said he, 'the squire of Monsieur Charles de Manffol, who is
attached to Monsieur de Montmorency's service, as you know. We were just
going off guard at the Louvre, my master and I, when we met on the
Grève Monsieur de Montmorency with a tall young man wrapped in a cloak.
Monsieur de Montmorency recognized Monsieur de Manffol, and called him.
After talking together a few moments, they both ordered me to come here
to Madame Diane de Poitiers's house, Rue du Figuier. I should find here,
they said, a prisoner, as to whom Monsieur de Montmorency has given me
certain directions which I am about to carry out. I asked him for a
small escort; but he told me that there was already a sufficient force
here, and I see that there are more of you than I need to assist me in
executing the conciliatory mission with which I am intrusted. Where is
the prisoner? Ah, there he is! Remove the gag, for it is necessary that
I should speak to him, and that he should be able to reply to me.'
"The conscientious leader of the men-at-arms still hesitated, despite
Perrot's deliberate speech.
"'Have you no written order to give me?' he asked.
"'Does one write orders on the Place de Grève at two in the morning?'
replied Perrot, shrugging his shoulders. 'Monsieur de Montmorency told
me that you would expect me.'
"'Very true.'
"'Well, then, what game are you trying to play on me, my good fellow?
Come, leave the room, you and your people; for what I have to say to
this gentleman must be kept secret between ourselves. What! don't you
hear me? Leave us, I say!'
"They did finally leave; and Perrot walked coolly up to Monsieur de
Montgommery, who had been relieved of his gag.
"'My brave Perrot!' said the count, who had recognized his squire at
once, 'how do you happen to be here?'
"'You shall know, Monseigneur; but we have not a moment to lose now.
Listen.'
"In a few words he told him of the scene which had transpired in Madame
Diane's apartment, and of the determination which Monsieur de
Montmorency seemed to have taken of burying forever the terrible secret
of the insult with the insulter. Thus it was necessary to escape this
fatal captivity by a bold and desperate stroke.
"'And what do you mean to do, Perrot?' asked Monsieur de Montgommery.
'See, there are eight of them against us two, and here we are not in the
house of our friends,' he added bitterly.
"'Never mind that!' said Perrot; 'do you just let me do all the acting
and the talking, and you are saved, you are free.'
"'What's the use, Perrot?' said the count, gloomily. 'What more have I
to do with life or liberty? Diane does not love me! Diane hates me and
betrays me!'
"'Put by all remembrance of that woman, and think of your child,
Monseigneur.'
"'You are right, Perrot; I have already neglected him too much, poor
little Gabriel, and God is just to punish me for it. For his sake, then,
I ought and I will try to avail myself of this last chance of safety
which you hold out to me, my friend. But, in the first place, listen to
me: if this chance fails me, if this undertaking, audacious to the point
of madness, which you are about to venture on, fails, I do not wish to
bequeath to the orphan for his inheritance, Perrot, the results of my
unhappy fate; I do not wish to subject him after my disappearance from
among the living to the powerful hatred to which I have been forced to
yield. Swear to me, then, that if the prison or the tomb opens its doors
to me, and you survive me, Gabriel shall never know from you the
circumstances of his father's disappearance from the world. If he should
come to know this terrible secret, he would try some day either to
avenge me or to rescue me, and would ruin himself. I shall have a bitter
enough reckoning to settle with his mother, without adding that burden
to it. Let my son live in happiness, free from anxiety about his
father's past! Swear this for me, Perrot, and do not consider yourself
relieved from the obligation of this oath unless the three actors in the
scene you have described to me die before I do, and the dauphin (who
will be king then, no doubt), Madame Diane, and Monsieur de Montmorency
carry their potent hatred with them to the grave, and can no longer harm
my child. Then, in that very improbable concurrence of events, let him
try, if he will, to learn of my whereabouts and to find me. But until
then, let him know as little as everybody else--yes, less than anybody
else--of his father's end. Do you promise me this, Perrot! Do you swear
it? I will not give myself up to your rash and, I greatly fear,
fruitless devotion, except on that one condition, Perrot.'
"'Do you wish it so, Monseigneur? Then I swear it.'
"'Upon the cross of your sword-hilt, Perrot, Gabriel shall never know
from you of this perilous mystery?'
"'Upon the cross of my sword-hilt, Monseigneur!' said Perrot, his right
hand held aloft.
"'Thanks, my dear friend. Now do with me as you will, my faithful
servant. I place my reliance on your courage and the favor of God.'
"'Be self-possessed and confident, Monseigneur,' replied Perrot. 'You
will soon see.'
"Recalling the leader of the men-at-arms, he said,--
"'What the prisoner has said to me is satisfactory, and you may unbind
him and let him go.'
"'Unbind him! Let him go!' rejoined the astounded leader.
"'To be sure! Such are Monsieur de Montmorency's orders.'
"'Monsieur de Montmorency,' replied the man-at-arms, shaking his head,
'ordered us to keep this prisoner in sight, and said as he went away
that we should answer for it with our lives. How can it be that Monsieur
de Montmorency now wishes us to set the gentleman at liberty?'
"'So that you refuse to obey me, who speak in his name, do you?' said
Perrot, abating nothing of his assurance.
"'I hesitate. See here, if you were to order me to kill the man, or to
throw him into the river, or to take him to the Bastille, we would obey,
but to let him go!--that, you see, is not the sort of thing we're
accustomed to.'
"'So be it!' replied Perrot, in no whit disconcerted. 'I have given you
the orders that I received, and I wash my hands of the rest of it. You
will answer to Monsieur de Montmorency for the consequences of your
disobedience. As for me, there's nothing more for me to do here.
Good-evening!'
"And he opened the door, as if to take his leave.
"'Ho, there, one moment!' said the leader; 'how quick you are! So you
mean to declare that it is Monsieur de Montmorency's will that we should
let this prisoner go? You are quite sure that it was Monsieur de
Montmorency who sent you?'
"'You idiot!' replied Perrot; 'how else should I know that he had a
prisoner under guard here? Has any other person gone out to tell of it,
if it was not Monsieur de Montmorency himself?'
"'Well, your man shall be unbound!' said the soldier, as surly as a
tiger whose prey has been torn from his grasp. 'How changeable these
great lords are, _corps Dieu_!'
"'Good! I will await you,' said Perrot.
"He remained outside, nevertheless, on the topmost step of the
staircase, with his face turned toward the stairs, and his drawn sword
in his hand. If he saw the real messenger from Montmorency coming up, he
must see to it that he came no farther.
"But he neither saw nor heard behind him Madame de Poitiers, who,
aroused by the sound of voices, had come out of her chamber, and gone
along to the open door of the oratory. She saw that they were releasing
Monsieur de Montgommery, who was transfixed with horror as he saw her
there.
"'Wretches!' she cried, 'what are you doing there?'
"'We are obeying the orders of Monsieur de Montmorency, Madame,' said
the leader, 'and releasing the prisoner.'
"'It cannot be possible!' replied Madame de Poitiers. 'Monsieur de
Montmorency can never have given such orders. Who brought you this
order?'
"The men pointed out Perrot, who had turned about, stupefied with
terror, on hearing Madame Diane's voice. A ray of light from the lamp
fell full upon poor Perrot's pale face, and Madame Diane recognized him
at once.
"'That man?' said she; 'that man is the prisoner's squire! Just see what
you were about to do!'
"'That's a lie!' replied Perrot, still trying to deny his identity. 'I
am Monsieur de Manffol's squire, and am sent here by Monsieur de
Montmorency.'
"'Who says that he was sent by Monsieur de Montmorency?' chimed in the
voice of a new arrival, who was the real envoy himself. 'My good
fellows, this man lies! Here are the Montmorency ring and seal; and you
ought to know me too. I am the Comte de Montausier.[3] What! you dared
to take away the prisoner's gag, and were in the very act of releasing
him? Wretches! Gag him again, and bind him tighter still!'
"'As you please!' said the chief of the guards; 'but the orders he gave
us sounded all right, and were easy to understand.'
"'Poor Perrot!' was all the count said.
"He did not stoop to utter a word of reproach to Madame de Poitiers,
though he would have had time enough before the handkerchief they put
between his teeth was in place. It may be, too, that he feared to
compromise his true-hearted squire any further; but Perrot, unluckily,
wasn't as discreet as he, and said to Madame Diane indignantly,--
"'Well, Madame, you don't stop halfway in a felony, at least! Saint
Peter denied his Lord three times, but Judas only betrayed him once. You
have betrayed your lover three times within an hour. To be sure, Judas
was only a man, while you are a woman and a duchess.'
"'Seize that man!' cried Madame Diane, in a perfect fury of rage.
"'Seize that man!' the Comte de Montausier echoed.
"'Ah, but I am not taken yet!' cried Perrot.
"And in so desperate a plight he took a desperate step; with one leap he
was at Monsieur de Montgommery's side, and began to cut his bonds with
his poniard, crying,--
"'Help yourself, Monseigneur, and let us sell our lives as dearly as we
can!'
"But he had only time to free his left arm; for he could defend himself
only partially while trying to cut the count's cords at the same time.
Ten swords clashed with his. Surrounded, and struck at on all sides at
once, a powerful blow that he received between the shoulders laid him at
his master's feet, and he fell unconscious, and like a dead man."
[Footnote 3: This exploit of the young Comte de Montausier, the
apprehension of Montgommery, was a fitting prelude to the assassination
of Lignerolles. It is well-known that Monsieur de Lignerolles having
informed Charles IX. that the Duc d'Anjou, his master, had confided to
him his secret scheme for getting rid of the leading Huguenots, the king
induced his brother (D'Anjou) to have Lignerolles put out of the way as
a precaution against any possible indiscretion on his part. The Comte de
Montausier took charge of the execution, with four or five other
gentlemen-executioners, all of whom eventually came to a wretched end.
"Wherefore," says Brantôme, "we ought to take great care that we slay
no man unjustly; for one scarcely ever hears of such a murder which has
not been avenged with the sanction of God, who has put a sword at our
side for use, and not to be abused."]