Just behind the old stone cross on the green of the little village of
St. Privé, about half a mile south of Pressavoix, a large pavilion was
erected, not far from the bank of the river. Between the two poles
which supported it was spread a great table covered with writing
materials, with two or three candlesticks placed in no very seemly
order. Two men, who appeared to be clerks, were seated at the table
mending pens, and venting dry jokes at one another; and round about
the pavilion, at the distance of about fifty yards on either side,
patrolled a number of archers of the King's Guard, to keep prying eyes
and curious ears afar. For about a quarter of an hour, the tent
remained vacant of all but the clerks; but at the end of that time a
group of several gentlemen entered it, and took their place on the
northern side of the table, not sitting down, but standing together
conversing earnestly, though in low tones. Shortly after, Jean Charost
and Monsieur De Blondel appeared, and, joining the others, took part
in their conversation. Then came Richmond, La Marche, and Clermont,
with several other gentlemen of their faction; but these remained to
the south of the table, although an occasional word or two passed
between them and those on the other side.
"Does his majesty come in person?" said Richmond at length, in his
deep-toned voice.
"On my life, I know not," replied Blondel; "but, of course, I should
suppose not, my lord constable."
"Then what do we wait for?" asked Richmond, again.
"Monsieur De la Trimouille is, I believe, commissioned by the king to
treat--" said Jean Charost; "at least, I heard so, my lord, while I
was at the castle of Felard."
"By the Lord, he must come soon, then," said Richmond, with a
discontented air, "or no treating will there be at all; for I am not
going to lackey a Trimouille, and wait upon his lordship's pleasure."
A few minutes more passed in gloomy silence, and then the sound of
horses coming fast was heard upon the road, through the canvas walls
of the tent.
The next instant, La Trimouille himself, a tall, powerful, handsome
man, entered the pavilion, leaning on the arm of Juvenel de Royans,
his countryman and connection, and followed by Dunois and several
others.
"I beg your pardon, gentlemen, for keeping you waiting," he said, with
the blandest possible smile; "but I had to hear his majesty's
pleasure, in order that there might be no doubt or difficulty upon our
part. Let us be seated, and discuss this matter."
Each one took his seat at the table without much order, the party of
the king on one side--for kings were at heads of parties in those,
days--and the party of the three counts on the other. A pause ensued,
which seemed to fret the spirit of Richmond; for at length he spoke,
after giving a snort like a wild horse, exclaiming, "Some one
speak--in Heaven's name! What are we here for? Not to sit silent, I
suppose. Speak, Trimouille!"
"Right willingly, my lord constable," replied Trimouille. "You are
aware you are in arms against the king your sovereign."
"False to begin with," cried Richmond. "I am in arms against favorites
and court flatterers--in arms to restore to the king the right use of
his own authority, for the good of the nation and the safety of the
land."
"In arms against me, you would say," replied Trimouille, with a dark
spot on his brow which belied the smile upon his lips. "But let us
hear what you complain of. I know of nothing done by me which can
justify such acts as yours. However, if you have cause, state it
before these gentlemen here present, who are commissioned by his
majesty, as well as myself, to inquire into this matter, and will
report to him every word you say without gloss or comment, such as you
accuse me of making. What are your griefs, my lords?"
"Heavy enough," said Richmond, sternly. "Your ingratitude, Trimouille,
I could pass over; but--"
"My ingratitude!" exclaimed the king's minister. "I know not that you
have given me cause to be grateful or ungrateful."
"Did I not place you where you are?" demanded Richmond. "Did I not
remove better men than yourself to place you there? Did I not force
Louvet from the council to make room for you, and punish the audacity
of Beaulieu--"
"And drown Giac," said the Count of Clermont, with a sarcastic smile;
and all around the table laughed, except Trimouille himself, who had
married the dangerous widow of the deceased nobleman. He waved his
hand, however, saying, "This is all trifling. I hold the place I
occupy by the king's favor and approval, and by the act of no other
man. But you are in arms, you say, for the public service. What has
been done to give you a color for this pretense?"
"I will tell you speedily," replied Richmond, bitterly. "You have
frustrated all my plans for the service of the state. During this last
campaign in Brittany, you kept me idle before Pontorson, for want of
men and money, or it would have fallen a week before it did. The same
was the case before St. James, and now, for the last four months, not
a livre have I been able to wring from your hands, either for my own
pay or to keep my men on foot."
"You have been able to keep them on foot to war against your monarch,"
said Trimouille, bitterly; "but I will meet the charge with frankness
and truth. I have not sent you money when you demanded it, for the
same reason that I did not send any to my lord the Count of La Marche
here, to whom I eagerly wished to send it--simply because I had it not
to send."
"A mere pretense," exclaimed Richmond, striking the table with his
fist, and rising as he spoke. "We have found in the papers of Jacques
C[oe]ur, which we seized in Bourges, proof positive that a large sum
was sent to Chinon at the very time you refused my demand."
"Which was all forestalled before it came," said La Trimouille. But
his voice was drowned by the angry tones of the constable, who
exclaimed, "If we are again to be put off with such pitiful excuses as
that, negotiations can produce no good;" and he turned to leave the
tent.
The counts of La Marche and Clermont rose also; but Jean Charost
exclaimed, "Stay, I beseech you, my lords. Consider what you are
doing--casting away the safety of France, giving her up a prey to the
enemy, not only sacrificing your loyalty to your king, but your duty
to your country. If there be one particle of patriotism, or of
generosity, or of honor in you, stay and listen to what Monsieur La
Trimouille has to propose."
The word "propose" was happily chosen, holding out vague ideas of
advantages to be obtained which affected both Clermont and La Marche.
"What shall we do, Richmond?" said the latter, in a hesitating tone.
"Stay, if you will," said the constable, gruffly. "You can act for me,
if you choose to remain. I shall go; for I only lose my temper."
Thus saying, he quitted the tent. La Marche and Clermont hesitated for
a moment, and then returned to their seats; the latter observing, with
a quiet sneer, that the constable lately gave them more fire than
light.
"Well, gentlemen," said Trimouille, in his most placable tones, "now
this hot spirit is gone, we are likely, meseems, to come to some
result. Pray let me hear your demands."
The Count La Marche turned a somewhat puzzled look toward the Count of
Clermont, and the latter laughed gayly.
"Speak, I beseech you," said La Trimouille. "What are your demands?"
"Why, the first of them we decided upon," replied the Count of
Clermont, "was one so unpleasant to utter, that it sticks in the
throat of La Marche here--simply your removal from the council of the
king, Monsieur La Trimouille."
"I will not stand in the way," replied the minister, with the utmost
frankness of manner. "No personal interest of mine shall prevent an
accommodation. But upon this point the king alone can, of course,
decide. It shall be referred to him, exactly as you state it. Let us
pass on to other things. What more do you demand?"
"Nay, we would rather hear what you have to propose," said the Count
of Clermont, who began to doubt how the negotiations would turn.
"I will willingly take the lead," said Trimouille; "for his majesty's
intentions are kind and generous. First, however, it is necessary to
state how matters stand, in order to show that it is by no compulsion
the king acts, but merely from his gracious disposition. Here are
three noblemen, two of them closely allied to the blood royal, take
arms against their sovereign at a time when disunion is likely to be
fatal to the state. The two I have mentioned, his majesty believes to
have been misled by the third, an imperious, violent man,
overestimating both his services and his abilities--"
"Nay, nay," cried the Count La Marche.
"Hear me out," said La Trimouille; "a man who pretends to dictate to
the king who shall be his ministers, and publicly boasts of placing
and displacing them at his pleasure. These three noblemen actually
seize upon a royal city, and besiege the royal garrison in the
citadel. The king, judging it necessary to check such proceedings at
once, marches against them as rebels--and in great force. To speak
plainly, my lords, you have five thousand men in and about Bourges; he
has ten thousand men between you and Paris, five thousand more arrived
an hour ago at La Vallée, and a large force under La Hire is marching
up from Chateauroux."
He paused, and the countenances of the constable's party fell
immensely. However, the Count of Clermont replied, with his usual
sarcastic smile, "A perilous situation as you represent it, my good
lord; but methinks I have heard an old fable which shows that men and
lions may paint pictures differently."
"You will find my picture the true one, Clermont," said La Trimouille,
coolly. "I have I taken care not to exaggerate it in the least, and
both the generosity with which the king treats you, and the firmness
with which his majesty will adhere to his determinations, will prove
to you that he is convinced of these facts likewise. He is desirous,
however, that Frenchmen should never be seen shedding Frenchmen's
blood, and therefore he proposes, in mitigation of all griefs, real or
supposed, and also as a mark of his love and regard for his good
cousin, the Count of La Marche, to bestow upon him the fief of
Besançon. To you, Monsieur De Clermont, he offers to give the small
town of Montbrison, or some other at your choice, of equal value. To
the other noblemen and gentlemen I see around you, and whose names
were furnished to me this morning, each a benefice, the list of which
I have here; and all this upon the sole condition that they return to
their loyalty, and serve the crown against the common enemy, with
zeal, fidelity, and obedience."
"And the Count of Richmond," said La Marche. I
"What for the constable?" asked the Count of Clermont.
A heavy frown came upon La Trimouille's brow. He had remarked keenly
the effect produced upon the constable's companions by the offers
made, and saw that the faction was in reality broken up; and he
replied, in a slow, stern tone, "Permission for him to retire
unmolested to Parthenay, and live in peace and privacy."
A dead silence pervaded all the tent, which was first broken by Jean
Charost, who saw both peril and injustice in the partiality just
shown, and attributed it rightly to La Trimouille's personal enmity
toward his former friend.
"Nay, my good lord," he exclaimed. "Surely his majesty will be moved
to some less strict dealing with the lord constable."
"What, you sir!" cried La Trimouille, in a sharp and angry tone.
"Yes, my good lord," replied De Brecy. "I had his majesty's own
commands to be present here, and, as he said, to moderate between
contending claims, and I shall feel it my duty to urge him strongly to
reconsider the question in regard to the Count of Richmond, whom I do
not mean to defend for the part he has taken with these two noble
counts; but who has formerly served the crown well, and is only a
sharer in the same faults as themselves."
"You had better be silent, Monsieur De Brecy," said La Trimouille,
with a lowering brow.
"My lord, I was not sent here to be silent," said De Brecy, "and, in
speaking, I only obey the king's commands."
"Then go to the king, and hear what he says now," said La Trimouille,
putting on a more placable air. "I have seen him since yourself, and
received his last directions. Go to him, I say; I am quite willing."
De Brecy fell into the trap. "I will," he said, rising. "If you will
proceed with all other points, I will be back before you can
conclude."
La Trimouille saw him depart with a smile; but no sooner heard his
horse's feet, than, sure of his advantage, he hurried on all the
proceedings of the conference, threw in an inducement here, promised a
greater advantage there, employed all the means he had kept in reserve
of working upon the selfishness of the constable's late confederates,
and in less than twenty minutes had triumphed completely over faith,
and friendship, and generosity to Richmond. He made the descent easy,
however, by leaving all questions concerning the constable to be
settled afterward, and succeeded in obtaining a written promise from
La Marche and Clermont to return to their duty, and submit to the
king's will, without any condition whatever in favor of Richmond.
His leave-taking was hasty as soon as this was accomplished; and,
mounting his horse with all speed, he galloped back to Felard as fast
as he could go. There, approaching the building by the back, he
hurried up to the king's apartments, and inquired, eagerly, if
Monsieur De Brecy had obtained admission.
"No, my lord," replied the attendant. "His majesty was fatigued, and
lay down to rest for an hour. We, therefore, refused Monsieur De Brecy
admission."
"You must not refuse me," said La Trimouille.
The man hesitated; but the minister passed him boldly, and knocked at
a door on the opposite side of the ante-room. A moment after, he
disappeared within, and then the murmur of conversation was heard,
apparently eager, but not loud. At the end of some five minutes, La
Trimouille looked out, saying to the attendants, "If Monsieur De Brecy
returns to seek an audience, tell him his majesty will see him at the
general reception this evening, for which he is invited;" and then
drawing back, he closed the door.