The convalescence of Laura de Villardin proceeded rapidly, and she was
soon able to take the air in the huge lumbering coach of those times,
which was a very different sort of machine from the gay and gilded
equipages of the present day. I was always selected to carry her from
her couch to the carriage; and no one suspecting that our feelings
would ever become dangerous to our own peace, our childish partiality
only excited a smile on the part of Monsieur de Villardin, and was the
source of no small pleasure to ourselves. As she acquired strength, it
was decided by her physician that exercise on horseback would complete
her recovery; and I sought and obtained the task both of breaking a
horse for her service and teaching her to ride. She was then as sweet
a girl as ever I beheld, and each day was adding new graces to her
person and to her mind. Her heart was as gentle and as kind as that of
Madame de Villardin, and she had a degree of the same graceful
playfulness, which I had observed in her mother when first I saw her,
mingled with the deeper and more intense feelings, which--misguided
and abused--had been the cause of misery in her father's bosom.
The hours fled in great happiness for nearly three months, but at
length the time for renewing the military operations against the
Spaniards approached, and messengers from the Court warned Monsieur
Villardin that his presence was required at head-quarters.
It was necessary, of course, to obey the summons, and all our
preparations were speedily concluded. Laura and the whole household
were removed to the Prés Vallée before our departure, in order that
masters might be obtained from Rennes to instruct Mademoiselle de
Villardin in all those accomplishments which were required in society,
from a person of her rank; and as my little page, Clement de la Marke,
was too young to accompany me to the tented field, I left him under
the care of Father Ferdinand, in order that he might derive every
advantage from the same facility of procuring instruction.
Before we quitted Dumont, however, Monsieur de Villardin, who never
left any service I did him unrequited, proposed to give me in exchange
for the very uncertain pension which the government had bestowed upon
me, a farm which lay contiguous to Juvigny, and which certainly
rendered my baronial lands of a very respectable extent. I pointed out
to the Duke that the present rents of the farm were far more than the
amount of the pension, and that it was likely to yield still more; but
he insisted upon the arrangement; and T clearly saw that he wished to
recompense the assistance I had afforded him at the Hôtel de Ville,
without rendering his gift burdensome, by bestowing it in the shape of
a reward.
As I knew well that fully one half of his income remained unemployed,
and had long learned to look upon him as a father, his benefits had
nothing galling in them to any of the weaknesses of my nature; and I
willingly accepted his offer. The necessary papers were drawn up and
signed, ere we set out for the army; and I need hardly say that the
benefit conferred did not excite the less gratitude in my bosom,
because the donation was delicately veiled under the semblance of an
exchange.
It will be unnecessary to follow the armies of France through the
campaign that ensued, or to trace my own individual career in the
service, which was simply that of a young officer, possessed of
considerable interest, who rose more by fortunate circumstances, and
the exertions of a few indefatigable friends, than by any particular
credit of his own. It is true that I was active and vigilant, and did
not want courage; but at the same time, I cannot but acknowledge that
both Monsieur de Villardin and Monsieur de Turenne made more of those
qualities in my person than they deserved. After having followed the
royal army through all its marches and countermarches, after having
done what I could to distinguish myself at the siege of Rhetel and of
Mouson, and after having taken part in the deliverance of Rocroy, I
returned to Brittany with Monsieur de Villardin, at the end of the
campaign, considerably richer in honour than I had set out.
Everything at the Prés Vallée was as we left it, or so nearly so, that
it seemed as if that part of the world had stood still, while we had
been hurried through so many different scenes and events. Father
Ferdinand appeared hardly changed in the least; and though Laura had
grown taller, she was still a girl. My little page, indeed, had
greatly improved; and in the couple of months that we spent at the
château, wound himself not only round my heart, but also round that of
Monsieur de Villardin himself; and when at our departure he petitioned
earnestly to be taken with us, I thought that the Duke himself seemed
inclined to second his request.
Judging it better for himself, however, I left him for another year,
and proceeded with Monsieur de Villardin to attend the coronation of
the young king, a summons to which ceremony had curtailed our stay in
Brittany.
During the festivities that succeeded, Monsieur de Villardin became
first acquainted with the Count de Laval, of whom I shall have more to
speak hereafter. He was, as every one knows, wealthy and powerful; and
though he was cold, and somewhat haughty, yet he was, I believe, a man
of generous feelings, and a noble disposition, of which I had
ultimately an extraordinary proof. He paid considerable attention to
Monsieur Villardin; and it struck me from the first that he had some
motive with which I was not aware, in the advances that he made
towards the Duke.
To myself, he always showed himself polite, though distant; and I was
glad to find, as his acquaintance with Monsieur de Villardin advanced,
that he was not inclined to assume a degree of superiority in his
manners towards me, which I might not have been disposed to tolerate.
He was, as I have said, somewhat haughty in his manners to every one,
but certainly not more so towards myself than towards others.
Soon after the coronation, we again quitted the court, and joined the
army, which began its operations by the siege of Stenay. The Prince de
Condé and the Spanish troops having attempted to draw us away, by the
attack of Arras, Monsieur de Turenne marched to its relief, leaving
Monsieur de Faber to carry on the works against Stenay. I remained
with the army of the latter till the capitulation of the place, after
which we rejoined Turenne. No sooner was the junction of the two
armies effected, than it was determined to attack the lines before
Arras, which was accordingly done; and, notwithstanding the cabals of
several of our own officers, and the gallantry and skill of Condé, the
Spanish entrenchments were forced at several points, and the enemy
obliged to retire precipitately to Cambray. The campaign then
proceeded with uninterrupted success, several frontier towns were
taken, and at length, after a year of glory, Turenne dispersed his
troops in winter-quarters, and Monsieur de Villardin returned to
Brittany.
For my own part, I was rewarded for any little services that I might
have performed, by receiving the government of the small town of
Binches, and took possession of my new command with no small pride and
pleasure. The duties, however, thus imposed upon me, of course
prevented my usual journey into Brittany; and although, in the midst
of the winter, I obtained leave to visit Paris, and spent several
pleasant days with my friend and benefactor, Lord Masterton, yet, when
I came to resume my command, it began to seem tiresome and irksome,
and I soon found that I would a great deal rather have been in
Brittany than at Binches. I longed to see Laura and Father Ferdinand,
and my little page, and all the old familiar faces of the château; to
spend the days of winter and spring in the sports of the field and the
busy idleness of country occupations, and the evenings in reading or
in conversation with those whose thoughts and feelings flowed
habitually in the same current with my own. Instead of all this, I had
nothing but the petty state and dull routine which follows the
governor of a small town; and all I could do to amuse myself was
comprised in keeping a continual watch upon the enemy's frontier, and
making such little expeditions as the nature of my command permitted.
In these enterprises I occasionally met with some adventures that
afforded me entertainment; but the only event worth relating, perhaps,
was the capture of two persons whom I have had occasion to mention
more than once. A truce of a few weeks had been concluded in the early
part of spring, and I did all that I could to secure to the
inhabitants of the frontier lands even a short space of tranquillity;
but I soon found that the inactivity of both armies was seized by the
hordes of marauders, which a long war had called into being, as an
opportunity for pillage and exaction. I was instructed, if possible,
to punish some of these bands of plunderers; and having heard of some
movements on the part of the enemy, although the truce was not yet at
an end, I sent out a party to reconnoitre, who fell in with a body of
Spaniards and Germans, and in a charge took about half-a-dozen
officers and soldiers, amongst whom were the two leaders of the
adverse troop. The prisoners were immediately brought into Binches,
followed by a crowd of the peasantry of the neighbouring villages, who
charged them loudly with being mere plunderers and assassins, and
accused them of a number of acts, certainly not very honourable to the
military character.
All this was reported to me by the officer who took them, and who, at
the same time, laid before me a number of articles of a very
miscellaneous description, which had been found upon their persons, or
amongst their baggage, and which tended strongly to confirm the
charges made by the peasantry. Learning upon inquiry that the two
leaders were Frenchmen, and knowing, as I have mentioned, that, under
the pretext of the war, a most disgraceful system of rapine and
robbery was carried on upon the frontier, which system I had been
commanded to put down by the most severe measures, I determined
sternly to hang one of these gentlemen before the gate of the
town,--an act which I was authorised to perform by my own instructions,
and which had more than once been executed by the Spanish officers
under similar circumstances.
Resolving to make them draw lots for the fate to which I destined one
of them, I ordered them to be brought before me; but my purpose was
suddenly changed when I beheld in the two culprits my old
acquaintances, Gaspard de Belleville, and his good brother-in-law,
Captain Hubert, who seemed to have thoroughly initiated his sister's
husband into the mystery of appropriating the property of other
people. What were the peculiar bonds that united them so strongly
together I never inquired; although, as I knew that their connexion by
means of Suzette was not likely to be a very inseparable link, I
judged that a similarity of tastes and pursuits, as well as interests
and necessities, made them cooperate with the friendly zeal which
seemed to actuate them.
Of course, from what I knew of the characters of both, I was the more
inclined to give implicit credence to the charges brought against the
prisoners; but, at the same time, I saw that if I proceeded as I had
at first intended, the many causes of enmity that existed between
myself and Gaspard de Belleville might give the act of justice, which
I had proposed to perform, the aspect of a base and cowardly piece of
revenge. I had by this time learned that it is not sufficient for any
man only to do right, but that where the two are compatible, he must
seem to do right also, injustice to his own character, and in
deference to the opinion of that great earthly judge, mankind; and I
consequently resolved to wave my right of punishing the plunderers
myself, lest the example should lose half its effect by being
attributed to wrong motives. I caused, however, the whole evidence to
be recapitulated in their presence; and, turning to Gaspard de
Belleville, I said, "You hear, sir, the charge against you, and before
seeing you, I had determined that you should expiate the crimes you
have committed by the sacrifice of your life. As, however, there are
various circumstances which have occurred at different times between
you and me which might give such an act the colouring of revenge, I
shall send you and your companion there, back in chains to the Prince
de Condé, with a full statement of the case, and will then trust to
his Highness's sense of justice to punish you as you deserve."
Gaspard de Belleville turned deadly pale at the first part of my
speech, and he attempted to curl his lip into a sneer as I concluded;
but the effort was not successful, and only ended in a grimace,
wherein the expression of apprehension was still greatly predominant
over that of contempt. As to his worthy brother-in-law, his bold
bearing remained unquelled; and, remembering me perfectly, though many
years had now passed since our first meeting in the forest, he boldly
claimed acquaintance with me--evidently more from a spirit of daring
than from any other feeling--and replied, "that he was sure I would
never have the heart to hang an old friend in his situation."
He spoke with a sort of impudent smile: but, holding the command that
I did in the town, I did not choose to bandy jests with him in
presence of all toy officers; and ordering him and his companion to be
removed, I caused the testimony of the peasants to be put down and
properly attested; and sent the culprits in irons, accompanied by a
flag of truce, to the Prince de Condé, who was at that time in the
neighbourhood of Mons. At the same time, I informed his Highness by
letter, not only of the facts which accompanied the capture of the
prisoners, but of the motives which induced me to act as I did,
stating simply and sincerely, without fear or reservation, the
determination I had originally formed, and my reasons for not putting
it in execution.
I felt sure that such conduct would be appreciated by the Prince, nor
was I deceived; for though, in a letter which I received from his
Highness in reply, he said, in a gay tone, that he had too few friends
to hang any of them himself, yet he assured me that he would
immediately dismiss from his service two men that had so disgraced the
cause to which they had attached themselves. This the officer, who had
carried them to his quarters, informed me he had executed in presence
of all his staff, and had at the same time expressed the highest
approbation of my conduct throughout the affair.
Though, in my progress through life, I had lost a great deal of that
taste for bitter enmities with which I had set out in my boyhood, yet,
I confess, I did not feel the least apprehension from a knowledge that
two men, who viewed me with mortal hatred, had been turned loose upon
the world, although the officer added, that, before quitting the
presence of the Prince de Condé, they had expressed the most resolute
determination to find means of avenging themselves upon me.
This little incident, which possessed some degree of interest while it
lasted, was soon forgotten, and all the weariness of my command began
to return; but, without knowing it, my governorship of Binches was
drawing towards a close. About a fortnight after the capture of
Gaspard and his companions, I received a letter from Monsieur le
Tellier, which, from its very cordial and friendly commencement,--very
different in style and form from the generality of official
communications,--I clearly saw was destined, ere its close, to demand
some service, or to require some sacrifice. I was not disappointed;
for after a number of high commendations, and promises of future
advancement, the worthy minister went on to inform me that there was a
young protégé of the Cardinal greatly in want of some appointment, and
that, if I were inclined to resign my government in his favour, it
would be immediately beneficial to him, and ultimately beneficial to
myself. To render what the minister believed would be a bitter draught
more palatable, he added an immense quantity of the universal
sweetener, flattery, telling me that the Cardinal had the less
hesitation in making this request, as it would be impossible for the
King to suffer so distinguished an officer as myself to remain in the
inactivity of a small government after the armies were called into the
field for the next campaign; and, as a more substantial inducement, he
offered to grant me immediately a higher grade in the army, upon my
resignation of the governorship of Binches.
I took very good care, as it may be easily conceived, not to let the
minister know, by my reply, how tired I was of the post I occupied,
and how desirous I was of returning to Brittany for the two months
that were yet likely to elapse before the opening of the campaign. On
the contrary, I quietly pointed out how inadequate the new rank
offered me was, when viewed as an equivalent to the governorship: but,
at the same time, I expressed my perfect willingness to do anything
which could oblige or give pleasure to the Cardinal Prime Minister;
and I ended by assuring Monsieur le Tellier that, as soon as I
received the commission giving the rank he promised, I would send him
my resignation of the government in favour of the gentleman he pointed
out.
This reply speedily produced a rejoinder, enclosing my commission,
thanking me repeatedly for my prompt acquiescence, and promising great
things for the future. Extremely well pleased with the whole affair,
though very well convinced that the Cardinal would soon find means of
forgetting all his promises, I drew up my resignation in due form, and
presented it with my own hands to Monsieur le Tellier. My successor
was instantly sent to Binches; and, without lingering in Paris a
moment more than was necessary, I set out for Brittany alone, leaving
my servants and baggage to follow,--preferring still, above all
things, the sort of rapid and independent mode of proceeding, to which
I had been accustomed before state, or rank, or fortune entitled,
enabled, or required me to burden myself with followers or attendants.
My journey, as I rode my own horse, was less rapid than many of those
which I had previously made to and from the same spot; but it was a
far more pleasant one. Looking upon the house of Monsieur de Villardin
as my home, and upon his household as my family, I experienced fully
as much pleasure in the prospect of rejoining him as if his blood had
flowed in my veins. I felt greatly relieved, too, by the resignation
of an irksome office; and, with a sensation of liberty and
independence which I had never known while chained, as it were, to the
walls of Binches, I rode on through a rich and varying country, which,
throughout the whole of my journey, was lighted up by the sweet fresh
sunshine of the spring, and which at every step afforded new and
beautiful traces of the cessation of anarchy and civil war, and the
return of industry and security.
It was evening when I reached Rennes, but there still wanted an hour
or two of night; and as my horse was extremely tired, I left him at
the auberge, and walked on by the bank of the stream towards the Prés
Vallée. The calm sweet meadows, the magnificent woods that surrounded
them, the still silvery river that wandered through the midst, all
seemed more tranquilly solemn than usual. A feeling of soft repose
pervaded the whole scene, while the beams of the setting sun, pouring
between the bolls of the giant trees, and streaming amidst the green
transparent leaves of the young spring, cheered away every trace of
gloom, and left it all still and peaceful, though anything but gay.
Although I was going to those I loved, and delighted in the thought of
seeing them again, yet the many feelings of my heart, the memories of
the past, the hopes of the future, the enjoyment of the present, all,
perhaps, tended to make me linger as I wandered on through a scene
that seemed to blend and harmonise with every mingled emotion of my
bosom.
I had passed the second and third sweep of trees, had crossed the
fourth savanna, and had entered the fourth grove, when I heard some
one speaking, and, looking forward, I saw two female figures, under
one of the trees which bordered the meadow I was just about to cross.
They were evidently enjoying the evening sunshine, the one standing
with her arm leaning against the old elm that overhung their heads,
the other seated on a bench which had been placed at its foot. I had
no difficulty in recognising in the first my old acquaintance, Lise,
the suivante of Mademoiselle de Villardin, but I could scarcely
believe that the other was her young mistress. It seemed but a day
since I had left her a mere child; at least, so gradual had been the
change up to the time of my last departure, that to me she had seemed
but little older than when first I knew her. Now, however, there was a
change indeed. Even before I saw her face, the full rounded contour of
her whole form, the very fall of her figure, still replete with
grace and beauty--but, oh, so different from the grace of
childhood--prepared me for an alteration, or rather made me doubt that
it could be herself; but when my step caught her ear, and she turned
towards me, I paused in surprise. It was certainly the face of Laura de
Villardin--every feature was there, but yet so splendidly changed. The
full ruby lip, the dark bright eye, the long black lashes, the sunny
cheek, were all before me, as I had known them for years: but there
was a new soul in them all--a light, a feeling, that left them as
different as it is possible to conceive; and yet the general
expression, too, was the same--innocent, natural, playful. The
features, however, had also become more formed: they had lost every
remains of what one may call the shapelessness of childhood, and had
acquired all the chiselled symmetry of young maturity.
As I have said, I could scarcely believe my eyes, and I paused; but I
soon found that, however changed in form, she was in no degree changed
in mind, or heart, or feelings. I was scarcely altered: she saw in me
alone the dear companion of her childhood,--the boy who had saved her
own and her father's life; and as soon as her eyes rested on me, she
started up, and cast herself into my arms, exactly as she had done
when she was seven years old. The same affection that she had felt
through life beamed up in her eyes--the same joy to see me again,
which she had always manifested, sparkled over her countenance--and
the same endearing terms of unreserved regard, and delighted welcome,
hung upon her lips. It is impossible to describe all that I felt, and
indeed I did not stay to analyse it at the time. I pressed her to my
heart as a sister, and, kissing her cheek, led her back to her seat.
But as she sat down again, and I took my place beside her, a growing
blush seemed to tell that for the first time she remembered that
she was no longer a child.
It passed away again in a moment; and I was glad to find that, however
she settled the matter with her own heart, she was determined to let
the change be no change to me. My good friend Lise, too, was delighted
to see me; and though eight or nine years had certainly made a
considerable difference in her since first I saw her, she had lost
none of her native kindness of heart, or cheerfulness of disposition.
She loaded me with a thousand questions, admired my dress, declared
that I was turning more handsome every year, and called upon Laura for
an opinion in regard to my beauty, which roused Mademoiselle de
Villardin from a deep reverie into which she had fallen, and which
ended in another blush.
It was now her turn to ask questions; and many did she put, though in
a very different strain from those of Lise. They were all questions of
affection and interest in my fate and happiness, without a touch of
curiosity; and when she heard that I had resigned the petty government
that I had held, and was at liberty to remain with Monsieur de
Villardin as before, I shall not easily forget the joy that beamed out
of her beautiful eyes.
It would make her father so very, very happy, she said, for he had
often regretted my absence, and had never seemed so cheerful since I
had been away. Often, too, she told me, he had blamed himself for
advising me to accept the post I bad taken, and which he declared was
unworthy of my merits; and she added many another little trait from
which she herself had divined, and which led me to believe also, that
Monsieur de Villardin had long been anxious for my return. Neither
Laura nor myself, however, did anything to hasten our walk to the
château, from which we were nearly a mile distant. The scene was so
sweet and calm, and the evening so warm and fine, that it might well
invite us to tarry: but there was a sensation of delight in our first
conversation after so long a separation, which we were unwilling to
cut short, and a feeling of happiness, too, in the almost unwitnessed
enjoyment of each other's society, which, as it might be long ere the
same pleasure was renewed, we were both glad to prolong.
At length, however, the purple hues that began to spread over the sky
warned us that we must bend our steps homeward; and Lise, though she
had no small touch of romance in her nature, declared that Monsieur
would be anxious if Mademoiselle did not return. Laura rose, and,
leaning on my arm, took the way along the river, whose glossy bosom
was reflecting, bright but softened, the trees, and the banks, and the
changing sky above. Our eyes now met, and now rested on the waters;
our conversation flew from subject to subject, like a butterfly in a
flower-garden,--now poured on uninterrupted, now dropped altogether,
and gave place to thought. She told me again and again how glad my
return would make every one in the château, leaving me to include
herself in the number; and I thought how beautiful she had grown, and
remembered how dear and amiable she always had been. At length, the
grey turrets and slated roofs of the château rose over the nearest
trees; and one of the sweetest and the happiest walks ended that ever
I enjoyed through life.