As soon as the viscountess had disappeared, and her voice had died away
in the distance, the gate having been closed behind her, the circle of
officers drew closer around Canolles, and two men of sinister mien,
suddenly appearing as if they had sprung from the ground, approached
the duke and humbly awaited his commands.
The duke simply pointed to the prisoner. He himself drew near to him,
and said, with his customary glacial courtesy:--
"Monsieur, you doubtless understand that the departure of your
companion in misfortune renders you liable to the penalty which was to
be inflicted upon him."
"Yes, monsieur," replied Canolles, "I suspected as much; but there is
one thing of which I am perfectly certain, that Madame la Princesse
granted a pardon to me by name. I saw, and you yourself might have seen
just now, the order for my release in the hands of Madame la Vicomtesse
de Cambes."
"It is true, monsieur," said the duke, "but Madame la Princesse could
not have anticipated the present state of affairs."
"I am to understand, then, that Madame la Princesse recalls her
signature?"
"Yes," replied the duke.
"A princess of the blood is false to her word?"
The duke maintained his impassive demeanor.
Canolles looked about him.
"Has the time arrived?" he asked.
"Yes, monsieur."
"I thought that you would await the return of Madame la Vicomtesse de
Cambes; you promised her that nothing should be done in her absence. It
seems that nobody has any regard for his word to-day."
And the prisoner gazed reproachfully, not at the Duc de La
Rochefoucauld, but at Lenet.
"Alas! monsieur," cried the latter, with tears in his eyes, "forgive
us. Madame la Princesse positively refused to show mercy to you. I
begged very earnestly none the less; Monsieur le Duc will bear witness
to that, and God as well. But she deems it imperative that Richon's
death should be paid for in kind, and she was as immovable as stone.
Now do you yourself pass judgment on my conduct, Monsieur le Baron;
instead of allowing the burden of your horrible situation to fall
partly upon the viscountess, I ventured,--pray forgive me, for I feel
that I stand in great need of your forgiveness,--I ventured to cause it
to fall upon you alone, for you are a soldier and of gentle birth."
"In that case," faltered Canolles, whose voice was choked with emotion,
"in that case I shall not see her again! When you bade me embrace her,
it was for the last time!"
A sob stronger than stoicism or pride shook Lenet's frame. He stepped
back and wept bitterly. Canolles thereupon fixed his piercing gaze upon
the men who stood about him, but could see on every side none but faces
rendered stern and pitiless by Richon's cruel death, and among them a
very few timid creatures, who were stiffening their muscles to conceal
their emotion and help them to swallow their tears and sighs.
"Oh! it is terrible to think upon," murmured the youth, in a moment of
superhuman clearness of vision which opens before the soul a boundless
field of view over what men call life,--that is to say, a few brief
instants of happiness scattered here and there like islands in the
midst of an ocean of tears and suffering,--"terrible to think upon! I
had in my arms the woman I adore, who had just told me for the first
time that she loved me; I had before me a long and blissful life, the
realization of my fondest dream; and lo! in a moment, in a second,
death takes the place of it all!"
He felt a tightness at his heart, and a pricking sensation in his eyes
as if he were going to weep; but he remembered in time that he was, as
Lenet said, a soldier and a gentleman.
"O pride," he said to himself, "the only form of courage that has any
real existence, come to my aid! Should I bewail the loss of so vain and
futile a thing as life? How they would laugh if they could say: 'On
learning that he was to die, Canolles wept!' How did I bear myself on
the day I was besieged at Saint-Georges, when the Bordelais showed the
same eagerness for my death as to-day? I fought, I jested, I laughed.
Very good! by the heaven above, which hears my words and is mayhap
dealing wrongfully with me; by the devil who is struggling at this
moment with my good angel, I will bear myself to-day as I bore myself
on that day, and if I no longer fight, I will at least continue to
jest, and will laugh on to the end."
At once his face became calm, as if all emotion had vanished from his
heart; he passed his hand through his beautiful black hair, and walked
up to Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld and Lenet with a smile upon his lips.
"Messieurs," said he, "as you know, one requires time to become
accustomed to everything in this world, which is so filled with strange
and unexpected events; I have taken, and I did wrong not to ask your
leave to take, a moment to accustom myself to the thought of death; if
it was too long a time, I ask your pardon for compelling you to wait."
Profound astonishment was depicted on the faces of all the bystanders,
and the prisoner was aware that that feeling soon gave place to
admiration; his strength was increased tenfold by his consciousness of
that sentiment, so honorable to him.
"Whenever you are ready, messieurs," said he; "I am waiting for you
now."
The duke, dumbfounded for an instant, at once resumed his usual
phlegmatic demeanor, and gave the signal. Thereupon the gates were
opened and the procession made ready to set out.
"One moment," cried Lenet, to gain time; "one moment, Monsieur le Duc!
We are escorting Monsieur de Canolles to his death, are we not?"
The duke made a gesture of surprise, and Canolles looked wonderingly at
Lenet.
"Why, yes," said the duke.
"Very good!" rejoined Lenet, "in that case the gallant gentleman cannot
do without a confessor."
"Pardon me, pardon me, monsieur," interposed Canolles; "I can do
without one perfectly well."
"How so?" Lenet asked, making signs to the prisoner which he would not
understand.
"Because I am a Huguenot," replied Canolles, "and a zealous Huguenot,
too, I promise you. If you wish to confer one last favor upon me, I
pray you let me die as I am."
Even as he repelled the suggestion, the young man made a gesture of
gratitude, which proved that he perfectly understood Lenet's purpose.
"If there is no further cause for delay, let us be off," said the duke.
"Make him confess! make him confess!" cried a few of the more
vindictive bystanders.
Canolles drew himself up to his full height, looked about him on all
sides with a calm and confident glance, and said sternly to the duke:--
"Are we going to act like cowards, monsieur? Me-thinks that if any
person has the right to follow out his desires, I, who am the hero of
the fête, have that right, I refuse to see a confessor, but I demand
the scaffold, and that at the earliest possible moment; 'tis my turn to
be weary of waiting."
"Silence!" cried the duke, turning to the crowd. When silence was
restored in obedience to his potent voice and glance, he said to
Canolles:--
"Monsieur you may do as you choose."
"Thanks, monsieur. In that case, let us go, and quickly; may we not?"
Lenet took Canolles' arm.
"On the contrary, let us go slowly," said he. "Who knows? A reprieve,
an occurrence that we cannot fore-see, are among the possibilities. Go
slowly, I implore you in the name of her who loves you, and who will
weep so bitterly if we go too fast."
"Oh! do not speak to me of her, I entreat; all my courage vanishes at
the thought that I am to be parted forever from her. But what am I
saying? On the other hand, Monsieur Lenet, do speak of her, tell me
again and again that she loves me, and will always love me, and above
all, that she will weep for me!"
"Come, come, my dear, unfortunate child," said Lenet, "do not give way
to your feelings; remember that these men are looking at you, and that
they know not of whom we are speaking."
Canolles proudly raised his head, and his hair fell in wavy black curls
about his neck. By this time they were in the street; the light of many
torches shone upon his calm and smiling face.