As Nanon said, Cauvignac was waiting, sitting upon a stone a few steps
from his horse, at whom he was gazing sadly, while the horse himself
browsing upon the dry grass so far as the length of his rein permitted,
raised his head from time to time to gaze intelligently into his
master's face.
Before the adventurer was the dusty road, which, as it passed out of
sight a short distance away among the elms which covered a slight
elevation, seemed to start from the convent to lose itself in space.
One might have said, and it may have occurred to the adventurer,
although his mind was little given to philosophical turns of thought,
that over yonder was the world, and that its tumult died at that
cross-surmounted iron gate.
In fact, Cauvignac had arrived at that stage of introspection when we
might fairly expect him to have thought upon such subjects.
But he had already forgotten himself in this sentimental reverie
over long for a man of his character. He appealed therefore to his
consciousness of what his manly dignity required of him, and, ashamed
of having been so weak, said to himself:--
"What! should not I, who am so superior in mind to all these men of
courage, be at least their equal in courage, or rather in lack of
courage? Damnation! Richon is dead, beyond question; Canolles is dead,
that is equally true; but I am still alive, and after all, that, it
seems to me, is the principal thing.
"Very good; but for the very reason that I am alive, I think, and when
I think, I remember, and when I remember, I am sad. Poor Richon! such a
gallant officer! Poor Canolles! such a handsome fellow!--both hanged,
and that by my fault, ten thousand devils! by the fault of Roland
Cauvignac! Ouf! 't is a sorry affair; I am choking.
"And with all the rest, my sister, who has not always had reason to
applaud my acts, as she has no farther motive for humoring me, now that
Canolles is dead and she has been fool enough to break with Monsieur
d'Épernon,--my sister has probably a deadly grudge against me, and
as soon as she has a moment to herself will take advantage of it to
disinherit me during her lifetime.
"Sure it is that that is the real source of my misfortunes, and not
these infernal memories that haunt me. Canolles, Richon; Richon,
Canolles! In God's name, have I not seen men die by hundreds, and were
they anything more than men? But there are times all the same when,
upon my honor, I believe I regret that I was not hanged with him; I
should have died in good company at least, but who can say in what
company I shall die now?"
At that moment the monastery clock struck seven. The sound recalled
Cauvignac to himself, for he remembered that his sister bade him wait
until seven o'clock, and the bell announced that Nanon would soon
appear, and he would be called upon to resume his rôle of comforter.
The door opened immediately, in fact, and Nanon did appear. She walked
across the little court-yard where Cauvignac might have waited had he
chosen, strangers being privileged to enter there; for it had not yet
become hallowed ground, although it could hardly be called a profane
spot.
But the adventurer preferred not to go so far, saying that the
proximity of convents, especially of convents of women, gave him always
unpleasant thoughts, and so he remained, as we have said, outside the
gate upon the road.
As he heard steps upon the sand Cauvignac turned and saw Nanon, still
separated from him by the barred gate.
"Ah!" said he, with a tremendous sigh, "here you are at last, little
sister. When I see one of these ghastly gates close upon a poor woman,
I always think of the door of the tomb closing upon a dead man, and I
no more expect to see the one again without her novice's frock, than
the other without his winding-sheet."
Nanon smiled sadly.
"Good!" said Cauvignac, "you have ceased to weep; that's a point
gained."
"True," said Nanon, "I can weep no more."
"But you can still smile, and that's much better; by your leave we'll
go now, shall we not? I don't know why it is, but this place awakens
all sorts of thoughts in my mind."
"Salutary?"
"Salutary indeed! is that what you call them? However, we won't discuss
the matter, and I am delighted that you think them so. You have laid in
a goodly store of the same kind, I trust, dear sister, and will have no
occasion to come hither in search of more for a long while."
Nanon did not reply; she was thinking.
"Among these salutary thoughts," Cauvignac ventured to suggest, "I
trust that you have cultivated forgetfulness of injuries done you?"
"Forgiveness, at least, if not forgetfulness."
"I should prefer the other, but no matter; one must not be too exacting
when one is in the wrong. You forgive the wrong I have done you, little
sister?"
"It is all forgiven."
"Ah! you delight me beyond expression; henceforth, then, you will feel
no repugnance at the sight of me?"
"Not only no repugnance, but great pleasure."
"Pleasure?"
"Yes, my friend."
"Your friend! Ah! Nanon, that is a title that pleases me, for you are
under no compulsion to bestow it on me, while you are compelled to call
me your brother; so you can endure to have me near you?"
"Oh! I do not say that," replied Nanon; "certain things are impossible,
we must both recognize that."
"I understand," said Cauvignac, with a sigh of greater proportions than
the first. "Exiled! you exile me, isn't that what it amounts to? I am to
see you no more. Very well! although it's a very painful thing for me
to see you no more, upon my honor, Nanon, still I know that I deserve
it, and I have brought it upon myself. Moreover, what is there for me
to do in France, now that peace is made, Guyenne pacified, and the
queen and Madame de Condé are the best friends in the world? You see,
I am no such fool as to fancy that I am in the good graces of either
of the two princesses. So the best thing I can do is to go into exile,
as you say. Bid farewell to the wanderer, little sister. There is war
in Africa; Monsieur de Beaufort is going to fight the heathen, and I
will go with him. To tell the truth, it's not that the heathen do not
seem to me to be a thousand times nearer right than the faithful; but
that's for kings to decide, not for us. I may be killed over yonder,
and that's all I ask. I will go; you will hate me less, when you know I
am dead."
Nanon, who had listened to this flow of words with lowered head, raised
her great eyes to Cauvignac's face.
"Do you mean this?" she asked.
"What?"
"This that you say you are contemplating, brother."
Cauvignac had allowed himself to be drawn into this long harangue, like
a man accustomed to warm himself up with the sound of his own voice
in default of real feeling. Nanon's question called him back to the
actual, and he bethought himself how he could descend from that fine
frenzy to something more commonplace, but more business-like.
"Well, yes, little sister," said he, "I swear--by what? I know not.
Look you, I swear, _foi de Cauvignac,_ that I am really sad and unhappy
since Richon's death and--In fact, sitting there on that stone just
now, I used numberless arguments to harden my heart, which I had never
heard of until now, but which now is not content to beat, but talks and
cries and weeps. Tell me, Nanon, is that what you call remorse?"
The appeal was so natural and pitiful, despite its burlesque savagery,
that Nanon realized that it came from the bottom of the heart.
"Yes," said she, "it is remorse, and you are a better man than I
thought."
"Very well, if it is remorse here goes for the African campaign; you
will give me a trifle to cover the expense of the journey and my
equipment, won't you, little sister? Would I could carry away all your
grief with my own!"
"You will not go away, my friend," said Nanon, "but you will live
henceforth as prosperously as those most favored by destiny. For ten
years you have straggled with poverty; I say nothing of the risks you
have run, for they are incident to the life of a soldier. On this last
occasion your life was saved where another's life was lost; it must
have been God's will that you should live, and it is my desire, quite
in accord with his will, that your life from this day on shall be
happy."
"What a way you have of saying that, little sister! Pray what do you
mean by it?"
"I mean that you are to go to my house at Libourne before it is
pillaged; there you will find in the secret cupboard behind my Venetian
mirror--"
"In the secret cupboard?" queried Cauvignac.
"Yes, you know it well, do you not?" said Nanon, with a feeble smile;
"you took two hundred pistoles from it last month, didn't you?"
"Nanon, do me the justice to admit that I might have taken more had I
wished, for the cupboard was filled with gold; but I took no more than
the sum that I actually needed."
"That is true," said Nanon, "and I am only too glad to bear witness to
it, if it excuses you in your own eyes."
Cauvignac blushed and hung his head.
_"Mon Dieu!"_ said Nanon, "think no more about it; you know that I
forgive you."
"What proof have I?"
"This: you will go to Libourne, you will open the cupboard, and
you will find there all of my fortune that I was able to turn into
money,--twenty thousand crowns in gold."
"What shall I do with them?"
"Take them."
"But to whom are the twenty thousand crowns to belong?"
"To you, my brother; it is all that I have to give, for, as you know,
when I left Monsieur d'Épernon I asked nothing for myself, and my
houses and lands were seized."
"What do you say, sister?" cried Cauvignac, in dismay.
"What idea have you in your head now?"
"Simply, Roland, that you are to take the twenty thousand crowns."
"That's very well for me, but what about yourself?"
"I have no use for that money now."
"Ah! I understand,--you have other funds; so much the better. But it's
an enormous sum, sister; think of it! It's too much for me, at least at
one stroke."
"I have no other funds; I keep nothing but my jewels. I would be glad
to give you them as well, but I must use them to pay for the privilege
of entering this convent."
Cauvignac leaped into the air in his surprise.
"This convent!" he cried; "you, my dear sister, propose to enter a
convent?"
"Yes, dear brother."
"Oh! in Heaven's name, don't do that, little sister. A convent! you
have no idea what a fearful bore it will be. I can tell you something
of it, having been at the seminary. A convent! Nanon, don't do it; it
will kill you."
"I hope so," said Nanon.
"Sister, I will not have your money at that price, do you hear?
_Cordieu!_ it would burn me."
"Roland," rejoined Nanon, "my purpose in entering here, is not to make
you rich, but to secure happiness for myself."
"But it's stark madness," said Cauvignac; "I am your brother, Nanon,
and I won't allow it."
"My heart is already here, Roland; what would my body do elsewhere?
"It's frightful to think of; oh! Nanon, dear sister, in pity's name!"
"Not a word more, Roland. You understand me? The money is yours; make
good use of it, for your poor Nanon will no longer be at hand to give
you more, perforce or willingly."
"But what have I ever done for you that you should be so kind to me?"
"The only thing I could expect, the only thing I could have asked you
to do, in bringing me what you did from Bordeaux the night that he died
and I could not die."
"Ah! yes, I remember,--the lock of hair."
The adventurer hung his head; he felt an unfamiliar sensation in his
eye, and put his hand to it.
"Another would weep," said he; "I do not know how to weep, but upon my
soul, I suffer as much, if not more."
"Adieu, brother," said Nanon, offering him her hand.
"No, no, no!" said Cauvignac, "I will never say adieu to you of my free
will. Is it fear that drives you into the convent? If so, we will leave
Guyenne, and travel the world over together. I too have an arrow in
my heart, which I shall carry with me wherever I go, and the pain it
causes me will help me to sympathize with your pain. You will talk to
me of him, and I will talk to you of Richon; you will weep, and perhaps
I shall succeed in weeping too, and it will do me good. Would you like
to go to some desert island? I will serve you, faithfully and with deep
respect, for you are a saint. Would you like me to be a monk? I confess
that I can't do that. But do not enter the convent, do not say adieu to
me."
"Adieu, dear brother."
"Would you like to remain in Guyenne, despite the Bordelais, despite
the Gascons, despite the whole world? I no longer have my company,
but I still have Ferguzon, Barrabas, and Carrotel. We four can do
many things. We will be your body-guard, and the queen herself will
not be so well guarded. And if they ever get at you, if ever a hair
of your head is injured, you can safely say, 'They are all four dead;
_requiescant in pace!"_
"Adieu," said Nanon.
Cauvignac was about to resort to some fresh appeal, when they heard the
rumbling of a carriage upon the road. An outrider in the queen's livery
was galloping ahead.
"What is all this?" said Cauvignac, turning his face toward the road,
but without releasing his sister's hand, which he held through the bars.
The carriage, built according to the fashion then in vogue, with
massive armorial bearings and open panels, was drawn by six horses and
contained eight persons, with a whole household of lackeys and pages.
Behind came guards and mounted courtiers.
"Road! road!" cried the outrider, striking Cauvignac's horse, which,
however, was standing with modest reserve well away from the centre of
the road.
The terrified beast reared and plunged madly.
"Be careful what you do, my friend!" cried Cauvignac, dropping his
sister's hand.
"Way for the queen!" said the courier, riding on.
"The queen! the devil!" said Cauvignac; "let's keep out of trouble in
that direction."
And he stood as closely against the wall as possible, holding his horse
by the bridle.
At that moment a trace broke, and the coachman, with a vigorous jerk
upon the reins, brought the six horses to a stand-still.
"What has happened?" asked a voice with a noticeable Italian accent;
"why do you stop?"
"A trace has broken, monsieur," replied the coachman.
"Open the door! open the door!" cried the same voice.
The footmen obeyed, but before the steps were lowered, the man with the
Italian accent was already on the ground.
"Aha! Il Signor Mazarini!" said Cauvignac; "he evidently didn't wait to
be asked to alight first." After him came the queen.
After the queen, Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld. Cauvignac rubbed his
eyes.
After Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld, Monsieur d'Épernon.
"Ah!" said the adventurer, "why wasn't that brother-in-law hanged
instead of the other?"
After Monsieur d'Épernon, Monsieur de La Meilleraie.
After Monsieur de La Meilleraie, the Duc de Bouillon.
Then, two maids of honor.
"I knew that they had ceased to fight," said Cauvignac, "but I had no
idea they were so thoroughly reconciled."
"Messieurs," said the queen, "instead of waiting here until the trace
is mended, suppose we walk on a little way; the weather is so beautiful
and the air so fresh."
"At your Majesty's service," said Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld, bowing.
"Walk beside me, duke, and repeat some of your excellent maxims! you
must have devised a great number of them since we met."
"Lean on my arm, duke," said Mazarin to Monsieur de Bouillon, "I know
that you have the gout."
Monsieur d'Épernon and Monsieur de La Meilleraie closed the procession,
talking with the maids of honor.
The whole party were laughing merrily together in the warm rays of the
setting sun, like a party of friends out for a holiday.
"Is it far from here to Bourcy?" the queen asked. "You should be able
to tell me, Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld, you have studied the country
so thoroughly."
"Three leagues, madame; we shall certainly be there before nine
o'clock."
"Very good; and to-morrow you will start off early in the morning, and
say to our dear cousin, Madame de Condé, that we shall be happy to see
her."
"Your Majesty," said the Duc d'Épernon, "did you see the comely
cavalier, who turned his face to the wall, and the lovely dame who
disappeared when we alighted?"
"Yes," said the queen, "I saw them both; it seems that the nuns know
how to enjoy themselves at the convent of Sainte-Radegonde de Peyssac."
At that moment the carriage drove rapidly up behind the illustrious
promenaders, who were already some distance beyond the convent.
"Let us not weary ourselves, gentlemen," said the queen; "the king, you
know, is to entertain us with music this evening."
The whole party re-entered the carriage and drove away with shouts of
laughter, which were soon drowned by the rumbling of the wheels.
Cauvignac followed the carriage with his eyes, reflecting deeply upon
the terrible contrast between their noisy gayety and the mute sorrow
within the walls of the convent. When the carriage had passed out of
sight, he said:--
"I am glad to know one thing, and that is that, bad as I am, there are
people who are worse than I; and by Mary's death! I propose to try to
make it true that there is nobody better than I; I am rich now, and it
will be an easy matter."
He turned to take leave of Nanon, but she had disappeared. Thereupon,
with a sigh, he mounted his horse, cast a last glance at the convent,
started off at a gallop on the Libourne road, and disappeared in
the opposite direction to that taken by the carriage containing the
illustrious personages who have played leading parts in this narrative.
Perhaps we shall meet them again some day; for the pretended peace, but
ill-cemented by the blood of Richon and Canolles, was a mere truce, and
the War of Women was not yet at an end.