Foreseeing that some who do not love me will be swift to allege that in
the preparation of these memoirs I have set down only such things as
redound to my credit, and have suppressed the many experiences not so
propitious which fall to the lot of the most sagacious while in power,
I take this opportunity of refuting that calumny. For the truth stands
so far the other way that my respect for the King's person has led me
to omit many things creditable to me; and some, it may be, that place
me in a higher light than any I have set down. And not only that: but
I propose in this very place to narrate the curious details of an
adventure wherein I showed to less advantage than usual; and on which I
should, were I moved by the petty feelings imputed to me by malice, be
absolutely silent.
One day, about a fortnight after the quarrel between the King and the
Duchess of Beaufort, which I have described, and which arose, it will
be remembered, out of my refusal to pay the christening expenses of her
second son on the scale of a child of France, I was sitting in my
lodgings at St. Germains when Maignan announced that M. de Perrot
desired to see me. Knowing Perrot to be one of the most notorious
beggars about the court, with an insatiable maw of his own and an
endless train of nephews and nieces, I was at first for being employed;
but, reflecting that in the crisis in the King's affairs which I saw
approaching--and which must, if he pursued his expressed intention of
marrying the Duchess, be fraught with infinite danger to the State and
himself--the least help might be of the greatest moment, I bade them
admit him; privately determining to throw the odium of any refusal upon
the overweening influence of Madame de Sourdis, the Duchess's aunt.
Accordingly I met him with civility, and was not surprised when, with
his second speech, he brought out the word FAVOUR. But I was
surprised--for, as I have said, I knew him to be the best practised
beggar in the world--to note in his manner some indications of
embarrassment and nervousness; which, when I did not immediately
assent, increased to a sensible extent.
"It is a very small thing, M. de Rosny," he said, breathing hard.
On that hint I declared my willingness to serve him. "But," I added,
shrugging my shoulders and speaking in a confidential tone, "no one
knows the Court better than you do, M. de Perrot. You are in all our
secrets, and you must be aware that at present--I say nothing of the
Duchess, she is a good woman, and devoted to his Majesty--but there are
others--"
"I know," he answered, with a flash of malevolence that did not escape
me. "But this is a private favour, M. de Rosny. It is nothing that
Madame de Sourdis can desire, either for herself or for others."
That aroused my curiosity. Only the week before, Madame de Sourdis had
obtained a Hat for her son, and the post of assistant Deputy
Comptroller of Buildings for her Groom of the Chambers. For her niece
the Duchess she meditated obtaining nothing less than a crown. I was
at pains, therefore, to think of any office, post, or pension that
could be beyond the pale of her desires; and in a fit of gaiety I bade
M. de Perrot speak out and explain his riddle.
"It is a small thing," he said, with ill-disguised nervousness. "The
King hunts to-morrow."
"Yes," I said.
"And very commonly he rides back in your company, M. le Marquis."
"Sometimes," I said; "or with M. d'Epernon. Or, if he is in a mood for
scandal, with M. la Varenne or Vitry."
"But with you, if you wish it, and care to contrive it so," he
persisted, with a cunning look.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Well?" I said, wondering more and more what
he would be at.
"I have a house on the farther side of Poissy," he continued. "And I
should take it as a favour, M. de Rosny, if you could induce the King
to dismount there to-morrow and take a cup of wine."
"That is a very small thing," I said bluntly, wondering much why he had
made so great a parade of the matter, and still more why he seemed so
ill at ease. "Yet, after such a prelude, if any but a friend of your
tried loyalty asked it, I might expect to find Spanish liquorice in the
cup."
"That is out of the question, in my case," he answered with a slight
assumption of offence, which he immediately dropped. "And you say it
is a small thing; it is the more easily granted, M. de Rosny."
"But the King goes and comes at his pleasure," I replied warily. "Of
course, he might-take it into his head to descend at your house. There
would be nothing surprising in such a visit. I think that he has paid
you one before, M. de Perrot?"
He assented eagerly.
"And he may do so," I said, smiling, "to-morrow. But then, again, he
may not. The chase may lead him another way; or he may be late in
returning; or--in fine, a hundred things may happen."
I had no mind to go farther than that; and I supposed that it would
satisfy him, and that he would thank me and take his leave. To my
surprise, however, he stood his ground, and even pressed me more than
was polite; while his countenance, when I again eluded him, assumed an
expression of chagrin and vexation so much in excess of the occasion as
to awaken fresh doubts in my mind. But these only the more confirmed
me in my resolution to commit myself no farther, especially as he was
not a man I loved or could trust; and in the end he had to retire with
such comfort as I had already given him.
In itself, and on the surface, the thing seemed to be a trifle,
unworthy of the serious consideration of any man. But in so far as it
touched the King's person and movements, I was inclined to view it in
another light; and this the more, as I still had fresh in my memory the
remarkable manner in which Father Cotton, the Jesuit, had given me a
warning by a word about a boxwood fire. After a moment's thought,
therefore, I summoned Boisrueil, one of my gentlemen, who had an
acknowledged talent for collecting gossip; and I told him in a casual
way that M. de Perrot had been with me.
"He has not been at Court for a week," he remarked.
"Indeed?" I said.
"He applied for the post of Assistant Deputy Comptroller of Buildings
for his nephew, and took offence when it was given to Madame de
Sourdis' Groom of the Chambers."
"Ha!" I said; "a dangerous malcontent."
Boisrueil smiled. "He has lived a week out of the sunshine of his
Majesty's countenance, your excellency. After that, all things are
possible."
This was my own estimate of the man, whom I took to be one of those
smug, pliant self-seekers whom Courts and peace breed up. I could
imagine no danger that could threaten the King from such a quarter;
while curiosity inclined me to grant his request. As it happened, the
deer the next day took us in the direction of Poissy, and the King, who
was always itching to discuss with me the question of his projected
marriage, and as constantly, since our long talk in the garden at
Rennes, avoiding the subject when with me, bade me ride home with him.
On coming within half a mile of Perrot's I let fall his name, and in a
very natural way suggested that the King should alight there for a few
minutes.
It was one of the things Henry delighted to do, for, endowed with the
easiest manners, and able in a moment to exchange the formality of the
Louvre for the freedom of the camp, he could give to such cheap favours
their full value. He consented on the instant, therefore; and turning
our horses into a by-road, we sauntered down it with no greater
attendance than a couple of pages.
The sun was near setting, and its rays, which still gilded the
tree-tops, left the wood below pensive and melancholy. The house stood
in a solitary place on the edge of the forest, half a mile from Poissy;
and these two things had their effect on my mind. I began to wish that
we had brought with us half a troop of horse, or at least two or three
gentlemen; and, startled by the thought of the unknown chances to
which, out of mere idle curiosity, I was exposing the King, I would
gladly have turned back. But without explanation I could not do so;
and while I hesitated Henry cried out gaily that we were there.
A short avenue of limes led from the forest road to the door. I looked
curiously before us as we rode under the trees, in some fear lest M. de
Perrot's preparations should discover my complicity, and apprise the
King that he was expected. But so far was this from being the case
that no one appeared; the house rose still and silent in the mellow
light of sunset, and, for all that we could see, might have been the
fabled palace of enchantment.
"'He is Jean de Nivelle's dog; he runs away when you call him,'" the
King quoted. "Get down, Rosny. We have reached the palace of the
Sleeping Princess. It remains only to sound the horn, and--"
I was in the act of dismounting, with my back to him, when his words
came to this sudden stop. I turned to learn what caused it, and saw
standing in the aperture of the wicket, which had been silently opened,
a girl, little more than a child, of the most striking beauty.
Surprise shone in her eyes, and shyness and alarm had brought the
colour to her cheeks; while the level rays of the sun, which forced her
to screen her eyes with one small hand, clothed her figure in a robe of
lucent glory. I heard the King whistle low. Before I could speak he
had flung himself from his horse and, throwing the reins to one of the
pages, was bowing before her.
"We were about to sound the horn, Mademoiselle," he said, smiling.
"The horn, Monsieur?" she exclaimed, opening her eyes in wonder, and
staring at him with the prettiest face of astonishment.
"Yes, Mademoiselle; to awaken the sleeping princess," he rejoined.
"But I see that she is already awake."
Through the innocence of her eyes flashed a sudden gleam of archness.
"Monsieur flatters himself," she said, with a smile that just revealed
the whiteness of her teeth.
It was such an answer as delighted the King; who loved, above all
things, a combination of wit and beauty, and never for any long time
wore the chains of a woman who did not unite sense to more showy
attractions. From the effect which the grace and freshness of the girl
had on me, I could judge in a degree of the impression made on him; his
next words showed not only its depth, but that he was determined to
enjoy the adventure to the full. He presented me to her as M. de Sage,
and inquiring affectionately after Perrot, learned in a trice that she
was his niece, not long from a convent at Loches; finally, begging to
be allowed to rest awhile, he dropped a gallant hint that a cup of wine
from her hands would be acceptable.
All this, and her innocent doubt what she ought to do, thus brought
face to face with two strange cavaliers, threw the girl into such a
state of blushing confusion as redoubled her charms. It appeared that
her uncle had been summoned unexpectedly to Marly, and had taken his
son with him; and that the household had seized the occasion to go to a
village FETE at Acheres. Only an old servant remained in the house;
who presently appeared and took her orders. I saw from the man's start
of consternation that he knew the King; but a glance from Henry's eyes
bidding me keep up the illusion, I followed the fellow and charged him
not to betray the King's incognito. When I returned, I found that
Mademoiselle had conducted her visitor to a grassy terrace which ran
along the south side of the house, and was screened from the forest by
an alley of apple trees, and from the east wind by a hedge of yew.
Here, where the last rays of the sun threw sinuous shadows on the turf,
and Paris seemed a million miles away, they were walking up and down,
the sound of their laughter breaking the woodland silence.
Mademoiselle had a fan, with which and an air of convent coquetry she
occasionally shaded her eyes. The King carried his hat in his hand.
It was such an adventure as he loved, with all his heart; and I stood a
little way off, smiling, and thinking grimly of M. de Perrot.
On a sudden, hearing a step behind me, I turned, and saw a young man in
a riding-dress come quickly through an opening in the yew hedge. As I
turned, he stopped; his jaw fell, and he stood rooted to the ground,
gazing at the two on the terrace, while his face, which a moment before
had worn an air of pleased expectancy, grew on a sudden dark with
passion, and put on such a look as made me move towards him. Before I
reached him, However, M. de Perrot himself appeared at his side. The
young man flashed round on him. "MON DIEU, sir!" he cried, in a voice
choked with anger; "I see it all now! I understand why I was carried
away to Marly! I--but it shall not be! I swear it shall not!"
Between him and me--for, needless to say, I, too, understood all--M. de
Perrot was awkwardly placed. But he showed the presence of mind of the
old courtier. "Silence, sir!" He exclaimed imperatively. "Do you not
see M. de Rosny? Go to him at once and pay your respects to him, and
request him to honour you with his protection. Or--I see that you are
overcome by the honour which the King does us. Go, first, and change
your dress. Go, boy!"
The lad retired sullenly, and M. de Perrot, free to deal with me alone,
approached me, smiling assiduously, and trying hard to hide some
consciousness and a little shame under a mask of cordiality. "A
thousand pardons, M. de Rosny," he cried with effusion, "for an absence
quite unpardonable. But I so little expected to see his Majesty after
what you said, and--"
"Are in no hurry to interrupt him now you are here," I replied bluntly,
determined that, whoever he deceived, he should not flatter himself he
deceived me. "Pooh, man! I am not a fool," I continued.
"What is this?" he cried, with a desperate attempt to keep up the
farce. "I don't understand you!"
"No, the shoe is on the other foot--I understand you," I replied drily.
"Chut, man!" I continued, "you don't make a cats-paw of me. I see the
game. You are for sitting in Madame de Sourdis' seat, and giving your
son a Hat, and your groom a Comptrollership, and your niece a--"
"Hush, hush, M. de Rosny," he muttered, turning white and red, and
wiping his brow with his kerchief. "MON DIEU! your words might--"
"If overheard, make things very unpleasant for M. de Perrot," I said.
"And M. de Rosny?"
I shrugged my shoulders contemptuously. "Tush, man!" I said. "Do you
think that I sit in no safer seat than that?"
"Ah! But when Madame de Beaufort is Queen?" he said slily.
"If she ever is," I replied, affecting greater confidence than I at
that time felt.
"Well, to be sure," he said slowly, "if she ever is." And he looked
towards the King and his companion, who were still chatting gaily.
Then he stole a crafty glance at me. "Do you wish her to be?" he
muttered.
"Queen?" I said, "God forbid!"
"It would be a disgrace to France?" he whispered; and he laid his hand
on my arm, and looked eagerly into my face.
"Yes," I said.
"A blot on his fame?"