The passion which Henry still felt for Madame de Conde, and which her
flight from the country was far from assuaging, had a great share in
putting him upon the immediate execution of the designs we had so long
prepared. Looking to find in the stir and bustle of a German campaign
that relief of mind which the Court could no longer afford him, he
discovered in the unhoped-for wealth of his treasury an additional
incitement; and now waited only for the opening of spring and the
Queen's coronation to remove the last obstacles that kept him from the
field.
Nevertheless, relying on my assurances that all things were ready, and
persuaded that the more easy he showed himself the less prepared would
he find the enemy, he made no change in his habits; but in March, 1610,
went, as usual, to Fontainebleau, where he diverted himself with
hunting. It was during this visit that the Court credited him with
seeing--I think, on the Friday before the Feast of the Virgin--the
Great Huntsman; and even went so far as to specify the part of the
forest in which he came upon it, and the form--that of a gigantic black
horseman, surrounded by hounds--which it assumed The spectre had not
been seen since the year 1598; nevertheless, the story spread widely,
those who whispered it citing in its support not only the remarkable
agitation into which the Queen fell publicly on the evening of that
day, but also some strange particulars that attended the King's return
from the forest; and, being taken up and repeated, and confirmed, as
many thought, by the unhappy sequence of his death, the fable found a
little later almost universal credence, so that it may now be found
even in books.
As it happened, however, I was that day at Fontainebleau, and hunted
with the King; and, favoured both by chance and the confidence with
which my master never failed to honour me, am able not only to refute
this story, but to narrate the actual facts from which it took its
rise. And though there are some, I know, who boast that they had the
tale from the King's own mouth, I undertake to prove either that they
are romancers who seek to add an inch to their stature, or dull fellows
who placed their own interpretation on the hasty words he vouchsafed
such chatterers.
As a fact, the King, on that day wishing to discuss with me the
preparations for the Queen's entry, bade me keep close to him, since he
had more inclination for my company than the chase. But the crowd that
attended him was so large, the day being fine and warm--and comprised,
besides, so many ladies, whose badinage and gaiety he could never
forego--that I found him insensibly drawn from me. Far from being
displeased, I was glad to see him forget the moodiness which had of
late oppressed him; and beyond keeping within sight of him, gave up,
for the time, all thought of affairs, and found in the beauty of the
spectacle sufficient compensation. The bright dresses and waving
feathers of the party showed to the greatest advantage, as the long
cavalcade wound through the heather and rocks of the valley below the
Apremonts; and whether I looked to front or rear--on the huntsmen, with
their great horns, or the hounds straining in the leashes--I was
equally charmed with a sight at once joyous and gallant, and one to
which the calls of duty had of late made me a stranger.
On a sudden a quarry was started, and the company, galloping off
pell-mell, with a merry burst of music, were in a moment dispersed,
some taking this track, and others that, through the rocks and DEBRIS
that make that part of the forest difficult. Singling out the King, I
kept as near him as possible until the chase led us into the Apremont
coverts, where, the trees growing thickly, and the rides cut through
them being intricate, I lost him for a while. Again, however, I caught
sight of him flying down a ride bordered by dark-green box-trees,
against which his white hunting coat showed vividly; but now he was
alone, and riding in a direction which each moment carried him farther
from the line of the chase, and entangled him more deeply in the forest.
Supposing that he had made a bad cast and was in error, I dashed the
spurs into my horse, and galloped after him; then, finding that he
still held his own, and that I did not overtake him, but that, on the
contrary, he was riding at the top of his speed, I called to him. "You
are in error, sire, I think!" I cried. "The hounds are the other way!"
He heard, for he raised his hand, and, without turning his head, made
me a sign; but whether of assent or denial, I could not tell. And he
still held on his course. Then, for a moment, I fancied that his horse
had got the better of him, and was running away; but no sooner had the
thought occurred to me than I saw that he was spurring it, and exciting
it to its utmost speed, so that we reached the end of that ride, and
rushed through another and still another, always making, I did not fail
to note, for the most retired part of the forest.
We had proceeded in this way about a mile, and the sound of the hunt
had quite died away behind us, and I was beginning to chafe, as well as
marvel, at conduct so singular, when at last I saw that he was
slackening his pace. My horse, which was on the point of failing,
began, in turn, to overhaul his, while I looked out with sharpened
curiosity for the object of pursuit. I could see nothing, however, and
no one; and had just satisfied myself that this was one of the droll
freaks in which he would sometimes indulge, and that in a second or two
he would turn and laugh at my discomfiture, when, on a sudden, with a
final pull at the reins, he did turn, and showed me a face flushed with
passion and chagrin.
I was so taken aback that I cried out. "MON DIEU! sire," I said.
"What is it? What is the matter?"
"Matter enough!" he cried, with an oath. And on that, halting his
horse, he looked at me as if he would read my heart. "VENTRE DE SAINT
GRIS!" he said, in a voice that made me tremble, "if I were sure that
there was no mistake, I would--I would never see your face again!"