"What! you wear a mask, monsieur?" exclaimed the new-comer in a tone
of surprise not unmixed with vexation. He was a stout man of some
fifty-five to fifty-eight years, with the stern, glaring eye of a bird
of prey, and a grizzly moustache and royale; although he wore no mask,
he concealed his hair and his features as much as possible beneath a
huge laced hat, and his figure and his clothes beneath a blue cloak of
ample proportions.
Cauvignac, upon obtaining a view at close quarters of the individual
who addressed him, could not restrain an involuntary movement of
surprise.
"Well, well, monsieur, what's the matter?" demanded he of the blue
cloak.
"Nothing, monsieur; I nearly lost my balance. I believe that you did me
the honor of addressing me. What were you saying, pray?"
"I asked you why you are masked."
"That is a plain question," said the young man, "and I will reply with
equal frankness; I am masked in order to conceal my face."
"Then it is a face that I know?"
"I think not; but having seen it once you might know it again later;
and that, in my opinion, would be utterly useless."
"I should say that you were quite as outspoken as myself."
"Yes, when outspokenness can do me no harm.
"Does your frankness go so far as to lead you to disclose the secrets
of others?"
"Why not, if such disclosure can be of advantage to me?"
"It's a singular profession that you practise."
"_Dame!_ one does what one can do, monsieur; I have been, in
succession, lawyer, doctor, soldier, and partisan; you see that I am
not likely to go begging for a trade."
"What are you now?"
"Your humble servant," said the young man, bowing respectfully.
"Have you the letter in question?"
"Have you the blank signature?"
"Here it is."
"Shall we make the exchange?"
"One moment, monsieur," said the stranger in the blue cloak; "your
conversation is delightful to me, and I should be sorry to lose my
enjoyment of it so soon."
"Good lack! monsieur, it is quite at your service, as I myself am,"
rejoined Cauvignac. "Let us talk, by all means, if it is agreeable to
you."
"Shall I step into your boat, or do you prefer to come aboard mine, so
that our boatmen may be out of ear-shot in the other boat?"
"Useless, monsieur; you speak some foreign tongue, no doubt?"
"I can speak Spanish."
"And I; let us talk in Spanish, then, if you please."
"By all means! What motive," continued the gentleman, adopting from
that moment the idiom agreed upon, "led you to inform the Duc d'Épernon
of the infidelity of the lady in question?"
"I was desirous to be of service to that eminent nobleman, and to get
into his good graces."
"Have you any ill-will to Mademoiselle de Lartigues?"
"Ill-will? By no manner of means! On the contrary, I must admit that I
am under some obligation to her, and I should be extremely sorry were
any mishap to befall her."
"Then Monsieur le Baron de Canolles is your enemy?"
"I never saw him; I know him only by reputation, and I must say that he
is said to be a gallant knight and worthy gentleman."
"I am to understand that your action is not induced by hatred of any
person?"
"Go to! if I had a grievance against Baron de Canolles I should
challenge him to exchange shots or sword-thrusts with me, and he is too
much of a man ever to decline an invitation of that kind."
"In that case I must recur to the reason you have given me."
"I think you can do no better."
"Very good! I understand that you have the letter which proves
Mademoiselle de Lartigues to be unfaithful."
"Here it is. No offence, but this is the second time I have shown it to
you."
The older gentleman glanced sadly from afar at the dainty paper,
through which he could see the written characters.
The young man slowly unfolded the letter.
"You recognize the writing, do you not?"
"Yes."
"Then give me the blank signature, and you shall have the letter."
"In a moment. Will you allow me to ask you a question?"
"Ask it, monsieur."
The young man tranquilly folded the paper again, and replaced it in his
pocket.
"How did you procure the letter?"
"I am quite willing to tell you."
"I am listening."
"You know that the somewhat extravagant government of the Duc d'Épernon
has aroused a strong feeling against him in Guyenne?"
"Very well; go on."
"You know that the frightfully stingy government of Monsieur de Mazarin
has aroused a tremendously strong feeling against him in the capital?"
"What have Monsieur de Mazarin and Monsieur d'Épernon to do with the
matter?"
"One moment; these two strongly contrasted governments have produced
a state of things much resembling a general war, in which every one
has a share. At this moment Monsieur de Mazarin is fighting for the
queen; you are fighting for the king; the coadjutor is fighting for
Monsieur de Beaufort; Monsieur de Beaufort is fighting for Madame de
Montbazon; Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld is fighting for Madame de
Longueville; Monsieur le Duc d'Orléans is fighting for Mademoiselle
Soyon; the Parliament is fighting for the people; lastly, Monsieur de
Condé, who was fighting for France, has been imprisoned. Now I, who
have no great stake to gain by fighting for the queen, for the king,
for the coadjutor, for Monsieur de Beaufort, for Madame de Montbazon,
for Madame de Longueville, for Mademoiselle Soyon, for the people, or
for France, conceived the scheme of espousing no party whatever, but of
following the one which I feel inclined to follow at the moment. Thus
with me it is a question of expediency pure and simple. What say you to
the idea?"
"It is ingenious, certainly."
"Consequently I have levied an army. You can see it drawn up yonder on
the bank of the Dordogne."
"Five men? Nonsense!"
"That's one more than you have yourself; it doesn't look well,
therefore, for you to treat it with contempt."
"Very ill clad," continued the older man, who was in ill-humor, and for
that reason inclined to be censorious.
"True," rejoined his interlocutor, "they somewhat resemble the
companions of Falstaff. Falstaff, by the way, is an English gentleman
of my acquaintance. But to-night they will be newly equipped, and if
you fall in with them to-morrow, you will admit that they are pretty
fellows."
"Let us return to yourself. I am not concerned with your men."
"Very well; as I was saying, in the course of my warfare on my own
account, we fell in with the tax-collector of this district, who was
going from village to village, rounding out his Majesty's purse. So
long as there was a single stiver uncollected we did escort duty
for him faithfully, and I confess that, as I watched his money-bags
filling, I was strongly tempted to join the king's faction. But the
infernal confusion that reigned everywhere, together with a fit of
spleen against Monsieur de Mazarin, and the complaints that we heard
on all sides against Monsieur d'Épernon, brought us to our senses. We
concluded that there was much to be said in favor of the justice of the
princes' cause, and we embraced it with ardor; the collector completed
his round of visits at the little house which stands by itself yonder
among the poplars and sycamores."
"Nanon's house!" muttered the other; "yes, I see it."
"We watched until he came out, we followed him as we had been doing for
five days, we crossed the Dordogne with him just below Saint-Michel,
and when we were in midstream I told him of our conversion politically,
and requested him, with all the courtesy of which I am capable,
to turn over to us the cash in his possession. Would you believe,
monsieur, that he refused? Thereupon, my comrades searched him, and
as he was shrieking in a way to cause scandal, my lieutenant, a
resourceful rascal,--you see him yonder, in a red cloak, holding my
horse,--reflected that the water, by intercepting the air-currents,
interfered with the continuity of sound; that is an axiom in physics
which I, as a physician, understood and applauded. The author of the
suggestion thereupon bent the recalcitrant tax-collector's head over
toward the river, and held it a foot--no more--under water. As a matter
of fact he ceased to shout, or, to put it more accurately, we ceased to
hear him. We were able, therefore, to seize in the name of the princes
all the money in his possession, and the correspondence which had been
intrusted to him. I gave the money to my soldiers, who, as you justly
observed, need to be newly equipped, and I kept the papers, this one
among others: it seems that the worthy collector acted as Mercury for
Mademoiselle de Lartigues."
"Indeed," muttered the old gentleman, "he was a creature of Nanon's if
I mistake not. What became of the wretch?"
"Ah! you will see whether we did well to dip the wretch, as you call
him, in the river. Why, except for that precaution he would have
aroused the whole country. Fancy, when we took him out of the water,
although he had been there hardly quarter of an hour, he was dead with
rage!"
"You plunged him in again, no doubt?"
"As you say."
"But if the messenger was drowned--"
"I didn't say that he was drowned."
"Let us not haggle over words; if the messenger is dead--"
"Oh! as to that, he's dead enough."
"Monsieur de Canolles will not have received the letter, of course, and
consequently will not keep the appointment."
"Oh! one moment; I make war on powers, not on private individuals.
Monsieur de Canolles received a duplicate of the letter making the
appointment; but as I considered that the autograph manuscript was of
some value, I retained it."
"What will he think when he fails to recognize the writing?"
"That the person who hungers for a sight of him has employed another
hand, as a measure of precaution."
The stranger eyed Cauvignac in evident admiration of such unbounded
impudence combined with such perfect self-possession. He was
determined, if possible, to find some means of frightening the reckless
swashbuckler.
"What about the government," he said, "and the investigations that may
be set on foot? Do you never think of that?"
"Investigations?" rejoined the younger man, with a laugh. "Oh! Monsieur
d'Épernon has many other things to do besides investigate; and then,
did I not tell you that I did what I did for the purpose of obtaining
his favor? He would be ungrateful indeed if he didn't bestow it on me."
"I don't altogether understand," said the other, satirically, "how it
ever occurred to you, who have, by your own admission, taken up the
cause of the princes, to do Monsieur d'Épernon a service."
"And yet it's the simplest thing in the world: an inspection of the
papers found upon the collector convinced me of the purity of the
king's intentions; his Majesty is entirely justified in my eyes, and
Monsieur le Duc d'Épernon is in the right a thousand times over as
against his subordinates. That, therefore, is the just cause, and
thereupon I embraced the just cause."
"Here's a scoundrel whom I will have hanged if he ever falls into my
hands!" growled the old gentleman, pulling savagely at the ends of his
bristly moustache.
"I beg your pardon?" said Cauvignac, winking under his mask.
"I said nothing. Let me ask you a question; what do you propose to do
with the signature in blank which you demand?"
"Deuce take me if I've made up my mind! I asked for a signature in
blank, because it is the most convenient thing, the easiest to carry,
and the most elastic. It is probable that I shall keep it for some
great emergency; but it is possible that I may throw it away on the
first whim that comes to my mind; perhaps I may present it to you in
person before the end of the week, perhaps it will not come back to
you for three or four months, and then with a dozen or more endorsers,
like a piece of commercial paper; but never fear, I shall not use it
for any purpose for which you and I need blush. Noble blood counts for
something, after all."
"You are of noble blood?"
"Yes, monsieur, the very noblest."
"In that case I will have him broken on the wheel," muttered the
unknown; "that's the service his blank signature will do him!"
"Have you decided to give me the signature in blank?" asked Cauvignac.
"I must," was the reply.
"I don't force you to do it; let us understand each other. What I
propose is an exchange; keep your paper if you choose, and I will keep
mine."
"The letter?"
"The signature?"
And he held out the letter with one hand, while he cocked a pistol with
the other.
"Don't disturb the repose of your pistol," said the stranger, throwing
open his cloak; "for I have pistols, too, and they are all loaded. Fair
play on both sides; here's your signature."
The exchange of documents was effected without further parley, and each
of the parties examined that which was handed to him, carefully and in
silence.
"Now, monsieur," said Cauvignac, "in which direction do you go?"
"I must cross to the right bank."
"And I to the left."
"How shall we arrange it? My men are where you propose to go, and yours
where I propose to go."
"Why, nothing could be simpler; send my men over to me in your boat,
and I will send yours over in mine."
"You have an inventive mind, and one that works very quickly."
"I was born to command an army."
"And so you do."
"Ah! true, I had forgotten," said the young man.
The stranger motioned to the ferry-man to cast off his boat, and pull
to the opposite shore in the direction of the clump of woods which
reached to the road.
The young man, who was perhaps expecting some treachery, stood half
erect to look after him, with his hand still resting on the butt of
his pistol, ready to fire at the least suspicious movement on the
stranger's part. But the latter did not even deign to notice the
distrust of which he was the object, and, turning his back on the young
man with real or affected indifference, began to read the letter, and
was soon entirely engrossed in its contents.
"Remember the hour," Cauvignac called after him; "eight o'clock this
evening."
The stranger made no reply, and did not seem to have heard.
"Ah!" said Cauvignac to himself, caressing the butt of his pistol:
"to think that, if I chose, I might throw open the succession to the
government of Guyenne, and stop the civil war! But, with the Duc
d'Épernon dead, what good would his signature in blank do me? and with
the civil war at an end, what should I live on? Upon my word, there
are times when I believe I am going mad. Vive le Duc d'Épernon and the
civil war!--Come, boatman, to your oars, and pull to the other shore;
we must not keep the worthy man waiting for his escort."
In a few moments Cauvignac approached the left bank of the Dordogne,
just as the old gentleman was sending Ferguzon and his five bandits
over to him in the ferry-man's boat. As he did not choose to be less
prompt than he, he ordered his boatman to take the stranger's four
men in his boat, and put them ashore on the other bank. In midstream
the two boats met, and the occupants saluted one another courteously,
as they passed on toward the point where their respective leaders
were awaiting them. The old gentleman thereupon, with his escort,
disappeared among the trees which stretched from the river-bank to
the high-road; and Cauvignac, at the head of his army, took the path
leading to Isson.