"I am the Vicomte de Cambes."
"Aha!" said his companion; "I have heard of a lovely Vicomtesse de
Cambes, who has large estates near Bordeaux, and is a close friend of
Madame la Princesse."
"She is a kinswoman of mine," said the young man, hastily.
"'Faith, viscount, I congratulate you, for they say that she is
charming beyond compare. I hope you will present me to her, if the
opportunity ever occurs. I am Baron de Canolles, captain in the
Navailles regiment, and at present enjoying a leave of absence
which Monsieur le Duc d'Épernon was pleased to grant me, at the
recommendation of Mademoiselle de Lartigues."
"Baron de Canolles!" cried the viscount, gazing at his companion with
the curiosity naturally aroused by that name, renowned in the love
intrigues of the time.
"You know me?" said Canolles.
"By reputation only," the viscount replied.
"And by bad reputation, eh? What would you have? Every one follows his
natural inclinations, and I love a life of excitement."
"You are perfectly free, monsieur, to live as you choose," rejoined the
viscount. "Permit me, however, to express one thought that comes to my
mind."
"What is it?"
"That there is a woman yonder, deeply compromised for your sake, upon
whom the duke will wreak vengeance for his disappointment in your
regard."
"The devil! do you think it?"
"Of course; although she is a somewhat frail person, Mademoiselle de
Lartigues is a woman none the less, and compromised by you; it is for
you to look to her safety."
"Gad! you are right, my young Nestor; and in the pleasure of conversing
with you, I was near forgetting my obligations as a gentleman. We have
been betrayed, and in all probability the duke knows all. It is very,
true that Nanon is so clever that if she were warned in time, I would
wager my life that she would make the duke apologize. Now let us see;
are you acquainted with the art of war, young man?"
"Not yet," replied the viscount, with a laugh; "but I fancy I am likely
to learn it where I am going."
"Well, here's your first lesson. In war, you know, when force is out
of the question, we must resort to stratagem. Help me to carry out a
stratagem."
"I ask nothing better. But in what way? Tell me."
"The inn has two doors."
"I know nothing about that."
"I know it; one that opens on the high-road, and another that opens
into the fields. I propose to go out by the one that leads into the
fields, describe a semi-circle, and knock at the back door of Nanon's
house."
"Yes, so that you may be caught in the house!" cried the viscount. "You
would make a fine tactician, upon my word!"
"Caught in the house?" repeated Canolles.
"Why, to be sure. The duke, tired of waiting, and failing to see you
leave the inn, will go to the house himself."
"Yes; but I will simply go in and out again."
"Once inside, you won't come out."
"There's no doubt about it, young man," said Canolles, "you are a
magician."
"You will be surprised, perhaps killed before her eyes; that's all
there is about it."
"Pshaw!" said Canolles, "there are closets there."
"Oh!" exclaimed the viscount.
This _oh!_ was uttered with such an eloquent intonation, it contained
such a world of veiled reproach, of offended modesty, of charming
delicacy, that Canolles stopped short, and darted a piercing glance at
the young man, who was leaning on the window-sill.
Despite the darkness, he felt the full force of the glance, and
continued in a playful tone,--
"Of course, you're quite right, baron; go by all means, but conceal
yourself carefully, so that you may not be surprised."
"No, I was wrong," said Canolles, "and you are right. But how can I
warn her?"
"It seems to me that a letter--"
"Who will carry it?"
"I thought that I saw a servant following you. A servant, under such
circumstances, runs the risk of nothing worse than a few blows, while a
gentleman risks his life."
"Verily I am losing my wits," said Canolles; "Castorin will do the
errand to perfection, especially as I suspect that the rascal has
allies in the house."
"You see that the matter can all be arranged here," said the viscount.
"Yes. Have you writing materials?"
"No; but they have them downstairs."
"Pardon me, I beg you," said Canolles; "upon my word, I can't imagine
what has happened to me this evening, for I say one idiotic thing after
another. No matter. Thanks for your good advice, viscount, and I shall
act upon it immediately."
Without taking his eyes from the young man, whom he had been examining
for some moments with strange persistency, Canolles backed to the door
and descended the stairs, while the viscount muttered anxiously,--
"How he stares at me! can he have recognized me?"
Canolles meanwhile had gone down to the ground-floor, and having
gazed for a moment with profound sorrow at the quail, partridge, and
sweetmeats, which Master Biscarros was himself packing in the hamper
upon the head of his assistant cook, and which another than he was to
eat perhaps, although they were certainly intended for him, he asked to
be shown to his room, called for writing materials, and wrote to Nanon
the following letter:--
DEAR MADAME,--About a hundred yards from your door, if
nature had endowed your lovely eyes with the power to see in
the dark, you could descry in a clump of trees Monsieur le
Duc d'Épernon, who is awaiting my coming to have me shot,
and compromise you wofully as a consequence. But I am by no
means anxious to lose my life or to cause you to lose your
peace of mind. Have no fear, therefore, in that direction.
For my own part I propose to make use of the leave of
absence which you procured for me the other day that I might
take advantage of my freedom to come and see you. Where I am
going, I have no idea; indeed, I am not sure that I shall go
anywhere. However that may be, recall your fugitive adorer
when the storm has passed. They will tell you at the Golden
Calf in which direction I have gone. You will give me due
credit, I trust, for my self-sacrifice. But your interests
are dearer to me than my own enjoyment. I say my own
enjoyment because I should have enjoyed pommelling Monsieur
d'Épernon and his minions under their disguise. Believe me,
dear lady, your most devoted and most faithful servant.
Canolles signed this effusion, overflowing with Gascon magniloquence,
knowing the effect it would have upon the Gascon Nanon. Then he
summoned his servant.
"Come hither, Master Castorin," said he, "and tell me frankly on what
terms you are with Mademoiselle Francinette."
"But, monsieur," replied Castorin, wondering much at the question, "I
don't know if I ought--"
"Have no fear, master idiot; I have no designs upon her, and you
haven't the honor of being my rival. I ask the question simply for
information."
"Ah! that's a different matter, monsieur, and I may say that
Mademoiselle Francinette has deigned to appreciate my good qualities."
"Then you are on the best of terms with her, aren't you, monsieur
puppy? Very good. Take this letter and go around by the fields."
"I know the road, monsieur," said Castorin, with a self-satisfied
expression.
"'T is well. Knock at the back door. No doubt you know that door, too?"
"Perfectly well."
"Better and better. Take that road, knock at that door, and hand this
letter to Mademoiselle Francinette."
"Then, monsieur," said Castorin, joyfully, "I may--"
"You may start instantly; you have ten minutes to go and come. This
letter must be delivered to Mademoiselle Nanon de Lartigues at the
earliest possible moment."
"But suppose they don't open the door, monsieur?" queried Castorin,
suspecting that something had gone wrong.
"Why, you must be a fool in that case, for you should have some
particular way of knocking, which makes it certain that a brave fellow
like you won't be left outside; if that's not the case, I am much to be
pitied for having such a dolt in my service."
"I have a private knock, monsieur," said Castorin, with his most
conquering air; "first I knock twice softly, then a third--"
"I don't ask you how you knock, nor do I care, if the door is opened.
Begone! and if you are taken by surprise, eat the paper, or I'll cut
off your ears when you return, if it's not already done."
Castorin was off like a flash. But when he reached the foot of the
staircase he stopped, and, in defiance of all rules, thrust the letter
into the top of his boot; then he left the inn by the barn-yard door,
and made a long circuit, sneaking through the bushes like a fox,
jumping ditches like a greyhound, until at last he reached the rear
door of the little house, and knocked in the peculiar fashion he had
tried to explain to his master.
It proved to be so effective that the door opened instantly.
Ten minutes later, Castorin returned to the inn without accident,
and informed his master that the letter was in the fair hands of
Mademoiselle Nanon.
Canolles had employed these ten minutes in opening his portmanteau,
laying out his _robe de chambre_, and ordering his supper to be served.
He listened with visible satisfaction to Monsieur Castorin's report,
and made a trip to the kitchen, giving his orders for the night in a
loud tone, and yawning immoderately, like a man who is impatient for
bed-time to arrive. These manœuvres were intended to convince the
Duc d'Épernon, if he had put spies upon him, that the baron had never
intended to go farther than the inn, where he had stopped for supper
and lodging, like the unpretentious, inoffensive traveller he was. And
the scheme really produced the result that the baron hoped. A man in
the guise of a peasant, who was drinking in the darkest corner of the
public room, called the waiter, paid his reckoning, rose, and went out
unconcernedly, humming a tune. Canolles followed him to the door, and
saw that he went toward the clump of trees; in a few moments he heard
the receding steps of several horses,--the ambuscade was raised.
Thereupon the baron, with his mind at rest concerning Nanon, thought
only of passing the evening as agreeably as possible; he therefore bade
Castorin bring cards and dice, and, having done so, to go and ask the
Vicomte de Cambes if he would do him the honor to receive him.
Castorin obeyed, and found at the vicomte's door an old, white-haired
squire, who held the door half open, and replied surlily to his
complimentary message,--
"Impossible at present; Monsieur le Vicomte is very much engaged."
"Very well," said Canolles, when the answer was reported to him, "I
will wait."
As he heard considerable noise in the direction of the kitchen, to pass
the time away he went to see what was going on in that important part
of the establishment.
The uproar was caused by the return of the poor scullion, more dead
than alive. At the bend in the road he was stopped by four men, who
questioned him as to the objective point of his nocturnal expedition;
and upon learning that he was carrying supper to the lady at the little
house among the trees, stripped him of his cap, his white waistcoat
and his apron. The youngest of the four then donned the distinctive
garb of the victim's profession, balanced the hamper on his head, and
kept on toward the little house in the place and stead of the scullion.
Not long after, he returned, and talked in a low tone with the man who
seemed the leader of the party. Then they restored his vest and cap
and apron, replaced the hamper on his head, and gave him a kick in the
stern to start him in the direction he was to follow. The poor devil
asked for no more definite instructions; he started off at full speed,
and fell half-dead with terror at the door of the inn, where he had
just been picked up.
This episode was quite unintelligible to everybody except Canolles;
and as he had no motive for explaining it, he left host, waiters,
chambermaids, cook, and scullion to cudgel their brains over it; while
they were outdoing one another in wild conjectures, he went up to the
vicomte's door, and, assuming that the first message he had sent him by
the mouth of Monsieur Castorin permitted him to dispense with a second
formality of the same nature, he opened the door unceremoniously and
went in.
A table, lighted and set with two covers, stood in the middle of the
room, awaiting, to be complete, only the dishes with which it was to be
embellished.
Canolles noticed the two covers, and drew a joyful inference therefrom.
However, the viscount when he saw him standing in the doorway, jumped
to his feet so suddenly that it was easy to see that he was greatly
surprised by the visit, and that the second cover was not intended for
the baron, as he flattered himself for an instant that it was. His
doubts were set at rest by the first words the viscount uttered.
"May I be permitted to know, Monsieur le Baron," he asked, walking to
meet him ceremoniously, "to what new circumstance I am indebted for the
honor of this visit?"
"Why," rejoined Canolles, somewhat taken aback by this ungracious
reception, "to a very natural circumstance. I am hungry. I thought that
you must be in the same plight. You are alone, I am alone; and I wished
to have the honor of suggesting to you that we sup together."
The viscount looked at Canolles with evident distrust, and seemed to
feel some embarrassment in answering him.
"Upon my honor!" said Canolles, laughing, "one would say that I
frighten you; are you a knight of Malta, pray? Are you destined for the
Church, or has your respectable family brought you up in holy horror
of the Canolles? _Pardieu!_ I shall not ruin you if we pass an hour
together on opposite sides of a table."
"Impossible for me to go to your room, baron."
"Very well, don't do it. But as I am already here--"
"Even more impossible, monsieur; I am expecting some one."
This time Canolles was disarmed.
"You are expecting some one?" he said.
"Yes."
"'Faith," said Canolles, after a moment of silence, "I should almost
prefer that you had let me go on at any risk, rather than spoil, by
your manifest repugnance for my society, the service you rendered me,
for which I fear that I have not as yet thanked you sufficiently."
The young man blushed and walked to Canolles' side.
"Forgive me, monsieur," he said in a trembling voice; "I realize how
rude I am; and if it were not serious business, family matters, which I
have to discuss with the person I expect, it would be both an honor and
a pleasure to admit you as a third, although--"
"Oh, finish!" said Canolles; "whatever you say, I am determined not to
be angry with you."
"Although," continued the viscount, "our acquaintance is one of the
unforeseen results of mere chance, one of those fortuitous meetings,
one of those momentary relations--"
"Why so?" queried Canolles. "On the contrary, the most sincere and
enduring friendships are formed in this way: we simply have to give
credit to Providence for what you attribute to chance."
"Providence, monsieur," the viscount rejoined with a laugh, "decrees
that I depart two hours hence, and that, in all probability, I take
the opposite direction to that you will take; receive, therefore, my
sincere regrets at my inability to accept, gladly as I would do so if I
could, the friendship you offer me so cordially, and of which I fully
appreciate the worth."
"You are a strange fellow, upon my word," said Canolles, "and the
generous impulse upon which you acted in the first place gave me quite
a different idea of your character. But of course it shall be as you
desire; I certainly have no right to persist, for I am your debtor, and
you have done much more for me than I had any right to expect from a
stranger. I will return, therefore, to my own room, and sup alone; but
I assure you, viscount, it goes against my grain. I am not addicted to
monologue."
Indeed, notwithstanding what he said, and his declared purpose to
withdraw, Canolles did not withdraw; some power that he could not
understand seemed to nail him to his place; he felt irresistibly drawn
to the viscount, who, however, took up a candle and approached him with
a charming smile.
"Monsieur," said he, extending his hand, "however that may be, and
short as our acquaintance has been, I beg you to believe that I am
overjoyed to have been of service to you."
Canolles heard nothing but the compliment; he seized the hand the
viscount offered him, which was warm and soft, and, instead of
answering his friendly, masculine pressure, was withdrawn at once.
Realizing that his dismissal was none the less a dismissal, although
couched in courteous phrase, he left the room, disappointed and
thoughtful.
At the door he encountered the toothless smile of the old valet, who
took the candle from the viscount's hands, ceremoniously escorted
Canolles to his door, and hastened back to his master, who was waiting
at the top of the stairs.
"What is he doing?" the viscount asked in an undertone.
"I think he has made up his mind to take supper alone," replied Pompée.
"Then he won't come up again?"
"I hope not, at least."
"Order the horses, Pompée; it will be so much time gained. But what is
that noise?"
"I should say it was Monsieur Richon's voice."
"And Monsieur de Canolles?"
"They seem to be quarrelling."
"On the contrary, they are greeting each other. Listen!"
"If only Richon doesn't say anything."
"Oh! there's no fear of that; he's very circumspect."
"Hush!"
As they ceased to speak, they heard Canolles' voice.
"Two covers, Master Biscarros," he cried. "Two covers! Monsieur Richon
sups with me."
"By your leave, no," replied Richon; "it's impossible."
"The deuce! so you too propose to sup alone, like the young gentleman
upstairs?"
"What gentleman?"
"The one upstairs, I say."
"What's his name?"
"Vicomte de Cambes."
"Oho! you know the viscount, do you?"
"_Pardieu!_ he saved my life."
"He?"
"Yes, he."
"How was that?"
"Sup with me, and I'll tell you the whole story during supper."
"I cannot; I am to sup with him."
"Ah! yes; he is awaiting some one."
"Myself; and as I am late, you will allow me to leave you, will you
not, baron?"
"_Sacrebleu!_ no, I will not allow it!" cried Canolles. "I have taken
it into my head that I will sup in company, and you will sup with me or
I with you. Master Biscarros, two covers!"
But while Canolles turned his back to see if the order was executed,
Richon darted rapidly up the staircase. When he reached the top stair
a little hand met his and drew him into the viscount's room, the door
of which immediately closed behind him, and was locked and bolted for
greater security.
"In very truth," muttered Canolles, looking about in vain for Richon,
and seating himself at his solitary table, "in very truth, I don't
know what the people of this cursed country have against me; some of
them run after me to kill me, and others avoid me as if I had the
plague. _Corbleu!_ my appetite is vanishing; I feel that I am growing
melancholy, and I am capable of getting as drunk as a lansquenet
to-night. Holé! Castorin, come here and be thrashed. Why, they are
locking themselves in up there as if they were conspiring. Double
calf that I am! of course they are conspiring; that's just it, and
it explains everything. The next question is, in whose interest are
they conspiring?--the coadjutor's? the princes'? the parliament's? the
king's? the queen's? Monsieur de Mazarin's? 'Faith, they may conspire
against any one they choose, it's all the same to me; and my appetite
has returned. Castorin, order up my supper, and give me some wine; I
forgive you."
Thereupon Canolles philosophically attacked the first supper that
was prepared for the Vicomte de Cambes, which Master Biscarros was
compelled to serve up to him, warmed over, for lack of supplies.