THE LOST SHEEP
On the first of January, 1728, my master again took up his abode in
his old quarters at the palace of the Luxembourg.
And how did he employ himself? Chiefly with _amusettes_, as far as I
know. This answer I have made many thousands of times. I always have
to explain what _amusettes_ are. They are not young ladies of the
ballet, or anything of the sort, but very complete military toys, with
which many scientific experiments may be made. Count Saxe was the
first man to do this, and he had whole cabinets full of small brass
cannon, and toy arms of every description, with which he made useful
and serious improvements. And these toys were his _amusettes_. But was
that all he did? For I have been asked that also many times. Well, he
studied much--more out of books than was commonly thought; and he went
often to the theater, and only occasionally to court, albeit the king
doted on him so far as Louis XV could dote on any man. Philippe de
Comines has said that there is but one thing more severe on a man than
the favor of kings, and that is their enmity. This is a great truth,
and my master acknowledged it when I read it out of the book of
Philippe de Comines.
The king would not let Count Saxe out of France except with extreme
reluctance, and for short periods; but kept him, for five mortal
years, standing, as Count Saxe said, like an equestrian statue, with
one foot always uplifted to march, but never marching. Now, if any one
wishes to know what else Count Saxe was doing during those five long
years, let him ask some one who knew him better and was more in his
company than Babache, his captain of the body-guard of Uhlans. I swear
I knew nothing on earth of anything concerning Count Saxe, except what
is put down in this book. I know that the women ran after him enough
to drive him to drink, had he been so inclined. How much attention
Count Saxe paid them in return I have not the slightest notion, and I
never was the man to pretend to know what I did not know.
In January of 1728 Gaston Cheverny joined us. We had scarcely
established ourselves in our old quarters at the Luxembourg, when one
evening, while the snow lay deep on the streets of Paris, the door to
my room, next Count Saxe's, burst open, and Gaston Cheverny, gay and
bold, dashed in.
I was rejoiced to see him again, and only grumbled that he had not
arrived before to aid me in many troublesome matters, like that of
providing an equipage for Count Saxe at a night's notice; but he took
my rating with laughter. The evening was cold, and a fire blazed upon
the hearth, before which Gaston stretched his legs and pulled off his
boots, replacing them with fine shoes of Spanish leather. We had only
been separated four weeks, but we had many questions to ask of each
other. Gaston, as a soldier, was eager to know of Count Saxe's plans.
I told him of the project to buy the regiment of Spar, which was
shortly after carried through, and of the king's evident determination
to keep Count Saxe in his service.
"Good!" cried Gaston; "I knew I made no mistake when I cast my
fortunes with Count Saxe. Let but the drum beat on the Rhine, in the
Pyrenees, or in Savoy, and we shall be on the march within twenty-four
hours."
Such is the way ardent young men talk.
Then I asked what had been burning on my tongue ever since he entered
the room. What of the ladies at the chateau of Capello--meaning
Francezka, but naming Madame Riano first.
"Madame Riano is the same Peggy Kirkpatrick. The warfare between her
and the Bishop of Louvain is grown more bloody and desperate than
ever. Quarter is neither asked nor given. Madame Riano has told the
story of the bishop being near frightened out of his wits by the
burning out of a chimney, and declares he was so panic-stricken he had
to take to his bed that minute. The bishop preaches openly at Madame
Riano, doing everything but calling her by name from the pulpit."
And then I spoke the word both of us had longed to hear.
"And Mademoiselle Capello?"
It was as if the sun had blazed out of twilight, Gaston Cheverny's
face glowed so.
"She is in great beauty, perfect health and happiness. She desired me
to ask of you not to forget her; that she remembered you daily."
So did I remember her daily.
"And you have gone away and left the field to your brother and rival?"
I said.
"Babache," replied Gaston, coming and sitting on the arm of my chair,
his arm about my neck, "the afternoon before I left I sat with
Francezka--I call her that to you, but to no other man--I sat with
Francezka in the Italian garden at the foot of Petrarch's statue. I
had a volume of Petrarch, and read to her that sonnet from the poet's
heart beginning:
Sweet bird, that singest on thy airy way.
"I had often read it to her in that spot--and I reminded her that
it was the last, last time for long--perhaps forever--that we should
sit in that place and read that book of enchantment together,
when--Babache, will you promise me on your sword never to breathe
what I tell you?"
I promised; lovers can not keep their own secrets, but expect others
to do it.
"When I had finished reading the sonnet, Francezka remained silent. I
looked at her, and the big, beautiful tears were dropping upon her
cheeks. Babache, can you imagine the exquisite rapturous pain of
seeing the woman you love weeping at the thought of parting from
you?"
He got up and walked about the room, and sat down, this time opposite
me.
"You understand, Babache, she is not yet quite seventeen. In another
year she will be her own mistress; but I think she regards as sacred
her father's injunction not to marry for two years after her majority.
Nay, I believe she wants those two years of freedom. All this does not
frighten me--but--her fortune will be very great, and that frightens
me. Mine is but small. Had we but succeeded in Courland! If I could
but give her glory in exchange for wealth. And--Babache--the kindness
of her eyes--those tears were for me--" he got up again and walked
about frantically, like your young lover. I saw he was not really very
miserable, but had persuaded himself that he was.
"You will not find many men balking at her fortune," said I. "And
remember: Mademoiselle Capello is in danger of sharing the usual
wretched fate of heiresses, to be sold like a slave in the market.
You, at least, love her."
"Love her--" he pranced about wildly, protesting his love. He was but
two and twenty, after all; but under this effervescence, I saw a deep
and true passion that possessed him body and soul.
Presently he calmed himself and talked seriously of Francezka. I had
no doubt, although he preserved a manly modesty about it, that
Francezka, impetuous like himself, wilful, proud, but loving, had
given him much greater encouragement than a tear or two at his reading
a sonnet of Petrarch's to her. But with that strain of sober sense,
and that mastery of the will which I had so often noticed in
Francezka's wildest dreams, and which I always attributed to her
Scotch blood, she meant not to throw away her liberty rashly. She
might lap her soul in Elysium, and dream dreams, and entertain love
with magnificence, but she always knew where her footing was, and what
she actually did would not be waited on by repentance.
Then I made inquiry about Regnard Cheverny.
"My brother, I think, has made up his mind to take service with the
Austrians under Prince Eugene, and I believe he will in time become an
Austrian. He is still at Castle Haret, and Jacques Haret--ah, the
scoundrel! I can scarcely tell you without swearing of his latest
villainy. Lisa--poor old Peter's niece--"
"Has he carried off the old man's one ewe lamb?" I cried.
"Yes--that poor, submissive girl."
Of all the villainies I had ever known up to that time, this of
Jacques Haret seemed to me the worst. I had seen the seamy side of
human nature often--too often. I had seen the rapine of camps, the
iniquities of a great city; but this action of Jacques Haret's shone
hideous alongside all I had ever known.
Gaston Cheverny continued, his wrath and disgust speaking in his face
and voice.
"I wondered why Jacques Haret should remain in Brabant. I allowed him
to stay at my house--may God forgive me! I thought he could not find
much evil to his hand; but it seems, like Satan's darling, as he is,
he made evil. For the girl was perfectly correct until he met her, and
there was not the slightest suspicion of any wrong-doing until, one
morning, less than a fortnight ago, when old Peter arose, he found she
had gone. He ran at once to my house, having had, I fancy, some latent
fear of Jacques Haret. I was wakened from sleep in the wintry dawn by
the sound of the old man's crying and moaning at my door. He had gone
to Jacques Haret's room and found he had decamped.
"I opened the door, and there stood the old man--he would have fallen
but that I held him up. He could utter but one name, the tears
meanwhile drenching his poor, wrinkled face:
"'Lisa! Lisa! My little Lisa!'
"Some intuition came to me. I said:
"'And Jacques Haret?'
"The old man nodded, and then fell against the doorpost. I asked if
anything could be done. I would myself with pistols pursue Jacques
Haret if required. I was likewise enraged on my own account that so
vile a use should have been made of my hospitality.
"'Nothing can be done,' replied the old man, in a terrible voice--terrible
because of its echo of despair. 'It is I--I who am to blame. All said
that my other two nieces were bad--that they, and not I, were to
blame--but now it is proved that it is I who should be judged. I made
Monsieur Jacques welcome in my poor house. I made Lisa tend him. Now who,
knowing his power over a poor and ignorant girl like my Lisa, can fail to
see that it is I--I--who am the great sinner. I made the temptation for
them--if Lisa's soul is lost, it is I who should be everlastingly
punished.'
"What could one say to that, from a broken-hearted poor old creature?
However, I promised him and myself, too, that if ever I met Jacques
Haret, if it were at the gates of hell, or if it were in the presence
of St. Peter, I would have one good blow at him. Then the old man's
grief took on the aspect of strong despair. I walked with him through
the fields to the chateau of Capello, for he was not really able to go
alone. When we reached the terrace, there was Mademoiselle Capello.
She was ever an early riser. She ran toward us, and Peter uttered but
two words, 'Jacques Haret--my Lisa,' and all was known. Mademoiselle
Capello put her arm about the old man's neck--yes, the faithful old
serving-man was embraced by that tender, loving heart.
"'Dear Peter,' she said, 'Lisa will come back--she will repent--doubt
not that--and she shall be welcomed as the lost sheep who was found by
the Good Shepherd, and restored to the sheepfold. But, for Jacques
Haret, there shall be no mercy. Peter, I declare to you, I feel strong
enough at this moment to fly at Jacques Haret's throat and strangle
him--and do God service thereby.'
"'Mademoiselle,' said I, 'command me. This old man is not the only
person Jacques Haret has injured. I, too, have a mortal injury to
avenge--for he was my guest.'
"'Avenge it, then,' she said, her eyes sparkling--'vengeance is mine,
saith the Lord--but I take it, God selects His instruments from among
men. And I shall also ask that Captain Babache keep an eye open for
that wicked man--'"
"I will," I interrupted.
"'And it shall go hard if he be not punished,' she said.
"When Madame Riano heard of it she was for mounting a-horseback and
going in search of Jacques Haret. One thing, however, we may
reasonably count on--that Jacques Haret shall one day pay for this."
"Undoubtedly," I replied.
We spoke more on this melancholy business, and talked on other things,
and then Gaston Cheverny went to pay his respects to Count Saxe in his
room; but Count Saxe was out--gone in pursuit of knowledge and virtue,
I fancy.
In that month of January began a life of tedium for us which had few
mitigations. A young man, like Gaston Cheverny, full of spirit but
with little money, was under many disabilities at Paris. His wit and
fine person made him to be sought after by those who knew him already,
but he was not by nature a carpet knight. No soldier of Hannibal
enjoyed Mantua more than Gaston Cheverny would have enjoyed Paris in
winter after a summer's campaigning; but to sit, kicking his heels day
after day, was irksome to him. Being a proud man, it did not please
him to expose the smallness of his fortune when it could be helped, so
he, with me, lived a life which we often compared to that of the monks
of La Trappe. We read much--Gaston, in especial I believe, mastered by
heart every poem on love printed in the French language and many in
the Italian, Spanish and English languages. He likewise achieved a
great number of songs, and actually composed some himself; but of
these last, I have heard better, I must acknowledge.
The Hotel Kirkpatrick was unoccupied and closed, the entrances and
windows boarded up. There was no talk during all that year of Madame
Riano and Mademoiselle Capello returning to Paris. I heard often of
them through persons passing from Brussels to Paris. Mademoiselle
Capello, out of her abundant kindness, often sent me messages of
good-will--nay, even a pair of gloves wrought with her own hand--a
favor I never heard of her doing to any gentleman; for she was chary
of her favors to the great. She told me, years afterward, that
standing so much alone in the world as she was, and the hunted of
fortune seekers, from the first she ever relied upon me as one of her
truest friends. And she was justified.
Gaston Cheverny kept up a constant correspondence with his brother,
for never at any time did their rivalry for Francezka seem to
interrupt the brotherly intercourse between the two Chevernys. They
were very far from being Mademoiselle Capello's only suitors, that I
knew. Gentlemen went in search of her and her fortune, from Paris,
from Brussels, even from London and Vienna; but all came back
chopfallen.
So crept away the winter, the spring, the summer, the autumn. And so
went another year, and 1730 dawned, a year memorable for the loss of
Mademoiselle Lecouvreur. She, too, showed me a condescension beautiful
and worthy of her. She did not lack for friends among the greatest
during her fading away. Besides my master and Monsieur Voltaire, was
my Lord Peterborough, a great, tall devil of an Englishman, with a
head on his shoulders and a heart in his bosom, who made some fine
campaigns in Spain. Count Saxe and Monsieur Voltaire had a tacit
agreement to visit Mademoiselle Lecouvreur on different days, although
I believe the sense that she would soon be lost to both of them
softened their feelings one to the other. All this time Mademoiselle
Lecouvreur could still act, three times a week; but when she was not
at the theater she was usually in her bed--and always patient, gentle
and smiling. She had not always been so patient. I have been told
that, her sister once impudently demanding money of her, Mademoiselle
Lecouvreur threw both shoes at her. But as some one has said, "Death
lights up a terrible flambeau in which the aspect of all things is
changed."
Great crowds attended all of Mademoiselle Lecouvreur's performances at
the Theatre Francais; and in spite of her weakness, the fire of genius
carried her through her parts with a supernatural strength. When it
was over, though, she was no more the great artist, but poor, ailing,
dying Adrienne Lecouvreur. On the days when she lay on her couch in
her chamber, she was sometimes kind enough to ask for me. When I would
go in I would be asked to take a chair within the _ruelle_ and she
would talk to me with her old kindness. Often her mind went back to
her childhood days; for this woman was far above the paltriness of
being ashamed of her origin, as Monsieur Voltaire was. She once said
to me, Count Saxe sitting by:
"Babache, how merry we were as children--though we were often ragged,
and I, for one, had not always as much as I would have liked to eat.
But we were not troubled with governesses or masters, were we,
Babache?" She laughed as she said this, her beautiful tired eyes
lighting up.
"Indeed we were not, Mademoiselle, and I believe the children of the
poor are, in general, happier than the children of the rich," I
answered.
Count Saxe, a king's son, who had been brought up at court, listened
to the recitals of us, the children of the poor, and I believe,
learned some things he had not known before.
Not even Mademoiselle Lecouvreur's sad situation could disarm the
jealousy of the women who envied her Count Saxe's devotion. There was
one of them, the Duchesse de Bouillon, who, like Jacques Haret, was
one of the devil's darlings, and kept shop for him. Every night that
Mademoiselle Lecouvreur acted, during that last winter, Madame de
Bouillon was present blazing with jewels, and with the air of gloating
over the great artist who was already serenely looking into the quiet
land. This duchess was a handsome creature, and a Circe; she turned
men into beasts.
Whenever Mademoiselle Lecouvreur played, there was always a great
attendance of her friends--although for that matter, all Paris was her
friend. It was amazing how this woman's spirit mastered her body. When
she would be carried to and from her coach, tottering as she stepped
upon the stage, the very first sight of the sea of sympathizing faces,
the roar of many approving voices, seemed to pour life into her veins.
She would become erect and smiling--at once Art and Genius appeared
like sustaining angels to her--and she would resume her power as a
queen assumes her scepter.
Toward the end of February it was plain she was going fast. Monsieur
Voltaire and Count Saxe were with her every day, now only choosing
separate hours for their visits. One mild March evening, at the door
of her house in the Marais, I met Count Saxe coming out. He had a
strange look on his face. I asked if Mademoiselle Lecouvreur would be
able to act that night.
"No," he said. "She will act no more."
He passed on, without another word. I noticed how pale he was. He
walked to the corner of the street, where a splendid coach was
waiting--Madame de Bouillon's coach. That woman watched for him and
waylaid him on his way from Adrienne's house.
I turned and walked away. The night was bright and mild, and the stars
were out. A short distance off, I came face to face with Monsieur
Voltaire. I had never liked this man, but in one aspect, and that was
his earnest devotion to Mademoiselle Lecouvreur. Something like
sympathy made me stop him and say to him that Mademoiselle Lecouvreur
would not act that night--nor any more I feared.
He gazed at me with those black, burning eyes of his, and then as if
speaking to himself, repeated those lines of Ronsard's about Mary
Stuart:
Elle etait de ce monde ou les plus belles choses
Ont le pire destin;
Et, rose, elle a vecu ce que vivent les roses,
L'espace d'un matin.
His voice was music when he spoke these words, for he felt them. I
remained silent, and, after a while, he turned to me and taking me by
the arm, said:
"Babache, you are an honest man. Come with me."