A SNARE.
The next day, about seven o'clock in the morning, at the time when the
king rose, an usher entered his majesty's room and announced that his
royal highness, Monseigneur le Duc d'Orleans, solicited the honor of
assisting at his toilet. Louis XV., who was not yet accustomed to decide
anything for himself, turned toward Monsieur de Frejus, who was seated
in the least conspicuous corner of the room, as if to ask what he should
say; and to this mute question Monsieur de Frejus not only made a sign
with his head signifying that it was necessary to receive his royal
highness, but rose and went himself to open the door. The regent stopped
a minute on the doorstep to thank Fleury, then having assured himself by
a rapid glance round the room that the Marshal de Villeroy had not yet
arrived, he advanced toward the king.
Louis XV. was at this time a pretty child of nine or ten years of age,
with long chestnut hair, jet-black eyes, and a mouth like a cherry, and
a rosy complexion like that of his mother, Mary of Savoy, duchesse de
Burgundy, but which was liable to sudden paleness. Although his
character was already very irresolute, thanks to the contradictory
influences of the double government of the Marshal de Villeroy and
Monsieur de Frejus, he had something ardent in his face which stamped
him as the great-grandson of Louis XIV.; and he had a trick of putting
on his hat like him. At first, warned against the Duc d'Orleans as the
man in all France from whom he had most to fear, he had felt that
prejudice yield little by little during the interviews which they had
had together, in which, with that juvenile instinct which so rarely
deceives children, he had recognized a friend.
On his part, it must be said that the Duc d'Orleans had for the king,
beside the respect which was his due, a love the most attentive and the
most tender. The little business which could be submitted to his young
mind he always presented to him with so much clearness and talent, that
politics, which would have been wearisome with any one else, became a
recreation when pursued with him, so that the royal child always saw his
arrival with pleasure. It must be confessed that this work was almost
always rewarded by the most beautiful toys which could be found, and
which Dubois, in order to pay his court to the king, imported from
Germany and England. His majesty therefore received the regent with his
sweetest smile, and gave him his little hand to kiss with a peculiar
grace, while the archbishop of Frejus, faithful to his system of
humility, had sat down in the same corner where he had been surprised by
the arrival of the regent.
"I am very glad to see you, monsieur," said Louis XV. in a sweet little
voice, from which even the etiquette which they imposed upon him could
not entirely take away all grace; "and all the more glad to see you from
its not being your usual hour. I presume that you have some good news to
tell me."
"Two pieces, sire," answered the regent; "the first is, that I have just
received from Nuremberg a chest which seems to me to contain--"
"Oh, toys! lots of toys! does it not, Monsieur le Regent?" cried the
king, dancing joyously, and clapping his hands, regardless of his
valet-de-chambre who was waiting for him, and holding the little sword
with a cut-steel handle which he was going to hang in the king's belt.
"Oh, the dear toys! the beautiful toys! how kind you are! Oh! how I love
you, Monsieur le Regent!"
"Sire, I only do my duty," answered the Duc d'Orleans, bowing
respectfully, "and you owe me no thanks for that."
"And where is it, monsieur? Where is this pretty chest?"
"In my apartments, sire; and if your majesty wishes it brought here, I
will send it during the course of the day, or to-morrow morning."
"Oh! no; now, monsieur; now, I beg."
"But it is at my apartments."
"Well, let us go to your apartments," cried the child, running to the
door, and forgetting that he wanted, in order to complete his toilet,
his little sword, his little satin jacket, and his cordon-bleu.
"Sire," said Frejus, advancing, "I would remark that your majesty
abandons yourself too entirely to the pleasure caused by the possession
of things that you should already regard as trifles."
"Yes, monsieur; yes, you are right," said Louis XV., making an effort to
control himself; "but you must pardon me; I am only ten years old, and I
worked hard yesterday."
"That is true," said Monsieur de Frejus; "and so your majesty will
employ yourself with the toys when you have asked Monsieur le Regent
what the other piece of news which he came to bring you is."
"Ah! yes. By-the-by, what is the second affair?"
"A work which will be profitable to France, and which is of so much
importance that I think it most necessary to submit it to your majesty."
"Have you it here?" asked the king.
"No, sire; I did not expect to find your majesty so well inclined to
work, and I left it in my study."
"Well," said Louis XV., turning half toward Monsieur de Frejus, half
toward the regent, and looking at both of them with an imploring eye,
"cannot we reconcile all that? Instead of taking my morning walk, I will
go and see these beautiful Nuremberg toys, and when we have seen them we
will pass into your study and work."
"It is against etiquette, sire," answered the regent, "but if your
majesty wishes it--"
"Oh, I do wish it! That is," added he, turning and looking at Frejus so
sweetly that there was no resisting it, "if my good preceptor permits
it."
"Does Monsieur de Frejus see anything wrong in it?" said the regent,
turning toward Fleury, and pronouncing these words with an accent which
showed that the preceptor would wound him deeply by refusing the
request which his royal pupil made him.
"No, monseigneur," said Frejus; "quite the contrary. It is well that his
majesty should accustom himself to work; and if the laws of etiquette
are a little violated, that violation will bring about a happy result
for the people. I only ask of monseigneur the permission to accompany
his majesty."
"Certainly, monsieur," said the regent, "with the greatest pleasure."
"Oh, how good! how kind!" cried Louis XV. "Quick! my sword, my jacket,
my cordon-bleu. Here I am, Monsieur le Regent;" and he advanced to take
the regent's hand. But instead of allowing that familiarity, the regent
bowed, and, opening the door, signed to the king to precede him,
following three or four paces behind, hat in hand, together with Frejus.
The king's apartments, situated on the ground floor, were level with
those of the Duc d'Orleans, and were only separated by an antechamber,
opening into the king's rooms, and a gallery leading from thence to the
antechamber of the regent. The distance was short, therefore, and--as
the king was in haste to arrive--they found themselves in an instant in
a large study, lighted by four windows, all forming doors, which opened
into the garden. This large study led to a smaller one, where the regent
generally worked, and where he brought his most intimate friends and his
favorites. All his highness's court was in attendance--a very natural
circumstance, since it was the hour for rising. The king, however, did
not notice either Monsieur d'Artagnan, captain of the Gray Musketeers,
or the Marquis de Lafare, captain of the Guards, or a very considerable
number of the Light Horse, who were drawn up outside the windows. It is
true that on a table in the middle of the room, he had seen the welcome
chest, whose monstrous size had, in spite of the chilling exhortation of
Monsieur de Frejus, caused him to give a cry of joy.
However, he was obliged to contain himself, and receive the homage of
Monsieur d'Artagnan and Monsieur de Lafare; meanwhile the regent had
called two valets-de-chambre, who quickly opened the lid, and displayed
the most splendid collection of toys which had ever dazzled the eyes of
a king of nine years old. At this tempting sight, the king forgot alike
perceptor, guards, and Gray Musketeers. He hastened toward this paradise
which was opened to him, and, as from an inexhaustible mine, he drew out
successively locks, three-deckers, squadrons of cavalry, battalions of
infantry, pedlars with their packs, jugglers with their cups; in fact,
all those wonders, which, on Christmas eve, turn the heads of all
children beyond the Rhine; and that, with such undisguised transports of
joy, that Monsieur de Frejus himself respected his royal pupil's
happiness. The assistants watched him with that religious silence which
surrounds great griefs or great joys. While this silence was the most
profound, a violent noise was heard in the antechamber, the door was
opened, an usher announced the Duke de Villeroy, and the marshal
appeared, loudly demanding to see the king. As they were, however,
accustomed to such proceedings, the regent merely pointed to his
majesty, who was still continuing to empty the chest, covering the
furniture and floor with the splendid toys.
The marshal had nothing to say; he was nearly an hour late; the king was
with Monsieur Frejus, but he approached him, grumbling, and throwing
round him glances, which appeared to say that he was there ready to
protect his majesty from all danger.
The regent exchanged glances with D'Artagnan and Lafare; every thing
went well.
The chest was emptied--and, after having allowed the king to enjoy for
an instant the sight of all his treasures--the regent approached him,
and, still hat in hand, recalled to his mind the promise he had made to
devote an hour to the consideration of State affairs.
Louis XV., with that scrupulousness which afterward led him to declare
that punctuality was the politeness of kings, threw a last glance over
his toys; and then merely asking permission to have them removed to his
apartments, advanced toward the little study, and the regent opened the
door. Then, according to their different characters, Monsieur de Fleury,
under pretext of his dislike of politics, drew back, and sat down in a
corner, while the marshal darted forward, and, seeing the king enter the
study tried to follow him. This was the moment that the regent had
impatiently expected.
"Pardon, marshal," said he, barring the passage; "but I wish to speak to
his majesty on affairs which demand the most absolute secrecy, and
therefore I beg for a short tete-a-tete."
"Tete-a-tete!" cried Villeroy; "you know, monseigneur, that it is
impossible."
"And why impossible?" asked the regent, calmly.
"Because, as governor to his majesty, I have the right of accompanying
him everywhere."
"In the first place, monsieur," replied the regent, "this right does not
appear to me to rest on any very positive proof, and if I have till now
tolerated--not this right, but this pretension--it is because the age of
the king has hitherto rendered it unimportant; but now that his majesty
has nearly completed his tenth year, and that I am permitted to commence
instructing him on the science of government, in which I am his
appointed preceptor, you will see that it is quite right that I, as well
as Monsieur de Frejus and yourself, should be allowed some hours of
tete-a-tete with his majesty. This will be less painful to you to grant,
marshal," added the regent, with a smile, the expression of which it was
impossible to mistake, "because, having studied these matters so much
yourself, it is impossible that you can have anything left to learn."
"But, monsieur," said the marshal, as usual forgetting his politeness as
he became warm, "I beg to remind you that the king is my pupil."
"I know it, monsieur," said the regent, in the same tone; "make of his
majesty a great captain, I do not wish to prevent you. Your campaigns in
Italy and Flanders prove that he could not have a better master; but,
at this moment it is not a question of military science, but of a State
secret, which can only be confided to his majesty; therefore, again I
beg to speak to the king in private."
"Impossible, monseigneur!" cried the marshal.
"Impossible!" replied the regent; "and why?"
"Why?" continued the marshal; "because my duty is not to lose sight of
the king for a moment, and because I will not permit it."
"Take care, marshal," interrupted the Duc d'Orleans, haughtily: "you are
forgetting your proper respect toward me."
"Monseigneur," continued the marshal, becoming more and more angry, "I
know the respect which I owe to your royal highness, and I also know
what I owe to my charge, and to the king, and for that reason I will not
lose sight of his majesty for an instant, inasmuch as--"
The duke hesitated.
"Well, finish," said the regent.
"Inasmuch as I answer for his person," said the marshal.
At this want of all restraint, there was a moment's silence, during
which nothing was heard but the grumblings of the marshal, and the
stifled sighs of Monsieur de Fleury.
As to the Duc d'Orleans, he raised his head with a sovereign air of
contempt, and, taking that air of dignity which made him, when he chose,
one of the most imposing princes in the world:
"Monsieur de Villeroy," said he, "you mistake me strangely, it appears,
and imagine that you are speaking to some one else; but since you forget
who I am, I must endeavor to remind you. Marquis de Lafare," continued
he, addressing his captain of the guards, "do your duty."
Then the Marshal de Villeroy, seeing on what a precipice he stood,
opened his mouth to attempt an excuse, but the regent left him no time
to finish his sentence, and shut the door in his face.
The Marquis de Lafare instantly approached the marshal, and demanded
his sword. The marshal remained for an instant as if thunderstruck. He
had for so long a time been left undisturbed in his impertinence that he
had begun to think himself invincible. He tried to speak, but his voice
failed him, and, on the second, and still more imperative demand, he
gave up his sword. At the same moment a door opens, and a chair appears;
two musketeers push the marshal into it--it is closed. D'Artagnan and
Lafare place themselves at each side, and the prisoner is carried off
through the gardens. The Light Horse follow, and, at a considerable and
increasing speed they descend the staircase, turn to the left, and enter
the orangery. There the suite remain, and the chair, its porters, and
tenant, enter a second room, accompanied only by Lafare and D'Artagnan.
The marshal, who had never been remarkable for sang-froid, thought
himself lost.
"Gentlemen," cried he, turning pale, while perspiration and powder ran
down his face, "I hope I am not going to be assassinated!"
"No, no, make yourself easy," said Lafare, while D'Artagnan could not
help laughing at his ridiculous figure--"something much more simple, and
infinitely less tragic."
"What is it, then?" asked the marshal, whom this assurance rendered a
little more easy.
"There are two letters, monsieur, which you were to have given to the
king this morning, and which you must have in one of your pockets."
The marshal, who, till that moment, in his anxiety about himself, had
forgotten Madame de Maine's affairs, started, and raised his hands to
the pocket where the letters were.
"Your pardon," said D'Artagnan, stopping his hand, "but we are
authorized to inform you--in case you should feel inclined to remove
these letters--that the regent has copies of them."
"I may add," said Lafare, "that we are authorized to take them by force,
and are absolved in advance from all accidents that may happen in such a
struggle."
"And you assure me," said the marshal, "that the regent has copies of
these letters?"
"On my word of honor," said D'Artagnan.
"In this case," replied Villeroy, "I do not see why I should prevent you
from taking these letters, which do not regard me in the least, and
which I undertook to deliver to oblige others."
"We know it," said Lafare.
"But," added the marshal, "I hope you will inform his royal highness of
the ease with which I submitted to his orders, and of my regret for
having offended him."
"Do not doubt it; all will be reported as it has passed. But these
letters?"
"Here they are, monsieur," said the marshal, giving two letters to
Lafare.
Lafare assured himself by the seals that they were really the letters he
was in search of. "My dear D'Artagnan," said he, "now conduct the
marshal to his destination, and give orders, in the name of the regent,
that he is to be treated with every respect."
The chair was closed, and the porters carried it off. At the gate of the
gardens a carriage with six horses was waiting, in which they placed the
marshal, who now began to suspect the trap which had been laid for him.
D'Artagnan seated himself by him, an officer of musketeers and Du
Libois, one of the king's gentlemen, opposite; and with twenty
musketeers at each side, and twelve following, the carriage set off at a
gallop. Meanwhile, the Marquis of Lafare returned to the chateau with
the two letters in his hand.