A ROYAL SUMMONS.
"La plus cruelle de toutes les voies par laquelle le roi fut
instruit bien des annees fut celle de l'ouverture des
lettres. Il est incroyable combien des gens de toutes les
sortes en fureut plus ou moins perdus."
_St. Simon._
A fortnight before St. Georges had set out upon his long and, as it
had already proved, hazardous ride from Pontarlier to Paris, four men
were busily employed in a small, neatly furnished _cabinet_ at
Versailles--a little apartment that partook more of the appearance of
a bureau, or office, than aught else.
Two were seated at a table facing each other; behind each of these was
one of the others, who handed them papers rapidly drawn from
portfolios which they carried. Of the men who were seated, the one
with his hat on and wearing a costume of brown velvet--because already
the days were very cold--was Louis the Fourteenth; the other, whose
manner was extremely rough and coarse--indeed brutal, except when
addressing the king himself--was Louvois, the Minister of War,
ostensibly, but in reality the one minister who had his fingers in all
the business of the state. Those standing behind each of the others
were Pajot and Rouillier, who farmed the postal service from the
crown.
"_Finissons_," said Louis, in the low clear voice that expressed,
according to all reports, more authority than even the trumpet tones
of many of his great commanders--"_finissons_. The morning wears away.
What remains to be done?" Then in a rich murmur he said: "It has not
been too interesting to-day. My subjects are losing the art of
letter-writing."
On the table there lay five large portfolios bound in purple leather
and impressed with a crown and the letters L. R. Also upon each was
stamped a description of its contents. On one was inscribed, in French
of course, "Letters opened at the Post"; another "Conduct of Princes
and Lords"; a third bore upon it "Private Life of Bishops and
Prelates"; a fourth, "Private Life of Ecclesiastics"; and the fifth,
"Report of the Lieutenant of the Police."
Furnished thus with these five reports, which reached his august hands
and were inspected weekly by his august eyes, Louis considered that
the whole of his subjects' existences were, if not known to him, at
least very likely at some period or other to come under his
supervision. What he did not know, however, was that Louvois, who was
the originator of the odious system of opening letters sent through
the post, did not always show to him those epistles which came first
into his own hands. Therefore in this case, as in many others before
and after the days of Louis _le Dieudonne_, the valet was a greater
man than his master.
It was the case now--as it had often been!--the king had seen some
threescore letters marked with the senders' names or initials; and
there was one he had not seen.
He seemed a little weary this morning--nay, had he not been so great a
king, as well as a man who had almost every impulse under control, it
would almost have appeared that he was a little irritated at the
contents of the first portfolio, that one inscribed "Letters opened at
the Post." "For," he continued, after descanting on the art of
letter-writing which his subjects appeared to have lost, "the
responsibility given to the masters of our royal post seems to me, my
good Louvois, to be greater than their minds--provincial in most
cases--appear able to sustain. They mark letters from the local
seigneurs as worthy of perusal by us in Paris ere being forwarded to
their destination, which, in truth, are barren of interest. To wit,"
he went on, with that delicate irony for which he was noted, "we have
opened fifty-five letters, and in not one of them is there the
slightest hint of even murmuring against our royal authority, no
suggestion of resisting our, or the seigniorial, imposts, not even the
faintest suggestion of an attack against our royal person. They are
harmless, and consequently wearisome."
"I regret," replied Louvois, softening his raucous voice to the tones
absolutely necessary when addressing Louis, "that your Majesty finds
the system so barren of interest. But, I may with all deference
suggest, perhaps, that it has one gratifying result. All these letters
are from the most important persons among your Majesty's subjects, yet
there is, as your Majesty observes, no one word hostile to your rule
or sacred person. The system--my system--testifies at least to that
agreeable fact."
"Yes," replied the king, in the calm, unruffled voice, "it testifies
to that. You are right. What else is there to do?"
"But little, your Majesty. Yet, with your permission, something. May I
also suggest that Monsieur Pajot and the Vicomte de Rouillier may
retire?"
Louis signified by a bend of his head that they might do so, whereon
the two "farmers," after profound obeisances, left the room, and the
king and his minister again applied themselves to the work before
them.
It was of a multifarious nature, since it dealt with the contents of
each of the portfolios, exclusive of the first--the one whose contents
had been so barren of interest to the king, and which contents would
never now arrive at their destination in spite of his Majesty's remark
about their being forwarded on. For, since the seals and thread had
necessarily to be broken ere those contents could be perused, it would
be impossible to send them on to those to whom they were addressed.
But what became of them instead, probably Louvois only knew. It may be
that they were put away carefully, to be brought out years afterward,
if needed, and when their present harmless contents might, in the
movement of time, have altered their nature and have become, if not
damning, at least compromising.
Taking up the second portfolio, marked "Conduct of Princes and Lords,"
Louvois extracted one paper and read out briefly: "The young Count de
Quince has eloped with Mademoiselle le Brun, daughter of a rich mercer
in Guise. Her brother, attempting to stop the carriage in which they
were setting out for Paris, was slain by the count's body-servant."
After reading which, Louvois looked up at his master.
"Write," said Louis in reply, "that De Quince is not to enter Paris.
He is to be arrested at the gate and taken to the Bastille. There he
will be judged. Proceed."
Selecting from the third portfolio two papers, Louvois went on: "The
Bishop of Beauvais referred in a sermon, delivered three weeks ago, to
the birth of Madame de Maintenon in the prison of Niort, and pointed a
moral as to how----"
"One may rise by good works," interrupted the king. "The bishop is
indiscreet, but truthful. Let it pass. Proceed."
"The Grand Prior of Chavagnac entertains daily in Paris many
courtesans at his table."
"Write that he retires at once to his priory. If he refuses, arrest
him and bring him before me. Above all, the Church must be kept pure.
Continue."
The work was done, however, since Louvois informed the king that the
contents of the fourth and fifth portfolios scarcely needed his
attention. Yet, since he knew that Louis would not be satisfied
without himself seeing the reports which they contained, he rose, and,
bringing each in its turn to the king, placed it before him.
"So," his Majesty said, when he had glanced at them, "our morning's
work is done and easily done. The reports are meagre, and, in the
latter cases, deal with persons better left to the magistrates. Now,"
as a clock above the mantelpiece struck eleven, "I am expected," and
he rose from the table as though to depart.
"There are a few papers requiring your Majesty's signature," the
minister said, "though none of great importance. Will your Majesty
please to sign?"
"Let me see them," and, as before, the papers were placed before the
king for him to read ere affixing his signature.
He glanced at each ere he did so, but, since he already knew their
purport, made no remark as he signed, until, at last, he came to one
addressed to "Monsieur Georges St. Georges, Lieutenant des
Chevaux-Legers de Nivernois, en garnison a Pontarlier," when he
stopped and began to read it all through; while Louvois, pretending to
be busy at some other papers, watched him stealthily from under his
eyebrows.
"Georges St. Georges," he said at last--"Georges St. Georges--I recall
the name and that I ordered this letter to be prepared last week.
Repeat the circumstances."
"Your Majesty will remember that this gentleman's commission was
obtained from you by the late Duc de Vannes, and that you ordered me
to watch his career, and, when the time came, to recommend him to you
for promotion, should he have proved himself worthy of it."
"I remember, although it was some time ago. And also that a month or
so ago you told me the time had come for such promotion, and that,
therefore, he should be ordered to come to Paris. But, my good
Louvois, you have here given orders to Monsieur St. Georges to
particularly quarter himself upon the Bishop of Lodeve, now at Dijon,
upon the Marquise de Roquemaure at Troyes, and, at Melun, upon
Monsieur de Riverac. I remember no instructions of that nature, nor do
I see any necessity for them. Why should not this officer stay at any
inn? Others have had to do so. Why not he?"
"Again," replied Louvois, once more glancing furtively at his master,
"I have to remind your Majesty that, by issuing these orders to
Monsieur St. Georges, we are utilizing him as a special courier on
behalf of your Majesty, and that he is one who can be trusted--since
he has no opportunity of betraying us. We desire to know from
Phelypeaux--the bishop--whether the riots in Languedoc are to be
feared or not; whether, indeed, it is necessary quietly to put into
that neighbourhood any more regiments. St. Georges will bring the
word, 'Yes,' or 'No.' Far better that, your Majesty, than any letter.
Also we desire to know whether in Champagne, and especially in Troyes,
the capital of the department, the Flemings from the north and the
Lorrainers from the east are still endeavouring to stir them to
revolt. And who better than the Marquise de Roquemaure to send us the
word, the one word, 'Yes' or 'No'? A fervent loyalist, your Majesty,
and devoted to your royal interests."
"Ay," the king said, "a fervent loyalist." Then, after musing a
moment, he said: "'Twas strange she never married De Vannes; all
thought she loved him in those far-off days. And, _ciel!_ Hortense de
Foy was handsome enough to suit any man's taste. I see her now as she
was then, beautiful as the morning. Why, I wonder, did she marry De
Vannes's cousin and friend, Roquemaure, instead of him?"
Louvois shrugged his shoulders--though as respectfully as a man must
perform such an action before a superior--then he said with a slight
and also respectful smile, the smile of the dependent:
"Your Majesty's royal ancestor said,'_Souvent femme varie_.' That may
explain why Mademoiselle de Foy married one man, when the world, when
even your Majesty," with subtle flattery, "thought she loved another."
"My ancestor knew what he was talking about when he discussed
womankind," Louis remarked. "Well, perhaps his saying explains the
caprices of Hortense. I have not seen her for years. She rests ever in
her provincial manoir. It may be she has changed much--her beauty
vanished."
"If so, your Majesty, at least she has transmitted it to her daughter.
I have seen Mademoiselle de Roquemaure, and she is beautiful as ever
her mother could have been. She was the guest of Madame de Chevreuse
last summer."
"I would I had seen her, too. She would have recalled Hortense de Foy
as she was in her youth; perhaps," with what seemed to the wily
minister something like a sigh, "my own youth, too." Then changing
his tone back to his ordinary one, he asked: "There is a son, the
present Marquis de Roquemaure; why does he so rarely come to court?"
"He thinks, your Majesty, of but two things: first, the inheritance of
the Duc de Vannes, of which, through his father, he is the heir on
arriving at his thirtieth year; and, secondly, of his horses and
hounds. But when he has attained his majority and has the duke's
fortune, he proposes to present himself to your Majesty. And----"
The speaker was interrupted by a scratching at the door, which brought
a smile to both their faces, while Louis, starting up from his chair,
exclaimed:
"_Ciel!_ It is the half hour, and Malice is hungry"; and, thrusting
his hand into the pocket of his velvet coat, he produced come crumbs
of cake, which he presented to a little spaniel that rushed in and
leaped about him as Louvois opened the door.[4] Then, turning to the
minister, he said:
"Write to the Marquis de Roquemaure that the king desires his company
at court for the _fetes_ of the Epiphany. Also write that he desires
that Mademoiselle de Roquemaure shall accompany her brother, as the
king's guests. I would see this beautiful offshoot of so fair a woman
as her mother was," and, bending his head, he advanced toward the
door, followed by Malice. But as he was about to leave the room,
Louvois observed with great humility that "doubtless his Majesty had
omitted, forgotten in his royal recollections of other days, that the
letter to Monsieur St. Georges, the trustworthy officer who would
bring the word from the Bishop of Lodeve, and from the Marquise de
Roquemaure, was still unsigned."
[Footnote 4: "Le roi donner a manger a ses chiens toujours
soi-meme."--_La Fare, St. Simon, and others._]
"Ah! Monsieur St. Georges," exclaimed the king; and taking up the pen
he wrote his name at the bottom of the last sheet, leaving room only
for Louvois to undersign it. Then, with many bows from the minister
and amid the salutes of the two sentinels outside in the corridor, he
passed to Madame de Maintenon's rooms, accompanied by the little
spaniel.
Left alone by himself, Louvois worked at his papers for two hours
unceasingly, reading some that were already written, signing and
undersigning others--among the latter the one to the Lieutenant St.
Georges--and destroying some. Also, he directed much correspondence
with the marshals and generals commanding in various parts of
France--working at this with two secretaries whom he summoned. But at
last all his voluminous despatches were finished, closed up, and
directed to the different persons for whom they were intended, some to
go by the king's couriers and some by the royal post. And among all
the correspondence which went forth that night from the minister were
two letters, one of which was addressed to the officer commanding the
Regiment de Nivernois at Pontarlier, and containing those instructions
for St. Georges which bade him repair forthwith to Paris. The other
was directed to the Marquis de Roquemaure, at his manoir near Troyes,
and was as follows:
"He sets out for Paris the last day of the year or the first
of the new one. He may take his child with him. He is
ordered to rest at Phelypeaux's, at madame your mother's,
and at De Riverac's."
That was all, the letter containing neither date nor signature.