第81章 THE KING'S FACE.(3)

'Be pleased then to keep silence until I bid you speak,'he replied sharply,for he was one of those whom a sudden stress sours and exacerbates.'And,above all,no violence without my orders.We are about to fight a battle,and a critical one,but it must be won with our heads.If we can we will keep you out of the Provost-Marshal's hands.'

And if not?I remembered the threats Father Antoine had used,and in a moment I lost sight of the street with all its light and life and movement.I felt no longer the wholesome stinging of the wind.I tasted instead a fetid air,and saw round me a narrow cell and masked figures,and in particular a swarthy man is a leather apron leaning over a brazier,from which came lurid flames.And I was bound.I experienced that utter helplessness which is the last test of courage.The man came forward,and then--then,thank God!the vision passed away.An exclamation to which M.d'Agen gave vent,brought me back to the present,and to the blessed knowledge that the fight was not yet over.

We were within a score of paces,I found,of the Castle gates;but so were also a second party,who had just debouched from a side-street,and now hurried on,pace for pace,with us,with the evident intention of forestalling us,The race ended in both companies reaching the entrance at the same time,with the consequence of some jostling taking place amongst the servants.

This must have led to blows but for the strenuous commands which M.de Rambouillet had laid upon his followers.I found myself in a moment confronted by a row of scowling faces,while a dozen threatening hands were stretched out towards me,and as many voices,among which I recognised Fresnoy's,cried out tumultuously,'That is he!That is the one!'

An elderly man in a quaint dress stepped forward,a paper in his hand,and,backed as he was by half a dozen halberdiers,would in a moment have laid hands on me if M.de Rambouillet had not intervened with a negligent air of authority,which sat on him the more gracefully as he held nothing but a riding-switch in his hands.'Tut,tut!What is this?'he said lightly.'I am not wont to have my people interfered with,M.Provost,without my leave.You know me,I suppose?'

'Perfectly,M.le Marquis,'the man answered with dogged respect;'but this is by the king's special command.'

'Very good,'my patron answered,quietly eyeing the faces behind the Provost-Marshal,as if he were making a note of them;which caused some of the gentlemen manifest uneasiness.'That is soon seen,for we are even now about to seek speech with his Majesty.'

'Not this gentleman,'the Provost-Marshal answered firmly,raising his hand again.'I cannot let him pass.'

'Yes,this gentleman too,by your leave,'the Marquis retorted,lightly putting the hand aside with his cane.

'Sir,'said the other,retreating a step,and speaking with some heat,'this is no jest with all respect.I hold the king's own order,and it may not be resisted.'

The nobleman tapped his silver comfit-box and smiled.'I shall be the last to resist it--if you have it,'he said languidly.

'You may read it for yourself,'the Provost-Marshal answered,his patience exhausted.

M.de Rambouillet took the parchment with the ends of his fingers,glanced at it,and gave it back.'As I thought,'he said,'a manifest forgery.'

'A forgery!'cried the other,crimson with indignation.'And Ihad it from the hands of the king's own secretary!'At this those behind murmured,some 'shame,'and some one thing and some another--all with an air so threatening that the Marquis's gentlemen closed up behind him,and M.d'Agen laughed rudely.

But M.de Rambouillet remained unmoved.'You may have had it from whom you please,sir,'he said.'It is a forgery,and Ishall resist its execution.If you choose to await me here,Iwill give you my word to render this gentleman to you within an hour,should the order hold good.If you will not wait,I shall command my servants to clear the way,and if ill happen,then the responsibility will lie with you.'

He spoke in so resolute a manner it was not difficult to see that something more was at stake than the arrest of a single man.

This was so;the real issue was whether the king,with whose instability it was difficult to cope,should fall back into the hands of his old advisers or not.My arrest was a move in the game intended as a counterblast to the victory which M.de Rambouillet had gained when he persuaded the king to move to Tours;a city in the neighbourhood of the Huguenots,and a place of arms whence union with them would be easy.

The Provost-Marshal could,no doubt,make a shrewd guess at these things.He knew that the order he had would be held valid or not according as one party or the other gained the mastery;and,seeing M.de Rambouillet's resolute demeanour,he gave way.

Rudely interrupted more than once by his attendants,among whom were some of Bruhl's men,he muttered an ungracious assent to our proposal;on which,and without a moment's delay,the Marquis took me by the arm and hurried me across the courtyard.

And so far,well.My heart began to rise.But,for the Marquis,as we mounted the staircase the anxiety he had dissembled while we faced the Provost-Marshal,broke out in angry mutterings;from which I gathered that the crisis was yet to come.I was not surprised,therefore,when an usher rose on our appearance in the antechamber,and,quickly crossing the floor,interposed between us and the door of the chamber,informing the Marquis with a low obeisance that his Majesty was engaged.

'He will see me,'M.de Rambouillet cried,looking haughtily round on the sneering pages and lounging courtiers,who grew civil under his eye.

'I have particular orders,sir,to admit so one,'the man answered.

'Tut,tut,they do not apply to me,'my companion retorted,nothing daunted.'I know the business on which the king is engaged,and I am here to assist him.'And raising his hand he thrust the startled official aside,and hardily pushed the doors of the chamber open.