Petticoat Rule Part 20

And there were other means besides of earning the tempting millions.

But these would have to be thought out, planned and arranged; they would be difficult and not nearly so expeditious, which was a drawback when royal coffers were clamouring to be filled. Still, it would be distinctly unadvisable to broach the subject with Mme. la Marquise d'Eglinton, and unnecessarily humiliating, since a rebuff was sure to be the result.

Therefore, when--as if in placid defiance of Pompadour's challenge--Lord Eglinton handed the Duke of c.u.mberland's letter silently back to the King, the latter slipped it into his pocket with a gesture of ostentatious indifference.

"Nay! we need not trouble Mme. la Marquise with the discussion now,"

he said; "she is unacquainted with the subject of our present conversation, and it would be tedious to reiterate."

"I crave your pardon, Sire," rejoined Lydie, "if I have transgressed, but my zeal in the service of France and in that of your Majesty has rendered my senses preternaturally acute. My eyes see in the gloom, my ears hear across vast s.p.a.ces."

"In a word, Mme. la Marquise has been listening!" said Pompadour, with a sneer.

"I did not listen," said Lydie quietly. "I only heard."

"Then you know?" said Louis, with well-a.s.sumed indifference.

"Oh, yes!"

She smiled at him as she replied. This was apparently a day of surprises, for the smile seemed distinctly encouraging.

"And--and what do you say?" asked his Majesty somewhat anxiously, yet emboldened by that encouraging smile.

Of a truth! was he about to find an ally there, where he expected most bitter opposition?

"Meseems that milor was somewhat hasty," replied Lydie quietly.

"Ah!"

It was a sigh of intense, deep, heartfelt, satisfaction breathed by Louis the Well-beloved, and unrestrainedly echoed by Mme. de Pompadour.

"This proposal, Sire," continued Lydie; "'tis from England, I understand?"

"From his Grace of c.u.mberland himself, Madame," a.s.sented the King, once more drawing the letter from out his pocket.

"May I be permitted to see it?" she asked.

For a moment Louis hesitated, then he gave her the letter. There was no risk in this, since she practically owned to knowing its contents.

And the whole affair would be so much easier, so much more expeditious with the cooperation of the Eglintons.

Lydie read the letter through, seemingly deeply engrossed in its contents. She never once raised her eyes to see how she was being watched. She knew quite well that the King's eyes were fixed eagerly upon her face, that Pompadour's cupidity and greed for the proposed millions were plainly writ upon her face. But she had not once looked at her husband. She did not look at him now. He had not spoken since that sudden burst of indignation, when his slender hand crushed the infamous doc.u.ment which she now studied so carefully, crushed it and would have torn it to ribbons in loathing and contempt.

When first she interposed he had turned and faced her. Since then she knew that his eyes had remained fixed on her face. She felt the gaze, yet cared not to return it. He was too weak, too simple to understand, and of her own actions she would be sole mistress; that had been the chief clause in the contract when she placed her hand in his.

Her intuitive knowledge of this Court in which she moved, her suspicions of this feeble monarch, whose extravagant caprices had led him to deeds at which in his earlier days he had been the first to blush, her dread of intrigues and treachery, all had whispered in her ear the word of prudence--"Temporize."

The whole infamous plan had been revealed to her through those same supernaturally keen senses, which her strong domineering nature had coerced, until they became the slaves of her will. Mingling with the crowd, her graceful body present in the chattering throng, her mind had remained fixed on that group beside the bed. She had noticed the King's expression of face when he engaged milor in conversation, his extraordinary _bonhomie_, his confidential att.i.tude, his whispers, all backed and seconded by Pompadour. Gradually she manuvred and, still forming a unit with the rest of the crowd, she had by degrees drawn nearer and nearer, until she saw her husband's movement, his almost imperceptible change of expression, as he clutched the letter which was handed him by the King.

Then she boldly entered the inner precincts; being privileged, she could do even that, without creating attention. Milor's words of contempt, the royal arms of England on the seal of the letter, coupled with her father's att.i.tude with her just now, and his veiled suggestions, told her all she wanted to know. And quick as flashes of summer lightning her woman's intuition whispered words of wisdom in her ear.

"Know everything first--then temporize! Diplomacy will do more than defiance."

Having read the letter through, she of course knew all. It was simple enough--a monstrous proposal which the King of France was ready to adopt. She felt real physical nausea at contact with so much infamy.

But she folded the doc.u.ment neatly and carefully, then looked quietly at the King.

"The Duke of c.u.mberland is generous," she said, forcing herself to smile.

"Heu, heu!" a.s.sented Louis lightly, with a return of his wonted _bonhomie_. Matters were shaping themselves to a truly satisfactory end.

"Do I understand that your Majesty would desire us to accept his Grace's proposal?"

"What think you yourself, Madame?"

"It is worth considering," she mused.

"Parbleu! And you are a true woman!" exclaimed Louis XV, beaming with delight. "Full of wisdom as a statesman should be. To think that we could ever have mistrusted so clear a head and so sound a judgment."

"Your Majesty, I hope, will always remember that my sole desire is to serve France and her King!"

"Par ma foi! We'll not forget your help in this, Madame," he exclaimed whole-heartedly. "Then we may rely on your help?"

"What does your Majesty desire me to do?"

He came quite close to her, and she forced herself not to draw back one inch. For the sake of the fugitive prince and his friends, who had trusted in the honour of France; for the sake of that honour which, in her peculiar position, was as dear to her as her own, she would not flinch now; she would show no repulsion, no fear, though her whole being rose in revolt at contact with this man.

A man, not a king! Par Dieu, not a King of France!

His face to her looked hideous, the eyes seemed to leer, and there was l.u.s.t for money, and ign.o.ble treachery writ on every feature.

"We have explained it all to milor," whispered Louis under his breath; "a ship to be commissioned and sent to meet the Stuart. She will have secret orders--no one shall know but her captain--and he will be a man whom we can trust--a man whom we shall have to pay--you understand?"

"I understand."

"Then from you we want to know the place in Scotland where we will find Charles Edward--eh? And also a token--a ring, a word perhaps, by which that young adventurer will be made to trust his own person and that of his friends to our good ship. It is very simple, you see."

"Quite simple, your Majesty."

"The ship's orders will be that once the Stuart and his faction are on board, she shall make straight for the first English port--and--and--that is all!" he added complacently.

"Yes, that is all, your Majesty."

"And on the day that Charles Edward Stuart is handed over to the English authorities, there will be fifteen millions for your King, Madame, and a million livres pin money for the most able statesman in Europe."

And with consummate gallantry, Louis bowed very low and took her hand in his. It rested cold and inert between his hot fingers, but he was far too eager, far too triumphant to notice anything beyond the fact that he had succeeded in enlisting the help of Lydie d'Eglinton, without whom his project was bound to have been considerably delayed, if not completely frustrated. He had indeed not wasted this glorious morning.

"I am eternally your debtor, Madame!" he said gaily; "and 'tis well, believe me, to serve the King of France."

"I have done nothing as yet, Sire," she rejoined.