The Chevalier d'Auriac Part 34

'D'Auriac, is it you?'

'Yes. I was hastening to you. Man, I have discovered all!'

'_Morbleu!_' exclaimed the Compte; 'the _chanson_ was a happy thought, else we had missed you in this fog.'

'Is Pantin here? We have not a moment to lose.'

'He is. It was he who guided us here. I have brought a friend with me.

Do not ask his name; but speak freely before him, and tell us exactly what you have discovered.'

With these words he took me by the arm and led me up to the two. In the shorter there was no difficulty in recognising Pantin. What with the mist, the mask on his face, and the roquelaure that enveloped him to the ears, I could make out nothing of the stranger, who did not even answer my salutation except by a slight inclination of his head.

I need not say I wasted no time, but laid the matter before them, and wound up with:

'And now, gentlemen, we are three swords; let Pantin hasten and bring half a dozen of the Compte's people, and I guarantee that we not only free Madame, but take the whole brood of vipers.'

'These cards won't win,' said de Belin. 'We must have more witnesses than ourselves, who are known to be enemies of the Marshal. The King plays at More's this evening. He is like to be there now, or else very soon, for he is bound on a frolic to-night. We will go straight there.

Villeroi and Sully are both to be in attendance, and also the Marshal.'

'The Marshal will not be there,' I interrupted.

'If SO I wager the King asks for him, and I will take it on my head to explain. In half an hour we could be back with Sully and Villeroi, and then the game is ours. Do you not agree, monseigneur?' and he turned to the stranger. All the answer was another grave inclination of the head.

'Come,' went on de Belin, slipping his arm into mine. 'Put yourself in my hands, d'Auriac, and I pledge you success. My G.o.d!' he broke off suddenly, 'to think we should win so completely.'

There was so much in what he said that I agreed without demur, and Belin hurried me onwards, the stranger and Pantin following a few steps behind. As we went on Belin whispered:

'Ask no questions, d'Auriac; say nothing until you see Sully, and ten minutes after I promise you twenty swords.'

'If I do not get them in an hour,' I said grimly, 'I will go back myself and try what my own sword can do.'

'And I will go back with you, too--there, is that not enough? Come, man!' and we hurried along through the mist as fast as we could walk, keeping on the left side of the road.

As we came up to St. Merri, de Belin stopped and blew sharply on a whistle. There was an answering call, and from under the Flamboyant portico of the church the figure of a man, with a led horse, slipped out into the fog, now yellow with the light of the street lamps.

Without a word the stranger mounted, and the two pa.s.sed us at a trot.

'What the devil does that mean!' I exclaimed. 'Your Monseigneur has left us!'

'To return again,' answered the Compte drily. And then added, 'It will be a gay party at More's to-night, and it is time we were there.'

I made no answer, but, as we went on, could not help feeling uneasy in my mind at the thought of being recognised at More's; for after what de Belin had said of the King's temper towards me, I made sure that I would have scant mercy were I once arrested. And again, I would say that it was not for myself I was in dread, but for the probable consequence to Madame did any harm happen to me at this juncture.

But I had put my foot in the stirrup, and was bound to ride now; and then there was de Belin's word. At last we reached More's, and as we entered the hall I could not help wondering if the good Parisians knew that their King was playing at primero in an ordinary of the city, and would be later on, perhaps, pursued by the watch. More, whom I had not seen since my affair with d'Ayen, was in the hall, and at a word from de Belin conducted us himself up the stairway, though looking askance at me. We at length gained a long corridor, at the beginning of which Pantin was left. We stopped before the closed doors of a private dining-room from within which we could hear shouts of laughter.

'His Majesty and M. de Vitry arrived scarce a half-hour ago,'

whispered More as we approached the door.

'We will not trouble you further,' replied the Compte; 'it is the rule at these little parties to enter unannounced.'

With these words he put his hand to the door and went in, I following at his heels. There were at least ten or a dozen men in the room standing round a table, at which sat the King engaged at play with M.

de Ba.s.sompierre. Neither the King nor Ba.s.sompierre, who seemed absorbed in the game, took the least notice of our entrance, nor did they seem in the least disturbed by the constant laughter and converse that went on. The others, however, stopped, and then burst out in joyous greetings of de Belin and very haughty glances at me. M. le Grand, indeed, bent forward from his great height, and whispered audibly to the Compte:

'What scarecrow have you brought here, de Belin!'

'Our captain for to-night, duc--see, there is the Grand-Master looking as if each crown the King loses was the last drop of blood in the veins of Bethune.' And as he said this, Sully and he glanced at each other, and a light, like that in an opal, flamed in the great minister's eyes.

M. le Grand, however, seemed to be inclined for converse with me, and, stepping up, asked, 'And where do you lead us to-night, monsieur?'

I was about to make some answer when de Vitry interposed, 'My dear duc, there is plenty of time to ask that. I wager you fifty pistoles that d'Ayen there throws higher than you five times out of six.'

'Done,' replied Bellegarde--and then those who were not round the King and Ba.s.sompierre, gathered to watch Bellegarde and d'Ayen, whose cheeks were flushed with excitement as he threw with his left hand, the right being still in a sling.

In the meantime the King played on, taking no notice of anyone, his beaked nose dropping lower towards his chin as he lost one rouleau after another to Ba.s.sompierre.

'_Ventre St. Gris!_' he exclaimed at last, 'was ever such luck; at this rate I shall not have a shirt to my back in half an hour.'

'If the Marshal were only here,' said Sully, 'we could start off at once. Sire, instead of risking any more. I see de Belin has brought our guide.'

'Yes; where is Biron? I am sick of this;' and the King, who was a bad loser, rose from his seat impatiently, at the same time forgetting to hand over the last rouleau of pistoles he had lost to Ba.s.sompierre, and thrusting them back into his pocket with an absent gesture.

As if in answer to his question the door opened, admitting the slight figure and handsome face of de Gie.

'Where is the Marshal? Where is Biron?' asked ten voices in a breath.

'Yes, M. de Gie,' put in the King; 'where is Biron?'

'Sire, the Marshal is indisposed. He has begged me to present his excuses and to say he is too ill to come to-night;' and as he spoke I saw de Gie's jewelled fingers trembling, and his cheek had lost all colour.

'This is sorry news to spoil a gay evening,' said the King; and the Master-General, pulling a comfit box from his vest pocket, toyed with it in his hand as he followed, 'Biron must be ill, indeed, to stay away. Sire. What does your Majesty think? Shall we begin our rambles by calling on Monseigneur?'

'The very thing, Grand-Master; we will start at once.'

'But, Sire, the Marshal is too ill to see anyone--even your Majesty,'

said de Gie desperately, and with whitening lips.

I thought I heard de Vitry mutter 'Traitor' under his thick moustache, but the Guardsman parried my glance with an unconcerned look. There was a silence of a half-minute at de Gie's speech, and the King reddened to the forehead.

'If it is as you say, M. le Vicompte, I know the Marshal too well not to feel sure that there are two persons whom he would see were he dying--which G.o.d forbid--and one of these two is his King.

Grand-Master, we will go, but--and his voice took a tone of sharp command, and his eyes rested first on de Gie, and then on the figure of a tall cavalier, at whose throat flashed the jewel of the St.

Esprit--'but I must first ask M. de Vitry to do his duty.'

As for me I was dumb with astonishment, and half the faces around me were filled with amaze. Then de Vitry's voice broke the stillness:

'My lord of Epernon, your sword--and you too, M. le Vicompte.'

The duke slipped off his rapier with a sarcastic smile and handed the weapon to the Captain of the Guard; but we could hear the clicking of the buckles as de Gie's trembling fingers tried in vain to unclasp his belt. So agitated was he that de Vitry had to a.s.sist him in his task before it was accomplished.

The King spoke again in the same grating tones: