1、UNDER THE RED ROBE1UNDER THE REDROBEBy STANLEY J.WEYMANCONTENTSCHAPTER I.AT ZATONSCHAPTER II.AT THE GREEN PILLARCHAPTER III.THE HOUSE IN THE WOODCHAPTER IV.MADAM AND MADEMOISELLECHAPTER V.REVENGECHAPTER VI.UNDER THE PlC DU MIDICHAPTER VII.A MASTER STROKECHAPTER VIII.A MASTER STROKE-ContinuedCHAPTER
2、IX.THE QUESTIONCHAPTER X.CLONCHAPTER XI.THE ARRESTCHAPTER XII.THE ROAD TO PARISCHAPTER XIII.AT THE FINGER-POSTCHAPTER XIV.ST MARTINS EVECHAPTER XV.ST MARTINS SUMMERUNDER THE RED ROBE2CHAPTER IAT ZATONSMarked cards!There were a score round us when the fool,little knowing the manwith whom he had to de
3、al,and as little how to lose like a gentleman,flungthe words in my teeth.He thought,Ill be sworn,that I should storm andswear and ruffle it like any common cock of the hackle.But that wasnever Gil de Beraults way.For a few seconds after he had spoken I didnot even look at him.I passed my eye instead
4、-smiling,BIENENTENDU-round the ring of waiting faces,saw that there was no oneexcept De Pombal I had cause to fear;and then at last I rose and looked atthe fool with the grim face I have known impose on older and wiser men.Marked cards,M.lAnglais?I said,with a chilling sneer.They areused,I am told,t
5、o trap players-not unbirched schoolboys.Yet I say that they are marked!he replied hotly,in his queer foreignjargon.In my last hand I had nothing.You doubled the stakes.Bah,sir,you knew!You have swindled me!Monsieur is easy to swindle-when he plays with a mirror behind him,I answered tartly.At that t
6、here was a great roar of laughter,which might have been heardin the street,and which brought to the table everyone in the eating-housewhom his voice had not already attracted.But I did not relax my face.I waited until all was quiet again,and then waving aside two or three whostood between us and the
7、 entrance,I pointed gravely to the door.There is a little space behind the church of St Jacques,M.lEtranger,Isaid,putting on my hat and taking my cloak on my arm.Doubtless youwill accompany me thither?He snatched up his hat,his face burning with shame and rage.With pleasure!he blurted out.To the dev
8、il,if you like!I thought the matter arranged,when the Marquis laid his hand on theyoung fellows arm and checked him.This must not be,he said,turning from him to me with his grand,fine-gentlemans air.You know me,M.de Berault.This matter hasUNDER THE RED ROBE3gone far enough.Too far!M.de Pombal,I answ
9、ered bitterly.Still,if you wish totake your friends place,I shall raise no objection.Chut,man!he retorted,shrugging his shoulders negligently.I knowyou,and I do not fight with men of your stamp.Nor need thisgentleman.Undoubtedly,I replied,bowing low,if he prefers to be caned in thestreets.That stung
10、 the Marquis.Have a care!have a care!he cried hotly.You go too far,M.Berault.De Berault,if you please,I objected,eyeing him sternly.My familyhas borne the DE as long as yours,M.de Pombal.He could not deny that,and he answered,As you please;at the sametime restraining his friend by a gesture.But none
11、 the less,he continued,take my advice.The Cardinal has forbidden duelling,and this time hemeans it!You have been in trouble once and gone free.A second timeit may fare worse with you.Let this gentleman go,therefore,M.deBerault.Besides-why,shame upon you,man!he exclaimed hotly;heis but a lad!Two or t
12、hree who stood behind me applauded that,But I turned andthey met my eye;and they were as mum as mice.His age is his own concern,I said grimly.He was old enough awhile ago to insult me.And I will prove my words!the lad cried,exploding at last.He hadspirit enough,and the Marquis had had hard work to r
13、estrain him so long.You do me no service,M.de Pombal,he continued,pettishly shaking offhis friends hand.By your leave,this gentleman and I will settle thismatter.That is better,I said,nodding drily,while the Marquis stood aside,frowning and baffled.Permit me to lead the way.Zatons eating-house stand
14、s scarcely a hundred paces from St Jacquesla Boucherie,and half the company went thither with us.The evening waswet,the light in the streets was waning,the streets themselves were dirtyUNDER THE RED ROBE4and slippery.There were few passers in the Rue St Antoine;and ourparty,which earlier in the day
15、must have attracted notice and a crowd,crossed unmarked,and entered without interruption the paved trianglewhich lies immediately behind the church.I saw in the distance one ofthe Cardinals guard loitering in front of the scaffolding round the newHotel Richelieu;and the sight of the uniform gave me
16、pause for a moment.But it was too late to repent.The Englishman began at once to strip off his clothes.I closed mineto the throat,for the air was chilly.At that moment,while we stoodpreparing,and most of the company seemed a little inclined to stand offfrom me,I felt a hand on my arm,and turning,saw
17、 the dwarfish tailor atwhose house,in the Rue Savonnerie,I lodged at the time.The fellowspresence was unwelcome,to say the least of it;and though for want ofbetter company I had sometimes encouraged him to be free with me athome,I took that to be no reason why I should be plagued with him beforegent
18、lemen.I shook him off,therefore,hoping by a frown to silence him.He was not to be so easily put down,however,and perforce I had tospeak to him.Afterwards,afterwards,I said hurriedly.I am engaged now.For Gods sake,dont,sir!the poor fool cried,clinging to my sleeve.Dont do it!You will bring a curse on
19、 the house.He is but a lad,and-You,too!I exclaimed,losing patience.Be silent,you scum!Whatdo you know about gentlemens quarrels?Leave me;do you hear?But the Cardinal!he cried in a quavering voice.The Cardinal,M.de Berault!The last man you killed is not forgotten yet.This time hewill be sure to-Leave
20、 me,do you hear?I hissed.The fellows impudence passedall bounds.It was as bad as his croaking.Begone!I added.Isuppose you are afraid that he will kill me,and you will lose your money.Frison fell back at that almost as if I had struck him,and I turned tomy adversary,who had been awaiting my motions w
21、ith impatience.Godknows he did look young as he stood with his head bare and his fair hairdrooping over his smooth womans forehead-a mere lad fresh from thecollege of Burgundy,if they have such a thing in England.I felt a suddenUNDER THE RED ROBE5chill as I looked at him:a qualm,a tremor,a presentim
22、ent.What was itthe little tailor had said?That I should-but there,he did not know.What did he know of such things?If I let this pass I must kill a man aday,or leave Paris and the eating-house,and starve.A thousand pardons,I said gravely,as I drew and took my place.Adun.I am sorry that the poor devil
23、 caught me so inopportunely.Nowhowever,I am at your service.He saluted and we crossed swords and began.But from the first Ihad no doubt what the result would be.The slippery stones and fadinglight gave him,it is true,some chance,some advantage,more than hedeserved;but I had no sooner felt his blade
24、than I knew that he was noswordsman.Possibly he had taken half-a-dozen lessons in rapier art,and practised what he learned with an Englishman as heavy and awkwardas himself.But that was all.He made a few wild clumsy rushes,parryingwidely.When I had foiled these,the danger was over,and I held him atm
25、y mercy.I played with him a little while,watching the sweat gather on his browand the shadow of the church tower fall deeper and darker,like theshadow of doom,on his face.Not out of cruelty-God knows I havenever erred in that direction!-but because,for the first time in my life,Ifelt a strange reluc
26、tance to strike the blow.The curls clung to hisforehead;his breath came and went in gasps;I heard the men behind meand one or two of them drop an oath;and then I slipped-slipped,and wasdown in a moment on my right side,my elbow striking the pavement sosharply that the arm grew numb to the wrist.He h
27、eld off.I heard a dozen voices cry,Now!now you have him!But he held off.He stood back and waited with his breast heaving andhis point lowered,until I had risen and stood again.on my guard.Enough!enough!a rough voice behind me cried.Dont hurt theman after that.On guard,sir!I answered coldly-for he se
28、emed to waver,and be indoubt.It was an accident.It shall not avail you again.Several voices cried Shame!and one,You coward!But theEnglishman stepped forward,a fixed look in his blue eyes.He took hisUNDER THE RED ROBE6place without a word.I read in his drawn white face that he had made uphis mind to
29、the worst,and his courage so won my admiration that I wouldgladly and thankfully have set one of the lookers-on-any of the lookers-on-in his place;but that could not be.So I thought of Zatons closed tome,of Pombals insult,of the sneers and slights I had long kept at theswords point;and,pressing him
30、suddenly in a heat of affected anger,Ithrust strongly over his guard,which had grown feeble,and ran himthrough the chest.When I saw him lying,laid out on the stones with his eyes half shut,and his face glimmering white in the dusk-not that I saw him thus long,for there were a dozen kneeling round hi
31、m in a twinkling-I felt anunwonted pang.It passed,however,in a moment.For I found myselfconfronted by a ring of angry faces-of men who,keeping at a distance,hissed and cursed and threatened me,calling me Black Death and the like.They were mostly canaille,who had gathered during the fight,and hadview
32、ed all that passed from the farther side of the railings.While somesnarled and raged at me like wolves,calling me Butcher!and Cut-throat!or cried out that Berault was at his trade again,others threatenedme with the vengeance of the Cardinal,flung the edict in my teeth,andsaid with glee that the guar
33、d were coming-they would see me hanged yet.His blood is on your head!one cried furiously.He will be dead inan hour.And you will swing for him!Hurrah!Begone,I said.Ay,to Montfaucon,he answered,mocking me.No;to your kennel!I replied,with a look which sent him a yardbackwards,though the railings were b
34、etween us.And I wiped my bladecarefully,standing a little apart.For-well,I could understand it-it wasone of those moments when a man is not popular.Those who had comewith me from the eating-house eyed me askance,and turned their backswhen I drew nearer;and those who had joined us and obtained admiss
35、ionwere scarcely more polite.But I was not to be outdone in SANG FROID.I cocked my hat,anddrawing my cloak over my shoulders,went out with a swagger whichdrove the curs from the gate before I came within a dozen paces of it.UNDER THE RED ROBE7The rascals outside fell back as quickly,and in a moment
36、I was in thestreet.Another moment and I should have been clear of the place andfree to lie by for a while-when,without warning,a scurry took placeround me.The crowd fled every way into the gloom,and in a hand-turna dozen of the Cardinals guards closed round me.I had some acquaintance with the office
37、r in command,and he salutedme civilly.This is a bad business,M.de Berault,he said.The man is dead theytell me.Neither dying nor dead,I answered lightly.If that be all you maygo home again.With you,he replied,with a grin,certainly.And as it rains,thesooner the better.I must ask you for your sword,I a
38、m afraid.Take it,I said,with the philosophy which never deserts me.But theman will not die.I hope that may avail you,he answered in a tone I did not like.Leftwheel,my friends!To the Chatelet!March!There are worse places,I said,and resigned myself to fate.After all,Ihad been in a prison before,and le
39、arned that only one jail lets no prisonerescape.But when I found that my friends orders were to hand me over to thewatch,and that I was to be confined like any common jail-bird caughtcutting a purse or slitting a throat,I confess my heart sank.If I could getspeech with the Cardinal,all would probabl
40、y be well;but if I failed in this,or if the case came before him in strange guise,or if he were in a hardmood himself,then it might go ill with me.The edict said,death!And the lieutenant at the Chatelet did not put himself to much troubleto hearten me.What!again M.de Berault?he said,raising hiseyebr
41、ows as he received me at the gate,and recognised me by the light ofthe brazier which his men were just kindling outside.You are a verybold man,or a very foolhardy one,to come here again.The old business,I suppose?Yes,but he is not dead,I answered coolly.He has a trifle-a merescratch.It was behind th
42、e church of St Jacques.UNDER THE RED ROBE8He looked dead enough,my friend,the guardsman interposed.Hehad not yet left us.Bah!I answered scornfully.Have you ever known me make amistake When I kill a man I kill him.I put myself to pains,I tell you,notto kill this Englishman.Therefore he will live.I ho
43、pe so,the lieutenant said,with a dry smile.And you had betterhope so,too,M.de Berault,For if not-Well?I said,somewhat troubled.If not,what,my friend?I fear he will be the last man you will fight,he answered.And even ifhe lives,I would not be too sure,my friend.This time the Cardinal isdetermined to
44、put it down.He and I are old friends,I said confidently.So I have heard,he anwered,with a short laugh.I think that thesame was said of Chalais.I do not remember that it saved his head.This was not reassuring.But worse was to come.Early in themorning orders were received that I should be treated with
45、 especialstrictness,and I was given the choice between irons and one of the cellsbelow the level.Choosing the latter,I was left to reflect upon manythings;among others,on the queer and uncertain nature of the Cardinal,who loved,I knew,to play with a man as a cat with a mouse;and on the illeffects wh
46、ich sometimes attend a high chest-thrust however carefullydelivered.I only rescued myself at last from these and other unpleasantreflections by obtaining the loan of a pair of dice;and the light being justenough to enable me to reckon the throws,I amused myself for hours bycasting them on certain pr
47、inciples of my own.But a long run again andagain upset my calculations;and at last brought me to the conclusion thata run of bad luck may be so persistent as to see out the most sagaciousplayer.This was not a reflection very welcome to me at the moment.Nevertheless,for three days it was all the comp
48、any I had.At the endof that time,the knave of a jailor who attended me,and who had nevergrown tired of telling me,after the fashion of his kind,that I should behanged,came to me with a less assured air.Perhaps you would like a little water?he said civilly.Why,rascal?I asked.UNDER THE RED ROBE9To was
49、h with,he answered.I asked for some yesterday,and you would not bring it,I grumbled.However,better late than never.Bring it now.If I must hang,I willhang like a gentleman.But depend upon it,the Cardinal will not serve anold friend so scurvy a trick.You are to go to him,he announced,when he came back
50、 with thewater.What?To the Cardinal?I cried.Yes,he answered.Good!I exclaimed;and in my joy and relief I sprang up at once,and began to refresh my dress.So all this time I have been doing him aninjustice,I continued.VIVE MONSEIGNEUR!Long live the littleBishop of Luchon!I might have known it,too.Dont
51、make too sure!the man answered spitefully.Then he wenton,I have something else for you.A friend of yours left it at the gate,and he handed me a packet.Quite so!I said,leading his rascally face aright.And you kept itas long as you dared-as long as you thought I should hang,you knave!Was not that so?B
52、ut there,do not lie to me.Tell me instead which of myfriends left it.For,to confess the truth,I had not so many friends at thistime and ten good crowns-the packet contained no less a sum-argued apretty staunch friend,and one of whom a man might reasonably be proud.The knave sniggered maliciously.A c
53、rooked dwarfish man left it,hesaid.I doubt I might call him a tailor and not be far out.Chut!I answered-but I was a little out of countenance,nevertheless.I understand.An honest fellow enough,and in debt to me!I am gladhe remembered.But when am I to go,friend?In an hour,he answered sullenly.Doubtles
54、s he had looked to getone of the crowns;but I was too old a hand for that.If I came back Icould buy his services;and if I did not I should have wasted my money.Nevertheless,a little later,when I found myself on my way to theHotel Richelieu under so close a guard that I could see nothing in thestreet
55、 except the figures that immediately surrounded me,I wished that Ihad given him the money.At such times,when all hangs in the balanceUNDER THE RED ROBE10and the sky is overcast,the mind runs on luck and old superstitions,and isprone to think a crown given here may avail there-though THERE be ahundre
56、d leagues away.The Palais Richelieu was at this time in building,and we wererequired to wait in a long,bare gallery,where the masons were at work.Iwas kept a full hour here,pondering uncomfortably on the strange whimsand fancies of the great man who then ruled France as the KingsLieutenant-General,w
57、ith all the Kings powers,and whose life I had oncebeen the means of saving by a little timely information.On occasion hehad done something to wipe out the debt;and at other times he hadpermitted me to be free with him,and so far we were not unknown to oneanother.Nevertheless,when the doors were at l
58、ast thrown open,and I was ledinto his presence,my confidence underwent a shock.His cold glance,that,roving over me,regarded me not as a man but an item,the steelyglitter of his southern eyes,chilled me to the bone.The room was bare,the floor without carpet or covering.Some of the woodwork lay about,
59、unfinished and in pieces.But the man-this man,needed no surroundings.His keen pale face,his brilliant eyes,even his presence-though he was ofno great height,and began already to stoop at the shoulders-were enoughto awe the boldest.I recalled,as I looked at him,a hundred tales of hisiron will,his col
60、d heart,his unerring craft.He had humbled the Kingsbrother,the splendid Duke of Orleans,in the dust.He had curbed theQueen-mother.A dozen heads,the noblest in France,had come to theblock through him.Only two years before he had quelled Rochelle;onlya few months before he had crushed the great insurr
61、ection in Languedoc:and though the south,stripped of its old privileges,still seethed withdiscontent,no one in this year 1630 dared lift a hand against him-openly,at any rate.Under the surface a hundred plots,a thousand intrigues,sought his life or his power;but these,I suppose,are the hap of everyg
62、reat man.No wonder,then,that the courage on which I plumed myself sank lowat sight of him;or that it was as much as I could do to mingle with thehumility of my salute some touch of the SANG FROID of oldUNDER THE RED ROBE11acquaintanceship.And perhaps that had had been better left out.For it seemed t
63、hat thisman was without bowels.For a moment,while he stood looking at me,and before he spoke to me,I gave myself up for lost.There was a glintof cruel satisfaction in his eyes that warned me,before he opened hismouth,what he was going to say to me.I could not have made a better catch,M.de Berault,he
64、 said,smilingvillainously,while he gently smoothed the fur of a cat that had sprung onthe table beside him.An old offender,and an excellent example.Idoubt it will not stop with you.But later,we will make you the warrantfor flying at higher game.Monseigneur has handled a sword himself,I blurted out.T
65、he veryroom seemed to be growing darker,the air colder.I was never nearerfear in my life.Yes?he said,smiling delicately.And so-?Will not be too hard on the failings of a poor gentleman.He shall suffer no more than a rich one,he replied suavely as hestroked the cat.Enjoy that satisfaction,M.de Beraul
66、t.Is that all?Once I was of service to your Eminence,I said desperately.Payment has been made,he answered,more than once.But for thatI should not have seen you.The Kings face!I cried,snatching at the straw he seemed to holdout.He laughed cynically,smoothly.His thin face,his dark moustache,and whiten
67、ing hair,gave him an air of indescribable keenness.I am not the King,he said.Besides,I am told that you have killedas many as six men in duels.You owe the King,therefore,one life atleast.You must pay it.There is no more to be said,M.de Berault,hecontinued coldly,turning away and beginning to collect
68、 some papers.The law must take its course.I thought that he was about to nod to the lieutenant to withdraw me,and a chilling sweat broke out down my back.I saw the scaffold,I feltthe cords.A moment,and it would be too late!I have a favour to ask,I stammered desperately,if your EminenceUNDER THE RED
69、ROBE12will give me a moment alone.To what end?he answered,turning and eyeing me with colddisfavour.I know you-your past-all.It can do no good,my friend.No harm!I cried.And I am a dying man,Monseigneur!That is true,he said thoughtfully.Still he seemed to hesitate;andmy heart beat fast.At last he look
70、ed at the lieutenant.You may leaveus,he said shortly.Now,he continued,when the officer had withdrawnand left us alone,what is it?Say what you have to say quickly.And,above all,do not try to fool me,M.de Berault.But his piercing eyes so disconcerted me now that I had my chance,and was alone with him,
71、that I could not find a word to say,and stoodbefore him mute.I think this pleased him,for his face relaxed.Well?he said at last.Is that all?The man is not dead,I muttered.He shrugged his shoulders contemptuously.What of that?he said.That was not what you wanted to say tome.Once I saved your Eminence
72、s life,I faltered miserably.Admitted,he answered,in his thin,incisive voice.You mentionedthe fact before.On the other hand,you have taken six to my knowledge,M.de Berault.You have lived the life of a bully,a common bravo,agamester.You,a man of family!For shame!Do you wonder that ithas brought you to
73、 this!Yet on that one point I am willing to hear more,he added abruptly.I might save your Eminences life again,I cried.It was a suddeninspiration.You know something?he said quickly,fixing me with his eyes.Butno,he continued,shaking his head gently.Pshaw!The trick is old.Ihave better spies than you,M
74、.de Berault.But no better sword,I cried hoarsely.No,not in all your guard!That is true,he said slowly.That is true.To my surprise,he spokein a tone of consideration;and he looked down at the floor.Let me think,my friend,he continued.He walked two or three times up and down the room,while I stoodUNDE
75、R THE RED ROBE13trembling.I confess it,trembling.The man whose pulses danger hasno power to quicken,is seldom proof against suspense;and the suddenhope his words awakened in me so shook me that his figure as he trodlightly to and fro with the cat rubbing against his robe and turning time fortime wit
76、h him,wavered before my eyes.I grasped the table to steadymyself.I had not admitted even in my own mind how darkly the shadowof Montfaucon and the gallows had fallen across me.I had leisure to recover myself,for it was some time before he spoke.When he did,it was in a voice harsh,changed,imperative.
77、You have thereputation of a man faithful,at least,to his employer,he said.Do notanswer me.I say it is so.Well,I will trust you.I will give you onemore chance-though it is a desperate one.Woe to you if you fail me!Do you know Cocheforet in Bearn?It is not far from Auch.No,your Eminence.Nor M.de Coche
78、foret?No,your Eminence.So much the better,he replied.But you have heard of him.He hasbeen engaged in every Gascon plot since the late Kings death,and gavemore trouble last year in the Vivarais than any man twice his years.Atpresent he is at Bosost in Spain,with other refugees,but I have learnedthat
79、at frequent intervals he visits his wife at Cocheforet which is sixleagues within the border.On one of these visits he must be arrested.That should be easy,I said.The Cardinal looked at me.Chut,man!what do you know aboutit?he answered bluntly.It is whispered at Cocheforet if a soldiercrosses the str
80、eet at Auch.In the house are only two or three servants,but they have the countryside with them to a man,and they are adangerous breed.A spark might kindle a fresh rising.The arrest,therefore,must be made secretly.I bowed.One resolute man inside the house,the Cardinal continued,thoughtfully glancing
81、 at a paper which lay on the table,with the help oftwo or three servants whom he could summon to his aid at will,mighteffect it.The question is,Will you be the man,my friend?UNDER THE RED ROBE14I hesitated;then I bowed.What choice had I?Nay,nay,speak out!he said sharply.Yes or no,M.de Berault?Yes,yo
82、ur Eminence,I said reluctantly.Again,I say,what choicehad I?You will bring him to Paris,and alive.He knows things,and that iswhy I want him.You understand?I understand,Monseigneur,I answered.You will get into the house as you can,he continued with energy.For that you will need strategy,and good stra
83、tegy.They suspecteverybody.You must deceive them.If you fail to deceive them,or,deceiving them,are found out later,I do not think that you will trouble meagain,or break the edict a second time.On the other hand,should youdeceive me-he smiled still more subtly,but his voice sank to a purringnote-I wi
84、ll break you on the wheel like the ruined gamester you are!I met his look without quailing.So be it!I said recklessly.If I donot bring M.de Cocheforet to Paris,you may do that to me,and morealso!It is a bargain!he answered slowly.I think that you will befaithful.For money,here are a hundred crowns.T
85、hat sum shouldsuffice;but if you succeed you shall have twice as much more.That isall,I think.You understand?Yes,Monseigneur.Then why do you wait?The lieutenant?I said modestly.The Cardinal laughed to himself,and sitting down wrote a word or twoon a slip of paper.Give him that,he said in high good-h
86、umour.I fear,M.de Berault,you will never get your deserts-in this world!UNDER THE RED ROBE15CHAPTER II.AT THE GREEN PILLARCocheforet lies in a billowy land of oak and beech and chestnuts-aland of deep,leafy bottoms and hills clothed with forest.Ridge and valley,glen and knoll,the woodland,sparsely p
87、eopled and more sparsely tilled,stretches away to the great snow mountains that here limit France.Itswarms with game-with wolves and bears,deer and boars.To the end ofhis life I have heard that the great king loved this district,and would sigh,when years and State fell heavily on him,for the beech g
88、roves and box-covered hills of South Bearn.From the terraced steps of Auch you cansee the forest roll away in light and shadow,vale and upland,to the baseof the snow peaks;and,though I come from Brittany and love the smell ofthe salt wind,I have seen few sights that outdo this.It was the second week
89、 of October,when I came to Cocheforet,and,dropping down from the last wooded brow,rode quietly into the place atevening.I was alone,and had ridden all day in a glory of ruddy beechleaves,through the silence of forest roads,across clear brooks and gladesstill green.I had seen more of the quiet and pe
90、ace of the country thanhad been my share since boyhood,and for that reason,or because I had nogreat taste for the task before me-the task now so imminent-I felt a littlehipped.In good faith,it was not a gentlemans work that I was come todo,look at it how you might.But beggars must not be choosers,an
91、d I knew that this feeling wouldnot last.At the inn,in the presence of others,under the spur of necessity,or in the excitement of the chase,were that once begun,I should lose thefeeling.When a man is young he seeks solitude,when he is middle-aged,he flies it and his thoughts.I made therefore for the
92、 Green Pillar,a littleinn in the village street,to which I had been directed at Auch,and,thundering on the door with the knob of my riding switch,railed at theman for keeping me waiting.Here and there at hovel doors in the street-which was a mean,poorplace,not worthy of the name-men and women looked
93、 out at mesuspiciously.But I affected to ignore them;and at last the host came.UNDER THE RED ROBE16He was a fair-haired man,half-Basque,half-Frenchman,and had scannedme well,I was sure,through some window or peephole;for when he cameout he betrayed no surprise at the sight of a well-dressed stranger
94、-aportent in that out-of-the-way village-but eyed me with a kind of sullenreserve.I can lie here to-night,I suppose?I said,dropping the reins on thesorrels neck.The horse hung its head.I dont know,he answered stupidly.I pointed to the green bough which topped a post that stood oppositethe door.This
95、is an inn,is it not?I said.Yes,he answered slowly.It is an inn.But-But you are full,or you are out of food,or your wife is ill,orsomething else is amiss,I answered peevishly.All the same,I am goingto lie here.So you must make the best of it,and your wife too-if youhave one.He scratched his head,look
96、ing at me with an ugly glitter in his eyes.But he said nothing,and I dismounted.Where can I stable my horse?I asked.Ill put it up,he answered sullenly,stepping forward and taking thereins in his hand.Very well,I said.But I go with you.A merciful man is merciful tohis beast,and wherever I go I see my
97、 horse fed.It will be fed,he said shortly.And then he waited for me to go intothe house.The wife is in there,he continued,looking at me stubbornly.IMPRIMIS-if you understand Latin,my friend,I answered.thehorse in the stall.He saw that it was no good,turned the sorrel slowly round,and beganto lead it
98、 across the village street.There was a shed behind the inn,which I had already marked,and taken for the stable,I was surprised whenI found that he was not going there,but I made no remark,and in a fewminutes saw the horse made comfortable in a hovel which seemed tobelong to a neighbour.This done,the
99、 man led the way back to the inn,carrying my valise.UNDER THE RED ROBE17You have no other guests?I said,with a casual air.I knew that hewas watching me closely.No,he answered.This is not much in the way to anywhere,I suppose?No.That was so evident,that I never saw a more retired place.Thehanging woo
100、ds,rising steeply to a great height,so shut the valley in that Iwas puzzled to think how a man could leave it save by the road I had come.The cottages,which were no more than mean,small huts,ran in astraggling double line,with many gaps-through fallen trees and ill-clearedmeadows.Among them a noisy
101、brook ran in and out,and theinhabitants-charcoal-burners,or swine-herds,or poor devils of the likeclass,were no better than their dwellings.I looked in vain for theChateau.It was not to be seen,and I dared not ask for it.The man led me into the common room of the tavern-a low-roofed,poor place,lacki
102、ng a chimney or glazed windows,and grimy with smokeand use.The fire-a great half-burned tree-smouldered on a stone hearth,raised a foot from the floor.A huge black pot simmered over it,andbeside one window lounged a country fellow talking with the goodwife.In the dusk I could not see his face,but I
103、gave the woman a word,and satdown to wait for my supper.She seemed more silent than the common run of her kind;but thismight be because her husband was present.While she moved aboutgetting my meal,he took his place against the door-post and fell to staringat me so persistently that I felt by no mean
104、s at my ease.He was a tall,strong fellow,with a shaggy moustache and brown beard,cut in the modeHenri Quatre;and on the subject of that king-a safe one,I knew,with aBearnais-and on that alone,I found it possible to make him talk.Eventhen there was a suspicious gleam in his eyes that bade me abstain
105、fromquestions;so that as the darkness deepened behind him,and the firelightplayed more and more strongly on his features,and I thought of theleagues of woodland that lay between this remote valley and Auch,Irecalled the Cardinals warning that if I failed in my attempt I should belittle likely to tro
106、uble Paris again.UNDER THE RED ROBE18The lout by the window paid no attention to me;nor I to him,when Ihad once satisfied myself that he was really what he seemed to be.Butby-and-by two or three men-rough,uncouth fellows-dropped in toreinforce the landlord,and they,too seemed to have no other busine
107、ss thanto sit in silence looking at me,or now and again to exchange a word in aPATOIS of their own.By the time my supper was ready,the knavesnumbered six in all;and,as they were armed to a man with huge Spanishknives,and made it clear that they resented my presence in their dull rusticfashion-every
108、rustic is suspicious-I began to think that,unwittingly,I hadput my head into a wasps nest.Nevertheless,I ate and drank with apparent appetite;but little thatpassed within the circle of light cast by the smoky lamp escaped me.Iwatched the mens looks and gestures at least as sharply as they watchedmin
109、e;and all the time I was racking my wits for some mode of disarmingtheir suspicions,or failing that,of learning something more of the position,which far exceeded in difficulty and danger anything that I had expected.The whole valley,it would seem,was on the look-out to protect my man!I had purposely
110、 brought with me from Auch a couple of bottles ofchoice Armagnac;and these had been carried into the house with mysaddle bags.I took one out now and opened it and carelessly offered adram of the spirit to the landlord.He took it.As he drank it,I saw hisface flush;he handed back the cup reluctantly,a
111、nd on that hint I offeredhim another,The strong spirit was already beginning to work,and heaccepted,and in a few minutes began to talk more freely and with less ofthe constraint which had before marked us all.Still,his tongue ranchiefly on questions-he would know this,he would learn that;but eventhi
112、s was a welcome change.I told him openly whence I had come,bywhat road,how long I had stayed in Auch,and where;and so far I satisfiedhis curiosity.Only,when I came to the subject of my visit to CocheforetI kept a mysterious silence,hinting darkly at business in Spain and friendsacross the border,and
113、 this and that;in this way giving the peasants tounderstand,if they pleased,that I was in the same interest as their exiledmaster.They took the bait,winked at one another,and began to look at me in aUNDER THE RED ROBE19more friendly way-the landlord foremost.But when I had led them sofar,I dared go
114、no farther,lest I should commit myself and be found out.Istopped,therefore,and,harking back to general subjects,chanced tocompare my province with theirs.The landlord,now become almosttalkative,was not slow to take up this challenge;and it presently led to myacquiring a curious piece of knowledge.He
115、 was boasting of his greatsnow mountains,the forests that propped them,the bears that roamed inthem,the izards that loved the ice,and the boars that fed on the oak mast.Well,I said,quite by chance,we have not these things,it is true.But we have things in the north you have not.We have tens of thousa
116、ndsof good horses-not such ponies as you breed here.At the horse fair atFecamp my sorrel would be lost in the crowd.Here in the south you willnot meet his match in a long days journey.Do not make too sure of that,the man replied,his eyes bright withtriumph and the dram.What would you say if I showed
117、 you a better-inmy own stable?I saw that his words sent a kind of thrill through his other hearers,andthat such of them as understood for two or three of them talked theirPATOIS only-looked at him angrily;and in a twinkling I began tocomprehend.But I affected dullness,and laughed in scorn.Seeing is
118、believing,I said.I doubt if you knows good horse whenyou see one,my friend.Oh,dont I?he said,winking.Indeed!I doubt it,I answered stubbornly.Then come with me,and I will show you one,he retorted,discretiongiving way to vain-glory.His wife and the others,I saw,looked at himdumbfounded;but,without pay
119、ing any heed to them,he rose,took up alanthorn,and,assuming an air of peculiar wisdom,opened the door.Come with me,he continued.I dont know a good horse when I see one,dont I?I know a better than yours,at anyrate!I should not have been surprised if the other men had interfered;but Isuppose he was a
120、leader among them,they did not,and in a moment wewere outside.Three paces through the darkness took us to the stable,anoffset at the back of the inn.My man twirled the pin,and,leading theUNDER THE RED ROBE20way in,raised his lanthorn.A horse whinnied softly,and turned its bright,mild eyes on us-a ba
121、ldfaced chestnut,with white hairs in its tail and onewhite stocking.There!my guide exclaimed,waving the lanthorn to and froboastfully,that I might see its points.What do you say to that?Is thatan undersized pony?No,I answered,purposely stinting my praise.It is pretty fair-forthis country.Or any coun
122、try,he answered wrathfully.Or any country,I say-Idont care where it is!And I have reason to know!Why,man,thathorse is-But there,that is a good horse,if ever you saw one!And withthat he ended-abruptly and lamely;lowered the lanthorn with a suddengesture,and turned to the door.He was on the instant in
123、 such hurry toleave that he almost shouldered me out.But I understood.I knew that he had neatly betrayed all-that he hadbeen on the point of blurting out that that was M.de Cocheforets horse!M.Cocheforets COMPRENEZ BIEN!And while I turned away my facein the darkness that he might not see me smile,I
124、was not surprised to findthe man in a moment changed,and become,in the closing of the door,assober and suspicious as before,ashamed of himself and enraged with me,and in a mood to cut my throat for a trifle.It was not my cue to quarrel,however.I made therefore,as if I hadseen nothing,and when we wer
125、e back in the inn praised the horsegrudgingly,and like a man but half convinced.The ugly looks and uglyweapons I saw round me were fine incentives to caution;and no Italian,Iflatter myself,could have played his part more nicely than I did.But Iwas heartily glad when it was over,and I found myself,at
126、 last,left alonefor the night in a little garret-a mere fowl-house-upstairs,formed by theroof and gable walls,and hung with strings of apples and chestnuts.It wasa poor sleeping-place-rough,chilly,and unclean.I ascended to it by aladder;my cloak and a little fern formed my only bed.But I was glad to
127、accept it,for it enabled me to he alone and to think out the positionunwatched.Of course M.de Cocheforet was at the Chateau.He had left hisUNDER THE RED ROBE21horse here,and gone up on foot;probably that was his usual plan.Hewas therefore within my reach,in one sense-I could not have come at abetter
128、 time-but in another he was as much beyond it as if I were still inParis.For so far was I from being able to seize him that I dared not ask aquestion,or let fall a rash word,or even look about me freely.I saw Idared not.The slightest hint of my mission,the faintest breath of distrust,would lead to t
129、hroat-cutting-and the throat would be mine;while thelonger I lay in the village,the greater suspicion I should incur,and thecloser would be the watch kept upon me.In such a position some men might have given up the attempt indespair,and saved themselves across the border.But I have alwaysvalued myse
130、lf on my fidelity,and I did not shrink.If not to-day,to-morrow;if not this time,next time.The dice do not always turn up aces.Bracing myself,therefore,to the occasion,I crept,as soon as the housewas quiet,to the window,a small,square,open lattice,much cobwebbed,and partly stuffed with hay.I looked o
131、ut.The village seemed to beasleep.The dark branches of trees hung a few feet away,and almostobscured a grey,cloudy sky,through which a wet moon sailed drearily.Looking downwards,I could at first see nothing;but as my eyes grew usedto the darkness-I had only just put out my rushlight-I made out thest
132、able door and the shadowy outlines of the lean-to roof.I had hoped for this,for I could now keep watch,and learn at leastwhether Cocheforet left before morning.If he did not,I should know hewas still here.If he did,I should be the better for seeing his features,andlearning,perhaps,other things that
133、might be of use to me in the future.Making up my mind to the uncomfortable,I sat down on the floor bythe lattice,and began a vigil that might last,I knew,until morning.It didlast about an hour,at the end of which time I heard whispering below,thenfootsteps;then,as some persons turned a corner,a voic
134、e speaking aloudand carelessly.I could not catch the words or meaning,but the voice wasa gentlemans,and its bold accents and masterful tone left me in no doubtthat the speaker was M.de Cocheforet himself.Hoping to learn more,Ipressed my face nearer to the opening,and had just made out through theglo
135、om two figures-one that of a tall,slight man,wearing a cloak,theUNDER THE RED ROBE22other,I fancied,a womans,in a sheeny white dress-when a thunderingrap on the door of my garret made me spring back a yard from the lattice,and lie down hurriedly on my couch.The summons was repeated.Well?I cried,risi
136、ng on my elbow,and cursing the untimelyinterruption.I was burning with anxiety to see more.What is it?What is the matter?The trap-door was lifted a foot or more.The landlord thrust up hishead.You called,did you not?he said.He held up a rushlight,which illumined half the room and lit up hisgrinning f
137、ace.Called-at this hour of the night,you fool?I answered angrily.No!I did not call.Go to bed,man!But he remained on the ladder,gaping stupidly.I heard you,he said.Go to bed!You are drunk,I answered,sitting up.I tell you I didnot call.Oh,very well,he answered slowly.And you do not want anything?Nothi
138、ng-except to be left alone,I replied sourly.Umph!he said.Good-night!Good-night!Good-night!I answered with what patience I might.The tramp of the horses hoofs as it was led out of the stable was in myears at the moment.Good-night!I continued feverishly,hoping thathe would still retire in time,and I h
139、ave a chance to look out.I want tosleep.Good,he said,with a broad grin.But it is early yet,and you haveplenty of time.And then,at last,he slowly let down the trap-door,and I heard himchuckle as he went down the ladder.Before he reached the bottom I was at the window.The woman,whom I had seen,still s
140、tood below in the same place,and beside her was aman in a peasants dress,holding a lanthorn.But the man,the man Iwanted to see,was no longer there.He was gone,and it was evident thatthe others no longer feared me;for while I gazed the landlord came out tothem with another lanthorn swinging in his ha
141、nd,and said something toUNDER THE RED ROBE23the lady,and she looked up at my window and laughed.It was a warm night,and she wore nothing over her white dress.Icould see her tall,shapely figure and shining eyes,and the firm contour ofher beautiful face,which,if any fault might be found with it,erred
142、inbeing too regular.She looked like a woman formed by nature to meetdangers and difficulties,and to play a great part;even here,at midnight,inthe midst of these desperate men,she did not seem out of place.I couldfancy-I did not find it impossible to fancy-that under her queenlyexterior,and behind th
143、e contemptuous laugh with which she heard thelandlords story,there lurked a womans soul,a soul capable of folly andtenderness.But no outward sign betrayed its presence-as I saw her then.I scanned her very carefully;and secretly,if the truth be told,I wasglad to find that Madame de Cocheforet was suc
144、h a woman.I was gladthat she had laughed as she had-with a ring of disdain and defiance;gladthat she was not a little,tender,child-like woman,to be crushed by thefirst pinch of trouble.For if I succeeded in my task,if I contrived to-but,pish!Women,I told myself,were all alike.She would find consolat
145、ionquickly enough.I watched until the group broke up,and Madame,with one of the men,went her way round the corner of the inn,and out of my sight.Then Iretired to bed again,feeling more than ever perplexed what course Ishould adopt.It was clear that to succeed I must obtain admission to thehouse,whic
146、h was garrisoned,according to my instructions,by two orthree old men-servants only,and as many women;since Madame,todisguise her husbands visits the more easily,lived,and gave out that shelived,in great retirement.To seize her husband at home,therefore,mightbe no impossible task;though here,in the h
147、eart of the village,a troop ofhorse might make the attempt,and fail.But how was I to gain admission to the house-a house guarded byquick-witted women,and fenced with all the precautions love could devise?That was the question;and dawn found me still debating it,still as far asever from an answer.Anx
148、ious and feverish,I was glad when the lightcame,and I could get up.I thought that the fresh air might inspire me,and I was tired of my stuffy closet.I crept stealthily down the ladder,UNDER THE RED ROBE24and managed to pass unseen through the lower room,in which severalpersons were snoring heavily.T
149、he outer door was not fastened,and in ahand-turn I was in the street.It was still so early that the trees stood up black against the reddeningsky,but the bough upon the post before the door was growing green,andin a few minutes the grey light would be everywhere.Already,even inthe roadway,there was
150、a glimmering of it;and as I stood at the corner ofthe house-where I could command both the front and the side on whichthe stable opened-sniffing the fresh air,and looking for any trace of themidnight departure,my eyes detected something light-coloured lying onthe ground.It was not more than two or t
151、hree paces from me,and Istepped to it and picked it up curiously,hoping that it might be a note.Itwas not a note,however,but a tiny orange-coloured sachet such as womencarry in the bosom.It was full of some faintly-scented powder,and boreon one side the initial E,worked in white silk;and was altoget
152、her a daintylittle toy,such as women love.Doubtless Madame de Cocheforet had dropped it in the night.Iturned it over and over;and then I put it in my pouch with a smile,thinking that it might be useful sometime,and in some way.I hadscarcely done this,and turned with the intention of exploring the st
153、reet,when the door behind me creaked on its leather hinges,and in a momentthe host stood at my elbow,and gave me a surly greeting.Evidently his suspicions were again aroused,for from this time hemanaged to be with me,on one pretence or another until noon.Moreover,his manner grew each moment more chu
154、rlish,his hints plainer;until Icould scarcely avoid noticing the one or the other.About mid-day,having followed me for the twentieth time into the street,he came to thepoint by asking me rudely if I did not need my horse.No,I said.Why do you ask?Because,he answered,with an ugly smile,this is not a v
155、ery healthyplace for strangers.Ah!I retorted.But the border air suits me,you see,It was alucky answer,for,taken with my talk the night before,it puzzled him,bysuggesting that I was on the losing side,and had my reasons for lying nearUNDER THE RED ROBE25Spain.Before he had done scratching his head ov
156、er it,the clatter ofhoofs broke the sleepy quiet of the village street,and the lady I had seenthe night before rode quickly round the corner,and drew her horse on toits haunches.Without looking at me,she called to the innkeeper to cometo her stirrup.He went.The moment his back was turned,I slipped a
157、way,and in atwinkling was hidden by a house.Two or three glum-looking fellowsstared at me as I passed down the street,but no one moved;and in twominutes I was clear of the village,and in a half-worn track which ranthrough the wood,and led-if my ideas were right-to the Chateau.Todiscover the house an
158、d learn all that was to be learned about its situationwere my most pressing needs;and these,even at the risk of a knife thrust,I was determined to satisfy.I had not gone two hundred paces along the path,however,before Iheard the tread of a horse behind me,and I had just time to hide myselfbefore Mad
159、ame came up and rode by me,sitting her horse gracefully,andwith all the courage of a northern woman.I watched her pass,and then,assured by her presence that I was in the right road,I hurried after her.Two minutes walking at speed brought me to a light wooden bridgespanning a stream.I crossed this,an
160、d,as the wood opened,saw beforeme first a wide,pleasant meadow,and beyond this a terrace.On theterrace,pressed upon on three sides by thick woods,stood a grey mansion,with the corner tourelles,steep,high roofs,and round balconies,that menloved and built in the days of the first Francis.It was of goo
161、d size,but wore a gloomy aspect.A great yew hedge,which seemed to enclose a walk or bowling-green,hid the ground floor ofthe east wing from view,while a formal rose garden,stiff even in neglect,lay in front of the main building.The west wing,of which the lower roofsfell gradually away to the woods,p
162、robably contained the stables andgranaries.I stood a moment only,but I marked all,and noted how the roadreached the house,and which windows were open to attack;then I turnedand hastened back.Fortunately,I met no one between the house and thevillage,and was able to enter my hosts with an air of the m
163、ost completeUNDER THE RED ROBE26innocence.Short as had been my absence,however,I found things altered there.Round the door lounged three strangers-stout,well-armed fellows,whosebearing,as they loitered and chattered,suggested a curious mixture ofsmugness and independence.Half a dozen pack-horses sto
164、od tethered tothe post in front of the house;and the landlords manner,from being rudeand churlish only,had grown perplexed and almost timid.One of thestrangers,I soon found,supplied him with wine;the others were travellingmerchants,who rode in the first ones company for the sake of safety.Allwere su
165、bstantial men from Tarbes-solid burgesses;and I was not long inguessing that my host,fearing what might leak out before them,and,particularly,that I might refer to the previous nights disturbance,was ontenter-hooks while they remained.For a time this did not suggest anything to me.But when we had al
166、ltaken our seats for supper,there came an addition to the party.The dooropened,and the fellow whom I had seen the night before with Madame deCocheforet entered and took a stool by the fire.I felt sure that he wasone of the servants at the Chateau;and in a flash his presence inspired mewith the most
167、feasible plan for obtaining admission which I had yet hitupon.I felt myself grow hot at the thought-it seemed so full of promise,yet so doubtful-and,on the instant,without giving myself time to thinktoo much,I began to carry it into effect.I called for two or three bottles of better wine,and,assumin
168、g a jovialair,passed it round the table.When we had drunk a few glasses I fell totalking,and,choosing politics,took the side of the Languedoc party andthe malcontents in so reckless a fashion that the innkeeper was besidehimself at my imprudence.The merchants,who belonged to the class withwhom the C
169、ardinal was always most popular,looked first astonished andthen enraged.But I was not to be checked;hints and sour looks were lostupon me.I grew more outspoken with every glass,I drank to theRochellois,I swore it would not be long before they raised their headsagain;and,at last,while the innkeeper a
170、nd his wife were engaged lightingthe lamp,I passed round the bottle and called on all for a toast.Ill give you one to begin,I bragged noisily.A gentlemans toast!UNDER THE RED ROBE27A southern toast!Here is confusion to the Cardinal,and a health to allwho hate him!MON DIEU!one of the strangers cried,
171、springing from his seat in arage.I am not going to stomach that!Is your house a commontreason-hole,he continued,turning furiously on the landlord,that yousuffer this?Hoity-toity!I answered,coolly keeping my seat.What is all this?Dont you relish my toast,little man?No-nor you!he retorted hotly;whoeve
172、r you may be!Then I will give you another,I answered,with a hiccough.Perhaps itwill be more to your taste.Here is the Duke of Orleans,and may he soonbe King!UNDER THE RED ROBE28CHAPTER IIITHE HOUSE IN THE WOODWords so reckless fairly shook the three men out of their anger.For amoment they glared at
173、me as if they had seen a ghost.Then the winemerchant clapped his hand on the table.That is enough,he said,with a look at his companions.I think thatthere can be no mistake about that.As damnable treason as ever I heardwhispered!I congratulate you,sir,on your boldness.As for you,hecontinued,turning w
174、ith an ugly sneer to the landlord,I shall know nowthe company you keep!I was not aware that my wine wet whistles tosuch a tune!But if he was startled,the innkeeper was furious,seeing his characterthus taken away;and,being at no time a man of many words,he ventedhis rage exactly in the way I wished,r
175、aising in a twinkling such an uproaras can scarcely be conceived.With a roar like a bulls,he ran headlong atthe table,and overturned it on the top of me.Fortunately the womansaved the lamp,and fled with it into a corner,whence she and the manfrom the Chateau watched the skirmish in silence;but the p
176、ewter cups andplatters flew spinning across the floor,while the table pinned me to theground among the ruins of my stool.Having me at this disadvantage-forat first I made no resistance the landlord began to belabour me with thefirst thing he snatched up,and when I tried to defend myself,cursed mewit
177、h each blow for a treacherous rogue and a vagrant.Meanwhile thethree merchants,delighted with the turn things had taken,skipped roundus laughing,and now hounded him on,now bantered me with how is thatfor the Duke of Orleans?and How now,traitor?When I thought that this had lasted long enough-or,to sp
178、eak moreplainly,when I could stand the innkeepers drubbing no longer-I threwhim off,and struggled to my feet;but still,though the blood was tricklingdown my face,I refrained from drawing my sword.I caught up instead aleg of the stool which lay handy,and,watching my opportunity,dealt thelandlord a sh
179、rewd blow under the ear,which laid him out in a moment onthe wreck of his own table.UNDER THE RED ROBE29Now,I cried,brandishing my new weapon,which fitted the hand to anicety,come on!Come on!if you dare to strike a blow,you peddling,truckling,huckstering knaves!A fig for you and your shavelingCardin
180、al!The red-faced wine merchant drew his sword in a one-two.Why,you drunken fool,he said wrathfully,put that stick down,or Iwill spit you like a lark!Lark in your teeth!I cried,staggering as if the wine were in myhead.And cuckoo,too!Another word,and I-He made a couple ofsavage passes at me,but in a t
181、winkling his sword flew across the room.VOILA!I shouted,lurching forward,as if I had luck and not skill tothank for my victory.Now,the next!Come on,come on-you white-livered knaves!And,pretending a drunken frenzy,I flung my weaponbodily amongst them,and seizing the nearest,began to wrestle with him.
182、In a moment they all threw themselves upon me,and,swearingcopiously,bore me back to the door.The wine merchant criedbreathlessly to the woman to open it,and in a twinkling they had methrough it,and half-way across the road.The one thing I feared was aknife-thrust in the MELEE;but I had to run that r
183、isk,and the men werehonest,and,thinking me drunk,indulgent.In a trice I found myself on myback in the dirt,with my head humming;and heard the bars of the doorfall noisily into their places.I got up and went to the door,and,to play out my part,hammered on itfrantically;crying out to them to let me in
184、.But the three travellers onlyjeered at me,and the landlord,coming to the window,with his headbleeding,shook his fist at me,and cursed me for a mischief-maker.Baffled in this,I retired to a log which lay in the road a few paces fromthe house,and sat down on it to await events.With torn clothes andbl
185、eeding face,hatless and covered with dirt,I was in little better case thanmy opponent.It was raining,too,and the dripping branches swayed overmy head.The wind was in the south-the coldest quarter.I began tofeel chilled and dispirited.If my scheme failed,I had forfeited roof andbed to no purpose,and
186、placed future progress out of the question.It wasa critical moment.UNDER THE RED ROBE30But at last that happened for which I had been looking.The doorswung open a few inches,and a man came noiselessly out;it was quicklybarred behind him.He stood a moment,waiting on the threshold andpeering into the
187、gloom;and seemed to expect to be attacked.Findinghimself unmolested,however,and all quiet,he went off steadily down thestreet-towards the Chateau.I let a couple of minutes go by,and then I followed.I had nodifficulty in hitting on the track at the end of the street,but when I hadonce plunged into th
188、e wood,I found myself in darkness so intense that Isoon strayed from the path,and fell over roots,and tore my clothes withthorns,and lost my temper twenty times before I found the path again.However,I gained the bridge at last,and thence caught sight of a lighttwinkling before me.To make for it acro
189、ss the meadow and terrace wasan easy task;yet,when I had reached the door and had hammered upon it,I was so worn out,and in so sorry a plight that I sank down,and had littleneed to play a part,or pretend to be worse than I was.For a long time no one answered.The dark house towering above meremained
190、silent.I could hear,mingled with the throbbings of my heart,the steady croaking of the frogs in a pond near the stables;but no othersound.In a frenzy of impatience and disgust,I stood up again andhammered,kicking with my heels on the nail-studded door,and crying outdesperately,-A MOI!A MOI!Then,or a
191、 moment later,I heard a remote door opened;footsteps as ofmore than one person drew near.I raised my voice and cried again,-A MOI!Who is there?a voice asked.A gentleman in distress,I answered piteously,moving my handsacross the door.For Gods sake open and let me in.I am hurt,anddying of cold.What br
192、ings you here?the voice asked sharply.Despite itstartness,I fancied that it was a womans.Heaven knows!I answered desperately.I cannot tell.Theymaltreated me at the inn,and threw me into the street.I crawled away,UNDER THE RED ROBE31and have been wandering in the wood for hours.Then I saw a light her
193、e.On that some muttering took place on the other side of the door-towhich I had my ear.It ended in the bars being lowered.The doorswung partly open,and a light shone out,dazzling me.I tried to shademy eyes with my fingers,and,as did so,fancied I heard a murmur of pity.But when I looked in under scre
194、en of my hand,I saw only one person-theman who held the light,and his aspect was so strange,so terrifying,that,shaken as I was by fatigue,I recoiled a step.He was a tall and very thin man,meanly dressed in a short,scantyjacket and well-darned hose.Unable,for some reason,to bend his neck,he carried h
195、is head with a strange stiffness.And that head-never did living man show a face so like death.Hisforehead was bald and yellow,his cheek-bones stood out under thestrained skin,all the lower part of his face fell in,his jaws receded,hischeeks were hollow,his lips and chin were thin and fleshless.He se
196、emedto have only one expression-a fixed grin.While I stood looking at this formidable creature,he made a quickmovement to shut the door again,smiling more widely.I had thepresence of mind to thrust in my foot,and,before he could resent the act,avoice in the background cried,-For shame,Clon!Stand bac
197、k,stand back!do you hear?I amafraid,Monsieur,that you are hurt.Those words were my welcome to that house;and,spoken at an hourand in circumstances so gloomy,they made a lasting impression.Roundthe hall ran a gallery,and this,the height of the apartment,and the darkpanelling seemed to swallow up the
198、light.I stood within the entrance(as itseemed to me)of a huge cave;the skull-headed porter had the air of anogre.Only the voice which greeted me dispelled the illusion.I turnedtrembling towards the quarter whence it came,and,shading my eyes,made out a womans form standing in a doorway under the gall
199、ery.Asecond figure,which I took to be that of the servant I had seen at the inn,loomed uncertainly beside her.I bowed in silence.My teeth were chattering.I was faint withoutfeigning,and felt a kind of terror,hard to explain,at the sound of thisUNDER THE RED ROBE32womans voice.One of our people has t
200、old me about you,she continued,speaking outof the darkness.I am sorry that this has happened to you here,but I amafraid that you were indiscreet.I take all the blame,Madame,I answered humbly.I ask only shelterfor the night.The time has not yet come when we cannot give our friends that!sheanswered wi
201、th noble courtesy.When it does,Monsieur,we shall behomeless ourselves.I shivered,looking anywhere but at her;for,if the truth be told,I hadnot sufficiently pictured this scene of my arrival-I had not foredrawn itsdetails;and now I took part in it I felt a miserable meanness weigh medown.I had never
202、from the first liked the work,but I had had no choice,and I had no choice now.Luckily,the guise in which I came,my fatigue,and wound were a sufficient mask,or I should have incurred suspicion atonce.For I am sure that if ever in this world a brave man wore a hang-dogair,or Gil de Berault fell below
203、himself,it was then and there-on Madamede Cocheforets threshold,with her welcome sounding in my ears.One,I think,did suspect me.Clon,the porter,continued to hold thedoor obstinately ajar and to eye me with grinning spite,until his mistress,with some sharpness,bade him drop the bars and conduct me to
204、 a room.Do you go also,Louis,she continued,speaking to the man beside her,and see this gentleman comfortably disposed.I am sorry,she added,addressing me in the graceful tone she had before used,and I thought thatI could see her head bend in the darkness,that our present circumstancesdo not permit us
205、 to welcome you more fitly,Monsieur.But the troublesof the times-however,you will excuse what is lacking.Until to-morrow,I have the honour to bid you good-night.Good-night,Madame,I stammered,trembling.I had not been ableto distinguish her face in the gloom of the doorway,but her voice,hergreeting,he
206、r presence unmanned me.I was troubled and perplexed;Ihad not spirit to kick a dog.I followed the two servants from the hallwithout heeding how we went;nor was it until we came to a full stop at adoor in a white-washed corridor,and it was forced upon me thatUNDER THE RED ROBE33something was in questi
207、on between my two conductors that I began totake notice.Then I saw that one of them,Louis,wished to lodge me here where westood.The porter,on the other hand,who held the keys,would not.Hedid not speak a word,nor did the other-and this gave a queer ominouscharacter to the debate;but he continued to j
208、erk his head towards thefarther end of the corridor;and,at last,he carried his point.Louisshrugged his shoulders,and moved on,glancing askance at me;and I,notunderstanding the matter in debate,followed the pair in silence.We reached the end of the corridor,and there for an instant the monsterwith th
209、e keys paused and grinned at me.Then he turned into a narrowpassage on the left,and after following it for some paces,halted before asmall,strong door.His key jarred in the lock,but he forced it shriekinground,and with a savage flourish threw the door open.I walked in and saw a mean,bare chamber wit
210、h barred windows.Thefloor was indifferently clean,there was no furniture.The yellow light ofthe lanthorn falling on the stained walls gave the place the look of adungeon.I turned to the two men.This is not a very good room,I said.And it feels damp.Have you no other?Louis looked doubtfully at his com
211、panion.But the porter shook hishead stubbornly.Why does he not speak?I asked with impatience.He is dumb,Louis answered.Dumb!I exclaimed.But he hears.He has ears,the servant answered drily.But he has no tongue,Monsieur.I shuddered.How did he lose it?I asked.At Rochelle.He was a spy,and the kings peop
212、le took him the daythe town surrendered.They spared his life,but cut out his tongue.Ah!I said.I wished to say more,to be natural,to show myself atmy ease.But the porters eyes seemed to burn into me,and my owntongue clave to the roof of my mouth.He opened his lips and pointed tohis throat with a horr
213、id gesture,and I shook my head and turned from him-You can let me have some bedding?I murmured hastily,for the sake ofUNDER THE RED ROBE34saying something,and to escape.Of course,Monsieur,Louis answered.I will fetch some.He went away,thinking doubtless that Clon would stay with me.Butafter waiting a
214、 minute the porter strode off also with the lanthorn,leavingme to stand in the middle of the damp,dark room and reflect on theposition.It was plain that Clon suspected me.This prison-like room,with its barred window,at the back of the house,and in the wing farthestfrom the stables,proved so much.Cle
215、arly,he was a dangerous fellow,ofwhom I must beware.I had just begun to wonder how Madame couldkeep such a monster in her house,when I heard his step returning.Hecame in,lighting Louis,who carried a small pallet and a bundle ofcoverings.The dumb man had,besides the lanthorn,a bowl of water and a pie
216、ceof rag in his hand.He set them down,and going out again,fetched in astool.Then he hung up the lanthorn on a nail,took the bowl and rag,andinvited me to sit down.I was loth to let him touch me;but he continued to stand over me,pointing and grinning with dark persistence,and rather than stand on atr
217、ifle I sat down at last and gave him his way.He bathed my headcarefully enough,and I daresay did it good;but I understood.I knew thathis only desire was to learn whether the cut was real or a pretence,and Ibegan to fear him more and more;until he was gone from the room,Idared scarcely lift my face l
218、est he should read too much in it.Alone,even,I felt uncomfortable,this seemed so sinister a business,and so ill begun.I was in the house.But Madames frank voicehaunted me,and the dumb mans eyes,full of suspicion and menace.When I presently got up and tried my door,I found it locked.The roomsmelt dan
219、k and close-like a vault.I could not see through the barredwindow,but I could hear the boughs sweep it in ghostly fashion;and Iguessed that it looked out where the wood grew close to the walls of thehouse,and that even in the day the sun never peeped through it.Nevertheless,tired and worn out,I slep
220、t at last.When I awoke theroom was full of grey light,the door stood open,and Louis,lookingashamed of himself,waited by my pallet with a cup of wine in his hand,UNDER THE RED ROBE35and some bread and fruit on a platter.Will Monsieur be good enough to rise?he said.It is eightoclock.Willingly,I answer
221、ed tartly.Now that the door is unlocked.He turned red.It was an oversight,he stammered Clon isaccustomed to lock the door,and he did it inadvertently,forgetting thatthere was anyone-Inside,I said drily.Precisely,Monsieur.Ah!I replied.Well,I do not think the oversight would pleaseMadame de Cocheforet
222、 if she heard of it?If Monsieur would have the kindness not to-Mention it,my good fellow?answered,looking at him withmeaning as I rose.No.But it must not occur again.I saw that this man was not like Clon.He had the instincts of thefamily servant,and freed from the influences of fear and darkness fel
223、tashamed of his conduct.While he arranged my clothes,he looked roundthe room with an air of distaste,and muttered once or twice that thefurniture of the principal chambers was packed away.M.de Cocheforet is abroad,I think?I said as I dressed.And likely to remain there,the man answered carelessly,shr
224、ugginghis shoulders.Monsieur will doubtless have heard that he is in trouble.In the meantime,the house is TRISTE,and Monsieur must overlook much,if he stays.Madame lives retired,and the roads are ill-made and visitorsfew.When the lion was ill the jackals left him,I said.Louis nodded.It is true,he an
225、swered simply.He made no boast orbrag on his own account,I noticed;and it came home to me that he was afaithful fellow,such as I love.I questioned him discreetly,and learnedthat he and Clon and an older man who lived over the stables were theonly male servants left of a great household.Madame,her si
226、ster-in-law,and three women completed the family.It took me some time to repair my wardrobe,so that I daresay it wasnearly ten when I left my dismal little room.I found Louis waiting in theUNDER THE RED ROBE36corridor,and he told me that Madame de Cocheforet and Mademoisellewere in the rose garden,a
227、nd would be pleased to receive me.I nodded,and he guided me through several dim passages to a parlour with an opendoor,through which the sun shone gaily on the floor.Cheered by themorning air and this sudden change to pleasantness and life,I steppedlightly out.The two ladies were walking up and down
228、 a wide path which bisectedthe garden.The weeds grew rankly in the gravel underfoot,the rosebushes which bordered the walk thrust their branches here and there inuntrained freedom,a dark yew hedge which formed the backgroundbristled with rough shoots and sadly needed trimming.But I did not seeany of
229、 these things.The grace,the noble air,the distinction of the twowomen who paced slowly to meet me-and who shared all these qualities,greatly as they differed in others-left me no power to notice trifles.Mademoiselle was a head shorter than her BELLE-SOEUR-a slenderwoman and petite,with a beautiful f
230、ace and a fair complexion;a womanwholly womanly.She walked with dignity,but beside Madames statelyfigure she had an air almost childish.And it was characteristic of the twothat Mademoiselle as they drew near to me regarded me with sorrowfulattention,Madame with a grave smile.I bowed low.They returne
231、d the salute.This is my sister,Madamede Cocheforet said,with a very slight air of condescension,Will youplease to tell me your name,Monsieur?I am M.de Barthe,a gentlemanof Normandy,I said,taking on impulse the name of my mother.My own,by a possibility,might be known.Madames face wore a puzzled look.
232、I do not know that name,Ithink,she said thoughtfully.Doubtless she was going over in her mindall the names with which conspiracy had made her familiar.That is my misfortune,Madame,I said humbly.Nevertheless I am going to scold you,she rejoined,still eyeing mewith some keenness.I am glad to see that
233、you are none the worse foryour adventure-but others may be.And you should have borne that inmind,sir.I do not think that I hurt the man seriously,I stammered.UNDER THE RED ROBE37I do not refer to that,she answered coldly.You know,or shouldknow,that we are in disgrace here;that the Government regards
234、 us alreadywith an evil eye,and that a very small thing would lead them to garrisonthe village,and perhaps oust us from the little the wars have left us.Youshould have known this,and considered it,she continued.Whereas-Ido not say that you are a braggart,M.de Barthe.But on this oneoccasion you seem
235、to have played the part of one.Madame,I did not think,I stammered.Want of thought causes much evil,she answered,smiling.However,Ihave spoken,and we trust that while you stay with us you will be morecareful.For the rest,Monsieur,she continued graciously,raising herhand to prevent me speaking,we do no
236、t know why you are here,or whatplans you are pursuing.And we do not wish to know.It is enough thatyou are of our side.This house is at your service as long as you please touse it.And if we can aid you in any other way we will do so.Madame!I exclaimed;and there I stopped.I could say no more.The rose
237、garden,with its air of neglect,the shadow of the quiet house thatfell across it,the great yew hedge which backed it,and was the pattern ofone under which I had played in childhood-all had points that pricked me.But the womens kindness,their unquestioning confidence,the noble air ofhospitality which
238、moved them!Against these and their placid beauty inits peaceful frame I had no shield,no defence.I turned away,andfeigned to be overcome by gratitude.I have no words-to thank you!I muttered presently.I am a littleshaken this morning.I-pardon me.We will leave you for a while,Mademoiselle de Cochefore
239、t said ingentle pitying tones.The air will revive you.Louis shall call youwhen we go to dinner,M.de Barthe.Come,Elise.I bowed low to hide my face,and they nodded pleasantly-not lookingclosely at me-as they walked by me to the house.I watched the twogracious,pale-robed figures until the doorway swall
240、owed them,and then Iwalked away to a quiet corner where the shrubs grew highest and the yewhedge threw its deepest shadow,and I stood to think.And,MON DIEU,strange thoughts.If the oak can think at theUNDER THE RED ROBE38moment the wind uproots it,or the gnarled thorn-bush when the landsliptears it f
241、rom the slope,they may have such thoughts,I stared at the leaves,at the rotting blossoms,into the dark cavities of the hedge;I staredmechanically,dazed and wondering.What was the purpose for which Iwas here?What was the work I had come to do?Above all,how-myGod!how was I to do it in the face of thes
242、e helpless women,who trustedme,who believed in me,who opened their house to me?Clon had notfrightened me,nor the loneliness of the leagued village,nor theremoteness of this corner where the dread Cardinal seemed a name,andthe Kings writ ran slowly,and the rebellion long quenched elsewhere,stillsmoul
243、dered.But Madames pure faith,the younger womans tenderness-how was I to face these?I cursed the Cardinal-would he had stayed at Luchon.I cursed theEnglish fool who had brought me to this,I cursed the years of plenty andscarceness,and the Quartier Marais,and Zatons,where I had lived like apig,and-A t
244、ouch fell on my arm.I turned.It was Clon.How he had stolenup so quietly,how long he had been at my elbow,I could not tell.But hiseyes gleamed spitefully in their deep sockets,and he laughed with hisfleshless lips;and I hated him.In the daylight the man looked more likea deaths-head than ever.I fanci
245、ed that I read in his face that he knew mysecret,and I flashed into rage at sight of him.What is it?I cried,with another oath.Dont lay your corpse-clawson me!He mowed at me,and,bowing with ironical politeness,pointed to thehouse.Is Madame served?I said impatiently,crushing down my anger.Isthat what
246、you mean,fool?He nodded,Very well,I retorted.I can find my way then.You may go!He fell behind,and I strode back through the sunshine and flowers,and along the grass-grown paths,to the door by which I had come Iwalked fast,but his shadow kept pace with me,driving out theunaccustomed thoughts in which
247、 I had been indulging.Slowly but surely itUNDER THE RED ROBE39darkened my mood.After all,this was a little,little place;the peoplewho lived here-I shrugged my shoulders.France,power,pleasure,life,everything worth winning,worth having,lay yonder in the great city.Aboy might wreck himself here for a f
248、ancy;a man of the world,never.When I entered the room,where the two ladies stood waiting for me bythe table,I was nearly my old self again.And a chance word presentlycompleted the work.Clon made you understand,then?the young woman said kindly,as Itook my seat.Yes,Mademoiselle,I answered.On that I sa
249、w the two smile at oneanother,and I added:He is a strange creature.I wonder that you canbear to have him near you.Poor man!You do not know his story?Madame said.I have heard something of it,I answered.Louis told me.Well,I do shudder at him sometimes,she replied,in a low voice.He has suffered-and hor
250、ribly,and for us.But I wish that it had been onany other service.Spies are necessary things,but one does not wish tohave to do with them!Anything in the nature of treachery is so horrible.Quick,Louis!Mademoiselle exclaimed,the cognac,if you haveany there!I am sure that you are-still feeling ill,Mons
251、ieur.No,I thank you,I muttered hoarsely,making an effort to recovermyself.I am quite well.It was-an old wound that sometimes touchesme.UNDER THE RED ROBE40CHAPTER IVMADAME AND MADEMOISELLETo be frank,however,it was not the old wound that touched me sonearly,but Madames words;which,finishing what Clo
252、ns suddenappearance in the garden had begun,went a long way towards hardeningme and throwing me back into myself.I saw with bitterness-what I hadperhaps forgotten for a moment-how great was the chasm that separatedme from these women;how impossible it was that we could long thinkalike;how far apart
253、in views,in experience,in aims we were.And whileI made a mock in my heart of their high-flown sentiments-or thought Idid-I laughed no less at the folly which had led me to dream,even for a,moment,that I could,at my age,go back-go back and risk all for a whim,a scruple,the fancy of a lonely hour.I da
254、resay something of this showed in my face;for Madames eyesmirrored a dim reflection of trouble as she looked at me,andMademoiselle talked nervously and at random.At any rate,I fancied so,and I hastened to compose myself;and the two,in pressing upon me thesimple dainties of the table soon forgot,or a
255、ppeared to forget,the incident.Yet in spite of this CONTRETEMPS,that first meal had a strangecharm for me.The round table whereat we dined was spread inside theopen door which led to the garden,so that the October sunshine fell full onthe spotless linen and quaint old plate,and the fresh balmy air f
256、illed theroom with the scent of sweet herbs.Louis served us with the mien of amajor-domo,and set on each dish as though it had been a peacock or amess of ortolans.The woods provided the larger portion of our meal;thegarden did its part;the confections Mademoiselle had cooked with herown hand.By-and-
257、by,as the meal went on,as Louis trod to and fro across thepolished floor,and the last insects of summer hummed sleepily outside,and the two gracious faces continued to smile at me out of the gloom-forthe ladies sat with their backs to the door-I began to dream again,I beganto sink again into folly,t
258、hat was half-pleasure,half-pain.The fury of thegaming-house and the riot of Zatons seemed far away.The triumphs ofUNDER THE RED ROBE41the fencing-room-even they grew cheap and tawdry.I thought ofexistence as one outside it,I balanced this against that,and wonderedwhether,after all,the red soutane we
259、re so much better than the homelyjerkin,or the fame of a day than ease and safety.And life at Cocheforet was all after the pattern of this dinner.Each day,I might almost say each meal,gave rise to the same sequence of thoughts.In Clons presence,or when some word of Madames,unconsciously harsh,remind
260、ed me of the distance between us,I was myself.At other times,inface of this peaceful and intimate life,which was only rendered possibleby the remoteness of the place and the peculiar circumstances in which theladies stood,I felt a strange weakness,The loneliness of the woods thatencircled the house,
261、and only here and there afforded a distant glimpse ofsnow-clad peaks;the absence of any link to bind me to the old life,so thatat intervals it seemed unreal;the remoteness of the great world,all tendedto sap my will and weaken the purpose which had brought me to thisplace.On the fourth day after my
262、coming,however,something happened tobreak the spell.It chanced that I came late to dinner,and entered theroom hastily and without ceremony,expecting to find Madame and hersister already seated.Instead,I found them talking in a low tone by theopen door,with every mark of disorder in their appearance;
263、while Clonand Louis stood at a little distance with downcast faces and perplexedlooks.I had time to see all this,and then my entrance wrought a suddenchange.Clon and Louis sprang to attention;Madame and her sister cameto the table and sat down,and all made a shallow pretence of being at theirease.Bu
264、t Mademoiselles face was pale,her hand trembled;and thoughMadames greater self-command enabled her to carry off the matter better,I saw that she was not herself.Once or twice she spoke harshly to Louis;she fell at other times into a brown study;and when she thought that I wasnot watching her,her fac
265、e wore a look of deep anxiety.I wondered what all this meant;and I wondered more when,after themeal,the two walked in the garden for an hour with Clon.Mademoisellecame from this interview alone,and I was sure that she had been weeping.UNDER THE RED ROBE42Madame and the dark porter stayed outside som
266、e time longer;then she,too,came in,and disappeared.Clon did not return with her,and when I went into the garden fiveminutes later,Louis also had vanished.Save for two women who satsewing at an upper window,the house seemed to be deserted.Not asound broke the afternoon stillness of room or garden,and
267、 yet I felt thatmore was happening in this silence than appeared on the surface.I beginto grow curious-suspicious,and presently slipped out myself by way ofthe stables,and skirting the wood at the back of the house,gained with alittle trouble the bridge which crossed the stream and led to the villag
268、e.Turning round at this point I could see the house,and I moved a littleaside into the underwood,and stood gazing at the windows,trying tounriddle the matter.It was not likely that M.de Cocheforet would repeathis visit so soon;and,besides,the womens emotions had been those ofpure dismay and grief,un
269、mixed with any of the satisfaction to which sucha meeting,though snatched by stealth,must give rise.I discarded myfirst thought therefore-that he had returned unexpectedly-and I soughtfor another solution.But no other was on the instant forthcoming.The windows remainedobstinately blind,no figures ap
270、peared on the terrace,the garden laydeserted,and without life.My departure had not,as I half expected itwould,drawn the secret into light.I watched awhile,at times cursing my own meanness;but theexcitement of the moment and the quest tided me over that.Then Idetermined to go down into the village an
271、d see whether anything wasmoving there.I had been down to the inn once,and had been receivedhalf sulkily,half courteously,as a person privileged at the great house,andtherefore to be accepted.It would not be thought odd if I went again,andafter a moments thought,I started down the track.This,where i
272、t ran through the wood,was so densely shaded that thesun penetrated to it little,and in patches only.A squirrel stirred at times,sliding round a trunk,or scampering across the dry leaves.Occasionallya pig grunted and moved farther into the wood.But the place was veryquiet,and I do not know how it wa
273、s that I surprised Clon instead of beingUNDER THE RED ROBE43surprised by him.He was walking along the path before me with his eyes on the ground-walking so slowly,and with his lean frame so bent that I might havesupposed him ill if I had not remarked the steady movement of his headfrom right to left
274、,and the alert touch with which he now and againdisplaced a clod of earth or a cluster of leaves.By-and-by he rose stiffly,and looked round him suspiciously;but by that time I had slipped behind atrunk,and was not to be seen;and after a brief interval he went back to histask,stooping over it more cl
275、osely,if possible,than before,and applyinghimself with even greater care.By that time I had made up my mind that he was tracking someone.But whom?I could not make a guess at that.I only knew that the plotwas thickening,and began to feel the eagerness of the chase.Of course,if the matter had not to d
276、o with Cocheforet,it was no affair of mine;butthough it seemed unlikely that anything could bring him back so soon,hemight still be at the bottom of this.And,besides,I felt a natural curiosity.When Clon at last improved his pace,and went on to the village,I took uphis task.I called to mind all the w
277、ood-lore I had ever learned,andscanned trodden mould and crushed leaves with eager eyes.But in vain.I could make nothing of it all,and rose at last with an aching back and noadvantage.I did not go on to the village after that,but returned to the house,where I found Madame pacing the garden.She looke
278、d up eagerly onhearing my step;and I was mistaken if she was not disappointed-if shehad not been expecting someone else.She hid the feeling bravely,however,and met me with a careless word;but she turned to the housemore than once while we talked,and she seemed to be all the while on thewatch,and une
279、asy.I was not surprised when Clons figure presentlyappeared in the doorway,and she left me abruptly,and went to him.Ionly felt more certain than before that there was something strange on foot.What it was,and whether it had to do with M.de Cocheforet,I could nottell.But there it was,and I grew more
280、curious the longer I remainedalone.She came back to me presently,looking thoughtful and a trifleUNDER THE RED ROBE44downcast.That was Clon,was it not?I said,studying her face,Yes,she answered.She spoke absently,and did not look at me.How does he talk to you?I asked,speaking a trifle curtly.As I inte
281、nded,my tone roused her.By signs,she said.Is he-is he not a little mad?I ventured.I wanted to make her talkand forget herself.She looked at me with sudden keenness,then dropped her eyes,You do not like him?she said,a note of challenge in her voice.Ihave noticed that,Monsieur.I think he does not like
282、 me,I replied.He is less trustful than we are,she answered naively.It is naturalthat he should be.He has seen more of the world.That silenced me for a moment,but she did not seem to notice it.I was looking for him a little while ago,and I could not find him,Isaid,after a pauseHe has been into the vi
283、llage,she answered.I longed to pursue the matter further;but though she seemed toentertain no suspicion of me,I dared not run the risk.I tried her,instead,on another tack.Mademoiselle de Cocheforet does not seem very well to-day?Isaid.No?she answered carelessly.Well,now you speak of it,I do notthink
284、 that she is.She is often anxious about-one we love.She uttered the last words with a little hesitation,and looked at mequickly when she had spoken them.We were sitting at the moment on astone seat which had the wall of the house for a back;and,fortunately,Iwas toying with the branch of a creeping p
285、lant that hung over it,so thatshe could not see more than the side of my face.For I knew that italtered.Over my voice,however,I had more control,and I hastened toanswer,Yes,I suppose so,as innocently as possible.He is at Bosost,in Spain.You knew that,I conclude?she said,with a certain sharpness.And
286、she looked me in the face again verydirectly.UNDER THE RED ROBE45Yes,I answered,beginning to tremble.I suppose you have heard,too,that he-that he sometimes crosses theborder?she continued in a low voice,but with a certain ring ofinsistence in her tone.Or,if you have not heard it,you guess it?I was i
287、n a quandary,and grew,in one second,hot all over.Uncertainwhat amount of knowledge I ought to admit,I took refuge in gallantry.I should be surprised if he did not,I answered,with a bow,being,ashe is,so close,and having such an inducement to return,Madame.She drew a long,shivering sigh,at the thought
288、 of his peril,I fancied,and she sat back against the wall.Nor did she say any more,though Iheard her sigh again.Is a moment she rose.The afternoons are growing chilly,she said;I will go in and see howMademoiselle is.Sometimes she does not come to supper.If she cannotdescend this evening,I am afraid
289、that you must excuse me too,Monsieur.I said what was right,and watched her go in;and,as I did so,I loathedmy errand,and the mean contemptible curiosity which it had planted inmy mind,more than at any former time.These women-I could find it inmy heart to hate them for their frankness,for their foolis
290、h confidence,andthe silly trustfulness that made them so easy a prey!NOM DE DIEU!What did the woman mean by telling me all this?To meet me in such a way,to disarm one by such methods,was to take anunfair advantage.It put a vile-ay,the vilest-aspect,on the work I had todo.Yet it was very odd!What cou
291、ld M.de Cocheforet mean byreturning so soon,if M.de Cocheforet was here?And,on the other hand,if it was not his unexpected presence that had so upset the house,what wasthe secret?Whom had Clon been tracking?And what was the cause ofMadames anxiety?In a few minutes I began to grow curious again;and,a
292、s the ladies did not appear at supper,I had leisure to give my brain fulllicence,and,in the course of an hour,thought of a hundred keys to themystery.But none exactly fitted the lock,or laid open the secret.A false alarm that evening helped to puzzle me still more.I wassitting about an hour after su
293、pper,on the same seat in the garden-I had mycloak and was smoking-when Madame came out like a ghost,and,UNDER THE RED ROBE46without seeing me,flitted away through the darkness toward the stables.For a moment I hesitated,and then I followed her.She went down thepath and round the stables,and,so far,I
294、 saw nothing strange in her actions;but when she had in this way gained the rear of the west wing,she took atrack through the thicket to the east of the house again,and so came backto the garden.This gained,she came up the path and went in through theparlour door,and disappeared-alter making a clear
295、 circuit of the house,and not once pausing or looking to right or left!I confess I was fairlybaffled.I sank back on the seat I had left,and said to myself that thiswas the lamest of all conclusions.I was sure that she had exchanged noword with anyone.I was equally sure that she had not detected mypr
296、esence behind her.Why,then,had she made this strange promenade,alone,unprotected,an hour after nightfall?No dog had bayed,no onehad moved,she had not once paused,or listened,like a person expecting arencontre.I could not make it out.And I came no nearer to solving it,though I lay awake an hour beyon
297、d my usual time.In the morning,neither of the ladies descended to dinner,and I heardthat Mademoiselle was not so well.After a lonely meal,therefore Imissed them more than I should have supposed-I retired to my favouriteseat and fell to meditating.The day was fine,and the garden pleasant.Sitting ther
298、e with myeyes on the old fashioned herb-beds,with the old-fashioned scents in theair,and the dark belt of trees bounding the view on either side,I couldbelieve that I had been out of Paris not three weeks,but three months.The quiet lapped me round.I could fancy that I had never lovedanything else.Th
299、e wood-doves cooed in the stillness;occasionally theharsh cry of a jay jarred the silence.It was an hour after noon,and hot.I think I nodded.On a sudden,as if in a dream,I saw Clons face peering at me roundthe angle of the parlour door.He looked,and in a moment withdrew,andI heard whispering.The doo
300、r was gently closed.Then all was still again.But I was wide awake now,and thinking.Clearly the people of thehouse wished to assure themselves that I was asleep and safely out of theway.As clearly,it was to my interest to be in the way.Giving place toUNDER THE RED ROBE47the temptation,I rose quietly,
301、and,stooping below the level of thewindows,slipped round the east end of the house,passing between it andthe great yew hedge.Here I found all still and no one stirring;so,keepinga wary eye about me,I went on round the house-reversing the routewhich Madame had taken the night before-until I gained th
302、e rear of thestables.Here I had scarcely paused a second to scan the ground beforetwo persons came out of the stable-court.They were Madame and theporter.They stood a brief while outside and looked up and down.ThenMadame said something to the man,and he nodded.Leaving himstanding where he was,she cr
303、ossed the grass with a quick,light step,andvanished among the trees.In a moment my mind was made up to follow;and,as Clon turned atonce and went in,I was able to do so before it was too late.Bending lowamong the shrubs,I ran hotfoot to the point where Madame had enteredthe wood.Here I found a narrow
304、 path,and ran nimbly along it,andpresently saw her grey robe fluttering among the trees before me.It onlyremained to keep out of her sight and give her no chance of discoveringthat she was followed;and this I set myself to do.Once or twice sheglanced round,but the wood was of beech,the light which p
305、assed betweenthe leaves was mere twilight,and my clothes were dark-coloured.I hadevery advantage,therefore,and little to fear as long as I could keep her inview and still remain myself at such a distance that the rustle of my treadwould not disturb her.Assured that she was on her way to meet her hus
306、band,whom mypresence kept from the house,I felt that the crisis had come at last,and Igrew more excited with each step I took.I detested the task of watchingher;it filled me with peevish disgust.But in proportion as I hated it Iwas eager to have it done and be done with it,and succeed,and stuff myea
307、rs and begone from the scene.When she presently came to the vergeof the beech wood,and,entering a little open clearing,seemed to loiter,Iwent cautiously.This,I thought,must be the rendezvous;and I held backwarily,looking to see him step out of the thicket.But he did not,and by-and-by she quickened h
308、er pace.She crossedUNDER THE RED ROBE48the open and entered a wide ride cut through a low,dense wood of alderand dwarf oak-a wood so closely planted and so intertwined with hazeland elder and box that the branches rose like a solid wall,twelve feet high,on either side of the track.Down this she pass
309、ed,and I stood and watched her go,for I dared notfollow.The ride stretched away as straight as a line for four or fivehundred yards,a green path between green walls.To enter it was to beimmediately detected,if she turned,while the thicket itself permitted nopassage.I stood baffled and raging,and wat
310、ched her pass along.Itseemed an age before she at last reached the end,and,turning sharply tothe right,was in an instant gone from sight.I waited then no longer.I started off,and,running as lightly andquietly as I could,I sped down the green alley.The sun shone into it,thetrees kept off the wind,and
311、 between heat and haste I sweated finely.Butthe turf was soft,and the ground fell slightly,and in little more than aminute I gained the end.Fifty yards short of the turning I stopped,and,stealing on,looked cautiously the way she had gone.I saw before me a second ride,the twin of the other,and a hund
312、red andfifty paces down it her grey figure tripping on between the green hedges.I stood and took breath,and cursed the wood and the heat and Madameswariness.We must have come a league,or two-thirds of a league,at least.How far did the man expect her to plod to meet him?I began to growangry.There is
313、moderation even in the cooking of eggs,and this woodmight stretch into Spain,for all I knew!Presently she turned the corner and was gone again,and I had to repeatmy manoeuvre.This time,surely,I should find a change.But no!Another green ride stretched away into the depths of the forest,withhedges of
314、varying shades-here light and there dark,as hazel and elder,orthorn,and yew and box prevailed-but always high and stiff andimpervious.Halfway down the ride Madames figure tripped steadily on,the only moving thing in sight.I wondered,stood,and,when shevanished,followed-only to find that she had enter
315、ed another track,a littlenarrower but in every other respect alike.And so it went on for quite half an hour.Sometimes Madame turnedUNDER THE RED ROBE49to the right,sometimes to the left.The maze seemed to be endless.Once or twice I wondered whether she had lost her way,and was merelyseeking to retur
316、n.But her steady,purposeful gait,her measured pace,forbade the idea.I noticed,too,that she seldom looked behind her-rarely to right or left.Once the ride down which she passed was carpetednot with green,but with the silvery,sheeny leaves of some creeping plantthat in the distance had a shimmer like
317、that of water at evening.As shetrod this,with her face to the low sun,her tall grey figure had a pure airthat for the moment startled me-she looked unearthly.Then I swore inscorn of myself,and at the next corner I had my reward.She was nolonger walking on.She had stopped,I found,and seated herself o
318、n afallen tree that lay in the ride.For some time I stood in ambush watching her,and with each minute Igrew more impatient.At last I began to doubt-to have strange thoughts.The green walls were growing dark.The sun was sinking;a sharp,whitepeak,miles and miles away,which closed the vista of the ride
319、,began toflush and colour rosily.Finally,but not before I had had leisure to growuneasy,she stood up and walked on more slowly.I waited,as usual,untilthe next turning hid her.Then I hastened after her,and,warily passinground the corner came face to face with her!I knew all in a moment saw all in a f
320、lash:that she had fooled me,tricked me,lured me away.Her face was white with scorn,her eyesblazed;her figure,as she confronted me,trembled with anger and infinitecontempt.You spy!she cried.You hound!You-gentleman!Oh,MONDIEU!if you are one of us-if you are really not of the CANAILLE-weshall pay for t
321、his some day!We shall pay a heavy reckoning in the timeto come!I did not think,she continued,and her every syllable was likethe lash of a whip,that there was anything so vile as you in this world!I stammered something-I do not know what.Her words burned intome-into my heart!Had she been a man,I woul
322、d have struck her dead!You thought that you deceived me yesterday,she continued,loweringher tone,but with no lessening of the passion,the contempt,theindignation,which curled her lip and gave fullness to her voice.YouUNDER THE RED ROBE50plotter!You surface trickster!You thought it an easy task to de
323、lude awoman-you find yourself deluded.God give you shame that you maysuffer!she continued mercilessly.You talked of Clon,but Clon besideyou is the most spotless,the most honourable of men!Madame,I said hoarsely-and I know that my face was grey as ashes-let us understand one another.God forbid!she cr
324、ied on the instant.I would not soil myself!Fie!Madame,I said,trembling.But then,you are a woman.Thatshould cost a man his life!She laughed bitterly.You say well,she retorted.I am not a man-and if you are one,thank God for it.Neither am I Madame.Madame de Cocheforet hasspent this afternoon-thanks to
325、your absence and your imbecility-with herhusband.Yes,I hope that hurts you!she went on,savagely snapping herlittle white teeth together.I hope that stings you;to spy and do vile work,and do it ill,Monsieur Mouchard-Monsieur de Mouchard,I should say-Icongratulate you!You are not Madame de Cocheforet?
326、I cried,stunned,even in themidst of my shame and rage,by this blow.No,Monsieur!she answered grimly.I am not!I am not.Andpermit me to point out-for we do not all lie easily-that I never said I was.You deceived yourself so skilfully that we had no need to trick you.Mademoiselle,then?I muttered.Is Mada
327、me!she cried.Yes,and I am Mademoiselle de Cocheforet.And in that character,and in all others,I beg from this moment to closeour acquaintance,sir.When we meet again-if we ever do meet,whichGod forbid!she went on,her eyes sparkling-do not presume to speakto me,or I will have you flogged by the grooms.
328、And do not stain ourroof by sleeping under it again.You may lie to-night in the inn.It shallnot be said that Cocheforet,she continued proudly,returned eventreachery with inhospitality;and I will give orders to that end.But to-morrow begone back to your master,like the whipped cur you are!Spyand cowa
329、rd!With those last words she moved away.I would have said something,UNDER THE RED ROBE51I could almost have found it in my heart to stop her and make her hear.Nay,I had dreadful thoughts;for I was the stronger,and I might have donewith her as I pleased.But she swept by me so fearlessly,as I might pa
330、sssome loathsome cripple on the road,that I stood turned to stone.Withoutlooking at me,without turning her head to see whether I followed orremained,or what I did,she went steadily down the track until the treesand the shadow and the growing darkness hid her grey figure from me;and I found myself al
331、one.UNDER THE RED ROBE52CHAPTER VREVENGEAnd full of black rage!Had she only reproached me,or,turning onme in the hour of MY victory,said all that she had now said in the momentof her own,I could have borne it.She might have shamed me then,and Imight have taken the shame to myself and forgiven her.Bu
332、t,as it was,Istood there in the gathering dusk,between the darkening hedges,baffled,tricked,defeated!And by a woman!She had pitted her wits againstmine,her womans will against my experience,and she had come off thevictor.And then she had reviled me!As I took it all in,and began tocomprehend also the
333、 more remote results,and how completely her movehad made further progress on my part impossible,I hated her.She hadtricked me with her gracious ways and her slow-coming smile.And,after all-for what she had said-it was this mans life or mine.What hadI done that another man would not do?MON DIEU!in th
334、e future therewas nothing I would not do.I would make her smart for those words ofhers!I would bring her to her knees!Still,hot as I was,an hour might have restored me to coolness.Butwhen I started to return,I fell into a fresh rage,for I remembered that I didnot know my way out of the maze of rides
335、 and paths into which she haddrawn me;and this and the mishaps which followed,kept my rage hot.For a full hour I wandered in the wood,unable,though I knew where thevillage lay,to find any track which led continuously in one direction.Whenever,at the end of each attempt,the thicket brought me up shor
336、t,Ifancied that I heard her laughing on the farther side of the brake;and theignominy of this chance punishment,and the check which the confinementplaced on my rage,almost maddened me.In the darkness I fell,and rosecursing;I tore my hands with thorns;I stained my suit,which had sufferedsadly once be
337、fore.At length,when I had almost resigned myself to lie inthe wood,I caught sight of the lights of the village,and,tremblingbetween haste and anger,pressed towards them.In a few minutes I stoodin the little street.The lights of the inn shone only fifty yards away;but before I couldUNDER THE RED ROBE
338、53show myself even there pride suggested that I should do something torepair my clothes.I stopped,and scraped and brushed them;and,at thesame time,did what I could to compose my features.Then I advanced tothe door and knocked.Almost on the instant the landlords voice criedfrom the inside,Enter,Monsi
339、eur!I raised the latch and went in.The man was alone,squatting over thefire warming his hands.A black pot simmered on the ashes,As I enteredhe raised the lid and peeped inside.Then he glanced over his shoulder.You expected me?I said defiantly,walking to the hearth,and settingone of my damp boots on
340、the logs.Yes,he answered,nodding curtly.Your supper is just ready.Ithought that you would be in about this time.He grinned as he spoke,and it was with difficulty I suppressed mywrath.Mademoiselle de Cocheforet told you,I said,affecting indifference,where I was?Ay,Mademoiselle-or Madame,he replied,gr
341、inning afresh.So she had told him;where she had left me,and how she had trickedme!She had,made me the village laughing-stock!My rage flashedout afresh at the thought,and,at the sight of his mocking face,I raised myfist.But he read the threat in my eyes,and was up in a moment,snarling,with his hand o
342、n his knife.Not again,Monsieur!he cried,in his vile patois.My head is sorestill.raise your hand and I will rip you up as I would a pig!Sit down,fool,I said.I am not going to harm you.Where is yourwife?About her business.Which should be getting my supper,I retorted.He rose sullenly,and,fetching a pla
343、tter,poured the mess of broth andvegetables into it.Then he went to a cupboard and brought out a loaf ofblack bread and a measure of wine,and set them also on the table.You see it,he said laconically.And a poor welcome!I replied.UNDER THE RED ROBE54He flamed into sudden passion at that.Leaning with
344、both his handson the table he thrust his rugged face and blood-shot eyes close to mine.His moustachios bristled,his beard trembled.Hark ye,sirrah!he muttered,with sullen emphasis,be content!Ihave my suspicions.And if it were not for my ladys orders I would put aknife into you,fair or foul,this very
345、night.You would lie snug outside,instead of inside,and I do not think anyone would be the worse.But as itis,be content.Keep a still tongue;and when you turn your back onCocheforet to-morrow keep it turned.Tut!tut!I said-but I confess that I was a little out of countenance.Threatened men live long,yo
346、u rascal!In Paris!he answered significantly.Not here,Monsieur.He straightened himself with that,nodded once,and went back to thefire;and I shrugged my shoulders and began to eat,affecting to forget hispresence.The logs on the hearth burned sullenly,and gave no light.The poor oil-lamp,casting weird s
347、hadows from wall to wall,served onlyto discover the darkness.The room,with its low roof and earthen floor,and foul clothes flung here and there,reeked of stale meals and garlic andvile cooking.I thought of the parlour at Cocheforet,and the dainty table,and the stillness,and the scented pot-herbs;and
348、 though I was too old asoldier to eat the worse because my spoon lacked washing,I felt thechange,and laid it savagely at Mademoiselles door.The landlord,watching me stealthily from his place by the hearth,readmy thoughts and chuckled aloud.Palace fare,palace manners!he muttered scornfully.Set a begg
349、aron horseback,and he will ride-back to the inn!Keep a civil tongue,will you!I answered,scowling at him.Have you finished?he retorted.I rose,without deigning to reply,and,going to the fire,drew off myboots,which were wet through.He,on the instant,swept off the wineand loaf to the cupboard,and then,c
350、oming back for the platter I had used,took it,opened the back door,and went out,leaving the door ajar.Thedraught which came in beat the flame of the lamp this way and that,andgave the dingy,gloomy room an air still more miserable.I rose angrilyUNDER THE RED ROBE55from the fire,and went to the door,i
351、ntending to close it with a bang.But when I reached it,I saw something,between door and jamb,whichstayed my hand.The door led to a shed in which the housewife washedpots and the like.I felt some surprise,therefore,when I found a lightthere at this time of night;still more surprise when I saw what sh
352、e wasdoing.She was seated on the mud floor,with a rush-light before her,and oneither side of her a high-piled heap of refuse and rubbish.From one ofthese,at the moment I caught sight of her,she was sorting things-horriblefilthy sweepings of road or floor-to the other;shaking and sifting eacharticle
353、as she passed it across,and then taking up another and repeating theaction with it,and so on-all minutely,warily,with an air of so muchpatience and persistence that I stood wondering.Some things-rags-sheheld up between her eyes and the light,some she passed through herfingers,some she fairly tore in
354、 pieces.And all the time her husbandstood watching her greedily,my platter still in his hand,as if her strangeoccupation fascinated him.I stood looking,also,for half a minute,perhaps;then the mans eye,raised for a single second to the door-way,met mine.He started,muttered something to his wife,and,q
355、uick as thought,he kicked the lightout,leaving the shed in darkness.Cursing him for an ill-conditionedfellow,I walked back to the fire,laughing.In a twinkling he followed me,his face dark with rage.VENTRE-SAINT-GRIS!he exclaimed,thrusting himself close to me.Is not a mans house his own?It is,for me,
356、I answered coolly,shrugging my shoulders.And hiswife:if she likes to pick dirty rags at this hour,that is your affair.Pig of a spy!he cried,foaming with rage.I was angry enough at bottom,but I had nothing to gain by quarrellingwith the fellow;and I curtly bade him remember himself.Your mistress gave
357、 you orders,I said contemptuously.Obey them.He spat on the floor,but at the same time he grew calmer.You are right there,he answered spitefully.What matter,after all,since you leave to-morrow at six?Your horse has been sent down,andyour baggage is above.UNDER THE RED ROBE56I will go to it,I retorted
358、.I want none of your company.Give me alight,fellow!He obeyed reluctantly,and,glad to turn my back on him,I went up theladder,still wondering faintly,in the midst of my annoyance,what hiswife was about that my chance detection of her had so enraged him.Even now he was not quite himself.He followed me
359、 with abuse,and,deprived by my departure of any other means of showing his spite,fell toshouting through the floor,bidding me remember six oclock,and bestirring;with other taunts,which did not cease until he had tired himselfout.The sight of my belongings-which I had left a few hours before at theCh
360、ateau-strewn about the floor of this garret,went some way towardsfiring me again.But I was worn out.The indignities and mishaps ofthe evening had,for once,crushed my spirit,and after swearing an oath ortwo I began to pack my bags.Vengeance I would have;but the time andmanner I left for daylight thou
361、ght.Beyond six oclock in the morning Idid not look forward;and if I longed for anything it was for a little of thegood Armagnac I had wasted on those louts of merchants in the kitchenbelow.It might have done me good now.I had wearily strapped up one bag,and nearly filled the other,when Icame upon so
362、mething which did,for the moment,rouse the devil in me.This was the tiny orange-coloured sachet which Mademoiselle haddropped the night I first saw her at the inn,and which,it will beremembered,I picked up.Since that night I had not seen it,and had asgood as forgotten it.Now,as I folded up my other
363、doublet,the one I hadthen been wearing,it dropped from my pocket.The sight of it recalled all-that night,and Mademoiselles face in thelantern light,and my fine plans,and the end of them;and,in a fit ofchildish fury,the outcome of long suppressed passion,I snatched up thesachet from the floor and tor
364、e it across and across,and flung the piecesdown.As they fell,a cloud of fine pungent dust burst from them,andwith the dust,something more solid,which tinkled sharply on the boards,as it fell.I looked down to see what this was-perhaps I already repentedof my act;but for a moment I could see nothing.T
365、he floor was grimyUNDER THE RED ROBE57and uninviting,the light bad.In certain moods,however,a man is obstinate about small things,and Imoved the taper nearer.As I did so a point of light,a flashing sparklethat shone for a second among the dirt and refuse on the floor,caught myeye.It was gone in a mo
366、ment,but I had seen it.I stared,and moved thelight again,and the spark flashed out afresh,this time in a different place.Much puzzled,I knelt,and,in a twinkling,found a tiny crystal.Hard byit lay another-and another;each as large as a fair-sized pea.I took upthe three,and rose to my feet again,the l
367、ight in one hand,the crystals inthe palm of the other.They were diamonds!Diamonds of price!I knew it in a moment.As I moved the taper to and fro above them,and watched the fire glow andtremble in their depths,I knew that I held in my hand that which wouldbuy the crazy inn and all its contents a doze
368、n times over!They werediamonds!Gems so fine,and of so rare a water-or I had never seengems-that my hand trembled as I held them,and my head grew hot andmy heart beat furiously.For a moment I thought that I dreamed,that myfancy played me some trick;and I closed my eyes and did not open themagain for
369、a minute.But when I did,there they were,hard,real,andangular.Convinced at last,in a maze of joy and fear,I closed my handupon them,and,stealing on tip-toe to the trap-door,laid first my saddle onit and then my bags,and over all my cloak,breathing fast the while.Then I stole back,and,taking up the li
370、ght again,began to search thefloor,patiently,inch by inch,with naked feet,every sound making metremble as I crept hither and thither over the creaking boards.And neverwas search more successful or better paid.In the fragments of the sachetI found six smaller diamonds and a pair of rubies.Eight large
371、 diamondsI found on the floor.One,the largest and last found,had bounded away,and lay against the wall in the farthest corner.It took me an hour to runthat one to earth;but afterwards I spent another hour on my hands andknees before I gave up the search,and,satisfied at last that I had collectedall,
372、sat down on my saddle on the trap-door,and,by the last flickeringlight of a candle which I had taken from my bag,gloated over mytreasure-a treasure worthy of fabled Golconda.UNDER THE RED ROBE58Hardly could I believe in its reality,even now.Recalling the jewelswhich the English Duke of Buckingham wo
373、re on the occasion of his visitto Paris in 1625,and whereof there was so much talk,I took these to be asfine,though less in number.They should be worth fifteen thousandcrowns,more or less.Fifteen thousand crowns!And I held them in thehollow of my hand-I,who was scarcely worth ten thousand sous.The c
374、andle going out cut short my admiration.Left in the dark withthese precious atoms,my first thought was hour I might dispose of themsafely;which I did,for the time,by secreting them in the lining of my boot.My second thought turned on the question how they had come where I hadfound them,among the pow
375、dered spice and perfumes in Mademoiselle deCocheforets sachet.A minutes reflection enabled me to come very near the secret,and atthe same time shed a flood of light on several dark places,What Clon hadbeen seeking on the path between the house and the village,what thegoodwife of the inn had sought a
376、mong the sweepings of yard and floor,Iknew now the sachet-knew,too,what had caused the marked and suddenanxiety I had noticed at the Chateau-the loss of this sachet.And there for a while I came to a check But one step more up theladder of thought brought all in view.In a flash I guessed how the jewe
377、lshad come to be in the sachet;and that it was not Mademoiselle but M.deCocheforet who had mislaid them.I thought this last discovery soimportant that I began to pace the room softly,unable,in my excitement,to remain still.Doubtless he had dropped the jewels in the hurry of his start from theinn tha
378、t night!Doubtless,too,he had carried them in that bizarre hiding-place for the sake of safety,considering it unlikely that robbers,if he fellinto their hands,would take the sachet from him;as still less likely thatthey would suspect it to contain anything of value.Everywhere it wouldpass for a love-
379、gift,the work of his mistress.Nor did my penetration stop there.I guessed that the gems werefamily property,the last treasure of the house;and that M.de Cocheforet,when I saw him at the inn,was on his way to convey them out of thecountry;either to secure them from seizure by the Government,or to rai
380、seUNDER THE RED ROBE59money by selling them-money to be spent in some last desperateenterprise.For a day or two,perhaps,after leaving Cocheforet,while themountain road and its chances occupied his thoughts,he had notdiscovered his loss.Then he had searched for the precious sachet,missed it,and retur
381、ned hot-foot on his tracks.The longer I considered the circumstances the more certain I was that Ihad hit on the true solution;and all that night I sat wakeful in the darkness,pondering what I should do.The stones,unset as they were,could neverbe identified,never be claimed.The channel by which they
382、 had come tomy hands could never be traced.To all intents they were mine;mine,to dowith as I pleased!Fifteen thousand crowns,perhaps twenty thousandcrowns,and I to leave at six in the morning,whether I would or no!Imight leave for Spain with the jewels in my pocket.Why not?I confess I was tempted.An
383、d indeed the gems were so fine that Idoubt not some indifferently honest men would have sold salvation forthem.But-a Berault his honour?No.I was tempted,I say;but notfor long.Thank God,a man may be reduced to living by the fortunes ofthe dice,and may even be called by a woman spy and coward,withoutb
384、ecoming a thief!The temptation soon left me-I take credit for it-and Ifell to thinking of this and that plan for making use of them.Once itoccurred to me to take the jewels to the Cardinal and buy my pardon withthem;again,to use them as a trap to capture Cocheforet;again,to-andthen,about five in the
385、 morning,as I sat up on my wretched pallet,whilethe first light stole slowly in through the cobwebbed,hay-stuffed lattice,there came to me the real plan,the plan of plans,on which I acted.It charmed me I smacked my lips over it,and hugged myself,and feltmy eyes dilate in the darkness,as I conned it.
386、It seemed cruel,it seemedmean;I cared nothing.Mademoiselle had boasted of her victory over me,of her womans wits and her acuteness and of my dullness.She had saidthat her grooms should flog me.She had rated me as if I had been a dog.Very well;we would see now whose brains were the better,whose was t
387、hemaster mind,whose should be the whipping.The one thing required by my plan was that I should get speech withher;that done,I could trust myself and my new-found weapon for the rest.UNDER THE RED ROBE60But that was absolutely necessary,and,seeing that there might be somedifficulty about it,I determi
388、ned to descend as if my mind were made up togo;then,on pretence of saddling my horse,I would slip away on foot,andlie in wait near the Chateau until I saw her come out.Or if I could noteffect my purpose in that way-either by reason of the landlords vigilance,or for any other cause-my course was stil
389、l easy.I would ride away,andwhen I had proceeded a mile or so,tie up my horse in the forest and returnto the wooden bridge.Thence I could watch the garden and front of theChateau until time and chance gave me the opportunity I sought.So I saw my way quite clearly;and when the fellow below called me,
390、reminding me rudely that I must be going,and that it was six oclock,Iwas ready with my answer.I shouted sulkily that I was coming,and,after a decent delay,I took up my saddle and bags and went down.Viewed by the light of a cold morning,the inn-room looked moresmoky,more grimy,more wretched than when
391、 I had last seen it.Thegoodwife was not visible.The fire was not lighted.No provision,notso much as a stirrup-cup or bowl of porridge cheered the heart.I looked round,sniffing the stale smell of last nights lamp,andgrunted.Are you going to send me out fasting?I said,affecting a worsehumour than I fe
392、lt.The landlord was standing by the window,stooping over a great pairof frayed and furrowed thigh-boots which he was labouring to soften withcopious grease.Mademoiselle ordered no breakfast,he answered,with a maliciousgrin.Well it does not much matter,I replied grandly.I shall be at Auchby noon.That
393、 is as may be,he answered with another grin.I did not understand him,but I had something else to think about,and Iopened the door and stepped out,intending to go to the stable.Then in asecond I comprehended.The cold air laden with woodland moisture metme and went to my bones;but it was not that whic
394、h made me shiver.Outside the door,in the road,sitting on horseback in silence,were twoUNDER THE RED ROBE61men.One was Clon.The other,who had a spare horse by the rein-myhorse-was a man I had seen at the inn,a rough,shock-headed,hard-bittenfellow.Both were armed,and Clon was booted.His mate rode bare
395、foot,with a rusty spur strapped to one heel.The moment I saw them a sure and certain fear crept into my mind:it was that which made me shiver But I did not speak to them.I went inagain and closed the door behind me.The landlord was putting on hisboots.What does this mean?I said hoarsely-though I had
396、 a clearprescience of what was coming.Why are these men here?Orders,he answered laconically.Whose orders?I retorted.Whose?he answered bluntly.Well,Monsieur,that is my business.Enough that we mean to see you out of the country,and out of harmsway.But if I will not go?I cried.Monsieur will go,he answe
397、red coolly.There are no strangers in thevillage to-day,he added,with a significant smile.Do you mean to kidnap me?I replied,in a rage.But behind the rage was something else-I will not call it terror,for thebrave feel no terror but it was near akin to it.I had had to do with roughmen all my life,but
398、there was a grimness and truculence in the aspect ofthese three that shook me.When I thought of the dark paths and narrowlanes and cliff sides we must traverse,whichever road we took,I trembled.Kidnap you,Monsieur?he answered,with an every-day air.Thatis as you please to call it.One thing is certain
399、,however,he continued,maliciously touching an arquebuss which he had brought out,and setupright against a chair while I was at the door;if you attempt the slightestresistance,we shall know how to put an end to it,either here or on theroad.I drew a deep breath,the very imminence of the danger restori
400、ng me tothe use of my faculties.I changed my tone and laughed aloud.So that is your plan,is it?I said.The sooner we start the better,then.And the sooner I see Auch and your back turned,the more I shallbe pleased.UNDER THE RED ROBE62He rose.After you,Monsieur,he said.I could not restrain a slight shi
401、ver.His new-born politeness alarmedme more than his threats.I knew the man and his ways,and I was surethat it boded ill to me.But I had no pistols,and only my sword and knife,and I knew thatresistance at this point must be worse than vain.I went out jauntily,therefore,the landlord coming after me wi
402、th my saddle and bags.The street was empty,save for the two waiting horsemen who sat intheir saddles looking doggedly before them,The sun had not yet risen,theair was raw.The sky was grey,cloudy,and cold.My thoughts flewback to the morning on which I had found the sachet-at that very spot,almost at
403、that very hour,and for a moment I grew warm again at thethought of the little packet I carried in my boot.But the landlords drymanner,the sullen silence of his two companions,whose eyes steadilyrefused to meet mine,chilled me again.For an instant the impulse torefuse to mount,to refuse to go,was alm
404、ost irresistible;then,knowing themadness of such a course,which might,and probably would,give the menthe chance they desired,I crushed it down and went slowly to my stirrup.I wonder you do not want my sword,I said by way of sarcasm,as Iswung myself up.We are not afraid of it,the innkeeper answered g
405、ravely.You maykeep it-for the present.I made no answer-what answer had I to make?-and we rode at afootpace down the street;he and I leading,Clon and the shock-headedman bringing up the rear.The leisurely mode of our departure,theabsence of hurry or even haste,the mens indifference whether they weres
406、een,or what was thought,all served to sink my spirits and deepen mysense of peril.I felt that they suspected me,that they more than halfguessed the nature of my errand at Cocheforet,and that they were notminded to be bound by Mademoiselles orders.In particular,I auguredthe worst from Clons appearanc
407、e.His lean malevolent face and sunkeneyes,his very dumbness chilled me.Mercy had no place there.We rode soberly,so that nearly half an hour elapsed before we gainedthe brow from which I had taken my first look at Cocheforet.Among theUNDER THE RED ROBE63dwarf oaks whence I had viewed the valley we pa
408、used to breathe ourhorses,and the strange feelings with which I looked back on the scenemay be imagined.But I had short time for indulging in sentiment orrecollections.A curt word,and we were moving again.A quarter of a mile farther on,the road to Auch dipped into the valley.When we were already hal
409、f way down this descent the innkeeper suddenlystretched out his hand and caught my rein.This way!he said.I saw that he would have me turn into a by-path leading south-westwards-a mere track,faint and little trodden and encroached on bytrees,which led I knew not whither.I checked my horse.Why?I said
410、rebelliously.Do you think I do not know the road?The road we are in is the way to Auch.To Auch-yes,he answered bluntly.But we are not going to Auch,Whither then?I said angrily.You will see presently,he replied with an ugly smile.Yes,but I will know now!I retorted,passion getting the better ofme.I ha
411、ve come so far with you.You will find it more easy to take mefarther if you tell me your plans.You are a fool!he cried with a snarl.Not so,I answered.I ask only to know whither I am going.Into Spain,he said.Will that satisfy you?And what will you do with me there?I asked,my heart giving agreat bound
412、.Hand you over to some friends of ours,he answered curtly,if youbehave yourself.If not,there is a shorter way,and one that will save ussome travelling.Make up your mind,Monsieur.Which shall it be?UNDER THE RED ROBE64CHAPTER VISo that was their plan.Two or three hours to the southward,thelong,white,g
413、littering wall stretched east and west above the brownwoods.Beyond that lay Spain.Once across the border,I might bedetained,if no worse happened to me,as a prisoner of war;for wewere then at war with Spain on the Italian side.Or I might behanded over to one of the savage bands,half smugglers,half br
414、igands,that held the passes;or be delivered,worse fate of all,into the powerof the French exiles,of whom some would be likely to recognise meand cut my throat.It is a long way into Spain,I muttered,watching in a kind offascination Clon handling his pistols.I think you will find the other road longer
415、 still,the landlord answeredgrimly.But choose,and be quick about it.They were three to one,and they had firearms.In effect I had nochoice.Well,if I must I must?I cried,making up my mind with seemingrecklessness.VOGUE LA GALERE!Spain be it.It will not be thefirst time I have heard the dons talk.The m
416、en nodded,as much as to say that they had known what the endwould be;the landlord released my rein;and in a trice we were ridingdown the narrow track,with our faces set towards the mountains.On one point my mind was now more easy.The men meant fairly byme,and I had no longer to fear,as I had feared,
417、a pistol-shot in the back atthe first convenient ravine.As far as that went,I might ride in peace.On the other hand,if I let them carry me across the border my fate wassealed.A man set down without credentials or guards among the wilddesperadoes who swarmed in war-time in the Asturian passes mightco
418、nsider himself fortunate if an easy death fell to his lot.In my case Icould make a shrewd guess what would happen.A single nod ofmeaning,one muttered word,dropped among the savage men with whomI should be left,and the diamonds hidden in my boot would go neither tothe Cardinal nor back to Mademoisell
419、e-nor would it matter to me whitherUNDER THE RED ROBE65they went.So while the others talked in their taciturn fashion,or sometimesgrinned at my gloomy face,I looked out over the brown woods with eyesthat saw yet did not see.The red squirrel swarming up the trunk,thestartled pigs that rushed away gru
420、nting from their feast of mast,thesolitary rider who met us,armed to the teeth,and passed northwards afterwhispering with the landlord-all these I saw.But my mind was not withthem.It was groping and feeling about like a hunted mole for some way ofescape.For time pressed.The slope we were on was grow
421、ing steeper.By-and-by we fell into a southward valley,and began to follow it steadilyupwards,crossing and recrossing a swiftly rushing stream.The snowpeaks began to be hidden behind the rising bulk of hills that overhung us,and sometimes we could see nothing before or behind but the woodedwalls of o
422、ur valley rising sheer and green a thousand paces high on eitherhand;with grey rocks half masked by fern and ivy jutting here and therethrough the firs and alders.It was a wild and sombre scene even at that hour,with the mid-daysun shining on the rushing water and drawing the scent out of the pines;
423、but I knew that there was worse to come,and sought desperately for someruse by which I might at least separate the men.Three were too many;with one I might deal.At last,when I had cudgelled my brain for an hour,and almost resigned myself to a sudden charge on the men single-handed-a last desperate r
424、esort-I thought of a plan:dangerous,too,and almostdesperate,but which still seemed to promise something.It came of myfingers resting,as they lay in my pocket,on the fragments of the orangesachet;which,without having any particular design in my mind,I hadtaken care to bring with me.I had torn the sac
425、het into four pieces-fourcorners.As I played mechanically with them,one of my fingers fittedinto one,as into a glove;a second finger into another.And the plancame.Before I could move in it,however,I had to wait until we stopped tobait the flagging horses,which we did about noon at the head of the va
426、lley.Then,pretending to drink from the stream,I managed to secure unseen ahandful of pebbles,slipping them into the same pocket with the morsels ofUNDER THE RED ROBE66stuff.On getting to horse again,I carefully fitted a pebble,not too tightly,into the largest scrap,and made ready for the attempt.The
427、 landlord rode on my left,abreast of me;the other two knavesbehind.The road at this stage favoured me,for the valley,which drainedthe bare uplands that lay between the lower hills and the base of the realmountains,had become wide and shallow.Here were no trees,and thepath was a mere sheep-track cove
428、red with short,crisp grass,and runningsometimes on this bank of the stream and sometimes on that.I waited until the ruffian beside me turned to speak to the men behind.The moment he did so,and his eyes were averted,I slipped out the scrapof satin in which I had placed the pebble,and balancing it car
429、efully on myright thigh as I rode,I flipped it forward with all the strength of my thumband finger.I meant it to fall a few paces before us in the path,where itcould be seen.But alas for my hopes!At the critical moment my horsestarted,my finger struck the scrap aslant,the pebble flew out,and the bit
430、of stuff fluttered into a whin-bush close to my stirrup-and was lost!I was bitterly disappointed,for the same thing might happen again,andI had now only three scraps left.But fortune favoured me,by putting itinto my neighbours head to plunge into a hot debate with the shock-headed man on the nature
431、of some animals seen on a distant brow;whichhe said were izards,while the other maintained that they were commongoats.He continued,on this account,to ride with his face turned fromme,and I had time to fit another pebble into the second piece of stuff.Sliding it on to my thigh,I poised it,and flipped
432、 it.This time my finger struck the tiny missile fairly in the middle,andshot it so far and so truly that it dropped exactly in the path ten paces infront of us.The moment I saw it fall I kicked my neighbours nag in theribs;it started,and he,turning in a rage,hit it.The next instant he pulledit almos
433、t on to its haunches.SAINT GRIS!he cried;and sat glaring at the bit of yellow satin,with his face turned purple and his jaw fallen.What is it!I said,staring at him in turn,What is the matter,fool?Matter?he blurted out.MON DIEU!But Clons excitement surpassed even his.The dumb man no soonerUNDER THE R
434、ED ROBE67saw what had attracted his comrades attention,than he uttered aninarticulate and horrible noise,and tumbling off his horse,more like abeast than a man threw himself bodily on the precious morsel.The innkeeper was not far behind him.An instant and he was down,too,peering at the thing;and for
435、 an instant I thought that they would fightover it.However,though their jealousy was evident,their excitementcooled a little when they discovered that the scrap of stuff was empty;for,fortunately,the pebble had fallen out of it.Still,it threw them into such afever of eagerness as it was wonderful to
436、 witness.They nosed theground where it had lain,they plucked up the grass and turf,and passed itthrough their fingers,they ran to and fro like dogs on a trail;and,glancingaskance at one another,came back always together to the point ofdeparture.Neither in his jealousy would suffer the other to be th
437、erealone.The shock-headed man and I sat our horses and looked on;hemarvelling,and I pretending to marvel.As the two searched up anddown the path,we moved a little out of it to give them space;andpresently,when all their heads were turned from me,I let a second morseldrop under a gorse-bush.The shock
438、-headed man,by-and-by,found this,and gave it to Clon;and as from the circumstances of the first discoveryno suspicion attached to me,I ventured to find the third and last scrapmyself.I did not pick it up,but I called the innkeeper,and he pouncedupon it as I have seen a hawk pounce on a chicken.They
439、hunted for the fourth morsel,but,of course,in vain,and in theend they desisted,and fitted the three they had together;but neither wouldlet his own portion out of his hands,and each looked at the other acrossthe spoil with eyes of suspicion.It was strange to see them in that wide-stretching valley,wh
440、ence grey boar-backs of hills swelled up into thesilence of the snow-it was strange,I say,in that vast solitude,to see thesetwo,mere dots on its bosom,circling round one another in fierceforgetfulness of the outside world,glaring and shifting their ground likecocks about to engage,and wholly engross
441、ed-by three scraps of orange-colour,invisible at fifty paces!At last the innkeeper cried with an oath,I am going back.This mustUNDER THE RED ROBE68be known down yonder.Give me your pieces,man,and do you go onwith Antoine.It will be all right.But Clon,waving a scrap of the stuff in either hand,and th
442、rusting hisghastly mask into the others face,shook his head in passionate denial.He could not speak,but he made it as clear as daylight that if anyone wentback with the news,he was the man to go.Nonsense!the landlord rejoined fiercely,We cannot leave Antoineto go on alone with him.Give me the stuff.
443、But Clon would not.He had no thought of resigning the credit of thediscovery;and I began to think that the two would really come to blows.But there was an alternative-an alternative in which I was concerned;andfirst one and then the other looked at me.It was a moment of peril,and Iknew it.My stratag
444、em might react on myself,and the two,to put an endto their difficulty,agree to put an end to me.But I faced them so coolly,and showed so bold a front,and the ground where we stood was so open,that the idea took no root.They fell to wrangling again more viciouslythan before.One tapped his gun and the
445、 other his pistols.The landlordscolded,the dumb man gurgled.At last their difference ended as I hadhoped it would.Very well then,we will both go back!the innkeeper cried in a rage.And Antoine must see him on.But the blame be on your head.Do yougive the lad your pistols.Clon took one pistol,and gave
446、it to the shock-headed man.The other!the innkeeper said impatiently.But Clon shook his head with a grim smile,and pointed to thearquebuss.By a sudden movement,the landlord snatched the pistol,and avertedClons vengeance by placing both it and the gun in the shock-headed manshands.There!he said,addres
447、sing the latter,now can you do?IfMonsieur tries to escape or turn back,shoot him!But four hours ridingshould bring you to the Roca Blanca.You will find the men there,andwill have no more to do with it.Antoine did not see things quite in that light,however.He looked atUNDER THE RED ROBE69me,and then
448、at the wild track in front of us;and he muttered an oath andsaid he would die if he would.But the landlord,who was in a frenzy of impatience,drew him asideand talked to him,and in the end seemed to persuade him;for in a fewminutes the matter was settled.Antoine came back,and said sullenly,Forward,Mo
449、nsieur,the twoothers stood on one side,I shrugged my shoulders and kicked up my horse,and in a twinkling we two were riding on together-man to man.Iturned once or twice to see what those we had left behind were doing,andalways found them standing in apparent debate;but my guard showed somuch jealous
450、y of these movements that I presently shrugged my shouldersagain and desisted.I had racked my brains to bring about this state of things.Strange tosay,now I had succeeded,I found it less satisfactory than I had hoped.Ihad reduced the odds and got rid of my most dangerous antagonists;butAntoine,left
451、to himself,proved to be as full of suspicion as an egg of meat.He rode a little behind me,with his gun across his saddlebow,and a pistolnear his hand;and at the slightest pause on my part,or if I turned to lookat him,he muttered his constant Forward,Monsieur!in a tone whichwarned me that his finger
452、was on the trigger.At such a distance he couldnot miss;and I saw nothing for it but to go on meekly before him to theRoca Blanca-and my fate.What was to be done?The road presently reached the end of thevalley and entered a narrow pine-clad defile,strewn with rocks andboulders,over which the torrent
453、plunged and eddied with a deafening roar.In front the white gleam of waterfalls broke the sombre ranks of climbingtrunks.The snow line lay less than half a mile away on either hand;andcrowning all-at the end of the pass,as it seemed to the eye-rose the purewhite pillar of the Pic du Midi shooting up
454、 six thousand feet into the blueof heaven.Such a scene so suddenly disclosed,was enough to drive thesense of danger from my mind;and for a moment I reined in my horse.But Forward,Monsieur!came the grating order.I fell to earth again,and went on.What was to be done?I was at my wits end to know.The ma
455、n refused to talk,refused toUNDER THE RED ROBE70ride abreast of me,would have no dismounting,no halting,nocommunication at all.He would have nothing but this silent,lonelyprocession of two,with the muzzle of his gun at my back.And meanwhilewe were fast climbing the pass.We had left the others an hou
456、r-nearlytwo.The sun was declining;the time,I supposed,about half-past three.If he would only let me come within reach of him!Or if anythingwould fall out to take his attention!When the pass presently widenedinto a bare and dreary valley,strewn with huge boulders and with snowlying here and there in
457、the hollows,I looked desperately before me,andscanned even the vast snow-fields that overhung us and stretched away tothe base of the ice-peak.But I saw nothing.No bear swung across thepath,no izard showed itself on the cliffs.The keen,sharp air cut ourcheeks and warned me that we were approaching t
458、he summit of the ridge.On all sides were silence and desolation.MON DIEU!And the ruffians on whose tender mercies I was to bethrown might come to meet us!They might appear at any moment.Inmy despair I loosened my hat on my head,and let the first gust carry it tothe ground,and then with an oath of an
459、noyance tossed my feet from thestirrups to go after it.But the rascal roared to me to keep my seat.Forward,Monsieur!he shouted brutally.Go on!But my hat!I cried.MILLE TONNERRES,man!I must-Forward,Monsieur,or I shoot!he replied inexorably raising his gun.One-two-And I went on.But,ah,I was wrathful!Th
460、at I,Gil de Berault,should be outwitted,and led by the nose like a ringed bull,by this Gasconlout!That I,whom all Paris knew and feared-if it did not love-theterror of Zatons,should come to my end in this dismal waste of snow androck,done to death by some pitiful smuggler or thief!It must not be.Sur
461、ely in the last resort I could give an account of one man,though hisbelt were stuffed with pistols.But how?Only,it seemed,by open force.My heart began to flutteras I planned it;and then grew steady again.A hundred paces before us agully or ravine on the left ran up into the snow-field.Opposite its m
462、outha jumble of stones and broken rocks covered the path,I marked this for theUNDER THE RED ROBE71place.The knave would need both his hands to hold up his nag over thestones,and,if I turned on him suddenly enough,he might either drop hisgun or fire it harmlessly.But,in the meantime,something happene
463、d;as,at the last moment,things do happen.While we were still fifty yards short of the place,Ifound his horses nose creeping forward on a level with my crupper;and,still advancing,still advancing,until I could see it out of the tail of my eye,and my heart gave a great bound.He was coming abreast of m
464、e:hewas going to deliver himself into my hands!To cover my excitement,Ibegan to whistle.Hush!he muttered fiercely,his voice sounding so strange andunnatural,that my first thought was that he was ill;and I turned to him.But he only said again,-Hush!Pass by here quietly,Monsieur.Why?I asked mutinously
465、,curiosity getting the better of me.For hadI been wise I had taken no notice;every second his horse was coming upwith mine.Its nose was level with my stirrup already.Hush,man!he said again.This time there was no mistake aboutthe panic in his voice.They call this the Devils Chapel,God send ussafe by
466、it!It is late to be here.Look at those!he continued,pointingwith a finger which visibly shook.I looked.At the mouth of the gully,in a small space partly cleared ofstones,stood three broken shafts,raised on rude pedestals.Well?I said in a low voice.The sun,which was near setting,flushed the great pea
467、k above to the colour of blood;but the valley wasgrowing grey and each moment more dreary.Well,what of those?Isaid.In spite of my peril and the excitement of the coming struggle I felt thechill of his fear.Never had I seen so grim,so desolate,so God-forsakena place!Involuntarily I shivered.They were
468、 crosses,he muttered in a voice little above a whisper,while his eyes roved this way and that in terror.The Cure of Gabasblessed the place,and set them up.But next morning they were as yousee them now.Come on,Monsieur;come on!he continued,pluckingUNDER THE RED ROBE72at my arm.It is not safe here aft
469、er sunset.Pray God,Satan be not athome!He had completely forgotten in his panic that he had anything to fearfrom me.His gun dropped loosely across his saddle,his leg rubbed mine.I saw this,and I changed my plan of action.As our horses reached thestones I stooped,as if to encourage mine,and,with a su
470、dden clutch,snatched the gun bodily from his hand,at the same time that I backed myhorse with all my strength.It was done in a moment!A second and Ihad him at the end of the gun,and my finger was on the trigger.Neverwas victory more easily gained.He looked at me between rage and terror,his jaw falle
471、n.Are you mad?he cried,his teeth chattering as he spoke.Even inthis strait his eyes left me and wandered round in alarm.No,sane!I retorted fiercely.But I do not like this place any betterthan you do.Which was true enough,if not quite true.So,by yourright,quick march!I continued imperatively.Turn you
472、r horse,myfriend,or take the consequences.He turned like a lamb,and headed down the valley again,withoutgiving a thought to his pistols.I kept close to him,and in less than aminute we had left the Devils Chapel well behind us,and were movingdown again as we had come up.Only now I held the gun.When w
473、e had gone have a mile or so-until then I did not feelcomfortable myself,and though I thanked heaven that the place existed,Ithanked heaven also that I was out of it-I bade him halt.Take off your belt,I said curtly,and throw it down.But,mark me,if you turn I fire.The spirit was quite gone out of him
474、,and he obeyed mechanically.Ijumped down,still covering him with the gun,and picked up the belt,pistols and all.Then I remounted,and we went on.By-and-by heasked me sullenly what I was going to do.Go back,I said,and take the road to Auch when I come to it.It will be dark in an hour,he answered sulki
475、ly.I know that,I retorted.We must camp and do the best we can.And as I said,we did.The daylight held until we gained the skirts ofUNDER THE RED ROBE73the pine-wood at the head of the pass.Here I chose a corner a little offthe track,and well sheltered from the wind,and bade him light a fire.Itethered
476、 the horses near this and within sight.Then it remained only tosup.I had a piece of bread:he had another and an onion.We ate insilence,sitting on opposite sides of the fire.But after supper I found myself in a dilemma;I did not see how I wasto sleep.The ruddy light which gleamed on the knaves swart
477、face andsinewy hands showed also his eyes,black,sullen,and watchful.I knewthat the man was plotting revenge;that he would not hesitate to plant hisknife between my ribs should I give him the chance;and I could find onlyone alternative to remaining awake.Had I been bloody-minded,I shouldhave chosen i
478、t and solved the question at once and in my favour byshooting him as he sat.But I have never been a cruel man,and I could not find it in my heartto do this.The silence of the mountain and the sky-which seemed a thingapart from the roar of the torrent and not to be broken by it-awed me.The vastness o
479、f the solitude in which we sat,the dark void above,throughwhich the stars kept shooting,the black gulf below in which the unseenwaters boiled and surged,the absence of other human company or othersigns of human existence,put such a face upon the deed that I gave up thethought of it with a shudder,an
480、d resigned myself,instead,to watchthrough the night-the long,cold,Pyrenean night.Presently he curledhimself up like a dog and slept in the blaze,and then for a couple of hoursI sat opposite him,thinking.It seemed years since I had seen Zatons orthrown the dice.The old life,the old employments-should
481、 I ever goback to them?-seemed dim and distant.Would Cocheforet,the forestand the mountain,the grey Chateau and its mistresses,seem one day asdim?And if one bit of life could fade so quickly at the unrolling ofanother,and seem in a moment pale and colourless,would all life someday and somewhere,and
482、all the things we-But enough!I was growingfoolish.I sprang up and kicked the wood together,and,taking up the gun,began to pace to and fro under the cliff.Strange that a little moonlight,afew stars,a breath of solitude should carry a man back to childhood andchildish things.UNDER THE RED ROBE74.It wa
483、s three in the afternoon of the next day,and the sun lay hot on theoak groves,and the air was full of warmth as we began to climb the slope,midway up which the road to Auch shoots out of the track.The yellowbracken and the fallen leaves underfoot seemed to throw up light ofthemselves;and here and th
484、ere a patch of ruddy beech lay like abloodstain on the hillside.In front a herd of pigs routed among the mast,and grunted lazily;and high above us a boy lay watching them.We parthere,I said to my companion.It was my plan to ride a little way along the road to Auch so as to blindhis eyes;then,leaving
485、 my horse in the forest,I would go on foot to theChateau.The sooner the better!he answered with a snarl.And Ihope I may never see your face again,Monsieur.But when we came to the wooden cross at the fork of the roads,andwere about to part,the boy we had seen leapt out of the fern and came tomeet us.
486、Hollo!he cried in a sing-song tone.Well,my companion answered,drawing rein impatiently.What isit?There are soldiers in the village.Soldiers Antoine cried incredulously.Ay,devils on horseback,the lad answered,spitting on the ground.Three score of them.From Auch.Antoine turned to me,his face transform
487、ed with fury.Curse you!he cried.This is some of your work.Now we are allundone.And my mistresses?SACRE!if I had that gun I would shootyou like a rat.Steady,fool,I answered roughly.I know no more of this than youdo.Which was so true that my surprise was at least as great as his,andbetter grounded.The
488、 Cardinal,who rarely made a change of front,hadsent me hither that he might not be forced to send soldiers,and run the riskof all that might arise from such a movement.What of this invasion,then,than which nothing could be less consistent with his plans?IUNDER THE RED ROBE75wondered.It was possible
489、that the travelling merchants,before whom Ihad played at treason,had reported the facts;and that on this theCommandant at Auch had acted.But it seemed unlikely since he had hadhis orders too,and under the Cardinals rule there was small place forindividual enterprise.Frankly I could not understand it
490、,and found onlyone thing clear;I might now enter the village as I pleased.I am going on to look into this,I said to Antoine.Come,my man.He shrugged his shoulders,and stood still.Not I!be answered,with an oath.No soldiers for me I have lainout one night,and I can lie out another.I nodded indifferentl
491、y,for I no longer wanted him;and we parted.After this,twenty minutes riding brought me to the entrance of the village,and here the change was great indeed.Not one of the ordinary dwellers inthe place was to be seen:either they had shut themselves up in their hovels,or,like Antoine,they had fled to t
492、he woods.Their doors were closed,their windows shuttered.But lounging about the street were a score ofdragoons,in boots and breastplates,whose short-barrelled muskets,withpouches and bandoliers attached,were piled near the inn door.In anopen space,where there was a gap in the street,a long row of ho
493、rses,linked head to head,stood bending their muzzles over bundles of roughforage;and on all sides the cheerful jingle of chains and bridles and thesound of coarse jokes and laughter filled the air.As I rode up to the inn door an old sergeant,with squinting eyes andhis tongue in his cheek,scanned me
494、inquisitively,and started to cross thestreet to challenge me.Fortunately,at that moment the two knaveswhom I had brought from Paris with me,and whom I had left at Auch toawait my orders,came up.I made them a sign not to speak to me,andthey passed on;but I suppose that they told the sergeant that I w
495、as not theman he wanted,for I saw no more of him.After picketing my horse behind the inn-I could find no better stable,every place being full-I pushed my way through the group at the door,and entered.The old room,with the low,grimy roof and the reekingfloor,was half full of strange figures,and for a
496、 few minutes I stood unseenin the smoke and confusion.Then the landlord came my way,and as heUNDER THE RED ROBE76passed me I caught his eye.He uttered a low curse,dropped the pitcher hewas carrying,and stood glaring at me like a man possessed.The soldier whose wine he was carrying flung a crust in h
497、is face,with,-Now,greasy fingers!What are you staring at?The devil!the landlord muttered,beginning to tremble.Then let me look at him!the man retorted,and he turned on hisstool.He started,finding me standing over him.At your service!I said grimly.A little time and it will be the otherway,my friend.U
498、NDER THE RED ROBE77CHAPTER VIIA MASTER STROKEI have a way with me which commonly commands respect;and whenthe landlords first terror was over and he would serve me,I managed toget my supper-the first good meal I had had in two days-prettycomfortably in spite of the soldiers presence.The crowd,too,wh
499、ichfilled the room,soon began to melt.The men strayed off in groups towater their horses,or went to hunt up their quarters,until only two or threewere left.Dusk had fallen outside;the noise in the street grew less.The firelight began to glow and flicker on the walls,and the wretchedroom to look as h
500、omely as it was in its nature to look.I was ponderingfor the twentieth time what step I should take next,and questioning whythe soldiers were here,and whether I should let the night pass before Imoved,when the door,which had been turning on its hinges almostwithout pause for an hour,opened again,and
501、 a woman came in.She paused a moment on the threshold looking round,and I saw thatshe had a shawl on her head and a milk-pitcher in her hand,and that herfeet and ankles were bare.There was a great rent in her coarse stuffpetticoat,and the hand which held the shawl together was brown and dirty.More I
502、 did not see:for,supposing her to be a neighbour stolen in,nowthat the house was quiet,to get some milk for her child or the like,I tookno farther heed of her.I turned to the fire again and plunged into mythoughts.But to get to the hearth where the goodwife was fidgeting the womanhad to pass in fron
503、t of me;and as she passed I suppose that she stole alook at me from under her shawl.For just when she came between meand the blaze she uttered a low cry and shrank aside-so quickly that shealmost stepped on the hearth.The next moment she turned her back to me,and was stooping whispering in the house
504、wifes ear.A stranger mighthave thought that she had trodden on a hot ember.But another idea,and a very strange one,came into my mind;and Istood up silently.The womans back was towards me,but something inher height,her shape,the pose of her head hidden as it was by her shawl,UNDER THE RED ROBE78seeme
505、d familiar.I waited while she hung over the fire whispering,andwhile the goodwife slowly filled her pitcher out of the great black pot.But when she turned to go,I took a step forward so as to bar her way.And our eyes met.I could not see her features;they were lost in the shadow of the hood.But I saw
506、 a shiver run through her from head to foot.And I knew thenthat I had made no mistake.That is too heavy for you,my girl,I said familiarly,as I might havespoken to a village wench.I will carry it for you.One of the men,who remained lolling at the table,laughed,and theother began to sing a low song.Th
507、e woman trembled in rage or fear;butshe kept silence and let me take the jug from her hands;and when I wentto the door and opened it,she followed mechanically.An instant,and thedoor fell to behind us,shutting off the light and glow,and we two stoodtogether in the growing dusk.It is late for you to b
508、e out,Mademoiselle,I said politely.You mightmeet with some rudeness,dressed as you are.Permit me to see youhome.She shuddered,and I thought that I heard her sob,but she did notanswer.Instead,she turned and walked quickly through the village in thedirection of the Chateau,keeping in the shadow of the
509、 houses.I carriedthe pitcher and walked close to her,beside her;and in the dark I smiled.I knew how shame and impotent rage were working in her.This wassomething like revenge!Presently I spoke.Well,Mademoiselle,I said,where are your grooms?She gave me one look,her eyes blazing with anger,her face li
510、ke hateitself;and after that I said no more,but left her in peace,and contentedmyself with walking at her shoulder until we came to the end of the village,where the track to the great house plunged into the wood.There shestopped,and turned on me like a wild creature at bay.What do you want?she cried
511、 hoarsely,breathing as if she had beenrunning.To see you safe to the house,I answered coolly.Alone you mightUNDER THE RED ROBE79be insulted.And if I will not?she retorted.The choice does not lie with you,Mademoiselle,I answered sternly,You will go to the house with me,and on the way you will give me
512、 aninterview-late as it is;but not here.Here we are not private enough.We may be interrupted at any moment,and I wish to speak to you atlength.At length?she muttered.Yes,Mademoiselle.I saw her shiver.What if I will not?she said again.I might call to the nearest soldiers and tell them who you are,Ian
513、swered coolly.I might do that,but I should not.That were a clumsyway of punishing you,and I know a better way.I should go to theCaptain,Mademoiselle,and tell him whose horse is locked up in the innstable.A trooper told me-as someone had told him-that it belonged toone of his officers;but I looked th
514、rough the crack,and I knew the horseagain.She could not repress a groan.I waited;still she did not speak.Shall I go to the Captain?I said ruthlessly.She shook the hood back from her face and looked at me.Oh,you coward!you coward!she hissed through her teeth.If Ihad a knife!But you have not,Mademoise
515、lle,I answered,unmoved.Be goodenough,therefore,to make up your mind which it is to be.Am I to gowith my news to the captain,or am I to come with you?Give me the pitcher,she said harshly.I did so,wondering.In a moment she flung it with a savage gesturefar into the bushes.Come!she said,if you will.But
516、 some day God will punish you!Without another word she turned and entered the path through the trees,and I followed her.I suppose that every one of its windings,everyhollow and broken place in it had been known to her from childhood,forshe followed it swiftly and unerringly,barefoot as she was.I had
517、 to walkfast through the darkness to keep up with her.The wood was quiet,butUNDER THE RED ROBE80the frogs were beginning to croak in the pool,and their persistent chorusreminded me of the night when I had come to the house-door,hurt andworn out,and Clon had admitted me,and she had stood under the ga
518、lleryin the hall.Things had looked dark then.I had seen but a very littleway ahead then.Now all was plain.The commandant might be herewith all his soldiers,but it was I who held the strings.We came to the little wooden bridge and saw beyond the darkmeadows the lights of the house.All the windows wer
519、e bright.Doubtlessthe troopers were making merry.Now,Mademoiselle,I said quietly,I must trouble you to stop here,and give me your attention for a few minutes.Afterwards you may goyour way.Speak!she said defiantly.And be quick!I cannot breathe the airwhere you are!It poisons me!Ah!I said slowly.Do yo
520、u think that you make things better bysuch speeches as those?Oh!she cried and I heard her teeth click together.Would youhave me fawn on you?Perhaps not,I answered.Still you make one mistake.What is it?she panted.You forget that I am to be feared as well as-loathed,Mademoiselle!Ay,Mademoiselle,to be
521、feared!I continued grimly.Do you think thatI do not know why you are here in this guise?Do you think that I do notknow for whom that pitcher of broth was intended?Or who will nowhave to fast to-night?I tell you I know all these things.Your housewas full of soldiers;your servants were watched and cou
522、ld not leave.You had to come yourself and get food for him?She clutched at the handrail of the bridge,and for an instant clung to itfor support.Her face,from which the shawl had fallen,glimmered whitein the shadow of the trees.At last I had shaken her pride.At last!What is your price?she murmured fa
523、intly.I am going to tell you,I replied,speaking so that every word mightfall distinctly on her ears,and sating my eyes the while on her proud face.I had never dreamed of such revenge as this!About a fortnight ago,M.deUNDER THE RED ROBE81Cocheforet left here at night with a little orange-coloured sac
524、het in hispossession.She uttered a stifled cry,and drew herself stiffly erect.It contained-but there,Mademoiselle,you know its contents,I wenton.Whatever they were,M.de Cocheforet lost it and them at starting.A week ago he came back-unfortunately for himself-to seek them.She was looking full in my f
525、ace now.She seemed scarcely to breathein the intensity of her surprise and expectation.You had a search made,Mademoiselle,I continued quietly.Yourservants left no place unexplored The paths,the roads,the very woodswere ransacked,But in vain,because all the while the orange sachet laywhole and unopen
526、ed in my pocket.No!she cried impetuously.There,you lie sir,as usual!The sachetwas found,torn open,many leagues from this place!Where I threw it,Mademoiselle,I replied,that I might mislead yourrascals and be free to return to you.Oh!believe me,I continued,letting something of my true self,something o
527、f my triumph,appear at lastin my voice.You have made a mistake!You would have done betterhad you trusted me.I am no bundle of sawdust,Mademoiselle,thoughonce you got the better of me,but a man;a man with an arm to shield anda brain to serve,and-as I am going to teach you-a heart also!Sheshivered.In
528、the orange-coloured sachet that you lost I believe that there wereeighteen stones of great value?She made no answer,but she looked at me as if I fascinated her.Hervery breath seemed to pause and wait on my words.She was so littleconscious of anything else,of anything outside ourselves,that a score o
529、fmen might have come up behind her,unseen and unnoticed.UNDER THE RED ROBE82CHAPTER VIIIA MASTER STROKE-ContinuedI took from my breast a little packet wrapped in soft leather,and I heldit towards her.Will you open this?I said.I believe that it contains what yourbrother lost.That it contains all I wi
530、ll not answer,Mademoiselle,because I spilled the stones on the floor of my room,and I may have failedto find some.But the others can be recovered;I know where they are.She took the packet slowly and began to unroll it,her fingers shaking.A few turns and the mild lustre of the stones shone out,making
531、 a kind ofmoonlight in her hands-such a shimmering glory of imprisoned light ashas ruined many a woman and robbed many a man of his honour.MORBLEU!as I looked at them and as she stood looking at them in dull,entranced perplexity-I wondered how I had come to resist the temptation.While I gazed her ha
532、nds began to waver.I cannot count,she muttered helplessly.How many are there?In all,eighteen.There should be eighteen,she said.She closed her hand on them with that,and opened it again,and did sotwice,as if to reassure herself that the stones were real and that she wasnot dreaming.Then she turned to
533、 me with sudden fierceness,and I sawthat her beautiful face,sharpened by the greed of possession,was grownas keen and vicious as before.Well?she muttered between her teeth.Your price,man?Your price?I am coming to it now,Mademoiselle,I said gravely.It is a simplematter.You remember the afternoon when
534、 I followed you-clumsily andthoughtlessly perhaps-through the wood to restore these things?Inseeming that happened about a month ago.I believe that it happened theday before yesterday.You called me then some very harsh names,whichI will not hurt you by repeating.The only price I ask for the restorat
535、ionof your jewels is that you on your part recall those names.How?she muttered.I do not understand.UNDER THE RED ROBE83I repeated my words very slowly.The only price or reward I ask,Mademoiselle,is that you take back those names and say that they werenot deserved.And the jewels?she exclaimed hoarsel
536、y.They are yours.They are not mine.They are nothing to me.Takethem,and say that you do not think of me-Nay,I cannot say the words,Mademoiselle.But there is something-else!What else?she cried,her headthrown back,her eyes,bright as any wild animals,searching mine.Ha!my brother?What of him?What of him,
537、sir?For him,Mademoiselle-I would prefer that you should tell me nomore than I know already,I answered in a low voice.I do not wish tobe in that affair.But yes;there is one thing I have not mentioned.Youare right.She sighed so deeply that I caught the sound.It is,I continued slowly,that you will perm
538、it me to remain atCocheforet for a few days while the soldiers are here.I am told that thereare twenty men and two officers quartered in your house.Your brother isaway.I ask to be permitted,Mademoiselle,to take his place for the time,and to be privileged to protect your sister and yourself from insu
539、lt.Thatis all.She raised her hand to her head.After a long pause,-The frogs!she muttered,they croak!I can not hear.Then,to my surprise,she turned quickly and suddenly on her heel,andwalked over the bridge,leaving me standing there.For a moment I stoodaghast,peering after her shadowy figure,and wonde
540、ring what had takenher.Then,in a minute or less,she came quickly back to me,and Iunderstood.She was crying.M.de Barthe,she said,in a trembling voice,which told me that thevictory was won,is there nothing else?Have you no other penance forme?None,Mademoiselle.She had drawn the shawl over her head,and
541、 I no longer saw her face.That is all you ask?she murmured.UNDER THE RED ROBE84That is all I ask-now,I answered.It is granted,she said slowly and firmly.Forgive me if I seem tospeak lightly-if I seem to make little of your generosity or my shame;butI can say no more now.I am so deep in trouble and s
542、o gnawed by terrorthat-I cannot feel anything keenly to-night,either shame or gratitude.Iam in a dream;God grant that it may pass as a dream!We are sunk introuble.But for you and what you have done,M.de Barthe-I-shepaused and I heard her fighting with the sobs which choked her-forgiveme.I am overwro
543、ught.And my-my feet are cold,she added,suddenlyand irrelevantly.Will you take me home?Ah,Mademoiselle,I cried remorsefully,I have been a beast!You arebarefoot,and I have kept you here.It is nothing,she said in a voice which thrilled me.My heart iswarm,Monsieur-thanks to you.It is many hours since it
544、 has been aswarm.She stepped out of the shadow as she spoke-and there,the thing wasdone.As I had planned,so it had come about.Once more I wascrossing the meadow in the dark to be received at Cocheforet,a welcomeguest.The frogs croaked in the pool and a bat swooped round us incircles;and surely never
545、-never,I thought,with a kind of exultation in mybreast-had man been placed in a stranger position.Somewhere in the black wood behind us-probably in the outskirts ofthe village-lurked M.de Cocheforet.In the great house before us,outlined by a score of lighted windows,were the soldiers come from Aucht
546、o take him.Between the two,moving side by side in the darkness,in asilence which each found to be eloquent,were Mademoiselle and I:shewho knew so much,I who knew all-all but one little thing!We reached the house,and I suggested that she should steal in first bythe way she had come out,and that I sho
547、uld wait a little and knock at thedoor when she had had time to explain matters to Clon.They do not let me see Clon,she answered slowly.Then your woman must tell him,I rejoined,or he may do somethingand betray me.They will not let our women come to us.UNDER THE RED ROBE85What?I cried,astonished.But
548、this is infamous.You are notprisoners!Mademoiselle laughed harshly.Are we not?Well,I suppose not;for if we wanted company,CaptainLarolle said that he would be delighted to see us-in the parlour.He has taken your parlour?I said.He and his lieutenant sit there.But I suppose that we rebels shouldbe tha
549、nkful,she added bitterly;we have still our bedrooms left to us.Very well,I said.Then I must deal with Clon as I can.But I havestill a favour to ask,Mademoiselle.It is only that you and your sisterwill descend to-morrow at your usual time.I shall be in the parlour.I would rather not,she said,pausing
550、and speaking in a troubled voice.Are you afraid?No,Monsieur,I am not afraid,she answered proudly,but-You will come?I said.She sighed before she spoke.At length,-Yes,I will come-if you wish it,she answered.And the nextmoment she was gone round the corner of the house,while I laughed tothink of the ex
551、cellent watch these gallant gentlemen were keeping.M.deCocheforet might have been with her in the garden,might have talkedwith her as I had talked,might have entered the house even,and passedunder their noses scot-free.But that is the way of soldiers.They arealways ready for the enemy,with drums bea
552、ting and flags flying-at tenoclock in the morning.But he does not always come at that hour.I waited a little,and then I groped my way to the door and knocked onit with the hilt of my sword.The dogs began to bark at the back,and thechorus of a drinking-song,which came fitfully from the east wing,ceas
553、edaltogether.An inner door opened,and an angry voice,apparently anofficers,began to rate someone for not coming.Another moment,and aclamour of voices and footsteps seemed to pour into the hall,and fill it.Iheard the bar jerked away,the door was flung open,and in a twinkling alanthorn,behind which a
554、dozen flushed visages were dimly seen,wasthrust into my face.Why,who the fiend is this?one cried,glaring at me inUNDER THE RED ROBE86astonishment.MORBLEU!It is the man!another shrieked.Seize him!In a moment half a dozen hands were laid on my shoulders,but I onlybowed politely.The officer,my friends,
555、I said,M.le Capitaine Larolle.Where is he?DIABLE!but who are you,first?the lanthorn-bearer retortedbluntly.He was a tall,lanky sergeant,with a sinister face.Well,I am not M.de Cocheforet,I replied;and that must satisfy you,my man.For the rest,if you do not fetch Captain Larolle at once andadmit me,y
556、ou will find the consequences inconvenient.Ho!ho!he said with a sneer.You can crow,it seems.Well,come in.They made way,and I walked into the hall keeping my hat on.Onthe great hearth a fire had been kindled,but it had gone out.Three or fourcarbines stood against one wall,and beside them lay a heap o
557、f haversacksand some straw.A shattered stool,broken in a frolic,and half a dozenempty wine-skins strewed the floor,and helped to give the place an air ofuntidiness and disorder.I looked round with eyes of disgust,and mygorge rose.They had spilled oil,and the place reeked foully.VENTRE BLEU!I said.Is
558、 this conduct in a gentlemans house,you rascals?MA VIE!If I had you I would send half of you to thewooden horse!They gazed at me open-mouthed;my arrogance startled them.Thesergeant alone scowled.When he could find his voice for rage-This way!he said.We did not know that a general officer wascoming,o
559、r we would have been better prepared!And muttering oathsunder his breath,he led me down the well-known passage.At the door ofthe parlour he stopped.Introduce yourself!he said rudely.And ifyou find the air warm,dont blame me!I raised the latch and went in.At a table in front of the hearth,halfcovered
560、 with glasses and bottles,sat two men playing hazard.The dicerang sharply as I entered,and he who had just thrown kept the box overthem while he turned,scowling,to see who came in.He was a fair-haired,blonde man,large-framed and florid.He had put off his cuirassUNDER THE RED ROBE87and boots,and his
561、doublet showed frayed and stained where the armourhad pressed on it.Otherwise he was in the extreme of last years fashion.His deep cravat,folded over so that the laced ends drooped a little in front,was of the finest;his great sash of blue and silver was a foot wide.Hehad a little jewel in one ear,a
562、nd his tiny beard was peaked ALESPAGNOLE.Probably when he turned he expected to see thesergeant,for at the sight of me he rose slowly,leaving the dice stillcovered.What folly is this?he cried,wrathfully.Here,sergeant!Sergeant!-without there!What the-!Who are you,sir?Captain Larolle,I said uncovering
563、 politely,I believe?Yes,I am Captain Larolle,he retorted.But who,in the fiends name,are you?You are not the man we are after!I am not M.Cocheforet,I said coolly.I am merely a guest in thehouse,M.le Capitaine.I have been enjoying Madame de Cocheforetshospitality for some time,but by an evil chance I
564、was away when youarrived.And with that I walked to the hearth,and,gently pushing asidehis great boots which stood there drying,I kicked the logs into a blaze.MILLE DIABLES!he whispered.And never did I see a manmore confounded.But I affected to be taken up with his companion,asturdy,white-moustachioe
565、d old veteran,who sat back in his chair,eyeingme with swollen cheeks and eyes surcharged with surprise.Good evening,M.le Lieutenant,I said,bowing gravely.It is a finenight.Then the storm burst.Fine night!the Captain shrieked,finding his voice at last.MILLEDIABLES!Are you aware,sir,that I am in posse
566、ssion of this house,andthat no one harbours here without my permission?Guest?Hospitality?Bundle of fiddle-faddle!Lieutenant,call the guard!Call the guard!he continued passionately.Where is that ape of a sergeant?The Lieutenant rose to obey,but I lifted my hand.Gently,gently,Captain,I said.Not so fas
567、t.You seem surprised tosee me here.Believe me,I am much more surprised to see you.SACRE!he cried,recoiling at this fresh impertinence,while theUNDER THE RED ROBE88Lieutenants eyes almost jumped out of his head.But nothing moved me.Is the door closed?I said sweetly.Thank you;it is,I see.Thenpermit me
568、 to say again,gentlemen,that I am much more surprised to seeyou than you can be to see me.For when Monseigneur the Cardinalhonoured me by sending me from Paris to conduct this matter,he gave methe fullest-the fullest powers,M.le Capitaine-to see the affair to an end.I was not led to expect that my p
569、lans would be spoiled on the eve ofsuccess by the intrusion of half the garrison from Auch.Oh,ho!the Captain said softly-in a very different tone,and with avery different face.So you are the gentleman I heard of at Auch?Very likely,I said drily.But I am from Paris,not from Auch.To be sure,he answere
570、d thoughtfully.Eh,Lieutenant?Yes,M.le Capitaine,no doubt,the inferior replied.And they bothlooked at one another,and then at me,in a way I did not understand.I think,said I,to clinch the matter,that you have made a mistake,Captain;or the Commandant has.And it occurs to me that the Cardinalwill not b
571、e best pleased.I hold the Kings commission,he answered rather stiffly.To be sure,I replied.But,you see,the Cardinal-Ay,but the Cardinal-he rejoined quickly;and then he stopped andshrugged his shoulders.And they both looked at me.Well?I said.The King,he answered slowly.Tut-tut!I exclaimed,spreading o
572、ut my hands.The Cardinal.Letus stick to him.You were saying?Well,the Cardinal,you see-And then again,after the same words,hestopped-stopped abruptly,and shrugged his shoulders.I began to suspect something.If you have anything to say against Monseigneur,I answered,watching him narrowly,say it.But tak
573、e a word of advice.Dont let it gobeyond the door of this room,my friend,and it will do you no harm.Neither here nor outside,he retorted,looking for a moment at hiscomrade.Only I hold the Kings commission.That is all,and,I think,UNDER THE RED ROBE89enough.Well-for the rest,will you throw a main?he an
574、swered evasively.Good!Lieutenant,find a glass,and the gentleman a seat.And here,formy part,I will give you a toast The Cardinal-whatever betide!I drank it,and sat down to play with him;I had not heard the music ofthe dice for a month,and the temptation was irresistible.But I was notsatisfied.I calle
575、d the mains and won his crowns-he was a mere baby atthe game-but half my mind was elsewhere.There was something herethat I did not understand;some influence at work on which I had notcounted;something moving under the surface as unintelligible to me asthe soldiers presence.Had the Captain repudiated
576、 my commissionaltogether,and put me to the door or sent me to the guard-house,I couldhave followed that.But these dubious hints,this passive resistance,puzzled me.Had they news from Paris,I wondered?Was the Kingdead?Or the Cardinal ill?I asked them,but they said no,no,no to all,and gave me guarded a
577、nswers.And midnight found us still playing;andstill fencing.UNDER THE RED ROBE90CHAPTER IXTHE QUESTIONSweep the room,Monsieur?And remove this medley?But M.leCapitaine-The Captain is in the village,I replied Sternly.And doyou move.Move,man,and the thing will be done while you are talkingabout it.Set
578、the door into the garden open-so.Certainly,it is a fine morning.And the tobacco of M.le Lieutenant-But M.le Capitaine did not-Give orders?Well,I give them,I answered.First of all,removethese beds.And bustle,man,bustle,or I will find something to quickenyou!In a moment-And M.le Capitaines riding-boot
579、s?Place them in the passage,I replied.Oh!in the passage?He paused,looking at them in doubt.Yes,booby;in the passage.And the cloaks,Monsieur?There is a bush handy outside the window.Let them air.Ohe,the bush?Well,to be sure they are damp.But-yes,yes,Monsieur,it is done.And the bolsters?There also,I s
580、aid harshly.Throw them out.Faugh!The placereeks of leather.Now,a clean hearth.And set the table before the opendoor,so that we may see the garden-so.And tell the cook that we dineat eleven,and that Madame and Mademoiselle will descend.Ohe!But M.le Capitaine ordered the dinner for half-past eleven.It
581、 must be advanced,then;and,mark you,my friend,if it is not readywhen Madame comes down,you will suffer,and the cook too.When he was gone on his errand,I looked round.What else waslacking?The sun shone cheerily on the polished floor;the air,freshenedby the rain which had fallen in the night,entered f
582、reely through the opendoorway.A few bees lingering with the summer hummed outside.Thefire crackled bravely;an old hound,blind and past work,lay warming itshide on the hearth.I could think of nothing more,and I stood and stoodand watched the man set out the table and spread the cloth.UNDER THE RED RO
583、BE91For how many,Monsieur?he asked in a scared tone.For five,I answered;and I could not help smiling at myself.For what would Zatons say could it see Berault turned housewife?There was a white glazed cup,an old-fashioned piece of the secondHenrys time,standing on a shelf.I took it down and put some
584、lateflowers in it,and set it in the middle of the table,and stood off myself tolook at it.But a moment later,thinking I heard them coming,I hurried itaway in a kind of panic,feeling on a sudden ashamed of the thing.Thealarm proved to be false,however;and then again,taking another turn,Iset the piece
585、 back.I had done nothing so foolish for-for more years thanI like to count.But when Madame and Mademoiselle came down,they had eyesneither for the flowers nor the room.They had heard that the Captainwas out beating the village and the woods for the fugitive,and where I hadlooked for a comedy I found
586、 a tragedy.Madames face was so red withweeping that all her beauty was gone.She started and shook at theslightest sound,and,unable to find any words to answer my greeting,could only sink into a chair and sit crying silently.Mademoiselle was in a mood scarcely more cheerful.She did notweep,but her ma
587、nner was hard and fierce.She spoke absently,andanswered fretfully.Her eyes glittered,and she had the air of straining herears continually to catch some dreaded sound.There is no news,Monsieur?she said as she took her seat.And sheshot a swift look at me.None,Mademoiselle.They are searching the villag
588、e?I believe so.Where is Clon?This in a lower voice,and with a kind of shrinkingin her face.I shook my head.I believe that they have him confined somewhere.And Louis,too,I said.But I have not seen either of them.And where are-I thought these people would be here,she muttered.And she glanced askance a
589、t the two vacant places.The servant hadbrought in the meal.UNDER THE RED ROBE92They will be here presently,I said coolly.Let us make the most ofthe time.A little wine and food will do Madame good.She smiled rather sadly.I think that we have changed places,she said.And that you haveturned host and we
590、 guests.Let it be so,I said cheerfully.I recommend some of this ragout.Come,Mademoiselle,fasting can aid no one.A full meal has savedmany a mans life.It was clumsily said,perhaps;for she shuddered and looked at me witha ghastly smile.But she persuaded her sister to take something;and shetook somethi
591、ng on her own plate and raised her fork to her lips.But in amoment she laid it down again.I cannot,she murmured.I cannot swallow.Oh,my God,at thismoment they may be taking him.I thought that she was about to burst into a passion of tears,and Irepented that I had induced her to descend.But her self-c
592、ontrol was notyet exhausted.By an effort,painful to see,she recovered her composure.She took up her fork,and ate a few mouthfuls.Then she looked at mewith a fierce under-look.I want to see Clon,she whispered feverishly.The man who waitedon us had left the room.He knows?I said.She nodded,her beautifu
593、l face strangely disfigured.Her closed teethshowed between her lips.Two red spots burned in her white cheeks,andshe breathed quickly.I felt,as I looked at her,a sudden pain at my heart,and a shuddering fear,such as a man,awaking to find himself falling overa precipice,might feel.How these women love
594、d the man!For a moment I could not speak.When I found my voice it soundeddry and husky.He is a safe confidant,I muttered.He can neither read nor write,Mademoiselle.No,but-and then her face became fixed.They are coming,shewhispered.Hush!She rose stiffly,and stood supporting herself by thetable.Have t
595、hey-have they-found him?she muttered.The womanUNDER THE RED ROBE93by her side wept on,unconscious of what was impending.I heard the Captain stumble far down the passage,and swear loudly;and I touched Mademoiselles hand.They have not!I whispered.All is well,Mademoiselle.Pray,praycalm yourself.Sit dow
596、n and meet them as if nothing were the matter.And your sister!Madame,Madame,I cried,almost harshly,composeyourself.Remember that you have a part to play.My appeal did something.Madame stifled her sobs.Mademoiselledrew a deep breath and sat down;and though she was still pale and stilltrembled,the wor
597、st was past.And only just in time.The door flew open with a crash.TheCaptain stumbled into the room,swearing afresh.SACRE NOM DU DIABLE!he cried,his face crimson with rage.What fool placed these things here?My boots?My-His jaw fell.He stopped on the word,stricken silent by the newaspect of the room,
598、by the sight of the little party at the table,by all thechanges I had worked.SAINT SIEGE!he muttered.What is this?The Lieutenantsgrizzled face peering over his shoulder completed the picture.You are rather late,M.le Capitaine,I said cheerfully.Madames houris eleven.But,come here are your seats waiti
599、ng for you.MILLE TONNERRES!he muttered,advancing into the room,andglaring at us.I am afraid that the ragout is cold,I continued,peering into the dishand affecting to see nothing.The soup,however,has been kept hot bythe fire.But I think that you do not see Madame.He opened his mouthto swear,but for t
600、he moment he thought better of it.Who-who put my boots in the passage?he asked,his voice thickwith rage.He did not bow to the ladies,or take any notice of theirpresence.One of the men,I suppose,I said indifferently.Is anythingmissing?He glared at me.Then his cloak,spread outside,caught his eye.Hestr
601、ode through the door,saw his holsters lying on the grass,and otherUNDER THE RED ROBE94things strewn about.He came back.Whose monkey game is this?he snarled,and his face was very ugly.Who is at the bottom of this?Speak,sir,or I-Tut-tut,-the ladies!I said.You forget yourself,Monsieur.Forget myself?he
602、hissed,and this time he did not check his oath.Dont talk to me of the ladies!Madame?Bah!Do you think,fool,that we are put into rebels houses to how and smile and take dancinglessons?In this case a lesson in politeness were more to the point,Monsieur,Isaid sternly.And I rose.Was it by your orders tha
603、t this was done?he retorted,his browblack with passion.Answer,will you?It was!I replied outright.Then take that!he cried,dashing his hat violently in my face,andcome outside.With pleasure,Monsieur,I answered,bowing;in one moment.Permitme to find my sword.I think that it is in the passage.I went thit
604、her to get it.When I returned,I found that the two men were waiting for me in thegarden,while the ladies had risen from the table,and were standing near itwith blanched faces.You had better take your sister upstairs,Mademoiselle,I said gently,pausing a moment beside them.Have no fear.All will be wel
605、l.But what is it?she answered,looking troubled.It was so sudden.I am-I did not understand.You quarrelled so quickly.It is very simple,I answered,smiling.M.le Capitaine insulted youyesterday;he will pay for it to-day.That is all.Or,not quite all,Icontinued,dropping my voice and speaking in a differen
606、t tone.Hisremoval may help you,Mademoiselle.Do you understand?I think thatthere will be no more searching to-day.She uttered an exclamation,grasping my arm and peering into my face.You will kill him?she muttered.I nodded.Why not?I said.UNDER THE RED ROBE95She caught her breath,and stood with one han
607、d clasped to her bosom,gazing at me with parted lips,the blood mounting to her checks.Gradually the flush melted into a fierce smile.Yes,yes,why not?she repeated between her teeth.Why not?Shehad her hand on my arm,and I felt her fingers tighten until I could havewinced.Why not?So you planned this-fo
608、r us,Monsieur?I nodded.But can you?Safely,I said;then,muttering to her to take her sister upstairs,Iturned towards the garden.My foot was already on the threshold,and Iwas composing my face to meet the enemy,when I heard a movementbehind me.The next moment her hand was on my arm.Wait!Wait a moment!C
609、ome back!she panted.I turned.Thesmile and flush had vanished;her face was pale.No!she said abruptly.I was wrong!I,will not have it.I will have no part in it!Youplanned it last night,M.de Barthe.It is murder.Mademoiselle!I exclaimed,wondering.Murder?Why?It is aduel.It is murder,she answered persisten
610、tly.You planned it last night.You said so.But I risk my own life,I replied sharply.Nevertheless-I will have no part in it,she answered more faintly.She was trembling with agitation.Her eyes avoided mine.On my shoulders be it then!I replied stoutly.It is too late,Mademoiselle,to go back.They are wait
611、ing for me.Only,before I go,let me beg of you to retire.And I turned from her,and went out,wondering and thinking.First,that women were strange things.Secondly-MURDER?Merelybecause I had planned the duel and provoked the quarrel!Never had Iheard anything so preposterous.Grant it,and dub every man wh
612、o kepthis honour with his hands a Cain-and a good many branded faces wouldbe seen in some streets.I laughed at the fancy,as I strode down thegarden walk.And yet,perhaps,I was going to do a foolish thing.The LieutenantUNDER THE RED ROBE96would still be here:a hard-bitten man,of stiffer stuff than his
613、 Captain.And the troopers.What if,when I had killed their leader,they made theplace too hot for me,Monseigneurs commission notwithstanding?Ishould look silly,indeed,if on the eve of success I were driven from theplace by a parcel of jack-boots.I liked the thought so little that I hesitated.Yet it se
614、emed too late toretreat.The Captain and the Lieutenant were waiting for me in a littleopen space fifty yards from the house,where a narrower path crossed thebroad walk,down which I had first seen Mademoiselle and her sisterpacing.The Captain had removed his doublet,and stood in his shirtleaning agai
615、nst the sundial,his head bare and his sinewy throat uncovered.He had drawn his rapier and stood pricking the ground impatiently.Imarked his strong and nervous frame and his sanguine air:and twentyyears earlier the sight might have damped me.But no thought of thekind entered my head now,and though I
616、felt with each moment greaterreluctance to engage,doubt of the issue had no place in my calculations.I made ready slowly,and would gladly,to gain time,have found somefault with the place.But the sun was sufficiently high to give noadvantage to either.The ground was good,the spot well chosen.Icould f
617、ind no excuse to put off the man,and I was about to salute him andfall to work when a thought crossed my mind.One moment!I said.Supposing I kill you,M.le Capitaine,whatbecomes of your errand here?Dont trouble yourself;he answered with a sneer he had misread myslowness and hesitation.It will not happ
618、en,Monsieur.And in any casethe thought need not harass you.I have a Lieutenant.Yes,but what of my mission?I replied bluntly.I have nolieutenant.You should have thought of that before you interfered with my boots,he retorted with contempt.True,I said overlooking his manner.But better late than never.
619、Iam not sure,now I think of it,that my duty to Monseigneur will let mefight.You will swallow the blow?he cried,spitting on the groundUNDER THE RED ROBE97offensively.DIABLE!And the Lieutenant,standing on one side withhis hands behind him and his shoulders squared,laughed grimly.I have not made up my
620、mind,I answered irresolutely.Well,NOM DE DIEU!make it up,the Captain replied,with an uglysneer.He took a swaggering step this way and that,playing his weapon.I am afraid,Lieutenant,that there will be no sport to-day,he continued ina loud aside.Our cock has but a chicken heart.Well,I said coolly,I do
621、 not know what to do.Certainly it is a fineday,and a fair piece of ground.And the sun stands well.But I have notmuch to gain by killing you,M.le Capitaine,and it might get me into anawkward fix.On the other hand,it would not hurt me to let you go.Indeed!he said contemptuously,looking at me as I shou
622、ld look at alackey.No!I replied.For if you were to say that you had struck Gil deBerault and left the ground with a whole skin,no one would believe you.Gil de Berault!he exclaimed frowning.Yes,Monsieur,I replied suavely.At your service.You did notknow my name?I thought that your name was De Barthe,h
623、e said.His voice soundedqueerly;and he waited for the answer with parted lips,and a shadow in hiseyes which I had seen in mens eyes before.No,I said;that was my mothers name.I took it for this occasiononly.His florid cheek lost a shade of its colour,and he bit his lips as heglanced at the Lieutenant
624、,trouble in his eyes.I had seen these signsbefore,and knew them,and I might have cried Chicken-heart!in myturn;but I had not made a way of escape for him-before I declaredmyself-for nothing,and I held to my purpose.I think you will allow now,I said grimly,that it will not harm meeven if I put up wit
625、h a blow!M.de Beraults courage is known,he muttered.And with reason,I said.That being so suppose that we say this daythree months,M.le Capitaine?The postponement to be for myconvenience.UNDER THE RED ROBE98He caught the Lieutenants eye and looked down sullenly,the conflictin his mind as plain as day
626、light.He had only to insist that I must fight;and if by luck or skill he could master me his fame as a duellist would run,like a ripple over water,through every garrison town in France and makehim a name even in Paris.On the other side were the imminent peril ofdeath,the gleam of cold steel already
627、in fancy at his breast,the loss of lifeand sunshine,and the possibility of a retreat with honour,if without glory.I read his face,and knew before he spoke what he would do.It appears to me that the burden is with you,he said huskily;but formy part I am satisfied.Very well,I said,I take the burden.Pe
628、rmit me to apologise forhaving caused you to strip unnecessarily.Fortunately the sun is shining.Yes,he said gloomily.And he took his clothes from the sundial andbegan to put them on.He had expressed himself satisfied,but I knewthat he was feeling very ill-satisfied,indeed,with himself;and I was nots
629、urprised when he presently said abruptly and almost rudely,There is onething that I think we must settle here.Yes?I said.What is that?Our positions,he blurted out,Or we shall cross one another againwithin the hour.Umph!I am not quite sure that I understand,I said.That is precisely what I dont do-und
630、erstand!he retorted,in a toneof surly triumph.Before I came on this duty,I was told that there was agentleman here,bearing sealed orders from the Cardinal to arrest M.deCocheforet;and I was instructed to avoid collision with him so far asmight be possible.At first I took you for the gentleman.But th
631、e plaguetake me if I understand the matter now.Why not?I said coldly.Because-well,the question is in a nutshell!he answeredimpetuously.Are you here on behalf of Madame de Cocheforet,toshield her husband?Or are you here to arrest him?That is what I donot understand,M.de Berault.If you mean,am I the C
632、ardinals agent-I am!I answered sternly.To arrest M.de Cocheforet?UNDER THE RED ROBE99To arrest M.de Cocheforet.Well-you surprise me,he said.Only that;but he spoke so drily that I felt the blood rush to my face.Take care,Monsieur,I said severely.Do not presume too far on theinconvenience to which you
633、r death might put me.He shrugged his shoulders.No offence,he said.But you do not seem,M.de Berault,tocomprehend the difficulty.If we do not settle things now,we shall bebickering twenty times a day.Well,what do you want?I asked impatiently,Simply to know how you are going to proceed.So that our plan
634、smay not clash.But surely,M.le Capitaine,that is my affair,I said.The clashing?he answered bitterly.Then he waved aside mywrath Pardon,he said,the point is simply this.How do you propose tofind him if he is here?That again is my affair,I answered.He threw up his hands in despair;but in a moment his
635、place was taken by an unexpected disputant.The Lieutenant,who had stood by all the time,listening and tugging athis grey moustache,suddenly spoke.Look here,M.de Berault,he said,confronting me roughly,I do notfight duels.I am from the ranks.I proved my courage at Montauban in21,and my honour is good
636、enough to take care of itself.So I say what Ilike,and I ask you plainly what M.le Capitaine doubtless has in his mind,but does not ask:Are you running with the hare,and hunting with thehounds in this matter?In other words,have you thrown upMonseigneurs commission in all but name,and become Madames a
637、lly;or-it is the only other alternative-are you getting at the man through thewomen?You villain!I cried,glaring at him in such a rage and fury that Icould scarcely get the words out.This was plain speaking with avengeance!How dare you?How dare you say that I am false to thehand that pays me?I though
638、t that he would blench,but he did not.He stood up stiff as aUNDER THE RED ROBE100poker.I do not say;I ask!he replied,facing me squarely,and slapping hisfist into his open hand to drive home his words the better.I ask youwhether you are playing the traitor to the Cardinal,or to these two women?It is
639、a simple question.I fairly choked.You impudent scoundrel!I said.Steady,steady!he replied.Pitch sticks where it belongs,andnowhere else.But that is enough.I see which it is,M.le Capitaine;thisway a moment,by your leave.And in a very cavalier fashion he took his officer by the arm,and drewhim into a s
640、idewalk,leaving me to stand in the sun,bursting with angerand spleen.The gutter-bred rascal!That such a man should insult me,and with impunity!In Paris,I might have made him fight,but here itwas impossible.I was still foaming with rage when they returned.We have come to a determination,the Lieutenan
641、t said,tugging hisgrey moustachios,and standing like a ramrod.We shall leave you thehouse and Madame,and you can take your own line to find the man,forourselves,we shall draw off our men to the village,and we shall take ourline.That is all,M.le Capitaine,is it not?I think so,the Captain muttered,loo
642、king anywhere but at me.Then we bid you good-day,Monsieur,the Lieutenant added,and in amoment he turned his companion round,and the two retired up the walk tothe house,leaving me to look after them in a black fit of rage andincredulity.At the first flush,there was something so offensive in the manne
643、r oftheir going that anger had the upper hand.I thought of the Lieutenantswords,and I cursed him to hell with a sickening consciousness that Ishould not forget them in a hurry.Was I playing the traitor to the Cardinal or to these women-which?MON DIEU!if ever question-but there,some day I would punis
644、h him.And the Captain?I could put an end to his amusement,at any rate;and Iwould.Doubtless among the country bucks of Auch he lorded it as achief provincial bully,but I would cut his comb for him some fineUNDER THE RED ROBE101morning behind the barracks.And then as I grew cooler I began to wonder wh
645、y they were going,andwhat they were going to do.They might be already on the track,or havethe information they required under hand;in that case I could understandthe movement.But if they were still searching vaguely,uncertainwhether their quarry were in the neighbourhood or not,and uncertain howlong
646、 they might have to stay,it seemed incredible that soldiers shouldmove from good quarters to bad without motive.I wandered down the garden,thinking sullenly of this,and pettishlycutting off the heads of the flowers with my sheathed sword.After all,ifthey found and arrested the man,what then?I should
647、 have to make mypeace with the Cardinal as I best might.He would have gained his point,but not through me,and I should have to look to myself.On the otherhand,if I anticipated them-and,as a fact,I believed that I could lay myhand on the fugitive within a few hours-there would come a time when Imust
648、face Mademoiselle.A little while back that had not seemed so difficult a thing.From theday of our first meeting-and in a higher degree since that afternoon whenshe had lashed me with her scorn-my views of her,and my feelingstowards her,had been strangely made up of antagonism and sympathy;ofrepulsio
649、n,because in her past and present she was so different from me;ofyearning because she was a woman and friendless.Later I had duped herand bought her confidence by returning the jewels,and so in a measure Ihad sated my vengeance;then,as a consequence,sympathy had again gotthe better of me,until now I
650、 hardly knew my own mind,or what I felt,orwhat I intended.I DID NOT KNOW,in fact,what I intended.I stoodthere in the garden with that conviction suddenly newborn in my mind;and then,in a moment,I heard her step,and I turned to find her behindme.Her face was like April,smiles breaking through her tea
651、rs.As shestood with a tall hedge of sunflowers behind her,I started to see howbeautiful she was.I am here in search of you,M.de Barthe,she said,colouring slightly,perhaps because my eyes betrayed my thought;to thank you.You haveUNDER THE RED ROBE102not fought,and yet you have conquered.My woman has
652、just been withme,and she tells me that they are going.Going?I said,Yes,Mademoiselle,they are leaving the house.She did not understand my reservation.What magic have you used?she said almost gaily;it was wonderfulhow hope had changed her.Besides,I am curious to learn how youmanaged to avoid fighting.
653、After taking a blow?I said bitterly.Monsieur,I did not mean that,she said reproachfully.But her face clouded.I saw that,viewed in this light-in which,Isuppose,she had not hitherto-the matter perplexed her more than before.I took a sudden resolution.Have you ever heard,Mademoiselle,I said gravely,plu
654、cking offwhile I spoke the dead leaves from a plant beside me,of a gentleman byname De Berault?Known in Paris,I have heard,by the sobriquet of theBlack Death?The duellist?she answered,looking at me in wonder.Yes,I haveheard of him.He killed a young gentleman of this province at Nancytwo years back.I
655、t was a sad story,she continued,shuddering slightly,of a dreadful man.God keep our friends from such!Amen!I said quietly.But,in spite of myself,I could not meet hereyes.Why?she answered,quickly taking alarm at;my silence.What ofhim,M.de Barthe?Why have you mentioned him?Because he is here,Mademoisel
656、le.Here?she exclaimed.At Cocheforet?Yes,Mademoiselle,I answered soberly.I am he.UNDER THE RED ROBE103CHAPTER XCLONYou!she cried,in a voice which pierced my heart.You are M.deBerault?It is impossible!But,glancing askance at her-I could notface her I saw that the blood had left her cheeks.Yes,Mademois
657、elle,I answered in a low tone.De Barthe was mymothers name.When I came here,a stranger,I took it that I might notbe known;that I might again speak to a good woman,and not see hershrink.That,and-but why trouble you with all this?I continuedrebelling,against her silence,her turned shoulder,her averted
658、 face.Youasked me,Mademoiselle,how I could take a blow and let the striker go.I have answered.It is the one privilege M.de Berault possesses.Then,she replied almost in a whisper,if I were M.de Berault,Iwould avail myself of it,and never fight again.In that event,Mademoiselle,I answered coldly,I shou
659、ld lose my menfriends as well as my women friends.Like Monseigneur the Cardinal,rule by fear.She shuddered,either at the name or at the idea my words called up;and,for a moment,we stood awkwardly silent.The shadow of thesundial fell between us;the garden was still;here and there a leaf flutteredslow
660、ly down.With each instant of that silence,of that aversion,I felt thegulf between us growing wider,I felt myself growing harder;I mocked ather past which was so unlike mine;I mocked at mine,and called it fate.Iwas on the point of turning from her with a bow-and with a furnace in mybreast-when she sp
661、oke.There is a last rose lingering there,she said,a slight tremor in hervoice.I cannot reach it.Will you pluck it for me,M.de Berault?I obeyed her,my hand trembling,my face on fire.She took the rosefrom me,and placed it in the bosom of her dress,And I saw that her handtrembled too,and that her cheek
662、 was dark with blushes.She turned without more ado,and began to walk towards the house.Heaven forbid that I should misjudge you a second time!she said in alow voice.And,after all,who am I,that I should judge you at all?AnUNDER THE RED ROBE104hour ago I would have killed that man had I possessed the
663、power.You repented,Mademoiselle,I said huskily.I could scarcely speak.Do you never repent?she said.Yes.But too late,Mademoiselle.Perhaps it is never too late,she answered softly.Alas,when a man is dead-You may rob a man of worse than life!she replied with energy,stopping me by a gesture.If you have
664、never robbed a man-or a woman-of honour!If you have never ruined boy or girl,M.de Berault!If youhave never pushed another into the pit and gone by it yourself!If-but,for murder?Listen.You are a Romanist,but I am a Huguenot,andhave read.Thou shall not kill!it is written;and the penalty,By manshall th
665、y blood be shed!But,If you cause one of these little ones tooffend,it were better for you that a mill-stone were hanged about yourneck,and that you were cast into the depths of the sea.Mademoiselle,you are merciful,I muttered.I need mercy myself,she answered,sighing.And I have had fewtemptations.How
666、 do I know what you have suffered?Or done!I said,almost rudely.Where a man has not lied,nor betrayed,nor sold himself or others,she answered in a low tone,I think I can forgive all else.I can better putup with force,she added smiling sadly,than with fraud.Ah,Dieu!I turned away my face that she might
667、 not see how pale itgrew;that she might not guess how her words,meant in mercy,stabbedme to the heart.And yet,then,for the first time,while viewing in all itsdepth and width the gulf which separated us,I was not hardened;I was notcast back upon myself.Her gentleness,her pity,her humility softenedme,
668、while they convicted me.My God,how,after this,could I do thatwhich I had come to do?How could I stab her in the tenderest part,howcould I inflict on her that rending pang,how could I meet her eyes,andstand before her,a Caliban,a Judas,the vilest,lowest thing she couldconceive?I stood,a moment,speech
669、less and disordered;overcome by her words,by my thoughts.I have seen a man so stand when he has lost all at theUNDER THE RED ROBE105tables.Then I turned to her;and for an instant I thought that my tale wastold already,I thought that she had pierced my disguise.For her face waschanged-stricken as wit
670、h fear.The next moment,I saw that she was notlooking at me,but beyond me;and I turned quickly and saw a servanthurrying from the house to us.It was Louis.His eyes were staring,hishair waved,his cheeks were flabby with dismay,He breathed as if he hadbeen running.What is it?Mademoiselle cried,while he
671、 was still some way off.Speak,man.My sister?Is she-Clon,he gasped.The name changed her to stone.Clon?What of him?she muttered.In the village!Louis panted,his tongue stuttering with terror.They are flogging him.They are killing him!To make him tell!Mademoiselle grasped the sundial and leant against i
672、t,her facecolourless;and,for an instant,I thought that she was fainting.Tell?I said mechanically.But he cannot tell.He is dumb,man.They will make him guide them,Louis groaned,covering his earswith his shaking hands,his face the colour of paper.And his cries!Oh,Monsieur,go,go!he continued,in a thrill
673、ing tone.Save him.Allthrough tie wood I heard his cries.It was horrible!horrible!Mademoiselle uttered a moan of pain;and I turned to support her,thinking each second to see her fall.But with a sudden movement shestraightened herself,and,quickly slipping by me,with eyes that seemed tosee nothing,she
674、set off swiftly down the walk towards the meadow gate.I ran after her;but,taken by surprise as I was,it was only by a greateffort I reached the gate before her,and thrusting myself in the road,barred the way.Let me pass!she panted,striving to thrust me on one side.Out ofmy way,sir!I am going to the
675、village.You are not going to the village,I said sternly.Go back;to thehouse,Mademoiselle,and at once.My servant!she wailed.Let me go!Let me go!Do you thinkI can rest here while they torture him?He cannot speak,and they-they-UNDER THE RED ROBE106Go back,Mademoiselle,I said,with decision.Your presence
676、 wouldonly make matters worse!I will go myself,and what one man can doagainst many,I will!Louis,give your mistress your arm and take her tothe house.Take her to Madame.But you will go?she cried.And before I could stay her-I swear Iwould have stopped her if I could-she raised my hand and carried it t
677、o hertrembling lips.You will go!Go and stop them!Stop them,andHeaven reward you,Monsieur!I did not answer;nay,I did not once look back,as I crossed themeadow;but I did not look forward either.Doubtless it was grass I trod,and the wood was before me with the sun shining aslant on it;doubtlessthe hous
678、e rose behind me with a flame here and there in the windows.But I went in a dream,among shadows;with a racing pulse,in a glowfrom head to heel;conscious of nothing but the touch of Mademoiselleswarm lips on my hand,seeing neither meadow nor house,nor even thedark fringe of wood before me,but only Ma
679、demoiselles passionate face.For the moment I was drunk:drunk with that to which I had been solong a stranger,with that which a man may scorn for years,to find it atlast beyond his reach drunk with the touch of a good womans lips.I passed the bridge in this state;and my feet were among thebrushwood b
680、efore the heat and fervour in which I moved found on asudden their direction.Something began to penetrate to my veiledsenses-a hoarse inarticulate cry,now deep,now shrilling horribly,that ofitself seemed to fill the wood.It came at intervals of half a minute or so,and made the flesh creep,it rang so
681、 full of dumb pain,of impotentwrestling,of unspeakable agony.I am a man and have seen things.Isaw the Concini beheaded,and Chalais ten years later-they gave himthirty-four blows;and when I was a boy I escaped from the college andviewed from a great distance Ravaillac torn by horses-that was in the y
682、earten.But the horrible cries I now heard,filled me,perhaps because I wasalone and fresh from the sight of Mademoiselle,with loathinginexpressible.The very wood,though the sun had not yet set,seemed togrow dark.I ran on through it,cursing,until the hovels of the villageUNDER THE RED ROBE107came in s
683、ight.Again the shriek rose,a pulsing horror,and this time Icould hear the lash fall on the sodden flesh,I could sec in fancy the dumbman,trembling,quivering,straining against his bonds.And then,in amoment,I was in the street,and,as the scream once more tore the air,Idashed round the corner by the in
684、n,and came upon them.I did not look at HIM,but I saw Captain Larolle and the Lieutenant,and a ring of troopers,and one man,bare-armed,teasing out with hisfingers the thongs of a whip.The thongs dripped blood,and the sightfired the mine.The rage I had suppressed when the Lieutenant beardedme earlier
685、in the afternoon,the passion with which Mademoisellesdistress had filled my breast,on the instant found vent.I sprang throughthe line of soldiers;and striking the man with the whip a buffet betweenthe shoulders,which hurled him breathless to the ground,I turned on theleaders.You fiends!I cried.Shame
686、 on you!The man is dumb!Dumb;and if I had ten men with me,I would sweep you and your scum out of thevillage with broomsticks.Lay on another lash,I continued recklessly,and I will see whether you or the Cardinal be the stronger.The Lieutenant stared at me,his grey moustache bristling,his eyesalmost s
687、tarting from his head.Some of the troopers laid their hands ontheir swords,but no one moved,and only the Captain spoke.MILLE DIABLES!he swore.What is all this about?Are youmad,sir?Mad or sane!I cried furiously.Lay on another lash,and you shallrepent it.For an instant there was a pause of astonishmen
688、t.Then,to mysurprise,the Captain laughed-laughed loudly.Very heroic,he said.Quite magnificent,M.Chevalier-errant.Butyou see,unfortunately,you come too late.Too late,I said incredulously.Yes,too late,he replied,with a mocking smile.And the Lieutenantgrinned too.Unfortunately,you see,the man has just
689、confessed.Wehave only been giving him an extra touch or two,to impress his memory,and save us the trouble of lashing him up again.UNDER THE RED ROBE108I dont believe it,I said bluntly-but I felt the check,and fell to earth.The man cannot speak.No,but he has managed to tell us what we want;that he wi
690、ll guide usto the place we are seeking,the Captain answered drily.The whip,if itcannot find a man a tongue,can find him wits.What is more,I think thathe will keep his word,he continued,with a hideous scowl.For I warnhim that if he does not,all your heroics shall not save him.He is a rebeldog,and kno
691、wn to us of old;and I will flay his back to the bones,ay,untilwe can see his heart beating through his ribs,but I will have what I want-in your teeth,too,you d-d meddler.Steady,steady!I said,sobered.I saw that he was telling the truth.Is he going to take you to M.de Cocheforets hiding-place?Yes,he i
692、s!the Captain retorted.Have you any objection to that,Master Spy?None,I replied.Only I shall go with you.And if you live threemonths,I shall kill you for that name-behind the barracks at Auch,M.leCapitaine.He changed colour,but he answered me boldly enough.I dont know that you will go with us,he sai
693、d,with a snarl.That is aswe please.I have the Cardinals orders,I said sternly.The Cardinal?he exclaimed,stung to fury by this repetition of thename.The Cardinal be-But the Lieutenant laid his hand on his lips and stopped him.Hush!he said.Then more quietly,Your pardon,M.le Capitaine;but the least sai
694、d the soonest mended.Shall I give orders to the men tofall in?The Captain nodded sullenly.The Lieutenant turned to his prisoner.Take him down!he commanded in his harsh,monotonous voice.Throw his blouse over him,and tie his hands.And do you two,Paul andLebrun,guard him.Michel,bring the whip,or he may
695、 forget how ittastes.Sergeant,choose four good men,and dismiss the rest to theirquarters.UNDER THE RED ROBE109Shall we need the horses?the sergeant asked.I dont know,the Captain answered peevishly.What does the roguesay?The Lieutenant stepped up to him.Listen!he said grimly.Nod if you mean yes,and s
696、hake your headif you mean no.And have a care you answer truly.Is it more than amile to this place?They had loosened the poor wretchs fastenings,and covered his back.He stood leaning his shoulder against the wall,his mouth still panting,thesweat running down his hollow cheeks.His sunken eyes were clo
697、sed,but a quiver now and again ran through his frame.The Lieutenantrepeated his question,and,getting no answer,looked round for orders.The Captain met the look,and crying savagely,Answer will you,youmule!struck the half-swooning miserable across the back with hisswitch.The effect was magical.Covered
698、,as his shoulders were,theman sprang erect with a shriek of pain,raising his chin,and hollowing hisback;and in that attitude stood an instant with starting eyes,gasping forbreath.Then he sank back against the wall,moving his mouthspasmodically.His face was the colour of lead.Diable!I think that we h
699、ave gone too far with him!the Captainmuttered.Bring some wine!the Lieutenant replied.Quick with it!I looked on,burning with indignation,and in some excitement besides.For if the man took them to the place,and they succeeded in seizingCocheforet,there was an end of the matter as far as I was concerne
700、d.Itwas off my shoulders,and I might leave the village when I pleased;norwas it likely-since he would have his man,though not through me-thatthe Cardinal would refuse to grant me an amnesty.On the whole,Ithought that he would prefer that things should take this course;andassuming the issue,I began t
701、o wonder whether it would be necessary inthat event that Madame should know the truth.I had a kind of vision of areformed Berault,dead to play and purging himself at a distance fromZatons;winning,perhaps,a name in the Italian war,and finally-but,pshaw!I was a fool.UNDER THE RED ROBE110However,be the
702、se things as they might,it was essential that I shouldsee the arrest made;and I waited patiently while they revived the torturedman,and made their dispositions.These took some time;so that the sunwas down,and it was growing dusk when we marched out,Clon goingfirst,supported by his two guards,the Cap
703、tain and I following-abreast,and eyeing one another suspiciously;the Lieutenant,with the sergeant andfive troopers,bringing up the rear.Clon moved slowly,moaning fromtime to time;and but for the aid given him by the two men with him,musthave sunk down again and again.He led the way out between two h
704、ouses close to the inn,and struck anarrow track,scarcely discernible,which ran behind other houses,andthen plunged into the thickest part of the wood.A single person,traversing the covert,might have made such a track;or pigs,or children.But it was the first idea that occurred to us,and put us all on
705、 the alert.The Captain carried a cocked pistol,I held my sword drawn,and kept awatchful eye on HIM;and the deeper the dusk fell in the wood,the morecautiously we went,until at last we came out with a sort of jump into awider and lighter path.I looked up and down,and saw behind me a vista of tree-tru
706、nks,beforeme a wooden bridge and an open meadow,lying cold and grey in thetwilight;and I stood in astonishment.We were in the old path to theChateau!I shivered at the thought that he was going to take us there,tothe house,to Mademoiselle!The Captain also recognised the place,and swore aloud.But thed
707、umb man went on unheeding until he reached the wooden bridge.Therehe stopped short,and looked towards the dark outline of the house,whichwas just visible,one faint light twinkling sadly in the west wing.As theCaptain and I pressed up behind him,he raised his hands and seemed towring them towards the
708、 house.Have a care!the Captain growled.Play me no tricks,or-He did not finish the sentence,for Clon,as if he well understood hisimpatience,turned back from the bridge,and,entering the wood to the left,began to ascend the bank of the stream.We had not gone a hundredyards before the ground grew rough,
709、and the undergrowth thick;and yetUNDER THE RED ROBE111through all ran a kind of path which enabled us to advance,dark as it wasnow growing.Very soon the bank on which we moved began to rise abovethe water,and grew steep and rugged.We turned a shoulder,where thestream swept round a curve,and saw we w
710、ere in the mouth of a smallravine,dark and sheer-sided.The water brawled along the bottom,overboulders and through chasms.In front,the slope on which we stoodshaped itself into a low cliff;but halfway between its summit and thewater a ledge,or narrow terrace,running along the face,was dimly visible.
711、Ten to one,a cave!the Captain muttered.It is a likely place.And an ugly one!I replied with a sneer.Which one against tenmight hold for hours!If the ten had no pistols-yes!he answered viciously.But you seewe have.Is he going that way?He was.As soon as this was clear,Larolle turned to his comrade,Lieu
712、tenant,he said,speaking in a low voice,though the chafing of thestream below us covered ordinary sounds;what say you?Shall we lightthe lanthorns,or press on while there is still a glimmering of day?On,I should say,M.le Capitaine,the Lieutenant answered.Prick himin the back if he falters.I will warra
713、nt,the brute added with a chuckle,he has a tender place or two.The Captain gave the word and we moved forward.It was evidentnow that the cliff-path was our destination.It was possible for the eye tofollow the track all the way to it,through rough stones and brushwood;and though Clon climbed feebly,a
714、nd with many groans,two minutes sawus step on to it.It did not prove to be,in fact,the perilous place it lookedat a distance.The ledge,grassy and terrace-like,sloped slightlydownwards and outwards,and in parts was slippery;but it was as wide asa highway,and the fall to the water did not exceed thirt
715、y feet.Even in sucha dim light as now displayed it to us,and by increasing the depth andunseen dangers of the gorge gave a kind of impressiveness to ourmovements,a nervous woman need not have feared to tread it,I wonderedhow often Mademoiselle had passed along it with her milk-pitcher.I think that w
716、e have him now,Captain Larolle muttered,twisting hismoustachios,and looking about to make his last dispositions.Paul andUNDER THE RED ROBE112Lebrun,see that your man makes no noise.Sergeant,come forward withyour carbine,but do not fire without orders.Now,silence all,and closeup,Lieutenant.Forward!We
717、 advanced about a hundred paces,keeping the cliff on our left,turned a shoulder,and saw,a few paces in front of us,a slight hollow,ablack blotch in the grey duskiness of the cliff-side.The prisoner stopped,and,raising his bound hands,pointed to it.There?the Captain whispered,pressing forward.Is it t
718、he place?Clon nodded.The Captains voice shook with excitement.Paul and Lebrun remain here with the prisoner,he said,in a low tone.Sergeant,come forward with me.Now,are you ready?Forward!At the word he and the sergeant passed quickly,one on either side ofClon and his guards.The path grew narrow here,
719、and the Captain passedoutside.The eyes of all but one were on the black blotch,the hollow inthe cliff-side,expecting we knew not what-a sudden shot or the rush or adesperate man;and no one saw exactly what happened.But somehow,asthe Captain passed abreast of him,the prisoner thrust back his guards,a
720、ndleaping sideways,flung his unbound arms round Larolles body,and in aninstant swept him,shouting,to the verge of the precipice.It was done in a moment.By the time our startled wits and eyes wereback with them,the two were already tottering on the edge,looking in thegloom like one dark form.The serg
721、eant,who was the first to find hishead,levelled his carbine,but,as the wrestlers twirled and twisted,theCaptain,shrieking out oaths and threats,the mute silent as death,it wasimpossible to see which was which,and the sergeant lowered his gunagain,while the men held back nervously.The ledge sloped st
722、eeply there,the edge was vague,already the two seemed to be wrestling in mid air;and the mute was desperate.That moment of hesitation was fatal.Clons long arms were roundthe others arms,crushing them into his ribs;Clons skull-like face grinnedhate into the others eyes;his bony limbs curled round him
723、 like the folds ofa snake.Larolles strength gave way.Damn you all!Why dont you come up?he cried.And then,Ah!Mercy!mercy!came in one last scream from his lips.As theUNDER THE RED ROBE113Lieutenant,taken aback before,sprang forward to his aid,the two toppledover the edge,and in a second hurtled out of
724、 sight.MON DIEU!the Lieutenant cried;the answer was a dull splash inthe depths below.He flung up his arms.Water!he said.Quick,men,get down.We may save him yet.But there was no path,and night was come,and the mens nerves wereshaken.The lanthorns had to be lit,and the way to be retraced;by thetime we
725、reached the dark pool which lay below,the last bubbles were gonefrom the surface,the last ripples had beaten themselves out against thebanks.The pool still rocked sullenly,and the yellow light showed amans hat floating,and near it a glove three parts submerged.But thatwas all.The mutes dying grip ha
726、d known no loosening,nor his hate anyfear.I heard afterwards that when they dragged the two out next day,hisfingers were in the others eye-sockets,his teeth in his throat.If everman found death sweet,it was he!As we turned slowly from the black water,some shuddering,somecrossing themselves,the Lieut
727、enant looked at me.Curse you!he said passionately.I believe that you are glad.He deserved his fate,I answered coldly.Why should I pretend to besorry?It was now or in three months.And for the other poor devilssake I am glad.He glared at me for a moment in speechless anger.At last,I should like to hav
728、e you tied up!he said between his teeth.I should think that you had had enough of tying up for one day!Iretorted.But there,I went on contemptuously,it comes of makingofficers out of the canaille.Dogs love blood.The teamster must lashsomething if he can no longer lash his horses.We were back,a sombre
729、 little procession,at the wooden bridge when Isaid this.He stopped.Very well,he replied,nodding viciously.That decides me.Sergeant,light me this way with a lanthorn.The rest of you to the village.Now,Master Spy,he continued,glancing at me with gloomy spite,Your road ismy road.I think I know how to s
730、poil your game.I shrugged my shoulders in disdain,and together,the sergeant leadingUNDER THE RED ROBE114the way with the light,we crossed the dim meadow,and passed throughthe gate where Mademoiselle had kissed my hand,and up the ghostly walkbetween the rose bushes.I wondered uneasily what the Lieute
731、nant wouldbe at,and what he intended;but the lanthorn-light which now fell on theground at our feet,and now showed one of us to the other,high-lit in aframe of blackness,discovered nothing in his grizzled face but settledhostility.He wheeled at the end of the walk to go to the main door,butas he did
732、 so I saw the flutter of a white skirt by the stone seat against thehouse,and I stepped that way.Mademoiselle?I said softly.Is it you?Clon?she muttered,her voice quivering.What of him?He is past pain,I answered gently.He is dead-yes,dead,Mademoiselle,but in his own way.Take comfort.She stifled a sob
733、;then before I could say more,the Lieutenant,withhis sergeant and light,were at my elbow.He saluted Mademoiselleroughly.She looked at him with shuddering abhorrence.Are you come to flog me too,sir?she said passionately.Is it notenough that you have murdered my servant?On the contrary,it was he who k
734、illed my Captain,the Lieutenantanswered,in another tone than I had expected.If your servant is dead sois my comrade.Captain Larolle?she murmured,gazing with startled eyes,not athim but at me.I nodded.How?she asked.Clon flung the Captain and himself-into the river pool above thebridge,I said.She utte
735、red a low cry of awe and stood silent;but her lips moved and Ithink that she prayed for Clon,though she was a Huguenot.Meanwhile,Ihad a fright.The lanthorn,swinging in the sergeants hand,and throwingits smoky light now on the stone seat,now on the rough wall above it,showed me something else.On the
736、seat,doubtless where Mademoiselleshand had lain as she sat in the dark,listening and watching and shivering,stood a pitcher of food.Beside her,in that place,it was damningUNDER THE RED ROBE115evidence,and I trembled least the Lieutenants eye should fall upon it,lestthe sergeant should see it;and the
737、n,in a moment,I forgot all about it.The Lieutenant was speaking and his voice was doom.My throat grewdry as I listened;my tongue stuck to my mouth I tried to look atMademoiselle,but I could not.It is true that the Captain is gone,he said stiffly,but others are alive,and about one of them a word with
738、 you,by your leave,Mademoiselle.Ihave listened to a good deal of talk from this fine gentleman friend ofyours.He has spent the last twenty-four hours saying You shall!andYou shall not!He came from you and took a very high tone because welaid a little whip-lash about that dumb devil of yours.He calle
739、d us brutesand beasts,and but for him I am not sure that my friend would not now bealive.But when he said a few minutes ago that he was glad-glad of it,d-him!-then I fixed it in my mind that I would be even with him.And Iam going to be!What do you mean?Mademoiselle asked,wearily interrupting him.If
740、you think that you can prejudice me against this gentleman-That is precisely what I am going to do!And a little more than that!he answered.You will be only wasting your breath!she retorted.Wait!Wait,Mademoiselle-until you have heard,he said.For Iswear to you that if ever a black-hearted scoundrel,a
741、dastardly sneakingspy trod the earth,it is this fellow!And I am going to expose him.Your own eyes and your own ears shall persuade you.I am not particular,but I would not eat,I would not drink,I would not sit down with him!Iwould rather be beholden to the meanest trooper in my squadron than tohim!Ay
742、,I would,so help me Heaven!And the Lieutenant,turning squarely on his heel,spat on the ground.UNDER THE RED ROBE116CHAPTER XITHE ARRESTIt had come,and I saw no way of escape.The sergeant was betweenus and I could not strike him.And I found no words.A score of times Ihad thought with shrinking how I
743、should reveal my secret toMademoiselle-what I should say,and how she would take it;but in mymind it had been always a voluntary act,this disclosure,it had beenalways I who unmasked myself and she who listened-alone;and in thisvoluntariness and this privacy there had been something which took fromthe
744、 shame of anticipation.But here-here was no voluntary act on my part,no privacy,nothing but shame.And I stood mute,convicted,speechless,under her eyes-like the thing I was.Yet if anything could have braced me it was Mademoiselles voicewhen she answered him.Go on,Monsieur,she said calmly,you will hav
745、e done the sooner.You do not believe me?he replied.Then,I say,look at him!Lookat him!If ever shame-Monsieur,she said abruptly-she did not look at me,I am ashamed ofmyself.But you dont hear me,the Lieutenant rejoined hotly.His very nameis not his own!He is not Barthe at all.He is Berault,the gambler,
746、theduellist,the bully;whom if you-Again she interrupted him.I know it,she said coldly.I know it all;and if you have nothingmore to tell me,go,Monsieur.Go!she continued in a tone of infinitescorn.Be satisfied,that you have earned my contempt as well as myabhorrence.He looked for a moment taken aback.
747、Then,-Ay,but I have more,he cried,his voice stubbornly triumphant.I forgot that you would think little of that.I forgot that a swordsmanhas always the ladies hearts-but I have more.Do you know,too,thathe is in the Cardinals pay?Do you know that he is here on the sameerrand which brings us here-to ar
748、rest M.de Cocheforet?Do you knowUNDER THE RED ROBE117that while we go about the business openly and in soldier fashion,it is hispart to worm himself into your confidence,to sneak into Madamesintimacy,to listen at your door,to follow your footsteps,to hang on yourlips,to track you-track you until you
749、 betray yourselves and the man?Do you know this,and that all his sympathy is a lie,Mademoiselle?Hishelp,so much bait to catch the secret?His aim blood-money-blood-money?Why,MORBLEU!the Lieutenant continued,pointing hisfinger at me,and so carried away by passion,so lifted out of himself bywrath and i
750、ndignation,that I shrank before him-you talk,lady,ofcontempt and abhorrence in the same breath with me,but what have youfor him-what have you for him-the spy,the informer,the hired traitor?And if you doubt me,if you want evidence,look at him.Only look athim,I say.And he might say it;for I stood sile
751、nt still,cowering and despairing,white with rage and hate.But Mademoiselle did not look.She gazedstraight at the Lieutenant.Have you done?she said.Done?he stammered;her words,her air,bringing him to earth again.Done?Yes,if you believe me.I do not,she answered proudly.If that be all,be satisfied,Mons
752、ieur.I do not believe you.Then tell me this,he retorted,after a moment of stunned surprise.Answer me this!Why,if he was not on our side,do you think that we lethim remain here?Why did we suffer him to stay in a suspected house,bullying us,annoying us,thwarting us,taking your part from hour tohour?He
753、 has a sword,Monsieur,she answered with fine contempt,MILLE DIABLES!he cried,snapping his fingers in a rage.Thatfor his sword!It was because he held the Cardinals commission,I tellyou,because he had equal authority with us.Because we had no choice.And that being so,Monsieur,why are you now betraying
754、 him?sheasked.He swore at that,feeling the stroke go home.You must be mad!he said,glaring at her.Cannot you see that theman is what I tell you?Look at him!Look at him,I say!Listen to him!UNDER THE RED ROBE118Has he a word to say for himself?Still she did not look.It is late,she replied coldly.And I
755、am not very well.If you havedone,quite done-perhaps,you will leave me,Monsieur.MON DIEU!he exclaimed,shrugging his shoulders,and grindinghis teeth in impotent rage.You are mad!I have told you the truth,andyou will not believe it.Well-on your head be it then,Mademoiselle.Ihave no more to say!You will
756、 see.And with that,without more,fairly conquered by her staunchness,hesaluted her,gave the word to the sergeant,turned and went down the path.The sergeant went after him,the lanthorn swaying in his hand.And wetwo were left alone.The frogs were croaking in the pool,a bat flewround in circles;the hous
757、e,the garden,all lay quiet under the darkness,ason the night which I first came to it.And would to Heaven I had never come that was the cry in my heart.Would to Heaven I had never seen this woman,whose nobleness and faithwere a continual shame to me;a reproach branding me every hour I stoodin her pr
758、esence with all vile and hateful names.The man just gone,coarse,low-bred,brutal soldier as he was,manflogger and drilling-block,had yet found heart to feel my baseness,and words in which to denounceit.What,then,would she say,when the truth came home to her?Whatshape should I take in her eyes then?Ho
759、w should I be rememberedthrough all the years then?Then?But now?What was she thinking now,at this moment asshe stood silent and absorbed near the stone seat,a shadowy figure withface turned from me?Was she recalling the mans words,fitting them tothe facts and the past,adding this and that circumstan
760、ce?Was she,though she had rebuffed him in the body,collating,now he was gone,allthat he had said,and out of these scraps piecing together the damning truth?Was she,for all that she had said,beginning to see me as I was?Thethought tortured me.I could brook uncertainty no longer.I went nearerto her an
761、d touched her sleeve.Mademoiselle,I said in a voice which sounded hoarse and unnaturaleven in my own ears,do you believe this of me?UNDER THE RED ROBE119She started violently,and turned.Pardon,Monsieur!she murmured,passing her hand over her brow;I had forgotten that you were here.Do I believe what?W
762、hat that man said of me,I muttered.That!she exclaimed.And then she stood a moment gazing at mein a strange fashion.Do I believe that,Monsieur?But come,come!she continued impetuously.Come,and I will show you if I believe it.But not here.She turned as she spoke,and led the way on the instant into the
763、housethrough the parlour door,which stood half open.The room inside waspitch dark,but she took me fearlessly by the hand and led me quicklythrough it,and along the passage,until we came to the cheerful lightedhall,where a great fire burned on the hearth.All traces of the soldiersoccupation had been
764、swept away.But the room was empty.She led me to the fire,and there in the full light,no longer a shadowycreature,but red-lipped,brilliant,throbbing with life and beauty,she stoodopposite me-her eyes shining,her colour high,her breast heaving.Do I believe it?she said in a thrilling voice.I will tell
765、you.M.de Cocheforets hiding-place is in the hut behind the fern-stack,twofurlongs beyond the village on the road to Auch.You know now what noone else knows,he and I and Madame excepted.You hold in your handshis life and my honour;and you know also,M.de Berault,whether Ibelieve that tale.My God!I cri
766、ed.And I stood looking at her untilsomething of the horror in my eyes crept into hers,and she shuddered andstepped back from me.What is it?What is it?she whispered,clasping her hands.Andwith all the colour gone suddenly from her cheeks she peered tremblinginto the corners and towards the door.There
767、is no one here.I forced myself to speak,though I was trembling all over like a man inan ague.No,Mademoiselle,there is no one here,I muttered.There isno one here.And then I let my head fall on my breast,and I stood beforeher,the statue of despair.Had she felt a grain of suspicion,a grain ofdoubt,my b
768、earing must have opened her eyes;but her mind was cast in sonoble a mould that,having once thought ill of me and been converted,sheUNDER THE RED ROBE120could feel no doubt again.She must trust all in all.A little recoveredfrom her fright,she stood looking at me in great wonder;and at last shehad a t
769、hought-You are not well?she said suddenly.It is your old wound,Monsieur.Now I have it?Yes,Mademoiselle,I muttered faintly,it is.I will call Clon!she cried impetuously.And then,with a sob:Ah!poor Clon!He is gone.But there is still Louis.I will call himand he will get you something.She was gone from t
770、he room before I could stop her,and I stoodleaning against the table possessor at last of the secret which I had comeso far to win;able in a moment to open the door and go out into the night,and make use of it-and yet the most unhappy of men.The sweat stoodon my brow;my eyes wandered round the room;
771、I turned towards the door,with some mad thought of flight-of flight from her,from the house,fromeverything;and I had actually taken a step towards this,when on the door,the outer door,there came a sudden hurried knocking which jarred everynerve in my body.I started,and stopped.I stood a moment in th
772、emiddle of the floor gazing at the door,as at a ghost.Then,glad of action,glad of anything that might relieve the tension of my feelings,I strode to itand pulled it sharply open.On the threshold,his flushed face lit up by the light behind me,stoodone of the knaves whom I had brought with me to Auch.
773、He had beenrunning,and panted heavily;but he had kept his wits,and the instant I,appeared he grasped my sleeve.Ah!Monsieur,the very man!he cried.Quick!come thisinstant,lose not a moment,and you may yet be first.They have thesecret!The soldiers have found Monsieur!Found him?I echoed.M.de Cocheforet?N
774、o;but they know the place where he lies.It was found by accident.The Lieutenant was gathering his men when I came away.If we are quick,we may yet be first.But the place?I said.I could not hear,he answered bluntly.We must hang on their skirts,UNDER THE RED ROBE121and at the last moment strike in.It i
775、s the only way,Monsieur.The pair of pistols I had taken from the shock-headed man lay on achest by the door.Without waiting for more I snatched them up and myhat,and joined him,and in a moment we were running down the garden.I looked back once before we passed the gate,and I saw the lightstreaming o
776、ut through the door which.I had left open;and I fancied thatfor an instant a figure darkened the gap.But the fancy only strengthenedthe one single purpose,the iron resolve,which had taken possession of meand all my thoughts.I must be first;I must anticipate the Lieutenant;Imust make the arrest mysel
777、f.I must be first.And I ran on only thefaster.We were across the meadow and in the wood in a moment.There,instead of keeping along the common path,I boldly singled out-mysenses seemed to be preternaturally keen-the smaller trail by which Clonhad brought us.Along this I ran unfalteringly,avoiding log
778、s and pitfallsas by instinct,and following all its turns and twists,until we came to theback of the inn,and could hear the murmur of subdued voices in thevillage street,the sharp low word of command,and the clink of weapons;and could see over and between the houses the dull glare of lanthorns andtor
779、ches.I grasped my mans arm,and crouched down listening.When I hadheard enough,Where is your mate?I said in his ear.With them,he muttered.Then come,I whispered rising.I have seen what I want.Let usgo.But he caught me by the arm and detained me.You dont know the way,he said.Steady,steady,Monsieur.You
780、gotoo fast.They are just moving.Let us join them,and strike in when thetime comes.We must let them guide us.Fool!I said,shaking off his hand.I tell you,I know where he is!I know where they are going.Come,and we will pluck the fruit whilethey are on the road to it.His only answer was an exclamation o
781、f surprise.At that moment thelights began to move.The Lieutenant was starting.The moon was notUNDER THE RED ROBE122yet up,the sky was grey and cloudy;to advance where we were was tostep into a wall of blackness.But we had lost too much already,and I didnot hesitate.Bidding my companion follow me and
782、 use his legs,I sprangthrough a low fence which rose before us;then stumbling blindly oversome broken ground in the rear of the houses,I came with a fall or two toa little watercourse with steep sides.Through this I plunged recklesslyand up the farther side,and,breathless and panting,gained the road
783、,beyond the village,and fifty yards in advance of the Lieutenants troop.They had only two lanthorns burning,and we were beyond the circleof light cast by these;while the steady tramp of so many footsteps coveredthe noise we made.We were in no danger of being noticed,and in atwinkling we turned our b
784、acks,and as fast as we could we ran down theroad.Fortunately,they were thinking more of secrecy than speed,and ina minute we had doubled the distance between them and us.In twominutes their lights were mere sparks shining in the gloom behind us.We lost even the tramp of their feet.Then I began to lo
785、ok out and gomore slowly,peering into the shadows on either side for the fernstack.On one hand the hill rose steeply,on the other it fell away to thestream.On neither side was close wood,or my difficulties had beenimmensely increased;but scattered oak trees stood here and there amongthe bracken.This
786、 helped me,and presently,on the upper side,I cameupon the dense substance of the stack looming black against the lighterhill.My heart beat fast,but it was no time for thought.Bidding the manin a whisper to follow me and be ready to back me up,I climbed the banksoftly,and,with a pistol in my hand,fel
787、t my way to the rear of the stack,thinking to find a hut there,set against the fern,and M.Cocheforet in it.But I found no hut.There was none;and,moreover,it was so dark now wewere off the road,that it came upon me suddenly,as I stood between thehill and the stack,that I had undertaken a very difficu
788、lt thing.The hutbehind the fern stack.But how far behind?how far from it?The darkslope stretched above us,infinite,immeasurable shrouded in night.Tobegin to climb it in search of a tiny hut,possibly well hidden and hard tofind in daylight,seemed an endeavour as hopeless as to meet with theUNDER THE
789、RED ROBE123needle in the hay!And now while I stood,chilled and doubting,almostdespairing,the steps of the troop in the road began to grow audible,beganto come nearer.Well,Monsieur le Capitaine?the man beside me muttered-inwonder why I stood.Which way?or they will be before us yet.I tried to think,to
790、 reason it out;to consider where the hut should be;while the wind sighed through the oaks,and here and there I could hear anacorn fall.But the thing pressed too close on me;my thoughts would notbe hurried,and at last I said at a venture,-Up the hill.Straight up from the stack.He did not demur,and we
791、 plunged at the ascent,knee-deep in brackenand furze,sweating at every pore with our exertions,and hearing the troopcome every moment nearer on the road below.Doubtless they knewexactly whither to go!Forced to stop and take breath when we hadscrambled up fifty yards or so,I saw their lanthorns shini
792、ng like movingglow-worms;I could even hear the clink of steel.For all I could tell,thehut might be down there,and we be moving from it.But it was too lateto go back now-they were close to the fern-stack;and in despair I turnedto the hill again.A dozen steps and I stumbled.I rose and plunged onagain;
793、again stumbled.Then I found that I was treading level earth.And-was it water I saw before me,below me?or some mirage of thesky?Neither;and I gripped my fellows arm,as he came abreast of me,andstopped him sharply.Below us in the middle of a steep hollow,a pit inthe hill-side,a light shone out through
794、 some aperture and quivered on themist,like the pale lamp of a moorland hobgoblin.It made itself visible,displaying nothing else;a wisp of light in the bottom of a black bowl.Yet my spirits rose with a great bound at sight of it;for I knew that I hadstumbled on the place I sought.In the common run o
795、f things I should have weighed my next stepcarefully,and gone about it slowly.But here was no place for thought,nor room for delay;and I slid down the side of the hollow on the instant,and the moment my feet touched the bottom sprang to the door of the littlehut,whence the light issued.A stone turne
796、d under my feet in my rush,UNDER THE RED ROBE124and I fell on my knees on the threshold;but the fall only brought my faceto a level with the face of the man who lay inside on a bed of fern.Hehad been reading.Startled by the sound I made,he dropped his book,and in a flash stretched out his hand for a
797、 weapon.But the muzzle of mypistol covered him,he was not in a posture from which he could spring,and at a sharp word from me he dropped his hand;the tigerish glare whichflickered for an instant in his eyes gave place to a languid smile,and heshrugged his shoulders.EH BIEN!,he said with marvellous c
798、omposure.Taken at last!Well,I was tired of it.You are my prisoner,M.de Cocheforet,I answered.Move a handand I kill you.But you have still a choice.Truly?he said,raising his eyebrows.Yes.My orders are to take you to Paris alive or dead.Give meyour parole that you will make no attempt to escape,and yo
799、u shall gothither at your ease and as a gentleman.Refuse,and I shall disarm andbind you,and you go as a prisoner.What force have you?he asked curtly.He still lay on his elbow,his cloak covering him,the little Marot in which he had been reading closeto his hand.But his quick black eyes,which looked t
800、he keener for thepallor and thinness of his face,roved ceaselessly over me,probed thedarkness behind me,took note of everything.Enough to compel you,Monsieur,I replied sternly;but that is not all.There are thirty dragoons coming up the hill to secure you,and they willmake you no such offer.Surrender
801、 to me before they come,and give meyour parole,and I will do all I can for your comfort.Delay,and youmust fall into their hands.There can be no escape.You will take my word?he said slowly.Give it,and you may keep your pistols,M.de Cocheforet.Tell me at least that you are not alone.I am not alone.The
802、n I give it,he said with a sigh.And for Heavens sake get mesomething to eat and a bed.I am tired of this pig-sty.MON DIEU!it isa fortnight since I slept between sheets.UNDER THE RED ROBE125You shall sleep to-night in your own house,if you please,I answeredhurriedly.But here they come.Be good enough
803、to stay where you arefor a moment,and I will meet them.I stepped out into the darkness,just as the Lieutenant,after posting hismen round the hollow,slid down with a couple of sergeants to make thearrest.The place round the open door was pitch-dark.He had notespied my man,who had lodged himself in th
804、e deepest shadow of the hut,and when he saw me come out across the light he took me for Cocheforet.In a twinkling he thrust a pistol into my face,and cried triumphantly,-You are my prisoner!while one of the sergeants raised a lanthorn andthrew its light into my eyes.What folly is this?I said savagel
805、y.The Lieutenants jaw fell,and he stood for a moment paralysed withastonishment.Less than an hour before he had left me at the Chateau.Thence he had come hither with the briefest delay;yet he found me herebefore him.He swore fearfully,his face black,his moustachios stiff withrage.What is this?What i
806、s it?he cried.Where is the man?What man?I said.This Cocheforet!he roared,carried away by his passion.Dont lieto me!He is here,and I will have him!You are too late,I said,watching him heedfully.M.de Cocheforetis here,but he has already surrendered to me,and is my prisoner.Your prisoner?Certainly!I an
807、swered,facing the man with all the harshness I couldmuster.I have arrested him by virtue of the Cardinals commissiongranted to me.And by virtue of the same I shall keep him.You will keep him?I shall!He stared at me for a moment,utterly aghast;the picture of defeat.Then on a sudden I saw his face lig
808、hten with,a new idea.It is a d-d ruse!he shouted,brandishing his pistol like a madman.It is a cheat and a fraud!By God!you have no commission!I seethrough it!I see through it all!You have come here,and you haveUNDER THE RED ROBE126hocussed us!You are of their side,and this is your last shift to save
809、 him!What folly is this?I said contemptuously.No folly at all,he answered,perfect conviction in his tone.You haveplayed upon us.You have fooled us.But I see through it now.Anhour ago I exposed you to that fine Madame at the house there,and Ithought it a marvel that she did not believe me.I thought i
810、t a marvel thatshe did not see through you,when you stood there before her,confounded,tongue-tied,a rogue convicted.But I understand now.She knew you.She was in the plot,and you were in the plot,and I,who thought that I wasopening her eyes,was the only one fooled.But it is my turn now.Youhave played
811、 a bold part and a clever one,he continued,a sinister light inhis little eyes,and I congratulate you.But it is at an end now,Monsieur.You took us in finely with your talk of Monseigneur,and his commissionand your commission,and the rest.But I am not to be blinded anylonger-or bullied.You have arrest
812、ed him,have you?You have arrestedhim.Well,by G-,I shall arrest him,and I shall arrest you too.You are mad!I said staggered as much by this new view of thematter as by his perfect certainty.Mad,Lieutenant.I was,he snarled.But I am sane now.I was mad when youimposed upon us,when you persuaded me to th
813、ink that you were foolingthe women to get the secret out of them,while all the time you weresheltering them,protecting them,aiding them,and hiding him-then I wasmad.But not now.However,I ask your pardon.I thought you thecleverest sneak and the dirtiest hound Heaven ever made.I find you arecleverer t
814、han I thought,and an honest traitor.Your pardon.One of the men,who stood about the rim of the bowl above us,laughed.I looked at the Lieutenant and could willingly have killed him.MON DIEU!I said-and I was so furious in my turn that I couldscarcely speak.Do you say that I am an impostor-that I do not
815、 hold theCardinals commission?I do say that,he answered coolly.And that I belong to the rebel party?I do,he replied in the same tone.In fact,with a grin,I say that youare an honest man on the wrong side,M.de Berault.And you say that youUNDER THE RED ROBE127are a scoundrel on the right.The advantage,
816、however,is with me,and Ishall back my opinion by arresting you.A ripple of coarse laughter ran round the hollow.The sergeant whoheld the lanthorn grinned,and a trooper at a distance called out of thedarkness A BON CHAT BON RAT!This brought a fresh burst oflaughter,while I stood speechless,confounded
817、 by the stubbornness,thecrassness,the insolence of the man.You fool!I cried at last,youfool!And then M.de Cocheforet,who had come out of the hut andtaken his stand at my elbow,interrupted me.Pardon me one moment,he said,airily,looking at the Lieutenant withraised eyebrows and pointing to me with his
818、 thumb,but I am puzzledbetween you.This gentlemans name?Is it de Berault or de Barthe?I am M.de Berault,I said,brusquely,answering for myself.Of Paris?Yes,Monsieur,of Paris.You are not,then,the gentleman who has been honouring my poorhouse with his presence?Oh,yes!the Lieutenant struck in,grinning.H
819、e is that gentleman,too.But I thought-I understood that that was M.de Barthe!I am M.de Barthe,also,I retorted impatiently.What of that,Monsieur?It was my mothers name.I took it when I came down here.To-er-to arrest me,may I ask?Yes,I said,doggedly;to arrest you.What of that?Nothing,he replied slowly
820、 and with a steady look at me-a look Icould not meet.Except that,had I known this before,M.de Berault Ishould have thought longer before I surrendered to you.The Lieutenant laughed,and I felt my cheek burn;but I affected to seenothing,and turned to him again.Now,Monsieur,I said,are yousatisfied?No,h
821、e answered?I am not!You two may have rehearsed thispretty scene a dozen times.The word,it seems to me,is-Quick march,back to quarters.At length I found myself driven to play my last card;much against myUNDER THE RED ROBE128will.Not so,I said.I have my commission.Produce it!he replied incredulously.D
822、o you think that I carry it with me?I cried in scorn.Do youthink that when I came here,alone,and not with fifty dragoons at my back,I carried the Cardinals seal in my pocket for the first lackey to find.Butyou shall have it.Where is that knave of mine?The words were scarcely out of my mouth before a
823、 ready hand thrust apaper into my fingers.I opened it slowly,glanced at it,and amid a pauseof surprise gave it to the Lieutenant.He looked for a momentconfounded.Then,with a last instinct of suspicion,he bade the sergeanthold up the lanthorn;and by its light he proceeded to spell through thedocument
824、.Umph!he ejaculated with an ugly look when he had come to theend,I see.And he read it aloud:-BY THESE PRESENTS,I COMMAND AND EMPOWERGILLES DE BERAULT,SIER DE BERAULT,TO SEEK FOR,HOLD,AND ARREST,AND DELIVER TO THE GOVERNOR OFTHE BASTILLE THE BODY OF HENRI DE COCHEFORET,AND TO DO ALL ACTS AND THINGS A
825、S SHALL BENECESSARY TO EFFECT SUCH ARREST AND DELIVERY,FOR WHICH THESE SHALL BE HIS WARRANT.(Signed)THE CARDINAL DE RICHELIEU.When he had done-he read the signature with a peculiar intonation-someone said softly,VIVE LE ROI!and there was a moments silence.The sergeant lowered his lanthorn.Is it enou
826、gh?I said hoarsely,glaring from face to face.The Lieutenant bowed stiffly.For me?he said.Quite,Monsieur.I beg your pardon again.Ifind that my first impressions were the correct ones.Sergeant!give thegentleman his papers!and,turning his shoulder rudely,he tossed thecommission to the sergeant,who gave
827、 it to me,grinning.I knew that the clown would not fight,and he had his men round him;and I had no choice but to swallow the insult.I put the paper in myUNDER THE RED ROBE129breast,with as much indifference as I could assume;and as I did so,hegave a sharp order.The troopers began to form on the edge
828、 above;themen who had descended to climb the bank again.As the group behind him began to open and melt away,I caught sightof a white robe in the middle of it.The next moment,appearing with asuddenness which was like a blow on the cheek to me,Mademoiselle deCocheforet glided forward towards me.She ha
829、d a hood on her head,drawn low;and for a moment I could not see her face,I forgot herbrothers presence at my elbow,I forgot other things,and,from habit andimpulse rather than calculation,I took a step forward to meet her;thoughmy tongue cleaved to the roof of my mouth,and I was dumb andtrembling.But
830、 she recoiled with such a look of white hate,of staring,frozen-eyedabhorrence,that I stepped back as if she had indeed struck me.It did notneed the words which accompanied the look-the DO NOT TOUCH ME!which she hissed at me as she drew her skirts together-to drive me to thefarther edge of the hollow
831、;where I stood with clenched teeth,and nailsdriven into the flesh,while she hung,sobbing tearless sobs,on herbrothers neck.UNDER THE RED ROBE130CHAPTER XIITHE ROAD TO PARISI remember hearing Marshal Bassompierre,who,of all the men withinmy knowledge,had the widest experience,say that not dangers but
832、discomforts prove a man and show what he is;and that the worst sores inlife are caused by crumpled rose-leaves and not by thorns.I am inclined to think him right,for I remember that when I came frommy room on the morning after the arrest,and found hall and parlour andpassage empty,and all the common
833、 rooms of the house deserted,and nomeal laid;and when I divined anew from this discovery the feeling of thehouse towards me-however natural and to be expected-I remember that Ifelt as sharp a pang as when,the night before,I had had to face discoveryand open rage and scorn.I stood in the silent,empty
834、 parlour,and lookedon the familiar things with a sense of desolation,of something lost andgone,which I could not understand.The morning was grey and cloudy,the air sharp,a shower was falling.The rose-bushes outside swayed inthe wind,and inside,where I could remember the hot sunshine lying onfloor an
835、d table,the rain beat in and stained the boards.The inner doorflapped and creaked on its hinges.I thought of other days and of meals Ihad taken there,and of the scent of flowers;and I fled to the hall indespair.But here,too,were no signs of life or company,no comfort,noattendance.The ashes of the lo
836、gs,by whose blaze Mademoiselle hadtold me the secret,lay on the hearth white and cold fit emblem of thechange that had taken place;and now and then a drop of moisture,slidingdown the great chimney,pattered among them.The main door stoodopen,as if the house had no longer anything to guard.The only li
837、vingthing to be seen was a hound which roamed about restlessly,now gazing atthe empty hearth now lying down with pricked cars and watchful eyes.Some leaves,which had been blown in by the wind,rustled in a corner.I went out moodily into the garden and wandered down one path andup another,looking at t
838、he dripping woods,and remembering things,until Icame to the stone seat.On it,against the wall,trickling with raindrops,UNDER THE RED ROBE131and with a dead leaf half filling its narrow neck,stood the pitcher of food.I thought how much had happened since Mademoiselle took her handfrom it and the serg
839、eants lanthorn disclosed it to me;and,sighing grimly,I went in again through the parlour door.A woman was on her knees,on the hearth kindling the belated fire.She had her back to me,and I stood a moment looking at her doubtfully,wondering how she would bear herself and what she would say to me.Then
840、she turned,and I started back,crying out her name in horror-for itwas Madame!Madame de Cocheforet!She was plainly dressed,and her childish face was wan and piteouswith weeping;but either the night had worn out her passion and drainedher tears,or some great exigency had given her temporary calmness,f
841、orshe was perfectly composed.She shivered as her eyes met mine,and sheblinked as if a bright light had been suddenly thrust before her;but thatwas all,and she turned again to her task without speaking.Madame!Madame!I cried in a frenzy of distress.What is this?The servants would not do it,she answere
842、d in a low but steady voice.You are still our guest,Monsieur.But I cannot suffer it!I cried.Madame de Cocheforet,I will not-She raised her hand with a strange patient expression in her face.Hush!please,she said.Hush!you trouble me.The fire blazed up as she spoke,and she rose slowly from it,and witha
843、 lingering look at it went out,leaving me to stand and stare and listen inthe middle of the floor.Presently I heard her coming back along thepassage,and she entered bearing a tray with wine and meat and bread.She set it down on the table,and with the same wan face,tremblingalways on the verge of tea
844、rs,she began to lay out the things.The glassesclinked fitfully against the plates as she handled them;the knives jarredwith one another.And I stood by,trembling myself;and endured thisstrange kind of penance.She signed to me at last to sit down;and she went herself,and stood inthe garden doorway wit
845、h her back to me.I obeyed.I sat down.Butthough I had eaten nothing since the afternoon of the day before,I couldnot swallow.I fumbled with my knife,and drank;and grew hot andUNDER THE RED ROBE132angry at this farce;and then looked through the window at the drippingbushes,and the rain and the distant
846、 sundial-and grew cold again.Suddenly she turned round and came to my side.You do not eat,shesaid.I threw down my knife,and sprang up in a frenzy of passion.MONDIEU!Madame,I cried,do you think that I have NO heart?And then in a moment I knew what I had done,what a folly I hadcommitted.For in a momen
847、t she was on her knees on the floor,claspingmy knees,pressing her wet cheeks to my rough clothes,crying to me formercy-for life!life!his life!Oh,it was horrible!It was horrible tohear her gasping voice,to see her fair hair falling over my mud-stainedboots,to mark her slender little form convulsed wi
848、th sobs,to feel that itwas a woman,a gentlewoman,who thus abased herself at my feet!Oh,Madame!Madame!I cried in my pain,I beg you to rise.Rise,or I must go!His life!only his life!she moaned passionately.What had hedone to you-that you should hunt him down?what have we done to youthat you should slay
849、 us?Oh!have mercy!Have mercy!Let him go,and we will pray for you,I and my sister will pray for you,every morningand night of our lives.I was in terror lest someone should come and see her lying there,and Istooped and tried to raise her.But she only sank the lower,until hertender little hands touched
850、 the rowels of my spurs.I dared not move,Atlast I took a sudden resolution.Listen,then,Madame!I said almost sternly,if you will not rise.You forget everything,both how I stand,and how small my power is!You forget that if I were to release your husband to-day he would beseized within the hour by thos
851、e who are still in the village and who arewatching every road-who have not ceased to suspect my movements andmy intentions.You forget,I say my circumstances-She cut me short on that word.She sprang to her feet and faced me.One moment more and I should have said something to the purpose.Butat that wo
852、rd she stood before me,white,breathless,dishevelled,strugglingfor speech.UNDER THE RED ROBE133Oh,yes,yes!she panted eagerly.I know-I know!And shethrust her hand into her bosom and plucked something out and gave it tome-forced it upon me.I know-I know!she said again.Take it,andGod reward you,Monsieur
853、!God reward you!We give it freely-freelyand thankfully!I stood and looked at her and it;and slowly I froze.She had givenme the packet-the packet I had restored to Mademoiselle-the parcel ofjewels.I weighed it in my hands,and my heart grew hard again,for Iknew that this was Mademoiselles doing;that i
854、t was she who,mistrustingthe effect of Madames tears and prayers,had armed her with this lastweapon-this dirty bribe.I flung it down on the table among the plates.Madame!I cried ruthlessly,all my pity changed to anger,youmistake me altogether!I have heard hard words enough in the lasttwenty-four hou
855、rs,and I know what you think of me!But you have yetto learn that I have never done one thing.I have never turned traitor tothe hand that employed me,nor sold my own side!When I do so for atreasure ten times the worth of that,may my hand rot off!She sank on a seat with a moan of despair;and precisely
856、 at thatmoment M.de Cocheforet opened the door and came in.Over hisshoulder I had a glimpse of Mademoiselles proud face,a little whiter thanof yore,with dark marks under the eyes,but like Satans for coldness.What is this?he said,frowning,as his eyes lighted on Madame.It is-that we start at eleven oc
857、lock,Monsieur,I answered,bowingcurtly.And I went out by the other door.That I might not be present at their parting I remained in the gardenuntil the hour I had appointed was well past;and then,without entering thehouse,I went to the stable entrance.Here I found all in readiness,thetwo troopers whos
858、e company I had requisitioned as far as Auch,already inthe saddle,my own two knaves waiting with my sorrel and M.deCocheforets chestnut.Another horse was being led up and down by Louis,and,alas!my heart moved at the sight,for it bore a ladys saddle.Wewere to have company then.Was it Madame who meant
859、 to come with us,or Mademoiselle?And how far?To Auch?UNDER THE RED ROBE134I suppose that they had set some kind of a watch on me,for as Iwalked up M.de Cocheforet and his sister came out of the house;he witha pale face and bright eyes,and a twitching visible in his cheek-though hestill affected a ja
860、unty bearing;she wearing a black mask.Mademoiselle accompanies us?I said formally.With your permission,Monsieur,he answered with bitter politeness.But I saw that he was choking with emotion;he had just parted from hiswife,and I turned away.When we were all mounted he looked at me.Perhaps-as you have
861、 my parole,you will permit me to ride alone?he said with a little hesitation.And-Without me!I rejoined keenly.Assuredly,so far as is possible.Accordingly I directed the troopers to ride before him,keeping out ofearshot,while my two men followed him at a little distance with theircarbines on their kn
862、ees.Last of all,I rode myself with my eyes open anda pistol loose in my holster.M.de Cocheforet muttered a sneer at somany precautions and the mountain made of his request;but I had notdone so much and come so far,I had not faced scorn and insults to becheated of my prize at last;and aware that unti
863、l we were beyond Auchthere must be hourly and pressing danger of a rescue,I was determinedthat he who should wrest my prisoner from me should pay dearly for it.Only pride,and,perhaps,in a degree also,appetite for a fight,hadprevented me borrowing ten troopers instead of two.As was wont I looked with
864、 a lingering eye and many memories at thelittle bridge,the narrow woodland path,the first roofs of the village;allnow familiar,all seen for the last time.Up the brook a party of soldierswere dragging for the captains body.A furlong farther on,a cottage,burned by some carelessness in the night,lay a
865、heap of black ashes.Louis ran beside us weeping;the last brown leaves fluttered down inshowers.And between my eyes and all,the slow steady rain fell and fell.And so I left Cocheforet.Louis went with us to a point a mile beyond the village,and therestood and saw us go,cursing me furiously as I passed
866、.Looking back whenwe had ridden on,I still saw him standing,and after a moments hesitationUNDER THE RED ROBE135I rode back to him.Listen,fool!I said,cutting him short in the midst of his mowingand snarling,and give this message to your mistress.Tell her from me thatit will be with her husband as it
867、was with M.de Regnier,when he fell intothe hands of his enemy-no better and no worse.You want to kill her,too,I suppose?he answered glowering at me.No,fool,I want to save her,I retorted wrathfully.Tell her that,justthat and no more,and you will see the result.I shall not,he said sullenly.A message f
868、rom you indeed!And hespat on the ground.Then on your head be it,I answered solemnly,And I turned myhorses head and galloped fast after the others.But I felt sure that hewould report what I had said,if it were only out of curiosity;and it wouldbe strange if Madame,a gentlewoman of the south,bred amon
869、g old familytraditions,did not understand the reference.And so we began our journey;sadly,under dripping trees and a leadensky.The country we had to traverse was the same I had trodden on thelast day of my march southwards,but the passage of a month had changedthe face of everything.Green dells,wher
870、e springs welling out of thechalk had once made of the leafy bottom a fairies home,strewn withdelicate ferns and hung with mosses,were now swamps into which ourhorses sank to the fetlock.Sunny brews,whence I had viewed thechampaign and traced my forward path,had become bare,wind-sweptridges.The beec
871、h woods that had glowed with ruddy light were nakednow;mere black trunks and rigid arms pointing to heaven.An earthysmell filled the air;a hundred paces away a wall of mist closed the view.We plodded on sadly up hill and down hill,now fording brooks,alreadystained with flood-water,now crossing barre
872、n heaths.But up hill ordown hill,whatever the outlook,I was never permitted to forget that I wasthe jailor,the ogre,the villain;that I,riding behind in my loneliness,wasthe blight on all-the death-spot.True,I was behind the others-I escapedtheir eyes.But there was not a line of Mademoiselles figure
873、that did notspeak scorn to me;not a turn of head that did not seem to say,Oh,God,that such a thing should breathe.UNDER THE RED ROBE136I had only speech with her once during the day,and that was on thelast ridge before we went down into the valley to climb up again to Auch.The rain had ceased;the su
874、n,near its setting,shone faintly;for a fewmoments we stood on the brow and looked southwards while we breathedthe horses.The mist lay like a pall on the country we had traversed;butbeyond and above it,gleaming pearl-like in the level rays,the line of themountains stood up like a land of enchantment,
875、soft,radiant,wonderful!-or like one of those castles on the Hill of Glass of which the old romancestell us.I forgot for an instant how we were placed,and I cried to myneighbour that it was the fairest pageant I had ever seen.She-it was Mademoiselle,and she had taken off her mask-cast onelook at me i
876、n answer;only one,but it conveyed disgust and loathing sounspeakable that scorn beside them would have been a gift.I reined inmy horse as if she had struck me,and felt myself go first hot and then coldunder her eyes.Then she looked another way.But I did not forget the lesson;and after that I avoided
877、 her moresedulously than before.We lay that night at Auch,and I gave M.deCocheforet the utmost liberty,even permitting him to go out and return athis will.In the morning,believing that on the farther side of Auch weran little risk of attack,I dismissed the two dragoons,and an hour aftersunrise we se
878、t out again.The day was dry and cold,the weather morepromising.I proposed to go by way of Lectoure,crossing the Garonne atAgen;and I thought that,with roads continually improving as we movednorthwards,we should be able to make good progress before night.Mytwo men rode first,I came last by myself.Our
879、 way lay down the valley of the Gers,under poplars and by longrows of willows,and presently the sun came out and warmed us.Unfortunately the rain of the day before had swollen the brooks whichcrossed our path,and we more than once had a difficulty in fording them.Noon found us little more than half
880、way to Lectoure,and I was growingeach minute more impatient when our road,which had for a little whileleft the river bank,dropped down to it again,and I saw before us anothercrossing,half ford half slough.My men tried it gingerly and gave backand tried it again in another place;and finally,just as M
881、ademoiselle andUNDER THE RED ROBE137her brother came up to them,floundered through and sprang slantwise upthe farther bank.The delay had been long enough to bring me,with no good will of myown,close upon the Cocheforets.Mademoiselles horse made a littlebusiness of the place,and in the result we ente
882、red the water almosttogether;and I crossed close on her heels.The bank on either side wassteep;while crossing we could see neither before nor behind.But at themoment I thought nothing of this nor of her delay;and I was following herquite at my leisure and picking my way,when the sudden report of aca
883、rbine,a second report,and a yell of alarm in front thrilled me through.On the instant,while the sound was still in my ears,I saw it all.Likea hot iron piercing my brain the truth flashed into my mind.We wereattacked!We were attacked,and I was here helpless in this pit,this trap!The loss of a second
884、while I fumbled here,Mademoiselles horse barringthe way,might be fatal.There was but one way.I turned my horse straight at the steep bank,and he breasted it.One moment he hung as if he must fall back.Then,with a snort of terror and a desperate bound,he topped it,and gained thelevel,trembling and sno
885、rting.Seventy paces away on the road lay one of my men.He had fallen,horse and man,and lay still.Near him,with his back against a bank,stood his fellow,on foot,pressed by four horsemen,and shouting.As myeye lighted on the scene he let fly with a carbine,and dropped one.Iclutched a pistol from my hol
886、ster and seized my horse by the head.Imight save the man yet,I shouted to him to encourage him,and wasdriving in my spurs to second my voice,when a sudden vicious blow,swift and unexpected,struck the pistol from my hand.I made a snatch at it as it fell,but missed it,and before I could recovermyself,
887、Mademoiselle thrust her horse furiously against mine,and withher riding-whip lashed the sorrel across the ears.As the horse reared upmadly,I had a glimpse of her eyes flashing hate through her mask;of herhand again uplifted;the next moment,I was down in the road,ingloriouslyunhorsed,the sorrel was g
888、alloping away,and her horse,scared in its turn,was plunging unmanageably a score of paces from me.UNDER THE RED ROBE138But for that I think that she would have trampled on me.As it was,Iwas free to rise,and draw,and in a twinkling was running towards thefighters.All had happened in a few seconds.My
889、man was stilldefending himself,the smoke of the carbine had scarcely risen.I sprangacross a fallen tree that intervened,and at the same moment two of themen detached themselves and rode to meet me.One,whom I took to bethe leader,was masked.He came furiously at me to ride me down,but Ileaped aside ni
890、mbly,and,evading him,rushed at the other,and scaring hishorse,so that he dropped his point,cut him across the shoulder,before hecould guard himself.He plunged away,cursing and trying to hold in hishorse,and I turned to meet the masked man.You villain!he cried,riding at me again.This time hemanoeuvre
891、d his horse so skilfully that I was hard put to it to prevent himknocking me down;while I could not with all my efforts reach him to hurthim.Surrender,will you?he cried,you bloodhound!I wounded him slightly in the knee for answer;before I could do morehis companion came back,and the two set upon me,
892、slashing at my headso furiously and towering above me with so great an advantage that it wasall I could do to guard it.I was soon glad to fall back against the bank.In this sort of conflict my rapier would have been of little use,butfortunately I had armed myself before I left Paris with a cut-and-t
893、hrustsword for the road;and though my mastery of the weapon was not on apar with my rapier play,I was able to fend off their cuts,and by anoccasional prick keep the horses at a distance.Still,they swore and cutat me;and it was trying work.A little delay might enable the other manto come to their hel
894、p,or Mademoiselle,for all I knew,might shoot mewith my own pistol.I was unfeignedly glad when a lucky parade sent themasked mans sword flying across the road.On that he pushed his horserecklessly at me,spurring it without mercy;but the animal,which I hadseveral times touched,reared up instead,and th
895、rew him at the verymoment that I wounded his companion a second time in the arm,andmade him give back.The scene was now changed.The man in the mask staggered to hisfeet,and felt stupidly for a pistol.But he could not find one,and he wasUNDER THE RED ROBE139in no state to use it if he had.He reeled h
896、elplessly to the bank and leanedagainst it.The man I had wounded was in scarcely better condition.Heretreated before me,but in a moment,losing courage,let drop his sword,and,wheeling round,cantered off,clinging to his pommel.Thereremained only the fellow engaged with my man,and I turned to see howth
897、ey were getting on.They were standing to take breath,so I ran towardsthem;but on seeing me coming,this rascal,too,whipped round his horseand disappeared in the wood,and left us victors.The first thing I did-and I remember it to this day with pleasure-wasto plunge my hand into my pocket,take out half
898、 of all the money I had inthe world,and press it on the man who had fought for me so stoutly.Inmy joy I could have kissed him!It was not only that I had escaped defeatby the skin of my teeth-and his good sword;but I knew,and felt,andthrilled with the knowledge,that the fight had,in a sense,redeemed
899、mycharacter.He was wounded in two places,and I had a scratch or two,andhad lost my horse;and my other poor fellow was dead as a herring.But,speaking for myself,I would have spent half the blood in my body topurchase the feeling with which I turned back to speak to M.deCocheforet and his sister.Madem
900、oiselle had dismounted,and with herface averted and her mask pushed on one side,was openly weeping.Herbrother,who had faithfully kept his place by the ford from the beginningof the fight to the end,met me with raised eyebrows and a peculiar smile.Acknowledge my virtue,he said airily.I am here,M.de B
901、erault;which is more than can be said of the two gentlemen who have just riddenoff.Yes,I answered with a touch of bitterness.I wish that they had notshot my poor man before they went.He shrugged his shoulders.They were my friends,he said.You must not expect me to blamethem.But that is not all,M.de B
902、erault.No,I said,wiping my sword.There is this gentleman in the mask.And I turned to go towards him.M.de Berault!Cocheforet called after me,his tone strained andabrupt.UNDER THE RED ROBE140I stood.Pardon?I said,turning,That gentleman?he said,hesitating and looking at me doubtfully.Have you considere
903、d what will happen to him if you give him up to theauthorities?Who is he?I asked sharply.That is rather a delicate question,he answered frowning.Not for me,I replied brutally,since he is in my power.If he willtake off his mask I shall know better what I intend to do with him.The stranger had lost hi
904、s hat in his fall,and his fair hair,stained withdust,hung in curls on his shoulders.He was a tall man,of a slender,handsome presence,and,though his dress was plain and almost rough,Iespied a splendid jewel on his hand,and fancied that I detected other signsof high quality.He still lay against the ba
905、nk in a half-swooning condition,and seemed unconscious of my scrutiny.Should I know him if he unmasked?I said suddenly,a new idea inmy head.You would,M.de Cocheforet answered.And?It would be bad for everyone.Ho!ho!I replied softly,looking hard first at my old prisoner,andthen at my new one.Then-what
906、 do you wish me to do?Leave him here!M.de Cocheforet answered,his face flushed,thepulse in his cheek beating.I had known him for a man of perfect honour before,and trusted him.But this evident earnest anxiety on behalf of his friend touched me not alittle.Besides,I knew that I was treading on slippe
907、ry ground:that itbehoved me to be careful.I will do it,I said after a moments reflection.He will play me notricks,I suppose?A letter of-MON DIEU,no!He will understand,Cocheforet answered eagerly.You will not repent it.Let us be going.Well,but my horse?I said,somewhat taken aback by this extremehaste
908、.How am I to-We shall overtake it,he assured me.It will have kept the road.UNDER THE RED ROBE141Lectoure is no more than a league from here,and we can give orders thereto have these two fetched and buried.I had nothing to gain by demurring,and so,after another word or two,it was arranged.We picked u
909、p what we had dropped,M.de Cocheforethelped his sister to mount,and within five minutes we were gone.Casting a glance back from the skirts of the wood I fancied that I saw themasked man straighten himself and turn to look after us,but the leaveswere beginning to intervene,the distance may have cheat
910、ed me.And yetI was not indisposed to think the unknown a trifle more observant,and alittle less seriously hurt,than he seemed.UNDER THE RED ROBE142CHAPTER XIIIAT THE FINGER-POSTThrough all,it will have been noticed,Mademoiselle had not spokento me,nor said one word,good or bad.She had played her par
911、t grimly,had taken defeat in silence if with tears,had tried neither prayer nordefence nor apology.And the fact that the fight was now over,and thescene left behind,made no difference in her conduct.She kept her facestudiously turned from me,and affected to ignore my presence.I caughtmy horse feedin
912、g by the roadside,a furlong forward,and mounted and fellinto place behind the two,as in the morning.And just as we had ploddedon then in silence we plodded on now;almost as if nothing had happened;while I wondered at the unfathomable ways of women,and marvelled thatshe could take part in such an inc
913、ident and remain unchanged.Yet,though she strove to hide it,it had made a change in her.Thoughher mask served her well it could not entirely hide her emotions;and by-and-by I marked that her head drooped,that she rode listlessly,that thelines of her figure were altered.I noticed that she had flung a
914、way,orfurtively dropped,her riding-whip;and I began to understand that,farfrom the fight having set me in my former place,to the old hatred of mewere now added shame and vexation on her own account;shame that shehad so lowered herself,even to save her brother,vexation that defeat hadbeen her only re
915、ward.Of this I saw a sign at Lectoure,where the inn had but one commonroom and we must all dine in company.I secured for them a table by thefire,and leaving them standing by it,retired myself to a smaller one nearthe door.There were no other guests;which made the separationbetween us more marked.M.d
916、e Cocheforet seemed to feel this.Heshrugged his shoulders and looked across the room at me with a smile halfsad half comical.But Mademoiselle was implacable.She had taken offher mask,and her face was like stone.Once,only once during the meal,I saw a change come over her.She coloured,I suppose at her
917、 thoughts,until her face flamed from brow to chin.I watched the blush spread andspread;and then she slowly and proudly turned her shoulder to me andUNDER THE RED ROBE143looked through the window at the shabby street.I suppose that she and her brother had both built on this attempt,whichmust have bee
918、n arranged at Auch.For when we went on in the afternoon,I marked a change in them.They rode like people resigned to the worst.The grey realities of the position,the dreary future began to hang like amist before their eyes,began to tinge the landscape with sadness,robbedeven the sunset of its colours
919、.With each hour Monsieurs spirits flaggedand his speech became less frequent;until presently when the light wasnearly gone and the dusk was round us the brother and sister rode hand inhand,silent,gloomy,one at least of them weeping.The cold shadow ofthe Cardinal,of Paris,of the scaffold fell on them
920、,and chilled them.Asthe mountains which they had known all their lives sank and faded behindus,and we entered on the wide,low valley of the Garonne,their hopessank and faded also-sank to the dead level of despair.Surrounded byguards,a mark for curious glances,with pride for a companion,M.deCochefore
921、t could have borne himself bravely;doubtless would bearhimself bravely still when the end came.But almost alone,movingforward through the grey evening to a prison,with so many measured daysbefore him,and nothing to exhilarate or anger-in this condition it waslittle wonder if he felt,and betrayed tha
922、t he felt,the blood run slow in hisveins;if he thought more of the weeping wife and ruined home which hehad left behind him than of the cause in which he had spent himself.But God knows,they had no monopoly of gloom.I felt almost as sadmyself.Long before sunset the flush of triumph,the heat of battl
923、e,whichhad warmed my heart at noon,were gone,giving place to a chilldissatisfaction,a nausea,a despondency such as I have known follow along night at the tables.Hitherto there had been difficulties to beovercome,risks to be run,doubts about the end.Now the end wascertain and very near;so near that i
924、t filled all the prospect.One hour oftriumph I might have,and would have,and I hugged the thought of it as agambler hugs his last stake,planning the place and time and mode,andtrying to occupy myself wholly with it.But the price?Alas!that toowould intrude itself,and more frequently as the evening wa
925、ned;so that asI marked this or that thing by the road,which I could recall passing on myUNDER THE RED ROBE144journey south with thoughts so different,with plans that now seemed sovery,very old,I asked myself grimly if this were really I;if this were Gilde Berault,known at Zatons,PREMIER JOUEUR,or so
926、me DonQuichotte from Castille,tilting at windmills and taking barbers bowls forgold.We reached Agen very late that evening,after groping our way througha by-road near the river,set with holes and willow-stools and frog-spawn-a place no better than a slough;so that after it the great fires and lights
927、 atthe Blue Maid seemed like a glimpse of a new world,and in a twinklingput something of life and spirits into two at least of us.There was queertalk round the hearth here,of doings in Paris,of a stir against the Cardinalwith the Queen-mother at bottom,and of grounded expectations thatsomething migh
928、t this time come of it.But the landlord pooh-poohed theidea;and I more than agreed with him.Even M.de Cocheforet,who wasat first inclined to build on it,gave up hope when he heard that it cameonly by way of Montauban;whence-since its reduction the year before-all sort of CANARDS against the Cardinal
929、 were always on the wing.They kill him about once a month,our host said with a grin.Sometimes it is MONSIEUR is to prove a match for him,sometimesCESAR MONSIEUR-the Duke of Vendome,you understand-andsometimes the Queen-mother.But since M.de Chalais and the Marshalmade a mess of it and paid forfeit,I
930、 pin my faith to his Eminence-that ishis new title,they tell me.Things are quiet round here?I asked.Perfectly.Since the Languedoc business came to an end,all goeswell,he answered.Mademoiselle had retired on our arrival,so that her brother and I werefor an hour or two this evening thrown together.I l
931、eft him at liberty toseparate himself from me if he pleased,but he did not use the opportunity.A kind of comradeship,rendered piquant by our peculiar relations,hadbegun to spring up between us.He seemed to take an odd pleasure in mycompany,more than once rallied me on my post of jailor,would askhumo
932、rously if he might do this or that;and once even inquired what Ishould do if he broke his parole.UNDER THE RED ROBE145Or take it this way,he continued flippantly,Suppose I had struck youin the back this evening in that cursed swamp by the river,M.de Berault?What then!PARDIEU,I am astonished at mysel
933、f that I did not do it.Icould have been in Montauban within twenty-four hours,and found fiftyhiding-places and no one the wiser.Except your sister,I said quietly.He made a wry face.Yes,he said,I am afraid that I must havestabbed her too,to preserve my self-respect.You are right.And he fellinto a rev
934、erie which held him for a few minutes.Then I found himlooking at me with a kind of frank perplexity that invited question.What is it?I said.You have fought a great many duels?Yes,I said.Did you ever strike a foul blow in one?Never,I answered.Why do you ask?Well,because I-wanted to confirm an impress
935、ion.To be frank,M.de Berault,I seem to see in you two men.Two men?Yes,two men.One,the man who captured me;the other,the manwho let my friend go free to-day.It surprised you that I let him go?That was prudence,M.deCocheforet,I replied.I am an old gambler.I know when the stakesare too high for me.The
936、man who caught a lion in his wolf-pit had nogreat catch.No,that is true,he answered smiling,And yet-I find two men inyour skin.I daresay that there are two in most mens skins,I answered with asigh.But not always together.Sometimes one is there,and sometimesthe other.How does the one like taking up t
937、he others work?he asked keenly.I shrugged my shoulders.That is as may be,I said.You do nottake an estate without the debts.He did not answer for a moment,and I fancied that his thoughts hadreverted to his own case.But on a sudden he looked at me again.WillUNDER THE RED ROBE146you answer a question,M
938、.de Berault?he said winningly.Perhaps,I replied.Then tell me-it is a tale I am sure worth the telling.What was it that,in a very evil hour for me,sent you in search of me?My Lord Cardinal,I answeredI did not ask who,he replied drily.I asked,what.You had nogrudge against me?No.No knowledge of me?No.T
939、hen what on earth induced you to do it?Heavens!man,hecontinued bluntly,and speaking with greater freedom than he had beforeused,Nature never intended you for a tipstaff.What was it then?I rose.It was very late,and the room was empty,the fire low.I will tell you-to-morrow,I said.I shall have somethin
940、g to say toyou then,of which that will be part.He looked at me in great astonishment,and with a little suspicion.But I called for a light,and by going at once to bed,cut short his questions.In the morning we did not meet until it was time to start.Those who know the south road to Agen,and how the vi
941、neyards rise interraces north of the town,one level of red earth above another,green insummer,but in late autumn bare and stony,may remember a particularplace where the road,two leagues from the town,runs up a steep hill.Atthe top of the hill four roads meet;and there,plain to be seen against thesky
942、,is a finger-post indicating which way leads to Bordeaux,and whichto old tiled Montauban,and which to Perigueux.This hill had impressed me greatly on my journey south;perhapsbecause I had enjoyed from it my first extended view of the GaronneValley,and had there felt myself on the verge of the south
943、country wheremy mission lay.It had taken root in my memory,so that I had come tolook upon its bare rounded head,with the guide-post and the four roads,asthe first outpost of Paris,as the first sign of return to the old life.Now for two days I had been looking forward to seeing it again,Thatlong stre
944、tch of road would do admirably for something I had in my mind.UNDER THE RED ROBE147That sign-post,with the roads pointing north,south,east,and west-couldthere be a better place for meetings and partings?We came to the bottom of the ascent about an hour before noon,M.deCocheforet,Mademoiselle,and I.W
945、e had reversed the order ofyesterday,and I rode ahead;they came after at their leisure.Now,at thefoot of the hill I stopped,and letting Mademoiselle pass on,detained M.de Cocheforet by a gesture.Pardon me,one moment,I said.I want to ask a favour.He looked at me somewhat fretfully;with a gleam of wil
946、dness in hiseyes that betrayed how the iron was,little by little,eating into his heart.He had started after breakfast as gaily as a bridegroom,but gradually hehad sunk below himself;and now he had much ado to curb his impatience.Of me?he said bitterly.What is it?I wish to have a few words with Madem
947、oiselle-alone,I said.Alone?he exclaimed in astonishment,Yes,I replied,without blenching,though his face grew dark.For thematter of that,you can be within call all the time,if you please.But Ihave a reason for wishing to ride a little way with her.To tell her something?Yes.Then you can tell it to me,
948、he retorted suspiciously.Mademoiselle,Iwill answer for it,has no desire to-See me or speak to me?No,I said.I can understand that.Yet Iwant to speak to her.Very well,you can speak in my presence,he answered rudely.If thatbe all,let us ride on and join her.And he made a movement as if to doso.That wil
949、l not do,M.de Cocheforet,I said firmly,stopping him withmy hand.Let me beg you to be more complaisant.It is a small thing Iask,a very small thing;but I swear to you that if Mademoiselle does notgrant it,she will repent it all her life.He looked at me,his face growing darker and darker.Fine words,he
950、said,with a sneer.Yet I fancy I understand them.And then with apassionate oath he broke out.But I will not have it!I have not beenUNDER THE RED ROBE148blind,M.de Berault,and I understand.But I will not have it.I willhave no such Judas bargain made.PARDIEU!do you think I couldsuffer it and show my fa
951、ce again?I dont know what you mean,I said,restraining myself with difficulty.I could have struck the fool.But I know what you mean,he replied,in a tone of suppressed rage.You would have her sell herself;sell herself to you to save me.And youwould have me stand by and see the thing done.No,sir,never;
952、never,though I go to the wheel.I will die a gentleman,if I have lived a fool.I think that you will do the one as certainly as you have done theother,I retorted in my exasperation.And yet I admired him.Oh,I am not quite a fool!he cried,scowling at me.I have usedmy eyes.Then be good enough to favour m
953、e with your ears!I answered drily.For just a moment.And listen when I say that no such bargain has evercrossed my mind.You were kind enough to think well of me last night,M.de Cocheforet.Why should the mention of Mademoiselle in amoment change your opinion?I wish simply to speak to her.I havenothing
954、 to ask from her,nothing to expect from her,either favour oranything else.What I say she will doubtless tell you.CIEL man!what harm can I do to her,in the road in your sight?He looked at me sullenly,his face still flushed,his eyes suspicious.What do you want to say to her?he asked jealously.He was q
955、uiteunlike himself.His airy nonchalance,his careless gaiety were gone.You know what I do not want to say to her,M.de Cocheforet,Ianswered.That should be enough.He glowered at me a moment,still ill content.Then,without a word,be made me a gesture to go to her.She had halted a score of paces away;wond
956、ering,doubtless,what wason foot.I rode towards her.She wore her mask,so that I missed theexpression of her face as I approached;but the manner in which she turnedher horses head uncompromisingly towards her brother and looked pastme was full of meaning.I felt the ground suddenly cut from under me.I
957、saluted her,trembling.UNDER THE RED ROBE149Mademoiselle,I said,will you grant me the privilege of yourcompany for a few minutes as we ride?To what purpose?she answered;surely,in the coldest voice inwhich a woman ever spoke to a man.That I may explain to you a great many things you do not understand,
958、I murmured.I prefer to be in the dark,she replied.And her manner was morecruel than her words.But,Mademoiselle,I pleaded-I would not be discouraged-you toldme one day,not so long ago,that you would never judge me hastily again.Facts judge you,not I,she answered icily.I am not sufficiently on alevel
959、with you to be able to judge you-I thank God.I shivered though the sun was on me,and the hollow where we stoodwas warm.Still,once before you thought the same,I exclaimed after a pause,and afterwards you found that you had been wrong.It may be so again,Mademoiselle.Impossible,she said.That stung me.N
960、o,I cried.It is not impossible.It is you who are impossible.Itis you who are heartless,Mademoiselle.I have done much in the lastthree days to make things lighter for you,much to make things more easy;now I ask you to do something in return which can cost you nothing.Nothing?she answered slowly-and s
961、he looked at me;and her eyesand her voice cut me as if they had been knives.Nothing?Do you think,Monsieur,it costs me nothing to lose my self-respect,as I do with everyword I speak to you?Do you think it costs me nothing to be here when Ifeel every look you cast upon me an insult,every breath I take
962、 in yourpresence a contamination?Nothing,Monsieur?she continued withbitter irony.Nay,something!But something which I could not hope tomake clear to you.I sat for a moment confounded,quivering with pain.It had been onething to feel that she hated and scorned me,to know that the trust andconfidence wh
963、ich she had begun to place in me were transformed toUNDER THE RED ROBE150loathing.It was another to listen to her hard,pitiless words,to changecolour under the lash of her gibing tongue.For a moment I could notfind voice to answer her.Then I pointed to M.de Cocheforet.Do you love him?I said hoarsely
964、,roughly.The gibing tone hadpassed from her voice to mine.She did not answer.Because if you do you will let me tell my tale.Say no,but oncemore,Mademoiselle-I am only human-and I go.And you will repent itall your life.I had done better had I taken that tone from the beginning.Shewinced,her head drop
965、ped,she seemed to grow smaller.All in a moment,as it were,her pride collapsed.I will hear you,she murmured.Then we will ride on,if you please,I said keeping the advantage I hadgained.You need not fear.Your brother will follow.I caught hold of her rein and turned her horse,and she suffered itwithout
966、demur;and in a moment we were pacing side by side,with thelong straight road before us.At the end where it topped the hill,I couldsee the finger-post,two faint black lines against the sky.When wereached that-involuntarily I checked my horse and made it move moreslowly.Well,sir?she said impatiently.A
967、nd her figure shook as with cold.It is a tale I desire to tell you,Mademoiselle,I answered.Perhaps Imay seem to begin a long way off,but before I end I promise to interestyou.Two months ago there was living in Paris a man-perhaps a badman-at any rate,by common report a hard man;a man with a peculiar
968、reputation.She turned on me suddenly,her eyes gleaming through her mask.Oh,Monsieur,spare me this!she said,quietly scornful.I will takeit for granted.Very well,I replied steadfastly.Good or bad,he one day,indefiance of the Cardinals edict against duelling,fought with a youngEnglishman behind St Jacq
969、ues Church.The Englishman had influence,the person of whom I speak had none,and an indifferent name;he wasUNDER THE RED ROBE151arrested,thrown into the Chatelet,cast for death,left for days to face death.At last an offer was made to him.If he would seek out and deliver upanother man,an outlaw with a
970、 price upon his head,he should himself gofree.I paused and drew a deep breath.Then I continued,looking not ather,but into the distance,and speaking slowly.Mademoiselle,it seems easy now to say what course he should havechosen.It seems hard now to find excuses for him.But there was onething which I p
971、lead for him.The task he was asked to undertake was adangerous one.He risked,he knew that he must risk,and the eventproved him to be right,his life against the life of this unknown man.Andone thing more;time was before him.The outlaw might be taken byanother,might be killed,might die,might-But there
972、,Mademoiselle,weknow what answer this person made.He took the baser course,and onhis honour,on his parole,with money supplied to him,he went free;freeon the condition that he delivered up this other man.I paused again,but I did not dare to look at her;and after a moment ofsilence I resumed.Some port
973、ion of the second half of the story you know,Mademoiselle;but not all.Suffice it that this man came down to a remote village,andthere at risk,but,Heaven knows,basely enough,found his way into hisvictims home.Once there,however,his heart began to fail him.Hadhe found the house garrisoned by men,he mi
974、ght have pressed to his endwith little remorse.But he found there only two helpless loyal women;and I say again that from the first hour of his entrance he sickened at thework which he had in hand,the work which ill-fortune had laid upon him.Still he pursued it.He had given his word;and if there was
975、 one traditionof his race which this man had never broken,it was that of fidelity to hisside-to the man who paid him.But he pursued it with only half his mind,in great misery,if you will believe me;sometimes in agonies of shame.Gradually,however,almost against his will,the drama worked itself outbef
976、ore him,until he needed only one thing.I looked at Mademoiselle,trembling.But her head was averted:Icould gather nothing from the outlines of her form;and I went on.UNDER THE RED ROBE152Do not misunderstand me,I said in a lower voice.Do notmisunderstand what I am going to say next.This is no love-st
977、ory;andcan have no ending such as romancers love to set to their tales.But I ambound to mention,Mademoiselle,that this man who had lived almost allhis life about inns and eating-houses and at the gaming-tables met herefor the first time for years a good woman,and learned by the light of herloyalty a
978、nd devotion to see what his life had been,and what was the realnature of the work he was doing.I think-nay,I know,I continued,thatit added a hundredfold to his misery that when he learned at last the secrethe had come to surprise,he learned it from her lips,and in such a way that,had he felt no sham
979、e,Hell could have been no place for him.But in onething I hope she misjudged him.She thought,and had reason to think,that the moment he knew her secret he went out,not even closing the door,and used it.But the truth was that while her words were still in his earsnews came to him that others had the
980、secret;and had he not gone out onthe instant and done what he did,and forestalled them,M.de Cocheforetwould have been taken,but by others.Mademoiselle broke her long silence so suddenly that her horse sprangforward.Would to Heaven he had!she wailed.Been taken by others?I exclaimed,startled out of my
981、 falsecomposure.Oh,yes,yes!she answered with a passionate gesture.Why didyou not tell me?Why did you not confess to me,sir,even at the lastmoment?But,no more!No more!she continued in a piteous voice;and she tried to urge her horse forward.I have heard enough.You areracking my heart,M.de Berault.Some
982、 day I will ask God to give mestrength to forgive you.But you have not heard me out,I said.I will hear no more,she answered in a voice she vainly strove torender steady.To what end?Can I say more than I have said?Or didyou think that I could forgive you now-with him behind us going to hisdeath?Oh,no
983、,no!she continued.Leave me!I implore you to leaveme,sir.I am not well.UNDER THE RED ROBE153She drooped over her horses neck as she spoke,and began to weep sopassionately that the tears ran down her cheeks under her mask,and felland sparkled like dew on the mane;while her sobs shook her so that Ithou
984、ght she must fall.I stretched out my hand instinctively to give herhelp,but she shrank from me.No!she gasped,between her sobs.Donot touch me.There is too much between us.Yet there must be one thing more between us,I answered firmly.Youmust listen to me a little longer whether you will or no,Mademois
985、elle:for the love you bear to your brother.There is one course still open tome by which I may redeem my honour;and it has been in my mind forsome time back to take that course.To-day,I am thankful to say,I cantake it cheerfully,if not without regret;with a steadfast heart,if no lightone.Mademoiselle
986、,I continued earnestly,feeling none of the triumph,none of the vanity,none of the elation I had foreseen,but only simple joyin the joy I could give her,I thank God that it IS still in my power to undowhat I have done:that it is still in my power to go back to him who sentme,and telling him that I ha
987、ve changed my mind,and will bear my ownburdens,to pay the penalty.We were within a hundred paces of the top and the finger-post.Shecried out wildly that she did not understand.What is it you-you-havejust said?she murmured.I cannot hear.And she began to fumblewith the ribbon of her mask.Only this,Mad
988、emoiselle,I answered gently.I give your brotherback his word,his parole.From this moment he is free to go whither hepleases.Here,where we stand,four roads meet.That to the right goes toMontauban,where you have doubtless friends,and can lie hid for a time.Or that to the left leads to Bordeaux,where y
989、ou can take ship if you please.And in a word,Mademoiselle,I continued,ending a little feebly,I hopethat your troubles are now over.She turned her face to me-we had both come to a standstill-andplucked at the fastenings of her mask.But her trembling fingers hadknotted the string,and in a moment she d
990、ropped her hand with a cry ofdespair.But you?You?she wailed in a voice so changed that Ishould not have known it for hers.What will you do?I do notUNDER THE RED ROBE154understand,Monsieur.There is a third road,I answered.It leads to Paris.That is myroad,Mademoiselle.We part here.But why?she cried wi
991、ldly.Because from to-day I would fain begin to be honourable,I answeredin a low voice.Because I dare not be generous at anothers cost.I mustgo back whence I came.To the Chatelet?she muttered.Yes,Mademoiselle,to the Chatelet.She tried feverishly to raise her mask with her hand.I am not well,she stamm
992、ered.I cannot breathe.And she began to sway so violently in her saddle that I sprang down,and,running round her horses head,was just in time to catch her as shefell.She was not quite unconscious then,for as I supported her,she criedout,-Do not touch me!Do not touch me!You kill me with shame!But as s
993、he spoke she clung to me;and I made no mistake.Thosewords made me happy.I carried her to the bank,my heart on fire,andlaid her against it just as M.de Cocheforet rode up.He sprang from hishorse,his eyes blazing,What is this?he cried.What have you beensaying to her,man?She will tell you,I answered dr
994、ily,my composure returning under hiseye.Amongst other things,that you are free.From this moment,M.deCocheforet,I give you back your parole,and I take my own honour.Farewell.He cried out something as I mounted,but I did not stay to heed oranswer.I dashed the spurs into my horse,and rode away past the
995、 cross-roads,past the finger-post;away with the level upland stretching beforeme,dry,bare,almost treeless;and behind me,all I loved.Once,when Ihad gone a hundred yards,I looked back and saw him standing uprightagainst the sky,staring after me across her body.And again a minutelater I looked back.Thi
996、s time saw only the slender wooden cross,andbelow it a dark blurred mass.UNDER THE RED ROBE155CHAPTER XIVST MARTINS EVEIt was late evening on the twenty-ninth of November when I rode intoParis through the Orleans gate.The wind was in the north-east,and agreat cloud of vapour hung in the eye of an an
997、gry sunset.The air seemedto be heavy with smoke,the kennels reeked,my gorge rose at the cityssmell;and with all my heart I envied the man who had gone out of it bythe same gate nearly two months before,with his face to the south and theprospect of riding day after day and league after league across
998、heath andmoor and pasture.At least he had had some weeks of life before him,and freedom and the open air,and hope and uncertainty;while I cameback under doom,and in the pall of smoke that hung over the huddle ofinnumerable roofs saw a gloomy shadowing of my own fate.For make no mistake.A man in midd
999、le life does not strip himself ofthe worldly habit with which experience has clothed him,does not runcounter to all the hard saws and instances by which he has governed hiscourse so long,without shiverings and doubts and horrible misgivings,andstruggles of heart.At least a dozen times between the Lo
1000、ire and Paris Iasked myself what honour was,and what good it could do me when I layrotting and forgotten;if I were not a fool following a Jack o Lanthorn;andwhether,of all the men in the world,the relentless man to whom I wasreturning would not be the first to gibe at my folly?However,shame kept me
1001、straight;shame and the memory ofMademoiselles looks and words.I dared not be false to her again;Icould not,after speaking so loftily,fall so low,And therefore-though notwithout many a secret struggle and quaking-I came,on the last eveningbut one of November,to the Orleans gate,and rode slowly and sa
1002、dlythrough the streets by the Luxembourg on my way to the Pont au Change.The struggle had sapped my last strength,however;and with the firstwhiff of the gutters,the first rush of barefooted gamins under my horseshoofs,the first babel of street cries-the first breath,in a word,of Paris-there came a n
1003、ew temptation;to go for one last night to Zatons,to see thetables again and the faces of surprise,to be for an hour or two the oldUNDER THE RED ROBE156Berault.That would be no breach of honour,for in any case I could notreach the Cardinal before to-morrow.And it could do no harm.It couldmake no chan
1004、ge in anything.It would not have been a thing worthstruggling about,indeed;only-only I had in my inmost heart a suspicionthat the stoutest resolutions might lose their force in that atmosphere;andthat there even such a talisman as the memory of a womans looks andwords might lose its virtue.Still,I t
1005、hink that I should have succumbed in the end if I had notreceived at the corner of the Luxembourg a shock which sobered meeffectually.As I passed the gates,a coach,followed by two outriders,swept out of the Palace courtyard;it was going at a great pace,and Ireined my jaded horse on one side to give
1006、it room.By chance as itwhirled by me,one of the leather curtains flapped back,and I saw for asecond by the waning light-the nearer wheels were no more than two feetfrom my boot-a face inside.A face and no more,and that only for a second.But it froze me.Itwas Richelieus,the Cardinals;but not as I had
1007、 been wont to see it-keen,cold,acute,with intellect and indomitable will in every feature.Thisface was contorted with the rage of impatience,was grim with the fever ofhaste,and the fear of death.The eyes burned under the pale brow,themoustache bristled,the teeth showed through the beard;I could fanc
1008、y theman crying Faster!Faster!and gnawing his nails in the impotence ofpassion;and I shrank back as if I had been struck.The next moment theoutriders splashed me,the coach was a hundred paces ahead,and I wasleft chilled and wondering,foreseeing the worst,and no longer in anymood for Zatons.Such a re
1009、velation of such a man was enough to appal me,for amoment conscience cried out that he must have heard that Cocheforet hadescaped him,and through me.But I dismissed the idea as soon asformed.In the vast meshes of the Cardinals schemes Cocheforet couldbe only a small fish;and to account for the face
1010、in the coach I needed acataclysm,a catastrophe,a misfortune as far above ordinary mishaps asthis mans intellect rose above the common run of minds.It was almost dark when I crossed the bridges,and crept despondentlyUNDER THE RED ROBE157to the Rue Savonnerie.After stabling my horse I took my bag andh
1011、olsters,and climbing the stairs to my old landlords-I remember that theplace had grown,as it seemed to me,strangely mean and small and ill-smelling in my absence-I knocked at the door.It was promptly openedby the little tailor himself,who threw up his arms and opened his eyes atsight of me.By Saint
1012、Genevieve!he said,if it is not M.de Berault?It is,I said.It touched me a little,after my lonely journey,to findhim so glad to see me;though I had never done him a greater benefit thansometimes to unbend with him and borrow his money.You looksurprised,little man!I continued,as he made way for me to e
1013、nter.Illbe sworn that you have been pawning my goods and letting my room,youknave!Never,your Excellency!he answered.On the contrary,I havebeen expecting you.How?I said.To-day?To-day or to-morrow,he answered,following me in and closing thedoor.The first thing I said when I heard the news this morning
1014、 was-now we shall have M.de Berault back again.Your Excellency willpardon the children,he continued,bobbing round me,as I took the oldseat on the three-legged stool before the hearth.The night is cold andthere is no fire in your room.While he ran to and fro with my cloak and bags,little Gil,to whom
1015、Ihad stood at St Sulpices,borrowing ten crowns the same day,I remember,came shyly to play with my sword hilt.So you expected me back when you heard the news,Frison,did you?I said,taking the lad on my knee.To be sure,your Excellency,he answered,peeping into the black potbefore he lifted it to the hoo
1016、k.Very good.Then now let us hear what the news is,I said drily.Of the Cardinal,M.de Berault.Ah!And what?He looked at me,holding the heavy pot suspendedin his hands.You have not heard?he exclaimed in astonishment.Not a tittle.Tell it me,my good fellow.UNDER THE RED ROBE158You have not heard that his
1017、Eminence is disgraced?I stared at him.Not a word,I said.He set down the pot.Then your Excellency must have made a very long journey indeed,hesaid with conviction.For it has been in the air a week or more,and Ithought that it had brought you back.A week?A month,I dare say.They whisper that it is the
1018、old Queens doing.At any rate,it is certainthat they have cancelled his commissions and displaced his officers.There are rumours of immediate peace with Spain.Everywhere hisenemies are lifting up their heads;and I hear that he has relays of horsesset all the way to the coast that he may fly at any mo
1019、ment.For what Iknow he may be gone already.But,man-I said,surprised out of my composure.The King!Youforget the King.Let the Cardinal once pipe to him and he will dance.And they will dance too!I added grimly.Yes,Frison answered eagerly.True,your Excellency,but the Kingwill not see him.Three times to-
1020、day,as I am told,the Cardinal hasdriven to the Luxembourg and stood like any common man in the ante-chamber,so that I hear it was pitiful to see him.But his Majesty wouldnot admit him.And when he went away the last time I am told that hisface was like death!Well,he was a great man,and we may be wors
1021、eruled,M.de Berault,saving your presence.If the nobles did not like him,he was good to the traders and the bourgeoisie,and equal to all.Silence,man!Silence,and let me think,I said,much excited.Andwhile he bustled to and fro,getting my supper,and the firelight playedabout the snug,sorry little room,a
1022、nd the child toyed with his plaything,Ifell to digesting this great news,and pondering how I stood now and whatI ought to do.At first sight,I know,it seemed to me that I had nothing todo but to sit still.In a few hours the man who had taken my bond wouldbe powerless,and I should be free;in a few hou
1023、rs I might smile at him.To all appearance the dice had fallen well for me.I had done a greatthing,run a great risk,won a womans love;and,after all,I was not to paythe penalty.But a word which fell from Frison as he fluttered round me,pouringUNDER THE RED ROBE159out the broth and cutting the bread,dr
1024、opped into my mind and spoiled mysatisfaction.Yes,your Excellency,he said,confirming something he had statedbefore and which I had missed,and I am told that the last time he cameinto the gallery there was not a man of all the scores who had been at hislevee last Monday would speak to him.They fell o
1025、ff like rats-just likerats-until he was left standing alone.And I have seen him!-Frisonlifted up his eyes and his hands and drew in his breath-Ah!I have seenthe King look shabby beside him!And his eye!I would not like tomeet it now.Pish!I growled.Someone has fooled you.Men are wiser thanthat.So?Well
1026、,your Excellency understands,he answered meekly.But-there are no cats on a cold hearth.I told him again that he was a fool.But for all that,and my reasoning,I felt uncomfortable.This was a great man,if ever a great man lived,andthey were all leaving him;and I-well,I had no cause to love him.But Ihad
1027、 taken his money,I had accepted his commission,and I had betrayedhim.These three things being so,if he fell before I could-with the bestwill in the world-set myself right with him,so much the better for me.That was my gain-the fortune of war,the turn of the dice.But if I layhid,and took time for my
1028、ally,and being here while he still stood,thoughtottering,waited until he fell,what of my honour then?What of thegrand words I had said to Mademoiselle at Agen?I should be like therecreant in the old romance,who,lying in the ditch while the battle raged,came out afterwards and boasted of his courage.
1029、And yet the flesh was weak.A day,twenty-four hours,two days,might make the difference between life and death,love and death;and Iwavered.But at last I settled what I would do.At noon the next day,the time at which I should have presented myself if I had not heard thisnews,at that time I would still
1030、present myself.Not earlier;I owedmyself the chance.Not later;that was due to him.Having so settled it,I thought to rest in peace.But with the first lightI was awake,and it was all I could do to keep myself quiet until I heardUNDER THE RED ROBE160Frison stirring.I called to him then to know if there
1031、was any news,andlay waiting and listening while he went down to the street to learn.Itseemed an endless time before he came back;an age,when he came back,before he spoke.Well,he has not set off?I asked at last,unable to control myeagerness.Of course he had not;and at nine oclock I sent Frison out ag
1032、ain;and atten and eleven-always with the same result.I was like a man waitingand looking and,above all,listening for a reprieve;and as sick as anycraven.But when he came back,at eleven,I gave up hope and dressedmyself carefully.I suppose I had an odd look then,however,for Frisonstopped me at the doo
1033、r,and asked me,with evident alarm,where I wasgoing.I put the little man aside gently.To the tables,I said,to make a big throw,my friend.It was a fine morning,sunny,keen,pleasant,when I went out into thestreet;but I scarcely noticed it.All my thoughts were where I was going,so that it seemed but a st
1034、ep from my threshold to the Hotel Richelieu;Iwas no sooner gone from the one than I found myself at the other.Now,as on a memorable evening when I had crossed the street in a drizzlingrain,and looked that way with foreboding,there were two or three guards,in the Cardinals livery,loitering in front o
1035、f the great gates.Comingnearer,I found the opposite pavement under the Louvre thronged withpeople,not moving about their business,but standing all silent,all lookingacross furtively,all with the air of persons who wished to be thoughtpassing by.Their silence and their keen looks had in some way an a
1036、ir ofmenace.Looking back after I had turned in towards the gates,I foundthem devouring me with their eyes.And certainly they had little else to look at.In the courtyard,where,some mornings,when the Court was in Paris,I had seen a score of coacheswaiting and thrice as many servants,were now emptiness
1037、 and sunshineand stillness.The officer on guard,twirling his moustachios,looked atme in wonder as I passed him;the lackeys lounging in the portico,and alltoo much taken up with whispering to make a pretence of being of service,UNDER THE RED ROBE161grinned at my appearance.But that which happened whe
1038、n I had mountedthe stairs and came to the door of the ante-chamber outdid all.The manon guard would have opened the door,but when I went to enter,a major-domo who was standing by,muttering with two or three of his kind,hastened forward and stopped me.Your business,Monsieur,if you please?he said inqu
1039、isitively;whileI wondered why he and the others looked at me so strangely.I am M.de Berault,I answered sharply.I have the entree.He bowed politely enough.Yes,M.de Berault,I have the honour to know your face,he said.But-pardon me.Have you business with his Eminence?I have the common business,I answer
1040、ed sharply.By which manyof us live,sirrah!To wait on him.But-by appointment,Monsieur?No,I said,astonished.It is the usual hour.For the matter of that,however,I have business with him.The man still looked at me for a moment in seeming embarrassment.Then he stood aside and signed to the door-keeper to
1041、 open the door.Ipassed in,uncovering;with an assured face and steadfast mien,ready tomeet all eyes.In a moment,on the threshold,the mystery was explained.The room was empty.UNDER THE RED ROBE162CHAPTER XVST MARTINS SUMMERYes,at the great Cardinals levee I was the only client!I stared roundthe room,a
1042、 long,narrow gallery,through which it was his custom to walkevery morning,after receiving his more important visitors.I stared,I say,from side to side,in a state of stupefaction.The seats against either wallwere empty,the recesses of the windows empty too.The hat sculpturedand painted here and there
1043、,the staring R,the blazoned arms looked downon a vacant floor.Only on a little stool by the farther door,sat a quiet-faced man in black,who read,or pretended to read,in a little book,andnever looked up.One of those men,blind,deaf,secretive,who fatten inthe shadow of the great.Suddenly,while I stood
1044、confounded and full of shamed thought-for Ihad seen the ante-chamber of Richelieus old hotel so crowded that hecould not walk through it-this man closed his book,rose and camenoiselessly towards me.M.de Berault?he said.Yes,I answered.His Eminence awaits you.Be good enough to follow me.I did so,in a
1045、deeper stupor than before.For how could the Cardinalknow that I was here?How could he have known when he gave theorder?But I had short time to think of these things,or others.Wepassed through two rooms,in one of which some secretaries were writing,we stopped at a third door.Over all brooded a silenc
1046、e which could befelt.The usher knocked,opened,and,with his finger on his lip,pushedaside a curtain and signed to me to enter.I did so and found myselfbehind a screen.Is that M.de Berault?asked a thin,high-pitched voice.Yes,Monseigneur,I answered trembling.Then come,my friend,and talk to me.I went ro
1047、und the screen,and I know not how it was,the watchingcrowd outside,the vacant ante-chamber in which I had stood,the stillnessand silence all seemed to be concentrated here,and to give to the man IUNDER THE RED ROBE163saw before me a dignity which he had never possessed for me when theworld passed th
1048、rough his doors,and the proudest fawned on him for asmile.He sat in a great chair on the farther side of the hearth,a little redskull-cap on his head,his fine hands lying still in his lap.The collar oflawn which fell over his cape was quite plain,but the skirts of his red robewere covered with rich
1049、lace,and the order of the Holy Ghost,a white doveon a gold cross,shone on his breast.Among the multitudinous papers onthe great table near him I saw a sword and pistols;and some tapestry thatcovered a little table behind him failed to hide a pair of spurred riding-boots.But as I advanced he looked t
1050、owards me with the utmostcomposure;with a face mild and almost benign,in which I strove in vainto read the traces of last nights passion.So that it flashed across me thatif this man really stood(and afterwards I knew that he did)on the thinrazor-edge between life and death,between the supreme of ear
1051、thly power,lord of France and arbiter of Europe,and the nothingness of the clod,hejustified his fame.He gave weaker natures no room for triumph.The thought was no sooner entertained than it was gone.And so you are back at last,M.de Berault,he said gently.I havebeen expecting to see you since nine th
1052、is morning.Your Eminence knew,then-I muttered.That you returned to Paris by the Orleans gate last evening alone?he answered,fitting together the ends of his fingers,and looking at meover them with inscrutable eyes.Yes,I knew all that last night.Andnow,of your business.You have been faithful and dili
1053、gent,I am sure.Where is he?I stared at him and was dumb.In some way the strange things I hadseen since I had left my lodgings,the surprises I had found awaiting mehere,had driven my own fortunes,my own peril,out of my head-untilthis moment.Now,at this question,all returned with a rush,and Iremembere
1054、d where I stood.My heart heaved suddenly in my breast.Istrove for a savour of the old hardihood,but for the moment I could notfind a word.Well,he said lightly,a faint smile lifting his moustache.You do notspeak.You left Auch with him on the twenty-fourth,M.de Berault.SoUNDER THE RED ROBE164much I kn
1055、ow.And you reached Paris without him last night.He hasnot given you the slip?No,Monseigneur,I muttered.Ha!that is good,he answered,sinking back again in his chair.Forthe moment-but I knew that I could depend on you.And now where is he?What have you done with him?He knows much,and the sooner I knowit
1056、 the better.Are your people bringing him,M.de Berault?No,Monseigneur,I stammered,with dry lips.His very good-humour,his benignity,appalled me.I knew how terrible would be thechange,how fearful his rage,when I should tell him the truth.And yetthat I,Gil de Berault,should tremble before any man!With t
1057、hat thoughtI spurred myself,as it were,to the task.No,your Eminence,I said,withthe energy of despair.I have not brought him,because I have set him free.Because you have-WHAT?he exclaimed.He leaned forward ashe spoke,his hands on the arm of the chair;and his eyes growing eachinstant smaller,seemed to
1058、 read my soul.Because I have let him go,I repeated.And why?he said,in a voice like the rasping of a file.Because I took him unfairly,I answered.Because,Monseigneur,I am a gentleman,and this task should havebeen given to one who was not.I took him,if you must know,Icontinued impatiently-the fence onc
1059、e crossed I was growing bolder-bydogging a womans steps and winning her confidence and betraying it.And whatever I have done ill in my life-of which you were good enoughto throw something in my teeth when I was last here-I have never donethat,and I will not!And so you set him free?Yes.After you had
1060、brought him to Auch?Yes.And,in point of fact,saved him from falling into the hands of theCommandant at Auch?Yes,I answered desperately to all.Then,what of the trust I placed in you,sirrah?he rejoined,in aUNDER THE RED ROBE165terrible voice;and stooping still farther forward he probed me with hiseyes
1061、.You who prate of trust and confidence,who received your life onparole,and but for your promise to me would have been carrion thismonth past,answer me that?What of the trust I placed in you?The answer is simple,I said,shrugging my shoulders with a touch ofmy old self.I am here to pay the penalty.And
1062、 do you think that I do not know why?he retorted,striking onehand on the arm of his chair with a force that startled me.Because youhave heard,sir,that my power is gone!Because you have heard that I,who was yesterday the Kings right hand,am to-day dried up,witheredand paralysed!Because you have heard
1063、-but have a care!have a care!he continued with extraordinary vehemence,and in a voice like a dogssnarl.You and those others!Have a care,I say,or you may findyourselves mistaken yet.As Heaven shall judge me,I answered solemnly,that is not true.Until I reached Paris last night I knew nothing of this r
1064、eport.I came herewith a single mind,to redeem my honour by placing again in yourEminences hands that which you gave me on trust,and here I do place it.For a moment he remained in the same attitude,staring at me fixedly.Then his face relaxed somewhat.Be good enough to ring that bell,he said.It stood
1065、on a table near me.I rang it,and a velvet-footed man inblack came in,and gliding up to the Cardinal,placed a paper in his hand.The Cardinal looked at it;while the man stood with his head obsequiouslybent,and my heart beat furiously.Very good,his Eminence said,after a pause which seemed to me tobe en
1066、dless,Let the doors be thrown open.The man bowed low,and retired behind the screen.I heard a littlebell ring somewhere in the silence,and in a moment the Cardinal stood up.Follow me!he said,with a strange flash of his keen eyes.Astonished,I stood aside while he passed to the screen;then Ifollowed hi
1067、m.Outside the first door,which stood open,we found eightor nine persons-pages,a monk,the major-domo,and several guardswaiting like mutes.These signed to me to precede them and fell inUNDER THE RED ROBE166behind us,and in that order we passed through the first room and thesecond,where the clerks stoo
1068、d with bent heads to receive us.The lastdoor,the door of the ante-chamber,flew open as we approached,voicescried,Room!Room for his Eminence!we passed through two lines ofbowing lackeys,and entered-an empty chamber.The ushers did not know how to look at one another;the lackeystrembled in their shoes.
1069、But the Cardinal walked on,apparentlyunmoved,until he had passed slowly half the length of the chamber.Then he turned himself about,looking first to one side and then to theother,with a low laugh of derision.Father,he said in his thin voice,what does the Psalmist say?I ambecome like a pelican in the
1070、 wilderness and like an owl that is in thedesert!The monk mumbled assent.And later in the same psalm,is it not written,They shall perish,butthou shalt endure?It is so,the father answered.Amen.Doubtless though,that refers to another life,the Cardinal said,withhis slow wintry smile.In the meantime we
1071、will go back to our books,and serve God and the King in small things if not in great.Come,father,this is no longer a place for us.VANITAS VANITATUM OMNIAVANITAS!We will retire.And as solemnly as we had come we marched back through the firstand second and third doors until we stood again in the silen
1072、ce of theCardinals chamber-he and I and the velvet-footed man in black.For awhile Richelieu seemed to forget me.He stood brooding on the hearth,his eyes on a small fire,which burned there though the weather was warm.Once I heard him laugh,and twice he uttered in a tone of bitter mockerythe words,-Fo
1073、ols!Fools!Fools!At last he looked up,saw me,and started.Ah!he said,I had forgotten you.Well,you are fortunate,M.deBerault.Yesterday I had a hundred clients;to-day I have only one,and Icannot afford to hang him.But for your liberty that is another matter.UNDER THE RED ROBE167I would have said somethi
1074、ng,pleaded something;but he turnedabruptly to the table,and sitting down wrote a few lines on a piece ofpaper.Then he rang his bell,while I stood waiting and confounded.The man in black came from behind the screen.Take this letter and that gentleman to the upper guard-room,theCardinal said sharply.I
1075、 can hear no more,he continued,frowning andraising his hand to forbid interruption.The matter is ended,M.deBerault.Be thankful.In a moment I was outside the door,my head in a whirl,my heartdivided between gratitude and resentment.I would fain have stood toconsider my position;but I had no time.Obeyi
1076、ng a gesture,I followedmy guide along several passages,and everywhere found the same silence,the same monastic stillness.At length,while I was dolefully consideringwhether the Bastille or the Chatelet would be my fate,he stopped at a door,thrust the letter into my hands,and lifting the latch,signed
1077、to me to enter.I went in in amazement,and stopped in confusion.Before me,alone,just risen from a chair,with her face one moment pale,the next crimsonwith blushes,stood Mademoiselle de Cocheforet.I cried out her name.M.de Berault,she said,trembling.You did not expect to see me?I expected to see no on
1078、e so little,Mademoiselle,I answered,strivingto recover my composure.Yet you might have thought that we should not utterly desert you,shereplied,with a reproachful humility which went to my heart.We shouldhave been base indeed,if we had not made some attempt to save you.Ithank Heaven,M.de Berault,tha
1079、t it has so far succeeded that that strangeman has promised me your life.You have seen him?she continuedeagerly and in another tone,while her eyes grew on a sudden large withfear.Yes,Mademoiselle,I said.I have seen him,and it is true,He hasgiven me my life.And-?And sent me into imprisonment.For how
1080、long?she whispered.I do not know,I answered.I fear during the Kings pleasure.UNDER THE RED ROBE168She shuddered.I may have done more harm than good,she murmured,looking at mepiteously.But I did it for the best.I told him all,and perhaps I didharm.But to hear her accuse herself thus,when she had made
1081、 this long andlonely journey to save me,when she had forced herself into her enemyspresence,and had,as I was sure she had,abased herself for me,was morethan I could bear.Hush,Mademoiselle,hush!I said,almost roughly.You hurt me.You have made me happy;and yet I wish that you were not here,where,Ifear,
1082、you have few friends,but back at Cocheforet.You have done morefor me than I expected,and a hundred times more than I deserved.But itmust end here.I was a ruined man before this happened,before I eversaw you.I am no worse now,but I am still that;and I would not haveyour name pinned to mine on Paris l
1083、ips.Therefore,good-bye.Godforbid I should say more to you,or let you stay where foul tongues wouldsoon malign you.She looked at me in a kind of wonder;then,with a growing smile,-It is too late,she said gently.Too late?I exclaimed.How,Mademoiselle?Because-do you remember,M.de Berault,what you told me
1084、 of yourlove-story under the guide-post by Agen?That it could have no happyending?For the same reason I was not ashamed to tell mine to theCardinal.By this time it is common property.I looked at her as she stood facing me.Her eyes shone under thelashes that almost hid them.Her figure drooped,and yet
1085、 a smiletrembled on her lips.What did you tell him,Mademoiselle?I whispered,my breathcoming quickly.That I loved,she answered boldly,raising her clear eyes to mine.And therefore that I was not ashamed to beg-even on my knees.I fell on mine,and caught her hand before the last word passed her lips.For
1086、 the moment I forgot King and Cardinal,prison and the future,all;allexcept that this woman,so pure and so beautiful,so far above me in allUNDER THE RED ROBE169things,loved me.For the moment,I say.Then I remembered myself.I stood up,and stood back from her in a sudden revulsion of feeling.You do not
1087、know me!I cried,You do not know what I have done!That is what I do know,she answered,looking at me with a wondroussmile.Ah!but you do not!I cried.And besides,there is this-thisbetween us.And I picked up the Cardinals letter.It had fallen on thefloor.She turned a shade paler.Then she cried quickly,-O
1088、pen it!open it!It is not sealed nor closed.I obeyed mechanically,dreading with a horrible dread what I might see.Even when I had it open I looked at the finely scrawled characters witheyes askance.But at last I made it out.And it ran thus:-THE KINGS PLEASURE IS THAT M.GIL DE BERAULT,HAVING MIXED HIM
1089、SELF UP IN AFFAIRS OF STATE,RETIREFORTHWITH TO THE DEMESNE OF COCHEFORET,AND CONFINEHIMSELF WITHIN ITS LIMITS UNTIL THE KINGS PLEASURE BEFURTHER KNOWN.THE CARDINAL DE RICHELIEU.We were married next day,and a fortnight later were at Cocheforet,inthe brown woods under the southern mountains;while the
1090、great Cardinal,once more triumphant over his enemies,saw with cold,smiling eyes theworld pass through his chamber.The flood tide of his prosperity lastedthirteen years from that time,and ceased only with his death.For theworld had learned its lesson;to this hour they call that day,which saw mestand alone for all his friends,The Day of Dupes.