CHAPTER XLIX.
HOW THE KING ANNEXED A CHIEF WHO WAS NEITHER THE DUC DE GUISE NORM. D'ANJOU.
"Gentlemen," said the king, after assuring himself that his fourfriends, now replaced by ten Swiss, were behind him, "a kinghears equally the voices which come to him from above and frombelow, that is to say, what is commanded by God, or asked byhis people. I understand perfectly that there is a guaranteefor my people, in the association of all classes which has beenformed to defend the Catholic faith, and therefore I approve ofthe counsels of my cousin De Guise. I declare, then, the HolyLeague duly constituted, and as so great a body must have a powerfulhead, and as it is necessary that the chief called to sustainthe Church should be one of its most zealous sons, I choose aChristian prince for the chief, and declare that this chief shallbe"--he made a slight pause--"Henri de Valois, King of Franceand Poland."
The Duc de Guise was thunderstruck. Large drops stood on hisforehead, and he looked from one to the other of his brothers.All the leaguers uttered a murmur of surprise and discontent.The cardinal stole up to his brother, and whispered:
"Francois; I fear we are no longer in safety here. Let us hasteto take leave, for the populace is uncertain, and the king whomthey execrated yesterday, will be their idol for two or threedays."
During this time the king had signed the act prepared beforehandby M. de Morvilliers, the only person, with the exception ofthe queen mother, who was in the secret, then he passed the pento the Duc de Guise, saying:
"Sign, my cousin; there, below me, now pass it to M. le Cardinaland M. de Mayenne."
But these two had already disappeared. The king remarked theirabsence, and added, "Then pass the pen to M. de Monsoreau."
The duke did so, and was about to retire, but the king said, "Wait."
And while the others signed, he added, "My cousin, it was youradvice, I believe, to guard Paris with a good army, composed ofall the forces of the League. The army is made, and the naturalgeneral of the Parisians is the king."
"Assuredly, sire."
"But I do not forget that there is another army to command, andthat this belongs of right to the bravest soldier in my kingdom;therefore go and command the army."
"And when am I to set out, sire?"
"Immediately."
"Henri, Henri!" whispered Chicot; but, in spite of his signsand grimaces, the king gave the duke his brevet ready signed.He took it and retired, and was soon out of Paris. The rest ofthe assembly dispersed gradually, crying, "Vive le Roi! and Vivela Ligue!"
"Oh, sire!" cried the favorites, approaching the king, "what asublime idea you have had!"
"They think that gold is going to rain on them like manna," saidChicot, who followed his master about everywhere with lamentations.As soon as they were left alone, "Ah! M. Chicot!" said Henri, "youare never content. Diable! I do not ask even for complaisance,but for good sense."
"You are right, Henri; it is what you want most."
"Confess I have done well."
"That is just what I do not think."
"Ah! you are jealous, M. Roi de France."
"I! Heaven forbid. I shall choose better subjects for jealousy."
"Corbleu."
"Oh! what self-love."
"Am I or not king of the League?"
"Certainly you are; but----"
"But what?"
"You are no longer King of France."
"And who is king then?"
"Everybody, except you; firstly, your brother----"
"My brother!"
"Yes, M. d'Anjou."
"Whom I hold prisoner."
"Yes, but prisoner as he is, he was consecrated."
"By whom was he consecrated?"
"By the Cardinal de Guise. Really, Henri, you have a fine police.They consecrate a king at Paris before thirty-three people, inthe church of St. Genevieve, and you do not know of it!"
"Oh! and you do?"
"Certainly I do."
"How can you know what I do not?"
"Ah! because M. de Morvilliers manages your police, and I am myown."
The king frowned.
"Well, then, without counting Henri de Valois, we have Francoisd'Anjou for king," continued Chicot; "and then there is the Ducde Guise."
"The Duc de Guise!"
"Yes, Henri de Guise, Henri le Balfre."
"A fine king! whom I exile, whom I send to the army."
"Good! as if you were not exiled to Poland; and La Charite isnearer to the Louvre than Cracow is. Ah, yes, you send him to thearmy--that is so clever; that is to say, you put thirty thousandmen under his orders, ventre de biche! and a real army, not likeyour army of the League; no, no, an army of bourgeois is goodfor Henri de Valois, but Henri de Guise must have an army ofsoldiers--and what soldiers? hardened warriors, capable of destroyingtwenty armies of the League; so that if, being king in fact,Henri de Guise had the folly one day to wish to be so in name,he would only have to turn towards the capital, and say, 'Let usswallow Paris, and Henri de Valois and the Louvre at a mouthful,'and the rogues would do it. I know them."
"You forget one thing in your argument, illustrious politician."
"Ah, diable! it is possible! If you mean a fourth king----"
"No; you forget that before thinking of reigning in France, whena Valois is on the throne, it would be necessary to look backand count your ancestors. That such an idea might come to M.d'Anjou is possible; his ancestors are mine, and it is only aquestion of primogeniture. But M. de Guise!"
"Ah! that is just where you are in error."
"How so?"
"M. de Guise is of a better race than you think."
"Better than me, perhaps," said Henri, smiling.
"There is no perhaps in it."
"You are mad. Learn to read, my friend."
"Well, Henri, you who can read, read this;" and he drew fromhis pocket the genealogy which we know already, handing it toHenri, who turned pale as he recognized, near to the signatureof the prelate, the seal of St. Peter.
"What do you say, Henri? Are not your fleur-de-lys thrown a littlein the background?"
"But how did you get this genealogy?"
"I! Do I seek these things? It came to seek me."
"Where?"
"Under the bolster of a lawyer."
"And what was his name?"
"M. Nicolas David."
"Where was he?"
"At Lyons."
"And who took it from under the bolster?"
"One of my good friends."
"Who is he?"
"A monk."
"His name?"
"Gorenflot."
"What! that abominable leaguer, who uttered those incendiarydiscourses at St. Genevieve, and again yesterday in the streetsof Paris?"
"You remember the history of Brutus, who pretended to be a fool?"
"He is, then, a profound politician? Did he take it from theadvocate?"
"Yes, by force."
"Then he is brave?"
"Brave as Bayard."
"And having done this, he has not asked for any recompense?"
"He returned humbly to his convent, and only asks me to forgetthat he ever came out."
"Then he is modest?"
"As St. Crepin."
"Chicot, your friend shall be made a prior on the first vacancy."
"Thanks for him, Henri."
"Ma foi!" said Chicot to himself, "if he escapes being hung byMayenne, he will have an abbey."