Chicot the Jester

  CHAPTER XCV.

  THE FRIENDS OF BUSSY.

  The friends of the Duc d'Anjou had passed as good and tranquil anight as those of the king, although their master had not takenthe same care of them. After a good supper, they had all retiredto sleep at Antragues's house, which was nearest to the fieldof battle. Antragues, before supper, had gone to take leave ofa little milliner whom he adored, Ribeirac had written to hismother, and Livarot had made his will. They were up early in themorning, and dressed themselves in red breeches and socks, thattheir enemies might not see their blood, and they had doubletsof gray silk. They wore shoes without heels, and their pagescarried their swords, that their arms might not be fatigued.

  The weather was splendid, for love, war, or walking; and thesun gilded the roofs, on which the night dew was sparkling. Thestreets were dry, and the air delightful.

  Before leaving the house, the young men had sent to the Hoteld'Anjou to inquire for Bussy, and had received a reply that hehad gone out the evening before and had not yet returned.

  "Oh!" said Antragues, "I know where he is; the king ordered agrand chase at Compiegne, and M. de Monsoreau was to set offyesterday. It is all right, gentlemen; he is nearer the groundthan we are, and may be there before us. We will call for himin passing."

  The streets were empty as they went along; no one was to be seenexcept peasants coming from Montreuil or Vincennes, with milkor vegetables.

  The young men went on in silence until they reached the Rue St.Antoine.

  Then, with a smile, they glanced at Monsoreau's house.

  "One could see well from there, and I am sure poor Diana willbe more than once at the window," said Antragues.

  "I think she must be there already," said Ribeirac, "for the windowis open."

  "True, but what can be the meaning of that ladder before it?"

  "It is odd."

  "We are not the only ones to wonder," said Livarot, "see thosepeasants, who are stopping their carts to look."

  The young men arrived under the balcony. "M. de Monsoreau," theycried, "do you intend to be present at our combat? if so, bequick, for we wish to arrive first."

  They waited, but no one answered.

  "Did you put up that ladder?" asked Antragues of a man who wasexamining the ground.

  "God forbid!" replied he.

  "Why so?"

  "Look up."

  "Blood!" cried Ribeirac.

  "The door has been forced," said Antragues; and seizing the ladder,he was on the balcony in a moment.

  "What is it?" cried the others, seeing him turn pale.

  A terrible cry was his only answer. Livarot mounted behind him."Corpses! death everywhere!" cried he. And they both enteredthe room. It bore horrible traces of the terrible combat of theprevious night. A river of blood flowed over the room; and thecurtains were hanging in strips from sword cuts.

  "Oh! poor Remy!" cried Antragues, suddenly.

  "Dead!"

  "Yes."

  "But a regiment of troopers must have passed through the room,"cried Livarot. Then, seeing the door of the corridor open, andtraces of blood indicating that one or more of the combatants hadalso passed through there, he followed it. Meanwhile, Antragueswent into the adjoining room; there also blood was everywhere,and this blood led to the window. He leaned out and looked intothe little garden. The iron spikes still held the livid corpseof the unhappy Bussy. At this sight, it was not a cry, but ayell, that Antragues uttered. Livarot ran to see what it was,and Ribeirac followed.

  "Look!" said Antragues, "Bussy dead! Bussy assassinated and thrownout of window."

  They ran down.

  "It is he," cried Livarot.

  "His wrist is cut."

  "He has two balls in his breast."

  "He is full of wounds."

  "Ah! poor Bussy! we will have vengeance!"

  Turning round they came against a second corpse.

  "Monsoreau!" cried Livarot.

  "What! Monsoreau also."

  "Yes, pierced through and through."

  "Ah! they have assassinated all our friends."

  "And his wife? Madame de Monsoreau!" cried Antragues; but no oneanswered.

  "Bussy, poor Bussy."

  "Yes, they wished to get rid of the most formidable of us all."

  "It is cowardly! it is infamous!"

  "We will tell the duke."

  "No," said Antragues, "let us not charge any one with the careof our vengeance. Look, my friends, at the noble face of thebravest of men; see his blood, that teaches that he never lefthis vengeance to any other person. Bussy! we will act like you,and we will avenge you."

  Then, drawing his sword, he dipped it in Bussy's blood.

  "Bussy," said he, "I swear on your corpse, that this blood shallbe washed off by the blood of your enemies."

  "Bussy," cried the others, "we swear to kill them or die."

  "No mercy," said Antragues.

  "But we shall be but three."

  "True, but we have assassinated no one, and God will strengthenthe innocent. Adieu, Bussy!"

  "Adieu, Bussy!" repeated the others; and they went out, palebut resolute, from that cursed house, around which a crowd hadbegun to collect.

  Arriving on the ground, they found their opponents waiting forthem.

  "Gentlemen," said Quelus, rising and bowing, "we have had thehonor of waiting for you."

  "Excuse us," said Antragues, "but we should have been here beforeyou, but for one of our companions."

  "M. de Bussy," said D'Epernon, "I do not see him. Where is he?"

  "We can wait for him," said Schomberg.

  "He will not come."

  All looked thunderstruck; but D'Epernon exclaimed:

  "Ah! the brave man par excellence--is he, then, afraid?"

  "That cannot be," said Quelus.

  "You are right, monsieur," said Livarot.

  "And why will he not come?"

  "Because he is dead."

  "Dead!" cried they all, but D'Epernon turned rather pale.

  "And dead because he has been assassinated," said Antragues. "Didyou not know it, gentlemen?"

  "No; how should we?"

  "Besides, is it certain?"

  Antragues drew his sword. "So certain that here is his blood,"said he.

  "M. de Bussy assassinated!"

  "His blood cries for vengeance! do you not hear it, gentlemen?"said Ribeirac.

  "What do you mean?"

  "'Seek whom the crime profits,' the law says," replied Ribeirac.

  "Ah! gentlemen, will you explain yourselves?" cried Maugiron.

  "That is just what we have come for."

  "Quick! our swords are in our hands!" said D'Epernon.

  "Oh! you are in a great hurry, M. le Gascon; you did not crowso loud when we were four against four!"

  "Is it our fault, if you are only three?"

  "Yes, it is your fault; he is dead because you preferred himlying in his blood to standing here; he is dead, with his wristcut, that that wrist might no longer hold a sword; he is dead,that you might not see the lightning of those eyes, which dazzledyou all. Do you understand me? am I clear?"

  "Enough, gentlemen!" said Quelus. "Retire, M. d'Epernon! we willfight three against three. These gentlemen shall see if we are mento profit by a misfortune which we deplore as much as themselves.Come, gentlemen," added the young man, throwing his hat behindhim, and raising his left hand, while he whirled his sword withthe right, "God is our judge if we are assassins!"

  "Ah! I hated you before," cried Schomberg, "and now I execrateyou!"

  "On your guard, gentlemen!" cried Antragues.

  "With doublets or without?" said Schomberg.

  "Without doublets, without shirts; our breasts bare, our heartsuncovered!"

  The young men threw off their doublets and shirts.

  "I have lost my dagger," said Quelus; "it must have fallen onthe road."

  "Or else you left it at M. de Monsoreau's, in the Place de laBastile," said Antragues.

/>   Quelus gave a cry of rage, and drew his sword.

  "But he has no dagger, M. Antragues," cried Chicot, who had justarrived.

  "So much the worse for him; it is not my fault," said Antragues.