CHAPTER LXXXI.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE LITTLE ROOM.
When the captain re-entered the room with a basket in his handcontaining a dozen bottles, he was received by Chicot with smiles.Borromee was in haste to uncork his bottles, but his haste was nothingto Chicot's; thus the preparations did not take long, and the twocompanions began to drink. At first, as though their occupation was tooimportant to be interrupted, they drank in silence. Chicot uttered onlythese words:
"Par ma foi! this is good Burgundy."
They drank two bottles in this way; at the third, Chicot raised his eyesto heaven, and said:
"Really, we are drinking as though we wished to intoxicate ourselves."
"It is so good," replied Borromee.
"Ah! it pleases you. Go on, friend; I have a strong head."
And each of them swallowed another bottle. The wine produced on each ofthem an opposite effect--it unloosened Chicot's tongue, and tied that ofBorromee.
"Ah!" murmured Chicot, "you are silent; then you doubt yourself."
"Ah!" said Borromee to himself, "you chatter; then you are gettingtipsy." Then he asked Chicot, "How many bottles does it take you?"
"For what?"
"To get lively."
"About four."
"And to get tipsy?"
"About six."
"And dead drunk?"
"Double."
"Boaster!" thought Borromee, "he stammers already, and has only drunkfour. Come, then, we can go on," said he, and he drew out a fifth forChicot and one for himself.
But Chicot remarked that of the five bottles ranged beside Borromee somewere half full, and others two-thirds; none were empty. This confirmedhim in his suspicions that the captain had bad intentions with regard tohim. He rose as if to fetch his fifth bottle, and staggered as he didso.
"Oh!" said he, "did you feel?"
"What?"
"The earth trembling."
"Bah!"
"Yes, ventre de biche! Luckily the hotel of the Corne d'Abondance issolid, although it is built on a pivot."
"What! built on a pivot?"
"Doubtless, since it turns."
"True," said Borromee, "I felt the effects, but did not guess thecause."
"Because you are not a Latin scholar, and have not read the 'De NaturaRerum.' If you had, you would know that there is no effect without acause."
"Well, my dear captain, for you are a captain like me, are you not?"
"Yes, from the points of my toes to the roots of my hair."
"Well, then, my dear captain, tell me, since there is no effect withouta cause, as you say, what was the cause of your disguise?"
"What disguise?"
"That which you wore when you came to visit Dom Modeste."
"How was I disguised?"
"As a bourgeois."
"Ah! true."
"Will you tell me?"
"Willingly, if you will tell me why you were disguised as a monk.Confidence for confidence."
"Agreed," said Borromee.
"You wish to know, then, why I was disguised," said Chicot, with anutterance which seemed to grow thicker and thicker.
"Yes, it puzzles me."
"And then you will tell me?"
"Yes, that was agreed."
"Ah! true; I forgot. Well, the thing is very simple; I was a spy for theking."
"A spy?"
"Yes."
"Is that, then, your profession?"
"No, I am an amateur."
"What were you spying there?"
"Every one. Dom Modeste himself, then Brother Borromee, little Jacques,and the whole convent."
"And what did you discover, my friend?"
"First, that Dom Modeste is a great fool."
"It does not need to be very clever to find that out."
"Pardon me; his majesty Henri the Third, who is no fool, regards him asone of the lights of the Church, and is about to make a bishop of him."
"So be it; I have nothing to say against that promotion; on thecontrary, it will give me a good laugh. But what else did you discover?"
"I discovered that Brother Borromee was not a monk but a captain."
"Ah! you discovered that?"
"At once."
"Anything else?"
"I discovered that Jacques was practicing with the foils before he beganwith the sword."
"Ah! you discovered that also. Anything else."
"Give me more to drink, or I shall remember nothing."
"Remember that you are beginning your sixth bottle," said Borromeelaughing.
"Did we not come here to drink?"
"Certainly we did."
"Let us drink then."
"Well," said Borromee, "now do you remember?"
"What?"
"What else you saw in the convent."
"Well, I saw that the monks were really soldiers, and instead of obeyingDom Modeste, obeyed you."
"Ah, truly: but doubtless that was not all?"
"No; but more to drink, or my memory will fail me."
And as his bottle was empty, he held out his glass for more.
"Well, now do you remember?"
"Oh, yes, I should think so."
"Well, what else?"
"I saw that there was a plot."
"A plot!" cried Borromee, turning pale.
"Yes, a plot."
"Against whom?"
"Against the king."
"Of what nature?"
"To try and carry him off."
"When?"
"When he was returning from Vincennes."
"Sacre!"
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. And you found out that?"
"Yes."
"And warned the king?"
"Parbleu! that was what I came for."
"Then you were the cause of the attempt failing?"
"Yes, I."
"Hang him!" murmured Borromee.
"What did you say?"
"I said that you have good eyes, my friend."
"Bah! I have seen more than that; pass me one of your bottles, and Iwill tell you what I have seen."
Borromee hastened to comply with Chicot's desire.
"Let me hear," said he.
"Firstly, I have seen M. de Mayenne wounded."
"Bah!"
"No wonder, he was on my route. And then I have seen the taking ofCahors."
"How? the taking of Cahors?"
"Certainly. Ah! captain, it was a grand thing to see, and a brave manlike you would have been delighted."
"I do not doubt it. You were, then, near the king of Navarre?"
"Side by side, my friend, as we are now."
"And you left him?"
"To announce this news to the king of France."
"Then you have been at the Louvre?"
"Yes, just before you."
"Then, as we have not quitted each other since, I need not ask you whatyou have done."
"On the contrary, ask; for that is the most curious of all."
"Tell me, then."
"Tell! oh, it is very easy to say tell."
"Try."
"One more glass of wine, then, to loosen my tongue. Quite full; thatwill do. Well, I saw, comrade, that when you gave the king the Duc deGuise's letter, you let another fall."
"Another!" cried Borromee, starting up. "Yes, it is there."
And having tried two or three times, with an unsteady hand, he put hisfinger on the buff doublet of Borromee, just where the letter was.Borromee started, as though Chicot's finger had been a hot iron, and hadtouched his skin instead of his doublet.
"Oh, oh!" said he, "there is but one thing wanting."
"What is that?"
"That you should know to whom the letter is addressed."
"Oh, I know quite well; it is addressed to the Duchesse de Montpensier."
"Good heavens! I hope you have not told that to the king."
"No; but I will tell him."
"When?"
"W
hen I have had a nap." And he let his arms fall on the table, and hishead on them.
"Then as soon as you can walk you will go to the Louvre?"
"I will."
"You will denounce me."
"I will denounce you."
"Is it not a joke?"
"What?"
"That you will tell the king after your nap."
"Not at all. You see, my dear friend," said Chicot, half raising hishead, "you are a conspirator, and I am a spy; you have a plot, and Idenounce you; we each follow our business."
And Chicot laid his head down again, so that his face was completelyhidden by his hands, while the back of his head was protected by hishelmet.
"Ah!" cried Borromee, "you will denounce me when you wake!" and, rising,he made a furious blow with his dagger on the back of his companion,thinking to pierce him through and nail him to the table. But he had notreckoned on the shirt of mail which Chicot had carried away from thepriory. The dagger broke upon it like glass, and for the second timeChicot owed his life to it.
Before Borromee had time to recover from his astonishment, Chicot'sright fist struck him a heavy blow in the face, and sent him bleedingand stunned against the wall.
In a minute, however, he was up, and sword in hand; but this minute hadsufficed for Chicot to draw his sword also, and prepare himself. Heseemed to shake off, as if by enchantment, all the fumes of the wine,and stood with a steady hand to receive his adversary. The table, like afield of battle, covered with empty bottles, lay between them, but theblood flowing down his face infuriated Borromee, who lunged at hisadversary as fiercely as the intervening table permitted.
"Dolt!" cried Chicot, "you see that it is decidedly you who are drunk,for you cannot reach me across the table, while my arm is six incheslonger than yours, and my sword as much longer than your sword; and hereis the proof."
As he spoke, he stretched out his arm and wounded Borromee in theforehead. Borromee uttered a cry, still more of rage than of pain, andas he was brave enough, attacked with double fury.
Chicot, however, still on the other side of the table, took a chair andsat down, saying, "Mon Dieu! how stupid these soldiers are; they pretendto know how to manage their swords, and any bourgeois, if he liked,could kill them like flies. Ah! now you want to put out my eye. And nowyou mount on the table; but, ventre de biche! take care, donkey." And hepricked him with his sword in the stomach, as he had already done in theforehead.
Borromee roared with anger and leaped from the table to the floor.
"That is as it should, be," said Chicot; "now we are on the same level,and we can talk while we are fencing. Ah! captain, captain, and so wesometimes try our hand a little at assassination in our spare moments,do we?"
"I do for my cause what you do for yours," said Borromee, now broughtback to the seriousness of his position, and terrified, in spite ofhimself, at the smothered fire which seemed gleaming in Chicot's eyes.
"So much for talking," said Chicot; "and yet, my friend, it is with nolittle pleasure I find that I am a better hand than you are. Ah! thatwas not bad."
Borromee had just made a lunge at Chicot, which had slightly touched hisbreast.
"Not bad, but I know the thrust--it is the very same you showed littleJacques. I was just saying, then, that I have the advantage of you, forI did not begin this quarrel, however anxiously disposed I might havebeen to do so. More than that, even, I have allowed you to carry outyour project by giving you every latitude you required, and yet at thisvery moment even, I have only been acting on the defensive, and this,because I have something to propose to you."
"Nothing," cried Borromee, exasperated at Chicot's imperturbability,"nothing."
And he gave a thrust which would have run the Gascon completely throughthe body, if the latter had not, with his long legs, sprung back a step,which placed him out of his adversary's reach.
"I am going to tell you what this arrangement is, all the same, so thatI shall have nothing left to reproach myself for."
"Hold your tongue," said Borromee; "hold your tongue; it will beuseless."
"Listen," said Chicot; "it is to satisfy my own conscience. I have nowish to shed your blood, you understand, and I don't want to kill youuntil I am driven to extremes."
"Kill me, kill me, I say, if you can!" exclaimed Borromee, exasperated.
"No, no; I have already once in my life killed another such swordsman asyou are; I will even say a better swordsman than you. Pardieu! you knowhim; he, too, was one of De Guise's retainers--a lawyer, too."
"Ah! Nicolas David!" said Borromee, terrified at the incident, and againplacing himself on the defensive.
"Exactly so."
"It was you who killed him?"
"Oh! yes, with a pretty little thrust which I will presently show you,if you decline the arrangement I propose."
"Well, let me hear what the arrangement is."
"You will pass from the Duc de Guise's service to that of the king,without, however, quitting that of the duc."
"In other words, that I should become a spy like yourself?"
"No, for there will be a difference; I am not paid, but you will be. Youwill begin by showing me the Duc de Guise's letter to Madame la Duchessede Montpensier; you will let me take a copy of it, and I will leave youquiet until another occasion. Well, am I not considerate?"--"Here," saidBorromee, "is my answer."
Borromee's reply was "un coupe sur les armes," so rapidly dealt that thepoint of his sword slightly touched Chicot's shoulder.
"Well, well," said Chicot, "I see I must positively show you NicolasDavid's thrust. It is very simple and pretty."
And Chicot, who had up to that moment been acting on the defensive, madeone step forward and attacked in his turn.
"This is the thrust," said Chicot; "I make a feint in quartrebasse."
And he did so; Borromee parried by giving way; but, after this firststep backward he was obliged to stop, as he found that he was close tothe partition.
"Good! precisely so; you parry in a circle; that's wrong, for my wristis stronger than yours. I catch your sword in mine, thus. I return tothe attack by a tierce haute, I fall upon you, so, and you are hit, or,rather, you are a dead man!"
In fact, the thrust had followed, or rather had accompanied, thedemonstration, and the slender rapier, penetrating Borromee's chest, hadglided like a needle completely through him, penetrating deeply, andwith a dull, heavy sound, the wooden partition behind him.
Borromee flung out his arms, letting his sword fall to the ground; hiseyes became fixed and injected with blood, his mouth opened wide, hislips were stained with a red-colored foam, his head fell on his shoulderwith a sigh, which sounded like a death-rattle; then his limbs refusedtheir support, and his body as it sunk forward enlarged the aperture ofthe wound, but could not free itself from the partition, supported as itwas by Chicot's terrible wrist, so that the miserable wretch, like agigantic insect, remained fastened to the wall, which his feet kickedconvulsively.
Chicot, cold and impassible as he always was in positions of greatdifficulty, especially when he had a conviction at the bottom of hisheart that he had done everything his conscience could require ofhim--Chicot, we say, took his hand from his sword, which remained in ahorizontal position, unfastened the captain's belt, searched hisdoublet, took the letter, and read the address:
"Duchesse de Montpensier."
All this time the blood was welling copiously from the wound, and theagony of death was depicted on the features of the wounded man.
"I am dying, I am dying!" he murmured. "O Heaven! have pity on me."
This last appeal to the divine mercy, made by a man who had mostprobably rarely thought of it until this moment of his direst need,touched Chicot's feeling.
"Let us be charitable," he said; "and since this man must die, let himat least die as quietly as possible."
He then advanced toward the partition, and by an effort withdrew hissword from the wall, and supporting Borromee's body, he prevented itfrom falling he
avily to the ground.
This last precaution, however, was useless; the approach of death hadbeen rapid and certain, and had already paralyzed the dying man's limbs.His legs gave way beneath him, he fell into Chicot's arms, and thenrolled heavily on the floor.
The shock of his fall made a stream of blood flow from his wound, withwhich the last remains of life ebbed away.
Chicot then went and opened the door of communication, and calledBonhomet.
He had no occasion to call twice, for the innkeeper had been listeningat the door, and had successively heard the noise of tables and stools,the clashing of swords, and the fall of a heavy body; besides, theworthy M. Bonhomet had particularly, after the confidence which had beenreposed in him, too extensive an experience of the character ofgentlemen of the sword in general, and of that of Chicot in particular,not to have guessed, step by step, what had taken place.
The only thing of which he was ignorant was, which of the twoadversaries had fallen.
It must, however, be said in praise of Maitre Bonhomet that his faceassumed an expression of real satisfaction when he heard Chicot's voice,and when he saw that it was the Gascon who, safe and sound, opened thedoor.
Chicot, whom nothing escaped, remarked the expression of hiscountenance, and was inwardly pleased at it.
Bonhomet, tremblingly, entered the apartment.
"Good heavens!" he exclaimed, as he saw the captain's body bathed inblood.
"Yes, my poor Bonhomet," said Chicot; "this is what we have come to; ourdear captain here is very ill, as you see."
"Oh! my good Monsieur Chicot, my good Monsieur Chicot!" exclaimedBonhomet, ready to faint.
"Well, what?" inquired Chicot.
"It is very unkind of you to have chosen my inn for this execution; sucha handsome captain, too!"
"Would you sooner have seen Chicot lying there, and Borromee alive?"
"No, oh no!" cried the host, from the very bottom of his heart.
"Well, that would have happened, however, had it not been for a miracleof Providence."--"Really?"
"Upon the word of Chicot, just look at my back, for it pains me a gooddeal, my dear friend."
And he stooped down before the innkeeper, so that both his shouldersmight be on a level with the host's eye.
Between the two shoulders the doublet was pierced through, and a spot ofblood as large and round as a silver crown piece reddened the edges ofthe hole.
"Blood!" cried Bonhomet, "blood! Ah, you are wounded!"
"Wait, wait."
And Chicot unfastened his doublet and his shirt. "Now look!" he said.
"Oh! you wore a cuirass! What a fortunate thing, dear Monsieur Chicot;and you were saying that the ruffian wished to assassinate you."
"Diable! it hardly seems likely I should have taken any pleasure ingiving myself a dagger thrust between my own shoulders. Now, what do yousee?"
"A link broken."
"That dear captain was in good earnest then; is there much blood?"
"Yes, a good deal under the links."
"I must take off the cuirass, then," said Chicot.
Chicot took off his cuirass, and bared the upper part of his body,which seemed to be composed of nothing else but bones, of muscles spreadover the bones, and of skin merely covering the muscles.
"Ah! Monsieur Chicot," exclaimed Bonhomet, "you have a wound as largeas a plate."
"Yes, I suppose the blood has spread; there is what doctors callecchymosis; give me some clean linen, pour into a glass equal parts ofgood olive oil and wine dregs, and wash that stain for me."
"But, dear M. Chicot, what am I to do with this body?"
"That is not your affair."
"What! not my affair?"
"No. Give me some ink, a pen, and a sheet of paper."
"Immediately, dear Monsieur Chicot," said Bonhomet, as he darted out ofthe room.
Meanwhile Chicot, who probably had no time to lose, heated at the lampthe point of a small dagger, and cut in the middle of the wax the sealof the letter. This being done, and as there was nothing else to retainthe dispatch, Chicot drew it from its envelope, and read it with theliveliest marks of satisfaction.
Just as he had finished reading it, Maitre Bonhomet returned with theoil, the wine, the paper, and the pen.
Chicot arranged the pen, ink, and paper before him, sat himself down atthe table, and turned his back with stoical indifference toward Bonhometfor him to operate upon. The latter understood the pantomime, and beganto rub it.
However, as if, instead of irritating a painful wound, some one had beentickling him in the most delightful manner, Chicot, during theoperation, copied the letter from the Duc de Guise to his sister, andmade his comments thereon at every word.
"DEAR SISTER--The expedition from Anvers has succeeded for everybody, but has failed as far as we are concerned. You will be told that the Duc d'Anjou is dead; do not believe it--he is alive.
"_He lives_, you understand, and that is the whole question.
"There is a complete dynasty in those words; those two words separate the house of Lorraine from the throne of France better than the deepest abyss could do.
"Do not, however, make yourself too uneasy about that. I have discovered that two persons whom I thought were dead are still living, and there is a great chance of death for the prince while those two persons are alive.
"Think then only of Paris; it will be time enough for the League to act six weeks hence. Let our Leaguers know that the moment is approaching, and let them hold themselves in readiness.
"The army is on foot; we number twelve thousand sure men, all well equipped; I shall enter France with it, under the pretext of engaging the German Huguenots, who are going to assist Henri de Navarre. I shall defeat the Huguenots, and having entered France as a friend, I shall act as a master."
"Oh, oh!" cried Chicot.
"Did I hurt you, dear Monsieur Chicot?" said Bonhomet, discontinuing hisfrictions.
"Yes, my good fellow."
"I will rub more softly; don't be afraid."
Chicot continued:
"P.S.--I entirely approve of your plan with regard to the Forty-five; only allow me to say, dear sister, that you will be conferring a greater honor on those fellows than they deserve."
"Ah! diable!" murmured Chicot, "this is getting obscure."
And he read it again.
"I entirely approve of your plan with regard to the Forty-five."
"What plan?" Chicot asked himself.
"Only allow me to say, dear sister, that you will be conferring a greater honor on those fellows than they deserve."
"What honor?"
Chicot resumed:--
"Than they deserve.
"Your affectionate brother.
"H. DE LORRAINE."
"At all events," said Chicot, "everything is clear, except thepostscript. Very good, We will look after the postscript, then."
"Dear Monsieur Chicot," Bonhomet ventured to observe, seeing that Chicothad finished writing, if not thinking, "Dear Monsieur Chicot, you havenot told me what I am to do with this corpse."--"That is a very simpleaffair."
"For you, who are full of imagination, it may be, but for me?"
"Well! suppose, for instance, that that unfortunate captain had beenquarreling with the Swiss guards or the Reiters, and he had been broughtto your house wounded, would you have refused to receive him?"
"No, certainly, unless indeed you had forbidden me, dear M. Chicot."
"Suppose that, having been placed in that corner, he had,notwithstanding the care and attention you had bestowed upon him,departed this life while in your charge, it would have been a greatmisfortune, and nothing more, I suppose?"
"Certainly."
"And, instead of incurring any blame, you would deserve to be commendedfor your humanity. Suppose, again, that while he was dying this poorcaptain had mentioned the name, which you k
now very well, of the priorof Les Jacobins Saint Antoine?"
"Of Dom Modeste Gorenflot?" exclaimed Bonhomet, in astonishment.
"Yes, of Dom Modeste Gorenflot. Very good! You will go and inform DomModeste of it; Dom Modeste will hasten here with all speed, and, as thedead man's purse is found in one of his pockets--you understand it isimportant that the purse should be found; I mention this merely by wayof advice--and as the dead man's purse is found in one of his pockets,and this letter in the other, no suspicion whatever can be entertained."
"I understand, dear Monsieur Chicot."
"In addition to which you will receive a reward, instead of beingpunished."
"You are a great man, dear Monsieur Chicot; I will run at once to thePriory of St. Antoine."
"Wait a minute! did I not say there was the purse and the letter?"
"Oh! yes, and you have the letter in your hand."--"Precisely."
"I must not say that it has been read and copied?"
"Pardieu! it is precisely on account of this letter reaching itsdestination intact that you will receive a recompense."
"The letter contains a secret, then?"
"In such times as the present there are secrets in everything, my dearBonhomet."
And Chicot, with this sententious reply, again fastened the silk underthe wax of the seal by making use of the same means as he had donebefore; he then fastened the wax so artistically that the mostexperienced eye would not have been able to have detected the slightestcrack.
He then replaced the letter in the pocket of the dead man, had thelinen, which had been steeped in the oil and wine, applied to his woundby way of a cataplasm, put on again the safety coat of mail next to hisskin, his shirt over his coat of mail, picked up his sword, wiped it,thrust it into the scabbard, and withdrew.
He returned again, however, saying:
"If, after all, the story which I have invented does not seemsatisfactory to you, you can accuse the captain of having thrust his ownsword through his body."
"A suicide?"
"Well, that don't compromise any one, you understand."
"But they won't bury this ill-starred fellow in holy ground."
"Pooh," said Chicot, "will that be giving him much pleasure?"
"Why, yes, I should think so."
"In that case, do as you like, my dear Bonhomet; adieu."
Then, returning a second time, he said:
"By-the-by, I pay, since he is no more." And Chicot threw three goldencrowns on the table, and then, placing his fore-finger on his lips, intoken of silence, he departed.