CHAPTER LXXXVII.
CERTAINTY.
Henri glided along the hedge on the side which was thrown into deepshade, taking care to make no noise either on the gravel or against thetrees.
Obliged to walk carefully, and while walking to watch carefully overevery movement he made, he could not perceive anything. And yet, by hisstyle, his dress, his walk, he still fancied he recognized Remy in theman who wore the overcoat.
Mere conjectures, more terrifying for him than realities, arose in hismind with regard to this man's companion.
The road which they were following, and which was bounded by a row ofelms, terminated in a high hawthorn hedge, which separated from the restof the park the pavilion of the Duc d'Anjou, and enveloped it as with acurtain of verdure, in the midst of which, as has been already observed,it entirely disappeared in a remote corner of the grounds of thechateau. There were several beautiful sheets of water, dark underwood,through which winding paths had been cut, and venerable trees, over thesummits of which the moon was shedding its streams of silver light,while underneath the gloom was thick, dark, and impenetrable.
As he approached this hedge, Henri felt that his heart was on the pointof failing him. In fact, to transgress so boldly the prince's orders,and to abandon himself to a course of conduct as indiscreet as it wasrash, was the act, not of a loyal and honorable man, but of a mean andcowardly spy, or of a jealous man driven to extremities. But as, whileopening the gate, which separated the greater from the smaller park, theman he followed moved in such a way that his features were revealed, andas he perceived that these features were indeed those of Remy, thecount's scruples vanished, and he resolutely advanced at all hazards.Henri found the gate again closed; he leaped over the railings, and thencontinued his pursuit of the prince's two strange visitors, who stillseemed to be hurrying onward. Another cause of terror was soon added;for the duke, on hearing the footsteps of Remy and his companion uponthe gravel walk, made his appearance from the pavilion. Henri threwhimself behind the largest of the trees, and waited.
He could not see anything, except that he observed that Remy made a verylow salutation, that Remy's companion courtesied like a woman, insteadof bowing like a man, and that the duke, seemingly transported withdelight, offered his arm to the latter, in the same way as he would havedone to a woman. Then all three advanced toward the pavilion,disappeared under the vestibule, and the door closed behind them.
"This must end," said Henri, "and I must seek a more convenient place,where I can see everything that may pass without being seen."
He decided in favor of a clump of trees situated between the pavilionand the wall, from the center of which the waters of a fountain gushedforth, thus forming an impenetrable place of concealment; for it was notlikely that in the night-time, with the freshness and humidity whichwould naturally be found near this fountain, the prince would seek thevicinity of the water and the thickets. Hidden behind the statue withwhich the fountain was ornamented, and standing at his full heightbehind the pedestal, Henri was enabled to see what was taking place inthe pavilion, the principal window of which was quite open before him.
As no one could, or rather, as no one would, venture to penetrate sofar, no precautions had been taken.
A table was laid, sumptuously served with the richest viands, and withrare wines in bottles of costly Venetian glass.
Two seats only at this table seemed to be awaiting two guests.
The duke approached one of the chairs; then, leaving the arm of Remy'scompanion, and pointing to the other seat, he seemed to request that thecloak might be thrown aside, as, although it might be very serviceablefor an evening stroll, it became very inconvenient when the object ofthe stroll was attained, and when that object was a supper.
Thereupon the individual to whom the invitation had been addressed threwthe cloak upon a chair, and the dazzling blaze of the flambeaux lightedup, without a shadow on their loveliness, the pale andmajestically-beautiful features of a woman whom the terrified eyes ofHenri immediately recognized. It was the lady of the mysterious house inthe Rue des Augustins, the wanderer in Flanders; in one word, it wasthat Diana whose gaze was as mortal as the thrust of a dagger. On thisoccasion she wore the apparel of her own sex, and was richly dressed inbrocaded silk; diamonds blazed on her neck, in her hair, and on herwrists, and thereby made the extreme pallor of her face more remarkablethan ever, and in the light which shone from her eyes, it almost seemedas if the duke had, by the employment of some magical means, evoked theghost of this woman, rather than the woman herself. Had it not been forthe support afforded by the statue round which he had thrown his arms,colder even than the marble itself, Henri would have fallen backwardheadlong into the basin of the fountain.
The duke seemed intoxicated with delight; he fixed his passionate gazeupon this beautiful creature, who had seated herself opposite to him,and who hardly touched the dishes which had been placed before her. Fromtime to time Francois leaned across the table to kiss one of the handsof his silent guest, who, as pale as death, seemed as insensible to hiskisses as if her hand had been sculptured in alabaster, which, fortransparency and perfect whiteness, it so much resembled. From time totime Henri started, raised his hand to his forehead, and with it wipedaway the death-like sweat which rose on it, and asked himself: "Is shealive, or dead?"
The duke tried his utmost efforts and displayed all his powers ofeloquence to unbend the rigid beauty of her face.
Remy, the only attendant, for the duke had sent every one away, waitedon them both, and, occasionally, lightly touching his mistress with hiselbow as he passed behind her chair, seemed to revive her by thecontact, and to recall her to life, or rather to the position in whichshe was placed.
Thereupon, a bright flush spread over her whole face, her eyes sparkled,she smiled as if some magician had touched a spring unknown to thisautomaton-like figure, seemingly endowed with intelligence, and themechanism of which had drawn the lightning glance from her eyes, theglowing flush on her cheek, and the sparkling smile to her lips. Themoment after, she again subsided into her calm and statue-likestillness. The prince, however, approached her, and by the passionatetone of his conversation, seemed as if he had succeeded in warming intoanimation his new conquest. Thereupon Diana, who occasionally glanced atthe face of a magnificent clock suspended over the prince's head,against the opposite side of the wall to where she was seated, seemed tomake an effort over herself, and with her lips bedecked with smiles tooka more active part in the conversation.
Henri, concealed in his leafy covert, wrung his hands in despair, andcursed the whole creation in the utter wretchedness of his soredistress. It seemed to him monstrous, almost iniquitous, that thiswoman, so pure and rigidly inflexible, should yield herself sounresistingly to the prince, because he was a prince, and abandonherself to love because it was offered within the precincts of a palace.His horror at Remy was so extreme that he could have slain him withoutremorse, in order to see whether so great a monster had the blood andheart of a man in him. In such paroxysms of rage and contempt did Henripass the time during the supper, which to the Duc d'Anjou was so full ofrapture and delight.
Diana sang. The prince, inflamed by wine, and by his passionatediscourse, rose from the table for the purpose of embracing Diana. Everydrop of blood seemed to curdle in Henri's veins. He put his hand to hisside to see if his sword were there, and then thrust it into his breastin search of a dagger. Diana, with a strange smile, which most assuredlyhad never, until that moment, had its counterpart on any face, stoppedthe duke as he was approaching her.
"Will you allow me, monseigneur," she said, "before I rise from thetable, to share with your royal highness one of those tempting-lookingpeaches."
And with these words she stretched out her hand toward a basket of goldfilagree work, in which twenty peaches were tastefully arranged, andtook one.
Then, taking from her girdle a beautiful little dagger, with a silverblade and a handle of malachite, she divided the peach into twoportions,
and offered one of them to the prince, who seized it andcarried it eagerly to his lips, as though he would thus have kissedDiana's.
This impassioned action produced so deep an impression on himself, thata cloud seemed to obscure his sight at the very moment he bit into thefruit. Diana looked at him with her clear steady gaze, and her fixedimmovable smile.
Remy, leaning his back against a pillar of carved wood, also looked onwith a gloomy expression of countenance.
The prince passed one of his hands across his forehead, wiped away theperspiration which had gathered there, and swallowed the piece that hehad bitten.
This perspiration was most probably the symptom of a suddenindisposition; for while Diana ate the other half of the peach, theprince let fall on his plate what remained of the portion he had taken,and with difficulty rising from his seat, seemed to invite his beautifulcompanion to accompany him into the garden in order to enjoy the coolnight air.
Diana rose, and without pronouncing a single word, took the duke's arm,which he offered her.
Remy gazed after them, particularly after the prince, whom the airseemed completely to revive.
As she walked along, Diana wiped the small blade of her knife on ahandkerchief embroidered with gold, and restored it to its shagreensheath.
In this manner they approached the clump of trees where Henri wasconcealed.
The prince, with a passionate gesture, pressed his companion's armagainst his heart.
"I feel better," he said, "and yet I hardly know what heavy weight seemsto press down on my brain; I love too deeply, madame, I perceive."
Diana plucked several sprigs of jasmine and of clematis, and twobeautiful roses which bordered the whole of one side of the pedestal ofthe statue behind which Henri was shrinking terrified.
"What are you doing, madame?" inquired the prince.
"I have always understood, monseigneur," she said, "that the perfume offlowers was the best remedy for attacks of giddiness; I am gathering abouquet with the hope that this bouquet, if presented by me, will havethe magical influence which I wish it to possess."
But, while she was arranging the flowers, she let a rose fall from herhand, which the prince eagerly hastened to pick up.
The movement that Francois made was rapid, but not so rapid, however,but that it gave Diana sufficient time to pour upon the other rose a fewdrops of a liquid contained in a small gold bottle which she drew fromher bosom.
She then took from his hand the rose which the prince had picked up, andplacing it in her girdle, said--
"That one is for me, let us change."
And in exchange for the rose which she received from the prince's hand,she held out the bouquet to him.
The prince seized it eagerly, inhaled its perfume with delight, andpassed his arm around Diana's waist. But this latter action, in allprobability, completely overwhelmed the already troubled senses of theprince, for his knees trembled under him, and he was obliged to seathimself on a bank of green turf, beside which he happened to bestanding.
Henri did not lose sight of these two persons, and yet he had a look forRemy also, who in the pavilion awaited the termination of this scene, orrather seemed to devour every minute incident of it.
When he saw the prince totter, he advanced toward the threshold of thepavilion. Diana, on her side, perceiving Francois stagger, sat herselfdown beside him on the bank.
The giddiness from which Francois suffered continued on this occasionlonger than on the former; the prince's head was resting on his chest.He seemed to have lost all connection in his ideas, and almost theperception of his own existence; and yet the convulsive movement of hisfingers on Diana's hand seemed to indicate that he was instinctivelypursuing his wild dream of love. At last he slowly raised his head, andhis lips being almost on a level with Diana's face, he made an effort totouch those of his lovely guest, but as if unobservant of the movement,she rose from her seat.
"You are suffering, monseigneur," she said; "it would be better if wewere to go in."
"Oh! yes, let us go in," exclaimed the prince in a transport of joy.
And he arose, staggering, to his feet; then, instead of Diana leaning onhis arm, it was he who leaned on Diana's arm; and thanks to thissupport, walking with less difficulty, he seemed to forget fever andgiddiness too, for suddenly drawing himself up, he, in an unexpectedmanner, pressed his lips on her neck. She started as if, instead of akiss, she had received the impression of a red hot iron.
"Remy!" she exclaimed, "a flambeau, a flambeau!"
Remy immediately returned to the salle-a-manger, and lighted, by thecandle on the table, a flambeau which he took from a small round table,and then, hurrying to the entrance to the pavilion, and holding thetorch in his hand, he cried out:
"Here is one, madame."
"Where is your highness going to?" inquired Diana, seizing hold of theflambeau and turning her head aside.
"Oh! we will return to my own room, and you will lead me, I venture tohope, madame?" replied the prince, in a frenzy of passion.
"Willingly, monseigneur," replied Diana, and she raised the torch in theair, and walked before the prince.
Remy opened, at the end of the pavilion, a window through which thefresh air rushed inward, in such a manner that the flame and smoke ofthe flambeau, which Diana held, were carried back toward Francois' face,which happened to be in the very current of the air. The two lovers, asHenri considered them to be, proceeded in this manner, first crossing agallery to the duke's own room, and disappeared behind thefleur-de-lized hangings, which served the purpose of a portiere.
Henri had observed everything that had passed with increasing fury, andyet this fury was such that it almost deprived him of life. It seemed asif he had no strength left except to curse the fate which had imposed socruel a trial upon him. He had quitted his place of concealment, and inutter despair, his arms hanging by his side, and with a haggard gaze, hewas on the point of returning, with life ebbing fast, to his apartmentin the chateau, when suddenly the hangings behind which he had seenDiana and the prince disappear were thrown aside, and Diana herselfrushed into the supper-room, and seized hold of Remy, who, standingmotionless and erect, seemed only to be waiting her return.
"Quick! quick!" she said to him; "all is finished."
And they both darted into the garden as if they had been drunk, or mad,or raging with passion.
No sooner did Henri observe them, however, than he seemed to haverecovered all his strength; he hastened to place himself in their way,and they came upon him suddenly in the middle of the path, standingerect, his arms crossed, and more terrible in his silence than any onecould ever have been in his loudest menaces. Henri's feelings hadindeed arrived at such a pitch of exasperation, that he would readilyhave slain any man who would have ventured to maintain that women werenot monsters sent from hell to corrupt the world. He seized Diana by thearm, and stopped her suddenly, notwithstanding the cry of terror whichshe uttered, and notwithstanding the dagger which Remy put to hisbreast, and which even grazed his flesh.
"Oh! doubtless you do not recognize me," he said furiously, gnashing histeeth; "I am that simple-hearted young man who loved you, and whose loveyou would not return, because for you there was no future, but merelythe past. Ah! beautiful hypocrite that you are, and you, foul liar, Iknow you at last--I know and curse you. To the one I say, I despise andcontemn you: to the other, I shrink from you with horror."
"Make way!" cried Remy, in a strangled voice; "make way, young fool, orif not--"
"Be it so," replied Henri; "finish your work, and slay my body, wretch,since you have already destroyed my soul."
"Silence!" muttered Remy, furiously, pressing the blade of his daggermore and more against Henri's breast.
Diana, however, violently pushed Remy aside, and seizing Du Bouchage bythe arm, she drew him straight before her. She was lividly pale; herbeautiful hair streamed over her shoulders; the contact of the hand onHenri's wrist seemed to the latter cold and damp as the dews of death.
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"Monsieur," she said, "do not rashly judge of matters of which Heavenalone can judge. I am Diana de Meridor, the mistress of Monsieur deBussy, whom the Duc d'Anjou miserably allowed to perish when he couldhave saved him. Eight days since Remy slew Aurilly, the duke'saccomplice, and the prince himself I have just poisoned with a peach, abouquet, and a torch. Move aside, monsieur--move aside, I say, for Dianade Meridor, who is on her way to the Convent des Hospitalieres."
With these words, and letting Henri's arm fall, she took hold of thatof Remy, as he waited by her side.
Henri fell on his knees, following the retreating figures of the twoassassins, who disappeared behind the thick copse, as though it had beena vision from hell. It was not till fully an hour afterward that DuBouchage, overpowered with fatigue and overwhelmed with terror, with hisbrain on fire, was able to summon sufficient strength to drag himself tohis apartment, nor was it until after he had made the attempt nearly adozen times that he succeeded in escalading the window. He walked to andfro in his room several times, and then staggered toward the bed, onwhich he threw himself. Every one was sleeping quietly in the chateau.