Chapter 10: The Queen Of Navarre.
The sun had just risen when Maitre Bertram, accompanied by four menin the attire of peasants, went down to the port. Two of them woresteel caps, and had the appearance of discharged soldiers. Theother two looked like fresh countrymen, and wore the low caps inuse by the peasantry on their heads, carrying steel caps slung bycords from their shoulder. All four had swords stuck into theirleathern belts. Similar groups might have been seen in hundreds,all over France, making their way to join the forces of thecontending parties.
Philip and his followers embarking.]
The craft upon which the trader led them was a small one, of fouror five tons burden, manned by three men and a boy.
"You understand, Johan, if you meet with no interruption, you willland your passengers at the mouth of the Seudre; but if you shouldcome across any of the craft that have been hovering about thecoast, and find that they are too fast for you, put them ashorewherever they may direct. If you are too hotly chased to escape,after landing them, you had best also disembark; and make your wayback by land, as best you can, leaving them to do what they willwith the boat. As like as not they would cut your throats, did theytake you; and if not, would want to know whom you had landed, andother matters.
"I do not want to lose the craft, which has done me good service inher time, and is a handy little coaster; but I would rather loseit, than that you should fall into the hands of the Bordeaux boatsand get into trouble. The fact that you made for shore, to landpassengers, would be sufficient to show that those passengers wereof some importance.
"Now, good luck to you, Master Philip. I trust to see you back hereagain, before long."
They kept straight out from La Rochelle to the Isle of Oleron, andheld along close to its shore, lest boats coming out from theCharente might overhaul them. From the southern end of the island,it was only a run of some eight miles into the mouth of the Seudre.A brisk wind had blown, and they made the forty miles' voyage inseven hours. They could see several white sails far to the south,as they ran in; but had met with nothing to disquiet them, on theway. They were rowed ashore in the little boat the craft carried,and landed among some sand hills; among which they at once struckoff, and walked briskly for a mile inland, so as to avoid anyquestionings, from persons they might meet, as to where they hadcome from.
Jacques and his brother carried bags slung over their shoulders,and in these was a store of food with which the merchant hadprovided them, and two or three flasks of good wine; so that theymight make a day's journey, at least, without having to stop topurchase food.
It was two o'clock when they landed, and they had therefore somefive hours of daylight; and before this had faded they had passedRoyan, situated on the Gironde. They did not approach the town but,keeping behind it, came down upon the road running along the shore,three miles beyond it; and walked along it until about ten o'clock,by which time all were thoroughly tired with their unaccustomedexercise. Leaving the road, they found a sheltered spot among thesand hills, ate a hearty meal, and then lay down to sleep.
They were afoot again, at daylight. The country was sparselypopulated. They passed through a few small villages, but no placeof any importance until, late in the afternoon, they approachedBlaye, after a long day's tramp. As they thought that here theymight learn something, of the movements of the large body ofCatholic troops Philip had heard of as guarding the passages of theDordogne, they determined to enter the town.
They passed through the gates, half an hour before they wereclosed, and entered a small cabaret. Here, calling for some breadand common wine, they sat down in a corner, and listened to thetalk of the men who were drinking there. It was all about themovements of troops, and the scraps of news that had come in fromall quarters.
"I don't know who they can be all arming against," one said. "TheQueen of Navarre has no troops and, even if a few hundreds ofHuguenots joined her, what could she do? As to Conde and theAdmiral, they have been hunted all over France, ever since theyleft Noyers. They say they hadn't fifty men with them. It seems tome they are making a great fuss about nothing."
"I have just heard a report," a man who had, two or three minutesbefore, entered the room said, "to the effect that they arrivedfour days since at La Rochelle, with some five or six hundred men,who joined them on the way."
An exclamation of surprise broke from his hearers.
"Then we shall have trouble," one exclaimed. "La Rochelle is a hardnut to crack, in itself; and if the prince and the Admiral have gotin, the Huguenots from all the country round will rally there, andmay give a good deal of trouble, after all. What can the Catholiclords have been about, that they managed to let them slip throughtheir hands in that way? They must have seen, for some time, thatthey were making for the one place where they would be safe; unlessindeed they were making down for Navarre. That would account forthe way in which all the bridges and fords across the rivers arebeing watched."
"I expect they are watching both ways," another said. "TheseHuguenots always seem to know what is going on, and it is likelyenough that, while our people all thought that Conde was making forGermany, there was not a Huguenot throughout France who did notknow he was coming west to La Rochelle; and if so, they will bemoving in all directions to join him there, and that is whyD'Escars has got such a force at all the bridges. I heard, from aman who came in yesterday, that the Lot is watched just as sharply,from the Garonne through Cahors right on to Espalion; and he hadheard that at Agen, and along the Aveyron, the troops hold thebridges and fords as if they expected an enemy.
"No doubt, as soon as they hear that Conde and his party are in LaRochelle, they will close round them and catch them in a trap. Thatwill be as good as any other way, and save much trouble. It is along chase to catch a pack of wolves, scattered all over thecountry; but one can make short work of them all, when you get thempenned up in an inclosure."
Philip cast a warning glance at his companions, for he felt soinclined to retort, himself, that he feared they might give way toa similar impulse. Jacques and his brother, however, were munchingtheir bread stolidly; while Pierre was looking at the speaker, witha face so full of admiring assent to his remark, that Philip had tostruggle hard to repress a laugh.
"It must be owned," another of the group said, "that these wolvesbite hard. I was in Paris last year, with the Count de Caussac.Well, we laughed when we saw the three parties of white wolves rideout from Saint Denis; but I tell you, there was no laughing whenthey got among us. We were in the Constable's troop; and though, asfar as I know, we were all pretty stout men-at-arms, and were fourto one against them at least, we had little to boast of when thefight was over.
"At any rate, I got a mark of the wolves' teeth, which has put astop to my hunting, as you see," and he held out his arm. "I leftmy right hand on the field of battle. It was in the fight roundConde. A young Huguenot--for he was smooth faced, and but ayouth--shred it off with a sweeping backhanded blow, as if it hadbeen a twig. So there is no more wolf hunting for me; but even if Ihad my right hand back again, I should not care for any more suchrough sport as that."
Philip congratulated himself that he was sitting with his back tothe speaker, for he remembered the incident well, and it was hisarm that had struck the blow. His visor had been up; but as hisface was shaded by the helmet and cheek pieces, and the man couldhave obtained but a passing glance at him, he felt sure, onreflection, that he would not be recognized.
"Ah, well, we shall do better this time," the first speaker said."We are better prepared than we were then and, except La Rochelleand four or five small towns, every place in France is in ourhands. I expect the next news will be that the prince and Coligny,and the others, have taken ship for England. Then, when thatpestilent Queen of Navarre and her boy are in our hands, the wholething will be over; and the last edict will be carried out, andeach Huguenot will have the choice between the mass and thegallows.
"Well, I will have one more stoup of wine, and then I will be off,for we march at
daybreak."
"How many ride out with you?" the man who had lost his hand asked.
"A hundred. The town has voted the funds, and we march to joinD'Escars tomorrow. I believe we are not going to Perigueux, but areto be stationed somewhere on the lower Dordogne, to prevent any ofthe Huguenots from the south making their way towards La Rochelle."
The frequenters of the cabaret presently dropped off. Jacques, whoacted as spokesman, had on entering asked the landlord if theycould sleep there; and he said there was plenty of good hay, in theloft over the stable. As his duties were now over, he came acrossto them.
"Which way are you going, lads?" he asked. "Are you bound, like theothers, to join one of the lords on the Dordogne?"
"No," Jacques said, "we are bound for Agen. We come from nearthere."
"I thought your tongue had a smack of Gascon in it."
"Yes, we come from across the border. We are tired of hard work inthe vineyards, and are going to take up with our own trade; for mycomrade, here, and I served under De Brissac, in Italy. We wouldrather enlist under our own lord than under a stranger."
"Yes, that I can understand," the landlord said; "but you will findit no easy work travelling, at present; when every bridge and fordacross the rivers is watched by armed men, and all who pass arequestioned, sharply, as to their business."
"Well, if they won't let us pass," Jacques said carelessly, "wemust join some leader here; though I should like to have had a fewdays at home, first."
"Your best plan would have been to have gone by boat to Bordeaux.There has been a strong wind from the west, for the last threedays, and it would save you many a mile of weary tramping."
"That it would," Jacques said; "but could one get a passage?"
"There will be no difficulty about that. There is not a day passes,now that the wind is fair, that three or four boats do not go offto Bordeaux, with produce from the farms and vineyards. Of course,you wouldn't get up without paying; but I suppose you are notwithout something in your pockets.
"There is a cousin of mine, a farmer, who is starting in themorning, and has chartered a boat to carry his produce. If I say aword to him, I have no doubt he would give the four of you apassage, for a crown."
"What do you say, comrades?" Jacques said. "It would save us somethirty or forty miles walking, and perhaps some expense for ferrys;to say nought of trouble with the troops, who are apt enough,moreover, to search the pockets of those who pass."
"I think it would be a good plan," his brother replied; and theother two also assented.
"Very well then," the landlord said; "my cousin will be here in themorning, for he is going to leave two or three barrels of lastyear's vintage with me. By the way, I daresay he will be easy withyou as to the passage money, if you agree to help him carry up hisbarrels to the magazine of the merchant he deals with, and aid himwith his other goods. It will save him from having to employ menthere, and those porters of Bordeaux know how to charge pretty highfor their services.
"I will make you up a basket for your journey. Shall I say a bottleof wine each, and some bread, and a couple of dozen eggs, which Iwill get boiled hard for you?"
"That will do well, landlord," Jacques said, "and we thank you, forhaving put us in the way of saving our legs tomorrow. What time doyou think your cousin will be in?"
"He will have his carts at the gates by the time they open them. Heis not one to waste time; besides, every minute is of importancefor, with this wind, he may well hope to arrive at Bordeaux in timeto get his cargo discharged by nightfall."
"That was a lucky stroke, indeed," Philip said, when they hadgained the loft; and the landlord, having hung up a lantern, hadleft them alone. "Half our difficulties will be over, when we getto Bordeaux. I had begun to fear, from what we heard of the watchthey are keeping at the bridges, that we should have found it avery difficult matter crossing the rivers. Once out of Bordeaux theCiron is the only stream we shall have to cross, and that is but asmall river, and is not likely to be watched; for no one making hisway from the south to La Rochelle would keep to the west of theGaronne."
They were downstairs by six, had a meal of bread and spiced wine;and soon after seven there was a rumble of carts outside, and twoof them stopped at the cabaret. They were laden principally withbarrels of wine; but in one the farmer's wife was sitting,surrounded by baskets of eggs, fowls, and ducks, and several casksof butter.
Three of the casks of wine were taken down, and carried into thehouse. The landlord had a chat apart with his cousin, who then cameforward to where they were sitting at a table.
"My cousin tells me you want to go to Bordeaux, and are willing tohelp load my boat, and to carry the barrels to the warehouse atBordeaux, in return for a passage. Well, I agree to the bargain.The warehouse is not very far from the wharf, but the men therecharge an extortionate price."
"We will do your work," Jacques said.
"But how am I to know that, when you land, you will not slip awaywithout fulfilling your share of the bargain?" the farmer asked."You look honest fellows, but soldiers are not gentry to be alwaysdepended upon. I mean no offence, but business is business, youknow."
Jacques put his hand in his pocket.
"Here is a crown," he said. "I will hand it over to you, asearnest. If we do not do your work, you can keep that to pay thehire of the men to carry your barrels."
"That is fair enough," the farmer said, pocketing the coin. "Now,let us go without delay."
The landlord had already been paid for the supper of the nightbefore, the lodging, and the contents of the basket; and withoutmore words, they set out with the cart to the riverside. Here theboat was in waiting, and they at once set to work, with the driversof the two carts, to transfer their contents to it. As they were asanxious as the farmer that no time should be lost, they workedhard, and in a quarter of an hour all was on board.
They took their places in the bow; the farmer, his wife, and thetwo boatmen being separated from them by the pile of barrels. Thesail was at once hoisted and, as the west wind was still blowingstrongly, Blaye was soon left behind.
"This is better than walking, by a long way," Philip said. "We areout of practice, and my feet are tender from the tramp from thecoast. It would have taken us two days to get to Bordeaux, even ifwe had no trouble in crossing the Dordogne, and every hour is ofimportance. I hope we may get out of the city before the gatesclose, then we shall be able to push on all night."
They passed several islands on their way and, after four hours'run, saw the walls and spires of Bourg, where the Dordogne uniteswith the Garonne to form the great estuary known as the Gironde.
At three o'clock they were alongside the wharves of Bordeaux. Theystowed away their steel caps and swords, and at once prepared tocarry up the barrels.
"Do you make an excuse to move off, master," Pierre said; "we threewill soon get these barrels into the store, and it is no fittingwork for you."
"Honest work is fitting work, Pierre, and methinks that myshoulders are stronger than yours. I have had my sail, and I amgoing to pay for it by my share of the work."
The store was nearer than Philip had expected to find it. A wideroad ran along by the river bank, and upon the other side of thiswas a line of low warehouses, all occupied by the wine merchants;who purchased the produce of their vineyards from the growers and,after keeping it until it matured, supplied France and foreigncountries with it.
Several ships lay by the wharves. Some were bound for England,others for Holland. Some were freighted for the northern ports ofFrance, and some, of smaller size, for Paris itself. Several mencame up to offer their services, as soon as the boat was alongside;and these, when they saw that the owner of the wines had broughtmen with them, who would transport the wine to the warehouses,indulged in some rough jeers before moving away.
In the first place Philip and his companions, aided by the boatmen,carried the cargo ashore; while the farmer crossed the road to themerchant with whom he dealt. His store was not more than fifty
yards from the place of landing and, as soon as he returned, thework began. In an hour and a half the whole of the barrels werecarried over. The farmer's wife had seen to the carriage of herportion of the cargo to the inn her husband frequented on theseoccasions. It was close to the marketplace, and there she would, assoon as the market opened in the morning, dispose of them; and bynine o'clock they would be on board again. When the last barrel wascarried into the store, the farmer handed Jacques the crown he hadtaken, as pledge for the performance of the bargain.
"You are smart fellows," he said, "and nimble. The same number ofthese towns fellows would have taken double the time that you havedone; and I must have had six, at least, to have got the winesafely stored before nightfall."
"We are well contented with our bargain," Jacques said. "It isbetter to work hard for two hours, than to walk for two days. Sogood day to you, master, for we shall get on our way at once, anddo not want to spend our money in the wine shops here."
Possessing themselves of their steel caps and swords again, theymade their way through the busy town to the south gates; throughwhich a stream of peasants, with carts, horses, and donkeys waspassing out, having disposed of the produce they had brought in.
"Where are you bound to, you two with steel caps?" the officer atthe gate asked.
Jacques and his brother paused, while Philip and Pierre, who hadstowed their caps in the bundles they carried, went on withoutstopping; as it had previously been agreed that, in case of one ormore of his followers being stopped, Philip should continue hisway; as it was urgent that he should not suffer anything to delayhim in the delivery of his message. He waited, however, a quarterof a mile from the gates, and the two men then rejoined him.
"We had no difficulty, sir," Jacques said. "We said that we oncehad served, and were going to do so again, having grown sickworking in the vineyards; and that we had come up from Blaye with acargo of wine, and had taken our discharge, and were now bound forAgen to see our families, before joining the force that theViscount de Rouillac, under whom our father held a farm, would nodoubt be putting in the field. That was sufficient, and he let usgo on without further question; except that he said that we shouldhave done better by going up to Saintes, or Cognac, and takingservice with the force there, instead of making this long journeyup to Agen."
They walked steadily on until, when it was nearly midnight, theyarrived at a small village on the banks of the Ciron. As theinhabitants would have been in bed, hours before, they made uptheir minds not to attempt to find a shelter there; but to cross bythe bridge, and sleep in the first clump of trees they came to. Asthey approached the bridge, however, they saw a fire burning in thecentre of the road. Two men were sitting beside it, and severalothers lay round.
"Soldiers!" Philip said. "It would not do to try to cross, at thistime of night. We will retire beyond the village, and wait untilmorning."
They turned off into a vineyard, as soon as they were outside thevillage; and lay down among the vines that had, some weeks before,been cleared of their grapes.
"How far does this river run before it becomes fordable, Jacques?"
"I do not know, sir. There are hills run along, in a line with theGaronne, some ten or twelve miles back; and I should say that, whenwe get there, we shall certainly find points at which we mightcross this stream."
"That would waste nearly a day, and time is too precious for that.We will go straight on in the morning. Our story has been goodenough, thus far. There is no reason why it should not carry usthrough."
Accordingly, as soon as the sun was up they entered the village,and went into a cabaret and called for wine and bread.
"You are travelling early," the landlord said.
"Yes, we have a long tramp before us, so we thought we had betterperform part of it before breakfast."
"These are busy times. Folks are passing through, one way or theother, all day. It is not for us innkeepers to grumble, but peaceand quiet are all we want, about here. These constant wars andtroubles are our ruin. The growers are all afraid to send theirwine to market; for many of these armed bands are no better thanbrigands, and think much more of robbing, and plundering, than theydo of fighting. I suppose, by your looks, you are going to takeservice with some lord or other?"
Jacques repeated the usual tale.
"Well, well, every man to his liking," the landlord said; "but formy part, I can't think what Frenchmen want to fly at each others'throats for. We have got thirty soldiers quartered in the villagenow, though what they are doing here is more than I can imagine. Weshall be glad when they are gone; for they are a rough lot, andtheir leader gives himself as many airs as if he had conquered theplace. I believe they belong to a force that is lying at Bazas,some five leagues away. One would think that the Queen of Navarrehad got a big Huguenot army together, and was marching north."
"I should not think she could raise an army," Philip saidcarelessly; "and if she is wise, she will stop quietly down inBearn."
"There is a rumour here," the landlord said, "that she is at Nerac,with only a small party of gentlemen; and that she is on her way toParis, to assure the king that she has no part in these troubles. Idon't know whether that has anything to do with the troops; who, asI hear, are swarming all over the country. They say that there arefifteen hundred men at Agen."
"I am afraid we shall have trouble at this bridge," Philip said, asthe landlord left them. "They seem to be a rough lot, and thistruculent lieutenant may not be satisfied with a story that hisbetters would accept, without question. We will ask our host ifthere is any place where the river can be forded, without going toofar up. We can all swim and, as the river is no great width, we canmake a shift to get across, even if the ford is a bad one."
The landlord presently returned. Jacques put the question:
"By your account of those fellows at the bridge, we might havetrouble with them?"
"As like as not," the landlord said. "They worry and vex all whocome past, insult quiet people; and have seized several, who havehappened to have no papers of domicile about them, and sent themoff to Bazas. They killed a man who resented their rough usage, twodays ago. There has been a talk, in the village, of sending acomplaint of their conduct to the officer at Bazas; but perhaps hemight do nothing and, if he didn't, it would only make it the worsefor us, here."
"We don't want troubles," Jacques said, "and therefore, if we couldpass the river without having to make too wide a detour, we woulddo so. Do you know of any fords?"
"Yes, there are two or three places where it can be crossed, whenthe water is low; and as there has been no rain, for some weekspast, you will be able to cross now, easily enough. There is onefour miles higher up. You will see a clump of willow trees, on thisside of the river; and there is a pile of stones, some five feethigh, on the other. You enter the river close by the trees, andthen keep straight for the pile of stones, which is some fiftyyards higher up, for the ford crosses the river at an angle."
"Well, we will take that way, then," Jacques said. "It is better tolose an hour, than to have trouble here."
An hour later, the party arrived at the ford and crossed it withoutdifficulty, the water being little above their waists. Some milesfarther, they saw ahead of them the towers of Bazas; and struck offfrom the road they were traversing, to pass to the east of it. Theypresently came upon a wide road.
"This must be the road to Nerac," Philip said. "There are neitherrivers nor places of any size to be passed, now. The only danger isfrom bodies of horse watching the road."
"And if I mistake not, sir, there is one of them approaching now,"Pierre said, pointing ahead.
As he spoke, the heads and shoulders of a body of horsemen wereseen, as they rode up from a dip the road made into a hollow, halfa mile away.
Philip glanced round. The country was flat, and it was too late tothink of concealment.
"We will go quietly on," he said. "We must hope they will notinterfere with us."
The troop consisted of some twenty men, two g
entlemen riding attheir head; and as they came up, they checked their horses.
"Whither come you, and where are you bound, my men?"
"We come from Bordeaux, sir, and we are bound for Agen," Jacquesreplied. "My comrade and I served under De Brissac, when we weremere lads, and we have a fancy to try the old trade again; and ouryoung cousins also want to try their metal."
"You are a Gascon, by your tongue?"
"That is so," Jacques said; "and it is for that reason we are goingsouth. We would rather fight in a company of our own people thanwith strangers."
"Whom have you been serving at Bordeaux? I am from the city, andknow most of those in and round it."
"We have not been working there, sir. We come from near Blaye, andmade the journey thence to Bordeaux by a boat with our master,Jacques Blazin, who was bringing to Bordeaux a cargo of his wines."
"Why waste time, Raoul?" the other gentleman said, impatiently."What matter if they came from Bordeaux or Blaye, these are not ofthose whom we are here to arrest. Anyhow they are not Huguenotlords, but look what they say they are; but whether men-at-arms, orpeasants, they concern us not. Maybe, while we are questioningthem, a party of those we are in search of may be traversing someother road. Let us be riding forward."
He roughly pricked his horse with his spur, and the troop rode on.
"I think you are wrong to be so impatient, Louis," the one who hadacted as interrogator said. "Anyone could see, with half an eye,that those two fellows were, as they said, old men-at-arms. Thereis a straightness and a stiffness about men who have been under thehands of the drill sergeant there is no mistaking; and I couldswear that fellow is a Gascon, as he said.
"But I am not so sure as to one of the young fellows with them. Iwas about to question him, when you broke in. He did not look to melike a young peasant, and I should not be at all surprised if he issome Huguenot gentleman, making his way to Nerac with three of hisfollowers."
"Well, if it was so, Raoul, he will not swell the queen's army toany dangerous extent. I am glad that you didn't ask him anyquestions; for if he declared himself a Huguenot--and to do themjustice, the Huguenots will never deny their faith--I suppose itwould have been our duty to have fallen upon them and slaughteredthem; and though I am willing enough to draw, when numbers arenearly equal and it is a fair fight, I will take no part in theslaughter of men when we are twenty to one against them. Three orfour men, more or less, at Nerac will make no difference. The Queenof Navarre has but some fifty men in all and, whenever the orderscome to seize her and her son, it may be done easily enough,whether she has fifty or a hundred with her.
"War is all well enough, Raoul, but the slaughtering of solitarymen is not an occupation that suits me. I am a good Catholic, Ihope, but I abhor these massacres of defenceless people, onlybecause they want to worship in their own way. I look to the popeas the head of my religion on earth, but why should I treat as amortal enemy a man who does not recognize the pope's authority?"
"That is dangerous doctrine, Louis."
"Yes, but why should it be? You and I were both at the colloquy atPoissy, and we saw that the Cardinal of Lorraine, and all thebishops, failed totally to answer the arguments of the Huguenotminister Beza. The matter was utterly beyond me and, had Bezaargued ten times as strongly as he did, it would in no way haveshaken my faith; but I contend that if Lorraine himself and thebishops could not show this man to be wrong, there can be nothingin these people's interpretation of Scripture that can be soterrible as to deserve death. If they become dangerous to thestate, I am ready to fight against them, as against any otherenemies of France; but I can see nothing that can excuse thepersecutions and massacres. And if these men be enemies of France,of which as yet no proof has been shown, it is because they havebeen driven to it, by persecution."
"Louis, my cousin," the other said, "it is dangerous, indeed, inthese days to form an opinion. You must remember our greateststatesman, L'Hopital, has fallen into some disgrace, and has beendeprived of rank and dignity, because he has been an advocate oftoleration."
"I know that, Raoul; but I also know there are numbers of ournobles and gentlemen who, although staunch Catholics, are sickenedat seeing the king acting as the tool of Philip of Spain and thepope; and who shudder, as I do, at beholding France stained withblood from end to end, simply because people choose to worship Godin their own way. You must remember that these people are not theignorant scum of our towns, but that among them are a large numberof our best and wisest heads. I shall fight no less staunchly, whenfighting has to be done, because I am convinced that it is allwrong. If they are in arms against the king, I must be in arms forhim; but I hope none the less that, when arms are laid down, therewill be a cessation of persecution--at any rate, a cessation ofmassacre. It is bringing disgrace on us in the eyes of all Europe,and I trust that there may be a league made among us to withstandthe Guises; and to insist that there shall be, in France, norepetition of the atrocities by which Philip of Spain, and the Dukeof Alva, are trying to stamp out the reformed religion in theNetherlands."
"Well, I hope at any rate, Louis," his cousin said impatiently,"that you will keep these opinions to yourself; for assuredly theywill bring you into disgrace, and may even cost you yourpossessions and your head, if they are uttered in the presence ofany friend of the Guises."