Chapter 6: The Battle Of Saint Denis.
Francois de Laville and Philip had fought by the side of La Noue,in the engagement in the streets of Orleans; but had seen little ofthe Count afterwards, his time being fully employed in completingthe various arrangements to ensure the safety of the town. They hadbeen lodged in the house of one of the Huguenot citizens, and hadspent their time walking about the town, or in the society of someof the younger gentlemen of their party.
"Are you both ready for service again?" the Count de la Noue, whohad sent for them to come to his lodgings, asked on the evening ofthe third day after the capture of Orleans.
"Quite ready," Francois replied. "The horses have all recoveredfrom their fatigue, and are in condition for a fresh start. Are webound for Paris, may I ask?"
"No, Francois, we are going on a recruiting tour: partly because wewant men, but more to encourage our people by the sight of an armedparty, and to show the Catholics that they had best stay theirhands, and leave us alone for the present.
"I take a hundred men with me, including your troop and my own,which I hope largely to increase. Sometimes we shall keep in abody, sometimes break up into two or three parties. Always we shallmove rapidly, so as to appear where least expected, and so spreaduneasiness as to where we may next appear.
"In the south we are, as I hear, holding our own. I shall thereforego first to Brittany and, if all is quiet, there raise anotherfifty men. We shall travel through Touraine and Anjou as we go, andthen sweep round by Normandy and La Perche, and so up to Paris.
"So you see, we shall put a good many miles of ground under ourfeet, before we join the Prince. In that way not only shall weswell our numbers and encourage our friends, but we shall determany of the Catholic gentry from sending their retainers to jointhe army of the Guises."
"It will be a pleasant ride, cousin," Francois said, "and I hopethat we shall have an opportunity of doing some good work, beforewe reach Paris; and especially that we shall not arrive there toolate to join in the coming battle."
"I do not think that there is much fear of that," the Countreplied. "The Prince has not sufficient strength to attack Paris.And for my part, I think that it would have been far better, whenit was found that his plan of seizing the court had failed, to havedrawn off at once. He can do nothing against Paris, and hispresence before it will only incite the inhabitants against us, andincrease their animosity. It would have been better to have appliedthe force in reducing several strong towns where, as at Orleans,the bulk of the inhabitants are favourable to us. In this way weshould weaken the enemy, strengthen ourselves, and provide placesof refuge for our people in case of need. However, it is too latefor such regrets. The Prince is there, and we must take him whatsuccour we can.
"I was pleased with you both, in the fights upon the day weentered. You both behaved like brave gentlemen and good swordsmen.I expected no less from you, Francois; but I was surprised to findyour English cousin so skilled with his weapon."
"He is a better swordsman than I am," Francois said; "which is ashame to me, since he is two years my junior."
"Is he indeed!" the Count said in surprise. "I had taken him to beat least your equal in years. Let me think, you are but eighteenand some months?"
"But a month over eighteen," Francois said, "and Philip has butjust passed sixteen."
"You will make a doughty warrior when you attain your fullstrength, Philip. I saw you put aside a thrust from an officer inthe melee, and strike him from his horse with a backhanded cut withyour sword, dealt with a vigour that left nothing to be desired."
"I know that I am too fond of using the edge, sir," Philip said,modestly. "My English masters taught me to do so and, although myFrench instructors at home were always impressing upon me that thepoint was more deadly than the edge, I cannot break myselfaltogether from the habit."
"There is no need to do so," the Count said. "Of late the point hascome into fashion among us, and doubtless it has advantages; butoften a downright blow will fetch a man from his saddle, when youwould in vain try to find, with the point, a joint in his armour.But you must have been well taught, indeed, if you are a betterswordsman than my cousin; whose powers I have tried at Laville, andfound him to be an excellent swordsman, for his age."
"I have had many masters," Philip said. "Both my French and Englishteachers were good swordsmen; and it was seldom a Frenchman who hadbeen in the wars passed through Canterbury, that my uncle did notengage him to give me a few lessons. Thus, being myself veryanxious to become a good swordsman, and being fond of exercises, Inaturally picked up a great many tricks with the sword."
"You could not have spent your time better, if you had an intentionof coming over to take part in our troubles here. Your grandfather,De Moulins, was said to be one of the best swordsmen in France; andyou may have inherited some of his skill. I own that I felt ratheruneasy at the charge of two such young cockerels, though I couldnot refuse when the countess, my aunt, begged me to let you ridewith me; but in future I shall feel easy about you, seeing that youcan both take your own parts stoutly.
"Well, order your men to be ready and mounted, in the marketplace,at half-past five. The west gate will be opened for us to rideforth at six."
Philip had every reason to be satisfied with the conduct of his newservant. In the town, as at Laville, Pierre behaved circumspectlyand quietly; assuming a grave countenance in accordance with hissurroundings, keeping his arms and armour brightly polished, andwaiting at table as orderly as if he had been used to nothing elseall his life.
"I am glad to hear it, sir," Pierre said, when Philip informed himthat they would start on the following morning. "I love not towns;and here, where there is nought to do but to polish your armour,and stand behind your chair at dinner, the time goes mightyheavily."
"You will have no cause to grumble on that account, Pierre, Ifancy, for your ride will be a long one. I do not expect we shalloften have a roof over our heads."
"All the better, sir, so long as the ride finishes before the coldweather sets in. Fond as I am of sleeping with the stars over me; Iown that, when the snow is on the ground, I prefer a roof over myhead."
At six o'clock the party started. Only two other gentlemen rodewith it, both of whom were, like the Count, from Brittany. Thelittle group chatted gaily as they rode along. Unless they happenedto encounter parties of Catholics going north, to join the royalarmy, there was, so far as they knew, no chance of their meetingany body of the enemy on their westward ride.
The towns of Vendome, Le Mans, and Laval were all stronglyCatholic, and devoted to the Guises. These must be skirted. Rennesin Brittany must also be avoided, for all these towns were stronglygarrisoned, and could turn out a force far too strong for La Noueto cope with.
Upon the march, Pierre was not only an invaluable servant but thelife of the troop; he being full of fun and frolic, and making eventhe gravest soldier smile at his sallies. When they halted, he wasindefatigable in seeing after Philip's comforts. He cut boughs ofthe trees best suited for the purpose of making a couch, andsurprised his master and Francois by his ingenuity in turning outexcellent dishes from the scantiest materials. He would steal awayin the night to procure fowls and eggs from neighbouring farmhousesand, although Philip's orders were that he was to pay the fullprice for everything he required, Philip found, when he gave anaccount a fortnight later of how he had spent the money he hadgiven him, that there was no mention of any payment for thesearticles. When he rated Pierre for this, the latter replied:
"I did not pay for them, sir. Not in order to save you money, butfor the sake of the farmers and their families. It would have beenworse than cruelty to have aroused them from sleep. The loss of afowl or two, and of a dozen eggs, were nothing to them. If theymissed them at all, they would say that a fox had been there, andthey would think no more of it. If, on the other hand, I had wakedthem up in the middle of the night to pay for these trifles, theywould have been scared out of their life; thinking, when I knocked,that some band of
robbers was at the door. In their anger at beingthus disturbed they would have been capable of shooting me; and itis well nigh certain that, at any rate, they would have refused tosell their chickens and eggs at that time of the night.
"So you see, sir, I acted for the best for all parties. Twochickens out of scores was a loss not worth thinking of, while thewomen escaped the panic and terror that my waking them up wouldhave caused them. When I can pay I will assuredly do so, since thatis your desire; but I am sure you will see that, under suchcircumstances, it would be a crime to wake people from their sleepfor the sake of a few sous."
Philip laughed.
"Besides, sir," Pierre went on, "these people were either Huguenotsor Catholics. If they were Huguenots, they would be right glad tominister to those who are fighting on their behalf. If they wereCatholics, they would rob and murder us without mercy. Thereforethey may think themselves fortunate, indeed, to escape at sotrifling a cost from the punishment they deserve."
"That is all very well, Pierre; but the orders are strict againstplundering and, if the Admiral were to catch you, you would get asound thrashing with a stirrup leather."
"I have risked worse than that, sir, many times in my life; and ifI am caught, I will give them leave to use the strap. But you willsee, Monsieur Philip, that if the war goes on these niceties willsoon become out of fashion. At present the Huguenot lords andgentlemen have money in their pockets to pay for what they want,but after a time money will become scarce. They will see that thearmies of the king live on plunder, as armies generally do; andwhen cash runs short, they will have to shut their eyes and let themen provide themselves as best they can."
"I hope the war won't last long enough for that, Pierre. But at anyrate, we have money in our pockets at present, and can pay for whatwe require; though I do not pretend that it is a serious matter totake a hen out of a coop, especially when you can't get itotherwise, without, as you say, alarming a whole family. However,remember my orders are that everything we want is to be paid for."
"I understand, sir, and you will see that the next time we reckonup accounts every item shall be charged for, so that there will benothing on your conscience."
Philip laughed again.
"I shall be content if that is the case, Pierre; and I hope thatyour conscience will be as clear as mine will be."
On the third of November, just a month after leaving Orleans, De LaNoue, with his troop augmented to three hundred, joined the Princeof Conde before Paris. During the interval, he had traversed thewest of France by the route he had marked out for himself, hadraised fifty more men among the Huguenots of Brittany, and had beenjoined on the route by many gentlemen with parties of theirretainers.
Several bodies of Catholics had been met and dispersed. Two orthree small towns, where the Huguenots had been ill treated andmassacred, were entered. The ringleaders in the persecutions hadbeen hung, and the authorities had been compelled to pay a heavyfine, under threat of the whole town being committed to the flames.Everywhere he passed La Noue had caused proclamations to bescattered far and wide, to the effect that any ill treatment ofHuguenots would be followed by his return, and by the heaviestpunishment being inflicted upon all who molested them.
And so, having given great encouragement to the Huguenots, andscattered terror among their persecutors; having ridden greatdistances, and astonished the people of the western provinces byhis energy and activity; La Noue joined the Prince of Conde, withthree hundred men. He was heartily welcomed on his arrival at theHuguenot camp at Saint Denis.
Francois de Laville and Philip Fletcher had thoroughly enjoyed theexpedition. They had often been in the saddle from early morning tolate at night; and had felt the benefit of having each two horsesas, when the party halted for a day or two, they were often sentout with half their troop to visit distant places--to see friends;to bring into the camp magistrates, and others, who had beenforemost in stirring up the people to attack the Huguenots; toenter small towns, throw open prisons and carry off the Huguenotsconfined there; and occasionally to hang the leaders of localmassacres. In these cases they were always accompanied by one orother of the older leaders, in command of the party.
Their spare chargers enabled them to be on horseback every day,while half the troop rested in turn. Sometimes their halts weremade in small towns and villages, but more often they bivouacked inthe open country; being thus, the Count considered, more watchfuland less apt to be surprised.
On their return from these expeditions, Pierre always had a mealprepared for them. In addition to the rations of meat and bread,chicken and eggs, he often contrived to serve up other and daintierfood. His old poaching habits were not forgotten. As soon as thecamp was formed, he would go out and set snares for hares, trapsfor birds, and lay lines in the nearest stream; while fish andgame, of some sort, were generally added to the fare.
"Upon my word," the Count, who sometimes rode with them, said oneevening, "this varlet of yours, Master Philip, is an invaluablefellow; and Conde, himself, cannot be better served than you are. Ihave half a mind to take him away from you, and to appoint himProvider-in-General to our camp. I warrant me he never learned thusto provide a table, honestly; he must have all the tricks of apoacher at his fingers' end."
"I fancy, when he was young, he had to shift a good deal forhimself, sir," Philip replied.
"I thought so," La Noue laughed. "I marked him once or twice,behind your chair at Orleans; and methought, then, that he lookedtoo grave to be honest; and there was a twinkle in his eye, thataccorded badly with the gravity of his face, and his sober attire.
"Well, there can be no doubt that, in war, a man who has a spice ofthe rogue in him makes the best of servants; provided he is butfaithful to his master, and respects his goods, if he does those ofno one else. Your rogue is necessarily a man of resources; and oneof that kind will, on a campaign, make his master comfortable,where one with an over-scrupulous varlet will well-nigh starve. Ihad such a man, when I was with Brissac in Northern Italy; but oneday he went out, and never returned. Whether a provost marshal didme the ill service of hanging him, or whether he was shot by thepeasants, I never knew; but I missed him sorely, and often wentfasting to bed, when I should have had a good supper had he beenwith me.
"It is lucky for you both that you haven't to depend upon thatgrim-visaged varlet of Francois'. I have no doubt that the countessthought she was doing well by my cousin, when she appointed him togo with him, and I can believe that he would give his life for him;but for all that, if you had to depend upon him for your meals, youwould fare badly, indeed."
De la Noue was much disappointed, on joining the Prince, at findingthat the latter's force had not swollen to larger dimensions. Hehad with him, after the arrival of the force the Count had broughtfrom the west, but two thousand horse. Of these a large proportionwere gentlemen, attended only by a few personal retainers. A fifthonly were provided with lances, and a large number had no defensivearmour. Of foot soldiers he had about the same number as of horse,and of these about half were armed with arquebuses, the rest beingpikemen.
The force under the command of the Constable de Montmorency, insidethe walls of Paris, was known to be enormously superior instrength; and the Huguenots were unable to understand why he didnot come out to give them battle. They knew, however, that CountAremberg was on his way from the Netherlands, with seventeenhundred horse, sent by the Duke of Alva to the support of theCatholics; and they supposed that Montmorency was waiting for thisreinforcement.
On the 9th of November news arrived that Aremberg was approaching,and D'Andelot, with five hundred horse and eight hundred of thebest-trained arquebusiers, was despatched to seize Poissy, and soprevent Aremberg entering Paris.
The next morning the Constable, learning that Conde had weakenedhis army by this detachment, marched out from Paris. Seldom havetwo European armies met with a greater disparity of numbers; forwhile Conde had but fifteen hundred horse and twelve hundred foot,the Constable marched out with sixteen thousand infan
try, of whomsix thousand were Swiss, and three thousand horse. He had eighteenpieces of artillery, while Conde was without a single cannon.
As soon as this force was seen pouring out from the gates of Paris,the Huguenot trumpets blew to arms. All wore over their coats orarmour a white scarf, the distinguishing badge of the Huguenots;and the horsemen were divided into three bodies. De la Noue and hisfollowing formed part of that under the personal command of Conde.
"We longed to be here in time for this battle, Philip," Francoissaid; "but I think this is rather more than we bargained for. Theymust be nearly ten to one against us. There is one thing: althoughthe Swiss are good soldiers, the rest of their infantry are for themost part Parisians, and though these gentry have proved themselvesvery valiant in the massacre of unarmed Huguenot men, women, andchildren, I have no belief in their valour, when they have to meetmen with swords in their hands. I would, however, that D'Andelot,with his five hundred horse and eight hundred arquebusiers, allpicked men, were here with us; even if Aremberg, with his seventeenhundred horse, were ranged under the Constable.
"As it is, I can hardly believe that Conde and the Admiral willreally lead us against that huge mass. I should think that they canbut be going to manoeuvre so as to fall back in good order, andshow a firm face to the enemy. Their footmen would then be of nouse to them and, as I do not think their horse are more than twiceour strength, we might turn upon them when we get them away fromtheir infantry, and beyond the range of their cannon."
As soon, however, as the troops were fairly beyond the gates ofSaint Denis, the leaders placed themselves at the head of the threecolumns and, with a few inspiring words, led them forward. Colignywas on the right; La Rochefoucauld, Genlis, and other leaders onthe left; and the column commanded by Conde, himself, in thecentre.
Conde, with a number of nobles and gentlemen, rode in front of theline. Behind them came the men-at-arms with lances, while thosearmed only with swords and pistols followed.
Coligny, on the right, was most advanced, and commenced the battleby charging furiously down upon the enemy's left.
Facing Conde were the great mass of the Catholic infantry but,without a moment's hesitation, the little band of but five hundredhorse charged right down upon them. Fortunately for them it was theParisians, and not the Swiss, upon whom their assault fell. Theforce and impetus of their rush was too much for the Parisians, whobroke at the onset, threw away their arms, and fled in a disorderlymob towards the gates of Paris.
"Never mind those cowards," the Prince shouted, "there is noblergame!" and, followed by his troop, he rode at the Constable; who,with a thousand horse, had taken his post behind the infantry.Before this body of cavalry could advance to meet the Huguenots,the latter were among them, and a desperate hand-to-hand melee tookplace. Gradually the Huguenots won their way into the mass;although the old Constable, fighting as stoutly as the youngestsoldier, was setting a splendid example to his troops.
Robert Stuart, a Scotch gentleman in Conde's train, fought his wayup to him and demanded his surrender. The Constable's reply was ablow with the hilt of the sword which nearly struck Stuart from hishorse, knocking out three of his teeth. A moment later theConstable was struck by a pistol ball, but whether it was fired byStuart himself, or one of the gentlemen by his side, was neverknown. The Constable fell, but the fight still raged.
The Royalists, recovered from the first shock, were now pressingtheir adversaries. Conde's horse was shot by a musket ball and, infalling, pinned him to the ground so that he was unable toextricate himself. De la Noue, followed by Francois and Philip, whowere fighting by his side, and other gentlemen, saw his peril and,rushing forward, drove back Conde's assailants. Two gentlemen,leaping from their horses, extricated the Prince from his fallensteed and, after hard fighting, placed him on a horse before one ofthem; and the troops, repulsing every attack made on them, fellslowly back to Saint Denis.
On the right, Coligny had more than held his own against the enemy;but on the left the Huguenots, encountering Marshal de Montmorency,the eldest son of the Constable, and suffering heavily from thearquebus and artillery fire, had been repulsed; and the Catholicshere had gained considerable advantages. The flight of a largeportion of the infantry, and the disorder caused in the cavalry bythe charges of Conde and Coligny, prevented the Marshal fromfollowing up his advantage; and as the Huguenots fell back uponSaint Denis the Royalists retired into Paris, where the woundedConstable had already been carried.
Victory was claimed by both sides, but belonged to neither. Eachparty had lost about four hundred men, a matter of much greaterconsequence to the Huguenots than to the Catholics, the more so asa large proportion of the slain on their side were gentlemen ofrank. Upon the other hand the loss of the Constable, who died nextday, paralysed for a time the Catholic forces.
A staunch and even bigoted Catholic, and opposed to any terms oftoleration being granted to the Huguenots, he was opposed to theambition of the Guises; and was the head of the Royalist party, asdistinguished from that of Lorraine. Catharine, who was the movingspirit of the court, hesitated to give the power he possessed, asConstable, into hands that might use it against her; and persuadedthe king to bestow the supreme command of the army upon hisbrother, Henri, Duke of Anjou. The divisions in the court, causedby the death of the Constable and the question of his successor,prevented any fresh movements of the army; and enabled the Princeof Conde, after being rejoined by D'Andelot's force, to retireunmolested three days after the battle; the advanced guard of theRoyalists having been driven back into Paris by D'Andelot on hisreturn when, in his disappointment at being absent from the battle,he fell fiercely upon the enemy, and pursued them hotly to thegates, burning several windmills close under the walls.
On the evening of the battle De la Noue had presented his cousinand Philip to the Prince, speaking in high terms of the braverythey displayed in the battle, and they had received Conde's thanksfor the part they had taken in his rescue from the hands of theCatholics. The Count himself had praised them highly, but hadgently chided Francois for the rashness he had shown.
"It is well to be brave, Francois, but that is not enough. A manwho is brave without being prudent may, with fortune, escape as youhave done from a battle without serious wounds; but he cannot hopefor such fortune many times, and his life would be a very shortone. Several times today you were some lengths ahead of me in themelee; and once or twice I thought you lost, for I was too closelypressed, myself, to render you assistance. It was the confusion,alone, that saved you.
"Your life is a valuable one. You are the head of an old family,and have no right to throw your life away. Nothing could have beenmore gallant than your behaviour, Francois; but you must learn totemper bravery by prudence.
"Your cousin showed his English blood and breeding. When we chargedhe was half a length behind me, and at that distance he remainedthrough the fight; except when I was very hotly pressed, when he atonce closed up beside me. More than once I glanced round at him,and he was fighting with the coolness of a veteran. It was he whocalled my attention to Conde's fall which, in the melee, might havepassed unnoticed by me until it was too late to save him. He kepthis pistols in his holsters throughout the fray; and it was onlywhen they pressed us so hotly, as we were carrying off the Prince,that he used them; and, as I observed, with effect. I doubt ifthere was a pistol save his undischarged, at that time. They were areserve that he maintained for the crisis of the fight.
"Master Philip, I trust that you will have but small opportunityfor winning distinction in this wretched struggle; but were it tolast, which heaven forbid, I should say that you would make a namefor yourself; as assuredly will my cousin Francois, if he were totemper his enthusiasm with coolness."
The evening before the Huguenots retired from Saint Denis, theCount sent for Francois and his cousin.
"As you will have heard," he said, "we retire tomorrow morning. Wehave done all, and more than all, that could have been expectedfrom such a force. We have kept Paris shut up
for ten weeks, andhave maintained our position in face of a force, commanded by theConstable of France, of well-nigh tenfold our strength.
"We are now going to march east, to effect a junction with a forceunder Duke Casimir. He is to bring us over six thousand horse,three thousand foot, and four cannon. The march will be toilsome;but the Admiral's skill will, I doubt not, enable us to elude theforce with which the enemy will try to bar our way.
"The Admiral is sending off the Sieur D'Arblay, whom you both know,to the south of France, in order that he may explain to our friendsthere the reason for our movement to the east; for otherwise thenews, that we have broken up from before Paris, may cause greatdiscouragement. I have proposed to him that you should bothaccompany him. You have frequently ridden under his orders, duringour expedition to the west, and he knows your qualities.
"He has gladly consented to receive you as his companions. It willbe pleasant for him to have two gentlemen with him. He takes withhim his own following, of eight men; six of his band fell in thebattle. The Admiral is of opinion that this is somewhat too small aforce for safety; but if you each take the four men-at-arms whoride behind you, it will double his force. Two of yours fell in thefight, I believe, Francois."
"I have taken two others from the troop to fill their places."
"Your men all came out of it, Philip, did they not?"
"Yes, sir. They were all wounded, but none of them seriously, andare all fit to ride."
"You will understand, Francois, that in separating you from myselfI am doing so for your sakes, alone. It will be the Admiral'spolicy to avoid fighting. Winter is close upon us, and the workwill be hard and toilsome; and doubtless, ere we effect a junctionwith the Germans, very many will succumb to cold and hardship. Youare not as yet inured to this work, and I would rather not run therisk of your careers ending from such causes.
"If I thought there was a prospect of fighting I should keep youwith me but, being as it is, I think it better you should accompanythe Sieur D'Arblay. The mission is a dangerous one, and will demandactivity, energy, and courage, all of which you possess; but in thesouth you will have neither cold nor famine to contend with, andfar greater opportunities, maybe, of gaining credit than you wouldin an army like this where, as they have proved to the enemy, everyman is brave.
"Another reason, I may own, is that in this case I consider youryouth to be an advantage. We could hardly have sent one gentlemanon such a mission, alone; and with two of equal rank and age, eachwith eight followers, difficulties and dissensions might havearisen; while you would both be content to accept the orders of theSieur D'Arblay without discussion, and to look up to him as theleader of your party."
Although they would rather have remained with the army, the lads atonce thanked the Count; and stated their willingness to accompanythe Sieur D'Arblay, whom they both knew and liked--being, like Dela Noue, cheerful and of good spirits; not deeming it necessary tomaintain at all times a stern and grave aspect, or a ruggedness ofmanner, as well as sombre garments.
De la Noue at once took them across to D'Arblay's tent.
"My cousin and his kinsman will gladly ride with you, and placethemselves under your orders, D'Arblay. I can warmly commend themto you. Though they are young I can guarantee that you will findthem, if it comes to blows, as useful as most men ten years theirsenior; and on any mission that you may intrust to them, I thinkthat you can rely upon their discretion; but of that you will judgefor yourself, when you know somewhat more of them. They will takewith them eight men-at-arms, all of whom will be stout fellows; sothat, with your own men, you can traverse the country without fearof any party you are likely to fall in with."
"I shall be glad to have your cousin and his kinsman with me,"D'Arblay said courteously. "Between you and I, De la Noue, I wouldinfinitely rather have two bright young fellows of spirit than oneof our tough old warriors, who deem it sinful to smile, and havegot a text handy for every occasion. It is not a very bright worldfor us, at present; and I see not the use of making it sadder, byalways wearing a gloomy countenance."
The next morning the party started, and rode south. Avoiding theplaces held by the Catholics, they visited many of the chateaux ofHuguenot gentlemen, to whom D'Arblay communicated the instructionshe had received, from the Admiral, as to the assemblage of troops,and the necessity for raising such a force as would compel theRoyalists to keep a considerable army in the south, and so lessenthe number who would gather to oppose his march eastward.
After stopping for a short time in Navarre, and communicating withsome of the principal leaders in that little kingdom, they turnedeastward. They were now passing through a part of the country whereparty spirit was extremely bitter, and were obliged to use somecaution, as they were charged to communicate with men who weresecretly well affected to the cause; but who, living within reachof the bigoted parliament of Toulouse, dared not openly avow theirfaith.
Toulouse had, from the time the troubles first began, distinguisheditself for the ferocity with which it had persecuted the Huguenots;yielding obedience to the various royal edicts of toleration mostreluctantly, and sometimes openly disobeying them. Thus, for manymiles round the city, those of the Reformed faith lived incontinual dread; conducting their worship with extreme secrecy,when some pastor in disguise visited the neighbourhood, andoutwardly conforming to the rites of the Catholic church. Many,however, only needed the approach of a Huguenot army to throw offthe mask and take up arms; and it was with these that D'Arblay wasspecially charged to communicate. Great caution was needed in doingthis, as the visit of a party of Huguenots would, if denounced,have called down upon them the vengeance of the parliament; whowere animated not only by hatred of the Huguenots, but by thedesire of enriching themselves by the confiscation of the estatesand goods of those they persecuted.
The visits, consequently, were generally made after nightfall; themen-at-arms being left a mile or two away. D'Arblay foundeverywhere a fierce desire to join in the struggle, restrained onlyby the fear of the consequences to wives and families, duringabsence.
"Send an army capable of besieging and capturing Toulouse, andthere is not one of us who will not rise and give his blood for thecause, putting into the field every man he can raise, and spendinghis last crown; but unless such a force approaches, we dare notmove. We know that we are strictly watched and that, on thesmallest pretext, we and our families would be dragged to prison.Tell the Admiral that our hearts and our prayers are with him, andthat nothing in the world would please us so much as to be fightingunder his banner; but until there is a hope of capturing Toulouse,we dare not move."
Such was the answer at every castle, chateau, and farmhouse wherethey called. Many of the Huguenots contributed not only the moneythey had in their houses, but their plate and jewels; for moneywas, above all things, needed to fulfil the engagements the Admiralhad made with the German mercenaries who were on their march tojoin him.
Sometimes Philip and Francois both accompanied their leader on hisvisits. Sometimes they went separately, for they were always ableto obtain, from the leading men, the names of neighbours who werefavourable to the cause. In the way of money they succeeded beyondtheir expectations for, as the gentlemen in the district had not,like those where the parties were more equally divided,impoverished themselves by placing their retainers in the field,they were able to contribute comparatively large sums to the causethey had at heart.