CHAPTER XVIII. THE MEROVINGIAN PRINCESS.
The interior of the Cathedral of St. Marie seemed like another world, incomparison with the noisy, bustling Market Place in front of it.
The garish sunshine poured hot and oppressive in the square outside, butwas shorn of its strength as it passed through the painted windows ofthe Cathedral, filling the vast interior with a cool, dim, religiouslight, broken by tall shafts of columns, which swelled out into ornatecapitals, supporting a lofty ceiling, on which was painted the openheavens with saints and angels adoring the Lord.
A lofty arch of cunning work overlaid with gold, the masterpiece of LeVasseur, spanned the chancel, like the rainbow round the throne. Lightswere burning on the altar, incense went up in spirals to the roof; andthrough the wavering cloud the saints and angels seemed to look downwith living faces upon the crowd of worshippers who knelt upon the broadfloor of the church.
It was the hour of Vespers. The voice of the priest was answered by thedeep peal of the organ and the chanting of the choir. The vast edificewas filled with harmony, in the pauses of which the ear seemed to catchthe sound of the river of life as it flows out of the throne of God andthe Lamb.
The demeanor of the crowd of worshippers was quiet and reverential. Afew gay groups, however, whose occupation was mainly to see and be seen,exchanged the idle gossip of the day with such of their friends as theymet there. The fee of a prayer or two did not seem excessive for thepleasure, and it was soon paid.
The perron outside was a favorite resort of the gallants of fashion atthe hour of Vespers, whose practice it was to salute the ladies of theiracquaintance at the door by sprinkling their dainty fingers with holywater. Religion combined with gallantry is a form of devotion not quiteobsolete at the present day, and at the same place.
The church door was the recognized spot for meeting, gossip, business,love-making, and announcements; old friends stopped to talk over thenews, merchants their commercial prospects. It was at once the Bourseand the Royal Exchange of Quebec: there were promulgated, by the brazenlungs of the city crier, royal proclamations of the Governor, edictsof the Intendant, orders of the Court of Justice, vendues public andprivate,--in short, the life and stir of the city of Quebec seemed toflow about the door of St. Marie as the blood through the heart of ahealthy man.
A few old trees, relics of the primeval forest, had been left for shadeand ornament in the great Market Place. A little rivulet of clear waterran sparkling down the slope of the square, where every day the shadowof the cross of the tall steeple lay over it like a benediction.
A couple of young men, fashionably dressed, loitered this afternoon nearthe great door of the Convent in the narrow Street that runs into thegreat square of the market. They walked about with short, impatientturns, occasionally glancing at the clock of the Recollets, visiblethrough the tall elms that bounded the garden of the Gray Friars.Presently the door of the Convent opened. Half a dozen gaily-attiredyoung ladies, internes or pupils of the Convent, sallied out. They hadexchanged their conventual dress for their usual outside attire, and gotleave to go out into the world on some errand, real or pretended, forone hour and no more.
They tripped lightly down the broad steps, and were instantly joinedby the young men who had been waiting for them. After a hasty, merryhand-shaking, the whole party proceeded in great glee towards the MarketPlace, where the shops of the mercers and confectioners offered theattractions they sought. They went on purchasing bonbons and ribbonsfrom one shop to another until they reached the Cathedral, when a commonimpulse seized them to see who was there. They flew up the steps anddisappeared in the church.
In the midst of their devotions, as they knelt upon the floor, thesharp eyes of the young ladies were caught by gesticulations of thewell-gloved hand of the Chevalier des Meloises, as he saluted themacross the aisle.
The hurried recitation of an Ave or two had quite satisfied thedevotion of the Chevalier, and he looked round the church with an air ofcondescension, criticizing the music and peering into the faces of suchof the ladies as looked up, and many did so, to return his scrutiny.
The young ladies encountered him in the aisle as they left the churchbefore the service was finished. It had long since been finished forhim, and was finished for the young ladies also when they had satisfiedtheir curiosity to see who was there and who with whom.
"We cannot pray for you any longer, Chevalier des Meloises!" said one ofthe gayest of the group; "the Lady Superior has economically granted usbut one hour in the city to make our purchases and attend Vespers. Outof that hour we can only steal forty minutes for a promenade through thecity, so good-by, if you prefer the church to our company, or come withus and you shall escort two of us. You see we have only a couple ofgentlemen to six ladies."
"I much prefer your company, Mademoiselle de Brouague!" replied hegallantly, forgetting the important meeting of the managers of theGrand Company at the Palace. The business, however, was being cleverlytransacted without his help.
Louise de Brouague had no great esteem for the Chevalier desMeloises, but, as she remarked to a companion, he made rather a neatwalking-stick, if a young lady could procure no better to promenadewith.
"We come out in full force to-day, Chevalier," said she, with a merryglance round the group of lively girls. "A glorious sample of the famousclass of the Louises, are we not?"
"Glorious! superb! incomparable!" the Chevalier replied, as he inspectedthem archly through his glass. "But how did you manage to get out?One Louise at a time is enough to storm the city, but six of them atonce--the Lady Superior is full of mercy to-day."
"Oh! is she? Listen: we should not have got permission to come outto-day had we not first laid siege to the soft heart of Mere desSeraphins. She it was who interceded for us, and lo! here we are, readyfor any adventure that may befall errant demoiselles in the streets ofQuebec!"
Well might the fair Louise de Brouague boast of the famous class of "theLouises," all composed of young ladies of that name, distinguished forbeauty, rank, and fashion in the world of New France.
Prominent among them at that period was the beautiful, gay Louisede Brouague. In the full maturity of her charms, as the wife of theChevalier de Lery she accompanied her husband to England after thecession of Canada, and went to Court to pay homage to their newsovereign, George III., when the young king, struck with her grace andbeauty, gallantly exclaimed,--
"If the ladies of Canada are as handsome as you, I have indeed made aconquest!"
To escort young ladies, internes of the Convent, when granted permissionto go out into the city, was a favorite pastime, truly a labor of love,of the young gallants of that day,--an occupation, if very idle, atleast very agreeable to those participating in these stolen promenades,and which have not, perhaps, been altogether discontinued in Quebec evento the present day.
The pious nuns were of course entirely ignorant of the contrivancesof their fair pupils to amuse themselves in the city. At any rate theygood-naturedly overlooked things they could not quite prevent. They hadhuman hearts still under their snowy wimples, and perhaps did not whollylack womanly sympathy with the dear girls in their charge.
"Why are you not at Belmont to-day, Chevalier des Meloises?" boldlyasked Louise Roy, a fearless little questioner in a gay summer robe.She was pretty, and sprightly as Titania. Her long chestnut hair wasthe marvel and boast of the Convent and, what she prized more, theadmiration of the city. It covered her like a veil down to her kneeswhen she chose to let it down in a flood of splendor. Her deep gray eyescontained wells of womanly wisdom. Her skin, fair as a lily of Artois,had borrowed from the sun five or six faint freckles, just to prove thepurity of her blood and distract the eye with a variety of charms. TheMerovingian Princess, the long-haired daughter of kings, as she wasfondly styled by the nuns, queened it wherever she went by right divineof youth, wit, and beauty.
"I should not have had the felicity of meeting you, Mademoiselle Roy,had I gone to Belmont," replied the Chevalier, not liking
the questionat all. "I preferred not to go."
"You are always so polite and complimentary," replied she, a trace ofpout visible on her pretty lips. "I do not see how any one could stayaway who was at liberty to go to Belmont! And the whole city has gone,I am sure! for I see nobody in the street!" She held an eye-glasscoquettishly to her eye. "Nobody at all!" repeated she. Her companionsaccused her afterwards of glancing equivocally at the Chevalier as shemade this remark; and she answered with a merry laugh that might implyeither assent or denial.
"Had you heard in the Convent of the festival at Belmont, MademoiselleRoy?" asked he, twirling his cane rather majestically.
"We have heard of nothing else and talked of nothing else for a wholeweek!" replied she. "Our mistresses have been in a state of distractiontrying to stop our incessant whispering in the school instead of mindingour lessons like good girls trying to earn good conduct marks! Thefeast, the ball, the dresses, the company, beat learning out of ourheads and hearts! Only fancy, Chevalier," she went on in her volublemanner; "Louise de Beaujeu here was asked to give the Latin name forHeaven, and she at once translated it Belmont!"
"Tell no school tales, Mademoiselle Roy!" retorted Louise de Beaujeu,her black eyes flashing with merriment. "It was a good translation! Butwho was it stumbled in the Greek class when asked for the proper name ofthe anax andron, the king of men in the Iliad?" Louise Roy looked archlyand said defiantly, "Go on!" "Would you believe it, Chevalier, shereplied 'Pierre Philibert!' Mere Christine fairly gasped, but Louise hadto kiss the floor as a penance for pronouncing a gentleman's name withsuch unction."
"And if I did I paid my penance heartily and loudly, as you mayrecollect, Louise de Beaujeu, although I confess I would have preferredkissing Pierre Philibert himself if I had had my choice!"
"Always her way! won't give in! never! Louise Roy stands by hertranslation in spite of all the Greek Lexicons in the Convent!"exclaimed Louise de Brouague.
"And so I do, and will; and Pierre Philibert is the king of men, in NewFrance or Old! Ask Amelie de Repentigny!" added she, in a half whisperto her companion.
"Oh, she will swear to it any day!" was the saucy reply of Louise deBrouague. "But without whispering it, Chevalier des Meloises," continuedshe, "the classes in the Convent have all gone wild in his favor sincethey learned he was in love with one of our late companions in school.He is the Prince Camaralzaman of our fairy tales."
"Who is that?" The Chevalier spoke tartly, rather. He was excessivelyannoyed at all this enthusiasm in behalf of Pierre Philibert.
"Nay, I will tell no more fairy tales out of school, but I assure you,if our wishes had wings the whole class of Louises would fly away toBelmont to-day like a flock of ring-doves."
Louise de Brouague noticed the pique of the Chevalier at the mentionof Philibert, but in that spirit of petty torment with which her sexavenges small slights she continued to irritate the vanity of theChevalier, whom in her heart she despised.
His politeness nearly gave way. He was thoroughly disgusted with allthis lavish praise of Philibert. He suddenly recollected that he had anappointment at the Palace which would prevent him, he said, enjoying thefull hour of absence granted to the Greek class of the Ursulines.
"Mademoiselle Angelique has of course gone to Belmont, if pressingengagements prevent YOU, Chevalier," said Louise Roy. "How provoking itmust be to have business to look after when one wants to enjoy life!"The Chevalier half spun round on his heel under the quizzing of Louise'seye-glass.
"No, Angelique has not gone to Belmont," replied he, quite piqued."She very properly declined to mingle with the Messieurs and MesdamesJourdains who consort with the Bourgeois Philibert! She was preparingfor a ride, and the city really seems all the gayer by the absence of somany commonplace people as have gone out to Belmont."
Louise de Brouague's eyes gave a few flashes of indignation. "Fie,Chevalier! that was naughtily said of you about the good Bourgeois andhis friends," exclaimed she, impetuously. "Why, the Governor, the Ladyde Tilly and her niece, the Chevalier La Corne St. Luc, Hortense andClaude de Beauharnais, and I know not how many more of the very elite ofsociety have gone to do honor to Colonel Philibert! And as for thegirls in the Convent, who you will allow are the most important andmost select portion of the community, there is not one of us but wouldwillingly jump out of the window, and do penance on dry bread and saltfish for a month, just for one hour's pleasure at the ball this evening,would we not, Louises?"
Not a Louise present but assented with an emphasis that broughtsympathetic smiles upon the faces of the two young chevaliers who hadwatched all this pretty play.
The Chevalier des Meloises bowed very low. "I regret so much, ladies, tohave to leave you! but affairs of State, you know--affairs of State!The Intendant will not proceed without a full board: I must attend themeeting to-day at the Palace."
"Oh, assuredly, Chevalier," replied Louise Roy. "What would become ofthe Nation, what would become of the world, nay, what would becomeof the internes of the Ursulines, if statesmen and warriors andphilosophers like you and the Sieurs Drouillon and La Force here (thisin a parenthesis, not to scratch the Chevalier too deep), did not takewise counsel for our safety and happiness, and also for the welfare ofthe nation?"
The Chevalier des Meloises took his departure under this shower ofarrows.
The young La Force was as yet only an idle dangler about the city; butin the course of time became a man of wit and energy worthy of his name.He replied gaily,--
"Thanks, Mademoiselle Roy! It is just for sake of the fair internesof the Convent that Drouillon and I have taken up the vocation ofstatesmen, warriors, philosophers, and friends. We are quite ready toguide your innocent footsteps through the streets of this perilous city,if you are ready to go."
"We had better hasten too!" ejaculated Louise Roy, looking archlythrough her eye-glass. "I can see Bonhomme Michel peeping round thecorner of the Cote de Lery! He is looking after us stray lambs of theflock, Sieur Drouillon!"
Bonhomme Michel was the old watchman and factotum of the monastery. Hehad a general commission to keep a sharp eye upon the young ladies whowere allowed to go out into the city. A pair of horn spectacles usuallyhelped his vision,--sometimes marred it, however, when the knowinggallants slipped a crown into his hand to put in the place of hismagnifiers! Bonhomme Michel placed all his propitiation money--he likeda pious word--in his old leathern sack, which contained the redemptionof many a gadding promenade through the streets of Quebec. Whether hereported what he saw this time is not recorded in the Vieux Recit, theold annals of the Convent. But as Louise Roy called him her dear oldCupid, and knew so well how to bandage his eyes, it is probable the goodnuns were not informed of the pleasant meeting of the class Louises andthe gentlemen who escorted them round the city on the present occasion.