CHAPTER XXXVIII. A WILD NIGHT INDOORS AND OUT.
The Chevalier de Pean had been but too successful in his errand ofmischief to the Manor House of Tilly.
A few days had sufficed for this accomplished ambassador of Bigot totempt Le Gardeur to his ruin, and to triumph in his fall.
Upon his arrival at the Seigniory, De Pean had chosen to take up hisquarters at the village inn, in preference to accepting the profferedhospitality of the Lady de Tilly, whom, however, he had frequently tosee, having been craftily commissioned by Bigot with the settlementof some important matters of business relating to her Seigniory, as apretext to visit the Manor House and linger in the village long enoughto renew his old familiarity with Le Gardeur.
The visits of De Pean to the Manor House were politely but not cordiallyreceived. It was only by reason of the business he came upon that hewas received at all. Nevertheless he paid his court to the ladies of theManor, as a gentleman anxious to remove their prejudices and win theirgood opinion.
He once, and but once, essayed to approach Amelie with gallantry, ahair-breadth only beyond the rigid boundary-line of ordinary politeness,when he received a repulse so quick, so unspoken and invisible, thathe could not tell in what it consisted, yet he felt it like a suddenparalysis of his powers of pleasing. He cared not again to encounter thequick glance of contempt and aversion which for an instant flashed inthe eyes of Amelie when she caught the drift of his untimely admiration.
A woman is never so Rhadamanthean in her justice, and so quick in herexecution of it, as when she is proud and happy in her love for anotherman: she is then indignant at every suggestion implying any doubt of thestrength, purity, and absoluteness of her devotion.
De Pean ground his teeth in silent wrath at this quiet but unequivocalrepulse, and vowed a bitter vow that Amelie should ere long repent insackcloth and ashes for the wound inflicted upon his vanity and stillmore upon his cupidity.
One of the day-dreams of his fancy was broken, never to return. Theimmense fortune and high rank of the young Chatelaine de Repentignyhad excited the cupidity of De Pean for some time, and although thevoluptuous beauty of Angelique fastened his eyes, he would willinglyhave sacrificed her for the reversion of the lordships of Tilly andRepentigny.
De Pean's soul was too small to bear with equanimity the annihilationof his cherished hopes. As he looked down upon his white hands, hisdelicate feet, and irreproachable dress and manner, he seemed not tocomprehend that a true woman like Amelie cares nothing for these thingsin comparison with a manly nature that seeks a woman for her own sakeby love, and in love, and not by the accessories of wealth and position.For such a one she would go barefoot if need were, while golden slipperswould not tempt her to walk with the other.
Amelie's beau-ideal of manhood was embodied in Pierre Philibert, and thegreatest king in Christendom would have wooed in vain at her feet, muchless an empty pretender like the Chevalier de Pean.
"I would not have treated any gentleman so rudely," said Amelie inconfidence to Heloise de Lotbiniere when they had retired to the privacyof their bedchamber. "No woman is justified in showing scorn of anyman's love, if it be honest and true; but the Chevalier de Pean is falseto the heart's core, and his presumption woke such an aversion in myheart, that I fear my eyes showed less than ordinary politeness to hisunexpected advances."
"You were too gentle, not too harsh, Amelie," replied Heloise, with herarm round her friend. "Had I been the object of his hateful addresses, Ishould have repaid him in his own false coin: I would have led him onto the brink of the precipice of a confession and an offer, and then Iwould have dropped him as one drops a stone into the deep pool of theChaudiere."
"You were always more bold than I, Heloise; I could not do that for theworld," replied Amelie. "I would not willingly offend even the Chevalierde Pean. Moreover, I fear him, and I need not tell you why, darling.That man possesses a power over my dear brother that makes me tremble,and in my anxiety for Le Gardeur I may have lingered, as I didyesterday, too long in the parlor when in company with the Chevalier dePean, who, mistaking my motive, may have supposed that I hated not hispresence so much as I truly did!"
"Amelie, your fears are my own!" exclaimed Heloise, pressing Amelie toher side. "I must, I will tell you. O loved sister of mine,--let mecall you so!--to you alone I dare acknowledge my hopeless love for LeGardeur, and my deep and abiding interest in his welfare."
"Nay, do not say hopeless, Heloise!" replied Amelie, kissing her fondly."Le Gardeur is not insensible to your beauty and goodness. He is toolike myself not to love you."
"Alas, Amelie! I know it is all in vain. I have neither beauty norother attractions in his eyes. He left me yesterday to converse with theChevalier de Pean on the subject of Angelique des Meloises, and Isaw, by the agitation of his manner, the flush upon his cheek, andthe eagerness of his questioning, that he cared more for Angelique,notwithstanding her reported engagement with the Intendant, than he didfor a thousand Heloises de Lotbiniere!"
The poor girl, overpowered by the recollection, hid her face upon theshoulder of Amelie, and sobbed as if her very heart were breaking,--asin truth it was.
Amelie, so happy and secure in her own affection, comforted Heloise withher tears and caresses, but it was only by picturing in her imaginationher own state, should she be so hapless as to lose the love of PierrePhilibert, that she could realize the depth of misery and abandonmentwhich filled the bosom of her fair companion.
She was, moreover, struck to the heart by the words of Heloise regardingthe eagerness of her brother to get word of Angelique. "The Chevalier dePean might have brought a message, perhaps a love-token from Angeliqueto Le Gardeur to draw him back to the city," thought she. If so, shefelt instinctively that all their efforts to redeem him would be invain, and that neither sister's love nor Pierre's remonstrances wouldavail to prevent his return. He was the slave of the lamp and Angeliqueits possessor.
"Heaven forbid, Heloise!" she said faintly; "Le Gardeur is lost if hereturn to the city now! Twice lost--lost as a gentleman, lost as thelover of a woman who cares for him only as a pastime and as a foilto her ambitious designs upon the Intendant! Poor Le Gardeur! whathappiness might not be his in the love of a woman noble-minded ashimself! What happiness were he yours, O darling Heloise!" She kissedher pallid cheeks, wet with tears, which lay by hers on the same pillow,and both remained silently brooding over the thoughts which spring fromlove and sorrow.
"Happiness can never be mine, Amelie," said Heloise, after a lapse ofseveral minutes. "I have long feared it, now I know it. Le Gardeur lovesAngelique; he is wholly hers, and not one little corner of his heart isleft for poor Heloise to nestle in! I did not ask much, Amelie, but Ihave not retained the little interest I believed was once mine! He hasthrown the whole treasure of his life at her feet. After playing withit, she will spurn it for a more ambitious alliance! Oh, Amelie!"exclaimed she with vivacity, "I could be wicked! Heaven forgive me! Icould be cruel and without pity to save Le Gardeur from the wiles ofsuch a woman!"
The night was a stormy one; the east wind, which had lain in a dead lullthrough the early hours of the evening, rose in all its strength at theturn of the tide. It came bounding like the distant thud of a cannon. Itroared and rattled against the windows and casements of the Manor House,sounding a deep bass in the long chimneys and howling like souls intorment amid the distant woods.
The rain swept down in torrents, as if the windows of heaven were openedto wash away the world's defilements. The stout walls of the Manor Housewere immovable as rocks, but the wind and the rain and the noise of thestorm struck an awe into the two girls. They crept closer together intheir bed; they dared not separate for the night. The storm seemedtoo much the reflex of the agitation of their own minds, and they layclasped in each other's arms, mingling their tears and prayers for LeGardeur until the gray dawn looked over the eastern hill and they slept.
The Chevalier de Pean was faithful to the mission upon which he had beendespatched to Tilly. He dis
liked intensely the return of Le Gardeurto renew his old ties with Angelique. But it was his fate, his cursedcrook, he called it, ever to be overborne by some woman or other, andhe resolved that Le Gardeur should pay for it with his money, and be soflooded by wine and debauchery that Angelique herself would repent thatshe had ever invited his return.
That she would not marry Le Gardeur was plain enough to De Pean, whoknew her ambitious views regarding the Intendant; and that the Intendantwould not marry her was equally a certainty to him, although it did notprevent De Pean's entertaining an intense jealousy of Bigot.
Despite discouraging prospects, he found a consolation in the reflectionthat, failing his own vain efforts to please Amelie de Repentigny forsake of her wealth, the woman he most loved for sake of her beauty andspirit would yet drop like a golden fleece into his arms, either throughspite at her false lover or through love of himself. De Pean caredlittle which, for it was the person, not the inclination of Angelique,that carried away captive the admiration of the Chevalier de Pean.
The better to accomplish his crafty design of abducting Le Gardeur, DePean had taken up his lodging at the village inn. He knew that in thepolite hospitalities of the Manor House he could find few opportunitiesto work upon the susceptible nature of Le Gardeur; that too manyloving eyes would there watch over his safety, and that he was himselfsuspected, and his presence only tolerated on account of the businesswhich had ostensibly brought him there. At the inn he would be freeto work out his schemes, sure of success if by any means and on anypretence he could draw Le Gardeur thither and rouse into life and furythe sleeping serpents of his old propensities,--the love of gaming, thelove of wine, and the love of Angelique.
Could Le Gardeur be persuaded to drink a full measure to the bright eyesof Angelique des Meloises, and could he, when the fire was kindled,be tempted once more to take in hand the box more fatal than that ofPandora and place fortune on the turn of a die, De Pean knew well thatno power on earth could stop the conflagration of every good resolutionand every virtuous principle in his mind. Neither aunt nor sister norfriends could withhold him then! He would return to the city, where theGrand Company had a use to make of him which he would never understanduntil it was too late for aught but repentance.
De Pean pondered long upon a few words he had one day heard drop fromthe lips of Bigot, which meant more, much more, than they seemed toimply, and they flitted long through his memory like bats in a roomseeking an outlet into the night, ominous of some deed of darkness.
De Pean imagined that he had found a way to revenge himself on LeGardeur and Amelie--each for thwarting him in a scheme of love orfortune. He brooded long and malignantly how to hatch the plot which hefancied was his own, but which had really been conceived in the deeperbrain of Bigot, whose few seemingly harmless words had dropped into theear of De Pean, casually as it were, but which Bigot knew would takeroot and grow in the congenial soul of his secretary and one day bringforth terrible fruit.
The next day was wet and autumnal, with a sweeping east wind which blewraw and gustily over the dark grass and drooping trees that edged themuddy lane of the village of Tilly.
At the few houses in the village everything was quiet, except at theold-fashioned inn, with its low, covered gallery and swinging sign ofthe Tilly Arms.
There, flitting round the door, or occasionally peering through thewindows of the tap-room, with pipes in their mouths and perchance atankard in their hands, were seen the elders of the village, boatmen,and habitans, making use, or good excuse, of a rainy day for a socialgathering in the dry, snug chimney-corner of the Tilly Arms.
In the warmest corner of all, his face aglow with firelight and goodliquor, sat Master Pothier dit Robin, with his gown tucked up to hiswaist as he toasted his legs and old gamashes in the genial warmth of abright fire.
He leaned back his head and twirled his thumbs for a few minutes withoutspeaking or listening to the babble around him, which had now turnedupon the war and the latest sweep of the royal commissaries for cornand cattle. "Did you say, Jean La Marche," said he, "that Le Gardeur deRepentigny was playing dice and drinking hot wine with the Chevalier dePean and two big dogs of the Friponne?"
"I did." Jean spoke with a choking sensation. "Our young Seigneur hasbroken out again wilder than ever, and is neither to hold nor bind anylonger!"
"Ay!" replied Master Pothier reflectively, "the best bond I could drawwould not bind him more than a spider's thread! They are stiff-necked asbulls, these De Repentignys, and will bear no yoke but what they put onof themselves! Poor lad! Do they know at the Manor House that he is heredrinking and dicing with the Chevalier de Pean?"
"No! Else all the rain in heaven would not have prevented his beinglooked after by Mademoiselle Amelie and my Lady," answered Jean. "Hisfriend, Pierre Philibert, who is now a great officer of the King, wentlast night to Batiscan, on some matter of the army, as his groom toldme. Had he been here, Le Gardeur would not have spent the day at theTilly Arms, as we poor habitans do when it is washing-day at home."
"Pierre Philibert!" Master Pothier rubbed his hands at this reminder, "Iremember him, Jean! A hero like St. Denis! It was he who walked into theChateau of the Intendant and brought off young De Repentigny as a catdoes her kitten."
"What, in his mouth, Master Pothier?"
"None of your quips, Jean; keep cool!" Master Pothier's own facegrew red. "Never ring the coin that is a gift, and do not stretch mycomparisons like your own wit to a bare thread. If I had said in hismouth, what then? It was by word of mouth, I warrant you, that hecarried him away from Beaumanoir. Pity he is not here to take him awayfrom the Tilly Arms!"
The sound of voices, the rattle and clash of the dice-box in the distantparlor, reached his ear amidst the laughter and gabble of the commonroom. The night was a hard one in the little inn.
In proportion as the common room of the inn grew quiet by the departureof its guests, the parlor occupied by the gentlemen became more noisyand distinct in its confusion. The song, the laugh, the jest, and jingleof glasses mingled with the perpetual rattle of dice or the thumps whichaccompanied the play of successful cards.
Paul Gaillard, the host, a timid little fellow not used to such highimperious guests, only ventured to look into the parlor when summonedfor more wine. He was a born censitaire of the house of Tilly, and feltshame and pity as he beheld the dishevelled figure of his young Seigneurshaking the dice-box and defying one and all to another cast for love,liquor, or whole handfuls of uncounted coin.
Paul Gaillard had ventured once to whisper something to Le Gardeur aboutsending his caleche to the Manor House, hoping that his youthful masterwould consent to be driven home. But his proposal was met by a wildlaugh from Le Gardeur and a good-humored expulsion from the room.
He dared not again interfere, but contented himself with waiting untilbreak of day to send a message to the Lady de Tilly informing her of thesad plight of his young master.
De Pean, with a great object in view, had summoned Le Mercier and Emericde Lantagnac from the city,--potent topers and hard players,--to assisthim in his desperate game for the soul, body, and fortune of Le Gardeurde Repentigny.
They came willingly. The Intendant had laughingly wished them bon voyageand a speedy return with his friend Le Gardeur, giving them no otherintimation of his wishes; nor could they surmise that he had any otherobject in view than the pleasure of again meeting a pleasant companionof his table and a sharer of their pleasures.
De Pean had no difficulty in enticing Le Gardeur down to the villageinn, where he had arranged that he should meet, by mere accident, as itwere, his old city friends.
The bold, generous nature of Le Gardeur, who neither suspected norfeared any evil, greeted them with warmth. They were jovial fellows, heknew, who would be affronted if he refused to drink a cup of wine withthem. They talked of the gossip of the city, its coteries andpleasant scandals, and of the beauty and splendor of the queen ofsociety--Angelique des Meloises.
Le Gardeur, with a painful s
ense of his last interview with Angelique,and never for a moment forgetting her reiterated words, "I love you, LeGardeur, but I will not marry you," kept silent whenever she was named,but talked with an air of cheerfulness on every other topic.
His one glass of wine was soon followed by another. He was pressed withsuch cordiality that he could not refuse. The fire was rekindled, atfirst with a faint glow upon his cheek and a sparkle in his eye; but thetable soon overflowed with wine, mirth, and laughter. He drank withoutreflection, and soon spoke with warmth and looseness from all restraint.
De Pean, resolved to excite Le Gardeur to the utmost, would not ceasealluding to Angelique. He recurred again and again to the splendor ofher charms and the fascination of her ways. He watched the effect ofhis speech upon the countenance of Le Gardeur, keenly observant of everyexpression of interest excited by the mention of her.
"We will drink to her bright eyes," exclaimed De Pean, filling his glassuntil it ran over, "first in beauty and worthy to be first in place inNew France--yea, or Old France either! and he is a heathen who will notdrink this toast!"
"Le Gardeur will not drink it! Neither would I, in his place," repliedEmeric de Lantagnac, too drunk now to mind what he said. "I would drinkto the bright eyes of no woman who had played me the trick Angelique hasplayed upon Le Gardeur!"
"What trick has she played upon me?" repeated Le Gardeur, with a touchof anger.
"Why, she has jilted you, and now flies at higher game, and nothing buta prince of the blood will satisfy her!"
"Does she say that, or do you invent it?" Le Gardeur was almost chokingwith angry feelings. Emeric cared little what he said, drunk or sober.He replied gravely,--
"Oh, all the women in the city say she said it! But you know, LeGardeur, women will lie of one another faster than a man can count ahundred by tens."
De Pean, while enjoying the vexation of Le Gardeur, feared that thebanter of Emeric might have an ill effect on his scheme. "I do notbelieve it, Le Gardeur;" said he, "Angelique is too true a woman to saywhat she means to every jealous rival. The women hope she has jiltedyou. That counts one more chance for them, you know! Is not thatfeminine arithmetic, Le Mercier?" asked he.
"It is at the Friponne," replied Le Mercier, laughing. "But the man whobecomes debtor to Angelique des Meloises will never, if I know her, bedischarged out of her books, even if he pay his debt."
"Ay, they say she never lets a lover go, or a friend either," replied DePean. "I have proof to convince Le Gardeur that Angelique has not jiltedhim. Emeric reports women's tattle, nothing more."
Le Gardeur was thoroughly roused. "Par Dieu!" exclaimed he, "my affairsare well talked over in the city, I think! Who gave man or woman theright to talk of me thus?"
"No one gave them the right. But the women claim it indefeasibly fromEve, who commenced talking of Adam's affairs with Satan the first timeher man's back was turned."
"Pshaw! Angelique des Meloises is as sensible as she is beautiful: shenever said that! No, par Dieu! she never said to a man or woman that shehad jilted me, or gave reason for others to say so!"
Le Gardeur in his vexation poured out with nervous hand a large glassof pure brandy and drank it down. It had an instant effect. His foreheadflushed, and his eyes dilated with fresh fire. "She never said that!"repeated he fiercely. "I would swear it on my mother's head, she neverdid! and would kill any man who would dare affirm it of her!"
"Right! the way to win a woman is never to give her up," answered DePean. "Hark you, Le Gardeur, all the city knows that she favored youmore than any of the rest of her legion of admirers. Why are you mopingaway your time here at Tilly when you ought to be running down your gamein the city?"
"My Atalanta is too fleet of foot for me, De Pean," replied Le Gardeur."I have given up the chase. I have not the luck of Hippomanes."
"That is, she is too fast!" said De Pean mockingly. "But have you throwna golden apple at her feet to stop your runaway nymph?"
"I have thrown myself at her feet, De Pean! and in vain," said LeGardeur, gulping down another cup of brandy.
De Pean watched the effect of the deep potations which Le Gardeur nowpoured down to quench the rising fires kindled in his breast. "Comehere, Le Gardeur," said he; "I have a message for you which I would notdeliver before, lest you might be angry."
De Pean led him into a recess of the room. "You are wanted in the city,"whispered he. "Angelique sent this little note by me. She put it in myhand as I was embarking for Tilly, and blushed redder than a rose as shedid so. I promised to deliver it safely to you."
It was a note quaintly folded in a style Le Gardeur recognized well,inviting him to return to the city. Its language was a mixture of lightpersiflage and tantalizing coquetry,--she was dying of the dullness ofthe city! The late ball at the Palace had been a failure, lacking thepresence of Le Gardeur! Her house was forlorn without the visits of herdear friend, and she wanted his trusty counsel in an affair of the lastimportance to her welfare and happiness!
"That girl loves you, and you may have her for the asking!" continuedDe Pean, as Le Gardeur sat crumpling the letter up in his hand. De Peanwatched his countenance with the eye of a basilisk.
"Do you think so?" asked Le Gardeur eagerly. "But no, I have no morefaith in woman; she does not mean it!"
"But if she does mean it, would you go, Le Gardeur?"
"Would I go?" replied he, excitedly. "Yes, I would go to the lowest pitin hell for her! But why are you taunting me, De Pean!"
"I taunt you? Read her note again! She wants your trusty counsel in anaffair of the last importance to her welfare and happiness. You knowwhat is the affair of last importance to a woman! Will you refuse hernow, Le Gardeur?"
"No, par Dieu! I can refuse her nothing; no, not if she asked me for myhead, although I know it is but mockery."
"Never mind! Then you will return with us to the city? We start atdaybreak."
"Yes, I will go with you, De Pean; you have made me drunk, and I amwilling to stay drunk till I leave Amelie and my aunt and Heloise, upat the Manor House. Pierre Philibert, he will be angry that I leave him,but he can follow, and they can all follow! I hate myself for it, DePean! But Angelique des Meloises is to me more than creature or Creator.It is a sin to love a woman as I love her, De Pean!"
De Pean fairly writhed before the spirit he evoked. He was not sosure of his game but that it might yet be lost. He knew Angelique'spassionate impulses, and he thought that no woman could resist suchdevotion as that of Le Gardeur.
He kept down his feelings, however. He saw that Le Gardeur was ripe forruin. They returned to the table and drank still more freely. Dice andcards were resumed; fresh challenges were thrown out; Emeric and LeMercier were already deep in a game; money was pushed to and fro. Thecontagion fastened like a plague upon Le Gardeur, who sat down atthe table, drew forth a full purse, and pulling up every anchor ofrestraint, set sail on the flood-tide of drinking and gaming whichlasted without ceasing until break of day.
De Pean never for a moment lost sight of his scheme for the abductionof Le Gardeur. He got ready for departure, and with a drunken rush anda broken song the four gallants, with unwashed faces and disorderedclothes, staggered into their canoe and with a shout bade the boatmenstart.
The hardy canotiers were ready for departure. They headed their longcanoes down the flowing river, dashed their paddles into the water justsilvered with the rays of the rising sun, and shot down stream towardsthe city of Quebec.
De Pean, elate with his success, did not let the gaiety of the partyflag for a moment during their return. They drank, sang, and talkedbalderdash and indecencies in a way to bring a look of disgust upon thecheeks of the rough boatmen.
Much less sober than when they left Tilly, the riotous party reached thecapital. The canotiers with rapid strokes of the paddle passed the highcliffs and guarded walls, and made for the quay of the Friponne, De Peanforcing silence upon his companions as they passed the Sault au Matelot,where a crowd of idle boatmen hailed them with volleys
of raillery,which only ceased when the canoe was near enough for them to see whom itcontained. They were instantly silent. The rigorous search made by orderof the Intendant after the late rioters, and the summary punishmentinflicted upon all who had been convicted, had inspired a carefulavoidance of offence toward Bigot and the high officers of his staff.
De Pean landed quietly, few caring to turn their heads too often towardshim. Le Gardeur, wholly under his control, staggered out of the canoe,and, taking his arm, was dragged rather than led up to the Palace, whereBigot greeted the party with loud welcome. Apartments were assignedto Le Gardeur, as to a most honored guest in the Palace. Le Gardeur deRepentigny was finally and wholly in the power of the Intendant.
Bigot looked triumphant, and congratulated De Pean on the success of hismission. "We will keep him now!" said he. "Le Gardeur must never draw asober breath again until we have done with him!"
De Pean looked knowingly at Bigot; "I understand," said he; "Emeric andLe Mercier will drink him blind, and Cadet, Varin, and the rest of uswill rattle the dice like hail. We must pluck the pigeon to hislast feather before he will feel desperate enough to play your game,Chevalier."
"As you like, De Pean, about that," replied Bigot; "only mind that hedoes not leave the Palace. His friends will run after him. That accursedPhilibert will be here; on your life, do not let him see him! Hark you!When he comes, make Le Gardeur affront him by some offensive reply tohis inquiry. You can do it."
De Pean took the hint, and acted upon it by forging that infamouscard in the name of Le Gardeur, and sending it as his reply to PierrePhilibert.