The False Chevalier
CHAPTER XI
THE COURT
A week or so later, Germain sent his mother the following letter:--
"THE PALACE, FONTAINEBLEAU,_8th September, 1786_.
"MY DEAR MOTHER,--My good fortune is inexpressible. The whole of yourdreams for me are fulfilled: can you believe it, your son has--but Iwill not anticipate. I can scarcely trust it myself to be true. Iinformed you in mine of three days ago, which goes in the same mail asthis, of our capture of the gentry of the cavern. It left me prettyscratched.
"The morning following, a courier in a grand livery came riding to thechateau to bear me a command to attend the King's hunt. This command, orinvitation, is conveyed by a great card, which I have before me,engraved in a beautiful writing surrounded by a border exquisitelyrepresenting hounds, deer, and winding-horns with their straps. Itbegins: '_From the King_.' Above are the arms of France, the signatureis that of the chamberlain. You may think into what ecstasy it threw mewhen my valet handed me these. (You know everybody in society must havea valet here). My limbs seemed to lose their bruises, and I hastened tothe Chevalier, who was much pleased with this testimony of the credit Iappeared to have brought him, for, with the greatest affection andgenerosity, he continues to consider me in the light of a son. He toldme how to act at the ceremonies and the hunt, and to take care not toride across the path of the King, for that is a thing which makes hisMajesty very angry. We talked it over perfectly. The only point to whichhe took objection was that the card was addressed to "Monsieur deRepentigny."
"'I hope,' he said, 'there will be no trouble about this. There was aRepentigny in the army of Canada. We must try to get rid of this name.'
"'If I am at fault with it,' returned I, 'I will make public at once howit has come to be attached to me without my seeking. Even if an owner ofit should occur, he must as a man of honour accept my explanation.'
"'True,' answered he, 'I am here to witness that. Do not change it for aday or two. It would be excessively embarrassing for you were it to bealtered on this occasion, for the decrees have of late years been verystrict about birth.'
"'Would these decrees exclude me from this invitation?' I asked him.
"'Unquestionably,' he replied. 'And that would be too cruel; you are asgood a man as any of them.'
"'Very well,' I answered. 'Afterwards I can return to my properstation.'
"But, dear mother, you cannot think what these words meant to me,notwithstanding that I ought to have known it to be so. I left him atonce and fled into the park in order to hide my suffering. Oh, it is toobeautiful to lose--this sphere of honour and refinement, this world ofthe lovely, the ancestral, this supreme enchantment of the earth. Havingtasted it, how can I return to the common and despised condition ofmankind in general! Mother, you who have taught me that this is my trueworld, I leave it to you to answer.
"That afternoon we drove into the town of Fontainebleau, where there wasa very fine haberdasher, just come from Paris, who agreed to make me theproper suit and to supply all the accessories. Two days after, I put onthe uniform of a _debutant_, which cost me pretty dear but made a finefigure. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I longed for your spiritto have been in the glass only to see your son in such an array. Thecoat was dove-grey satin; waistcoat of dark red, finely figured, withsilver buttons; small clothes of red, white silk stockings, and jewelledshoes with the red heels which are worn at Court. I also bought a newdress sword. It has an openwork silver handle and guard; the bladesheathed in a white scabbard, which is silver-mounted. I wore largefrills and a small French hat finely laced with gold; and I boughtbesides long hunting-boots.
"I drove in our coach to the Palace. As I entered the gates the officerof the guard espied the livery of the Chevalier, and immediately causedhis company to salute me, observing which all the gentlemen standingnear took off their hats and bowed to me. I drove into the Court of theWhite Horse, a great square, one of the five around which this vastpalace is built, and at the entrance door I was met by my dear friendBaron de Grancey.
"The Baron said to me, 'Did you not tell us you had never been to Courtbefore?'
"I answered that I had not; and, indeed, my _debutant_ dress andignorance were sufficient witness to it.
"'You must, then, have all the honours,' he said. 'He who comes up forthe first time registers his genealogy and has a right to ride in theKing's carriages.'
"'Then it is a great thing to ride in the King's carriages?'
"'My dear friend, it is the right of the noble,' replied he, a littlesurprised.
"'Ah, yes, my mother once told me so,' said I. (Dear mother, is it nottrue that you said it?)
"'You shall also play cards with the Queen in the evening.'
"'Oh, no,' gasped I.
"'You must,' he returned. 'This honour also is indispensable. After your_debut_ is over you can be as modest as you please.'
"We arrived by that time at the end of a corridor and before a loftychamber, the doors of which were emblazoned in colours with the arms anddevices of France. Within we found the royal genealogist sitting in hisrobes of office with the heralds of the royal orders. Round about werelarge volumes, the registers of the _noblesse_, which they wereconsulting respecting the parchment titles produced by young gentlemenin person or through their secretaries; and I was told that before beingpresented one must show certificates of descent in both lines since thefourteenth century. I was so shocked at my situation that I becameangry, so that, when the King's genealogist stretched out his hand formy papers, I answered proudly, 'I have none.'
"'What is my lord's name?' he asked most respectfully. Here my tonguerefused to move. But the Baron interfered, replying--
"'Monsieur de Repentigny. He is far from home, and therefore cannotproduce his titles; but I speak for him as a relative of the Chevalierde Bailleul.'
"'Monsieur,' replied the King's genealogist to me graciously, 'the nameof Repentigny needs no parchments.'
"He ordered one of the secretaries to give me forthwith his brief ofattestation (I still have it). Thus, dear mother, this Baron has won mygratitude for ever. But attend to what followed, for it is better still.
"It was in the great hall of the Palace, where the walls and the ceilingare tapestried with pictures of kings riding the chase. Baron de Granceybrought me to the Prince de Poix, who acceded to his request to presentme to the Monarch. This Prince is, as I have told you, a very amiableman, and is obliged to me.
"The whole Court was there. There was the Archbishop of Paris; theKing's elder brother, whom they call Monsieur; the Dukes and Peers ofFrance, with their blue ribbons across their breasts; and a countlesscrowd of lords and great ladies dressed in state. Picture to yourself agarden full of the rarest flowers sparkling in the sun after a showerand bending gracefully to the wind; for such they resembled. I mentallynamed one my lord Violet, another my lady Rose, a third was theEglantine, another the White Lily; so I pleased myself withdistinguishing them.
"The trumpets sound, the music sweeps ravishingly into the air. Inpasses the King. He is attended by his guards of the sleeve and theprinces of the blood. The Prince de Poix steps forward and speaks myname. I tremble. Everybody whispers and stares at us. Ah, mother, what amoment! I know not what passed. His Majesty said, 'You are the hero ofthe forest?' smiled, heard my incoherent whisper, and passed on with histrain, smiling to others.
"Mother dear, I have seen the Sun-King! I have heard the voice to whichEurope listens! I have spoken to Saint Louis and Charlemagne!
"I have not reserved enough money from the furs. Send me 3,000 livresas quickly as possible. I am writing this in my chamber here, for I amto be ready for the hunt early to-morrow morning. Every sound I heartells of the presence of Majesty; every sight I get from the window ofthis dwelling of our ancient monarchs recalls a score out of thethousand legends which everybody has been telling me.
"Convey my deepest affection to my father and Angelique, and to Marieand Lacroix, and everybody in St. Elphege, and remember alway
s that I am
"Your dear "GERMAIN.
"To Madame F. X. Lecour, "Repentigny, in Canada. "(By way of London.)
"_Post Scriptum._--The Queen's Game took place last night after I wrotethe above to you. Their Majesties sat at a great round green table,surrounded by all the Court.
"There were some smaller tables, at which several great ladies and lordssat and played; but everybody's eyes were on the Queen, who is somarvellously queenly, and on the King with his stars and his blueribbon. They two put down their gold (which was in perfectly new pieces)and dealt the cards a little. I was given a turn with her Majesty, whosmiled and addressed me, at which I almost fainted. And, mother, theCount de Vaudreuil, whom you used to see as a child, was there. I tookspecial notice of him for you. He has a very fine figure and is one ofthe greatest courtiers.
"After that, we went off with our friends and had supper and playednearly all night.
"At daybreak everybody went to the hunt. I and the other _debutants_were driven to the rendezvous in the carriages of the King, drawn bywhite horses. There the grooms gave me a magnificent golden mare, whoknew her work so well that she carried me in at the death of the stagnext after his Majesty. (I tremble at what would have happened had I gotthere before him.) The Queen came up among the first. She enjoys thehunt.
"G. L."