The False Chevalier
CHAPTER XXV
FACING THE MUSIC
Germain hastened back to Troyes, taking up Dominique on the way. It wasevening when his coach brought him past the gate sentry and through thestray groups in the courtyard of the Quarters, so that he noticednothing particular until he entered Collinot's office to report himself.The Adjutant received him with unusual stiffness. When he, soon after,descended in his uniform and mounted to take command of the change ofsentries, the crisis arrived. A large, turbulent Guardsman refused tosalute him. Germain stopped, marked the man, and ordered his arrest.
"_You_ arrest me!" the private shouted, conscious of his equal rank withthe officers of the ordinary army; "you reptile, you huckster's son! Youorder gentlemen about!--_you_, Lecour, the man of the stolen name!"
"Monsieur Brigadier, conduct this gentleman to the guardhouse," firmlyordered Lecour.
He did it with so much dignity, despite the whiteness of his face, thatthe Guardsmen--who had all been about to mutiny with theircomrade--recognised their duty, and obeyed his further commands. Theirhasty impression that the Canadian was an impostor was shaken by hismanner, and they silently agreed to await developments.
Immediately this brief service--which he performed to the letter--wasover, he changed costume quickly and walked into the card-room, where alarge company, including several Guards from Chalons, were engaged atconversation and play. All eyes turned to him. He was seen to marchstraight to the centre, and to stand a moment, pale and determined,until all murmuring hushed.
"Gentlemen," he began, "I have just been insulted. I have been insulted,but not so much by the man who lies under arrest, as by him, unknown tome, who has been the cause of his offence. I am under no possible doubtthat all you who are present have heard the malignant falsehoods whichare being circulated about my origin within the past few days. Theirauthor, I am informed, is one Lery, a native of my country, who hasobtained in some way a position in the ranks of the company de Villeroy.I wish to proclaim that I am about to demand of him a justalternative--retraction or death."
"Bravo!" exclaimed a friendly voice--Grancey's. Germain had beenlistened to with breathless attention, and approval appeared on manycountenances. His fellow-officers moved towards him. Even one of theGuardsmen from Chalons, of de Lery's regiment, swore the latter had noright to malign such a brave fellow.
"Adjutant de Collinot," he continued, "I appeal to you."
Collinot--the oracle of militarism--who was playing picquet, rose.
"Sir," said Germain, "I desire that this matter be regulated in themanner that shall best preserve the honour of the company of Noailles,of which you are the custodian. I must explain to you, for the regiment,the facts concerning my title of Repentigny. The Marquis of that name,it is true, is a Canadian, and was, until the British conquest ageneration ago, possessor of the estate of Repentigny, of which hisfamily, the LeGardeurs, have borne the name as their principaldesignation. But this Lery, a man of very inferior pedigree,notwithstanding his pretensions, has in his ignorance and presumptionoverlooked a fact into which he should have at least inquired beforelying about a gentleman. He ought to be aware that the LeGardeurs haveceased to possess Repentigny since the year 1763. Has he asked himselfwhat has become of it in the mean-time? Know then, sir, and gentlemen ofthis company, that that seigniory being sold again, and again regrantedby the British Crown, has long ago become the property of my father inperfect title. Does Monsieur Lery dispute the rule that a gentleman maytake the name of a property of his own or of his father's? Yet, in casethere be a technical defect for the purposes of a name in France, in thefact that we unfortunately hold Repentigny of a foreign power, I amready--and indeed from this time forth intend--to recur to another nameabout which no petty cavil can rise--for we are not so poor in titles asto be confined to one--the original illustrious name of myfamily--LeCour de Lincy. You, sir, have my attestation by the herald, inthe strictest form, and some of you, gentlemen officers, know under whatcircumstances you have seen me in the family of the Chevalier deBailleul. I have one thing now to add to these evidences. As guardian,sir, of the regiment, do me the honour and justice of examining thesepapers"--here he handed him his new documents, and passed around thefamily seal with its coat-of-arms. "Know me henceforth," he added,"proven, by a designation above all question, error, or calumny, andnoble among the oldest in the kingdom--my ancestral name of LeCour deLincy. Adjutant, I respectfully demand your decision."
"The rules of the army," the latter answered, precise as usual, "aresatisfied by the attestation of the best authority in the realm on yourantiquity. The Company cannot take official notice of an unsustainedattack upon you; the defence of your honour in such a matter rests withyour own sword. Still, gentlemen, though not formally necessary, I ampleased to hear a voluntary explanation so satisfactory to our militaryfamily, whose duty it meanwhile is without doubt to support ourcomrade."
And he saluted Germain.
The company present buzzed with agitation, and many began to speak lowtogether. Those from Chalons fixed their eyes towards a corner behindLecour.
And now in that direction a figure wearing the green cross-belt of thecompany of Villeroy rose, pale, aristocratic, coldly calm, and said, "Iam de Lery."
The pallor that suddenly blanched Lecour's countenance as he turned inthe direction of the voice left it as quickly when he fully faced hisopponent. He measured him instantaneously, and the man he saw becamestamped indelibly on his mind's eye--a picture, in typical contemptuousperfection of feature and dress, of the French aristocracy of the old_regime_. The very chair on the back of which his hand rested seemed apart of the type--one of those beautiful white chairs of the period, onwhich, on snowy, glittering tapestry, was woven a Fable of Lafontaine inmatchless Gobelin dyes.
"Do you admit, sir, that you have defamed me?" Lecour cried, graspingthe hilt of his sword and advancing a foot.
"I defame nobody," Louis answered coldly.
"Have you not disseminated statements that my name is stolen?"
"I have said that the noble designation of Repentigny did not belong toyou--that its rightful owners are my uncle the Marquis of Repentigny,now in Paris, and his family."
"Did you not know----"
"Stay, sir. I have also asserted that you are an impostor, the son of atradesman of Canada, formerly a private soldier of the Marquis deLotbiniere, and that you have not the slightest claim to consort withgentlemen, still less to belong to the Bodyguard, and less again tobecome an officer."
"Liar! liar! liar! Lery, it is _you_ who are the impostor! You areafraid of those who can tell the truth about you, but I did not conceivethat you would carry our colonial jealousies so far as this. Do youpersist or do you retract?"
"The scene becomes disagreeable," said some of those present to eachother.
"It is colonial jealousy, of course," said others. "What have we to dowith it?"
De Lery stood looking at Lecour without moving, in imperturbablecontempt.
"I demand satisfaction," the latter hissed.
De Lery moved only slightly.
"The laws of honour," said he, "would bid me answer the challenge of agentleman. But do you flatter yourself they compel me to cross steelwith such as you?"
This was the cruellest blow, and under it Germain winced wrathfully. Itwas so cruel that those present murmured, and some cried "Shame!"
"You _shall_ meet me! You _must_ meet me! Besides a slanderer, you are acoward. Your company, whom you disgrace, have honour enough to make youmeet me," called Germain in tones of rage.
"Accept! accept! accept!" cried the Guardsmen of the company ofVilleroy.
"You ask me to dishonour myself?--to cross swords with an animal?"exclaimed de Lery, turning angrily to his comrades.
"Shame! shame!" was the cry around the room.
"Gentlemen of the Bodyguard," said Collinot, "I must remind you whereyou are."
D'Amoreau and the Baron led Germain off to his chamber. There they satdown, and d'Amoreau wro
te out a challenge, which Grancey, whom Lecourchose as his second, delivered without delay.
Germain was strung to a frightful tension. When his companions, atGrancey's suggestion, left him alone, he locked the doors and a storm ofapprehensions took hold upon him. The situation presented itself in twodeadly alternatives, either his annihilation in eternal darkness, orelse that his rapier must let out the red life-stream of a man who,hateful though he might be, was but a speaker of the truth. In thatcase, all would come out and justice have to be settled with, both humanand divine. Yes, that extreme justice--to be banished for ever out ofthe world of Cyrene. Was it not the better alternative to permit himselfto die by the first thrust of de Lery?