The Lady of the Mount

  CHAPTER XIII

  THE SEETHING OF THE SEA

  "'I have concluded to deal leniently with you,' said the Governor; 'setyou free!' I could not believe."

  Alone in the little chamber, the door of which now was closed, shuttingthem from sight of the company in the general eating and drinking roomadjoining, Sanchez and the Black Seigneur sat together. Before themthe viands that had been placed on the table were untouched; the filledglasses, untasted. As he spoke, the man bent forward, his wordsdisjointed; his eyes gleaming.

  "'But,' the Governor added, 'the criminal must be taught not toforget'; then turned to his soldiers. 'Beat me this fellow from theMount!' he commanded."

  "What!" The blood sprang to the dark face of the listener; he halfstarted from his chair. "And they did! A merry chase, down thestreets, across the sands! I, an old soldier!" His voice choked."Beaten like a dog!"

  For some moments the young man looked at him; then again sank back;stared straight ahead. Without, the laughter and harsh voices of theislanders had become louder; within the little chamber, the only soundnow was the hard, persistent ticking of the clock on the shelf.

  "But how," at length Desaurac made a movement, "did he--"

  "Learn!" violently. "The way I told you he would!"

  "You mean--"

  "That I was betrayed and you were--by the Lady Elise--"

  "Impossible!" the Black Seigneur exclaimed with sudden violence.

  "Because she has a pretty face!" sneered the other.

  "Silence! Or--"

  "That is it!" The servant's voice rose stridently. "Beaten at oneend, threatened at the other!"

  The arm the young man had reached out fell to his side. "Hush! You'remad; you don't know what you're saying!"

  "And you did not know what you were doing! Oh, I dare say it--I tellyou now I little liked the task of taking her back; expecting some sortof treachery, and, when it came, was not surprised! Any more than,when they had brought me before the Governor, I saw her at thecloister--watching, hiding--"

  "Hiding!"

  "Behind the coping to listen when he, her father, was questioning me!And, when I looked up and caught her, she walked out--to show me Imight as well confess!"

  "She did that?"

  "Then tried to cozen me into believing it was not through her," went onthe man bitterly, as if speaking to himself. "But I know the lyingblood--none better--and when she saw it was no use," he paused andlooked up, the marks of the stripes on his face seeming suddenly toburn and grow livid, "she acknowledged it to my face! 'I won't deny.'Those were her words! And when she left the place, she turned aroundto look back at me--and laugh--"

  "You are not mistaken?"

  "Perhaps," said the man, a venomous light in his obstinate eyes, "itwas all a fancy; or--I am lying!"

  Outside, the wind, blowing sharper, whistled about the eaves, beat atthe window and shook the blinds angrily; far below, a steady monotoneto those other sounds, could be heard the rush and breaking of the surf.

  "Why did I cross myself that day on the island, when I saw her--behindyou?" Sanchez's taciturnity--the reticence of years--suddenly burstits bonds. "Because she made me think of the former lady of theMount--the Governor's wife--who betrayed the Seigneur, your father! Ipromised him to keep the secret--he would have it, for the sake of thelady; but now--to you! Your father was stabbed at the foot of theMount by the Governor!--"

  "Stabbed! By him!"

  "It was given out," sourly, "by rogues--again to shield her!"

  "But--"

  "That same day he had a letter--from her. As evening fell he walkednear the Mount--was followed by the Governor, who sprang, struck in theback and left him for dead! I found him and took him home. But beforehe recovered, it was reported my lady had died--"

  "How?"

  "I know not; a punishment, perhaps! She was always delicate--or likedto be considered such--a white-faced, pretty, smiling thing whosebeauty and treachery this other one, the daughter, inherits. It wasthe ghost of herself looking over your shoulder that day on the island,with the same bright, perfidious eyes--"

  "Enough!" Angrily the Black Seigneur brought down his hand. "I willhear no more!"

  "Because she has caught your fancy! Because you--"

  "No more, I say! Think you I would not avenge your wrongs at once,were it possible? That I would not strike for you, on the instant?But now? My hands are tied. Another matter--of life, ordeath--presses first!"

  Sanchez looked at him quickly; said no more; between them, the silencegrew. The servant was the first to move; turning to the table, hebegan to eat; at first mechanically; afterward faster, with theravenous zest of one who has not tasted food for many hours. Theother, for his part, showed no immediate desire to disturb thatoccupation; for some time waited; and it was not until the servantstopped; reached out his arm for a glass, to drink, that the young managain spoke.

  "The palace? The plan of the Mount? Did you notice? Tell mesomething of it--how it is laid out--"

  Sanchez swallowed; set down the glass hard. "Yes, yes! I saw much--agreat deal!" he answered with eager zest. "Oh, I kept my eyes open,although I seemed not to, and was mindful of learning all I could!"

  "Here!" From his pocket the young man took a note-book; pencil. "Setit down; everything! I know something, already, from the oldmonks--the rough diagrams in their books. You entered where? Take thepencil and--"

  The minutes passed and still Sanchez traced; seemed almost to forgethis injuries in his interest in the labor. Plan after plan was made;torn up; one finally remained in the hand of the Black Seigneur.

  "You think--" Anxiously the servant watched his master's face; but thelatter, straight, erect, with keen eyes fixed, did not answer.

  "You think--" again began the man when the ancient time-piece, beatingharshly the hour, interrupted.

  "Eleven o'clock! High tide!" The Black Seigneur pushed back his chairand rose.

  "Good!" Sanchez's alacrity indicated a quick comprehension of what themovement portended.

  "You--had better remain here!" shortly.

  "Me?" said the servant with a hoarse laugh. "Me?"

  "Have you not had enough of my family--my service?" the young Seigneurdemanded bitterly.

  "Bah!" muttered the other. "The dog that's beaten springs at thechance to bite! You go to rescue your comrades. I--will go with you!"

  "In which case, death--not vengeance--will most likely be your reward!"

  "I care not!" stubbornly.

  A moment the Black Seigneur regarded him; then made a gesture.

  "Well, have your way!" He listened. "The wind is in the west."

  "A little south of west," answered the man.

  "A rough night for your boat to have crossed!"

  "Oh, I was bound to come! And if you hadn't been here, I'd have goneon, on,--till I found you--"

  The hand of the young man touched the other's shoulder. "Come!" hesaid, and threw open the door.

  "You are going in the storm?" The girl, Nanette, intercepted them.

  The Black Seigneur nodded shortly.

  "It must be an important mission to take you to sea on such a night.Why don't you stay where it's warm and comfortable? Or," with a laugh,"at least until Monsieur Gabarie," indicating the corpulent figureintrenched behind a barricade of dishes and bottles on a small tablenear the fire, "has finished the little puppet play he is writing."

  "It _is_ finished!" As he spoke, the poet rose. "I had but written'curtain' when you spoke. Your wine, fair Nanette, hath a rarelyinspiring quality!"

  "Oh, I care not for your compliments!" she returned. "Your_capitaine_," again studying the Black Seigneur with dark sedulouseyes, "has not found it so much to his liking! He has neither askedfor more, nor drunk what he ordered; and now would venture out--"

  Unmindful of her words the young man called to old Pierre.

  "Well," she went on, throwing back her head, "if you lose your shi
p,come to me, and--I'll see you have another!"

  Above in his chamber at the inn, not long thereafter, the priest,looking out of the window, saw a line of men file down the narrowstairs; embark in the small boats from the sheltered nook where theylay, and later, in the light of the moon, breaking from betweenscudding clouds and angry vapors, a ship that got under way--glidedlike a phantom craft from the haven and set seaward through the foam.