The King's Esquires; Or, The Jewel of France

  CHAPTER NINETEEN.

  THE GLITTERING STONE.

  "You are satisfied, I trust, doctor, with our programme?" said the King,in a slightly ironical tone, as he passed to the window, humming an oldhunting song as he tapped the panes, while Leoni remained standing nearthe table at which he had been busily engaged writing.

  "Sir--" he began.

  "Sit down, Master Leoni; sit down. You can respect my disguise better,and also more thoroughly please me. I was saying, you are satisfied?"

  "Everything, sir, that you order is the best. Of that I am convinced;and yet, sir, I am anxious about the Majesty of France. I am commonclay, sir. I am nothing; I can die; whereas you--"

  "No, no, Leoni; not here, not here. We have left that in France. Doyou not understand? Just at present we are travelling companions, and Ilook to you and to your great learning for assistance, just as Ireceived it in the forest that night; and then it was timely indeed."

  "You are too indulgent, my lord, to any poor attainments that yourservant may possess. Such as they are, they will always be at my lord'sservice," replied Leoni, and he slowly resumed his seat in thehigh-backed chair, in obedience to a commanding gesture from the King.

  Francis laughed lightly.

  "The best swordsman," he said, "in all my fair kingdom of France--cut,parry, and point; the greatest savant; and, by my sword, the best ofpatrists.--No, no, Leoni, old friend, I am not too indulgent," and hegave his follower a keen glance. "But as to the route; is it good tostart to-morrow?"

  Leoni bowed.

  "Yes, sir, it is good," he said, and he blew some few grains of sand offthe paper at which he had been engaged.

  "Ah!" said the King. "'Tis well."

  "And then, sir--"

  "Then--I do not understand."

  Leoni leaned forward, and with his elbows on the table joined the tipsof his fingers, and then clasped his hands and, with the weird strangelook in his eyes, said:

  "What does my lord propose to do?"

  "To do? Why, to go to the Court of our quick-tempered brother Henry atthis palace of his at Windsor."

  "Ah!" said Leoni.

  "You are doubtful?"

  "I think, sir, that there may be difficulties in the way." And thespeaker glanced at the document before him.

  "Difficulties for me! You are mad."

  "No, sir, only cautious. When you are in France, at Fontainebleau, atCompiegne, in Paris, no matter where, does his Majesty the King receiveany errant English nobleman who may be abroad to study the world? Ithink not. Your minister would inquire into the traveller's papers, andask whence he came, and why."

  The King turned thoughtful in a moment, and the haughty look died awayon his lips.

  "By Saint Louis, I never thought of that! Leoni, you are wiser than I."

  Leoni gazed intently at the King, who winced; and Francis ended byputting his hand before his own eyes, as if the peculiar fixed stareannoyed him.

  "I was arguing by analogy, sir. Is it likely that this English monarchwill act differently from the first King in Christendom? I think not.Henry apes your Majesty. It is you, Sire, who lead, and whom otherkings follow. Go in your proper person, and there is not a door in allthis land, or in any other, which can be thrown open wide enough toadmit you; but--"

  "Leoni," interrupted the King, "what are you writing?"

  "A suggestion, sir, to offer you."

  The King crossed the chamber, and, leaning over Leoni's shoulder, readout the words:

  "To our well-beloved Cousin, Henry, King of England.

  "Dear Cousin and King,--

  "The bearer of this our letter, the noble Comte Reginald Herault de laSeine of Angomar and Villay, is our good friend. We ask you to receivehim as such, and to permit him to see your Court, of which all the worldspeaks, and your kingdom of England, whose power is so beneficent and somighty an agent of Heaven's will on this earth."

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  "Will it serve, sir?" asked Leoni.

  "Of course!" cried the King; and snatching the pen from the doctor'shand, he took the letter to the other side of the table and clumsilyscribbled down a signature. "There," he cried, tossing the letter back;"will that do?"

  Leoni fixed him with his eyes and shrugged his shoulders slightly, andhis peculiar cynical smile played about his lips.

  "I wish, Leoni, you wouldn't stare at me like that," cried the Kingpetulantly. "Yes. I know; it is bad--not like your regular writing. Idon't pass my time handling a pen."

  "I was not thinking of the writing, sir, but of the signature."

  "Oh, I see," cried the King; "I am not used to it. I shall write itbetter by-and-by. Well, won't that one do?"

  "Your lordship had not thought before you put pen to paper."

  "Yes, I did; I thought that the sooner I got it over the better. Well,what do you want now?"

  "I was wondering," said Leoni, with a mocking smile, "what King Henrywould think of a Comte de la Seine who writes a letter in the King'sname to introduce himself."

  "Bah!" cried the King angrily. "What an idiot! No; it was my honestnature rebelling against deceit. Here, Leoni, what's to be done?"

  "I'll write the letter over again, sir, and you will sign it this timeas the King."

  "Good!" murmured Francis.

  The letter was rewritten, and the King signed.

  "With this passport, sir, King Henry's Court at Windsor will be free toyou and to yours."

  "Excellent," said the King, and he glanced at the document endorsed withthe royal signature--"Francois, R."--at which he smiled withself-satisfaction. "Now nothing more remains to be done."

  The King looked fixedly at his servant, and then laid his hand on thelatter's arm.

  "It is good," he said. "What you have done is well done. Leoni, withmind and sword you have served me well, and that France which we bothlove with loyalty and faith. And now--now that we are nearing ourjourney's end, you hold it still to be the truth that Henry guardsjealously in his possession this jewel, which in his hands is an agentfor the downfall of France?"

  "I hold it to be true, sir," said Leoni solemnly, and he laid his handon a little golden crucifix which lay on the table before him. "I holdit to be true, and that the old ambition which brought the Englishhordes to our country is kept alive by the influence of that jewel. Hewill serve France well who reclaims it and restores it to its rightfulplace--your crown, Sire." And the speaker dropped on one knee, but theKing motioned him to rise.

  "Not now," he said; "not now." And then, as his royal master appearedto be lost in thought, Leoni went on; "Never, sir, would I have broughtthis matter to your notice, deeply though it concerns the welfare ofFrance, had I not been convinced."

  "And why so?"

  "Because, sir, I knew your nature--reckless, valiant, ready to risk all,ay, even your life, when the interests of your country are involved."

  "And rightly so. It is as a Valois should act, as a Valois will act tothe end."

  "Yes, sir; and yet I dreaded at first to speak, for I foresaw somethingof what would happen, since to those who study deeply a vision of thefuture is vouchsafed at times, and I realised even then what might beyour resolve--namely, to undertake the perilous quest yourself."

  "It was for France."

  "Yes, sir--"

  And then the King, in a softened voice, said slowly:

  "You blame me, Leoni?"

  "It is not for such as I to blame. All that you have done, sir, isgood; but there is the future. Of that we will take thought. You arein a strange land, sir, amidst people who to-morrow may be foes. Youare far from the army which would follow you to death, and to meet thedangers which may come into your path there are but three swords, threeloyal hearts."

  "And they will be enough," said the King. "Leoni, old friend, you musthave no fear."

  "I have none, sir."

  "Well," said the King, "between ourselves, Leoni,
I have. This thingbegins to look more awkward now we are getting so near. King Henry isalways very civil to me in his letters, and no doubt he will give theComte de la Loire--"

  "Seine, sir--Seine."

  "Bah! Yes, of course. I knew it was some river. I say: I mustn't makesuch a mistake as that again, or he will find me out. Here, hadn't webetter change the name to something else? Seine--Seine--it's rather astupid name."

  "Too late, sir," said Leoni earnestly. "You must hold to it now. Butyou were about to say something, my lord."

  "Yes, of course," cried the King hastily. "Suppose Henry does find meout, and has got me there. Why, by my sword, Leoni, he'll hold me toransom, and instead of my getting back that one jewel he'll make me giveup my whole crown."

  "No, sir; no, sir," cried Leoni earnestly. "Have more faith inyourself, and go forward. You cannot turn back now. You will soon getused to the part you assume, and it will be easy."

  "I don't know so much about that," said the King. "I am a bad actor.Why, you can't keep it up yourself. If I hadn't stopped you just nowyou'd have been down upon your knees to kiss my hand."

  "That was only my reverence and duty to my King."

  "Yes, I know," said Francis angrily; "but just recollect that you haveno king now, and let's have no reverence, for if you get me regularlyinto trouble over this, good a servant as you have been to me, yourfriends will have to prepare your tomb, a short one too, for you willlose your head."

  "In the service of my country and my lord, sir," said Leoni calmly. "Ishall have done my duty. But we shall not fail."