CHAPTER II
A ROYAL EAVESDROPPER
Tough and sharp-pointed, a wooden sword was no insignificant weapon,wielded by the thews and sinews of a Triboulet. Crouching like ananimal, the king's buffoon sprang with headlong fury, uttering hoarse,guttural sounds that awakened misgivings regarding the fate of his tooconfident antagonist.
"Do not kill him, Triboulet!" cried Marot, alarmed lest the duke's foolshould be slain outright. "Remember he has journeyed from the court ofCharles V!"
"Charles V!" came through Triboulet's half-closed teeth. "My master'sone great enemy!"
"Hush!" muttered Villot. "Our master's enemy is now his dear friend!"
"Friend!" sneered the other, but even as he thrust, his sword tingledsharply in his hand, and, whisked magically out of his grip, describeda curve in the air and fell at a far end of the room. At the same timea stinging blow descended smartly on the dwarf's hump.
"Pardon me!" laughed the duke's fool. "Being unused to such exercise,my blade fell by mistake on your back."
If looks could have killed, Triboulet would have achieved his originalpurpose, but after a vindictive though futile glance his head droopeddespondently. To have been thus humiliated before those whom heregarded as his vassals! What jest could restore him the prestige hehad enjoyed; what play of words efface the shame of that publicchastisement? Had he been beaten by the king--but thus to suffer atthe hand of a foreign fool! And the monarch--would he learn ofit?--the punishment of the royal jester? As in a dream, he heard thehateful voices of the company.
"'Tis not the first time he has been wounded--there!" said fearlessCaillette, who openly acknowledged his aversion for the king's favoritefool. "But be seated, gentle sir," he added to the stranger, "andshare our rough hospitality."
"Rough, certes!" commented the other, as he returned his blade to hisbelt. "And as I see no stool--"
"There's the throne!" returned Caillette, courteously. "Since you haveovercome Triboulet, his place is yours."
"A precarious place!" said the new-comer, easily, dropping,nevertheless, into the chair.
"The king is dead! Long live the king!" cried the cardinal's jester.
"Long live the king!" they shouted, every fool and zany raising atankard, save the dwarf and the young woman, the former continuing toglare vindictively upon the usurper, and the latter to all intentremaining oblivious of the ceremony of installation. Poised upon achair, she idly thrust her fingers through the gilded bars of the cagethat hung from the rafters and gently stroked the head of the nowcomplaisant bird.
"Poor Jocko! Poor Jocko!" she murmured.
"La!--la!--la!--" sang the parrot, responsive to her light caress.
"Your Majesty's wishes! Your Majesty's decree!" exclaimed the monasticwit-worm.
"Hear! hear!" roared Brusquet.
"Silence!" commanded Marot. "His Majesty speaks."
"Toot! toot! toot!" rang out the flourish of a trumpet, a clarionprelude to the fiat from the throne.
The new king in motley arose; heedless, devil-may-care, very erect inhis preposterously pointed shoes.
"I appoint you, Thony, treasurer of the exchequer, because you arequick at sleight-of-hand," he began.
"Good," laughed Marot. "An he's more light-fingered than hispredecessor, he's a master of prestidigitation!"
"You, Brusquet," went on the new master of Fool's hall, "I reward withthe government of Guienne, for he who governs his own house so ill issurely fitted for greater tasks of incompetency."
This allusion to the petticoat rule which dominated the luckless jesterat home was received in good part by all save the hapless domesticbondman himself.
"You, Villot, are made admiral of the fleet."
Villot smiled, thinking how Francis had but recently bestowed thatoffice upon the impoverished husband of pretty Madame d'Etaille.
"Thanks, your Majesty," he began, "but if some post nearer home--"
"You are to sail at once!"
"But my wife--"
"Will remain at court!" announced the duke's jester with great decision.
Villot made a wry face. The king in motley smiled significantly. "Asafe haven, Villot! Besides, remember a court without ladies is like aspring without flowers."
A movement resembling apprehension swept through the company. Theepigram had been Francis'; the court--a flower-bed of roses--was, inconsequence, a thorny maze for a jester to tread. From her chair atthe far end of the room, the young woman looked at the new-comer forthe first time since his enthronement. Her fingers yet played betweenthe gilded bars; the posture she had assumed set forth the pliant graceof her figure. Above the others, she glanced at him, her hair veryblack against the golden cage; her arm, very white, half unsheathedfrom the great hanging sleeve.
"You are over-bold," she said, a peculiar smile upon her lips.
"Nay; I have spoken no treason, mistress," he retorted blithely.
"Not by word of mouth, perhaps, but by imputation."
He raised his brows with a gesture of wanton protest, while the facebefore him clouded. Her eyes held his; her little teeth just gleamedbetween the crimson of her lips.
"I presume you consider Charles the more fitting monarch?" shecontinued.
Was it the disdain of her voice? Did she read his passing thoughts?Did she challenge him to utter them?
"In truth," the jester said carelessly, "Charles builds fortresses, notpleasure palaces; and garrisons them with soldiers, not ladies."
She half-smiled. Her glance fell. Her hand moved caressingly, thesleeve waving beneath.
"Poor Jocko! Poor Jocko!" she murmured.
Triboulet's glance beamed with delight. She was casting her spell overhis enemy.
"Oh," muttered Triboulet, "if the king could but have heard!"
Perhaps it was a breath of air, but the tapestry depicting themisadventures of Momus waved and moved. Triboulet, who notedeverything, saw this, and suffered an expression of triumph momentarilyto rest upon his malignant features. Had his prayer been answered? "Aspring without flowers," forsooth! Dearly cherished the augustgardener his beautiful roses. Great red roses; white roses; blossomsyet unopened!
Following his gaze, a significant light appeared in the young woman'seyes, while her arm fell to her side.
"Now to see Presumption sue for pardon," she whispered to herself.
One by one the company, too, turned in the direction Triboulet waslooking. In portraiture the classical buffoon grinned and gibed atthem from the tapestry; and even from his high station above the cloudsJupiter, who had ejected the offending fool of the gods, looked lessstern and implacable. An expectant hush fell upon the assemblage, whensuddenly Jove and Momus alike were unceremoniously thrust aside, and,as the folds fell slowly back, before the many-hued curtain stood a manof stately and majestic mien.
A man whose appearance caused deep-seated consternation, whoseforbidding aspect made the very silence portentous and terrifying.With dress slashed and laced, rich in jewelry and precious stones, heremained motionless, regarding the motley gathering, while an ominoushalf-smile played about his features. He said nothing, but his reservewas more sinister than language. Capricious, cruel was his face; inhis eyes shone covert enjoyment of the situation.
Would he never speak? With one hand he stroked his beard; with theother he toyed with the lace on his doublet.
"You were talking, children," he said, finally, "before I came in."
"If your Majesty," ventured Triboulet, "has heard all, your Majestywill not blame--us!" And he glanced malevolently toward the duke'sJester, who, upon the king's abrupt entrance, had descended from theplatform.
Observing the emblazoned arms of Charles V upon the dress of theculprit, a faint look of surprise swept Francis' face. Did it recallthat fatal day, when on the field of battle, a rival banner had wavedever illusively; ever beyond his reach? Now it shone before him asthough mocking his friendship for his one-time powerful enemy, the onlyman he
feared, the emperor who had overthrown him. The sinister smileof the king gave way to gloomy thoughtfulness.
"Who is this knave?" he asked at length, fixedly regarding theerstwhile badge of his defeat.
"A poor fool, Sire!" replied the kneeling man.
"Those arms, embroidered on your dress--what do they mean?" said theking shortly.
"The arms of my master's master, your Majesty!" was the over-confidentanswer.
"Who is your master?"
"The Duke of Friedwald, Sire, the betrothed of the Princess Louise."
"And your purpose here?"
"My master sent me to the princess. 'I'll miss thee, rogue,' said he.''Tis proof of love to send thee, my merry companion of the wine cup!But go! Nature hath formed thee to conjure sadness from a lady'sface.' So I set out upon my perilous journey, and, favored by fortune,am but safely arrived. I was e'en now about to repair to the princess,whom I trust, in my humble way, to amuse."
"And thou shalt!" said the king, significantly.
"Oh, your Majesty!" with assumed modesty.
"That is," added Francis, "if it will amuse her to see you hanged!"
"And if it did not amuse her, Sire?" spoke up the new-comer, without atremor in his voice.
"What then?" asked the king.
"It would be a breach of hospitality to hang me, the servant of theduke who is servant of Charles V!" he replied boldly.
Francis started. Like a menace shone the arms of the great emperor.Vividly he recalled his own humiliation, his long captivity, andmistrusted the power of his subtile, amiable friend-enemy. Friendship?Sweeter was hatred. But the promptings of wisdom had suggested thepolicy of peace; the reins of expediency drove him, autocrat or slave,to the doctrines of loving brotherhood. He turned his gloomy eyes uponthe glowing countenance of Triboulet.
"What say you, fool?"
"Your Majesty," answered the eager dwarf, "could hang him withoutbreach of hospitality."
"How do you make that good, Triboulet?" asked the monarch.
"The duke has given him to the princess. The princess is a subject ofyour Majesty. The king of France has jurisdiction over the princess'fool and surely can proceed in so small a matter as hanging him."
Francis bent a malignant look upon the young man. Behind the dwarfstood the jestress, now an earnest spectator of the scene.
"This new-comer's stay with us promises to be brief, Caillette," shewhispered.
"Hark, you witch! He answers," returned the poet.
"What can he say?" she retorted, shrugging her shoulders. "He isalready condemned."
"Are you pleased, mistress? Just because the poor fellow stared at youovermuch."
"Oh," she said, insensibly, "it was written he should hang himself.Now we'll hear how ably Audacity parleys with Fate."
"It would be no breach of hospitality, Sire, to hang the princess'fool," spoke the condemned man with no sign of waning confidence, "yetit would seem to depreciate the duke's gift. Your Majesty should hangthe one and spare the other. 'Tis a matter of logic," he went onquickly, "to point out where the duke's gift ends and the princess'fool begins. A gift is a gift until it is received. The princess hasnot yet received the duke's gift. Therefore, your Majesty can not hangme, as the princess' fool; nor would your Majesty desire to hang me asthe duke's gift."
Imperceptibly the monarch's mien relaxed, for next to a contest withblades he liked the quick play of words.
"Answer him, Triboulet," he said.
"Your Majesty--your Majesty--" stammered the dwarf, and paused indespair, his wits failing him at the critical juncture.
"Enough!" commanded the king, sternly. A sound of suppressed merrimenteven as he spoke startled the gathering. "Who laughed?" he criedsuddenly. "Was it you, mistress?" fastening his eyes upon the youngwoman.
Her head fell lower and lower like some dark flower on a slender stem.From out of the veil of her mazy hair came a voice, soft with seeminghumility.
"It might have been Jocko, Sire," she said. "He sometimes laughs likethat."
The king looked from the woman to the bird; then from the bird to thewoman, a gleam of recollection in his glance.
"Humph!" he muttered. "Is this where you serve your mistress? Look toit you serve not yourself ill!"
An instant her eyes flashed upward.
"My mistress is at prayers," she answered, and looked down again asquickly.
"And you meanwhile prefer the drollery of these madcaps to theattentions of our courtiers?" said Francis, more gently. "Certes areyou gipsy-born!"
Her hands clasped tighter, but she answered not, and he turned moresternly to the new king of the motley. "As for you," he continued,"for the present the duke's gift is spared. But let the princess' foollook to himself. Remember, a guarded tongue insures a ripe old age,and even a throne in Fools' hall is fraught with hazard. Here! some ofyou, take this"--indicating the sleeping Rabelais--"and throw it intothe horse-pond. Yet see that he does not drown--your heads upon it!'Tis to him France looks for learning."
He paused; glanced back at the kneeling girl. "You, MistressWho-Seeks-to-Hide-Her-Face, teach that parrot not to laugh!" he addedgrimly.
The tapestry waved. Mute the motley throng stared where the king hadstood. A light hand touched the arm of the duke's fool, and, turning,he beheld the young woman; her eyes were alight with new fire.
"In God's name," she exclaimed, passionately, "let us leave. You havedone mischief enough. Follow me."
"Where'er you will," he responded gallantly.