Orrain: A Romance by S. Levett Yeats
CHAPTER V
THE PORTE ST. MICHEL
Half-an-hour later, when I quitted the presence of the Queen, it was asone to whom the world was opening afresh, and in that brief interval Ihad felt and begun to understand the subtle intellect of Catherine, ofthe existence of which few as yet were aware.
In regard to the mission with which I was entrusted I am pledged topreserve silence. The people concerned in it are dead, and when Ifollow them the secret will go with me. Let it suffice for me to saythat my task was such that a man of honour could accept, and that if Ifailed the preservation of my skin was my own affair, for help I wouldget from none. Hidden in the inner pocket of my vest was a dispatch toMontluc, the King's lieutenant in the South. In my hand I openly borea letter, sealed with the _palle_ of the Medici, and addressed in theQueen's own writing to the King. It was to be the means of my freeingthe gates of Paris if difficulty arose, and how it did so I shallpresently show.
I found my friends awaiting me, and Le Brusquet asked:
"Well, have you come forth a made man?"
"Monsieur, I will answer you that," I said with assumed gravity, "ifyou will tell me who betrayed me to the Queen."
I looked from one to the other, and they both laughed.
"Behold the traitor, then!" And Le Brusquet pointed with his finger atme.
"I?"
"Yes, you!--as if you had called it from the housetops. _Mon ami_, didever hear of a bourgeois handling sword as you, or bearing arms _un coqd'or griffe de sable, en champ d'azur_? Those arms are on yourwine-cups--if they exist still--they are on the hilt of the sword youlent me."
"_Morbleu_!"
"But that is not all. In the gay, red days, when Lorgnac here and Ihad all the world before us, we were of the College of Cambrai. It istrue we entered as you left; but we knew you, and when all Paris wasfull of your name Lorgnac and I, and others whom you knew not, aped thefall of your cloak, the droop of your plume, the tilt of your sword.Those days are gone, and until last night you, I thought, were gonewith them."
"Monsieur!"
"Listen! There is more yet. I but told the Queen of the arms youbore. She recognised them at once."
"That is not strange; the Vidame d'Orrain is in Paris!"
"True! But she remembered your history--every detail of it. It waslong ago, and many things have happened, and the Seine there has rolledmuch water under its bridges since then, but she had forgotten nothing.My friend, they who say the Medicis ever forgets are fools--blind intheir folly. And so, for the sake of last night, and a little for thedays that have gone, we will see pretty things yet, God willing! Eh,De Lorgnac?"
"I for one look forward to the day when a brave man will come to hisown," replied the other, and their kindness touched me to the quick.
I am not one gifted with the power of speech--indeed, I hold that thegreater the tongue the smaller the heart--but I found words to thankthese gallant gentlemen, and De Lorgnac said:
"Monsieur, it is enough thanks to hold us in your esteem, and we willsay no more about it. I have, however, some information that may beuseful. Your brother the Vidame left Paris this evening for the South,it is said. Thus one danger is at any rate removed from your path."
It was something to know that Simon was gone. I thanked De Lorgnac,and added:
"Now, messieurs, for my news. I know not if I have come forth fromthat chamber"--and I pointed behind me--"a made man or not. This muchI know, I am the bearer of a letter, the delivery of which must not bedelayed, and I must leave Paris with the dawn, or before--horse or nohorse."
"The horses I said were my care," De Lorgnac said. And then turning toLe Brusquet: "Await me on the steps that lead to the eastern gallery; Iam relieved in less than an hour. We will then take monsieur here tomy house, where there are two horses in the stables at his disposal,and the rest concerns himself."
Le Brusquet and I went back as we came, his constant companion, theape, with us. Passing through the open arch I have already mentionedwe halted on the steps that lead from the balcony to the eastern wing,and here we awaited De Lorgnac.
For a little there was a silence. Perhaps we were both impressed bythe scene. In front lay the river, a band of silver, with here andthere the twinkling, swaying lights of a crossing boat upon it. Allaround was the great city, and from the distance there came a murmuringhum of voices, like waves lapping upon a far-off shore. Around us,towering above and ringing us in with its immense strength, rose theLouvre, its vast outlines looking, if possible, larger and moregigantic in the enchanted light.
After a space Le Brusquet began to speak of the Vidame, my brother, andso we passed the time in converse until De Lorgnac came. He bade ushaste if we wished to quit the Louvre ere the pontlevis were raised,and hurrying after him we made our way to the southern gate, the onlyone open. As we went onwards the desolation that marked the entranceto the Queen's apartments was no longer visible. Ever and again wewere stopped and challenged by sentries.
"_Hein_!" exclaimed Le Brusquet, "the Scots archers keep good ward."
"Quick! Hurry!" was De Lorgnac's answer. "There goes the first signalfor closing the gates!"
And as he spoke a clarion rang out shrilly. We had reached the outercourt by this, and were hurrying for the bridge that led to thepontlevis when we saw a tall man, his cuirass glittering like silver inthe moonlight, step out of the shadow and signal to a trumpeter, whostood at his side.
"A moment, De Lorges. Stay!" And Lorgnac ran up to him. "Faith! butyour time is punctual."
Montgomery de Lorges laughed as he laid a restraining hand on histrumpeter. "I have more than half a mind to give the signal," he said."There is a rare flagon of Arbois in my apartment, and you would havebeen forced to share it. Come, change your mind and stay."
"Thanks; but I cannot. We are bound to my house, where you are verywelcome if you care to come."
"And leave my post? No, no!"
"Au revoir, then."
"Au revoir."
And we passed over the bridge. Almost had we freed it when the trumpetsounded again, and with a rattling of chains the huge pontlevis rose.
"Faith! 'twas a narrow thing. Had we been but a minute later the Scotwould have barred all egress." And Le Brusquet looked back at the gatethrough which we had passed. It lay on the other side of thepontlevis--the fosse between us--and was of angular shape, surmountedby a statue of Charles V. of France, and, as De Lorgnac said, wasalready doomed to destruction to make way for the improvementscontemplated by the King.
It was midnight now, and the streets were almost deserted, though hereand there were groups of people collected together for mutualprotection. As time was short we decided to take the Rue St. Thomas duLouvre despite its ill-paved and noisome condition. Passing thefountain near the Marche des Innocents we turned up by the St. Eustacheinto the Tiquetonne, and thence Rue Tire Boudin was but a short step.I need not say with what joy the good Pierrebon received me, and aftera light supper--in which, I fear, I did but scant justice to DeLorgnac's Joue--I determined to snatch an hour or so of rest beforestarting. Before doing so, however, Lorgnac took me to see the horses.They looked what he said they were--good, stout roadsters. I asked himhis price, but, as I expected from one of his generous nature, heoffered them to me as a gift. This I was determined not to accept, andfinally, after much persuasion, he took forty crowns of the sun for thetwo. This was barely their worth, but nothing would induce him toaccept a denier more.
The valise I had packed contained the requisites for a journey, andhaving changed my attire I decided to take such rest as I could get ina chair until it was time to start. I seemed to have barely closed myeyes when I was awakened again by the touch of a hand on my shoulder.It was Le Brusquet.
"_Eh bien_," he said, "but you sleep like an honest man! It has gonethree. The horses are ready, and De Lorgnac and Pierrebon await youbelow. Come!"
So saying he led the way down. We had to go to the stables, and
"I will see you to the gates," he explained as he caressed his horse, amagnificent grey charger.
"And as for me," said Le Brusquet, "I will wish you good fortune here,and a safe return, and the sword you lent me is in secure keeping."
And so we rode out in the grey darkness of the morning through thesolitary streets, where there was never a sign of life except anoccasional dog, which--homeless and friendless--stared wistfully afterus as we went past. I had decided to leave Paris by the Porte St.Michel, and this all the more as the captain of the gate--the Vicomtede Crequy--was a near relative of De Lorgnac, and the passage throughmight, perhaps, be made easier on this score. It was still dark as wetrotted down the Rue de la Harpe under the shadow of the Sorbonne,having passed the Pont au Change and the Pont St. Michel withoutdifficulty, although we expected some check there.
On our coming up to the Porte St. Michel the guard challenged us,threatening to fire with his arquebus if we did not halt. This we werecompelled to do, and a parley ensued. The result was that theunder-officer of the guard came forth, with two or three of his men,and allowed us to approach.
On our coming up, and on my explaining that I desired to have the gatesopened, he swore as he surveyed us with the aid of a lantern that heswung in our faces.
"_Mordieu_!" he said, with a rough southern accent--and a grim oldsoldier he was--"are you madmen, or have you dropped from the clouds,not to know that the gates are shut and will not be opened tillsunrise?"
"That may be, monsieur," I replied; "but I have a letter to theKing--to the King, mind you--which he must get ere he starts for thehunt."
"_He_!" he said doubtfully. "A letter to the King! You will have totake it on wings, then. But from whom is this letter?" he addedsuspiciously.
"That, monsieur, does not concern you. The fact remains that I havethis letter, and it is you who will have to answer for its latedelivery, not I."
"Then let me see it."
I pulled out the letter and showed it to him, without, however, lettingit pass from my hands. He cast the light of the lantern on it, andlooked this way and that at the seals and at the address, muttering tohimself the while.
"Devil take me! But I never could read. Here! Can any one of youread this?" And he turned to his men, but they one and all shook theirheads.
"I will read it for you if you like," said De Lorgnac as he pushed hishorse forwards.
"You!"
"Yes. I am Monsieur de Lorgnac, the lieutenant of the Queen's guard."
The old soldier made a mock bow. "And I," he said, "am AgrippaPavanes, without a _De_, lieutenant of the Gate of St. Michel; and yourfriend there is, I suppose, Monsieur _de_ Croquemort, lieutenant ofTrouands. And, as we all know each other now, I tell you plainly youmust hold patience by the tail as best you may until the gates areopened. Letter or no letter, I will not let you through."
And so saying he would have turned away, but Lorgnac said quietly:
"You will be good enough, monsieur, to inform Monsieur de Crequy that Iam here and desire to see him at once."
Agrippa Pavanes swung round and faced us, his hand on his sword-hilt.
"I am in charge of this gate at present, and I will act as I thinkbest. I may not be able to read or write, but if you do not be off Iwill make a full stop on you with the point of my sword," he snarled.
Affairs were getting serious. Nor do I know what might have happened,but at this juncture a head appeared at a window in one of the flankingtowers of the gate, and an angry and a sleepy voice asked what was thematter below.
"It is I, Crequy," began De Lorgnac, and the other exclaimed:
"You! What in the--saints' name--brings you here, De Lorgnac, at thishour of the night, or rather morning? Is it not enough that I ambanished here to keep watch over this infernal gate? And now you----"
"Come, Crequy; this is a matter of urgency. There is a letter herefrom the Queen which must reach the King before the _petit couvert_,and your lieutenant will not let the messenger pass through the gates."
"He is quite right! But a letter from the Queen, did you say?"
"Yes; and to the King in person. Come down, and see for yourself."
"Not I; I am in my shirt, and my health is delicate. Send up theletter. Pavanes, do me the favour to bring it up."
I handed the letter to Agrippa, who took it up, with very much thesurly air of a dog walking away with a bone. A moment after he tooappeared at the window with his light, and Crequy examined the letterand the seals.
"'Tis right, Pavanes," we heard him say; "'tis the Queen's own hand andseal. Let the messenger through." And leaning out of the window herepeated the same to us.
De Lorgnac thanked him, regretting, at the same time, the necessity hehad of arousing him; and Crequy swore back, in mock tones of injury,that he would have a special cell built for disturbers of his rest,and, wishing us the day, retired abruptly.
Agrippa carried out his orders with an ill grace, and made no answer tomy thanks; so, bidding farewell to De Lorgnac, I put spurs to my horse,and, followed by Pierrebon, rode out of Paris.