Collected Works of Rafael Sabatini Page 6

  “Ah — you are returned, Gaston.”

  “To find that you have made a discovery, and are overwhelmed by your error.”

  “My error?”

  “Yes — that of falling in love with the wrong one. Hélas, it is but one of those ironical jests wherewith Fate amuses herself at every step of our lives. Had you fallen in love with Yvonne — and it passes my understanding why you did not — everything would have gone smoothly with your wooing. Unfortunately, you have a preference for fair hair—”

  “Have done,” he interrupted peevishly. “What does it signify? To the devil with Mazarin’s plans!”

  “So you said this morning.”

  “Yes, when I did not even dream her name was Canaples.”

  “Nevertheless, she is the wrong Canaples.”

  “For my uncle — but, mille diables! sir, ‘t is I who am to wed, and I shall wed as my heart bids me.”

  “Hum! And Mazarin?”

  “Faugh!” he answered, with an expressive shrug.

  “Well, since you are resolved, let us dine.”

  “I have no appetite.”

  “Let us dine notwithstanding. Eat you must if you would live; and unless you live — think of it! — you’ll never reach Blois.”

  “Gaston, you are laughing at me! I do not wish to eat.”

  I surveyed him gravely, with my arms akimbo.

  “Can love so expand the heart of man that it fills even his stomach? Well, well, if you will not eat, at least have the grace to bear me company at table. Come, Andrea,” and I took his arm, “let us ascend to that chamber which she has but just quitted. Who can tell but that we shall find there some token of her recent presence? If nothing more, at least the air will be pervaded by the perfume she affected, and since you scorn the humble food of man, you can dine on that.”

  He smiled despite himself as I drew him towards the staircase.

  “Scoffer!” quoth he. “Your callous soul knows naught of love.”

  “Whereas you have had three hours’ experience. Pardieu! You shall instruct me in the gentle art.”

  Alas, for those perfumes upon which I had proposed that he should feast himself. If any the beautiful Geneviève had left behind her, they had been smothered in the vulgar yet appetising odour of the steaming ragoût that occupied the table.

  I prevailed at length upon the love-lorn boy to take some food, but I could lead him to talk of naught save Geneviève de Canaples. Presently he took to chiding me for the deliberateness wherewith I ate, and betrayed thereby his impatience to be in the saddle and after her. I argued that whilst she saw him not she might think of him. But the argument, though sound, availed me little, and in the end I was forced — for all that I am a man accustomed to please myself — to hurriedly end my repast, and pronounce myself ready to start.

  As Andrea had with him some store of baggage — since his sojourn at Blois was likely to be of some duration — he travelled in a coach. Into this coach, then, we climbed — he and I. His valet, Silvio, occupied the seat beside the coachman, whilst my stalwart Michelot rode behind leading my horse by the bridle. In this fashion we set out, and ere long the silence of my thoughtful companion, the monotonous rumbling of the vehicle, and, most important of all factors, the good dinner that I had consumed, bred in me a torpor that soon became a sleep.

  From a dream that, bound hand and foot, I was being dragged by St. Auban and Malpertuis before the Cardinal, I awakened with a start to find that we were clattering already through the streets of Etrechy; so that whilst I had slept we had covered some six leagues. Twilight had already set in, and Andrea lay back idly in the carriage, holding a book which it was growing too dark to read, and between the leaves of which he had slipped his forefinger to mark the place where he had paused.

  His eyes met mine as I looked round, and he smiled. “I should not have thought, Gaston,” he said, “that a man with so seared a conscience could have slept thus soundly.”

  “I have not slept soundly,” I grumbled, recalling my dream.

  “Pardieu! you have slept long, at least.”

  “Out of self-protection; so that I might not hear the name of Geneviève de Canaples. ‘T is a sweet name, but you render it monotonous.”

  He laughed good-humouredly.

  “Have you never loved, Gaston?”

  “Often.”

  “Ah — but I mean did you never conceive a great passion?”

  “Hundreds, boy.”

  “But never such a one as mine!”

  “Assuredly not; for the world has never seen its fellow. Be good enough to pull the cord, you Cupid incarnate. I wish to alight.”

  “You wish to alight! Why?”

  “Because I am sick of love. I am going to ride awhile with Michelot whilst you dream of her coral lips, her sapphire eyes, and what other gems constitute her wondrous personality.”

  Two minutes later I was in the saddle riding with Michelot in the wake of the carriage. As I have already sought to indicate in these pages, Michelot was as much my friend as my servant. It was therefore no more than natural that I should communicate to him my fears touching what might come of the machinations of St. Auban, Vilmorin, and even, perchance, of that little firebrand, Malpertuis.

  Night fell while we talked, and at last the lights of Étampes, where we proposed to lie, peeped at us from a distance, and food and warmth.

  It was eight o’clock when we reached the town, and a few moments later we rattled into the courtyard of the Hôtel de l’Épée.

  Andrea was out of temper to learn that Mesdemoiselles de Canaples had reached the place two hours earlier, taken fresh horses, and proceeded on their journey, intending to reach Monnerville that night. He was even mad enough to propose that we should follow their example, but my sober arguments prevailed, and at Étampes we stayed till morning.

  Andrea withdrew early. But I, having chanced upon a certain M. de la Vrillière, a courtier of Vilmorin’s stamp, with whom I had some slight acquaintance, and his purse being heavier than his wits, I spent a passing profitable evening in his company. This pretty gentleman hailed my advent with a delight that amazed me, and suggested that we should throw a main together to kill time. The dice were found, and so clumsily did he use them that in half an hour, playing for beggarly crowns, he had lost twenty pistoles. Next he lost his temper, and with an oath pitched the cubes into the fire, swearing that they were toys for children and that I must grant him his révanche with cards. The cards were furnished us, and with a fortune that varied little we played lansquenet until long past midnight. The fire died out in the grate, and the air grew chill, until at last, with a violent sneeze, La Vrillière protested that he would play no more.

  Cursing himself for the unluckiest being alive, the fool bade me good-night, and left me seventy pistoles richer than when I had met him.

  CHAPTER VII. THE CHTEAU DE CANAPLES

  Despite the strenuous efforts which Andrea compelled us to put forth, we did not again come up with Mesdemoiselles de Canaples, who in truth must have travelled with greater speed than ladies are wont to.

  This circumstance bred much discomfort in Andrea’s bosom; for in it he read that his Geneviève thought not of him as he of her, else, knowing that he followed the same road, she would have retarded their progress so that he might overtake them. Thus argued he when on the following night, which was that of Friday, we lay at Orleans. But when towards noon on Saturday our journey ended with our arrival at Blois, he went so far as to conclude that she had hastened on expressly to avoid him. Now, from what I had seen of Mademoiselle Yvonne, methought I might hazard a guess that she it was who commanded in these — and haply, too, in other — matters, and that the manner of their journey had been such as was best to her wishes.

  With such an argument did I strive to appease Andrea’s doubts; but all in vain — which is indeed no matter for astonishment, for to reason with a man in love is to reason with one who knows no reason.

  After a brief halt at th
e Lys de France — at which hostelry I hired myself a room — we set out for the Château de Canaples, which is situated on the left bank of the Loire, at a distance of about half a league from Blois in the direction of Tours.

  We cut a brave enough figure as we rode down the Rue Vieille attended by our servants, and many a rustic Blaisois stopped to gape at us, to nudge his companion, and point us out, whispering the word “Paris.”

  I had donned my grey velvet doublet — deeming the occasion worthy of it — whilst Andrea wore a handsome suit of black, with gold lace, which for elegance it would have been difficult to surpass. An air of pensiveness added interest to his handsome face and courtly figure, and methought that Geneviève must be hard to please if she fell not a victim to his wooing.

  We proceeded along the road bordering the Loire, a road of rare beauty at any other season of the year, but now bare of foliage, grey, bleak, and sullen as the clouds overhead, and as cold to the eye as was the sharp wind to the flesh. As we rode I fell to thinking of what my reception at the Château de Canaples was likely to be, and almost to regret that I had permitted Andrea to persuade me to accompany him. Long ago I had known the Chevalier de Canaples, and for all the disparity in our ages — for he counted twice my years — we had been friends and comrades. That, however, was ten years ago, in the old days when I owned something more than the name of Luynes. To-day I appeared before him as a ruined adventurer, a soldier of fortune, a ruffler, a duellist who had almost slain his son in a brawl, whose details might be known to him, but not its origin. Seeing me in the company of Andrea de Mancini he might — who could say? — even deem me one of those parasites who cling to young men of fortune so that they may live at their expense. That the daughter would have formed such a conceit of me I was assured; it but remained to see with what countenance the father would greet me.

  From such speculations I was at length aroused by our arrival at the gates of the Canaples park. Seeing them wide open, we rode between the two massive columns of granite (each surmounted by a couchant lion holding the escutcheon of the Canaples) and proceeded at an ambling pace up the avenue. Through the naked trees the château became discernible — a brave old castle that once had been the stronghold of a feudal race long dead. Grey it was, and attuned, that day, to the rest of the grey landscape. But at its base the ivy grew thick and green, and here and there long streaks of it crept up almost to the battlements, whilst in one place it had gone higher yet and clothed one of the quaint old turrets. A moat there had once been, but this was now filled up and arranged into little mounds that became flower-beds in summer.

  Resigning our horses to the keeping of our servants, we followed the grave maître d’hôtel who had received us. He led us across the spacious hall, which had all the appearance of an armoury, and up the regal staircase of polished oak on to a landing wide and lofty. Here, turning to the left, he opened a door and desired us to give ourselves the trouble of awaiting the Chevalier. We entered a handsome room, hung in costly Dutch tapestry, and richly furnished, yet with a sobriety of colour almost puritanical. The long windows overlooked a broad terrace, enclosed in a grey stone balustrade, from which some half-dozen steps led to a garden below. Beyond that ran the swift waters of the Loire, and beyond that again, in the distance, we beheld the famous Château de Chambord, built in the days of the first Francis.

  I had but remarked these details when the door again opened, to admit a short, slender man in whose black hair and beard the hand of time had scattered but little of that white dust that marks its passage. His face was pale, thin, and wrinkled, and his grey eyes had a nervous, restless look that dwelt not long on anything. He was dressed in black, with simple elegance, and his deep collar and ruffles were of the finest point.

  “Welcome to Canaples, M. de Mancini!” he exclaimed, as he hurried forward, with a smile so winning that his countenance appeared transfigured by it. “Welcome most cordially! We had not hoped that you would arrive so soon, but fortunately my daughters, to whom you appear to have been of service at Choisy, warned me that you were journeying hither. Your apartments, therefore, are prepared for you, and we hope that you will honour Canaples by long remaining its guest.”

  Andrea thanked him becomingly.

  “In truth,” he added, “my departure from Paris was somewhat sudden, but I have a letter here from Monseigneur my uncle, which explains the matter.”

  “No explanation is needed, my dear Andrea,” replied the old nobleman, abandoning the formalities that had marked his welcoming speech. “How left you my Lord Cardinal?” he asked, as he took the letter.

  “In excellent health, but somewhat harassed, I fear, by the affairs of State.”

  “Ah, yes, yes. But stay. You are not alone.” And Canaples’s grey eyes shot an almost furtive glance of inquiry in my direction. A second glance followed the first and the Chevalier’s brows were knit. Then he came a step nearer, scanning my face.

  “Surely, surely, Monsieur,” he exclaimed before Andrea had time to answer him. “Were you not at Rocroi?”

  “Your memory flatters me, Monsieur,” I replied with a laugh. “I was indeed at Rocroi — captain in the regiment of chévaux-légers whereof you were Mestre de Champ.”

  “His name,” said Andrea, “is Gaston de Luynes, my very dear friend, counsellor, and, I might almost say, protector.”

  “Pardieu, yes! Gaston de Luynes!” he ejaculated, seizing my hand in an affectionate grip. “But how have you fared since Rocroi was fought? For a soldier of such promise, one might have predicted great things in ten years.”

  “Hélas, Monsieur! I was dismissed the service after Senlac.”

  “Dismissed the service!”

  “Pah!” I laughed, not without bitterness, “‘t is a long story and an ugly one, divided ‘twixt the dice-box, the bottle, and the scabbard. Ten years ago I was a promising young captain, ardent and ambitious; to-day I am a broken ruffler, unrecognised by my family — a man without hope, without ambition, almost without honour.”

  I know not what it was that impelled me to speak thus. Haply the wish that since he must soon learn to what depths Gaston de Luynes had sunk, he should at least learn it from my own lips at the outset.

  He shuddered at my concluding words, and had not Andrea at that moment put his arm affectionately upon my shoulder, and declared me the bravest fellow and truest friend in all the world, it is possible that the Chevalier de Canaples would have sought an excuse to be rid of me. Such men as he seek not the acquaintance of such men as I.

  To please Andrea was, however, of chief importance in his plans, and to that motive I owe it that he pressed me to remain a guest at the château. I declined the honour with the best grace I could command, determined that whilst Andrea remained at Canaples I would lodge at the Lys de France in Blois, independent and free to come or go as my fancy bade me. His invitation that I should at least dine at Canaples I accepted; but with the condition that he should repeat his invitation after he had heard something that I wished to tell him. He assented with a puzzled look, and when presently Andrea repaired to his apartments, and we were alone, I began.

  “You have doubtlessly received news, Monsieur, of a certain affair in which your son had recently the misfortune to be dangerously wounded?”

  We were standing by the great marble fireplace, and Canaples was resting one of his feet upon the huge brass andirons. He made a gesture of impatience as I spoke.

  “My son, sir, is a fool! A good-for-nothing fool! Oh, I have heard of this affair, a vulgar tavern brawl, the fifth in which his name has been involved and besmirched. I had news this morning by a courier dispatched me by my friend St. Simon, who imagines that I am deeply concerned in that young profligate. I learn that he is out of danger, and that in a month or so, he will be about again and ready to disgrace the name of Canaples afresh. But there, sir; I crave your pardon for the interruption.”

  I bowed, and when in answer to my questions he told me that he was in ignorance of the details of t
he affair of which I spoke, I set about laying those details before him. Beginning with the original provocation in the Palais Royal and ending with the fight in the horse-market, I related the whole story to him, but in an impersonal manner, and keeping my own name out of my narrative. When I had done, Canaples muttered an oath of the days of the fourth Henry.

  “Ventre St. Gris! Does the dog carry his audacity so far as to dare come betwixt me and my wishes, and to strive against them? He sought to kill Mancini, eh? Would to Heaven he had died by the hand of this fellow who shielded the lad!”

  “Monsieur!” I cried, aghast at so unnatural an expression.

  “Pah!” he cried harshly. “He is my son in name alone, filial he never was.”

  “Nevertheless, Monsieur, he is still your son, your heir.”

  “My heir? And what, pray, does he inherit? A title — a barren, landless title! By his shameful conduct he alienated the affection of his uncle, and his uncle has disinherited him in favour of Yvonne. ‘T is she who will be mistress of this château with its acres of land reaching from here to Blois, and three times as far on the other side. My brother, sir, was the rich Canaples, the owner of all this, and by his testament I am his heir during my lifetime, the estates going to Yvonne at my death. So that you see I have naught to leave; but if I had, not a dénier should go to my worthless son!”

  He spread his thin hands before the blaze, and for a moment there was silence. Then I proceeded to tell him of the cabal which had been formed against Mancini, and of the part played by St. Auban. At the mention of that name he started as if I had stung him.

  “What!” he thundered. “Is that ruffian also in the affair? Sangdieu! His motives are not far to seek. He is a suitor — an unfavoured suitor — for the hand of Yvonne, that seemingly still hopes. But you have not told me, Monsieur, the name of this man who has stood betwixt Andrea and his assassins.”

  “Can you not guess, Monsieur?” quoth I, looking him squarely in the face. “Did you not hear Andrea call me, even now, his protector.”