madame de cambes had finished her toilet,—a toilet all the more charming for its simplicity,—and throwing a light cape over her shoulders, motioned to pompée to go before her. it was almost dark, and thinking that she would be less likely to be observed on foot than in a carriage, she ordered her carriage to await her at one of the doors of the carmelite church, near a chapel in which she had obtained permission for the marriage ceremony to take place. pompée descended the stairs and the viscountess followed. this assumption of the duties of a scout reminded the old soldier of the famous patrol of the night before the battle of corbie.
at the foot of the staircase, as the viscountess was about to pass the door of the salon, where there was a great commotion, she met madame de tourville dragging the duc de la rochefoucauld toward the princess's cabinet, and engaged in an earnest discussion with him on the way.
"one word, madame, i entreat," said she; "what decision has been reached?"
"my plan is adopted!" cried madame de tourville, triumphantly.
"what is your plan, madame? i do not know."
"reprisals, my dear, reprisals!"
"pardon me, madame, but i am so unfortunate as not to be familiar as you are with warlike terms; what do you mean by the word 'reprisals'?"
"nothing simpler, dear child."
"pray explain yourself."
"they hanged an officer in the army of messieurs les princes, did they not?"
"yes; what then?"
"why, we hunt up an officer of the royal army in bordeaux, and hang him."
"great god!" cried claire, in dismay; "what do you say, madame?"
"monsieur le duc," continued the dowager, apparently not heeding the viscountess's alarm, "has not the officer who was in command at saint-georges already been arrested?"
"yes, madame," the duke replied.
"monsieur de canolles arrested!" cried claire.
"yes, madame," rejoined the duke, coldly, "monsieur de canolles is arrested, or soon will be; the order was given in my presence, and i saw the men set out to execute it."
"but did they know where he was?" claire asked with a last ray of hope.
"he was at the house of our host, monsieur de lalasne, in the suburbs, where they say he was having great success at tennis."
claire uttered a cry. madame de tourville turned upon her in amazement, and the duke glanced at her with an imperceptible smile.
"monsieur de canolles arrested!" the viscountess repeated. "in god's name, what has he done? what connection has he with the horrible occurrence which saddens us all?"
"what connection has he with it? the very closest, my dear. is not he a governor, as richon was?"
claire tried to speak, but the words died upon her lips.
she seized the duke's arm and gazing at him in terror, succeeded at last in uttering these words in a hoarse whisper:—
"oh! but it's a feint, is it not, monsieur le duc? nothing more than a mere demonstration? we can do nothing—at least so it seems to me—to one who is a prisoner on parole."
"richon also, madame, was a prisoner on parole."
"monsieur le duc, i implore you—"
"spare your supplications, madame, for they are useless. i can do nothing in the matter; it is for the council to decide."
claire dropped the duke's arm and hurried to madame de condé's cabinet, where she found lenet striding back and forth, pale and agitated, while madame de condé talked with the duc de bouillon.
madame de cambes glided to the princess's side, as white and light of foot as a ghost.
"oh, madame," said she, "give me one moment, i entreat you!"
"ah! is it you, little one? i am not at liberty at this moment; but after the council i am at your service."
"madame, madame, i must speak to you before the council!"
the princess was about to accede, when a door, opposite that by which the viscountess had come in, opened, and monsieur de la rochefoucauld appeared.
"madame," said he, "the council has assembled and is impatiently awaiting your highness."
"you see, little one," said madame de condé, "that it is impossible for me to listen to you at this moment; but come with us to the council, and when it is at an end we will return and talk together."
it was out of the question to insist. dazzled and bewildered by the frightful rapidity with which events were rushing on, the poor woman began to have the vertigo; she gazed wildly into the faces, and watched the gestures of all about her, without seeing anything, unable to understand what was going on, and struggling in vain to shake off the frightful nightmare that oppressed her.
the princess walked toward the salon. claire followed her mechanically, nor did she notice that lenet had taken in his the ice-cold hand that hung listlessly at her side like the hand of a corpse.
they entered the council chamber; it was about eight o'clock in the evening.
it was a vast apartment, naturally dark and gloomy, but made even darker by heavy hangings. a sort of platform had been erected between the two doors, and opposite the two windows, through which the last feeble rays of the dying daylight made their way into the room. upon the platform were two arm-chairs; one for madame de condé, the other for the duc d'enghien. on either side of these arm-chairs was a row of tabourets for the ladies who composed her highness's privy council. the other judges were to sit upon benches prepared for them. the duc de bouillon stood immediately behind madame de condé's chair, and the duc de la rochefoucauld behind that of the young prince.
lenet stood opposite the clerk; beside him was claire, dazed and trembling.
six officers of the army, six municipal councillors, and six sheriffs were introduced, and took their seats upon the benches.
two candelabra, each containing three candles, furnished light for the deliberations of this improvised tribunal; they were placed upon a table in front of madame la princesse, so that they shed a bright light upon the principal group, while the other persons present were more or less in shadow according as they were near to or at a distance from this feeble centre of light.
the doors were guarded by soldiers of the army of madame la princesse, halberd in hand. the roaring of the crowd could be heard without.
the clerk called the roll of the judges, and each one rose in turn and answered to his name.
thereupon the judge advocate opened the business upon which they were called together; he detailed the capture of vayres, monsieur de la meilleraie's breach of his word, and the infamous death of richon.
at that point an officer, who had been stationed at a window for that express purpose, and had received his orders in advance, threw the window open, and the voices of the people in the street rolled in in waves: "vengeance for richon! death to the mazarinists!" such was the name bestowed upon the royalists.
"you hear," said monsieur de la rochefoucauld, "what the voice of the people demands. two hours hence, either the people will have cast our authority to the winds and taken the law into their own hands, or it will be too late for reprisals. adjudge this matter, therefore, messieurs, and that without further delay."
the princess rose.
"why adjudge, i pray to know?" she cried. "what purpose is to be served by a judgment? you have already heard the judgment pronounced by the good people of bordeaux."
"indeed," said madame de tourville, "it would be impossible to conceive a simpler situation. it's the law of retaliation pure and simple. such things as this should be done by inspiration, so to speak, between provost and provost."
lenet could listen to no more; from the place where he stood he rushed into the midst of the circle.
"oh! not a word more, madame, i beg you," he cried, "for such counsels, were they to prevail, would be too horrible in their consequences. you forget that the royal authorities themselves, although they chose to inflict infamous punishment, nevertheless preserved the forms of law, and that the punishment, whether just or unjust, was ratified by the decree of a court-martial. do you think that you have the right to do a thing that the king dared not do?"
"oh! nothing more is needed than for me to express an opinion, to have monsieur lenet maintain the opposite!" exclaimed madame de tourville. "unfortunately, my opinion this time agrees with her highness's."
"unfortunately, indeed," said lenet.
"monsieur!" cried the princess.
"ah! madame," continued lenet, "preserve appearances at least. will you not still be at liberty to condemn?"
"monsieur lenet is right," said la rochefoucauld. "the death of a man is too serious a matter, especially under such circumstances, for us to allow the responsibility to rest upon a single head, even though it be a princely head."
leaning toward the princess then, so that her immediate neighbors alone could hear, he added:—
"madame, take the opinion of all, and then retain only those of whom you are sure, to take part in the trial. in that way we shall have no cause for fear that our vengeance will escape us."
"one moment, one moment," interposed monsieur de bouillon, leaning upon his cane, and raising his gouty leg. "you have spoken of taking the responsibility off the princess's shoulders. i have no desire to shirk it, but i would be glad to have others share it with me. i ask nothing better than to continue in rebellion, but in company with madame la princesse on the one hand and the people on the other. damnation! i don't choose to be isolated. i lost my sovereignty of sedan through a pleasantry of this sort. at that time i had a city and a head. cardinal de richelieu took my city; to-day i have nothing left but a head, and i'm not anxious that cardinal mazarin should take that. i therefore demand that the notables of bordeaux take part in the proceedings."
"such signatures beside ours!" murmured the princess; "go to!"
"the mortise holds the timber in place, madame," rejoined bouillon, whom the conspiracy of cinq-mars had rendered prudent for the rest of his life.
"is that your opinion, messieurs?"
"yes," said the duc de la rochefoucauld.
"and you, lenet?"
"fortunately, madame," replied lenet, "i am neither prince nor duke, nor municipal official, nor sheriff. i am entitled to hold aloof, therefore, and i will do so."
thereupon the princess rose, and called upon the assemblage to reply in energetic and unmistakable fashion to the royal challenge. hardly had she finished what she had to say when the window was thrown open again, and again the voices of the people without invaded the hall, crying:—
"vive madame la princesse! vengeance for richon! death to the épernonists and mazarinists!"
madame de cambes seized lenet's arm.
"monsieur lenet," said she, "i am dying!"
"madame la vicomtesse de cambes," he replied, "request her highness's permission to retire."
"no, no," said claire, "i want—"
"your place is not here, madame," lenet interrupted. "you can do nothing for him; i will keep you informed of whatever takes place, and together we will try to save him."
"the viscountess may retire," said the princess. "those ladies who do not care to be present at this function are at liberty to follow her."
not a woman stirred; one of the never-ending aspirations of that half of the human race whose destiny it is to fascinate is to usurp the rights of the half destined to command. these ladies saw an opportunity to play the part of men for a moment, and proposed to make the most of it.
madame de cambes left the room, supported by lenet. on the stairs she met pompée whom she had sent in quest of news.
"well?" said she inquiringly.
"he is arrested!"
"monsieur lenet," said claire, "i have no confidence or hope save in you and god!" and she rushed despairingly into her own room.
"what questions shall i put to him who is about to appear before us?" madame la princess asked, as lenet resumed his place beside the clerk, "and to whose lot shall it fall to die?"
"it's a very simple matter, madame," replied the duke. "we have some three hundred prisoners, ten or twelve of whom are officers. let us question them simply as to their names and their rank in the royal army, and the first one who turns out to be the governor of a fortress, as richon was, we will consider to be the one to whom the lot has fallen."
"it is useless to waste our time questioning ten or twelve different officers, messieurs," said the princess, "you have the list, monsieur le greffier: just glance over it, and read the names of those who hold equal rank to richon's."
"there are but two, madame," said the clerk; "the governor of ?le saint-georges, and the governor of braune."
"we have two of them, it is true!" cried the princess; "fate is kind to us, you see. are they under arrest, labussière?"
"certainly, madame," the captain of the guards replied, "and both are in the fortress awaiting the order to appear."
"let them be brought hither," said madame de condé.
"which one shall we bring?" asked labussière.
"bring them both: but we will begin with the first in date, monsieur le gouverneur de saint-georges."
