第23章 MY MOTHER'S LODGING.(1)

Travelling by way of Chatelherault and Tours,we reached the neighbourhood of Blois a little after noon on the third day without misadventure or any intimation of pursuit.The Norman proved himself a cheerful companion on the road,as I already knew him to be a man of sense and shrewdness while his presence rendered the task of keeping my men in order an easy one.Ibegan to consider the adventure as practically achieved;and regarding Mademoiselle de la Vire as already in effect transferred to the care of M.de Rosny,I ventured to turn my thoughts to the development of my own plans and the choice of a haven in which I might rest secure from the vengeance of M.de Turenne.

For the moment I had evaded his pursuit,and,assisted by the confusion caused everywhere by the death of Guise had succeeded in thwarting his plans and affronting his authority with seeming ease.But I knew too much of his power and had heard too many instances of his fierce temper and resolute will to presume on short impunity or to expect the future with anything but diffidence and dismay.

The exclamations of my companions on coming within sight of Blois aroused me from these reflections.I joined them,and fully shared their emotion as I gazed on the stately towers which had witnessed so many royal festivities,and,alas!one royal tragedy;which had sheltered Louis the Well-beloved and Francis the Great,and rung with the laughter of Diana of Poitiers and the second Henry.The play of fancy wreathed the sombre building with a hundred memories grave and gay.But,though the rich plain of the Loire still swelled upward as of old in gentle homage at the feet of the gallant town,the shadow of crime seemed to darken all,and dim even the glories of the royal standard which hung idly in the air.

We had heard so many reports of the fear and suspicion which reigned in the city and of the strict supervision which was exercised over all who entered--the king dreading a repetition of the day of the Barricades--that we halted at a little inn a mile short of the gate and broke up our company.I parted from my Norman friend with mutual expressions of esteem,and from my own men,whom I had paid off in the morning,complimenting each of them with a handsome present,with a feeling of relief equally sincere.I hoped--but the hope was not fated to be gratified --that I might never see the knaves again.

It wanted less than an hour of sunset when I rode up to the gate,a few paces in front of mademoiselle and her woman;as if I had really been the intendant for whom the horse-dealer had mistaken me.We found the guardhouse lined with soldiers,who scanned us very narrowly as we approached,and whose stern features and ordered weapons showed that they were not there for mere effect.

The fact,however,that we came from Tours,a city still in the king's hands,served to allay suspicion,and we passed without accident.

Once in the streets,and riding in single file between the houses,to the windows of which the townsfolk seemed to be attracted by the slightest commotion,so full of terror was the air,I experienced a moment of huge relief.This was Blois--Blois at last.We were within a few score yards of the Bleeding Heart.In a few minutes I should receive a quittance,and be free to think only of myself.

Nor was my pleasure much lessened by the fact that I was so soon to part from Mademoiselle de la Vire.Frankly,I was far from liking her.Exposure to the air of a court had spoiled,it seemed to me,whatever graces of disposition the young lady had ever possessed.She still maintained,and had maintained throughout the journey,the cold and suspicious attitude assumed at starting;nor had she ever expressed the least solicitude on my behalf,or the slightest sense that we were incurring danger in her service.She had not scrupled constantly to prefer her whims to the common advantage,and even safety;while her sense of self-importance had come to be so great,that she seemed to hold herself exempt from the duty of thanking any human creature.

I could not deny that she was beautiful--indeed,I often thought,when watching her,of the day when I had seen her in the King of Navarre's antechamber in all the glory of her charms.But I felt none the less that I could turn my back on her--leaving her in safety--without regret;and be thankful that her path would never again cross mine.

With such thoughts in my breast I turned the corner of the Rue de St.Denys and came at once upon the Bleeding Heart,a small but decent-looking hostelry situate near the end of the street and opposite a church.A bluff grey-haired man,who was standing in the doorway,came forward as we halted,and looking curiously at mademoiselle asked what I lacked;adding civilly that the house was full and they had no sleeping room,the late events having drawn a great assemblage to Blois.

'I want only an address,'I answered,leaning from the saddle and speaking in a low voice that I might not be overheard by the passers-by.'The Baron de Rosny is in Blois,is he not?'

The man started at the name of the Huguenot leader,and looked round him nervously.But,seeing that no one was very near us,he answered:'He was,sir;but he left town a week ago and more.

'There have been strange doings here,and M.de Rosny thought that the climate suited him ill.'

He said this with so much meaning,as well as concern that he should not be overheard,that,though I was taken aback and bitterly disappointed,I succeeded in restraining all exclamations and even show of feeling.After a pause of dismay,I asked whither M.de Rosny had gone.

'To Rosny,'was the answer.

'And Rosny?'

'Is beyond Chartres,pretty well all the way to Mantes,'the man answered,stroking my horse's neck.'Say thirty leagues.'