Part 39 (1/2)
”Why, it seems so. When the dancing begins, the reading is done.”
”The reading, yes; but the oaths?” said the Abbe, in a low voice.
”What oaths?” asked De Thou.
”Is not Monsieur le Grand come?”
”I expected to see him; but I suppose he has not come, or else he has gone.”
”No, no! come with me,” said the bare-brained Abbe. ”You are one of us.
Parbleu! it is impossible to do without you; come!”
De Thou, unwilling to refuse, and thus appear to disown his friends, even for parties of pleasure which annoyed him, followed De Gondi, who pa.s.sed through two cabinets, and descended a small private staircase. At each step he took, he heard more distinctly the voices of an a.s.semblage of men. Gondi opened the door. An unexpected spectacle met his view.
The chamber he was entering, lighted by a mysterious glimmer, seemed the asylum of the most voluptuous rendezvous. On one side was a gilt bed, with a canopy of tapestry ornamented with feathers, and covered with lace and ornaments. The furniture, s.h.i.+ning with gold, was of grayish silk, richly embroidered. Velvet cus.h.i.+ons were at the foot of each armchair, upon a thick carpet. Small mirrors, connected with one another by ornaments of silver, seemed an entire gla.s.s, itself a perfection then unknown, and everywhere multiplied their glittering faces. No sound from without could penetrate this throne of delight; but the persons a.s.sembled there seemed far remote from the thoughts which it was calculated to give rise to. A number of men, whom he recognized as courtiers, or soldiers of rank, crowded the entrance of this chamber and an adjoining apartment of larger dimensions. All were intent upon that which was pa.s.sing in the centre of the first room. Here, ten young men, standing, and holding in their hands their drawn swords, the points of which were lowered toward the ground, were ranged round a table. Their faces, turned to Cinq-Mars, announced that they had just taken an oath to him. The grand ecuyer stood by himself before the fireplace, his arms folded with an air of all-absorbing reflection. Standing near him, Marion de Lorme, grave and collected, seemed to have presented these gentlemen to him.
When Cinq-Mars perceived his friend, he rushed toward the door, casting a terrible glance at Gondi, and seizing De Thou by both arms, stopped him on the last step.
”What do you here?” he said, in a stifled voice.
”Who brought you here? What would you with me? You are lost if you enter.”
”What do you yourself here? What do I see in this house?”
”The consequences of that you wot of. Go; this air is poisoned for all who are here.”
”It is too late; they have seen me. What would they say if I were to withdraw? I should discourage them; you would be lost.”
This dialogue had pa.s.sed in low and hurried tones; at the last word, De Thou, pus.h.i.+ng aside his friend, entered, and with a firm step crossed the apartment to the fireplace.
Cinq-Mars, trembling with rage, resumed his place, hung his head, collected himself, and soon raising a more calm countenance, continued a discourse which the entrance of his friend had interrupted:
”Be then with us, gentlemen; there is no longer any need for so much mystery. Remember that when a strong mind embraces an idea, it must follow it to all its consequences. Your courage will have a wider field than that of a court intrigue. Thank me; instead of a conspiracy, I give you a war. Monsieur de Bouillon has departed to place himself at the head of his army of Italy; in two days, and before the king, I quit Paris for Perpignan. Come all of you thither; the Royalists of the army await us.”
Here he threw around him calm and confident looks; he saw gleams of joy and enthusiasm in the eyes of all who surrounded him. Before allowing his own heart to be possessed by the contagious emotion which precedes great enterprises, he desired still more firmly to a.s.sure himself of them, and said with a grave air:
”Yes, war, gentlemen; think of it, open war. Roch.e.l.le and Navarre are arousing their Protestants; the army of Italy will enter on one side; the king's brother will join us on the other. The man we combat will be surrounded, vanquished, crushed. The parliaments will march in our rear, bearing their pet.i.tions to the King, a weapon as powerful as our swords; and after the victory we will throw ourselves at the feet of Louis XIII, our master, that he may pardon us for having delivered him from a cruel and ambitious man, and hastened his own resolution.”
Here, again glancing around him, he saw increasing confidence in the looks and att.i.tudes of his accomplices.
”How!” he continued, crossing his arms, and yet restraining with an effort his own emotion; ”you do not recoil before this resolution, which would appear a revolt to any other men! Do you not think that I have abused the powers you have vested in me? I have carried matters very far; but there are times when kings would be served, as it were in spite of themselves. All is arranged, as you know. Sedan will open its gates to us; and we are sure of Spain. Twelve thousand veteran troops will enter Paris with us. No place, however, will be given up to the foreigner; they will all have a French garrison, and be taken in the name of the King.”
”Long live the King! long live the Union! the new Union, the Holy League!” cried the a.s.sembly.
”It has come, then!” cried Cinq-Mars, with enthusiasm; ”it has come--the most glorious day of my life. Oh, youth, youth, from century to century called frivolous and improvident! of what will men now accuse thee, when they behold conceived, ripened, and ready for execution, under a chief of twenty-two, the most vast, the most just, the most beneficial of enterprises? My friends, what is a great life but a thought of youth executed by mature age? Youth looks fixedly into the future with its eagle glance, traces there a broad plan, lays the foundation stone; and all that our entire existence afterward can do is to approximate to that first design. Oh, when can great projects arise, if not when the heart beats vigorously in the breast? The mind is not sufficient; it is but an instrument.”
A fresh outburst of joy had followed these words, when an old man with a white beard stood forward from the throng.
”Bah!” said Gondi, in a low voice, ”here's the old Chevalier de Guise going to dote, and damp us.”
And truly enough, the old man, pressing the hand of Cinq-Mars, said slowly and with difficulty, having placed himself near him: