"You are right, you are right, my child, I had forgotten that letter."
"I remembered it," answered Bathilde, kissing the letter, and placing it next her heart, "for it was the sole inheritance my mother left me."
At that moment they heard the noise of a coach at the door.
"Adieu, father! adieu, Nanette! Pray for my success."
And Bathilde went away, with a solemn gravity which made her, in the eyes of those who watched her, almost a saint.
At the door she found Boniface waiting with a coach.
"Shall I go with you, Mademoiselle Bathilde?" asked he.
"No, no, my friend," said Bathilde, "not now; to-morrow, perhaps."
She entered the coach.
"Where to?" asked the coachman.
"To the a.r.s.enal."
CHAPTER XLI.
THE THREE VISITS.
On arriving at the a.r.s.enal Bathilde asked for Mademoiselle de Launay, who--at her request--led her at once to Madame de Maine.
"Ah, it is you, my child!" said the d.u.c.h.ess, with a distracted air and voice; "it is well to remember one"s friends when they are in misfortune."
"Alas, madame!" replied Bathilde, "I come to your royal highness to speak of one still more unfortunate. Doubtless you may have lost some of your t.i.tles, some of your dignities, but their vengeance will stop, for no one would dare to attack the life, or even the liberty, of the son of Louis XIV., or the granddaughter of the great Conde."
"The life, no; but the liberty, I will not answer for it. Do you know that that idiot of an Abbe Brigaud has got arrested three days ago at Orleans, dressed as a peddler, and--on false revelations, which they represented to him as coming from me--has confessed all, and compromised us terribly, so that I should not be astonished at being arrested this very day?"
"He for whom I come to implore your pity, madame, has revealed nothing, but, on the contrary, is condemned to death for having kept silence."
"Ah! my dear child," cried the d.u.c.h.ess, "you speak of poor D"Harmental; he is a gentleman; you know him, then?"
"Alas!" said Mademoiselle de Launay, "not only Bathilde knows him, but she loves him."
"Poor child! but what can I do? I can do nothing: I have no influence.
For me to attempt anything in his favor would be to take away from him the last hope remaining."
"I know it, madame," said Bathilde, "and I only ask of your highness one thing; it is, that, through some of your friends or acquaintances, I may gain admission to Monseigneur the Regent. The rest lies with me."
"My child, do you know what you are asking?" inquired the d.u.c.h.ess. "Do you know that the regent respects no one? Do you know--that you are beautiful as an angel, and still more so from your present paleness? Do you know--"
"Madame," said Bathilde, with dignity, "I know that my father saved his life, and died in his service."
"Ah, that is another thing," said the d.u.c.h.ess; "stay, De Launay, call Malezieux."
Mademoiselle de Launay obeyed, and a moment afterward the faithful chancellor entered.
"Malezieux," said the d.u.c.h.ess, "you must take this child to the d.u.c.h.esse de Berry, with a recommendation from me. She must see the regent, and at once; the life of a man depends upon it--it is that of D"Harmental, whom I would myself give so much to save."
"I go, madame," said Malezieux.
"You see, my child," said the d.u.c.h.ess, "I do all I can for you; if I can be useful to you in any other way--if, to prepare his flight, or to seduce a jailer, money is needed, I have still some diamonds, which cannot be better employed than in saving the life of so brave a gentleman. Come, lose no time, go at once to my niece; you know that she is her father"s favorite."
"I know, madame," said Bathilde, "that you are an angel, and, if I succeed, I shall owe you more than my life."
"Come, De Launay," continued Madame de Maine, when Bathilde was gone, "let us return to our trunks."
Bathilde, accompanied by Malezieux, arrived at the Luxembourg in twenty minutes. Thanks to Malezieux, Bathilde entered without difficulty; she was conducted into a little boudoir, where she was told to wait while the chancellor should see her royal highness, and inform her of the favor they came to ask.
Malezieux acquitted himself of the commission with zeal, and Bathilde had not waited ten minutes when she saw him return with the d.u.c.h.esse de Berry. The d.u.c.h.ess had an excellent heart, and she had been greatly moved by Malezieux" recital, so that, when she appeared, there was no mistaking the interest she already felt in the young girl who came to solicit her protection. Bathilde came to her, and would have fallen at her feet, but the d.u.c.h.ess took her by the hand, and kissing her on the forehead--
"My poor child," said she, "why did you not come to me a week ago?"
"And why a week ago rather than to-day, madame?" asked Bathilde, with anxiety.
"Because a week ago I should have yielded to none the pleasure of taking you to my father, and that now is impossible."
"Impossible! and why?" cried Bathilde.
"Do you not know that I am in complete disgrace since the day before yesterday? Alas! princess as I am, I am a woman like you, and like you I have had the misfortune to love. We daughters of the royal race, you know, may not dispose of our hearts without the authority of the king and his ministers. I have disposed of my heart, and I have nothing to say, for I was pardoned; but I disposed of my hand, and I am punished.
See, what a strange thing! They make a crime of what in any one else would have been praised. For three days my lover has been my husband, and for three days, that is to say, from the moment when I could present myself before my father without blushing, I am forbidden his presence.
Yesterday my guard was taken from me; this morning I presented myself at the Palais Royal and was refused admittance."
"Alas!" said Bathilde, "I am unhappy, for I had no hope but in you, madame, and I know no one who can introduce me to the regent. And it is to-morrow, madame, at eight o"clock, that they will kill him whom I love as you love M. de Riom. Oh, madame, take pity on me, for if you do not, I am lost!"
"Mon Dieu! Riom, come to our aid," said the d.u.c.h.ess, turning to her husband, who entered at this moment; "here is a poor child who wants to see my father directly, without delay; her life depends on the interview. Her life! What am I saying? More than her life--the life of a man she loves. Lauzun"s nephew should never be at a loss; find us a means, and, if it be possible, I will love you more than ever."
"I have one," said Riom, smiling.
"Oh, monsieur," cried Bathilde, "tell it me, and I will be eternally grateful."
"Oh, speak!" said the d.u.c.h.esse de Berry, in a voice almost as pressing as Bathilde"s.
"But it compromises your sister singularly."
"Which one?"
"Mademoiselle de Valois."