"Come; confess that the unexpected advent of Madame de Brissac has brought this change about."
"Were we not discoursing on affronts?"
"Only as a sign of my displeasure. By September I dare say I shall return to France. I promise to look you up; and if by that time your manner has not undergone a desirable change I shall take my sword and trim the rude edges of your courtesy."
"September? That is a long while to wait. Why not come to Spain with me? We could have it out there. Quebec? Do you fear Mazarin, then, so much as that?"
"Do you doubt my courage, Monsieur?" asked the vicomte, his eyes cold and brilliant with points of light.
"But September?"
"Come, Monsieur; you are playing the boy. You will admit that I possess some courage. "Twould be a fool"s pastime to measure swords when neither of us is certain that to-morrow will see our heads safe upon our shoulders. I am not giving you a challenge. I am simply warning you."
"Warning? You are kind. However, one would think that you are afraid to die."
"I am. There is always something which makes life worth the living.
But it is not the fear of dying by the sword. My courage has never been questioned. Neither has yours. But there is some doubt as regards your temper and reason ability. Brave? To be sure you are.
At this very moment you would draw against one of the best blades in France were I to permit you. But when it comes man to man, Monsieur, you have to stand on your toes to look into my eyes. My arm is three inches longer than yours; my weight is greater. I have three considerable advantages over you. I simply do not desire your life; it is necessary neither to my honor nor to my happiness."
"To desire and to accomplish are two different things, Monsieur."
"Not to me, Monsieur," grimly. "When my desire attacks an obstacle it must give way or result in my death. I have had many desires and many obstacles, and I am still living."
"But you may be killed abroad. That would disappoint me terribly."
"Monsieur de Saumaise, I have seen for some months that you have been nourishing a secret antipathy to me. Be frank enough to explain why our admiration is not mutual." The vicomte seated himself on a bench, and threw his scabbard across his knees.
"Since you have put the question frankly I will answer frankly. For some time I have distrusted you. What was to be your gain in joining the conspiracy?"
"And yours?" quietly. "I think we both overlooked that part of the contract. Proceed."
"Well, I distrust you at this moment, for I know not what your purpose is to speak of affronts and refuse to let me give satisfaction. I distrust and dislike you for the manner in which you approached the Chevalier tonight. There was in your words a biting sarcasm and contempt which, he in his trouble did not grasp. And let me tell you, Monsieur, if you ever dare mention publicly the Chevalier"s misfortune, I shall not wait for you to draw your sword."
The vicomte swung about his scabbard and began lightly to tap the floor with it. Here and there a cinder rose in dust. The vicomte"s face was grave and thoughtful. "You have rendered my simple words into a Greek chorus. That is like you poets; you are super-sensitive; you misconstrue commonplaces; you magnify the simple. I am truly sorry for the Chevalier. Now there"s a man. He is superb with the rapier, light and quick as a cat; a daredevil, who had not his match in Paris. Free with his money, a famous drinker, and never an enemy. Yes, I will apologize for my bad taste in approaching him to-night. I should have waited till morning."
"You were rude to Mademoiselle de Vaudemont." Victor suddenly refused to conciliate.
"Rude? Well, yes; I admit that. My word of honor, I could not contain myself at the sound of her voice."
"Or of madame"s?" shrewdly.
"Or of madame"s." The vicomte smoothed his mustache.
Their eyes met, and the flame in the vicomte"s disquieted Victor, courageous though he was.
"It seems to me," said the vicomte, "that you have been needlessly beating about the bush. Why did you not say to me, "Monsieur, you love Madame de Brissac. I love her also. The world is too small for both of us?""
"I depended upon your keen sense," replied Victor.
"I am almost tempted to favor you. I could use a short rapier."
"Good!" said Victor. "There is plenty of room. I have not killed a man since this year Thursday."
"And having killed me," replied the vicomte, rising, and there was a smile on his lips, "you would be forced to seek out Monsieur le Comte d"Herouville, a man of devastated estates and violent temper, the roughest swordsman since Crillon"s time; D"Herouville, whose greed is as great and fierce as his love. Have you thought of him, my poet? Ah well, something tells me that the time is not far distant when we shall be rushing at each other"s throats. For the present, a truce. You love madame; so do I. She is free. We are all young. Win her, if you can, and I will step aside. But until you win her . . . I wish you good night. I am going for a tramp along the sea-walls. I beg of you not to follow."
The echo of the slamming door had scarce died away when Victor, raging and potent to do the vicomte harm, flung out after him. With his sword drawn he looked savagely up and down the street, but the vicomte was nowhere in sight. The cold air, however, was grateful to the poet"s feverish cheeks and aching eyes; so he strode on absently, with no destination in mind. It was only when the Hotel de Perigny loomed before him, with its bleak walls and sinister cheval-de-frise, that his sense of locality revived. He raised a hand which cast a silent malediction on this evil house and its master, swung about and hurried back to the tavern, recollecting that Gabrielle and Paul were together.
"And all those dreams of her, they vanish like the hours. That hope, that joyous hope, of calling her mine shall buoy me up no more. She does not love me! G.o.d save me from another such unhappy night. We have all been stricken with madness." He struck at the snow-drifts with his sword. The snow, dry and dusty, flew up into his face.
Meanwhile, when madame entered the private a.s.sembly-room her eyes, blurred with tears, saw only the half dead fire. With her hand she groped along the mantel, and finding a candle, lit it. She did not care where she was, so long as she was alone; alone with her unhappy thoughts. She sat with her back toward the Chevalier, who had fallen into a slight doze. Presently the silence was destroyed by a hiccoughing sob. She had forced the end of her kerchief against her lips to stifle the sound, but ineffectually.
The Chevalier raised his head. . . . A woman? Or was his brain mocking him? And masked? How came she here? He was confused, and his sense of emergency lay fallow. He knew not what to do. One thing was certain; he must make known his presence, for he was positive that she was unaware of it. He rose, and the noise of his chair sliding back brought from her an affrighted cry. She turned. The light of the candle played upon his face.
"Madame, pardon me, but I have been asleep. I did not hear you enter.
It was very careless of them to show you in here."
She rose without speaking and walked toward the door, with no uncertain step, with a dignity not lacking in majesty.
"She sees I have been drinking," he thought. "Pray, Madame, do not leave. Rather let me do that."
She made a gesture, hurried but final, and left him.
"It seems to me," mused the Chevalier, resuming his seat, "that I have lost gallantry to-night, among other considerable things. I might have opened the door for her. I wonder why she did not speak?"
CHAPTER XI
MONSIEUR LE COMTE D"HEROUVILLE TAKES THE JOURNEY TO QUEBEC
Victor ran most of the way back to the Corne d"Abondance. Gabrielle and Paul were together, unconscious puppets in the booth of Fate, that master of subtile ironies! How many times had their paths neared, always to diverge again, because Fate had yet to prepare the cup of misery? How well he had contrived to bring them together: she, her cup running bitter with disillusion and dread of imprisonment; he, dashed from the summit of worldly hopes, his birth impugned, stripped of riches and pride, his lips brushed with the ashes of greatness! And on this night, of all nights, their paths melted and became as one. It was true that they had never met; but this night was one of dupes and fools, and nothing was impossible. He cursed the vicomte for having put the l.u.s.t to kill into his head, when he needed clearness and precision and delicacy to avert this final catastrophe. After the morrow all would he well; Gabrielle would be on the way to Spain, the Chevalier on the way to New France. But to-night! Dupes and fools, indeed! He stumbled on through the drifts. The green lantern at last: was he too late? He rushed into the tavern, thence into the private a.s.sembly, his rapier still in his hand. The cold air yet choked his lungs, forcing him to breathe noisily and rapidly. He cast about a nervous, hasty glance.
"You are alone, Paul?"
"Alone?" cried the Chevalier, astonished as much by the question as by Victor"s appearance. "Yes. Why not? . . . What have you been doing with that sword?" suddenly.
"Nothing, nothing!" with energy. Victor sheathed the weapon. "A woman entered here by mistake . . . ?"
"She is gone," indifferently. "She was a lady of quality, for I could see that the odor of wine and the disorder of the room were distasteful to her."
"She left . . . wearing her mask?" asked the poet, looking everywhere but at the Chevalier, who was growing curious.
"Yes. Her figure was charming. That blockhead of a host! . . . to have shown her in here!"
"She was in distress?"
"Evidently. In the old days I should have striven to console. What is it all about, lad? Your hand trembles. Do you know her?"