"Nothing. One can not confess who is no nearer G.o.d than I."
"Hush! That is blasphemy."
"I am sorely tried."
"Your trials are but a pebble on the sea"s floor. Always remember that, Monsieur; it will make the days less dark. No matter how much you may suffer in the days to come, do not forget that at one time you enjoyed to the full all worldly pleasures; that to you was given the golden key of life as you loved it. Thousands have been denied these, and your sufferings compared to theirs is as a child"s plaint compared to a man"s agony. G.o.d has some definite purpose in crossing our paths.
Have patience."
"You, too, have suffered?" interestedly. Those almost incredible eyes,--what mystery lurked in their abysmal greys? "You, too, have suffered?" the Chevalier repeated.
"I?" A shiver ran over Brother Jacques"s frame; his form shook and vibrated like a harpstring rudely struck. "Yes, I have suffered; but G.o.d is applying a remedy called forgetfulness. They will carry you up to the deck this afternoon?"
"Yes. I am told that there are to be games."
Here Breton returned, followed by Victor, who carried a roll of paper in his hand. Brother Jacques pressed the poet"s arm affectionately.
He had grown to love this youth whose cheeriness and amiability never left him.
"Paul, my boy," said Victor, when the priest had gone, "I have started a ballade of double refrain."
"Is it gay, lad?" The Chevalier was glad to see his friend. There was no mystery here; he could see to the bottom of this well.
"Not so gay as it might be, nor so melancholy as I strove to make it.
Frankly, I was a trifle homesick this morning. There was something in the air which recalled to me the Loire in the springtime."
The Chevalier looked at Breton, who flushed. "Homesick, eh?" he said.
"Well, don"t be ashamed of it, Victor; Breton here was moping but half an hour ago over the hills of Perigny. And, truth to tell, so was I."
"Ha!" cried the poet with satisfaction, "that sounds like Paul of old."
"What are the games this afternoon?" asked the Chevalier. "Will there be foils?"
"Yes." Victor straightened out his papers and cleared his voice.
"And you will take part?"
"Certainly."
"Does the vicomte enter the bouts?"
"He does. I daresay that we shall come together."
"I had rather you would decline," said the Chevalier.
"What! not to face him with the foils?"
"He is a better fencer than you, Victor; and to witness your defeat would be no less a humiliation to me than to you. You can reasonably decline."
"And have that boor D"Herouville laugh? No! Let him give me the chance, and I will give him the back of my hand. Hang it, Paul, what made you interfere?"
"I have a prior claim. You recollect it well enough. He spoke lightly of the conduct of Mademoiselle de Longueville, and I threw a gla.s.s of champagne in his face. You had best decline to measure swords with the vicomte."
"Horns of Panurge! Some of these broken gentlemen doubt my ability.
Besides, I may learn something of the vicomte"s strength. I wonder what it is: when I am out of his presence I dislike him; when he approaches me, my dislike melts in the air."
"Read me what you have written," resignedly.
"I have polished only the third stanza and the _envoi_. I will read these to you; and tell me where it lacks smoothness."
"_Beatrice is vanished and with her her smiles; Others shall kiss away Henriette"s tears, Others surrender to Marguerite"s wiles: Where is La Place with its musketeers?
Oh, but the days they shall lengthen to years Ere I return o"er these pathless seas, Carried wherever the Pilot steers!
And where are the belles of the balconies?_
"_Prince, where is the tavern"s light that cheers?
Where is La Place with its musketeers, Golden nights and the May-time breeze?
And where are the belles of the balconies?_"
"That will do very well," was the Chevalier"s comment. His thought was carried back, even as the poet"s, to La Place Royale. "Read the whole of it, even if it be in the rough. It will divert me." And, listening, he watched his garments swinging to and fro from the hook, particularly the grey cloak. It held a strange fascination.
"Monsieur improves constantly," observed Breton, soberly.
Victor laughed, and began explaining the difficulty of constructing a ballade of double refrain, when a hand fell upon the door.
"Enter," called the Chevalier, listlessly.
The door opened and the vicomte came in. Great good nature beamed from his countenance. His strong white teeth displayed themselves in a smile.
"And how are you this morning, Chevalier?" he inquired.
"Only a little more thickness to my blood," returned the Chevalier, smiling with equal good nature, "and I shall be able to stand up and look into your eyes. Help yourself to a stool. It is good to be ill once in a while, if only to test one"s friendships. I am feeling vastly better. Let me thank you for your kindness during the crisis."
"Don"t speak of it, Chevalier. It is with great happiness that I see you on the highway to complete recovery. There was a time when we feared for you." The vicomte took advantage of the Chevalier"s courtesy and drew forward the remaining stool. "I would that you were well enough to take part in the bouts this afternoon. I was in the Academy that morning when you disarmed Comminges. La! but the lieutenant was a most surprised man when his sword went rolling to the mat."
"It was merely an accident, Vicomte," deprecatingly. "Monsieur de Comminges slipped, and I took advantage of his mishap, which I should not have done."
Victor"s eyebrows arched. He had witnessed the match, and knew that the Chevalier had executed an amazing stroke.
"You are too modest, Chevalier," replied the vicomte. "I learn that you have entered the bouts, my poet. I tried to interest D"Herouville, but he declined. He goes about like a moping owl, watching ever for a returning ship which he may hail."
"We shall probably come together," said Victor.
"And I was just telling him, Vicomte," put in the Chevalier, "to decline to measure foils with so hardy a swordsman as yourself. You are taller, your weight is greater, and your reach is longer. How monotonous to lie here, weak and useless!"
"Monsieur de Saumaise may withdraw with all honor," said the vicomte.
"You are very discouraging, Paul," and Victor stuffed his poem into his doublet. "Still, what you advance is in the main true. But every man has a certain trick of his own which he has worked out all by himself, regardless of rules, in defiance of the teachings of the fencing-master. Perhaps I have one which the vicomte is not familiar with."
"I hope so," said the Chevalier.
"Doubtless he has," added the vicomte.