CONVALESCENCE.
The queen walked straight up to where Charny lay, dressed, on a couch.
He raised his head, wakened by her entrance.
"The queen!" cried he, trying to rise.
"Yes, sir, the queen," she replied, "who knows how you strive to lose both reason and life; the queen, whom you offend both dreaming and waking; the queen, who cares for your honor and your safety, and therefore comes to you. Is it possible," continued she, "that a gentleman, formerly renowned like you for his loyalty and honor, should become such an enemy as you have been to the reputation of a woman? What will my enemies do, if you set them the example of treason?"
"Treason!" stammered Charny.
"Yes, sir. Either you are a madman, and must be forcibly prevented from doing harm; or you are a traitor, and must be punished."
"Oh, madame, do not call me a traitor! From the mouth of a king, such an accusation would precede death; from the mouth of a woman, it is dishonor. Queen, kill me, or spare me!"
"Are you in your right mind, M. de Charny?" said the queen, in a moved voice.
"Yes, madame."
"Do you remember your wrongs towards me, and towards the king?"
"Mon Dieu!" he murmured.
"For you too easily forget, you gentlemen, that the king is the husband of the woman whom you insult, by raising your eyes to her--that he is the father of your future master, the dauphin; you forget, also, that he is a greater and better man than any of you--a man whom I esteem and love."
"Oh!" murmured Charny, with a groan, and seemed ready to faint.
This cry pierced the queen"s heart; she thought he was about to die, and was going to call for a.s.sistance; but, after an instant"s reflection, she went on: "Let us converse quietly, and be a man. Doctor Louis has vainly tried to cure you; your wound, which was nothing, has been rendered dangerous through your own extravagances. When will you cease to present to the good doctor the spectacle of a scandalous folly which disquiets him? When will you leave the castle?"
"Madame," replied Charny, "your majesty sends me away; I go, I go!" And he rose with a violent effort, as though he would have fled that instant, but, unable to stand, fell almost into the arms of the queen, who had risen to stop him.
She replaced him on the sofa; a b.l.o.o.d.y foam rose to his lips. "Ah, so much the better!" cried he; "I die, killed by you!" The queen forgot everything but his danger; she supported his drooping head on her shoulders, and pressed her cold hands to his forehead and heart. Her touch seemed to revive him as if by magic--he lived again; then she wished to fly, but he caught hold of her dress, saying:
"Madame, in the name of the respect which I feel for you----"
"Adieu, adieu!" cried the queen.
"Oh, madame, pardon me!"
"I do pardon you."
"Madame, one last look."
"M. de Charny," said the queen, trembling, "if you are not the basest of men, to-morrow you will be dead, or have left this castle."
He threw himself at her feet; she opened the door, and rushed away.
Andree saw for an instant the young man on his knees before her, and felt struck with both hate and despair. She thought, as she saw the queen return, that G.o.d had given too much to this woman in adding to her throne and her beauty this half-hour with M. de Charny.
The doctor, occupied only with the success of the negotiation, said, "Well, madame, what will he do?"
"He will leave," replied the queen; and, pa.s.sing them quickly, she returned to her apartment.
The doctor went to his patient, and Andree to her room.
Doctor Louis found Charny a changed man, declaring himself perfectly strong, asking the doctor how he should be moved, and when he should be quite well, with so much energy that the doctor feared it was too much, and that he must relapse after it. He was, however, so reasonable as to feel the necessity of explaining this sudden change. "The queen has done me more good by making me ashamed of myself," he said, "than you, dear doctor, with all your science. She has vanquished me by an appeal to my amour propre."
"So much the better," said the doctor.
"Yes. I remember that a Spaniard--they are all boasters--told me one day, to prove the force of his will, that it sufficed for him in a duel which he had fought, and in which he had been wounded, to will that the blood should not flow in the presence of his adversary in order to retain it. I laughed at him. However, I now feel something like it myself; I think that if my fever and delirium wished to return, I could chase them away, saying, Fever and delirium, I forbid you to appear!"
"We know such things are possible," replied the doctor. "Allow me to congratulate you, for you are cured morally."
"Oh yes."
"Well, the physical cure will soon follow. Once sound in mind, you will be sound in body within a week."
"Thanks, doctor."
"And, to begin, you must leave this place."
"I am ready immediately."
"Oh, we will not be rash; we will wait till this evening. Where will you go?"
"Anywhere--to the end of the world if you like."
"That is too far for a first journey; we will content ourselves with Versailles. I have a house there where you shall go to-night."
Accordingly, that evening the four valets, who had been so rudely repulsed before, carried him to his carriage. The king had been hunting all day; Charny felt somewhat uneasy at leaving without apprizing him; but the doctor promised to make his excuses.
Andree, concealed behind her curtains, saw the carriage drive off.
"If he resumes his desire to die," thought the doctor, "at least it will not be in my rooms, and under my care."
Charny arrived safely, however, and the next day the doctor found him so well, that he told him he thought he would require him no longer.
He received a visit from his uncle, and from an officer sent by the king to inquire after him. At the end of a week he could ride slowly on horseback: then the doctor advised him to go for a time to his estates in Picardy to regain strength. He accordingly took leave of the king, charged M. de Suffren with his adieus to the queen, who was ill that evening, and set off for his chateau at Boursonnes.
CHAPTER LIV.
TWO BLEEDING HEARTS.
On the day following the queen"s visit to M. de Charny, Madlle. de Taverney entered the royal bedroom as usual at the hour of the pet.i.te toilette. The queen was just laughing over a note from Madame de la Motte. Andree, paler than usual, looked cold and grave: the queen, however, being occupied, did not notice it, but merely turning her head, said in her usual friendly tone, "Bon jour, pet.i.te." At last, however, Andree"s silence struck her, and looking up she saw her sad expression and said, "Mon Dieu! Andree, what is the matter? Has any misfortune happened to you?"