Jean only laughed the more.
"Did I not tell you that traitors and friends were often alike?" he cried. "When you hang that man as a traitor, hang me too, for company."
"It were easily done," said Felix.
"Easy enough," laughed the dwarf, "so there be wood sufficient for gallows, and hemp enough to break our necks. I warrant there"s no lack of either in the castle. But two dangling in mid air is a poor sight; three would cover the great gate far better, and there"s another may well hang with us--the jailer who let the spy escape the other night."
"That is a good thought," said Felix.
"And noon"s an excellent time," said Jean, laughing still. "Send out and let the city know of the show. It would be a pity if none should see your warning."
"Never fear, they shall see it."
"And then hide yourself, Count--mark how I call you Count--hide yourself in the darkest hole you can find in the castle, and even then I warrant they"ll find you out, and perhaps----" And then again Jean howled with laughter.
Felix sprang to his feet.
"Take this miserable fool out and whip him. Let strong arms get well tired before they cease and let him go."
Two soldiers hoisted the dwarf to his feet.
"Of your mercy, one word," he said, becoming suddenly serious.
"Speak."
"Was there not a Count once who dangled over the gate? I have heard it was so in Duke Conrad"s time," said the dwarf.
"Take him away," Felix thundered.
"A moment," said Jean, exerting his full strength and throwing off the hands which held him. "A warning, Count. Mark the word: the people love not the breaking of laws, and it is unlawful that any man should hang over the castle gate but by order of the Duke of Montvilliers.
To-day there is no Duke, only Count Felix."
The Count"s teeth savagely bit into his under-lip. Jean was right, and Felix had no wish to incense the people.
"Be wise, wait," said Jean. "This man may be a traitor, but he can wait a day or two. He may confess if you give him time, and let him know that he may perhaps win life by confession. He had accomplices without doubt; he may name them if he has a little time for thought.
In a few days when you are Duke, you may hang a whole company of soldiers, if you will, and if I help to choose them, may lose nothing by the sport."
"You are indeed a fool," said Felix, hiding his anger under a boisterous laugh, as men driven to bay often will.
"With wisdom enough to save you from folly," whispered the dwarf as he shuffled to the Count"s chair and sat on the floor again.
"The fool has saved you, Lemasle," said Felix. "You hear what he says?
I may be lenient if you decide to speak openly."
"I thank the fool," Lemasle answered.
"Keep him close," said the Count as the captain was taken from the room.
Jean turned slowly toward Felix when the door had closed.
"You will never mount the throne if you make such mistakes," he said.
"To have me whipped was nothing; but to hang a man!"
"Be your own judge: do you deserve such punishment?"
"Yes; surely. Be as honest, Count, do you?"
"You are good for sad hours," laughed Felix. "You shall have a dress, Jean, a dress of bright colors, and a toy of bells in your hand to jingle. You shall gossip with me as you will, speak to me as no other shall dare to do though he boast the greatest name in Montvilliers.
You shall come to honor, Jean."
"You do not answer my question," said the dwarf solemnly.
"Why should I be whipped?" said Felix.
"Because there was never man born yet that didn"t deserve it. Have I your leave to go?"
"For a while, yes; but you shall come to honor, Jean. There shall be honor in the t.i.tle of "The Duke"s Fool."" And Felix struck a gong which stood on the table. "Jean has my leave to go anywhere in the castle," he said to the soldier who entered. "See that this is known--anywhere, at any time, and may come to me without hindrance when he chooses. But he may not leave the castle on any pretext whatever. See that a lodging is found for him."
Jean rose to his feet, and bowed low.
"Some men never reach their ambition," he said, "but I soar far above it. Have the colored tunic and the bell toy made. My highest hope was to wander at will in G.o.d"s house of St. Etienne, but behold I live to be the fool of a Duke!"
And that night, when the castle slept, Jean had to leave it by the way he had taken Roger Herrick.
CHAPTER XV
THE COUNT LOSES HIS SWORD
At dawn Jean was in the castle again, but Herrick and Christine had heard what had happened to Lemasle. To Lemasle"s cell the dwarf also gained admittance, for the Count"s orders had been peremptory. Jean had a part to play, and he meant to make the most of it.
"The making or marring of you is in my hands," he boasted in the guard-rooms, "so if you"re wise you"ll make much of me. The Count and I are brother gossips, and when I get my robes of office, you"ll hardly tell one from the other."
So Herrick was able to send his message to Lemasle, and the plot against the Count ripened to its gathering.
Two days later the castle was full of guests and their suites, come to the burial of the Duke, which was to take place on the morrow. There were signs of mourning in the streets through which the cortege would pa.s.s, and the great Church of St. Etienne was draped in black. In a few hours men would be busy packing away these death trappings and making ready festive trophies to grace the coronation; such is the kaleidoscope of existence.
The morning broke, heavy and cloudy, and rain fell at intervals. There were those who spoke of the dead man as the great Duke, and these saw a fitness in the sombre day on which he should pa.s.s for the last time through the streets of Vayenne.
Jean, by permission, had left the castle to-day, and stood near the great west doors of St. Etienne. Above him tolled the great bell, rung only when a duke came to his last resting-place; and across its solemn sounding the joyous music of the carillon burst out at frequent intervals. The cadences seemed to fall from high heaven, the dwarf thought, as though there were joy there, no matter how great a sorrow there might be upon the earth. Dim lights gleamed in the great nave, low music tumbled from the misty darkness, sad music, yet ever and anon a wave of harmony that had triumph in it, a sudden certainty that to life was the victory though for a while the pageantry of death was supreme.
Into the church came all who were great and powerful in Montvilliers, men whose fathers had fought side by side with other dukes, men whose names and honors had been handed down through the centuries. Among them came the de Bornais, his suite halting on one side of the great doors. Jean"s sharp eyes scanned each man that stood there, resting at last upon one whom he watched until the end.
Presently came the cortege--nay, two--drawn by horses in waving plumes and black trappings. Only yesterday was it known throughout Vayenne that the marred body of the young Duke had been found in the forest and brought to the city by Captain Barbier. One great funeral for father and son--the solemnity of the occasion appealed to the people.
A silence was in the streets and tears on some faces. To-day the Duke is dead--and buried; to-morrow, "Long live the Duke." Before nightfall there was laughter in the castle halls and corridors. Men must eat and drink though dukes die, and women"s eyes will sparkle even though tears were in them a little while since.