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033 - The Royalist Camp · Huguenot- A Tale of the French Protestants

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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirty three of the Huguenot by George Payne Rainsford James.
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter thirty
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  Speaker 1: three the Royalist camp. I am astonished, sir, that you
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  Speaker 1: should presume to interfere, said the Chevalier Devroux, speaking to
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  Speaker 1: the Intendant of the province, whom he had found on
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  Speaker 1: riding down to the post of the second in command,
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  Speaker 1: in order to ascertain what was the cause of the attack,
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  Speaker 1: having been so long delayed in that quarter. I am
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  Speaker 1: astonished that you should presume to interfere at all. The
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  Speaker 1: weak gentlemen who have hitherto been commanding in this country
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  Speaker 1: have been indulgent to such insolence, but you will find
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  Speaker 1: very different consequences if you attempt to practice it upon me. Insolence,
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  Speaker 1: Sir insolent, exclaimed the Intendant, foaming with rage and mortified
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  Speaker 1: pride at being thus addressed in the presence of many
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  Speaker 1: hundreds of witnesses. Insolence in me. Why who are sir,
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  Speaker 1: am I not the intendant of justice, police and finance
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  Speaker 1: in this province. Yes, sir, insolence, replied the Chevalier Devrox,
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  Speaker 1: you are the intendant of justice police and the finance.
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  Speaker 1: But before I assumed the command of the King's forces
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  Speaker 1: in this province, you yourself had required martial law to
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  Speaker 1: be proclaimed, so that you not only put every one
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  Speaker 1: else under the authority of the military power, but yourself also.
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  Speaker 1: And by Heavens, if you stare in my face in
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  Speaker 1: that manner one moment longer, I will have you hanged
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  Speaker 1: up to yonder tree. Bring a drum here, he continued,
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  Speaker 1: and summoned four officers from the regiments of Lorraine and Berry.
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  Speaker 1: We will soon see who is to command here. The
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  Speaker 1: unfortunate intendant turned as pale as ashes for the gallantry
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  Speaker 1: and decision which the Chevalier Devron had showed since he
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  Speaker 1: assumed the command, were of a very impressive character, and
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  Speaker 1: gave weight to his threats. The officer who had laid
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  Speaker 1: the complaint against him. However, now, in for God's sake, General,
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  Speaker 1: he said, have mercy upon this poor man, and consider
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  Speaker 1: what will be the result of calling a drumhead court martial.
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  Speaker 1: I should always be very willing, sir, replied the chevalier,
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  Speaker 1: drawing up his fine person to its full height. I
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  Speaker 1: should always be very willing to attend to your recommendations.
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  Speaker 1: But Sir, in the course of this night and the
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  Speaker 1: preceding day, I have obtained two great and signal successes
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  Speaker 1: over this body of insurgents, and I think that those
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  Speaker 1: successes will fully justify me in the eyes of the
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  Speaker 1: King for punishing with such authority as is vested in
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  Speaker 1: my hands the person to whom we may attribute that
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  Speaker 1: our success was not complete by the annihilation of the
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  Speaker 1: Huguenot party in the province. If the Intendant chooses immediately
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  Speaker 1: to make a humble apology for what has passed, and
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  Speaker 1: to promise in the most solemn manner never to interfere
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  Speaker 1: in any one thing in my camp or under my command,
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  Speaker 1: I will so far overlook the matter for the time
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  Speaker 1: as not to carry this extreme measure into execution against
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  Speaker 1: him at once. But in the meantime I will hold
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  Speaker 1: it suspended over his head, and, if required, executed on
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  Speaker 1: the moment. The apologies and promises were as full and
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  Speaker 1: ample as the Chevalier could demand, and leaving strict orders
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  Speaker 1: that the worthy intendant should be kept in a sort
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  Speaker 1: of honorable surveillance in the camp, the chevalier turned his
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  Speaker 1: horse's head and rode back with his staff towards the village,
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  Speaker 1: smiling slightly over what had just passed, For, to say
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  Speaker 1: the truth, he had been acting a part much more
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  Speaker 1: harsh and severe than he was inclined to pursue. In reality.
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  Speaker 1: The truth is that, after the engagement of the preceding morning,
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  Speaker 1: the Intendant to Chow some disposition to take possession of
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  Speaker 1: one or two prisoners that had fallen into the Royalist's
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  Speaker 1: hands for the purpose of employing the rack and the
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  Speaker 1: wheal in their conversion. But the Chevalier, having determined from
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  Speaker 1: the first to put a stop to such measures, had
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  Speaker 1: evaded all discussion for the time, very sure that ere
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  Speaker 1: long the Intendant would give him an opportunity of depriving him,
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  Speaker 1: at least for a time, of all authority in the province.
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  Speaker 1: The smile, however, was soon succeeded by a somewhat more
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  Speaker 1: anxious expression, For, knowing as he did that Clament de
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  Speaker 1: Marlie was in the camp of the Huguenots, he was
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  Speaker 1: not a little apprehensive of what might have been her fate.
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  Speaker 1: In the course of the struggle of that night. He
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  Speaker 1: had given particular instructions regarding her, however, had made it
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  Speaker 1: so fully understood that he would have no unnecessary bloodshed,
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  Speaker 1: and had exhorted his troops and inferior offices so eloquently
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  Speaker 1: to regard the Protestants merely as erring brothers as soon
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  Speaker 1: as the arms were out of their hands, that he
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  Speaker 1: felt little or no apprehension of any excesses being committed
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  Speaker 1: after the engagement. As soon then as he had ascertained
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  Speaker 1: that Mademoiselle de Marlie was in the farmhouse on the
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  Speaker 1: top of the hill and was perfectly safe, he contented
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  Speaker 1: himself with sending a message to her, telling her that
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  Speaker 1: he would visit her in the morning, and begging her
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  Speaker 1: in the meantime to put her mind completely at ease.
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  Speaker 1: He then proceeded to investigate the amount of his own
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  Speaker 1: loss and that of the Huguenots. Nearly an equal number
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  Speaker 1: had fallen on each side, But the army of the
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  Speaker 1: Chevalier Devron could afford to lose a thousand men without
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  Speaker 1: any serious diminution of its strength, while the same loss
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  Speaker 1: on the part of the Protestant force reduced it in
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  Speaker 1: a lamentable degree. Now thought the Chevalier, when he heard
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  Speaker 1: the result of the inquiries that he caused to be made.
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  Speaker 1: If I can but drive Albert of Monseau to the sea,
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  Speaker 1: and force him to embark with the most determined of
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  Speaker 1: his set, while the others laid down their arms and conform.
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  Speaker 1: We shall do very well. These battles were necessary to
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  Speaker 1: dishearten the desperate fellows and to give me power to
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  Speaker 1: do them good and treat them mercifully. But we may
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  Speaker 1: change our system now and press them hard without losing
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  Speaker 1: the lives of gallant men. What this old cettil tells
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  Speaker 1: me of the mistake about the liberation, may, if properly shown,
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  Speaker 1: mitigate a part of the King's anger towards Albert, but
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  Speaker 1: it will never do the whole. And I fear flight
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  Speaker 1: is his only resource. This offer that he has made, however,
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  Speaker 1: sands desperately in the way, and yet it must be
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  Speaker 1: communicated to the King. I dare not conceal it. While
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  Speaker 1: he thus thought, sitting in the room of one of
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  Speaker 1: the cottages, information was brought him that one of the
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  Speaker 1: wounded Huguenots, who was kept with the other prisoners in
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  Speaker 1: a barn hard By, was very anxious to see him.
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  Speaker 1: I will come immediately, he replied to the officer, and then,
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  Speaker 1: sitting down, he wrote a brief dispatch to Loufois, in
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  Speaker 1: which he detailed all the events that had occurred, but
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  Speaker 1: at the same time, knowing the views of the minister,
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  Speaker 1: he intimated that the only means of keeping the extent
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  Speaker 1: of the insurrection from the King's knowledge and from general
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  Speaker 1: publicity throughout the whole of Europe will be to give
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  Speaker 1: him the full power of pardoning all men on laying
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  Speaker 1: down their arms. He begged the minister to believe that
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  Speaker 1: he had not the slightest desire whatsoever that the little
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  Speaker 1: services he had performed should be reported to Louis, But
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  Speaker 1: at the same time he pointed out that those services
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  Speaker 1: could not be ultimately beneficial unless the power that he
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  Speaker 1: demanded was granted to him, and all other authority in
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  Speaker 1: the province superseded for at least one month. He felt
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  Speaker 1: very sure that this would be granted by Louvois, as
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  Speaker 1: that minister had become greatly alarmed and had openly expressed
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  Speaker 1: to the young commander his anxiety lest the extent of
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  Speaker 1: the revolt, which had taken place in consequence of measures
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  Speaker 1: he had advised, should ruin him forever. With the king.
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  Speaker 1: The chevalier trusted also, although he was obliged in the
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  Speaker 1: end of his epistle to state the proposal made by
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  Speaker 1: the Count de Morseies, that the powers granted by the
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  Speaker 1: Minister would be such as to enable him to serve
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  Speaker 1: that nobleman. When this despatch was concluded and sent off,
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  Speaker 1: he demanded where the person was who had wished to
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  Speaker 1: see him, and was led to a small outhouse closed
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  Speaker 1: by the farm in which Clement's abode. The door, which
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  Speaker 1: was padlocked, and at which a sentry appeared, was opened
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  Speaker 1: to give him admission, and he found, stretched upon piles
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  Speaker 1: of straw on the floor of the building, two or
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  Speaker 1: three men, apparently in a dying state, and another seated
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  Speaker 1: in a somewhat extraordinary attitude in one corner of the shed.
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  Speaker 1: The sight was very horrible. The straw, in many parts
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  Speaker 1: was stained with blood, and anguish was legibly written on
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  Speaker 1: the pale countenances of the dying. Who was the prisoner
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  Speaker 1: that wished to speak with me? Said the Chevalier going in,
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  Speaker 1: But they each answered by claiming to be heard, one
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  Speaker 1: demanding a little water, one asking to be taken into
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  Speaker 1: the open air, and one who, before the words had
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  Speaker 1: fully passed his lips, lay a corpse upon the straw,
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  Speaker 1: asking pardon and life, and promising obedient and conversion. The
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  Speaker 1: chevalier ordered everything that could make them comfortable to be
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  Speaker 1: supplied as far as possible, adding some sharp reproaches to
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  Speaker 1: his own people for the state in which he found
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  Speaker 1: the wounded. And he then said that there was someone who,
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  Speaker 1: as I understood, wished to speak with me more particularly.
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  Speaker 1: It was I, said the man who was sitting down
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  Speaker 1: in the corner, at once, starting up into the likeness
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  Speaker 1: of Gerome Rique, while at the same moment another faint
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  Speaker 1: voice from the farther part of the building said, it
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  Speaker 1: was I General. I told the officer who came here
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  Speaker 1: that I would fain see you about the Count de Morseilles. Riquet,
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  Speaker 1: said the Chevalier. I will tend to you presently you
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  Speaker 1: seem well and unhurt. Answer me three questions, and I
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  Speaker 1: may say something that will satisfy you in return. Have
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  Speaker 1: you been engaged in this unfortunate business simply as the
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  Speaker 1: servant of the Count de Morseilles has nothing else upon
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  Speaker 1: my word, Sir, replied Riquet, are you a Catholic or
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  Speaker 1: a Protestant? As Catholic a saltfish on a Friday replied Riquet,
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  Speaker 1: surrounded on all sides by heretics. I was at one
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  Speaker 1: time in great fear for myself, like a man in
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  Speaker 1: a city where there is a plague. But you, sir,
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  Speaker 1: I found it was not catching, and here I am
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  Speaker 1: more catholic than ever. But bless you, sir, I found
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  Speaker 1: it was not catching, and here I am more catholic
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  Speaker 1: than ever. Have you? Then, in any instance borne arms
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  Speaker 1: in this war, demanded the Chevalier. No, on my honor,
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  Speaker 1: Chevalier replied the valet, No arms have I borne except
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  Speaker 1: a shaving brush, a razor, a pair of tweezers, and
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  Speaker 1: a tooth pick. Well, then replied the Chevalier, I can
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  Speaker 1: promise you pardon, but remember you are a prisoner on parole.
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  Speaker 1: Do you give me your word that you will not
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  Speaker 1: try to escape? Lord? Bless you, sir, replied the man.
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  Speaker 1: I would not escape, for the world. I am with
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  Speaker 1: the winning side. You don't suppose Riuquet is a fool
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  Speaker 1: to go over to the poor devils that shall driving
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  Speaker 1: into the sea. Scoundrel, said a deep but faint voice
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  Speaker 1: from the other side of the building, and telling Rique
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  Speaker 1: to bring the light with him. The Chevalier advanced to
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  Speaker 1: the spot where stretched upon the straw in the most
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  Speaker 1: remote corner of the shed lay the unfortunate armand 'r val,
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  Speaker 1: dying from the effects of at least twenty wounds. As
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  Speaker 1: soon as the eyes of the wounded man fell upon Riquet,
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  Speaker 1: he exclaimed angrily, get thee hence, traitor, let me not
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  Speaker 1: see your face, scoundrel, to abandon thus your noble lord
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  Speaker 1: at the first moment of misfortune, you mistake, Monsieur, replied
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  Speaker 1: Riquet quietly. I am not a bit more of a
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  Speaker 1: scoundrel than you are, Monsieur Ervous, nor indeed of a
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  Speaker 1: traitor either. Every one serves his lord in his own way,
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  Speaker 1: Master Ervals, that's all you in your way, and I
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  Speaker 1: am mine. If you had waited a little to hear
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  Speaker 1: what I had to say to the Chevalier, you would
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  Speaker 1: have seen that I was quite as ready to make
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  Speaker 1: sacrifices for my lord as your er val said the
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  Speaker 1: chevalier as he listened to their conversation. That name is
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  Speaker 1: surely familiar to me, well, it might be, answered the Lequet,
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  Speaker 1: For I dare say, my Lord must have told you,
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur le Chevalier, this man or I am much mistaken,
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  Speaker 1: would have killed the King himself if my lord had
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  Speaker 1: not prevented him, indeed, demanded the Chevalier. Can we get
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  Speaker 1: any proof of this proof, sir, replied the dying man.
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  Speaker 1: It was on that account I sent for you. The
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  Speaker 1: Count de Morseur is ruined, and the cause of the
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  Speaker 1: Reformed Church is over, and all this evil has happened
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  Speaker 1: through my fault. I have heard too that he has
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  Speaker 1: offered to surrender himself to the axe in order to
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  Speaker 1: buy safety for the rest of us. But surely the King,
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  Speaker 1: let him be as great a tyrant as he may,
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  Speaker 1: will not murder the man that saved his life. The King, Sir,
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  Speaker 1: is no tyrant, replied the Chevalier, but a generous and
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  Speaker 1: noble master to those who are obedient and loyal, even
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  Speaker 1: to the disobedient, he is most merciful. And if sis
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  Speaker 1: fact could be made known to him and proved beyond
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  Speaker 1: all doubt, I feel perfectly convinced that he would not
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  Speaker 1: only pardon the Count de Moiseeux for his past errors,
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  Speaker 1: but show him some mark of favor in gratitude for
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  Speaker 1: what he has done. The King does know it, replied Erval, Sharply.
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  Speaker 1: The King must know it, for I have heard that
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  Speaker 1: the whole papers of the Atreermand fell into the hands
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  Speaker 1: of Louvois, and I have myself seen that foul Tiger's
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  Speaker 1: name written on an order for my arrest as one
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  Speaker 1: of Atremant's accomplices. But that does not prove, replied the chevalier,
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  Speaker 1: that either the King or Louvois knew of this act
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  Speaker 1: of the count's. It does prove, it, replied the dying man.
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  Speaker 1: For the only letter I ever wrote to Athremont in
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  Speaker 1: my life was to tell him that I failed in
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  Speaker 1: my purpose of killing the tyrant, that everything had gone
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  Speaker 1: fair till the Count de Morseu came in between me
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  Speaker 1: and him and declared that I should take his life first.
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  Speaker 1: I told him more everything, how I got into the
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  Speaker 1: gardens of Versailles at night and hid under the terrace
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  Speaker 1: where the king walked alone, how yon babbling fool betrayed
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  Speaker 1: my purpose to the Count, and he came and prevented
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  Speaker 1: me doing the deed I ought to have done, even
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  Speaker 1: if I had taken his life first. I told him
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  Speaker 1: all this, and I cursed the Count of Monseau in
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  Speaker 1: my madness over again and again. And now the man
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  Speaker 1: whose life he saved is seeking to bring him to
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  Speaker 1: the block. This is extraordinary and important, said the Chevalier.
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  Speaker 1: I cannot believe that the king knows it. Louvois must
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  Speaker 1: have kept it from his ears. Will you make a
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  Speaker 1: deposition of this, my good fellow, as early to morrow
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  Speaker 1: as we can get proper witnesses and a notary. Early
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  Speaker 1: to morrow, said the man faintly. Early to morrow, Chevalier,
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  Speaker 1: I shall never see her to morrow. Now is your
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  Speaker 1: only moment. And as for witnesses, quick, get paper and
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  Speaker 1: pen and ink. There is not half an hour's life
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  Speaker 1: in me. If you had come when first dissent, there
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: would have been plenty of time. But now every moment
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  Speaker 1: is a loss. Quick, Criquet, cried the chevalier. Bid the
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  Speaker 1: officer at the door, run to my quarters and bring
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  Speaker 1: down pen and ink and paper without a moment's delay.
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  Speaker 1: Riquet lost no time, and the Chevalier endeavored as far
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: as possible to keep Erval quiet till the means of
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  Speaker 1: writing were brought. The dying man would go on speaking, however,
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  Speaker 1: but with his voice becoming lower and lower, and his
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: ideas evidently in some degree confused. Once or twice he
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: spoke as if he were at their Sailles, and in
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: the presence of the king then seemed as if he
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: fancied himself conversing with Abfaimore, and then again pronounced the
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: name of Claire more than once, and talking of happiness.
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  Speaker 1: When Riquet and the officer returned, however, with the materials
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  Speaker 1: for writing, he had still strength and recollection enough to
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: commence his declaration in a formal manner. I armand d'er val,
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: he said, do hereby declare, and on the bed of death,
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  Speaker 1: affirm most solemnly that had it not been that the
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  Speaker 1: Count de Morseu prevented me, I would have shot the
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: King of France upon the terrace at Versailles after the play,
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  Speaker 1: on the night before the arrest of the Chevalier de Rohan.
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  Speaker 1: And that all I said was perfectly true. In a
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: letter which was written by me to Monsieur de Atreiman,
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  Speaker 1: dated on the I cannot recollect the day, he added,
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  Speaker 1: in a lower tone, it seems as if a mist
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: had come over that part of my memory. Never mind,
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: said the Chevalier. Go on, my good friend, go on.
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  Speaker 1: The date is unimportant. Was it the twenty fourth or
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: the twenty fifth? Continued the man I cannot recollect for
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  Speaker 1: the life of me, Your majesty. It's a short life too.
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  Speaker 1: Mine will soon be spent, and Claire's is all gone.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: He spoke very faintly, indeed, and the Chevalier said, you forget,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: my friend, you forget we were talking of the Count
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  Speaker 1: de Morseilles. Ah, cried the man, with a greater effort,
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  Speaker 1: and starting up on the straw. Ah, so we were.
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  Speaker 1: What a fool I am? Write it down, quick, write
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  Speaker 1: it down, quick. But take your fingers off my throat.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: Take your fingers off my throat. I cannot speak if
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: you suck my breath. What's the use of putting out
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: the light? Why do you put out the light? Oh Heaven,
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  Speaker 1: it is death, it is death. And falling back upon
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: the straw, the strong frame shook for a moment, as
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  Speaker 1: if an ache had seized him, and then all was still.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: The Chevalier Devron shut his teeth close, saying, this is unfortunate. However,
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: you are a witness. Lee que to all that, he said, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: bless you. Noble, sir, replied the Valet, nobody will believe
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  Speaker 1: a word that I say. I should consider my character
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  Speaker 1: ruined forever. If there was anybody in all Europe that
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: will believe me upon my oath I have forgot, said
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: the Chevalier dryly. Your character is in no danger. I
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: believe on that score. But my word will be believed,
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: and my voice at least shall be heard well, Sir,
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: replied Riquet, perhaps a little piqued at the Chevalier's reply,
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: let me add my voice too, For though they may
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  Speaker 1: believe me in nothing else, they may perhaps believe me
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  Speaker 1: in a confession which will go to twist my own neck.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: I wish to be sent to the King, sir, though
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: if you can find out when he is in good humor,
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: I should prefer it. But my object is to inform
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: him that it was altogether my fault, and my foolishness
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: and my crime that prevented the Count de Morseau from
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: going to Bessailles as soon as he was liberated from
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: the vast steel, to throw himself at the King's feet.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: If it had not been for that aforesaid foolishness of mine,
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: he would never have come hither, would never have led
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: the rebels at all, and most likely by this time
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: would have been as high in the King's good graces
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: as ever I have heard all this before, said the Chevalier.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: But you are positively resolved, my good friend, to go
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: voluntarily and make confession of all these things. Do you
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: remember the consequences? Do you think of the risks? No, sir,
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: replied Ruquet. I do quite the contrary. I try to
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: forget them all as fast as possible, being resolved to
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: go at any rate, and therefore judging that the less
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: I think about risks and consequences the better. But I
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: heaven thou art right, replied the Chevalier, and thou shalt
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: have a bottle of Burgundy, if there be one in
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: the camp, to keep warm thy good philosophy. See, there
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: is the gray of the morning coming in, and I
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: may well go away, satisfied with having found one man
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: in the world who is not so great a scoundrel
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: as I thought him. The Chevalier returned to the hut
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: in which he had established his quarters and cast himself
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: down for an hour's repose. But before the daylight had
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: been long in the sky, he was on foot again,
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: and at the door of the farmhouse, which contained Clement
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: de Marli. He was immediately admitted. And strange as it
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: may seem, if the Count de Mossuri had Witnes meeting,
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: it would certainly have wrung his heart more than the
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: loss of the Great Battle. The Royalist commander advanced at
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: once to his fair prisoner, and, putting his arms slightly
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: round her, kissed her cheek without any apparent reluctance on
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: her part, and her first exclamation was, Oh, Louis, I
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: am glad to see you safe. You know not how
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: my heart is torn. I dare say it is, my
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: pretty Clemence, replied the Chevalier in his usual light tone.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: But you, who have been doing nothing else but tearing
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: other people's hearts for the last five years, must take
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: your turn. Now you have placed me in a terrible predicament. However,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: thoughtless girl, he added, you are obstinate as an Aragonese
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: mule about this matter of religion, and will not be
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: contented till you have gotten yourself roasted in this world.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: As preparatory to But tell me, Louis, tell me about him,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: demanded Clement. Is he safe? Has he escaped from this
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: awful night? I suppose you mean mor sail by he
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: and him, said the Chevalier, And if so, he is safe,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: as far as I know, he has escaped. That is
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: to say, he has not been taken, thank God, though
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: one time he was very near it, for by the
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: flash of the guns I saw his face in the
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: middle of our men. But I dare say now, clament
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: that you would a thousandfold rather have me killed than
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: this heretic of yours. Do not be unkind, Louis replied Clements,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: I would, of course rather have neither of you killed.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: But now that you have got me, tell me what
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: is to be my fate? Why that question is difficult
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: to answer, said the chevalier. Heaven knows, I did not
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: want you, madam. I was obliged to write you a
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: formal summons to return for mere decency's sake, But I
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: certainly never expected you would obey. You might have said, no,
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: silly girl, without telling all the world that you had
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: turned huguenot all for the love of a gallon night. Nonsense. Louis,
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: do speak, seriously, replied Clamant's. You very well know I
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: was what you call a huguenot long before. Not quite Claimant's.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: Not quite, cried the Chevalier. You were what may be
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: called hugenoting. But this rash and imprudent determination of declaring
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: your feelings, doubts, or whatever they may be, at the
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: very moment when the sword of persecution is drawn. Was
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: indeed very silly. Claimant's what is to be done now
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: is rendered double difficult, And I suppose I must, of
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: course convive at your escape. We must take means to
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: have an intimation conveyed for some trading vessels to hover
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: about the coast, to give you an opportunity of getting
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: away till this fierce bigotry has gone by. It will
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: not last long, and in a year or two I
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: doubt not exiles will be permitted to return. The only
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: difficulty will be to have the ships opportunely. And I
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: think I can manage that. Oh do do, Louis exclaimed
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: caments eagerly. That is all that can be desired. And
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: pray try to persuade Albert to fly at once. Nay, nay,
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: replied the Chevalier, laughing, that must not be my task.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: Clement's on that subject, I dare not say a word,
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: but you may well do what you will. I will
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: take care that the means of flight to another country
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: shall be provided for you, and you may take with
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: you any one that is willing to go, but then
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: exclaimed Clement, I must have the opportunity of persuading him. Certainly,
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: exclaimed the chevalier, the first thing you have to do
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: is to get out of my camp as fast as
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: you can. I would not have you three days here
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: for the world, for as affairs go at present, I
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: cannot answer that the power of protecting you will be
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: left to me for three days. However, he added, after
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: a moment's thought, to day you must stay and march
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: on with us. And before to morrow I trust I
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: shall be able to put you under such protection as
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: will ensure your safety and support in your flight. And now,
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: pretty maid, I must leave you. We shall begin to
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: march about noon. In the meantime there is a courier
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: going to Montegou, So send off thither. For whatever you
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: may need to make you comfortable. An easy horse shall
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: be ready for you, And if at any time you
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: may feel yourself inclined to gallop away, you may take
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: him with you as a present from me. By the way,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: little heretic, he added when he got to the door.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: You will want money for your peregrinations. Oh no, replied clement,
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: I have plenty. I have plenty. I assure you I
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: have near two hundred double louis, which I took to
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: the prison in hopes. Little do you know of what
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: you may want, silly girl, replied the chevalier. Why one
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: of these very merchant ships may demand the half of
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: that for carrying you over here, he added, drawing forth
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: a leathern perse embroidered in gold. I don't know how
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: much there is here, but you must take it too,
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: and if by any unforeseen circumstance you should need more,
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: when in England, draw on me what they call a
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: bill of exchange. Claimants took the money without ceremony, as
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: if it were a mere matter of course, and only added,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: come and see me again before we march Louis. The
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Chevalier nodded his head and left her. End of Chapter
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: thirty three.