CHAPTER XXII
DESCRIBES THE MOST CONVINCING PROOF THAT A WOMAN
CAN GIVE THAT A MAN IS NOT HER LOVER
"'MONSIEUR de MONTMORENCY,' said the dauphin, as he entered the room, angry and cast down, 'if you had not held me back, I should be better content with myself and you than I am at present.'
"'Permit me to say, Monseigneur,' Montmorency replied, 'that you talk like a hot-headed youth, and not like the king's son. Your days do not belong to you; they belong to your people, Monseigneur, and crowned heads have different duties from other men.'
"'Why, then, should I be so angry with myself, and so ashamed?' said the prince. 'Ah! there you are, Madame,' he added, addressing Diane, whom he had just espied.
"And for the moment his wounded self-esteem got the better of his jealous passion.
"'It is at your house and through your connivance,' said he, 'that I have been insulted for the first time in my life.'
"'Alas! at my house, yes; but do not say through my connivance, Monseigneur,' replied Diane. 'Haven't I suffered quite as much as you,—yes, more than you? Am I not innocent of all this? Do you suppose that I care for that man, pray? Or that I have ever cared for him?'
"Having betrayed him, she now disowned him; it was very simple.
"'I love you and only you, Monseigneur, she went on; 'my heart and soul are yours only and absolutely; and my existence dates only from the day when you accepted this heart which is devoted to you. But before that it may be—yes, I remember vaguely that I did allow this Montgommery to entertain some hope. Never anything positive, and no definite engagement. But you came; and all else was forgotten. Since that time I swear to you—and you may believe my words rather than the jealous slanders of Madame d'Étampes and her friends—since that blessed time I have not had a single thought or a single heart-beat that has not been for you, Monseigneur. That man lies; that man is acting in concert with my enemies; that man has no right over her who belongs so completely to you, Henri. I hardly know the man; and not only do I not love him, but, Great Heaven, I hate and despise him! See, I don't even ask you if he be dead or alive. I think only of you. And as for him, I hate him!'
"'Is this true, Madame?' said the dauphin, still with something of gloomy distrust in his tone.
"'It will be very easy and a very short matter to prove it,' replied Monsieur de Montmorency. 'Monsieur de Montgommery is living, Madame; but he is securely bound and in no condition to do any harm. He has put a shameful outrage upon the prince. But to accuse him before the ordinary tribunals is not to be thought of; to punish him for such a crime would be more dangerous than the crime itself. On the other hand, it is still more utterly out of the question that Monseigneur le Dauphin should engage in single combat with this insolent scoundrel. Now what do you suggest, Madame? What shall we do with this man?'
"There was a moment of painful silence. Perrot held his breath so that he might not lose a syllable of the words which were so slow in coming. But it was evident that Madame Diane was in fear for herself as well as for what she was going to say. She hesitated about uttering her own sentence.
"But at last she had to speak; and with a voice that was still reasonably firm, she said,—
"'Monsieur de Montgommery has been guilty of the crime of lèse-majesté. Monsieur de Montmorency, to what penalty are they liable who commit that crime?'
"'Death,' the constable replied.
"'Then,' said Madame Diane, coldly, 'my opinion is that this man should die.'
"Both the others stood aghast at these words; and there was another pause before Monsieur de Montmorency replied,—
"'You mean by that, Madame, that you do not love Monsieur de Montgommery, and never have loved him.'
"'For my part,' said the dauphin, 'I am less desirous than ever now that he should die.'
"'I hold the same views,' said Montmorency, 'but on different grounds from yours, I take it, Monseigneur. The opinion which generosity moves you to express, I hold for prudential reasons. Monsieur de Montgommery has many friends and powerful allies in France and England; it is known at court that he was likely to meet us here to-night. If they come to us and ask us boldly and clamorously for news of him to-morrow, it must not be that we are able to produce only a dead body. Nobles cannot be treated like serfs and put to death without ceremony. We must be able to reply,—"Monsieur de Montgommery has absconded;" or, "Monsieur de Montgommery is wounded and ill;" but in any event, "Monsieur de Montgommery is alive!" 'And if we are pushed to the last extremity, and if they persist in clamoring for him to the end, well, then we must be in a position where if worst comes to worst, we can take him from his prison or his bed and produce him to the slanderers. But I hope that this precaution, necessary though it be, will nevertheless be useless. Monsieur de Montgommery will be sought for and inquired for to-morrow and the day after; but in a week's time the matter will begin to die out, and in a month he will not be mentioned at all. Nothing is forgotten so speedily as a friend; and we must help to change the subject of common gossip. My conclusion is, then, that the culprit must neither die nor live; he must disappear.'
"'So be it!' said the dauphin. 'Let him go; let him leave France! He has property and connections in England; let him take refuge there.'
"'Not by any means, Monseigneur,' Montmorency replied. 'Death is too much; but banishment is not enough. Would you like,' he added in a lower tone, 'to have this fellow tell in England rather than in France how he threatened you with an insulting gesture?'
"'Oh, don't remind me of that!' cried the dauphin, grinding his teeth.
"'Yet I must remind you of it, Monseigneur, to fortify you against a perilous decision. It is essential, I say again, that the count should tell no tales, living or dead. The men of our escort can be depended upon; and, besides, they have no idea with whom they are dealing. The governor of the Châtelet is a friend of mine; more than that, he is as deaf and dumb as his prison, and devoted to his Majesty's service. Let Monsieur de Montgommery be carried to the Châtelet this very night. A good strong dungeon will keep him for us, or give him back to us, as we choose. To-morrow he will have disappeared; and we will take pains to spread most contradictory and inconsistent reports as to his disappearance. If these rumors do not die out of themselves, and if the count's friends are too persistent in making search for him, which is hardly probable; and if they institute a rigorous and thorough inquiry, which would greatly surprise me,—why, then we can justify ourselves in one word by producing the register of the Châtelet, which will prove that Monsieur de Montgommery, accused of the crime of lèse-majesté, is held in prison pending the regular decree of the courts. Then, when this fact is once established, will it be our fault if the prison is unhealthy; and if grief and remorse have taken too strong a hold on Monsieur de Montgommery, and if he dies before he has had time to appear to answer to the charge?'
"'Oh, Monsieur!' cried the dauphin, in horror.
"'Never fear, Monseigneur,' replied the prince's adviser; 'we shall have no need to go to such lengths. The rumors caused by the count's disappearance will die away. His friends will be consoled, and will soon forget; and Monsieur de Montgommery will live, if he chooses, the life of a prisoner from the moment that he dies to the world.'
"'But has he not a son?' asked Madame Diane.
"'Yes, a very young boy, who will be told that no one knows what has become of his father, and who will, when he has grown up, if he lives to grow up, poor little orphan, have interests and passions of his own, and will not trouble himself to unearth a story fifteen or twenty years old.'
"'That is all very true, and well thought of,' said Madame de Poitiers. 'Come, I am inclined to accept it; nay, more, I approve of it, and marvel at it.'
"'You are really too kind, Madame,' replied Montmorency, much flattered, 'and I am very glad to see that we are suited to appreciate each other.'
"'But I neither approve of it nor marvel at it, for my part,' cried the dauphin; 'on the contrary, I oppose it and disclaim it.'
"'Disclaim it, Monseigneur, and you will do quite right,' said Monsieur de Montmorency. 'Disclaim it; but do not oppose it. Find fault with it; but let it go on. All this doesn't concern you at all; and I take the whole responsibility of the affair upon my shoulders, before God and man.'
"'But henceforth we shall be bound together by fellowship in crime, shall we not,' said the dauphin, 'and you will no longer be my friend simply, but my accomplice?'
"'Oh, Monseigneur, perish the thought!' cried the crafty minister. 'You ought not to compromise yourself by punishing the culprit any more than by fighting him. Is it your pleasure that we refer the whole matter to the king your father?'
"'No, no; let my father know nothing of all this,' said the dauphin, quickly.'
"'But my duty,' said Monsieur de Montmorency, 'will compel me to inform him, nevertheless, Monseigneur, if you persist in thinking that the time for chivalrous deeds is to last forever. Come, let us not hasten the affair, if you prefer not, and let us wait for time to ripen our judgment. Only let us make sure of the count's person, as an essential part of our final plans, whatever they may be; and then we will postpone for a time any final conclusion on the subject.'
"'Very well,' said the dauphin, whose feeble will was quick to grasp at this pretended adjournment of the painful subject. 'Monsieur de Montgommery will thus have time to reconsider his first unreflecting impulse, and I also may reflect at my leisure on what my conscience and my dignity demand that I should do.'
"'Let us go back to the Louvre, then, Monseigneur,' said Monsieur de Montmorency, 'and leave no doubt of our presence there. I will send him back to you to-morrow, Madame,' he continued, turning to Madame de Poitiers with a smile; 'for I can see that you love him with a real, heartfelt passion.'
"'But is Monseigneur le Dauphin convinced of it?' said Diane; 'and have I his forgiveness for this unfortunate meeting, so entirely unforeseen by me?'
"'Yes, indeed you must love me,—in truth, with a mighty love, Diane,' replied the dauphin, thoughtfully; 'and I am in too great need of believing it to doubt it. And as the count very truly said, I felt too keenly the pang which cut my heart when I fancied I had lost you, so that your love is henceforth necessary to my existence; and when I loved you once, it was for life.'
"'Ah, God grant that you speak the truth!' cried Diane, passionately, covering with kisses the hand that the dauphin held out to her in token of forgiveness.
"'And now let us be off without more delay,' said Monsieur de Montmorency.
"'Au revoir, Diane.'
"'Au revoir, my dear Lord,' said the duchess, with a most captivating accent upon the last words.
"She went with him to the door of the room. While the dauphin was descending the stairs, Monsieur de Montmorency opened the door of the oratory where Monsieur de Montgommery was still lying, guarded and bound, and said to the leader of the men-at-arms,—
"'I will send hither at once one of my people, who will instruct you what to do with your prisoner. Until then watch his every movement, and don't lose sight of him for one moment. You shall answer to me, all of you, with your lives.'
"'Very well, Monseigneur,' replied the soldier.
"'Besides, I shall be on the watch too,' said Madame de Poitiers, from the door where she was still standing.
"They all disappeared, and Perrot from his hiding-place could hear nothing but the regular tread of the sentinel stationed just within the oratory to guard the door, while his comrades guarded the prisoner.”