'What is the matter?'I asked,though I had an uneasy consciousness that I knew--that I knew very well.
'Man,he will crush you as I crush this hat!'he answered in great excitement.'As easily.Who do you think will protect you from him in a private quarrel of this kind?Navarre?France?
our good man?Not one of them.You had better steal the king's crown jewels--he is weak;or Guise's last plot--he is generous at times,or Navarre's last sweetheart--he is as easy as an old shoe.You had better have to do with all these together,I tell you,than touch Turenne's ewe-lambs,unless your aim be to be broken on the wheel!Mon Dieu,yes!'
'I am much obliged to you for your advice,'I said stiffly,'but the die is cast.My mind is made up.On the other hand,if you are afraid,M.Fresnoy--'
'I am afraid;very much afraid,'he answered frankly.
'Still your name need not be brought into the matter,'I replied,'I will take the responsibility.I will let them know my name here at the inn,where,doubtless,inquiries will be made.'
'To be sure,that is something,'he answered.thoughtfully.
'Well,it is an ugly business,but I am in for it.You want me to go with you a little after two,do you?and the others to be in the saddle at three?Is that it?'
I assented,pleased to find him so far acquiescent;and in this way,talking the details over more than once,we settled our course,arranging to fly by way of Poitiers and Tours.Of course I did not tell him why I selected Blois as our refuge,nor what was my purpose there;though he pressed me more than once on the point,and grew thoughtful and somewhat gloomy when I continually evaded it.A little after eight we retired to the loft to sleep;our men remaining below round the fire and snoring so merrily as almost to shake the crazy old building.The host was charged to sit up and call us as soon as the moon rose,but,as it turned out,I might as well have taken this office on myself,for between excitement and distrust I slept little,and was wide awake when I heard his step on the ladder and knew it was time to rise.
I was up in a moment,and Fresnoy was little behind me;so that,losing no time in talk,we were mounted and on the road,each with a spare horse at his knee,before the moon was well above the trees.Once in the Chase we found it necessary to proceed on foot,but,the distance being short,we presently emerged without misadventure and stood opposite to the chateau,the upper part of which shone cold and white in the moon's rays.
There was something so solemn in the aspect of the place,the night being fine and the sky without a cloud,that I stood for a minute awed and impressed,the sense of the responsibility I was here to accept strong upon me.In that short space of time all the dangers before me,as well the common risks of the road as the vengeance of Turenne and the turbulence of my own men,presented themselves to my mind,and made a last appeal to me to turn back from an enterprise so foolhardy.The blood in a man's veins runs low and slow at that hour,and mine was chilled by lack of sleep and the wintry air.It needed the remembrance of my solitary condition,of my past spent in straits and failure,of the grey hairs which swept my cheek,of the sword which I had long used honourably,if with little profit to myself;it needed the thought of all these things to restore me to courage and myself.
I judged at a later period that my companion was affected in somewhat the same way;for,as I stooped to press home the pegs which I had brought to tether the horses,he laid his hand on my arm.Glancing up to see what he wanted,I was struck by the wild look in his face (which the moonlight invested with a peculiar mottled pallor),and particularly in his eyes,which glittered like a madman's.He tried to speak,but seemed to find a difficulty in doing so;and I had to question him roughly before he found his tongue.When he did speak,it was only to implore me in an odd,excited manner to give up the expedition and return.
'What,now?'I said,surprised.'Now we are here,Fresnoy?'
'Ay,give it up!'he cried,shaking me almost fiercely by the arm.'Give it up,man!It will end badly,I tell you!In God's name,give it up,and go home before worse comes of it.'
'Whatever comes of it,'I answered coldly,shaking his grasp from my arm,and wondering much at this sudden fit of cowardice,'I go on.You,M.Fresnoy,may do as you please!'
He started and drew back from me;but he did not reply,nor did he speak again.When I presently went off to fetch a ladder,of the position of which I had made a note during the afternoon,he accompanied me,and followed me back in the same dull silence to the walk below the balcony.I had looked more than once and eagerly at mademoiselle's window without any light or movement in that quarter rewarding my vigilance;but,undeterred by this,which might mean either that my plot was known,or that Mademoiselle de la Vire distrusted me,I set the ladder softly against the balcony,which was in deep shadow,and paused only to give Fresnoy his last instructions.These were simply to stand on guard at the foot of the ladder and defend it in case of surprise;so that,whatever happened inside the chateau,my retreat by the window might not be cut off.
Then I went cautiously up the ladder,and,with my sheathed sword in my left hand,stepped over the balustrade.Taking one pace forward,with fingers outstretched,I felt the leaded panes of the window and tapped softly.
As softly the casement gave way,and I followed it.A hand which I could see but not feel was laid on mine.All was darkness in the room,and before me,but the hand guided me two paces forward,then by a sudden pressure bade me stand.I heard the sound of a,curtain being drawn behind me,and the next moment the cover of a rushlight was removed,and a feeble but sufficient light filled the chamber.
