Under the Red Robe Page 10

  CHAPTER X. CLON

  'You!' she cried, in a voice which pierced my heart. 'You are M. deBerault? It is impossible!' But, glancing askance at her--I could notface her I saw that the blood had left her cheeks.

  'Yes, Mademoiselle,' I answered in a low tone. 'De Barthe was mymother's name. When I came here, a stranger, I took it that I mightnot be known; that I might again speak to a good woman, and not seeher shrink. That, and--but why trouble you with all this?' I continuedrebelling, against her silence, her turned shoulder, her averted face.'You asked me, Mademoiselle, how I could take a blow and let the strikergo. I have answered. It is the one privilege M. de Berault possesses.'

  'Then,' she replied almost in a whisper, 'if I were M. de Berault, Iwould avail myself of it, and never fight again.'

  'In that event, Mademoiselle,' I answered coldly, 'I should lose my menfriends as well as my women friends. Like Monseigneur the Cardinal, ruleby fear.'

  She shuddered, either at the name or at the idea my words called up;and, for a moment, we stood awkwardly silent. The shadow of the sundialfell between us; the garden was still; here and there a leaf flutteredslowly down. With each instant of that silence, of that aversion, Ifelt the gulf between us growing wider, I felt myself growing harder;I mocked at her past which was so unlike mine; I mocked at mine, andcalled it fate. I was on the point of turning from her with a bow--andwith a furnace in my breast--when she spoke.

  'There is a last rose lingering there,' she said, a slight tremor in hervoice. 'I cannot reach it. Will you pluck it for me, M. de Berault?'

  I obeyed her, my hand trembling, my face on fire. She took the rose fromme, and placed it in the bosom of her dress, And I saw that her handtrembled too, and that her cheek was dark with blushes.

  She turned without more ado, and began to walk towards the house.'Heaven forbid that I should misjudge you a second time!' she said in alow voice. 'And, after all, who am I, that I should judge you at all? Anhour ago I would have killed that man had I possessed the power.'

  'You repented, Mademoiselle,' I said huskily. I could scarcely speak.

  'Do you never repent?' she said.

  'Yes. But too late, Mademoiselle.'

  'Perhaps it is never too late,' she answered softly.

  'Alas, when a man is dead--'

  'You may rob a man of worse than life!' she replied with energy,stopping me by a gesture. 'If you have never robbed a man--or awoman--of honour! If you have never ruined boy or girl, M. de Berault!If you have never pushed another into the pit and gone by it yourself!If--but, for murder? Listen. You are a Romanist, but I am a Huguenot,and have read. "Thou shall not kill!" it is written; and the penalty,"By man shall thy blood be shed!" But, "If you cause one of these littleones to offend, it were better for you that a mill-stone were hangedabout your neck, and that you were cast into the depths of the sea."'

  'Mademoiselle, you are merciful,' I muttered.

  'I need mercy myself,' she answered, sighing. 'And I have had fewtemptations. How do I know what you have suffered?'

  'Or done!' I said, almost rudely.

  'Where a man has not lied, nor betrayed, nor sold himself or others,'she answered in a low tone, 'I think I can forgive all else. I canbetter put up with force,' she added smiling sadly, 'than with fraud.'

  Ah, Dieu! I turned away my face that she might not see how pale it grew;that she might not guess how her words, meant in mercy, stabbed me tothe heart. And yet, then, for the first time, while viewing in all itsdepth and width the gulf which separated us, I was not hardened; Iwas not cast back upon myself. Her gentleness, her pity, her humilitysoftened me, while they convicted me. My God, how, after this, could Ido that which I had come to do? How could I stab her in the tenderestpart, how could I inflict on her that rending pang, how could I meet hereyes, and stand before her, a Caliban, a Judas, the vilest, lowest thingshe could conceive?

  I stood, a moment, speechless and disordered; overcome by her words,by my thoughts. I have seen a man so stand when he has lost all at thetables. Then I turned to her; and for an instant I thought that my talewas told already, I thought that she had pierced my disguise. For herface was changed--stricken as with fear. The next moment, I saw thatshe was not looking at me, but beyond me; and I turned quickly and sawa servant hurrying from the house to us. It was Louis. His eyes werestaring, his hair waved, his cheeks were flabby with dismay, He breathedas if he had been running.

  'What is it?' Mademoiselle cried, while he was still some way off.'Speak, man. My sister? Is she--'

  'Clon,' he gasped.

  The name changed her to stone.

  'Clon? What of him?' she muttered.

  'In the village!' Louis panted, his tongue stuttering with terror. 'Theyare flogging him. They are killing him! To make him tell!'

  Mademoiselle grasped the sundial and leant against it, her facecolourless; and, for an instant, I thought that she was fainting.

  'Tell?' I said mechanically. 'But he cannot tell. He is dumb, man.'

  'They will make him guide them,' Louis groaned, covering his ears withhis shaking hands, his face the colour of paper. 'And his cries! Oh,Monsieur, go, go!' he continued, in a thrilling tone. 'Save him. Allthrough tie wood I heard his cries. It was horrible! horrible!'

  Mademoiselle uttered a moan of pain; and I turned to support her,thinking each second to see her fall. But with a sudden movement shestraightened herself, and, quickly slipping by me, with eyes that seemedto see nothing, she set off swiftly down the walk towards the meadowgate.

  I ran after her; but, taken by surprise as I was, it was only by a greateffort I reached the gate before her, and thrusting myself in the road,barred the way.

  'Let me pass!' she panted, striving to thrust me on one side. 'Out of myway, sir! I am going to the village.'

  'You are not going to the village,' I said sternly. 'Go back; to thehouse, Mademoiselle, and at once.'

  'My servant!' she wailed. 'Let me go! Let me go! Do you think I can resthere while they torture him? He cannot speak, and they--they--'

  'Go back, Mademoiselle,' I said, with decision. 'Your presence wouldonly make matters worse! I will go myself, and what one man can doagainst many, I will! Louis, give your mistress your arm and take her tothe house. Take her to Madame.'

  'But you will go?' she cried. And before I could stay her--I swear Iwould have stopped her if I could--she raised my hand and carried itto her trembling lips. 'You will go! Go and stop them! Stop them, andHeaven reward you, Monsieur!'

  I did not answer; nay, I did not once look back, as I crossed themeadow; but I did not look forward either. Doubtless it was grass Itrod, and the wood was before me with the sun shining aslant on it;doubtless the house rose behind me with a flame here and there in thewindows. But I went in a dream, among shadows; with a racing pulse, ina glow from head to heel; conscious of nothing but the touch ofMademoiselle's warm lips on my hand, seeing neither meadow nor house,nor even the dark fringe of wood before me, but only Mademoiselle'spassionate face. For the moment I was drunk: drunk with that to which Ihad been so long a stranger, with that which a man may scorn for years,to find it at last beyond his reach drunk with the touch of a goodwoman's lips.

  I passed the bridge in this state; and my feet were among the brushwoodbefore the heat and fervour in which I moved found on a sudden theirdirection. Something began to penetrate to my veiled senses--a hoarseinarticulate cry, now deep, now shrilling horribly, that of itselfseemed to fill the wood. It came at intervals of half a minute or so,and made the flesh creep, it rang so full of dumb pain, of impotentwrestling, of unspeakable agony. I am a man and have seen things. Isaw the Concini beheaded, and Chalais ten years later--they gave himthirty-four blows; and when I was a boy I escaped from the college andviewed from a great distance Ravaillac torn by horses--that was in theyear ten. But the horrible cries I now heard, filled me, perhaps becauseI was alone and fresh from the sight of Mademoiselle, with loathinginexpressible. The very wood, though the sun had not yet set, seemed togrow dark. I ran
on through it, cursing, until the hovels of the villagecame in sight. Again the shriek rose, a pulsing horror, and this time Icould hear the lash fall on the sodden flesh, I could see in fancy thedumb man, trembling, quivering, straining against his bonds. And then,in a moment, I was in the street, and, as the scream once more tore theair, I dashed round the corner by the inn, and came upon them.

  I did not look at HIM, but I saw Captain Larolle and the Lieutenant,and a ring of troopers, and one man, bare-armed, teasing out with hisfingers the thongs of a whip. The thongs dripped blood, and the sightfired the mine. The rage I had suppressed when the Lieutenant bearded meearlier in the afternoon, the passion with which Mademoiselle's distresshad filled my breast, on the instant found vent. I sprang through theline of soldiers; and striking the man with the whip a buffet betweenthe shoulders, which hurled him breathless to the ground, I turned onthe leaders.

  'You fiends!' I cried. 'Shame on you! The man is dumb! Dumb; and if Ihad ten men with me, I would sweep you and your scum out of the villagewith broomsticks. Lay on another lash,' I continued recklessly, 'and Iwill see whether you or the Cardinal be the stronger.'

  The Lieutenant stared at me, his grey moustache bristling, his eyesalmost starting from his head. Some of the troopers laid their hands ontheir swords, but no one moved, and only the Captain spoke.

  'MILLE DIABLES!' he swore. 'What is all this about? Are you mad, sir?'

  'Mad or sane!' I cried furiously. 'Lay on another lash, and you shallrepent it.'

  For an instant there was a pause of astonishment. Then, to my surprise,the Captain laughed--laughed loudly.

  'Very heroic,' he said. 'Quite magnificent, M. Chevalier-errant. But yousee, unfortunately, you come too late.'

  'Too late,' I said incredulously.

  'Yes, too late,' he replied, with a mocking smile. And the Lieutenantgrinned too. 'Unfortunately, you see, the man has just confessed. Wehave only been giving him an extra touch or two, to impress his memory,and save us the trouble of lashing him up again.'

  'I don't believe it,' I said bluntly--but I felt the check, and fell toearth. 'The man cannot speak.'

  'No, but he has managed to tell us what we want; that he will guide usto the place we are seeking,' the Captain answered drily. 'The whip, ifit cannot find a man a tongue, can find him wits. What is more, I thinkthat he will keep his word,' he continued, with a hideous scowl. 'For Iwarn him that if he does not, all your heroics shall not save him. Heis a rebel dog, and known to us of old; and I will flay his back to thebones, ay, until we can see his heart beating through his ribs, but Iwill have what I want--in your teeth, too, you d----d meddler.'

  'Steady, steady!' I said, sobered. I saw that he was telling the truth.'Is he going to take you to M. de Cocheforet's hiding-place?'

  'Yes, he is!' the Captain retorted. 'Have you any objection to that,Master Spy?'

  'None,' I replied. 'Only I shall go with you. And if you live threemonths, I shall kill you for that name-behind the barracks at Auch, M.le Capitaine.'

  He changed colour, but he answered me boldly enough.

  'I don't know that you will go with us,' he said, with a snarl. 'That isas we please.'

  'I have the Cardinal's orders,' I said sternly.

  'The Cardinal?' he exclaimed, stung to fury by this repetition of thename. 'The Cardinal be--'

  But the Lieutenant laid his hand on his lips and stopped him.

  'Hush!' he said. Then more quietly, 'Your pardon, M. le Capitaine; butthe least said the soonest mended. Shall I give orders to the men tofall in?'

  The Captain nodded sullenly.

  The Lieutenant turned to his prisoner.

  'Take him down!' he commanded in his harsh, monotonous voice. 'Throwhis blouse over him, and tie his hands. And do you two, Paul and Lebrun,guard him. Michel, bring the whip, or he may forget how it tastes.Sergeant, choose four good men, and dismiss the rest to their quarters.'

  'Shall we need the horses?' the sergeant asked.

  'I don't know,' the Captain answered peevishly. 'What does the roguesay?'

  The Lieutenant stepped up to him.

  'Listen!' he said grimly. 'Nod if you mean yes, and shake your head ifyou mean no. And have a care you answer truly. Is it more than a mile tothis place?'

  They had loosened the poor wretch's fastenings, and covered his back.He stood leaning his shoulder against the wall, his mouth still panting,the sweat running down his hollow cheeks. His sunken eyes were closed,but a quiver now and again ran through his frame. The Lieutenantrepeated his question, and, getting no answer, looked round for orders.The Captain met the look, and crying savagely, 'Answer will you, youmule!' struck the half-swooning miserable across the back with hisswitch. The effect was magical. Covered, as his shoulders were, the mansprang erect with a shriek of pain, raising his chin, and hollowing hisback; and in that attitude stood an instant with starting eyes, gaspingfor breath. Then he sank back against the wall, moving his mouthspasmodically. His face was the colour of lead.

  'Diable! I think that we have gone too far with him!' the Captainmuttered.

  'Bring some wine!' the Lieutenant replied. 'Quick with it!'

  I looked on, burning with indignation, and in some excitement besides.For if the man took them to the place, and they succeeded in seizingCocheforet, there was an end of the matter as far as I was concerned. Itwas off my shoulders, and I might leave the village when I pleased; norwas it likely--since he would have his man, though not through me--thatthe Cardinal would refuse to grant me an amnesty. On the whole, Ithought that he would prefer that things should take this course; andassuming the issue, I began to wonder whether it would be necessary inthat event that Madame should know the truth. I had a kind of vision ofa reformed Berault, dead to play and purging himself at a distance fromZaton's; winning, perhaps, a name in the Italian war, and finally--but,pshaw! I was a fool.

  However, be these things as they might, it was essential that I shouldsee the arrest made; and I waited patiently while they revived thetortured man, and made their dispositions. These took some time; sothat the sun was down, and it was growing dusk when we marched out,Clon going first, supported by his two guards, the Captain and Ifollowing--abreast, and eyeing one another suspiciously; the Lieutenant,with the sergeant and five troopers, bringing up the rear. Clon movedslowly, moaning from time to time; and but for the aid given him by thetwo men with him, must have sunk down again and again.

  He led the way out between two houses close to the inn, and struck anarrow track, scarcely discernible, which ran behind other houses,and then plunged into the thickest part of the wood. A single person,traversing the covert, might have made such a track; or pigs, orchildren. But it was the first idea that occurred to us, and put usall on the alert. The Captain carried a cocked pistol, I held my sworddrawn, and kept a watchful eye on HIM; and the deeper the dusk fell inthe wood, the more cautiously we went, until at last we came out with asort of jump into a wider and lighter path.

  I looked up and down, and saw behind me a vista of tree-trunks, beforeme a wooden bridge and an open meadow, lying cold and grey in thetwilight; and I stood in astonishment. We were in the old path to theChateau! I shivered at the thought that he was going to take us there,to the house, to Mademoiselle!

  The Captain also recognised the place, and swore aloud. But the dumb manwent on unheeding until he reached the wooden bridge. There he stoppedshort, and looked towards the dark outline of the house, which wasjust visible, one faint light twinkling sadly in the west wing. As theCaptain and I pressed up behind him, he raised his hands and seemed towring them towards the house.

  'Have a care!' the Captain growled. 'Play me no tricks, or--'

  He did not finish the sentence, for Clon, as if he well understood hisimpatience, turned back from the bridge, and, entering the wood to theleft, began to ascend the bank of the stream. We had not gone a hundredyards before the ground grew rough, and the undergrowth thick; and yetthrough all ran a kind of path which enabled us to advance, dark asit was now
growing. Very soon the bank on which we moved began to riseabove the water, and grew steep and rugged. We turned a shoulder, wherethe stream swept round a curve, and saw we were in the mouth of a smallravine, dark and sheer-sided. The water brawled along the bottom, overboulders and through chasms. In front, the slope on which we stoodshaped itself into a low cliff; but halfway between its summit and thewater a ledge, or narrow terrace, running along the face, was dimlyvisible.

  'Ten to one, a cave!' the Captain muttered. 'It is a likely place.'

  'And an ugly one!' I replied with a sneer. 'Which one against ten mighthold for hours!'

  'If the ten had no pistols--yes!' he answered viciously. 'But you see wehave. Is he going that way?'

  He was. As soon as this was clear, Larolle turned to his comrade.

  'Lieutenant,' he said, speaking in a low voice, though the chafing ofthe stream below us covered ordinary sounds; 'what say you? Shall welight the lanthorns, or press on while there is still a glimmering ofday?'

  'On, I should say, M. le Capitaine,' the Lieutenant answered. 'Prickhim in the back if he falters. I will warrant,' the brute added with achuckle, 'he has a tender place or two.'

  The Captain gave the word and we moved forward. It was evident nowthat the cliff-path was our destination. It was possible for the eye tofollow the track all the way to it, through rough stones and brushwood;and though Clon climbed feebly, and with many groans, two minutes sawus step on to it. It did not prove to be, in fact, the perilous placeit looked at a distance. The ledge, grassy and terrace-like, slopedslightly downwards and outwards, and in parts was slippery; but it wasas wide as a highway, and the fall to the water did not exceed thirtyfeet. Even in such a dim light as now displayed it to us, and byincreasing the depth and unseen dangers of the gorge gave a kind ofimpressiveness to our movements, a nervous woman need not have feared totread it, I wondered how often Mademoiselle had passed along it with hermilk-pitcher.

  'I think that we have him now,' Captain Larolle muttered, twisting hismoustachios, and looking about to make his last dispositions. 'Paul andLebrun, see that your man makes no noise. Sergeant, come forward withyour carbine, but do not fire without orders. Now, silence all, andclose up, Lieutenant. Forward!'

  We advanced about a hundred paces, keeping the cliff on our left, turneda shoulder, and saw, a few paces in front of us, a slight hollow, ablack blotch in the grey duskiness of the cliff-side. The prisonerstopped, and, raising his bound hands, pointed to it.

  'There?' the Captain whispered, pressing forward. 'Is it the place?'

  Clon nodded. The Captain's voice shook with excitement.

  'Paul and Lebrun remain here with the prisoner,' he said, in a low tone.'Sergeant, come forward with me. Now, are you ready? Forward!'

  At the word he and the sergeant passed quickly, one on either side ofClon and his guards. The path grew narrow here, and the Captain passedoutside. The eyes of all but one were on the black blotch, the hollow inthe cliff-side, expecting we knew not what--a sudden shot or the rush ora desperate man; and no one saw exactly what happened. But somehow, asthe Captain passed abreast of him, the prisoner thrust back his guards,and leaping sideways, flung his unbound arms round Larolle's body, andin an instant swept him, shouting, to the verge of the precipice.

  It was done in a moment. By the time our startled wits and eyes wereback with them, the two were already tottering on the edge, looking inthe gloom like one dark form. The sergeant, who was the first to findhis head, levelled his carbine, but, as the wrestlers twirled andtwisted, the Captain, shrieking out oaths and threats, the mute silentas death, it was impossible to see which was which, and the sergeantlowered his gun again, while the men held back nervously. The ledgesloped steeply there, the edge was vague, already the two seemed to bewrestling in mid air; and the mute was desperate.

  That moment of hesitation was fatal. Clon's long arms were round theother's arms, crushing them into his ribs; Clon's skull-like facegrinned hate into the other's eyes; his bony limbs curled round him likethe folds of a snake. Larolle's strength gave way.

  'Damn you all! Why don't you come up?' he cried. And then, 'Ah! Mercy!mercy!' came in one last scream from his lips. As the Lieutenant, takenaback before, sprang forward to his aid, the two toppled over the edge,and in a second hurtled out of sight.

  'MON DIEU!' the Lieutenant cried; the answer was a dull splash in thedepths below. He flung up his arms. 'Water!' he said. 'Quick, men, getdown. We may save him yet.'

  But there was no path, and night was come, and the men's nerves wereshaken. The lanthorns had to be lit, and the way to be retraced; by thetime we reached the dark pool which lay below, the last bubbles weregone from the surface, the last ripples had beaten themselves outagainst the banks. The pool still rocked sullenly, and the yellow lightshowed a man's hat floating, and near it a glove three parts submerged.But that was all. The mute's dying grip had known no loosening, nor hishate any fear. I heard afterwards that when they dragged the two outnext day, his fingers were in the other's eye-sockets, his teeth in histhroat. If ever man found death sweet, it was he!

  As we turned slowly from the black water, some shuddering, some crossingthemselves, the Lieutenant looked at me.

  'Curse you!' he said passionately. 'I believe that you are glad.'

  He deserved his fate,' I answered coldly. 'Why should I pretend to besorry? It was now or in three months. And for the other poor devil'ssake I am glad.'

  He glared at me for a moment in speechless anger.

  At last, 'I should like to have you tied up!' he said between his teeth.

  'I should think that you had had enough of tying up for one day!' Iretorted. 'But there,' I went on contemptuously, 'it comes of makingofficers out of the canaille. Dogs love blood. The teamster must lashsomething if he can no longer lash his horses.'

  We were back, a sombre little procession, at the wooden bridge when Isaid this. He stopped.

  'Very well,' he replied, nodding viciously. 'That decides me. Sergeant,light me this way with a lanthorn. The rest of you to the village. Now,Master Spy,' he continued, glancing at me with gloomy spite, 'Your roadis my road. I think I know how to spoil your game.'

  I shrugged my shoulders in disdain, and together, the sergeant leadingthe way with the light, we crossed the dim meadow, and passed throughthe gate where Mademoiselle had kissed my hand, and up the ghostly walkbetween the rose bushes. I wondered uneasily what the Lieutenant wouldbe at, and what he intended; but the lanthorn-light which now fell onthe ground at our feet, and now showed one of us to the other, high-litin a frame of blackness, discovered nothing in his grizzled face butsettled hostility. He wheeled at the end of the walk to go to the maindoor, but as he did so I saw the flutter of a white skirt by the stoneseat against the house, and I stepped that way.

  'Mademoiselle?' I said softly. 'Is it you?'

  'Clon?' she muttered, her voice quivering. 'What of him?'

  'He is past pain,' I answered gently. 'He is dead--yes, dead,Mademoiselle, but in his own way. Take comfort.'

  She stifled a sob; then before I could say more, the Lieutenant, withhis sergeant and light, were at my elbow. He saluted Mademoiselleroughly. She looked at him with shuddering abhorrence.

  'Are you come to flog me too, sir?' she said passionately. 'Is it notenough that you have murdered my servant?'

  'On the contrary, it was he who killed my Captain,' the Lieutenantanswered, in another tone than I had expected. 'If your servant is deadso is my comrade.'

  'Captain Larolle?' she murmured, gazing with startled eyes, not at himbut at me.

  I nodded.

  'How?' she asked.

  'Clon flung the Captain and himself--into the river pool above thebridge,' I said.

  She uttered a low cry of awe and stood silent; but her lips moved and Ithink that she prayed for Clon, though she was a Huguenot. Meanwhile,I had a fright. The lanthorn, swinging in the sergeant's hand, andthrowing its smoky light now on the stone seat, now on the roughwall above it, showed me something e
lse. On the seat, doubtless whereMademoiselle's hand had lain as she sat in the dark, listening andwatching and shivering, stood a pitcher of food. Beside her, in thatplace, it was damning evidence, and I trembled least the Lieutenant'seye should fall upon it, lest the sergeant should see it; and then, in amoment, I forgot all about it. The Lieutenant was speaking and his voicewas doom. My throat grew dry as I listened; my tongue stuck to my mouthI tried to look at Mademoiselle, but I could not.

  'It is true that the Captain is gone,' he said stiffly, 'but othersare alive, and about one of them a word with you, by your leave,Mademoiselle. I have listened to a good deal of talk from this finegentleman friend of yours. He has spent the last twenty-four hourssaying "You shall!" and "You shall not!" He came from you and took avery high tone because we laid a little whip-lash about that dumb devilof yours. He called us brutes and beasts, and but for him I am not surethat my friend would not now be alive. But when he said a few minutesago that he was glad--glad of it, d--him!--then I fixed it in my mindthat I would be even with him. And I am going to be!'

  'What do you mean?' Mademoiselle asked, wearily interrupting him. 'Ifyou think that you can prejudice me against this gentleman--'

  'That is precisely what I am going to do! And a little more than that!'he answered.

  'You will be only wasting your breath!' she retorted.

  'Wait! Wait, Mademoiselle---until you have heard,' he said. 'For I swearto you that if ever a black-hearted scoundrel, a dastardly sneaking spytrod the earth, it is this fellow! And I am going to expose him. Yourown eyes and your own ears shall persuade you. I am not particular, butI would not eat, I would not drink, I would not sit down with him! Iwould rather be beholden to the meanest trooper in my squadron than tohim! Ay, I would, so help me Heaven!'

  And the Lieutenant, turning squarely on his heel, spat on the ground.