a word of explanation becomes necessary at this point, after which we will resume the thread of our narrative.
indeed, it is high time for us to return to nanon de lartigues, who, at the sight of poor ill-fated richon expiring on the market-place at libourne, uttered a shriek and fell in a swoon.
nanon, however, as our readers must ere this have discovered, was not a woman of a weak and shrinking temperament. despite her slender stature she had borne long and bitter sorrows, had endured crushing fatigue, and defied danger of the most appalling kind; and her sturdy, loving heart, of more than ordinary steadfastness, could bend as circumstances required, and rebound more stanch and courageous than ever after every fillip of destiny.
the duc d'épernon, who knew her, or who thought that he knew her, was naturally amazed therefore to see her so completely crushed by the sight of mere physical suffering,—the same woman who, when her palace at agen was destroyed by fire, never uttered a cry (although she was within an ace of being burned alive) lest she should give pleasure to her enemies, who were thirsty for a sight of the torture which one of them, more vindictive than the others, sought to inflict upon the mistress of the detested governor; and who had looked on without winking while two of her women were murdered by mistake for her.
nanon's swoon lasted two hours, and was followed by a frightful attack of hysteria, during which she could not speak, but could simply utter inarticulate shrieks. it became so serious that the queen, who had sent message upon message to her, paid her a visit in person, and monsieur de mazarin insisted upon taking his place at her bedside to prescribe for her as her physician. apropos, he made great pretensions to skill in the administration of medicine for the suffering body, as well as of theology for the imperilled soul.
but nanon did not recover consciousness until well into the night. it was some time after that before she could collect her thoughts; but at last, pressing her hands against her temples, she cried in a heart-rending tone:
"i am lost! they have killed him!"
luckily these words were so incomprehensible that those who heard charged them to the account of delirium.
they left an impression on their minds, however, and when the duc d'épernon returned the next morning from an expedition which had taken him away from libourne on the preceding afternoon, he learned at the same time of her protracted swoon, and of the words she uttered when she came to her senses. the duke was well acquainted with her sensitive, excitable nature. he realized that there was something more than delirium in her words, and hastened to her side.
"my dear girl," he said to her as soon as they were left alone, "i know all that you have suffered in connection with the death of richon, whom they were so ill-advised as to hang in front of your windows."
"oh yes! it was fearful! it was infamous!"
"another time," said the duke, "now that i know the effect it has upon you, i will see to it that rebels are hanged on the place du cours, and not on the place du marché. but of whom were you speaking when you said that they had killed him? it couldn't have been richon, i fancy; for richon was never anything to you, not even a simple acquaintance."
"ah! is it you, monsieur le duc?" said nanon, supporting herself on her elbow and seizing his arm.
"yes, it is i; and i am very glad that you recognize me, for that proves that you are getting better. but of whom were you speaking?"
"of him, monsieur le duc, of him!" cried nanon; "you have killed him! oh, the poor, poor boy!."
"dear heart, you frighten me! what do you mean?"
"i mean that you have killed him. do you not understand, monsieur le duc?"
"no, my dear," replied d'épernon, trying to induce nanon to speak by entering into the ideas her delirium suggested to her; "how can i have killed him, when i do not know him?"
"do you not know that he is a prisoner of war, that he was a captain, that he was commandant of a fortress, that he had the same titles and the same rank as this unhappy richon, and that the bordelais will avenge upon him the murder of the man whose murder you were responsible for? for it's of no use for you to pretend that it was done according to law, monsieur le duc; it was a downright murder!"
the duke, completely unhorsed by this apostrophe, by the fire of her flashing eyes, and by her nervous, energetic gestures, turned pale, and beat his breast.
"oh! 't is true!" he cried, "'t is true! poor canolles! i had forgotten him!"
"my poor brother! my poor brother!" cried nanon, happy to be at liberty to give vent to her emotion, and bestowing upon her lover the title under which monsieur d'épernon knew him.
"mordieu! you are right," said the duke, "and i have lost my wits. how in god's name could i have forgotten the poor fellow? but nothing is lost; they can hardly have heard the news at bordeaux as yet; and it will take time to assemble the court-martial, and to try him. besides, they will hesitate."
"did the queen hesitate?" nanon retorted.
"but the queen is the queen; she has the power of life and death. they are rebels."
"alas!" said nanon, "that's an additional reason why they should not stand on ceremony; but what do you mean to do? tell me."
"i don't know yet, but rely on me."
"oh!" cried nanon, trying to rise, "if i have to go to bordeaux myself, and surrender myself in his place, he shall not die."
"never fear, dear heart, this is my affair. i have caused the evil and i will repair it, on the honor of a gentleman. the queen still has some friends in the city, so do not you be disturbed."
the duke made her this promise from the bottom of his heart.
nanon read in his eyes determination, sincerity, and good-will, and her joy was so overpowering that she seized his hands, and said as she pressed them to her burning lips:—
"oh, monseigneur, if you succeed, how i will love you!"
the duke was moved to tears; it was the first time that nanon had ever spoken to him so expansively or made him such a promise.
he at once rushed from the room, renewing his assurances to nanon that she had nothing to fear. sending for one of his retainers, whose shrewdness and trust-worthiness were well known to him, he bade him go at once to bordeaux, make his way into the city, even if he had to scale the ramparts, and hand to lavie, the advocate-general, the following note, written from beginning to end by his own hand:—
"see to it that no harm comes to monsieur de canolles, captain and commandant in his majesty's service.
"if he has been arrested, as is probable, use all possible means to set him free; bribe his keepers with whatever sum they demand,—a million if need be,—and pledge the word of monsieur le duc d'épernon for the governorship of a royal chateau.
"if bribery is unavailing, use force; stop at nothing; violence, fire, murder will be overlooked.
"description: tall, brown eye, hooked nose. if in doubt, ask him this question:—
"'are you nanon's brother?'"
"above all things haste there is not a moment to lose."
the messenger set out and was at bordeaux within three hours. he went to a farm-house, exchanged his coat for a peasant's smock-frock, and entered the city driving a load of meal.
lavie received the letter quarter of an hour after the decision of the court-martial. he went at once to the fortress, talked with the jailer-in-chief, offered him twenty thousand livres,—which he refused, then thirty thousand, which he also refused, and finally forty thousand, which he accepted.
we know how cauvignac, misled by the question which monsieur d'épernon relied upon as a safeguard against mistake, "are you nanon's brother?" yielded to what was perhaps the only generous impulse he had ever felt during his life, and answered, "yes," and thus, to his unbounded amazement, regained his freedom.
a swift horse bore him to the village of saint-loubes, which was in the hands of the royalists. there they found a messenger from the duke, come to meet the fugitive on the duke's own horse, a spanish mare of inestimable value.
"is he saved?" he demanded of the leader of cauvignac's escort.
"yes," was the reply, "we have him here."
that was all that the messenger sought to learn; he turned his horse about, and darted away like a flash in the direction of libourne. an hour and a half later, the horse fell exhausted at the city gate, and sent his rider headlong to the ground at the feet of monsieur d'épernon, who was fuming with impatience to hear the one word, "yes." the messenger, half-dead as he was, had sufficient strength to pronounce that word which cost so dear, and the duke hurried away, without losing a second, to nanon's lodgings, where she lay upon her bed, gazing wildly at the door, which was surrounded by servants.
"yes!" cried d'épernon; "yes, he is saved, dear love; he is at my heels, you will see him in a moment."
nanon fairly leaped for joy; these few words removed from her breast the weight that was stifling her. she raised her hands to heaven, and, with her face wet with the tears this unhoped for happiness drew from her eyes, which despair had made dry, cried in an indescribable tone:—
"oh! my god, my god! i thank thee!"
as she brought her eyes back to earth, she saw at her side the duc d'épernon, so happy in her happiness that one would have said his interest in the dear prisoner was no less deep than hers. not until then did this disturbing thought come to her mind:—
"how will the duke be recompensed for his kindness, his solicitude, when he sees the stranger in the brother's place, an almost adulterous passion substituted for the pure sentiment of sisterly affection?"
her reply to her own question was short and to the point.
"no matter!" she thought, "i will deceive him no longer; i will tell him the whole story; he will turn me out and curse me; then i will throw myself at his feet to thank him for all he has done for me these three years past, and that done, i will go hence poor and humble, but rich in my love, and happy in the anticipation of the new life that awaits us."
in the midst of this dream of self-denial, of ambition sacrificed to love, the throng of servants opened to give passage to a man who rushed into the room where nanon lay, crying:—
"my sister! my dear sister!"
nanon sat up in bed, opened her startled eyes to their fullest extent, turned paler than the belaced pillow behind her head, and for the second time fell back in consternation, muttering:—
"cauvignac! my god! cauvignac!"
"cauvignac!" the duke repeated, looking wonderingly about, evidently in search of the man to whom that exclamation was addressed. "cauvignac! is any one here named cauvignac?"
cauvignac was careful not to reply; he was not as yet sufficiently sure of his safety to justify a frankness which even under ordinary circumstances would have sat strangely upon him. he realized that by answering to the name he would ruin his sister, and would infallibly ruin himself at the same time; he held his peace therefore, and allowed nanon to speak, reserving the right to correct her mistakes.
"what of monsieur de canolles?" she cried in a tone of angry reproach, darting a flaming glance at cauvignac.
the duke frowned and began to bite his moustache. all those present, save francinette, who was very pale, and cauvignac, who did his utmost not to turn pale, knew not what to think of this burst of wrath, and gazed at one another in amazement.
"poor sister!" whispered cauvignac in the duke's ear, "she was so alarmed for me that her brain is turned and she doesn't know me."
"i am the one to whom you must reply, villain!" cried nanon. "where is monsieur de canolles? what has become of him? answer, answer, i tell you!"
cauvignac formed a desperate resolution; it was necessary to risk everything to win everything, and to rely upon his impudence to carry him through; for to seek safety in confession, to inform the duc d'épernon of the fact that the false canolles, whose fortune he had made his care, was identical with the cauvignac who had levied troops against the queen, and had then sold those same troops to the queen, was equivalent to going voluntarily to join richon on the gallows. he therefore went close to the duc d'épernon, and said to him with tears in his eyes:—
"monsieur, this is no mere delirium, but downright madness; grief has turned her brain so that she does not recognize those who are nearest to her. if any one can restore her lost reason, you understand that it is myself; i beg you therefore to send away all the servants, except francinette, who may remain at hand to look to her wants; for it would be as disagreeable to you as to myself, to see strangers laughing at the expense of my poor sister."
perhaps the duke would not have yielded so readily to this specious reasoning,—for, credulous as he was, he began to be suspicious of cauvignac,—had he not received a summons to wait upon the queen, monsieur de mazarin having convoked an extraordinary session of the council.
while the messenger was delivering his message, cauvignac leaned over nanon, and said in her ear:—
"in heaven's name, sister, be calm! if we can exchange a few words in private, all will be well."
nanon fell back upon the bed, more self-controlled at all events, if no calmer; for hope, however small the dose, is a balm which allays the heart-ache.
the duke, having decided to play the part of orgon and géronte to the end, returned to nanon and kissed her hand, saying:—
"the crisis has passed, i trust, my dear; i leave you with the brother who is so dear to you, for the queen has sent for me. believe me, nothing less than her majesty's commands would induce me to leave your side at such a moment."
nanon felt that her strength was failing her. she could not answer the duke, but simply looked at cauvignac and pressed his hand as if to say:—
"have you not deceived me, brother? may i really hope?"
cauvignac answered her pressure, and said to monsieur d'épernon:—
"yes, monsieur le duc, the crisis seems to have passed, and my sister will soon realize that she has by her side a faithful and devoted heart, ready to undertake anything to make her happy."
nanon could restrain herself no longer; she burst out sobbing as if her heart would break, for so many things had combined to break her spirit that she was no longer anything more than an ordinary woman,—weak, that is to say, and dependent upon tears to give vent to her emotion.
the duke left the room, shaking his head, and commending nanon to cauvignac's care with an eloquent look.
"oh! how that man tortures me!" cried nanon, as soon as his back was turned; "if he had remained a moment longer, i believe i should have died."
cauvignac raised his hand to bid her be silent; then he put his ear to the door to make sure that the duke had really gone.
"oh! what care i," cried nanon, "whether he listens or does not listen? you whispered two words in my ear to give me comfort; tell me what you think, what you hope!"
"sister," replied cauvignac, assuming a grave demeanor, which was by no means habitual with him, "i will not tell you that i am sure of success, but i will repeat what i said before, that i will do everything in the world to succeed."
"to succeed in what?" demanded nanon; "we understand one another this time, do we not; there is no ghastly practical joke between us?"
"to succeed in saving the unfortunate canolles."
nanon gazed at him with terrifying intensity.
"he is lost, is he not?"
"alas!" was the reply; "if you ask me for my honest, outspoken opinion, i admit that the prospect is dark."
"how indifferently he says it!" cried nanon. "do you know, wretch, what that man is to me?"
"i know that he is a man whom you prefer to your brother, since you would have saved him rather than me, and when you saw me you welcomed me with a curse."
nanon made an impatient gesture.
"pardieu! you are right," said cauvignac; "i do not say that by way of reproach, but as a simple observation; for look you, with my hand upon my heart—i do not say upon my conscience, for fear i have none—i declare that if we were together once more in the cell in chateau-trompette, knowing what i know, i would say to monsieur de canolles, 'monsieur, nanon calls you her brother; it is you they seek, not i,'—and he would come to you in my place, and i would die in his."
"then he is to die!" cried nanon in a burst of grief, which proves that in the best organized minds death never presents itself as a certainty, but always as a fear simply; "then he is to die!"
"sister," cauvignac replied, "this is all that i can tell you, and upon it we must base all that we do. in the two hours since i left bordeaux many things may have happened; but do not despair, for it is equally true that absolutely nothing at all may have happened. here is an idea that has come into my head."
"tell it me, quickly."
"i have a hundred men and my lieutenant within a league of bordeaux."
"a sure man?"
"ferguzon."
"well?"
"well, sister, whatever monsieur de bouillon may say, whatever monsieur de la rochefoucauld may do, whatever madame la princesse may think, who deems herself a far greater captain than her two generals, i have an idea that, with my hundred men, half of whom i will sacrifice, i can make my way to monsieur de canolles."
"oh! you deceive yourself, brother; you will never get to him; you will never get to him!"
"but i will, morbleu! or i will die in the attempt!"
"alas! your death would prove your good-will, but it would not save him. he is lost! he is lost!"
"but i tell you no, even if i have to give myself up in his place," cried cauvignac, in a burst of quasi-generosity that surprised himself.
"give yourself up!"
"yes, to be sure; for no one has any reason to hate monsieur de canolles; on the other hand, every one loves him, while i am universally detested."
"why should you be detested?"
"for the simplest of reasons; because i have the honor to be bound to you by the closest ties of blood. forgive me, my dear sister, but what i say is extremely flattering to a good royalist."
"wait a moment," said nanon, putting her finger on her lips.
"i am listening."
"you say that i am bitterly detested by the people of bordeaux?"
"why, they fairly execrate you."
"is it so?" said nanon, with a smile, half-pensive, half-joyous.
"i did not think i was telling you something that would be so agreeable to you to hear."
"yes, yes," said nanon, "it is very sensible at all events, if not exactly agreeable. yes, you are right," she continued, speaking rather to herself than to her brother; "they do not hate monsieur de canolles, nor do they hate you. wait, wait!"
she rose, threw a long silk cloak about her lithe and graceful form, and, sitting at her table, hastily wrote a few lines, which cauvignac, as he watched the flush that mounted to her brow, and the heaving of her bosom, judged to be of great moment.
"take this," said she, sealing the letter, "and ride alone to bordeaux, without soldiers or escort. there is a mare in the stable that can do the distance in an hour. bide as fast as she will carry you, deliver this letter to madame la princesse, and monsieur de canolles is saved!"
cauvignac looked at his sister in open-mouthed amazement; but he knew how clear-sighted she was, and wasted no time criticising her instructions. he hurried to the stable, leaped upon the horse she had described, and half an hour thereafter was more than half-way to bordeaux.
nanon, as soon as she saw him from her window galloping away, knelt, atheist as she was, and repeated a short prayer; after which she bestowed her money and jewels in a casket, ordered a carriage, and bade francinette array her in her most splendid garments.
