we saw cauvignac taking his departure from libourne, and we know the object of his journey.
when he reached the spot where his men, under ferguzon's command, lay in camp, he paused an instant, not to take breath, but to put in execution a plan which his inventive genius had formed in half an hour and while he was riding like the wind.
in the first place he said to himself, with infinite good sense, that if he made his appearance before madame la princesse after what had happened, madame la princesse, who was about to hang canolles, against whom she had nothing, would not fail to hang him, of whom she had good reason to complain; and so his mission, which might be successful in so far that canolles would be saved, would assuredly fail in that he would be hanged. he lost no time therefore in changing coats with one of his soldiers, ordered barrabas, whose face was less familiar to madame la princesse, to don his most elaborate costume, and started off again at a gallop for bordeaux in that worthy's company. he was disturbed about one thing, namely, the contents of the letter of which he was the bearer, and which his sister had written with such absolute confidence that he had but to hand it to madame la princesse to ensure canolles' safety. his uneasiness on this point increased to such a degree that he resolved to read the letter and set his mind at rest, remarking to himself that a shrewd negotiator could never succeed in his negotiation unless he knew all the ins and outs of the matter in hand; and then, too, if it must be said, cauvignac never sinned in the direction of having too great confidence in his neighbor, and nanon, though she was his sister,—indeed, for the very reason that she was his sister,—might very well bear her brother a grudge, in the first place because of the adventure of jaulnay, and again because of his unforeseen escape from chateau-trompette, and might be trusting to chance to restore everything to its proper place.
he therefore unsealed the letter,—a very simple task, as it was sealed with a bit of wax only, and experienced a very strange and painful sensation as he read what follows:—
madame la princesse,—it seems that you must have an expiatory victim for poor richon's death; do not, i pray you, take an innocent man, but take the real culprit. i do not wish that monsieur de canolles should die, for to put him to death would be to avenge assassination by murder. as you read this letter i shall be within a league of bordeaux, with all that i possess. you will deliver me to the populace, who detest me, for they have already tried twice to take my life, and you will keep for yourself my wealth, which amounts to two millions. oh! madame, i ask this favor of you upon my knees; i am in part the cause of this war; with my death the province will be pacified and your highness will be triumphant. madame, a reprieve for quarter of an hour! you need not release canolles until you have me in your power; but then, upon your soul, you will let him go, will you not?
and i shall be respectfully and gratefully yours,
nanon de lartigues.
having read the letter cauvignac was amazed beyond expression to find his heart swollen with emotion and his eyes moist.
he sat motionless and silent as if he could not believe his eyes. suddenly he cried:—
"it is true, then, that there are in the world hearts that are generous for the mere pleasure of being generous! morbleu! she shall see that i am as capable as another of being generous when the need arises."
as they were at the gates of the city, he handed the letter to barrabas, with these instructions simply:—
"to whatever is said to you, reply: 'on the king's business!' nothing more, and deliver this letter into no hands but madame la princesse's own."
while barrabas galloped away toward the princess's temporary domicile, cauvignac rode in the direction of chateau-trompette.
barrabas met with no obstacle; the streets were empty, the city seemed deserted, for everybody had gone to the esplanade.
at the palace gate the sentries undertook to forbid his passage, but, as cauvignac bade him do, he waved his letter, crying:—
"on the king's business! on the king's business!"
the sentries took him for a messenger from the court, and raised their halberds, and barrabas entered the palace without further hindrance.
if the reader will take the trouble to remember, this was not the first time that master cauvignac's worthy lieutenant had had the honor of appearing in madame de condé's presence. he alighted, and as he knew the road, darted rapidly up the staircase, passed through the crowd of startled servants, and made his way into the princess's suite. there he halted, for he found himself face to face with a woman at whose feet another woman was kneeling.
"oh! madame, mercy, in the name of heaven!" the latter was saying.
"leave me, claire," replied the princess; "be reasonable; remember that we have laid aside the emotions of womankind as well as the garments; we are monsieur le prince's lieutenants, and reasons of state control our actions."
"oh! madame, there are no such things as reasons of state for me," cried claire; "nor political parties; nor opinions. for me there is nothing and nobody in the world but the man who is to leave it, and when he has left it there will be naught for me but death!"
"claire, my child, i have already told you that it is impossible; they put richon to death, and if we do not return like for like we shall be dishonored."
"ah! madame, one is never dishonored for having pardoned; one is never dishonored for having made use of the prerogative which belongs only to the king of heaven, and the kings of earth; one word, madame, a single word; the poor boy is waiting!"
"why, claire, you are mad! i tell you it is impossible!"
"but i told him that he was safe; i showed him his pardon signed by your own hand; i told him that i would return with your ratification of the pardon!"
"i signed it on condition that the other was to die; why did he allow the other to escape?"
"he had absolutely no part in the escape, i give you my solemn word; besides, the other may not have escaped; he may yet be found."
"very true! beware!" interposed barrabas, who arrived at that moment.
"madame, they will take him away; the time is flying, madame; they will grow weary of waiting."
"you are right, claire," said the princess, "for i ordered that it should be all over at eleven, and the clock is just striking eleven; it must be all over."
the viscountess uttered a shriek of despair, and rose to her feet, to find herself face to face with barrabas.
"who are you? what do you want?" she cried. "have you come so soon to tell me of his death?"
"no, madame," replied barrabas, assuming his most affable expression, "on the contrary, i come to save him."
"how so?" cried claire; "speak at once!"
"by handing this letter to madame la princesse."
claire put out her hand, snatched the letter from the messenger, and handed it to the princess.
"i have no idea what there may be in this letter," said she, "but in heaven's name read it!"
the princess opened the letter and read it aloud, while madame de cambes, turning paler at every line, devoured the words as they fell from her highness's lips.
"from nanon?" cried the princess when she had read it through. "nanon is close by! nanon gives herself up! where is lenet? where is the duke? call a messenger, a messenger!"
"i am here, madame," said barrabas, "ready to go wherever your highness would have me."
"go to the esplanade, to the place of execution, and bid them suspend operations,—but no, they would not believe you," she added, and seizing her pen, wrote at the bottom of the letter, "suspend!" and handed it open to barrabas, who rushed from the room.
"ah!" murmured the viscountess, "she loves him more dearly than i; and he will owe his life to her, wretched creature that i am!"
stunned by that thought, she fell helplessly upon a chair, although she had received upon her feet all the crushing blows of that terrible day.
meanwhile barrabas did not lose a second; he flew down the stairs as if he had wings, leaped upon his horse, and rode furiously away toward the esplanade.
while he was on his way to the palace, cauvignac had ridden straight to chateau-trompette. there, favored by the darkness, and rendered unrecognizable by the broad brim of his hat being pulled down over his eyes, he had questioned the bystanders and learned the whole story of his escape in all its details, and that canolles was to pay the penalty for him. instinctively, hardly aware of what he was doing, he thereupon hurried away to the esplanade, driving the spurs into his horse, galloping madly through the crowd, upsetting and riding over every one who came in his way.
when he reached the esplanade he spied the gallows, and uttered a yell, which was drowned by the howling of the populace, upon whom canolles was heaping insults in order to excite them to tear him to pieces. it was then that canolles saw him, divined his purpose, and motioned to him that he was welcome.
cauvignac stood up in his stirrups and looked in every direction, hoping to see barrabas or some messenger from the princess, and listening to hear the word: "reprieve!" but he could see nobody and could hear nobody save canolles, whom the executioner was just about to push from the ladder into eternity, and who pointed to his heart.
thereupon cauvignac raised his musket, pointed it toward the young man, took careful aim, and fired.
"thanks!" said canolles, opening his arms; "at least i die the death of a soldier."
the ball pierced his breast.
the executioner pushed the body from the ladder, and it swung at the end of the infamous rope; but it was nothing more than a corpse.
it was as if the report of the musket was a signal, so quickly was it followed by a thousand others.
suddenly a voice cried:—
"stop! stop! cut the rope!"
but the voice was drowned in the yelling of the mob; moreover, the rope was cut by a bullet. in vain did the guard resist; they were overborne by the huge waves of people; the gallows was overthrown and demolished; the executioners took flight; the crowd overflowed the square, seized upon the body, tore it limb from limb, and dragged the pieces about through the streets.
stupid in its hatred, it believed that it was adding to the young nobleman's punishment, whereas it was really saving him from the infamy he dreaded so deeply.
during this scene barrabas accosted the duke, and handed him the letter of which he was the bearer, although he could see for himself that he had arrived too late.
the duke, notwithstanding the brisk discharge of firearms, simply drew a little aside,—for his courage was as calm and cool as every other of his qualities,—and read the letter.
"it's a pity," he said, turning to his officers; "the plan that this nanon suggests would have been preferable perhaps; but what's done is done.—by the way," he added after reflecting a moment, "as she is to await our reply on the other side of the river, we may even yet be able to gratify her."
without further thought for the messenger, he put spurs to his horse, and rode back with his escort to the princess.
at that moment the storm which had been gathering for some time, burst over bordeaux, and a heavy rain, accompanied with vivid lightning, deluged the esplanade as if to wash it clean of innocent blood.
