For The Admiral Part 10

"Will remain in the stables."

He had nearly finished his meal now, and, acting on a sudden impulse, I crossed the room and sat down opposite him. He looked up at me in a casual way, and the next instant understood he was discovered. But the man had nerves of iron; not a muscle of his face moved; only by the sudden light in his eyes did I know that he recognized me.

"The game is to me, monsieur," I said simply.

"Yes," he agreed, "the game is yours, but do not claim the stakes until I have spoken with you."

"The game is altogether finished, monsieur, and you have lost; you cannot throw again."

"A fig for the game!" he said; "you have but to raise your voice, and these bloodhounds will bury their fangs in my heart. I know that, and do not complain. I ask only a few hours' freedom."

"Surely, monsieur, in the circ.u.mstance, that is a strange request!"

"A riddle is always strange when one does not possess the key. For instance, you believe I have entered Roch.e.l.le as a spy."

"Exactly."

"And yet you are mistaken. I suppose you will laugh at my story, but I must tell it you. You know me only as an opponent."

"A clever and a daring one."

"And yet you foiled me! But that is not to the point. My name is Renaud L'Estang. My father was a gentleman, poor and without influence; I had good blood in my veins but no money in my purse. My only chance of wealth lay in my sword. I sold it to the highest bidder. In short, monsieur, I am an adventurer, no better and no worse than thousands of others."

"And in the pay of the League!"

"At present," he corrected, with a courteous inclination of the head, "in the service of the Duke of Anjou."

"Why did you attack me at Nevers?"

"To obtain possession of the letter of whose contents we were in ignorance."

"And you denounced my father to the Duke!"

"There you wrong me. I endeavoured to capture the letter; I failed, and my part in the affair was over; but again I am wandering from the point, which is to explain my presence in Roch.e.l.le. Monsieur, has it ever occurred to you that a man who earns his livelihood by his sword may have a heart the same as more innocent persons?"

"No one is without some virtue," I said.

"There is one person in the world," he continued, in low earnest tones, almost as if communing with himself, "who has all my love and affection.

For her I would willingly die, or suffer the worst tortures a fiend could invent. Monsieur, there is but one person on earth who loves me and whom I love; and she is in Roch.e.l.le, lying at the point of death."

"Your wife?" I said questioningly.

"My mother!" he replied. "In her eyes, monsieur, I possess all the virtues. It is strange, is it not?" and he laughed a trifle bitterly.

"And you risked your life to comfort her before she died?"

"Bah!" he exclaimed impatiently, "what is a trifle like that? Monsieur, I never yet begged a favour, but I beg one now. Not for myself, but for her. You are young, and have a mother of your own! I shall not plead to you vainly. I tried to kill you, but you will not take your revenge on her. And I am altogether in your power."

"Yes," I said slowly, "that is true."

"You can send for a guard, but without explaining your object. They can surround the house, while I close my mother's eyes, and afterwards I am at your service. The gallows, the block, or the wheel, as your leaders direct; you will not lose much."

"No, I shall not lose much," I repeated.

Now, strangely perhaps, I felt not the slightest doubt of the man's story. His good faith was apparent in every tone and every gesture.

Whatever his vices, he loved his mother with his whole heart. And he was entirely in my power! Even if he got away from me in the streets he could not leave Roch.e.l.le! I thought of my own mother, and hesitated no longer. I could not keep these two apart.

"Monsieur," I said, "for good or ill I intend to trust you. We will go together to your home, and--and afterwards you will return with me to the _Hotel Coligny_. If you abuse my confidence, I will leave your punishment in the hands of G.o.d, who judges Huguenot and Catholic alike.

Come, let us hasten."

He made no violent protestations, but murmured brokenly: "May the blessing of a dying woman reward you!"

We pa.s.sed out of the inn together, and walked briskly through the streets, until we reached a house not far from the harbour. The door was opened by a middle-aged woman who gazed at my companion in astonishment.

"Hus.h.!.+" he said softly, "am I in time?"

"For the end," she answered, "only for that. Madame has already received the last rites."

The woman showed us into an empty room, where my companion laid aside his weapons.

"You do not repent of your generosity?" he asked.

"I have trusted you fully," I replied, and his face lit up with a gratified smile as he left the room, stepping noiselessly into the corridor.

The servant brought a light, and some refreshments, but they stood before me untasted. I was busy with my thoughts. The house was very still; not a sound broke the silence, not the murmur of a voice, nor the fall of a footstep. I might have been in a house of the dead.

Suddenly the door was pushed open noiselessly, and the adventurer stood before me beckoning. I rose from my seat and followed him without a word into another apartment. In the bed in the alcove a woman lay dying. She must have been beautiful in her youth, and traces of beauty still lingered on her face. She stretched out her hands and drew my head down to hers.

"Renaud tells me you have done him a great service," she said feebly.

"It is through you that he was able to come to me. A dying woman blesses you, monsieur, and surely the saints will reward you. A goodly youth! A goodly youth! May G.o.d hold you in His holy keeping! Treasure him, Renaud, my son, even to the giving of your life for his!"

Her eyes closed, she sank back exhausted, and I stole from the room. How my heart ached that night! "Treasure him, Renaud!" Poor soul! How merciful that she should die ignorant of the wretched truth! "Even to the giving of your life for his!" And his life was in my hands already!

Oh, the pity, the horror of it! She called on G.o.d to bless me, and I was about to lead her only son straight from her death-bed to the executioner!

For I could not disguise from myself the fact that this man would die the death of a spy. Ambroise Devine was in Roch.e.l.le, and he would show no mercy. And, terrible as it might seem, there were those in the city who would scout the idea that Renaud L'Estang had risked his life solely to visit his dying mother. "He is a spy," they would declare hotly; "let him die a spy's death!"

"It is not my fault," I said to myself angrily; "he has lost; he must pay forfeit!"

"A dying woman blesses you, and surely the saints will reward you!" The room was filled with the words; they buzzed in my ears, and beat into my brain continually; I could not rid myself of them. "A dying woman!" Ay, perhaps a dead woman by now, and her son following swiftly as the night the day! I could have cried aloud in my agony of mind.

CHAPTER VII

A Commission for the Admiral