|
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXII
The Ballet Of La Merlaison
On the morrow, nothing was talked of in Paris but the ball which
Messieurs the Echevins of the city were to give to the king and queen, and
in which the king and queen were to dance the famous La Merlaison, the king`s
favorite ballet.
The whole of the last week had been occupied in preparations at the
Hotel de Ville for this important evening. The city carpenters had erected
scaffolds upon which the ladies invited were to be placed; the city grocer
had ornamented the chambers with two hundred flambeaux of white wax, which
was a piece of luxury unheard of at that period; and twenty violins were
ordered, and the price paid for them fixed at double the usual rate, upon
condition, said the report, that they should be played all night.
At ten o`clock in the morning, the Sieur de la Coste, ensign in the
king`s guards, followed by two exempts and several archers of that body, came
to the city greffier (register or secretary), named Clement, and demanded of
him all the keys of the chambers and offices at the hotel. These keys were
given up to him instantly; and each of them had a ticket attached to it, by
which it might be known, and from that moment the Sieur de la Coste was
charged with the guarding of all the doors and all the avenues.
At eleven o`clock came in his turn Duhallier, captain of the guard,
bringing with him fifty archers, who were distributed immediately, through
the hotel, at the doors which had been assigned to them.
At three o`clock arrived two companies of the guards, one French, the
other Swiss. The company of French guards was composed half of M.
Duhallier`s men, and half of M. Dessessart`s men.
At nine o`clock, Madame la Premiere Presidente arrived. As, next to the
queen, this was the most considerable personage of the fete, she was received
by the city gentlemen, and placed in a box opposite to that which the queen
was to occupy.
At ten o`clock, the king`s collation, consisting of confitures and other
delicacies, was prepared in the little chamber on the side of the church of
St. Jean, in front of the silver buffet of the city, which was guarded by
four archers.
At midnight, great cries and loud acclamations were heard; it was the
king, who was passing through the streets which led from the Louvre to the
Hotel de Ville, and which were all illuminated with colored lamps.
Immediately Messieurs the Echevins, clothed in their cloth robes, and
preceded by six sergeants, holding each a flambeau in his hand, went to
attend upon the king, whom they met on the steps, where the provost of the
merchants offered him the compliment of welcome; a compliment to which his
majesty replied by an apology for coming so late, but laying the blame upon
M. the Cardinal, who had detained him till eleven o`clock, talking of affairs
of state.
His majesty, in full dress, was accompanied by his royal highness
Monsieur the Count de Soissons, the Grand Prior, the Duke de Longueville, the
Duke d`Elboeuf, the Count d`Harcourt, the Count de la Roche-Guyon, M. de
Liancourt, M. de Baradas, the Count de Cramail, and the Chevalier de
Souveray.
Everybody observed that the king looked dull and preoccupied.
A closet had been prepared for the king and another for monsieur. In
each of these closets were placed masquerade habits. The same had been done
with respect to the queen and Madame la Presidente. The nobles and ladies
of their majesties` suites were to dress, two by two, in chambers prepared
for the purpose.
Before entering his closet the king desired to be informed the moment
the cardinal arrived.
Half an hour after the entrance of the king, fresh acclamations were
heard: these announced the arrival of the queen. The echevins did as they
had done before, and, preceded by their sergeants, went to receive their
illustrious guest.
The queen entered the great hall; and it was remarked, that, like the
king, she looked dull, and moreover, fatigued.
At the moment she entered, the curtain of a small gallery which to that
time had been closed, was drawn, and the pale face of the cardinal appeared,
he being dressed as a Spanish cavalier. His eyes were fixed upon those of
the queen, and a smile of terrible joy passed over his lips: the queen did
not wear her diamond studs.
The queen remained for a short time to receive the compliments of the
city gentlemen and to reply to the salutations of the ladies.
All at once the king appeared at one of the doors of the hall. The
cardinal was speaking to him in a low voice, and the king was very pale.
The king made his way through the crowd without a mask, and the ribbons
of his doublet scarcely tied; he went straight to the queen, and in an
altered voice, said:
"Why, madame, have you not thought proper to wear your diamond studs,
when you know it would have given me so much gratification?"
The queen cast a glance around her, and saw the cardinal behind, with
a diabolical smile on his countenance.
"Sire," replied the queen, with a faltering voice, "because, in the
midst of such a crowd as this, I feared some accident might happen to them."
"And you were wrong, madame! if I made you that present it was that you
might adorn yourself with them. I tell you, again, you were wrong."
And the voice of the king was tremulous with anger: the company looked
and listened with astonishment, comprehending nothing of what passed.
"Sire," said the queen, "I can send for them to the Louvre, where they
are, and thus your majesty`s wishes will be complied with."
"Do so, madame! do so, and that at the quickest; for within an hour the
ballet will commence."
The queen bent in token of submission, and followed the ladies who were
to conduct her to her closet. On his part, the king returned to his.
A moment of trouble and confusion ensued in the assembly. Everybody had
remarked that something had passed between the king and queen, but both of
them had spoken so low that all out of respect had kept at a distance of
several steps, so that nobody had heard anything. The violins began to sound
with all their might, but nobody listened to them.
The king came out first from his closet; he was in a hunting costume of
the most elegant description, and monsieur and the other nobles were dressed
as he was. This was the costume that became the king the best, and when thus
dressed, he really appeared the first gentleman of his kingdom.
The cardinal drew near to the king, and placed in his hand a small
casket. The king opened it, and found in it two diamonds.
"What does this mean?" demanded he of the cardinal.
"Nothing," replied the latter; "only, if the queen has the studs, of
which I very much doubt, count them, sire, and if you only find ten, ask her
majesty who can have stolen from her the two studs that are here."
The king looked at the cardinal as if to interrogate him; but he had not
time to address any question to him; a cry of admiration burst from every
mouth. If the king appeared to be the first gentleman of his kingdom, the
queen was, without doubt, the most beautiful woman in France. It is true
that the habit of a huntress became her admirably; she wore a beaver hat with
blue feathers, a surtout of gray-pearl velvet, fastened with diamond clasps,
and a petticoat of blue satin, embroidered with silver. On her left shoulder
sparkled the diamond studs upon a bow of the same color as the plumes and the
petticoat.
The king trembled with joy and the cardinal with vexation; nevertheless,
distant as they were from the queen, they could not count the studs; the
queen had them; the only question was, had she ten or twelve?
At that moment the violins sounded the signal for the ballet. The king
advanced toward Madame la Presidente, with whom he was to dance, and his
highness monsieur with the queen. They took their places, and the ballet
began.
The king figured opposite the queen, and every time that he passed by
her, he devoured with his eyes those studs, of which he could not ascertain
the number. A cold sweat covered the brow of the cardinal.
The ballet lasted an hour, and had sixteen entrees.
The ballet ended amid the applauses of the whole assemblage, and every
one reconducted his lady to her place; but the king took advantage of the
privilege he had of leaving his lady, to advance eagerly toward the queen.
"I thank you, madame," said he, "for the deference you have shown to my
wishes, but I think you want two of the studs, and I bring them back to you."
At these words he held out to the queen the two studs the cardinal had
given him.
"How, sire!" cried the young queen, affecting surprise, "you are giving
me then two more; but then I shall have fourteen!"
In fact, the king counted them, and the twelve studs were all on her
majesty`s shoulder.
The king called the cardinal to him.
"What does this mean, Monsieur the Cardinal?" asked the king in a severe
tone.
"This means, sire," replied the cardinal, "that I was desirous of
presenting her majesty with these two studs, and that not daring to offer them
myself, I adopted these means of inducing her to accept them."
"And I am the more grateful to your eminence," replied Anne of Austria,
with a smile that proved she was not the dupe of this ingenious piece of
gallantry, "from being certain these two studs have cost you as dearly as all
the others cost his majesty."
Then, after bowing to the king and the cardinal, the queen resumed her
way to the chamber in which she had dressed, and where she was to take off
her ball costume.
The attention which we have been obliged to give, during the
commencement of this chapter, to the illustrious personages we have
introduced in it, has diverted us for an instant from him to whom Anne of
Austria owed the extraordinary triumph she had obtained over the cardinal;
and who, confounded, unknown, lost in the crowd gathered at one of the doors,
looked on at this scene, comprehensible only to four persons, the king, the
queen, his eminence, and himself.
The queen had just regained her chamber, and D`Artagnan was about to
retire, when he felt his shoulder lightly touched; he turned round, and saw
a young woman who made him a sign to follow her. The face of this young
woman was covered with a black velvet mask, but, notwithstanding this
precaution, which was, in fact, taken rather against others than against him,
he at once recognized his usual guide, the light and intelligent Madame
Bonacieux.
On the evening before, they had scarcely seen each other for a moment
at the apartment of the Swiss Germain, whither D`Artagnan had sent for her.
The haste which the young woman was in, to convey to her mistress the
excellent news of the happy return of her messenger, prevented the two lovers
from exchanging more than a few words. D`Artagnan then followed Madame
Bonacieux, moved by a double sentiment, love and curiosity. During the whole
of the way, and in proportion as the corridors became more deserted,
D`Artagnan wished to stop the young woman, seize her, and gaze upon her, were
it only for a minute; but quick as a bird, she glided between his hands, and
when he wished to speak to her, her finger placed upon her mouth, with a
little imperative gesture full of grace, reminded him that he was under the
command of a power which he must blindly obey, and which forbade him even to
make the slightest complaint; at length, after winding about for a minute
or two, Madame Bonacieux opened the door of a closet, which was entirely
dark, and led D`Artagnan into it. There she made a fresh sign of silence,
and opening a second door concealed by a tapestry, and which opening spread
at once a brilliant light, she disappeared.
D`Artagnan remained for a moment motionless, asking himself where he
could be; but soon a ray of light which penetrated through the chamber,
together with the warm and perfumed air which reached him from the same
aperture, the conversation of two or three ladies in a language at once
respectful and elegant, and the word "majesty" two or three times repeated,
indicated clearly that he was in a closet attached to the queen`s chamber.
The young man waited the event quietly in comparative darkness.
The queen appeared to be cheerful and happy, which seemed to astonish
the persons who surrounded her, and who were accustomed to see her almost
always sad and full of care. The queen attributed this joyous feeling to the
beauty of the fete, to the pleasure she had experienced in the ballet, and
as it is not permissible to contradict a queen, whether she smile or whether
she weep, all rivaled each other in expatiating upon the gallantry of
messieurs the echevins of the good city of Paris.
Although D`Artagnan did not at all know the queen, he soon distinguished
her voice from the others, at first by a slightly foreign accent, and next
by that tone of domination naturally impressed upon all sovereign
expressions. He heard her approach, and withdraw from the partially open
door, and twice or three times he even saw the shadow of a person intercept
the light.
At length a hand and an arm, surpassingly beautiful in their form and
whiteness, glided through the tapestry. D`Artagnan, at once, comprehended
that this was his recompense: he cast himself on his knees, seized the hand,
and touched it respectfully with his lips; then the hand was withdrawn,
leaving in his an object which he perceived to be a ring; the door
immediately closed, and D`Artagnan found himself again in complete darkness.
D`Artagnan placed the ring on his finger, and again waited: it was
evident that all was not yet over. After the reward of his devotion that of
his love was to come. Besides, although the ballet was danced, the evening`s
pleasures had scarcely begun; supper was to be served at three, and the clock
of St. Jean had struck three-quarters past two.
The sound of voices diminished by degrees in the adjoining chamber; the
company was then heard departing; then the door of the closet in which
D`Artagnan was, was opened, and Madame Bonacieux entered quickly.
"You at last?" cried D`Artagnan.
"Silence!" said the young woman, placing her hand upon his lips;
"silence! and begone the same way you came!"
"But where and when shall I see you again?" cried D`Artagnan.
"A note which you will find at home will tell you. Begone! begone!"
And at these words she opened the door of the corridor, and pushed
D`Artagnan out of the closet. D`Artagnan obeyed like a child, without the
least resistance or objection, which proved that he was downright really in
love.
|
