III
But neither de Landas nor his friends troubled themselves any further about Sancho once the latter was out of their sight. They were too intent on their own affairs to give a thought to the susceptibilities of a down-at-heel outlaw whom they were paying to do dirty work for them.
'We could not have found a more useful fellow for our purpose than Sancho,' was de Landas' complacent comment.
'A reliable rascal, certainly,' assented Maarege. 'But it is not easy to get out of the city without a safe-conduct these days.'
'Bah! Sancho will manage it.'
'He might get a musket-shot for his pains.'
'That would not matter,' rejoined de Landas with a cynical laugh, 'so long as his tongue is silenced at the same time.'
'Yes, silenced,' urged one of the others; 'but in that event our message would not be delivered to the Duke of Parma.'
'We must risk something.'
'And yet must make sure of the message reaching the Duke. We want as little delay as possible.'
'If food gets short here our own position will be none too pleasant. These Flemings seem to think that the churls have just as much right to eat as their betters.'
'Preposterous, of course,' concluded de Landas. 'But, as you say, we'll make sure that our message does reach the Duke as soon as may be. Let Sancho take one chance. Pierre shall take the other.'
Pierre, motionless beside the door, pricked up his ears at sound of his own name.
'Here, Pierre!' commanded his master.
'Yes, Monseigneur.'
'Thou hast heard my instructions to Sancho.'
'Yes, Monseigneur.'
'And couldst repeat the message which I am sending to His Highness the Duke of Parma?'
'Word for word, Monseigneur.'
'Say it then!'
Pierre repeated the message, just as Sancho had done, fluently and without a mistake.
'Very well, then,' said de Landas; 'thine instructions are the same as those which I gave to Sancho. Understand?'
'Yes, Monseigneur.'
'Thou'lt leave the city to-night.'
'Yes, Monseigneur.'
'Without a safe-conduct.'
'I can slip through the gates. I have done it before.'
'Very good. Then thou'lt go to Cateau-Cambrésis and present thyself before His Highness. If Sancho has forestalled thee, thy mission ends there. If, however, there has been a hitch and Sancho has not put in an appearance, thou'lt deliver the message and bring me back His Highness' answer.'
'I quite understand, Monseigneur.'
Thus it was that M. le Marquis de Landas made sure that his treacherous and infamous message reached the Generalissimo of the Spanish armies. To himself and to his conscience he reconciled that infamy by many specious arguments, foremost among these being that Jacqueline had played him false. Well! he had still a few days before him wherein to study two parts, one or the other of which he would have to play on the day when Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, demanded the surrender of the city of Cambray in the name of His Majesty King Philip of Spain. The one rôle would consist in a magnificent show of loyalty to the country of his adoption, the rallying of the garrison troops under the Flemish flag and his own leadership; the deliverance of Cambray from the Spanish yoke and the overthrow of the Duke of Parma and his magnificent army. The other rôle, equally easy for this subtle traitor to play, meant handing over Cambray and its inhabitants to the tender mercies of the Spanish general, in the hope of earning a rich reward for services rendered to His Majesty the King of Spain. The first course of action would depend on whether Jacqueline would return to his arms, humbled and repentant: the second on whether the masked stranger was indeed the personage whom he—de Landas—more than suspected him of being, namely, Monsieur Duc d'Anjou et d'Alençon, own brother to the King of France, come to snatch the Sovereignty of the Netherlands, together with their richest heiress, from the arms of her former lover.
Well! whichever way matters went, de Landas stood to win a fair guerdon. He even found it in his heart to be grateful to that mysterious stranger who had so unexpectedly come across his path. But now he was tired and overwrought. His work for the day was done and there was much strenuous business ahead of him. So he took leave of his friends and, having ordered the leech to administer to him a soothing draught, he finally sought rest.