"Indeed, my dear Abbé," replied the young Count, "it is difficult to tell you. I have no definite plan of action at present, and must be guided by circumstances as they arise."
Thus ended their interview; and it formed a strange contrast to that between the Abbé and Villequier,--showing how simple honesty may often baffle cunning which has succeeded against astuteness like itself. The following day passed without any communication reaching the young Count, either from the Abbé or from his brother, from the King or the Duke of Guise; and expectation of receiving tidings from some one caused him to remain at home during the greater part of the day.
On the succeeding morning, however, he determined to proceed to the house of Villequier, and to demand peremptorily the fulfilment of the promise which the King had made. Ere he set out, however, he received a note in the hand of the Abbé de Boisguerin, informing him briefly that his brother, having determined to return to Montsoreau, was upon the very point of setting out. He, the Abbé, was to accompany him for two days' march upon the road, but would return to Paris in four or five days without fail.
Charles of Montsoreau read the note with a faint and melancholy smile, and again said, "This man is not true!"
He rode at once, however, to the hotel of Villequier, but found that the minister had once more gone to Vincennes. He inquired for the Marquis of Montsoreau of the same porter who had denied the fact of his being there. The porter, not at all discomposed, replied that the Marquis and the Abbé de Boisguerin, with their train, had set out fully two hours before for Montl'hery; which, being confirmed upon farther inquiry by an Italian confectioner on the opposite side of the street, was believed by the young Count, who returned home with a heart but ill at ease.
Another day was passed in gloomy and impatient expectation; but at night Gondrin reappeared from Soissons, bringing with him a brief note from the Duke of Guise:--
"Your interview," it said, "was such as might be expected; your conduct all that it should have been; your view of the result right. They are endeavouring to trifle both with you and me; but we must show them that this cannot be done. I send off a courier at once to Villequier, requiring that the King's authorisation shall be immediately given to you. If it reach you not before to-morrow night, I pray you set off at once with the passports you possess for Chateauneuf; for I have information scarcely to be doubted, that our poor Marie has been conveyed thither. Show her the letter which I gave you, requiring her to follow your directions in every thing. Endeavour to bring her at once, with what people you can collect upon her lands, across the country towards Rheims, avoiding Paris. If any one stops you, or attempts either to delay your progress or dispute your passage, show them my letter of authority, as well as the passports that you already possess; and if they farther molest or delay you, they shall not be forgotten, be they great or small, when they come to reckon with your friend, Henry of Guise."
In a postscript was written at the bottom--"In going, avoid Dreux and Montfort, for the plague is raging there. If there be any force stationed at Chateauneuf to prevent the removal of Mademoiselle de Clairvaut, only ascertain distinctly the fact of her presence in the château, and come back to rejoin me with all speed."
The tidings brought by Gondrin showed Charles of Montsoreau that great events of some kind were in preparation. Various bodies of troops attached to the House of Lorraine were moving here and there in Champaign and the Ardennes; daily conferences were held between the Duke of Guise, the Cardinal of Bourbon, the Cardinal of Guise, and a number of other influential noblemen; the propriety of deposing the King was said to be openly discussed at Soissons, and ridicule and hatred were unsparingly busy with the names of Epernon, Villequier, and others. Couriers, totally independent of those which were sent upon the business that brought the young Count to Paris, were almost hourly passing between the capital and Soissons; and it was daily whispered in the latter city, that experienced officers and small bodies of troops were daily gliding into the capital from the army which the Duke had led to victory on so many previous occasions.
Early on the following morning, Charles of Montsoreau again proceeded to the Hotel de Villequier, in order that nothing might be wanting on his part. But the reply once more was, that the minister was absent; and the day passed over without any tidings from either the King or his favourite. As he passed through various parts of the city, however, the young Count remarked many things that somewhat surprised him. He had hitherto ridden amongst the people quite unnoticed, but now many persons whom he met bowed low to him, and those seemingly of the most respectable classes of citizens. On two or three occasions the burgher guard saluted him as he passed; and in one place, where several people were collected together, there was a cry of "Long live the Duke of Guise!"