"And pray has not Maine suffered as much?" demanded Wolfstrom in a quiet tone.
D'Aubin laughed aloud: "By the Lord!" he exclaimed, "I thought thy heart had grown mighty tender over the woes of France, most worthy and considerate Wolfstrom; forgetting, that in the hypothèque,[[4]] which I gave thee over my lands in Maine, on account of that accursed throw of the dice, thou hast acquired a certain tender and generous interest in my unhappy country, through the only channel by which thy heart can be reached,--but rest satisfied! The war would be sweeping and desolating indeed, which would leave the lands of Aubin unable to pay the pitiful interest of thy pitiful debt; and besides, I shall soon be able to discharge the whole, and load thee with that sort of moveable ore, which is better suited to thy purposes and thy nature than any claim upon the soil."
"You mean when your marriage can be completed with Mademoiselle de Menancourt," replied Wolfstrom, not unwilling to retort some of the bitterness of Aubin's speech upon himself. "By my faith, Sir Count, if it wait till then, it will wait long enough apparently; for your fond and affectionate bride seems to conceal herself from your longing arms with wonderful skill and perseverance."
D'Aubin bit his lip, and paused for several minutes ere he replied; but wrath he felt was vain in regard to circumstances far too well known to admit the possibility of concealment, however much it might sting him to find them a subject of common conversation to every mercenary follower of the camp. It cost him an effort, indeed, to smother all the angry feelings at his heart; but that effort over, he replied in a tone of calmness that disappointed Wolfstrom's malice: "She does, indeed, conceal herself skilfully," he said; "and in truth, I little thought that so slight an offence as I gave her would so deeply wound woman's jealous love, or I should have taken greater care to please; but as soon as this battle is over, and these provinces cleared, I will bend my whole thoughts and efforts to the search; and when once I have found her, a few words of apology, and a few vows of eternal love and fidelity, will set the whole to rights again."
"I heard that you tried all that before," replied Wolfstrom, dryly; "and the good, free-spoken Parisians seems to think, that it was love for one cousin made her run away from the other so eagerly; at least, so Madame de Montpensier, and the Duchess of Guise, and young La Tremblaye, and several others, fancied."
"It is false as hell!" cried D'Aubin; "and those who say it, and those who repeat it, lie."
"I trust it is false," answered Wolfstrom, calmly; "and will not take up the hard word you have used just now, Monsieur d'Aubin, till the battle is over, and our personal affairs are in a little better order. After that, however, I shall have to inquire how far the word lie was applied to my share in the story. At present, let me say, that my repeating unpalatable rumours to you was but an act of kindness, intended to direct your mind towards a particular point. Even supposing that nothing like love exists between your cousin and this fair fugitive, every one knows that he used to regard her as a brother might a sister; and it is a common supposition that she has fled to his protection, and is concealed by his assistance."
"Nonsense, nonsense, Wolfstrom!" replied D'Aubin, musing a little while he spoke. "It is all nonsense, depend upon it; and as to the word lie, I applied it alone, of course, to those who spread such reports maliciously--not to you. Eugenie, wherever she has fled, has too deep a sense of female modesty to put herself under the protection of any idle boy, like my cousin of St. Real."
"Pardie! call him not an idle boy!" cried Wolfstrom. "Call him rather a stout soldier, and skilful commander; for such has he proved himself in all these last affairs; and the very best in either camp may now and then take a lesson from him."
"Pshaw!" said D'Aubin. "You are credulous, Wolfstrom! The followers of the Bearnois take care to vaunt their great officers and skilful soldiers, in order to make up, by the fears of their adversaries, for their own want of strength. Do not let us be such gulls as to believe them; and only let us so far reckon on their power, as to take every means of employing our own to the best advantage. Do not you spare your men, Wolfstrom; for one of these great battles lost might place the whole of France in the power of the Bearnois."