Rose D'Albret; or, Troublous Times.

by G. P. R. James

"Go along, buffoon," said the farmer; "the King never said he would quarter anybody on me, but two or three ladies and gentlemen."

"Well, these are they," replied the soldier; "so come down and open the door, or, on my life, we will break it down. We have got to fight to-morrow, and cannot stand here talking all night. It's the Baron de Montigni, I tell you, and his lady."

"Well, wait a minute," said the farmer, withdrawing his head; and in a few moments they heard bolts and bars removed, and the door was opened. There was still a little doubt and apprehension in the good round countenance of the jolly farmer; but the sight of the litter, with De Montigni standing beside it, clothed in the common riding costume of the day, speedily took away his fears; and, calling forward his wife and sister to welcome the lady, he showed every sort of alacrity that could be desired in providing for the comfort of his guests.

"Here is a room to sit in," he said, as De Montigni assisted Rose from the litter, and drew her arm through his own, to give her support. "Dear heart, lady, you seem tired enough, and as if you had been wet through too. Take the light, wife, and show the gentlefolks the way." Thus saying, he led them on into a good wide room, where he and his farming men were wont to take their meals; and then, opening a door which gave admission to another chamber, he said, "And here's your bed-room, with as comfortable a bed as any in all Normandy."

"I shall keep watch in the hall, my good friend," replied De Montigni; "but Mademoiselle d'Albret will go to repose, I dare say, directly; for that is what she needs more than anything else, if these two ladies will kindly give her their attendance. A bundle or two of straw, thrown down in the corner there, will do for me and my men; but, as there are seven of them, and hungry enough too, I doubt not, by this time, you had better give them some wine and some provision. Whatever I take," he added, in a significant tone, seeing that the farmer was somewhat confounded at the number of his undesired guests, "I will pay for on the spot."

Gros Jean, as the Royalist soldier had called him, scratched his round head for a moment, and then replied, "I thought that you had been man and wife, from the King's message; but, however, as he said ladies, and there seems but one, there is another little room up stairs, and a good bed too, which you had better have, Sir."

"No, no," replied De Montigni, "I will stay in the hall, if you will give me some straw.--We will be your guard during the darkness, dearest Rose," he added, pressing her hand in his, "so take a cup of warm milk, if it can be procured, and lie down to rest for this night, at least, in peace and security. I must go now to speak to these good fellows without."

"Let me see you again for a moment, Louis, before I sleep," said Rose, gazing in his face with an anxious look; "you will not be long absent?"

"Not five minutes, my beloved," replied De Montigni; and, leaving her with the farmer's wife and sister, he went out to speak with the men who had carried the litter from St. André.

Let not the reader think, with the cold spirit of censure which is so ready at all times to blame everything that is not customary in our own times and in our own country, that there was aught unusual or improper in the invitation which Rose d'Albret had given her lover to visit her in her bed-chamber. In those days, though certainly not purer than the present--and bad enough are both--the common reception-room of a lady, especially in Paris, was that in which she slept. Often before she quitted her chamber, too, in England, as well as in France, the beauty of the hour received her train of admirers, in her bed; and, every art of coquetry was displayed, to win or increase admiration, as she lay in what was supposed to be the toilette of the night, but which had often cost her and her maids more than one hour of labour to arrange and render becoming. Such was not, indeed, the custom of Rose d'Albret, but still the habits of the country and the period would not have suffered her to feel that she was committing the slightest impropriety in admitting her lover to her room, even after she had retired to rest, nor would she have doubted the safety of her honour in the hands of De Montigni, under any circumstances of opportunity, or, of temptation. She knew him well, with that knowledge of the heart which perhaps can only be acquired by the intimacy of early youth, and she was certain that nothing on earth would induce him to blemish the being he loved, were there no eye but that of God to witness his actions.