Le Tellier instantly took a parchment from the portfolio which was carried by his secretary, and placed it in the hands of the young King, who ran his eye hastily over it. Louis then addressed me, in a tone and manner so dignified and kinglike, that I could not but perceive that a great change had wrought itself in his mind since I was first presented to him at Saumur; though I little anticipated at the time that the alteration which I marked would go on progressively but rapidly, till the careless and somewhat indolent boy became the greatest monarch of his age.
"Monsieur de Juvigny," he said, "we are informed by the Maréchal de Turenne, that, when we held our court at Gien, by the prompt and skilful measures which your own judgment suggested, for conveying immediate information to our generals of the advance of the Prince de Condé, you saved us all from very imminent danger. He also informs us, in his despatch received yesterday, that you have again highly distinguished yourself in dislodging a superior body of the enemy from the heights above Villeneuve St. George, and he recommends you strongly to our notice and favour. We ourselves have not forgotten that you have once been severely wounded, and have suffered a long and cruel imprisonment for your attachment to our cause, and your opposition to the rebels now in arms against us. Monsieur le Tellier, also, upon the authority of Monsieur de Villardin, informs us that in your native country your father and mother were both of gentle blood; but, at all events, it is the prerogative of royalty to ennoble, and therefore it is, that we have caused these letters to be drawn up, not only for the purpose of expressing our thanks to you for the services you have performed, but also as a proof to all others that no one ever will serve us without meeting due honour and recompence."
He then gave me the parchment that he had received from Le Tellier; and, though I knew not what it contained, I bent my knee and kissed his Majesty's hand, with every token of gratitude. I then withdrew, in company with the minister, who, as soon as we were in another apartment, bade me open the letters and read the contents. I did so immediately, and found that the parchment contained letters patent, conferring on me the rank and title of Baron de Juvigny; and adding what seemed to me the more solid recompence, of a pension of three thousand crowns per annum, chargeable upon the receipts of the duchy of Brittany, "till such time--," so the letters ran, "till such time as his Majesty thought fit to assign me an estate of equal value."
Monsieur le Tellier laid his left hand upon my shoulder as I read, and, pointing with his right to the words concerning the pension, he repeated, "Three thousand crowns!--that is, when you can get them, my young friend;" and laughing gaily, he added, "which will not be till the country is quiet, and these rebels put down. So go, and do your best against them; and God send that we may soon be delivered from their company altogether!"
"Amen!" replied I; and I doubt not that Monsieur le Tellier devoutly believed that it was the prospect of my three thousand crowns which gave such fervency to my aspirations; but it was perhaps that I was heartily tired of civil wars, having seen little else ever since I was born; and I certainly did long to be in one good stricken field, between nations of different tongues and dwelling-places, if it were but for a change. I said nothing, however, to undeceive the minister; but taking my leave, with many thanks for honours and rewards, which I felt very sure had been obtained for me fully as much by interest as by merit, I withdrew with the letters patent of a barony in my pocket, but very little else besides.
[CHAPTER XXIX.]
It was with great difficulty that I made my way back to the army, for by this time Condé had effected his junction with the Duke of Loraine, and Turenne had encamped between Limei and the Yeres river, resting on the Seine on one side and on a thick wood on the other. The enemy's force, amounting to three times his own, straitened the marshal's camp in every direction; and, shut in the angle formed by the confluence of the Seine and the Yeres, there seemed no possibility of escape for Turenne and his army. I know not to the present day if this position was or was not taken up through an oversight on the part of Turenne; and I am rather inclined to think it was, as at the time there were not provisions in the camp for four days, and the horses were almost entirely without forage; but if it was a fault, it was one of those glorious ones which sometimes to a man of genius prove more advantageous than the best laid plan. The result is well known. Turenne planted himself there between the enemy and Paris, threw bridges across the Seine, opened a communication with the neighbouring country, obtained provisions and forage notwithstanding all the efforts of his adversaries to prevent him, and kept a force of treble the number of his own army at bay during six weeks.
It was about the fourth day after the camp was formed that I returned from the Court; but as the whole open country was at that time in the hands of the enemy, I had very nearly been taken by a strong party on the return from foraging. Strange to say, also, I had well nigh again fallen into the hands of Gaspard de Belleville, who commanded the escort, having been at one time within two hundred yards of him. Nothing but my horse's speed saved me; for being close pursued by some cravates attached to the foragers, I was obliged to swim the river, which, however, was done with ease, and I found myself in security on the other bank.
Monsieur de Villardin welcomed me with every sign of joy, and immediately asked what Monsieur le Tellier had done for me. He smiled when I told him, saying that he had hoped the Court would have shown me some more substantial mark of favour.
"However," he added, "the King no doubt gave you the barony, which costs nothing but parchment and wax, because he had nothing else to give. As to the pension of three thousand crowns, as I know there has not been such a sum in the royal treasury for many months, you must not calculate upon that."