A smile of majestic satisfaction beamed upon the countenance of the young monarch; but for several moments he continued to gaze upon me without uttering a word; and, of course, the same silence was preserved by every one in the presence. "You have stood every trial well, Monsieur de Juvigny," said the King, at length. "You have obeyed our commands at a moment when they were most difficult to obey. You have proved that your loyalty as a lover is no less perfect than your gallantly as a soldier; and all I shall regret, in signing your marriage contract, is, that your bride will not bring you as noble a fortune as you once expected. My consent to your marriage is fully given; there is only the approbation of one other person to be asked. Monsieur de. Loris, be good enough to open that door. What say you, madam? Do you consent likewise?"
As he spoke, the King turned towards one of the nuns, who stood behind the Queen's chair, covered with the Ursuline veil. At the same moment, Monsieur de Loris opened a door which communicated with the great audience hall, and two more persons were instantly added to our party. They were Laura de Villardin, and, hand in hand, my little page Clement de la Marke, dressed in all the splendour of a high noble of those days, and entering with a step that seemed familiar with courtly halls.
Another sight, however, had rivetted all my attention, and, I may say, had struck me dumb, for I actually stood in the midst of the circle like a statue, without life or motion, as the nun, to whom the King had spoken, raising her veil, exposed to my sight features deeply engraved on the tablet of memory, and connected with many a sweet and many a terrible remembrance in the past. Pale and worn, but still beautiful, though more than twelve long years, loaded with grief, had passed over her head--it was Madame de Villardin herself that gazed upon me; and as I stood thunderstruck before her, she advanced and embraced me as her son. Clement de la Marke clung to me too--the whole truth flashed upon my mind; and, forgetful of all else but that Laura was mine, and the dead alive again, I embraced them all in turn; while Anne of Austria wiped away a tear, and Louis turned with a smile of generous feeling to Turenne.
"Monsieur de Juvigny," said the King, as soon as my first joy was somewhat moderated, "forgive me for my coup de théatre; but I wished to have my full share in your joy and your surprise. Though your fair bride has lost the rich lauds of Villardin and Dumont, which go, of course, to my young Lord Duke here, yet she is still the heiress of Vermont and De Loris; and her soft hand is worth a lordship in itself. Every detail has been already given to me; and as there are some painful points in the history of every family, these good lords here present must even smother their curiosity as best they may; for, by my command, the many explanations which you may require will be afforded to you by your dear friends in private. You had better now retire to the hotel de Villardin; and hereafter you will find, that, as by your high qualities you have won yourself a beautiful bride, your services have not been rendered to an ungrateful master."
[CHAPTER XLIII.]
Before I could well collect my senses, I was seated beside Laura de Villardin in the carriage of the good old Count de Loris, with her young brother Clement looking playfully up in my face, which certainly must have expressed as much happiness as man could feel. On the other side appeared Madame de Villardin, with her uncle and her brother-in-law; and for a time a tumult of joyful feelings engrossed me entirely, as I looked round upon so many that I loved and esteemed, and found them all engaged in promoting my own dearest wishes. Another feeling, however, came to temper and to sadden; and I perceived that it was strong also in the bosom of every one, as, gazing upon one another, each saw a number of beloved objects, but each felt that there was one wanting who could never return.
Strange to say, where there was so much to be asked, and so much to be told, our drive passed absolutely in silence; and Madame de Villardin, when she once more entered the dwelling in which she had spent the days of her young pride and gaiety, drew down her veil and wept. At the foot of the staircase we passed Jacques Marlot, who bowed low and reverently; and when we reached the saloon, Madame de Villardin again embraced me, saying, "God's blessing be upon you, my son, for all that you have done for me and mine. I will now leave you for a time, and our reverend brother here will give you all the details of many things that I have not spirits either to tell you myself or to hear told by another. Come with me, Laura, my beloved child; and you, Clement, betake you to your book; for the tale that your uncle is about to tell had better, in your case, be reserved for after years."
I could well have let my curiosity sleep till I had enjoyed the society of my dear Laura for some time longer; but Madame de Villardin seemed to think that the information I was to receive had better be given at once, and, of course, I did not oppose her.
Left alone with Father Ferdinand and Monsieur de Loris, the good priest passed over his own history without explanation, and took up his story at the period when the bridge had given way beneath Monsieur and Madame de Villardin; and he gave me all the minute particulars of events, which I can here state but generally.
It had, luckily, so happened that a large mass of the woodwork had fallen at once beneath Madame de Villardin, and thus both broke her fall into the stream, and supported her as a sort of raft after she reached the water. She had called loudly for assistance; but, hurried rapidly round the point of land just below the bridge, her voice had not reached me as I swam, till after I had dragged out Monsieur de Villardin. The single cry which I did hear had, however, caught the ears of Jacques Marlot, who was at that moment returning from the farm of the good Ursulines; and, running down to the shore, which was there less steep, he easily dragged Madame de Villardin, and the wood-work to which she was still clinging, to land. The house which he inhabited was close at hand, and thither he himself carried the lady, without waiting for other assistance. Madame de Villardin was quite sensible of everything around her when she arrived at his dwelling; but she had become deeply impressed with the idea that Monsieur de Villardin intended to destroy her and the child she carried in her bosom, and, acknowledging this apprehension in the terror of the moment, she besought Jacques Marlot and his wife to conceal her from pursuit. He on his part having been well accustomed, as libel-printer-general to the Fronde, to concealments of all kinds, instantly locked the door, in which state I afterwards found it, and took those measures which effectually prevented us from discovering the existence of Madame de Villardin, making his wife feign herself ill, to exclude all visiters from the house. Father Ferdinand, however, in whom Madame de Villardin had the fullest confidence, was made acquainted with the facts, under the strictest promise of secrecy; and, finding that the unhappy lady could never again look upon her husband without terror, he it was that advised her to seek a permanent resting-place in the Ursuline convent, of which she had been so munificent a benefactor.