Thus long have I been obliged to pause upon the general history of the times, which has been much better detailed by others; and as I am now about to return to my private life and personal adventures, I shall close this chapter here, and begin my narration of the events which followed on a fresh page.
[CHAPTER XXIV.]
Leaving Monsieur de Villardin to set out with Turenne, for the purpose of reconnoitring the enemy's position, I put myself at the head of my troop, and advanced towards Virmont. It was the fifth of April, and as beautiful a spring morning as ever was seen; and, winding away from the banks of the Loire, I led the troop through the shady and obscure roads in the neighbourhood of Briare, every inch of which I well knew. The Duke had left the choice of my quarters to myself, as we were not yet sufficiently acquainted with the enemy's dispositions to enable him to decide for me; but, before quitting head-quarters, I had fixed in my own mind upon the ground that I would select, if I found it practicable on nearer inspection. I soon learned that it was so, for as we proceeded I met several peasants on the road, from whose report I was convinced that the post I proposed to take up was sufficiently removed from the enemy's line to permit of my occupying it with little risk. Without further hesitation, then, I advanced to the top of the hill above Virmont, and entered the village which I had already fixed upon for my quarters. The hamlet itself was situated in the midst of a grove of tall trees, upon the slope of the hill looking towards Briare; but, on the other side of the highway, commanding a view down into the valley on the side of Virmont and Montargis, was placed a little auberge, at which we had frequently paused upon our hunting expeditions, and to the landlord of which I was consequently well known. The enemy's extreme outpost was, as I have said, at Virmont, with the exception of a few cravattes thrown forward to a farm-house by the side of the river. Thus the village that I occupied, being on the other side of the hill, was out of sight of any of their quarters, while the whole ground covered by their avant-garde could be seen from the back window and garden of the little auberge at which I took up my abode. The grove of trees already mentioned hid the village itself from Briare: but I had remarked, as we came, that a windmill, detached from the rest of the houses, was clearly to be seen at the head-quarters of Monsieur de Turenne.
The landlord of the inn was evidently delighted to see me, as he expected every hour to be put under contribution by the enemy; and he soon gave me a complete insight into all their movements since their arrival at Montargis. He set my mind at ease, too, in regard to the household at the château, assuring me that the officer who commanded at the village of Virmont had not suffered his men to commit any excess, nor even to penetrate within the walls of the park. All this was very satisfactory; but, of course, I determined to follow exactly the orders of Monsieur de Villardin; and, sending down a flag of truce, I demanded an interview with the commandant in the village. This he immediately granted, and riding down with two or three men, I met him in one of the meadows, by the side of a stream, across which our conversation was carried on. Explaining to him that it was the object of Monsieur de Villardin to remove his daughter and household to a place of greater security, I asked him, for courtesy's sake, to permit me to carry that purpose into effect.
To this he at once replied, that having the pleasure of being slightly acquainted with Monsieur de Villardin, he should be delighted to give him any proof of his high consideration and respect. He added, that I should be at liberty to pass the river with a serjeant's guard, if I thought it necessary, in order to escort the young lady to Briare or Gien.
As it was now near five o'clock, however, it was too late to take advantage of his offer that evening, and the officer charged himself to communicate to Father Ferdinand that I would be at the château the next morning, in order to guard himself and his charge to a place of security. Some farther conversation ensued in regard to the hour; and, in the midst of it, a horseman, followed by several attendants, came up at full speed, to communicate something to the officer with whom I had been speaking. The new comer sprang to the ground at once, and, amidst feathers, and plumes, and lace, and embroidery, I recognised immediately my old enemy Gaspard de Belleville. I saw that his remembrance of me was not less quick, but, as he turned his back towards me, and seemed desirous of avoiding every appearance of recognition, I assumed an air of perfect unconsciousness, and, bidding the officer adieu, with many thanks for his courtesy and politeness, I mounted my horse and again rode up the hill. The distance was about two miles, and almost all the farmers who occupied the ground from the river to the village were either tenants or vassals of Monsieur de Villardin and Monsieur Loris, and consequently completely at my command.
At each of the farm-houses, as I went, I paused for a few minutes, and, explaining to the farmers the necessity of keeping an acute watch upon the enemy, I made them promise that in case they saw, during the night, any movement in advance, they would each, one after another, set fire to a pile of brushwood in their court-yard; and, for the purpose of rendering our intelligence more secure, two or three of those in the immediate vicinity of the river agreed to take it by turns each night to sit up and mark the motions of the adverse force. On my arrival at the village, also, I rode directly to the mill, which luckily proved to be built of stone, with a little sort of platform near the top, by means of which the miller reached and regulated the sails. Much to his surprise, and somewhat to his consternation, I caused this little parapet to be loaded with brushwood, and then, explaining to him that it might be necessary to set fire to the pile, I told him to do his best to prevent the building itself from catching fire, in the event of our being compelled to use his mill as a stand for our beacon. Leaving half a dozen men to give him assistance in removing the sails and everything combustible from the neighbourhood of the platform, I returned to the little inn, and wrote a letter to Monsieur de Villardin, telling him what I had done, and informing him that if he saw my beacon lighted on the mill, he might be sure that the enemy were making some decided movement, preparatory to an attack upon the royal army. This I instantly sealed and sent off--though not without letting the Duke know that I had seen Gaspard de Belleville at the enemy's outpost; but leaving him to draw his own deductions.
Although these precautions might be very well justified by the general circumstances of the case, I confess that I should not have been so prudent as to take them, had no particular suspicion been superadded; but the simple fact of the appearance of Gaspard at the adverse avant-garde had set my mind upon forming a train of conclusions, which I shall now state, and which, though wild enough in themselves, ultimately proved correct. I have before said, that on being sent to Bordeaux by Monsieur de Villardin, the page, at his lord's solicitation, had received a commission in the regiment of the Duke de Bouillon. That regiment, officers and soldiers, had afterwards gone over to the Prince de Condé, and the last that we had heard of Gaspard de Belleville was, that he had gained considerable favour with the Prince, and had distinguished himself highly in his service during the revolt in Guienne. Every one believed that Condé was still in that province, hemmed in by the Count de Harcourt and the Maréchal de Gramont. But Gaspard de Belleville, who was not the brightest genius that ever lived, had contrived to effect his passage through the forces of Harcourt and Gramont, and had joined the army of the Dukes of Beaufort and Nemours. Where he could pass, I thought, surely Condé could pass also; and I asked myself if there were not a thousand reasons for supposing he would make the attempt, if the enterprise were feasible. He could do little or nothing in Guienne--the Dukes of Nemours and Beaufort were wasting their time, and ruining a fine army by their dissensions--no one could put an end to those disputes but Condé, and if he could but contrive to join their force, instead of being cooped up in a distant corner of the kingdom, without power to act, he would be at the head of a superior force, and interposed in an advantageous position between the capital and the royal army. Thus I thought there was every inducement for him to make the attempt; that it might be made with success was proved by the appearance of Gaspard de Belleville; and I doubted not that the great Condé himself was by this time at the head of the troops opposed to us. The next conclusion was, that if he really were so, we should not be long without having reason to be quite certain of his presence; and such were the motives that induced me to take the precautions I have related.
Nay, more; so strong was the impression upon my mind that many hours would not elapse before we should have cause for activity and exertion, that I would not take off my own clothes; but, after having suffered the horses to rest for five or six hours, I ordered them to be again saddled towards nine o'clock, and, placing a sentry at the end of the garden, I lay down for an hour or two on the table in the inn kitchen, the door of which was left open, that I might hear the first alarm. Everything remained quiet, however, till midnight, when the sentry paused by the door to inform me that he had seen some lights moving through the wood in the direction of Montargis. I instantly sprang up and went out into the garden: but the lights had disappeared; and though I gazed out for several minutes, I could see nothing to confirm the soldier's account. As I was about to turn away, I heard a dull sort of sound, coming up from the valley; and the moment afterwards a small spot of light appeared in the direction of the farm-house nearest to the stream. In a moment it grew larger, increased into a blaze, my other watchers took up the signal, fire after fire blazed up along the side of the hill, and, ordering the beacon on the mill to be instantly fired, I commanded the men to mount and draw out upon the high road, while I went down to reconnoitre what was passing in the valley. Scarcely had I taken a dozen steps in that direction, however, when one of the farmers on whom I could depend came up in breathless haste, to inform me that the avant-garde of the enemy had marched out of the village, and were taking their way down the course of the stream. Another large body, he said, was advancing by the high road in the same direction; and, as I doubted not now that the lights which the sentry had seen towards the north-west had been a third division following the road from Chàtillon, it seemed clear that the enemy's whole force were advancing upon the quarters of the Maréchal d'Hocquincourt at Blênau. Instantly sending off a trooper with this intelligence to Monsieur de Turenne, and another to Monsieur d'Hocquincourt with the same news--which last courier, by the way, I chose because he was famous for speed, I prepared to lead my troop into the valley, in order to take advantage of anything that might occur, rather choosing to risk a little without orders than to remain in inactivity. When I had proceeded half-way down a steep and narrow lane, which conducted directly towards one of the gates of the park, I caught a glimpse of a large body of the enemy winding over a hill, which lay flat and dark against the sky, now faintly lighted by the beams of the rising moon. From what I saw, I concluded that it was their rear-guard which was thus accidentally exposed to my sight; but the moment after, a dull reddish colour began to tinge the clouds, just above the château of Virmont, growing brighter and brighter every moment, with a sort of flickering reflection, which showed that some large mass of buildings was on fire in that direction. The trees of the park prevented us from seeing what was the precise cause; but, filled with apprehension in regard to Mademoiselle de Villardin and good Father Ferdinand, I hurried our advance as much as the nature of the ground would admit, forded the river opposite the park, and, forcing the gate, which was locked, soon found myself in one of the alleys that led directly to the château.
The light we had seen no longer wanted any explanation. Through the long perspective of the trees I saw the house and all its offices in one general blaze, while on the terrace, in front of the château, a small body of infantry appeared, drawn up in military array, contemplating the spectacle which their own hands had produced. We were at such a distance, and the noise in the neighbourhood of the burning building was so great, that the enemy neither saw nor heard our first entrance into the park, although the bright light in which they stood enabled us to remark their movements as well as if it had been day. I had at this time about eighty men with me, almost every one of them born in the neighbourhood; and well knowing what are the feelings of those who see the flame of warfare brought to their own homestead, I merely said, "Now, my men, if you have the feelings of men, follow me, to avenge your lord and your commander. You, Bourdon, lead your men round by the alley on the left, where they will not see you; I will take round by the right; and when we get to the sloping ground which leads up to the terrace, let us charge them on both flanks, and drive them into the flames they have kindled."