"There! shut the door," he cried at length, as soon as he found that we were left alone even for a moment; "let any one who comes wait without till I am ready for them." The servant to whom he spoke instantly proceeded to put his commands in execution, and turning to me, the Prince added, in the brief, frank, perhaps abrupt tone, which he usually employed, "Well, Monsieur de Juvigny, I have not seen you since you were playing the garcon apothicaire, in the castle of Vincennes; and although our scheme did not succeed, and you have now, it seems, turned against me, yet I am not the less grateful for the extreme risk which you then ran in endeavouring to serve me. I hear from everybody the highest character of you. I myself have been a witness of your courage and dexterity. Such a person is now most needful to me; and what I wished to say to you is, that if you will consent to attach yourself to me, you shall find me a firm friend and an unfailing protector. I will advance you in the service, and whatever post about my person you will name shall be yours, unless it be already filled by some old and tried friend."
The offer was not only a very tempting one, but it was difficult to refuse it without the chance of giving offence--at least those who did not know the Prince de Condé would have thought so. As it was perfectly impossible for me to comply, however, feeling, as I did, that he was absolutely in a state of rebellion against his King, and that I was even then bearing a commission in that monarch's service, I answered him boldly and straightforwardly, which I had always found to be the best way with men of his keen and rapid disposition.
"Nothing I should consider a higher honour, nothing I should feel to be a greater pleasure than that of serving your Highness," I replied, "if your Highness' service were compatible with that of the King; but you must remember, my lord, that I have bound myself by oath to the cause of his Majesty."
"Pshaw!" cried the Prince de Condé. "In these times no one minds such oaths as that. Why, there is not an officer in my service that does not come and go between my camp and the King's a dozen times in the year; and, in truth, I do not always very well know, when I meet a friend in the field, whether he is my own partisan for the time or not."
"All I can reply to your Highness," I answered, "is, that had I joined your forces I should, of course, have remained with them till war were over; and, such being my feelings, I am afraid that if I can obtain my freedom either by ransom or exchange, or the kindness of your Highness, I must still go back to the camp of the King, and undergo all the defeats which I doubt not you intend to inflict upon us."
"Think of it better--think of it better," replied the Prince: "your liberty you certainly shall have; and you shall choose whether you will take it at my hands, as a full acquittal of all I owe you, for endeavouring to deliver me from Vincennes, or whether--holding still your claim upon me for that service, to be discharged by something more important hereafter--you will pay a light ransom to Master Gaspard de Belleville, who, to say the truth, is somewhat grasping and avaricious for so young a man."
Of course I could not hesitate in regard to which I should choose, and, therefore, I replied at once, "I will endeavour to pay whatever ransom your Highness may think proper to name, and will give an order for it instantly to Monsieur de Belleville, though he has no just right to consider me as his prisoner."
"Nay, nay, not so fast, not so fast!" cried the Prince; "you must take some little time to think of my proposal. De Belleville is not in the camp just now, but he will be here to-morrow or the next day. In the meanwhile, seek out Gourville, whom you will find either with the army, or at the Hotel de Rochefoucault in Paris. Bid him make much of you, and treat you well on my account, trying all he can to persuade you to remain with us. Nay, do not shake your head, but go and think over it better."
As his last words implied an order to quit him, I immediately took my leave and withdrew, somewhat mortified at not being able to obtain my freedom as soon as I had expected, but fully determined not to flinch from my duty in the slightest degree, however long I might consequently be detained a prisoner.
Almost immediately after quitting the Prince de Condé, my good fortune threw me in the way of Gourville, to whom I related all that had just passed. As far as treating me well, he certainly did follow the injunctions of his Highness, but in regard to persuading me that it would be better to join the party of the Princes, he most assuredly did not do as Condé had directed him. He shook his head at the very thought, saying, "No, no; let those who are attached to the party remain attached to it, for if no divisions existed amongst ourselves, we should do very well, and compel the Court to take what measures we liked: but it would never do for you, who neither know all the intrigues that are going on, nor the men that are conducting them; and besides, the party of the Court is, at all events, the most secure; for, however long the struggle may be protracted, it will be the successful side in the end, depend upon it."