"Not so, not quite so," replied the prince. "As I came hither from Blois I considered the matter maturely; and we have to recollect that you, as a near relation of the lady, have every right to oppose the signature of the contract, if you think fit so to do. In the first place, you must make perfectly sure that she herself is brought to yield by no means of persuasion or intimidation that can be used towards her; and, at the same time, things must be suffered to take their course till the contract is on the very eve of being signed by the baron. You must then, by some form of law which I can inquire into, give him formal intimation of your opposition, which will consequently be brought before the courts. The fact is, you are fighting for delay; for your opposition against her own father cannot, of course, be successful, and you may perhaps be fined in some small sum for having made it; but, long before that time, this young libertine, for such he is, must be in Constantinople, and the matter secure."
I mused for a moment in thought, the intensity of which approached to agony: I saw before me the blasting of all my best hopes, and I felt at that moment, more than I had ever yet done, not only how deeply, how truly, how ardently I loved poor Louise, but how completely and thoroughly, without my knowing it, her image had been mingled with all my dreams and aspirations; how intimately the thought of winning her had mingled with all my motives for energy, exertion, and endeavour. I felt at that moment that to lose her was to lose my whole hold on life--my whole inducement to struggle onward in the course I was pursuing. There was no scheme so wild, so improbable, so daring, that I would not have undertaken at that moment to frustrate the schemes that could but tend to her misery and my own: there was no step so dangerous to myself, even had it been planted on the crumbling edge of an open grave, that I would not have taken to make her mine; yet, as I mused, I could not help thinking--I may say I could not help being convinced--that the scheme of the Prince d'Auvergne was likely to be frustrated by some impetuous act of the Baron de Blancford.
"With many men," I said, "The whole might succeed admirably; but I, who know his determined and passionate character well, feel perfectly certain that, if there be a way of frustrating us, he will find it."
"I see none," replied the prince dauphin, "if we can by any means ensure that the signing of the contract is put off to the last moment. However, De Cerons, the whole party are coming to Paris immediately; the Jew, and the merchants who are with him, will most probably arrive to-morrow morning, and your cousin, with his train, on the morning after. Obstacles of various kinds, I am sure, will keep this Monsieur de Blaye for a day or two after them; and let us do the best we can in the mean while. At all events, we shall gain some intelligence; and what I should propose is, to ride out on the day after to-morrow on the road to meet them, and, bringing them to your chateau of Les Bois, give the baron a little entertainment and repose ere he goes into Paris."
I smiled at the thought, saying, "I much fear, my excellent friend, that you will find the baron would neither accept the invitation nor thank the giver."
"Pshaw! De Cerons," replied the prince; "You are older than I am in years, but younger a great deal in experience of the world. The baron undervalued and undervalues you simply because he thought and thinks you poor. He thought you the creature of his bounty: he will now come here and find you the creature of your own sword, renowned in arms, independent in fortune, and seeking no aid from him or any man. His view will be quite different now, depend upon it. As for the arrangements of your little regale, leave that all to me: you, on your part, cast off the rough and somewhat negligent apparel in which your despondency has brought you to remain, trim your beard, bring forth your best brocade, and look as gay and gallant as if you were going into the tiltyard."
It is needless to pause upon all the minute incidents at this time. Martin Vern and his nephew had scarcely arrived in Paris before they were at Champigny, bringing with them little Miriam, who seemed to have her own will with all of them. Not knowing that the prince was there, I found that his high rank and connexion with the royal blood of France somewhat abashed and confounded the two merchants. He, on his part, did not so much unbend as perhaps I had expected; but he treated them kindly and without haughtiness, though with dignity: but he soon left them alone with me; and a few words showed me that both the elder and the younger Martin Vern, what between all they had observed of the conduct of myself and Louise, and the information of the young Jewess, were perfectly aware of how we stood towards each other, and took a kindly interest in my fate. Miriam, for her part, seemed to me to have gone quite mad. She said it was just what she had wished, all that she could wish, that had happened and would happen, and seemed quite as happy and elevated as I was bereaved and depressed. Her conduct somewhat annoyed me; and, after some short conversation about the money, which I still determined to leave in the hands of Martin Vern, I saw them depart without any effort to detain them.
On the following morning, with a splendid train, comprising at least twenty persons, dressed, as far, at least, as the prince himself was concerned, in the height of the then existing fashion, D'Auvergne and myself set out upon the road towards Blois; and, after riding for some eight miles on a fine autumnal morning, we came within sight of a large party advancing slowly, which proved, as we expected, to be that of the Baron de Blancford. Putting our spurs to our horses' sides, we rode up at a quick pace, and the baron thought fit, in those dangerous times, to halt his troop upon seeing such a body of horsemen coming down upon him. His surprise, when he beheld me and the prince dauphin, however, I shall not easily forget: nor need I say much more of this interview, as far as it regarded him, than that I readily perceived that the prince's view of the baron's character was correct, and that I had grown wonderfully in his opinion since I had ceased to need his assistance. The fête at Les Blois was accepted at once; but it required some persuasion on the part of the prince dauphin to make him believe that I was really the lord of the estate to which he was now conducted. The baroness, on her part, gazed at me with some surprise, and throughout the day I forced myself to show her as much civility and attention as possible: but there were some others in that group where there were deeper interests at work. Louise met me with eyes full of deep and intense affection, and a manner from which the sudden surprise seemed to have taken all confidence, but not all tenderness; and her two brothers, whom I had not seen for more than a year, clung round me as if their affections had found no object since we parted.
In the course of the day I had an opportunity of speaking more than once with Louise, and in a few brief words I gave her an account of all that was taking place in our plans and purposes. Her only reply was by words of affection that could never pass from my heart, and by the solemn assurance that no power on earth should ever make her consent to become the wife of the Seigneur de Blaye. The day went over, in short, as brightly as it was possible under such circumstances; and, during the three weeks that followed, everything seemed to combine to favour the plan which the prince had laid down for me.
It fortunately occurred that I never met with the Seigneur de Blaye during the whole of that period. Such a meeting could have been followed but by one result, and that result must have been fatal to myself; for it must be remembered that I was a Protestant and he a Catholic, and the survivor in a duel, under such circumstances, could only expect death. My visits to the hotel of Monsieur de Blancford were generally short; for I soon saw that, if I did not find Louise when first I went, means were taken to prevent her appearing while I was there. The baron, however, was all condescension, and declared that he was proud of his cousin. The baroness, on her part, seemed to make herself somewhat more tender and amiable than was needful.