"Ha! say'st thou?" said Louis, his countenance again altering. – "Hold – hold – go not – wait one moment. – Saidst thou, my death should follow thine so closely?"
"Within the space of twenty-four hours," repeated Galeotti, firmly, "if there be one sparkle of true divination in those bright and mysterious intelligences, which speak, each on their courses, though without a tongue. – I wish your Majesty good rest."
"Hold – hold – go not," said the King, taking him by the arm, and leading him from the door. "Martius Galeotti, I have been a kind master to thee – enriched thee – made thee my friend – my companion – the instructor of my studies. – Be open with me, I entreat you. – Is there aught in this art of yours in very deed? – Shall this Scot's mission be, in fact, propitious to me? – And is the measure of our lives so very – very nearly matched? Confess, my good Martius, you speak after the trick of your trade – Confess, I pray you, and you shall have no displeasure at my hand. I am in years – a prisoner – likely to be deprived of a kingdom – to one in my condition truth is worth kingdoms, and it is from thee, dearest Martius, that I must look for this inestimable jewel."
"And I have laid it before your Majesty," said Galeotti, "at the risk that, in brutal passion, you might turn upon me and rend me."
"Who, I, Galeotti?" replied Louis mildly; "Alas! thou mistakest me! – Am I not captive, – and should not I be patient, especially since my anger can only show my impotence? – Tell me then in sincerity – Have you fooled me? – Or is your science true, and do you truly report it?"
"Your Majesty will forgive me if I reply to you," said Martius Galeotti, "that time only – time and the event, will convince incredulity. It suits ill the place of confidence which I have held at the council-table of the renowned conqueror, Matthias Corvinus of Hungary – nay, in the cabinet of the Emperor himself – to reiterate assurances of that which I have advanced as true. If you will not believe me, I can but refer to the course of events. A day, or two days' patience, will prove or disprove what I have averred concerning the young Scot; and I will be contented to die on the wheel, and have my limbs broken joint by joint, if your Majesty have not advantage, and that in a most important degree, from the dauntless conduct of that Quentin Durward. But if I were to die under such tortures, it would be well your Majesty should seek a ghostly father; for, from the moment my last groan is drawn, only twenty-four hours will remain to you for confession and penitence."
Louis continued to keep hold of Galeotti's robe as he led him towards the door, and pronounced as he opened it, in a loud voice, "To-morrow we'll talk more of this. Go in peace, my learned father – Go in peace – Go in peace!"
He repeated these words three times; and, still afraid that the Provost-Marshal might mistake his purpose, he led the Astrologer into the hall, holding fast his robe, as if afraid that he should be torn from him, and put to death before his eyes. He did not unloose his grasp until he had not only repeated again and again the gracious phrase, "Go in peace," but even made a private signal to the Provost-Marshal, to enjoin a suspension of all proceedings against the person of the Astrologer.
Thus did the possession of some secret information, joined to audacious courage and readiness of wit, save Galeotti from the most imminent danger; and thus was Louis, the most sagacious as well as the most vindictive, amongst the monarchs of the period, cheated of his revenge by the influence of superstition upon a selfish temper, and a mind to which, from the consciousness of many crimes, the fear of death was peculiarly terrible.
He felt, however, considerable mortification at being obliged to relinquish his purposed vengeance; and the disappointment seemed to be shared by his satellites, to whom the execution was to have been committed. Le Balafré alone, perfectly indifferent on the subject, so soon as the countermanding signal was given, left the door at which he had posted himself, and in a few minutes was fast asleep.