The Duke's Motto: A Melodrama Page 18

  XVII

  IN THE GARDEN

  Beyond the Inn there ran, or rather rambled, a long garden, the moreneglected part of which was grown with flowers, while the better-attendedportion was devoted to the cultivation of vegetables. Where the gardenceased a little orchard of apple-trees, pear-trees, and plum-trees began,and this orchard was followed by a small open space of grassed land whichjoined the river. Here a diminutive landing-stage had been built, whichwas now crazy enough with age and dilapidation, and attached to thisstage were a couple of ancient rowing-boats, against whose gaunt ribs theripples lapped. Sometimes this garden and orchard had their visitors: thelandlord and his friends would often smoke their pipes and drink theirwine under the shade of the trees, and even passing clients wouldoccasionally indulge themselves with the privilege of a stroll in theuntidy garden. But to-day the place was quite deserted--as desolate as agarden in a dream. Every one who could go had gone to the fair, and thosetravellers who paused to drink in passing took their liquor quickly andhurried on to share in the fair's festivity. The landlord was kept busyenough attending to those passers-by in the early part of the day, and,now that the stream had ceased and custom slackened, he was glad enoughto take his ease in-doors and leave his garden to its loneliness.

  When, therefore, Lagardere and AEsop entered the garden they found it asquiet and as uninhabited as any pair of swordsmen could desire. Theywalked in silence along the path between the flowers and the vegetables,Lagardere only pausing for a moment to pluck a wild rose which heproposed in the serenity of his confidence to present to Gabrielle, andwhile he paused AEsop eyed him maliciously and amused himself by kickingwith his heel at a turnip and hacking it into fragments. Lagardere puthis flower into the lapel of his coat, and the pair resumed their silentprogress through the orchard till they came to a halt upon theriver-bank.

  Lagardere looked about him and seemed pleased with what he saw. There wasno one in sight, either hard by or upon the opposite bank of the river,and he felt that it might be taken for granted that there was no onewithin hearing. He turned to AEsop and addressed him, very pleasantly:"This, I think, will serve our purpose as well as any place in theworld."

  AEsop grinned malignly. "It would suit my purpose," he said, "to get youout of the way in any place in the world."

  Lagardere laughed softly and shook his head. "One or other of us has tobe got out of the way," he said, quietly, "but I think, Master AEsop, thatI am not the man. I have been waiting a long time for this chance; but Ialways felt sure that the time would bring the chance, and I mean to makean end of you."

  AEsop scowled. "You talk very big, Little Parisian," he said, "but youwill find that in me you deal with a fellow of another temper to thosepoor hirelings you have been lucky enough to kill. They were commonrogues enough, that handled their swords like broom-handles. I was alwaysa master, and my skill has grown more perfect since we last met atCaylus. I think you will regret this meeting, Captain Lagardere."

  Now, Lagardere had been listening very patiently while AEsop spoke, andwhile he listened a thought came into his mind which at first seemed toofantastic for consideration, but which grew more tempting and moreentertainable with every second. To thrust AEsop from his path was onething, and a thing that must be done if Lagardere's life-purposes were tobe accomplished. But to get rid of AEsop and yet to use him--at once toobliterate him and yet to recreate him, so that he should prove the mostdeadly enemy of the base cause that he was paid to serve--here was ascheme, a dream, that if it could be made a reality would be fruitful ofgood uses. It was therefore with a strange smile that he listened whileAEsop menaced him with regret for the meeting, and it was with a strangesmile that he spoke:

  "I do not think so," he answered, maturing his plan even while he talked,and finding it the more feasible and the more pleasing. "You are ahaggard rascal, Master AEsop, and the world should have no use for you. Ibelieve that by what I am about to do I shall render the world and Franceand myself a service. You are nothing more than a rabid wild beast, andit is well to be quit of you." As he spoke he drew his sword and came onguard.

  Something in the composed manner and the mocking speech of Lagardereseemed to bid AEsop pause. He let his weapon remain in its sheath andbegan to parley.

  "Come, come, Captain Lagardere," he began, "is it necessary, after all,that we should quarrel? You have got Nevers's girl--there is no denyingthat--but we do not want her. We have a girl of our own. Now I know wellenough, for I have not studied love books and read love books fornothing," and he grinned hideously as he spoke, "that you are in lovewith the girl you carry about with you. Well and good. How if we call atruce, make a peace? You shall keep your girl, and do as you please withher; we will produce our girl, and do as we please with her. You shallhave as much money as you want, I can promise that for the Prince ofGonzague, and you can live in Madrid or where you please with your prettyminion. Make a bargain, man, and shake hands on it."

  Lagardere eyed the hunchback with something of the compassion andcuriosity of a surgeon about to deal with an ugly case. He saw now hisenemy's hand and the strength of his enemy's cards and the cleverness ofhis enemy's plan, and was not in the least abashed by its audacity or hisown isolation.

  "Master AEsop," he said, briefly, "if it ever came to pass that I shouldfind myself making terms or shaking hands with such as you, or the knavethat uses you for his base purpose, I should very swiftly go and hangmyself, I should be so ashamed of my own bad company. We have talked longenough; it is time for action." He saluted quickly as he spoke, accordingto the code of the fencing-schools.

  And AEsop, in answer to the challenge, drew his own sword and answered thesalutation. "Gallant captain," he sneered, "I have been in training forthis chance these many years, and I think I will teach you to weep foryour heroics." As he spoke he came on guard, and the blades met.

  The place that had been chosen for the combat was suitable enough, quiteapart from its solitude. The morning air was clear and even; the sun'sheight caused no diverting rays to disturb either adversary; the grasswas smooth and supple to the feet; there was ample ground to break in alldirections.

  The moment that Lagardere's steel touched that of AEsop's, he knew thatAEsop's boast had not been made in vain. Though it was a long time nowsince that afternoon in the frontier Inn when he and AEsop had joinedblades before, he remembered the time well enough to appreciate thedifference between the sword he then encountered and the sword heencountered now. Clearly AEsop had spoken the truth when he had talked ofhis daily practice and his steady advance towards perfection. But, andLagardere smiled as he remembered this, AEsop had forgotten or overlookedthe possibility that Lagardere's own sword-play would improve withtime--that Lagardere's own sword-play was little likely to rust for lackof usage.

  The few minutes that followed upon the encounter of the hostile steelswere minutes of sheer enjoyment to Lagardere. AEsop was a worthyantagonist, that he frankly admitted from the first, and he wished, as hefought, that he could divide his personality and admire, as a spectator,the passage at arms between two such champions. Of the result, from thefirst, Lagardere had not the slightest doubt. He was honestly convinced,by his simple logic of steel, that it was his mission to avenge Neversand to expiate his murder. He was, as it were, a kind of seventeenthcentury crusader, with a sealed and sacred mission to follow; and while,as a stout-hearted and honest soldier of fortune, he had no morehesitation about killing a venomous thing like AEsop than he would havehad about killing a snake, he was in this special instance exulted by thebelief that in killing one of the men of the moat of Caylus his sword wasthe sword of justice, his sword was the sword of God.

  If, therefore, it was soon plain to him that the boast of the hunchbackwas true enough, and that his skill with his weapon had greatly betteredin the years that had elapsed since their previous encounter, Lagarderewas rejoiced to find it so, as it gave a greater difficulty and a greaterhonor to his achievement. It was clear, too, from the expression onAEsop's face, af
ter the first few instants of the engagement, that he wasmade aware that his skill was not as the skill of Lagardere. He foughtdesperately, and yet warily, knowing that he was fighting for his life,and trying without success every cunning trick that he had learned in thefencing-schools of Spain. The thrust of Nevers he did not attempt, for ofthat he knew Lagardere commanded the parry, but there were other thrustson which he relied to gain the victory, and each of these he tried insuccession, only to be baffled by Lagardere's instinctive steel.

  Lagardere, watching him while they fought, hated his adversary for hisown sake apart from his complicity in the crime of Caylus. AEsop was theincarnation of everything that was detestable in the eyes of a man likeLagardere. A splendid swordsman, his sword was always lightly sold toevil causes. He prostituted the noble weapon that Lagardere idolized tothe service of the assassin, the advantage of the bully, and the revengeof the coward. He would have felt no scruple about slaying him, even ifAEsop had not been, as now he was, a dangerous and unexpected enemy in hispath.

  AEsop, unable to make Lagardere break ground, and unable to get withinLagardere's guard, now began to taunt his antagonist savagely, callinghim a child-stealer and a woman-wronger, with other foul terms of abusethat rolled glibly from his lips in the ugliness of his rage and fear.

  Lagardere listened with his quiet smile, and when the hunchback made apause he answered him with scornful good-humor. "You waste your breath,Master AEsop," he said, "and you should be saving it for your prayers, ifyou know any, or for your fighting wind, if there is nothing of salvationin you. You are a very base knave. I do not think you ever did an honest,a kindly, or a generous deed in your life. I know that you have done manyvile things, and would do more if time were given to you; but the time isdenied, Master AEsop, and yet you may serve a good cause in your death."

  Even as he spoke Lagardere's tranquillity of defence suddenly changedinto rapidity of attack. His blade leaped forward, made sudden swiftmovements which the bravo strove in vain to parry, and then AEsop droppedhis sword and fell heavily upon the grass. He was dead, dead of thethrust in the face, exactly between the eyes, the thrust of Nevers.

  Lagardere leaned over his dead enemy and smiled. His account against theassassins of Caylus was being slowly paid; but never had any item of thataccount been annulled with less regret. The others--Staupitz, Saldagno,Pinto, and the rest--had been ruffianly creatures enough, but there wasa kind of honesty, a measure of courage in their ruffianism. They were,at least some of them, good-hearted in their way, true to their comradesand their leaders; but of the ignoble wretch that now lay a huddle ofblack at his feet, Lagardere knew nothing that was not loathsome, and heknew much of Master AEsop.

  Lagardere stooped and gathered a handful of grass, wiped his sword andsheathed it.

  "Yes," he said, apostrophizing the dead body, "you shall serve a goodcause now, Master AEsop, if you have never served a good cause yet."

  He looked anxiously about him as he spoke to make sure that the solitudewas still undisturbed. There was not a human being within sight on eitherbank of the river. This quiet, this isolation, were very welcome to histemper just then, for the purpose that had come into Lagardere's mind atthe commencement of the combat had matured, had ripened during its courseinto a feasible plan. It had its risks, but what did that matter in anenterprise that was all risk; and if it succeeded, as, thanks to its verydaring, it might succeed, it promised a magnificent reward. That itinvolved the despoiling of a dead body in no way harassed Lagardere. Hewas never one to let himself be squeamish over trifles where a greatcause was at stake, and, though much that was inevitable to the successof his scheme was repellent to him, he choked down his disgust and facedhis duty with a smile. Quickly he dragged the body of his dead enemyinto the shelter and seclusion of the orchard-trees. There, rolling AEsopon his face, he proceeded nimbly and dexterously to strip his clothesfrom his body. Soon the black coat, black vest, black breeches, blackstockings, black boots, and black hat lay in a pile of sable raiment onthe orchard grass. As he garnered his spoil, a little book dropped fromthe pocket of the black coat and lay upon the grass. Lagardere picked itup and opened it with a look of curiosity that speedily changed to one ofaversion, for the book was a copy in Italian of the _Luxurious Sonnets_of Messer Pietro Arentino, which Lagardere, who knew Italian, found at aglance to be in no way to his taste, and the little book had pictures init which pleased him still less. With a grunt of disgust at this strangeproof of the dead man's taste in literature, Lagardere stepped to theedge of the orchard, and, holding the volume in his finger and thumb,pitched it over the open space into the river, where it sank. Having thuseasily got rid of the book, Lagardere began to cast about him for someway to dispose of the body.

  The boats that lay alongside of the little landing-stage caught his eye.Lifting Master AEsop's corpse from the ground, he trailed it to the crazystructure, and placed it in the oldest and most ramshackle of the twoweather-worn vessels. After untying the rope that fastened the boat toits wharf, Lagardere caught up a boat-hook that lay hard by, and, raisingit as if it were a spear, he drove it with all his strength against thebottom of the boat and knocked a ragged hole in its rotting timbers.Then, with a vigorous push, he sent the boat out upon the smooth, swiftriver.

  The vigor of its impetus carried the boat nearly out to the middle of thestream before the river could take advantage of the leak. Then, in a fewminutes, Lagardere saw the strangely burdened craft slowly sink andfinally settle beneath the surface of the stream.

  When the boat and its burden were out of sight, and the water ran assmoothly as if it were troubled with no such secret, Lagardere turned,and, gathering up the garments of his antagonist as a Homeric hero wouldhave collected his fallen enemy's armor, rolled them into as small abundle as possible, and, putting them under his arm, made his waycautiously back to the Inn.

  He gained its shelter unperceived. Unperceived and noiselessly heascended the stairs which led to his room, and, opening the door, flunghis bundle upon the ground. He then closed the door again, and, going alittle farther down the corridor, knocked at an adjoining door, whichimmediately opened, and Gabrielle stood before him looking pale andanxious. Lagardere smiled cheerfully at her, and, taking from his coatthe white rose which he had plucked in the garden, offered it to her.

  The girl caught it and pressed it to her lips, and then asked, eagerly:"The man--where is the man? What has become of him?"

  Lagardere affected an air of surprise, and then, with the manner of onewho thought the matter of no importance, answered her: "You mean myfriend in black who spoke to me just now?"

  The girl nodded. "Yes," she said, "he seemed evil, he seemed dangerous."

  Lagardere smiled reassuringly. "Evil he may be," he said, "but notdangerous--no, not dangerous. Indeed, I am inclined to think he will bemore useful to us than otherwise."

  "But he seemed to threaten you," the girl protested.

  Lagardere admitted the fact. "He was a little threatening at first," heagreed, "but I have managed to pacify him, and he will not trouble us anymore."

  He took the girl's cold hand and kissed it reverentially. "Gabrielle," hesaid, "we go to Paris to-day, but till I come for you and tell you it istime for us to depart I want you to remain in this chamber. You will dothis for me, will you not?"

  "I will always do whatever you wish," the girl answered, and her eyesfilled with tears.

  Lagardere was filled with the longing to clasp her in his arms, but herestrained himself, again kissed her hand with the same air of tenderdevotion, and motioned to her to enter her room. When she had closed thedoor he returned to his own room, and there, with amazing swiftness,divested himself of his outer garments and substituted for them those ofthe dead AEsop.

  Producing a small box from a battered portmantle that stood in a corner,he produced certain pigments from it, and, facing a cracked fragment ofunframed looking-glass that served for a mirror, proceeded with the skillof an experienced actor to make certain changes in his ap
pearance.

  His curiously mobile face he distorted at once into an admirable likenessto the hunchback, and then, this initial likeness thus acquired, heheightened and intensified it by few but skilful strokes of coloringmatter. Then he dexterously rearranged his hair to resemble thehunchback's dishevelled locks, compelling its curls to fall about histransformed face and shade it. Finally he surmounted all with thehunchback's hat, placed well forward on his forehead. He gave a smile ofsatisfaction at the result of his handiwork, and the smile was the malignsmile of AEsop.

  "That is good enough," he murmured, "to deceive a short-sighted fellowlike Peyrolles, and as for his Highness of Gonzague, he has not seen mefor so many years that there will be no difficulty with him."

  He glanced at his new raiment with an expression of distaste. "When I getto Paris," he mused, "I will shift these habiliments. It is all very wellto play the bird of prey, but it is somewhat unpleasant to wear thebird's own feathers."