Count Hannibal | Page 8

warned by it."

Nancay scowled. "But the priests say, 'If your hand offend you, cut it
off!'" he muttered.
Tavannes laughed, a sinister laugh. "If you offend me I'll cut your
throat," he said; and with no ceremony he went out, and dropped the
curtain behind him.
Nancay looked after him, his face pale with rage. "Curse him!" he
whispered, rubbing his wrist. "If he were any one else I would teach
him! But he would as soon run you through in the presence as in the
Pre aux Clercs! And his brother, the Marshal, has the King's ear! And
Madame Catherine's too, which is worse!"
He was still fuming, when an officer in the colours of Monsieur, the
King's brother, entered hurriedly, and keeping his hand on the curtain,
looked anxiously round the Chamber. As soon as his eye found Nancay,
his face cleared.
"Have you the reckoning?" he muttered.
"There are seventeen Huguenots in the palace besides their
Highnesses," Nancay replied, in the same cautious tone. "Not counting
two or three who are neither the one thing nor the other. In addition,
there are the two Montmorencies; but they are to go safe for fear of
their brother, who is not in the trap. He is too like his father, the old
Bench-burner, to be lightly wronged! And, besides, there is Pare, who
is to go to his Majesty's closet as soon as the gates are shut. If the King
decides to save any one else, he will send him to his closet. So 'tis all
clear and arranged here. If you are forward outside, it will be well!
Who deals with the gentleman with the tooth-pick?"
"The Admiral? Monsieur, Guise, and the Grand Prior; Cosseins and
Besme have charge. 'Tis to be done first. Then the Provost will raise the
town. He will have a body of stout fellows ready at three or four
rendezvous, so that the fire may blaze up everywhere at once. Marcel,
the ex-provost, has the same commission south of the river. Orders to
light the town as for a frolic have been given, and the Halles will be
ready."

Nancay nodded, reflected a moment, and then with an involuntary
shudder--
"God!" he exclaimed, "it will shake the world!"
"You think so?"
"Ay, will it not!" His next words showed that he bore Tavannes'
warning in mind. "For me, my friend, I go in mail to-night," he said.
"There will be many a score paid before morning, besides his Majesty's.
And many a left-handed blow will be struck in the melee!"
The other crossed himself. "Grant none light here!" he said devoutly.
And with a last look he nodded and went out.
In the doorway he jostled a person who was in the act of entering. It
was M. de Tignonville, who, seeing Nancay at his elbow, saluted him,
and stood looking round. The young man's face was flushed, his eyes
were bright with unwonted excitement.
"M. de Rochefoucauld?" he asked eagerly. "He has not left yet?"
Nancay caught the thrill in his voice, and marked the young man's
flushed face and altered bearing. He noted, too, the crumpled paper he
carried half-hidden in his hand; and the Captain's countenance grew
dark. He drew a step nearer, and his hand reached softly for his dagger.
But his voice, when he spoke, was smooth as the surface of the
pleasure-loving Court, smooth as the externals of all things in Paris that
summer evening.
"He is here still," he said. "Have you news, M. de Tignonville?"
"News?"
"For M. de Rochefoucauld?"
Tignonville laughed. "No," he said. "I am here to see him to his lodging,
that is all. News, Captain? What made you think so?"

"That which you have in your hand," Nancay answered, his fears
relieved.
The young man blushed to the roots of his hair. "It is not for him," he
said.
"I can see that, Monsieur," Nancay answered politely. "He has his
successes, but all the billets-doux do not go one way."
The young man laughed, a conscious, flattered laugh. He was
handsome, with such a face as women love, but there was a lack of ease
in the way he wore his Court suit. It was a trifle finer, too, than
accorded with Huguenot taste; or it looked the finer for the way he
wore it, even as Teligny's and Foucauld's velvet capes and stiff
brocades lost their richness and became but the adjuncts, fitting and
graceful, of the men. Odder still, as Tignonville laughed, half hiding
and half revealing the dainty scented paper in his hand, his clothes
seemed smarter and he more awkward than usual.
"It is from a lady," he admitted. "But a bit of badinage, I assure you,
nothing more!"
"Understood!" M. de Nancay murmured politely. "I congratulate you."
"But--"