Maitre Cornelius | Page 5

the
secrets of her marriage, she added: "Yes, tell him that to master me the
count bleeds me in both arms--to exhaust me. Tell him that my husband
drags me about by the hair of my head. Say that I am a prisoner; that--"
Her heart swelled, sobs choked her throat, tears fell from her eyes. In
her agitation she allowed the young man, who was muttering broken
words, to kiss her hands.
"Poor darling! no one can speak to the king. Though my uncle is
grand-master of his archers, I could not gain admission to Plessis. My
dear lady! my beautiful sovereign! oh, how she has suffered! Marie, let
yourself say but two words, or we are lost!"
"What will become of us?" she murmured. Then, seeing on the dark
wall a picture of the Virgin, on which the light from the lamp was
falling, she cried out:--
"Holy Mother of God, give us counsel!"
"To-night," said the young man, "I shall be with you in your room."
"How?" she asked naively.
They were in such great peril that their tenderest words were devoid of
love.

"This evening," he replied, "I shall offer myself as apprentice to Maitre
Cornelius, the king's silversmith. I have obtained a letter of
recommendation to him which will make him receive me. His house is
next to yours. Once under the roof of that old thief, I can soon find my
way to your apartment by the help of a silken ladder."
"Oh!" she said, petrified with horror, "if you love me don't go to Maitre
Cornelius."
"Ah!" he cried, pressing her to his heart with all the force of his youth,
"you do indeed love me!"
"Yes," she said; "are you not my hope? You are a gentleman, and I
confide to you my honor. Besides," she added, looking at him with
dignity, "I am so unhappy that you would never betray my trust. But
what is the good of all this? Go, let me die, sooner than that you should
enter that house of Maitre Cornelius. Do you not know that all his
apprentices--"
"Have been hanged," said the young man, laughing.
"Oh, don't go; you will be made the victim of some sorcery."
"I cannot pay too dearly for the joy of serving you," he said, with a look
that made her drop her eyes.
"But my husband?" she said.
"Here is something to put him to sleep," replied her lover, drawing
from his belt a little vial.
"Not for always?" said the countess, trembling.
For all answer the young seigneur made a gesture of horror.
"I would long ago have defied him to mortal combat if he were not so
old," he said. "God preserve me from ridding you of him in any other
way."

"Forgive me," said the countess, blushing. "I am cruelly punished for
my sins. In a moment of despair I thought of killing him, and I feared
you might have the same desire. My sorrow is great that I have never
yet been able to confess that wicked thought; but I fear it would be
repeated to him and he would avenge it. I have shamed you," she
continued, distressed by his silence, "I deserve your blame."
And she broke the vial by flinging it on the floor violently.
"Do not come," she said, "my husband sleeps lightly; my duty is to wait
for the help of Heaven--that will I do!"
She tried to leave the chapel.
"Ah!" cried the young man, "order me to do so and I will kill him. You
will see me to-night."
"I was wise to destroy that drug," she said in a voice that was faint with
the pleasure of finding herself so loved. "The fear of awakening my
husband will save us from ourselves."
"I pledge you my life," said the young man, pressing her hand.
"If the king is willing, the pope can annul my marriage. We will then be
united," she said, giving him a look that was full of delightful hopes.
"Monseigneur comes!" cried the page, rushing in.
Instantly the young nobleman, surprised at the short time he had gained
with his mistress and wondering at the celerity of the count, snatched a
kiss, which was not refused.
"To-night!" he said, slipping hastily from the chapel.
Thanks to the darkness, he reached the great portal safely, gliding from
column to column in the long shadows which they cast athwart the
nave. An old canon suddenly issued from the confessional, came to the
side of the countess and closed the iron railing before which the page
was marching gravely up and down with the air of a watchman.

A strong light now announced the coming of the count. Accompanied
by several friends and by servants bearing torches, he hurried forward,