Orrain | Page 8

S. Levett-Yeats
archives of the Parliament of Paris, where all
who list may see it. There is yet one other whom I could name, one
who is ever at my side, and who for good or for ill has taken me as part
of her life; but for the present the names I have cited are sufficient, and
I shall say no more on the subject.
On returning to my apartment after leaving Vendôme and Le Brusquet I
found old Camus at the door awaiting me. He entered with me, saying:
"I watched it all from the window. Hey! but it was well done!"

I pretended to take no notice of this remark, and pressed some
refreshment upon him; but the old rascal refused, and sat with his knee
between his hands, rocking himself backwards and forwards. He went
on to make some roundabout inquiries as to who the persons were to
whose assistance I had gone, but I told him plainly that I did not desire
to discuss the subject.
Becoming nettled at this, he said: "Ho! ho! and so you do not trust me,
Monsieur Broussel! Well, I tell you I know at any rate who it is that lies
dead out there, for I have been to see, and it will not take long for me to
find out the rest."
"Go and find out, then!" I said somewhat roughly, being annoyed in my
turn.
At which he rose in a white heat. "That I will," he said; "and you will
find that the hand of Madame Diane, soft as it is, can grip hard--hard,
mind you, Monsieur Broussel!"
With this he flung out; and so we, who but an hour or two ago were in
friendly converse, parted in anger, and with stormy words.
In a manner I was not sorry for this, for in my heart I always felt a
warning against him, and there was something so ominous, so evil, in
his face as he left that I felt assured he would strike a felon blow at the
first opportunity.
The more I reflected on what had happened, and on Camus' threat in
connection with Diane de Poitiers, the more I began to see a crop of
dangers ahead of me. I began to think it well to retire to some other city.
In this I was influenced by the fact that, if there were trouble about the
dead man and I were involved in it, as after Camus' words I felt I
should certainly be, it was hardly possible that I could escape being
recognised.
The sentence against me, cruel and unjust as it was, stood still, and,
once I was discovered, it would be put into force for certain.

Like a prudent general, I felt I must beat a retreat. The bulk of my
money was in trustworthy hands in Antwerp, but in my oak chest were
a hundred gold crowns of the sun--a great stand-by and help in the hour
of trouble.
There was nothing for it but to go, and, summoning Pierrebon, I told
him of my intention. We set to work to pack a valise at once. This
being done, we waited for the small hours.
It was about four in the morning that I decided to move, and taking a
last look at the place where I had lived so long in peace I went out into
the street, followed by Pierrebon bearing the valise. I had to leave
everything behind except the barest necessities and my money, and to
trust the well-being of my goods to Fortune. The jade was unkind
enough to forget me in this matter, which put me to heavy loss.
It was, of course, impossible to leave Paris at this hour, as the gates
would be shut; but behind the Abbey of St. Germain de Pres was a little
hostel called the Chapeau Rouge, where I knew I could find shelter
until I could procure a couple of horses and be off.
At four in the morning night-hawks are abed, and even the convicts had
ceased working on the Gloriette. The moon had gone, and it was dark
now--the darkness that precedes the dawn.
We met not a soul as we stumbled along, and coming out at length to
the Vallée de Misère we passed the Gloriette, and kept to our right
along the river face, until almost opposite the Church of St. Germain
l'Auxerrois. Here moored to the bank were a number of boats, the
boatmen sleeping within them. Groping about in the darkness--such
noises as we made being fortunately drowned by the continual lap, lap
of the water against the sides of the boat, and their creaking and
groaning as they rubbed against each other--we at length found a small
empty boat tied to a
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