"But, sire," said the youngest of the four personages, "if you merely banish her, from the depths of her exile Queen Catherine will continue to stir up strife, and to find auxiliaries. We have everything to fear from the Guises, who, for the last nine years, have schemed for a vast Catholic alliance, in the secret of which your Majesty is not included; and it threatens your throne. This alliance was invented by Spain, which will never renounce its project of destroying the boundary of the Pyrenees. Sire, Calvinism will save France by setting up a moral barrier between her and a nation which covets the empire of the world. If the queen-mother is exiled, she will turn for help to Spain and to the Guises.""Gentlemen," said the king, "know this, if by your help peace without distrust is once established, I will take upon myself the duty of making all subjects tremble. /Tete-Dieu/! it is time indeed for royalty to assert itself. My mother is right in that, at any rate. You ought to know that it is to your interest was well as mine, for your hands, your fortunes depend upon our throne. If religion is overthrown, the hands you allow to do it will be laid next upon the throne and then upon you. I no longer care to fight ideas with weapons that cannot touch them. Let us see now if Protestantism will make progress when left to itself; above all, I would like to see with whom and what the spirit of that faction will wrestle. The admiral, God rest his soul! was not my enemy; he swore to me to restrain the revolt within spiritual limits, and to leave the ruling of the kingdom to the monarch, his master, with submissive subjects. Gentlemen, if the matter be still within your power, set that example now; help your sovereign to put down a spirit of rebellion which takes tranquillity from each and all of us. War is depriving us of revenue; it is ruining the kingdom. I am weary of these constant troubles; so weary, that if it is absolutely necessary I will sacrifice my mother. Nay, I will go farther; I will keep an equal number of Protestants and Catholics about me, and I will hold the axe of Louis XI. above their heads to force them to be on good terms. If the Messieurs de Guise plot a Holy Alliance to attack our crown, the executioner shall begin with their heads. I see the miseries of my people, and I will make short work of the great lords who care little for consciences,--let them hold what opinions they like; what I want in future is submissive subjects, who will work, according to my will, for the prosperity of the State.
Gentlemen, I give you ten days to negotiate with your friends, to break off your plots, and to return to me who will be your father. if you refuse you will see great changes. I shall use the mass of the people, who will rise at my voice against the lords. I will make myself a king who pacificates his kingdom by striking down those who are more powerful even than you, and who dare defy him. If the troops fail me, I have my brother of Spain, on whom I shall call to defend our menaced thrones, and if I lack a minister to carry out my will, he can lend me the Duke of Alba.""But in that case, sire, we should have Germans to oppose to your Spaniards," said one of his hearers.
"Cousin," replied Charles IX., coldly, "my wife's name is Elizabeth of Austria; support might fail you on the German side. But, for Heaven's sake, let us fight, if fight we must, alone, without the help of foreigners. You are the object of my mother's hatred, and you stand near enough to me to be my second in the duel I am about to fight with her; well then, listen to what I now say. You seem to me so worthy of confidence that I offer you the post of /connetable/; /you/ will not betray me like the other."The prince to whom Charles IX. had addressed himself, struck his hand into that of the king, exclaiming:
"/Ventre-saint-gris/! brother; this is enough to make me forget many wrongs. But, sire, the head cannot march without the tail, and ours is a long tail to drag. Give me more than ten days; we want at least a month to make our friends hear reason. At the end of that time we shall be masters.""A month, so be it! My only negotiator will be Villeroy; trust no one else, no matter what is said to you.""One month," echoed the other seigneurs, "that is sufficient.""Gentlemen, we are five," said the king,--"five men of honor. If any betrayal takes place, we shall know on whom to avenge it."The three strangers kissed the hand of Charles IX. and took leave of him with every mark of the utmost respect. As the king recrossed the Seine, four o'clock was ringing from the clock-tower of the Louvre.
Lights were on in the queen-mother's room; she had not yet gone to bed.
"My mother is still on the watch," said Charles to the Comte de Solern.
"She has her forge as you have yours," remarked the German.
"Dear count, what do you think of a king who is reduced to become a conspirator?" said Charles IX., bitterly, after a pause.
"I think, sire, that if you would allow me to fling that woman into the river, as your young cousin said, France would soon be at peace.""What! a parricide in addition to the Saint-Bartholomew, count?" cried the king. "No, no! I will exile her. Once fallen, my mother will no longer have either servants or partisans.""Well, then, sire," replied the Comte de Solern, "give me the order to arrest her at once and take her out of the kingdom; for to-morrow she will have forced you to change your mind.""Come to my forge," said the king, "no one can overhear us there;besides, I don't want my mother to suspect the capture of the Ruggieri. If she knows I am in my work-shop she'll suppose nothing, and we can consult about the proper measures for her arrest."As the king entered a lower room of the palace, which he used for a workshop, he called his companion's attention to the forge and his implements with a laugh.
