George Manville Fenn

“ He rode his charger to the open gangway, where the brave beast answered the neigh that came from its companion on land, and without hesitation made the splashing leap so suddenly that the rider nearly lost his seat, having an undignified struggle to get himself upright again; while as soon as there was a clear way Saint Simon followed without the slightest difficulty, his charger in a few strides getting abreast of the King’s; and they swam together till the water shallowed and the swimming became a splashing wade to where, wet and triumphant, Denis was waiting their arrival. ”

“ And he held out his hand.
“I feel I cannot,” cried Carrbroke.
“Does it take a king to forgive?” said Denis, with a smile. “To say those words, I forgive you, when there is nothing to forgive?”
“Oh,” cried Carrbroke hoarsely, and he looked sharply round to see if they were observed, before snatching and tightly grasping Denis’s extended hands.
A few minutes later the two lads were walking together arms on shoulders, in full sunshine of their young nature, that light seeming to be at the zenith, while the ruddy orange sun itself finishing its daily rounds was slowly sinking in the west. ”

“ With a quick movement, accompanied by a smile, Leoni’s long, thin, brown fingers were laid upon Denis’s lips.
“Hist, boy! We are in King Henry’s palace, where walls may have ears. Speak it not. We understand one another, and know what in our master’s service we have come to seek. Denis, you are a boy in years, but I find you in many things a man at heart, and there should be no half confidences between us two. I like you, my boy, and always have, stern and cold and severe as I may have seemed. My face may have been hard, but there are moments when my heart is soft. ”

“ It was a king who spoke, and drawing back slightly, he yielded to circumstances, feeling that his puny efforts were in vain, and guarding the door no longer, he thrust his sword back into its scabbard and stood aside.
“Ah!” cried the King, growing mollified upon seeing himself obeyed, and looking admiringly at the lad. “Not bad, Hurst, for a mere boy,” he said. “May I always be as well served by followers of mine. There,” he continued, stepping forward towards the door, and looking back at Denis, “you can follow me, and I will make your peace with your lord, for I am master here.” ”

“ A dash for liberty.
“Oh!” groaned Denis to himself, as he stood in the darkness watching the shape of the saddle-room door, marked-out as it was in lines of light from the lanterns within, listening to the low muttering of voices, and shuddering once as his wounded adversary uttered a low deep groan, which was followed directly after by an angry ejaculation as if he were enraged by the clumsy surgery of the men.
“Is all this going to be in vain?” muttered the boy. “It is as if the whole business is accursed and is bound to fail.” ”

“ He did not even stir when, kneeling in the boat, Leoni moistened and drew off the bandages to dress his wound, washing them in the stream and drying them in a patch where the hot sun heated the bows of the boat, but still slept on as if restful and comforted by the chirurgeon’s skilful hands.
“Better or worse?” whispered Saint Simon, while the task was in progress.
“Better, boy, and healing fast. He will sleep for hours yet, and waken quite himself towards evening; but then,” added the doctor, with a sigh, “we have another difficulty to face, if we are not taken.” ”

“ As if to aid the fugitives’ escape, the moon, which had been shining brightly the greater part of the evening, had become overclouded almost from the minute they set off, and headed by the King, who bent low over the pommel of his saddle, and at the start had seemed to drive his spurs into his horse’s flanks, the little party tore over the darkened road at a furious pace, no one uttering a word. ”

“ Denis raised his hand again, so that it came out of the shadow thrown by the curtains into the light cast by the candles right across the bed; and as the King sat there as if watching the effect of his words, the hand was waved carelessly in the air before it was allowed to descend.
“Hah!” cried the King. “You are a Frenchman, sir, and you behave with all the flippancy of your race. I understand your gesture. It means recklessness. You, so to speak, tell me that you do not value your life. ”

“ Leoni was with the King in his chamber, and Denis and Saint Simon were seated gloomily together in their humble room, and the latter was from time to time sipping and making wry faces over a stoup of the bitterest, sourest, harshest cider that was ever drawn from tub, when there was the loud clattering of horses upon the road coming at a sharp trot; and as the young men sprang to their feet a loud command was heard, which was followed by the stamping and shuffling of hoofs as a troop of horsemen drew rein shortly in front of the little inn. ”

“ Give up your sword, sir, at once. You are my prisoner.”
“Take my sword,” cried Denis sharply, “and make me your prisoner, insolent boor, if you dare or can.”
“On your head be it then,” cried Sir Robert, loosening his cloak, twisting it quickly round his left arm, and drawing his sword, while the chief groom, startled by the danger in which the young esquire stood, whispered quickly to a couple of his underlings to hurry for the guard.
“Stop!” cried Sir Robert fiercely. “Let no man stir if he value his skin. ”

“ For still invisible, after the thudding of the hoofs had quite died out, the sounds came again; then louder, louder, and louder still, coming nearer and nearer, till all at once the noble animals swept into sight again round the curving lane, galloping excited and snorting, Saint Simon’s horse right in the centre being urged forward by the rider, while the other two hung away right and left to the full extent of their reins. While perfectly unconscious of his peril, thinking of nothing but checking the headlong gallop, the lad stood with extended blade right in the middle of the lane. ”

“ Leoni ended by joining his young companions in the deep embrasure of the window, taking him by the arm, and pressing him towards the diamond panes of the casement as if to draw his attention to something out beyond the terrace and the steep slope below.
“Now,” he said, in a quick whisper, “speak beneath your breath. You know where?”
“In the tall, square-turreted cabinet three parts of the way down the long corridor by the King’s private apartments.” ”

“ You refuse to be disarmed when I have mercifully shown myself disposed to let you off without a scratch.”
“Your tongue is sharper than your sword, sir,” said the boy scornfully; “and it is worse. It is poisoned, for every word you have spoken is a lie.”
“What!” cried the captain, enraged by the low murmur uttered by the grooms as if endorsing the young esquire’s words. “More insolent than ever! Give up your sword, or, by Heaven, I’ll send you back to the castle upon a litter.”
“Send me, then,” said the lad contemptuously, “or be prepared to go yourself.” ”

“ Denis, my brave lad, how is it with you?”
“You took too much care of me, my lord. I am only hot.”
“Well done!” cried the King. “And you, Saint Simon?”
“A bit battered with blows, sir,” replied the young man; “and I expect when the day dawns I can show some rags.”
“No wounds?” cried the King.
“Not a scratch, sir.”
“But what of you, sir?” cried Denis eagerly, “I am afraid you must have suffered badly.”
“I have,” said the King shortly. “I feel as if my beauty is spoiled by a blow one ruffian struck at my face. But he was the one who suffered,” he added, with a low hiss suggestive of satisfaction. ”

“ Now then, Saint Simon, what have you to say?”
The young man slowly shook his head.
“Bah!” cried the King. “What a dumb dog you are! And I know nothing of the way. I begin to feel that we ought to have had old Leoni with us, after all. He has maps, and knowledge always ready in his brain; and he speaks these islanders’ language better than they can themselves. But he would only have been in the way, and I wanted freedom. Here, Denis, boy, what have you to say? Where shall we sleep to-night?” ”

“ The King looked fixedly at his servant, and then laid his hand on the latter’s arm.
“It is good,” he said. “What you have done is well done. Leoni, with mind and sword you have served me well, and that France which we both love with loyalty and faith. And now—now that we are nearing our journey’s end, you hold it still to be the truth that Henry guards jealously in his possession this jewel, which in his hands is an agent for the downfall of France?”
“I hold it to be true, sir,” said Leoni solemnly, and he laid his hand on a little golden crucifix which lay on the table before him. ”

“ Can you shake hands without its hurting? Because we always do it with our right.”
“Try,” said Denis, smiling, as, passing his left hand under his wrist, he softly raised the injured limb, and the next moment the two lads seemed to seal the beginning of a long friendship in a warm, firm pressure, which had not ended when they became conscious that the door had softly opened and Master Leoni was standing there, a dark, peculiar-looking, living picture in an oaken frame, an inscrutable-looking smile upon his lips and his eyes half closed. ”

“ There, Leoni, was I not right in letting these boys share our confidence? Who says that Francis of Valois has not followers in whom he can trust?”
“Not I, Sire,” said the doctor grimly; “but this is no work for them.”
“Not for Denis here,” cried Saint Simon excitedly, “but, your Majesty, for me. I would strike, and strike now. Mine be the task to do or die!”
“Silence, boy!” cried the King, laying his hand on Denis’s head as he dumbly looked up at him in protest, his eyes appealing the while that his monarch’s favour should be awarded to him alone. “No, no; emphatically no! ”

“ You see, it turns so, and seems so strong.”
“Yes, that is strange,” said Denis. “It is no matter how you parry; the point always seems as if it could enter your breast if it liked. I always feel that Master Leoni could kill anyone just as he pleased.”
“Of course you believe in magic?” said Carrbroke.
“I don’t know. I suppose I do,” replied Denis.
“I do,” said Carrbroke; “and your friend seems so different from other men. Look at his eye.” ”

“ The next minute as they moved forward the head of the stone steps was reached, lying in the darkness of the clouded night nearly hidden by a great overhanging willow, whose pensile twigs brushed the roof of the waterside summer-house supported upon slimy water-worn piles, to one of which the boat-chain was attached, the rusty iron creaking faintly against the ring-bolt as the skiff swung softly to and fro, influenced by the swift stream.
“Hah!” sighed Leoni to himself. “Fate is with us yet. Who says our mission is unrighteous?” ”

“ Denis was silent for a moment or two, and then whispered something, with a peculiar smile upon his lips as he placed them near his companion’s ear.
“What!” cried Carrbroke, starting back and staring in wonderment at his companion. “He hid it there? Then that accounts for his peculiar fixed look.”
“Yes. He was fencing when a young man, and his adversary’s rapier point completely destroyed his left eye.”
“Ah!” whispered Carrbroke, beneath his breath. “I see. Then the eye is false—made, you say, of gold, enamelled to look exactly like the other, a little hollow globe.” ”

“ But you were about to say something, my lord.”
“Yes, of course,” cried the King hastily. “Suppose Henry does find me out, and has got me there. Why, by my sword, Leoni, he’ll hold me to ransom, and instead of my getting back that one jewel he’ll make me give up my whole crown.”
“No, sir; no, sir,” cried Leoni earnestly. “Have more faith in yourself, and go forward. You cannot turn back now. You will soon get used to the part you assume, and it will be easy.”
“I don’t know so much about that,” said the King. “I am a bad actor. Why, you can’t keep it up yourself. ”

“ The doctor lost no time in thought, but returned to the outer apartment which he had quitted only a few minutes before, to find that Saint Simon had joined Denis and was watching by the bed where Francis lay insensible.
“We must act at once,” he said, as they joined him and he gazed at a narrow window through which the moonlight came. “Our King is in danger of his life.”
Denis’s hand went to his sword.
“We will fight to the last,” he said, “and die.”
“Boy!” exclaimed Leoni contemptuously. “Fight and die! Better act with craft and live. What! Would you fight an army? ”

“ I have seen no guard in that corridor since our return.”
“Nor I,” said Denis eagerly.
“But how to pass the gates?” said Leoni thoughtfully.
“There is no need,” cried Denis. “Follow the narrow alley leading downward to the river, and take the boat of which young Carrbroke spoke. The river! Surely you could escape that way.”
“Boy,” whispered Leoni ecstatically, “you are the deliverer of France! Hah!” he added, in tones full of regret. “And you will not be with us! The river—yes. They would never dream that we escaped that way. Quick, then. There is not a moment to be lost. You will not flinch?” ”