The aged king rose erect and straight as a young man,--"Explain yourself, Olivier! And guard your head well, gossip; for I swear to you by the cross of Saint-L? that, if you lie to us at this hour, the sword which severed the head of Monsieur de Luxembourg is not so notched that it cannot yet sever yours!"The oath was formidable; Louis XI. had only sworn twice in the course of his life by the cross of Saint-L?.
Olivier opened his mouth to reply.
"Sire--"
"On your knees!" interrupted the king violently. "Tristan, have an eye to this man."Olivier knelt down and said coldly,--
"Sire, a sorceress was condemned to death by your court of parliament. She took refuge in Notre-Dame. The people are trying to take her from thence by main force. Monsieur the provost and monsieur the chevalier of the watch, who have just come from the riot, are here to give me the lie if this is not the truth. The populace is besieging Notre-Dame.""Yes, indeed!" said the king in a low voice, all pale and trembling with wrath. "Notre-Dame! They lay siege to our Lady, my good mistress in her cathedral!--Rise, Olivier.
You are right. I give you Simon Radin's charge. You are right. 'Tis I whom they are attacking. The witch is under the protection of this church, the church is under my protection.
And I thought that they were acting against the bailiff!
'Tis against myself!"
Then, rendered young by fury, he began to walk up and down with long strides. He no longer laughed, he was terrible, he went and came; the fox was changed into a hyaena.
He seemed suffocated to such a degree that he could not speak; his lips moved, and his fleshless fists were clenched.
All at once he raised his head, his hollow eye appeared full of light, and his voice burst forth like a clarion: "Down with them, Tristan! A heavy hand for these rascals! Go, Tristan, my friend! slay! slay!"This eruption having passed, he returned to his seat, and said with cold and concentrated wrath,--"Here, Tristan! There are here with us in the Bastille the fifty lances of the Vicomte de Gif, which makes three hundred horse: you will take them. There is also the company of our unattached archers of Monsieur de Chateaupers: you will take it. You are provost of the marshals; you have the men of your provostship: you will take them. At the H?tel Saint-Pol you will find forty archers of monsieur the dauphin's new guard: you will take them. And, with all these, you will hasten to Notre-Dame. Ah! messieurs, louts of Paris, do you fling yourselves thus against the crown of France, the sanctity of Notre-Dame, and the peace of this commonwealth! Exterminate, Tristan! exterminate! and let not a single one escape, except it be for Montfau?on."Tristan bowed. "'Tis well, sire."
He added, after a silence, "And what shall I do with the sorceress?"This question caused the king to meditate.
"Ah!" said he, "the sorceress! Monsieur d'Estouteville, what did the people wish to do with her?""Sire," replied the provost of Paris, "I imagine that since the populace has come to tear her from her asylum in Notre-Dame, 'tis because that impunity wounds them, and they desire to hang her."The king appeared to reflect deeply: then, addressing Tristan l'Hermite, "Well! gossip, exterminate the people and hang the sorceress.""That's it," said Rym in a low tone to Coppenole, "punish the people for willing a thing, and then do what they wish.""Enough, sire," replied Tristan. "If the sorceress is still in Notre-Dame, must she be seized in spite of the sanctuary?""~Pasque-Dieu~! the sanctuary!" said the king, scratching his ear. "But the woman must be hung, nevertheless."Here, as though seized with a sudden idea, he flung himself on his knees before his chair, took off his hat, placed it on the seat, and gazing devoutly at one of the leaden amulets which loaded it down, "Oh!" said he, with clasped hands, "our Lady of Paris, my gracious patroness, pardon me. I will only do it this once. This criminal must be punished. I assure you, madame the virgin, my good mistress, that she is a sorceress who is not worthy of your amiable protection.
You know, madame, that many very pious princes have overstepped the privileges of the churches for the glory of God and the necessities of the State. Saint Hugues, bishop of England, permitted King Edward to hang a witch in his church. Saint-Louis of France, my master, transgressed, with the same object, the church of Monsieur Saint-Paul; and Monsieur Alphonse, son of the king of Jerusalem, the very church of the Holy Sepulchre. Pardon me, then, for this once. Our Lady of Paris, I will never do so again, and I will give you a fine statue of silver, like the one which I gave last year to Our Lady of Ecouys. So be it."He made the sign of the cross, rose, donned his hat once more, and said to Tristan,--"Be diligent, gossip. Take Monsieur Chateaupers with you. You will cause the tocsin to be sounded. You will crush the populace. You will seize the witch. 'Tis said.
And I mean the business of the execution to be done by you.
You will render me an account of it. Come, Olivier, I shall not go to bed this night. Shave me."Tristan l'Hermite bowed and departed. Then the king, dismissing Rym and Coppenole with a gesture,--"God guard you, messieurs, my good friends the Flemings.
Go, take a little repose. The night advances, and we are nearer the morning than the evening."Both retired and gained their apartments under the guidance of the captain of the Bastille. Coppenole said to Guillaume Rym,--"Hum! I have had enough of that coughing king! I have seen Charles of Burgundy drunk, and he was less malignant than Louis XI. when ailing.""Master Jacques," replied Rym, "'tis because wine renders kings less cruel than does barley water."