Henry of Guise; or, The States of Blois (Vol. 3 of 3) — John Shaqi
Henry of Guise; or, The States of Blois (Vol. 3 of 3)James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
General
Henry of Guise; or, The States of Blois (Vol. 3 of 3)
James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
Guise, Henri, duc de, 1550-1588 -- Fiction
Two or three of his followers ran forward, and no more shots were
heard; but scarcely two minutes after, just as the Duke had passed one
of the barricades, he saw two or three men hurrying up to him, led by
Chapelle Marteau, who approached him with no slight expression of
grief and apprehension in his countenance.
"I fear I have bad news for you, my Lord," he said.
"What is it?" demanded the Duke calmly. "Such a day as this could
hardly pass over without some alloy."
"I fear," replied the Leaguer, "that your Highness' friend. Monsieur
de Logères, is mortally wounded. He brought me your signet and orders,
which I immediately obeyed. We gained information which led us to
suppose that the persons we sought for, were concealed in a house in
the Rue de la Ferronière here hard by. We proceeded thither instantly
and demanded admission; but they, affecting to take us for a party of
soldiery, fired upon us from the window, when two shots struck the
Count, one lodging in his shoulder, and the other passing through his
body. He is yet living, and I have ordered him to be conveyed to the
Hôtel de Guise at once, where a surgeon can attend upon him. Our
people were breaking into the house to take the murderers prisoners,
when, hearing of your approach, I came away to tell you the facts."
The Duke of Guise paused, and gazed sadly down upon the ground,
repeating the words, "Poor youth! poor youth! so are his bright hopes
cut short! He shall be avenged at least! Show me the house, Chapelle."
And he followed rapidly upon the steps of the Leaguer, who led him to
a small house, with the entrance, which was through a Gothic arch,
sunk somewhat back from the other houses. There were two windows above
the arch, and a window which flanked it on either side; but the
followers of the young Count of Logères and of Chapelle Marteau had by
this time broken open the doors, and rushed into the building.
"This is part of the old priory of the Augustins," said the Duke of
Guise as they came up. "They exchanged it some fifty years ago for
their house further down. But there are two or three back ways out, I
know; and if you have not put a guard there, they have escaped you."
It proved as the Duke anticipated. The house was found completely
vacant, and though strict orders were sent to all the different gates
to suffer no one to pass out without close examination, either the
order came too late, or those against whom it was levelled proved too
politic for the guards; for none of those whom the Duke of Guise
wished to secure, except Pereuse, the Prevôt des Marchands, were taken
in the attempt to escape.
The shots, the sound of which, Guise had heard, proved to be those
which had struck the unfortunate Count de Logères, and no difficulty
was found in inducing the people who surrounded the soldiery near the
Chatelet, to suffer them to depart, as their companions had done.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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