Les beaux messieurs de Bois-Doré Vol. 1 (of 2)Sand, George
History
Les beaux messieurs de Bois-Doré Vol. 1 (of 2)
Sand, George
France -- History -- Louis XIII, 1610-1643 -- Fiction
Lucilio overtook the horse, grasped his little rider by the collar of
his jacket, and tossed him to the bank, into the arms of his mother, who
had followed the changing scenes of this little drama, running by the
stream and shrieking.
Then he calmly returned to the too simple-minded Squilindre, who was
making a desperate assault on the dam at the pond, and, forcing him to
turn back, delivered him safe and sound to the frantic coachman.
The whole house had been attracted by the Moorish woman's shrieks, and
they were deeply moved to see her, weeping copiously the while, hug
Lucilio's knees and speak earnestly to him in Arabic, greatly surprised
that he did not say a word to her in reply, although he seemed to
understand the language, and did in fact understand it perfectly.
The marquis embraced Lucilio, saying to him in an undertone:
"Ah! my poor friend! for a man who has suffered at the hands of the
torturer, even to the very marrow of his bones, you are a sturdy
swimmer! God, who knows that you live only to do good, has deigned to
perform miracles in your person. Now go at once and change everything,
and do you, Adamas, see that yonder little devil is thoroughly dried and
warmed; he seems no more frightened than if he were just out of bed. I
wish you to bring him to me with his mother, after my breakfast; so make
them as clean as you can. Why, where has Monsieur de Villareal gone?"
The pretended Villareal had returned to the château, and was praying,
alone in his room, to the revengeful God in whom he believed, not to
punish him too severely for the eagerness with which he had, _without
just cause_, longed for the little gypsy's death.
We give the child this title, following the example of the servants of
the château, by whom he was surrounded at that moment; but when, after
his repast, Monsieur de Bois-Doré betook himself to an ancient
apartment of his castle, which Adamas dignified with the title of _salle
des audiences_, and sometimes of _salle de justice_; when that old
minister of the interior to the marquis introduced the Moorish woman and
her child, the marquis's first words, after a moment of impressive
silence, were these:
"The more I look at this little fellow, the more certain I feel that he
is neither Egyptian nor Moor, but rather a Spaniard of good family,
perhaps of French blood."
It was not necessary to be a magician to make that discovery;
nevertheless it was listened to with great respect by Adamas, who, in
his capacity of introducer, remained at the conference. Monsieur
d'Alvimar and Lucilio had been invited by the marquis to be present.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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