The Man-at-Arms; or, Henry De Cerons. Volumes I and IIJames, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
General
The Man-at-Arms; or, Henry De Cerons. Volumes I and II
James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
Huguenots -- Fiction
"I have thought of all that you say, sir," he replied, "as we came
along; for it is always right to think well what one is about, after
one has taken a resolution. I took mine an hour or two ago. When you
first roused me I was half asleep, and didn't understand what you
meant. But then again, as soon as both my eyes were open, I understood
the whole, for I had thought to myself, when I went to bed, that, if
what the baroness' groom had said about the baron and you was true,
you would not stay in the castle much after daylight; so I made up my
mind in a moment, as soon as I found that you were going. As to wages,
I owe you three weeks' service, for you paid me a month in advance
last Monday; then, as for food, I have taken care to have all the
money that you ever gave me in my pocket to the last sous; then,
besides that, I have got three crowns of the sun, and two livres
Tournois, which were brought me by Sampson the squire from my poor
father when he was killed at St. Denis. So you see, sir, I have plenty
to keep me for a year; and as for the rest, if you are going to seek
your fortune, I do not see why I should not go and seek mine with
you."
"Well, then, Andriot," I replied, with a smile which I could not
refrain at his using arguments for following me which were so like the
reasons that existed in my own bosom for my own conduct, "if such be
your resolution, take up the valise and let us go on. What you do is
your voluntary act, and, at any time that you think fit to leave me,
you shall do so; so pray Heaven send you soon a wealthier master, and
one that can reward you for your fidelity."
"I hope to Heaven it may be so, sir," replied the youth; "and I don't
suppose you'll be long before you have some piece of good luck.
Fortune gets tired of troubling a man that cares little about her; and
I have heard old Jansen, the Jew merchant, say that luck changes at
five-and-twenty, at fifty, and at seventy-five, if a man but lives so
long."
Thus saying, he once more lifted the valise; and I then perceived, for
the first time, that he had strapped on it a little packet of his own
goods and chattels, which showed that his resolution had, as he said,
been taken before he quitted the chateau.
On approaching the gates of Bordeaux, it became necessary to determine
to what inn we should go. My meager finances did not permit of my
lodging for even a day at any of the expensive auberges of the Gascon
capitol; and I bethought me that Andriot, born and brought up in that
neighbourhood, was much more likely to be acquainted with the inferior
inns than myself. I therefore consulted him upon the subject, and he
replied at once,
"Oh! sir, go to the little inn kept by Jacques de Cannes, called the
Soleil Levant, at the end of the Rue de Minimes. It is a poor place,
but you will have plenty of Protestant news there, and you will get a
good dinner for a small sum. In the evening, when you have settled
all, we can go on to Carbon Blanc, or, perhaps, to Cubzac."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account