France -- History -- Henry II, 1547-1559 -- Fiction; Montgomery, Gabriel, comte de, 1530-1574 -- Fiction
"Upon the parliament," said the baron, "for there the issue will be
joined. The Evangelical party has a strong minority there,--Anne
Dubourg, Henri Dufaur, Nicolas Duval, Eustache de la Porte, and twenty
others. To the harangues which call for the vigorous prosecution of
heretics, the adherents of Calvinism reply by demanding the convocation
of a general council to deal with religious affairs in accordance with
the terms of the decrees of Constance and Bâle. They have right on
their side; therefore it will be necessary to use violence against them.
But we are watching, and do you watch with us."
"Very well," said Gabriel.
"Remain at your house in Paris until you are notified that we have need
of you," continued La Renaudie.
"That will be painful for me," observed Gabriel; "but I will do it,
provided that you do not leave me to pine in idleness too long. You have
written and talked enough, I should think, and now you ought to lay
aside words for deeds."
"That is my opinion," rejoined La Renaudie. "Hold yourself in readiness,
and be tranquil."
They parted, and Gabriel walked thoughtfully away.
In his thirst for vengeance, was he not allowing his conscience to go
astray somewhat? Already it seemed to be driving him on toward civil
war; but since events would not come to him, he must go to them.
That same day he returned to his house in the Rue des Jardins St. Paul,
where he found his faithful Aloyse alone. Martin-Guerre was no longer
there; André had remained with Madame de Castro; Jean and Babette
Peuquoy had returned to Calais with the intention of going thence to St.
Quentin, whose gates had been opened to the loyal weaver by the treaty
of Cateau-Cambrésis.
Thus the master's return to his lonesome abode was more melancholy even
than usual. Ah, but did not the motherly old nurse love him enough for
all? We despair of picturing the worthy creature's joy when Gabriel
informed her that he had come to stay with her for some time in all
probability. He lived in most absolute secrecy and solitude, to be sure;
but he was there by her side, and very rarely left the house. Aloyse
could feast her eyes on him, and wait upon him. It was a long time since
she had been so happy.
Gabriel, smiling sadly upon her, envied her loving heart its happiness.
Alas! he could not share it with her. His life henceforth was even to
himself a terrible enigma, of which he both dreaded and longed to know
the solution.
Thus his days passed in impatience and apprehension, anxious and bored
for more than a month.
As he had promised his nurse, he hardly ever left the house; but
sometimes in the evening he would go and prowl around the Châtelet, and
on his return would shut himself up for hours at a time in the funeral
vault, whither the unknown bearers had secretly brought his father's
body.
Gabriel seemed to take a gloomy pleasure in going back thus to the day
when the outrage had been put upon him, that he might keep up his
courage with his wrath.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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