The Grey Cloak - Page 79/256

The diligence from Rouen rolled and careened along the road to

Rochelle. Eddies of snow, wind-formed, whirled hither and thither, or

danced around the vehicle like spirits possessed of infinite mischief.

Here and there a sickly tree stretched forth its barren arms blackly

against the almost endless reaches of white. Sometimes the horses

struggled through drifts which nearly reached their bellies; again,

they staggered through hidden marsh pools. The postilion, wrapped in a

blanket, cursed deeply and with ardor. He swung his whip not so much

to urge the horses as to keep the blood moving in his body. Devil take

women who forced him to follow the king's highway in such weather! Ten

miles back they had passed a most promising inn. Stop? Not they!

Rochelle, Rochelle, and nothing but Rochelle!

"How lonely!" A woman had pushed aside the curtain and was peering

into the night. There was no light save that which came from the

pallor of the storm, dim and misty. "It has stopped snowing. But how

strange the air smells!"

"It is the sea . . . We are nearing the city. It is abominably cold."

"The sea, the sea!" The voice was rich and young, but heavy with

weariness. "And we are nearing Rochelle? Good! My confidence begins

to return. You must hide me well, Anne."

"Mazarin shall never find you. You will remain in the city till I take

leave of earthly affairs."

"A convent, Anne? Oh, if you will. But why Canada? You are mad to

think of it. You are but eighteen. You have not even known what love

is yet."

"Have you?"

There was a laugh. It was light-hearted. It was a sign that the

sadness and weariness which weighed upon the voice were ephemeral.

"That is no answer."

"Anne, have I had occasion to fall in love with any man when I know man

so well? You make me laugh! Not one of them is worthy a sigh. To

make fools of them; what a pastime!"

"Take care that one does not make a fool of you, Gabrielle."

"Ah, he would be worth loving!"

"But what are you going to do with the property?"

"Mazarin has already posted the seals upon it."

"Confiscated?"

"About to be. That is why I fled to Rouen. My mother warned me that

the cardinal had found certain documents which proved that a conspiracy

was forming at the hôtel. Monsieur's name was the only one he could

find. His Eminence thought that by making a prisoner of me he might

force me to disclose the names of those most intimate with monsieur.

He is searching France for me, Anne; and you know how well he searches

when he sets about it. Will he find me? I think not. His arm can not

reach very far into Spain. How lucky it was that I should meet you in

Rouen! I was wondering where in the world I should go. And I shall

live peacefully in that little red château of yours. Oh! if you knew

what it is to be free! The odious life I have lived! He used to bring

his actress into the dining-hall. Pah! the paint was so thick on her

face that she might have been a negress for all you could tell what her

color was. And he left her a house near the forest park and seven

thousand livres beside. Free!" She drew in deep breaths of briny air.