Christophe, with the air of a man who had come to a decision, smiled bitterly as he heard of the invitation to his promised bride.
When the Burgundian cook and the apprentices had departed on their several errands, old Lecamus looked at his wife with a glance which showed the firmness and resolution of his character.
"You will not be satisfied till you have got that boy hanged with your damned tongue," he said, in a stern voice.
"I would rather see him hanged and saved than living and a Huguenot," she answered, gloomily. "To think that a child whom I carried nine months in my womb should be a bad Catholic, and be doomed to hell for all eternity!"
She began to weep.
"Old silly," said the furrier; "let him live, if only to convert him.
You said, before the apprentices, a word which may set fire to our house, and roast us all, like fleas in a straw bed."
The mother crossed herself, and sat down silently.
"Now, then, you," said the old man, with a judicial glance at his son, "explain to me what you were doing on the river with--come closer, that I may speak to you," he added, grasping his son by the arm, and drawing him to him--"with the Prince de Conde," he whispered.
Christophe trembled. "Do you suppose the court furrier does not know every face that frequents the palace? Think you I am ignorant of what is going on? Monseigneur the Grand Master has been giving orders to send troops to Amboise. Withdrawing troops from Paris to send them to Amboise when the king is at Blois, and making them march through Chartres and Vendome, instead of going by Orleans--isn't the meaning of that clear enough? There'll be troubles. If the queens want their surcoats, they must send for them. The Prince de Conde has perhaps made up his mind to kill Messieurs de Guise; who, on their side, expect to rid themselves of him. The prince will use the Huguenots to protect himself. Why should the son of a furrier get himself into that fray? When you are married, and when you are councillor to the Parliament, you will be as prudent as your father. Before belonging to the new religion, the son of a furrier ought to wait until the rest of the world belongs to it. I don't condemn the Reformers; it is not my business to do so; but the court is Catholic, the two queens are Catholic, the Parliament is Catholic; we must supply them with furs, and therefore we must be Catholic ourselves. You shall not go out from here, Christophe; if you do, I will send you to your godfather, President de Thou, who will keep you night and day blackening paper, instead of blackening your soul in company with those damned Genevese."
"Father," said Christophe, leaning upon the back of the old man's chair, "send me to Blois to carry that surcoat to Queen Mary and get our money from the queen-mother. If you do not, I am lost; and you care for your son."
"Lost?" repeated the old man, without showing the least surprise. "If you stay here you can't be lost; I shall have my eye on you all the time."
"They will kill me here."
"Why?"
"The most powerful among the Huguenots have cast their eyes on me to serve them in a certain matter; if I fail to do what I have just promised to do, they will kill me in open day, here in the street, as they killed Minard. But if you send me to court on your affairs, perhaps I can justify myself equally well to both sides. Either I shall succeed without having run any danger at all, and shall then win a fine position in the party; or, if the danger turns out very great, I shall be there simply on your business."
The father rose as if his chair was of red-hot iron.
"Wife," he said, "leave us; and watch that we are left quite alone, Christophe and I."
When Mademoiselle Lecamus had left them the furrier took his son by a button and led him to the corner of the room which made the angle of the bridge.
"Christophe," he said, whispering in his ear as he had done when he mentioned the name of the Prince of Conde, "be a Huguenot, if you have that vice; but
When the Burgundian cook and the apprentices had departed on their several errands, old Lecamus looked at his wife with a glance which showed the firmness and resolution of his character.
"You will not be satisfied till you have got that boy hanged with your damned tongue," he said, in a stern voice.
"I would rather see him hanged and saved than living and a Huguenot," she answered, gloomily. "To think that a child whom I carried nine months in my womb should be a bad Catholic, and be doomed to hell for all eternity!"
She began to weep.
"Old silly," said the furrier; "let him live, if only to convert him.
You said, before the apprentices, a word which may set fire to our house, and roast us all, like fleas in a straw bed."
The mother crossed herself, and sat down silently.
"Now, then, you," said the old man, with a judicial glance at his son, "explain to me what you were doing on the river with--come closer, that I may speak to you," he added, grasping his son by the arm, and drawing him to him--"with the Prince de Conde," he whispered.
Christophe trembled. "Do you suppose the court furrier does not know every face that frequents the palace? Think you I am ignorant of what is going on? Monseigneur the Grand Master has been giving orders to send troops to Amboise. Withdrawing troops from Paris to send them to Amboise when the king is at Blois, and making them march through Chartres and Vendome, instead of going by Orleans--isn't the meaning of that clear enough? There'll be troubles. If the queens want their surcoats, they must send for them. The Prince de Conde has perhaps made up his mind to kill Messieurs de Guise; who, on their side, expect to rid themselves of him. The prince will use the Huguenots to protect himself. Why should the son of a furrier get himself into that fray? When you are married, and when you are councillor to the Parliament, you will be as prudent as your father. Before belonging to the new religion, the son of a furrier ought to wait until the rest of the world belongs to it. I don't condemn the Reformers; it is not my business to do so; but the court is Catholic, the two queens are Catholic, the Parliament is Catholic; we must supply them with furs, and therefore we must be Catholic ourselves. You shall not go out from here, Christophe; if you do, I will send you to your godfather, President de Thou, who will keep you night and day blackening paper, instead of blackening your soul in company with those damned Genevese."
"Father," said Christophe, leaning upon the back of the old man's chair, "send me to Blois to carry that surcoat to Queen Mary and get our money from the queen-mother. If you do not, I am lost; and you care for your son."
"Lost?" repeated the old man, without showing the least surprise. "If you stay here you can't be lost; I shall have my eye on you all the time."
"They will kill me here."
"Why?"
"The most powerful among the Huguenots have cast their eyes on me to serve them in a certain matter; if I fail to do what I have just promised to do, they will kill me in open day, here in the street, as they killed Minard. But if you send me to court on your affairs, perhaps I can justify myself equally well to both sides. Either I shall succeed without having run any danger at all, and shall then win a fine position in the party; or, if the danger turns out very great, I shall be there simply on your business."
The father rose as if his chair was of red-hot iron.
"Wife," he said, "leave us; and watch that we are left quite alone, Christophe and I."
When Mademoiselle Lecamus had left them the furrier took his son by a button and led him to the corner of the room which made the angle of the bridge.
"Christophe," he said, whispering in his ear as he had done when he mentioned the name of the Prince of Conde, "be a Huguenot, if you have that vice; but
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