The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-01-16 00:00:00

tittraturr.

CARDINAL DE RETZ,

OK
THE COURTIER'S PLOT•

BY PETER POPJOY, ESQ.

(For the Liverpool Standard.)

CHAPTER X. (continued.)
The unexpected appearance of Elizabeth de Montglat
appeared to strike the Baron dumb with surprise ; soon,
however, recovering himself, he saluted the fair visitor
with an air of assumed politeness ; Elizabeth hastened to
unmask. Her face was pale, and she appeared much agi-
tated. She advanced rapidly towards Fabien, who with
downcast looks stood silently in her presence, without ex-
hibiting those transports of joy that might have been ex-
pected from one who professed so much attachment to an
object from which he had been so long separat..d.
The Countess, with all a woman's wit and sagacity,
guessed at once the reason. " Fabien," said she, taking
him tenderly by the band, " I have arrived too late. Is
it not so? He has told you"
" All," rep!ie.l Fabied, turning away his eyes.
" And do you accuse me—do you reproach me as the
cause of your ruin ? Fabien do not condemn me un-
heard."
" Have I vet uttered one word of reproach, lady ?" said
Fabien : "my life, 1 have vowed to devote to you,
and do with it as you will."
The Countess cast a furtive look upon the Baron, who
trod up and down the chamber, with unequal steps.
The Countess spoke a few words to Fabien in a low
voice.

At this moment the Baron approached, with a signifi
cant gesture. His thin face wore an expression of mali-
cious pleasure, somewhat blended with surprise.
" Well, Mademoiselle," said he, in a tone of lightness,
and forced gaiety, which was then the fashion in certain
circles at court, " is it the custom of the Queen's maids
of honour to seek young gentlemen in open daylight?
Faith, this will he a pleasant romance to divert the idlers
of the Palais-Royal. Are you aware that you have now
placed yourself in my power ?"
" I know you to be too prudent a statesman, Baron de
Croissi, to talc.! notice of such a trifling matter, especially
when I tell you that I have come here at the express order
of my royal mistress.
"By the Queen's order ?" asked Albert ? " What does
this mean? some new caprice, without doubt? What
fools men are who place their devotedness—their lives, at
the service of a woman ! The wisest and most resolute
want courage u-'len tbel are called upon to act."
" Stop, sir," interrupted the maiden, with an air of au-
thority ; " here, as every where, the wishes of your sove-
reign ought to be sacred to you. Unhappily," continued
she, in a ditTerent tone, " I know it is now too late to exe-
cute those I bring you."
" What would you say ?"
" The Queen, from the representation I have made to
her, that Fabien feels great repugnance to undertake the
contemplated enterprise, has commanded you to reveal no-
thing to him, and to choose some other person to execute
the project in view."
Fabien made a sign of surprise. Before he could speak,
the Baron quietly remarked—
"ls that all ? Well, my charming Countess. You can
assure her Majesty, and assure yourself also, that Fabien,
although he has expressed some scruples on the subject,
but which I easily overcame, has accepted the proposition
I was authorised to make to him."
" Accepted it? accepted it ?" said Elizabeth, in a tone
of surprise.
" He will tell you so himself," coldly observed the
Baron. .

—"
Then you have not told him the truth," exclaimed
Elizabeth, with indignant energy ; " you have deceived
him by some skilfully concocted lie. I know you—l know
you well, De Croissi. I know your ability to clothe under
the most smiling appearances the most guilty actions !
" Speak for yourself, Fabien" said the Baron.
" I know that I have undertaken to shed perhaps the
purest blood in France—that I have, like a traitor, un-
dertaken to strike in the dark, the hero who has saved the
state io twenty glorious battles, and acquired immor-
tality. But I know also that Elizabeth de Montglat was
the first to engage main the enterprize, and it is upon the
faith of her name that I shall complete my contract."
" Oh ! Fabien—Fabien ; can you believe"—
" What is that you say, Mademoiselle ?" cried the Ba-
ron, fixing his piercing eyes upon her; " do yon so soon
forget the engagements that you made in my presence,
and are you now about to disavow both actions and
words ?"
The maiden drooped her head with an air of sadness.
" Deny it not," continued Albert, " that you consented
that I should bring Fabien to Paris ; did you not write a
letter to him which decided him at once to undertake the
journey ?"
" I do not deny it."
" Is it not true that you have promised your hand to
my brother as a reward for the service which he is about
to render to the state ?

" Have pity"—
" Reply—reply—to my question," said the Baron, in a
threatening voice. _

" It is true."

The maiden wept.

" You hear, Fabien—you now must see that I have not
deceived you. One of the conditions of your service
has been completed : the other will quickly follow."
Fabien remained dumb, while Elizabeth sobbed pi-
teously. The Baron regarded both with an air of triumph.
Fabien, believing the Countess de Montglat consented
to the deed, still kept coldly aloof.-
"We must separate. This evening, Fabien, I shall
come to conduct you into the presence of those with whom
you must become acquainted before you undertake the
matter in hand. Until then, do not attempt to depart
hence ; you cannot quit this house without danger to your-
self—mark that. As for me, Igo to announce the result
of my negociation. I shall be proud, lady," continued he,
with an assumption of gallantry, turning to Elizabeth, " to
hand you to your coach."
" If this is an order you give me, I refuse to submit to
it ; if it is an invitation such as a gentleman ought to give,
I decline it, for I will admit that I wish to exchange a few
words with M. Fabien de Croissi."
yes," exclaimed Fabien;

" I must speak with

her."
" This, then, is nothing but an assignation," said the
Baron, with a sardonic smile. " I merely suggested,
lady, that I should hand you to your ca triage, as such
would be only in conformity with custom. '
" There are circumstances more imperious than cus-
toms," interrupted Elizabeth, proudly. " I will not go."
" Well, I leave you," replied Albert. " Bill and coo
as you will, my gentle young lovers; but take heed that
you do not forget those promises mutually made, and,
above all, be silent. This advice is that of a friend.
Adieu." So saying, he departed leisurely from the cham-
ber, regarding the Countess with a significant smile.
Hardly had he left the room, when Mlle. de Montglat,
giving vent to her long-pent-up feelings, quickly ap-
proached Fabien, and said, in a tone of despair, " Fabien,
dear Fabien, this cannot be—oh, it cannot be true that
you have undertaken to do this horrible deed of blood.
Do not delay one instant to assure me that you have not
consented. Oh, no; you are too noble, too loyal, too
generous, to take a part in this atrocious plot."
" Tell me, then, Elizabeth, in your turn," said Fabien,
springing towards her,—" tell me that you do not approve '
of it, that the avowal you made before the Baron was
extorted from you by violence, and that you have never
desired me to become an assassin ?"
" Never, Fabien, never ! They have employed artifice,
violence, and falsehood. You will know some day, Fa-
bien, what I have suffered. It is only just now that I
have learnt the truth. If I bad known it sooner, at the
price of your hate and contempt, at the price of forget-
fulness of all the sweet recollections of other days, I
would never have consented to allow my name to have
been used for the sake of entrapping you to engage in this
sad affair."
" Elizabeth, in heaven's name what fearful secret is
this, which thus compels your lips to give the lie to
your heart's desires ?"
" I cannot tell you," replied the young Countess sadly.
" In pity's sake, do not ask me now."
" Take pity rather on me. Does this secret contain
aught that would make you blush before me ? Have you
forgotten those engagements pledged with such fondness
amidst the shades of Montglat ? '
" No, no, Fabien. If, by thoughtlessness and igno-
rance, I have committed a fault, it is one of that nature
that you may look on with indulgence. It has but raised
tip against me the most powerful enemies, but 1 have
been true to you. Oh ! how I have been entrapped
But I implore you to leave this painful subject. Tell me,!
without loss of time, that you reject with horror this in-
famous proposition of assassination ?"
" My dear Elizabeth, could you have thought me ca-
pable of an action so black? Have you not reflected that
cruel necessity has also compelled me to disguise my real
sentiments ? "
" But what is this necessity ? 'What are the motives
that could oblige you to accept this proposition, without
a moment's reflection or delay ? "
" Reflection was not permitted me, and my determina-
tion has not been changed ' • and that is, to seem to under-
take this commission. I have wished all along to gain
time, and put my brother's prudence to sleep."
" But the promise you have made him he will call upon
you to keep ? "
" I have attached to the execution of that promise two
conditions that I believe it impossible for him to comply
with."
" One is"—
" That you shall personally confirm the part you intend
to take in this enterprise."
Alas ! you have seen that I am not in a position to dis-
claim my opposition to it openly—and the- other?
" Is that I receive from the lips of the Queen Regent her-
self the order to strike the first Prince of the Blood—this,
or I much mistake me, the Baron notwithstanding his
assurance cannot fulfil.
" And is it upon the faith of this impossibility that you
have undertaken so solemn an engagement ? " cried the
maiden in dispair. " Unhappy Fabien—retract that pro-
mise you have made or you are lost."
" Do you then believe that the Regent "
" The Regent is too much excited by hate—too much
bewildered by bad councils, and her temper is too much
soured by the knowledge f her own weakness and the
strength of her enemy to stop at any thing; that which
would seem in ordinary times, impossible—perfectly mon-
strous—appears only a natural action at a season of trou.
ble. The Queen has received certain information that
M. le Prince wishes to obtain possession of the King,
that he has sent emissaries to Flanders to negotiate with
the Spaniards, who, he thinks will help him to the regency,
and treat her, as of late the Cardinal did Marie de Medi-
cis : in fact she is come to this point, that she must ob-
tain the death of Ler enemy by some great sacrifice, she