The Grey Cloak

the Rue Guénégaud. The apartment consisted of three rooms. In all Paris there was not to be found the like of

ntings filled the gaps left between one tapestry and another. Sometimes the Chevalier entertained his noble friends, young and old, in these rooms; and the famous kitchens of Madame Boisjoli, the landlady of the Candlestick, supplied the delicacies of his tables. Ordinarily the Chevalier dined in the ch

s, who took pride in the whiteness of his skin, the clarity of his eyes. There had been summer nights in the brilliant gardens of La Place Royale when he had been pointed out as one of the handsomest youths in Paris. Ah, those summer nights, the cymbals and trumpets of les beaux mousquetaires, the display of feathers and lace, unwrought pearls a

the heels cracked. And that cloak! The mud on the skirts is a week old. And that scabbard was new when I left Paris. When I came up I looked like a swashbuckler in one of Scudéry's plays. I let no one see me. Indeed, I doubt if any would have recogn

g the cast-off clothing in the closet, "I a

ng his mustache and royal. "And Heaven forfend that another such

oon or the stars, sometimes beneath the flying black canopies of midnight storms, always and ever toward Paris. He had been harried by straggling Spaniards; he had drawn his sword three times i

mic revolution, the Fronde, as in the old days when she climbed the walls at Orléans and assumed command against the forces of the king? What if Monsieur de Retz issued orders from the Palais Royal, using the same-pen with which Mazarin had demanded his resignation as Archbishop of Paris? In fact, what if Madame de Longueville, aided by the middle class, had once more taken up quarters in the H?tel de Ville? Oh! so many thin

iting lampoons against the court and particularly against Mazarin; that De Retz was biting his nails, full of rage and impotence against those fetters which banishment casts around men of a

bject? Was she some princess who had been hidden away during her girlhood, to appear only when the bud opened into womanhood, rich, glorious, and warm? Like a sunbeam, like a shadow, she flitted through the corridors and galleries of the Louvre and the Palais Royal, and whenever he had sought to point her out to some one, to discover her name, lo, she was gone! Tormenting mystery! Ah, that soft lisp of hers, those enchanting caprices, those amazing extravagances of fancy, that wit which possessed the sparkle of white chambertin! He would never forget that summer night when, dressed as a boy, she had gone with him swashbucklin

eting. He had been placed on guard at the entrance to the grand gallery at the Palais Royal, where Ma

u please," he said, scannin

rogatory." The voice was hoarse, affectedly s

's brother, was good enough to permit me to question him." He leaned agai

ley with me?" A gauntleted

not be so rud

a stamp of the fo

stamping a foot which, thoug

ll away from the sword-hilt, and a grey gauntlet slipped to the floor, discovering a

e an admirable Cerberus. My gauntlet." The sweep of the hand fascinated him. "Are your ea

hing sign. But as reason told him that no harm could possibly come from the prank, his fears subsided, and he laughed. On being relieved from duty, later, he sought her, to return the gauntlet. She was talking to Mademo

e was very handsome when he smiled,

vement of her shoulders told him

r mademoiselle?"

sation which ensued was so piquant and charming that thereafter whatever warmth

He leaped from the tub and shone rosily in the firelight, as elegantly

regret that I did not have them blessed by his Holiness. For wh

iously, "that I have had them s

idle away at the Louvre. Never any fighting save in pothouses; nothing but ride, ride, ride, here, there, everywhere, bearing despatches not worth the paper written on, but worth a man's head if he lose them. And what about? Is this person ill? Condolences. Is this person a father? Congratulations. Monsieur, the king's uncle, is ailing; I romp to Blois. A cabal is being formed in Brussels; I gallop away. His Eminence hears of a new rouge; off I go. And here I have been to Rome and back with a message which made the pope laugh; is it true that he is about to appoint a successor? Mazarin, tiring

, Monsieur Paul ...

have dared

loaned it to Monsieur de Saumaise, prior to y

t cloak. Mademoiselle complimented me on it, and that fop

fully as handsome as the grey one. All i

ey cloak. Now the gossip. Firs

reton, "has remitted the ten l

lf to do it. Poetry and improvi

l come to one hundred and ten pistoles. But he wants to know w

onds for the rest. The clasps must match to

re grey," the lack

are asking

simply stating a fa

at next?" in

's translation with the money you g

ch?" with mock helplessness. "Well, lad, read Plutarch and profit

antagruel and his resourceful esquire; but he had never been able to complete this record of extravagant exploits,

itaut," he said, "calle

n knew that I could not arrive befor

ughed curiously and said that h

il did he cal

ch explained his inabilit

ould say; is it possible for any man save Homer to be in two places at once? Possibly I am to race for some other end of

n scabbard the Chevalier's campaign rapier, long and flexile, dread

s from a first reading of Plutarch, "a man is a deal like a sword. If he

s a man! Even a sword, dressed well, attracts the eye; and, hear

charges at twelve louis, incl

idering my absence. Migno

he promised with the eight hundred pi

had no pistoles, I have lost none. I was deep in wine, and so was he; d

the debts and cr

is can not have stood still like the sun of J

de up with Madam

can become new

ourt news, while the Chevalier nodded,

elle Cath

oman been h

Mons

ed her down

hreatened not to cease coming until yo

l I did was to kiss the lass and compliment

aster's gallantries never ceas

mittance from Monsieur le Ma

tter?" with sub

s eyes lowered. How many times during the past four years had h

houlders drooped.

said th

anything

s closed the chateau in Périgny and

tions m

Monsi

ompleteness had taken hold of him. The heir to a marquisate, the possessor of an income of forty thousand livres the year, endowed with health and physical beauty, and yet there was a flaw which marred the whole. It was true that he was light-hearted, always and ever ready for a rout, whether with women or with men, whether

hat of Mademoiselle de Montbazon, together with his desires, he had ground the one under foot without glancing at it, and had laughed at the other as preposterous. Since that night the marquis had ceased to recall his name. The Chevalier's mother had died at his birth; thus, he knew neither maternal nor paternal love; and a man must love somet

ways true to us. We will spend our gold and play the butterfly while the summer lasts. It wil

r permit a familiarity by re

el

de Brissac died las

old age?"

oung and as beautiful as her mother was. Monsieur le Comte appeared upon the scene; but his guard

hich all but happened at his own fireside. Certainly I shall inform him. It will be like caviar to the appetite. I shall dine before the effect wears off." The Ch

Between a Catharine of the millinery and a mysterious