The chaplet of pearls

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Chaplet of Pearls, by Charlotte M Yonge #31 in our series by Charlotte M Yonge Copyright laws are changing all over the world Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file Please do not remove it Do not change or edit the header without written permission Please read the “legal small print,” and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used You can also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved **Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** **eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** *****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** Title: The Chaplet of Pearls Author: Charlotte M Yonge Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5274] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on June 23, 2002] Edition: 10 Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHAPLET OF PEARLS *** Prepared by Hanh Vu, capriccio_vn@yahoo.com A web page for Charlotte M Yonge will be found at www.menorot.com/cmyonge.htm THE CHAPLET OF PEARLS BY CHARLOTTE M.YONGE CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE BRIDAL OF THE WHITE AND BLACK CHAPTER II THE SEPARATION CHAPTER III THE FAMILY COUNCIL CHAPTER IV TITHONUS CHAPTER V THE CONVENT BIRD CHAPTER VI FOULLY COZENED CHAPTER VII THE QUEEN’S PASTORAL CHAPTER VIII ‘LE BROUILLON’ CHAPTER IX THE WEDDING WITH CRIMSON FAVOURS CHAPTER X MONSIEUR’S BALLET CHAPTER XI THE KING’S TRAGEDY CHAPTER XII THE PALACE OF SLAUGHTER CHAPTER XIII THE BRIDEGROOM’S ARRIVAL CHAPTER XIV SWEET HEART CHAPTER XV NOTRE-DAME DE BELLAISE CHAPTER XVI THE HEARTHS AND THICKETS OF THE BOCAGE CHAPTER XVII THE GHOSTS OF THE TEMPLARS CHAPTER XVIII THE MOONBEAM CHAPTER XIX LA RUE DES TROIS FEES CHAPTER XX THE ABBE CHAPTER XXI UNDER THE WALNUT-TREE CHAPTER XXII DEPARTURE CHAPTER XXIII THE EMPTY CRADLE CHAPTER XXIV THE GOOD PRIEST OF NISSARD CHAPTER XXV THE VELVET COACH CHAPTER XXVI THE CHEVALIER’S EXPIATION CHAPTER XXVII THE DYING KING CHAPTER XXVIII THE ORPHANS OF LA SABLERIE CHAPTER XXIX IN THE KING’S NAME CHAPTER XXX CAGED IN THE BLACKBIRD’S NEST CHAPTER XXXI THE DARK POOL OF THE FUTURE CHAPTER XXXII ‘JAM SATIS’ CHAPTER XXXIII THE SCANDAL OF THE SYNOD OF MONTAUBAN CHAPTER XXXIV MADAME LA DUCHESSE CHAPTER XXXV THE ITALIAN PEDLAR CHAPTER XXXVI SPELL AND POTION CHAPTER XXXVII BEATING AGAINST THE BARS CHAPTER XXXVIII THE ENEMY IN PRESENCE CHAPTER XXXIX THE PEDLAR’S PREDICTION CHAPTER XL THE SANDS OF OLONNE CHAPTER XLI OUR LADY OF HOPE CHAPTER XLII THE SILVER BULLET CHAPTER XLIII LA BAISER D’EUSTACIE CHAPTER XLIV THE GALIMAFRE PREFACE It is the fashion to call every story controversial that deals with times when controversy or a war of religion was raging; but it should be remembered that there are some which only attempt to portray human feelings as affected by the events that such warfare occasioned ‘Old Mortality’ and ‘Woodstock’ are not controversial tales, and the ‘Chaplet of Pearls’ is so quite as little It only aims at drawing certain scenes and certain characters as the convulsions of the sixteenth century may have affected them, and is, in fact, like all historical romance, the shaping of the conceptions that the imagination must necessarily form when dwelling upon the records of history That faculty which might be called the passive fancy, and might almost be described in Portia’s song, — ‘It is engendered in the eyes, By READING fed - and there it dies,’— that faculty, I say, has learnt to feed upon character and incident, and to require that the latter should be effective and exciting Is it not reasonable to seek for this in the days when such things were not infrequent, and did not imply exceptional wickedness or misfortune in those engaged in them? This seems to me one plea for historical novel, to which I would add the opportunity that it gives for study of the times and delineation of characters Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Henry V., Scott’s Louis XI., Manzoni’s Federigo Borromeo, Bulwer’s Harold, James’s Philip Augustus, are all real contributions to our comprehension of the men themselves, by calling the chronicles and memoirs into action True, the picture cannot be exact, and is sometimes distorted—nay, sometimes praiseworthy efforts at correctness in the detail take away whatever might have been lifelike in the outline Yet, acknowledging all this, I must still plead for the tales that presumptuously deal with days gone by, as enabling the young to realize history vividly—and, what is still more desirable, requiring an effort of the mind which to read of modern days does not The details of Millais’ Inquisition or of his Huguenot may be in error in spite of all his study and diligence, but they have brought before us for ever the horrors of the auto-da-fe, and the patient, steadfast heroism of the man who can smile aside his wife’s endeavour to make him tacitly betray his faith to save his life Surely it is well, by pen as by picture, to go back to the past for figures that will stir the heart like these, even though the details be as incorrect as those of the revolt of Liege or of La Ferrette in ‘Quentin Durward’ and ‘Anne of Geierstein.’ Scott, however, willfully carved history to suit the purposes of his story; and in these days we have come to feel that a story must earn a certain amount of credibility by being in keeping with established facts, even if striking events have to be sacrificed, and that the order of time must be preserved In Shakespeare’s days, or even in Scott’s, it might have been possible to bring Henry III and his mignons to due punishment within the limits of a tale beginning with the Massacre of St Bartholomew; but in 1868 the broad outlines of tragedy must be given up to keep within the bounds of historical verity How far this has been done, critics better read than myself must decide I have endeavoured to speak fairly, to the best of my ability, of such classes of persons as fell in with the course of the narrative, according to such lights as the memoirs of the time afford The Convent is scarcely a CLASS portrait, but the condition of it seems to be justified by hints in the Port Royal memoirs, respecting Maubuisson and others which Mere Angelique reformed The intolerance of the ladies at Montauban is described in Madame Duplessis-Mornay’s life; and if Berenger’s education and opinions are looked on as not sufficiently alien from Roman Catholicism, a reference to Froude’s ‘History of Queen Elizabeth’ will show both that the customs of the country clergy, and likewise that a broad distinction was made by the better informed among the French between Calvinism and Protestantism or Lutheranism, in which they included Anglicanism The minister Gardon I do not consider as representing his class He is a POSSIBILITY modified to serve the purposes of the story Into historical matters, however, I have only entered so far as my story became involved with them And here I have to apologize for a few blunders, detected too late for alteration even in the volumes Sir Francis Walsingham was a young rising statesman in 1572, instead of the elderly sage he is represented; his daughter Frances was a mere infant, and Sir Philip Sidney was not knighted till much later For the rest, I have tried to show the scenes that shaped themselves before me as carefully as I could; though of course they must not be a presentiment of the times themselves, but of my notion of them C M Yonge November 14th, 1868 I can tell you, and a comely, spite of his baldness; and ‘tis worth having come here to see how much you lads are thought of—though to be sure ‘tis not often the poor creatures here see so much of an Englishman as we have made of Berry.’ Philip could not but laugh ”Tis scarce for that that they value him, sir.’ ‘Say you so? Nay, methinks his English heart and yours did them good service Indeed, the King himself told me as much by the mouth of Merrycourt May that youngster’s head only not be turned! Why, they set him at table above Berenger, and above half the King’s gentlemen Even the Duchess makes as if he were one of her highest guests—he a poor Oxford scholar, doubting if he can get his bread by the law, and flouted as though he were not good enough for my daughter ‘Tis the world topsy turvy, sure enough! And that this true love that Berenger has run through fire and water after, like a knight in a pedlar’s run through turn out a mere little, brown, common-looking woman after all, not one whit equal to Lucy!’ Sir Marmaduke modified his disappointment a little that night, when he had talked Philip into a state of feverishness and suffering that became worse under Madame de Quinet’s reproofs and remedies, and only yielded to Eustacie’s long and patient soothing He then could almost have owned that it was well she was not like his own cherished type of womanhood, and the next day he changed his opinion still more, even as to her appearance There was a great gathering of favourers of the Huguenot cause on that day; gentlemen came from all parts to consult with Henry of Navarre, and Madame de Quinet had too much sense of the fitness of things to allow Madame de Ribaumont to appear at the ensuing banquet in her shabby, rusty black serge, and tight white borderless cap The whole wardrobe of the poor young Duchess de Quinet was placed at her service, and though, with the thought of her adopted father on her heart, she refused gay colours, yet when, her toilette complete, she said into Philip’s room, he almost sprang up in delight, and Sir Marmaduke rose and ceremoniously bowed as to a stranger, and was only undeceived when little Rayonette ran joyously to Philip, asking if Manan was not si belle, si belle The effects of her unrestful nights has now passed away, and left her magnificent eyes in their full brilliancy and arch fire; the blooming glow was restored to her cheek; and though neck, brow, and hands were browner than in the shelter of convent or palace, she was far more near absolute beauty than in former days, both from countenance and from age Her little proud head was clustered with glossy locks of jet, still short, but curling round her brow and neck, whose warm brunette tints contrasted well with the delicate, stiffened cobweb of her exquisite standing ruff, which was gathered into a white satin bodice, with a skirt of the same material, over which swept a rich black brocade train open in front, with an open body and half-sleeves with falling lace, and the hands, delicate and shapely as ever, if indeed a little tanned, held fan and handkerchief with as much courtly grace as though they had never stirred broth nor wrung out linen Sir Marmaduke really feared he had the court madam on his hands after all, but he forgot all about his fears, as she stood laughing and talking, and by her pretty airs and gestures, smiles and signs, making him enter into her mirth with Philip, almost as well as if she had not spoken French Even Berenger started, when he came up after the counsel to fetch her to the banqueting-hall She was more entirely the Eustacie of the Louvre than he had ever realized seeing her, and yet so much more; and when the Duchess beheld the sensation she produced among the noblesse, it was with self-congratulation in having kept her in retirement while it was still not known that she was not a widow The King of Navarre had already found her the only lady present possessed of the peculiar aroma of high-breeding which belonged to the society in which both he and she had been most at home, and his attentions were more than she liked from one whose epithet of Eurydice she had never quite forgiven; at least, that was the only reason she could assign for her distaste, but the Duchess understood her better than did Berenger, nay, better than she did herself, and kept her under the maternal wings of double form and ceremony Berenger, meanwhile, was in great favour A command had been offered him by the King of Navarre, who had promised that if he would cast in his lot with the Huguenots, his claims on all the lands of Ribaumont should be enforced on the King of France when terms were wrung from him, and Narcisse’s death removed all valid obstacle to their recognition; but Berenger felt himself bound by all home duties to return to England, nor had he clear convictions as to the absolute right of the war in which he had almost unconsciously drawn his sword Under the Tudors the divine right of kings was strongly believed in, and it was with many genuine misgivings that the cause of Protestant revolt was favoured by Elisabeth and her ministers; and Berenger, bred up in a strong sense of loyalty, as well as in doctrines that, as he had received them, savoured as little of Calvinism as of Romanism, was not ready to espouse the Huguenot cause with all his heart; and as he could by no means have fought on the side of King Henry III or of the Guises, felt thankful that the knot could be cut by renouncing France altogether, according to the arrangement which had been defeated by the Chevalier’s own supper-subtle machinations At the conference of gentlemen held at Quinet, he had been startled by hearing the name of the Sieur de Bellaise, and had identified him with a grave, thin, noble-looking man, with an air of high-bred and patient poverty He was a Catholic but no Guisard, and supported the middle policy of the Montmorency party, so far as he possessed any influence; but his was only the weight of personal character, for he had merely a small property that had descended to him through his grandmother, the wife of the unfortunate Bellaise who had pined to death in the dungeon at Loches, under Louis XI Here, then, Berenger saw the right means of riding himself and his family of the burthen that his father had mourned over, and it only remained to convince Eustacie Her first feeling when she heard of the King’s offer, was that at last her ardent wish would be gratified, she should see her husband at the head of her vassals, and hear the war-cry motto ‘A moi Ribaumont.’ Then came the old representation that the Vendeen peasants were faithful Catholics who could hardly be asked to fight on the Calvinist side The old spirit rose in a flush, a pout, a half-uttered query why those creatures should be allowed their opinions Madame la Baronne was resuming her haughty temperament in the noblesse atmosphere; but in the midst came the remembrance of having made that very speech in her Temple ruin—of the grave sad look of rebuke and shake of the head with which the good old minister had received it—and how she had sulked at him till forced to throw herself on him to hinder her separation from her child She burst into tears, and as Berenger, in some distress, began to assure her that he would and could do nothing without her consent, she struggled to recover voice to say, ‘No! no! I only grieve that I am still as wicked as ever, after these three years with that saint, my dear father Do as you will, only pardon me, the little fierce one!’ And then, when she was made to perceive that her husband would have to fight alone, and could not take her with him to share his triumphs or bind his wounds, at least not except by bringing her in contact with Henry of Navarre and that atmosphere of the old court, she acquiesced the more readily She was a woman who could feel but not reason; and, though she loved Nid de Merle, and had been proud of it, Berenger’s description of the illused Sieur de Bellaise had the more effect on her, because she well remembered the traditions whispered among the peasants with whom her childhood had been passed, that the village crones declared nothing had gone well with the place since the Bellaise had been expelled, with a piteous tale of the broken-hearted lady, that she had never till now understood For the flagrant injustice perpetrated on her uncle and cousin in the settlement on Berenger and herself she cared little, thinking they had pretty well repaid themselves, and not entering into Berenger’s deeper view, that this injustice was the more to be deplored as the occasion of their guilt; but she had no doubt or question as to the grand stroke of yielding up her claims on the estate to the Sieur de Bellaise The generosity of the deed struck her imagination, and if Berenger would not lead her vassals to battle, she did not want them There was no difficulty with Sir Marmaduke; he only vowed that he liked Berenger’s wife all the better for being free of so many yards of French dirt tacked to her petticoat, and Philip hated the remembrance of those red sugar-loaf pinnacles far too much not to wish his brother to be rid of them M de Bellaise, when once he understood that restitution was intended, astonished Sir Marmaduke by launching himself on Berenger’s neck with tears of joy; and Henry of Navarre, though sorry to lose such a partisan as the young Baron, allowed that the Bellaise claims, being those of a Catholic, might serve to keep out some far more dangerous person whom the court party might select in opposition to an outlaw and a Protestant like M de Ribaumont ‘So you leave us,’ he said in private to Berenger, to whom he had taken a great liking ‘I cannot blame you for not casting your lot into such a witch’s caldron as this poor country My friends think I dallied at court like Rinaldo in Armida’s garden They do not understand that when one hears the name of Bourbon one does not willingly make war with the Crown, still less that the good Calvin left a doctrine bitter to the taste and tough of digestion Maybe, since I have been forced to add my spoon to stir the caldron, it may clear itself; if so, you will remember that you have rights in Normandy and Picardy.’ This was the royal farewell Henry and his suite departed the next morning, but the Duchess insisted on retaining her other guests till Philip’s cure should be complete Meantime, Claude de Mericour had written to his brother and arranged a meeting with him He was now no boy who could be coerced, but a staid, self-reliant, scholarly person, with a sword by his side and an English passport to secure him, and his brother did not regard him as quite the disgrace to his family he had at first deemed him He was at least no rebel; and though the law seemed to French eyes infinitely beneath the dignity of a scion of nobility, still it was something not to have him a heretic preacher, and to be able at least to speak of him as betrothed to the sister of the Baron de Ribaumont Moreover, that Huguenot kinsman, whose extreme Calvinist opinions had so nearly revolted Mericour, had died and left him all his means, as the only Protestant in the family; and the amount, when Claude arranged matters with his brother, proved to be sufficient to bear him through his expenses handsomely as a student, with the hope of marriage so soon as he should have kept his terms at the Temple And thus the good ship THROSTLE bore home the whole happy party to Weymouth, and good Sir Marmaduke had an unceasing cause for exultation in the brilliant success of his mission to France After all, the first to revisit that country was no other than the once homesick Philip He wearied of inaction, and thought his county neighbours ineffably dull and lubberly, while they blamed him for being a fine, Frenchified gentleman, even while finding no fault with their old friend Berenger, or that notable little, lively, housewifely lady his wife, whose broken English and bright simplicity charmed every one Sorely Philip needed something to do; he might have been a gentleman pensioner, but he had no notion, he said, of loitering after a lady to boat and hunt, when such a king as Henry of Navarre was in the field; and he agreed with Eustacie in her estimate of the court, that it was horribly dull, and wanting in all the sparkle and brilliancy that even he had perceived at Paris Eustacie gladly retreated to housewifery at Combe Walwyn, but a strenuous endeavour on Lady Thistlewood’s part to marry her stepson to a Dorset king’s daughter, together with the tidings of the renewed war in France, spurred Philip into writing permission from his father to join the King of Navarre as a volunteer Years went by, and Philip was only heard of in occasional letters, accompanied by presents to his sisters and to little Rayonette, and telling of marches, exploits, and battles,—how he had taken a standard of the League at Coutras, and how he had led a charge of pikemen at Ivry, for which he received the thanks of Henry IV But, though so near home, he did not set foot on English ground till the throne of France was secured to the hero of Navarre, and he had marched into Paris in guise very unlike the manner he had left it Then home he came, a bronzed gallant-looking warrior, the pride of the county, ready for repose and for aid to his father in his hearty old age, and bearing with him a pressing invitation from the King to Monsieur and Madame de Ribaumont to resume their rank at court Berenger, who had for many years only known himself as Lord Walwyn, shook his head ‘I thank the King,’ he said, ‘but I am better content to breed up my children as wholly English He bade me to return when he should have stirred the witch’s caldron into clearness Alas! all he has done is to make brilliant colours shine on the vapour thereof Nay, Phil; I know your ardent love for him, and marvel not at it Before he joined the Catholic Church I trusted that he might have given truth to the one party, and unity to the other; but when the clergy accepted him with all his private vices, and he surrendered unconditionally, I lost hope I fear there is worse in store Queen Catherine did her most fatal work of evil when she corrupted Henry of Navarre.’ ‘If you say more, Berry, I shall be ready to challenge you!’ said Philip ‘When you saw him, you little knew the true king of souls that he is, is greatness, or his love for his country.’ ‘Nay, I believe it; but tell me, Philip, did you not hint that you had been among former friends—at Lucon, you said, I think?’ Philip’s face changed ‘Yes; it was for that I wished to see you alone My troop had to occupy the place I had to visit the convent to arrange for quartering my men so as least to scandalize the sisters The Abbess came to speak to me I knew her only by her eyes! She is changed—aged, wan, thin with their discipline and fasts—but she once or twice smiled as she alone in old times could smile The place rings with her devotion, her charity, her penances, and truly her face is’—he could hardly speak—‘like that of a saint She knew me at once, asked for you all, and bade me tell you that NOW she prays for you and yours continually, and blesses you for having opened to her the way of peace Ah! Berry, I always told you she had not her equal.’ ‘Think you so even now?’ ‘How should I not, when I have seen what repentance has made of her?’ ‘So!’ said Berenger, rather sorrowfully, ‘our great Protestant champion has still left his heart behind in a French convent.’ ‘Stay, Berenger! do you remember yonder villain conjurer’s prediction that I should wed none but a lady whose cognizance was the leopard?’ ‘And you seem bent on accomplishing it,’ said Berenger ‘Nay, but in another manner—that which you devised on the spur of the moment Berenger, I knew the sorcerer spake sooth when that little moonbeam child of yours brought me the flowers from the rampart I had speech with her last night She has all the fair loveliness that belongs of right to your mother’s grandchild, but her eye, blue as it is, has the Ribaumont spirit; the turn of the head and the smile are what I loved long ago in yonder lady, and, above all, she is her own sweet self Berenger, give me your daughter Berangere, and I ask no portion with her but the silver bullet Keep the pearls for your son’s heirloom; all I ask with Rayonette is the silver bullet.’ THE END End of Project Gutenberg’s The Chaplet of Pearls, by Charlotte M Yonge *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHAPLET OF PEARLS *** This file should be named chplt10.txt or chplt10.zip Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, chplt11.txt VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, chplt10a.txt Prepared by Hanh Vu, capriccio_vn@yahoo.com A web page for Charlotte M Yonge will be found at www.menorot.com/cmyonge.htm Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US unless a copyright notice is included Thus, we usually do not keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, even years after the official publication date Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month A preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment and editing by those who wish to do so Most people start at our Web sites at: http://gutenberg.net or http://promo.net/pg These Web sites include award-winning information about Project Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!) 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKSVer.02/11/02*END* ... presentiment of the times themselves, but of my notion of them C M Yonge November 14th, 1868 THE CHAPLET OF PEARLS or THE WHITE AND BLACK RIBAUMONT CHAPTER I THE BRIDAL OF THE WHITE AND BLACK Small was the ring, and small in truth the finger: What then? the faith was... cavaliers, whose brilliant velvet and jewels fifty mixed with their bright array These were the sirens he had heard of, the ‘squadron of the Queen-mother,’ the dangerous beings against whom he was to steel himself And which of them was the child he had played with, to whom his vows had been plighted? It was like... a mermaid with a comb, and another like Siren curled her tail on the top of the gaping baronial helmet above the shield, while two more upheld the main weight of the chimney-piece on either side of the glowing wood-fire