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.