The Infant's Skull; Or, The End of the World. A Tale of the Millennium. Эжен Сю

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СКАЧАТЬ of Paris anxiously waited for the first word from the Queen. Finally, a tremor shook her frame, she raised her head, as if struck by a sudden thought, and curbing her emotions she asked: "Do you believe that King Lothaire, the father of my husband Louis, died of poison in March of last year?"

      "I believe he was poisoned."

      "Do you believe that Imma, his wife, was guilty of poisoning her husband?"

      "She is accused of the crime."

      "Do you believe Imma guilty of the crime?"

      "I believe what I see."

      "And when you do not see?"

      "Doubt is then natural."

      "Do you know that in that murder Queen Imma's accomplice was her lover Adalberon, bishop of Laon?"

      "It was a great scandal to the church!"

      "After the poisoning of Lothaire, the Queen and the bishop, finally delivered from the eyes of her husband, indulged their love more freely."

      "A double and horrible sacrilege!" cried the Count of Paris with indignation. "A bishop and a Queen adulterers and homicides!"

      Blanche seemed astonished at the indignation of Hugh the Capet and again contemplated him attentively. She then proceeded with her interrogatory:

      "Are you aware, Count of Paris, that King Lothaire's death is a happy circumstance for you – provided you were ambitious? Bishop Adalberon, the accomplice and lover of the Queen, that bishop, expert in poisons, was your friend!"

      "He was my friend before his crime."

      "You repudiate his friendship, but you profit by his crime. That is high statecraft."

      "In what way, Blanche, have I profited by that odious crime? Does not the son of Lothaire reign to-day? When my ancestors, the Counts of Paris, aspired at the crown they did not assassinate the kings, they dethroned them. Thus Eudes dethroned Charles the Fat, and Rothbert, Charles the Simple. A transmission of crowns is easy."

      "All of which did not prevent Charles the Simple, the nephew of Charles the Fat from re-ascending the throne, the same as Louis Outer-mer, the son of Charles the Simple, also resumed his crown. On the other hand, King Lothaire, who was poisoned last year, will never reign again. Whence we see, it is better to kill the kings than to dethrone them … if one wishes to reign in their stead. Not so, Count of Paris?"

      "Yes, provided one does not care for the excommunications of the bishops, nor for the eternal flames."

      "Hugh, if perchance my husband, although young, should die?.. That might happen."

      "The will of the Lord is all-powerful," answered Hugh with a contrite air. "There be those who to-day are full of life and youth, and to-morrow are corpses and dust! The designs of God are impenetrable."

      "So that if perchance the King, my husband, should die," rejoined Blanche, without taking her eyes from the face of the Count of Paris, "in short, if some day or other I become a widow – your scruples will then cease … my love will no longer be adulterous, would it, Hugh?"

      "No, you would then be free."

      "And will you remain faithful to what you have just said … 'Blanche, I swear to God by the salvation of my soul, if you should become a widow I shall separate from my wife Adelaide of Poitiers, and I shall marry you with a pure and holy joy.' … Will you be faithful to that oath?"

      "Blanche, I repeat it," answered Hugh the Capet avoiding the Queen's eyes that remained obstinately fixed upon him. "I swear to God by the salvation of my soul, if you become a widow I shall demand of the Pope permission to divorce Adelaide of Poitiers, and I shall marry you. Our love will then have ceased to be criminal."

      An interval of silence again followed the words of the Count of Paris, whereupon Blanche resumed slowly:

      "Hugh, there are strange and sudden deaths."

      "Indeed, strange and sudden deaths have been seen in royal families."

      "None is safe from accident. Neither princes nor subjects."

      "Only the will of heaven disposes of our fates. We must bow before the decrees of God."

      "My husband, Louis, the Do-nothing, is, like all other people, subject to death and the decrees of Providence."

      "Indeed, kings as well as subjects."

      "It may then happen, although he is now barely twenty, that he die suddenly … within a year … within six months … to-morrow … to-day…"

      "Man's end is death."

      "Should that misfortune arrive," the Queen proceeded after a pause, "there is one thing that alarms me, Hugh, and on which I desire your advice."

      "What, my dear Blanche?"

      "Calumniators, seeing Louis dies so suddenly, might talk … about poison."

      "A pure conscience despises calumny. The wicked may be disregarded."

      "Oh, as to me, I would despise them. But, you, Hugh, my beloved, whatever may be said, would you also accuse me of being a poisoner? Would you pass such a judgment upon me?"

      "I believe what I see… If I do not see, I doubt. Blanche, may the curse of heaven fall upon me if I ever could be infamous enough to conceive such a suspicion against you!" cried Hugh the Capet taking the Queen in his arms with passionate tenderness. "What! If the Lord should call your husband to Him He would fulfil the most cherished dreams of my life! He would allow me to sanctify with marriage the ardent love that I would sacrifice everything to, everything except my eternal salvation! And would I, instead of thanking God, suspect you of an odious crime! You the soul of my life!"

      The Queen seemed overwhelmed with ecstacy. Hugh the Capet proceeded in a low and tremulous voice: "Oh, joy of my heart, if some day you should be my wife before God, our souls would then merge in one and in a love that would then be pure and holy. Then, Oh joy of Heaven, we shall not age! The end of the world approaches. Together we shall quit life full of ardor and love!" saying which the Count of Paris drew his mouth close to the lips of the Queen. The latter closed her eyes and muttered a few words in a faint voice. Hugh the Capet, however, suddenly and with great effort disengaged himself from Blanche's arms exclaiming: "A superhuman courage is needed to overcome the passion that consumes me! Adieu, Blanche, well-beloved of my heart, I return to Paris!"

      With these words Hugh the Capet disappeared in the copse, while the Queen, overpowered with passion and the struggle within herself, followed him with her eyes: "Hugh, my lover, I shall be a widow, and you King!"

      CHAPTER II.

      THE IDIOT

      Among the household serfs of the royal domain of Compiegne was a young lad of eighteen named Yvon. Since the death of his father, a forester serf, he lived with his grandmother, the washerwoman for the castle, who had received permission from the bailiff to keep her grandson near her. Yvon was at first employed in the stables; but having long lived in the woods, he looked so wild and stupid that he was presently taken for an idiot, went by the name of Yvon the Calf, and became the butt of all. The King himself, Louis the Do-nothing, amused himself occasionally with the foolish pranks of the young serf. He was taught to mimic dogs by barking and walking on all fours; he was made to eat lizards, spiders and grass-hoppers СКАЧАТЬ