At any rate, if I had any feeling of the kind it did not last
long; on the contrary--it would be idle to deny it--I was
flattered by the sudden respect, Gil and the servants showed me.
What Catherine thought of the matter I could not tell. She had
her letter and apparently found it satisfactory. At any rate we
saw nothing of her. Madame Claude was busy boiling simples, and
tending the messenger's hurts. And it seemed natural that I
should take command.
There could be no doubt--at any rate we had none that the assault
on the courier had taken place at the Vidame's instance. The
only wonder was that he had not simply cut his throat and taken
the letter. But looking back now it seems to me that grown men
mingled some childishness with their cruelty in those days--days
when the religious wars had aroused our worst passions. It was
not enough to kill an enemy. It pleased people to make--I speak
literally--a football of his head, to throw his heart to the
dogs. And no doubt it had fallen in with the Vidame's grim
humour that the bearer of Pavannes' first love letter should
enter his mistress's presence, bleeding and plaistered with mud.
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