The old monks were of opinion that the two generals ought not yet to be sacrificed, but should be shut up in a subterranean dungeon, a messenger being sent forthwith to the French King announcing their capture.

The young monks protested loudly against such an act, declaring it to be treacherous, disgraceful, felonious.  The prior endeavoured to make them listen to reason and be silent, but the young monks, though in a minority, got the upper hand.  They deposed the prior, abused and assaulted him, and finally flung him into prison.  One of them was appointed prior without ballot, and this new leader, followed by his adherents, roused the generals and officiously sent them away.

The prior’s nephew, a young Bernardine, accompanied by a lay brother and two or three servants, set out across country that night, and brought information to the King of all this disorder, begging his Majesty to save his worthy uncle’s life.

At the head of six hundred dragoons, the King hastened to the convent and at once rescued the prior, sending the good old monks of Sainte Amandine to Citeaux, and dispersing the rebellious young ones among the Carthusian and Trappist monasteries.  All the treasures contained in the chapel he had transferred to his camp, until a calmer, more propitious season.

That priceless capture, the Prince of Orange, escaped him, however, and he was inconsolable thereat, adding, as he narrated the incident, “Were it not that I feared to bring dishonour upon my name, and sully the history of my reign and my life, I would have massacred those young Saint-Bernard monks.”

“What a vile breed they all are!” I cried, losing all patience.

“No, no, madame,” he quickly rejoined, “you are apt to jump from one extreme to the other.  It does not do to generalise thus.  The young monks at Sainte Amandine showed themselves to be my enemies, I admit, and for this I shall punish them as they deserve, but the poor old monks merely desired my success and advantage.  When peace is declared, I shall take care of them and of their monastery; the prior shall be made an abbot.  I like the poor fellow; so will you, when you see him.”

I really cannot see why the King should have taken such a fancy to this old monk, who was minded to murder a couple of generals in his convent because, forsooth, Judith once slew Holofernes!  Judith might have been tempted to do that sort of thing; she was a Jewess.  But a Christian monk!  I cannot get over it!

CHAPTER LIV.

The Chevalier de Rohan.—­He is Born Too Late.—­His Debts.—­Messina Ceded to the French.—­The King of Spain Meditates Revenge.—­The Comte de Monterey.—­Madame de Villars as Conspirator.—­The Picpus Schoolmaster.—­The Plot Fails.—­Discovery and Retribution.—­Madame de Soubise’s Indifference to the Chevalier’s Fate.

Had he been born fifty or sixty years earlier, the Chevalier de Rohan might have played a great part.  He was one of those men, devoid of restraint and of principle, who love pleasure above all things, and who would sacrifice their honour, their peace of mind, aye, even the State itself, if such a sacrifice were really needed, in order to attain their own personal enjoyment and satisfaction.