Chapter XXVII: Act II

SCENE--_A hall in the castle of Chambord._ KING LOUIS XIII.,
_a grey-haired, weak-minded man, is sitting, pale and
sorrowful, in a chair of state._ L'ANGELY _stands beside him._

THE KING: Oh, it is miserable to be a king
That lives but does not govern. Richelieu
Is killing all my friends. I sometimes think
He wants their blood to dye his scarlet robes.

L'ANGELY: He works for France, sire----

THE KING: Yes, and for himself.
I hate him. Never did a king of France
Govern with so tyrannical a hand
As he now does. A single word from me
And all his pomp and splendour, all his power,
Would vanish. But I cannot say the word;
He will not let me. Come, amuse me, fool!

L'ANGELY: Is not life, sire, a thing of bitterness?

THE KING: It is. Man is a shadow.

L'ANGELY: And a king
The miserablest creature on this earth.

THE KING: It gives me pleasure when you speak like that.
I wish that I were dead. In all the world
You are the only man I ever found
Worth listening to. I often wonder why
You care to live. What are you? A poor fool--
A puppet that I jerk to make me laugh.

L'ANGELY: I live on out of curiosity.
The puppet of the king, I sit and watch
The antics of the puppet of the priest!

THE KING: Yes, that is what I am. You speak the truth.
Could Satan not become a cardinal,
And take possession of my very soul?

L'ANGELY: I think that's what has happened.

THE KING: He loves blood,
The cardinal! It was the Huguenots
Yesterday that he wanted to behead,
And now it is the duellists. Blood! Blood!
He cannot live unless he lives in blood.

[L'ANGELY _makes a sign._ MARION DE LORME _and the_
MARQUIS DE NANGIS _enter._

MARION: Pardon!

THE KING: For whom?

MARION: Didier.

NANGIS: And the Marquis of Saverny.
They are two boys of twenty years of age--
Two children--they were quarrelling, when some spies
Posted by Richelieu ...

MARION: Pardon them, my king!
You will have pity on them. Two young boys,
Caught in a boyish quarrel! No blood shed.
You will not kill my Didier for that!
You will not! Oh, you will not!

THE KING (_wiping the tears from his eyes_): Richelieu
Has ordered that all duellists be hanged.
You make my head ache. Go. Leave me!
It must be so, for he has ordered it.

[L'ANGELY _signs to_ MARION _to hide herself in the dark
hall. She does so._ NANGIS _goes out._

THE KING (_yawning_): I wish they would not come and worry me.
Amuse me, L'Angely, for I am sad.
Can you not talk to me of death again?
That is a pleasant subject. Your gay talk
Alone enables me to bear with life.

L'ANGELY: Sire, I have come to say farewell to you.

THE KING: Farewell? You cannot leave me! Only death
Can end your service to a king.

L'ANGELY: 'Tis death
That ends it. You condemn me to be hanged,
Since you refuse to pardon those two boys.
For it was I who made them fight. I lent
My sword to Didier.

THE KING (_sadly_): Oh, my poor fool!
So they will break your neck as well! Farewell!
Life will be dull without you. When you die,
L'Angely, come and tell me how it feels,
If you can, as some dead men do return
In ghostly form to earth.

L'ANGELY (_to himself_): A pleasant task!

THE KING: No! It would frighten me if you came back.
You must not die. L'Angely, do you think
That I could master Richelieu, if I wished?

L'ANGELY: Try!

THE KING: Some paper!

[L'ANGELY _gives him some; he hurriedly scrawls a few
words, and hands the writing to the fool._

I have pardoned all of you.

L'ANGELY (_running to_ MARION): Here is the pardon.
Thank the king for it.

THE KING (_as_ MARION _throws herself at his feet_):
I must not! Give the paper back to me!
Richelieu will be angry.

MARION (_thrusting the pardon in her bosom_): You must tear
My heart out ere you take it from me, sire!

THE KING (_lowering his eyes, dazzled by her beauty_):
Are you a sorceress? You frighten me!
Keep it and go!

MARION (_as she departs_): My Didier is saved!

THE KING: At last I have shown Cardinal Richelieu
That I am King of France--

L'ANGELY: Who in a fright
Made a mistake, and once did what was right!