Yet I
am not sure that his mother did not dread the patronage of the
Coadjutor most of all.
CHAPTER XXI.
ST. MARGARET AND THE DRAGON
I was day after day worried and harassed by my suitor, so that I was
very glad when, in the autumn, Madame de Rambouillet invited my
sister and me to come and pass a few days with her, and see her
vintage. We left my son under the care of the Abbe and of Sir
Francis and Lady Ommaney, and set forth together in our coach with my
women, and, as usual, mounted servants enough to guard us from any of
the thieves or straggling soldiers who infested the roads.
For about a league all went well and quietly, but just at the cross-
road leading to Chevreuse, a troop of horsemen sprang out upon us.
There was a clashing of swords, a pistol-shot or two; I found myself
torn from the arms in which my sister was trying to hold me fast,
dragged out in spite of all our resistance, and carried into another
carriage, at the door of which I was received by two strong arms; a
handkerchief was thrown over my mouth to stop my screams, and though
the inside of the coach was already darkened, my hands were tied and
my eyes blinded as I was placed on the seat far in the corner; the
door banged fast, and we drove swiftly away.
At first I was exhausted with my struggles, and in an agony of
suffocation with the gag, which hindered me from getting my breath.
I fancy I must have made some sound which showed my captors that
unless they relieved me, I should perish in their hands.
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