The Seven Houses

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Contents

PACK

THE HOUSE OF FRIENDS AND ENEMIES .

. 283

II

Into the great hall of Lhoeac there were eight entrances. One the main door opening into the central courtyard — a thing of stern defence, of bolts, bars, locks, and ponderous iron studs, built to laugh alike at fire or the battering of assault. One the stairway facing it across the broad square with its double row of triple pillars, its benches, tables, and scattering of skin rugs; four more in pairs to right and left sunk deep into the side walls and hung with claret-coloured cloth of Rennes looped with tasselled cords ; and two through the scantily-lit corridors which swept round the ^castle in a horse-shoe from the stairs' foot— K:orridors dank and close in winter time as with the heavy atmosphere of a vault ; a ninth there was in the centre of the floor, where, at a touch of a hidden spring, a great flag swung upon a pivot, but it was rather an exit than an entrance, and its gaping mouth had served the wild justice and the wilder vengeance of more than one lord of Lhoeac.

When the shadow of the eternal sleep darkens a household there is commonly little room for this world's slumber within its doors. So was it that still September night at Lhoeaa The watchfulness and waiting which had their centre in young Madame's dim and silent chamber spread their influence from Seigneur to scullion, and no soul lay down to sleep. Then, as always, the awesomeness of the great change made for wakefulness.

Four hours had passed since the bitter blow dealt to de Lhoeac's confident expectation had staggered him body and mind, and the two brothers had betaken themselves to the Seigneur's smaller justice hall, an apartment facing the courtyard and entered from the left corridor. There, when tlie frailer elder had recovered himself, they were joined by one who had for some time called himself Messire Jacopo Ravelli, but who, by his own showing, had in his day borne many names.

A striking figure was Messire Jacopo, one at whom a man having looked carelessly once, looked again and yet again, bafHed and curious, looked until the furtive glance became a stare, and with every second the questionings would grow as to what manner of mind it was that lay behind that smooth, impassive mask. Then, let the fascination be broken, and Messire Jacopo was no more than one of a common score, save for the waxen whiteness of a face that was the face of the dead rather than the quick.

A slender, hard-knit, sinewy man was Jacopo Ravelli, broad-shouldered, clean-limbed, with hands and feet small-boned, long and lean ; manhood and youth met in him at their strongest. His black, straight hair hung across his ears almost to his shoulders, and being cut square upon the forehead, set the smooth and pallid face as in a dull frame of ebony. His chin was as square as de Lhoeac's own, his lips as firm, but never, even in the fire of his hot youth — ^and Guy de Lhoeac had lived hard and known hot passions — had the Seigneur's eyes lit up as did those of Messire Jacopo. As to his dress, it was plain to severeness, but a light sword hung at his left hip, and the man had the alert air and free carriage of one who could use a blade at times, and have no fear that his foe would shame him.

"Sit you down, Henri," the Seigneur had said while the two were still alone, " and set that sconce at your back, for this Ravelli is no common man, and is worth the watching. Why he is here at a time when strangers have scant welcome falls out thus : In '64 it was my fortune to do young Pietro della Rovere — nephew to that Francis of Savona who is now Pope and calls himself Sixtus the Fourth — some little kindness. A nothing, a nothing : no more than soldier to soldier ; but the lad, being only a lad, was grateful, and even as a man has not forgotten. Therefore, when I wrote him — or rather Hugo, my chaplain — for, thank the Lord, I know no more of clerk's work than my name, and love belter my dagger-manual — ^when I wrote him, I say, of the evil that had befallen Lhoeac, and the gossamer upon which its promise hung, he must needs send me this Ravelli and a letter that was Rovere's own self for blunt frankness. ' Thou art old,' said he, 'and being old, had best know the good and be warned of the evil that will befall the child through the stars in their courses. Trust Ravelli as thou wouldst myself.' That was four months ago, and to-day — or was it yesterday ? for it must be hard upon midnight — at the very prick of noon comes the man himself. What dost thou make of that, brother ? Four months of a blank, and then to come at the tick of time 1 To me it smells of the fiend."

" The stars in their courses I " cried Henri de Lhoeac, crossing the room to where on an oaken buffet stood an array of flagons, and pouring out a goblet of wine with a hand that shook in spite of his self-control. " A charlatan I a cheat I What hath a Christian man to do with black magic ? "

But the Seigneur shook his head.

" No charlatan, no cheat. What ? are the della Roveres fools ? and would his Holiness join hands with the devil ? That were a pretty scandal 1 For, trust me, this Jacopo Ravelli is linked to Sixtus himself, and closely. More than that When a man is in straits, as I am, he must needs take what help comes to his hand and not question its whence or its wherefore too nicely. What, man ? Wouldst thou not clutch a bishopric, aye, and with both hands I even though it was the devil's claw that hooked it to thee? Thou knowest thou wouldst, and never boggle at it 1 And when was Lhoeac sharper pressed than now ? With nought but a girl babe and an outworn grandsire between it and rum I

"And do I/' demanded the other, setting down his cup which he had filled twice, and returning to his place by the hearth, " do I count for nothing ? "

" By your leave, or without your leave," replied the Seigneur, looking across moodily at the priest, *' you are, as I told you, as good as dead, and there are times when a man fears the dead more than he fears the living. For, look you, you know the length of the arm of the one; but who can forecast the power of the other ? Let this Italian's message but guide me for the guiding of Lhoeac and I shall thank him whether it comes of the blackest magic that ever dripped sulphur, or is the very inspiration of heaven."

With that Jacopo Ravelli had joined them, bearing himself with that mingling of courtesy and assurance which alone come of long rubbing shoulders with the great upon equal terms.

''It is four months," began de Lhoeac sternly, "since the Marchese Pietro wrote me of your coming."

" To be too soon is not to be in time," replied Ravelli. "To-night I am required, and to-night I am here."

" Aye, aye ; but what if "

"If! if!" he broke in. "Oh, believe me. Monsieur, I am not here to bandy ifs. There are no ifs to the man who knows."

"Then since thou knowest so much," said the priest sharply and eyeing the Italian with profound disfavour, " doubtless thou also knowest why thou art here ? "

" Doubtless. The reason is this : there is a child born, and the Baron de Lhoeac would have the stars read."

" That della Rovere told thee ? "

*' You asked me, Monsieur le Canon de Mont-de- Marsan, and I have answered."

"And can you do this?" cried the Seigneur eagerly, and motioning his brother to be silent.

" I can read a little of what God Almighty writes," replied Ravelli soberly, and with no note of pride in his voice, but rather a gentle humility, '' a little, a very little — a word here and there, no more ; and the book is great, as needs must that it be great with such an Author."

" So I " said the priest, smiling contemptuously. " Thou art a prophet ? "

But the other shook his head.

" No prophet, but a groping translator of God's eternal truth. You read the clouds, the winds, and say, thus and thus it shall be to-morrow. I probe deeper into the heart of the mysteries : that is all. Give me my instructions. Seigneur, that I may do that for which I came, and return to him that sent me."

" Why ? What haste is there, man ? "

" There is the world's work to be done, and he who bears not his own share of the burden at the time and in the place where the burden should be borne shifts it to another's shoulders ; or worse, it is left undone for need of him, and the generation suffers."

" By Saint Agnes I a second providence I " cried the priest, beating his hands together softly. *' The world's work, i' faith I Dost thou bear up the pillars of the universe ? "

"To every one his share," answered the Italian quietly ; " and woe to the man, aye, and to the church too, that offers no shoulder to the burden."

*' What ? Sir Wizard, the church ? the church ? Art thou ribald ? "

" Hold thy peace, Henri," broke in the Seigneur authoritatively, " and do you, Messire Ravelli, attend to the work in hand. Give me instructions you said a moment since : how can we instruct you who are here to instruct us ? "

"To each workman his tools," replied Ravelli. *' In my long-vanished but unforgotten Egyptian days we sought to compel the men of Goshen to make bricks without straw, and evil came of it. But we learn wisdom from our failures."

'* Egyptian I" echoed Henri de Lhoeac ; " art thou of Egypt, then ? "

" Once," replied the other curtly, " but that was long ago. Tell me, Seigneur, the hour, the second of the child's birth. That is the seed from which grows the tree of knowledge."

"And hast thou, perchance," said Henri de Lhoeac sarcastically, " the tree of life also ready to thy hand ? "

" It is an offshoot from the roots of knowledge," answered Ravelli, eyeing the priest coldly, "and I who have eaten of the fruit of both know that it is the least blest of the two. But my answer, Seigneur ? "

" That you must ask dame Therese, Messire ; I shall have her called."

" No, no, no ; by your leave, Seigneur, I mil find her out myself. I fear that between Ufe and death the dame is sore bestead to-night, and it would be a sour kindness to give her old bones an added labour."

"What 1" said the priest, his hard mouth curling to a sneer. " So learned, and yet so sympathetic I "

"Being old myself, Sir Canon, I feel for the aged."

"Thou old ? Why, man, thou art younger than I, and I count myself but in my prime."

" I reckon by thought, sorrow, labours, you by ■,

and yet, and yet," and Jacopo Ravelli's eyes glowed beneath the heavy thatch of his brows, " my years are no mean number, Monsieur le Canon de Mont-de-Mersan. Give me till midnight. Seigneur, then I shall tell my message and liegone."

While the Astrologer's footsteps echoed down the empty passage-way the brothers stood in silence, one on either side of the smouldering fire. It was the younger who broke the stillness.

" Did I not say he was a charlatan and a cheat 7" he cried, striking with his open hand the edge of the mantel by which he stood. " I marvel, Guy, that you had patience with the fellow's cheap solemnities and quackish parade of learning. Egypt forsooth and men of Goshen I Now who, in the name of sense, were the men of Goshen ? Such talk is the market patter of the mountebank."

" Patience was at least no fault of thine, Henri :

no, nor courtesy either. That one of us should bait him was enough. Besides, he is vouched for by della Rovere, and I hold him honest''

** Honest ? A specious, cunning rogue, say I ; and if I know less of camps than thou, brother, I know more of men. Tis not in the jostle of arms that one learns men. No, it is in the city street, the cunning of the mart, aye, even in the cloister, that such a book is best read. I will wager that he revenges my sifting of his pretensions by setting thee against me."

*' He is vouched for by della Rovere," repeated the Seigneur, ''and for the present I trust him. Gibe as thou wilt, I can tell a cheat as soon as thou."

That had been four hours before, and thenceforward there had been little talk between the brothers. Yet, for all that, the time had not hung heavily. It is a mistake to think that joy alone can sptu* the hours. Let a man's thought be but bitter enough and time flies as on wings of light ; and, verily, both had their sorrows to nurse — the Seigneur that his hopes were doomed, hopes that in his aged optimism he had fed and nourished until they had grown to stout certainties. Now, being a man of action and wit, and not given to biting his own fingers, needs must that he seek to build his house anew out of its broken fragments. Henri de Lhoeac had a different, and yet no less weighty cause of disquietude. A churchman by ambition, and caring little for either faith or creed, his ignorance held Jacopo Ravelli in uneasy dread. His vocation was his ladder, and since Raoul's death he had looked to Lboeac to help him in his climbing. What if this mystic was no charlatan, but a man infinitely wiser than himself, and one who could indeed read with clear eyes the book of men's lives and so lay bare thoughts and purposes he had never yet dared set naked even before his own soul ? There, truly, was food for thought, and so Henri de Lhoeac sat staring at the fire, his brows knit and his eyes seeing nothing of the embers whitening before them.

Ill

It was Jacopo Ravelli who broke in upon their thoughts. As his approaching footsteps rung along the corridor the brothers started, and their eyes met with the one distrustful questioning in both, but neither spoke until the Astrologer had silently let the curtain fall behind him. In his hand he carried a small square of parchment.

" Well ? " cried the Seigneur, rising stiffly to his feet and passing a shaking hand across his mouth and beard. " Is it good or evil ?"

" Is there a life without both ? " replied the Italian. " 1 mean no oflence, Seigneur, but even the house of Lhoeac must share the common lot."

''A truce to platitudes," struck in the Canon. *' Delia Rovere did not send thee all these leagues to talk hornbook. What the Seigneur de Lhoeac means — and thou knowest it — is, is the child in danger ? "

'* The answer is there," replied Ravelli, laying the parchment on the table which filled the centre of the room.

" Here ? " said the Seigneur, lifting it impatiently and twisting it from side to side as he bent over it " Why, this — ^this is nought but hieroglyphics. 'Tis liker a plan in fortifications than aught else. Here we have what might be the fort, a central parallelogram with angles, bastions, demilunes, and the Lord knows what else abutting on its sides. Do you play with us, Messire Ravelli ? God's life 1 man, not even Rovere himself should save your skin from such an ill-timed jest ! "

*' 'Tis the tool of the workman, my lord ; or, to use your own word, which is apposite enough, a plan ; but a plan of the fort of life besieged and defended. By your leave. Seigneur."

Taking the parchment into his own hands, Ravelli spread it upon the table and laid his finger on the triangle to the left of the central figure.

" Follow now what I say, and believe me I will waste no words. This is the house of the Ascendant ; in the child's case 'tis the sign Virgo ruled by Mercury, and its lord is posited in the third decanate. Mars is in conjunction in the same house, and the promise is good. Here," and he moved his finger downiirards, " is Venus but newly entered into the second house, and in trine to the sun and moon in the sixth and tenth, and again the promise is good. The cadent, or third house, and the two that follow," and his finger swept to the right until it baited at the corresponding angle of the parallelogram, ^are void ; but here, in a house of the descendant, that of the feeble Aquarius, and therefore in his own detriment, is the sun. Saturn is in opposition, and the promise is evil."

Again his finger moved, skirting the side of the parallelogram. This time the motion was upward till it passed the upper right-hand angle, and turning to the left halted in the triangle that crowned the figure. " The tenth house Medium Cali : Mid-heaven, It is the day house of Mercury, and in it is the moon in trine to Venus and the sun ; the promise is good. Next," and his finger moved to the left, crossing the line that separated the triangles, "is the eleventh house, and in it Cancer, a malevolent sign, and throned there is Jupiter, a gracious planet that in part corrects the evil. Now," and he drew his hand downwards to the left, " we come to the twelfth and last house. It bears the ^gn of Leo, and in it is Saturn ; the promise is evil, and the evil is strengthened by the sun in opposition. These, Seigneur, are the teachings of the stars, and for good or for evil they are written across the heavens."

Straightening himself, Jacopo Ravelli stepped back a pace or two from the table, while in his turn the younger Lhoeac snatched up the parchment and scanned the tracings closely.

'' Did I not say it ? A mountebank's jargon, a strolling cheapjack's easy patter/' he cried ; ** a bushel of words without so much as even a grain of sense. Pay the fellow his fee, my lord, and let him carry his pretensions to whosoever will swallow them : here they stick in the throat."

But the Seigneur shook his head.

"Thy heat is ill-timed and ill-judged," he said slowly. " To me monkish Latin as they gabble it at the Mass is so much gibberish, yet God Almighty hears and understands the church's prayers, or else what becomes of us ? If I reviled Fra Hugo as a fool for his praying, the folly would be mine, not his. Wait, Henri ; this, too, may have a meaning for all its disjointed patter of signs and planets and houses and the Lord knows what all. Is it not so, Messire ? "

"Three nations have perished in the making of the wisdom," replied the Italian, returning to his place by the table. " Monsieur le Canon de Mont-de-Mersan were a wise man indeed if in the fillip of a finger and thumb he had plumbed the laborious and slow-built learning of Chaldea, Assyria, and Egypt."

" Translate, then, Messire," and taking the parchment from his brother's grasp, the Seigneur handed it to Ravelli. " Delia Rovere bade me trust you as I would himself y and trust him I would to the death. Trust begets truth in a true man, Signor Ravelli ; you understand ? "

"Trust begets truth/' returned Ravelli gravely laying the horoscope once more flat upon the table. *'And what della Rovere set his pledge to I will redeem. Listen, then :

" The ascending sign in the House of Life is that of Virgo ; the child, therefore, will be chaste, hopeful, strong in fortitude under difficulties. To these qualities the ruler of the house in the third decanate adds shrewdness ; while the sun in Aquarius assures that intuition which is a sure judge of men and women. In this first house is also the fiery Mars, but over all his harassments and stress of war will be spread coolness and foresight. Mars .is a sword to smite, but his edge is blunted. That, Seigneur, is the lesson of the House of Life.

" Turn now to the second house," and Ravelli's finger travelled downwards as at the first. " This is the last ascending house, and is the House of Wealth. The foundations of the child's fortunes are laid and protected by Venus, the sun, and the moon ; that is to say, by love, power, and thought. These are in trine or equal-sided triangle, which, being the form of the pyramid, is the symbol of eternal strength. Happy the life that is so buttressed. The third house, which is that of Brethren ; the fourth, of Kindred ; and the fifth, of Children, are negative.

That thesC; Seigneur, are without promise of good is itself a menace, since to lack the love, service, and watchfulness of these is an unspeakable weakness. When the Lord God spread His teachings in the heavens He gave men wit to read them, and the silence of God is an awful and portentous thing ; and let those who have the care of the child heed well the ^^'arning.

"Now," and his finger rested to the right, and below the angle of the central figure, " come we to Aquarius, which is the sign in the sixth house, being the second house of the descendant. Here, also, is the sun, the symbol of strength and power ; his rays quenched, and with yet two more houses of the descendant to pass through. There is danger, Seigneur, danger imminent and great. But this is the House of Health, and with the power of the sun within it there is no fear for the child upon this score. The danger is from without, not from within, and the key lies in this — the houses of Brethren, Religion, and Enemies are in square, and the square is as evil as the trine is good. Next lies the House of Marriage, where night and day meeting merge in one. It is void of direct teaching, but has Mars and Mercury in opposition. There will, therefore, at this time of life, be an adverse and evil union of cunning and strength, mind and force, power without scruple. In its evil aspect Mercury is the very father of lies.

" The eight and ninth houses are also void : tlie one is the House of Death, with the planet of woman's love at its coldest, so that the shadow of loss falls near, very near, the babe. The other is the House of Religion, and of it there is this to be said : Saturn in the twelfth house and the sun in the sixth are in square, and the aspect is threatening ; a baleful conjunction of the forces of two worlds. Let the child," and Ravelli looked up for an instant full in the face of Henri de Lhoeac, " let the child, I say, beware of the power of the church."

It was but a glance, no more ; then he turned back impassively to the diagram, putting his finger on the tenth bouse, which he had called Mid-heaven.

"The House of Dignity and Honour : it is occupied by the sign Gemini, and in it is the moon. The planet is tn her growth, and if but the dangers of the third, fourth, seventh, and ninth houses be escaped, the child will come to honour through strength and love, which are in trine. Last but one is the House of Friends, and in it is the planet of beneficent power. It is the first ascending house, and when the time of trial comes its influence will be potent, counteracting," and he laid his finger on the triangle to the left of the upper corner of the figure, "the malevolency of Saturn throned in the House of Enemies — a malevolency unscrupulous and implacable. To sum up all. Seigneur. Grave this upon your memory and teach it to all those who truly love the fortunes of Lhoeac and the life of the young child.

When priest or kin hath anght to win, Then trust thou least both kin and priest.

There, in a word, is the message of the stars/'

Jacopo Ravelli had spoken throughout in the level, measured tone of a man whose brain is intent upon the unfolding of a problem, and who, because of the concentrations which it demands, has a mind vacant to all else. There had been neither hesitation nor passion ; simply the cold statement of comprehending knowledge. These things were so because they were so, and there was no room for question, heat, pause, or deviation. Then, having finished, he bowed to the Seigneur, pushed the parchment from him as if to say, ''It is done with," and stepped back as he had done at the first.

But before Guy de Lhoeac could open his mouth the priest broke in, hot and furious — .

'' By Saint Agnes 1 did I not say so ? How much hath this Rovere paid thee, fellow, to villify Holy Church ? What a cur the man must be to bid thee foul and snap at that whereby he lives, since but for Sixtus where would be Rovere ? Ha 1 I smell the trick. These Roveres are of the Italian faction, and would discredit us common scum of Prance lest we climb into their place 1 By Holy Paul 1 he and thou shall pay for it. What, Guy, what ? Art thou dumb under such vile slanders of thy brother ? "

But the Seigneur never budged from where he stood leaning against the table, his arms crossed, and his beard sunk upon his breast.

"The child hath other kin besides thee — kin on the mother's side," he answered coldly, "and it is to Messire Ravelli's credit that he has told his message without fear or favour. Why art thou so hot to take it to thyself ? But this thing is new to me, and my wit is slower than it was. Signor, let me understand. You say there are twelve houses ? "

" That is the modern method. Seigneur, the fangle of these few hundred years," replied the Italian, " and so I gave it to you. But it was not thus we learned astrology on the ancient watch-towers of Nineveh and Babylon. No, Chaldea knew the truth more simply and yet more perfectly, and yet in their essence the systems are at one. It is the accursed hunger after novelty and elaboration. What need of twelve houses when there are but seven dwellers therein ? Since what are they, these houses, but the changing abodes where the Eternal forces move and rule ? And which is greater, the body of a man or the eternal spirit that illumines it ? the house or that which dignifies the house ? Truly, the latter. Thence come the pulsations of the heart of the universe, the flooding currents of life in which are borne the powers and destinies of men. Reckon them, then. Seigneur, as seven houses. Thus : the House of Life and Fortune, the things which a man possesses ; the House of Kindred, that environment into which a man is born ; the House of Marriage, which is the house of the being and the blessing of life ; the House of Death ; the House of Religion ;

the House of Dignity and Honour ; the House of Friends and Enemies. You are warned; you are taught, Seigneur. May the Power that through the creeping centuries has shed this broadening light upon the world keep and guard the child."

Turning on his heel, Jacopo Ravelli lifted the curtain behind him and was gone with no more than the faintest gesture of farewell. Henri de Lhoeac he heeded not at all.

So sudden was the movement that the curtain had fallen back into its place before the Seigneur recovered from his surprise, and as he sprang forward to recall the Italian he found his purpose checked. Face to face with him in the hollow of the wall was dame Therese, panting and breathless.