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Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIII
The Rendezvous
D`Artagnan ran home immediately, and although it was three o`clock in
the morning, and he had some of the worst reputed quarters of Paris to pass
through, he met with no misadventure. Every one knows that drunkards and
lovers have a protecting deity.
He found the door of his passage open, sprang up the stairs, and knocked
softly, in a manner agreed upon between him and his lackey. Planchet,^3 whom
he had sent home two hours before from the Hotel de Ville, desiring him to
be careful and sit up for him, opened the door to him.
[Footnote 3: There is no doubt the reader will ask, as the Translator does,
"How came Planchet here?" We left him "stiff as a rush" from fatigue, being
carried to bed in London.]
"Has any one brought a letter for me?" asked D`Artagnan eagerly.
"No one has brought a letter, monsieur," replied Planchet; "but there
is one come of itself."
"What do you mean by that, you stupid fellow?"
"I mean to say that when I came in, although I had the key of your
apartment in my pocket, and that key had never been out of my possession, I
found a letter upon the green table-cover in your bedchamber."
"And where is that letter?"
"I left it where I found it, monsieur. It is not natural for letters
to enter in this manner into people`s houses. If the window had been open,
even in the smallest way, I should think nothing of it; but, no; all was as
close as possible. Beware, monsieur, there is certainly some magic in it."
While Planchet was saying this, the young man had darted into his
chamber, and seized and opened the letter; it was from Madame Bonacieux, and
was conceived in these terms:
"There are many thanks to be offered to you, and to be transmitted to
you. Be this evening about ten o`clock, at St. Cloud, in front of the
pavilion built at the corner of the hotel of M. d`Estrees. - C. B."
While reading this letter, D`Artagnan felt his heart dilated and
compressed by that delicious spasm which tortures and caresses the hearts of
lovers.
It was the first billet he had received, it was the first rendezvous
that had ever been granted him. His heart, swelled by the intoxication of
joy, felt ready to dissolve away at the very gate of that terrestrial
paradise called Love!
"Well, monsieur," said Planchet, who had observed his master grow red
and pale successively; "did I not guess truly? is it not some bad business
or other?"
"You are mistaken, Planchet," replied D`Artagnan; "and, as a proof,
there is a crown to drink my health."
"I am much obliged to monsieur, for the crown he has given me, and I
promise him I will obey his instructions exactly; but it is not the less true
that letters which come in this manner into shut-up houses - "
"Fall from heaven, my friend, fall from heaven."
"Then monsieur is satisfied?" asked Planchet.
"My dear Planchet, I am the happiest of men!"
"And I may profit by monsieur`s happiness, and may go to bed?"
"Yes, go."
"May the blessings of heaven fall upon monsieur; but it is not the less
true that that letter - "
And Planchet retired, shaking his head with an air of doubt, which the
liberality of D`Artagnan had not entirely removed
Left alone, D`Artagnan read and re-read his billet, then he kissed and
re-kissed twenty times the lines traced by the hand of his beautiful
mistress. At length he went to bed, fell asleep, and had golden dreams.
At seven o`clock in the morning he arose and called Planchet, who, at
the second summons, opened the door, his countenance not yet quite free from
the anxiety of the preceding night.
"Planchet," said D`Artagnan, "I am going out for all day, perhaps; you
are, therefore, your own master till seven o`clock in the evening; but at
seven o`clock you must hold yourself in readiness with two horses."
"There!" said Planchet, "we are going again, it appears, to have our
skins pierced through, and rubbed off in all directions!"
"You will take your musketoon and your pistols."
"There now! did I not say so?" cried Planchet. "I was sure of it; that
cursed letter."
"Come, don`t be afraid! you silly fellow; there is nothing in hand but
a party of pleasure."
"Ah! like the charming journey the other day, when it rained billets,
and produced a crop of steel-traps!"
"Well, if you are really afraid, Monsieur Planchet," resumed D`Artagnan.
"I will go without you; I prefer traveling alone to having a companion who
entertains the least fear."
"Monsieur does me wrong," said Planchet; "I thought he had seen me at
work."
"Yes, but I do not know whether you had not worn out all your courage
the first time."
"Monsieur shall see, upon occasion, that I have some left; only I beg
monsieur not to be too prodigal of it, if he wishes it to last long."
"Do you believe you have still a certain amount of it to expend this
evening?"
"I hope I have monsieur."
"Well, then, I depend upon you."
"At the appointed hour I shall be ready; only I believe that monsieur
had but one horse in the guard stables."
"Perhaps there is but one at this moment; but by this evening there will
be four."
"It appears that our journey was a remounting journey then?"
"Exactly so," said D`Artagnan; and nodding to Planchet, he went out.
M. Bonacieux was standing at his door. D`Artagnan`s intention was to
go out without speaking to the worthy mercer; but the latter made so polite
and friendly a salutation, that his tenant felt obliged, not only to stop,
but to enter into conversation with him.
Besides, how was it possible to avoid a little condescension toward a
husband, whose pretty wife had appointed a meeting with you that same evening
at St. Cloud, opposite the pavilion of M. d`Estrees? D`Artagnan approached
him with the most amiable air he could assume.
The conversation naturally fell upon the incarceration of the poor man.
M. Bonacieux, who was ignorant that D`Artagnan had overheard his conversation
with the unknown of Meung, related to his young tenant the persecutions of
that monster, M. de Laffemas, whom he never ceased to qualify, during his
account, with the title of the cardinal`s executioner, and expatiated at
great length upon the Bastille, the bolts, the wickets, the dungeons, the
loopholes, the gratings, and the instruments of torture.
D`Artagnan listened to him with exemplary complaisance, and when he had
finished said:
"And Madame Bonacieux, do you know who carried her off? for I do not
forget that I owe to that unpleasant circumstance the good fortune of having
made your acquaintance."
"Ah!" said Bonacieux, "they took good care not to tell me that, and my
wife, on her part, has sworn to me by all that`s sacred, that she does not
know. But you," continued M. Bonacieux, in a tone of perfect bonhomie, "what
has become of you for several days past? I have not seen either you or any
of your friends, and I don`t think you could pick up all that dust on the
pavement of Paris that I saw Planchet brush off your boots yesterday."
"You are right, my dear M. Bonacieux, my friends and I have been on a
little journey."
"Far from Paris?"
"Oh lord, no! about forty leagues only. We went to take M. Athos to
the waters of Forges, where my friends have remained."
"And you have returned, have you not?" replied M. Bonacieux, giving to
his countenance the most jocular air. "A handsome young fellow like you does
not obtain long leaves of absence from his mistress; and we were impatiently
waited for at Paris, were we not?"
"Ma foi!" said the young man, laughing, "I am fain to confess it, and
so much the more readily, my dear Bonacieux, as I see there is no concealing
anything from you. Yes, I was expected, and impatiently, I assure you."
A slight shade passed over the brow of Bonacieux, but so slight that
D`Artagnan did not perceive it.
"And we are going to be recompensed for our diligence?" said Bonacieux,
with a trifling alteration in his voice - so trifling, indeed, that
D`Artagnan did not perceive it any more than he had the shade which, an
instant before, had darkened the countenance of the worthy man.
"Ah, I hope you are a true prophet!" said D`Artagnan, laughing.
"No; that which I say is only that I may know whether you will be late."
"Why do you ask me that question, my dear host? Do you intend to sit
up for me?"
"No; only since my arrest and the robbery that was committed in my
house, I am alarmed every time I hear a door opened, particularly in the
night. What the deuce can you expect? I told you I was no man of the
sword."
"Well, don`t be alarmed if I come home at one, two or three o`clock in
the morning; indeed, do not be alarmed if I do not come at all.`"
This time Bonacieux became so pale that D`Artagnan could not do
otherwise than perceive it, and asked him what was the matter?
"Nothing," replied Bonacieux, "nothing; only since my misfortunes I have
been subject to faintness, which seizes me all at once, and I have just felt
a cold shiver. Pay no attention to it; you have nothing to occupy yourself
with but being happy."
"Then I have a full occupation, for I am so."
"Not yet - wait a little; this evening, you said."
`Well, this evening will come, thank God! And perhaps you look for it
with as much impatience as I do; perhaps this evening Madame Bonacieux will
visit the conjugal domicile."
"Madame Bonacieux is not at liberty this evening," replied the husband
seriously; "she is detained at the Louvre this evening by her duties."
"So much the worse for you, my dear host, so much the worse for you!
When I am happy, I wish all the world to be so; but it appears that it is not
possible."
And the young man departed, laughing at the joke, which he thought he
alone could comprehend.
"Ah, have your laugh out!" replied Bonacieux, in a sepulchral tone.
But D`Artagnan was too far off to hear him, and if he had heard him, in
the disposition of mind he then enjoyed he, certes would not have remarked
it.
He took his way toward the hotel of M. de Treville: his visit of the day
before had been very short and very little explicative.
He found M. de Treville in the joy of his heart. He had thought the
king and queen charming at the ball. It is true the cardinal had been
particularly ill-tempered; he had retired at one o`clock under the pretense
of being indisposed. As to their majesties, they did not return to the
Louvre till six o`clock.
"Now," said M. de Treville, lowering his voice, and looking round to
every corner of the apartment to see if they were alone, "now let us talk
about you, my young friend; for it is evident that your fortunate return has
something to do with the joy of the king, the triumph of the queen, and the
humiliation of the cardinal. You must take care of yourself."
"What have I to fear," replied D`Artagnan, "as long as I shall have the
good fortune to enjoy the favor of their majesties?"
"Everything, believe me. The cardinal is not the man to forget a
mystification until he has settled his accounts with the mystifier; and the
mystifier appears to me to have the air of being a certain young Gascon of
my acquaintance."
"Do you think that the cardinal knows as much as you do, and knows that
I have been to London?"
"The devil! you said London! Was it from London you brought that
beautiful diamond that glitters on your finger? Beware, my dear D`Artagnan!
a present from an enemy is not a good thing. Are there not some Latin verses
upon that subject? Stop!"
"Yes, doubtless," replied D`Artagnan, who had never been able to cram
the first rudiments even of that language into his head, and who had by his
ignorance driven his master to despair - "yes, doubtless there is one."
"There certainly is one," said M. de Treville, who had a tincture of
letters, "and M. Benserade was quoting it to me the other day. Stop a minute
- ah, this is it: `Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes,` which means, `Beware of
the enemy who makes you presents.`"
"This diamond does not come from an enemy, monsieur," replied
D`Artagnan; "it comes from the queen.`"
"From the queen! oh, oh!" said M. de Treville. "Why it is, indeed, a
true royal jewel, which is worth a thousand pistoles if it is worth a denier.
By whom did the queen send you this jewel?"
"She gave it to me herself."
"Where?"
"In the closet adjoining the chamber in which she changed her toilet."
"How?"
"Giving me her hand to kiss."
"What! you have kissed the queen`s hand?" said M. de Treville, looking
earnestly at D`Artagnan.
"Her majesty did me the honor to grant me that favor."
"And that in the presence of witnesses! Imprudent woman! thrice
imprudent!"
"No, monsieur; be satisfied, nobody saw her," replied D`Artagnan, and
he related to M. de Treville how the affair had passed.
"Oh, the women, the women!" cried the old soldier. "I know them by
their romantic imaginations; everything that savors of mystery charms them.
So you have seen the arm, that was all; you would meet the queen and you
would not know her; she might meet you and she would not know who you were?"
"No; but thanks to this diamond," replied the young man.
"Listen to me," said M. de Treville; "shall I give you a good piece of
advice - a piece of friendly advice?"
"You will do me honor, monsieur," said D`Artagnan.
"Well, then, go to the nearest goldsmith`s, and sell that diamond for
the highest price you can get from him; however much of a Jew he may be, he
will give you at least eight hundred pistoles. Pistoles have no name, young
man, and that ring has a terrible one, which may betray him who wears it."
"Sell this ring - a ring which comes from my sovereign! never!" said
D`Artagnan.
"Then at least turn the collet inside, you silly fellow; for everybody
must be aware that a cadet from Gascony does not find such gems in his
mother`s jewel-case."
"You think, then, that I have something to dread?" asked D`Artagnan.
"I mean to say, young man, that he who sleeps over a mine, the match of
which is already lighted, may consider himself in safety in comparison with
you."
"The devil!" said D`Artagnan, whom the positive tone of M. de Treville
began to make a little uneasy - "the devil what must I do?"
"Be particularly, and at all times, on your guard. The cardinal has a
tenacious memory and a long arm; you may depend upon it, he will repay you
by some ill turn."
"But what sort of one?`"
"Eh! how can I tell? Has he not all the devil`s tricks at command?
The least that can be expected is that you will be arrested."
"What! will they dare to arrest a man in his majesty`s service?"
"Pardieu! they did not scruple much in the case of Athos. At all
events, young man, depend upon one who has been thirty years at court. Do
not lull yourself in security, or you will be lost; but, on the contrary -
and it is I who tell you so - see enemies in all directions. If anyone seeks
a quarrel with you, shun it, were it with a child of ten years old; if you
are attacked by day or by night, fight, but retreat, without shame; if you
cross a bridge, feel every plank of it with your foot, lest one should give
way beneath you; if you pass before a house which is being built, look up,
for fear a stone should fall upon your head; if you stay out late, be always
followed by your lackey, and let your lackey be armed, if, by the by, you can
be sure of your lackey. Mistrust everybody, your friend, your brother, your
mistress - your mistress in particular."
D`Artagnan blushed.
"Of my mistress," repeated he mechanically; "and why rather her than any
other?"
"Because a mistress is one of the cardinal`s favorite means - he has not
one that is more expeditious; a woman will sell you for ten pistoles, witness
Dalila. You are acquainted with the Scriptures, eh?"
D`Artagnan thought of the appointment Madame Bonacieux had made with him
for that very evening; but we are bound to say, to the credit of our hero,
that the bad opinion entertained by M. de Treville of women in general, did
not inspire him with the least suspicion of his pretty hostess.
"But, a propos," resumed M. de Treville, "what has become of your three
companions?"
"I was about to ask you if you had heard any news of them."
"None whatever, monsieur."
"Well, I left them on my road: Porthos at Chantilly, with a duel on his
hands; Aramis at Crevecoeur, with a ball in his shoulder; and Athos at
Amiens, detained by an accusation of coining!"
"See there, now!" said M. de Treville; "and how the devil did you
escape?"
"By a miracle, monsieur, I must acknowledge, with a sword-thrust in my
breast, and by nailing M. le Comte de Wardes, on the by-road to Calais, like
a butterfly on a tapestry."
"There again! De Wardes, one of the cardinal`s men, a cousin of
Rochefort`s. But stop, my friend, I have an idea."
"Speak, monsieur."
"In your place, I would do one thing."
"What, monsieur?"
"While his eminence was seeking for me in Paris, I would take, without
sound of drum or trumpet, the road to Picardy, and would go and make some
inquiries concerning my three companions. What the devil! they merit richly
that piece of attention on your part."
"The advice is good, monsieur, and to-morrow I will set out."
"To-morrow! and why not this evening?"
"This evening, monsieur, I am detained in Paris by an indispensable
business."
"Ah, young man, young man! some love-passage or other! Take care, I
repeat to you, take care! it is woman who was the ruin of us all, is the
ruin of us all, and will be the ruin of us all as long as the world stands.
Take my advice, and set out this evening."
"It is impossible, monsieur."
"You have given your word, then?"
"Yes, monsieur."
"Ah, that`s quite another thing; but promise me, if you should not
happen to be killed to-night, that you will go to-morrow."
"I promise you, monsieur."
"Do you want money?"
"I still have fifty pistoles. That, I think, is as much as I shall
want."
"But your companions?"
"I don`t think they can be in need of any. We left Paris with each
seventy-five pistoles in his pocket."
"Shall I see you again before your departure?"
"I think not, monsieur, unless anything fresh should happen."
"Well, a pleasant journey to you then."
"Thank you, monsieur."
And D`Artagnan left M. de Treville, penetrated more than ever by his
paternal solicitude for his musketeers.
He called successively at the abodes of Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.
Neither of them had returned. Their lackeys likewise were absent, and
nothing had been heard of either masters or servants.
He would have inquired after them at their mistress`, but he was neither
acquainted with Porthos` nor Aramis` and as to Athos, he had not one.
As he passed the Hotel des Gardes, he took a glance into the stables.
Three out of the four horses were already arrived. Planchet, all
astonishment, was busy grooming them, and had already finished two.
"Ah, monsieur," said Planchet, on perceiving D`Artagnan, "how glad I am
to see you."
"Why so, Planchet?" asked the young man.
"Do you place confidence in our landlord, Mr. Bonacieux?"
"I? Not the least in the world."
"Oh, you do quite right, monsieur."
"But, why do you ask?"
"Because, while you were talking with him, I watched you without
listening to you; and, monsieur, his countenance changed so, two to three
times!"
"Bah!"
"Preoccupied as monsieur was with the letter he had received, he did not
observe that; but I, whom the strange fashion in which that letter came into
the house had placed on my guard, I did not lose a movement of his feature."
"And you found it?"
"Traitorous, monsieur."
"Indeed!"
`Still more; as soon as monsieur had left, and disappeared round the
corner of the street, M. Bonacieux took his hat, shut his door, and set off
at a quick pace in an opposite direction."
"It seems you are right, Planchet; all this appears to be a little
mysterious; and be assured that we will not pay him our rent until the matter
shall be categorically explained to us."
"Monsieur jokes, but monsieur will see."
"What would you have, Planchet? It is written, that what must be must!"
"Monsieur has not then renounced his excursion for this evening?"
"Quite the contrary, Planchet; the more ill-wind I have reason to
entertain toward M. Bonacieux, the more punctual I shall be in keeping the
appointment made with me in that letter which makes you so uneasy."
"Then that is monsieur`s determination?"
"Most decidedly, my friend; at nine o`clock, then, be ready here, at the
hotel, I will come and take you."
Planchet seeing there was no longer any hope of making his master
renounce his project, heaved a profound sigh, and set to work to groom the
third horse.
As to D`Artagnan, being at bottom a prudent youth instead of returning
home, he went and dined with the Gascon priest, who, at the time of the
distress of the four friends, had given them a breakfast of chocolate.
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