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Chapter XXXIV
Chapter XXXIV
In Which The Equipment Of Aramis And Porthos Is Treated Of
Since the four friends had been in search of their equipments, there had
been no fixed meeting. They dined without each other, wherever they might
happen to be, or rather, where they could find a dinner. Duty, likewise, on
its part, took up a considerable portion of the precious time which was
gliding away so rapidly. Only they had agreed to meet once a week, about one
o`clock, at the residence of Athos, seeing that he, in agreement with the vow
he had formed, did not pass over the threshold of his door.
This was the same day as that on which Kitty went to D`Artagnan.
Soon as Kitty left him, D`Artagnan directed his steps toward the Rue
Ferou.
He found Athos and Aramis philosophizing. Aramis had some slight
inclination to resume the cassock. Athos, according to his system, neither
encouraged nor dissuaded him. Athos was an advocate that every one should
be left to his own free will. He never gave advice but when it was asked;
and even then he required to be asked twice.
People in general, he said, only asked advice not to follow it or if
they did follow it, it was for the sake of having some one to blame for
having given it.
Porthos arrived a minute after D`Artagnan, and the four friends were all
assembled.
The four countenances expressed four different feelings: that of
Porthos, tranquillity; that of D`Artagnan, hope; that of Aramis, uneasiness;
that of Athos, carelessness.
At the end of a moment`s conversation, in which Porthos hinted that a
lady of elevated rank had condescended to relieve him from his embarrassment,
Mousqueton entered. He came to request his master to come home instantly;
his presence was very urgent.
"Is it my equipment?"
"Yes, and no," replied Mousqueton.
"Well, but can`t you speak?"
"Come home, monsieur!"
"Porthos rose, saluted his friends, and followed Mousqueton.
An instant after, Bazin made his appearance at the door.
"What do you want with me, my friend?" said Aramis, with that mildness
of language which was observable in him every time that his ideas were
directed toward the church.
"A man wishes to see monsieur at home," replied Bazin.
"A man! what man?"
"A mendicant."
"Give him alms, Bazin, and bid him pray for a poor sinner."
"But this mendicant insists upon speaking to you, and pretends that you
will be very glad to see him."
"Has he sent no particular message for me?"
"Yes, if M. Aramis hesitates to come," he said, "tell him I am from
Tours."
"From Tours!" cried Aramis, "a thousand pardons, gentlemen, but no doubt
this man brings me the news I expected."
And rising, he went off at a quick pace.
There then only remained Athos and D`Artagnan.
"I believe these fellows have managed their business. What do you
think, D`Artagnan?" said Athos.
"I know that Porthos was in a fair way," replied D`Artagnan; "and as to
Aramis, to tell you the truth, I have never been uneasy on his account; but
you, my dear Athos, you, who so generously distributed the Englishman`s
pistoles, which were your legitimate property, what do you mean to do?"
"I am satisfied with having killed that man, my good lad, seeing that
it is blessed bread to kill an Englishman; but if I had pocketed his
pistoles, they would have weighed me down like a remorse."
"Athos! Athos! you have truly inconceivable ideas!"
"Well, leave that! What do you think of M. de Treville`s telling me,
when he did me the honor to call upon me yesterday, that you associated with
the suspected English, whom the cardinal protects?"
"That is to say, I visit an Englishwoman; the one I named to you."
"Oh! ay! the fair woman, on whose account I gave you advice, which,
naturally, you took care not to adopt."
"I gave you my reasons."
"Yes; you look to the connection for your equipment, I think you said."
"Not at all! I have acquired a certain knowledge that that woman was
concerned in the carrying off of Madame Bonacieux."
"Yes, I understand now; to find one woman you make love to another; it
is the longest road, but certainly the most amusing."
D`Artagnan was on the point of telling Athos all; but one consideration
restrained him. Athos was a gentleman, and was punctilious in all that
concerned honor, and there were in all the plans which our lover had devised
with regard to milady, he was sure, certain things that would not obtain his
approbation: he was therefore silent, and as Athos was the least curious of
any man on earth, D`Artagnan`s confidence stopped there.
We will therefore leave the two friends, who had nothing important to
communicate to each other, to follow Aramis.
Upon being informed that the person who wanted to speak to him came from
Tours, we have seen with what rapidity the young man followed, or rather went
before Bazin; he ran without stopping from the Rue Ferou to Rue de Vaugirard.
On entering, he found a man of short stature and intelligent eyes, but
covered with rags.
"Did you ask for me?" said the musketeer.
"I wish to speak with Monsieur Aramis: is that your name, monsieur?"
"Yes: you have brought me something?"
"Yes, if you can show me a certain embroidered handkerchief?"
"Here it is," said Aramis, taking a small key from his breast, and
opening a little ebony box inlaid with mother-of-pearl; "here it is, look!"
"That is right," replied the mendicant; "dismiss your lackey."
In fact, Bazin, curious to know what the mendicant could want with his
master, kept pace with him as well as he could, and arrived almost at the
same time he did; but this quickness was not of much use to him; at the hint
from the mendicant, his master made him a sign to retire, and he was obliged
to obey.
Bazin being gone, the mendicant cast a rapid glance around him, in order
to be sure that nobody could either see or hear him, and opening his ragged
vest, badly held together by a leather strap, he began to unsew the upper
part of his doublet, from which he drew a letter.
Aramis uttered a cry of joy at the sight of the seal, kissed the
superscription with an almost religious respect, and opened the epistle,
which contained what follows:
"My Friend: It is the will of fate that we should be still for some time
separated; but the delightful days of youth are not lost beyond return.
Perform your duty in camp; I will do mine elsewhere. Accept that which the
bearer brings you: make the campaign like a handsome true gentleman and think
of me, who tenderly kiss your dear black eyes!
"Adieu! or rather, au revoir!"
The mendicant continued to unsew his garments; and drew from amid his
rags a hundred and fifty Spanish double pistoles, which he laid down on the
table; then he opened the door, bowed, and went out before the young man,
stupefied by his letter, had ventured to address a word to him.
Aramis then re-perused the letter, and perceived there was a postscript.
"P. S. You may behave politely to the bearer, who is a count and a
grandee of Spain."
"Golden dreams!" cried Aramis. "Oh, beautiful life! yes, we are young,
yes, we shall yet have happy days! Oh! my love, my blood, my life! all,
all, all, all are thine, my adored mistress!"
And he kissed the letter with passion, without even vouchsafing a look
at the gold which sparkled on the table.
Bazin scratched at the door, and as Aramis had no longer any reason to
exclude him, he bade him come in.
Bazin was stupefied at the sight of the gold, and forgot that he came
to announce D`Artagnan, who, curious to know who the mendicant could be, came
to Aramis` residence on leaving that of Athos.
Now, as D`Artagnan used no ceremony with Aramis, seeing that Bazin
forgot to announce him, he announced himself.
"The devil! my dear Aramis," said D`Artagnan, "if these are the prunes
that are sent to you from Tours, I beg you will make my compliments to the
gardener who gathers them."
"You are mistaken, friend D`Artagnan," said Aramis, always on his guard,
"this is from my bookseller, who has just sent me the price of that poem in
one-syllable verse which I began yonder."
"Ah! indeed," said D`Artagnan; "well, your bookseller is very generous,
that`s all I can say."
"How, monsieur?" cried Bazin, "a poem sell so dear as that! it is
incredible! You can write as much as you like, you may become equal to M.
Voiture and M. Benserade. I like that. A poet is as good as an abbe. Ah,
Monsieur Aramis! become a poet, I beg of you."
"Bazin, my friend," said Aramis, "I believe you are interfering with my
conversation."
Bazin perceived he was wrong; he bowed and went out.
"Ah!" said D`Artagnan with a smile, "you sell your productions at their
weight in gold; you are very fortunate, my friend, but take care, or else you
will lose that letter which is peeping out from your doublet, and which
comes, no doubt from your bookseller likewise."
Aramis blushed to the eyes, crammed in the letter, and rebuttoned his
doublet.
"My dear D`Artagnan," said he, "if you please, we will join our friends;
as I am rich, we will to-day begin to dine together again, expecting that you
will be rich in your turn."
"Ma foi!" said D`Artagnan, with great pleasure. "It is long since we
have had a good dinner together; and I, for my part, have a somewhat
hazardous expedition for this evening, and shall not be sorry, I confess, to
fortify myself with a few glasses of good old Burgundy."
"Agreed, as to the old Burgundy; I have no objection to that," said
Aramis, from whom the letter and the gold had removed, as by magic, his ideas
of retreat.
And having put two or three double pistoles into his pocket to answer
the calls of the moment, he placed the others in the ebony box, inlaid with
mother-of-pearl, in which was the famous handkerchief, which served him as
a talisman.
The two friends repaired to Athos` dwelling; and he, faithful to his vow
of not going out, took upon him to order dinner to be brought to them; as he
was perfectly acquainted with the details of gastronomy, D`Artagnan and
Aramis made no difficulty in abandoning this important care to him.
They went to find Porthos, and at the corner of the Rue Bac met
Mousqueton, who, with a most pitiable air, was driving before him a mule and
a horse.
D`Artagnan uttered a cry of surprise, which was not quite free from joy.
"There`s my yellow horse, Aramis," cried he; "look at that horse!"
"Oh, the frightful brute!" said Aramis.
"Well," replied D`Artagnan, "upon that very horse I came to Paris."
"What, does monsieur know this horse?" said Mousqueton.
"It is of a singular color," said Aramis; "I never saw one with such a
hide in my life."
"I can well believe you did not," replied D`Artagnan, "and that was how
I got three crowns for him; it must have been for his hide, for, certes, the
carcass is not worth eighteen livres. But how did this horse come into your
hands, Mousqueton?"
"Pray," said the lackey, "say nothing about it, monsieur; it is a
frightful trick played us by the husband of our duchess!"
"How has it come about, Mousqueton?"
"Why, we are looked upon with a rather favorable eye, by a lady of
quality, the Duchess of - ; but, your pardon; my master has commanded me to
be discreet; she had forced us to accept, as a little keepsake, a magnificent
Spanish genet and an Andalusian mule, which were beautiful to look upon; the
husband heard of the affair; on their way he seized the two magnificent
beasts which were being sent to us, and substituted these horrible animals
in their places."
"Which you are taking back to him, I suppose?" said D`Artagnan.
"Exactly so, monsieur!" replied Mousqueton; "you may well believe that
we will not accept such steeds as these in exchange for those which had been
promised to us."
"No, pardieu! though I should like to have seen Porthos upon my yellow
horse; that would give me an idea of how I looked on my arrival in Paris.
But don`t let us hinder you, Mousqueton; go, and perform your master`s
orders. Is he at home?"
"Yes, monsieur," said Mousqueton, "but in a very ill humor. Go on!" and
he continued his way toward the Quai des Grands Augustins, while the two
friends went to ring at the bell of the unfortunate Porthos. He, having seen
them crossing the yard, took care not to answer; and they rang in vain.
In the meanwhile Mousqueton continued on his way, and crossing the Pont
Neuf, still driving the two sorry animals before him, he reached the Rue aux
Ours. When arrived there, he fastened, according to the orders of his
master, both the horse and mule to the knocker of the procureur`s door; then,
without taking any heed of their future fate, he returned to Porthos, and
told him that his commission was completed.
In a short time the two unfortunate beasts, who had not eaten anything
since the morning, made such a noise with the knocker, that the procureur
ordered his boy-clerk to go and inquire in the neighborhood to whom this
horse and mule belonged.
Madame Coquenard recognized her present, and could not at first
comprehend this restitution; but the visit of Porthos soon enlightened her.
The anger which fired the eyes of the musketeer, in spite of his efforts to
suppress it, terrified his sensitive lover. In fact, Mousqueton had not
concealed from his master that he had met D`Artagnan and Aramis, and that
D`Artagnan, in the yellow horse, had recognized the Bearnais pony upon which
he had come to Paris, and which he had sold for three crowns.
Porthos went away after having appointed a meeting with the procureuse
in the cloisters of St. Magloire. The procureur, seeing he was going,
invited him to dinner; an invitation which the musketeer refused with an air
of majesty.
Madame Coquenard repaired trembling to the cloisters of St. Magloire,
for she guessed the reproaches that awaited her there; but she was fascinated
by the lofty airs of Porthos.
All that which a man, wounded in his self love, could let fall in the
shape of imprecations and reproaches upon the head of a woman, Porthos let
fall upon the bowed head of his procureuse.
"Alas!" said she, "I did all for the best. One of our clients is a
horsedealer; he owes money to the office, and was backward in his pay. I
took the mule and the horse for what he owed us; he assured me that they were
two noble steeds."
"Well, madame," said Porthos, "if he owed you more than five crowns,
your horsedealer is a thief."
"There is no harm in endeavoring to buy things cheap, Monsieur Porthos,"
said the procureuse, seeking to excuse herself.
"No, madame, but they who so earnestly try to buy things cheap, ought
to permit others to seek more generous friends."
And Porthos, turning on his heels, made a step to retire.
"Monsieur Porthos! Monsieur Porthos!" cried the procureuse, "I have
been wrong, I confess it, I ought not to have driven a bargain when the
matter was to equip a cavalier like you."
Porthos, without reply, retreated a second step.
The procureuse fancied she saw him in a brilliant cloud, all surrounded
by duchesses and marquises, who cast bags of money at his feet.
"Stop! in the name of heaven! Monsieur Porthos," cried she; "stop, and
let us talk."
"Talking with you brings me misfortune," said Porthos.
"But, tell me, what do you ask?"
"Nothing, for that amounts to the same thing as if I asked you for
something."
The procureuse hung herself upon the arm of Porthos, and, in the
violence of her grief, she cried out:
"Monsieur Porthos, I am ignorant of all such matters. How should I know
what a horse is? How should I know what horse-furniture is?"
"You should have left it to me, then, madame, who do know what they are:
but you would be parsimonious, and consequently, lend at usury."
"I have done wrong, Monsieur Porthos, but I will repair that wrong, upon
my word of honor I will."
"And how will you do that?" asked the musketeer.
"Listen to me. This evening M. Coquenard is going to the house of M.
Le Duc de Chaulness, who has sent for him. It is upon a consultation, which
will last three hours at least; come, we shall be alone, and can make up our
accounts."
"Ah! now that is speaking to the purpose, my dear!"
"You pardon me, then?"
"We shall see," said Porthos majestically.
And they separated, both saying: "Till this evening."
"The devil!" thought Porthos, as he walked away. "It appears I am
getting nearer to Monsieur Coquenard`s strong box at last."
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