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Chapter XXXIX
Chapter XXXIX
A Vision
At four o`clock the four friends were all assembled at Athos`
apartments. Their anxiety about their equipments had all disappeared, and
each countenance only preserved the expression of its own secret inquietudes;
for behind all present happiness is concealed a fear for the future.
Suddenly Planchet entered, bringing two letters for D`Artagnan.
The one was a little billet, genteelly folded, with a pretty seal in
green wax, on which was impressed a dove bearing a green branch.
The other was a large square epistle, resplendent with the terrible arms
of his eminence the cardinal duke.
At the sight of the little letter the heart of D`Artagnan bounded, for
he believed he had seen that writing before: and although he had seen that
writing but once, the memory of it remained at the bottom of his heart.
He therefore seized the little letter, and opened it eagerly.
"Be," said the letter, "on Thursday next, at seven o`clock in the
evening, on the road to Chaillot, and look carefully into the carriages that
pass; but if you have any consideration for your own life or that of those
who love you, do not speak a single word, do not make a movement which may
lead any one to believe you have recognized her, who exposes herself to
everything for the sake of seeing you but for an instant."
No signature.
"That`s a snare," said Athos; "don`t go, D`Artagnan."
"And yet," replied D`Artagnan. "I think I recognize the writing."
"That may be forged," said Athos; "between six and seven o`clock the
road to Chaillot is quite deserted; you might as well go and ride in the
forest of Bondy."
"But suppose we all go," said D`Artagnan; "what the devil! they won`t
devour us all four; four lackeys, horses, arms, and all!"
"And, besides, it will be a good opportunity for displaying our new
equipments," said Porthos.
"But if it is a woman that writes," said Aramis, "and that woman desires
not to be seen, remember, you compromise her, D`Artagnan; which is not
behaving like a gentleman."
"We will remain in the background; and he will advance alone."
"Yes, but a pistol-shot is easily fired from a carriage, however fast
it may be going."
"Bah!" said D`Artagnan, "they will miss me; if they fire, we will ride
after the carriage, and exterminate those who may be in it. They must be
enemies."
"He is right," said Porthos; "battle: besides, it will be a good
opportunity to try our new arms."
"Let us enjoy that pleasure," said Aramis, in his mild and careless
manner.
"As you please," said Athos.
"Gentlemen," said D`Artagnan, "it is half-past four, and we have
scarcely time to be on the road of Chaillot by six."
"Besides, if we go out late, nobody will see us," said Porthos, "and
that will be a pity. Let us get ready, gentlemen."
"But this second letter," said Athos, "you forget that; it appears to
me, however, that the seal denotes that it deserves to be opened; for my
part, I declare, D`Artagnan, I think it of much more consequence than the
little piece of waste paper you have so cunningly slipped into your bosom."
D`Artagnan blushed.
"Well," said he, "let us see, gentlemen, what are his eminence`s
commands," and D`Artagnan unsealed the letter, and read:
"M. D`Artagnan, of the King`s Guards, company Dessessarts, is expected
at the Palais-Cardinal, this evening at eight o`clock.
"La Houndeniere, Captain of the Guards."
"The devil!" said Athos; "here`s a rendezvous much more serious than the
other."
"I will go to the second, after attending the first," said D`Artagnan,
"one is for seven o`clock, and the other for eight: there will be time for
both."
"Hum! Now, I would not go at all," said Aramis; "a gallant knight
cannot decline an appointment made by a lady; but a prudent gentleman may
excuse himself from not waiting on his eminence, particularly when he has
reason to believe he is not invited for courteous purposes."
"I am of Aramis` opinion," said Porthos.
"Gentlemen," replied D`Artagnan, "I have already received by M. de
Cavois a similar invitation from his eminence; I neglected it, and on the
morrow a serious misfortune happened to me! Constance disappeared. Whatever
may ensue, I will go."
"If you are determined," said Athos, "do so."
"Yes, but the Bastille?" said Aramis.
"Bah! you will get me out, if they put me there," said D`Artagnan.
"To be sure we will," replied Aramis and Porthos, with admirable
promptness and decision, as if that were the simplest thing in the world -
"to be sure we will get you out, if there; but in the meantime, as we are to
set off the day after to-morrow, you would do much better not to risk this
Bastille."
"Let us do better than that," said Athos, "do not let us leave him
during the whole evening; let each of us wait at a gate of the palace with
a musketeer behind him; if we see any carriage with closed windows, and of
at all suspicious appearance, come out, let us fall upon it; it is a long
time since we have had a skirmish with the guards of Monsieur le Cardinal;
M. de Treville must think us dead."
"To a certainty, Athos," said Aramis, "you were meant to be a general;
what do you think of the plan, gentlemen?"
"Admirable!" replied the young men in chorus.
"Well!" said Porthos, "I will run to the hotel, and engage our comrades
to hold themselves in readiness by eight o`clock, the rendezvous, the Place
du Palais-Cardinal; in the meantime, you see that the lackeys saddle the
horses."
"I have no horse," said D`Artagnan, but that is of no consequence, I can
take one of M. de Treville`s."
"That is not worth while," said Aramis, "you can have one of mine."
"One of yours! how many have you, then?" asked D`Artagnan.
"Three," replied Aramis smiling.
"Certes," cried Athos, "you are the best mounted poet of France or
Navarre."
"Well, but Aramis, you don`t want three horses? I cannot comprehend
what induced you to buy three!"
"Therefore I only purchased two," said Aramis.
"The third then fell from the clouds, I suppose?"
"No, the third was brought to me this very morning by a groom out of
livery, who would not tell me in whose service he was, and who said he had
received orders from his master."
"Or his mistress," interrupted D`Artagnan.
"That makes no difference," said Aramis, coloring; "and who affirmed,
as I said, that he had received orders from his mistress to place the horse
in my stable, without informing me whence it came."
"It is only to poets that such things happen," said Athos gravely.
"Well, in that case, we can manage famously," said D`Artagnan; "which
of the two horses will you ride; that which you bought, or the one that was
given to you?"
"That which was given to me, without doubt - you cannot for a moment
imagine, D`Artagnan, that I should commit such an offense toward - "
"The unknown giver," interrupted D`Artagnan.
"Or the mysterious benefactress," said Athos.
"The one you bought will then become useless to you?"
"Nearly so."
"And you selected it yourself?"
"With the greatest care; the safety of the horseman, you know, depends
almost always upon the goodness of his horse."
"Well, let me have it at the price it cost you?"
"I was going to make you the offer, my dear D`Artagnan, giving you all
the time necessary for repaying me such a trifle."
"How much did it cost you?"
"Eight hundred livres."
"Here are forty double pistoles, my dear friend," said D`Artagnan,
taking the sum from his pocket; "I know that this is the coin in which you
were paid for your poems."
"You are full of money, then?" said Aramis.
"Money! rolling in it, my dear fellow!"
And D`Artagnan chinked the remainder of his pistoles in his pocket.
"Send your saddle, then, to the hotel of the musketeers, and your horse
can be brought back with ours."
"Very well; but it is already five o`clock, so make haste."
A quarter of an hour afterward, Porthos appeared at the end of the Rue
Ferou, mounted upon a very handsome genet; Mousqueton followed him upon an
Auvergne horse, small, but very good-looking: Porthos was resplendent with
joy and pride.
At the same time, Aramis made his appearance at the other end of the
street, upon a superb English charger; Bazin followed him upon a roan,
leading a splendid, vigorous Mecklenburg horse; this last was D`Artagnan`s.
The two musketeers met at the gate; Athos and D`Artagnan watched their
approach from the window.
"The devil," cried Aramis, "you have a magnificent horse there,
Porthos."
"Yes," replied Porthos, "it is the one that ought to have been sent to
me at first; a bad joke of the husband`s substituted the other; but the good
man has been punished since, and I have obtained full satisfaction."
Grimaud then led up his master`s horse; D`Artagnan and Athos came down,
got into their saddles, and all four set forward: Athos upon a horse he owed
to a woman, Aramis on a horse he owed to his mistress, Porthos on a horse he
owed to the procureuse, and D`Artagnan on a horse he owed to his good
fortune, the best mistress possible.
The lackeys followed.
As Porthos had foreseen, the cavalcade produced a good effect; and if
Madame Coquenard had met Porthos, and seen what a superb appearance he made
upon his handsome Spanish genet, she would not have regretted the bleeding
she had inflicted upon the strong box of her husband.
Near the Louvre the four friends met with M. de Treville, who was
returning from St. Germain; he stopped them to offer his compliments upon
their appointments, which in an instant drew round them a hundred gapers.
D`Artagnan took advantage of the circumstance to speak to M. de Treville
of the letter with the great red seal, and the cardinal`s arms; we beg it to
be understood that he did not breathe a word concerning the other.
M. de Treville approved of the resolution he had adopted, and assured
him that if on the morrow he did not appear, he himself would undertake to
find him, let him be where he might.
At this moment the clock of La Samaritaine struck six: the four friends
pleaded an engagement, and took leave of M. de Treville.
A short gallop brought them to the road of Chaillot; the day began to
decline, carriages were passing and repassing; D`Artagnan, keeping at some
distance from his friends, darted a scrutinizing glance into every carriage
that appeared, but saw no face with which he was acquainted.
At length, after waiting a quarter of an hour, and just as twilight was
beginning to thicken, a carriage appeared, coming at a quick pace on the road
of Sevres; a presentiment instantly told D`Artagnan that this carriage
contained the person who had appointed the rendezvous; the young man was
himself astonished to find his heart beat so violently. Almost instantly a
female head was put out at the window, with two fingers placed upon her
mouth, either to enjoy silence or to send him a kiss; D`Artagnan uttered a
slight cry of joy; this woman, or rather this apparition, for the carriage
passed with the rapidity of a vision, was Madame Bonacieux.
By an involuntary movement, and in spite of the injunction given,
D`Artagnan put his horse into a gallop, and in a few strides overtook the
carriage; but the window was close shut, the vision had disappeared.
D`Artagnan then remembered the injunction: "If you value your own life,
or that of those who love you, remain motionless, and as if you had seen
nothing."
He stopped, therefore, trembling, not for himself, but for the poor
woman who had evidently exposed herself to great danger by appointing this
rendezvous.
The carriage pursued its way, still going at a great pace, till it
dashed into Paris, and disappeared.
D`Artagnan remained fixed to the spot, astonished, and not knowing what
to think. If it were Madame Bonacieux and if she was returning to Paris, why
this fugitive interview, why this simple exchange of a glance, why this last
kiss? If, on the other side, it were not she, which was still quite
possible, for the little light that remained rendered a mistake easy; if it
were not she, might it not be the commencement of some machination against
him with the bait of this woman, for whom his love was known?
His three companions joined him. All had plainly seen a woman`s head
appear out at the window, but none of them, except Athos, knew Madame
Bonacieux. The opinion of Athos was that it was Madame Bonacieux; but less
preoccupied by that pretty face than D`Artagnan, he had fancied he saw a
second head, a man`s head, in the carriage.
"If that be the case," said D`Artagnan, "they are doubtless transporting
her from one prison to another. But what can they intend to do with the poor
creature, and how shall I ever meet her again?"
"My friend," said Athos gravely, "remember that it is the dead alone
with whom we are not likely to meet again on this earth. You know something
of that, as well as I do, I think. Now, if your mistress is not dead, if it
is she we have just seen, you will meet with her again some day or other.
And perhaps, my God!" added he, with that misanthropic tone which was
peculiar to him, "perhaps sooner than you wish."
Half-past seven had struck, the carriage was twenty minutes behind the
time appointed. D`Artagnan`s friends reminded him that he had a visit to
pay, but at the same time calling it to his observation that there was still
time to retract.
But D`Artagnan was at the same time impetuous and curious. He had made
up his mind that he would go to the Palais-Cardinal, and that he would learn
what his eminence had to say to him: nothing could turn him from his purpose.
They reached the Rue St. Honore, and in the Place du Palais-Cardinal
they found the twelve convoked musketeers, walking about in expectation of
their comrades. There only they made them acquainted with the matter in
question.
D`Artagnan was well known in the honorable corps of the king`s
musketeers, in which it had been stated that he was, one day, to take his
place: he was considered, beforehand, as their comrade. It resulted from
these antecedents that every one entered heartily into the purpose for which
they met; besides, it would not be unlikely that they should have an
opportunity of playing either the cardinal or his people an ill turn, and for
such expeditions these worthy gentlemen were always ready.
Athos divided them into three groups, assumed the command of one, gave
the second to Aramis, and the third to Porthos, and then each group went and
took a position for watching, near an entrance.
D`Artagnan, on his part, entered boldly at the front gate.
Although he felt himself ably supported, the young man was not without
a little uneasiness as he ascended the great staircase, step by step. His
conduct toward milady bore a strong resemblance to treachery, and he was very
suspicious of the political relations which existed between that woman and
the cardinal; still further, De Wardes, whom he had treated so ill, was one
of the creatures of his eminence, and D`Artagnan knew, that while his
eminence was terrible to his enemies, he was strongly attached to his
friends.
"If De Wardes has related all our affair to the cardinal, which is not
to be doubted, and if he has recognized me, which is probable, I may consider
myself almost as a condemned man," said D`Artagnan, shaking his head. "But
why has he waited till now? Humph! that`s all plain enough: milady has laid
her complaint against me with that hypocritical grief which renders her so
interesting, and this last offense has made the cup overflow."
"Fortunately," added he, "my good friends are down yonder, and they will
not allow me to be carried away easily. Nevertheless, M. de Treville`s
company of musketeers alone cannot maintain a war against the cardinal, who
disposes of the forces of all France, and before whom the queen is without
power and the king without will. D`Artagnan, my friend, you are brave, you
are prudent, you have excellent qualities, but the women will ruin you!"
He came to this melancholy conclusion as he entered the antechamber.
He placed his letter in the hands of the usher on duty, who led him into the
waiting-room, and passed on into the interior of the palace.
In this waiting-room were five or six of the cardinal`s guards, who
recognized D`Artagnan, and knowing that it was he who had wounded Jussac,
they looked upon him with a smile of singular meaning.
This smile appeared to D`Artagnan to be of bad augury, only, as our
Gascon was not easily intimidated, or rather, thanks to a great pride natural
to the men of his country, he did not allow himself easily to see that which
was passing in his mind, when that which was passing at all resembled fear,
he placed himself haughtily in front of messieurs the guards, and waited with
his hand on his hip, in an attitude by no means deficient in majesty.
The usher returned and made a sign to D`Artagnan to follow him. It
appeared to the young man that that guards, on seeing him depart, whispered
among themselves.
He followed a corridor, crossed a grand salon, entered a library, and
found himself in the presence of a man seated at a desk and writing.
The usher introduced him and retired without speaking a word.
D`Artagnan remained standing and examined this man.
D`Artagnan at first believed that he had to do with some judge examining
his papers, but he perceived that the man of the desk wrote or rather
corrected lines of unequal length, scanning the words on his fingers; he saw
then that he was in face of a poet. At the end of an instant the poet closed
his manuscript, upon the cover of which was written, Mirame, a tragedy in
five acts, and raised his head.
D`Artagnan recognized the cardinal.
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