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Chapter XLV
Chapter XLV
A Conjugal Scene
As Athos had foreseen, it was not long before the cardinal came down;
he opened the door of the room in which the musketeers were, and found
Porthos playing an earnest game at dice with Aramis. He cast a rapid glance
round the room, and perceived that one of his men was missing.
"What is become of M. Athos?" asked he.
"Monseigneur," replied Porthos, "he is gone as a scout, upon some words
of our host, which made him believe the road was not safe."
"And how have you amused yourself, M. Porthos?"
"I have won five pistoles of Aramis, monseigneur."
"Well, now will you return with me?"
"We are at your eminence`s orders."
"To horse, then, gentlemen; for it is getting late."
The attendant was at the door, holding the cardinal`s horse by the
bridle. At a short distance, a group of two men and three horses appeared
in the shade; these were the two men who were to conduct milady to the fort
of La Pointe, and superintend her embarkation.
The attendant confirmed to the cardinal what the two musketeers had
already said with respect to Athos. The cardinal made an approving gesture,
and retook his route with the same precautions he had used in coming.
Let us leave him to follow the road to the camp protected by his
attendant and the two musketeers, and return to Athos.
For some distance he maintained the pace at which he started, but when
out of sight, he turned his horse to the right, made a circuit, and came back
within twenty paces of a high hedge, to watch the passage of the little
troop; having recognized the laced hats of his companions and the golden
fringe of the cardinal`s cloak, he waited till the horsemen had turned the
angle of the road, and having lost sight of them, he returned at a gallop to
the auberge, which was opened to him without hesitation.
The host recognized him.
"My officer," said Athos, "has forgotten to give a piece of very
important information to the lady, and has sent me back to repair his
forgetfulness."
"Go up," said the host, "she is still in her chamber."
Athos availed himself of the permission, ascended the stairs with his
lightest step, gained the landing, and through the open door perceived milady
putting on her hat.
He went straight into the chamber and closed the door after him.
At the noise he made in bolting it, milady turned round.
Athos was standing before the door, enveloped in his cloak, with his hat
pulled down over his eyes.
"Who are you? and what do you want?" cried she.
"Humph!" murmured Athos, "it is certainly she!"
And letting fall his cloak, and raising his hat, he advanced toward
milady.
"Do you know me, madame?" said he.
Milady made one step forward, and then drew back, as if she had seen a
serpent.
"So far well," said Athos, "I perceive you know me."
"The Count de la Fere!" murmured milady, becoming exceedingly pale, and
drawing back till the wall prevented her going any further.
"Yes, milady," replied Athos, "the Count de la Fere in person, who comes
expressly from the other world to have the pleasure of paying you a visit.
Sit down, madame, and let us talk, as the cardinal said."
Milady, under the influence of inexpressible terror, sat down without
uttering a word.
"You certainly are a demon sent upon the earth!" said Athos. "Your
power is great, I know; but you also know that with the help of God men have
often conquered the most terrible demons. You have once before thrown
yourself in my path! I thought I had crushed you, madame; but either I was
deceived, or hell has resuscitated you!"
Milady, at these words, which recalled frightful remembrances, hung down
her head, with a suppressed groan.
"Yes, hell has resuscitated you," continued Athos, "hell has made you
rich, hell has given you another name, hell has almost made you another
countenance; but it has neither effaced the stains from your soul nor the
brand mark from your body!"
Milady arose as if moved by a powerful spring, and her eyes flashed
lightning. Athos remained sitting.
"You believed me to be dead, did you not, as I believed you to be? and
the name of Athos as well concealed the Count de la Fere, as the name of
Milady Clarik concealed Anne de Beuil! Was it not so you were called when
your honored brother married us? Our position is truly a strange one,"
continued Athos, laughing, "we have only lived up to the present time because
we believed each other to be dead, and because a remembrance is less
oppressive than a living creature, though a remembrance is sometimes a
devouring thing!"
"But," said milady, in a hollow, faint voice, "what brings you back to
me? and what do you want with me?"
"I wish to tell you, that while remaining invisible to your eyes, I have
not lost sight of you."
"You know what I have done and been?"
"I can relate to you, day by day, your actions, from your entrance into
the service of the cardinal to this evening."
A smile of incredulity passed over the pale lips of milady.
"Listen! It was you who cut off the two diamond studs from the shoulder
of the Duke of Buckingham; it was you who had Madame Bonacieux carried off;
it was you who, in love with De Wardes, and thinking to pass the night with
him, opened the door to M. d`Artagnan; it was you, believing that De Wardes
had deceived you, wished to have him killed by his rival; it was you who,
when this rival had discovered your infamous secret, wished to have him
killed in his turn by two assassins, whom you sent in pursuit of him; it was
you who, finding the balls had missed their mark, sent poisoned wine with a
forged letter, to make your victim believe that that wine came from his
friends; in short, it was you who have but now, in this chamber, seated in
this chair I now fill, made an engagement with the Cardinal de Richelieu to
cause the Duke of Buckingham to be assassinated, in exchange for the promise
he has made you to allow you to assassinate D`Artagnan.
Milady was livid.
"You must be Satan!" cried she.
"Perhaps," said Athos; "but, at all events, listen well to this.
Assassinate the Duke of Buckingham, or cause him to be assassinated, I care
very little about that! I don`t know him: besides, he is an Englishman; but
do not touch with the tip of your finger a single hair of D`Artagnan, who is
a faithful friend, whom I love and defend, or, I swear to you by the head of
my father, the crime which you shall have endeavored to commit, or shall have
committed, shall be the last."
"M. d`Artagnan has cruelly insulted me," said milady, in a hollow tone;
"M. d`Artagnan shall die!"
"Indeed! is it possible to insult you, madame?" said Athos, laughing,
"he has insulted you, and he shall die!"
"He shall die!" replied milady; "she first, he afterward."
Athos was seized with a kind a vertigo; the sight of this creature, who
had nothing of the woman about her, recalled devouring remembrances; he
thought that one day, in a less dangerous situation than the one in which he
was now placed, he had already endeavored to sacrifice her to his honor; his
desire for blood returned, burning his brain, and pervading his frame like
a raging fever; he arose in his turn, reached his hand to his belt, drew
forth a pistol, and cocked it.
Milady, pale as a corpse, endeavored to cry out; but her swollen tongue
could utter no more than a hoarse sound, which had nothing human in it, and
seemed the rattle of a wild beast: fixed against the dark tapestry, she
appeared with her hair in disorder, like a horrid image of terror.
Athos slowly raised his pistol, stretched out his arm, so that the
weapon, almost touched milady`s forehead, and then, in a voice the more
terrible from having the supreme calmness of a fixed resolution:
"Madame," said he, "you will this instant deliver to me the paper the
cardinal signed; or, upon my soul, I will blow your brains out."
With another man, milady might have preserved some doubt; but she knew
Athos: nevertheless, she remained motionless.
"You have one second to decide," said he.
Milady saw by the contraction of his countenance that the trigger was
about to be pulled; she reached her hand quickly to her bosom, drew out a
paper, and held it toward Athos.
"Take it," said she, "and be accursed!"
Athos took the paper, returned the pistol to his belt, approached the
lamp, to be assured that it was the paper, unfolded it, and read:
"It is by my order, and for the good of the state, that the bearer of
this has done what he has done.
"December 3d, 1627. Richelieu."
"And now," said Athos, resuming his cloak, and putting on his hat, "now
that I have drawn your teeth, viper, bite if you can."
And he left the chamber without once looking behind him.
At the door he found the two men, and the spare horse which they held.
"Gentlemen," said he, "monseigneur`s order is, you know, to conduct that
woman, without losing time, to the fort of La Pointe, and never to leave her
till she is on board."
As these orders agreed effectively with the order they had received,
they bowed their heads in sign of assent.
With regard to Athos, he leaped lightly into the saddle, and set out at
full gallop; only, instead of following the road, he took across the fields,
urging his horse to the utmost, and stopping occasionally to listen.
In one of those halts, he heard the steps of several horses on the road.
He had no doubt it was the cardinal and his escort. He immediately made a
new point in advance, rubbed his horse down with some heath and leaves of
trees, and came and placed himself across the road, at about two hundred
paces from the camp.
"Who goes there?" cried he, as soon as he perceived the horseman.
"That is our brave musketeer, I think," said the cardinal.
"Yes, monseigneur," said Porthos, "it is he."
"Monsieur Athos," said Richelieu, "receive my thanks for the good guard
you have kept. Gentlemen, we are arrived; take the gate on the left; the
watchword is, `Roi et Re.`"
On saying these words, the cardinal saluted the three friends with an
inclination of his head, and took the right hand, followed by his attendant;
for, that night, he himself slept in the camp.
"Well!" said Porthos and Aramis, together, as soon as the cardinal was
out of hearing; "well! he signed the paper she required!"
"I know he did," said Athos, "since here it is."
And the three friends did not exchange a single word till they got to
their quarters, except to give the watchword to the sentinels.
They sent Mousqueton to tell Planchet that his master was requested, the
instant he left the trenches, to come to the quarters of the musketeers.
Milady, as Athos had foreseen, on finding the two men that awaited her,
made no difficulty in following them; she had had for an instant an
inclination to be reconducted to the cardinal, and relate everything to him;
but a revelation, on her part, would bring about a revelation on the part of
Athos; she might say that Athos had hung her; but then Athos would tell that
she was branded: she thought it was best to preserve silence, to set off
discreetly, to accomplish her difficult mission with her usual skill; and
then, all things being performed to the satisfaction of the cardinal, to
come back and claim her vengeance.
In consequence, after having traveled all night, at seven o`clock she
was at Fort Le Pointe; at eight o`clock she had embarked; and at nine the
vessel, which, with letters of marque from the cardinal, was supposed to be
sailing for Bayonne, raised anchor and steered its course toward England.
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