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Chapter VIII
Chapter VIII
A Court Intrigue
In the meantime, the forty pistoles of King Louis XIII., like all other
things of this world, after having had a beginning had an end, and after this
end our four companions began to be somewhat embarrassed. At first Athos
supported the association for a time with his own means. Porthos succeeded
him, and thanks to one of these disappearances to which he was accustomed,
he was able to provide for the wants of all for a fortnight; at last it
became Aramis` turn, who performed it with a good grace, and who succeeded,
as he said, by selling some theological books, in procuring a few pistoles.
They then, as they had been accustomed to do, had recourse to M. de
Treville, who made some advances on their pay; but these advances could not
go far with three musketeers who were already much in arrears, and a guard
who as yet had no pay at all.
At length, when they found they were likely to be quite in want, they
got together, as a last effort, eight or ten pistoles, with which Porthos
went to the gaming-table. Unfortunately he was in a bad vein; he lost all,
together with twenty-five pistoles upon his parole.
Then the inconvenience became distress; the hungry friends, followed by
their lackeys, were seen haunting the quays and guard-rooms, picking up among
their friends abroad all the dinners they could meet with; for, according to
the advice of Aramis, it was prudent to sow repasts right and left in
prosperity in order to reap a few in time of need.
Athos was invited four times, and each time took his friends and their
lackeys with him; Porthos had six occasions, and contrived in the same manner
that his friends should partake of them; Aramis had eight of them. He was
a man, as must have been already perceived, who made but little noise, and
yet was much sought after.
As to D`Artagnan, who as yet knew nobody in the capital, he only found
one breakfast of chocolate at the house of a priest who was his countryman,
and one dinner at the house of a cornet of the guards. He took his army to
the priest`s, where they devoured as much provision as would have lasted him
for two months; and to the cornet`s, who performed wonders; but, as Planchet
said, "People only eat once at a time, even though they eat much."
D`Artagnan then felt himself humiliated in having only procured one meal
and a half for his companions, as the breakfast at the priest`s could only
be counted as half a repast, in return for the feasts which Athos, Porthos,
and Aramis had procured him. He fancied himself a burden to the society,
forgetting in his perfectly juvenile good faith that he had fed this society
for a month, and he set his mind actively to work. He reflected that this
coalition of four young, brave, enterprising, and active men ought to have
some other object than swaggering walks, fencing lessons, and practical
jokes, more or less sensible.
In fact, four men, such as they were, four men devoted to each other,
from their purses to their lives, four men always supporting each other,
never yielding, executing singly or together the resolutions formed in
common; four arms threatening the four cardinal points, or turning toward a
single point, must inevitably, either subterraneously, in open day, by
mining, in the trench, by cunning, or by force, open themselves a way toward
the object they wished to attain, however well it might be defended, or
however distant it might seem. The only thing that astonished D`Artagnan
was, that his friends had never yet thought of this.
He was thinking alone, and seriously racking his brain to find a
direction for this single force four times multiplied, with which he did not
doubt, as with the lever for which Archimedes sought, they should succeed in
moving the world, when some one tapped gently at his door. D`Artagnan
awakened Planchet and desired him to go and see who was there.
Let not the reader, from this phrase - "D`Artagnan awakened Planchet,"
suppose that it was night, or that the day was not yet come. No, it had just
struck four. Planchet, two hours before, had asked his master for some
dinner, and he had answered him with the proverb, "He who sleeps dines." And
Planchet dined sleeping.
A man was introduced of a common mien, with the appearance of a
bourgeois.
Planchet, by way of dessert, would have liked to hear the conversation,
but the bourgeois declared to D`Artagnan that that which he had to say being
important and confidential, he desired to be left alone with him.
D`Artagnan dismissed Planchet, and requested his visitor to be seated.
There was a moment of silence, during which the two men looked at each
other, as if to make a preliminary acquaintance, after which D`Artagnan bowed
as a sign that he was attentive.
"I have heard speak of M. D`Artagnan as of a very brave young man," said
the bourgeois, "and this reputation, which he justly enjoys, has determined
me to confide a secret to him."
"Speak, monsieur, speak," said D`Artagnan, who instinctively scented
something advantageous.
The bourgeois made a fresh pause and continued:
"I have a wife, who is seamstress to the queen, monsieur, and who is not
deficient in either good conduct or beauty. I was induced to marry her,
about three years ago, although she had but very little dowry, because M.
Laporte, the queen`s cloak-bearer, is her godfather, and patronizes her."
"Well, monsieur?" asked D`Artagnan.
"Well!" resumed the bourgeois, "well! monsieur, my wife was carried
off, yesterday morning, as she was coming out of her work-room."
"And by whom was your wife carried off?"
"I know nothing certain about the matter, monsieur, but I suspect some
one."
"And who is the person you suspect?"
"A man who pursued her a long time ago."
"The devil!"
"But allow me to tell you, monsieur," continued the citizen, "that I am
convinced that there is less love than policy in all this."
"Less love than policy," replied D`Artagnan, with a very serious air,
"and what do you suspect?"
"I do not know whether I ought to tell you what I suspect."
"Monsieur, I beg you to observe that I ask you absolutely nothing. It
is you who have come to me. It is you who have told me that you had a secret
to confide to me. Act then as you think proper; there is still time to
withhold it."
"No, monsieur, no; you appear to be an honest young man, and I will
place confidence in you. I believe, then, that love has nothing to do with
the carrying off of my wife, as regards herself, but that it has been done
on account of the amours of a much greater lady than she is."
"Ah! ah! can it be on account of the amours of Madame de Bois-Tracy?"
said D`Artagnan, wishing to have the air, in the eyes of the bourgeois, of
being acquainted with the affairs of the court.
"Higher, monsieur, higher."
"Of Madame d`Aiguillon?"
"Still higher."
"Of Madame de Chevreuse?"
"Higher; much higher!"
"Of the - " D`Artagnan stopped.
"Yes, monsieur," replied the terrified bourgeois, in a tone so low that
he was scarcely audible.
"And with whom?"
"With whom can it be, if not with the duke of - "
"The duke of - "
"Yes, monsieur," replied the bourgeois, giving a still lower intonation
to his voice.
"But how do you know all this?"
"How do I know it?"
"Yes, how do you know it? No half-confidence, or - You understand!"
"I know it from my wife, monsieur - from my wife herself."
"Who knows it - she herself - from whom?"
"From M. Laporte. Did I not tell you that she was the goddaughter of
M. Laporte, the confidential man of the queen? Well, M. Laporte placed her
near her majesty, in order that our poor queen might at least have some one
in whom she could place confidence, abandoned as she is by the king, watched
as she is by the cardinal, betrayed as she is by everybody.
"Ah! ah! it begins to develop itself," said D`Artagnan.
"Now my wife came home four days ago, monsieur; one of her conditions
was that she should come and see me twice a week; for, as I had the honor to
tell you, my wife loves me dearly; my wife, then, came and confided to me
that the queen, at this very moment, entertained great fears."
"Indeed!"
"Yes. M. le Cardinal, as it appears, pursues her and persecutes her
more than ever. He cannot pardon her the history of the Saraband. You know
the history of the Saraband?"
"Pardieu! know it!" replied D`Artagnan, who knew nothing about it, but
who wished to appear to know everything that was going on.
"So that now it is no longer hatred, but vengeance."
"Indeed!"
"And the queen believes - "
"Well, what does the queen believe?"
"She believes that some one has written to the Duke of Buckingham in her
name."
"In the queen`s name?"
"Yes, to make him come to Paris; and when once come to Paris, to draw
him into some snare."
"The devil! But your wife, monsieur, what has she to do with all this?"
"Her devotion to the queen is known, and they wish either to remove her
from her mistress, or to intimidate her, in order to obtain her majesty`s
secrets, or to seduce her and make use of her as a spy."
"That is all very probable," said D`Artagnan; "but the man who has
carried her off - do you know him?"
"I have told you that I believe I know him."
"His name?"
"I do not know that; what I do know is that he is a creature of the
cardinal`s, his ame damnee."
"But you have seen him?"
"Yes, my wife pointed him out to me one day."
"Has he anything remarkable about him, by which he may be recognized?"
"Oh! certainly; he is a noble of very lofty carriage, black hair,
swarthy complexion, piercing eye, white teeth, and a scar on his temple."
"A scar on his temple," cried D`Artagnan; "and with that, white teeth,
a piercing eye, dark complexion, black hair, and haughty carriage; why,
that`s my man of Meung."
"He is your man, do you say?"
"Yes, yes; but that has nothing to do with it. No, I am mistaken; that
simplifies the matter greatly; on the contrary, if your man is mine, with one
blow I shall obtain two revenges, that`s all; but where is this man to be met
with?"
"I cannot inform you."
"Have you no information respecting his dwelling?"
"None; one day, as I was conveying my wife back to the Louvre, he was
coming out as she was going in, and she showed him to me."
"The devil! the devil!" murmured D`Artagnan; "all this is vague enough;
from whom did you learn the abduction of your wife?"
"From M. Laporte."
"Did he give you any of the particulars?"
"He knew none himself."
"And you have learned none from any other quarter?"
"Yes, I have received - "
"What?"
"I fear I am committing a great imprudence."
"You still keep harping upon that; but I beg leave to observe to you
this time that it is too late now to retreat."
"I do not retreat, mordieu!" cried the bourgeois, swearing to keep his
courage up. "Besides, by the word of Bonacieux - "
"Your name is Bonacieux?" interrupted D`Artagnan.
"Yes, that is my name."
"You said then, by the word of Bonacieux! Pardon me for interrupting
you, but it appears to me that that name is familiar to me."
"Very possibly, monsieur. I am your proprietaire."
"Ah! ah!" said D`Artagnan, half rising and bowing; "you are my
proprietaire?"
"Yes, monsieur, yes. And as it is three months since you came, and
engaged as you must be in your important occupations, you have forgotten to
pay me my rent; as, I say, I have not tormented you a single instant, I
thought you would appreciate my delicacy."
"How can it be otherwise, my dear Bonacieux?" replied D`Artagnan; "trust
me, I am fully grateful for such conduct, and if, as I have told you, I can
be of any service to you - "
"I believe you, monsieur, I believe you; and as I was about to say, by
the word of Bonacieux! I have confidence in you."
"Finish, then, that which you were about to say."
The bourgeois took a paper from his pocket, and presented it to
D`Artagnan.
"A letter?" said the young man.
"Which I received this morning."
D`Artagnan opened it, and as the day was beginning to decline, he drew
near to the window to read it, and the bourgeois followed him.
"Do not seek for your wife," read D`Artagnan; "she will be restored to
you when there is no longer occasion for her. If you make a single step to
find her you are lost."
"That`s pretty positive," continued D`Artagnan; "but after all, it is
but a threat."
"Yes; but that threat terrifies me. I am not a man of the sword at all,
monsieur; and I am afraid of the Bastille."
"Hum!" said D`Artagnan. "I have no greater regard for the Bastille than
you. If it were nothing but a sword-thrust - "
"I have depended upon you on this occasion, monsieur."
"You have?"
"Seeing you constantly surrounded by musketeers of a very superb
appearance, and knowing that these musketeers belonged to M. de Treville, and
were consequently enemies of the cardinal, I thought that you and your
friends, while rendering justice to our poor queen, would not be displeased
at having an opportunity of giving his eminence an ill-turn."
"Without doubt."
"And then I thought that owing me three months` rent, which I have said
nothing about - "
"Yes, yes; you have already given me that reason, and I find it
excellent."
"Reckoning still further, that as long as you do me the honor to remain
in my house, that I shall never name to you your future rent."
"Very kind!"
"And adding to this, if there be need of it, meaning to offer you fifty
pistoles, if against all probability you should be short at the present
moment."
"Admirable! but you are rich then, my dear Monsieur Bonacieux?"
"I am comfortably off, monsieur, that`s all: I have scraped together
some such thing as an income of two or three thousand crowns in the mercery
business, but more particularly in venturing some funds in the last voyage
of the celebrated navigator, Jean Moquet: so that you understand, monsieur
- But!" cried the bourgeois.
"What!" demanded D`Artagnan.
"Whom do I see yonder?"
"Where?"
"In the street, fronting your window, in the embrasure of that door: a
man enveloped in a cloak."
"It is he!" cried D`Artagnan and the bourgeois at the same time, having
each recognized his man.
"Ah! this time," cried D`Artagnan, springing to his sword, "this time
he does not escape me!"
Drawing his sword from the sheath, he rushed out of the apartment.
On the staircase he met Athos and Porthos, who were coming to see him.
They separated, and D`Artagnan rushed between them like lightning.
"Where the devil are you going?" cried the two musketeers in a breath.
"The man of Meung!" replied D`Artagnan, and disappeared.
D`Artagnan had more than once related to his friends his adventure with
the unknown, as well as the apparition of the beautiful foreigner to whom
this man had confided some important missive.
The opinion of Athos was that D`Artagnan had lost his letter in the
skirmish. A gentleman, in his opinion, and according to D`Artagnan`s
portrait of him the unknown must be a gentleman, a gentleman would be
incapable of the baseness of stealing a letter.
Porthos saw nothing in all this but a love-meeting, given by a lady to
a cavalier, or by a cavalier to a lady, which had been disturbed by the
presence of D`Artagnan and his yellow horse.
Aramis said that as these sorts of affairs were mysterious, it was
better not to attempt to unravel them.
They understood then, from the few words which escaped from D`Artagnan,
what affair was in hand, and as they thought that after having overtaken his
man or lost sight of him, D`Artagnan would return to his rooms again, they
went in.
When they entered D`Artagnan`s chamber, it was empty; the proprietaire,
dreading the consequences of the rencounter which was, doubtless, about to
take place between the young man and the unknown, had, consistently with the
character he had given himself, judged it most prudent to decamp.
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