Part 3 (1/2)
Rochefort smiled contemptuously
”Since I was a faithful servant,his life, it stands to reason that now, after his death, I should serve you well, in defiance of the whole world”
”With regard to myself, Monsieur de Rochefort,” replied Mazarin, ”I am not, like Monsieur de Richelieu, all-powerful I a but a servant of the queen's Now, the queen is of a sensitive nature Hearing of your refusal to obey her she looked upon it as a declaration of war, and as she considers you a erous, she desiredshut up in the Bastile But your release can be ed You are one of thoseunderstood they----”
”Such was Cardinal Richelieu's opinion, reat politician and therein shone his vast superiority over reat disadvantage I am of a frankness of character quite French”
Rochefort bit his lips in order to prevent a smile
”Now to the point I want friends; I want faithful servants When I say I want, Iwithout her commands--pray understand that; not like Monsieur de Richelieu, ent on just as he pleased So I shall never be a great ood man, Monsieur de Rochefort, and I hope to prove it to you”
Rochefort kneell the tones of that soft voice, in which sounded so vipers
”I ah I have had but little evidence of that good-nature of which your eet that I have been five years in the Bastile and that noof a prison”
”Ah, Monsieur de Rochefort! have I not told you already that I had nothing to do with that? The queen--cannot you make allowances for the pettishness of a queen and a princess? But that has passed away as suddenly as it caotten”
”I can easily suppose, sir, that her otten it amid the fetes and the courtiers of the Palais Royal, but I who have passed those years in the Bastile----”
”Ah! mon Dieu! my dear Monsieur de Rochefort! do you absolutely think that the Palais Royal is the abode of gayety? No We have had great annoyances there As for ame squarely, fairly, and above board, as I always do Let us come to some conclusion Are you one of us, Monsieur de Rochefort?”
”I a so,In the Bastile one talks politics only with soldiers and jailers, and you have not an idea,on by people of that sort; I am of Monsieur de Bassompierre's party Is he still one of the seventeen peers of France?”
”He is dead, sir; a great loss His devotion to the queen was boundless; men of loyalty are scarce”
”I think so, forsooth,” said Rochefort, ”and when you find any of them, you march them off to the Bastile However, there are plenty in the world, but you don't look in the right direction for them, my lord”
”Indeed! explain to me Ah! my dear Monsieur de Rochefort, howyour intireat ry if I read you a lesson?”
”I! never! you know youto me I try to be beloved, not feared”
”Well, there is on the wall of my cell, scratched with a nail, a proverb, which says, 'Like master, like servant'”
”Pray, what does that mean?”
”It means that Monsieur de Richelieu was able to find trusty servants, dozens and dozens of them”
”He! the point aimed at by every poniard! Richelieu, who passed his life in warding off blohich were forever aimed at him!”
”But he did ward theh he had bitter enemies he possessed also true friends I have known persons,” he continued--for he thought he nan--”who by their sagacity and address have deceived the penetration of Cardinal Richelieu; who by their valor have got the better of his guards and spies; persons without money, without support, without credit, yet who have preserved to the crowned head its crown and made the cardinal crave pardon”
”But thoseRochefort approach the point to which he was leading him, ”those ainst him”
”No; in that case they would havereward They had the misfortune to be devoted to that very queen for who servants”
”But how is it that you know so much of these matters?”
”I know them because the men of whoainst me; because I did them all the harm I could and they returned it to the best of their ability; because one of theave o, the third that I received from the same hand; it closed an old account”
”Ah!” said Mazarin, with admirable suavity, ”could I but find such men!”
”My lord, there has stood for six years at your very door athose six years he has been unappreciated and unemployed by you”
”Who is it?”
”It is Monsieur d'Artagnan”
”That Gascon!” cried Mazarin, ell acted surprise
”'That Gascon' has saved a queen and made Monsieur de Richelieu confess that in point of talent, address and political skill, to him he was only a tyro”
”Really?”
”It is as I have the honor of telling it to your excellency”
”Tell me a little about it, my dear Monsieur de Rochefort”
”That is somewhat difficult, my lord,” said Rochefort, with a smile
”Then he will tell it me himself”
”I doubt it, my lord”
”Why do you doubt it?”
”Because the secret does not belong to hireat queen”
”And he was alone in achieving an enterprise like that?”
”No, ues, three bravefor just now”
”And were these four men attached to each other, true in heart, really united?”
”As if they had been one man--as if their four hearts had pulsated in one breast”