Part 25 (2/2)
”Faith, yes, with a haughty presence, a fine equipage; such as the son of a noble house would have”
”He will be my companion on the journey, sir,” cried Raoul ”Alas! he cannot , they traversed the streets, full of people on account of the fete, and arrived opposite the old cathedral, where first ht; Raoul,” said Athos ”Olivain, take care of our horses and give entleave Raoul some of the holy water A love as tender as that of a lover for his mistress dwells, undoubtedly, in some paternal hearts toward a son
Athos said a word to one of the vergers, who bowed and proceeded toward the basement
”Coer opened the iron grating that guarded the royal tombs and stood on the topmost step, whilst Athos and Raoul descended The sepulchral depths of the descent were dihted by a silver lamp on the lowest step; and just below this la old, a catafalque resting on trestles of oak The young s, which were mournful, and by the h, descended in a slow and solemn manner and stood with head uncovered before these , as not to be placed by the side of his forefathers until his successor should take his place there; and who appeared to abide on that spot, that he lories of a throne: ”Dust of the earth! Here I await thee!”
There was profound silence
Then Athos raised his hand and pointing to the coffin: ”This temporary sepulture is,” he said, ”that of a reat events; because over this king watched the spirit of another il over this coffin and illumines it He whose intellect was thus supre but a phantom to whost us, this man has not even the honor of a tomb at the feet of him in whose service his life orn away Re, by coreat The Palace of the Louvre contains two things--the king, who must die, and royalty, which never dies The minister, so feared, so hated by hisafter hi, whom he would not leave alone on earth, lest his work should be destroyed So blind were his contearded the cardinal's death as a deliverance; and I, even I, opposed the designs of the great man who held the destinies of France within the hollow of his hand Raoul, learn how to distinguish the king froift of God Whenever you hesitate as to whoht to serve, abandon the exterior, the material appearance for the invisible principle, for the invisible principle is everything Raoul, I seeh a cloud It will be happier, I think, than ours has been Different in your fate fro without aprove a tyrant, for power begets tyranny, serve, love, respect royalty, that Divine right, that celestial spark which entle in comparison with the cold corpse there extended”
”I shall adore God, sir,” said Raoul, ”respect royalty and ever serve the king And if death be , for royalty and for God Have I, sir, comprehended your instructions?”
Athos smiled
”Yours is a noble nature” he said; ”here is your sword”
Raoul bent his knee to the ground
”It orn by entleman I have worn it in raced when the hilt was in my hand and the sheath at my side Should your hand still be too weak to use this sword, Raoul, so much the better You will have the ht to be used”
”Sir,” replied Raoul, putting the sword to his lips as he received it fro and yet this sword is the ift you have yet rateful man should do”
”'Tis well; arise, vicomte, embrace me”
Raoul arose and threw himself with emotion into the count's arms
”Adieu,” faltered the count, who felt his heart die aithin him; ”adieu, and think of me”
”Oh! for ever and ever!” cried the youth; ”oh! I swear to you, sir, should any harm befall me, your name will be the last naht”
Athos hastened upstairs to conceal his eained with hurried steps the porch where Olivain aiting with the horses
”Olivain,” said Athos, showing the servant Raoul's shoulder-belt, ”tighten the buckle of the sword, it falls too low You will accompany monsieur le vicomte till Grimaud rejoins you You know, Raoul, Grimaud is an old and zealous servant; he will follow you”
”Yes, sir,” answered Raoul
”Now to horse, that I may see you depart!”
Raoul obeyed
”Adieu, Raoul,” said the count; ”adieu, my dearest boy!”
”Adieu, sir, adieu, my beloved protector”
Athos waved his hand--he dared not trust himself to speak: and Raoul went away, his head uncovered Athos re after him until he turned the corner of the street
Then the count threw the bridle of his horse into the hands of a peasant, remounted the steps, went into the cathedral, there to kneel down in the darkest corner and pray
23 One of the Forty Methods of Escape of the Duc de Beaufort
Meanwhile ti on for the prisoner, as well as for those ere preparing his escape; only for him it passed more slowly Unlike other row cold as the moment of execution approaches, the Duc de Beaufort, whose buoyant courage had becoht erly to hasten the hour of action In his escape alone, apart from his plans for the future, which, it ue and uncertain, there was a beginning of vengeance which filled his heart In the first place his escape would be a serious ny, whom he hated for the petty persecutions he owed to him It would be a still worse affair for Mazarin, whoreater offences he had committed It may be observed that there was a proper proportion in his sentiovernor of the prison and the minister--toward the subordinate and the master
Then Monsieur de Beaufort, as so fah he did not know the relations existing between the queen and the cardinal, pictured to himself, in his prison, all that dramatic excitement which would ensue when the rumor should run from the minister's cabinet to the chamber of Anne of Austria: ”Monsieur de Beaufort has escaped!” Whilst saying that to hiined hi the air of the plains and the forests, pressing a strong horse between his knees and crying out in a loud voice, ”I a to himself he found that he was still within four walls; he saw La Rahing and drinking in the ante-cha that was pleasant to him in that odious tableau--such is the instability of the human mind--was the sullen face of Grimaud, for whom he had at first conceived such a hatred and who noas all his hope Grimaud seemed to him an Antinous It is needless to say that this transforination Grimaud was still the same, and therefore he retained the entire confidence of his superior, La Ramee, who now relied upon him more than he did upon himself, for, as we have said, La Ramee felt at the bottom of his heart a certain weakness for Monsieur de Beaufort
And so the good La Ramee made a festivity of the little supper with his prisoner He had but one fault--he was a gourood, the wine excellent Now the successor of Pere Marteau had promised him a pate of pheasant instead of a pate of fowl, and Chambertin wine instead of Macon All this, set off by the presence of that excellent prince, as so good-natured, who invented so droll tricks against Monsieur de Chavigny and so fine jokes against Mazarin, reat feasts of the year He therefore looked forward to six o'clock with as much impatience as the duke himself
Since daybreak La Ra no one but himself, he had visited personally the successor of Pere Marteau The latter had surpassed himself; he showed La Ramee a monstrous pate, ornamented with Monsieur de Beaufort's coat-of-ares were lying near it La Ramee'shis hands To crown his happiness, Monsieur de Chavigny had started on a journey that overnor of the chateau
As for Grimaud, he seemed more sullen than ever
In the course of the forenoon Monsieur de Beaufort had a gan fro in advance, followed the course which they were to take in the evening The game was played in an inclosure called the little court of the chateau, a place quite deserted except when Monsieur de Beaufort was playing; and even then the precaution seeh
There were three gates to open before reaching the inclosure, each by a different key When they arrived Grimaud went carelessly and sat down by a loophole in the wall, letting his legs dangle outside It was evident that there the rope ladder was to be attached
This manoeuvre, transparent to the Duc de Beaufort, was quite unintelligible to La Ran froan in the afternoon The duke was in full strength and beat La Rauards, ere constantly near the prisoner, assisted in picking up the tennis balls When the ga at La Rao and drink his health, with their four other coave it to the, however; until then he had business and the prisoner was not to be left alone
Six o'clock cah they were not to sit down to table until seven o'clock, dinner was ready and served up Upon a sideboard appeared the colossal pie with the duke's arly cooked to a turn, as far as one could judge by the golden color which illuminated the crust
The rest of the dinner was to come
Every one was io and drink, the duke to escape
Griht have fancied that Athos had educated hireat event
There wereat Gri and if that row animated when the moment came for action