Part 42 (2/2)
”That would be a in to think that we are really doo to this last hope as a shi+pwrecked s to the hull of his vessel ”The others, my lord!”
”The second--I heard his naentlemen told us their names; the second was called the Comte de la Fere As for the two others, I had so otten their real ones”
”Oh, ency to find theentle”
”Oh, yes,” said De Winter, ”for they are the same men Listen, madame, and recall your remembrances Have you never heard that Queen Anne of Austria was once saved froer ever incurred by a queen?”
”Yes, at the tiham; it had to do in some ith certain studs and diamonds”
”Well, it was that affair, madame; these men are the ones who saved her; and I sentleotten theht to have made them the first noblemen of the realm”
”Well, then, my lord, they must be found; but what can four men, or rather three nan”
”It will be one valiant sword the less, but there will reto protect him from his enemies, to be at his side in battle, to aid hiht, are sufficient, not toa conqueror, but to save him if conquered; and whatever Mazarin may say, once on the shores of France your royal husband may find as many retreats and asylums as the seabird finds in a storentleland, I will give to each a duchy the day that we reascend the throne, besides as old as would pave Whitehall Seek them, my lord, and find them, I conjure you”
”I will search for them, madame,” said De Winter ”and doubtless I shall find the expects your reply and awaits it in agony?”
”Then indeed we are lost!” cried the queen, in the fullness of a broken heart
At thisHenrietta appeared; then the queen, with that wonderful strength which is the privilege of parents, repressed her tears and e the subject
But that act of self-control, effective as it was, did not escape the eyes of the young princess She stopped on the threshold, breathed a sigh, and addressing the queen: ”Why, then, do you aleep, mother, when I am away from you?” she said
The queen s: ”See, De Winter,” she said, ”I have at least gained one thing in being only half a queen; and that is that my children calltoward her daughter: ”What do you want, Henrietta?” she de princess, ”a cavalier has just entered the Louvre and wishes to present his respects to your majesty; he arrives from the army and has, he says, a letter to remit to you, on the part of the Marechal de Grammont, I think”
”Ah!” said the queen to De Winter, ”he is one of my faithful adherents; but do you not observe, my dear lord, that we are so poorly served that it is left to hter to fill the office of doorkeeper?”
”Mada my heart!”
”And who is this cavalier, Henrietta?” asked the queen
”I saw hi e, and is called the Viscount de Bragelonne”
The queen, s princess opened the door and Raoul appeared on the threshold
Advancing a few steps toward the queen, he knelt down
”Madame,” said he, ”I bear to your majesty a letter from my friend the Count de Guiche, who toldyour servant; this letter contains important news and the expression of his respect”
At the name of the Count de Guiche a blush spread over the cheeks of the young princess and the queen glanced at her with soree of severity
”You told me that the letter was from the Marechal de Graht so, irl
”It is my fault, mada on the part of the Marechal de Graht arm he was unable to write and therefore the Count de Guiche acted as his secretary”
”There has been fighting, then?” asked the queen,to Raoul to rise
”Yes,taken place, the princess opened her h to ask a question of interest; but her lips closed again without articulating a word, while the color gradually faded from her cheeks
The queen saw this, and doubtless her ain: ”And no evil has happened to the young Count de Guiche?” she asked; ”for not only is he our servant, as you say, sir, but more--he is one of our friends”
”No, lory and had the honor of being ehness, the prince, on the field of battle”
The young princess clapped her hands; and then, asha been betrayed into such a demonstration of joy, she half turned away and bent over a vase of roses, as if to inhale their odor
”Let us see,” said the queen, ”what the count says” And she opened the letter and read: ”Mada to you ht hand, I have commanded my son, the Count de Guiche, ith his father, is equally your huained the battle of Lens, and that this victory cannot fail to give great power to Cardinal Mazarin and to the queen over the affairs of Europe If her ht to profit by this event to address at this ust husband, the court of France The Vico this letter to your majesty, is the friend of entleman in whom your majesty may confide entirely, in case your majesty may have some verbal or written order to remit to me
”I have the honor to be, with respect, etc, ”Marechal de Gra rendered a service to the count, Raoul could not help turning his glance toward the young princess, and then he saw in her eyes an expression of infinite gratitude to the youngCharles I loved his friend
”The battle of Lens gained!” said the queen; ”they are lucky here indeed; they can gain battles! Yes, the Marechal de Grae the aspect of French affairs, but I lish, even if it does not harm them This is recent news, sir,” continued she, ”and I thank you for havingit to me; without this letter I should not have heard till to-morrow, perhaps after to-morrow--the last of all Paris”
”Madame,” said Raoul, ”the Louvre is but the second palace this news has reached; it is as yet unknown to all, and I had sworn to the Count de Guiche to remit this letter to your uardian”
”Your guardian! is he, too, a Bragelonne?” asked Lord de Winter ”I once knew a Bragelonne--is he still alive?”
”No, sir, he is dead; and I believe it is frouardian, whose near relation he was, inherited the estate frouardian, sir,” asked the queen, who could not help feeling so man before her, ”what is his na esture of surprise and the queen turned to him with a start of joy
”The Comte de la Fere!” she cried ”Have you not mentioned that name to me?”
As for De Winter he could scarcely believe that he had heard aright ”The Comte de la Fere!” he cried in his turn ”Oh, sir, reply, I entreat you--is not the Comte de la Fere a noble whom I remember, handsome and brave, a musketeer under Louis XIII, who e?”
”Yes, sir, you are right in every particular!”
”And who served under an assumed name?”