Part 99 (1/2)
”And now, Monsieur d'Artagnan,” he said, ”prepare to set off for Saint Germain and take a letter from me to the queen”
88 Shoith Threat and Pen nan knew his part well; he are that opportunity has a forelock only for hio by hied a pro relays of horses to Chantilly, so that heout he reflected that for a lad of intelligence and experience he was in a singular predica certainty behind him
”In fact,” he said, as he was about to enerosity, is a hero of romance; Porthos has an excellent disposition, but is easily influenced; Araible What will coer present to combine them? The deliverance of the cardinal, perhaps Now, the deliverance of the cardinal would be the ruin of our hopes; and our hopes are thus far the only recompense we have for labors in comean”
He went to find Aramis
”You, my dear Chevalier d'Herblay,” he said, ”are the Fronde incarnate Mistrust Athos, therefore, ill not prosecute the affairs of any one, even his own Mistrust Porthos, especially, who, to please the count whoards as God on earth, will assist hi Mazarin's escape, if Mazarin has the wit to weep or play the chivalric”
Ara and resolute
”Fear nothing,” he said; ”I have my conditions to impose My private ambition tends only to the profit of hinan: ”in this direction I am satisfied” He pressed Aramis's hand and went in search of Porthos
”Friend,” he said, ”you have worked so hard withup our fortune, that, at the moment e are about to reap the fruits of our labours, it would be a ridiculous piece of silliness in you to allow yourself to be controlled by Ara which, we otism; or by Athos, a noble and disinterestedfurther for himself, doesn't sympathize with the desires of others What should you say if either of these two friends proposed to you to let Mazarin go?”
”Why, I should say that we had toohim to let hiht,hirasp, to say nothing of the fact that, were he once out of this, Mazarin would have you hanged”
”Do you think so?”
”I am sure of it”
”Then I would kill hihtly There is no question, you understand, provided we secure our own interests, of securing those of the Frondeurs; who, besides, don't understand political matters as we old soldiers do”
”Never fear, dear friend,” said Porthos ”I shall see you through theas youas you are in sight; then I shall place lass s I shall see everything, and at the least suspicious sign I shall begin to externan; ”on this side I think the cardinal will be well guarded” He pressed the hand of the lord of Pierrefonds and went in search of Athos
”My dear Athos,” he said, ”I a to say to you You know Anne of Austria; the captivity of Mazarin alone guarantees o I a less than that consideration, nan, to persuade ive you my word that you will find the cardinal where you leave hinatures,” thought D'Artagnan ”Now that I have the word of Athos I can set out”
D'Artagnan started alone on his journey, without other escort than his sword, and with a simple passport from Mazarin to secure his admission to the queen's presence Six hours after he left Pierrefonds he was at Saint Gerenerally known Anne of Austria was informed of it and concealed her uneasiness fronan and Porthos the two soldiers had been found bound and gagged On recovering the use of their li but what they knew--that they had been seized, stripped and bound But as to what had been done by Porthos and D'Artagnan afterward they were as ignorant as all the inhabitants of the chateau
Bernouin alone knew a littlethat his ht, had ery The first door, barricaded with furniture, had aroused in hi his suspicions to any one he had patiently worked his way into the midst of all that confusion Then he came to the corridor, all the doors of which he found open; so, too, was the door of Athos's chamber and that of the park From the latter point it was easy to follow tracks on the snow He saw that these tracks tended toward the wall; on the other side he found sins of a troop of cavalry which had er cherish any doubt that the cardinal had been carried off by the three prisoners, since the prisoners had disappeared at the same time; and he had hastened to Saint Germain to warn the queen of that disappearance
Anne had enforced the utmost secrecy and had disclosed the event to no one except the Prince de Conde, who had sent five or six hundred horse in any suspicious person as going away froht be
Now, since D'Artagnan did not constitute a body of horse away fro to Saint Germain, no one paid any attention to him and his journey was not obstructed in any way
On entering the courtyard of the old chateau the first person seen by our a on the threshold, awaited news of his vanished nan, who entered the courtyard on horseback, Bernouin rubbed his eyes and thought he n to hi his bridle to a lackey as passing, he approached the valet-de-chanan!” cried the latter, like a htnan!”
”Himself, Monsieur Bernouin”
”And why have you co news of Monsieur de Mazarin--the freshest news there is”
”What has become of hi bad has happened to hi He felt the need of ed us--the Comte de la Fere and Monsieur du Vallon--to accompany him We were too devoted servants to refuse hi and here we are”
”Here you are”
”His e secret and private--a mission that could be confided only to a sure man--and so has sent me to Saint Germain And therefore, my dear Monsieur Bernouin, if you wish to do ill be pleasing to your master, announce to her majesty that I have come, and tell her hat purpose”
Whether he spoke seriously or in jest, since it was evident that under existing circunan was the only man who could relieve the queen's uneasiness, Bernouin ithout hesitation to announce to her this strange eave orders to introduce Monsieur d'Artagnan at once
D'Artagnan approached the sovereign with everyfallen on his knees presented to her the cardinal's letter It was, however, nized the writing, and, since there were no details in it of what had occurred, asked for particulars D'Artagnan related everything with that sienuous air which he kne to assume on occasions The queen, as he went on, looked at hi astonishment She could not comprehend how a man could conceive such an enterprise and still less how he could have the audacity to disclose it to her whose interest and almost duty it was to punish hinan finished, ”you dare to tell ive me an account of your treason!”
”Pardon, madame, but I think that either I have expressed myself badly or your majesty has imperfectly understood me There is here no question of crime or treason Monsieur de Mazarin held us in prison, Monsieur du Vallon and myself, because we could not believe that he had sent us to England to quietly look on while they cut off the head of Charles I, brother-in-law of the late king, your husband, the consort of Madauest, and because we did all that we could do to save the life of the royal martyr We were then convinced, my friend and I, that there was some error of which ere the victims, and that an explanation was called for between his eminence and ourselves Now, that an explanation may bear fruit, it is necessary that it should be quietly conducted, far from noise and interruption We have therefore taken away monsieur le cardinal toWell, madame, it proved to be as we had supposed; there was a ht that we had rendered service to General Crorace, rebounding from us to him, and from him to your majesty--a dishonor which would have tainted the royalty of your illustrious son We were able to prove the contrary, and that proof we are ready to give to yourin the Louvre, where your royal munificence has provided for her a hon of satisfaction, he has sent me, as your majesty may see, to consider with you what reparation should be fully persecuted”
”I listen to you, and I wonder at you, sir,” said the queen ”In fact, I have rarely seen such excess of inan, ”is as much mistaken as to our intentions as the Cardinal Mazarin has always been”
”You are in error, sir,” answered the queen ”I am so little mistaken that in ten minutes you shall be arrested, and in an hour I shall set off at the head of my army to release my minister”
”I am sure your majesty will not commit such an act of imprudence, first, because it would be useless and would produce the most disastrous results Before he could be possibly set free the cardinal would be dead; and indeed, so convinced is he of this, that he entreated me, should I find your majesty disposed to act in this way, to do all I could to induce you to change your resolution”
”Well, then, I will contentyou!”
”Madame, the possibility of my arrest has been foreseen, and should I not have returned by to-morrow, at a certain hour the next day the cardinal will be brought to Paris and delivered to the parliament”
”It is evident, sir, that your position has kept you out of relation to men and affairs; otherwise you would know that since we left Paris monsieur le cardinal has returned thither five or six times; that he has there met De Beaufort, De Bouillon, the coadjutor and D'Elbeuf and that not one of them had any desire to arrest him”
”Your pardon, madame, I know all that And therefore my friends will conduct monsieur le cardinal neither to De Beaufort, nor to De Bouillon, nor to the coadjutor, nor to D'Elbeuf These gentleranting theain He will be delivered to the parliaht, but even Monsieur de Mazarin is not rich enough to buy the whole body”
”I think,” returned Anne of Austria, fixing upon hilance, which in any woman's face would have expressed disdain, but in a queen's, spread terror to those she looked upon, ”nay, I perceive you dare to threaten the nan, ”I threaten sied to do so Believeas it is that a heart beats in this bosom--a heart devoted to you--believe that you have been the idol of our lives; that we have, as you well know--good Heaven!--risked our lives twenty times for your majesty Have you, then, madame, no coetated in obscurity, without betraying in a single sigh the solemn and sacred secrets they have had the honor to share with you? Look atloud and threateningly What am I? A poor officer, without fortune, without protection, without a future, unless the eye of , rests on me for a moment Look at the Comte de la Fere, a type of nobility, a flower of chivalry He has taken part against his queen, or rather, against her , it seems to me Look at Monsieur du Vallon, that faithful soul, that arm of steel, who for twenty years has awaited the word from your lips which will e Consider, in short, your people who love you and who yet are famished, who have no other wish than to bless you, and who, nevertheless--no, I a, your subjects, madame, will never curse you; say one word to them and all will be ended--peace succeed war, joy tears, and happiness to misfortune!”
Anne of Austria looked ondernan, which betrayed a singular expression of deep feeling
”Why did you not say all this before you took action, sir?” she said