Louise de la Valliere

by Alexandre Dumas

  Chapter LXV. Political Rivals.

  D'Artagnan had promised M. de Baisemeaux to return in time for dessert,and he kept his word. They had just reached the finer and more delicateclass of wines and liqueurs with which the governor's cellar had thereputation of being most admirably stocked, when the silver spurs ofthe captain resounded in the corridor, and he himself appeared at thethreshold. Athos and Aramis had played a close game; neither of the twohad been able to gain the slightest advantage over the other. They hadsupped, talked a good deal about the Bastile, of the last journey toFontainebleau, of the intended _fete_ that M. Fouquet was about to giveat Vaux; they had generalized on every possible subject; and no one,excepting Baisemeaux, had in the slightest degree alluded to privatematters. D'Artagnan arrived in the very midst of the conversation,still pale and much disturbed by his interview with the king. Baisemeauxhastened to give him a chair; D'Artagnan accepted a glass of wine, andset it down empty. Athos and Aramis both remarked his emotion; asfor Baisemeaux, he saw nothing more than the captain of the king'smusketeers, to whom he endeavored to show every possible attention. But,although Aramis had remarked his emotion, he had not been able to guessthe cause of it. Athos alone believed he had detected it. For him,D'Artagnan's return, and particularly the manner in which he, usuallyso impassible, seemed overcome, signified, "I have just asked the kingsomething which the king has refused me." Thoroughly convinced that hisconjecture was correct, Athos smiled, rose from the table, and made asign to D'Artagnan, as if to remind him that they had something elseto do than to sup together. D'Artagnan immediately understood him,and replied by another sign. Aramis and Baisemeaux watched this silentdialogue, and looked inquiringly at each other. Athos felt that he wascalled upon to give an explanation of what was passing.

  "The truth is, my friend," said the Comte de la Fere, with a smile,"that you, Aramis, have been supping with a state criminal, and you,Monsieur de Baisemeaux, with your prisoner."

  Baisemeaux uttered an exclamation of surprise, and almost of delight;for he was exceedingly proud and vain of his fortress, and for his ownindividual profit, the more prisoners he had, the happier he was, andthe higher in rank the prisoners happened to be, the prouder he felt.Aramis assumed the expression of countenance he thought the positionjustified, and said, "Well, dear Athos, forgive me, but I almostsuspected what has happened. Some prank of Raoul and La Valliere, Isuppose?"

  "Alas!" said Baisemeaux.

  "And," continued Aramis, "you, a high and powerful nobleman as youare, forgetful that courtiers now exist--you have been to the king, Isuppose, and told him what you thought of his conduct?"

  "Yes, you have guessed right."

  "So that," said Baisemeaux, trembling at having supped so familiarlywith a man who had fallen into disgrace with the king; "so that,monsieur le comte--"

  "So that, my dear governor," said Athos, "my friend D'Artagnan willcommunicate to you the contents of the paper which I perceived justpeeping out of his belt, and which assuredly can be nothing else thanthe order for my incarceration."

  Baisemeaux held out his hand with his accustomed eagerness. D'Artagnandrew two papers from his belt, and presented one of them to thegovernor, who unfolded it, and then read, in a low tone of voice,looking at Athos over the paper, as he did so, and pausing from time totime: "'Order to detain, in my chateau of the Bastile, Monsieur le Comtede la Fere.' Oh, monsieur! this is indeed a very melancholy day for me."

  "You will have a patient prisoner, monsieur," said Athos, in his calm,soft voice.

  "A prisoner, too, who will not remain a month with you, my deargovernor," said Aramis; while Baisemeaux, still holding the order in hishand, transcribed it upon the prison registry.

  "Not a day, or rather not even a night," said D'Artagnan, displaying thesecond order of the king, "for now, dear M. de Baisemeaux, you willhave the goodness to transcribe also this order for setting the comteimmediately at liberty."

  "Ah!" said Aramis, "it is a labor that you have deprived me of,D'Artagnan;" and he pressed the musketeer's hand in a significantmanner, at the same moment as that of Athos.

  "What!" said the latter in astonishment, "the king sets me at liberty!"

  "Read, my dear friend," returned D'Artagnan.

  Athos took the order and read it. "It is quite true," he said.

  "Are you sorry for it?" asked D'Artagnan.

  "Oh, no, on the contrary. I wish the king no harm; and the greatest evilor misfortune that any one can wish kings, is that they should commit anact of injustice. But you have had a difficult and painful task, I know.Tell me, have you not, D'Artagnan?"

  "I? not at all," said the musketeer, laughing: "the king does everythingI wish him to do."

  Aramis looked fixedly at D'Artagnan, and saw that he was not speakingthe truth. But Baisemeaux had eyes for nothing but D'Artagnan, so greatwas his admiration for a man who seemed to make the king do all hewished.

  "And does the king exile Athos?" inquired Aramis.

  "No, not precisely; the king did not explain himself upon that subject,"replied D'Artagnan; "but I think the comte could not well do betterunless, indeed, he wishes particularly to thank the king--"

  "No, indeed," replied Athos, smiling.

  "Well, then, I think," resumed D'Artagnan, "that the comte cannot dobetter than to retire to his _own_ chateau. However, my dear Athos, youhave only to speak, to tell me what you want. If any particular placeof residence is more agreeable to you than another, I am influentialenough, perhaps, to obtain it for you."

  "No, thank you," said Athos; "nothing can be more agreeable to me, mydear friend, than to return to my solitude beneath my noble trees on thebanks of the Loire. If Heaven be the overruling physician of the evilsof the mind, nature is a sovereign remedy. And so, monsieur," continuedAthos, turning again towards Baisemeaux, "I am now free, I suppose?"

  "Yes, monsieur le comte, I think so--at least, I hope so," said thegovernor, turning over and over the two papers in question, "unless,however, M. d'Artagnan has a third order to give me."

  "No, my dear Baisemeaux, no," said the musketeer; "the second is quiteenough: we will stop there--if you please."

  "Ah! monsieur le comte," said Baisemeaux addressing Athos, "you donot know what you are losing. I should have placed you among thethirty-franc prisoners, like the generals--what am I saying?--I meanamong the fifty-francs, like the princes, and you would have suppedevery evening as you have done to-night."

  "Allow me, monsieur," said Athos, "to prefer my own simpler fare." Andthen, turning to D'Artagnan, he said, "Let us go, my dear friend. ShallI have that greatest of all pleasures for me--that of having you as mycompanion?"

  "To the city gate only," replied D'Artagnan, "after which I will tellyou what I told the king: 'I am on duty.'"

  "And you, my dear Aramis," said Athos, smiling; "will you accompany me?La Fere is on the road to Vannes."

  "Thank you, my dear friend," said Aramis, "but I have an appointment inParis this evening, and I cannot leave without very serious interestssuffering by my absence."

  "In that case," said Athos, "I must say adieu, and take my leave of you.My dear Monsieur de Baisemeaux, I have to thank you exceedingly foryour kind and friendly disposition towards me, and particularly forthe enjoyable specimen you have given me of the ordinary fare of theBastile." And, having embraced Aramis, and shaken hands with M. deBaisemeaux, and having received best wishes for a pleasant journey fromthem both, Athos set off with D'Artagnan.

  Whilst the _denouement_ of the scene of the Palais Royal was takingplace at the Bastile, let us relate what was going on at the lodgingsof Athos and Bragelonne. Grimaud, as we have seen, had accompanied hismaster to Paris; and, as we have said, he was present when Athos wentout; he had observed D'Artagnan gnaw the corners of his mustache; hehad seen his master get into the carriage; he had narrowly examined boththeir countenances, and he had known them both for a sufficiently longperiod to read and understand, through the mask of their impassibility,that something serious was the matter.
As soon as Athos had gone, hebegan to reflect; he then, and then only, remembered the strange mannerin which Athos had taken leave of him, the embarrassment--imperceptibleas it would have been to any but himself--of the master whose ideaswere, to him, so clear and defined, and the expression of whose wisheswas so precise. He knew that Athos had taken nothing with him but theclothes he had on him at the time; and yet he seemed to fancy that Athoshad not left for an hour merely; or even for a day. A long absence wassignified by the manner in which he pronounced the word "Adieu."All these circumstances recurred to his mind, with feelings of deepaffection for Athos, with that horror of isolation and solitude whichinvariably besets the minds of those who love; and all these combinedrendered poor Grimaud very melancholy, and particularly uneasy. Withoutbeing able to account to himself for what he did since his master'sdeparture, he wandered about the room, seeking, as it were, for sometraces of him, like a faithful dog, who is not exactly uneasy about hisabsent master, but at least is restless. Only as, in addition to theinstinct of the animal, Grimaud subjoined the reasoning faculties of theman, Grimaud therefore felt uneasy and restless too. Not having foundany indication which could serve as a guide, and having neither seennor discovered anything which could satisfy his doubts, Grimaud beganto wonder what could possibly have happened. Besides, imagination isthe resource, or rather the plague of gentle and affectionate hearts. Infact, never does a feeling heart represent its absent friend to itselfas being happy or cheerful. Never does the dove that wings its flight insearch of adventures inspire anything but terror at home.

  Grimaud soon passed from uneasiness to terror; he carefully went over,in his own mind, everything that had taken place: D'Artagnan's letterto Athos, the letter which had seemed to distress Athos so much afterhe had read it; then Raoul's visit to Athos, which resulted in Athosdesiring him (Grimaud) to get his various orders and his court dressready to put on; then his interview with the king, at the end of whichAthos had returned home so unusually gloomy; then the explanationbetween the father and the son, at the termination of which Athos hadembraced Raoul with such sadness of expression, while Raoul himself wentaway equally weary and melancholy; and finally, D'Artagnan's arrival,biting, as if he were vexed, the end of his mustache, and leaving againin the carriage, accompanied by the Comte de la Fere. All this composeda drama in five acts very clearly, particularly for so analytical anobserver as Grimaud.

  The first step he took was to search in his master's coat for M.d'Artagnan's letter; he found the letter still there, and its contentswere found to run as follows:

  "MY DEAR FRIEND,--Raoul has been to ask me for some particulars aboutthe conduct of Mademoiselle de la Valliere, during our young friend'sresidence in London. I am a poor captain of musketeers, and I amsickened to death every day by hearing all the scandal of the barracksand bedside conversations. If I had told Raoul all I believe, I know thepoor fellow would have died of it; but I am in the king's service, andcannot relate all I hear about the king's affairs. If your heart tellsyou to do it, set off at once; the matter concerns you more than it doesmyself, and almost as much as Raoul."

  Grimaud tore, not a handful, but a finger-and-thumbful of hair out ofhis head; he would have done more if his head of hair had been in a moreflourishing condition.

  "Yes," he said, "that is the key of the whole enigma. The young girl hasbeen playing her pranks; what people say about her and the king is true,then; our young master has been deceived; he ought to know it. Monsieurle comte has been to see the king, and has told him a piece of his mind;and then the king sent M. d'Artagnan to arrange the affair. Ah! graciousgoodness!" continued Grimaud, "monsieur le comte, I now remember,returned without his sword."

  This discovery made the perspiration break out all over poor Grimaud'sface. He did not waste any more time in useless conjecture, but clappedhis hat on his head, and ran to Raoul's lodgings.

  Raoul, after Louise had left him, had mastered his grief, if not hisaffection; and, compelled to look forward on that perilous road overwhich madness and revulsion were hurrying him, he had seen, from thevery first glance, his father exposed to the royal obstinacy, sinceAthos had himself been the first to oppose any resistance to the royalwill. At this moment, from a very natural sequence of feeling, theunhappy young man remembered the mysterious signs which Athos had made,and the unexpected visit of D'Artagnan; the result of the conflictbetween a sovereign and a subject revealed itself to his terrifiedvision. As D'Artagnan was on duty, that is, a fixture at his postwithout the possibility of leaving it, it was certainly not likely thathe had come to pay Athos a visit merely for the pleasure of seeing him.He must have come to say something to him. This something in themidst of such painful conjectures must have been the news of either amisfortune or a danger. Raoul trembled at having been so selfish asto have forgotten his father for his affection; at having, in a word,passed his time in idle dreams, or in an indulgence of despair, at atime when a necessity existed for repelling such an imminent attack onAthos. The very idea nearly drove him frantic; he buckled on his swordand ran towards his father's lodgings. On his way there he encounteredGrimaud, who, having set off from the opposite pole, was running withequal eagerness in search of the truth. The two men embraced each othermost warmly.

  "Grimaud," exclaimed Raoul, "is the comte well?"

  "Have you seen him?"

  "No; where is he?"

  "I am trying to find out."

  "And M. d'Artagnan?"

  "Went out with him."

  "When?"

  "Ten minutes after you did."

  "In what way did they go out?"

  "In a carriage."

  "Where did they go?"

  "I have no idea at all."

  "Did my father take any money with him?"

  "No."

  "Or his sword?"

  "No."

  "I have an idea, Grimaud, that M. d'Artagnan came in order to--"

  "Arrest monsieur le comte, do you not think, monsieur?"

  "Yes, Grimaud."

  "I could have sworn it."

  "What road did they take?"

  "The way leading towards the quay."

  "To the Bastile, then?"

  "Yes, yes."

  "Quick, quick; let us run."

  "Yes, let us not lose a moment."

  "But where are we to go?" said Raoul, overwhelmed.

  "We will go to M. d'Artagnan's first, we may perhaps learn somethingthere."

  "No; if they keep me in ignorance at my father's, they will do the sameeverywhere. Let us go to--Oh, good heavens! why, I must be mad to-day,Grimaud; I have forgotten M. du Vallon, who is waiting for and expectingme still."

  "Where is he, then?"

  "At the Minimes of Vincennes."

  "Thank goodness, that is on the same side as the Bastile. I will run andsaddle the horses, and we will go at once," said Grimaud.

  "Do, my friend, do."