Reading Help The Three Musketeers Ch.19-40
D'Artagnan replied that he had been sent thither by M. de `
` Treville to treat for a supply of horses, and that he had `
` brought back four as specimens. `
` `
` Milady in the course of the conversation twice or thrice bit `
` her lips; she had to deal with a Gascon who played close. `
` `
` At the same hour as on the preceding evening, d'Artagnan `
` retired. In the corridor he again met the pretty Kitty; that `
` was the name of the SOUBRETTE. She looked at him with an `
` expression of kindness which it was impossible to mistake; `
` but d'Artagnan was so preoccupied by the mistress that he `
` noticed absolutely nothing but her. `
` `
` D'Artagnan came again on the morrow and the day after that, `
` and each day Milady gave him a more gracious reception. `
` `
` Every evening, either in the antechamber, the corridor, or `
` on the stairs, he met the pretty SOUBRETTE. But, as we have `
` said, d'Artagnan paid no attention to this persistence of `
` poor Kitty. `
` `
` `
` `
` 32 A PROCURATOR'S DINNER `
` `
` However brilliant had been the part played by Porthos in the `
` duel, it had not made him forget the dinner of the `
` procurator's wife. `
` `
` On the morrow he received the last touches of Mousqueton's `
` brush for an hour, and took his way toward the Rue aux Ours `
` with the steps of a man who was doubly in favor with `
` fortune. `
` `
` His heart beat, but not like d'Artagnan's with a young and `
` impatient love. No; a more material interest stirred his `
` blood. He was about at last to pass that mysterious `
` threshold, to climb those unknown stairs by which, one by `
` one, the old crowns of M. Coquenard had ascended. He was `
` about to see in reality a certain coffer of which he had `
` twenty times beheld the image in his dreams--a coffer long `
` and deep, locked, bolted, fastened in the wall; a coffer of `
` which he had so often heard, and which the hands--a little `
` wrinkled, it is true, but still not without elegance--of the `
` procurator's wife were about to open to his admiring looks. `
` `
` And then he--a wanderer on the earth, a man without fortune, `
` a man without family, a soldier accustomed to inns, `
` cabarets, taverns, and restaurants, a lover of wine forced `
` to depend upon chance treats--was about to partake of `
` family meals, to enjoy the pleasures of a comfortable `
` establishment, and to give himself up to those little `
` attentions which "the harder one is, the more they please," `
` as old soldiers say. `
` `
` To come in the capacity of a cousin, and seat himself every `
` day at a good table; to smooth the yellow, wrinkled brow of `
` the old procurator; to pluck the clerks a little by teaching `
` them BASSETTE, PASSE-DIX, and LANSQUENET, in their utmost `
` nicety, and winning from them, by way of fee for the lesson `
` he would give them in an hour, their savings of a month--all `
` this was enormously delightful to Porthos. `
` `
` The Musketeer could not forget the evil reports which then `
` prevailed, and which indeed have survived them, of the `
` procurators of the period--meanness, stinginess, fasts; but `
` as, after all, excepting some few acts of economy which `
` Porthos had always found very unseasonable, the procurator's `
` wife had been tolerably liberal--that is, be it understood, `
` for a procurator's wife--he hoped to see a household of a `
` highly comfortable kind. `
` `
` And yet, at the very door the Musketeer began to entertain `
` some doubts. The approach was not such as to prepossess `
` people--an ill-smelling, dark passage, a staircase half- `
` lighted by bars through which stole a glimmer from a `
` neighboring yard; on the first floor a low door studded with `
` enormous nails, like the principal gate of the Grand `
` Chatelet. `
` `
` Porthos knocked with his hand. A tall, pale clerk, his face `
` shaded by a forest of virgin hair, opened the door, and `
` bowed with the air of a man forced at once to respect in `
` another lofty stature, which indicated strength, the `
` military dress, which indicated rank, and a ruddy `
` countenance, which indicated familiarity with good living. `
` `
` A shorter clerk came behind the first, a taller clerk behind `
` the second, a stripling of a dozen years rising behind the `
` third. In all, three clerks and a half, which, for the `
` time, argued a very extensive clientage. `
` `
` Although the Musketeer was not expected before one o'clock, `
` the procurator's wife had been on the watch ever since `
` midday, reckoning that the heart, or perhaps the stomach, of `
` her lover would bring him before his time. `
` `
` Mme. Coquenard therefore entered the office from the house `
` at the same moment her guest entered from the stairs, and `
` the appearance of the worthy lady relieved him from an `
` awkward embarrassment. The clerks surveyed him with great `
` curiosity, and he, not knowing well what to say to this `
` ascending and descending scale, remained tongue-tied. `
` `
` "It is my cousin!" cried the procurator's wife. "Come in, `
` come in, Monsieur Porthos!" `
` `
` The name of Porthos produced its effect upon the clerks, who `
` began to laugh; but Porthos turned sharply round, and every `
` countenance quickly recovered its gravity. `
` `
` They reached the office of the procurator after having `
` passed through the antechamber in which the clerks were, and `
` the study in which they ought to have been. This last `
` apartment was a sort of dark room, littered with papers. On `
` quitting the study they left the kitchen on the right, and `
` entered the reception room. `
` `
` All these rooms, which communicated with one another, did `
` not inspire Porthos favorably. Words might be heard at a `
` distance through all these open doors. Then, while passing, `
` he had cast a rapid, investigating glance into the kitchen; `
` and he was obliged to confess to himself, to the shame of `
` the procurator's wife and his own regret, that he did not `
` see that fire, that animation, that bustle, which when a `
` good repast is on foot prevails generally in that sanctuary `
` of good living. `
` `
` The procurator had without doubt been warned of his visit, `
` as he expressed no surprise at the sight of Porthos, who `
` advanced toward him with a sufficiently easy air, and `
` saluted him courteously. `
` `
` "We are cousins, it appears, Monsieur Porthos?" said the `
` procurator, rising, yet supporting his weight upon the arms `
` of his cane chair. `
` `
` The old man, wrapped in a large black doublet, in which the `
` whole of his slender body was concealed, was brisk and dry. `
` His little gray eyes shone like carbuncles, and appeared, `
` with his grinning mouth, to be the only part of his face in `
` which life survived. Unfortunately the legs began to refuse `
` their service to this bony machine. During the last five or `
` six months that this weakness had been felt, the worthy `
` procurator had nearly become the slave of his wife. `
` `
` The cousin was received with resignation, that was all. M. `
` Coquenard, firm upon his legs, would have declined all `
` relationship with M. Porthos. `
` `
` "Yes, monsieur, we are cousins," said Porthos, without being `
` disconcerted, as he had never reckoned upon being received `
` enthusiastically by the husband. `
` `
` "By the female side, I believe?" said the procurator, `
` maliciously. `
` `
` Porthos did not feel the ridicule of this, and took it for a `
` piece of simplicity, at which he laughed in his large `
` mustache. Mme. Coquenard, who knew that a simple-minded `
` procurator was a very rare variety in the species, smiled a `
` little, and colored a great deal. `
` `
` M. Coquenard had, since the arrival of Porthos, frequently `
` cast his eyes with great uneasiness upon a large chest `
` placed in front of his oak desk. Porthos comprehended that `
` this chest, although it did not correspond in shape with `
` that which he had seen in his dreams, must be the blessed `
` coffer, and he congratulated himself that the reality was `
` several feet higher than the dream. `
` `
` M. Coquenard did not carry his genealogical investigations `
` any further; but withdrawing his anxious look from the chest `
` and fixing it upon Porthos, he contented himself with saying, `
` "Monsieur our cousin will do us the favor of dining with us `
` once before his departure for the campaign, will he not, `
` Madame Coquenard?" `
` `
` This time Porthos received the blow right in his stomach, `
` and felt it. It appeared likewise that Mme. Coquenard was `
` not less affected by it on her part, for she added, "My `
` cousin will not return if he finds that we do not treat him `
` kindly; but otherwise he has so little time to pass in Paris, `
` and consequently to spare to us, that we must entreat him to `
` give us every instant he can call his own previous to his `
` departure." `
` `
` "Oh, my legs, my poor legs! where are you?" murmured `
` Coquenard, and he tried to smile. `
` `
` This succor, which came to Porthos at the moment in which he `
` was attacked in his gastronomic hopes, inspired much `
` gratitude in the Musketeer toward the procurator's wife. `
` `
` The hour of dinner soon arrived. They passed into the eating `
` room--a large dark room situated opposite the kitchen. `
` `
` The clerks, who, as it appeared, had smelled unusual perfumes `
` in the house, were of military punctuality, and held their `
` stools in hand quite ready to sit down. Their jaws moved `
`
` Treville to treat for a supply of horses, and that he had `
` brought back four as specimens. `
` `
` Milady in the course of the conversation twice or thrice bit `
` her lips; she had to deal with a Gascon who played close. `
` `
` At the same hour as on the preceding evening, d'Artagnan `
` retired. In the corridor he again met the pretty Kitty; that `
` was the name of the SOUBRETTE. She looked at him with an `
` expression of kindness which it was impossible to mistake; `
` but d'Artagnan was so preoccupied by the mistress that he `
` noticed absolutely nothing but her. `
` `
` D'Artagnan came again on the morrow and the day after that, `
` and each day Milady gave him a more gracious reception. `
` `
` Every evening, either in the antechamber, the corridor, or `
` on the stairs, he met the pretty SOUBRETTE. But, as we have `
` said, d'Artagnan paid no attention to this persistence of `
` poor Kitty. `
` `
` `
` `
` 32 A PROCURATOR'S DINNER `
` `
` However brilliant had been the part played by Porthos in the `
` duel, it had not made him forget the dinner of the `
` procurator's wife. `
` `
` On the morrow he received the last touches of Mousqueton's `
` brush for an hour, and took his way toward the Rue aux Ours `
` with the steps of a man who was doubly in favor with `
` fortune. `
` `
` His heart beat, but not like d'Artagnan's with a young and `
` impatient love. No; a more material interest stirred his `
` blood. He was about at last to pass that mysterious `
` threshold, to climb those unknown stairs by which, one by `
` one, the old crowns of M. Coquenard had ascended. He was `
` about to see in reality a certain coffer of which he had `
` twenty times beheld the image in his dreams--a coffer long `
` and deep, locked, bolted, fastened in the wall; a coffer of `
` which he had so often heard, and which the hands--a little `
` wrinkled, it is true, but still not without elegance--of the `
` procurator's wife were about to open to his admiring looks. `
` `
` And then he--a wanderer on the earth, a man without fortune, `
` a man without family, a soldier accustomed to inns, `
` cabarets, taverns, and restaurants, a lover of wine forced `
` to depend upon chance treats--was about to partake of `
` family meals, to enjoy the pleasures of a comfortable `
` establishment, and to give himself up to those little `
` attentions which "the harder one is, the more they please," `
` as old soldiers say. `
` `
` To come in the capacity of a cousin, and seat himself every `
` day at a good table; to smooth the yellow, wrinkled brow of `
` the old procurator; to pluck the clerks a little by teaching `
` them BASSETTE, PASSE-DIX, and LANSQUENET, in their utmost `
` nicety, and winning from them, by way of fee for the lesson `
` he would give them in an hour, their savings of a month--all `
` this was enormously delightful to Porthos. `
` `
` The Musketeer could not forget the evil reports which then `
` prevailed, and which indeed have survived them, of the `
` procurators of the period--meanness, stinginess, fasts; but `
` as, after all, excepting some few acts of economy which `
` Porthos had always found very unseasonable, the procurator's `
` wife had been tolerably liberal--that is, be it understood, `
` for a procurator's wife--he hoped to see a household of a `
` highly comfortable kind. `
` `
` And yet, at the very door the Musketeer began to entertain `
` some doubts. The approach was not such as to prepossess `
` people--an ill-smelling, dark passage, a staircase half- `
` lighted by bars through which stole a glimmer from a `
` neighboring yard; on the first floor a low door studded with `
` enormous nails, like the principal gate of the Grand `
` Chatelet. `
` `
` Porthos knocked with his hand. A tall, pale clerk, his face `
` shaded by a forest of virgin hair, opened the door, and `
` bowed with the air of a man forced at once to respect in `
` another lofty stature, which indicated strength, the `
` military dress, which indicated rank, and a ruddy `
` countenance, which indicated familiarity with good living. `
` `
` A shorter clerk came behind the first, a taller clerk behind `
` the second, a stripling of a dozen years rising behind the `
` third. In all, three clerks and a half, which, for the `
` time, argued a very extensive clientage. `
` `
` Although the Musketeer was not expected before one o'clock, `
` the procurator's wife had been on the watch ever since `
` midday, reckoning that the heart, or perhaps the stomach, of `
` her lover would bring him before his time. `
` `
` Mme. Coquenard therefore entered the office from the house `
` at the same moment her guest entered from the stairs, and `
` the appearance of the worthy lady relieved him from an `
` awkward embarrassment. The clerks surveyed him with great `
` curiosity, and he, not knowing well what to say to this `
` ascending and descending scale, remained tongue-tied. `
` `
` "It is my cousin!" cried the procurator's wife. "Come in, `
` come in, Monsieur Porthos!" `
` `
` The name of Porthos produced its effect upon the clerks, who `
` began to laugh; but Porthos turned sharply round, and every `
` countenance quickly recovered its gravity. `
` `
` They reached the office of the procurator after having `
` passed through the antechamber in which the clerks were, and `
` the study in which they ought to have been. This last `
` apartment was a sort of dark room, littered with papers. On `
` quitting the study they left the kitchen on the right, and `
` entered the reception room. `
` `
` All these rooms, which communicated with one another, did `
` not inspire Porthos favorably. Words might be heard at a `
` distance through all these open doors. Then, while passing, `
` he had cast a rapid, investigating glance into the kitchen; `
` and he was obliged to confess to himself, to the shame of `
` the procurator's wife and his own regret, that he did not `
` see that fire, that animation, that bustle, which when a `
` good repast is on foot prevails generally in that sanctuary `
` of good living. `
` `
` The procurator had without doubt been warned of his visit, `
` as he expressed no surprise at the sight of Porthos, who `
` advanced toward him with a sufficiently easy air, and `
` saluted him courteously. `
` `
` "We are cousins, it appears, Monsieur Porthos?" said the `
` procurator, rising, yet supporting his weight upon the arms `
` of his cane chair. `
` `
` The old man, wrapped in a large black doublet, in which the `
` whole of his slender body was concealed, was brisk and dry. `
` His little gray eyes shone like carbuncles, and appeared, `
` with his grinning mouth, to be the only part of his face in `
` which life survived. Unfortunately the legs began to refuse `
` their service to this bony machine. During the last five or `
` six months that this weakness had been felt, the worthy `
` procurator had nearly become the slave of his wife. `
` `
` The cousin was received with resignation, that was all. M. `
` Coquenard, firm upon his legs, would have declined all `
` relationship with M. Porthos. `
` `
` "Yes, monsieur, we are cousins," said Porthos, without being `
` disconcerted, as he had never reckoned upon being received `
` enthusiastically by the husband. `
` `
` "By the female side, I believe?" said the procurator, `
` maliciously. `
` `
` Porthos did not feel the ridicule of this, and took it for a `
` piece of simplicity, at which he laughed in his large `
` mustache. Mme. Coquenard, who knew that a simple-minded `
` procurator was a very rare variety in the species, smiled a `
` little, and colored a great deal. `
` `
` M. Coquenard had, since the arrival of Porthos, frequently `
` cast his eyes with great uneasiness upon a large chest `
` placed in front of his oak desk. Porthos comprehended that `
` this chest, although it did not correspond in shape with `
` that which he had seen in his dreams, must be the blessed `
` coffer, and he congratulated himself that the reality was `
` several feet higher than the dream. `
` `
` M. Coquenard did not carry his genealogical investigations `
` any further; but withdrawing his anxious look from the chest `
` and fixing it upon Porthos, he contented himself with saying, `
` "Monsieur our cousin will do us the favor of dining with us `
` once before his departure for the campaign, will he not, `
` Madame Coquenard?" `
` `
` This time Porthos received the blow right in his stomach, `
` and felt it. It appeared likewise that Mme. Coquenard was `
` not less affected by it on her part, for she added, "My `
` cousin will not return if he finds that we do not treat him `
` kindly; but otherwise he has so little time to pass in Paris, `
` and consequently to spare to us, that we must entreat him to `
` give us every instant he can call his own previous to his `
` departure." `
` `
` "Oh, my legs, my poor legs! where are you?" murmured `
` Coquenard, and he tried to smile. `
` `
` This succor, which came to Porthos at the moment in which he `
` was attacked in his gastronomic hopes, inspired much `
` gratitude in the Musketeer toward the procurator's wife. `
` `
` The hour of dinner soon arrived. They passed into the eating `
` room--a large dark room situated opposite the kitchen. `
` `
` The clerks, who, as it appeared, had smelled unusual perfumes `
` in the house, were of military punctuality, and held their `
` stools in hand quite ready to sit down. Their jaws moved `
`