Reading Help The Three Musketeers Ch.1-18
view all this otherwise. If you loved me, oh, if you loved me, `
` that would be too great happiness, and I should run mad. Ah, `
` Madame de Chevreuse was less cruel than you. Holland loved her, `
` and she responded to his love." `
` `
` "Madame de Chevreuse was not queen," murmured Anne of Austria, `
` overcome, in spite of herself, by the expression of so profound a `
` passion. `
` `
` "You would love me, then, if you were not queen! Madame, say `
` that you would love me then! I can believe that it is the `
` dignity of your rank alone which makes you cruel to me; I can `
` believe that you had been Madame de Chevreuse, poor Buckingham `
` might have hoped. Thanks for those sweet words! Oh, my `
` beautiful sovereign, a hundred times, thanks!" `
` `
` "Oh, my Lord! You have ill understood, wrongly interpreted; I `
` did not mean to say--" `
` `
` "Silence, silence!" cried the duke. "If I am happy in an error, `
` do not have the cruelty to lift me from it. You have told me `
` yourself, madame, that I have been drawn into a snare; I, `
` perhaps, may leave my life in it--for, although it may be `
` strange, I have for some time had a presentiment that I should `
` shortly die." And the duke smiled, with a smile at once sad and `
` charming. `
` `
` "Oh, my God!" cried Anne of Austria, with an accent of terror `
` which proved how much greater an interest she took in the duke `
` than she ventured to tell. `
` `
` "I do not tell you this, madame, to terrify you; no, it is even `
` ridiculous for me to name it to you, and, believe me, I take no `
` heed of such dreams. But the words you have just spoken, the `
` hope you have almost given me, will have richly paid all--were it `
` my life." `
` `
` "Oh, but I," said Anne, "I also, duke, have had presentiments; I `
` also have had dreams. I dreamed that I saw you lying bleeding, `
` wounded." `
` `
` "In the left side, was it not, and with a knife?" interrupted `
` Buckingham. `
` `
` "Yes, it was so, my Lord, it was so--in the left side, and with a `
` knife. Who can possibly have told you I had had that dream? I `
` have imparted it to no one but my God, and that in my prayers." `
` `
` "I ask for no more. You love me, madame; it is enough." `
` `
` "I love you, I?" `
` `
` "Yes, yes. Would God send the same dreams to you as to me if you `
` did not love me? Should we have the same presentiments if our `
` existences did not touch at the heart? You love me, my beautiful `
` queen, and you will weep for me?" `
` `
` "Oh, my God, my God!" cried Anne of Austria, "this is more than I `
` can bear. In the name of heaven, Duke, leave me, go! I do not `
` know whether I love you or love you not; but what I know is that `
` I will not be perjured. Take pity on me, then, and go! Oh, if `
` you are struck in France, if you die in France, if I could imagine `
` that your love for me was the cause of your death, I could not `
` console myself; I should run mad. Depart then, depart, I implore `
` you!" `
` `
` "Oh, how beautiful you are thus! Oh, how I love you!" said `
` Buckingham. `
` `
` "Go, go, I implore you, and return hereafter! Come back as `
` ambassador, come back as minister, come back surrounded with `
` guards who will defend you, with servants who will watch over `
` you, and then I shall no longer fear for your days, and I shall `
` be happy in seeing you." `
` `
` "Oh, is this true what you say?" `
` `
` "Yes." `
` `
` "Oh, then, some pledge of your indulgence, some object which came `
` from you, and may remind me that I have not been dreaming; `
` something you have worn, and that I may wear in my turn--a ring, `
` a necklace, a chain." `
` `
` "Will you depart--will you depart, if I give you that you `
` demand?" `
` `
` "Yes." `
` `
` "This very instant?" `
` `
` "Yes." `
` `
` "You will leave France, you will return to England?" `
` `
` "I will, I swear to you." `
` `
` "Wait, then, wait." `
` `
` Anne of Austria re-entered her apartment, and came out again `
` almost immediately, holding a rosewood casket in her hand, with `
` her cipher encrusted with gold. `
` `
` "Here, my Lord, here," said she, "keep this in memory of me." `
` `
` Buckingham took the casket, and fell a second time on his knees. `
` `
` "You have promised me to go," said the queen. `
` `
` "And I keep my word. Your hand, madame, your hand, and I `
` depart!" `
` `
` Anne of Austria stretched forth her hand, closing her eyes, and `
` leaning with the other upon Estafania, for she felt that her `
` strength was about to fail her. `
` `
` Buckingham pressed his lips passionately to that beautiful hand, `
` and then rising, said, "Within six months, if I am not dead, I `
` shall have seen you again, madame--even if I have to overturn the `
` world." And faithful to the promise he had made, he rushed out `
` of the apartment. `
` `
` In the corridor he met Mme. Bonacieux, who waited for him, and `
` who, with the same precautions and the same good luck, conducted `
` him out of the Louvre. `
` `
` `
` `
` 13 MONSIEUR BONACIEUX `
` `
` There was in all this, as may have been observed, one personage `
` concerned, of whom, notwithstanding his precarious position, we `
` have appeared to take but very little notice. This personage was `
` M. Bonacieux, the respectable martyr of the political and amorous `
` intrigues which entangled themselves so nicely together at this `
` gallant and chivalric period. `
` `
` Fortunately, the reader may remember, or may not remember-- `
` fortunately we have promised not to lose sight of him. `
` `
` The officers who arrested him conducted him straight to the `
` Bastille, where he passed trembling before a party of soldiers `
` who were loading their muskets. Thence, introduced into a half- `
` subterranean gallery, he became, on the part of those who had `
` brought him, the object of the grossest insults and the harshest `
` treatment. The officers perceived that they had not to deal with `
` a gentleman, and they treated him like a very peasant. `
` `
` At the end of half an hour or thereabouts, a clerk came to put an `
` end to his tortures, but not to his anxiety, by giving the order `
` to conduct M. Bonacieux to the Chamber of Examination. `
` Ordinarily, prisoners were interrogated in their cells; but they `
` did not do so with M. Bonacieux. `
` `
` Two guards attended the mercer who made him traverse a court and `
` enter a corridor in which were three sentinels, opened a door and `
` pushed him unceremoniously into a low room, where the only `
` furniture was a table, a chair, and a commissary. The commissary `
` was seated in the chair, and was writing at the table. `
` `
` The two guards led the prisoner toward the table, and upon a sign `
` from the commissary drew back so far as to be unable to hear `
` anything. `
` `
` The commissary, who had till this time held his head down over `
` his papers, looked up to see what sort of person he had to do `
` with. This commissary was a man of very repulsive mien, with a `
` pointed nose, with yellow and salient cheek bones, with eyes `
` small but keen and penetrating, and an expression of countenance `
` resembling at once the polecat and the fox. His head, supported `
` by a long and flexible neck, issued from his large black robe, `
` balancing itself with a motion very much like that of the `
` tortoise thrusting his head out of his shell. He began by asking `
` M. Bonacieux his name, age, condition, and abode. `
` `
` The accused replied that his name was Jacques Michel Bonacieux, `
` that he was fifty-one years old, a retired mercer, and lived Rue `
` des Fossoyeurs, No. 14. `
` `
` The commissary then, instead of continuing to interrogate him, `
` made him a long speech upon the danger there is for an obscure `
` citizen to meddle with public matters. He complicated this `
` exordium by an exposition in which he painted the power and the `
` deeds of the cardinal, that incomparable minister, that conqueror `
` of past ministers, that example for ministers to come--deeds and `
` power which none could thwart with impunity. `
` `
` After this second part of his discourse, fixing his hawk's eye `
` upon poor Bonacieux, he bade him reflect upon the gravity of his `
` situation. `
` `
` The reflections of the mercer were already made; he cursed the `
` instant when M. Laporte formed the idea of marrying him to his `
` goddaughter, and particularly the moment when that goddaughter `
` had been received as Lady of the Linen to her Majesty. `
` `
` At bottom the character of M. Bonacieux was one of profound `
` selfishness mixed with sordid avarice, the whole seasoned with `
` extreme cowardice. The love with which his young wife had `
` inspired him was a secondary sentiment, and was not strong enough `
` to contend with the primitive feelings we have just enumerated. `
`
` that would be too great happiness, and I should run mad. Ah, `
` Madame de Chevreuse was less cruel than you. Holland loved her, `
` and she responded to his love." `
` `
` "Madame de Chevreuse was not queen," murmured Anne of Austria, `
` overcome, in spite of herself, by the expression of so profound a `
` passion. `
` `
` "You would love me, then, if you were not queen! Madame, say `
` that you would love me then! I can believe that it is the `
` dignity of your rank alone which makes you cruel to me; I can `
` believe that you had been Madame de Chevreuse, poor Buckingham `
` might have hoped. Thanks for those sweet words! Oh, my `
` beautiful sovereign, a hundred times, thanks!" `
` `
` "Oh, my Lord! You have ill understood, wrongly interpreted; I `
` did not mean to say--" `
` `
` "Silence, silence!" cried the duke. "If I am happy in an error, `
` do not have the cruelty to lift me from it. You have told me `
` yourself, madame, that I have been drawn into a snare; I, `
` perhaps, may leave my life in it--for, although it may be `
` strange, I have for some time had a presentiment that I should `
` shortly die." And the duke smiled, with a smile at once sad and `
` charming. `
` `
` "Oh, my God!" cried Anne of Austria, with an accent of terror `
` which proved how much greater an interest she took in the duke `
` than she ventured to tell. `
` `
` "I do not tell you this, madame, to terrify you; no, it is even `
` ridiculous for me to name it to you, and, believe me, I take no `
` heed of such dreams. But the words you have just spoken, the `
` hope you have almost given me, will have richly paid all--were it `
` my life." `
` `
` "Oh, but I," said Anne, "I also, duke, have had presentiments; I `
` also have had dreams. I dreamed that I saw you lying bleeding, `
` wounded." `
` `
` "In the left side, was it not, and with a knife?" interrupted `
` Buckingham. `
` `
` "Yes, it was so, my Lord, it was so--in the left side, and with a `
` knife. Who can possibly have told you I had had that dream? I `
` have imparted it to no one but my God, and that in my prayers." `
` `
` "I ask for no more. You love me, madame; it is enough." `
` `
` "I love you, I?" `
` `
` "Yes, yes. Would God send the same dreams to you as to me if you `
` did not love me? Should we have the same presentiments if our `
` existences did not touch at the heart? You love me, my beautiful `
` queen, and you will weep for me?" `
` `
` "Oh, my God, my God!" cried Anne of Austria, "this is more than I `
` can bear. In the name of heaven, Duke, leave me, go! I do not `
` know whether I love you or love you not; but what I know is that `
` I will not be perjured. Take pity on me, then, and go! Oh, if `
` you are struck in France, if you die in France, if I could imagine `
` that your love for me was the cause of your death, I could not `
` console myself; I should run mad. Depart then, depart, I implore `
` you!" `
` `
` "Oh, how beautiful you are thus! Oh, how I love you!" said `
` Buckingham. `
` `
` "Go, go, I implore you, and return hereafter! Come back as `
` ambassador, come back as minister, come back surrounded with `
` guards who will defend you, with servants who will watch over `
` you, and then I shall no longer fear for your days, and I shall `
` be happy in seeing you." `
` `
` "Oh, is this true what you say?" `
` `
` "Yes." `
` `
` "Oh, then, some pledge of your indulgence, some object which came `
` from you, and may remind me that I have not been dreaming; `
` something you have worn, and that I may wear in my turn--a ring, `
` a necklace, a chain." `
` `
` "Will you depart--will you depart, if I give you that you `
` demand?" `
` `
` "Yes." `
` `
` "This very instant?" `
` `
` "Yes." `
` `
` "You will leave France, you will return to England?" `
` `
` "I will, I swear to you." `
` `
` "Wait, then, wait." `
` `
` Anne of Austria re-entered her apartment, and came out again `
` almost immediately, holding a rosewood casket in her hand, with `
` her cipher encrusted with gold. `
` `
` "Here, my Lord, here," said she, "keep this in memory of me." `
` `
` Buckingham took the casket, and fell a second time on his knees. `
` `
` "You have promised me to go," said the queen. `
` `
` "And I keep my word. Your hand, madame, your hand, and I `
` depart!" `
` `
` Anne of Austria stretched forth her hand, closing her eyes, and `
` leaning with the other upon Estafania, for she felt that her `
` strength was about to fail her. `
` `
` Buckingham pressed his lips passionately to that beautiful hand, `
` and then rising, said, "Within six months, if I am not dead, I `
` shall have seen you again, madame--even if I have to overturn the `
` world." And faithful to the promise he had made, he rushed out `
` of the apartment. `
` `
` In the corridor he met Mme. Bonacieux, who waited for him, and `
` who, with the same precautions and the same good luck, conducted `
` him out of the Louvre. `
` `
` `
` `
` 13 MONSIEUR BONACIEUX `
` `
` There was in all this, as may have been observed, one personage `
` concerned, of whom, notwithstanding his precarious position, we `
` have appeared to take but very little notice. This personage was `
` M. Bonacieux, the respectable martyr of the political and amorous `
` intrigues which entangled themselves so nicely together at this `
` gallant and chivalric period. `
` `
` Fortunately, the reader may remember, or may not remember-- `
` fortunately we have promised not to lose sight of him. `
` `
` The officers who arrested him conducted him straight to the `
` Bastille, where he passed trembling before a party of soldiers `
` who were loading their muskets. Thence, introduced into a half- `
` subterranean gallery, he became, on the part of those who had `
` brought him, the object of the grossest insults and the harshest `
` treatment. The officers perceived that they had not to deal with `
` a gentleman, and they treated him like a very peasant. `
` `
` At the end of half an hour or thereabouts, a clerk came to put an `
` end to his tortures, but not to his anxiety, by giving the order `
` to conduct M. Bonacieux to the Chamber of Examination. `
` Ordinarily, prisoners were interrogated in their cells; but they `
` did not do so with M. Bonacieux. `
` `
` Two guards attended the mercer who made him traverse a court and `
` enter a corridor in which were three sentinels, opened a door and `
` pushed him unceremoniously into a low room, where the only `
` furniture was a table, a chair, and a commissary. The commissary `
` was seated in the chair, and was writing at the table. `
` `
` The two guards led the prisoner toward the table, and upon a sign `
` from the commissary drew back so far as to be unable to hear `
` anything. `
` `
` The commissary, who had till this time held his head down over `
` his papers, looked up to see what sort of person he had to do `
` with. This commissary was a man of very repulsive mien, with a `
` pointed nose, with yellow and salient cheek bones, with eyes `
` small but keen and penetrating, and an expression of countenance `
` resembling at once the polecat and the fox. His head, supported `
` by a long and flexible neck, issued from his large black robe, `
` balancing itself with a motion very much like that of the `
` tortoise thrusting his head out of his shell. He began by asking `
` M. Bonacieux his name, age, condition, and abode. `
` `
` The accused replied that his name was Jacques Michel Bonacieux, `
` that he was fifty-one years old, a retired mercer, and lived Rue `
` des Fossoyeurs, No. 14. `
` `
` The commissary then, instead of continuing to interrogate him, `
` made him a long speech upon the danger there is for an obscure `
` citizen to meddle with public matters. He complicated this `
` exordium by an exposition in which he painted the power and the `
` deeds of the cardinal, that incomparable minister, that conqueror `
` of past ministers, that example for ministers to come--deeds and `
` power which none could thwart with impunity. `
` `
` After this second part of his discourse, fixing his hawk's eye `
` upon poor Bonacieux, he bade him reflect upon the gravity of his `
` situation. `
` `
` The reflections of the mercer were already made; he cursed the `
` instant when M. Laporte formed the idea of marrying him to his `
` goddaughter, and particularly the moment when that goddaughter `
` had been received as Lady of the Linen to her Majesty. `
` `
` At bottom the character of M. Bonacieux was one of profound `
` selfishness mixed with sordid avarice, the whole seasoned with `
` extreme cowardice. The love with which his young wife had `
` inspired him was a secondary sentiment, and was not strong enough `
` to contend with the primitive feelings we have just enumerated. `
`