Reading Help The Three Musketeers Ch.1-18
called me his friend!" `
` `
` "Yes, my friend, yes," said the cardinal, with that paternal tone `
` which he sometimes knew how to assume, but which deceived none `
` who knew him; "and as you have been unjustly suspected, well, you `
` must be indemnified. Here, take this purse of a hundred `
` pistoles, and pardon me." `
` `
` "I pardon you, monseigneur!" said Bonacieux, hesitating to take `
` the purse, fearing, doubtless, that this pretended gift was but a `
` pleasantry. "But you are able to have me arrested, you are able `
` to have me tortured, you are able to have me hanged; you are the `
` master, and I could not have the least word to say. Pardon you, `
` monseigneur! You cannot mean that!" `
` `
` "Ah, my dear Monsieur Bonacieux, you are generous in this matter. `
` I see it and I thank you for it. Thus, then, you will take this `
` bag, and you will go away without being too malcontent." `
` `
` "I go away enchanted." `
` `
` "Farewell, then, or rather, AU REVOIR!" `
` `
` And the cardinal made him a sign with his hand, to which `
` Bonacieux replied by bowing to the ground. He then went out `
` backward, and when he was in the antechamber the cardinal heard `
` him, in his enthusiasm, crying aloud, "Long life to the `
` Monseigneur! Long life to his Eminence! Long life to the great `
` cardinal!" The cardinal listened with a smile to this vociferous `
` manifestation of the feelings of M. Bonacieux; and then, when `
` Bonacieux's cries were no longer audible, "Good!" said he, "that `
` man would henceforward lay down his life for me." And the `
` cardinal began to examine with the greatest attention the map of `
` La Rochelle, which, as we have said, lay open on the desk, `
` tracing with a pencil the line in which the famous dyke was to `
` pass which, eighteen months later, shut up the port of the `
` besieged city. As he was in the deepest of his strategic `
` meditations, the door opened, and Rochefort returned. `
` `
` "Well?" said the cardinal, eagerly, rising with a promptitude `
` which proved the degree of importance he attached to the `
` commission with which he had charged the count. `
` `
` "Well," said the latter, "a young woman of about twenty-six or `
` twenty-eight years of age, and a man of from thirty-five to `
` forty, have indeed lodged at the two houses pointed out by your `
` Eminence; but the woman left last night, and the man this `
` morning." `
` `
` "It was they!" cried the cardinal, looking at the clock; "and now `
` it is too late to have them pursued. The duchess is at Tours, `
` and the duke at Boulogne. It is in London they must be found." `
` `
` "What are your Eminence's orders?" `
` `
` "Not a word of what has passed. Let the queen remain in perfect `
` security; let her be ignorant that we know her secret. Let her `
` believe that we are in search of some conspiracy or other. Send `
` me the keeper of the seals, Seguier." `
` `
` "And that man, what has your Eminence done with him?" `
` `
` "What man?" asked the cardinal. `
` `
` "That Bonacieux." `
` `
` "I have done with him all that could be done. I have made him a `
` spy upon his wife." `
` `
` The Comte de Rochefort bowed like a man who acknowledges the `
` superiority of the master as great, and retired. `
` `
` Left alone, the cardinal seated himself again and wrote a letter, `
` which he secured with his special seal. Then he rang. The `
` officer entered for the fourth time. `
` `
` "Tell Vitray to come to me," said he, "and tell him to get ready `
` for a journey." `
` `
` An instant after, the man he asked for was before him, booted and `
` spurred. `
` `
` "Vitray," said he, "you will go with all speed to London. You `
` must not stop an instant on the way. You will deliver this `
` letter to Milady. Here is an order for two hundred pistoles; `
` call upon my treasurer and get the money. You shall have as much `
` again if you are back within six days, and have executed your `
` commission well." `
` `
` The messenger, without replying a single word, bowed, took the `
` letter, with the order for the two hundred pistoles, and retired. `
` `
` Here is what the letter contained: `
` `
` MILADY, Be at the first ball at which the Duke of Buckingham `
` shall be present. He will wear on his doublet twelve diamond `
` studs; get as near to him as you can, and cut off two. `
` `
` As soon as these studs shall be in your possession, inform me. `
` `
` `
` `
` 15 MEN OF THE ROBE AND MEN OF THE SWORD `
` `
` On the day after these events had taken place, Athos not having `
` reappeared, M. de Treville was informed by d'Artagnan and Porthos `
` of the circumstance. As to Aramis, he had asked for leave of `
` absence for five days, and was gone, it was said, to Rouen on `
` family business. `
` `
` M. de Treville was the father of his soldiers. The lowest or the `
` least known of them, as soon as he assumed the uniform of the `
` company, was as sure of his aid and support as if he had been his `
` own brother. `
` `
` He repaired, then, instantly to the office of the LIEUTENANT- `
` CRIMINEL. The officer who commanded the post of the `
` Red Cross was sent for, and by successive inquiries they learned `
` that Athos was then lodged in the Fort l'Eveque. `
` `
` Athos had passed through all the examinations we have seen `
` Bonacieux undergo. `
` `
` We were present at the scene in which the two captives were `
` confronted with each other. Athos, who had till that time said `
` nothing for fear that d'Artagnan, interrupted in his turn, should `
` not have the time necessary, from this moment declared that his `
` name was Athos, and not d'Artagnan. He added that he did not `
` know either M. or Mme. Bonacieux; that he had never spoken to the `
` one or the other; that he had come, at about ten o'clock in the `
` evening, to pay a visit to his friend M. d'Artagnan, but that `
` till that hour he had been at M. de Treville's, where he had `
` dined. "Twenty witnesses," added he, "could attest the fact"; `
` and he named several distinguished gentlemen, and among them was `
` M. le Duc de la Tremouille. `
` `
` The second commissary was as much bewildered as the first had `
` been by the simple and firm declaration of the Musketeer, upon `
` whom he was anxious to take the revenge which men of the robe `
` like at all times to gain over men of the sword; but the name of `
` M. de Treville, and that of M. de la Tremouille, commanded a `
` little reflection. `
` `
` Athos was then sent to the cardinal; but unfortunately the `
` cardinal was at the Louvre with the king. `
` `
` It was precisely at this moment that M. de Treville, on leaving `
` the residence of the LIEUTENANT-CRIMINEL and the governor of the `
` Fort l'Eveque without being able to find Athos, arrived at the `
` palace. `
` `
` As captain of the Musketeers, M. de Treville had the right of `
` entry at all times. `
` `
` It is well known how violent the king's prejudices were against `
` the queen, and how carefully these prejudices were kept up by the `
` cardinal, who in affairs of intrigue mistrusted women infinitely `
` more than men. One of the grand causes of this prejudice was the `
` friendship of Anne of Austria for Mme. de Chevreuse. These two `
` women gave him more uneasiness than the war with Spain, the `
` quarrel with England, or the embarrassment of the finances. In `
` his eyes and to his conviction, Mme. de Chevreuse not only served `
` the queen in her political intrigues, but, what tormented him `
` still more, in her amorous intrigues. `
` `
` At the first word the cardinal spoke of Mme. de Chevreuse--who, `
` though exiled to Tours and believed to be in that city, had come `
` to Paris, remained there five days, and outwitted the police--the `
` king flew into a furious passion. Capricious and unfaithful, the `
` king wished to be called Louis the Just and Louis the Chaste. `
` Posterity will find a difficulty in understanding this character, `
` which history explains only by facts and never by reason. `
` `
` But when the cardinal added that not only Mme. de Chevreuse had `
` been in Paris, but still further, that the queen had renewed with `
` her one of those mysterious correspondences which at that time `
` was named a CABAL; when he affirmed that he, the cardinal, was `
` about to unravel the most closely twisted thread of this `
` intrigue; that at the moment of arresting in the very act, with `
` all the proofs about her, the queen's emissary to the exiled `
` duchess, a Musketeer had dared to interrupt the course of justice `
` violently, by falling sword in hand upon the honest men of the `
` law, charged with investigating impartially the whole affair in `
` order to place it before the eyes of the king--Louis XIII could `
` not contain himself, and he made a step toward the queen's `
` apartment with that pale and mute indignation which, when in `
` broke out, led this prince to the commission of the most pitiless `
` cruelty. And yet, in all this, the cardinal had not yet said a `
` word about the Duke of Buckingham. `
` `
` At this instant M. de Treville entered, cool, polite, and in `
` irreproachable costume. `
` `
` Informed of what had passed by the presence of the cardinal and `
` the alteration in the king's countenance, M. de Treville felt `
` himself something like Samson before the Philistines. `
` `
` Louis XIII had already placed his hand on the knob of the door; `
` at the noise of M. de Treville's entrance he turned round. "You `
` arrive in good time, monsieur," said the king, who, when his `
` passions were raised to a certain point, could not dissemble; "I `
`
` `
` "Yes, my friend, yes," said the cardinal, with that paternal tone `
` which he sometimes knew how to assume, but which deceived none `
` who knew him; "and as you have been unjustly suspected, well, you `
` must be indemnified. Here, take this purse of a hundred `
` pistoles, and pardon me." `
` `
` "I pardon you, monseigneur!" said Bonacieux, hesitating to take `
` the purse, fearing, doubtless, that this pretended gift was but a `
` pleasantry. "But you are able to have me arrested, you are able `
` to have me tortured, you are able to have me hanged; you are the `
` master, and I could not have the least word to say. Pardon you, `
` monseigneur! You cannot mean that!" `
` `
` "Ah, my dear Monsieur Bonacieux, you are generous in this matter. `
` I see it and I thank you for it. Thus, then, you will take this `
` bag, and you will go away without being too malcontent." `
` `
` "I go away enchanted." `
` `
` "Farewell, then, or rather, AU REVOIR!" `
` `
` And the cardinal made him a sign with his hand, to which `
` Bonacieux replied by bowing to the ground. He then went out `
` backward, and when he was in the antechamber the cardinal heard `
` him, in his enthusiasm, crying aloud, "Long life to the `
` Monseigneur! Long life to his Eminence! Long life to the great `
` cardinal!" The cardinal listened with a smile to this vociferous `
` manifestation of the feelings of M. Bonacieux; and then, when `
` Bonacieux's cries were no longer audible, "Good!" said he, "that `
` man would henceforward lay down his life for me." And the `
` cardinal began to examine with the greatest attention the map of `
` La Rochelle, which, as we have said, lay open on the desk, `
` tracing with a pencil the line in which the famous dyke was to `
` pass which, eighteen months later, shut up the port of the `
` besieged city. As he was in the deepest of his strategic `
` meditations, the door opened, and Rochefort returned. `
` `
` "Well?" said the cardinal, eagerly, rising with a promptitude `
` which proved the degree of importance he attached to the `
` commission with which he had charged the count. `
` `
` "Well," said the latter, "a young woman of about twenty-six or `
` twenty-eight years of age, and a man of from thirty-five to `
` forty, have indeed lodged at the two houses pointed out by your `
` Eminence; but the woman left last night, and the man this `
` morning." `
` `
` "It was they!" cried the cardinal, looking at the clock; "and now `
` it is too late to have them pursued. The duchess is at Tours, `
` and the duke at Boulogne. It is in London they must be found." `
` `
` "What are your Eminence's orders?" `
` `
` "Not a word of what has passed. Let the queen remain in perfect `
` security; let her be ignorant that we know her secret. Let her `
` believe that we are in search of some conspiracy or other. Send `
` me the keeper of the seals, Seguier." `
` `
` "And that man, what has your Eminence done with him?" `
` `
` "What man?" asked the cardinal. `
` `
` "That Bonacieux." `
` `
` "I have done with him all that could be done. I have made him a `
` spy upon his wife." `
` `
` The Comte de Rochefort bowed like a man who acknowledges the `
` superiority of the master as great, and retired. `
` `
` Left alone, the cardinal seated himself again and wrote a letter, `
` which he secured with his special seal. Then he rang. The `
` officer entered for the fourth time. `
` `
` "Tell Vitray to come to me," said he, "and tell him to get ready `
` for a journey." `
` `
` An instant after, the man he asked for was before him, booted and `
` spurred. `
` `
` "Vitray," said he, "you will go with all speed to London. You `
` must not stop an instant on the way. You will deliver this `
` letter to Milady. Here is an order for two hundred pistoles; `
` call upon my treasurer and get the money. You shall have as much `
` again if you are back within six days, and have executed your `
` commission well." `
` `
` The messenger, without replying a single word, bowed, took the `
` letter, with the order for the two hundred pistoles, and retired. `
` `
` Here is what the letter contained: `
` `
` MILADY, Be at the first ball at which the Duke of Buckingham `
` shall be present. He will wear on his doublet twelve diamond `
` studs; get as near to him as you can, and cut off two. `
` `
` As soon as these studs shall be in your possession, inform me. `
` `
` `
` `
` 15 MEN OF THE ROBE AND MEN OF THE SWORD `
` `
` On the day after these events had taken place, Athos not having `
` reappeared, M. de Treville was informed by d'Artagnan and Porthos `
` of the circumstance. As to Aramis, he had asked for leave of `
` absence for five days, and was gone, it was said, to Rouen on `
` family business. `
` `
` M. de Treville was the father of his soldiers. The lowest or the `
` least known of them, as soon as he assumed the uniform of the `
` company, was as sure of his aid and support as if he had been his `
` own brother. `
` `
` He repaired, then, instantly to the office of the LIEUTENANT- `
` CRIMINEL. The officer who commanded the post of the `
` Red Cross was sent for, and by successive inquiries they learned `
` that Athos was then lodged in the Fort l'Eveque. `
` `
` Athos had passed through all the examinations we have seen `
` Bonacieux undergo. `
` `
` We were present at the scene in which the two captives were `
` confronted with each other. Athos, who had till that time said `
` nothing for fear that d'Artagnan, interrupted in his turn, should `
` not have the time necessary, from this moment declared that his `
` name was Athos, and not d'Artagnan. He added that he did not `
` know either M. or Mme. Bonacieux; that he had never spoken to the `
` one or the other; that he had come, at about ten o'clock in the `
` evening, to pay a visit to his friend M. d'Artagnan, but that `
` till that hour he had been at M. de Treville's, where he had `
` dined. "Twenty witnesses," added he, "could attest the fact"; `
` and he named several distinguished gentlemen, and among them was `
` M. le Duc de la Tremouille. `
` `
` The second commissary was as much bewildered as the first had `
` been by the simple and firm declaration of the Musketeer, upon `
` whom he was anxious to take the revenge which men of the robe `
` like at all times to gain over men of the sword; but the name of `
` M. de Treville, and that of M. de la Tremouille, commanded a `
` little reflection. `
` `
` Athos was then sent to the cardinal; but unfortunately the `
` cardinal was at the Louvre with the king. `
` `
` It was precisely at this moment that M. de Treville, on leaving `
` the residence of the LIEUTENANT-CRIMINEL and the governor of the `
` Fort l'Eveque without being able to find Athos, arrived at the `
` palace. `
` `
` As captain of the Musketeers, M. de Treville had the right of `
` entry at all times. `
` `
` It is well known how violent the king's prejudices were against `
` the queen, and how carefully these prejudices were kept up by the `
` cardinal, who in affairs of intrigue mistrusted women infinitely `
` more than men. One of the grand causes of this prejudice was the `
` friendship of Anne of Austria for Mme. de Chevreuse. These two `
` women gave him more uneasiness than the war with Spain, the `
` quarrel with England, or the embarrassment of the finances. In `
` his eyes and to his conviction, Mme. de Chevreuse not only served `
` the queen in her political intrigues, but, what tormented him `
` still more, in her amorous intrigues. `
` `
` At the first word the cardinal spoke of Mme. de Chevreuse--who, `
` though exiled to Tours and believed to be in that city, had come `
` to Paris, remained there five days, and outwitted the police--the `
` king flew into a furious passion. Capricious and unfaithful, the `
` king wished to be called Louis the Just and Louis the Chaste. `
` Posterity will find a difficulty in understanding this character, `
` which history explains only by facts and never by reason. `
` `
` But when the cardinal added that not only Mme. de Chevreuse had `
` been in Paris, but still further, that the queen had renewed with `
` her one of those mysterious correspondences which at that time `
` was named a CABAL; when he affirmed that he, the cardinal, was `
` about to unravel the most closely twisted thread of this `
` intrigue; that at the moment of arresting in the very act, with `
` all the proofs about her, the queen's emissary to the exiled `
` duchess, a Musketeer had dared to interrupt the course of justice `
` violently, by falling sword in hand upon the honest men of the `
` law, charged with investigating impartially the whole affair in `
` order to place it before the eyes of the king--Louis XIII could `
` not contain himself, and he made a step toward the queen's `
` apartment with that pale and mute indignation which, when in `
` broke out, led this prince to the commission of the most pitiless `
` cruelty. And yet, in all this, the cardinal had not yet said a `
` word about the Duke of Buckingham. `
` `
` At this instant M. de Treville entered, cool, polite, and in `
` irreproachable costume. `
` `
` Informed of what had passed by the presence of the cardinal and `
` the alteration in the king's countenance, M. de Treville felt `
` himself something like Samson before the Philistines. `
` `
` Louis XIII had already placed his hand on the knob of the door; `
` at the noise of M. de Treville's entrance he turned round. "You `
` arrive in good time, monsieur," said the king, who, when his `
` passions were raised to a certain point, could not dissemble; "I `
`