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41 THE SEIGE OF LA ROCHELLE `
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The Siege of La Rochelle was one of the great political `
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events of the reign of Louis XIII, and one of the great `
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military enterprises of the cardinal. It is, then, `
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interesting and even necessary that we should say a few `
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words about it, particularly as many details of this siege `
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are connected in too important a manner with the story we `
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have undertaken to relate to allow us to pass it over in `
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silence. `
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The political plans of the cardinal when he undertook this `
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siege were extensive. Let us unfold them first, and then `
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pass on to the private plans which perhaps had not less `
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influence upon his Eminence than the others. `
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Of the important cities given up by Henry IV to the `
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Huguenots as places of safety, there only remained La `
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Rochelle. It became necessary, therefore, to destroy this `
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last bulwark of Calvinism--a dangerous leaven with which the `
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ferments of civil revolt and foreign war were constantly `
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mingling. `
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Spaniards, Englishmen, and Italian malcontents, adventurers `
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of all nations, and soldiers of fortune of every sect, `
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flocked at the first summons under the standard of the `
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Protestants, and organized themselves like a vast `
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association, whose branches diverged freely over all parts `
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of Europe. `
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La Rochelle, which had derived a new importance from the `
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ruin of the other Calvinist cities, was, then, the focus of `
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dissensions and ambition. Moreover, its port was the last `
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in the kingdom of France open to the English, and by closing `
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it against England, our eternal enemy, the cardinal `
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completed the work of Joan of Arc and the Duc de Guise. `
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Thus Bassompierre, who was at once Protestant and Catholic-- `
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Protestant by conviction and Catholic as commander of the `
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order of the Holy Ghost; Bassompierre, who was a German by `
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birth and a Frenchman at heart--in short, Bassompierre, who `
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had a distinguished command at the siege of La Rochelle, `
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said, in charging at the head of several other Protestant `
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nobles like himself, "You will see, gentlemen, that we shall `
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be fools enough to take La Rochelle." `
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And Bassompierre was right. The cannonade of the Isle of Re `
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presaged to him the dragonnades of the Cevennes; the taking `
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of La Rochelle was the preface to the revocation of the `
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Edict of Nantes. `
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We have hinted that by the side of these views of the `
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leveling and simplifying minister, which belong to history, `
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the chronicler is forced to recognize the lesser motives of `
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the amorous man and jealous rival. `
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Richelieu, as everyone knows, had loved the queen. Was this `
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love a simple political affair, or was it naturally one of `
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those profound passions which Anne of Austria inspired in `
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those who approached her? That we are not able to say; but `
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at all events, we have seen, by the anterior developments of `
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this story, that Buckingham had the advantage over him, and `
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in two or three circumstances, particularly that of the `
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diamond studs, had, thanks to the devotedness of the three `
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Musketeers and the courage and conduct of d'Artagnan, `
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cruelly mystified him. `
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It was, then, Richelieu's object, not only to get rid of an `
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enemy of France, but to avenge himself on a rival; but this `
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vengeance must be grand and striking and worthy in every way `
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of a man who held in his hand, as his weapon for combat, the `
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forces of a kingdom. `
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Richelieu knew that in combating England he combated `
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Buckingham; that in triumphing over England he triumphed `
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over Buckingham--in short, that in humiliating England in `
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the eyes of Europe he humiliated Buckingham in the eyes of `
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the queen. `
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On his side Buckingham, in pretending to maintain the honor `
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of England, was moved by interests exactly like those of the `
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cardinal. Buckingham also was pursuing a private vengeance. `
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Buckingham could not under any pretense be admitted into `
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France as an ambassador; he wished to enter it as a `
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conqueror. `
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It resulted from this that the real stake in this game, `
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which two most powerful kingdoms played for the good `
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pleasure of two amorous men, was simply a kind look from `
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Anne of Austria. `
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The first advantage had been gained by Buckingham. Arriving `
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unexpectedly in sight of the Isle of Re with ninety vessels `
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and nearly twenty thousand men, he had surprised the Comte `
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de Toiras, who commanded for the king in the Isle, and he `
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had, after a bloody conflict, effected his landing. `
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Allow us to observe in passing that in this fight perished `
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the Baron de Chantal; that the Baron de Chantal left a `
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little orphan girl eighteen months old, and that this little `
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girl was afterward Mme. de Sevigne. `
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The Comte de Toiras retired into the citadel St. Martin with `
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his garrison, and threw a hundred men into a little fort `
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called the fort of La Pree. `
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This event had hastened the resolutions of the cardinal; and `
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till the king and he could take the command of the siege of `
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La Rochelle, which was determined, he had sent Monsieur to `
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direct the first operations, and had ordered all the troops `
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he could dispose of to march toward the theater of war. It `
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was of this detachment, sent as a vanguard, that our friend `
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d'Artagnan formed a part. `
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The king, as we have said, was to follow as soon as his Bed `
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of Justice had been held; but on rising from his Bed of `
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Justice on the twenty-eighth of June, he felt himself `
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attacked by fever. He was, notwithstanding, anxious to set `
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out; but his illness becoming more serious, he was forced to `
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stop at Villeroy. `
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Now, whenever the king halted, the Musketeers halted. It `
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followed that d'Artagnan, who was as yet purely and simply `
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in the Guards, found himself, for the time at least, `
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separated from his good friends--Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. `
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This separation, which was no more than an unpleasant `
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circumstance, would have certainly become a cause of serious `
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uneasiness if he had been able to guess by what unknown `
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dangers he was surrounded. `
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He, however, arrived without accident in the camp `
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established before La Rochelle, of the tenth of the month of `
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September of the year 1627. `
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Everything was in the same state. The Duke of Buckingham `
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and his English, masters of the Isle of Re, continued to `
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besiege, but without success, the citadel St. Martin and the `
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fort of La Pree; and hostilities with La Rochelle had `
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commenced, two or three days before, about a fort which the `
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Duc d'Angouleme had caused to be constructed near the city. `
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The Guards, under the command of M. Dessessart, took up `
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their quarters at the Minimes; but, as we know, d'Artagnan, `
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possessed with ambition to enter the Musketeers, had formed `
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but few friendships among his comrades, and he felt himself `
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isolated and given up to his own reflections. `
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His reflections were not very cheerful. From the time of `
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his arrival in Paris, he had been mixed up with public `
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affairs; but his own private affairs had made no great `
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progress, either in love or fortune. As to love, the only `
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woman he could have loved was Mme. Bonacieux; and Mme. `
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Bonacieux had disappeared, without his being able to `
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discover what had become of her. As to fortune, he had `
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made--he, humble as he was--an enemy of the cardinal; that `
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is to say, of a man before whom trembled the greatest men of `
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the kingdom, beginning with the king. `
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That man had the power to crush him, and yet he had not done `
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so. For a mind so perspicuous as that of d'Artagnan, this `
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indulgence was a light by which he caught a glimpse of a `
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better future. `
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Then he had made himself another enemy, less to be feared, `
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he thought; but nevertheless, he instinctively felt, not to `
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be despised. This enemy was Milady. `
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In exchange for all this, he had acquired the protection and `
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good will of the queen; but the favor of the queen was at `
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the present time an additional cause of persecution, and her `
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protection, as it was known, protected badly--as witness `
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Chalais and Mme. Bonacieux. `
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What he had clearly gained in all this was the diamond, `
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worth five or six thousand livres, which he wore on his `
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finger; and even this diamond--supposing that d'Artagnan, in `
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his projects of ambition, wished to keep it, to make it `
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someday a pledge for the gratitude of the queen--had not in `
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the meanwhile, since he could not part with it, more value `
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than the gravel he trod under his feet. `
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We say the gravel he trod under his feet, for d'Artagnan `
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made these reflections while walking solitarily along a `
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pretty little road which led from the camp to the village of `
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Angoutin. Now, these reflections had led him further than `
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he intended, and the day was beginning to decline when, by `
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the last ray of the setting sun, he thought he saw the `
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barrel of a musket glitter from behind a hedge. `
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D'Artagnan had a quick eye and a prompt understanding. He `
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comprehended that the musket had not come there of itself, `
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and that he who bore it had not concealed himself behind a `
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hedge with any friendly intentions. He determined, `
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therefore, to direct his course as clear from it as he could `
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when, on the opposite side of the road, from behind a rock, `
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he perceived the extremity of another musket. `
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This was evidently an ambuscade. `
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The young man cast a glance at the first musket and saw, `
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with a certain degree of inquietude, that it was leveled in `
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