15 MEN OF THE ROBE AND MEN OF THE SWORD
On the day after these events had taken place, Athos not havingreappeared, M. de Treville was informed by d'Artagnan and Porthos of thecircumstance. As to Aramis, he had asked for leave of absence for fivedays, and was gone, it was said, to Rouen on family business.
M de Treville was the father of his soldiers. The lowest or the leastknown of them, as soon as he assumed the uniform of the company, was assure 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 bysuccessive inquiries they learned that Athos was then lodged in Fortl'Eveque.
Athos had passed through all the examinations we have seen Bonacieuxundergo.
We were present at the scene in which the two captives were confrontedwith each other. Athos, who had till that time said nothing for fearthat d'Artagnan, interrupted in his turn, should not have the timenecessary, from this moment declared that his name was Athos, and notd'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, atabout 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 thefact"; and he named several distinguished gentlemen, and among them wasM. le Duc de la Tremouille.
The second commissary was as much bewildered as the first had been bythe simple and firm declaration of the Musketeer, upon whom he wasanxious to take the revenge which men of the robe like at all times togain over men of the sword; but the name of M. de Treville, and that ofM. de la Tremouille, commanded a little reflection.
Athos was then sent to the cardinal; but unfortunately the cardinal wasat the Louvre with the king.
It was precisely at this moment that M. de Treville, on leaving theresidence of the LIEUTENANT-CRIMINEL and the governor of Fort l'Evequewithout being able to find Athos, arrived at the palace.
As captain of the Musketeers, M. de Treville had the right of entry atall times.
It is well known how violent the king's prejudices were against thequeen, 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 ofAustria for Mme. de Chevreuse. These two women gave him more uneasinessthan the war with Spain, the quarrel with England, or the embarrassmentof the finances. In his eyes and to his conviction, Mme. de Chevreusenot only served the queen in her political intrigues, but, whattormented him still more, in her amorous intrigues.
At the first word the cardinal spoke of Mme. de Chevreuse--who, thoughexiled 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 afurious passion. Capricious and unfaithful, the king wished to be calledLouis the Just and Louis the Chaste. Posterity will find a difficulty inunderstanding this character, which history explains only by facts andnever by reason.
But when the cardinal added that not only Mme. de Chevreuse had been inParis, but still further, that the queen had renewed with her one ofthose mysterious correspondences which at that time was named a CABAL;when he affirmed that he, the cardinal, was about to unravel the mostclosely twisted thread of this intrigue; that at the moment of arrestingin the very act, with all the proofs about her, the queen's emissary tothe exiled duchess, a Musketeer had dared to interrupt the course ofjustice violently, by falling sword in hand upon the honest men of thelaw, charged with investigating impartially the whole affair in order toplace it before the eyes of the king--Louis XIII could not containhimself, and he made a step toward the queen's apartment with that paleand mute indignation which, when it broke out, led this prince to thecommission of the most pitiless cruelty. And yet, in all this, thecardinal had not yet said a word about the Duke of Buckingham.
At this instant M. de Treville entered, cool, polite, and inirreproachable costume.
Informed of what had passed by the presence of the cardinal and thealteration in the king's countenance, M. de Treville felt himselfsomething like Samson before the Philistines.
Louis XIII had already placed his hand on the knob of the door; at thenoise of M. de Treville's entrance he turned round. "You arrive in goodtime, monsieur," said the king, who, when his passions were raised to acertain point, could not dissemble; "I have learned some fine thingsconcerning your Musketeers."
"And I," said Treville, coldly, "I have some pretty things to tell yourMajesty concerning these gownsmen."
"What?" said the king, with hauteur.
"I have the honor to inform your Majesty," continued M. de Treville, inthe same tone, "that a party of PROCUREURS, commissaries, and men of thepolice--very estimable people, but very inveterate, as it appears,against the uniform--have taken upon themselves to arrest in a house, tolead away through the open street, and throw into Fort l'Eveque, allupon an order which they have refused to show me, one of my, or ratheryour Musketeers, sire, of irreproachable conduct, of an almostillustrious reputation, and whom your Majesty knows favorably, MonsieurAthos."
"Athos," said the king, mechanically; "yes, certainly I know that name."
"Let your Majesty remember," said Treville, "that Monsieur Athos is theMusketeer who, in the annoying duel which you are acquainted with, hadthe misfortune to wound Monsieur de Cahusac so seriously. A PROPOS,monseigneur," continued Treville, addressing the cardinal, "Monsieur deCahusac is quite recovered, is he not?"
"Thank you," said the cardinal, biting his lips with anger.
"Athos, then, went to pay a visit to one of his friends absent at thetime," continued Treville, "to a young Bearnais, a cadet in hisMajesty's Guards, the company of Monsieur Dessessart, but scarcely hadhe arrived at his friend's and taken up a book, while waiting hisreturn, when a mixed crowd of bailiffs and soldiers came and laid siegeto the house, broke open several doors--"
The cardinal made the king a sign, which signified, "That was on accountof the affair about which I spoke to you."
"We all know that," interrupted the king; "for all that was done for ourservice."
"Then," said Treville, "it was also for your Majesty's service that oneof my Musketeers, who was innocent, has been seized, that he has beenplaced between two guards like a malefactor, and that this gallant man,who has ten times shed his blood in your Majesty's service and is readyto shed it again, has been paraded through the midst of an insolentpopulace?"
"Bah!" said the king, who began to be shaken, "was it so managed?"
"Monsieur de Treville," said the cardinal, with the greatest phlegm,"does not tell your Majesty that this innocent Musketeer, this gallantman, had only an hour before attacked, sword in hand, four commissariesof inquiry, who were delegated by myself to examine into an affair ofthe highest importance."
"I defy your Eminence to prove it," cried Treville, with his Gasconfreedom and military frankness; "for one hour before, Monsieur Athos,who, I will confide it to your Majesty, is really a man of the highestquality, did me the honor after having dined with me to be conversing inthe saloon of my hotel, with the Duc de la Tremouille and the Comte deChalus, who happened to be there."
The king looked at the cardinal.
"A written examination attests it," said the cardinal, replying aloud tothe mute interrogation of his Majesty; "and the ill-treated people havedrawn up the following, which I have the honor to present to yourMajesty."
"And is the written report of the gownsmen to be placed in comparisonwith the word of honor of a swordsman?" replied Treville haughtily.
"Come, come, Treville, hold your tongue," said the king.
"If his Eminence entertains any suspicion against one of my Musketeers,"said Treville, "the justice of Monsieur the Cardinal is so well knownthat I demand an inquiry."
"In the house in which the judicial inquiry was made," continued theimpa
ssive cardinal, "there lodges, I believe, a young Bearnais, a friendof the Musketeer."
"Your Eminence means Monsieur d'Artagnan."
"I mean a young man whom you patronize, Monsieur de Treville."
"Yes, your Eminence, it is the same."
"Do you not suspect this young man of having given bad counsel?"
"To Athos, to a man double his age?" interrupted Treville. "No,monseigneur. Besides, d'Artagnan passed the evening with me."
"Well," said the cardinal, "everybody seems to have passed the eveningwith you."
"Does your Eminence doubt my word?" said Treville, with a brow flushedwith anger.
"No, God forbid," said the cardinal; "only, at what hour was he withyou?"
"Oh, as to that I can speak positively, your Eminence; for as he came inI remarked that it was but half past nine by the clock, although I hadbelieved it to be later."
"At what hour did he leave your hotel?"
"At half past ten--an hour after the event."
"Well," replied the cardinal, who could not for an instant suspect theloyalty of Treville, and who felt that the victory was escaping him,"well, but Athos WAS taken in the house in the Rue des Fossoyeurs."
"Is one friend forbidden to visit another, or a Musketeer of my companyto fraternize with a Guard of Dessessart's company?"
"Yes, when the house where he fraternizes is suspected."
"That house is suspected, Treville," said the king; "perhaps you did notknow it?"
"Indeed, sire, I did not. The house may be suspected; but I deny that itis so in the part of it inhabited by Monsieur d'Artagnan, for I canaffirm, sire, if I can believe what he says, that there does not exist amore devoted servant of your Majesty, or a more profound admirer ofMonsieur the Cardinal."
"Was it not this d'Artagnan who wounded Jussac one day, in thatunfortunate encounter which took place near the Convent of theCarmes-Dechausses?" asked the king, looking at the cardinal, who coloredwith vexation.
"And the next day, Bernajoux. Yes, sire, yes, it is the same; and yourMajesty has a good memory."
"Come, how shall we decide?" said the king.
"That concerns your Majesty more than me," said the cardinal. "I shouldaffirm the culpability."
"And I deny it," said Treville. "But his Majesty has judges, and thesejudges will decide."
"That is best," said the king. "Send the case before the judges; it istheir business to judge, and they shall judge."
"Only," replied Treville, "it is a sad thing that in the unfortunatetimes in which we live, the purest life, the most incontestable virtue,cannot exempt a man from infamy and persecution. The army, I will answerfor it, will be but little pleased at being exposed to rigoroustreatment on account of police affairs."
The expression was imprudent; but M. de Treville launched it withknowledge of his cause. He was desirous of an explosion, because in thatcase the mine throws forth fire, and fire enlightens.
"Police affairs!" cried the king, taking up Treville's words, "policeaffairs! And what do you know about them, Monsieur? Meddle with yourMusketeers, and do not annoy me in this way. It appears, according toyour account, that if by mischance a Musketeer is arrested, France is indanger. What a noise about a Musketeer! I would arrest ten of them,VENTREBLEU, a hundred, even, all the company, and I would not allow awhisper."
"From the moment they are suspected by your Majesty," said Treville,"the Musketeers are guilty; therefore, you see me prepared to surrendermy sword--for after having accused my soldiers, there can be no doubtthat Monsieur the Cardinal will end by accusing me. It is best toconstitute myself at once a prisoner with Athos, who is alreadyarrested, and with d'Artagnan, who most probably will be."
"Gascon-headed man, will you have done?" said the king.
"Sire," replied Treville, without lowering his voice in the least,"either order my Musketeer to be restored to me, or let him be tried."
"He shall be tried," said the cardinal.
"Well, so much the better; for in that case I shall demand of hisMajesty permission to plead for him."
The king feared an outbreak.
"If his Eminence," said he, "did not have personal motives--"
The cardinal saw what the king was about to say and interrupted him:
"Pardon me," said he; "but the instant your Majesty considers me aprejudiced judge, I withdraw."
"Come," said the king, "will you swear, by my father, that Athos was atyour residence during the event and that he took no part in it?"
"By your glorious father, and by yourself, whom I love and venerateabove all the world, I swear it."
"Be so kind as to reflect, sire," said the cardinal. "If we release theprisoner thus, we shall never know the truth."
"Athos may always be found," replied Treville, "ready to answer, when itshall please the gownsmen to interrogate him. He will not desert,Monsieur the Cardinal, be assured of that; I will answer for him."
"No, he will not desert," said the king; "he can always be found, asTreville says. Besides," added he, lowering his voice and looking with asuppliant air at the cardinal, "let us give them apparent security; thatis policy."
This policy of Louis XIII made Richelieu smile.
"Order it as you please, sire; you possess the right of pardon."
"The right of pardoning only applies to the guilty," said Treville, whowas determined to have the last word, "and my Musketeer is innocent. Itis not mercy, then, that you are about to accord, sire, it is justice."
"And he is in the Fort l'Eveque?" said the king.
"Yes, sire, in solitary confinement, in a dungeon, like the lowestcriminal."
"The devil!" murmured the king; "what must be done?"
"Sign an order for his release, and all will be said," replied thecardinal. "I believe with your Majesty that Monsieur de Treville'sguarantee is more than sufficient."
Treville bowed very respectfully, with a joy that was not unmixed withfear; he would have preferred an obstinate resistance on the part of thecardinal to this sudden yielding.
The king signed the order for release, and Treville carried it awaywithout delay. As he was about to leave the presence, the cardinal gavehim a friendly smile, and said, "A perfect harmony reigns, sire, betweenthe leaders and the soldiers of your Musketeers, which must beprofitable for the service and honorable to all."
"He will play me some dog's trick or other, and that immediately," saidTreville. "One has never the last word with such a man. But let us bequick--the king may change his mind in an hour; and at all events it ismore difficult to replace a man in the Fort l'Eveque or the Bastille whohas got out, than to keep a prisoner there who is in."
M de Treville made his entrance triumphantly into the Fort l'Eveque,whence he delivered the Musketeer, whose peaceful indifference had notfor a moment abandoned him.
The first time he saw d'Artagnan, "You have come off well," said he tohim; "there is your Jussac thrust paid for. There still remains that ofBernajoux, but you must not be too confident."
As to the rest, M. de Treville had good reason to mistrust the cardinaland to think that all was not over, for scarcely had the captain of theMusketeers closed the door after him, than his Eminence said to theking, "Now that we are at length by ourselves, we will, if your Majestypleases, converse seriously. Sire, Buckingham has been in Paris fivedays, and only left this morning."
Les trois mousquetaires. English Page 16