Les trois mousquetaires. English

by Alexandre Dumas

  49 FATALITY

  Meantime Milady, drunk with passion, roaring on the deck like a lionessthat has been embarked, had been tempted to throw herself into the seathat she might regain the coast, for she could not get rid of thethought that she had been insulted by d'Artagnan, threatened by Athos,and that she had quit France without being revenged on them. This ideasoon became so insupportable to her that at the risk of whateverterrible consequences might result to herself from it, she implored thecaptain to put her on shore; but the captain, eager to escape from hisfalse position--placed between French and English cruisers, like the batbetween the mice and the birds--was in great haste to regain England,and positively refused to obey what he took for a woman's caprice,promising his passenger, who had been particularly recommended to him bythe cardinal, to land her, if the sea and the French permitted him, atone of the ports of Brittany, either at Lorient or Brest. But the windwas contrary, the sea bad; they tacked and kept offshore. Nine daysafter leaving the Charente, pale with fatigue and vexation, Milady sawonly the blue coasts of Finisterre appear.

  She calculated that to cross this corner of France and return to thecardinal it would take her at least three days. Add another day forlanding, and that would make four. Add these four to the nine others,that would be thirteen days lost--thirteen days, during which so manyimportant events might pass in London. She reflected likewise that thecardinal would be furious at her return, and consequently would be moredisposed to listen to the complaints brought against her than to theaccusations she brought against others.

  She allowed the vessel to pass Lorient and Brest without repeating herrequest to the captain, who, on his part, took care not to remind her ofit. Milady therefore continued her voyage, and on the very day thatPlanchet embarked at Portsmouth for France, the messenger of hisEminence entered the port in triumph.

  All the city was agitated by an extraordinary movement. Four largevessels, recently built, had just been launched. At the end of thejetty, his clothes richly laced with gold, glittering, as was customarywith him, with diamonds and precious stones, his hat ornamented with awhite feather which drooped upon his shoulder, Buckingham was seensurrounded by a staff almost as brilliant as himself.

  It was one of those rare and beautiful days in winter when Englandremembers that there is a sun. The star of day, pale but neverthelessstill splendid, was setting in the horizon, glorifying at once theheavens and the sea with bands of fire, and casting upon the towers andthe old houses of the city a last ray of gold which made the windowssparkle like the reflection of a conflagration. Breathing that seabreeze, so much more invigorating and balsamic as the land isapproached, contemplating all the power of those preparations she wascommissioned to destroy, all the power of that army which she was tocombat alone--she, a woman with a few bags of gold--Milady comparedherself mentally to Judith, the terrible Jewess, when she penetrated thecamp of the Assyrians and beheld the enormous mass of chariots, horses,men, and arms, which a gesture of her hand was to dissipate like a cloudof smoke.

  They entered the roadstead; but as they drew near in order to castanchor, a little cutter, looking like a coastguard formidably armed,approached the merchant vessel and dropped into the sea a boat whichdirected its course to the ladder. This boat contained an officer, amate, and eight rowers. The officer alone went on board, where he wasreceived with all the deference inspired by the uniform.

  The officer conversed a few instants with the captain, gave him severalpapers, of which he was the bearer, to read, and upon the order of themerchant captain the whole crew of the vessel, both passengers andsailors, were called upon deck.

  When this species of summons was made the officer inquired aloud thepoint of the brig's departure, its route, its landings; and to all thesequestions the captain replied without difficulty and without hesitation.Then the officer began to pass in review all the people, one after theother, and stopping when he came to Milady, surveyed her very closely,but without addressing a single word to her.

  He then returned to the captain, said a few words to him, and as if fromthat moment the vessel was under his command, he ordered a maneuverwhich the crew executed immediately. Then the vessel resumed its course,still escorted by the little cutter, which sailed side by side with it,menacing it with the mouths of its six cannon. The boat followed in thewake of the ship, a speck near the enormous mass.

  During the examination of Milady by the officer, as may well beimagined, Milady on her part was not less scrutinizing in her glances.But however great was the power of this woman with eyes of flame inreading the hearts of those whose secrets she wished to divine, she metthis time with a countenance of such impassivity that no discoveryfollowed her investigation. The officer who had stopped in front of herand studied her with so much care might have been twenty-five ortwenty-six years of age. He was of pale complexion, with clear blueeyes, rather deeply set; his mouth, fine and well cut, remainedmotionless in its correct lines; his chin, strongly marked, denoted thatstrength of will which in the ordinary Britannic type denotes mostlynothing but obstinacy; a brow a little receding, as is proper for poets,enthusiasts, and soldiers, was scarcely shaded by short thin hair which,like the beard which covered the lower part of his face, was of abeautiful deep chestnut color.

  When they entered the port, it was already night. The fog increased thedarkness, and formed round the sternlights and lanterns of the jetty acircle like that which surrounds the moon when the weather threatens tobecome rainy. The air they breathed was heavy, damp, and cold.

  Milady, that woman so courageous and firm, shivered in spite of herself.

  The officer desired to have Milady's packages pointed out to him, andordered them to be placed in the boat. When this operation was complete,he invited her to descend by offering her his hand.

  Milady looked at this man, and hesitated. "Who are you, sir," asked she,"who has the kindness to trouble yourself so particularly on myaccount?"

  "You may perceive, madame, by my uniform, that I am an officer in theEnglish navy," replied the young man.

  "But is it the custom for the officers in the English navy to placethemselves at the service of their female compatriots when they land ina port of Great Britain, and carry their gallantry so far as to conductthem ashore?"

  "Yes, madame, it is the custom, not from gallantry but prudence, that intime of war foreigners should be conducted to particular hotels, inorder that they may remain under the eye of the government until fullinformation can be obtained about them."

  These words were pronounced with the most exact politeness and the mostperfect calmness. Nevertheless, they had not the power of convincingMilady.

  "But I am not a foreigner, sir," said she, with an accent as pure asever was heard between Portsmouth and Manchester; "my name is LadyClarik, and this measure--"

  "This measure is general, madame; and you will seek in vain to evadeit."

  "I will follow you, then, sir."

  Accepting the hand of the officer, she began the descent of the ladder,at the foot of which the boat waited. The officer followed her. A largecloak was spread at the stern; the officer requested her to sit downupon this cloak, and placed himself beside her.

  "Row!" said he to the sailors.

  The eight oars fell at once into the sea, making but a single sound,giving but a single stroke, and the boat seemed to fly over the surfaceof the water.

  In five minutes they gained the land.

  The officer leaped to the pier, and offered his hand to Milady. Acarriage was in waiting.

  "Is this carriage for us?" asked Milady.

  "Yes, madame," replied the officer.

  "The hotel, then, is far away?"

  "At the other end of the town."

  "Very well," said Milady; and she resolutely entered the carriage.

  The officer saw that the baggage was fastened carefully behind thecarriage; and this operation ended, he took his place beside Milady, andshut the door.

  Immediately, without any order being given
or his place of destinationindicated, the coachman set off at a rapid pace, and plunged into thestreets of the city.

  So strange a reception naturally gave Milady ample matter forreflection; so seeing that the young officer did not seem at alldisposed for conversation, she reclined in her corner of the carriage,and one after the other passed in review all the surmises whichpresented themselves to her mind.

  At the end of a quarter of an hour, however, surprised at the length ofthe journey, she leaned forward toward the door to see whither she wasbeing conducted. Houses were no longer to be seen; trees appeared in thedarkness like great black phantoms chasing one another. Miladyshuddered.

  "But we are no longer in the city, sir," said she.

  The young officer preserved silence.

  "I beg you to understand, sir, I will go no farther unless you tell mewhither you are taking me."

  This threat brought no reply.

  "Oh, this is too much," cried Milady. "Help! help!"

  No voice replied to hers; the carriage continued to roll on withrapidity; the officer seemed a statue.

  Milady looked at the officer with one of those terrible expressionspeculiar to her countenance, and which so rarely failed of their effect;anger made her eyes flash in the darkness.

  The young man remained immovable.

  Milady tried to open the door in order to throw herself out.

  "Take care, madame," said the young man, coolly, "you will kill yourselfin jumping."

  Milady reseated herself, foaming. The officer leaned forward, looked ather in his turn, and appeared surprised to see that face, just before sobeautiful, distorted with passion and almost hideous. The artfulcreature at once comprehended that she was injuring herself by allowinghim thus to read her soul; she collected her features, and in acomplaining voice said: "In the name of heaven, sir, tell me if it is toyou, if it is to your government, if it is to an enemy I am to attributethe violence that is done me?"

  "No violence will be offered to you, madame, and what happens to you isthe result of a very simple measure which we are obliged to adopt withall who land in England."

  "Then you don't know me, sir?"

  "It is the first time I have had the honor of seeing you."

  "And on your honor, you have no cause of hatred against me?"

  "None, I swear to you."

  There was so much serenity, coolness, mildness even, in the voice of theyoung man, that Milady felt reassured.

  At length after a journey of nearly an hour, the carriage stopped beforean iron gate, which closed an avenue leading to a castle severe in form,massive, and isolated. Then, as the wheels rolled over a fine gravel,Milady could hear a vast roaring, which she at once recognized as thenoise of the sea dashing against some steep cliff.

  The carriage passed under two arched gateways, and at length stopped ina court large, dark, and square. Almost immediately the door of thecarriage was opened, the young man sprang lightly out and presented hishand to Milady, who leaned upon it, and in her turn alighted withtolerable calmness.

  "Still, then, I am a prisoner," said Milady, looking around her, andbringing back her eyes with a most gracious smile to the young officer;"but I feel assured it will not be for long," added she. "My ownconscience and your politeness, sir, are the guarantees of that."

  However flattering this compliment, the officer made no reply; butdrawing from his belt a little silver whistle, such as boatswains use inships of war, he whistled three times, with three different modulations.Immediately several men appeared, who unharnessed the smoking horses,and put the carriage into a coach house.

  Then the officer, with the same calm politeness, invited his prisoner toenter the house. She, with a still-smiling countenance, took his arm,and passed with him under a low arched door, which by a vaulted passage,lighted only at the farther end, led to a stone staircase around anangle of stone. They then came to a massive door, which after theintroduction into the lock of a key which the young man carried withhim, turned heavily upon its hinges, and disclosed the chamber destinedfor Milady.

  With a single glance the prisoner took in the apartment in its minutestdetails. It was a chamber whose furniture was at once appropriate for aprisoner or a free man; and yet bars at the windows and outside bolts atthe door decided the question in favor of the prison.

  In an instant all the strength of mind of this creature, though drawnfrom the most vigorous sources, abandoned her; she sank into a largeeasy chair, with her arms crossed, her head lowered, and expecting everyinstant to see a judge enter to interrogate her.

  But no one entered except two or three marines, who brought her trunksand packages, deposited them in a corner, and retired without speaking.

  The officer superintended all these details with the same calmnessMilady had constantly seen in him, never pronouncing a word himself, andmaking himself obeyed by a gesture of his hand or a sound of hiswhistle.

  It might have been said that between this man and his inferiors spokenlanguage did not exist, or had become useless.

  At length Milady could hold out no longer; she broke the silence. "Inthe name of heaven, sir," cried she, "what means all that is passing?Put an end to my doubts; I have courage enough for any danger I canforesee, for every misfortune which I understand. Where am I, and why amI here? If I am free, why these bars and these doors? If I am aprisoner, what crime have I committed?"

  "You are here in the apartment destined for you, madame. I receivedorders to go and take charge of you on the sea, and to conduct you tothis castle. This order I believe I have accomplished with all theexactness of a soldier, but also with the courtesy of a gentleman. Thereterminates, at least to the present moment, the duty I had to fulfilltoward you; the rest concerns another person."

  "And who is that other person?" asked Milady, warmly. "Can you not tellme his name?"

  At the moment a great jingling of spurs was heard on the stairs. Somevoices passed and faded away, and the sound of a single footstepapproached the door.

  "That person is here, madame," said the officer, leaving the entranceopen, and drawing himself up in an attitude of respect.

  At the same time the door opened; a man appeared on the threshold. Hewas without a hat, carried a sword, and flourished a handkerchief in hishand.

  Milady thought she recognized this shadow in the gloom; she supportedherself with one hand upon the arm of the chair, and advanced her headas if to meet a certainty.

  The stranger advanced slowly, and as he advanced, after entering intothe circle of light projected by the lamp, Milady involuntarily drewback.

  Then when she had no longer any doubt, she cried, in a state of stupor,"What, my brother, is it you?"

  "Yes, fair lady!" replied Lord de Winter, making a bow, half courteous,half ironical; "it is I, myself."

  "But this castle, then?"

  "Is mine."

  "This chamber?"

  "Is yours."

  "I am, then, your prisoner?"

  "Nearly so."

  "But this is a frightful abuse of power!"

  "No high-sounding words! Let us sit down and chat quietly, as brotherand sister ought to do."

  Then, turning toward the door, and seeing that the young officer waswaiting for his last orders, he said. "All is well, I thank you; nowleave us alone, Mr. Felton."