The Vicomte de Bragelonne

by Alexandre Dumas

  CHAPTER LXXXIII.

  THE TEMPTER.

  "My prince," said Aramis, turning in the carriage toward his companion,"weak creature as I am, so unpretending in genius, so low in the scaleof intelligent beings, it has never yet happened to me to converse witha man without penetrating his thoughts through that living mask whichhas been thrown over our mind, in order to retain its expression. Butto-night, in this darkness, in the reserve which you maintain, I canread nothing on your features, and something tells me I shall have greatdifficulty in wresting from you a sincere declaration. I beseech you,then, not for love of me, for subjects should never weigh as anything inthe balance which princes hold, but for love of yourself, to retainevery syllable, every inflexion which, under our present gravecircumstances, will all have a sense and value as important as any everuttered in the world."

  "I listen," repeated the young prince, "decidedly, without eithereagerly seeking or fearing anything you are about to say to me." And heburied himself still deeper in the thick cushions of the carriage,trying to deprive his companion not only of the sight of him, but evenof the very idea of his presence.

  Black was the darkness which fell wide and dense from the summits of theintertwining trees. The carriage, covered in by this vast roof, wouldnot have received a particle of light, not even if a ray could havestruggled through the wreaths of mist which were rising in the avenue ofthe wood.

  "Monseigneur," resumed Aramis, "you know the history of the governmentwhich to-day controls France. The king issued from an infancy imprisonedlike yours, obscure as yours, and confined as yours; only, instead ofending, like yourself, this slavery in a prison--this obscurity insolitude--these straitened circumstances in concealment, he was fain tobear all these miseries, humiliations, and distresses, in full daylight,under the pitiless sun of royalty; or an elevation so flooded withlight, where every stain appears a miserable blemish, and every glory astain. The king has suffered; it rankles in his mind: and he will avengehimself. He will be a bad king. I say not that he will pour out blood,like Louis XI., or Charles IX.; for he has no mortal injuries to avenge;but he will devour the means and substance of his people; for he hashimself undergone wrongs in his own interest and money. In the firstplace, then, I quite acquit my conscience, when I consider openly themerits and faults of this prince; and if I condemn him, my conscienceabsolves me."

  Aramis paused. It was not to listen if the silence of the forestremained undisturbed, but it was to gather up his thoughts from the verybottom of his soul--to leave the thoughts he had uttered sufficient timeto eat deeply into the mind of his companion.

  "All that Heaven does, Heaven does well," continued the bishop ofVannes; "and I am so persuaded of it, that I have long been thankful tohave been chosen depositary of the secret which I have aided you todiscover. To a just Providence was necessary an instrument, at oncepenetrating, persevering, and convinced, to accomplish a great work. Iam this instrument. I possess penetration, perseverance, conviction; Igovern a mysterious people who has taken for its motto the motto of God,'_Patiens quia aeternus_.'" The prince moved. "I divine, monseigneur, whyyou are raising your head, and are surprised at the people I have undermy command. You did not know you were dealing with a king--oh!monseigneur, king of a people very humble, much disinherited: humble,because they have no force save when creeping; disinherited, becausenever, almost never in this world, do my people reap the harvest theysow, nor eat the fruit they cultivate. They labor for an abstract idea;they heap together all the atoms of their power to form one man; andround this man, with the sweat of their labor, they create a misty halo,which his genius shall, in turn, render a glory gilded with the rays ofall the crowns in Christendom. Such is the man you have beside you,monseigneur. It is to tell you that he has drawn you from the abyss fora great purpose, and that he desires, for this sublime purpose, to raiseyou above the powers of the earth--above himself."

  The prince lightly touched Aramis' arm. "You speak to me," he said, "ofthat religious order whose chief you are. For me, the result of yourwords is, that the day you desire to hurl down the man you shall haveraised, the event will be accomplished; and that you will keep underyour hand your creation of yesterday."

  "Undeceive yourself, monseigneur," replied the bishop. "I should nottake the trouble to play this terrible game with your royal highness, ifI had not a double interest in gaining it. The day you are elevated, youare elevated forever; you will overturn the footstool as you rise, andwill send it rolling so far that not even the sight of it will everagain recall to you its right to gratitude."

  "Oh, monsieur!"

  "Your movement, monseigneur, arises from an excellent disposition. Ithank you. Be well assured, I aspire to more than gratitude! I amconvinced that, when arrived at the summit, you will judge me still moreworthy to be your friend: and then, monseigneur, we two will do suchgreat deeds that ages hereafter shall long speak of them."

  "Tell me plainly, monsieur--tell me without disguise--what I am to-day,and what you aim at my being to-morrow."

  "You are the son of King Louis XIII., brother of Louis XIV., natural andlegitimate heir to the throne of France. In keeping you near him, asMonsieur has been kept--Monsieur your younger brother--the king reservedto himself the right of being legitimate sovereign. The doctors onlycould dispute his legitimacy. But the doctors always prefer the king whois, to the king who is not. Providence has willed that you should bepersecuted; and this persecution to-day consecrates you king of France.You had then a right to reign, seeing that it is disputed; you had aright to be proclaimed, seeing that you have been concealed; and youpossess royal blood, since no one has dared to shed yours, as yourservants' has been shed. Now see, then, what this Providence, which youhave so often accused of having in every way thwarted you, has done foryou. It has given you the features, figure, age, and voice of yourbrother; and the very causes of your persecution are about to becomethose of your triumphant restoration. To-morrow, after to-morrow--fromthe very first, regal phantom, living shade of Louis XIV., you will situpon his throne, whence the will of Heaven, confided in execution to thearm of man, will have hurled him, without hope of return."

  "I understand," said the prince, "my brother's blood will not be shed,then."

  "You will be sole arbiter of his fate."

  "The secret of which they made an evil use against me?"

  "You will employ it against him. What did he do to conceal it? Heconcealed you. Living image of himself, you will defeat the conspiracyof Mazarin and Anne of Austria. You, my prince, will have the sameinterest in concealing him, who will, as a prisoner, resemble you, asyou will resemble him as king."

  "I fall back on what I was saying to you. Who will guard him?"

  "Who guarded you?"

  "You know this secret--you have made use of it with regard to myself.Who else knows it?"

  "The queen-mother and Madame de Chevreuse."

  "What will they do?"

  "Nothing, if you choose."

  "How is that?"

  "How can they recognize you, if you act in a manner that no one canrecognize you?"

  "'Tis true: but there are grave difficulties."

  "State them, prince."

  "My brother is married; I cannot take my brother's wife."

  "I will cause Spain to consent to a divorce; it is in the interest ofyour new policy; it is human morality. All that is really noble andreally useful in this world will find its account therein."

  "The imprisoned king will speak."

  "To whom do you think he should speak--to the walls?"

  "You mean, by walls, the men in whom you put confidence."

  "If need be, yes. And besides, your royal highness--"

  "Besides?"

  "I was going to say that the designs of Providence do not stop on such afair road. Every scheme of this caliber is completed by its results,like a geometrical calculation. The king, in prison, will not be for youthe cause of embarrassment that you have been for the king enthroned.His soul is naturally pro
ud and impatient; it is, moreover, disarmed andenfeebled, by being accustomed to honors, and by the license of supremepower. The same Providence which has willed that the concluding step inthe geometrical calculation I have had the honor of describing to yourroyal highness should be your accession to the throne, and thedestruction of him who is hurtful to you, has also determined that theconquered one shall soon end both his own and your sufferings.Therefore, his soul and body have been adapted for but a brief agony.Put into prison as a private individual, left alone with your doubts,deprived of everything, you have exhibited a solid, enduring principleof life, in withstanding all this. But your brother, a captive,forgotten, and in bonds, will not long-endure the calamity; and Heavenwill resume his soul at the appointed time--that is to say, _soon_."

  At this point in Aramis' gloomy analysis, a bird of night uttered fromthe depths of the forest that prolonged and plaintive cry which makesevery creature tremble.

  "I will exile the deposed king," said Philippe, shuddering; "'twill bemore humane."

  "The king's good pleasure will decide the point," said Aramis. "But hasthe problem been well put? Have I brought out the solution according tothe wishes or the foresight of your royal highness?"

  "Yes, monsieur, yes; you have forgotten nothing--except, indeed, twothings."

  "The first?"

  "Let us speak of it at once, with the same frankness we have alreadyconversed in. Let us speak of the causes which may bring about the ruinof all the hopes we have conceived. Let us speak of the risks we arerunning."

  "They would be immense, infinite, terrific, insurmountable, if, as Ihave said, all things did not concur in rendering them of absolutely noaccount. There is no danger either for you or for me, if the constancyand intrepidity of your royal highness are equal to that perfection ofresemblance to your brother which nature has bestowed upon you. I repeatit, there are no dangers, only obstacles; a word, indeed, which I findin all languages, but have always ill-understood, and, were I king,would have obliterated as useless and absurd."

  "Yes, indeed, monsieur; there is a very serious obstacle, aninsurmountable danger, which you are forgetting."

  "Ah!" said Aramis.

  "There is conscience, which cries aloud; remorse, which never dies."

  "True, true," said the bishop; "there is a weakness of heart of whichyou remind me. You are right, too, for that indeed is an immenseobstacle. The horse afraid of the ditch leaps into the middle of it, andis killed! The man who tremblingly crosses his sword with that ofanother leaves loopholes, whereby his enemy has him in his power."

  "Have you a brother?" said the young man to Aramis.

  "I am alone in the world," said the latter, with, a hard, dry voice.

  "But, surely, there is some one in the world whom you love;" addedPhilippe.

  "No one!--Yes, I love you."

  The young man sunk into so profound a silence that the mere sound of hisrespiration seemed like a roaring tumult for Aramis. "Monseigneur" heresumed, "I have not said all I have to say to your royal highness; Ihave not offered you all the salutary counsels and useful resourceswhich I have at my disposal. It is useless to flash bright visionsbefore the eyes of one who seeks and loves darkness; useless, too, is itto let the magnificence of the cannon's roar be heard in the ears of onewho loves repose and the quiet of the country. Monseigneur, I have yourhappiness spread out before me in my thoughts; listen to my words;precious they indeed are, in their import and their sense, for you wholook with such tender regard upon the bright heavens, the verdantmeadows, the pure air. I know a country instinct with delights of everykind, an unknown paradise, a secluded corner of the world--where alone,unfettered and unknown, in the thick covert of the woods, amid flowers,and streams of rippling water, you will forget all the misery that humanfolly has so recently allotted you. Oh! listen to me, my prince. I donot jest. I have a heart, and mind, and soul, and can read to the depthsof your own. I will not take you, incomplete for your task, in order tocast you into the crucible of my own desires, or my caprice, or myambition. Everything or nothing. You are chilled and galled, sick atheart, almost overcome by the excess of emotion, which but one hour'sliberty has produced in you. For me, that is a certain and unmistakablesign that you do not wish to continue at liberty. Would you prefer amore humble life, a life more suited to your strength? Heaven is mywitness, that I wish your happiness to be the result of the trial towhich I have exposed you."

  "Speak, speak," said the prince, with a vivacity which did not escapeAramis.

  "I know," resumed the prelate, "in the Bas-Poiton, a canton, of which noone in France suspects the existence. Twenty leagues of country isimmense, is it not? Twenty leagues, monseigneur, all covered with waterand herbage, and reeds of the most luxuriant nature; the whole studdedwith islands covered with woods of the densest foliage. These largemarshes, covered with reeds as with a thick mantle, sleep silently andcalmly beneath the sun's soft and genial rays. A few fishermen withtheir families indolently pass their lives away there, with their largerafts of poplars and alders, the flooring formed of reeds, and the roofwoven out of thick rushes. These barks, these floating-houses, arewafted to and fro by the changing winds. Whenever they touch a bank, itis but by chance; and so gently, too, that the sleeping fisherman is notawakened by the shock. Should he wish to land, it is merely because hehas seen a large flight of land-rails or plovers, of wild ducks, teal,widgeon, or woodcocks, which fall an easy prey to his nets or his gun.Silver shad, eels, greedy pike, red and gray mullet, fall in masses intohis nets; he has but to choose the finest and largest, and return theothers to the waters. Never yet has the foot of man, be he soldier orsimple citizen, never has any one, indeed, penetrated into thatdistrict. The sun's rays there are soft and tempered; in plots of solidearth, whose soil is rich and fertile, grows the vine, which nourisheswith its generous juice its black and white grapes. Once a week, a boatis sent to fetch the bread which has been baked at an oven--the commonproperty of all. There, like the seigneurs of early days--powerfulbecause of your dogs, your fishing-lines, your guns, and your beautifulreed-built house, would you live, rich in the produce of the chase, inthe plenitude of perfect security. There would years of your life rollaway, at the end of which, no longer recognizable, for you would havebeen perfectly transformed, you would have succeeded in acquiring adestiny accorded to you by Heaven.

  "There are a thousand pistoles in this bag, monseigneur--more, far more,than sufficient to purchase the whole marsh of which I have spoken; morethan enough to live there as many years as you have days to live; morethan enough to constitute you the richest, the freest, and the happiestman in the country. Accept it, as I offer it you--sincerely, cheerfully.Forthwith, without a moment's pause, I will unharness two of my horses,which are attached to the carriage yonder, and they, accompanied by myservant--my deaf and dumb attendant--shall conduct you--travelingthroughout the night, sleeping during the day--to the locality I havementioned; and I shall, at least, have the satisfaction of knowing thatI have rendered to my prince the service that he himself most preferred.I shall have made one man happy; and Heaven for that will hold me inbetter account than if I had made one man powerful; for that is far moredifficult. And now, monseigneur, your answer to this proposition? Hereis the money. Nay, do not hesitate. At Poiton, you can risk nothing,except the chance of catching the fevers prevalent there; and even ofthem, the so-called wizards of the country may cure you, for the sake ofyour pistoles. If you play the other game, you run the chance of beingassassinated on a throne, or of being strangled in a prison. Upon mysoul, I assure you, now I begin to compare them together, I shouldhesitate which of the two I should accept."

  "Monsieur," replied the young prince, "before I determine, let me alightfrom this carriage, walk on the ground, and consult that still voicewithin me, which Heaven bids address us all. Ten minutes is all I ask,and then you shall have your answer."

  "As you please, monseigneur," said Aramis, bending before him withrespect; so solemn and august in its tone and address
had been the voicewhich had just spoken.