by Ron Pearse
The Abbe Gaultier meanwhile had left to visit his old monastery at Preuilly, south of Paris, and had not returned when the Marquis de Torcy having finalised the provisional draft treaty returned to the Quai in order to have copies made and scrupulously checked whereafter copies were made available to each of the three envoys. Then it was Prior's task to reconcile his proposals ie Harley's plus his own amendements with Torcy's new draft. Mesnager, once in possession of the definitive draft was anxious to be on his way and having no means of contacting the Abbe and deeming Preuilly too far, apart from the danger of missing him altogether, he took the decision to leave without him leaving a message for the marquis who meanwhile had returned to Versailles, where Louis XIV permanently resided.
It was during that period of departure that a drama began to unfold and it had to do with Maurice, the coachman, who confessed to Mesnager that he had agreed a plan with someone to take possession of Mathew Prior en route with a view to extracting a sum of money from the French authorities who, Maurice surmised would be anxious to pay in order to prevent dangerous revelations. It seems to have occurred to the coachman through confessing the plot to his wife that his own life might be in danger, as his wife pointed out that the gang would dispose of Maurice once Prior had been taken hostage.
This new turn of events necessitated another trip to Versailles to see the marquis who consulted with the monarch to whom occurred the astonishing idea of a counter-plot. He consulted with the Palace Guard no less and as a result Louis commissioned four of the King's Musketeers to accompany the envoys in a separate carriage. The delay to the travel arrangements had not been long enough for the Abbe Gaultier to return and Mesnager reluctantly felt compelled for Maurice to accompany them owing to his knowledge of the route and so the two carriages with Maurice’s in front set out for the coast.
Mesnager had not asked and the coachman had not volunteered the information as to where the ambush was likely to take place though the envoy guessed it might be at or beyond the inn where he had seen Maurice leave the rooms of Madame Moulin. The presence of the musketeers assured him that, provided they acted with caution, the party could stay at the inn. Maurice for his part did not know what plans his lover might have believing that he might even warn her of her own danger. On the other hand, the thought crossed his mind that were she to suspect his double-dealing his life might still be in danger but Maurice was young and believed in his own immortality.
To add to his woes, it started to rain and his thoughts were of a more present and practical nature, how to move the canopy which he might have loosened while stationary in Paris though he had had other things on his mind than preparations for rain on the journey. Tying the reins around his legs, he attempted to undo the cord on his right side cursing that the knot was too tight to untie and so, picking up the reins, resigned himself to getting thoroughly wet. He cursed his own stupidity though might have cursed yet more had he known that the rearmost carriage, bearing the musketeers, had stopped behind him for the driver to release his own canopy and continue upon his journey, and then done some catching up, the musketeers' coachman wondering why that fool of a coachman ahead of him preferred to get soaked rather than protect himself under his canopy.
Inside the carriage itself, to Prior, it seemed that Mesnager was not his old self deciding however that the reason for his introspection was that the stakes were higher. This might explain the presence of the escort carriage filled with musketeers. They followed the same road and though Mesnager seemed occupied with his own thoughts yet the two men had become friends and gradually got to know the other's background. Prior was not overly surprised by his fellow envoy's view of the world seeing it from a financial perspective with which he was not unfamiliar himself yet was not a little puzzled that Mesnager had not connected fiscal matters with the funding of trade.
Mesnager was astonished that Mathew Prior had known poverty and actual hunger though his friend laughed it off as a natural consequence of family misfortune. Yet circumstances had favoured the young Prior and Mesnager concluded it was his native wit combined with good fortune that had allowed Prior to be educated at Westminster and Cambridge. He was fairly certain that an impoverished Mesnager might have sunk without trace as upward mobility depended so much more on privilege in his native France than among the more egalitarian English.
Their conversation was so enjoyable that they scarcely were aware of the countryside. Enclosed in the coach with rain lashing the windows - Maurice on Mesnager's instructions had had the window replaced - and blithely unaware of Maurice's predicament, they scarcely noticed the countryside and were pleasantly surprised to recognise they were approaching Amiens. At the prospect of reaching the Veau en Gros, Prior's appetite increased commenting to Mesnager about savoury pies served by a delectable proprietress and Mesnager smiled as he realised the Englishman viewed meeting again with Madame Poulin with as much pleasure as sating his appetite for food and drink.
However on entering the inn, Mesnager was alarmed to learn there were no rooms free, despite making clear on the outward journey that the party would be back though not specifying a time. Nonetheless she was not turning the party away but offering to accommodate both men in an outhouse which she had had built for the purposes of such overflow. Madame Poulin was effusive in her apologies and assured the guests of comfort and service. In the meantime Maurice had managed to exchange his wet clothes for a blanket loaned by the chief groom until his clothes were dry.
Mesnager was in a quandary wondering about the musketeers as he had not thought of their welfare in advance. He did not even know their present whereabouts and asked himself about his options. He might have called upon Maurice to take a message but the foolish man was not available. Should he leave himself to look for them but rejected it on the grounds of leaving Prior on his own having already promised Torcy he would not let him out of his sight. He considered asking a third party to carry a message but in the end decided it was too risky. He wondered seriously whether to notify his fellow envoy of the danger and decided against in the belief that Prior was already in danger of being compromised. How much more tense might he become knowing he was the target of kidnappers.
In the event Mesnager's decision seemed justified as the evening and night passed without untoward incident and upon the morrow, Mesnager having forewarned Madame Poulin, the carriage departed in the early hours of the morning for the final leg of their journey to the beach of Wissant. On their way, however, in the carriage feeling relieved that nothing had happened and that perhaps was not going to and anticipating the lonely dunes at Wissant, it struck Mesnager with the effect of a cold douche that they would soon be approaching the perfect place for an ambush, namely the dunes, the ideal place to provide cover. He stuck his head out of the carriage and listened to Prior's evident amusement. He could hear nothing. What had become of the musketeers, of their carriage?
He meditated upon the arrangements at Wissant and turned to Prior saying: "Monsieur, je vous en prie. I beg you to tell me about arrangements for the rendezvous with the yacht."
"Willingly, monsieur. The skipper arranged to bring his yacht near the rendezvous from a date in August. With my telescope I should look for the Sprite around a time in the morning and again in the afternoon and evening, weather conditions permitting."
Mesnager checked his calendar saying: "It is the third day of August though we shall not reach Wissant for many hours. It is likely that an afternoon rendezvous be contemplated?"
Prior answered: "Perhaps in the early evening. Having spotted the yacht and allowed it to heave-to, were it not already, we have agreed upon signals using our lamp waiting some minutes before repeating it."
Mesnager wracked his brains for the wisdom of deciding the best thing to do, deliberating over the question about letting Prior know. The carriage was making good time and through a part-open window, Mesnager felt the draught and the tang of brine indicating the approaching sea. The road would take them some miles from Dunque
rque when a bend in the road would see the carriage running nearly parallel with the coastline until they reached their destination, Wissant beach.
All this while Mathew Prior had observed his companion's evident anxiety; he had observed him sticking his head out of the window, watched his worried face become more tense at the ever nearer proximity of the sea and decided to put him out of his misery and leaving his seat and sitting beside him, said:
"Monsieur, mon ami have you finally decided to let me in on the plot?"
Mesnager, startled by Prior's words replied querulously:
"How long have you known, monsieur?"
Prior smiled and grasping his hand between his own admitted:
"Ever since I overheard Maurice confess to you before we set out from the Quai."
Mesnager nodded solemnly seeming not to have been overly comforted saying gloomily: "The truth is monsieur, I have let you down. Upon notifying the marquis about Maurice’s confession, he was so concerned for your safety, as was the king, that he commanded a party of the king's own bodyguard to accompany us discretely though it seems, I have lost them somewhere between Amiens and where we now find ourselves."
Prior had been relishing the thought expressed by Mesnager that the king of France, not to mention his foreign secretary, had been concerned for his welfare, but not for long for there were serious matters to be addressed and he bade Mesnager to open the window again, saying:
"If you wait until the next bend in the road and put your head from the window you will see them, or at least, their carriage."
Mesnager complied and while waiting for the road's next bend said petulantly: "But I have done this earlier and have neither seen nor heard them."
"That is because you were looking in the wrong direction, monsieur. Look!" and as the carriage took a right hand bend, Prior pointed and Mesnager having seen, sank back in his seat in evident relief. Prior said to him quietly: "I saw their carriage leave in front of us as we left the inn. Yet it does pose another problem as to whether they will be near enough to help us when the time comes."
Mesnager said ruefully: "We need some means to defend ourselves." To which Prior responded: "What did you do with your sword?"
Mesnager thought a while then struck his forehead, cursing: "Mon Dieu! How could I be so stupid. When I saw you were not wearing a sword, I dispensed with mine as well. It is in the luggage compartment." He thought for a moment then was on his feet scrabbling at the floor, then turned his attention to their bench seats telling Prior about his suspicions and together they both stood up and searched for some movement.
"Voila!" Mesnager exclaimed lifting a bench where below could be seen a panel which on raising revealed an access into their luggage compartment. Asking Prior to hold him from slipping, Mesnager groped around as the carriage continued on its way.
"Enfin!" Mesnager cried in exultation as his searching hand found the belt which he tugged free with the weapon requesting Prior to hold him until he managed to retrieve another package before emerging from his search and shouting excitedly. Prior had to wait until Mesnager was again on his feet having replaced the trap and seat, then turning to Prior called out in high good humour:
"Choose your weapon, my friend!"
"May I?" Then swaying in the carriage as he stood, Prior fastened Mesnager's belt around his waist watched by his amused friend who suggested: "It seems made for you monsieur. Take it if that is the weapon you prefer, which means I must also learn again how to load my pistol."
Prior watched as from the other package Mesnager unfolded its contents to reveal pistol and ammunition. Mesnager felt underneath the pistol's muzzle withdrawing a rod which he pushed down the barrel and meeting nothing declared it ready to load. He emptied the contents of a cartridge into the barrel via the muzzle followed by a ball. He might have satisfied himself that the flint produced sparks before pouring a little gunpowder into the firing-pan. He said to Prior: "It would be comforting to do a test firing though I fear it might frighten the horses."
Both men agreed with the other that they were as ready for anything as ever they could be and none too soon for the carriage had slowed to turn towards the beach and was soon running parallel with the dunes although the front carriage was disappearing as Mesnager realised he had not agreed with the other driver-coachman where they should wait. Yet there was little time for such speculation as their own carriage came towards the spot where Mesnager weeks ago had halted and it would seem Maurice recognised the place for the carriage slowed and then stopped. The roof panel opened and Maurice called that from his vantage point he could see a yacht.
Prior and Mesnager looked at each other and Prior examined his fob clock. They looked towards the dunes but could see nothing and again Maurice shouted:
"You will see better if you get out and stand atop the dunes." This seemed good advice and Prior opened the door and both he and Mesnager jumped out, closing the door and had scarcely gone a few paces when the carriage moved off quickly. Each of them looked at the other showing fear as they suspected treachery which seemed confirmed for having breasted the dunes they could nothing of the yacht, even after scanning the sea with the telescope. Clearly Maurice's false sighting was a ruse to get them out of the carriage.
"He is off to join his accomplices, no doubt." muttered a disgusted Mesnager as they trudged back towards the road or rather track being an even surface partly covered with grass and sand. On the other side of the road was a sort of clearing with trees beyond. They looked back the way they had come and the track merged into dunes as afar as the eye could see while ahead the track could be seen until it disappeared around a corner. The dunes continued on their right following the curve of the road, while on the left was forest.
"What about his confession?" Prior's question brought another gesture of contempt: "It was all a sham." Prior speculated: "It may be that having seen the musketeers go so far ahead, he changed his mind in the belief, that the plot could succeed after all, at no danger to himself."
Mesnager was gloomy: "If Maurice believes our protectors are out of reach, what hope for us unless they notice we are no longer behind and stop to look for us." But there was no time for either to speculate further as a carriage could be heard and both exchanged glances of joy though their joy faded as the approaching vehicle was drawn by two labouring horses and both Prior and Mesnager leaned on each other for support as the carriage did not stop but both doors opened and men leapt out and while the carriage slowed they ran towards them.
Mesnager cocked his pistol. Prior drew the sword.
"If you throw down your arms and surrender, no harm will come to you." The shouted offer was from the leading man who stopped before them. He carried a drawn sword. In answer Prior stood on guard in the pose before a duelling bout which the other appeared to acknowledge as he pointed to a badge upon his coat which Prior did not recognise and was quickly enlightened by another just behind, who shouted:
"You are facing Jacques, ex-swordsman to the royal house of Valois."
The swordsman himself made a circle with his blade and as if to intimidate Prior shouted: "Monsieur wants a fencing lesson, Gaston. Come!"
With that little speech and gesture, Jacques lunged and Prior parried dancing aside if only to take them both away from Mesnager who might have been wounded. He was now engaged in circling Jacques who occasionally flashed his weapon in an extravagant play followed by a linge. Prior wondered whether he should take the initiative for although a competent swordsman, Jacques seemed to be past his best and Prior was coming slowly to the realisation that he must disarm Jacques soon.
More relaxed he listened to Mesnager, who shouted: "Ne bougez pas ou je tis (Don't move or I'll fire)!" And it seemed as if there was a stalemate until Prior caught sight of the coachman who, having stopped his team in the clearing, leapt to the ground running forward shouting:
"Rush him you cowards!" The newcomer had reached his accomplices when Prior heard Mesnager call out: "Arretez! (Stop where y
ou are.)" The newcomer did not stop but advanced at Mesnager. He fired and Prior in despair heard a click. In vain Mesnager drew the hammer back to try again but was hurled to the ground and was soon hors de combat.
Prior now began in earnest to seriously engage Jacques who skilfully kept him at bay. Both had realised that now Mesnager was out of action, it was simply a matter of time before Prior was overpowered. Already he heard the sound of a pistol being cocked. Someone called to Jacques:
"If you cannot overpower him, my pistol will."
Jacques shouted angrily: "Who is the Englishman? He must not be harmed."
At that moment another carriage was heard and some eyes warily; others anxiously turned towards the sound. Prior was in despair as he saw Maurice at the reins realising the game would soon be up yet suddenly the doors opened as before and men leapt out, uniformed men. Prior gasped in amazement, but to Jacques they had an electrifying effect as also upon the others. Several reports erupted. Prior saw flashes, smoke heard more gunshots. Then through a cloud of smoke energed a man in military blue coat with wide sleeves lined with gold braid; yet it was his boots that astonished Prior. They covered his entire legs widening above the knees. As he approached, he removed his tricorn hat and bowing low swept the ground with it before planting it back and introducing himself:
"D'Artagnan, a votre service, mon ami."
"Prior, Mathew Prior!" came the feeble response adding, "You came monsieur in the nick of time, but how is my friend, monsieur Mesnager."
In answer came Mesnager's voice: " I am alright, monsieur. Grace a Dieu!" The smoke now was dissipating fast in the breeze and prior saw with shock bodies lying around, asking weakly:
"How many were there?"
He got no response except a very tall musketeer called out: "I see someone making signals out to sea."
Mesnager cried: "Ah! I have no lamp to signal."