Mademoiselle de Montalais was right; the young cavalier was goodly tolook upon.
He was a young man of from twenty-four to twenty-five years of age, talland slender, wearing gracefully the picturesque military costume of theperiod. His large boots contained a foot which Mademoiselle de Montalaismight not have disowned if she had been transformed into a man. With oneof his delicate but nervous hands he checked his horse in the middle ofthe court, and with the other raised his hat, whose long plumes shadedhis at once serious and ingenuous countenance.
The guards, roused by the steps of the horse, awoke and were on footin a minute. The young man waited till one of them was close to hissaddle-bow: then stooping towards him, in a clear, distinct voice, whichwas perfectly audible at the window where the two girls were concealed,"A message for his royal highness," he said.
"Ah, ah!" cried the soldier. "Officer, a messenger!"
But this brave guard knew very well that no officer would appear, seeingthat the only one who could have appeared dwelt at the other side of thecastle, in an apartment looking into the gardens. So he hastened toadd: "The officer, monsieur, is on his rounds, but in his absence, M. deSaint-Remy, the maitre d'hotel shall be informed."
"M. de Saint-Remy?" repeated the cavalier, slightly blushing.
"Do you know him?"
"Why, yes; but request him, if you please, that my visit be announced tohis royal highness as soon as possible."
"It appears to be pressing," said the guard, as if speaking to himself,but really in the hope of obtaining an answer.
The messenger made an affirmative sign with his head.
"In that case," said the guard, "I will go and seek the maitre d'hotelmyself."
The young man, in the meantime, dismounted; and whilst the others weremaking their remarks upon the fine horse the cavalier rode, the soldierreturned.
"Your pardon, young gentleman; but your name, if you please?"
"The Vicomte de Bragelonne, on the part of his highness M. le Prince deConde."
The soldier made a profound bow, and, as if the name of the conquerorof Rocroy and Sens had given him wings, he stepped lightly up the stepsleading to the ante-chamber.
M. de Bragelonne had not had time to fasten his horse to the ironbars of the perron, when M. de Saint-Remy came running, out of breath,supporting his capacious body with one hand, whilst with the other hecut the air as a fisherman cleaves the waves with his oar.
"Ah, Monsieur le Vicomte! You at Blois!" cried he. "Well, that is awonder. Good-day to you--good-day, Monsieur Raoul."
"I offer you a thousand respects, M. de Saint-Remy."
"How Madame de la Vall--I mean, how delighted Madame de Saint-Remy willbe to see you! But come in. His royal highness is at breakfast--must hebe interrupted? Is the matter serious?"
"Yes, and no, Monsieur de Saint-Remy. A moment's delay, however, wouldbe disagreeable to his royal highness."
"If that is the case, we will force the consigne, Monsieur le Vicomte.Come in. Besides, Monsieur is in an excellent humor to-day. And then youbring news, do you not?"
"Great news, Monsieur de Saint-Remy."
"And good, I presume?"
"Excellent."
"Come quickly, come quickly then!" cried the worthy man, putting hisdress to rights as he went along.
Raoul followed him, hat in hand, and a little disconcerted at the noisemade by his spurs in these immense salons.
As soon as he had disappeared in the interior of the palace, the windowof the court was repeopled, and an animated whispering betrayedthe emotion of the two girls. They soon appeared to have formed aresolution, for one of the two faces disappeared from the window. Thiswas the brunette; the other remained behind the balcony, concealed bythe flowers, watching attentively through the branches the perron bywhich M. de Bragelonne had entered the castle.
In the meantime the object of so much laudable curiosity continued hisroute, following the steps of the maitre d'hotel. The noise of quicksteps, an odor of wine and viands, a clinking of crystal and plates,warned them that they were coming to the end of their course.
The pages, valets and officers, assembled in the office which led up tothe refectory, welcomed the newcomer with the proverbial politeness ofthe country; some of them were acquainted with Raoul, and all knewthat he came from Paris. It might be said that his arrival for a momentsuspended the service. In fact, a page, who was pouring out wine for hisroyal highness, on hearing the jingling of spurs in the next chamber,turned round like a child, without perceiving that he was continuing topour out, not into the glass, but upon the tablecloth.
Madame, who was not so preoccupied as her glorious spouse was, remarkedthis distraction of the page.
"Well?" exclaimed she.
"Well!" repeated Monsieur; "what is going on then?"
M. de Saint-Remy, who had just introduced his head through the doorway,took advantage of the moment.
"Why am I to be disturbed?" said Gaston, helping himself to a thickslice of one of the largest salmon that had ever ascended the Loire tobe captured between Painboeuf and Saint-Nazaire.
"There is a messenger from Paris. Oh! but after monseigneur hasbreakfasted will do; there is plenty of time."
"From Paris!" cried the prince, letting his fork fall. "A messenger fromParis, do you say? And on whose part does this messenger come?"
"On the part of M. le Prince," said the maitre d'hotel promptly.
Every one knows that the Prince de Conde was so called.
"A messenger from M. le Prince!" said Gaston, with an inquietude thatescaped none of the assistants, and consequently redoubled the generalcuriosity.
Monsieur, perhaps, fancied himself brought back again to the happy timeswhen the opening of a door gave him an emotion, in which every lettermight contain a state secret,--in which every message was connected witha dark and complicated intrigue. Perhaps, likewise, that great nameof M. le Prince expanded itself, beneath the roofs of Blois, to theproportions of a phantom.
Monsieur pushed away his plate.
"Shall I tell the envoy to wait?" asked M. de Saint-Remy.
A glance from Madame emboldened Gaston, who replied: "No, no! let himcome in at once, on the contrary. A propos, who is he?"
"A gentleman of this country, M. le Vicomte de Bragelonne."
"Ah, very well! Introduce him, Saint-Remy--introduce him."
And when he had let fall these words, with his accustomed gravity,Monsieur turned his eyes, in a certain manner, upon the people of hissuite, so that all, pages, officers, and equerries, quitted the service,knives and goblets, and made towards the second chamber a retreat asrapid as it was disorderly.
This little army had dispersed in two files when Raoul de Bragelonne,preceded by M. de Saint-Remy, entered the refectory.
The short interval of solitude which this retreat had left him,permitted Monsieur the time to assume a diplomatic countenance. He didnot turn round, but waited till the maitre d'hotel should bring themessenger face to face with him.
Raoul stopped even with the lower end of the table, so as to be exactlybetween Monsieur and Madame. From this place he made a profound bow toMonsieur and a very humble one to Madame; then, drawing himself up intomilitary pose, he waited for Monsieur to address him.
On his part the Prince waited till the doors were hermetically closed;he would not turn round to ascertain the fact, as that would have beenderogatory to his dignity, but he listened with all his ears for thenoise of the lock, which would promise him at least an appearance ofsecrecy.
The doors being closed, Monsieur raised his eyes towards the vicomte,and said, "It appears that you come from Paris, monsieur?"
"This minute, monseigneur."
"How is the king?"
"His majesty is in perfect health, monseigneur."
"And my sister-in-law?"
"Her majesty the queen-mother still suffers from the complaint in herchest, but for the last month she has been rather better."
"Somebody told me you c
ame on the part of M. le Prince. They must havebeen mistaken, surely?"
"No, monseigneur; M. le Prince has charged me to convey this letter toyour royal highness, and I am to wait for an answer to it."
Raoul had been a little annoyed by this cold and cautious reception, andhis voice insensibly sank to a low key.
The prince forgot that he was the cause of this apparent mystery, andhis fears returned.
He received the letter from the Prince de Conde with a haggard look,unsealed it as he would have unsealed a suspicious packet, and in orderto read it so that no one should remark the effects of it upon hiscountenance, he turned round.
Madame followed, with an anxiety almost equal to that of the prince,every maneuver of her august husband.
Raoul, impassible, and a little disengaged by the attention of hishosts, looked from his place through the open window at the gardens andthe statues which peopled them.
"Well!" cried Monsieur, all at once, with a cheerful smile; "here isan agreeable surprise, and a charming letter from M. le Prince. Look,Madame!"
The table was too large to allow the arm of the prince to reach the handof Madame; Raoul sprang forward to be their intermediary, and did itwith so good a grace as to procure a flattering acknowledgment from theprincess.
"You know the contents of this letter, no doubt?" said Gaston to Raoul.
"Yes, monseigneur; M. le Prince at first gave me the message verbally,but upon reflection his highness took up his pen."
"It is beautiful writing," said Madame, "but I cannot read it."
"Will you read it to Madame, M. de Bragelonne?" said the duke.
"Yes, read it, if you please, monsieur."
Raoul began to read, Monsieur giving again all his attention. The letterwas conceived in these terms:
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