“Pardon me,” said he, smiling, “pardon me, my dear compatriot, but I had wholly forgotten you. But what help is there for it! A captain is nothing but a father of a family, charged with even a greater responsibility than the father of an ordinary family. Soldiers are big children; but as I maintain that the orders of the king, and more particularly the orders of the cardinal, should be executed—”
D’Artagnan could not restrain a smile. By this smile M. de Tréville judged that he had not to deal with a fool, and changing the conversation, came straight to the point.
“I respected your father very much,” said he. “What can I do for the son? Tell me quickly; my time is not my own.”
“Monsieur,” said D’Artagnan, “on quitting Tarbes and coming hither, it was my intention to request of you, in remembrance of the friendship which you have not forgotten, the uniform of a Musketeer; but after all that I have seen during the last two hours, I comprehend that such a favor is enormous, and tremble lest I should not merit it.”
“It is indeed a favor, young man,” replied M. de Tréville, “but it may not be so far beyond your hopes as you believe, or rather as you appear to believe. But his Majesty’s decision is always necessary; and I inform you with regret that no one becomes a Musketeer without the preliminary ordeal of several campaigns, certain brilliant actions, or a service of two years in some other regiment less favored than ours.”
D’Artagnan bowed without replying, feeling his desire to don the Musketeer’s uniform vastly increased by the great difficulties which preceded the attainment of it.
“But,” continued M. de Tréville, fixing upon his compatriot a look so piercing that it might be said he wished to read the thoughts of his heart, “on account of my old companion, your father, as I have said, I will do something for you, young man. Our recruits from Béarn are not generally very rich, and I have no reason to think matters have much changed in this respect since I left the province. I dare say you have not brought too large a stock of money with you?”
D’Artagnan drew himself up with a proud air which plainly said, “I ask alms of no man.”
“Oh, that’s all very well, young man,” continued M. de Tréville, “that’s all very well. I know these airs; I myself came to Paris with four crowns in my purse, and would have fought with anyone who dared to tell me I was not in a condition to purchase the Louvre.”
D’Artagnan’s bearing became still more imposing. Thanks to the sale of his horse, he commenced his career with four crowns more than M. de Tréville possessed at the commencement of his.
“You ought, I say, then, to husband the means you have, however large the sum may be; but you ought also to endeavor to perfect yourself in the exercises becoming a gentleman. I will write a letter today to the Director of the Royal Academy, and tomorrow he will admit you without any expense to yourself. Do not refuse this little service. Our best-born and richest gentlemen sometimes solicit it without being able to obtain it. You will learn horsemanship, swordsmanship in all its branches, and dancing. You will make some desirable acquaintances; and from time to time you can call upon me to tell you how you are getting on and to say whether I can be of further service to you.”
D’Artagnan, stranger as he was to all the manners of a court, could not but perceive a little coldness in this reception.
“Alas, sir,” said he, “I cannot but perceive how sadly I miss the letter of introduction which my father gave me to present to you.”
“I certainly am surprised,” replied M. de Tréville, “that you should undertake so long a journey without that necessary passport, the sole resource of us poor Béarnese.”
“I had one, sir, and, thank God, such as I could wish,” cried D’Artagnan; “but it was perfidiously stolen from me.”
He then related the adventure of Meung, described the unknown gentleman with the greatest minuteness, and all with a warmth and truthfulness that delighted M. de Tréville.
“This is all very strange,” said M. de Tréville, after meditating a minute; “you mentioned my name, then, aloud?”
“Yes, sir, I certainly committed that imprudence; but why should I have done otherwise? A name like yours must be as a buckler to me on my way. Judge if I should not put myself under its protection.”
Flattery was at that period very current, and M. de Tréville loved incense as well as a king, or even a cardinal. He could not refrain from a smile of visible satisfaction; but this smile soon disappeared, and returning to the adventure of Meung, “Tell me,” continued he, “had not this gentleman a slight scar on his cheek?”
“Yes, such a one as would be made by the grazing of a ball.”
“Was he not a fine-looking man?”
“Yes.”
“Of lofty stature?”
“Yes.”
“Of pale complexion and brown hair?”
“Yes, yes, that is he; how is it, sir, that you are acquainted with this man? If ever I find him again—and I will find him, I swear, were it in hell!”
“He was waiting for a woman,” continued Tréville.
“He departed immediately after having conversed for a minute with her whom he awaited.”
“You know not the subject of their conversation?”
“He gave her a box, told her that that box contained her instructions, and desired her not to open it except in London.”
“Was this woman English?”
“He called her Milady.”
“It is he; it must be he!” murmured Tréville. “I believed him still at Brussels.”
“Oh, sir, if you know who this man is,” cried D‘Artagnan, “tell me who he is, and whence he is. I will then release you from all your promises—even that of procuring my admission into the Musketeers; for before everything, I wish to avenge myself.”
“Beware, young man!” cried Tréville. “If you see him coming on one side of the street, pass by on the other. Do not cast yourself against such a rock; he would break you like glass.”
“That will not prevent me,” replied D’Artagnan, “if ever I find him.”
“In the meantime,” said Tréville, “seek him not—if I have a right to advise you.”
All at once the captain stopped, as if struck by a sudden suspicion. This great hatred which the young traveler manifested so loudly for this man, who—a rather improbable thing—had stolen his father’s letter from him—was there not some perfidy concealed under this hatred? Might not this young man be sent by his Eminence? Might he not have come for the purpose of laying a snare for him? This pretended D‘Artagnan—was he not an emissary of the cardinal, whom the cardinal sought to introduce into Tréville’s house, to place near him, to win his confidence, and afterward to ruin him as had been done in a thousand other instances? He fixed his eyes upon D’Artagnan even more earnestly than before. He was moderately reassured however, by the aspect of that countenance, full of astute intelligence and affected humility. “I know he is a Gascon,” reflected he, “but he may be one for the cardinal as well as for me. Let us try him.”
“My friend,” said he, slowly, “I wish, as the son of an ancient friend—for I consider this story of the lost letter perfectly true—I wish, I say, in order to repair the coldness you may have remarked in my reception of you, to discover to you the secrets of our policy. The king and the cardinal are the best of friends; their apparent bickerings are only feints to deceive fools. I am not willing that a compatriot, a handsome cavalier, a brave youth, quite fit to make his way, should become the dupe of all these artifices and fall into the snare after the example of so many others who have been ruined by it. Be assured that I am devoted to both these all-powerful masters, and that my earnest endeavors have no other aim than the service of the king, and also the cardinal—one of the most illustrious geniuses that France has ever produced.”
“Now, young man, regulate your conduct accordingly: and if you entertain, whether from your family, your relations, or even from your instincts, any of these enmities which we
see constantly breaking out against the cardinal, bid me adieu and let us separate. I will aid you in many ways, but without attaching you to my person. I hope that my frankness at least will make you my friend; for you are the only young man to whom I have hitherto spoken as I have done to you.”
Tréville said to himself: “If the cardinal has set this young fox upon me, he will certainly not have failed—he, who knows how bitterly I execrate him—to tell his spy that the best means of making his court to me is to rail at him. Therefore, in spite of all my protestations, if it be as I suspect, my cunning gossip will assure me that he holds his Eminence in horror.”
It, however, proved otherwise. D’Artagnan answered, with the greatest simplicity: “I came to Paris with exactly such intentions. My father advised me to stoop to nobody but the king, the cardinal, and yourself—whom he considered the first three personages in France.”
D’Artagnan added M. de Tréville to the others, as may be perceived; but he thought this addition would do no harm.
“I have the greatest veneration for the cardinal,” continued he, “and the most profound respect for his actions. So much the better for me, sir, if you speak to me, as you say, with frankness—for then you will do me the honor to esteem the resemblance of our opinions; but if you have entertained any doubt, as naturally you may, I feel that I am ruining myself by speaking the truth. But I still trust you will not esteem me the less for it, and that is my object beyond all others.”
M. de Tréville was surprised to the greatest degree. So much penetration, so much frankness, created admiration, but did not entirely remove his suspicions. The more this young man was superior to others, the more he was to be dreaded if he meant to deceive him. Nevertheless, he pressed D’Artagnan’s hand, and said to him: “You are an honest youth; but at the present moment I can only do for you that which I just now offered. My hotel will be always open to you. Hereafter, being able to ask for me at all hours, and consequently to take advantage of all opportunities, you will probably obtain that which you desire.”
“That is to say,” replied D’Artagnan, “that you will wait till I have proved myself worthy of it. Well, be assured,” added he, with the familiarity of a Gascon, “you shall not wait long.” And he bowed in order to retire, and as if he considered the future in his own hands.
“But wait a minute,” said M. de Tréville, stopping him. “I promised you a letter for the director of the Academy. Are you too proud to accept it, young gentleman?”
“No, sir,” said D’Artagnan; “and I will answer for it that this one shall not fare like the other. I will guard it so carefully that I will be sworn it shall arrive at its address, and woe be to him who shall attempt to take it from me!”
M. de Tréville smiled at this flourish; and leaving his young compatriot in the embrasure of the window, where they had talked together, he seated himself at a table in order to write the promised letter of recommendation. While he was doing this, D’Artagnan, having no better employment, amused himself with beating a march upon the window and with looking at the Musketeers, who went away, one after another, following them with his eyes till they disappeared.
M. de Tréville, after having written the letter, sealed it, and rising, approached the young man in order to give it to him. But at the very moment when D‘Artagnan stretched out his hand to receive it, M. de Tréville was highly astonished to see his protégé make a sudden spring, become crimson with passion, and rush from the cabinet, crying, “S’blood, he shall not escape me this time! ”
“And who?” asked M. de Tréville.
“He, my thief!” replied D’Artagnan. “Ah, the traitor!” and he disappeared.
“The devil take the madman!” murmured M. de Tréville, “unless,” added he, “this is a cunning mode of escaping, seeing that he has failed in his purpose!”
4
THE SHOULDER OF ATHOS, THE BALDRIC OF PORTHOS, AND THE HANDKERCHIEF OF ARAMIS
D’Artagnan, in a state of fury, crossed the antechamber at three bounds, and was darting toward the stairs, which he reckoned upon descending four at a time, when, in his heedless course, he ran head foremost against a Musketeer who was coming out of one of M. de Tréville’s private rooms, and striking his shoulder violently, made him utter a cry, or rather a howl.
“Excuse me,” said D’Artagnan, endeavoring to resume his course, “excuse me, but I am in a hurry.”
Scarcely had he descended the first stair, when a hand of iron seized him by the belt and stopped him.
“You are in a hurry?” said the Musketeer, as pale as a sheet. “Under that pretense you run against me! You say, ‘Excuse me,’ and you believe that that is sufficient? Not at all, my young man. Do you fancy because you have heard Monsieur de Tréville speak to us a little cavalierly today that other people are to treat us as he speaks to us? Undeceive yourself, comrade, you are not Monsieur de Tréville.”
“My faith!” replied D’Artagnan, recognizing Athos, who, after the dressing performed by the doctor, was returning to his own apartment. “I did not do it intentionally, and not doing it intentionally, I said ‘Excuse me.’ It appears to me that is quite enough. I repeat to you, however, and this time on my word of honor—I think, perhaps, too often—that I am in haste, great haste. Leave your hold, then, I beg of you, and let me go where my business calls me.”
“Monsieur,” said Athos, letting him go, “you are not polite; it is easy to perceive that you come from a distance.”
D’Artagnan had already strode down three or four stairs, but at Athos’s last remark he stopped short.
“Morbleu, monsieur!” said he, “however far I may come, it is not you who can give me a lesson in good manners, I warn you.”
“Perhaps!” said Athos.
“Ah! if I were not in such haste, and if I were not running after someone,” said D’Artagnan.
“Monsieur Man-in-a-hurry, you can find me without running—me, you understand?”
“And where, I pray you?”
“Near the Carmes-Deschaux.”
“At what hour?”
“About noon.”
“About noon? That will do; I will be there.”
“Endeavor not to make me wait, for at a quarter past twelve I will cut off your ears as you run.”
“Good!” cried D’Artagnan, “I will be there ten minutes before twelve.” And he set off running as if the devil possessed him, hoping that he might yet find the stranger, whose slow pace could not have carried him far.
But at the street gate Porthos was talking with the soldier on guard. Between the two talkers there was just room for a man to pass. D‘Artagnan thought it would suffice for him, and he sprang forward like a dart between them. But D’Artagnan had reckoned without the wind. As he was about to pass, the wind blew out Porthos’s long cloak, and D‘Artagnan rushed straight into the middle of it. Without doubt, Porthos had reasons for not abandoning this part of his vestments, for instead of quitting his hold on the flap in his hand, he pulled it toward him, so that D’Artagnan rolled himself up in the velvet by a movement of rotation explained by the persistency of Porthos.
D’Artagnan, hearing the Musketeer swear, wished to escape from the cloak, which blinded him, and sought to find his way from under the folds of it. He was particularly anxious to avoid marring the freshness of the magnificent baldric we are acquainted with; but on timidly opening his eyes, he found himself with his nose fixed between the two shoulders of Porthos—that is to say, exactly upon the baldric.
Alas, like most things in this world which have nothing in their favor but appearances, the baldric was glittering with gold in the front, but was nothing but simple buff behind. Vainglorious as he was, Porthos could not afford to have a baldric wholly of gold, but had at least the half. One could comprehend the necessity of the cold and the urgency of the cloak.
“Bless me!” cried Porthos, making strong efforts to disembarrass himself of D’Artagnan, who was wriggling about his back; “you must be mad to run agai
nst people in this manner.”
“Excuse me,” said D’Artagnan, reappearing under the shoulder of the giant, “but I am in such haste—I was running after someone, and—”
“And do you always forget your eyes when you run?” asked Porthos.
“No,” replied D’Artagnan, piqued, “and thanks to my eyes, I can see what other people cannot see.”
Whether Porthos understood him or did not understand him, giving way to his anger, “Monsieur,” said he, “you stand a chance of getting chastised if you rub Musketeers in this fashion.”
“Chastised, monsieur!” said D’Artagnan, “the expression is strong.”
“It is one that becomes a man accustomed to look his enemies in the face.”
“Ah, pardieu! I know full well that you don’t turn your back to yours.”
And the young man, delighted with his joke, went away laughing loudly.
Porthos foamed with rage, and made a movement to rush after D’Artagnan.
“Presently, presently,” cried the latter, “when you haven’t your cloak on.”
“At one o’clock, then, behind the Luxembourg.”
“Very well, at one o‘clock, then,” replied D’Artagnan, turning the angle of the street.
But neither in the street he had passed through, nor in the one which his eager glance pervaded, could he see anyone; however slowly the stranger had walked, he was gone on his way, or perhaps had entered some house. D’Artagnan inquired of everyone he met with, went down to the ferry, came up again by the Rue de Seine, and the Red Cross; but nothing, absolutely nothing! This chase was, however, advantageous to him in one sense, for in proportion as the perspiration broke from his forehead, his heart began to cool.
He began to reflect upon the events that had passed; they were numerous and inauspicious. It was scarcely eleven o‘clock in the morning, and yet this morning had already brought him into disgrace with M. de Tréville, who could not fail to think the manner in which D’Artagnan had left him a little cavalier.
Three Musketeers (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) Page 9