79. The Road to Picardy.
On leaving Paris, Athos and Aramis well knew that they would beencountering great danger; but we know that for men like these therecould be no question of danger. Besides, they felt that the denouementof this second Odyssey was at hand and that there remained but a singleeffort to make.
Besides, there was no tranquillity in Paris itself. Provisions began tofail, and whenever one of the Prince de Conti's generals wished to gainmore influence he got up a little popular tumult, which he put downagain, and thus for the moment gained a superiority over his colleagues.
In one of these risings, the Duc de Beaufort pillaged the house andlibrary of Mazarin, in order to give the populace, as he put it,something to gnaw at. Athos and Aramis left Paris after thiscoup-d'etat, which took place on the very evening of the day in whichthe Parisians had been beaten at Charenton.
They quitted Paris, beholding it abandoned to extreme want, bordering onfamine; agitated by fear, torn by faction. Parisians and Frondeurs asthey were, the two friends expected to find the same misery, the samefears, the same intrigue in the enemy's camp; but what was theirsurprise, after passing Saint Denis, to hear that at Saint Germainpeople were singing and laughing, and leading generally cheerful lives.The two gentlemen traveled by byways in order not to encounter theMazarinists scattered about the Isle of France, and also to escape theFrondeurs, who were in possession of Normandy and who never failed toconduct captives to the Duc de Longueville, in order that he mightascertain whether they were friends or foes. Having escaped thesedangers, they returned by the main road to Boulogne, at Abbeville, andfollowed it step by step, examining every track.
Nevertheless, they were still in a state of uncertainty. Several innswere visited by them, several innkeepers questioned, without a singleclew being given to guide their inquiries, when at Montreuil Athos feltupon the table that something rough was touching his delicate fingers.He turned up the cloth and found these hieroglyphics carved upon thewood with a knife:
"Port.... D'Art.... 2d February."
"This is capital!" said Athos to Aramis, "we were to have slept here,but we cannot--we must push on." They rode forward and reachedAbbeville. There the great number of inns puzzled them; they could notgo to all; how could they guess in which those whom they were seekinghad stayed?
"Trust me," said Aramis, "do not expect to find anything in Abbeville.If we had only been looking for Porthos, Porthos would have stationedhimself in one of the finest hotels and we could easily have traced him.But D'Artagnan is devoid of such weaknesses. Porthos would have found itvery difficult even to make him see that he was dying of hunger; he hasgone on his road as inexorable as fate and we must seek him somewhereelse."
They continued their route. It had now become a weary and almosthopeless task, and had it not been for the threefold motives of honor,friendship and gratitude, implanted in their hearts, our two travelerswould have given up many a time their rides over the sand, theirinterrogatories of the peasantry and their close inspection of faces.
They proceeded thus to Peronne.
Athos began to despair. His noble nature felt that their ignorance was asort of reflection upon them. They had not looked carefully enough fortheir lost friends. They had not shown sufficient pertinacity in theirinquiries. They were willing and ready to retrace their steps, when, incrossing the suburb which leads to the gates of the town, upon a whitewall which was at the corner of a street turning around the rampart,Athos cast his eyes upon a drawing in black chalk, which represented,with the awkwardness of a first attempt, two cavaliers riding furiously;one of them carried a roll of paper on which were written these words:"They are following us."
"Oh!" exclaimed Athos, "here it is, as clear as day; pursued as he was,D'Artagnan would not have tarried here five minutes had he been pressedvery closely, which gives us hopes that he may have succeeded inescaping."
Aramis shook his head.
"Had he escaped we should either have seen him or have heard him spokenof."
"You are right, Aramis, let us travel on."
To describe the impatience and anxiety of these two friends would beimpossible. Uneasiness took possession of the tender, constant heart ofAthos, and fearful forecasts were the torment of the impulsive Aramis.They galloped on for two or three hours as furiously as the cavaliers onthe wall. All at once, in a narrow pass, they perceived that the roadwas partially barricaded by an enormous stone. It had evidently beenrolled across the pass by some arm of giant strength.
Aramis stopped.
"Oh!" he said, looking at the stone, "this is the work of eitherHercules or Porthos. Let us get down, count, and examine this rock."
They both alighted. The stone had been brought with the evidentintention of barricading the road, but some one having perceived theobstacle had partially turned it aside.
With the assistance of Blaisois and Grimaud the friends succeeded inturning the stone over. Upon the side next the ground were scratched thefollowing words:
"Eight of the light dragoons are pursuing us. If we reach Compiegne weshall stop at the Peacock. It is kept by a friend of ours."
"At last we have something definite," said Athos; "let us go to thePeacock."
"Yes," answered Aramis, "but if we are to get there we must rest ourhorses, for they are almost broken-winded."
Aramis was right; they stopped at the first tavern and made each horseswallow a double quantity of corn steeped in wine; they gave them threehours' rest and then set off again. The men themselves were almost deadwith fatigue, but hope supported them.
In six hours they reached Compiegne and alighted at the Peacock. Thehost proved to be a worthy man, as bald as a Chinaman. They asked him ifsome time ago he had not received in his house two gentlemen who werepursued by dragoons; without answering he went out and brought in theblade of a rapier.
"Do you know that?" he asked.
Athos merely glanced at it.
"'Tis D'Artagnan's sword," he said.
"Does it belong to the smaller or to the larger of the two?" asked thehost.
"To the smaller."
"I see that you are the friends of these gentlemen."
"Well, what has happened to them?"
"They were pursued by eight of the light dragoons, who rode into thecourtyard before they had time to close the gate."
"Eight!" said Aramis; "it surprises me that two such heroes as Porthosand D'Artagnan should have allowed themselves to be arrested by eightmen."
"The eight men would doubtless have failed had they not been assisted bytwenty soldiers of the regiment of Italians in the king's service, whoare in garrison in this town so that your friends were overpowered bynumbers."
"Arrested, were they?" inquired Athos; "is it known why?"
"No, sir, they were carried off instantly, and had not even time to tellme why; but as soon as they were gone I found this broken sword-blade,as I was helping to raise two dead men and five or six wounded ones."
"'Tis still a consolation that they were not wounded," said Aramis.
"Where were they taken?" asked Athos.
"Toward the town of Louvres," was the reply.
The two friends having agreed to leave Blaisois and Grimaud at Compiegnewith the horses, resolved to take post horses; and having snatched ahasty dinner they continued their journey to Louvres. Here they foundonly one inn, in which was consumed a liqueur which preserves itsreputation to our time and which is still made in that town.
"Let us alight here," said Athos. "D'Artagnan will not have let slip anopportunity of drinking a glass of this liqueur, and at the same timeleaving some trace of himself."
They went into the town and asked for two glasses of liqueur, at thecounter--as their friends must have done before them. The counter wascovered with a plate of pewter; upon this plate was written with thepoint of a large pin: "Rueil... D.."
"They went to Rueil," cried Aramis.
"Let us go to Rueil," said Athos.
"It is to throw ourselves
into the wolf's jaws," said Aramis.
"Had I been as great a friend of Jonah as I am of D'Artagnan I shouldhave followed him even into the inside of the whale itself; and youwould have done the same, Aramis."
"Certainly--but you make me out better than I am, dear count. Had I beenalone I should scarcely have gone to Rueil without great caution. Butwhere you go, I go."
They then set off for Rueil. Here the deputies of the parliament hadjust arrived, in order to enter upon those famous conferences which wereto last three weeks, and produced eventually that shameful peace, at theconclusion of which the prince was arrested. Rueil was crowded withadvocates, presidents and councillors, who came from the Parisians, and,on the side of the court, with officers and guards; it was thereforeeasy, in the midst of this confusion, to remain as unobserved as any onemight wish; besides, the conferences implied a truce, and to arrest twogentlemen, even Frondeurs, at this time, would have been an attack onthe rights of the people.
The two friends mingled with the crowd and fancied that every one wasoccupied with the same thought that tormented them. They expected tohear some mention made of D'Artagnan or of Porthos, but every one wasengrossed by articles and reforms. It was the advice of Athos to gostraight to the minister.
"My friend," said Aramis, "take care; our safety lies in our obscurity.If we were to make ourselves known we should be sent to rejoin ourfriends in some deep ditch, from which the devil himself could not takeus out. Let us try not to find them out by accident, but from ournotions. Arrested at Compiegne, they have been carried to Rueil; atRueil they have been questioned by the cardinal, who has either keptthem near him or sent them to Saint Germain. As to the Bastile, they arenot there, though the Bastile is especially for the Frondeurs. They arenot dead, for the death of D'Artagnan would make a sensation. As forPorthos, I believe him to be eternal, like God, although less patient.Do not let us despond, but wait at Rueil, for my conviction is that theyare at Rueil. But what ails you? You are pale."
"It is this," answered Athos, with a trembling voice.
"I remember that at the Castle of Rueil the Cardinal Richelieu had somehorrible 'oubliettes' constructed."
"Oh! never fear," said Aramis. "Richelieu was a gentleman, our equal inbirth, our superior in position. He could, like the king, touch thegreatest of us on the head, and touching them make such heads shake ontheir shoulders. But Mazarin is a low-born rogue, who can at the mosttake us by the collar, like an archer. Be calm--for I am sure thatD'Artagnan and Porthos are at Rueil, alive and well."
"But," resumed Athos, "I recur to my first proposal. I know no bettermeans than to act with candor. I shall seek, not Mazarin, but the queen,and say to her, 'Madame, restore to us your two servants and our twofriends.'"
Aramis shook his head.
"'Tis a last resource, but let us not employ it till it is imperativelycalled for; let us rather persevere in our researches."
They continued their inquiries and at last met with a light dragoon whohad formed one of the guard which had escorted D'Artagnan to Rueil.
Athos, however, perpetually recurred to his proposed interview with thequeen.
"In order to see the queen," said Aramis, "we must first see thecardinal; and when we have seen the cardinal--remember what I tell you,Athos--we shall be reunited to our friends, but not in the way you wish.Now, that way of joining them is not very attractive to me, I confess.Let us act in freedom, that we may act well and quickly."
"I shall go," he said, "to the queen."
"Well, then," answered Aramis, "pray tell me a day or two beforehand,that I may take that opportunity of going to Paris."
"To whom?"
"Zounds! how do I know? perhaps to Madame de Longueville. She isall-powerful yonder; she will help me. But send me word should you bearrested, for then I will return directly."
"Why do you not take your chance and be arrested with me?"
"No, I thank you."
"Should we, by being arrested, be all four together again, we shouldnot, I am not sure, be twenty-four hours in prison without gettingfree."
"My friend, since I killed Chatillon, adored of the ladies of SaintGermain, I am too great a celebrity not to fear a prison doubly. Thequeen is likely to follow Mazarin's counsels and to have me tried."
"Do you think she loves this Italian so much as they say she does?"
"Did she not love an Englishman?"
"My friend, she is a woman."
"No, no, you are deceived--she is a queen."
"Dear friend, I shall sacrifice myself and go and see Anne of Austria."
"Adieu, Athos, I am going to raise an army."
"For what purpose?"
"To come back and besiege Rueil."
"Where shall we meet again?"
"At the foot of the cardinal's gallows."
The two friends departed--Aramis to return to Paris, Athos to takemeasures preparatory to an interview with the queen.
Vingt ans après. English Page 79