Chapter IX. The Tempter.
"My prince," said Aramis, turning in the carriage towards 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 that I shall havegreat difficulty in wresting from you a sincere declaration. I beseechyou, then, not for love of me, for subjects should never weigh asanything in the balance which princes hold, but for love of yourself,to retain every syllable, every inflexion which, under the present mostgrave circumstances, will all have a sense and value as important as anyevery uttered in the world."
"I listen," replied the young prince, "decidedly, without either eagerlyseeking or fearing anything you are about to say to me." And he buriedhimself still deeper in the thick cushions of the carriage, trying todeprive his companion not only of the sight of him, but even of the veryidea of his presence.
Black was the darkness which fell wide and dense from the summits of theintertwining trees. The carriage, covered in by this prodigious roof,would not have received a particle of light, not even if a ray couldhave struggled through the wreaths of mist that were already rising inthe avenue.
"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, insteadof ending, like yourself, this slavery in a prison, this obscurity insolitude, these straightened circumstances in concealment, he wasfain to bear all these miseries, humiliations, and distresses, in fulldaylight, under the pitiless sun of royalty; on an elevation floodedwith light, where every stain appears a blemish, every glory a stain.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 hispeople's blood, like Louis XI., or Charles IX.; for he has no mortalinjuries to avenge; but he will devour the means and substance of hispeople; for he has himself undergone wrongs in his own interest andmoney. In the first place, then, I acquit my conscience, when I consideropenly the merits and the faults of this great prince; and if I condemnhim, my conscience absolves 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 thankfulto have been chosen depositary of the secret which I have aided youto discover. 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 mottoof God, '_Patiens quia oeternus_.'" The prince moved. "I divine,monseigneur, why you are raising your head, and are surprised at thepeople I have under my command. You did not know you were dealing with aking--oh! monseigneur, king of a people very humble, much disinherited;humble because they have no force save when creeping; disinherited,because never, almost never in this world, do my people reap the harvestthey sow, nor eat the fruit they cultivate. They labor for an abstractidea; they heap together all the atoms of their power, so from a singleman; and round this man, with the sweat of their labor, they create amisty halo, which his genius shall, in turn, render a glory gilded withthe rays of all the crowns in Christendom. Such is the man you havebeside you, monseigneur. It is to tell you that he has drawn you fromthe abyss for a great purpose, to raise you above the powers of theearth--above himself." [1]
The prince lightly touched Aramis's arm. "You speak to me," he said,"of that 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 simple gratitude."
"Oh, monsieur!"
"Your movement, monseigneur, arises from an excellent disposition.I thank 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., naturaland legitimate heir to the throne of France. In keeping you near him,as Monsieur has been kept--Monsieur, your younger brother--the kingreserved to himself the right of being legitimate sovereign. The doctorsonly could dispute his legitimacy. But the doctors always prefer theking who is to the king who is not. Providence has willed that youshould be persecuted; this persecution to-day consecrates you king ofFrance. You had, then, a right to reign, seeing that it is disputed; youhad a right to be proclaimed seeing that you have been concealed; andyou possess royal blood, since no one has dared to shed yours, as thatof your servants has been shed. Now see, then, what this Providence,which you have so often accused of having in every way thwarted you, hasdone for you. It has given you the features, figure, age, and voiceof your brother; and the very causes of your persecution are aboutto become those of your triumphant restoration. To-morrow, afterto-morrow--from the very first, regal phantom, living shade of LouisXIV., you will sit upon his throne, whence the will of Heaven, confidedin execution to the arm of man, will have hurled him, without hope ofreturn."
"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 a 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 such 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 will 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 sucha fair 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 proud 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 toyour royal highness should be your ascension to the throne, and thedestruction of him who is hurtful to you, has also determined thatthe conquered 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 the most sublime, enduringprinciple of 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's 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 human."
"The king's good pleasure will decide the point," said Aramis. "But hasthe problem been well put? Have I brought out of the solution accordingto the 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 to render 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, that 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,and is killed! The man who trembling 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 sank into so profound a silence, that the mere sound ofhis respiration seemed like a roaring tumult for Aramis. "Monseigneur,"he resumed, "I have not said all I had to say to your royal highness;I have 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, isit to let the magnificence of the cannon's roar make itself heard in theears of one who loves repose and the quiet of the country. Monseigneur,I have your happiness spread out before me in my thoughts; listen to mywords; precious they indeed are, in their import and their sense,for you who look with such tender regard upon the bright heavens, theverdant meadows, the pure air. I know a country instinct withdelights of every kind, an unknown paradise, a secluded corner of theworld--where alone, unfettered and unknown, in the thick covert of thewoods, amidst flowers, and streams of rippling water, you will forgetall the misery that human folly has so recently allotted you. Oh! listento me, my prince. I do not jest. I have a heart, and mind, and soul, andcan read your own,--aye, even to its depths. I will not take you unreadyfor your task, in order to cast you into the crucible of my own desires,of my caprice, or my ambition. Let it be all or nothing. You are chilledand galled, sick at heart, overcome by excess of the emotions which butone hour's liberty has produced in you. For me, that is a certain andunmistakable sign that you do not wish to continue at liberty. Would youprefer a more humble life, a life more suited to your strength? Heavenis my witness, that I wish your happiness to be the result of the trialto which I have exposed you."
"Speak, speak," said the prince, with a vivacity which did not escapeAramis.
"I know," resumed the prelate, "in the Bas-Poitou, a canton, of whichno one 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 greatliving-rafts of poplar and alder, the flooring formed of reeds, and theroof woven 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 landrails or plovers, of wild ducks, teal,widgeon, or woodchucks, which fall an easy pray to net or gun. Silvershad, eels, greedy pike, red and gray mullet, swim in shoals into hisnets; he has but to choose the finest and largest, and return the othersto the waters. Never yet has the food of the stranger, be he soldieror simple 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 swart and fertile, grows the vine, nourishing withgenerous juice its purple, white, and golden grapes. Once a week, a boatis sent to deliver the bread which has been baked at an oven--the commonproperty of all. There--like the seigneurs of early days--powerful invirtue of your dogs, your fishing-lines, your guns, and your beautifulreed-built house, would you live, rich in the produce of the chase,in plentitude of absolute secrecy. 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 thisbag, monseigneur--more, far more, than sufficient to purchase the wholemarsh of which I have spoken; more than enough to live there as manyyears as you have days to live; more than enough to constitute you therichest, the freest, and the happiest man in the country. Accept it,as I offer it you--sincerely, cheerfully. Forthwith, without a moment'spause, I will unharness two of my horses, which are attached to thecarriage yonder, and they, accompanied by my servant--my deaf and dumbattendant--shall conduct you--traveling throughout the night, sleepingduring the day--to the locality I have described; and I shall, at least,have the satisfaction of knowing that I have rendered to my prince themajor service he himself preferred. I shall have made one human beinghappy; and Heaven for that will hold me in better account than if I hadmade one man powerful; the former task is far more difficult. And now,monseigneur, your answer to this proposition? Here is the money. Nay,do not hesitate. At Poitou, you can risk nothing, except the chance ofcatching the fevers prevalent there; and even of them, the so-calledwizards of the country will cure you, for the sake of your pistoles. Ifyou play the other game, you run the chance of being assassinated on athrone, strangled in a prison-cell. Upon my soul, I assure you, now Ibegin to compare them together, I myself should hesitate which lot Ishould 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 us all to hearken to. Ten minutes is all Iask, and then you shall have your answer."
"As you please, monseigneur," said Aramis, bending before him withrespect, so solemn and august in tone and address had sounded th
esestrange words.
The Man in the Iron Mask Page 9