The Man in the Iron Mask

by Alexandre Dumas

  Chapter XIV. A Gascon, and a Gascon and a Half.

  D'Artagnan had determined to lose no time, and in fact he never was inthe habit of doing so. After having inquired for Aramis, he had lookedfor him in every direction until he had succeeded in finding him.Besides, no sooner had the king entered Vaux, than Aramis had retired tohis own room, meditating, doubtless, some new piece of gallant attentionfor his majesty's amusement. D'Artagnan desired the servants to announcehim, and found on the second story (in a beautiful room called the BlueChamber, on account of the color of its hangings) the bishop of Vannesin company with Porthos and several of the modern Epicureans. Aramiscame forward to embrace his friend, and offered him the best seat. Asit was after awhile generally remarked among those present that themusketeer was reserved, and wished for an opportunity for conversingsecretly with Aramis, the Epicureans took their leave. Porthos, however,did not stir; for true it is that, having dined exceedingly well, he wasfast asleep in his armchair; and the freedom of conversation thereforewas not interrupted by a third person. Porthos had a deep, harmonioussnore, and people might talk in the midst of its loud bass without fearof disturbing him. D'Artagnan felt that he was called upon to open theconversation.

  "Well, and so we have come to Vaux," he said.

  "Why, yes, D'Artagnan. And how do you like the place?"

  "Very much, and I like M. Fouquet, also."

  "Is he not a charming host?"

  "No one could be more so."

  "I am told that the king began by showing great distance of mannertowards M. Fouquet, but that his majesty grew much more cordialafterwards."

  "You did not notice it, then, since you say you have been told so?"

  "No; I was engaged with the gentlemen who have just left the room aboutthe theatrical performances and the tournaments which are to take placeto-morrow."

  "Ah, indeed! you are the comptroller-general of the _fetes_ here, then?"

  "You know I am a friend of all kinds of amusement where the exercise ofthe imagination is called into activity; I have always been a poet inone way or another."

  "Yes, I remember the verses you used to write, they were charming."

  "I have forgotten them, but I am delighted to read the verses of others,when those others are known by the names of Moliere, Pelisson, LaFontaine, etc."

  "Do you know what idea occurred to me this evening, Aramis?"

  "No; tell me what it was, for I should never be able to guess it, youhave so many."

  "Well, the idea occurred to me, that the true king of France is notLouis XIV."

  "_What!_" said Aramis, involuntarily, looking the musketeer full in theeyes.

  "No, it is Monsieur Fouquet."

  Aramis breathed again, and smiled. "Ah! you are like all the rest,jealous," he said. "I would wager that it was M. Colbert who turnedthat pretty phrase." D'Artagnan, in order to throw Aramis off his guard,related Colbert's misadventures with regard to the _vin de Melun_.

  "He comes of a mean race, does Colbert," said Aramis.

  "Quite true."

  "When I think, too," added the bishop, "that that fellow will be yourminister within four months, and that you will serve him as blindly asyou did Richelieu or Mazarin--"

  "And as you serve M. Fouquet," said D'Artagnan.

  "With this difference, though, that M. Fouquet is not M. Colbert."

  "True, true," said D'Artagnan, as he pretended to become sad and full ofreflection; and then, a moment after, he added, "Why do you tell me thatM. Colbert will be minister in four months?"

  "Because M. Fouquet will have ceased to be so," replied Aramis.

  "He will be ruined, you mean?" said D'Artagnan.

  "Completely so."

  "Why does he give these _fetes_, then?" said the musketeer, in a tone sofull of thoughtful consideration, and so well assumed, that the bishopwas for the moment deceived by it. "Why did you not dissuade him fromit?"

  The latter part of the phrase was just a little too much, and Aramis'sformer suspicions were again aroused. "It is done with the object ofhumoring the king."

  "By ruining himself?"

  "Yes, by ruining himself for the king."

  "A most eccentric, one might say, sinister calculation, that."

  "Necessity, necessity, my friend."

  "I don't see that, dear Aramis."

  "Do you not? Have you not remarked M. Colbert's daily increasingantagonism, and that he is doing his utmost to drive the king to get ridof the superintendent?"

  "One must be blind not to see it."

  "And that a cabal is already armed against M. Fouquet?"

  "That is well known."

  "What likelihood is there that the king would join a party formedagainst a man who will have spent everything he had to please him?"

  "True, true," said D'Artagnan, slowly, hardly convinced, yet curiousto broach another phase of the conversation. "There are follies, andfollies," he resumed, "and I do not like those you are committing."

  "What do you allude to?"

  "As for the banquet, the ball, the concert, the theatricals, thetournaments, the cascades, the fireworks, the illuminations, and thepresents--these are well and good, I grant; but why were not theseexpenses sufficient? Why was it necessary to have new liveries andcostumes for your whole household?"

  "You are quite right. I told M. Fouquet that myself; he replied, thatif he were rich enough he would offer the king a newly erected chateau,from the vanes at the houses to the very sub-cellars; completely newinside and out; and that, as soon as the king had left, he would burnthe whole building and its contents, in order that it might not be madeuse of by any one else."

  "How completely Spanish!"

  "I told him so, and he then added this: 'Whoever advises me to spareexpense, I shall look upon as my enemy.'"

  "It is positive madness; and that portrait, too!"

  "What portrait?" said Aramis.

  "That of the king, and the surprise as well."

  "What surprise?"

  "The surprise you seem to have in view, and on account of which you tooksome specimens away, when I met you at Percerin's." D'Artagnan paused.The shaft was discharged, and all he had to do was to wait and watch itseffect.

  "That is merely an act of graceful attention," replied Aramis.

  D'Artagnan went up to his friend, took hold of both his hands, andlooking him full in the eyes, said, "Aramis, do you still care for me avery little?"

  "What a question to ask!"

  "Very good. One favor, then. Why did you take some patterns of theking's costumes at Percerin's?"

  "Come with me and ask poor Lebrun, who has been working upon them forthe last two days and nights."

  "Aramis, that may be truth for everybody else, but for me--"

  "Upon my word, D'Artagnan, you astonish me."

  "Be a little considerate. Tell me the exact truth; you would not likeanything disagreeable to happen to me, would you?"

  "My dear friend, you are becoming quite incomprehensible. What suspicioncan you have possibly got hold of?"

  "Do you believe in my instinctive feelings? Formerly you used to havefaith in them. Well, then, an instinct tells me that you have someconcealed project on foot."

  "I--a project?"

  "I am convinced of it."

  "What nonsense!"

  "I am not only sure of it, but I would even swear it."

  "Indeed, D'Artagnan, you cause me the greatest pain. Is it likely, if Ihave any project in hand that I ought to keep secret from you, I shouldtell you about it? If I had one that I could and ought to have revealed,should I not have long ago divulged it?"

  "No, Aramis, no. There are certain projects which are never revealeduntil the favorable opportunity arrives."

  "In that case, my dear fellow," returned the bishop, laughing, "the onlything now is, that the 'opportunity' has not yet arrived."

  D'Artagnan shook his head with a sorrowful expression. "Oh, friendship,friendship!" he said, "what an idle word you are! Here is a man wh
o, ifI were but to ask it, would suffer himself to be cut in pieces for mysake."

  "You are right," said Aramis, nobly.

  "And this man, who would shed every drop of blood in his veins for me,will not open up before me the least corner in his heart. Friendship, Irepeat, is nothing but an unsubstantial shadow--a lure, like everythingelse in this bright, dazzling world."

  "It is not thus you should speak of _our_ friendship," replied thebishop, in a firm, assured voice; "for ours is not of the same nature asthose of which you have been speaking."

  "Look at us, Aramis; three out of the old 'four.' You are deceiving me;I suspect you; and Porthos is fast asleep. An admirable trio of friends,don't you think so? What an affecting relic of the former dear oldtimes!"

  "I can only tell you one thing, D'Artagnan, and I swear it on the Bible:I love you just as I used to do. If I ever suspect you, it is on accountof others, and not on account of either of us. In everything I may do,and should happen to succeed in, you will find your fourth. Will youpromise me the same favor?"

  "If I am not mistaken, Aramis, your words--at the moment you pronouncethem--are full of generous feeling."

  "Such a thing is very possible."

  "You are conspiring against M. Colbert. If that be all, _mordioux_, tellme so at once. I have the instrument in my own hand, and will pull outthe tooth easily enough."

  Aramis could not conceal a smile of disdain that flitted over hishaughty features. "And supposing that I were conspiring against Colbert,what harm would there be in _that?_"

  "No, no; that would be too trifling a matter for you to take in hand,and it was not on that account you asked Percerin for those patterns ofthe king's costumes. Oh! Aramis, we are not enemies, remember--we arebrothers. Tell me what you wish to undertake, and, upon the word of aD'Artagnan, if I cannot help you, I will swear to remain neuter."

  "I am undertaking nothing," said Aramis.

  "Aramis, a voice within me speaks and seems to trickle forth a rill oflight within my darkness: it is a voice that has never yet deceived me.It is the king you are conspiring against."

  "The king?" exclaimed the bishop, pretending to be annoyed.

  "Your face will not convince me; the king, I repeat."

  "Will you help me?" said Aramis, smiling ironically.

  "Aramis, I will do more than help you--I will do more than remainneuter--I will save you."

  "You are mad, D'Artagnan."

  "I am the wiser of the two, in this matter."

  "You to suspect me of wishing to assassinate the king!"

  "Who spoke of such a thing?" smiled the musketeer.

  "Well, let us understand one another. I do not see what any one cando to a legitimate king as ours is, if he does not assassinate him."D'Artagnan did not say a word. "Besides, you have your guards and yourmusketeers here," said the bishop.

  "True."

  "You are not in M. Fouquet's house, but in your own."

  "True; but in spite of that, Aramis, grant me, for pity's sake, onesingle word of a true friend."

  "A true friend's word is ever truth itself. If I think of touching, evenwith my finger, the son of Anne of Austria, the true king of this realmof France--if I have not the firm intention of prostrating myself beforehis throne--if in every idea I may entertain to-morrow, here at Vaux,will not be the most glorious day my king ever enjoyed--may Heaven'slightning blast me where I stand!" Aramis had pronounced these wordswith his face turned towards the alcove of his own bedroom, whereD'Artagnan, seated with his back towards the alcove, could not suspectthat any one was lying concealed. The earnestness of his words, thestudied slowness with which he pronounced them, the solemnity of hisoath, gave the musketeer the most complete satisfaction. He took holdof both Aramis's hands, and shook them cordially. Aramis had enduredreproaches without turning pale, and had blushed as he listened to wordsof praise. D'Artagnan, deceived, did him honor; but D'Artagnan, trustfuland reliant, made him feel ashamed. "Are you going away?" he said, as heembraced him, in order to conceal the flush on his face.

  "Yes. Duty summons me. I have to get the watch-word. It seems I am to belodged in the king's ante-room. Where does Porthos sleep?"

  "Take him away with you, if you like, for he rumbles through his sleepynose like a park of artillery."

  "Ah! he does not stay with you, then?" said D'Artagnan.

  "Not the least in the world. He has a chamber to himself, but I don'tknow where."

  "Very good!" said the musketeer; from whom this separation of the twoassociates removed his last suspicion, and he touched Porthos lightlyon the shoulder; the latter replied by a loud yawn. "Come," saidD'Artagnan.

  "What, D'Artagnan, my dear fellow, is that you? What a lucky chance! Oh,yes--true; I have forgotten; I am at the _fete_ at Vaux."

  "Yes; and your beautiful dress, too."

  "Yes, it was very attentive on the part of Monsieur Coquelin de Voliere,was it not?"

  "Hush!" said Aramis. "You are walking so heavily you will make theflooring give way."

  "True," said the musketeer; "this room is above the dome, I think."

  "And I did not choose it for a fencing-room, I assure you," added thebishop. "The ceiling of the king's room has all the lightness and calmof wholesome sleep. Do not forget, therefore, that my flooring is merelythe covering of his ceiling. Good night, my friends, and in ten minutesI shall be asleep myself." And Aramis accompanied them to the door,laughing quietly all the while. As soon as they were outside, he boltedthe door, hurriedly; closed up the chinks of the windows, and thencalled out, "Monseigneur!--monseigneur!" Philippe made his appearancefrom the alcove, as he pushed aside a sliding panel placed behind thebed.

  "M. d'Artagnan entertains a great many suspicions, it seems," he said.

  "Ah!--you recognized M. d'Artagnan, then?"

  "Before you called him by his name, even."

  "He is your captain of musketeers."

  "He is very devoted to _me_," replied Philippe, laying a stress upon thepersonal pronoun.

  "As faithful as a dog; but he bites sometimes. If D'Artagnan does notrecognize you before _the other_ has disappeared, rely upon D'Artagnanto the end of the world; for in that case, if he has seen nothing, hewill keep his fidelity. If he sees, when it is too late, he is a Gascon,and will never admit that he has been deceived."

  "I thought so. What are we to do, now?"

  "Sit in this folding-chair. I am going to push aside a portion of theflooring; you will look through the opening, which answers to one of thefalse windows made in the dome of the king's apartment. Can you see?"

  "Yes," said Philippe, starting as at the sight of an enemy; "I see theking!"

  "What is he doing?"

  "He seems to wish some man to sit down close to him."

  "M. Fouquet?"

  "No, no; wait a moment--"

  "Look at the notes and the portraits, my prince."

  "The man whom the king wishes to sit down in his presence is M.Colbert."

  "Colbert sit down in the king's presence!" exclaimed Aramis. "It isimpossible."

  "Look."

  Aramis looked through the opening in the flooring. "Yes," he said."Colbert himself. Oh, monseigneur! what can we be going to hear--andwhat can result from this intimacy?"

  "Nothing good for M. Fouquet, at all events."

  The prince did not deceive himself.

  We have seen that Louis XIV. had sent for Colbert, and Colbert hadarrived. The conversation began between them by the king according tohim one of the highest favors that he had ever done; it was true theking was alone with his subject. "Colbert," said he, "sit down."

  The intendant, overcome with delight, for he feared he was about to bedismissed, refused this unprecedented honor.

  "Does he accept?" said Aramis.

  "No, he remains standing."

  "Let us listen, then." And the future king and the future pope listenedeagerly to the simple mortals they held under their feet, ready to crushthem when they liked.

  "Colbert," sai
d the king, "you have annoyed me exceedingly to-day."

  "I know it, sire."

  "Very good; I like that answer. Yes, you knew it, and there was couragein the doing of it."

  "I ran the risk of displeasing your majesty, but I risked, also, theconcealment of your best interests."

  "What! you were afraid of something on _my_ account?"

  "I was, sire, even if it were nothing more than an indigestion," saidColbert; "for people do not give their sovereigns such banquets as theone of to-day, unless it be to stifle them beneath the burden of goodliving." Colbert awaited the effect this coarse jest would produce uponthe king; and Louis XIV., who was the vainest and the most fastidiouslydelicate man in his kingdom, forgave Colbert the joke.

  "The truth is," he said, "that M. Fouquet has given me too good a meal.Tell me, Colbert, where does he get all the money required for thisenormous expenditure,--can you tell?"

  "Yes, I do know, sire."

  "Will you be able to prove it with tolerable certainty?"

  "Easily; and to the utmost farthing."

  "I know you are very exact."

  "Exactitude is the principal qualification required in an intendant offinances."

  "But all are not so."

  "I thank you majesty for so flattering a compliment from your own lips."

  "M. Fouquet, therefore, is rich--very rich, and I suppose every manknows he is so."

  "Every one, sire; the living as well as the dead."

  "What does that mean, Monsieur Colbert?"

  "The living are witnesses of M. Fouquet's wealth,--they admire andapplaud the result produced; but the dead, wiser and better informedthan we are, know how that wealth was obtained--and they rise up inaccusation."

  "So that M. Fouquet owes his wealth to some cause or other."

  "The occupation of an intendant very often favors those who practiceit."

  "You have something to say to me more confidentially, I perceive; do notbe afraid, we are quite alone."

  "I am never afraid of anything under the shelter of my own conscience,and under the protection of your majesty," said Colbert, bowing.

  "If the dead, therefore, were to speak--"

  "They do speak sometimes, sire,--read."

  "Ah!" murmured Aramis, in the prince's ear, who, close beside him,listened without losing a syllable, "since you are placed here,monseigneur, in order to learn your vocation of a king, listen to apiece of infamy--of a nature truly royal. You are about to be awitness of one of those scenes which the foul fiend alone conceives andexecutes. Listen attentively,--you will find your advantage in it."

  The prince redoubled his attention, and saw Louis XIV. take fromColbert's hands a letter the latter held out to him.

  "The late cardinal's handwriting," said the king.

  "Your majesty has an excellent memory," replied Colbert, bowing; "itis an immense advantage for a king who is destined for hard work torecognize handwritings at the first glance."

  The king read Mazarin's letter, and, as its contents are already knownto the reader, in consequence of the misunderstanding between Madame deChevreuse and Aramis, nothing further would be learned if we stated themhere again.

  "I do not quite understand," said the king, greatly interested.

  "Your majesty has not acquired the utilitarian habit of checking thepublic accounts."

  "I see that it refers to money that had been given to M. Fouquet."

  "Thirteen millions. A tolerably good sum."

  "Yes. Well, these thirteen millions are wanting to balance the total ofthe account. That is what I do not very well understand. How was thisdeficit possible?"

  "Possible I do not say; but there is no doubt about fact that it isreally so."

  "You say that these thirteen millions are found to be wanting in theaccounts?"

  "I do not say so, but the registry does."

  "And this letter of M. Mazarin indicates the employment of that sum andthe name of the person with whom it was deposited?"

  "As your majesty can judge for yourself."

  "Yes; and the result is, then, that M. Fouquet has not yet restored thethirteen millions."

  "That results from the accounts, certainly, sire."

  "Well, and, consequently--"

  "Well, sire, in that case, inasmuch as M. Fouquet has not yet givenback the thirteen millions, he must have appropriated them to his ownpurpose; and with those thirteen millions one could incur four times anda little more as much expense, and make four times as great a display,as your majesty was able to do at Fontainebleau, where we only spentthree millions altogether, if you remember."

  For a blunderer, the _souvenir_ he had evoked was a rather skillfullycontrived piece of baseness; for by the remembrance of his own _fete_he, for the first time, perceived its inferiority compared with that ofFouquet. Colbert received back again at Vaux what Fouquet had given himat Fontainebleau, and, as a good financier, returned it with the bestpossible interest. Having once disposed the king's mind in this artfulway, Colbert had nothing of much importance to detain him. He felt thatsuch was the case, for the king, too, had again sunk into a dull andgloomy state. Colbert awaited the first words from the king's lipswith as much impatience as Philippe and Aramis did from their place ofobservation.

  "Are you aware what is the usual and natural consequence of all this,Monsieur Colbert?" said the king, after a few moments' reflection.

  "No, sire, I do not know."

  "Well, then, the fact of the appropriation of the thirteen millions, ifit can be proved--"

  "But it is so already."

  "I mean if it were to be declared and certified, M. Colbert."

  "I think it will be to-morrow, if your majesty--"

  "Were we not under M. Fouquet's roof, you were going to say, perhaps,"replied the king, with something of nobility in his demeanor.

  "The king is in his own palace wherever he may be--especially in houseswhich the royal money has constructed."

  "I think," said Philippe in a low tone to Aramis, "that the architectwho planned this dome ought, anticipating the use it could be put to ata future opportunity, so to have contrived that it might be made to fallupon the heads of scoundrels such as M. Colbert."

  "I think so too," replied Aramis; "but M. Colbert is so very _near theking_ at this moment."

  "That is true, and that would open the succession."

  "Of which your younger brother would reap all the advantage,monseigneur. But stay, let us keep quiet, and go on listening."

  "We shall not have long to listen," said the young prince.

  "Why not, monseigneur?"

  "Because, if I were king, I should make no further reply."

  "And what would you do?"

  "I should wait until to-morrow morning to give myself time forreflection."

  Louis XIV. at last raised his eyes, and finding Colbert attentivelywaiting for his next remarks, said, hastily, changing the conversation,"M. Colbert, I perceive it is getting very late, and I shall now retireto bed. By to-morrow morning I shall have made up my mind."

  "Very good, sire," returned Colbert, greatly incensed, although herestrained himself in the presence of the king.

  The king made a gesture of adieu, and Colbert withdrew with a respectfulbow. "My attendants!" cried the king; and, as they entered theapartment, Philippe was about to quit his post of observation.

  "A moment longer," said Aramis to him, with his accustomed gentleness ofmanner; "what has just now taken place is only a detail, and to-morrowwe shall have no occasion to think anything more about it; but theceremony of the king's retiring to rest, the etiquette observed inaddressing the king, that indeed is of the greatest importance. Learn,sire, and study well how you ought to go to bed of a night. Look! look!"