Chapter XXVII. Monsieur de Beaufort.
The prince turned round at the moment when Raoul, in order to leave himalone with Athos, was shutting the door, and preparing to go with theother officers into an adjoining apartment.
"Is that the young man I have heard M. le Prince speak so highly of?"asked M. de Beaufort.
"It is, monseigneur."
"He is quite the soldier; let him stay, count, we cannot spare him."
"Remain, Raoul, since monseigneur permits it," said Athos.
"_Ma foi!_ he is tall and handsome!" continued the duke. "Will you givehim to me, monseigneur, if I ask him of you?"
"How am I to understand you, monseigneur?" said Athos.
"Why, I call upon you to bid you farewell."
"Farewell!"
"Yes, in good truth. Have you no idea of what I am about to become?"
"Why, I suppose, what you have always been, monseigneur,--a valiantprince, and an excellent gentleman."
"I am going to become an African prince,--a Bedouin gentleman. The kingis sending me to make conquests among the Arabs."
"What is this you tell me, monseigneur?"
"Strange, is it not? I, the Parisian _par essence_, I who have reignedin the faubourgs, and have been called King of the Halles,--I am goingto pass from the Place Maubert to the minarets of Gigelli; from aFrondeur I am becoming an adventurer!"
"Oh, monseigneur, if you did not yourself tell me that--"
"It would not be credible, would it? Believe me, nevertheless, and wehave but to bid each other farewell. This is what comes of getting intofavor again."
"Into favor?"
"Yes. You smile. Ah, my dear count, do you know why I have accepted thisenterprise, can you guess?"
"Because your highness loves glory above--everything."
"Oh! no; there is no glory in firing muskets at savages. I see no gloryin that, for my part, and it is more probable that I shall there meetwith something else. But I have wished, and still wish earnestly, mydear count, that my life should have that last _facet_, after all thewhimsical exhibitions I have seen myself make during fifty years. For,in short, you must admit that it is sufficiently strange to be bornthe grandson of a king, to have made war against kings, to have beenreckoned among the powers of the age, to have maintained my rank, tofeel Henry IV. within me, to be great admiral of France--and then to goand get killed at Gigelli, among all those Turks, Saracens, and Moors."
"Monseigneur, you harp with strange persistence on that theme," saidAthos, in an agitated voice. "How can you suppose that so brilliant adestiny will be extinguished in that remote and miserable scene?"
"And can you believe, upright and simple as you are, that if I go intoAfrica for this ridiculous motive, I will not endeavor to come out of itwithout ridicule? Shall I not give the world cause to speak of me? Andto be spoken of, nowadays, when there are Monsieur le Prince, M. deTurenne, and many others, my contemporaries, I, admiral of France,grandson of Henry IV., king of Paris, have I anything left but to getmyself killed? _Cordieu!_ I will be talked of, I tell you; I shall bekilled whether or not; if not there, somewhere else."
"Why, monseigneur, this is mere exaggeration; and hitherto you haveshown nothing exaggerated save in bravery."
"_Peste!_ my dear friend, there is bravery in facing scurvy, dysentery,locusts, poisoned arrows, as my ancestor St. Louis did. Do you knowthose fellows still use poisoned arrows? And then, you know me of old,I fancy, and you know that when I once make up my mind to a thing, Iperform it in grim earnest."
"Yes, you made up your mind to escape from Vincennes."
"Ay, but you aided me in that, my master; and, _a propos_, I turn thisway and that, without seeing my old friend, M. Vaugrimaud. How is he?"
"M. Vaugrimaud is still your highness's most respectful servant," saidAthos, smiling.
"I have a hundred pistoles here for him, which I bring as a legacy. Mywill is made, count."
"Ah! monseigneur! monseigneur!"
"And you may understand that if Grimaud's name were to appear in mywill--" The duke began to laugh; then addressing Raoul, who, from thecommencement of this conversation, had sunk into a profound reverie,"Young man," said he, "I know there is to be found here a certain DeVouvray wine, and I believe--" Raoul left the room precipitately toorder the wine. In the meantime M. de Beaufort took the hand of Athos.
"What do you mean to do with him?" asked he.
"Nothing at present, monseigneur."
"Ah! yes, I know; since the passion of the king for La Valliere."
"Yes, monseigneur."
"That is all true, then, is it? I think I know her, that little LaValliere. She is not particularly handsome, if I remember right?"
"No, monseigneur," said Athos.
"Do you know whom she reminds me of?"
"Does she remind your highness of any one?"
"She reminds me of a very agreeable girl, whose mother lived in theHalles."
"Ah! ah!" said Athos, smiling.
"Oh! the good old times," added M. de Beaufort. "Yes, La Vallierereminds me of that girl."
"Who had a son, had she not?" [3]
"I believe she had," replied the duke, with careless _naivete_ and acomplaisant forgetfulness, of which no words could translate the toneand the vocal expression. "Now, here is poor Raoul, who is your son, Ibelieve."
"Yes, he is my son, monseigneur."
"And the poor lad has been cut out by the king, and he frets."
"Still better, monseigneur, he abstains."
"You are going to let the boy rust in idleness; it is a mistake. Come,give him to me."
"My wish is to keep him at home, monseigneur. I have no longer anythingin the world but him, and as long as he likes to remain--"
"Well, well," replied the duke. "I could, nevertheless, have soon putmatters to rights again. I assure you, I think he has in him thestuff of which marechals of France are made; I have seen more than oneproduced from less likely rough material."
"That is very possible, monseigneur; but it is the king who makesmarechals of France, and Raoul will never accept anything of the king."
Raoul interrupted this conversation by his return. He preceded Grimaud,whose still steady hands carried the plateau with one glass and a bottleof the duke's favorite wine. On seeing his old _protege_, the dukeuttered an exclamation of pleasure.
"Grimaud! Good evening, Grimaud!" said he; "how goes it?"
The servant bowed profoundly, as much gratified as his nobleinterlocutor.
"Two old friends!" said the duke, shaking honest Grimaud's shoulderafter a vigorous fashion; which was followed by another still moreprofound and delighted bow from Grimaud.
"But what is this, count, only one glass?"
"I should not think of drinking with your highness, unless your highnesspermitted me," replied Athos, with noble humility.
"_Cordieu!_ you were right to bring only one glass, we will both drinkout of it, like two brothers in arms. Begin, count."
"Do me the honor," said Athos, gently putting back the glass.
"You are a charming friend," replied the Duc de Beaufort, who drank, andpassed the goblet to his companion. "But that is not all," continued he,"I am still thirsty, and I wish to do honor to this handsome young manwho stands here. I carry good luck with me, vicomte," said he to Raoul;"wish for something while drinking out of my glass, and may the blackplague grab me if what you wish does not come to pass!" He held thegoblet to Raoul, who hastily moistened his lips, and replied with thesame promptitude:
"I have wished for something, monseigneur." His eyes sparkled with agloomy fire, and the blood mounted to his cheeks; he terrified Athos, ifonly with his smile.
"And what have you wished for?" replied the duke, sinking back into hisfauteuil, whilst with one hand he returned the bottle to Grimaud, andwith the other gave him a purse.
"Will you promise me, monseigneur, to grant me what I wish for?"
"_Pardieu!_ That is agreed upon."
"I wish
ed, monsieur le duc, to go with you to Gigelli."
Athos became pale, and was unable to conceal his agitation. The dukelooked at his friend, as if desirous to assist him to parry thisunexpected blow.
"That is difficult, my dear vicomte, very difficult," added he, in alower tone of voice.
"Pardon me, monseigneur, I have been indiscreet," replied Raoul, in afirm voice; "but as you yourself invited me to wish--"
"To wish to leave me?" said Athos.
"Oh! monsieur--can you imagine--"
"Well, _mordieu!_" cried the duke, "the young vicomte is right! What canhe do here? He will go moldy with grief."
Raoul blushed, and the excitable prince continued: "War is adistraction: we gain everything by it; we can only lose one thing byit--life--then so much the worse!"
"That is to say, memory," said Raoul, eagerly; "and that is to say, somuch the better!"
He repented of having spoken so warmly when he saw Athos rise and openthe window; which was, doubtless, to conceal his emotion. Raoul sprangtowards the comte, but the latter had already overcome his emotion, andturned to the lights with a serene and impassible countenance. "Well,come," said the duke, "let us see! Shall he go, or shall he not? If hegoes, comte, he shall be my aide-de-camp, my son."
"Monseigneur!" cried Raoul, bending his knee.
"Monseigneur!" cried Athos, taking the hand of the duke; "Raoul shall dojust as he likes."
"Oh! no, monsieur, just as you like," interrupted the young man.
"_Par la corbleu!_" said the prince in his turn, "it is neither thecomte nor the vicomte that shall have his way, it is I. I will take himaway. The marine offers a superb fortune, my friend."
Raoul smiled again so sadly, that this time Athos felt his heartpenetrated by it, and replied to him by a severe look. Raoulcomprehended it all; he recovered his calmness, and was so guarded, thatnot another word escaped him. The duke at length rose, on observing theadvanced hour, and said, with animation, "I am in great haste, but if Iam told I have lost time in talking with a friend, I will reply I havegained--on the balance--a most excellent recruit."
"Pardon me, monsieur le duc," interrupted Raoul, "do not tell the kingso, for it is not the king I wish to serve."
"Eh! my friend, whom, then, will you serve? The times are past whenyou might have said, 'I belong to M. de Beaufort.' No, nowadays, we allbelong to the king, great or small. Therefore, if you serve on board myvessels, there can be nothing equivocal about it, my dear vicomte; itwill be the king you will serve."
Athos waited with a kind of impatient joy for the reply about to be madeto this embarrassing question by Raoul, the intractable enemy of theking, his rival. The father hoped that the obstacle would overcome thedesire. He was thankful to M. de Beaufort, whose lightness or generousreflection had thrown an impediment in the way of the departure of ason, now his only joy. But Raoul, still firm and tranquil, replied:"Monsieur le duc, the objection you make I have already considered in mymind. I will serve on board your vessels, because you do me the honorto take me with you; but I shall there serve a more powerful master thanthe king: I shall serve God!"
"God! how so?" said the duke and Athos together.
"My intention is to make profession, and become a knight of Malta,"added Bragelonne, letting fall, one by one, words more icy than thedrops which fall from the bare trees after the tempests of winter. [4]
Under this blow Athos staggered and the prince himself was moved.Grimaud uttered a heavy groan, and let fall the bottle, which was brokenwithout anybody paying attention. M. de Beaufort looked the young man inthe face, and read plainly, though his eyes were cast down, the fire ofresolution before which everything must give way. As to Athos, he wastoo well acquainted with that tender, but inflexible soul; he could nothope to make it deviate from the fatal road it had just chosen. He couldonly press the hand the duke held out to him. "Comte, I shall set off intwo days for Toulon," said M. de Beaufort. "Will you meet me at Paris,in order that I may know your determination?"
"I will have the honor of thanking you there, _mon prince_, for all yourkindness," replied the comte.
"And be sure to bring the vicomte with you, whether he follows me ordoes not follow me," added the duke; "he has my word, and I only askyours."
Having thrown a little balm upon the wound of the paternal heart, hepulled the ear of Grimaud, whose eyes sparkled more than usual, andregained his escort in the parterre. The horses, rested and refreshed,set off with spirit through the lovely night, and soon placed aconsiderable distance between their master and the chateau.
Athos and Bragelonne were again face to face. Eleven o'clock wasstriking. The father and son preserved a profound silence towards eachother, where an intelligent observer would have expected cries andtears. But these two men were of such a nature that all emotionfollowing their final resolutions plunged itself so deep into theirhearts that it was lost forever. They passed, then, silently and almostbreathlessly, the hour that preceded midnight. The clock, by striking,alone pointed out to them how many minutes had lasted the painfuljourney made by their souls in the immensity of their remembrances ofthe past and fear of the future. Athos rose first, saying, "it is late,then.... Till to-morrow."
Raoul rose, and in his turn embraced his father. The latter held himclasped to his breast, and said, in a tremulous voice, "In two days, youwill have left me, my son--left me forever, Raoul!"
"Monsieur," replied the young man, "I had formed a determination, thatof piercing my heart with my sword; but you would have thought thatcowardly. I have renounced that determination, and _therefore_ we mustpart."
"You leave me desolate by going, Raoul."
"Listen to me again, monsieur, I implore you. If I do not go, I shalldie here of grief and love. I know how long a time I have to live thus.Send me away quickly, monsieur, or you will see me basely die beforeyour eyes--in your house--this is stronger than my will--stronger thanmy strength--you may plainly see that within one month I have livedthirty years, and that I approach the end of my life."
"Then," said Athos, coldly, "you go with the intention of getting killedin Africa? Oh, tell me! do not lie!"
Raoul grew deadly pale, and remained silent for two seconds, which wereto his father two hours of agony. Then, all at once: "Monsieur," saidhe, "I have promised to devote myself to God. In exchange for thesacrifice I make of my youth and liberty, I will only ask of Him onething, and that is, to preserve me for you, because you are the only tiewhich attaches me to this world. God alone can give me the strength notto forget that I owe you everything, and that nothing ought to stand inmy esteem before you."
Athos embraced his son tenderly, and said:
"You have just replied to me on the word of honor of an honest man; intwo days we shall be with M. de Beaufort at Paris, and you will then dowhat will be proper for you to do. You are free, Raoul; adieu."
And he slowly gained his bedroom. Raoul went down into the garden, andpassed the night in the alley of limes.
The Man in the Iron Mask Page 27