Chapter LIII. King Louis XIV.
The king was seated in his cabinet, with his back turned towards thedoor of entrance. In front of him was a mirror, in which, while turningover his papers, he could see at a glance those who came in. He didnot take any notice of the entrance of D'Artagnan, but spread above hisletters and plans the large silk cloth he used to conceal his secretsfrom the importunate. D'Artagnan understood this by-play, and keptin the background; so that at the end of a minute the king, who heardnothing, and saw nothing save from the corner of his eye, was obliged tocry, "Is not M. d'Artagnan there?"
"I am here, sire," replied the musketeer, advancing.
"Well, monsieur," said the king, fixing his pellucid eyes on D'Artagnan,"what have you to say to me?"
"I, sire!" replied the latter, who watched the first blow of hisadversary to make a good retort; "I have nothing to say to your majesty,unless it be that you have caused me to be arrested, and here I am."
The king was going to reply that he had not had D'Artagnan arrested, butany such sentence appeared too much like an excuse, and he was silent.D'Artagnan likewise preserved an obstinate silence.
"Monsieur," at length resumed the king, "what did I charge you to go anddo at Belle-Isle? Tell me, if you please."
The king while uttering these words looked intently at his captain.Here D'Artagnan was fortunate; the king seemed to place the game in hishands.
"I believe," replied he, "that your majesty does me the honor to askwhat I went to Belle-Isle to accomplish?"
"Yes, monsieur."
"Well! sire, I know nothing about it; it is not of me that questionshould be asked, but of that infinite number of officers of all kinds,to whom have been given innumerable orders of all kinds, whilst to me,head of the expedition, nothing precise was said or stated in any formwhatever."
The king was hurt: he showed it by his reply. "Monsieur," said he,"orders have only been given to such as were judged faithful."
"And, therefore, I have been astonished, sire," retorted the musketeer,"that a captain like myself, who ranks with a marechal of France,should have found himself under the orders of five or six lieutenants ormajors, good to make spies of, possibly, but not at all fit to conducta warlike expedition. It was upon this subject I came to demand anexplanation of your majesty, when I found the door closed against me,which, the final insult offered to a brave man, has led me to quit yourmajesty's service."
"Monsieur," replied the king, "you still believe that you are living inan age when kings were, as you complain of having been, under the ordersand at the discretion of their inferiors. You seem to forget that a kingowes an account of his actions to none but God."
"I forget nothing, sire," said the musketeer, wounded by this lesson."Besides, I do not see in what an honest man, when he asks of his kinghow he has ill-served him, offends him."
"You have ill-served me, monsieur, by siding with my enemies againstme."
"Who are your enemies, sire?"
"The men I sent you to fight."
"Two men the enemies of the whole of your majesty's army! That isincredible."
"You have no power to judge of my will."
"But I have to judge of my own friendships, sire."
"He who serves his friends does not serve his master."
"I so well understand this, sire, that I have respectfully offered yourmajesty my resignation."
"And I have accepted it, monsieur," said the king. "Before beingseparated from you I was willing to prove to you that I know how to keepmy word."
"Your majesty has kept more than your word, for your majesty has had mearrested," said D'Artagnan, with his cold, bantering air; "you did notpromise me that, sire."
The king would not condescend to perceive the pleasantry, and continued,seriously, "You see, monsieur, to what grave steps your disobedienceforces me."
"My disobedience!" cried D'Artagnan, red with anger.
"It is the mildest term that I can find," pursued the king. "My idea wasto take and punish rebels; was I bound to inquire whether these rebelswere your friends or not?"
"But I was," replied D'Artagnan. "It was a cruelty on your majesty'spart to send me to capture my friends and lead them to your gibbets."
"It was a trial I had to make, monsieur, of pretended servants, who eatmy bread and _should_ defend my person. The trial has succeeded ill,Monsieur d'Artagnan."
"For one bad servant your majesty loses," said the musketeer, withbitterness, "there are ten who, on that same day, go through a likeordeal. Listen to me, sire; I am not accustomed to that service. Mineis a rebel sword when I am required to do ill. It was ill to send mein pursuit of two men whose lives M. Fouquet, your majesty's preserver,implored you to save. Still further, these men were my friends. They didnot attack your majesty, they succumbed to your blind anger. Besides,why were they not allowed to escape? What crime had they committed? Iadmit you may contest with me the right of judging their conduct.But why suspect me before the action? Why surround me with spies? Whydisgrace me before the army? Why me, in whom till now you showed themost entire confidence--who for thirty years have been attached to yourperson, and have given you a thousand proofs of my devotion--for it mustbe said, now that I am accused--why reduce me to see three thousand ofthe king's soldiers march in battle against two men?"
"One would say you have forgotten what these men have done to me!" saidthe king, in a hollow voice, "and that it was no merit of theirs I wasnot lost."
"Sire, one would imagine you forget that I was there."
"Enough, Monsieur d'Artagnan, enough of these dominating interests whicharise to keep the sun itself from my interests. I am founding a state inwhich there shall be but one master, as I promised you; the moment is athand for me to keep my promise. You wish to be, according to your tastesor private friendships, free to destroy my plans and save my enemies? Iwill thwart you or will drop you--seek a more compliant master. I knowfull well that another king would not conduct himself as I do, and wouldallow himself to be dominated by you, at the risk of sending yousome day to keep company with M. Fouquet and the rest; but I have anexcellent memory, and for me, services are sacred titles to gratitude,to impunity. You shall only have this lesson, Monsieur d'Artagnan, asthe punishment of your want of discipline, and I will not imitate mypredecessors in anger, not having imitated them in favor. And, then,other reasons make me act mildly towards you; in the first place,because you are a man of sense, a man of excellent sense, a man ofheart, and that you will be a capital servant to him who shall havemastered you; secondly, because you will cease to have any motives forinsubordination. Your friends are now destroyed or ruined by me. Thesesupports on which your capricious mind instinctively relied I havecaused to disappear. At this moment, my soldiers have taken or killedthe rebels of Belle-Isle."
D'Artagnan became pale. "Taken or killed!" cried he. "Oh! sire, if youthought what you tell, if you were sure you were telling me the truth,I should forget all that is just, all that is magnanimous in your words,to call you a barbarous king, and an unnatural man. But I pardon youthese words," said he, smiling with pride; "I pardon them to a youngprince who does not know, who cannot comprehend what such men as M.d'Herblay, M. du Vallon, and myself are. Taken or killed! Ah! Ah! sire!tell me, if the news is true, how much has it cost you in men and money.We will then reckon if the game has been worth the stakes."
As he spoke thus, the king went up to him in great anger, and said,"Monsieur d'Artagnan, your replies are those of a rebel! Tell me, if youplease, who is king of France? Do you know any other?"
"Sire," replied the captain of the musketeers, coldly, "I very wellremember that one morning at Vaux you addressed that question to manypeople who did not answer to it, whilst I, on my part, did answer toit. If I recognized my king on that day, when the thing was not easy,I think it would be useless to ask the question of me now, when yourmajesty and I are alone."
At these words Louis cast down his eyes. It appeared to him that theshade of the unfortunate Philipp
e passed between D'Artagnan and himself,to evoke the remembrance of that terrible adventure. Almost at the samemoment an officer entered and placed a dispatch in the hands of theking, who, in his turn, changed color, while reading it.
"Monsieur," said he, "what I learn here you would know later; it isbetter I should tell you, and that you should learn it from the mouth ofyour king. A battle has taken place at Belle-Isle."
"Is it possible?" said D'Artagnan, with a calm air, though his heart wasbeating fast enough to choke him. "Well, sire?"
"Well, monsieur--and I have lost a hundred and ten men."
A beam of joy and pride shone in the eyes of D'Artagnan. "And therebels?" said he.
"The rebels have fled," said the king.
D'Artagnan could not restrain a cry of triumph. "Only," added the king,"I have a fleet which closely blockades Belle-Isle, and I am certain nota bark can escape."
"So that," said the musketeer, brought back to his dismal idea, "ifthese two gentlemen are taken--"
"They will be hanged," said the king, quietly.
"And do they know it?" replied D'Artagnan, repressing his trembling.
"They know it, because you must have told them yourself; and all thecountry knows it."
"Then, sire, they will never be taken alive, I will answer for that."
"Ah!" said the king, negligently, and taking up his letter again. "Verywell, they will be dead, then, Monsieur d'Artagnan, and that will cometo the same thing, since I should only take them to have them hanged."
D'Artagnan wiped the sweat which flowed from his brow.
"I have told you," pursued Louis XIV., "that I would one day be anaffectionate, generous, and constant master. You are now the only man offormer times worthy of my anger or my friendship. I will not spare youeither sentiment, according to your conduct. Could you serve a king,Monsieur d'Artagnan, who should have a hundred kings, his equals, inthe kingdom? Could I, tell me, do with such weak instruments the greatthings I meditate? Did you ever see an artist effect great works withan unworthy tool? Far from us, monsieur, the old leaven of feudal abuse!The Fronde, which threatened to ruin monarchy, has emancipated it. Iam master at home, Captain d'Artagnan, and I shall have servants who,lacking, perhaps, your genius, will carry devotion and obedience to theverge of heroism. Of what consequence, I ask you, of what consequenceis it that God has given no sense to arms and legs? It is to the head hehas given genius, and the head, you know, the rest obey. I am the head."
D'Artagnan started. Louis XIV. continued as if he had seen nothing,although this emotion had not by any means escaped him. "Now, let usconclude between us two the bargain I promised to make with you one daywhen you found me in a very strange predicament at Blois. Do me justice,monsieur, when you admit I do not make any one pay for the tears ofshame that I then shed. Look around you; lofty heads have bowed. Bowyours, or choose such exile as will suit you. Perhaps, when reflectingupon it, you will find your king has a generous heart, who reckonssufficiently upon your loyalty to allow you to leave him dissatisfied,when you possess a great state secret. You are a brave man; I know youto be so. Why have you judged me prematurely? Judge me from this dayforward, D'Artagnan, and be as severe as you please."
D'Artagnan remained bewildered, mute, undecided for the first time inhis life. At last he had found an adversary worthy of him. This was nolonger trick, it was calculation; no longer violence, but strength; nolonger passion, but will; no longer boasting, but council. This youngman who had brought down a Fouquet, and could do without a D'Artagnan,deranged the somewhat headstrong calculations of the musketeer.
"Come, let us see what stops you?" said the king, kindly. "You havegiven in your resignation; shall I refuse to accept it? I admit that itmay be hard for such an old captain to recover lost good-humor."
"Oh!" replied D'Artagnan, in a melancholy tone, "that is not my mostserious care. I hesitate to take back my resignation because I am old incomparison with you, and have habits difficult to abandon. Henceforward,you must have courtiers who know how to amuse you--madmen who will getthemselves killed to carry out what you call your great works. Greatthey will be, I feel--but, if by chance I should not think them so?I have seen war, sire, I have seen peace; I have served Richelieu andMazarin; I have been scorched with your father, at the fire of Rochelle;riddled with sword-thrusts like a sieve, having grown a new skin tentimes, as serpents do. After affronts and injustices, I have a commandwhich was formerly something, because it gave the bearer the right ofspeaking as he liked to his king. But your captain of the musketeerswill henceforward be an officer guarding the outer doors. Truly, sire,if that is to be my employment from this time, seize the opportunity ofour being on good terms, to take it from me. Do not imagine that I bearmalice; no, you have tamed me, as you say; but it must be confessed thatin taming me you have lowered me; by bowing me you have convicted me ofweakness. If you knew how well it suits me to carry my head high,and what a pitiful mien I shall have while scenting the dust of yourcarpets! Oh! sire, I regret sincerely, and you will regret as I do, theold days when the king of France saw in every vestibule those insolentgentlemen, lean, always swearing--cross-grained mastiffs, who could bitemortally in the hour of danger or of battle. These men were the best ofcourtiers to the hand which fed them--they would lick it; but for thehand that struck them, oh! the bite that followed! A little gold on thelace of their cloaks, a slender stomach in their _hauts-de-chausses_,a little sparkling of gray in their dry hair, and you will behold thehandsome dukes and peers, the haughty _marechaux_ of France. But whyshould I tell you all this? The king is master; he wills that Ishould make verses, he wills that I should polish the mosaics of hisante-chambers with satin shoes. _Mordioux!_ that is difficult, but Ihave got over greater difficulties. I will do it. Why should I do it?Because I love money?--I have enough. Because I am ambitious?--my careeris almost at an end. Because I love the court? No. I will remain herebecause I have been accustomed for thirty years to go and take theorderly word of the king, and to have said to me 'Good evening,D'Artagnan,' with a smile I did not beg for. That smile I will beg for!Are you content, sire?" And D'Artagnan bowed his silver head, upon whichthe smiling king placed his white hand with pride.
"Thanks, my old servant, my faithful friend," said he. "As, reckoningfrom this day, I have no longer any enemies in France, it remains withme to send you to a foreign field to gather your marshal's baton. Dependupon me for finding you an opportunity. In the meanwhile, eat of my verybest bread, and sleep in absolute tranquillity."
"That is all kind and well!" said D'Artagnan, much agitated. "But thosepoor men at Belle-Isle? One of them, in particular--so good! so brave!so true!"
"Do you ask their pardon of me?"
"Upon my knees, sire!"
"Well! then, go and take it to them, if it be still in time. But do youanswer for them?"
"With my life, sire."
"Go, then. To-morrow I set out for Paris. Return by that time, for I donot wish you to leave me in the future."
"Be assured of that, sire," said D'Artagnan, kissing the royal hand.
And with a heart swelling with joy, he rushed out of the castle on hisway to Belle-Isle.
The Man in the Iron Mask Page 53