THE ANJOU WINE

After the most disheartening news of the king`s health, a

report of his convalescence began to prevail in the camp;

and as he was very anxious to be in person at the siege, it

was said that as soon as he could mount a horse he would set

forward.

Meantime, Monsieur, who knew that from one day to the other

he might expect to be removed from his command by the Duc

d`Angouleme, by Bassompierre, or by Schomberg, who were all

eager for his post, did but little, lost his days in

wavering, and did not dare to attempt any great enterprise

to drive the English from the Isle of Re, where they still

besieged the citadel St. Martin and the fort of La Pree, as

on their side the French were besieging La Rochelle.

D`Artagnan, as we have said, had become more tranquil, as

always happens after a post danger, particularly when the

danger seems to have vanished. He only felt one uneasiness,

and that was at not hearing any tidings from his friends.

But one morning at the commencement of the month of November

everything was explained to him by this letter, dated from

Villeroy:

M. d`Artagnan, MM. Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, after having

had an entertainment at my house and enjoying themselves

very much, created such a disturbance that the provost of

the castle, a rigid man, has ordered them to be confined for

some days; but I accomplish the order they have given me by

forwarding to you a dozen bottles of my Anjou wine, with

which they are much pleased. They are desirous that you

should drink to their health in their favorite wine. I have

done this, and am, monsieur, with great respect,

Your very humble and obedient servant,

Godeau, Purveyor of the Musketeers

"That`s all well!" cried D`Artagnan. They think of me in

their pleasures, as I thought of them in my troubles. Well,

I will certainly drink to their health with all my heart,

but I will not drink alone."

And D`Artagnan went among those Guardsmen with whom he had

formed greater intimacy than with the others, to invite them

to enjoy with him this present of delicious Anjou wine which

had been sent him from Villeroy.

One of the two Guardsmen was engaged that evening, and

another the next, so the meeting was fixed for the day after

that.

D`Artagnan, on his return, sent the twelve bottles of wine

to the refreshment room of the Guards, with strict orders

that great care should be taken of it; and then, on the day

appointed, as the dinner was fixed for midday D`Artagnan

sent Planchet at nine in the morning to assist in preparing

everything for the entertainment.

Planchet, very proud of being raised to the dignity of

landlord, thought he would make all ready, like an

intelligent man; and with this view called in the assistance

of the lackey of one of his master`s guests, named Fourreau,

and the false soldier who had tried to kill D`Artagnan and

who, belonging to no corps, had entered into the service of

D`Artagnan, or rather of Planchet, after D`Artagnan had

saved his life.

The hour of the banquet being come, the two guards arrived,

took their places, and the dishes were arranged on the

table. Planchet waited, towel on arm; Fourreau uncorked the

bottles; and Brisemont, which was the name of the

convalescent, poured the wine, which was a little shaken by

its journey, carefully into decanters. Of this wine, the

first bottle being a little thick at the bottom, Brisemont

poured the lees into a glass, and D`Artagnan desired him to

drink it, for the poor devil had not yet recovered his

strength.

The guests having eaten the soup, were about to lift the

first glass of wine to their lips, when all at once the

cannon sounded from Fort Louis and Fort Neuf. The

Guardsmen, imagining this to be caused by some unexpected

attack, either of the besieged or the English, sprang to

their swords. D`Artagnan, not less forward than they, did

likewise, and all ran out, in order to repair to their

posts.

But scarcely were they out of the room before they were made

aware of the cause of this noise. Cries of "Live the king!

Live the cardinal!" resounded on every side, and the drums

were beaten in all directions.

In short, the king, impatient, as has been said, had come by

forced marches, and had that moment arrived with all his

household and a reinforcement of ten thousand troops. His

Musketeers proceeded and followed him. D`Artagnan, placed

in line with his company, saluted with an expressive gesture

his three friends, whose eyes soon discovered him, and M. de

Treville, who detected him at once.

The ceremony of reception over, the four friends were soon

in one another`s arms.

"Pardieu!" cried D`Artagnan, "you could not have arrived in

better time; the dinner cannot have had time to get cold!

Can it, gentlemen?" added the young man, turning to the two

Guards, whom he introduced to his friends.

"Ah, ah!" said Porthos, "it appears we are feasting!"

"I hope," said Aramis, "there are no women at your dinner."

"Is there any drinkable wine in your tavern?" asked Athos.

"Well, pardieu! there is yours, my dear friend," replied

D`Artagnan.

"Our wine!" said Athos, astonished.

"Yes, that you sent me."

"We send you wine?"

"You know very well--the wine from the hills of Anjou."

"Yes, I know what brand you are talking about."

"The wine you prefer."

"Well, in the absence of champagne and chambertin, you must

content yourselves with that."

"And so, connoisseurs in wine as we are, we have sent you

some Anjou wine?" said Porthos.

"Not exactly, it is the wine that was sent by your order."

"On our account?" said the three Musketeers.

"Did you send this wine, Aramis?" said Athos.

"No; and you, Porthos?"

"No; and you, Athos?"

"No!"

"If it was not you, it was your purveyor," said D`Artagnan.

"Our purveyor!"

"Yes, your purveyor, Godeau--the purveyor of the

Musketeers."

"My faith! never mind where it comes from," said Porthos,

"let us taste it, and if it is good, let us drink it."

"No," said Athos; "don`t let us drink wine which comes from

an unknown source."

"You are right, Athos," said D`Artagnan. "Did none of you

charge your purveyor, Godeau, to send me some wine?"

"No! And yet you say he has sent you some as from us?"

"Here is his letter," said D`Artagnan, and he presented the

note to his comrades.

"This is not his writing!" said Athos. "I am acquainted

with it; before we left Villeroy I settled the accounts of

the regiment."

"A false letter altogether," said Porthos, "we have not been

disciplined."

"D`Artagnan," said Aramis, in a reproachful tone, "how could

you believe that we had made a disturbance?"

D`Artagnan grew pale, and a convulsive trembling shook all

his limbs.

"Thou alarmest me!" said Athos, who never used thee and thou

but upon very particular occasions, "what has happened?"

"Look you, my friends!" cried D`Artagnan, "a horrible

suspicion crosses my mind! Can this be another vengeance of

that woman?"

It was now Athos who turned pale.

D`Artagnan rushed toward the refreshment room, the three

Musketeers and the two Guards following him.

The first object that met the eyes of D`Artagnan on entering

the room was Brisemont, stretched upon the ground and

rolling in horrible convulsions.

Planchet and Fourreau, as pale as death, were trying to give

him succor; but it was plain that all assistance was

useless--all the features of the dying man were distorted

with agony.

"Ah!" cried he, on perceiving D`Artagnan, "ah! this is

frightful! You pretend to pardon me, and you poison me!"

"I!" cried D`Artagnan. "I, wretch? What do you say?"

"I say that it was you who gave me the wine; I say that it

was you who desired me to drink it. I say you wished to

avenge yourself on me, and I say that it is horrible!"

"Do not think so, Brisemont," said D`Artagnan; "do not think

so. I swear to you, I protest--"

"Oh, but God is above! God will punish you! My God, grant

that he may one day suffer what I suffer!"

"Upon the Gospel," said D`Artagnan, throwing himself down by

the dying man, "I swear to you that the wine was poisoned

and that I was going to drink of it as you did."

"I do not believe you," cried the soldier, and he expired

amid horrible tortures.

"Frightful! frightful!" murmured Athos, while Porthos broke

the bottles and Aramis gave orders, a little too late, that

a confessor should be sent for."

"Oh, my friends," said D`Artagnan, "you come once more to

save my life, not only mine but that of these gentlemen.

Gentlemen," continued he, addressing the Guardsmen, "I

request you will be silent with regard to this adventure.

Great personages may have had a hand in what you have seen,

and if talked about, the evil would only recoil upon us."

"Ah, monsieur!" stammered Planchet, more dead than alive,

"ah, monsieur, what an escape I have had!"

"How, sirrah! you were going to drink my wine?"

"To the health of the king, monsieur; I was going to drink a

small glass of it if Fourreau had not told me I was called."

"Alas!" said Fourreau, whose teeth chattered with terror, "I wanted to get him out of the way that I might drink myself."

"Gentlemen," said D`Artagnan, addressing the Guardsmen, "you

may easily comprehend that such a feast can only be very

dull after what has taken place; so accept my excuses, and

put off the party till another day, I beg of you."

The two Guardsmen courteously accepted D`Artagnan`s excuses,

and perceiving that the four friends desired to be alone,

retired.

When the young Guardsman and the three Musketeers were

without witnesses, they looked at one another with an air

which plainly expressed that each of them perceived the

gravity of their situation.

"In the first place," said Athos, "let us leave this

chamber; the dead are not agreeable company, particularly

when they have died a violent death."

"Planchet," said D`Artagnan, "I commit the corpse of this

poor devil to your care. Let him be interred in holy

ground. He committed a crime, it is true; but he repented

of it."

And the four friends quit the room, leaving to Planchet and

Fourreau the duty of paying mortuary honors to Brisemont.

The host gave them another chamber, and served them with

fresh eggs and some water, which Athos went himself to draw

at the fountain. In a few words, Porthos and Aramis were

posted as to the situation.

"Well," said D`Artagnan to Athos, "you see, my dear friend,

that this is war to the death."

Athos shook his head.

"Yes, yes," replied he, "I perceive that plainly; but do you

really believe it is she?"

"I am sure of it."

"Nevertheless, I confess I still doubt."

"But the fleur-de-lis on her shoulder?"

"She is some Englishwoman who has committed a crime in

France, and has been branded in consequence."

"Athos, she is your wife, I tell you," repeated D`Artagnan;

"only reflect how much the two descriptions resemble each

other."

"Yes; but I should think the other must be dead, I hanged

her so effectually."

It was D`Artagnan who now shook his head in his turn.

"But in either case, what is to be done?" said the young

man.

"The fact is, one cannot remain thus, with a sword hanging

eternally over his head," said Athos. "We must extricate

ourselves from this position."

"But how?"

"Listen! You must try to see her, and have an explanation

with her. Say to her: `Peace or war! My word as a

gentleman never to say anything of you, never to do anything

against you; on your side, a solemn oath to remain neutral

with respect to me. If not, I will apply to the chancellor,

I will apply to the king, I will apply to the hangman, I

will move the courts against you, I will denounce you as

branded, I will bring you to trial; and if you are

acquitted, well, by the faith of a gentleman, I will kill

you at the corner of some wall, as I would a mad dog.`"

"I like the means well enough," said D`Artagnan, "but where

and how to meet with her?"

"Time, dear friend, time brings round opportunity;

opportunity is the martingale of man. The more we have

ventured the more we gain, when we know how to wait."

"Yes; but to wait surrounded by assassins and poisoners."

"Bah!" said Athos. "God has preserved us hitherto, God will

preserve us still."

"Yes, we. Besides, we are men; and everything considered,

it is our lot to risk our lives; but she," asked he, in an

undertone.

"What she?" asked Athos.

"Constance."

"Madame Bonacieux! Ah, that`s true!" said Athos. "My poor

friend, I had forgotten you were in love."

"Well, but," said Aramis, "have you not learned by the

letter you found on the wretched corpse that she is in a

convent? One may be very comfortable in a convent; and as

soon as the siege of La Rochelle is terminated, I promise

you on my part--"

"Good," cried Athos, "good! Yes, my dear Aramis, we all

know that your views have a religious tendency."

"I am only temporarily a Musketeer," said Aramis, humbly.

"It is some time since we heard from his mistress," said

Athos, in a low voice. "But take no notice; we know all

about that."

"Well," said Porthos, "it appears to me that the means are

very simple."

"What?" asked D`Artagnan.

"You say she is in a convent?" replied Porthos.

"Yes."

"Very well. As soon as the siege is over, we`ll carry her

off from that convent."

"But we must first learn what convent she is in."

"That`s true," said Porthos.

"But I think I have it," said Athos. "Don`t you say, dear

D`Artagnan, that it is the queen who has made choice of the

convent for her?"

"I believe so, at least."

"In that case Porthos will assist us."

"And how so, if you please?"

"Why, by your marchioness, your duchess, your princess. She

must have a long arm."

"Hush!" said Porthos, placing a finger on his lips. "I

believe her to be a cardinalist; she must know nothing of

the matter."

"Then," said Aramis, "I take upon myself to obtain

intelligence of her."

"You, Aramis?" cried the three friends. "You! And how?"

"By the queen`s almoner, to whom I am very intimately

allied," said Aramis, coloring.

And on this assurance, the four friends, who had finished

their modest repast, separated, with the promise of meeting

again that evening. D`Artagnan returned to less important

affairs, and the three Musketeers repaired to the king`s

quarters, where they had to prepare their lodging.

43 The Sign of the Red Dovecot

Meanwhile the king, who, with more reason than the cardinal,

showed his hatred for Buckingham, although scarcely arrived

was in such a haste to meet the enemy that he commanded

every disposition to be made to drive the English from the

Isle of Re, and afterward to press the siege of La Rochelle;

but notwithstanding his earnest wish, he was delayed by the

dissensions which broke out between MM. Bassompierre and

Schomberg, against the Duc d`Angouleme.

MM. Bassompierre and Schomberg were marshals of France, and

claimed their right of commanding the army under the orders

of the king; but the cardinal, who feared that Bassompierre,

a Huguenot at heart, might press but feebly the English and

Rochellais, his brothers in religion, supported the Duc

d`Angouleme, whom the king, at his instigation, had named

lieutenant general. The result was that to prevent MM.

Bassompierre and Schomberg from deserting the army, a

separate command had to be given to each. Bassompierre took

up his quarters on the north of the city, between Leu and

Dompierre; the Duc d`angouleme on the east, from Dompierre

to Perigny; and M. de Schomberg on the south, from Perigny

to Angoutin.

The quarters of Monsieur were at Dompierre; the quarters of

the king were sometimes at Estree, sometimes at Jarrie; the

cardinal`s quarters were upon the downs, at the bridge of La

Pierre, in a simple house without any entrenchment. So that

Monsieur watched Bassompierre; the king, the Duc

d`Angouleme; and the cardinal, M. de Schomberg.

As soon as this organization was established, they set about

driving the English from the Isle.

The juncture was favorable. The English, who require, above

everything, good living in order to be good soldiers, only

eating salt meat and bad biscuit, had many invalids in their

camp. Still further, the sea, very rough at this period of

the year all along the sea coast, destroyed every day some

little vessel; and the shore, from the point of l`Aiguillon

to the trenches, was at every tide literally covered with

the wrecks of pinnacles, roberges, and feluccas. The result

was that even if the king`s troops remained quietly in their

camp, it was evident that some day or other, Buckingham, who

only continued in the Isle from obstinacy, would be obliged

to raise the siege.

But as M. de Toiras gave information that everything was

preparing in the enemy`s camp for a fresh assault, the king

judged that it would be best to put an end to the affair,

and gave the necessary orders for a decisive action.

As it is not our intention to give a journal of the siege,

but on the contrary only to describe such of the events of

it as are connected with the story we are relating, we will

content ourselves with saying in two words that the

expedition succeeded, to the great astonishment of the king

and the great glory of the cardinal. The English, repulsed

foot by foot, beaten in all encounters, and defeated in the

passage of the Isle of Loie, were obliged to re-embark,

leaving on the field of battle two thousand men, among whom

were five colonels, three lieutenant colonels, two hundred

and fifty captains, twenty gentlemen of rank, four pieces of

cannon, and sixty flags, which were taken to Paris by Claude

de St. Simon, and suspended with great pomp in the arches of

Notre Dame.

Te Deums were chanted in camp, and afterward throughout

France.

The cardinal was left free to carry on the siege, without

having, at least at the present, anything to fear on the

part of the English.

But it must be acknowledged, this response was but

momentary. An envoy of the Duke of Buckingham, named

Montague, was taken, and proof was obtained of a league

between the German Empire, Spain, England, and Lorraine.

This league was directed against France.

Still further, in Buckingham`s lodging, which he had been

forced to abandon more precipitately than he expected,

papers were found which confirmed this alliance and which,

as the cardinal asserts in his memoirs, strongly compromised

Mme. de Chevreuse and consequently the queen.

It was upon the cardinal that all the responsibility fell,

for one is not a despotic minister without responsibility.

All, therefore, of the vast resources of his genius were at

work night and day, engaged in listening to the least report

heard in any of the great kingdoms of Europe.

The cardinal was acquainted with the activity, and more

particularly the hatred, of Buckingham. If the league which

threatened France triumphed, all his influence would be

lost. Spanish policy and Austrian policy would have their

representatives in the cabinet of the Louvre, where they had

as yet but partisans; and he, Richelieu--the French

minister, the national minister--would be ruined. The king,

even while obeying him like a child, hated him as a child

hates his master, and would abandon him to the personal

vengeance of Monsieur and the queen. He would then be lost,

and France, perhaps, with him. All this must be prepared

against.

Courtiers, becoming every instant more numerous, succeeded

one another, day and night, in the little house of the

bridge of La Pierre, in which the cardinal had established

his residence.

There were monks who wore the frock with such an ill grace

that it was easy to perceive they belonged to the church

militant; women a little inconvenienced by their costume as

pages and whose large trousers could not entirely conceal

their rounded forms; and peasants with blackened hands but

with fine limbs, savoring of the man of quality a league

off.

There were also less agreeable visits--for two or three

times reports were spread that the cardinal had nearly been

assassinated.

It is true that the enemies of the cardinal said that it was

he himself who set these bungling assassins to work, in

order to have, if wanted, the right of using reprisals; but

we must not believe everything ministers say, nor everything

their enemies say.

These attempts did not prevent the cardinal, to whom his

most inveterate detractors have never denied personal

bravery, from making nocturnal excursions, sometimes to

communicate to the Duc d`Angouleme important orders,

sometimes to confer with the king, and sometimes to have an

interview with a messenger whom he did not wish to see at

home.

On their part the Musketeers, who had not much to do with

the siege, were not under very strict orders and led a

joyous life. The was the more easy for our three companions

in particular; for being friends of M. de Treville, they

obtained from him special permission to be absent after the

closing of the camp.

Now, one evening when D`Artagnan, who was in the trenches,

was not able to accompany them, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis,

mounted on their battle steeds, enveloped in their war

cloaks, with their hands upon their pistol butts, were

returning from a drinking place called the Red Dovecot,

which Athos had discovered two days before upon the route to

Jarrie, following the road which led to the camp and quite

on their guard, as we have stated, for fear of an ambuscade,

when, about a quarter of a league from the village of

Boisnau, they fancied they heard the sound of horses

approaching them. They immediately all three halted, closed

in, and waited, occupying the middle of the road. In an

instant, and as the moon broke from behind a cloud, they saw

at a turning of the road two horsemen who, on perceiving

them, stopped in their turn, appearing to deliberate whether

they should continue their route or go back. The hesitation

created some suspicion in the three friends, and Athos,

advancing a few paces in front of the others, cried in a

firm voice, "Who goes there?"

"Who goes there, yourselves?" replied one of the horsemen.

"That is not an answer," replied Athos. "Who goes there?

Answer, or we charge."

"Beware of what you are about, gentlemen!" said a clear

voice which seemed accustomed to command.

"It is some superior officer making his night rounds," said

Athos. "What do you wish, gentlemen?"

"Who are you?" said the same voice, in the same commanding

tone. "Answer in your turn, or you may repent of your

disobedience."

"King`s Musketeers," said Athos, more and more convinced

that he who interrogated them had the right to do so.

"What company?"

"Company of Treville."

"Advance, and give an account of what you are doing here at

this hour."

The three companions advanced rather humbly--for all were

now convinced that they had to do with someone more powerful

than themselves--leaving Athos the post of speaker.

One of the two riders, he who had spoken second, was ten

paces in front of his companion. Athos made a sign to

Porthos and Aramis also to remain in the rear, and advanced

alone.

"Your pardon, my officer," said Athos; "but we were ignorant

with whom we had to do, and you may see that we were good

guard."

"Your name?" said the officer, who covered a part of his

face with his cloak.

"But yourself, monsieur," said Athos, who began to be

annoyed by this inquisition, "give me, I beg you, the proof

that you have the right to question me."

"Your name?" repeated the cavalier a second time, letting

his cloak fall, and leaving his face uncovered.

"Monsieur the Cardinal!" cried the stupefied Musketeer.

"Your name?" cried his Eminence, for the third time.

"Athos," said the Musketeer.

The cardinal made a sign to his attendant, who drew near.

"These three Musketeers shall follow us," said he, in an

undertone. "I am not willing it should be known I have left

the camp; and if they follow us we shall be certain they

will tell nobody."

"We are gentlemen, monseigneur," said Athos; "require our

parole, and give yourself no uneasiness. Thank God, we can

keep a secret."

The cardinal fixed his piercing eyes on this courageous

speaker.

"You have a quick ear, Monsieur Athos," said the cardinal;

"but now listen to this. It is not from mistrust that I

request you to follow me, but for my security. Your

companions are no doubt Messieurs Porthos and Aramis."

"Yes, your Eminence," said Athos, while the two Musketeers

who had remained behind advanced hat in hand.

"I know you, gentlemen," said the cardinal, "I know you. I

know you are not quite my friends, and I am sorry you are

not so; but I know you are brave and loyal gentlemen, and

that confidence may be placed in you. Monsieur Athos, do

me, then, the honor to accompany me; you and your two

friends, and then I shall have an escort to excite envy in

his Majesty, if we should meet him."

The three Musketeers bowed to the necks of their horses.

"Well, upon my honor," said Athos, "your Eminence is right

in taking us with you; we have seen several ill-looking

faces on the road, and we have even had a quarrel at the Red

Dovecot with four of those faces."

"A quarrel, and what for, gentlemen?" said the cardinal;

"you know I don`t like quarrelers."

"And that is the reason why I have the honor to inform your

Eminence of what has happened; for you might learn it from

others, and upon a false account believe us to be in fault."

"What have been the results of your quarrel?" said the

cardinal, knitting his brow.

"My friend, Aramis, here, has received a slight sword wound

in the arm, but not enough to prevent him, as your Eminence

may see, from mounting to the assault tomorrow, if your

Eminence orders an escalade."

"But you are not the men to allow sword wounds to be

inflicted upon you thus," said the cardinal. "Come, be

frank, gentlemen, you have settled accounts with somebody!

Confess; you know I have the right of giving absolution."

"I, monseigneur?" said Athos. "I did not even draw my

sword, but I took him who offended me round the body, and

threw him out of the window. It appears that in falling,"

continued Athos, with some hesitation, "he broke his thigh."

"Ah, ah!" said the cardinal; "and you, Monsieur Porthos?"

"I, monseigneur, knowing that dueling is prohibited--I

seized a bench, and gave one of those brigands such a blow

that I believe his shoulder is broken."

"Very well," said the cardinal; "and you, Monsieur Aramis?"

"Monseigneur, being of a very mild disposition, and being,

likewise, of which Monseigneur perhaps is not aware, about

to enter into orders, I endeavored to appease my comrades,

when one of these wretches gave me a wound with a sword,

treacherously, across my left arm. Then I admit my patience

failed me; I drew my sword in my turn, and as he came back

to the charge, I fancied I felt that in throwing himself

upon me, he let it pass through his body. I only know for a

certainty that he fell; and it seemed to me that he was

borne away with his two companions."

"The devil, gentlemen!" said the cardinal, "three men placed

hors de combat in a cabaret squabble! You don`t do your

work by halves. And pray what was this quarrel about?"

"These fellows were drunk," said Athos. "and knowing there

was a lady who had arrived at the cabaret this evening, they

wanted to force her door."

"Force her door!" said the cardinal, "and for what purpose?"

"To do her violence, without doubt," said Athos. "I have

had the honor of informing your Eminence that these men were

drunk."

"And was this lady young and handsome?" asked the cardinal,

with a certain degree of anxiety.

"We did not see her, monseigneur," said Athos.

"You did not see her? Ah, very well," replied the cardinal,

quickly. "You did well to defend the honor of a woman; and

as I am going to the Red Dovecot myself, I shall know if you

have told me the truth."

"Monseigneur," said Athos, haughtily, "we are gentlemen, and

to save our heads we would not be guilty of a falsehood."

"Therefore I do not doubt what you say, Monsieur Athos, I do

not doubt it for a single instant; but," added he, "to

change the conversation, was this lady alone?"

"The lady had a cavalier shut up with her," said Athos, "but

as notwithstanding the noise, this cavalier did not show

himself, it is to be presumed that he is a coward."

"Judge not rashly, says the Gospel," replied the cardinal.

Athos bowed.

"And now, gentlemen, that`s well," continued the cardinal.

"I know what I wish to know; follow me."

The three Musketeers passed behind his Eminence, who again

enveloped his face in his cloak, and put his horse in

motion, keeping from eight to ten paces in advance of his

four companions.

They soon arrived at the silent, solitary inn. No doubt the

host knew what illustrious visitor was expected, and had

consequently sent intruders out of the way.

Ten paces from the door the cardinal made a sign to his

esquire and the three Musketeers to halt. A saddled horse

was fastened to the window shutter. The cardinal knocked

three times, and in a peculiar manner.

A man, enveloped in a cloak, came out immediately, and

exchanged some rapid words with the cardinal; after which he

mounted his horse, and set off in the direction of Surgeres,

which was likewise the way to Paris.

"Advance, gentlemen," said the cardinal.

"You have told me the truth, my gentlemen," said he,

addressing the Musketeers, "and it will not be my fault if

our encounter this evening be not advantageous to you. In

the meantime, follow me."

The cardinal alighted; the three Musketeers did likewise.

The cardinal threw the bridle of his horse to his esquire;

the three Musketeers fastened the horses to the shutters.

The host stood at the door. For him, the cardinal was only

an officer coming to visit a lady.

"Have you any chamber on the ground floor where these

gentlemen can wait near a good fire?" said the cardinal.

The host opened the door of a large room, in which an old

stove had just been replaced by a large and excellent

chimney.

"I have this," said he.

"That will do," replied the cardinal. "Enter, gentlemen,

and be kind enough to wait for me; I shall not be more than

half an hour."

And while the three Musketeers entered the ground floor

room, the cardinal, without asking further information,

ascended the staircase like a man who has no need of having

his road pointed out to him.

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 540