82

Twenty Years After

by Alexandre Dumas

82, TWENTY YEARS AFTER by Alexandre Dumas
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Precaution's.



After quitting Anne, Mazarin took the road to Rueil, where
he usually resided; in those times of disturbance he went
about with numerous followers and often disguised himself.
In military dress he was, indeed, as we have stated, a very
handsome man.

In the court of the old Chateau of Saint Germain he entered
his coach, and reached the Seine at Chatou. The prince had
supplied him with fifty light horse, not so much by way of
guard as to show the deputies how readily the queen's
generals dispersed their troops and to prove that they might
be safely scattered at pleasure. Athos, on horseback,
without his sword and kept in sight by Comminges, followed
the cardinal in silence. Grimaud, finding that his master
had been arrested, fell back into the ranks near Aramis,
without saying a word and as if nothing had happened.

Grimaud had, indeed, during twenty-two years of service,
seen his master extricate himself from so many difficulties
that nothing less than Athos's imminent death was likely to
make him uneasy.

At the branching off of the road toward Paris, Aramis, who
had followed in the cardinal's suite, turned back. Mazarin
went to the right hand and Aramis could see the prisoner
disappear at the turning of the avenue. Athos, at the same
moment, moved by a similar impulse, looked back also. The
two friends exchanged a simple inclination of the head and
Aramis put his finger to his hat, as if to bow, Athos alone
comprehending by that signal that he had some project in his
head.

Ten minutes afterward Mazarin entered the court of that
chateau which his predecessor had built for him at Rueil; as
he alighted, Comminges approached him.

"My lord," he asked, "where does your eminence wish Monsieur
Comte de la Fere to be lodged?"

"In the pavilion of the orangery, of course, in front of the
pavilion where the guard is. I wish every respect to be
shown the count, although he is the prisoner of her majesty
the queen."

"My lord," answered Comminges, "he begs to be taken to the
place where Monsieur d'Artagnan is confined -- that is, in
the hunting lodge, opposite the orangery.

Mazarin thought for an instant.

Comminges saw that he was undecided.

"'Tis a very strong post," he resumed, "and we have forty
good men, tried soldiers, having no connection with
Frondeurs nor any interest in the Fronde."

"If we put these three men together, Monsieur Comminges,"
said Mazarin, "we must double the guard, and we are not rich
enough in fighting men to commit such acts of prodigality."

Comminges smiled; Mazarin read and construed that smile.

"You do not know these men, Monsieur Comminges, but I know
them, first personally, also by hearsay. I sent them to
carry aid to King Charles and they performed prodigies to
save him; had it not been for an adverse destiny, that
beloved monarch would this day have been among us."

"But since they served your eminence so well, why are they,
my lord cardinal, in prison?"

"In prison?" said Mazarin, "and when has Rueil been a
prison?"

"Ever since there were prisoners in it," answered Comminges.

"These gentlemen, Comminges, are not prisoners," returned
Mazarin, with his ironical smile, "only guests; but guests
so precious that I have put a grating before each of their
windows and bolts to their doors, that they may not refuse
to continue my visitors. So much do I esteem them that I am
going to make the Comte de la Fere a visit, that I may
converse with him tete-a-tete, and that we may not be
disturbed at our interview you must conduct him, as I said
before, to the pavilion of the orangery; that, you know, is
my daily promenade. Well, while taking my walk I will call
on him and we will talk. Although he professes to be my
enemy I have sympathy for him, and if he is reasonable
perhaps we shall arrange matters."

Comminges bowed, and returned to Athos, who was awaiting
with apparent calmness, but with real anxiety, the result of
the interview.

"Well?" he said to the lieutenant.

"Sir," replied Comminges, "it seems that it is impossible."

"Monsieur de Comminges," said Athos, "I have been a soldier
all my life and I know the force of orders; but outside your
orders there is a service you can render me."

"I will do it with all my heart," said Comminges; "for I
know who you are and what service you once performed for her
majesty; I know, too, how dear to you is the young man who
came so valiantly to my aid when that old rogue of a
Broussel was arrested. I am entirely at your service, except
only for my orders."

"Thank you, sir; what I am about to ask will not compromise
you in any degree."

"If it should even compromise me a little," said Monsieur de
Comminges, with a smile, "still make your demand. I don't
like Mazarin any better than you do. I serve the queen and
that draws me naturally into the service of the cardinal;
but I serve the one with joy and the other against my will.
Speak, then, I beg of you; I wait and listen."

"Since there is no harm," said Athos, "in my knowing that
D'Artagnan is here, I presume there will be none in his
knowing that I am here."

"I have received no orders on that point."

"Well, then, do me the kindness to give him my regards and
tell him that I am his neighbor. Tell him also what you have
just told me -- that Mazarin has placed me in the pavilion
of the orangery in order to make me a visit, and assure him
that I shall take advantage of this honor he proposes to
accord to me to obtain from him some amelioration of our
captivity."

"Which cannot last," interrupted Comminges; "the cardinal
said so; there is no prison here."

"But there are oubliettes!" replied Athos, smiling.

"Oh! that's a different thing; yes, I know there are
traditions of that sort," said Comminges. "It was in the
time of the other cardinal, who was a great nobleman; but
our Mazarin -- impossible! an Italian adventurer would not
dare to go such lengths with such men as ourselves.
Oubliettes are employed as a means of kingly vengeance, and
a low-born fellow such as he is would not have recourse to
them. Your arrest is known, that of your friends will soon
be known; and all the nobility of France would demand an
explanation of your disappearance. No, no, be easy on that
score. I will, however, inform Monsieur d'Artagnan of your
arrival here."

Comminges then led the count to a room on the ground floor
of a pavilion, at the end of the orangery. They passed
through a courtyard as they went, full of soldiers and
courtiers. In the centre of this court, in the form of a
horseshoe, were the buildings occupied by Mazarin, and at
each wing the pavilion (or smaller building), where
D'Artagnan was confined, and that, level with the orangery,
where Athos was to be. From the ends of these two wings
extended the park.

Athos, when he reached his appointed room, observed through
the gratings of his window, walls and roofs; and was told,
on inquiry, by Comminges, that he was looking on the back of
the pavilion where D'Artagnan was confined.

"Yes, 'tis too true," said Comminges, "'tis almost a prison;
but what a singular fancy this is of yours, count -- you,
who are the very flower of our nobility -- to squander your
valor and loyalty amongst these upstarts, the Frondists!
Really, count, if ever I thought that I had a friend in the
ranks of the royal army, it was you. A Frondeur! you, the
Comte de la Fere, on the side of Broussel, Blancmesnil and
Viole! For shame! you, a Frondeur!"

"On my word of honor," said Athos, "one must be either a
Mazarinist or a Frondeur. For a long time I had these words
whispered in my ears, and I chose the latter; at any rate,
it is a French word. And now, I am a Frondeur -- not of
Broussel's party, nor of Blancmesnil's, nor am I with Viole;
but with the Duc de Beaufort, the Ducs de Bouillon and
d'Elbeuf; with princes, not with presidents, councillors and
low-born lawyers. Besides, what a charming outlook it would
have been to serve the cardinal! Look at that wall --
without a single window -- which tells you fine things about
Mazarin's gratitude!"

"Yes," replied De Comminges, "more especially if it could
reveal how Monsieur d'Artagnan for this last week has been
anathematizing him."

"Poor D'Artagnan'" said Athos, with the charming melancholy
that was one of the traits of his character, "so brave, so
good, so terrible to the enemies of those he loves. You have
two unruly prisoners there, sir."

"Unruly," Comminges smiled; "you wish to terrify me, I
suppose. When he came here, Monsieur D'Artagnan provoked and
braved the soldiers and inferior officers, in order, I
suppose, to have his sword back. That mood lasted some time;
but now he's as gentle as a lamb and sings Gascon songs,
which make one die of laughing."

"And Du Vallon?" asked Athos.

"Ah, he's quite another sort of person -- a formidable
gentleman, indeed. The first day he broke all the doors in
with a single push of his shoulder; and I expected to see
him leave Rueil in the same way as Samson left Gaza. But his
temper cooled down, like his friend's; he not only gets used
to his captivity, but jokes about it."

"So much the better," said Athos.

"Do you think anything else was to be expected of them?"
asked Comminges, who, putting together what Mazarin had said
of his prisoners and what the Comte de la Fere had said,
began to feel a degree of uneasiness.

Athos, on the other hand, reflected that this recent
gentleness of his friends most certainly arose from some
plan formed by D'Artagnan. Unwilling to injure them by
praising them too highly, he replied: "They? They are two
hotheads -- the one a Gascon, the other from Picardy; both
are easily excited, but they quiet down immediately. You
have had a proof of that in what you have just related to
me."

This, too, was the opinion of Comminges, who withdrew
somewhat reassured. Athos remained alone in the vast
chamber, where, according to the cardinal's directions, he
was treated with all the courtesy due to a nobleman. He
awaited Mazarin's promised visit to get some light on his
present situation.