The Three Musketeers By: Alexandre Dumas - Part 3

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Chapter 59 of the D' Artagnan Romances, Volume 1 the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, Translated by William Robson. What took place at Portsmouth, August 23, 1628. Felton took leave of Milady as a brother, about to go for a mere walk, takes leave of his sister, kissing her hand. His whole body appeared in its ordinary state of calmness. Only an unusual fire beamed from his eyes like the effects of a fever. His brow was more pale than it generally was, his teeth were clenched, and his speech had a short, dry accent, which indicated that something dark was at work within him. As long as he remained in the boat which conveyed him to land, he kept his face toward Milady, who, standing on the deck, followed him with her eyes. Both were free from the fear of pursuit. Nobody ever came into milady's apartment before 9 o', clock, and it would require three hours to go from the castle to London. Felton jumped on shore, climbed the little ascent which led to the top of the cliff, saluted Milady a last time, and took its course toward the city. At the end of a hundred paces, the ground began to decline, and he could only see the mast of the sloop. He immediately ran in the direction of Portsmouth, which he saw at nearly half a league before him, standing out in the haze of the morning with its houses and towers. Beyond Portsmouth, the sea was covered with vessels whose masts, like a forest of poplars, despoiled by the winter, bent with each breath of the wind. Felton, in his rapid walk, reviewed in his mind all the accusations against the favorite of James I and Charles I, furnished by two years of premature meditation and a long sojourn among the Puritans. When he compared the public crimes of this minister, startling crimes, European crimes, if so, we may say, with the private and unknown crimes with which Milady had charged him, Felton found that the more culpable of the two men which formed the character of Buckingham was the one of whom the public knew not the life. This was because his love, so strange, so new and so ardent, made him view the infamous and imaginary accusations of Milady de Winter as through a magnifying glass one views as frightful monsters, atoms in reality, imperceptible by the side of an ant. The rapidity of his walk heated his blood still more. The idea that he left behind him, exposed to a frightful vengeance, the woman he loved, or rather, whom he adored as a saint, the emotion he had experienced, present fatigue altogether exalted his mind above human feeling. He entered Portsmouth about 8 o' clock in the morning the whole population was on foot. Drums were beating in the streets, and in the port the troops about to embark were marching toward the sea. Felton arrived at the palace of the Admiralty, covered with dust and streaming with perspiration. His countenance, usually so pale, was purple with heat and passion. The sentinel wanted to repulse him, but Felton called to the officer of the post and, drawing from his pocket the letter of which he was the bearer, he a pressing message from Lord de Winter. At the name of Lord de Winter, who was known to be one of the Grace's most intimate friends, the officer of the post gave orders to let Felton pass, who besides wore the uniform of a naval officer. Felton darted into the palace. At the moment he entered the vestibule, another man was entering likewise dusty, out of breath, leaving at the gate a post horse, which, on reaching the palace, tumbled on his foreknees. Felton and he addressed Patrick, the Duke's confidential lackey. At the same moment Felton named Lord de Winter. The unknown would not name anybody and pretended that it was to the Duke alone he would make himself known. Each was anxious to gain admission before the other. Patrick, who knew Lord de Winter, was in affairs of the service and in relations of friendship with the duke, gave the preference to the one who came in his name. The other was forced to wait, and it was easily to be seen how he cursed the delay. The valet led Felton through a large hall in which waited the deputies from La Rochelle, headed by the Prince de Soubise, and introduced him into a closet, where Buckingham, just out of the bath, was finishing his toilet, upon which, as at all times he bestowed extraordinary attention. Lieutenant Felton. From Lord de Winter, said Patrick. From Lord de Winter, repeated Buckingham. Let him come in. Felton entered. At that moment, Buckingham was throwing upon a couch a rich toilet robe worked with gold, in order to put on a blue velvet doublet embroidered with pearls. Why didn't the baron come himself? Demanded Buckingham. I expected him this morning. He desired me to tell your grace, replied Felton, that he very much regretted not having that honour, but that he was prevented by the guard he is obliged to keep at the castle. Yes, I know that, said Buckingham. He has a prisoner. It is of that prisoner that I wish to speak to your grace, replied Felton. [00:05:40] Speaker B: Well, then, speak. [00:05:43] Speaker A: That which I have to say of her can only be heard by yourself, my lord. Leave us, Patrick, said Buckingham, but remain within the sound of the bell. I shall call you presently. Patrick went out. We are alone. Sir, said Buckingham. Speak, my lord, said Felton. The Baron de Winter wrote to you the other day to request you to sign an order of embarkation relative to a young woman named Charlotte Boxen? Yes, sir, and I answered him, to bring or send me that order, and I would sign it. Here it is, my lord. Give it to me, said the Duke. And taking it from Felton, he cast a rapid glance over the paper, and perceiving that it was the one that had been mentioned to him, he placed it on the table, took a pen, and prepared to sign it. Pardon, my lord, said Felton, stopping the duke, but does your grace know that the name of Charlotte Braxon is not the true name of this young woman? Yes, sir, I know it, replied the Duke, dipping the quill in the ink. Then your grace knows her real name? Asked Felton in a sharp tone. I know it. And the duke put the quill to the paper. Felton grew pale. And knowing that real name, My lord, replied Felton, will you sign it all the same? Doubtless, said Buckingham, and rather twice than once. I cannot believe, continued Felton, in a voice that became more sharp and rough, that your grace knows that it is to Milady de Winter this relates. I know it perfectly, although I am astonished that you know it. And will your grace sign that order without remorse? Buckingham looked at the young man haughtily. Do you know, sir, that you are asking me very strange questions, and that I am very foolish to answer them? Reply to them, my lord, said Felton, the circumstances are more serious than you perhaps believe. Buckingham reflected that the young man coming from Lord de Winter undoubtedly spoke in his name and softened. Without remorse, said he, the baron knows as well as myself that Milady de Winter is a very guilty woman and is treating her very favourably. To commute her punishment to transportation, the Duke put his pen to the paper. You will not sign that order, My lord, said Felton, making a step toward the Duke. I will not sign this order. And why not? Because you will look into yourself and you will do justice to the lady. I should do her justice by sending her to Tyburn, said Buckingham. This lady is infamous. My lord. Milady de Winter is an angel. You know that she is, and I demand her liberty of you. [00:09:14] Speaker B: Bah. [00:09:15] Speaker A: Are you mad to talk to me thus? Said Buckingham. My lord, excuse me. I speak as I can, I restrain myself. But, my lord, think of what you're about to do, and beware of going too far. What do you say? God pardon me, cried Buckingham. I really think he threatens me. No, my lord, I still plead, and I say to you, one drop of water suffices to make the full vase overflow. One slight fault may draw down punishment upon the head. Spared despite many crimes, Mr. Felton, said Buckingham, you will withdraw and place yourself at once under arrest. You will hear me to the end. My lord, you have seduced this young girl, you have outraged, defiled her. Repair your crimes toward her. Let her go free, and I will exact nothing else from you. You will exact, said Buckingham, looking at Felton with astonishment and dwelling upon each syllable of the three words as he pronounced them. My lord, continued Felton, becoming more excited as he spoke. My lord, beware. All England is tired of your iniquities. My lord, you have abused the royal power which you have almost usurped. My lord, you are held in horror by God and men. God will punish you hereafter, but I will punish you here. Ah, this is too much. Cried Buckingham, making a step toward the door. Felton barred his passage. I ask it humbly of you, my lord, said he, sign the order for the liberation of Milady de Winter. Remember that she is a woman whom you have dishonoured. Withdraw, sir, said Buckingham, or I will call my attendant and have you placed in irons. You shall not call, said Felton, throwing himself between the Duke and the bell, placed on a stand incrusted with silver. Beware, my lord. You are in the hands of God. In the hands of the devil, you mean. Cried Buckingham, raising his voice so as to attract the notice of his people, without absolutely shouting. Sign, my lord, sign the liberation of Milady de Winter. [00:12:03] Speaker B: Sign. [00:12:03] Speaker A: Said Felton, holding out a paper to the Duke by force. [00:12:08] Speaker B: You are joking, Holloa. [00:12:11] Speaker A: Patrick signed, my lord. Never. Never. [00:12:17] Speaker B: Help. [00:12:18] Speaker A: Shouted the Duke, and at the same time he sprang toward his sword. But Felton did not give him time to draw it. He held the knife with which Milady had stabbed herself open in his bosom. At one bound he was upon the Duke. At that moment, Patrick entered the room. A letter from France, my lord. From France. Cried Buckingham, forgetting everything and thinking from whom that letter came. Felton took advantage of this moment and plunged the knife into his side, up to the handle. Ah, traitor. Cried Buckingham. You have killed me. [00:12:57] Speaker B: Murder. [00:12:58] Speaker A: Screamed Patrick. Felton cast his eyes round for means of escape, and seeing the door free, he rushed into the next chamber, in which, as we have said, the deputies from La Rochelle were waiting, crossed it as quickly as possible and rushed toward the staircase. But upon the first step he met Lord de Winter, who, seeing him pale, confused, livid and stained with blood both on his hands and face, seized him by the throat, crying, I knew it, I guessed it. But too late by a minute. Unfortunate. Unfortunate that I am. Felton made no resistance. Lord de Winter placed him in the hands of the guards, who led him, while awaiting further orders, to a little terrace commanding the sea. And then the Baron hastened to the Duke's chamber. At the cry uttered by the Duke and the scream of Patrick, the man whom Felton had met in the antechamber rushed into the chamber. He found the Duke reclining upon a sofa, with his hand pressed upon the wound. Laporte, said the Duke in a dying voice, Laporte, do you come from her? Yes, Monseigneur, replied the faithful cloak bearer of Anne of Austria. [00:14:20] Speaker B: But too late, perhaps. [00:14:24] Speaker A: Silence, Laporte. You may be overheard, Patrick. Let no one enter. Oh, I cannot tell what she says to me. My God, I am dying. And the Duke swooned. Meanwhile, Lord de Winter, the deputies, the the leaders of the expedition, the officers of Buckingham's household, had all made their way into the chamber. Cries of despair resounded on all sides. The news, which filled the palace with tears and groans, soon became known and spread itself throughout the city. The report of a cannon announced that something new and unexpected had taken place. Lord de Winter tore his hair. Too late by a minute, cried he. Too late by a minute. Oh, my God, my God, what a misfortune. He had been informed at seven o' clock in the morning that a rope ladder floated from one of the windows of the castle. He had hastened to Milady's chamber, had found it empty, the window open and the bars filed, had remembered the verbal caution d' Artagnan had transmitted to him by his messenger, had trembled for the Duke, and, running to the stable, without taking time to have his horse saddled, had jumped upon the first he found, had galloped off like the wind, had alighted below in the courtyard, and ascended the stairs precipitately, and on the top step, as we have said, had encountered Felton. The Duke, however, was not dead. He recovered a little, reopened his eyes, and hope revived in all hearts. Gentlemen, said he, leave me alone with Patrick and Laporte. Ah, is that you, de Winter? You sent me a strange madman this morning. See the state in which he has put me. [00:16:28] Speaker B: O my lord. [00:16:30] Speaker A: Cried the Baron, I shall never console myself. And you would be quite wrong, my dear de Winter, said Buckingham, holding out his hand to him. I do not know the man who deserves being regretted during the whole life of another man. But Leave us, I pray you. The Baron went out sobbing. There only remained, in the closet of the wounded Duke laporte and Patrick. A physician was sought for, but none was yet found. [00:17:06] Speaker B: You will live, my lord, you will live. [00:17:10] Speaker A: Repeated the faithful servant of Anne of Austria, on his knees before the Duke's sofa. What has she written to me? Said Buckingham, feebly streaming with blood and suppressing his agony to speak of her he loved. [00:17:25] Speaker B: What has she written to me? [00:17:29] Speaker A: Read me her letter. O my lord, said laporte. Obey laporte. Do you not see? I have no time to lose. Laporte broke the seal and placed the letter before the eyes of the Duke. But Buckingham in vain tried to read out the writing. Read, said he. Read. I cannot see. Read then, for soon perhaps I shall not hear, and I shall die without knowing what she has written to me. Laporte made no further objection and read. [00:18:09] Speaker B: My Lord, by that which, since I have known you, have suffered by you and for you, I conjure you, if you have any care for my repose, to countermand those great armaments which you are preparing against France to put an end to a war of which it is publicly said, religion is the ostensible cause, and of which it is generally whispered, your love for me is the concealed cause. This war may not only bring great catastrophes upon England and France, but misfortune upon you, My Lord, for which I should never console myself. Be careful of your life which is menaced and which will be dear to me from the moment I am not obliged to see an enemy in you. Your affectionate Anne. [00:19:00] Speaker A: Buckingham collected all his remaining strength to listen to the reading of the letter. Then, when it was ended, as if he had met with a bitter disappointment, he asked, have you nothing else to say to me? By the living voice, Laporte, the Queen. [00:19:18] Speaker B: Charged me to tell you to watch over yourself, for she had advice that your assassination would be attempted. [00:19:29] Speaker A: And is that all? [00:19:31] Speaker B: Is that all? [00:19:33] Speaker A: Replied Buckingham impatiently. [00:19:37] Speaker B: She likewise charged me to tell you that she still loved you. [00:19:44] Speaker A: Ah, said Buckingham, God be praised. My death then will not be to her as the death of a stranger. Laporte burst into tears. Patrick, said the Duke, bring me the casket in which the diamond studs were kept. Patrick brought the object desired, which laporte recognized as having belonged to the Queen. Now the scent bag of white satin on which her cipher is embroidered in pearls. Patrick again obeyed. Here, laporte, said Buckingham, these are the only tokens I ever received from her. This silver casket and these two letters, you will restore them to Her Majesty. And as a last memorial, he looked round for some valuable object. You will add he still sought, but his eyes, darkened by death, encountered only the knife which had fallen from the hand of Felton, still smoking with the blood spread over its blade. And you will add to them this knife, said the Duke, pressing the hand of Laporte. He had just strength enough to place the scent bag at the bottom of the silver casket and to let the knife fall into it, making a sign to Laporte that he was no longer able to speak. Then, in a last convulsion, which this time he had not the power to combat, he slipped from the sofa to the floor. Patrick uttered a loud cry. Buckingham tried to smile a last time, but death checked his thought, which remained engraved on his brow like a last kiss of love. At this moment the Duke's surgeon arrived, quite terrified. He was already on board the Admiral's ship, where they had been obliged to seek him. He approached the Duke, took his hand, held it for an instant in his own, and letting it fall. All is useless, said he. He is dead. [00:22:21] Speaker B: Dead, dead. [00:22:23] Speaker A: Cried Patrick. At this cry all the crowd re entered the apartment, and throughout the palace and town there was nothing but consternation and tumult. As soon as Lord de Winter saw Buckingham was dead, he ran to Felton, whom the soldiers still guarded on the terrace of the palace. Wretch, said he to the young man, who since the death of Buckingham, had regained that coolness and self possession which never after abandoned him. Wretch, what have you done? I have avenged myself, said he. Avenged yourself? Said the Baron. [00:23:04] Speaker B: Rather say that you have served as. [00:23:07] Speaker A: An instrument to that accursed woman. But I swear to you that this crime shall be her last. I don't know what you mean, replied Felton quietly, and I am ignorant of whom you are speaking. My lord, I killed the Duke of Buckingham because he twice refused you yourself to appoint me captain. I have punished him for his injustice. That is all. De Winter, stupefied, looked on while the soldiers bound Felton and could not tell what to think of such insensibility. One thing alone, however, threw a shade over the pallid brow of Felton. At every noise he heard, the simple Puritan fancied he recognized the step and voice of Milady coming to throw herself into his arms, to accuse herself and die with him. All at once he started. His eyes became fixed upon a point in the sea commanded by the terrace, where he was with the eagle glance of a sailor. He he had recognized there where another would have seen only a gull hovering over the waves, the sail of a sloop, which was directed toward the coast of France. He grew deadly pale, placed his hand upon his heart, which was breaking, and at once perceived all the treachery. One last favour, my lord, said he to the baron. What? Asked his lordship. What o' clock is it? The baron drew out his watch. It wants 10 minutes to nine, said he. Milady had hastened her departure by an hour and a half. As soon as she heard the cannon which announced the fatal event, she had ordered the anchor to be weighed. The vessel was making way under a blue sky, at great distance from the coast. God has so willed it, said he, with the resignation of a fanatic, but without, however, being able to take his eyes from that ship on board, of which he doubtless fancied he could distinguish the white outline of her to whom he had sacrificed his life. De Winter followed his look, observed his feelings, and guessed. All be punished alone for the first miserable man, said Lord de Winter to Felton, who was being dragged away with his eyes turned towards the sea. But I swear to you by the memory of my brother, whom I have loved so much, that your accomplice is not saved. Felton lowered his head without pronouncing a syllable. As to Lord de Winter, he descended the stairs rapidly and went straight to the port. End of Chapter 59 Chapter 60 of the D' Artagnan Romances, Volume I the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Translated by William Robson In France, the first fear of the King of England, Charles I, on learning of the death of the duke, was that such terrible news might discourage the Rochellais. He tried, says Richelieu in his memoires, to conceal it from them as long as possible, closing all the ports of his kingdom, and carefully keeping watch that no vessel should sail until the army which Buckingham was getting together had gone. Taking upon himself, in default of Buckingham, to superintend the departure, he carried the strictness of this order so far as to detain in England the ambassadors of Denmark, who had taken their leave, and the regular ambassador of Holland, who was to take back to the port of Flushing the Indian merchantmen, of which Charles I had made restitution to the United Provinces. But as he did not think of giving this order till five hours after the event, that is to say, till 2 o' clock in the afternoon, two vessels had already left the port. The one bearing, as we know, Milady, who, already anticipating the event, was further confirmed in that belief by seeing the black flag flying at the masthead of the Admiral's ship. As to the second vessel, we will tell hereafter whom it carried and how it set sail. During this time nothing new occurred in the camp at La Rochelle. Only the King, who was bored as always, but perhaps a little more so in camp than elsewhere, resolved to go incognito and spend the Festival of St. Louis at St. Germain, and asked the Cardinal to order him an escort of only 20 musketeers. The cardinal, who sometimes became weary of the King, granted this leave of absence with great pleasure to his royal lieutenant, who promised to return about the 15th of December. M. De Treville, being informed of this by his Eminence, packed his portmanteau and and as without knowing the cause, he knew the great desire and even imperative need which his friends had of returning to Paris, it goes without saying that he fixed upon them to form part of the escort. The four young men heard the news a quarter of an hour after M. De Treville, for they were the first to whom he communicated it. It was then that d' Artagnan appreciated the favor the Cardinal had conferred upon him in making him at last enter the musketeers, for without that circumstance he would have been forced to remain in the camp while his companions left. Goes without saying that this impatience to return toward Paris had for a cause the danger which Mme. Bonacieux would run of meeting at the Convent of Bethune with Milady, her mortal enemy. Aramis, therefore had written immediately to Marie Michon, the seamstress at Tours, who had such fine acquaintances, and to obtain from the Queen authority for Mme. Bonacieux to leave the convent and to retire either into Lorraine or Belgium. They had not long to wait for an answer. Eight or ten days afterward, Aramis received the following. My dear cousin, here is the authorization from my sister to withdraw our little servant from the Convent of Bethune, the air of which you think is bad for her. My sister sends you this authorization with great pleasure, for she is very partial to the little girl to to whom she intends to be more serviceable hereafter. I salute you, Marie Michon. To this letter was added an order conceived in these at the Louvre, August 10, 1628. The Superior of the Convent of Bethune will place in the hands of the person who shall present this note to her, the novice who entered the convent upon my recommendation and under my patronage. Anne. It may be easily imagined how the relationship between Aramis and a seamstress who called the Queen her sister amused the young men. But Aramis after having blushed two or three times up to the whites of his eyes at the gross pleasantry of Porthos, begged his friends not to revert to the subject again, declaring that if a single word more was said to him about it, he would never again implore his cousins to interfere in such affairs. There was no further question, therefore, about Marie Michon among the four musketeers, who besides had what they wanted. That was the order to withdraw Mme. Bonacieux from the convent of the Carmelites of Bethune. It was true that this order would not be of great use to them while they were in camp at La Rochelle, that is to say, at the other end of France. Therefore, d' Artagnan was going to ask leave of absence of M. De Treville, confiding to him candidly the importance of his departure. When the news was transmitted to him, as well as to his three friends, that the King was about to set out for Paris with an escort of 20 Musketeers, and that they formed part of the escort, their joy was great. The lackeys were sent on before with the baggage, and they set out on the morning of the 16th. The cardinal accompanied his Majesty from Sergieres to Malzes, and there the King and his minister took leave of each other with great demonstrations of friendship. The King, however, who sought distraction while travelling as fast as possible, for he was anxious to be in Paris by the 23rd, stopped from time to time to fly the magpie, a pastime for which the taste had been formerly inspired in him by de Luynes, and for which he had always preserved a great predilection out of the 20 Musketeers. 16, when this took place, rejoiced greatly at this relaxation, but the other four cursed it heartily. D' Artagnan in particular, had a perpetual buzzing in his ears, which, Porthos explained, a very great lady has told me that this means that somebody is talking of you somewhere. At length the escort passed through Paris on the 23rd in the night. The King thanked M. De Treville and permitted him to distribute furloughs for four days, on condition that the favored parties should not appear in any public place under penalty of the Bastille. The first four furloughs granted, as may be imagined, were to our four friends. Still further, Athos obtained of M. De Treville six days instead of four, and introduced into these six days two more knights, for they set out on the 24th at five o' clock in the evening, and as a further kindness, M. De Treville post Dated the leave to the morning of the 25th. Good Lord, said d', Artagnan, who, as we have often said, never stumbled at anything. It appears to me that we are making a great trouble of a very simple thing in two days, and by using up two or three horses, that's nothing. I have plenty of money. I am at Bethune. I present my letter from the Queen. [00:33:02] Speaker B: To the Superior, and I bring back. [00:33:04] Speaker A: The dear treasure I go to seek, not into Lorraine, not into Belgium, but. [00:33:09] Speaker B: To Paris, where she will be much. [00:33:12] Speaker A: Better concealed, particularly while the Cardinal is at La Rochelle. Well, once returned from the country, half by the protection of her cousin, half through what we have personally done for her, we shall obtain from the Queen what we desire. Remain then, where you are, and do not exhaust yourselves with useless fatigue. Myself and Planchet are all that such a simple expedition requires. To this, Athos replied quietly, we also have money left, for I have not yet drunk all my share of the diamond, and Porthos and Aramis have not eaten all theirs. We can therefore use up four horses as well as one. But consider, d', Artagnan, said he in a tone so solemn that it made the young man shudder, consider that Bethune is a city where the Cardinal has given rendezvous to a woman who, wherever she goes, brings misery with her. If you had only to deal with four men, d', Artagnan, I would allow you to go alone. You have to do with that woman. We four will go, and I hope to God that with our four lackeys we may be in sufficient number. You terrify me, Athos. Cried d'. Artagnan. My dear God, what do you fear? Everything, replied Athos. D' Artagnan examined the countenances of his companions, which, like that of Athos, wore an impression of deep anxiety, and they continued their route as fast as their horses could carry them, but without adding another word. On the evening of the 25th, as they were entering Arras, and as d' Artagnan was dismounting at the inn of the Golden Harrow to drink a glass of wine, a horseman came out of the post yard, where he had just had a relay, started off at a gallop, and with a fresh horse took the road to Paris. At the moment he passed through the gateway into the street, the wind blew open the cloak in which he was wrapped, although it was in the month of August, and lifted his hat, which the traveler seized with his hand the moment it had left his head, pulling it eagerly over his eyes. D', Artagnan, who had his eyes Fixed upon this man became very pale and let his glass fall. What is the matter, monsieur? Said Planchet. Oh, come, gentlemen, my master is ill. The three friends hastened toward d', Artagnan, who, instead of being ill, ran toward his horse. They stopped at the door. Well, where the devil are you going now? Cried Athos. It is he. Cried d', Artagnan, pale with anger and with sweat on his brow. [00:35:55] Speaker B: It is he. [00:35:56] Speaker A: Let me overtake him. He what he? Asked Athos. He. That man. What man? That cursed man, my evil genius, whom I have always met with when threatened by some misfortune. He who accompanied that horrible woman when I met her for the first time. He whom I was seeking when I offended our Athos, he whom I saw on the very morning Madame Bonacieux was abducted. I have seen him. That is he. I recognized him when the wind blew upon his cloak. The devil. Said Athos, musingly. To saddle, gentlemen, to saddle. Let us pursue him and we shall overtake him. My dear friend, said Aramis. Remember that he goes in an opposite direction from that in which we are going, that he has a fresh horse and ours are fatigued, so that we shall disable our own horses without even a chance of overtaking him. Let the man go, d'. Artagnan. Let us save the woman. Monsieur, Monsieur. Cried a hostler, running out and looking after the stranger. Monsieur, here is a paper which dropped out of your hat. Eh, monsieur. Eh, friend, said d'. Artagnan. Half a pistole for that paper. My faith, monsieur, with great pleasure. Here it is. The hostler, enchanted with the good day's work he had done, returned to the yard. D' Artagnan unfolded the paper well, eagerly demanded all his three friends. Nothing but one word, said d'. Artagnan. Yes, said Aramis. But that one word is the name of some town or village. Amentier, read Porthos Armentieres. I don't know such a place. And that name of a town or village is written in her hand. Cried Athos. Come on, come on. Said d'. Artagnan. Let us keep that paper carefully. Perhaps I have not thrown away my half pistole. To horse, my friends, to horse. And the four friends flew at a gallop along the road to Bethune. End of Chapter 60 Chapter 61 of the D' Artagnan Romances Volume 1 the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Translated by William Robson the Carmelite Convent at Bethune Great criminals bear about them a kind of predestination which makes them surmount all obstacles. Which makes them escape all dangers up to the moment which a wearied providence has marked as the rock of their impious fortunes. It was thus with Milady she escaped the cruisers of both nations and arrived at Boulogne without accident. When landing at Portsmouth, Milady was an Englishwoman whom the persecutions of the French drove from La Rochelle. When landing at Boulogne, after two days passage, she passed for a Frenchwoman whom the English persecuted at Portsmouth out of their hatred for France. Milady had likewise the best of passports. Her beauty, her noble appearance, and the liberality with which she distributed her pistoles. Freed from the usual formalities by the affable smile and gallant manners of an old governor of the port who kissed her hand, she only remained long enough at Boulogne to put into a post a letter conceived in the following. [00:39:41] Speaker B: To his Eminence, Monseigneur, the Cardinal Richelieu in his camp before La Rochelle. Monseigneur, let your Eminence be reassured. His Grace the Duke of Buckingham, will not set out for France. Milady de Boulogne, evening of the 25th PS according to the desire of your Eminence, I report to the Convent of the Carmelites at Bethune, where I will. [00:40:07] Speaker A: Await your orders accordingly. That same evening, Milady commenced her journey. Night overtook her. She stopped and slept at an inn. At five o' clock the next morning, she again proceeded, and in three hours after entered Bethune, she inquired for the Convent of the Carmelites and went thither. Immediately. The superior met her. Milady showed her the Cardinal's order. The abbess assigned her a chamber and had breakfast served. All the past was effaced from the eyes of this woman, and her looks fixed on the future, beheld nothing but the high fortunes reserved for her by the Cardinal, whom she had so successfully served, without his name being in any way mixed up with the sanguinary affair. The ever new passions which consumed her gave to her life the appearance of those clouds which float in the heavens, reflecting sometimes azure, sometimes fire, sometimes the opaque blackness of the tempest, and which leave no traces upon the earth behind them but devastation and death. After breakfast, the abbess came to pay her a visit. There is very little amusement in the cloister, and the good superior was eager to make the acquaintance of her new boarder. Milady wished to please the abbess. This was a very easy matter for a woman so really superior as she was. She tried to be agreeable, and she was charming, winning the good superior by her varied conversation and by the graces of her whole personality. The abbess who was the daughter of a noble house, took particular delight in stories of the court, which so seldom travel to the extremities of the kingdom, and which above all have so much difficulty in penetrating the walls of convents, at whose threshold the noise of the world dies away. Milady, on the contrary, was quite conversant with all aristocratic intrigues, amid which she had constantly lived for five or six years. She made it her business, therefore, to amuse the good abbess with the worldly practices of the court of France, mixed with the eccentric pursuits of the king. She made for her the scandalous chronicle of the lords and ladies of the court, whom the abbess knew perfectly by name, touched lightly on the amours of the queen and the Duke of Buckingham, and talking a great deal to induce her auditor to talk a little. But the abbess contented herself with listening and smiling without replying a word. Milady, however, saw that this sort of narrative amused her very much, and kept at it only. She now let her conversation drift toward the cardinal, but she was greatly embarrassed. She did not know whether the abbess was a royalist or a cardinalist. She therefore confined herself to a prudent middle course. But the abbess, on her part maintained a reserve still more prudent, contenting herself with making a profound inclination of the head every time the fair traveller pronounced the name of his eminence. Milady began to think she should soon grow weary of a convent life. She resolved then to risk something in order that she might know how to act afterward. Desirous of seeing how far the discretion of the good abbess would go, she began to tell a story, obscure at first, but very circumstantial afterward, about the cardinal relating the amours of the minister with Madame d', Arguillon, Marion de Lorme, and several other gay women. The abbess listened more attentively, grew animated by degrees, and smiled. Good thought milady. [00:43:40] Speaker B: She takes pleasure in my conversation. If she is a cardinalist, she has no fanaticism at least. [00:43:47] Speaker A: She then went on to describe the persecutions exercised by the cardinal upon his enemies. The abbess only crossed herself without approving or disapproving. This confirmed Milady in her opinion, that the abbess was rather royalist than cardinalist. Milady therefore continued, coloring her narrations more and more. [00:44:08] Speaker B: I am very ignorant of these matters. [00:44:11] Speaker A: Said the abbess at length, but however. [00:44:15] Speaker B: Distant from the court we may be, however remote from the interests of the world we may be placed, we have very sad examples of what you have related, and one of our boarders has. [00:44:30] Speaker A: Suffered much from the vengeance and persecution of of the Cardinal? One of your boarders, said Milady. [00:44:40] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Poor woman. I pity her, then. [00:44:45] Speaker A: And you have reason for she is. [00:44:48] Speaker B: Much to be pitied. [00:44:50] Speaker A: Imprisonment, menaces, ill treatment. She has suffered everything. But after all, resumed the Abbess, Monsieur Cardinal has perhaps plausible motives for acting thus. And though she has the look of an angel, we must not always judge people by the appearance. Good, said Milady to herself. [00:45:18] Speaker B: Who knows? I am about perhaps to discover something. Here I am in the vein. [00:45:25] Speaker A: She tried to give her countenance an appearance of perfect candour. Alas, said Milady, I know it is so. [00:45:33] Speaker B: It is said that we must not trust to the face. But in what then shall we place confidence, if not in the most beautiful work of the Lord? As for me, I shall be deceived all of my life, perhaps. But I shall always have faith in a person whose countenance inspires me with sympathy. [00:45:54] Speaker A: You would then be tempted to believe, said the Abbess, that this young person is innocent? [00:46:04] Speaker B: The Cardinal pursues not only crimes, said she, there are certain virtues which he pursues more severely than certain offences. [00:46:15] Speaker A: Permit me, Madame, to express my surprise, said the Abbess. [00:46:23] Speaker B: At what? [00:46:24] Speaker A: Said Milady, with the utmost ingenuousness at the language you use. [00:46:31] Speaker B: What do you find so astonishing in that language? [00:46:35] Speaker A: Said Milady, smiling. You are the friend of the Cardinal, for he sends you hither. [00:46:42] Speaker B: And yet. And yet I speak ill of him. [00:46:48] Speaker A: Replied Milady, finishing the thought of the Superior. At least you don't speak well of him. [00:46:56] Speaker B: That is because I am not his. [00:46:58] Speaker A: Friend, said she, sighing, but his victim. But this letter in which he recommends. [00:47:07] Speaker B: You to me is in order for me to confine myself to a sort of prison, from which he will release me by one of his satellites. But why have you not fled? Whither should I go? Do you believe there is a spot on the earth which the Cardinal cannot reach if he takes the trouble to stretch forth his hand? If I were a man, that would barely be possible. But what can a woman do? This young boarder of yours, has she tried to fly? No, that is true, but she. [00:47:48] Speaker A: That is another thing. I believe she is detained in France by some love affair. Ah, said Milady with a sigh. [00:48:00] Speaker B: If she loves, she is not altogether wretched. [00:48:05] Speaker A: Then, said the Abbess, looking at Milady with increasing interest, I behold another poor victim. Alas, yes, said Milady. The Abbess looked at her for an instant with uneasiness, as if a fresh thought suggested itself to her mind. You are not an enemy of our holy faith, said she hesitatingly. [00:48:33] Speaker B: Who I. [00:48:34] Speaker A: Cried Milady. [00:48:36] Speaker B: I a Protestant? Oh, no. I call to witness the God who hears us, that, on the contrary, I am a fervent Catholic. [00:48:47] Speaker A: Then, Madame, said the Abbess, smiling, be reassured. The house in which you are shall not be a very hard prison, and. [00:48:57] Speaker B: We will do all in our power. [00:48:59] Speaker A: To make you cherish your captivity. [00:49:02] Speaker B: You will find here, moreover, the young woman of whom I spoke, who is persecuted, no doubt in consequence of some court intrigue. [00:49:16] Speaker A: She is amiable and well behaved. [00:49:21] Speaker B: What is her name? [00:49:24] Speaker A: She was sent to me by someone. [00:49:26] Speaker B: Of high rank under the name of Kitty. [00:49:31] Speaker A: I have tried not to discover her other name. [00:49:36] Speaker B: Kitty. [00:49:37] Speaker A: Cried Milady. [00:49:39] Speaker B: What? [00:49:40] Speaker A: Are you sure that she is called so? Yes, Madame. Do you know her? Milady smiled to herself at the idea which had occurred to her, that that this might be her old chambermaid there was connected with the remembrance of this girl. A remembrance of anger and a desire of vengeance disordered the features of Milady, which, however, immediately recovered the calm and benevolent expression which this woman of a hundred faces had for a moment allowed them to lose. [00:50:15] Speaker B: And when can I see this young lady for whom I already feel so great a sympathy? [00:50:22] Speaker A: Asked Milady. Why, this evening, said the Abbess. To day even. [00:50:29] Speaker B: But you have been travelling these four. [00:50:32] Speaker A: Days, as you told me yourself. [00:50:35] Speaker B: This morning you rose at five o'. Clock. [00:50:38] Speaker A: You must stand in need of repose. Go to bed and sleep. At dinner time we will rouse you. Although Milady would very willingly have gone without sleep, sustained as she was by all the excitements which a new adventure awakened in her heart. Ever thirsting for intrigues, she nevertheless accepted the offer of the Superior. During the last 15 days she had experienced so many and such various emotions that if her frame of iron was still capable of supporting fatigue, her mind required repose. She therefore took leave of the Abbess and went to bed softly rocked by the ideas of vengeance which the name of Kitty had naturally brought to her thoughts, she remembered that almost unlimited promise which the Cardinal had given her. If she succeeded in her enterprise. She had succeeded. D' Artagnan was then in her power. One thing alone frightened her. That was the remembrance of her husband, the Comte de la Fere, whom she had believed dead, or at least expatriated, and whom she found again in Athos. The best friend of d'. Artagnan. But alas, if he was the friend of d', Artagnan, he must have lent him his assistance in all the proceedings, by whose aid the Queen had defeated the project of His Eminence. If he was the friend of d'. Artagnan. He was the enemy of the Cardinal, and she doubtless would succeed in involving him in the vengeance by which she hoped to destroy the young Musketeer. All these hopes were so many sweet thoughts for Milady. So rocked by them, she soon fell asleep. She was awakened by a soft voice which sounded at the foot of her bed. She opened her eyes and saw the Abbess accompanied by a young woman with light hair and delicate complexion, who fixed upon her a look full of benevolent curiosity. The face of the young woman was entirely unknown to her. Each examined the other with great attention, while exchanging the customary compliments. Both were very handsome, but of quite different styles of beauty. Milady, however, smiled in observing that she excelled the young woman by far in her high air and aristocratic bearing. It is true that the habit of a novice which the young woman wore was not very advantageous in a contest of this kind. The abbess introduced them to each other. When this formality was ended, as her duties called her to chapel, she left the two young women alone. The novice, seeing Milady in bed, was about to follow the example of the superior, but Milady stopped her. How, madam, said she. [00:53:23] Speaker B: I have scarcely seen you, and you already wished to deprive me of your company, upon which I had counted a little, I must confess, for the time I have to pass here. [00:53:34] Speaker A: No, madam, replied the novice. [00:53:37] Speaker B: Only I thought I had chosen my time ill. You were asleep. You are fatigued. [00:53:44] Speaker A: Well, said Milady. [00:53:47] Speaker B: What can those who sleep wish for? A happy awakening. This awakening you have given me. Allow me then to enjoy it at my ease. [00:53:56] Speaker A: And taking her hand, she drew her toward the armchair by the bedside. The novice sat down. [00:54:03] Speaker B: How unfortunate I am, said she. I have been here six months without the shadow of recreation. You arrive, and your presence was likely to afford me delightful company. Yet I expect in all probability to quit the convent at any moment. How you are going soon? [00:54:23] Speaker A: Asked Milady. [00:54:25] Speaker B: At least I hope so, said the. [00:54:28] Speaker A: Novice, with an expression of joy which she made no effort to disguise. [00:54:33] Speaker B: I think I learned you had suffered. [00:54:35] Speaker A: Persecutions from the Cardinal, continued Milady. [00:54:39] Speaker B: That would have been another motive for sympathy between us. What I have heard then, from our good mother is true. You have likewise been a victim of that wicked priest. [00:54:51] Speaker A: Hush, said Milady. [00:54:54] Speaker B: Let us not even here speak thus of him. All my misfortunes arise from my having said nearly what you have said before. A woman whom I thought my friend and who betrayed me. Are you also the victim of a treachery? No, said the novice, but of my devotion. Of a devotion To a woman I loved, for whom I would have laid down my life, for whom I would give it still. And who has abandoned you, is that it? I have been sufficiently unjust to believe so. But during the last two or three days I have obtained proof to the contrary, for which I thank God, for it would have cost me very dear to think she had forgotten me. But you, madam, you appear to be. [00:55:43] Speaker A: Free, continued the novice. [00:55:46] Speaker B: And if you were inclined to fly, it only rests with yourself to do so. Whither would you have me go without friends, without money? In a part of France with which I am unacquainted and where I have never been before. Oh. [00:56:04] Speaker A: Cried the novice, as to friends, you. [00:56:07] Speaker B: Would have them wherever you want. You appear so good and are so beautiful. [00:56:13] Speaker A: That does not prevent, replied Milady, softening her smile so as to give it an angelic expression, my being alone or being persecuted. Hear me, said the novice, we must trust in heaven. [00:56:29] Speaker B: There always comes a moment when the good you have done pleads your cause before God. And see, perhaps it is a happiness for you, humble and powerless as I am, that you have met with me. For if I leave this place, well, I have powerful friends who, after having exerted themselves on my account, may also exert themselves for you. Oh, when I said I was alone. [00:56:56] Speaker A: Said Milady, hoping to make the novice talk by talking of herself. [00:57:01] Speaker B: It is not for want of friends in high places, but these friends themselves tremble before the Cardinal. The Queen herself does not dare to oppose the terrible minister. I have proof that Her Majesty, notwithstanding her excellent heart, has more than once been obliged to abandon to the anger of His Eminence persons who had served her. Trust me, madam, the Queen may appear to have abandoned those persons, but we must not put faith in appearances. The more they are persecuted, the more she thinks of them. And often, when they least expect it, they have proof of a kind remembrance. [00:57:41] Speaker A: Alas, said Milady, I believe so. [00:57:45] Speaker B: The Queen is so good. Oh, you know her, then, that lovely and noble Queen, that you speak of her thus? [00:57:54] Speaker A: Cried the novice with enthusiasm. That is to say, replied Milady, driven into her entrenchment, that I have not. [00:58:03] Speaker B: The honour of knowing her personally, but I know a great number of her most intimate friends. I am acquainted with Monsieur de Putange. I met Monsieur Durant in England. I know Monsieur de Treville. Monsieur de Treville. [00:58:18] Speaker A: Exclaimed the novice. [00:58:20] Speaker B: Do you know Monsieur de Treville? Yes, perfectly well, intimately. Even. The captain of the King's Musketeers. The captain of the King's Musketeers? Why, then only see? [00:58:36] Speaker A: Cried the novice. [00:58:37] Speaker B: We shall soon be well acquainted, almost friends. If you know Monsieur de Treville, you. [00:58:43] Speaker A: Must have visited him often, said Milady, who, having entered this track and perceiving that falsehood succeeded, was determined to follow it to the end with him. [00:58:55] Speaker B: Then you must have seen some of his musketeers. All those he is in the habit. [00:59:01] Speaker A: Of receiving, replied Milady, for whom this conversation began to have a real interest. [00:59:07] Speaker B: Name a few of those whom you know, and you will see if they are my friends. [00:59:13] Speaker A: Well, Said Milady, embarrassed, I know Monsieur. [00:59:17] Speaker B: De Louvigny, Monsieur de Courtivrand, Monsieur de Farussac. [00:59:24] Speaker A: The novice let her speak. Then, seeing that she paused, she said. [00:59:29] Speaker B: Don'T you know a gentleman named Athos? [00:59:33] Speaker A: Milady became as pale as the sheets in which she was lying. And, mistress as she was of herself, she could not help uttering a cry, seizing the hand of the novice and devouring her with looks. [00:59:46] Speaker B: What's the matter? Good God. [00:59:48] Speaker A: Asked the poor woman. [00:59:50] Speaker B: Have I said anything that has wounded you? No, but the name struck me, because I also have known that gentleman, and it appeared strange to me to meet with a person who appears to know him well. Oh, yes, very well. Not only him, but some of his friends, Messrs. Porthos and Aramis. Indeed, you know them likewise. [01:00:16] Speaker A: I know them. Cried Milady, who began to feel a chill penetrate her heart. [01:00:21] Speaker B: Well, if you know them, you know that they are good and free companions. Why do you not apply to them if you stand in need of help? [01:00:32] Speaker A: That is to say, stammered Milady, I. [01:00:37] Speaker B: Am not really very intimate with any of them. I know them from having heard one of their friends, Monsieur d', Artagnan, say a great deal about them. You know Monsieur d'? Artagnan. [01:00:49] Speaker A: Cried the novice in her turn, seizing the hands of Milady and devouring her with her eyes. Then, remarking the strange expression of Milady's. [01:00:58] Speaker B: Countenance, she said, pardon me, Madame. You know him by what title? Why? [01:01:08] Speaker A: Replied Milady, embarrassed, why, by the title of friend. You deceive me, Madam, said the novice. [01:01:19] Speaker B: You have been his mistress. It is you who have been his mistress, Madame. [01:01:26] Speaker A: Cried Milady in her turn. [01:01:28] Speaker B: I. [01:01:29] Speaker A: Said the novice. [01:01:31] Speaker B: Yes, you. I know you now. You are Madame Bonacieux. [01:01:38] Speaker A: The young woman drew back, filled with surprise and terror. [01:01:42] Speaker B: Oh, do not deny it. [01:01:45] Speaker A: Answer, continued Milady. Well, yes, Madame, said the novice. [01:01:52] Speaker B: Are we rivals? [01:01:55] Speaker A: The countenance of Milady was illumined by so savage a joy that under any other circumstances, Mme Bonacieux would have Fled in terror. But she was absorbed by jealousy. Speak, Madame, resumed Mme Bonacieux with an energy of which she might not have been believed capable. [01:02:14] Speaker B: Have you been? Or are you, his mistress? Oh, no. [01:02:20] Speaker A: Cried Milady, with an accent that admitted no doubt of her truth. Never, never. I believe you, said Mme Bonacieux. [01:02:32] Speaker B: But why then did you cry out so? Do you not understand? [01:02:39] Speaker A: Said Milady, who had already overcome her agitation and recovered her presence of mind. [01:02:45] Speaker B: How can I understand? I know nothing. Can you not understand that Monsieur d', Artagnan, being my friend, might take me into his confidence? Truly, do you not perceive that I know all? Your abduction from the little house at St Germain, his despair, that of his friends and their useless inquiries up to this moment? How could I help be astonished, when, without having the least expectation of such a thing, I meet you face to face? You, of whom we have so often spoken together, you, whom he loves with all his soul. You, whom he had taught me to love before I had seen you. Ah, dear Constance, I have found you then. I see you at last. [01:03:34] Speaker A: And Milady stretched out her arms to Mme Bonacieux, who, convinced by what she had just said, saw nothing in this woman, whom, an instant before she had believed her rival but a sincere and devoted friend. [01:03:47] Speaker B: Oh, pardon me, pardon me. [01:03:50] Speaker A: Cried she, sinking upon the shoulders of Milady. [01:03:53] Speaker B: Pardon me, I love him so much. [01:03:56] Speaker A: These two women held each other for an instant in a close embrace. Certainly, if Milady's strength had been equal to her hatred, Mme Bonacieux would never have left that embrace alive. But not being able to stifle her, she smiled upon her. Oh, you beautiful, good little creature, Said Milady. [01:04:16] Speaker B: How delightful I am to have found you. Let me look at you. [01:04:20] Speaker A: And while saying these words, she absolutely devoured her by her looks. [01:04:25] Speaker B: Oh, yes, it is you indeed, from what he has told me, I know you now. I recognise you perfectly. [01:04:35] Speaker A: The poor young woman could not possibly suspect what frightful cruelty was behind the rampart of that pure brow, behind those brilliant eyes in which she read nothing but interest and compassion. [01:04:48] Speaker B: Then you know what I have suffered. [01:04:50] Speaker A: Said Mme Bonacieux, since he has told. [01:04:54] Speaker B: You what he has suffered. [01:04:55] Speaker A: But to suffer for him is happiness, Milady replied mechanically. [01:05:01] Speaker B: Yes, that is happiness. [01:05:05] Speaker A: She was thinking of something else. Ah, then, continued Mme Bonacieux, my punishment. [01:05:11] Speaker B: Is drawing to a close to morrow. This evening perhaps I shall see him again, and then the past will no longer exist. This evening? [01:05:23] Speaker A: Asked Milady, roused from her reverie by These words. [01:05:27] Speaker B: What do you mean? Do you expect news from him? I expect himself. Himself? D' Artagnan here Himself? But that's impossible. He is at the siege of La Roche with the Cardinal. He will not return till after taking the city. Ah, you fancy so. But is there anything impossible for my d'? Artagnan, the noble and loyal gentleman? Oh, I cannot believe you. [01:06:02] Speaker A: Well read then, said the unhappy young woman in the excess of her pride and joy, presenting a letter to Milady. The writing of Madame de Chevreuse, said Milady to herself. [01:06:17] Speaker B: Ah, I always thought there was some secret understanding in that quarter. [01:06:22] Speaker A: And she greedily read the following few lines. My dear child, hold yourself ready. Our friend will see you soon, and he will only see you to release you from that imprisonment in which your safety required you should be concealed. Prepare then, for your departure, and never despair of us. Our charming Gascon has just proved himself as brave and faithful as ever. Tell him that certain parties are grateful for the warning he has given. Yes, yes, said Milady. [01:06:55] Speaker B: The letter is precise. Do you know what that warning was? No. I only suspect he has warned the Queen against some fresh machinations of the Cardinal. [01:07:07] Speaker A: Yes, that's it, no doubt, said Milady, returning the letter to Mme Bonacieux and letting her head sink pensively upon her bosom. At that moment, they heard the gallop of a horse. [01:07:19] Speaker B: Oh. [01:07:20] Speaker A: Cried Mme Bonacieux, darting to the window. [01:07:23] Speaker B: Can it be he? [01:07:25] Speaker A: Milady remained still in bed, petrified by surprise. So many unexpected things happened to her all at once, that for the first time she was at a loss. He. He murmured she. [01:07:39] Speaker B: Can it be he? [01:07:42] Speaker A: And she remained in bed with her eyes fixed. Alas, no, said Madame Bonacieux. [01:07:49] Speaker B: It is a man I don't know. Although he seems to be coming here. Yes, he checks his pace, he stops at the gate, he rings. [01:08:00] Speaker A: Milady sprang out of bed. [01:08:02] Speaker B: You are sure it is not he? [01:08:04] Speaker A: Said she. [01:08:05] Speaker B: Yes, yes, very sure. Perhaps you did not see well. Oh, if I were to see the plume of his hat, the end of his cloak, I should know him. [01:08:18] Speaker A: Milady was dressing herself all the time. [01:08:22] Speaker B: Yes, he has entered. It is for you or me. My God, how agitated you seem. Yes, I admit it. I have not your confidence. I fear the Cardinal. [01:08:36] Speaker A: Hush, said Mme Bonacieux. [01:08:39] Speaker B: Somebody is coming. [01:08:41] Speaker A: Immediately. The door opened and the Superior entered. Do you come from Boulogne? Demanded she of Milady. Yes, replied she, trying to recover her self possession. [01:08:54] Speaker B: Who wants me? [01:08:56] Speaker A: A man who will not tell his name, but who Comes from the Cardinal. [01:09:03] Speaker B: And who wishes to speak with me? Who wishes to speak to a lady. [01:09:10] Speaker A: Recently come from Boulogne. [01:09:13] Speaker B: Then let him come in. If you please. Oh my God. My God. [01:09:18] Speaker A: Cried Mme Bonacieux. [01:09:21] Speaker B: Can it be bad news? I fear it. I will leave you with this stranger. But. But as soon as he is gone, if you will permit me, I will return. Permit you? I beseech you. [01:09:36] Speaker A: The Superior and Mme Bonacieux retired. Milady remained alone with her eyes fixed upon the door. An instant later, the jingling of spurs was heard upon the stairs. Steps drew near, the door opened and a man appeared. Milady uttered a cry of joy. This man was the Comte de Rochefort, the demoniacal tool of his eminence. End of Chapter 61 Chapter 62 of the D' Artagnan Romances Volume 1 the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas translated by William Robson Two varieties of demons Ah. Cried Milady and Rochefort together. [01:10:17] Speaker B: It is you. [01:10:19] Speaker A: Yes, it is I. [01:10:22] Speaker B: And you come? [01:10:23] Speaker A: Asked Milady, From La Rochelle. And you? [01:10:28] Speaker B: From England. [01:10:30] Speaker A: Buckingham. [01:10:31] Speaker B: Dead or desperately wounded. As I left without having been able to hear anything of him, a fanatic has just assassinated him. [01:10:41] Speaker A: Ah, Said Rochefort with a smile. This is a fortunate chance. One that will delight His Eminence. Have you informed him of it? [01:10:53] Speaker B: I wrote to him from Boulogne. But what brings you here? [01:10:57] Speaker A: His Eminence was uneasy and sent me to find you. [01:11:03] Speaker B: I only arrived yesterday. [01:11:06] Speaker A: And what have you been doing since yesterday? [01:11:10] Speaker B: I have not lost my time. [01:11:13] Speaker A: Oh, I don't doubt that. [01:11:16] Speaker B: Do you know whom I have encountered here? [01:11:20] Speaker A: No. [01:11:21] Speaker B: Guess. [01:11:22] Speaker A: How can I? [01:11:24] Speaker B: That young woman whom the Queen took out of prison. [01:11:28] Speaker A: The mistress of that fellow d'. Artagnan? [01:11:32] Speaker B: Yes. Madame Bonacieux, with whose retreat the Cardinal was unacquainted. [01:11:39] Speaker A: Well, well, said Rochefort. Here is a chance which may pair off with the other. Monsieur Cardinal is indeed a privileged man. Imagine my astonishment, continued Milady, when I. [01:11:55] Speaker B: Found myself face to face with this woman. [01:11:58] Speaker A: Does she know you? [01:12:00] Speaker B: No. [01:12:01] Speaker A: Then she looks upon you as a stranger. Milady smiled. [01:12:08] Speaker B: I am her best friend. [01:12:11] Speaker A: Upon my honor, said Rochefort, it takes you, my dear Countess, to perform such miracles. [01:12:19] Speaker B: And it is well I can, Chevalier. [01:12:22] Speaker A: Said Milady, for do you know what is going on here? No. [01:12:28] Speaker B: They will come for her to morrow or the day after. With an order from the Queen. [01:12:35] Speaker A: Indeed. And who? [01:12:38] Speaker B: D' Artagnan and his friends. [01:12:41] Speaker A: Indeed. They will go so far that we shall be obliged to send them to the Bastile. [01:12:48] Speaker B: Why is it not done already? [01:12:51] Speaker A: What would you? The Cardinal has a weakness for these men which I cannot comprehend. [01:12:57] Speaker B: Indeed? [01:12:59] Speaker A: Yes. [01:13:01] Speaker B: Well, then tell him this. Rochefortell him that our conversation at the inn of the Red Dovecot was overheard by these four men. Tell him that after his departure, one of them came up to me and took from me by violence the safe conduct which he had given me. Tell him they warned Lord de Winter of my journey to England, that this time they nearly foiled my mission, as they foiled the whole affair of the studs. Tell him that among these four men, two only are to be feared. D' Artagnan and Athos. Tell him that the third, Aramis, is the lover of Madame de Chevreuse. He may be left alone. We know his secret, and it may be useful. As to the fourth, Porthos, he is a fool, a simpleton, a blustering booby, not worth troubling himself about. [01:13:53] Speaker A: But these four men must now be at the siege of La Rochelle. [01:13:58] Speaker B: I thought so too. But a letter which Mme Bonacieux has received from Madame the Constable, and which he has had the imprudence to show me, leads me to believe that these four men, on the contrary, are on the road hither to take her away. [01:14:16] Speaker A: The devil. What's to be done? [01:14:20] Speaker B: What did the Cardinal say about me? [01:14:23] Speaker A: I was to take your despatches, written or verbal, and return by post. And when he shall know what you have done, he will advise what you have to do. [01:14:33] Speaker B: I must then remain here? [01:14:37] Speaker A: Here or in the neighbourhood. [01:14:40] Speaker B: You cannot take me with you. [01:14:42] Speaker A: No. The order is imperative. Near the camp you might be recognized. And your presence, you must be aware would compromise the Cardinal. [01:14:52] Speaker B: Then I must wait here or in the neighbourhood? [01:14:56] Speaker A: Only tell me beforehand where you will wait for intelligence from the Cardinal. Let me know always where to find you. [01:15:05] Speaker B: Observe. It is probable that I may not be able to remain here. [01:15:11] Speaker A: Why? [01:15:12] Speaker B: You forget that my enemies may arrive at any minute. [01:15:16] Speaker A: That's true. But is this little woman then to escape His Eminence? Bah, said Milady, with a smile that belonged only to herself, you forget that. [01:15:27] Speaker B: I am her best friend. [01:15:30] Speaker A: Ah, that's true. I may then tell the Cardinal, with respect to this little woman, that he. [01:15:38] Speaker B: May be at ease. [01:15:41] Speaker A: Is that all? [01:15:43] Speaker B: He will know what that means? [01:15:46] Speaker A: He will guess at least. Now then, what had I better do? [01:15:53] Speaker B: Return instantly. It appears to me that the news you bear is worth the trouble of a little diligence. [01:15:59] Speaker A: My chaise broke down coming into Lillier. [01:16:04] Speaker B: Capital. [01:16:05] Speaker A: What? Capital? [01:16:07] Speaker B: Yes, I want your chaise. [01:16:11] Speaker A: And how shall I travel then? [01:16:14] Speaker B: On horseback. [01:16:16] Speaker A: You talk very comfortably. A hundred and eighty leagues. [01:16:22] Speaker B: What's that? [01:16:24] Speaker A: One can do it afterward. [01:16:27] Speaker B: Afterward? Why? In passing through Lillier, you will send me your chaise with an order to your servant to place himself at my disposal. Well, you have no doubt some order from the Cardinal about you? [01:16:43] Speaker A: I have my full power. [01:16:46] Speaker B: Show it to the Abbess and tell her that someone will come and fetch me either to day or to morrow, and that I am to follow the person who presents himself in your name. [01:16:57] Speaker A: Very well. [01:16:58] Speaker B: Don't forget to treat me harshly in speaking of me to the abbess. [01:17:03] Speaker A: To what purpose? [01:17:06] Speaker B: I am a victim of the Cardinal. It is necessary to inspire confidence in that poor little Madame Bonacieux. [01:17:14] Speaker A: That's true. Now, will you make me a report of all that has happened? [01:17:20] Speaker B: Why? I have related the events to you. You have a good memory. Repeat what I have told you. A paper may be lost. [01:17:29] Speaker A: You are right. Only let me know where to find you, that I may not run needlessly about the neighborhood. [01:17:38] Speaker B: That's correct. Wait. [01:17:41] Speaker A: Do you want a map? [01:17:44] Speaker B: Oh, I know this country marvellously. [01:17:48] Speaker A: You? When were you here? [01:17:51] Speaker B: I was brought up here. Truly, it is worth something, you see, to have been brought up somewhere. [01:18:00] Speaker A: You will wait for me then. [01:18:03] Speaker B: Let me reflect a little. Ah, that will do. At Armentieres. [01:18:10] Speaker A: Where is that Armentiere? [01:18:13] Speaker B: A little town on the Lys. I shall only have to cross the river and I shall be in a foreign country capital. [01:18:22] Speaker A: But is it understood you will only cross the river in case of danger? [01:18:27] Speaker B: That is well understood. [01:18:30] Speaker A: And in that case, how shall I know where you are? [01:18:34] Speaker B: You do not want your lackey? Is he a sure man to the proof? Give him to me. Nobody knows him. I will leave him at the place I quit and he will conduct you to me. [01:18:49] Speaker A: And you say you will wait for me at Armentieres? [01:18:53] Speaker B: At Armentieres. [01:18:55] Speaker A: Write that name on a bit of paper, lest I should forget it. There is nothing compromising in the name of a town. Is it not so? [01:19:05] Speaker B: Eh, who knows? [01:19:08] Speaker A: Never mind, said Milady, writing the name on half a sheet of paper, I will compromise myself. Well said Rochefort, taking the paper from Milady, folding it and placing it in the lining of his hat. You may be easy. I will do as children do for fear of losing the paper. Repeat the name along the route. Now, is that all? [01:19:33] Speaker B: I believe so. [01:19:35] Speaker A: Let us see Buckingham dead or grievously wounded. Your conversation with the Cardinal overheard by the Four Musketeers. Lord de Winter. Warned of your arrival at Portsmouth. D' Artagnan and Athos to the bastile. Aramis, the lover of Madame de Chevreuse. Porthos, an ass Madame Bonacieux found again to send you the chaise as soon as possible to place my lackey at your disposal to make you out a victim of the Cardinal in order that the Abbess may entertain no suspicion. Armentieres on the bank of the Lys. Is that all then? [01:20:12] Speaker B: In truth, my dear Chevalier, you are a miracle of memory. Apropos, add one thing. [01:20:20] Speaker A: What? [01:20:22] Speaker B: I saw some very pretty woods which almost touch the convent garden. Say that I am permitted to walk in those woods. Who knows, perhaps I shall stand in need of a back door for retreat. [01:20:35] Speaker A: You think of everything. [01:20:38] Speaker B: And you forget one thing. [01:20:41] Speaker A: What? [01:20:42] Speaker B: To ask me if I want money. [01:20:45] Speaker A: That's true. How much do you want? [01:20:49] Speaker B: All you have in gold. [01:20:52] Speaker A: I have 500 pistoles or thereabouts. [01:20:57] Speaker B: I have as much. With a thousand pistoles, one may face everything. Empty your pockets There. Right. [01:21:06] Speaker A: And you go in an hour. Time to eat a morsel. During which I shall send for a post horse. [01:21:14] Speaker B: Capital. Adieu, Chevalier. [01:21:17] Speaker A: Adieu, Countess. [01:21:19] Speaker B: Commend me to the Cardinal. [01:21:21] Speaker A: Commend me to Satan. Milady and Rochefort exchanged a smile and separated. An hour afterward, Rochefort set out at a grand gallop. Five hours after that, he passed through Arras. Our readers already know how he was recognized by d' Artagnan and how that recognition by inspiring fear in the four Musketeers and had given fresh activity to their journey. End of Chapter 62 Chapter 63 of the D' Artagnan Romances Volume 1 the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Translated by William Robson THE Drop of Water Rochefort had scarcely departed when Mme Bonacieux re entered. She found Milady with a smiling countenance. Well, said the young woman. [01:22:09] Speaker B: What you dreaded has happened. This evening or tomorrow the Cardinal will send someone to take you away. Who told you that, my dear? [01:22:19] Speaker A: Asked Milady. [01:22:20] Speaker B: I heard it from the mouth of the messenger himself. [01:22:25] Speaker A: Come and sit down close to me, said Milady. [01:22:29] Speaker B: Here I am. Wait till I assure myself that nobody hears us. Why all these precautions? You shall know. [01:22:40] Speaker A: Milady arose, went to the door, opened it, looked in the corridor, and then returned and seated herself close to Mme Bonacieux. Then, said she, he has well played his part. [01:22:54] Speaker B: Who has? He who just now presented himself to the abbess as a messenger from the Cardinal. It was then a part he was playing. Yes, my child. That man Then was not that man. [01:23:13] Speaker A: Said Milady, lowering her voice, is my brother. [01:23:18] Speaker B: Your brother? [01:23:20] Speaker A: Cried Mme Bonacieux. [01:23:22] Speaker B: No one must know this secret, my dear, but yourself. If you reveal it to any one in the world, I shall be lost. And perhaps yourself likewise. Oh, my God. Listen. This is what has happened. My brother, who was coming to my assistance to take me away by force if it were necessary, met with the emissary of the Cardinal, who was coming in search of me. He followed him at a solitary and retired part of the road. He drew his sword and. And required the messenger to deliver up to him the papers of which he was the bearer. The messenger resisted. My brother killed him. [01:24:03] Speaker A: Oh, said Mme Bonacieux, shuddering. [01:24:07] Speaker B: Remember, that was the only means. Then my brother determined to substitute cunning for force. He took the papers and presented himself here as the emissary of the Cardinal. And in an hour or two, a carriage will come to take me away. By the orders of His Eminence. I understand it is your brother who sends this carriage. Exactly. But that is not all. That letter you have received, and which you believe to be from Madame de Chevreuse. Well, it is a forgery. How can that be? Yes, a forgery. It is a snare to prevent your making any resistance when they come to fetch you. But it is d' Artagnan that will come. Do not deceive yourself. D' Artagnan and his friends are detained at the siege of La Rochelle. How do you know that? My brother met some emissaries of the Cardinal in the uniform of Musketeers. You would have been summoned to the gate. You would have believed yourself about to meet friends. You would have been abducted and conducted back to Paris. Oh, my God. My senses fail me. Amid such a chaos of iniquities, I feel. [01:25:23] Speaker A: If this continues, said Mme Bonacieux, raising her hands to her forehead, I shall go mad. [01:25:31] Speaker B: Stop. What? I hear a horse's steps. It is my brother setting off again. I should like to offer him a last salute. Come. [01:25:43] Speaker A: Milady opened the window and made a sign to Mme Bonacieux to join her. The young woman complied. Rochefort passed at a gallop. [01:25:51] Speaker B: Adieu, Brother. [01:25:53] Speaker A: Cried Milady. The Chevalier raised his head, saw the two young women, and without stopping, waved his hand in a friendly way to Milady. The good George, said she, closing the window with an expression of countenance full of affection and melancholy. And she resumed her seat as if plunged in reflections entirely personal. Dear lady, said Madame Bonacieux, pardon me for Interrupting you? [01:26:21] Speaker B: But what do you advise me to do? Good heaven, you have more experience than I have. Speak. I will listen. [01:26:30] Speaker A: In the first place, said Milady, it. [01:26:33] Speaker B: Is possible I may be deceived, and that d' Artagnan and his friends may really come to your assistance. [01:26:40] Speaker A: Oh, that would be too much, cried Mme Bonacieux. [01:26:44] Speaker B: So much happiness is not in store for me. Then you comprehend? It would be only a question of time, a sort of race which should arrive first. If your friends are the more speedy, you are to be saved. If the satellites of the Cardinal. You are lost? Oh, yes, yes. Lost beyond redemption. What then? To do? What to do? There would be a very simple means, very natural. Tell me what? To wait concealed in the neighbourhood and assure yourself. Who are the men who come to ask for you? But where can I wait? Oh, there is no difficulty in that. I shall stop and conceal myself a few leagues hence, until my brother can rejoin me. Well, I take you with me. We conceal ourselves and wait together. But I shall not be allowed to go. I am almost a prisoner, as they believe that I go in consequence of an order from the Cardinal. No one will believe you. Anxious to follow me? Well, well. The carriage is at the door. You bid me adieu. You mount the step to embrace me a last time. My brother's servant, who comes to fetch me is told how to proceed. He makes a sign to the postilion and we set off at a gallop. But d'. Artagnan. D'. Artagnan. If he comes, shall we not know it how? Nothing easier. We will send my brother's servant back to Bethune, whom, as I told you, we can trust. He shall assume a disguise and place himself in front of the convent. If the emissaries of the Cardinal arrive, he will take no notice. If it is Monsieur d' Artagnan and his friends, he will bring them to us. He knows them, then? Doubtless. Has he not seen Monsieur d' Artagnan at my house? Oh, yes, yes, you are right. Thus, all may go. Well, all may be for the best. But we do not go far from this place. Seven or eight leagues at the most. We will keep on the frontiers, for instance, and at the first alarm, we can leave France. And what can we do there? Wait. But if they come, my brother's carriage will be here first. If I should happen to be any distance from you when the carriage comes for you at dinner or supper, for instance, do one thing. What is that? Tell your good superior that in order that we may be as much together as possible. You ask her permission to share my repast? Will she permit it? What inconvenience can it be? Oh, delightful. In this way, we shall not be separated for an instant. Well, go down to her, then, to make your request. I feel my head a little confused. I will take a turn in the garden. Go. And where shall I find you? Here in an hour. Here in an hour. Oh, you are so kind and I am so grateful. How can I avoid interesting myself for one who is so beautiful and so amiable? Are you not the beloved of one of my best friends, dear d'? Artagnan? Oh, how he will thank you. I hope so. Now then, all is agreed. Let us go down. You are going into the garden? Yes. Go along this corridor, down a little staircase, and you are in it. Excellent. Thank you. [01:30:41] Speaker A: And the two women parted, exchanging charming smiles. Milady had told the truth. Her head was confused. For her, ill arranged plans clashed one another like chaos. She required to be alone, that she might put her thoughts a little into order. She saw vaguely the future, but she stood in need of a little silence and quiet to give all her ideas, as yet confused, a distinct form and a regular plan. What was most pressing was to get Mme Bonacieux away and convey her to a place of safety. And there, if matters required, make her a hostage. Milady began to have doubts of the issue of this terrible duel, in which her enemies showed as much perseverance as she did animosity. Besides, she felt, as we feel when a storm is coming on, that this issue was near and could not fail to be terrible. The principal thing for her, then, was, as we have said, to keep Madame Bonacieux in her power. Mme Bonacieux was the very life of d'. Artagnan. This was more than his life, the life of the woman he loved. This was, in case of ill fortune, a means of temporizing and obtaining good conditions. Now this point was settled, Mme Bonacieux, without any suspicion, accompanied her. Once concealed with her at Armentieres, it would be easy to make her believe that d' Artagnan had not come to Bethune. In 15 days at most, Rochefort would be back. Besides, during that 15 days, she would have time to think how she could best avenge herself on the four friends. She would not be weary, thank God, for she should enjoy the sweetest pastimes such events could accord a woman of her character, perfecting a beautiful vengeance. Resolving all this in her mind, she cast her eyes around her and arranged the topography of the Garden. In her head, Milady was like a good general who contemplates at the same time victory and defeat, and who is quite prepared, according to the chances of the battle, to march forward or to beat a retreat. At the end of an hour. She heard a soft voice calling her. It was Mme Bonacieux's. The good abbess had naturally consented to her request, and as a commencement, they were to sup together. On reaching the courtyard, they heard the noise of a carriage which stopped at the gate. Milady listened. [01:33:07] Speaker B: Do you hear anything? [01:33:08] Speaker A: Said she. [01:33:10] Speaker B: Yes, the rolling of a carriage. It is the one my brother sends for us. Oh, my God. Come. Come. Courage. [01:33:21] Speaker A: The bell of the convent gate was sounded. Milady was not mistaken. Go to your chamber, said she to Mme Bonacieux. [01:33:30] Speaker B: You have perhaps some jewels you would like to take? I have his letters, said she. Well, go and fetch them and come to my apartment. We will snatch some supper. We shall perhaps travel part of the night, and we must keep up our strength. [01:33:47] Speaker A: Great God, said Mme Bonacieux, placing her hand upon her bosom. [01:33:52] Speaker B: My heart beats so. I cannot walk. Courage, courage. Remember that in a quarter of an hour you will be safe. And think that what you are about to do is for his sake. Yes, yes, everything for him. You have restored my courage by a single word. Go. I will rejoin you. [01:34:14] Speaker A: Milady ran up to her apartment quickly. She there found Rochefort's lackey and gave him his instructions. He was to wait at the gate. If by chance the musketeers should appear, the carriage was to set off as fast as possible, pass around the convent and go and wait for Milady at a little village which was situated at the other side of the wood. In this case, Milady would cross the garden and gain the village on foot. As we have already said, Milady was admirably acquainted with this part of France. If the musketeers did not appear, things were to go on as had been agreed. Mme Bonacieux was to get into the carriage as if to bid her adieu, and she was to take away Mme Bonacieux. Mme Bonacieux came in. And to remove all suspicion, if she had any, Milady repeated to the lackey before her the latter part of her instructions. Milady asked some questions about the carriage. It was a chaise drawn by three horses, driven by a postillion. Rochefort's lackey would precede it as courier. Milady was wrong in fearing that Mme Bonacieux would have Any suspicion? The poor young woman was too pure to suppose that any female could be guilty of such perfidy. Besides, the name of the Comtesse de Winter, which she had heard the Abbess pronounced was wholly unknown to her, and she was even ignorant that a woman had had so great and so fatal a share in the misfortune of her life. You see, said she, when the lackey had gone out, everything is ready. [01:35:43] Speaker B: The Abbess suspects nothing and believes that I am taken. By order of the Cardinal, this man goes to give his last orders. Take the least thing, drink a finger of wine, and let us be gone. [01:35:55] Speaker A: Yes, said Mme. Bonacieux mechanically. [01:35:59] Speaker B: Yes, let us be gone. [01:36:02] Speaker A: Milady made her a sign to sit down opposite, poured her a small glass of Spanish wine, and helped her to the wing of a chicken. See, said she, if everything does not. [01:36:13] Speaker B: Second us, here is night coming on. By daybreak we shall have reached our retreat and nobody can guess where we are. Come, courage, take something. [01:36:24] Speaker A: Mme Bonacieux ate a few mouthfuls mechanically and just touched the glass with her lips. Come, come, said Milady, lifting hers to her mouth. [01:36:33] Speaker B: Do as I do. [01:36:35] Speaker A: But at the moment the glass touched her lips, her hand remained suspended. She heard something on the road which sounded like the rattling of a distant gallop. Then it grew nearer, and it seemed to her almost at the same time that she heard the neighing of horses. This noise acted upon her joy like the storm which awakens the sleeper in the midst of a happy dream. She grew pale and ran to the window while Mme Bonacieux, rising all in a tremble, supported herself upon her chair to avoid falling. Nothing was yet to be seen. Only they heard the galloping draw nearer. Oh, my God, said Mme Bonacieux. [01:37:12] Speaker B: What is that noise? That of either our friends or our. [01:37:17] Speaker A: Enemies, said Milady with her terrible coolness. [01:37:21] Speaker B: Stay where you are. I will tell you. [01:37:23] Speaker A: Mme Bonacieux remained standing mute, motionless and pale as a statue. The noise became louder. The horses could not be more than a hundred and fifty paces distant. If they were not yet to be seen, it was because the road made an elbow. The noise became so distinct that the horses might be counted by the rattle of their hoofs. Milady gazed with all the power of her attention. It was just light enough for her to see who was coming. All at once. At the turning of the road, she saw the glitter of laced hats and the waving of feathers. She counted two, then five, then eight horsemen. One of them preceded the rest by double the length of his horse. Milady uttered a stifled groan. In the first horseman she recognized, d'. Artagnan. [01:38:12] Speaker B: Oh, my God. My God. [01:38:15] Speaker A: Cried Mme Bonacieux. What is. [01:38:18] Speaker B: Is the uniform of the Cardinal's guards? Not an instant to be lost. Fly. Fly. Yes, yes, let us fly. [01:38:27] Speaker A: Repeated Mme Bonacieux, but without being able to make a step, glued as she was to the spot by terror, they heard the horsemen pass under the windows. [01:38:37] Speaker B: Come then. Come then. [01:38:38] Speaker A: Cried Milady, trying to drag the young woman along by the arm. [01:38:43] Speaker B: Thanks to the garden, we yet can flee. I have the key. But make haste. In five minutes it will be too late. [01:38:50] Speaker A: Mme Bonacieux tried to walk, made two steps and sank upon her knees. Milady tried to raise and carry her, but could not do it. At this moment they heard the rolling of the carriage, which, at the approach of the Musketeers, set off at a gallop. Then three or four shots were fired. [01:39:07] Speaker B: For the last time, will you come? [01:39:10] Speaker A: Cried Milady. [01:39:11] Speaker B: Oh, my God. My God. You see, my strength fails me. You see plainly I cannot walk. Flee alone. Flee alone. And leave you here? Nonever. [01:39:25] Speaker A: Cried Milady. All at once she paused. A livid flash darted from her eyes. She ran to the table, emptied into Mme Bonacieux's glass, the contents of a ring, which she opened with singular quickness. It was a grain of a reddish colour which dissolved immediately. Then, taking the glass with a firm hand, she said, drink. [01:39:47] Speaker B: This wine will give you strength. [01:39:49] Speaker A: Drink. And she put the glass to the lips of the young woman, who drank mechanically. [01:39:56] Speaker B: This is not the way that I. [01:39:57] Speaker A: Wish to avenge myself, said Milady, replacing the glass upon the table with an infernal smile. [01:40:04] Speaker B: But my faith, we do what we can. [01:40:06] Speaker A: And she rushed out of the room. Mme Bonacieux saw her go without being able to follow her. She was like people who dream they are pursued and who in vain try to walk. A few moments passed. A great noise was heard at the gate. Every instant Mme Bonacieux expected to see Milady, but she did not return. Several times with terror, no doubt the cold sweat burst from her burning brow. At length she heard the grating of the hinges of the opening gates. The noise of boots and spurs resounded on the stairs. There was a great murmur of voices which continued to draw near, amid which she seemed to hear her own name pronounced. All at once she uttered a loud cry of joy and darted toward the door. She had recognized the voice of D'. Artagnan. [01:40:54] Speaker B: D'. Artagnan. D '. Artagnan. [01:40:56] Speaker A: Cried she. [01:40:57] Speaker B: Is it you? This way. This way. Constance. Constance. [01:41:03] Speaker A: Replied the young man. Where are you? [01:41:05] Speaker B: Where are you? My God. [01:41:08] Speaker A: At the same moment, the door of the cell yielded to a shock rather than opened. Several men rushed into the chamber. Mme Bonacieux had sunk into an armchair. Without the power of moving, d' Artagnan threw down a yet smoking pistol, which he held in his hand, and fell on his knees before his mistress, Athos, replaced his in his belt. Porthos and Aramis, who held their drawn swords in their hands, returned them to their scabbards. [01:41:34] Speaker B: Oh, d'. Artagnan. My beloved d'. Artagnan. You have come, then, at last. You have not deceived me. It is indeed thee. Yes, yes, Constance reunited. Oh, it was in vain. She told me you would not come. I hoped in silence. I was not willing to fly. Oh, I have done well. [01:41:57] Speaker A: How happy I am at this word. She. Athos, who had seated himself quietly, started up. [01:42:05] Speaker B: She what? [01:42:06] Speaker A: She asked d'. Artagnan. [01:42:09] Speaker B: Why? My companion, she who, out of friendship for me, wished to take me from my persecutors. She. She who, mistaking you for the Cardinal's guards, has just fled away. [01:42:21] Speaker A: Your companion. Cried d', Artagnan, becoming more pale than the white veil of his mistress. Of what companion are you speaking, dear Constance? [01:42:32] Speaker B: Of her whose carriage was at the gate. Of a woman who calls herself your friend. Of a woman to whom you have told everything. [01:42:40] Speaker A: Her name. Her name. Cried d'. Artagnan. My God, can you not remember her name? [01:42:48] Speaker B: Yes, it was pronounced in my hearing once. Stop. But it is very strange. Oh, my God. My head swims. I cannot see. Help. Help, my friends. Her hands are icy cold. [01:43:06] Speaker A: Cried d'. Artagnan. [01:43:08] Speaker B: She is ill. Great God. [01:43:10] Speaker A: She is losing her senses. While Porthos was calling for help with all the power of his strong voice, Aramis ran to the table to get a glass of water. But he stopped at seeing the horrible alteration that had taken place in the countenance of Athos, who, standing before the table, his hair rising from his head, his eyes fixed in stupor, was looking at one of the glasses and appeared a prey to the most horrible doubt. Oh. Said Athos. Oh, no. It is impossible. God would not permit such a crime. Water. [01:43:46] Speaker B: Water. [01:43:47] Speaker A: Cried d'. Artagnan. [01:43:48] Speaker B: Water. [01:43:50] Speaker A: Oh, poor woman. Poor woman. Murmured Athos in a broken voice. Madame Bonacieux opened her eyes under the kisses of d'. Artagnan. [01:44:01] Speaker B: She revives. [01:44:02] Speaker A: Cried the young man. [01:44:04] Speaker B: Oh, my God, my God. [01:44:06] Speaker A: I thank thee, Madame Said Athos. Madame, in the name of heaven, whose empty glass is this? Mine, Monsieur, said the young woman in a dying voice. But who poured the wine for you that was in this glass? [01:44:27] Speaker B: She. [01:44:28] Speaker A: But who is she? Oh, I remember, said Mme Bonacieux, the Comtesse de Winter. The four friends uttered one and the same cry, but that of Athos dominated all the rest. At that moment, the countenance of Mme Bonacieux became livid. A fearful agony pervaded her frame, and she sank, panting, into arms of Porthos and Aramis. D' Artagnan seized the hands of Athos with an anguish difficult to be described. And what do you believe? His voice was stifled by sobs. I believe everything, said Athos, biting his lips till the blood sprang to avoid sighing. [01:45:16] Speaker B: D'. Artagnan. D'. Artagnan. [01:45:20] Speaker A: Cried Mme Bonacieux, where art thou? [01:45:24] Speaker B: Do not leave me. You see, I am dying. [01:45:28] Speaker A: D' Artagnan released the hands of Athos, which he still held, clasped in both his own, and hastened to her. Her beautiful face was distorted with agony. Her glassy eyes had no longer their sight. A convulsive shuddering shook her whole body. The sweat rolled from her brow. [01:45:47] Speaker B: In the name of heaven, run. Call Aramis. Porthos, Call for help. [01:45:55] Speaker A: Useless, said Athos. Useless. For the poison which she pours, there is no antidote. [01:46:03] Speaker B: Yes, yes. Help. Help. [01:46:08] Speaker A: Murmured Mme Bonacieux. [01:46:10] Speaker B: Help. [01:46:11] Speaker A: Then, collecting all her strength, she. She took the head of the young man between her hands, looked at him for an instant, as if her whole soul passed into that look, and with a sobbing cry, pressed her lips to his. [01:46:24] Speaker B: Constance. Constance. [01:46:28] Speaker A: Cried d'. Artagnan. A sigh escaped from the mouth of Mme Bonacieux and dwelt for an instant on the lips of d'. Artagnan. That sigh was the soul, so chaste and so loving, which reascended to heaven. D' Artagnan pressed nothing but a corpse in his arms. The young man uttered a cry and fell by the side of his mistress, as pale and as icy as herself. Porthos wept. Aramis pointed toward heaven. Athos made the sign of the cross. At that moment, a man appeared in the doorway, almost as pale as those in the chamber. He looked around him and saw Mme Bonacieux dead and d'. Artagnan. In a swoon he appeared just at that moment of stupor which follows great catastrophes. I was not deceived, said he. Here is Monsieur d' Artagnan and you are his friends. Messieurs. Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. The persons whose names were thus pronounced looked at the stranger with astonishment. It seemed to all three that they knew him. Gentlemen, resumed the newcomer, you are as I am, in search of a woman. Who, added he with a terrible smile, must have passed this way, for I see a corpse. The three friends remained mute, for although the voice as well as the countenance reminded them of someone they had seen, they could not remember under what circumstances. Gentlemen, continued the stranger, since you do not recognize a man who probably owes his life to you twice, I must name myself. I am Lord de Winter, brother in law of that woman. The three friends uttered a cry of surprise. Athos rose and, offering him his hand. Be welcome, my lord, said he, you are one of us. I set out five hours after her from Portsmouth, said Lord de winter. I arrived three hours after her at Boulogne. I missed her by 20 minutes at St. Omer. Finally at Lilliers, I lost all trace of her. I was going about at random, inquiring of everybody, when I saw you gallop past. I recognized Monsieur d'. Artagnan. I called to you, but you did not answer me. I wished to follow you, but my horse was too much fatigued to go at the same pace with yours. And yet, it appears, in spite of. [01:49:05] Speaker B: All your diligence, you have arrived too late. [01:49:10] Speaker A: You see? Said Athos, pointing to Madame Bonacieux, dead, and to d', Artagnan, whom Porthos and Aramis were trying to recall to life. Are they both dead? Asked Lord de Winter sternly. No, replied Athos. Fortunately, Monsieur d' Artagnan has only fainted. Ah, indeed. So much the better, said Lord de Winter. At that moment, d' Artagnan opened his eyes. He tore himself from the arms of Porthos and Aramis and threw himself like a madman on the corpse of his mistress. Athos rose, walked toward his friend with a slow and solemn step, embraced him tenderly, and as he burst into violent sobs, he said to him, with his noble and persuasive friend, be a man. Women weep for the dead men. Avenge them. Oh, yes, Cried d'. Artagnan. [01:50:12] Speaker B: Yes. [01:50:13] Speaker A: If it be to avenge her, I am ready to follow you. Athos profited by this moment of strength, which the hope of vengeance restored to his unfortunate friend, to make a sign to Porthos and Aramis to go and fetch the Superior. The two friends met her in the corridor, greatly troubled and much upset by such strange events. She called some of the nuns, who, against all monastic custom, found themselves in the presence of five men Madame, said Athos, passing his arm under that of d', Artagnan, we abandon to your pious care the body of that unfortunate woman. She was an angel on earth before being an angel in heaven. Treat her as one of your sisters. We will return some day to pray over her grave. D' Artagnan concealed his face in the bosom of Athos and sobbed aloud. Weep, said Athos. Weep, heart full of love, youth and life. Alas, would I could weep like you. And he drew away his friend, as affectionate as a father, as consoling as a priest, noble as a man who has suffered much. All five, followed by their lackeys, leading their horses, took their way to the town of Bethune, whose outskirts they perceived, and stopped before the first inn they came to. But, said d', Artagnan, shall we not pursue that woman? Later, said Athos, I have measures to take. She will escape us, replied the young man. [01:51:53] Speaker B: She will escape us. [01:51:54] Speaker A: And it will be your fault, Athos. I will be accountable for her, said Athos. D' Artagnan had so much confidence in the word of his friend that he lowered his head and entered the inn without reply. Porthos and Aramis regarded each other, not understanding this assurance of Athos. Lord de Winter believed he spoke in this manner to soothe the grief of d'. Artagnan. Now, gentlemen, said Athos, when he had ascertained there were five chambers free in the hotel. Let everyone retire to his own apartment. D' Artagnan needs to be alone, to weep and to sleep. I take charge of everything. Be easy. It appears, however, said Lord de Winter, if there are any measures to take against the countess, it concerns me. She is my sister in law. And me, said Athos, she is my wife. D' Artagnan smiled, for he understood that Athos was sure of his vengeance when he revealed such a secret. Secret. Porthos and Aramis looked at each other and grew pale. Lord de Winter thought Athos was mad. Now retire to your chambers, said Athos, and leave me to act. You must perceive that in my quality of a husband this concerns me only. D', Artagnan, if you have not lost it, give me the paper which fell from that man's hat, upon which is written the name of the village of. Ah, said d', Artagnan, I comprehend that. [01:53:31] Speaker B: Name written in her hand. [01:53:34] Speaker A: You see then, said Athos, there is a God in heaven still. End of chapter 63 Chapter 64 of the D' Artagnan Romances Volume 1 the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Translated by William Robson, the man in the red cloak. The despair of Athos had given place to a concentrated grief, which only rendered more lucid the brilliant mental faculties of that extraordinary man possessed by one single thought, that of the promise he had made and of the responsibility he had taken. He retired last to his chamber, begged the host to procure him a map of the province, bent over it, examined every line traced upon it, perceived that there were four different roads from Bethune to Armentieres, and summoned the lackeys. Planchet, Grimaud, Bazin and Mousqueton presented themselves and received clear, positive and serious orders from Athos. They must set out the next morning at daybreak and go to Armentiera, each by a different route. Planchet, the most intelligent of the four, was to follow that by which the carriage had gone, upon which the four friends had fired, and which was accompanied, as may be remembered, by Rochefort's servant. Athos set the lackeys to work first, because since these men had been in the service of himself and his friends, he had discovered in each of them different and essential qualities. Then lackeys who ask questions inspire less mistrust than masters, and meet with more sympathy among those to whom they address themselves. Besides, Milady knew the masters and did not know the lackeys. On the contrary, the lackeys knew Milady perfectly. All four were to meet the next day at 11 o'. [01:55:23] Speaker B: Clock. [01:55:23] Speaker A: If they had discovered Milady's retreat, three were to remain on guard. The fourth was to return to Bethune in order to inform Athos and serve as a guide to the four friends. These arrangements made. The lackeys retired. Athos then rose from his chair and girded on his sword, enveloped himself in his cloak and left the hotel. It was nearly 10 o'. Clock. At 10 o' clock in the evening it is well known the streets in provincial towns are very little frequented. Athos nevertheless was visibly anxious to find some one of whom he could ask a question. At length he met a belated passenger, went up to him and spoke a few words to him. The man he addressed recoiled with terror and only answered the few words of the musketeer by pointing. Athos offered the man half a pistole to accompany him, but the man refused. Athos then plunged into the street the man had indicated with his finger, but arriving at four cross roads, he stopped again, visibly embarrassed. Nevertheless, as the cross roads offered him a better chance than any other place of meeting somebody, he. He stood still. In a few minutes a night watch passed athos repeated to him the same question he had asked the first person he met. The night watch evinced the same terror, refused in his turn to accompany Athos, and only pointed with his hand to the road he was to take. Athos walked in the direction indicated and reached the suburb situated at the opposite extremity of the city from that by which he and his friends had entered it. There he again appeared uneasy and embarrassed, and stopped for the third time. Fortunately, a mendicant passed who, coming up to Athos to ask charity, Athos offered him half a crown to accompany him where he was going. The mendicant hesitated at first, but at the sight of the piece of silver which shone in the darkness, he consented and walked on. Before Athos arrived at the angle of a street, he pointed to a small house, isolated, solitary and dismal. Athos went toward the house, while the mendicant, who had received his reward, left as fast as his legs could carry him. Athos went round the house before he could distinguish the door amid the red color in which the house was painted. No light appeared through the chinks of the shutters. No noise gave reason to believe that it was inhabited. It was dark and silent as the tomb. Three times Athos knocked without receiving an answer. At the third knock, however, steps were heard inside. The door at length was opened, and a man appeared of high stature, pale complexion and black hair and beard. Athos and he exchanged some words in a low voice. Then the tall man made a sign to the musketeer that he might come in. Athos immediately profited by the permission, and the door was closed behind him. The man whom Athos had come so far to seek, and whom he had found with so much trouble, introduced him into his laboratory, where he was engaged in fastening, together with iron wire, the dry bones of a skeleton. All the frame was adjusted except the head, which lay on the table. All the rest of the furniture indicated that the dweller in this house occupied himself with the study of natural science. There were large bottles filled with serpents, ticketed according to their species. Dried lizards shone like emeralds, set in great squares of black wood. And bunches of wild, odoriferous herbs, doubtless possessed of virtues unknown to common men, were fastened to the ceiling and hung down in the corners of the apartment. There was no family, no servant. The tall man alone inhabited this house. Athos cast a cold and indifferent glance upon the objects we have described, and at the invitation of him whom he came to seek, sat down near him. Then he explained to him the cause of his visit and the service he required of him. But scarcely had he expressed his request when the unknown, who remained standing before the musketeer and drew back with signs of terror and refused. Then Athos took from his pocket a small paper on which two lines were written, accompanied by a signature and a seal, and presented them to him who had made too prematurely these signs of repugnance. The tall man had scarcely read these lines, seen the signature, and recognized the seal. When he bowed to denote that he had no longer any objection to make, and that he was ready to obey, Athos required no more. He arose, bowed, went out, returned by the same way he came, re entered the hotel and went to his apartment. At daybreak, d' Artagnan entered the chamber and demanded what was to be done. To wait, replied Athos. Some minutes after, the superior of the convent sent to inform the musketeers of that the burial would take place at midday. As to the poisoner, they had heard no tidings of her whatever, only that she must have made her escape through the garden on the sand of which her footsteps could be traced, and the door of which had been found shut. As to the key, it had disappeared. At the hour appointed, Lord de Winter and the four friends repaired to the convent. The bells tolled. The chapel was open. The grating of the choir was closed. In the middle of the choir, the body of the victim, clothed in her novidiate dress, was exposed. On each side of the choir and behind the gratings opening to the convent, was assembled the whole community of the Carmelites, who listened to the divine service and mingled their chant with the chant of priests, without seeing the profane or being seen by them. At the door of the chapel, d' Artagnan felt his courage fall anew and returned to look for Athos. But Athos had disappeared. Faithful to his mission of vengeance, Athos had requested to be conducted to the garden. And there, upon the sand, following the light steps of this woman, who left sharp tracks wherever she went, he advanced toward the gate which led into the wood, and, causing it to be opened, he went out into the forest. Then all his suspicions were confirmed. The road by which the carriage had disappeared encircled the forest. Athos followed the road for some time, his eyes fixed upon the ground. Slight stains of blood, which came from the wound inflicted upon the man who accompanied the carriage as a courier or from one of the horses, dotted the road. At the end of three quarters of a league, within 50 paces of Festibert, a larger blood stain appeared. The ground was trampled by horses. Between the forest and this accursed spot, a little behind the trampled ground, was the same track of small feet as in the garden. The carriage had stopped here, at this spot. Milady had come out of the wood and entered the carriage. Satisfied with this discovery, which confirmed all his suspicions, Athos returned to the hotel and found Planchet impatiently waiting for him. Everything was as Athos had foreseen. Planchet had followed the road. Like Athos, he had discovered the stains of blood. Like Athos, he had noted the spot where the horses had halted. But he had gone farther than Athos, for at the village of Festibert, while drinking at an inn, he had learned, without needing to ask a question, that the evening before, at half past eight, a wounded man who accompanied a lady travelling in a post chaise had been obliged to stop. Unable to go further, the accident was set down to the account of robbers who had stopped the chaise in the wood. The man remained in the village. The woman had had a relay of horses and continued her journey. Planchet went in search of the postilion who had driven her and found him. He had taken the lady as far as Fromelles, and from Fromelles she had set out for Armentieres. Planchet took the cross road, and by 7 o' clock in the morning he was at Armentieres. There was but one tavern, the post. Planchet went and presented himself as a lackey out of a place who was in search of a situation. He had not chatted 10 minutes with the people of the tavern before he learned that a woman had come there alone about 11 o' clock the night before, had engaged a chamber, had sent for the master of the hotel and told him she desired to remain some time in the neighbourhood. Planchet had no need to learn more. He hastened to the rendezvous, found the lackeys at their posts, placed them as sentinels at all the outlets of the hotel, and came to find Athos, who had just received this information. When his friends returned, all their countenances were melancholy and gloomy, even the mild countenance of Aramis. [02:04:23] Speaker B: What is to be done? [02:04:25] Speaker A: Asked d'. Artagnan. To wait, replied Athos. Each retired to his own apartment. At 8 o' clock in the evening, Athos ordered the horses to be saddled, and Lord de Winter and his friends notified that they must prepare for the expedition. Expedition. In an instant all five were ready. Each examined his arms and put them in order. Athos came down last and found d' Artagnan already on Horseback and growing impatient. Patience. Cried Athos. One of our party is still wanting. The four horsemen looked round them with astonishment, for they sought vainly in their minds to know who this other person could be. At this moment. Planchet brought out Athos horse. The musketeer leaped lightly into the saddle. Wait for me, cried he. I will soon be back. And he set off at a gallop. In a quarter of an hour he returned, accompanied by a tall man, masked and wrapped in a large red cloak. Lord de Winter and the three musketeers looked at one another inquiringly. Neither could give the others any information, for all were ignorant who this man could be. Nevertheless, they felt convinced that all was as it should be, as it was done by the order of Athos. At 09:00', clock, guided by planchet, the little cavalcade set out, taking the route the carriage had taken. It was a melancholy sight, that of these six men travelling in silence. Each plunged in his own thoughts, sad as despair, gloomy as chastisement. End of chapter 64 Chapter 65 of the D' Artagnan Romances Volume 1 the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Translated by William Robson TRIAL it was a stormy and dark night. Vast clouds covered the heavens, concealing the stars. The moon would not rise till midnight. Occasionally, by the light of a flash of lightning which gleamed along the horizon, the road stretched itself out before them, white and solitary, the flash extinct. All remained in darkness every minute. Athos was forced to restrain d' Artagnan constantly in advance of the little troop, and to beg him to keep in the line, which in an instant he again departed from. He had but one thought to go forward, and he went. They passed in silence through the little village of Festubert, where the wounded servant was, and then skirted the wood of Richebourg. At Herlier. Planchet, who led the column, turned to the left. Several times Lord de Winter, Porthos or Aramis tried to talk with the man in the red cloak, but to every interrogation which they put to him, the he bowed without response. The travelers then comprehended that there must be some reason why the unknown preserved such a silence and ceased to address themselves to him. The storm increased. The flashes succeeded one another more rapidly. The thunder began to growl, and the wind, the precursor of a hurricane, whistled in the plumes and the hair of the horsemen. The cavalcade trotted on more sharply. A little before they came to Fromelles, the storm burst. They spread their cloaks. There remained three leagues to travel. And they did it amid Torrents of rain. D' Artagnan took off his hat and could not be persuaded to make use of his cloak. He found pleasure in feeling the water trickle over his burning brow and over his body, agitated by feverish shudders. The moment the little troop passed Goscal the and were approaching the post, a man sheltered beneath a tree detached himself from the trunk with which he had been confounded in the darkness and advanced into the middle of the road. Putting his finger to his lips, Athos recognized Grimaud. What's the matter? Cried Athos. Has she left Armentieres? Grimaud made a sign in the affirmative. D' Artagnan ground his teeth. Silence. D', Artagnan, said Athos. I have charged myself with this affair. It is for me then, to interrogate Grimaud. Where is she? Asked Athos. Grimaud extended his hands in the direction of the lease. Far from here? Asked Athos. Grimaud showed his master his forefinger. Bent alone? Asked Athos. Grimaud made the sign. Yes, gentlemen, said Athos. She is alone within half a league of us in the direction of the river. That's well, said d'. Artagnan. Lead us, Grimaud. Grimaud took his course across the country and acted as guide to the cavalcade. At the end of 500 paces, more or less, they came to a rivulet which they fiorded by the aid of the lightning. They perceived the village of Erkenheim. Is she there? Grimaud asked Athos. Grimaud shook his head negatively. Silence. Then. Cried Athos, and the troop continued their route. Another flash illuminated all around them. Grimaud extended his arm, and by the bluish splendor of the fiery serpent, they distinguished a little isolated house on the banks of the river. Within a hundred paces of a ferry, one window was alighted. Here we are, said Athos. At this moment a man who had been crouching in a ditch jumped up and came toward them. It was Mousqueton. He pointed his finger to the lighted window. She is there, said he and Bazin? Asked Athos. While I watched the window, he guarded the door. Good, said Athos. You are good and faithful servants. Athos sprang from his horse, gave the bridle to Grimaud, and advanced toward the window. After having made a sign to the rest of the troop to go toward the door. The little house was surrounded by a low quickset hedge 2 or 3ft high. Athos sprang over the hedge and went up to the window, which was without shutters but had the half curtains closely drawn. He mounted the skirting stone that his eyes might look over the curtain by the light of a lamp. He saw a woman wrapped in a dark mantle, seated upon a stool near a dying fire. Her elbows were placed upon a mean table, and she leaned her head upon her two hands, which were white as ivory. He could not distinguish her countenance, but a sinister smile passed over the lips of Athos. He was not deceived. It was she whom he sought. At this moment, a horse neighed. Milady raised her head, saw close to the panes the pale face of Athos, and screamed. Athos, perceiving that she knew him, pushed the window with his knee in hand. With the window yielded, the squares were broken to shivers, and Athos, like the specter of vengeance, leaped into the room. Milady rushed to the door and opened it. More pale and menacing than Athos, d' Artagnan stood on the threshold. Milady recoiled, uttering a cry. D', Artagnan, believing she might have means of flight and fearing she should escape, drew a pistol from his belt. But Athos raised his hand. Put back that weapon, d', Artagnan, said he. This woman must be tried, not assassinated. Wait an instant, my friend, and you shall be satisfied. Come in, gentlemen. D' Artagnan obeyed, for Athos had the solemn voice and the powerful gesture of a judge sent by the Lord himself. Behind d' Artagnan entered Porthos, Aramis, Lord de Winter, and the man in the red cloak. The four lackeys guarded the door and the window. Milady had sunk into a chair with her hands extended, as if to conjure this terrible apparition. Perceiving her brother in law, she uttered a terrible cry. [02:12:57] Speaker B: What do you want? [02:12:59] Speaker A: Screamed Milady. We want, said Athos, Charlotte Baxon, who first was called Comtesse de la Fere, and afterwards Milady de Winter, Baroness of Sheffield. [02:13:14] Speaker B: That is I. [02:13:15] Speaker A: That is I, murmured Milady, in extreme terror. [02:13:20] Speaker B: What do you want? [02:13:23] Speaker A: We wish to judge you according to your crime, said Athos. You shall be free to defend yourself. Justify yourself if you can. Monsieur d', Artagnan, it is for you to accuse her first. D' Artagnan advanced. Before God and before men, said he. I accuse this woman of having poisoned Constance Bonacieux, who died yesterday evening. He turned toward Porthos and Aramis. We bear witness to this, said the two musketeers with one voice. D', Artagnan, before God and before men, I accuse this woman of having attempted to poison me in wine, which she sent me from Villeroy with a forged letter, as if that wine Came from my friends. God preserved me. But a man named Brisemont died in my place. We bear witness to this, said Porthos and Aramis, in the same manner as before, before God and before men. I accuse this woman of having urged me to the murder of the Baron de Wardes. But as no one else can attest the truth of this accusation, I attest it myself. I have done. And d' Artagnan passed to the other side of the room with Porthos and Aramis. Your turn, my lord, said Athos. The baron came forward. Before God and before men, said he, I accuse this woman of having caused the assassination of the Duke of Buckingham. The Duke of Buckingham assassinated. Cried all present with one voice. Yes, said the Baron, assassinated. On receiving the warning letter you wrote to me, I had this woman arrested and gave her in charge to a loyal servant. She corrupted this man. [02:15:31] Speaker B: She placed the poniard in his hand. She made him kill the Duke. [02:15:36] Speaker A: And at this moment, perhaps, Felton is paying with his head for the crime of this fury. A shudder crept through the judges at the revelation of these unknown crimes. That is not all resumed, Lord de Winter. [02:15:55] Speaker B: My brother, who made you his heir, died in three hours of a strange. [02:16:00] Speaker A: Disorder which left vivid traces all over the body. [02:16:05] Speaker B: My sister, how did your husband die? [02:16:10] Speaker A: Horror. Cried Porthos and Aramis. Assassin of Buckingham, assassin of Felton, assassin of my brother. I demand justice upon you, and I swear that if it be not granted to me, I will execute it myself. And Lord de Winter ranged himself by the side of d', Artagnan, leaving the place free for another accuser. Milady let her head sink between her two hands and tried to recall her ideas whirling in a mortal vertigo. My turn. Said Athos himself, trembling as the lion trembles at the sight of the serpent. My turn. I married that woman when she was a young girl. I married her in opposition to the wishes of all my family. I gave her my wealth. I gave her my name. And one day I discovered that this woman was branded. This woman was marked with a fleur de lis on her left shoulder. Oh, said Milady, raising herself, I defy. [02:17:22] Speaker B: You to find any tribunal which pronounced that infamous sentence against me. I defy you to find him who executed it. [02:17:31] Speaker A: Silence. Said a hollow voice. It is for me to reply to that. And the man in the red cloak came forward in his turn. [02:17:43] Speaker B: What man is that? What man is that? [02:17:47] Speaker A: Cried Milady, suffocated by terror, her hair loosening itself and rising above her livid countenance as if alive. All Eyes were turned toward this man, for to all except Athos, he was unknown. Even Athos looked at him with as much stupefaction as the others, for he knew not how he could in any way find himself mixed up with the horrible drama then unfolded. After approaching Milady with a slow and solemn step, so that the table alone separated them, the unknown took off his mask. Milady for some time examined with increasing terror that pale face framed with black hair and whiskers, the only expression of which was icy impassibility. Then she suddenly cried, oh, no. [02:18:39] Speaker B: No. [02:18:41] Speaker A: Rising and retreating to the very wall. [02:18:43] Speaker B: No. No. It is an infernal apparition. It is not he. Help. Help. [02:18:50] Speaker A: Screamed she, turning toward the wall as if she would tear an opening with her hands. Who are you then? Cried all the witnesses of this scene. Ask that woman, said the man in the red cloak, for you may plainly see she knows the executioner of Lille. [02:19:17] Speaker B: The executioner of Lille. [02:19:19] Speaker A: Cried Milady, a prey to insensate terror and clinging with her hands to the wall to avoid falling. Every one drew back, and the man in the red cloak remained, standing alone in the middle of the room. [02:19:34] Speaker B: Oh, Grace, Grace. Pardon. [02:19:37] Speaker A: Cried the wretch, falling on her knees. The unknown waited for silence. And then. I told you well that she would know me. Yes, I am the executioner of Lille, and this is my history. All eyes were fixed upon this man, whose words were listened to with anxious attention. That woman was once a young girl as beautiful as she is today. She was a nun in the convent of the Benedictines of Temple Mar. A young priest with a simple and trustful heart performed the duties of the church of that convent. She undertook his seduction and succeeded. She would have seduced a saint. Their vows were sacred and irrevocable. Their connection could not last long without ruining both. She prevailed upon him to leave the country. But to leave the country, to fly together to reach another part of France, where they might live at ease. Because unknown money was necessary. Neither had any. The priest stole the sacred vases and sold them. But as they were preparing to escape together, they were both arrested eight days later. She had seduced the son of the jailer and escaped. The young priest was condemned to 10 years of imprisonment and to be branded. I was executioner of the city of Lille, as this woman had said. I was obliged to brand the guilty one, and he, gentlemen, was my brother. I then swore that this woman, who had ruined him, and who was more than his accomplice, since she had urged him to the crime, should at least share his punishment, I suspected, where she was concealed. I followed her, I caught her, I bound her, and I imprinted the same disgraceful mark upon her that I had imprinted upon my poor brother. The day after my return to Lille, my brother in his turn succeeded in making his escape. I was accused of complicity and was condemned to remain in his place till he should be again a prisoner. My poor brother was ignorant of this sentence. He rejoined this woman. They fled together into Berry, and there he obtained a little curacy. This woman passed for his sister. The lord of the estate on which the chapel of the curacy was situated saw this pretend sister and became enamored of her, amorous to such a degree that he proposed to marry her. Then she quitted him. She had ruined for him she was destined to ruin, and became the Comtesse de la Fere. All eyes were turned toward Athos, whose real name that was, and who made a sign with his head that all was true which the executioner had said, then resumed he mad, desperate, determined to get rid of an existence from which she had stolen everything, honour and happiness. My poor brother returned to Lille, and, learning the sentence which had condemned me in his place, surrendered himself and hanged himself that same night from the iron bar of the loophole of his prison. Prison. To do justice to them who had condemned me, they kept their word. As soon as the identity of my brother was proved, I was set at liberty. That is the crime of which I accuse her. That is the cause for which she was branded. Monsieur d', Artagnan, said Athos, what is the penalty you demand against this woman? The punishment of death, replied d'. Artagnan. My Lord de Winter, continued Athos, what is the penalty you demand against this woman? The punishment of death, replied Lord de Winter. Messieurs Porthos and Aramis, repeated Athos, you who are her judges, what is the sentence you pronounce upon this woman? The punishment of death, replied the Musketeers in a hollow voice. Milady uttered a frightful shriek and dragged herself along several paces upon her knees toward her judges. Athos stretched out his hand toward her. Charlotte Baxon, Comtesse de la Fere. Milady de Winter, said he, your crimes have wearied men on earth and God in heaven. If you know a prayer, say it, for you are condemned and you shall die. At these words which left no hope, Milady raised herself in all her pride and wished to speak, but her strength failed her. She felt that a powerful and implacable hand seized her by the hair and dragged her away as irrevocably, as fatality drags humanity. She did not, therefore, even attempt the least resistance and went out of the cottage. Lord de Winter, d', Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis went out close behind her. The lackeys followed their masters, and the chamber was left solitary, with its broken window, its open door, and its smoky lamp burning sadly on the table. End of chapter 65 Chapter 66 of the D' Artagnan Romances, volume 1 the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Translated by William Robson Execution it was near midnight. The moon, lessened by its decline and reddened by the last traces of the storm, arose behind the little town of Armentiera, which showed against its pale light the dark outline of its houses and the skeleton of its high belfry. In front of them the lee rolled its waters like a river of molten tin, while on the other side was a black mass of trees profiled on a stormy sky, invaded by large coppery clouds, which created a sort of twilight amid the night. On the left was an old abandoned mill with its motionless wings from the ruins of which an owl threw out its shrill, periodical and monotonous cry. On the right, and on the left of the road which the dismal procession pursued, appeared a few low, stunted trees, which looked like deformed dwarfs, crouching down to watch men travelling. At this sinister hour, from time to time a broad sheet of lightning opened the horizon in its whole width, darted like a serpent over the black mass of trees, and like a terrible scimitar, divided the heavens and the waters into two parts. Not a breath of wind now disturbed the heavy atmosphere. A death like silence oppressed all nature. The soil was humid and glittering with the rain which had recently fallen, and the refreshed herbs sent forth their perfume with additional energy. Two lackeys dragged Milady, whom each held by one army. The executioner walked behind them, and Lord de Winter, d', Artagnan, Porthos and Aramis walked behind the executioner. Planchet and Bazin came last. The two lackeys conducted Milady to the bank of the river. Her mouth was mute, but her eyes spoke with their inexpressible eloquence, supplicating by turns each of those on whom she looked. Being a few paces in advance, she whispered to the lackeys, a thousand pistoles. [02:27:57] Speaker B: To each of you, if you will assist my escape. But if you deliver me up to your masters, I have near at hand avengers who will make you pay dearly for my death. [02:28:08] Speaker A: Grimaud hesitated Mousqueton trembled in all his members. Athos, who heard Milady's voice, came sharply up. Lord de Winter did the same change. These lackeys, said he, she has spoken to them. They are no longer sure. Planchet and Bazin were called and took the places of Grimaud and Mousqueton. On the bank of the river, the executioner approached Milady and bound her hands and feet. Then she broke the silence to cry. [02:28:41] Speaker B: You are cowards, miserable assassins. Ten men combined to murder one woman. [02:28:48] Speaker A: Beware. [02:28:48] Speaker B: If I am not saved, I shall be avenged. [02:28:54] Speaker A: You are not a woman, said Athos coldly and sternly. You do not belong to the human species. You are a demon escaped from hell. Whither we send you back again. Ah, you virtuous men, said Milady. [02:29:16] Speaker B: Please to remember that he who shall touch a hair of my head is himself an assassin. [02:29:23] Speaker A: The executioner may kill without being on that account an assassin, said the man in the red cloak, rapping upon his immense sword. This is the last judge. That is all. Nach Rishte, as say our neighbors, the Germans. And as he bound her, while saying these words, Milady uttered two or three savage cries, which produced a strange and melancholy effect in flying away into the night and losing themselves in the depths of the woods. [02:30:00] Speaker B: If I am guilty, if I have. [02:30:03] Speaker A: Committed the crimes you accuse me of, Shrieked Milady. [02:30:07] Speaker B: Take me before a tribunal. You are not judges. You cannot condemn me. [02:30:15] Speaker A: I offered you Tyburn, said Lord de Winter. [02:30:20] Speaker B: Why did you not accept it? [02:30:23] Speaker A: Because I am not willing to die, cried Milady, struggling. [02:30:28] Speaker B: Because I am too young to die. [02:30:31] Speaker A: The woman you poisoned at Bethune was. [02:30:34] Speaker B: Still younger than you, madame, and yet. [02:30:36] Speaker A: She is dead, said d'. Artagnan. [02:30:40] Speaker B: I will enter a cloister. [02:30:42] Speaker A: I will become a nun, said Milady. You were in a cloister, said the executioner, and you left it to ruin. My brother. Milady uttered a cry of terror and sank upon her knees, and the executioner took her up in his arms and was carrying her toward the boat. [02:31:04] Speaker B: My God. [02:31:05] Speaker A: Cried she. [02:31:06] Speaker B: My God, are you going to drown me? [02:31:10] Speaker A: These cries had something so heart rending in them that Monsieur d', Artagnan, who had been at first the most eager in pursuit of Milady, sat down on the stump of a tree and hung his head, covering his ears with the palms of his hands. And yet, notwithstanding, he could still hear her cry and threaten. D' Artagnan was the youngest of all these men. His heart failed him. Oh, I cannot behold this frightful spectacle, said he. I cannot consent that this woman should die thus. Milady heard these few words and caught at a shadow of hope. [02:31:49] Speaker B: D'. Artagnan. [02:31:50] Speaker A: D'. [02:31:50] Speaker B: Artagnan. [02:31:51] Speaker A: Cried she. [02:31:52] Speaker B: Remember that I loved you. [02:31:56] Speaker A: The young man rose and took a step toward her, But Athos rose likewise, drew his sword, and placed himself in the way. If you take one step farther, d', Artagnan, said he, we shall cross swords together. D' Artagnan sank on his knees and prayed. Come, continued Athos. Executioner, do your duty willingly. Monseigneur, said the executioner, for as I am a good Catholic, I firmly believe I am acting justly in performing my functions on this woman. [02:32:37] Speaker B: That's well. [02:32:39] Speaker A: Athos made a step toward Milady. I pardon you, said he, the ill you have done me. I pardon you for my blasted future, my lost honour, my defiled love, and my salvation forever compromised by the despair into which you have cast me. Die in peace. Lord de Winter advanced in his turn. I pardon you, said he, for. For the poisoning of my brother and the assassination of his Grace Lord Buckingham. I pardon you for the death of poor Felton. I pardon you for the attempts upon my own person. Die in peace. And I, said, Monsieur d', Artagnan, pardon me, Madame, for having, by a trick unworthy of a gentleman, provoked your anger. [02:33:34] Speaker B: And I, in exchange, pardon you the. [02:33:37] Speaker A: Murder of my poor love and your cruel vengeance against me. I pardon you, and I weep for you. [02:33:45] Speaker B: Die in peace. [02:33:48] Speaker A: I am lost, murmured Milady in English. [02:33:53] Speaker B: I must die. [02:33:55] Speaker A: Then she arose of herself and cast around her one of those piercing looks which seem to dart from an eye of flight flame. She saw nothing. She listened, and she heard nothing. [02:34:09] Speaker B: Where am I to die? [02:34:12] Speaker A: Said she. On the other bank, replied the executioner. Then he placed her in the boat, and as he was going to set foot in it himself, Athos handed him a sum of silver. Here, said he, is the price of the execution. That it may be plain we act as judges. That is correct, said the executioner. And now, in her turn, let this woman see that I am not fulfilling my trade, but my debt. And he threw the money into the river. The boat moved off toward the left hand shore of the lee, bearing the guilty woman and the executioner. All the others remained on the right hand bank, where they fell on their knees. The boat glided along the ferry rope under the shadow of a pale cloud which hung over the water. At that moment the troop of friends saw it gain the opposite bank. The figures were defined like black shadows on the red tinted horizon. Milady, during the passage, had contrived to untie the cord which fastened her feet. Feet. On coming near the bank, she jumped lightly on the shore and took to flight. But the soil was moist. On reaching the top of the bank, she slipped and fell upon her knees. She was struck, no doubt, with a superstitious idea. She conceived that heaven denied its aid, and she remained in the attitude in which she had fallen, her head drooping and her hands clasped. Then they saw from the other bank the executioner raise both his arms. Slowly a moonbeam fell upon the blade of the large sword. The two arms fell with a sudden force. They heard the hissing of the scimitar and the cry of the victim. Then a truncated mass sank beneath the blow. The executioner then took off his red cloak and spread it upon the ground, laid the body in it, threw in the head, tied all up by the four corners, lifted it on his back and entered the boat again in the middle of the stream he stopped the boat and, suspending his burden over the water, cried in a loud voice, let the justice of God be done. And he let the corpse drop into the depths of the waters and which closed over it. Three days afterward the four Musketeers were in Paris. They had not exceeded their leave of absence, and that same evening they went to pay their customary visit to M. De Treville. Well, gentlemen, said the brave captain, I hope you have been well amused during your excursion. Prodigiously, replied Athos, in the name of himself and his comrades. End of chapter 66 Chapter 67 of the D' Artagnan Romances, volume 1 the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Translated by William Robson Conclusion on the sixth of the following month, the King, in compliance with the promise he had made the Cardinal to return to La Rochelle, left his capital, still in amazement at the news, which began to spread itself of Buckingham's assassination. Although warned that the man she had loved so much was in great danger, the Queen, when his death was announced to her, would not believe the fact and even imprudently exclaimed, it is false. [02:37:55] Speaker B: He has just written to me. [02:37:58] Speaker A: But the next day she was obliged to believe this fatal intelligence. Laporte, detained in England, as everyone else had been, by the orders of Charles I, arrived and was the bearer of the Duke's dying gift to the Queen. The joy of the King was lively. He did not even give himself the trouble to dissemble, and displayed it with affectation before the Queen. Louis xiii, like every weak mind, was wanting in generosity. But the King soon again became dull and indisposed, and his Brow was not one of those that long remained clear. He felt that in returning to camp he should re enter slavery. Nevertheless, he did return. The cardinal was for him the fascinating serpent and himself the bird which flies from branch to branch without power to escape. The return to La Rochelle, therefore, was profoundly dull. Our four friends in particular, astonished their comrades. They traveled together, side by side, with sad eyes and heads lowered. Athos, alone from time to time, raised his expansive brow. A flash kindled in his eyes and a bitter smile passed over his lips. Then, like his comrades, he sank again into reverie. As soon as the escort arrived in a city, when they had conducted the King to his quarters, the four friends either retired to their own or to some secluded cabaret, or where they neither drank nor played. They only conversed in a low voice, looking around attentively to see that no one overheard them. One day, when the King had halted to fly, the magpie and the four friends, according to their custom, instead of following the sport, had stopped at a cabaret on the high road. A man coming from La Rochelle on horseback pulled up at the door to drink a glass of wine and darted a searching glance into the room where the four musketeers were sitting. Holloa, Monsieur d' Artagnan said, he is not that you whom I see yonder. D' Artagnan raised his head and uttered a cry of joy. It was the man he called his Phantom. It was his stranger of Meung, of the Rue des Fossoyeurs and of Arras. D' Artagnan drew his sword and sprang toward the door. But this time, instead of avoiding him, the stranger jumped from his horse and advanced to meet d'. Artagnan. Ah, Monsieur, said the young man, I meet you then at last. This time you shall not escape me neither is it my intention, Monsieur, for this time I was seeking you. In the name of the King, I arrest you. [02:40:45] Speaker B: How? [02:40:47] Speaker A: What do you say? Cried d'. Artagnan. I say that you must surrender your sword to me, Monsieur, and that without resistance. This concerns your head. I warn you. Who are you, then? Demanded d', Artagnan, lowering the point of his sword, but without yet surrendering it. I am the Chevalier de Rochefort, answered the other. The equerry of Monsieur, the Cardinal Richelieu, and I have orders to conduct you to His Eminence. We are returning to His Eminence, Monsieur. The Chevalier, said Athos, advancing. And you will please to accept the word of Monsieur d' Artagnan that he will go straight to La Rochelle. I must place him in the Hands of guards who will take him into the camp. We will be his guards, Monsieur, upon our word as gentlemen. But likewise upon our word as gentlemen, added Athos, knitting his brow. Monsieur d' Artagnan shall not leave us. The Chevalier de Rochefort cast a glance backward and saw that Porthos and Aramis had placed themselves between him and the gate. He understood that he was completely at the mercy of these four men. Gentlemen, said he, if Monsieur d' Artagnan will surrender his sword to me and join his word to yours, I shall be satisfied with your promise to convey Monsieur d' Artagnan to the quarters of Monseigneur the Cardinal. You have my word, Monsieur. And here is my sword. This suits me the better, said Rochefort, as I wish to continue my journey. If it is for the purpose of rejoining Milady, said Athos coolly, it is useless. You will not find her. What has become of her then? Said Rochefort eagerly. Return to camp and you shall know. Rochefort remained for a moment in thought. Then, as they were only a day's journey from Surgeres, whither the Cardinal was to come to meet the King, he resolved to follow the advice of Athos and go with them. Besides, this return offered him the advantage of watching as prisoner. They resumed their route on the morrow. At three o'clock in the afternoon, they arrived at Surgeres. The Cardinal there awaited Louis xiii. The Minister and the King exchanged numerous caresses, felicitating each other upon the fortunate chance which had freed France from the inveterate enemy who set all Europe against her. After which, the Cardinal, who had been informed that d' Artagnan was arrested, and who was anxious to see him, took leave of the King, inviting him to come the next day to view the work already done upon the dike. On returning in the evening to his quarters at the Bridge of La Pierre, the Cardinal found standing before the house he occupied, d' Artagnan without his sword, and the three musketeers armed this time, as he was well attended. He looked at them sternly and made a sign with his eye in hand for d' Artagnan to follow him. D' Artagnan obeyed. We shall wait for you, d', Artagnan, said Athos, loud enough for the Cardinal to hear him. His Eminence bent his brow, stopped for an instant, and then kept on his way without uttering a single word. D' Artagnan entered after the Cardinal and behind d', Artagnan the door was guarded. His Eminence entered the chamber which served him as a study and made a sign to Rochefort to bring in the young musketeer. Rochefort obeyed and retired. D' Artagnan remained alone in front of the Cardinal. This was his second interview with Richelieu, and he afterward confessed that he felt well assured it would be his last. Richelieu remained standing, leaning against the mantelpiece. A table was between him and d'. Artagnan. Monsieur, said the Cardinal, you have been arrested by my orders. So they tell me, Monseigneur. Do you know why? No, Monseigneur. For the only thing for which I could be arrested is still unknown to your Eminence. Richelieu looked steadfastly at the young man. Holloa, said he, what does that mean? If Monseigneur will have the goodness to tell me in the first place what crimes are imputed to me, I will then tell him the deeds I have really done. Crimes are imputed to you which had brought down far loftier heads than yours, Monsieur, said the Cardinal. What, Monseigneur? Said d' Artagnan, with a calmness which astonished the Cardinal himself. You are charged with having corresponded with the enemies of the kingdom. You are charged with having surprised state secrets. You are charged with having tried to thwart the plans of your general. And who charges me with this? Monseigneur, said d', Artagnan, who had no doubt the accusation came from Milady, a woman branded by the justice of the. [02:46:04] Speaker B: Country, a woman who has espoused one. [02:46:07] Speaker A: Man in France and another in England, a woman who poisoned her second husband, who attempted both to poison and assassinate me. What do you say, Monsieur? Cried the Cardinal, astonished. And of what woman are you speaking thus? Of Milady de Winter, replied d'. Artagnan. Yes, of Milady de Winter, of whose crimes your Eminence is doubtless ignorant, since you have honoured her with your confidence. Monsieur, said the Cardinal. If Milady de Winter has committed the crimes you lay to her charge, the she shall be punished. She has been punished, Monseigneur. And who has punished her? [02:46:52] Speaker B: Oui. [02:46:54] Speaker A: She is in prison. [02:46:57] Speaker B: She is dead. [02:47:00] Speaker A: Dead. Repeated the Cardinal, who could not believe what he heard. Dead. Did you not say she was dead? [02:47:08] Speaker B: Dead. [02:47:10] Speaker A: Three times she attempted to kill me and I pardoned her. But she murdered the woman I loved. Then my friends and I took her, tried her, and condemned her. D' Artagnan then related the poisoning of Madame Bonacieux in the convent of the Carmelites at Bethune, the trial in the isolated house, and the execution on the banks of the Lys. A shudder crept through the body of the cardinal, who did not shudder readily, but all at once, as if undergoing the influence of an unspoken thought, the countenance of the cardinal, till then gloomy, cleared up by degrees and recovered perfect serenity. So, said the cardinal, in a tone that contrasted strongly with the severity of his words, you have constituted yourself judges without remembering that they who punish without license to punish are assassins. Monseigneur, I swear to you that I never for an instant had the intention of defending my head against you. I willingly submit to any punishment your eminence may please to inflict upon me. I do not hold life dear enough to be afraid of death. Yes, I know. You are a man of a stout heart, monsieur, said the cardinal with a voice almost affectionate. I can therefore tell you beforehand you shall be tried and even condemned. Another might reply to your eminence that he had his pardon in his pocket. I content myself with saying, command, Monseigneur. I am ready. Your pardon, said Richelieu, surprised. Yes, monseigneur, said, said d'. Artagnan. [02:48:59] Speaker B: And signed by whom? [02:49:02] Speaker A: By the King. And the cardinal pronounced these words with a singular expression of contempt. No, by your eminence. By me. You are insane, Monsieur. Monseigneur will doubtless recognize his own handwriting. And d' Artagnan presented to the cardinal the precious piece of paper which Athos had forced from Milady and which he had given to d' Artagnan to serve him as a safeguard. His Eminence took the paper and read in a slow voice, dwelling upon every syllable. December 3, 1627. It is by my order and for the good of the State. State that the bearer of this has done what he has done. Richelieu. The cardinal, after having read these two lines, sank into a profound reverie. But he did not return the paper to d'. Artagnan. He is meditating. By what sort of punishment he shall cause me to die, said the Gascon to himself. Well, my faith, he shall see how a gentleman can die. The young musketeer was in an excellent disposition to die heroically. Richelieu still continued thinking, rolling and unrolling the paper in his hands. At length he raised his head, fixed his eagle. Look upon that loyal, open and intelligent countenance. Read upon that face furrowed with tears, all the sufferings its possessor had endured in the course of a month and. And reflected for the third or fourth time how much there was in that youth of 21 years before him, and what resources his activity, his courage and his shrewdness might Offer to a good master on the other side. The crimes, the power, and the infernal genius of Milady had more than once terrified him. He felt something like a secret joy at being forever relieved of this death. Dangerous accomplice Richelieu slowly tore the paper which d' Artagnan had generously relinquished. I am lost, said d' Artagnan to himself. And he bowed profoundly before the cardinal, like a man who says, lord, thy will be done. The Cardinal approached the table and without sitting down, wrote a few lines upon a parchment, of which two thirds were already filled, and affixed his seal. That is my condemnation, thought d'. Artagnan. He will spare me the ennui of the Bastille, or the tediousness of a trial. That's very kind of him. Here, Monsieur, said the cardinal to the young man, I have taken from you one carte blanche to give you another. The name is wanting in this commission. You can write it yourself. D' Artagnan took the paper hesitatingly and cast his eyes over was a lieutenant's commission in the Musketeers. D' Artagnan fell at the feet of the Cardinal. Monseigneur, said he, my life is yours. Henceforth dispose of it. But this favor which you bestow upon me I do not merit. I have three friends who are more meritorious and more worthy. You are a brave youth, d', Artagnan, interrupted the Cardinal, tapping him familiarly on the shoulder, charmed at having vanquished this rebellious nature. Do with this commission what you will only remember, though the name be blank. It is to you I give it. I shall never forget it, replied d'. Artagnan. Your Eminence may be certain of that. The Cardinal turned and said in a loud voice, rochefort. The Chevalier, who no doubt was near the door, entered immediately. Rochefort, said the Cardinal. You see, Monsieur d', Artagnan, I receive him among the number of my friends. Greet each other, then, and be wise if you wish to preserve your heads. Rochefort and d' Artagnan coolly greeted each other with their lips, but the Cardinal was there, observing them with his vigilant eye. They left the chamber at the same time. We shall meet again, shall we not, Monsieur? When you please, said d'. Artagnan. An opportunity will come, replied Rochefort. Hey, Said the Cardinal, opening the door. The two men smiled at each other, shook hands and saluted His Eminence. We were beginning to grow impatient, said Athos. Here I am, my friends, replied d', Artagnan, not only free, but in favour Tell us about it this evening, but for the moment, let us separate accordingly. That same evening, d' Artagnan repaired to the quarters of Athos, whom he found in a fair way to empty a bottle of Spanish wine, an occupation which he religiously accomplished every night. D' Artagnan related what had taken place between the Cardinal and himself, and, drawing the commission from his pocket, said, here, my dear Athos, this naturally belongs to you. Athos smiled with one of his sweet and expressive smiles. Friend, said he, for Athos, this is too much. For the Comte de la Fere, it is too little. Keep the commission. It is yours. Alas, you have purchased it dearly enough. D' Artagnan left Athos's chamber and went to that of Porthos. He found him clothed in a magnificent dress, covered with splendid embroidery, admiring himself before a glass. Aha. Is that you, my dear friend? Exclaimed Porthos. How do you think these garments fit me? Wonderfully, said d'. Artagnan. But I have come to offer you a dress which will become you still better. What? Asked Porthos. That of a lieutenant of Musketeers. D' Artagnan related to Porthos the substance of his interview with the Cardinal and said, taking the commission from his pocket, here, my friend, write your name upon it and become my chief. Porthos cast his eyes over the commission and returned it to d', Artagnan, to the great astonishment of the young man. Yes, said he. Yes, that would flatter me very much. But I should not have time enough to enjoy the distinction. During our expedition to Bethune, the husband of my duchess died. So, my dear, the coffer of the defunct holding out its arms to me, I shall marry the widow. Look here. I was trying on my wedding suit. Keep the lieutenancy, my dear. Keep it. The young man then entered the apartment of Aramis. He found him kneeling before a prie Dieu, with his head leaning on an open prayer book. He described to him his interview with the Cardinal and said, for the third time, drawing his commission from his pocket. You, our friend, our intelligence, our invisible protector, accept this commission. You have merited it more than any of us by your wisdom and your counsels. Always followed by such happy results. Alas, dear, dear friend, said Aramis, our late adventures have disgusted me with military life. This time my determination is irrevocably taken. After the siege, I shall enter the house of the Lazarus. Keep the commission, d'. Artagnan. The profession of arms suits you. You will be a brave and adventurous captain, d', Artagnan. His eye moist with Gratitude, though beaming with joy, went back to Athos, whom he found still at table, contemplating the charms of his last glass of Malaga by the light of his lamp. Well, said he, they likewise have refused me. That, dear friend, is because nobody is more worthy than yourself. And he took a quill, wrote the name of d' Artagnan in the commission, and returned it to him. I shall then have no more friends, said the young man. [02:57:57] Speaker B: Alas, nothing but bitter recollections. [02:58:01] Speaker A: And he let his head sink upon his hands while two large tears rolled down his cheeks. You are young, replied Athos, and your bitter recollections have time to change themselves into sweet remembrances. End of chapter 67. Epilogue of the D' Artagnan Romances Volume 1 the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Translated by William Robson Epilogue La Rochelle, deprived of the assistance of the English fleet and of the diversion promised by Buckingham, surrendered after a siege of a year. On 28th October, 1628, the capitulation was signed. The king made his entrance into Paris on the 23rd of December of the same year. He was received in triumph, as if he came from conquering an enemy and not Frenchmen. He entered by the Faubourg St Jacques under verdant arches. D' Artagnan took possession of his command. Porthos left the service and in the course of the following year married Madame Coquenard. The coffer so much coveted contained 800,000 livres. Mousqueton had a magnificent livery and enjoyed the satisfaction of which he had been ambitious all his life, that of standing behind a gilded carriage. Aramis, after a journey into Lorraine, disappeared all at once and ceased to write to his friends. They learned at a later period through Madame de Chevreuse, who told it to two or three of her intimates, that, yielding to his vocation, he had retired into a convent only into which nobody knew. Bazin became a lay brother. Athos remained a musketeer under the command of d' Artagnan till the year 1633, at which period, after a journey he made to Touraine, he also quit the service under the pretext of having inherited a small property in Roussillon. Grimaud followed Athos. D' Artagnan fought three times with Rochefort and wounded him three times. I shall probably kill you, the fourth, said he to him, holding out his hand to assist him to rise. It is much better both for you and for me to stop where we are, answered the wounded man. Corbleu. I am more your friend, and you think for after our very first encounter I could, by saying a word to the Cardinal, have had your throat cut. They this time embraced heartily and without retaining any malice. Planchet obtained from Rochefort the rank of sergeant in the Piedmont regiment. M. Bonacieux lived on very quietly, wholly ignorant of what had become of his wife and caring very little about it. One day he had the imprudence to recall himself to the memory of the Cardinal. The Cardinal had him informed that he would provide for him so that he should never want for anything in the future. In fact, M. Bonacieux, having left his house at 7 o' clock in the evening to go to the Louvre, never appeared again in the Rue des Fossoyeurs. The opinion of those who seemed to be best informed was that he was fed and lodged in some royal castle at the expense of his generous eminence. End of the Epilogue end of the D' Artagnan Romances Volume 1 the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Translated by William Robson.