CHAPTER LV.
M. DE MAZARIN'S RECEIPT.
Fouquet would have uttered an exclamation of delight on seeing anotherfriend arrive if the cold air and averted aspect of Aramis had notrestored all his reserve. "Are you going to join us at our dessert?" heasked. "And yet you would be frightened, perhaps, at the noise which ourwild friends here are making?"
"Monseigneur," replied Aramis, respectfully, "I will begin by beggingyou to excuse me for having interrupted this merry meeting; and then Iwill beg you to give me, as soon as pleasure shall have finished, amoment's audience on matters of business."
As the word "business" had aroused the attention of some of theepicureans present, Fouquet rose, saying: "Business first of all,Monsieur d'Herblay; we are too happy when matters of business arriveonly at the end of a meal."
As he said this, he took the hand of Madame de Belliere, who looked athim with a kind of uneasiness, and then led her to an adjoining salon,after having recommended her to the most reasonable of his guests. Andthen, taking Aramis by the arm, he led him toward his cabinet. As soonas Aramis was there, throwing aside the respectful air he had assumed,he threw himself into a chair, saying: "Guess whom I have seen thisevening?"
"My dear chevalier, every time you begin in that manner I am sure tohear you announce something disagreeable."
"Well, and this time you will not be mistaken, either, my dear friend,"replied Aramis.
"Do not keep me in suspense," added Fouquet, phlegmatically.
"Well, then, I have seen Madame de Chevreuse."
"The old duchesse, do you mean?"
"Yes."
"Her ghost, perhaps?"
"No, no; the old she-wolf herself."
"Without teeth?"
"Possibly, but not without claws."
"Well! what harm can she meditate against me? I am no miser, with womenwho are not prudes. That is a quality that is always prized, even by thewoman who no longer dares to provoke love."
"Madame de Chevreuse knows very well that you are not avaricious, sinceshe wishes to draw some money out of you."
"Indeed! under what pretext?"
"Oh; pretexts are never wanting with her. Let me tell you what hers is:it seems that the duchesse has a good many letters of M. de Mazarin's inher possession."
"I am not surprised at that, for the prelate was gallant enough."
"Yes, but these letters have nothing whatever to do with the prelate'slove affairs. They concern, it is said, financial matters rather."
"And accordingly they are less interesting."
"Do you not suspect what I mean?"
"Not at all."
"Have you ever heard speak of a prosecution being instituted for anembezzlement, or appropriation, rather, of public funds?"
"Yes, a hundred, nay, a thousand times, ever since I have been engagedin public matters, I have hardly heard anything else but that. It isprecisely your own case, when, as a bishop, people reproach you for yourimpiety; or, as a musketeer, for your cowardice; the very thing of whichthey are always accusing ministers of finance is the embezzlement ofpublic funds."
"Very good; but take a particular instance, for the duchesse assertsthat M. de Mazarin alludes to certain particular instances."
"What are they?"
"Something like a sum of thirteen millions of francs, of which it wouldbe very difficult for you to define the precise nature of theemployment."
"Thirteen millions!" said the surintendant, stretching himself in hisarmchair, in order to enable him the more comfortably to look uptoward the ceiling. "Thirteen millions--I am trying to remember them outof all those I have been accused of having stolen."
"Do not laugh, my dear monsieur, for it is very serious. It is positivethat the duchesse has certain letters in her possession, and that theseletters must be as she represents them, since she wished to sell them tome for five hundred thousand francs."
"Oh! one can have a very tolerable calumny got up for such a sum asthat," replied Fouquet. "Ah! now I know what you mean," and he began tolaugh heartily.
"So much the better," said Aramis, a little reassured.
"I remember the story of those thirteen millions now. Yes, yes, Iremember them quite well."
"I am delighted to hear it; tell me about them."
"Well, then, one day Signor Mazarin, Heaven rest his soul! made a profitof thirteen millions upon a concession of lands in the Valtelline; hecanceled them in the registry of receipts, sent them to me, and thenmade me advance them to him for war expenses."
"Very good, then, there is no doubt of their proper destination."
"No; the cardinal made me invest them in my own name, and gave me areceipt."
"You have the receipt?"
"Of course," said Fouquet, as he quietly rose from his chair and went tohis large ebony bureau, inlaid with mother of pearl and gold.
"What I most admire in you," said Aramis, with an air of greatsatisfaction, "is your memory in the first place, then yourself-possession; and, finally, the perfect order which prevails in youradministration; you of all men, too, who are by nature a poet."
"Yes," said Fouquet, "I am orderly out of a spirit of idleness, to savemyself the trouble of looking after things, and so I know that Mazarin'sreceipt is in the third drawer under the letter M; I open the drawer,and place my hand upon the very paper I need. In the night, without alight, I could find it."
And with a confident hand he felt the bundle of papers which were piledup in the open drawer. "Nay, more than that," he continued, "I rememberthe paper as if I saw it; it is thick, somewhat crumpled, with giltedges; Mazarin had made a blot upon the figure of the date. Ah!" hesaid, "the paper knows we are talking about it, and that we want it verymuch, and so it hides itself out of the way."
And as the surintendant looked into the drawer, Aramis rose from hisseat.
"This is very singular," said Fouquet.
"Your memory is treacherous, my dear monseigneur; look in anotherdrawer."
Fouquet took out the bundle of papers, and turned them over once more;he then became very pale.
"Don't confine your search to that drawer," said Aramis; "lookelsewhere."
"Quite useless; I have never made a mistake; no one but myself arrangesany papers of mine of this nature; no one but myself ever opens thisdrawer, of which, besides, no one, with my own exception, is aware ofthe secret."
"What do you conclude, then?" said Aramis, agitated.
"That Mazarin's receipt has been stolen from me; Madame de Chevreuse wasright, chevalier; I have appropriated the public funds; I have robbedthe state coffers of thirteen millions of money; I am a thief, Monsieurd'Herblay."
"Nay, nay; do not get irritated--do not get excited."
"And why not, chevalier? surely there is even reason for it. If thelegal proceedings are well arranged, and a judgment is given inaccordance with them, your friend the surintendant can follow toMontfaucon his colleague Enguerrand de Marigny, and his predecessor,Semblancay."
"Oh!" said Aramis, smiling, "not so fast as that."
"And why not? why not so fast? What do you suppose Madame de Chevreusewill have done with those letters, for you refused them, I suppose?"
"Yes; at once. I suppose that she went and sold them to M. Colbert."
"Well?"
"I said I supposed so; I might have said I was sure of it, for I had herfollowed, and, when she left me, she returned to her own house, went outby a back door, and proceeded straight to the intendant's house in thestreet Croix des Petits-Champs."
"Legal proceedings will be instituted, then, scandal and dishonor willfollow, and all will fall upon me like a thunderbolt, blindly,harshly, pitilessly."
Aramis approached Fouquet, who sat trembling in his chair, close to theopen drawers; he placed his hand on his shoulder, and, in anaffectionate tone of voice, said:
"Do not forget that the position of M. Fouquet can in no way be comparedto that of Semblancay or of Marigny."
"And why not, in Heaven's name?"
"Because the proceedings against those ministers were determined,completed, and the sentence carried out, while in your case the samething cannot take place."
"Another blow, why not? A peculator is, under any circumstances, acriminal."
"Those criminals who know how to find a safe asylum are never indanger."
"What! make my escape! Fly!"
"No; I do not mean that; you forget that all such proceedings originatein the parliament, that they are instituted by the procureur-general,and that you are the procureur-general. You see that unless you wish tocondemn yourself--"
"Oh!" cried Fouquet, suddenly, dashing his fist upon the table.
"Well! what? what is the matter?"
"I am procureur-general no longer."
Aramis at this reply became as livid as death; he pressed his handstogether convulsively, and with a wild, haggard look, which almostannihilated Fouquet, he said, laying a stress upon every distinctsyllable, "You are procureur-general no longer, do you say?"
"No."
"Since when?"
"Since the last four or five hours."
"Take care," interrupted Aramis, coldly; "I do not think you are in thefull possession of your senses, my friend; collect yourself."
"I tell you," returned Fouquet, "that a little while ago, some one cameto me, brought by my friends, to offer me fourteen hundred thousandfrancs for the appointment, and that I sold the appointment."
Aramis looked as if he had been thunder-stricken; the intelligent andmocking expression of his countenance assumed an aspect of such profoundgloom and terror that it had more effect upon the surintendant that allthe exclamations and speeches in the world. "You had need of moneythen?" he said, at last.
"Yes; to discharge a debt of honor." And, in a few words, he gave Aramisan account of Madame de la Belliere's generosity, and the manner inwhich he had thought it but right to discharge that act of generosity.
"Yes," said Aramis; "that is, indeed, a fine trait. What has it cost?"
"Exactly the fourteen hundred thousand francs--the price of myappointment."
"Which you received in that manner, without reflection. Oh! imprudentman."
"I have not yet received the amount, but I shall to-morrow."
"It is not yet completed, then?"
"It must be carried out, though: for I have given the goldsmith, fortwelve o'clock to-morrow, an order upon my treasury, into which thepurchaser's money will be paid at six or seven o'clock."
"Heaven be praised!" cried Aramis, clapping his hands together, "nothingis yet completed, since you have not been paid."
"But the goldsmith?"
"You shall receive the fourteen hundred thousand francs from me at aquarter before twelve."
"Stay a moment; it is at six o'clock, this very morning, that I am tosign."
"Oh! I will answer that you do not sign."
"I have given my word, chevalier."
"If you have given it, you will take it back again, that is all."
"Can I believe what I hear," cried Fouquet, in a most expressive tone."Fouquet recall his word, after it has been once pledged!"
Aramis replied to the almost stern look of the minister, by a look fullof anger. "Monsieur," he said, "I believe I have deserved to be called aman of honor? As a soldier, I have risked my life five hundred times; asa priest I have rendered still greater services, both to the state andto my friends. The value of a word, once passed, is estimated accordingto the worth of the man who gives it. So long as it is in his ownkeeping, it is of the purest, finest gold; when his wish to keep it haspassed away, it is a two-edged sword. With that word, therefore, hedefends himself as with an honorable weapon, considering that, when hedisregards his word, he endangers his life, and incurs an amount of riskfar greater than that which his adversary is likely to derive of profit.In such a case, monsieur, he appeals to Heaven and to justice."
Fouquet bent down his head as he replied, "I am a poor self-determinedman, a true Breton born; my mind admires and fears yours. I do not saythat I keep my word from a proper feeling only; I keep it, if you like,from custom, practice, what you will; but, at all events, the ordinaryrun of men are simple enough to admire this custom of mine, it is mysole good quality, leave me such honor as it confers."
"And so you are determined to sign the sale of the very appointmentwhich can alone defend you against all your enemies?"
"Yes, I shall sign."
"You will deliver yourself up, then, bound hand and foot, from a falsenotion of honor, which the most scrupulous casuists would disdain?"
"I shall sign," repeated Fouquet.
Aramis sighed deeply, and looked all round him with the impatientgesture of a man who would gladly dash something to pieces, as a reliefto his feelings. "We have still one means left," he said; "and, I trust,you will not refuse to make use of that."
"Certainly not, if it be loyal and honorable; as everything is, in fact,which you propose."
"I know nothing more loyal than the renunciation of your purchaser. Ishe a friend of yours?"
"Certainly; but--"
"'But!'--if you allow me to manage the affair, I do not despair."
"Oh! you shall be absolutely master to do what you please."
"Whom are you in treaty with? What man is it?"
"I am not aware whether you know the parliament."
"Most of its members. One of the presidents, perhaps?"
"No; only a councilor of the name of Vanel."
Aramis became perfectly purple.
"Vanel," he cried, rising abruptly from his seat; "Vanel! the husband ofMarguerite Vanel?"
"Exactly."
"Of your former mistress?"
"Yes, my dear fellow; she is anxious to be the wife of theprocureur-general. I certainly owed poor Vanel that slight concession,and I am a gainer by it; since I, at the same time, can confer apleasure on his wife."
Aramis walked up straight to Fouquet and took hold of his hand. "Do youknow," he said, very calmly, "the name of Madame Vanel's new lover?"
"Ah! she has a new lover, then: I was not aware of it; no, I have noidea what his name is."
"His name is M. Jean Baptiste Colbert; he is surintendant of thefinances; he lives in the Rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs, where Madame deChevreuse has been this evening to take him Mazarin's letters, which shewishes to sell."
"Gracious Heaven!" murmured Fouquet, passing his hand across hisforehead, from which the perspiration was starting.
"You now begin to understand, do you not?"
"That I am utterly lost!--yes."
"Do you now think it worth while to be so scrupulous with regard tokeeping your word?"
"Yes," said Fouquet.
"These obstinate people always contrive matters in such a way, that onecannot but admire them all the while," murmured Aramis.
Fouquet held out his hand to him, and, at the very moment, a richlyornamented tortoise-shell clock, supported by golden figures, which wasstanding on a console table opposite to the fireplace, struck six. Thesound of a door being opened in the vestibule was heard, and Gourvillecame to the door of the cabinet to inquire if Fouquet would receive M.Vanel. Fouquet turned his eyes from the eyes of Aramis, and then desiredthat M. Vanel should be shown to him.