The Vicomte de Bragelonne

  CHAPTER LXX.

  THREE GUESTS ASTONISHED TO FIND THEMSELVES AT SUPPER TOGETHER.

  The carriage arrived at the outside gate of the Bastille. A soldier onguard stopped it, but D'Artagnan had only to utter a single word toprocure admittance, and the carriage passed on without furtherdifficulty. While they were proceeding along the covered way which ledto the courtyard of the governor's residence, D'Artagnan, whose lynxeye saw everything, even through the walls, suddenly cried out, "What isthat out yonder?"

  "Well," said Athos, quietly, "what is it?"

  "Look yonder, Athos."

  "In the courtyard?"

  "Yes, yes; make haste!"

  "Well, a carriage; very likely conveying a prisoner like myself."

  "That would be too droll."

  "I do not understand you."

  "Make haste and look again, and look at the man who is just getting outof that carriage."

  At that very moment a second sentinel stopped D'Artagnan, and while theformalities were being gone through, Athos could see at a hundred pacesfrom him the man whom his friend had pointed out to him. He was, infact, getting out of the carriage at the door of the governor's house."Well," inquired D'Artagnan, "do you see him?"

  "Yes; he is a man in a gray suit."

  "What do you say of him?"

  "I cannot very well tell; he is, as I have just now told you, a man in agray suit, who is getting out, of a carriage; that is all."

  "Athos, I will wager anything it is he."

  "He--who?"

  "Aramis."

  "Aramis arrested? Impossible!"

  "I do not say he is arrested, since we see him alone in his carriage."

  "Well, then, what is he doing here?"

  "Oh! he knows Baisemeaux, the governor," replied the musketeer, slyly;"so we have arrived just in time."

  "What for?"

  "In order to see what we can see."

  "I regret this meeting exceedingly. When Aramis sees me, he will be verymuch annoyed, in the first place, at seeing me, and in the next at beingseen."

  "Very well reasoned."

  "Unfortunately there is no remedy for it; whenever any one meets anotherin the Bastille, even if he wished to draw back to avoid him, it wouldbe impossible."

  "Athos, I have an idea; the question is, to spare Aramis the annoyanceyou were speaking of, is it not?"

  "What is to be done?"

  "I will tell you; or, in order to explain myself in the best possibleway, let me relate the affair in my own manner; I will not recommend youto tell a falsehood, for that would be impossible for you to do; but Iwill tell falsehoods enough for both; it is so easy to do that with thenature and habits of a Gascon."

  Athos smiled. The carriage stopped where the one we have just nowpointed out had stopped; namely, at the door of the governor's house."It is understood, then?" said D'Artagnan, in a low voice to his friend.Athos consented by a gesture. They ascended the staircase. There will beno occasion for surprise at the facility with which they had enteredinto the Bastille, if it be remembered that, before passing the firstgate, in fact, the most difficult of all, D'Artagnan had announced thathe had brought a prisoner of state. At the third gate, on the contrary,that is to say, when he had once fairly entered the prison, he merelysaid to the sentinel, "To M. Baisemeaux;" and they both passed on. In afew minutes they were in the governor's dining-room, and the first facewhich attracted D'Artagnan's observation was that of Aramis, who wasseated side by side with Baisemeaux, and awaited the announcement of agood meal, whose odor impregnated the whole apartment. If D'Artagnanpretended surprise, Aramis did not pretend at all; he started when hesaw his two friends, and his emotion was very apparent. Athos andD'Artagnan, however, complimented him as usual, and Baisemeaux, amazed,completely stupefied by the presence of his three guests, began toperform a few evolutions around them. "By what lucky accident--"

  "We were just going to ask you," retorted D'Artagnan.

  "Are we going to give ourselves up as prisoners?" cried Aramis, with anaffectation of hilarity.

  "Ah! ah!" said D'Artagnan; "it is true the walls smell deucedly like aprison. Monsieur de Baisemeaux, you know you invited me to sup with youthe other day."

  "I?" cried Baisemeaux.

  "Yes, of course you did, although you now seem so struck with amazement.Don't you remember it?"

  Baisemeaux turned pale and then red, looked at Aramis, who looked athim, and finished by stammering out, "Certainly--I am delighted--butupon my honor--I have not the slightest--Ah! I have such a wretchedmemory."

  "Well! I am wrong, I see," said D'Artagnan, as if he were offended.

  "Wrong, what for?"

  "Wrong to remember anything about it, it seems."

  Baisemeaux hurried toward him. "Do not stand on ceremony, my dearcaptain," he said; "I have the worst memory in the world. I no soonerleave off thinking of my pigeons and their pigeon-house, than I am nobetter than the rawest recruit."

  "At all events, you remember it now," said D'Artagnan, boldly.

  "Yes, yes," replied the governor, hesitating; "I think I remember."

  "It was when you came to the palace to see me; you told me some story orother about your accounts with M. de Louviere and M. de Tremblay."

  "Oh, yes! perfectly."

  "And about M. d'Herblay's kindness toward you."

  "Ah!" exclaimed Aramis, looking the unhappy governor full in the face,"and yet you just now said you had no memory, Monsieur de Baisemeaux."

  Baisemeaux interrupted the musketeer in the midst of his revelations."Yes, yes; you're quite right; how could I have forgotten; I remember itnow as well as possible; I beg you a thousand pardons. But now, once forall, my dear M. d'Artagnan, be sure that at this present time, as at anyother, whether invited or not, you are perfectly at home here, you andM. d'Herblay, your friend," he said, turning toward Aramis; "and thisgentleman, too," he added, bowing to Athos.

  "Well, I thought it would be sure to turn out so," replied D'Artagnan,"and that is the reason I came. Having nothing to do this evening at thePalais Royal, I wished to judge for myself what your ordinary style ofliving was like, and as I was coming along, I met the Comte de la Fere."

  Athos bowed. "The comte, who had just left his majesty, handed me anorder which required immediate attention. We were close by here; Iwished to call in, even if it were for no other object than that ofshaking hands with you and of presenting the comte to you, of whom youspoke so highly that evening at the palace when--"

  "Certainly, certainly--M. le Comte de la Fere."

  "Precisely."

  "The comte is welcome, I am sure."

  "And he will sup with you two, I suppose, while I, unfortunate dog thatI am, must run off on a matter of duty. Oh! what happy beings you are,compared to myself," he added, sighing as loud as Porthos might havedone.

  "And so you are going away, then?" said Aramis and Baisemeaux together,with the same expression of delighted surprise, the tone of which wasimmediately noticed by D'Artagnan.

  "I leave you in my place," he said, "a noble and excellent guest." Andhe touched Athos gently on the shoulder, who, astonished also, could notprevent exhibiting his surprise a little; a tone which was noticed byAramis only, for M. de Baisemeaux was not quite equal to the threefriends in point of intelligence.

  "What! are you going to leave us?" resumed the governor.

  "I shall only be about an hour, or an hour and a half. I will return intime for dessert."

  "Oh! we will wait for you," said Baisemeaux.

  "No, no; that would be really disobliging me."

  "You will be sure to return, though?" said Athos, with an expression ofdoubt.

  "Most certainly," he said, pressing his friend's hand confidentially;and he added, in a low voice, "Wait for me, Athos; be cheerful andlively as possible, and above all, don't allude even to businessaffairs, for Heaven's sake."

  And with a renewed pressure of the hand, he seemed to warn the comte ofthe necessity of keeping perfectly discreet and
impenetrable. Baisemeauxled D'Artagnan to the gate. Aramis, with many friendly protestations ofdelight, sat down by Athos, determined to make him speak; but Athospossessed every virtue and quality to the very highest degree. Ifnecessity had required it, he would have been the finest orator in theworld, but on other occasions he would rather have died than have openedhis lips.

  Ten minutes after D'Artagnan's departure, the three gentlemen sat downto table, which was covered with the most substantial display ofgastronomic luxury. Large joints, exquisite dishes, preserves, thegreatest variety of wines, appeared successively upon the table, whichwas served at the king's expense, and of which expense M. Colbert wouldhave found no difficulty in saving two-thirds, without any one in theBastille being the worse for it. Baisemeaux was the only one who ate anddrank resolutely. Aramis allowed nothing to pass by him, but merelytouched everything he took; Athos, after the soup and three horsd'oeuvres, ate nothing more. The style of conversation was such ascould hardly be otherwise between three men so opposite in temper andideas. Aramis was incessantly asking himself by what extraordinarychance Athos was at Baisemeaux's when D'Artagnan was no longer there,and why D'Artagnan did not remain when Athos was there. Athos soundedall the depths of the mind of Aramis, who lived in the midst ofsubterfuge, evasion, and intrigue; he studied his man well andthoroughly, and felt convinced that he was engaged upon some importantproject. And then he too began to think of his own personal affair, andto lose himself in conjectures as to D'Artagnan's reason for having leftthe Bastille so abruptly, and for leaving behind him a prisoner so badlyintroduced and so badly looked after by the prison authorities. But weshall not pause to examine into the thoughts and feelings of thesepersonages, but will leave them to themselves, surrounded by the remainsof poultry, game, and fish, which Baisemeaux's generous knife and forkhad so mutilated. We are going to follow D'Artagnan instead, who,getting into the carriage which had brought him, said to the coachman,"Return to the palace, and as fast as you can possibly make the horsesgo."