The Vicomte de Bragelonne

  CHAPTER LXXIV.

  M. DE BAISEMEAUX'S "SOCIETY."

  The reader has not forgotten that, on quitting the Bastille, D'Artagnanand the Comte de la Fere had left Aramis in close confabulation withBaisemeaux. When once these two guests had departed, Baisemeaux did notin the least perceive that the conversation suffered by their absence.He used to think that wine after supper, and that of the Bastille inparticular, was excellent; and that it was a stimulant quite sufficientto make an honest man talk. But he little knew His Greatness, who wasnever more impenetrable than at dessert. His Greatness, however,perfectly understood M. de Baisemeaux, when he reckoned on making thegovernor discourse on the means which the latter regarded asefficacious. The conversation, therefore, without flagging inappearance, flagged in reality; for Baisemeaux not only had it nearlyall to himself, but further, kept speaking only of that singularevent--the incarceration of Athos--followed by so prompt an order to sethim again at liberty. Nor, moreover, had Baisemeaux failed to observethat the two orders of arrest and of liberation were both in the king'shand. But, then, the king would not take the trouble to write similarorders except under pressing circumstances. All this was veryinteresting, and, above all, very puzzling to Baisemeaux; but as on theother hand all this was very clear to Aramis, the latter did not attachto the occurrence the same importance as did the worthy governor.Besides, Aramis rarely put himself out of the way for anything, and hehad not yet told M. de Baisemeaux for what reason he had now done so.And so, at the very climax of Baisemeaux's dissertation, Aramis suddenlyinterrupted him.

  "Tell me, my dear M. Baisemeaux," said he, "have you never any otherdiversions at the Bastille than those at which I assisted during the twoor three visits I have had the honor to pay you?"

  This address was so unexpected that the governor, like a vane whichsuddenly receives an impulsion opposed to that of the wind, was quitedumfounded at it. "Diversions," said he, "but I take them continually,monseigneur."

  "Oh, to be sure! And these diversions!"

  "Are of every kind."

  "Visits, no doubt?"

  "No, not visits. Visits are not frequent at the Bastille."

  "What, are visits rare, then?"

  "Very much so."

  "Even on the part of your society?"

  "What do you term by my society--the prisoners?"

  "Oh, no!--your prisoners, indeed! I know well it is you who visit them,and not they you. By your society I mean, my dear M. Baisemeaux, thesociety of which you are a member."

  Baisemeaux looked fixedly at Aramis, and then, as if the idea which hadflashed across his mind were impossible, "Oh!" he said, "I have verylittle society at present. If I must own it to you, my dear M.d'Herblay, the fact is, to stay at the Bastille appears for the mostpart distressing and distasteful to persons of the gay world. As for theladies, it is never without a dread, which costs me infinite trouble toallay, that they succeed in reaching my quarters. And, indeed, howshould they avoid trembling a little, poor things, when they see thosegloomy dungeons, and reflect that they are inhabited by prisoners who--"And in proportion as the eyes of Baisemeaux concentrated their gaze onthe face of Aramis, the worthy governor's tongue faltered more and more,until it ended by stopping altogether.

  "No, you don't understand me, my dear M. Baisemeaux; you don'tunderstand me. I do not at all mean to speak of society in general, butof a particular society--of _the_ society, in a word--to which you areaffiliated."

  Baisemeaux nearly dropped the glass of muscat which he was in the act ofraising to his lips. "Affiliated!" cried he, "affiliated!"

  "Yes, affiliated, undoubtedly," repeated Aramis, with the greatestself-possession. "Are you not a member of a secret society, my dear M.Baisemeaux!"

  "Secret?"

  "Secret or mysterious."

  "Oh, M. d'Herblay!"

  "Consider now, don't deny it."

  "But believe me."

  "I believe what I know."

  "I swear to you."

  "Listen to me, my dear M. Baisemeaux; I say yes, you say no; one of ustwo necessarily says what is true, and the other, it inevitably follows,what is false."

  "Well, and then?"

  "Well, we shall come to an understanding presently."

  "Let us see," said Baisemeaux; "let us see."

  "Now drink your glass of muscat, dear M. de Baisemeaux," said Aramis."What the devil! you look quite scared."

  "No, no; not the least in the world; no."

  "Drink, then." Baisemeaux drank, but he swallowed the wrong way.

  "Well," resumed Aramis, "if I say you are not a member of a secret ormysterious society, which you like to call it, the epithet is of noconsequence; if I say you are not a member of a society similar to thatI wish to designate, well, then, you will not understand a word of whatI am going to say, that is all."

  "Oh! be sure beforehand that I shall not understand anything."

  "Well, well!"

  "Try now, let us see."

  "That is what I am going to do."

  "If, on the contrary, you are one of the members of this society, youwill immediately answer me--yes, or no."

  "Begin your questions," continued Baisemeaux, trembling.

  "You will agree, dear Monsieur de Baisemeaux," continued Aramis, withthe same impassibility, "that it is evident a man cannot be a member ofa society, it is evident that he cannot enjoy the advantages it offersto the affiliated, without being himself bound to certain littleservices."

  "In short," stammered Baisemeaux, "that would be intelligible if--"

  "Well," resumed Aramis, "there is in the society of which I speak, andof which, as it seems, you are not a member--"

  "Allow me," said Baisemeaux, "I should not like to say absolutely."

  "There is an engagement entered into by all the governors and captainsof fortresses affiliated to the order." Baisemeaux grew pale.

  "Now the engagement," continued Aramis, firmly, "is of this nature."

  Baisemeaux rose, manifesting unspeakable emotion, "Go on, dear M.d'Herblay; go on," said he.

  Aramis then spoke, or rather recited, the following paragraph, in thesame tone as if he had been reading it from a book: "The aforesaidcaptain or governor of a fortress shall allow to enter when need shallarise, and on demand of the prisoner, a confessor affiliated to theorder." He stopped. Baisemeaux was quite distressing to look at, beingso wretchedly pale and trembling. "Is not that the text of theagreement?" quietly asked Aramis.

  "Monseigneur!" began Baisemeaux.

  "Ah! well, you begin to understand, I think."

  "Monseigneur," cried Baisemeaux, "do not trifle so with my unhappy mind!I find myself nothing in your hands, if you have the malignant desire todraw from me the little secrets of my administration."

  "Oh! by no means; pray undeceive yourself, dear M. Baisemeaux; it is notthe little secrets of your administration, but those of your consciencethat I aim at."

  "Well, then, my conscience be it, my dear M. d'Herblay. But have someconsideration for the situation I am in, which is no ordinary one."

  "It is no ordinary one, my dear monsieur," continued the inflexibleAramis, "if you are a member of this society; but it is quite a naturalone if free from all engagements. You are answerable only to the king."

  "Well, monsieur, well! I obey only the king, and whom else would youhave a French nobleman obey?"

  Aramis did not yield an inch; but with that silvery voice of hiscontinued, "It is very pleasant," said he, "for a French nobleman, for aprelate of France, to hear a man of your mark express himself soloyally, dear De Baisemeaux, and having heard you to believe no morethan you do."

  "Have you doubted, monsieur?"

  "I? oh, no!"

  "And so you doubt no longer?"

  "I have no longer any doubt that such a man as you, monsieur," saidAramis, gravely, "does not faithfully serve the masters whom hevoluntarily chose for himself."

  "Masters!" cried Baisemeaux.

  "Yes, masters, I said."

 
"Monsieur d'Herblay, you are still jesting, are you not?"

  "Oh, yes! I understand that it is a more difficult position to haveseveral masters than one; but the embarrassment is owing to you, my dearBaisemeaux, and I am not the cause of it."

  "Certainly not," returned the unfortunate governor, more embarrassedthan ever; "but what are you doing? You are leaving the table?"

  "Assuredly."

  "Are you going?"

  "Yes, I am going."

  "But you are behaving very strangely toward me, monseigneur."

  "I am behaving strangely--how do you make that out?"

  "Have you sworn, then, to put me to the torture?"

  "No, I should be sorry to do so."

  "Remain, then."

  "I cannot."

  "And why?"

  "Because I have no longer anything to do here; and, indeed, I haveduties to fulfill elsewhere."

  "Duties, so late as this?"

  "Yes; understand me now, my dear De Baisemeaux; they told me at theplace whence I came, 'The aforesaid governor or captain will allow toenter, as need shall arise, on the prisoner's demand, a confessoraffiliated with the order.' I came; you do not know what I mean, and soI shall return to tell them that they are mistaken, and that they mustsend me elsewhere."

  "What! you are--" cried Baisemeaux, looking at Aramis almost in terror.

  "The confessor affiliated to the order," said Aramis, without changinghis voice.

  But, gentle as the words were, they had the same effect on the unhappygovernor as a clap of thunder. Baisemeaux became livid, and it seemed tohim as if Aramis' beaming eyes were two forks of flame, piercing to thevery bottom of his soul. "The confessor!" murmured he; "you,monseigneur, the confessor of the order!"

  "Yes, I; but we have nothing to unravel together, seeing that you arenot one of the affiliated."

  "Monseigneur!"

  "And I understand, that not being so, you refuse to comply with itscommands."

  "Monseigneur, I beseech you, condescend to hear me."

  "And wherefore?"

  "Monseigneur, I do not say that I have nothing to do with the society."

  "Ah! ah!"

  "I say not that I refuse to obey."

  "Nevertheless, M. de Baisemeaux, what has passed wears very much the airof resistance."

  "Oh, no! monseigneur, no; I only wished to be certain."

  "To be certain of what?" said Aramis, in a tone of supreme contempt.

  "Of nothing at all, monseigneur." Baisemeaux lowered his voice, andbending before the prelate, said, "I am at all times and in all placesat the disposal of my masters, but--"

  "Very good. I like you better thus, monsieur," said Aramis, as heresumed his seat, and put out his glass to Baisemeaux, whose handtrembled so that he could not fill it. "You were saying 'but'--"continued Aramis.

  "But," replied the unhappy man, "having no notice, I was far fromexpecting."

  "Does not the Gospel say, 'Watch, for the moment is known only of God.'Do not the rules of the order say, 'Watch, for that which I will, youought always to will also.' And on what pretext is it that you did notexpect the confessor, M. de Baisemeaux?"

  "Because, monseigneur, there is at present in the Bastille no prisonerill."

  Aramis shrugged his shoulders. "What do you know about that?" said he.

  "But nevertheless, it appears to me--"

  "M. de Baisemeaux," said Aramis, turning round in his chair, "here isyour servant, who wishes to speak with you;" and, at this moment, DeBaisemeaux's servant appeared at the threshold of the door.

  "What is it?" asked Baisemeaux, sharply.

  "Monsieur," said the man, "they are bringing you the doctor's return."

  Aramis looked at De Baisemeaux with a calm and confident eye.

  "Well," said he, "let the messenger enter."

  The messenger entered, saluted, and handed in the report. Baisemeaux ranhis eye over it, and raising his head said, in surprise, "No. 12 isill."

  "How was it, then," said Aramis, carelessly, "that you told me everybodywas well in your hotel, M. de Baisemeaux?" And he emptied his glasswithout removing his eyes from Baisemeaux.

  The governor then made a sign to the messenger, and when he had quittedthe room said, still trembling, "I think that there is in the article,'on the prisoner's demand.'"

  "Yes, it is so," answered Aramis. "But, see what it is they want withyou now."

  At that moment a sergeant put his head in at the door. "What do you wantnow?" cried Baisemeaux. "Can you not leave me in peace for ten minutes?"

  "Monsieur," said the sergeant, "the sick man, No. 12, has commissionedthe turnkey to request you to send him a confessor."

  Baisemeaux very nearly sank on the floor; but Aramis disdained toreassure him, just as he had disdained to terrify him. "What must Ianswer?" inquired Baisemeaux.

  "Just what you please," replied Aramis, compressing his lips; "that isyour business. _I_ am not governor of the Bastille."

  "Tell the prisoner," cried Baisemeaux, quickly--"tell the prisoner thathis request is granted." The sergeant left the room. "Oh, monseigneur,monseigneur," murmured Baisemeaux, "how could I have suspected!--howcould I have foreseen this?"

  "Who requested you to suspect, and who besought you to foresee?"contemptuously answered Aramis. "The order suspects; the order knows;the order foresees--is not that enough?"

  "What do you command?" added Baisemeaux.

  "I?--nothing at all. I am nothing but a poor priest, a simple confessor.Have I your orders to go and see the sufferer?"

  "O, monseigneur, I do not order; I pray you to go."

  "'Tis well; then conduct me to him."