44 THE UTILITY OF STOVEPIPES
It was evident that without suspecting it, and actuated solely by theirchivalrous and adventurous character, our three friends had justrendered a service to someone the cardinal honored with his specialprotection.
Now, who was that someone? That was the question the three Musketeersput to one another. Then, seeing that none of their replies could throwany light on the subject, Porthos called the host and asked for dice.
Porthos and Aramis placed themselves at the table and began to play.Athos walked about in a contemplative mood.
While thinking and walking, Athos passed and repassed before the pipe ofthe stove, broken in halves, the other extremity passing into thechamber above; and every time he passed and repassed he heard a murmurof words, which at length fixed his attention. Athos went close to it,and distinguished some words that appeared to merit so great an interestthat he made a sign to his friends to be silent, remaining himself bentwith his ear directed to the opening of the lower orifice.
"Listen, Milady," said the cardinal, "the affair is important. Sit down,and let us talk it over."
"Milady!" murmured Athos.
"I listen to your Eminence with greatest attention," replied a femalevoice which made the Musketeer start.
"A small vessel with an English crew, whose captain is on my side,awaits you at the mouth of Charente, at Fort La Pointe*. He will setsail tomorrow morning."
_*Fort La Pointe, or Fort Vasou, was not built until 1672, nearly 50 years later._
"I must go thither tonight?"
"Instantly! That is to say, when you have received my instructions. Twomen, whom you will find at the door on going out, will serve you asescort. You will allow me to leave first; then, after half an hour, youcan go away in your turn."
"Yes, monseigneur. Now let us return to the mission with which you wishto charge me; and as I desire to continue to merit the confidence ofyour Eminence, deign to unfold it to me in terms clear and precise, thatI may not commit an error."
There was an instant of profound silence between the two interlocutors.It was evident that the cardinal was weighing beforehand the terms inwhich he was about to speak, and that Milady was collecting all herintellectual faculties to comprehend the things he was about to say, andto engrave them in her memory when they should be spoken.
Athos took advantage of this moment to tell his two companions to fastenthe door inside, and to make them a sign to come and listen with him.
The two Musketeers, who loved their ease, brought a chair for each ofthemselves and one for Athos. All three then sat down with their headstogether and their ears on the alert.
"You will go to London," continued the cardinal. "Arrived in London, youwill seek Buckingham."
"I must beg your Eminence to observe," said Milady, "that since theaffair of the diamond studs, about which the duke always suspected me,his Grace distrusts me."
"Well, this time," said the cardinal, "it is not necessary to steal hisconfidence, but to present yourself frankly and loyally as anegotiator."
"Frankly and loyally," repeated Milady, with an unspeakable expressionof duplicity.
"Yes, frankly and loyally," replied the cardinal, in the same tone. "Allthis negotiation must be carried on openly."
"I will follow your Eminence's instructions to the letter. I only waittill you give them."
"You will go to Buckingham in my behalf, and you will tell him I amacquainted with all the preparations he has made; but that they give meno uneasiness, since at the first step he takes I will ruin the queen."
"Will he believe that your Eminence is in a position to accomplish thethreat thus made?"
"Yes; for I have the proofs."
"I must be able to present these proofs for his appreciation."
"Without doubt. And you will tell him I will publish the report ofBois-Robert and the Marquis de Beautru, upon the interview which theduke had at the residence of Madame the Constable with the queen on theevening Madame the Constable gave a masquerade. You will tell him, inorder that he may not doubt, that he came there in the costume of theGreat Mogul, which the Chevalier de Guise was to have worn, and that hepurchased this exchange for the sum of three thousand pistoles."
"Well, monseigneur?"
"All the details of his coming into and going out of the palace--on thenight when he introduced himself in the character of an Italian fortuneteller--you will tell him, that he may not doubt the correctness of myinformation; that he had under his cloak a large white robe dotted withblack tears, death's heads, and crossbones--for in case of a surprise,he was to pass for the phantom of the White Lady who, as all the worldknows, appears at the Louvre every time any great event is impending."
"Is that all, monseigneur?"
"Tell him also that I am acquainted with all the details of theadventure at Amiens; that I will have a little romance made of it,wittily turned, with a plan of the garden and portraits of the principalactors in that nocturnal romance."
"I will tell him that."
"Tell him further that I hold Montague in my power; that Montague is inthe Bastille; that no letters were found upon him, it is true, but thattorture may make him tell much of what he knows, and even what he doesnot know."
"Exactly."
"Then add that his Grace has, in the precipitation with which he quitthe Isle of Re, forgotten and left behind him in his lodging a certainletter from Madame de Chevreuse which singularly compromises the queen,inasmuch as it proves not only that her Majesty can love the enemies ofthe king but that she can conspire with the enemies of France. Yourecollect perfectly all I have told you, do you not?"
"Your Eminence will judge: the ball of Madame the Constable; the nightat the Louvre; the evening at Amiens; the arrest of Montague; the letterof Madame de Chevreuse."
"That's it," said the cardinal, "that's it. You have an excellentmemory, Milady."
"But," resumed she to whom the cardinal addressed this flatteringcompliment, "if, in spite of all these reasons, the duke does not giveway and continues to menace France?"
"The duke is in love to madness, or rather to folly," replied Richelieu,with great bitterness. "Like the ancient paladins, he has onlyundertaken this war to obtain a look from his lady love. If he becomescertain that this war will cost the honor, and perhaps the liberty, ofthe lady of his thoughts, as he says, I will answer for it he will looktwice."
"And yet," said Milady, with a persistence that proved she wished to seeclearly to the end of the mission with which she was about to becharged, "if he persists?"
"If he persists?" said the cardinal. "That is not probable."
"It is possible," said Milady.
"If he persists--" His Eminence made a pause, and resumed: "If hepersists--well, then I shall hope for one of those events which changethe destinies of states."
"If your Eminence would quote to me some one of these events inhistory," said Milady, "perhaps I should partake of your confidence asto the future."
"Well, here, for example," said Richelieu: "when, in 1610, for a causesimilar to that which moves the duke, King Henry IV, of glorious memory,was about, at the same time, to invade Flanders and Italy, in order toattack Austria on both sides. Well, did there not happen an event whichsaved Austria? Why should not the king of France have the same chance asthe emperor?"
"Your Eminence means, I presume, the knife stab in the Rue de laFeronnerie?"
"Precisely," said the cardinal.
"Does not your Eminence fear that the punishment inflicted uponRavaillac may deter anyone who might entertain the idea of imitatinghim?"
"There will be, in all times and in all countries, particularly ifreligious divisions exist in those countries, fanatics who ask nothingbetter than to become martyrs. Ay, and observe--it just occurs to methat the Puritans are furious against Buckingham, and their preachersdesignate him as the Antichrist."
"Well?" said Milady.
"Well," continued the cardinal, in an indifferent tone,
"the only thingto be sought for at this moment is some woman, handsome, young, andclever, who has cause of quarrel with the duke. The duke has had manyaffairs of gallantry; and if he has fostered his amours by promises ofeternal constancy, he must likewise have sown the seeds of hatred by hiseternal infidelities."
"No doubt," said Milady, coolly, "such a woman may be found."
"Well, such a woman, who would place the knife of Jacques Clement or ofRavaillac in the hands of a fanatic, would save France."
"Yes; but she would then be the accomplice of an assassination."
"Were the accomplices of Ravaillac or of Jacques Clement ever known?"
"No; for perhaps they were too high-placed for anyone to dare look forthem where they were. The Palace of Justice would not be burned down foreverybody, monseigneur."
"You think, then, that the fire at the Palace of Justice was not causedby chance?" asked Richelieu, in the tone with which he would have put aquestion of no importance.
"I, monseigneur?" replied Milady. "I think nothing; I quote a fact, thatis all. Only I say that if I were named Madame de Montpensier, or theQueen Marie de Medicis, I should use less precautions than I take, beingsimply called Milady Clarik."
"That is just," said Richelieu. "What do you require, then?"
"I require an order which would ratify beforehand all that I shouldthink proper to do for the greatest good of France."
"But in the first place, this woman I have described must be found whois desirous of avenging herself upon the duke."
"She is found," said Milady.
"Then the miserable fanatic must be found who will serve as aninstrument of God's justice."
"He will be found."
"Well," said the cardinal, "then it will be time to claim the orderwhich you just now required."
"Your Eminence is right," replied Milady; "and I have been wrong inseeing in the mission with which you honor me anything but that which itreally is--that is, to announce to his Grace, on the part of yourEminence, that you are acquainted with the different disguises by meansof which he succeeded in approaching the queen during the fete given byMadame the Constable; that you have proofs of the interview granted atthe Louvre by the queen to a certain Italian astrologer who was no otherthan the Duke of Buckingham; that you have ordered a little romance of asatirical nature to be written upon the adventures of Amiens, with aplan of the gardens in which those adventures took place, and portraitsof the actors who figured in them; that Montague is in the Bastille, andthat the torture may make him say things he remembers, and even thingshe has forgotten; that you possess a certain letter from Madame deChevreuse, found in his Grace's lodging, which singularly compromisesnot only her who wrote it, but her in whose name it was written. Then,if he persists, notwithstanding all this--as that is, as I have said,the limit of my mission--I shall have nothing to do but to pray God towork a miracle for the salvation of France. That is it, is it not,monseigneur, and I shall have nothing else to do?"
"That is it," replied the cardinal, dryly.
"And now," said Milady, without appearing to remark the change of theduke's tone toward her--"now that I have received the instructions ofyour Eminence as concerns your enemies, Monseigneur will permit me tosay a few words to him of mine?"
"Have you enemies, then?" asked Richelieu.
"Yes, monseigneur, enemies against whom you owe me all your support, forI made them by serving your Eminence."
"Who are they?" replied the duke.
"In the first place, there is a little intrigante named Bonacieux."
"She is in the prison of Nantes."
"That is to say, she was there," replied Milady; "but the queen hasobtained an order from the king by means of which she has been conveyedto a convent."
"To a convent?" said the duke.
"Yes, to a convent."
"And to which?"
"I don't know; the secret has been well kept."
"But I will know!"
"And your Eminence will tell me in what convent that woman is?"
"I can see nothing inconvenient in that," said the cardinal.
"Well, now I have an enemy much more to be dreaded by me than thislittle Madame Bonacieux."
"Who is that?"
"Her lover."
"What is his name?"
"Oh, your Eminence knows him well," cried Milady, carried away by heranger. "He is the evil genius of both of us. It is he who in anencounter with your Eminence's Guards decided the victory in favor ofthe king's Musketeers; it is he who gave three desperate wounds to deWardes, your emissary, and who caused the affair of the diamond studs tofail; it is he who, knowing it was I who had Madame Bonacieux carriedoff, has sworn my death."
"Ah, ah!" said the cardinal, "I know of whom you speak."
"I mean that miserable d'Artagnan."
"He is a bold fellow," said the cardinal.
"And it is exactly because he is a bold fellow that he is the more to befeared."
"I must have," said the duke, "a proof of his connection withBuckingham."
"A proof?" cried Milady; "I will have ten."
"Well, then, it becomes the simplest thing in the world; get me thatproof, and I will send him to the Bastille."
"So far good, monseigneur; but afterwards?"
"When once in the Bastille, there is no afterward!" said the cardinal,in a low voice. "Ah, pardieu!" continued he, "if it were as easy for meto get rid of my enemy as it is easy to get rid of yours, and if it wereagainst such people you require impunity--"
"Monseigneur," replied Milady, "a fair exchange. Life for life, man forman; give me one, I will give you the other."
"I don't know what you mean, nor do I even desire to know what youmean," replied the cardinal; "but I wish to please you, and see nothingout of the way in giving you what you demand with respect to so infamousa creature--the more so as you tell me this d'Artagnan is a libertine, aduelist, and a traitor."
"An infamous scoundrel, monseigneur, a scoundrel!"
"Give me paper, a quill, and some ink, then," said the cardinal.
"Here they are, monseigneur."
There was a moment of silence, which proved that the cardinal wasemployed in seeking the terms in which he should write the note, or elsein writing it. Athos, who had not lost a word of the conversation, tookhis two companions by the hand, and led them to the other end of theroom.
"Well," said Porthos, "what do you want, and why do you not let uslisten to the end of the conversation?"
"Hush!" said Athos, speaking in a low voice. "We have heard all it wasnecessary we should hear; besides, I don't prevent you from listening,but I must be gone."
"You must be gone!" said Porthos; "and if the cardinal asks for you,what answer can we make?"
"You will not wait till he asks; you will speak first, and tell him thatI am gone on the lookout, because certain expressions of our host havegiven me reason to think the road is not safe. I will say two wordsabout it to the cardinal's esquire likewise. The rest concerns myself;don't be uneasy about that."
"Be prudent, Athos," said Aramis.
"Be easy on that head," replied Athos; "you know I am cool enough."
Porthos and Aramis resumed their places by the stovepipe.
As to Athos, he went out without any mystery, took his horse, which wastied with those of his friends to the fastenings of the shutters, infour words convinced the attendant of the necessity of a vanguard fortheir return, carefully examined the priming of his pistols, drew hissword, and took, like a forlorn hope, the road to the camp.