Les trois mousquetaires. English

  64 THE MAN IN THE RED CLOAK

  The despair of Athos had given place to a concentrated grief which onlyrendered more lucid the brilliant mental faculties of that extraordinaryman.

  Possessed by one single thought--that of the promise he had made, and ofthe responsibility he had taken--he retired last to his chamber, beggedthe host to procure him a map of the province, bent over it, examinedevery line traced upon it, perceived that there were four differentroads from Bethune to Armentieres, and summoned the lackeys.

  Planchet, Grimaud, Bazin, and Mousqueton presented themselves, andreceived clear, positive, and serious orders from Athos.

  They must set out the next morning at daybreak, and go toArmentieres--each by a different route. Planchet, the most intelligentof the four, was to follow that by which the carriage had gone uponwhich the four friends had fired, and which was accompanied, as may beremembered, by Rochefort's servant.

  Athos set the lackeys to work first because, since these men had been inthe service of himself and his friends he had discovered in each of themdifferent and essential qualities. Then, lackeys who ask questionsinspire less mistrust than masters, and meet with more sympathy amongthose to whom they address themselves. Besides, Milady knew the masters,and did not know the lackeys; on the contrary, the lackeys knew Miladyperfectly.

  All four were to meet the next day at eleven o'clock. If they haddiscovered Milady's retreat, three were to remain on guard; the fourthwas to return to Bethune in order to inform Athos and serve as a guideto the four friends. These arrangements made, the lackeys retired.

  Athos then arose from his chair, girded on his sword, enveloped himselfin his cloak, and left the hotel. It was nearly ten o'clock. At teno'clock in the evening, it is well known, the streets in provincialtowns are very little frequented. Athos nevertheless was visibly anxiousto find someone of whom he could ask a question. At length he met abelated passenger, went up to him, and spoke a few words to him. The manhe addressed recoiled with terror, and only answered the few words ofthe Musketeer by pointing. Athos offered the man half a pistole toaccompany him, but the man refused.

  Athos then plunged into the street the man had indicated with hisfinger; but arriving at four crossroads, he stopped again, visiblyembarrassed. Nevertheless, as the crossroads offered him a better chancethan any other place of meeting somebody, he stood still. In a fewminutes a night watch passed. Athos repeated to him the same question hehad asked the first person he met. The night watch evinced the sameterror, refused, in his turn, to accompany Athos, and only pointed withhis hand to the road he was to take.

  Athos walked in the direction indicated, and reached the suburb situatedat the opposite extremity of the city from that by which he and hisfriends 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. Themendicant hesitated at first, but at the sight of the piece of silverwhich 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, amidthe red color in which the house was painted. No light appeared throughthe chinks of the shutters; no noise gave reason to believe that it wasinhabited. It was dark and silent as the tomb.

  Three times Athos knocked without receiving an answer. At the thirdknock, however, steps were heard inside. The door at length was opened,and a man appeared, of high stature, pale complexion, and black hair andbeard.

  Athos and he exchanged some words in a low voice, then the tall man madea sign to the Musketeer that he might come in. Athos immediatelyprofited 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 withso much trouble, introduced him into his laboratory, where he wasengaged in fastening together with iron wire the dry bones of askeleton. All the frame was adjusted except the head, which lay on thetable.

  All the rest of the furniture indicated that the dweller in this houseoccupied himself with the study of natural science. There were largebottles filled with serpents, ticketed according to their species; driedlizards shone like emeralds set in great squares of black wood, andbunches of wild odoriferous herbs, doubtless possessed of virtuesunknown to common men, were fastened to the ceiling and hung down in thecorners of the apartment. There was no family, no servant; the tall manalone inhabited this house.

  Athos cast a cold and indifferent glance upon the objects we havedescribed, and at the invitation of him whom he came to seek sat downnear him.

  Then he explained to him the cause of his visit, and the service herequired of him. But scarcely had he expressed his request when theunknown, who remained standing before the Musketeer, drew back withsigns of terror, and refused. Then Athos took from his pocket a smallpaper, on which two lines were written, accompanied by a signature and aseal, and presented them to him who had made too prematurely these signsof repugnance. The tall man had scarcely read these lines, seen thesignature, and recognized the seal, when he bowed to denote that he hadno longer any objection to make, and that he was ready to obey.

  Athos required no more. He arose, bowed, went out, returned by the sameway he came, re-entered the hotel, and went to his apartment.

  At daybreak d'Artagnan entered the chamber, and demanded what was to bedone.

  "To wait," replied Athos.

  Some minutes after, the superior of the convent sent to inform theMusketeers that the burial would take place at midday. As to thepoisoner, they had heard no tidings of her whatever, only that she musthave made her escape through the garden, on the sand of which herfootsteps could be traced, and the door of which had been found shut. Asto the key, it had disappeared.

  At the hour appointed, Lord de Winter and the four friends repaired tothe convent; the bells tolled, the chapel was open, the grating of thechoir was closed. In the middle of the choir the body of the victim,clothed in her novitiate dress, was exposed. On each side of the choirand behind the gratings opening into the convent was assembled the wholecommunity of the Carmelites, who listened to the divine service, andmingled their chant with the chant of the priests, without seeing theprofane, or being seen by them.

  At the door of the chapel d'Artagnan felt his courage fall anew, andreturned to look for Athos; but Athos had disappeared.

  Faithful to his mission of vengeance, Athos had requested to beconducted to the garden; and there upon the sand following the lightsteps of this woman, who left sharp tracks wherever she went, headvanced toward the gate which led into the wood, and causing it to beopened, he went out into the forest.

  Then all his suspicions were confirmed; the road by which the carriagehad disappeared encircled the forest. Athos followed the road for sometime, his eyes fixed upon the ground; slight stains of blood, which camefrom the wound inflicted upon the man who accompanied the carriage as acourier, or from one of the horses, dotted the road. At the end ofthree-quarters of a league, within fifty paces of Festubert, a largerbloodstain appeared; the ground was trampled by horses. Between theforest and this accursed spot, a little behind the trampled ground, wasthe same track of small feet as in the garden; the carriage had stoppedhere. At this spot Milady had come out of the wood, and entered thecarriage.

  Satisfied with this discovery which confirmed all his suspicions, Athosreturned 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 stainsof 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 Festubert,while drinking at an inn, he had learned without needing to ask aquestion th
at the evening before, at half-past eight, a wounded man whoaccompanied a lady traveling in a post-chaise had been obliged to stop,unable to go further. The accident was set down to the account ofrobbers, who had stopped the chaise in the wood. The man remained in thevillage; the woman had had a relay of horses, and continued her journey.

  Planchet went in search of the postillion who had driven her, and foundhim. He had taken the lady as far as Fromelles; and from Fromelles shehad set out for Armentieres. Planchet took the crossroad, and by seveno'clock in the morning he was at Armentieres.

  There was but one tavern, the Post. Planchet went and presented himselfas a lackey out of a place, who was in search of a situation. He had notchatted ten minutes with the people of the tavern before he learned thata woman had come there alone about eleven o'clock the night before, hadengaged a chamber, had sent for the master of the hotel, and told himshe desired to remain some time in the neighborhood.

  Planchet had no need to learn more. He hastened to the rendezvous, foundthe lackeys at their posts, placed them as sentinels at all the outletsof the hotel, and came to find Athos, who had just received thisinformation when his friends returned.

  All their countenances were melancholy and gloomy, even the mildcountenance of Aramis.

  "What is to be done?" asked d'Artagnan.

  "To wait!" replied Athos.

  Each retired to his own apartment.

  At eight o'clock in the evening Athos ordered the horses to be saddled,and Lord de Winter and his friends notified that they must prepare forthe expedition.

  In an instant all five were ready. Each examined his arms, and put themin order. Athos came down last, and found d'Artagnan already onhorseback, and growing impatient.

  "Patience!" cried Athos; "one of our party is still wanting."

  The four horsemen looked round them with astonishment, for they soughtvainly in their minds to know who this other person could be.

  At this moment Planchet brought out Athos's horse; the Musketeer leapedlightly into the saddle.

  "Wait for me," cried he, "I will soon be back," and he set off at agallop.

  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 anotherinquiringly. Neither could give the others any information, for all wereignorant who this man could be; nevertheless, they felt convinced thatall was as it should be, as it was done by the order of Athos.

  At nine o'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, traveling in silence,each plunged in his own thoughts, sad as despair, gloomy aschastisement.