“So much the better.”
“He might have himself come to this prison, have taken me by the hand, and have said, ‘My brother, Heaven created us to love, not to contend with each other. I come to you. A barbarous prejudice has condemned you to pass your days in obscurity, far from all men and deprived of every joy. I will make you sit down beside me; I will buckle round your waist our father’s sword. Will you take advantage of this reconciliation to put down or to restrain me? Will you employ that sword to spill my blood?’ ‘Oh never!’ I would have replied to him; ‘I look on you as my preserver, and will respect you as my master. You give me far more than Heaven bestowed; for through you I possess liberty and the privilege of loving and being loved in this world.'”
“And you would have kept your word, Monseigneur?”
“Oh, on my life!”
“While now?”
“While now I perceive that I have guilty ones to punish.”
“In what manner, Monseigneur?”
“What do you say as to the resemblance that Heaven has given me to my brother?”
“I say that there was in that likeness a providential instruction which the King ought to have heeded; I say that your mother committed a crime in rendering those different in happiness and fortune whom Nature created so similar in her womb; and I conclude that the object of punishment should be only to restore the equilibrium.”
“By which you mean-”
“That if I restore you to your place on your brother’s throne, he shall take yours in prison.”
“Alas! there is so much suffering in prison, especially to a man who has drunk so deeply of the cup of enjoyment.”
“Your royal Highness will always be free to act as you may desire; and if it seems good to you, after punishment, may pardon.”
“Good! And now, are you aware of one thing, Monsieur?”
“Tell me, my Prince.”
“It is that I will hear nothing further from you till I am clear of the Bastille.”
“I was going to say to your Highness that I should only have the pleasure of seeing you once again.”
“And when?”
“The day when my Prince leaves these gloomy walls.”
“Heavens! how will you give me notice?”
“By coming here to seek you.”
“Yourself?”
“My Prince, do not leave this chamber save with me; or if in my absence you are compelled to do so, remember that I am not concerned in it.”
“And so, I am not to speak a word of this to any one whatever, save to you?”
“Save only to me.” Aramis bowed very low.
The Prince offered his hand. “Monsieur,” he said, in a tone that issued from his heart, “one word more,- my last. If you have sought me for my destruction; if you are only a tool in the hands of my enemies; if from our conference, in which you have sounded the depths of my mind, anything worse than captivity result,- that is to say, if death befall me,- still receive my blessing, for you will have ended my troubles and given me repose from the tormenting fever that has preyed upon me these eight years.”
“Monseigneur, wait the result ere you judge me,” said Aramis.
“I say that in such a case I should bless and forgive you. If, on the other hand, you are come to restore me to that position in the sunshine of fortune and glory to which I was destined by Heaven; if by your aid I am enabled to live in the memory of man, and confer lustre on my race by deeds of valor or by solid benefits bestowed upon my people; if from my present depths of sorrow, aided by your generous hand, I raise myself to the very height of honor,- then to you, whom I thank with blessings, to you will I offer half my power and my glory; though you would still be but partly recompensed, and your share must always remain incomplete, since I could not divide with you the happiness received at your hands.”
“Monseigneur,” replied Aramis, moved by the pallor and excitement of the young man, “the nobleness of your heart fills me with joy and admiration. It is not you who will have to thank me, but rather the nation whom you will render happy, the posterity whose name you will make glorious. Yes; I shall have bestowed upon you more than life,- I shall give you immortality.”