Man in the Iron Mask by Dumas, Alexandre part one

“He died of consumption, died forgotten, died withered and blighted like the flowers a lover has given to his mistress, which she leaves to die secreted in a drawer where she has hidden them from the world.”

“Died?” repeated the duchess, with an air of discouragement which would have afforded the Queen the most unfeigned delight had it not been tempered in some measure by a mixture of doubt. “Died- at Noisy-le-Sec?”

“Yes, in the arms of his tutor,- a poor, honest man who did not long survive him.”

“That can be easily understood. It is so difficult to bear up under the weight of such a loss and such a secret,” said Madame de Chevreuse, the irony of which reflection the Queen pretended not to perceive. Madame de Chevreuse continued: “Well, Madame, I inquired some years ago at Noisy-le-Sec about this unhappy child. I was told that it was not believed he was dead; and that was my reason for not at once condoling with your Majesty. Oh, certainly, if I had believed it, never should the slightest allusion to so deplorable an event have reawakened your Majesty’s legitimate distress.”

“You say that it is not believed that the child died at Noisy?”

“No, Madame.”

“What did they say about him, then?”

“They said- But no doubt they were mistaken.”

“Nay, speak, speak!”

“They said that one evening about the year 1645 a lady, beautiful and majestic in her bearing, which was observed notwithstanding the mask and the mantle which concealed her figure,- a lady of rank, of very high rank no doubt,- came in a carriage to the place where the road branches off,- the very same spot, you know, where I awaited news of the young Prince when your Majesty was pleased to send me there.”

“Well, well?”

“That the boy’s tutor, or guardian, took the child to this lady.”

“Well, what next?”

“That both the child and his tutor left that part of the country the very next day.”

“There! you see there is some truth in what you relate, since in point of fact the poor child died from a sudden attack of illness, which up to the age of seven years makes the lives of all children, as doctors say, suspended as it were by a thread.”

“What your Majesty says is quite true. No one knows it better than you; no one believes it more than myself. But yet how strange it is-”

“What can it now be?” thought the Queen.

“The person who gave me these details, who had been sent to inquire after the child’s health-”

“Did you confide such a charge to any one else? Oh, Duchess!”

“Some one as dumb as your Majesty, as dumb as myself; we will suppose it was myself, Madame. This ‘some one,’ some months after, passing through Touraine-”

“Touraine!”

“Recognized both the tutor and the child too! I am wrong; he thought he recognized them, both living, cheerful, happy, and flourishing,- the one in a green old age, the other in the flower of his youth. Judge, after that, what truth can be attributed to the rumors which are circulated, or what faith, after that, can be placed in anything that may happen in the world. But I am fatiguing your Majesty; it was not my intention, however, to do so; and I will take my leave of you, after renewing to you the assurance of my most respectful devotion.”

“Stay, Duchess! Let us first talk a little about yourself.”

“Of myself, Madame? I am not worthy that you should bend your looks upon me.”

“Why not, indeed? Are you not the oldest friend I have? Are you angry with me, Duchess?”

“I, indeed! What motive could I have? If I had reason to be angry with your Majesty, should I have come here?”

“Duchess, age is fast creeping on us both; we should be united against that death whose approach threatens us.”

“You overpower me, Madame, with the kindness of your language.”

“No one has ever loved or served me as you have done, Duchess.”

“Your Majesty remembers it?”

“Always. Duchess, give me a proof of your friendship.”

“Ah, Madame, my whole being is devoted to your Majesty.”

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