One final pang was reserved for poor Raoul. Madame Henrietta lifted a silk curtain, and behind the curtain he perceived La Valliere’s portrait. Not only the portrait of La Valliere, but of La Valliere eloquent of youth, beauty, and happiness, inhaling life and enjoyment at every pore, because at eighteen years of age love itself is life.
“Louise!” murmured Bragelonne, “Louise! is it true, then? Oh, you have never loved me, for never have you looked at me in that manner!” and he felt as if his heart were crushed within his bosom.
Madame Henrietta looked at him, almost envious of his extreme grief, although she well knew there was nothing to envy in it, and that she herself was as passionately loved by De Guiche as Louise by Bragelonne. Raoul interpreted Madame Henrietta’s look.
“Oh, forgive me, forgive me, Madame! In your presence I know I ought to have greater mastery over myself. But may the Lord God of Heaven and of earth grant that you may never be struck the blow which crushes me at this moment; for you are but a woman, and would not be able to endure so terrible an affliction. Forgive me! I am but a poor gentleman, while you belong to the race of the happy, of the all-powerful, of the elect-”
“M. de Bragelonne,” replied Henrietta, “a heart such as yours merits all the consideration and respect which a queen’s heart even can bestow. I am your friend, Monsieur; and as such, indeed, I would not allow your whole life to be poisoned by perfidy and covered with ridicule. It was I, indeed, who with more courage than any of your pretended friends,- I except M. de Guiche,- was the cause of your return from London; it is I, also, who have given you these melancholy proofs,- necessary however for your cure, if you are a lover with courage in his heart, and not a weeping Amadis. Do not thank me; pity me even, and do not serve the King less faithfully than you have done.”
Raoul smiled bitterly. “Ah! true, true; I was forgetting that! The King is my master.”
“Your liberty, nay, your very life, is at stake.”
A steady, penetrating look informed Madame Henrietta that she was mistaken, and that her last argument was not likely to affect the young man. “Take care, M. de Bragelonne,” she said; “for if you do not weigh well all your actions, you might throw into an extravagance of wrath a prince whose passions, once aroused, exceed the limits of reason, and you would thereby involve your friends and family in distress. You must bend; you must submit, and must cure yourself.”
“I thank you, Madame. I appreciate the advice your royal Highness is good enough to give me, and I will endeavor to follow it; but one final word, I beg.”
“Name it.”
“Should I be indiscreet in asking you the secret of this staircase, of this trapdoor,- a secret which you have discovered?”
“Oh, nothing is more simple! For the purpose of exercising a surveillance over the young girls who are attached to my service, I have duplicate keys of their doors. It seemed very strange to me that M. de Saint-Aignan should change his apartments; it seemed very strange that the King should come to see M. de Saint-Aignan every day; and finally, it seemed very strange that so many things should be done during your absence,- that the very habits and customs of the court seemed to be changed. I do not wish to be trifled with by the King, nor to serve as a cloak for his love-affairs; for after La Valliere, who weeps, he will take a fancy to Montalais, who laughs, and then to Tonnay-Charente, who sings. To act such a part as that would be unworthy of me. I have thrust aside the scruples which my friendship for you suggested. I have discovered the secret. I have wounded your feelings, I know, and I again entreat you to excuse me; but I had a duty to fulfill. I have discharged it. You are now forewarned. The tempest will soon burst; protect yourself.”
“You naturally expect, however, that a result of some kind must follow,” replied Bragelonne, with firmness; “for you do not suppose I shall silently accept the shame which is thrust upon me, or the treachery which has been practised against me?”