Man in the Iron Mask by Dumas, Alexandre part one

“Monsieur!”

“And a want of confidence on the part of the subject,” pursued Athos, intrepidly.

“You are forgetting yourself,” said the King, hurried away by his anger in spite of his control over himself.

“Sire, I am obliged to seek elsewhere for what I thought I should find in your Majesty. Instead of obtaining a reply from you, I am compelled to make one for myself.”

The King rose. “Monsieur the Count,” he said, “I have now given you all the time I had at my disposal.”

This was a dismissal.

“Sire,” replied the count, “I have not yet had time to tell your Majesty what I came with the express object of saying, and I so rarely see your Majesty that I ought to avail myself of the opportunity.”

“Just now you spoke of conjectures; you are now becoming offensive.”

“Oh, Sire, offend your Majesty! I? Never! All my life have I maintained that kings are above all other men, not only in rank and power, but in nobleness of heart and dignity of mind. I never can bring myself to believe that my sovereign- he who passed his word to me- did so with a mental reservation.”

“What do you mean? What mental reservation?”

“I will explain my meaning,” said Athos, coldly. “If in refusing Mademoiselle de la Valliere to M. de Bragelonne your Majesty had some other object in view than the happiness and fortune of the viscount-”

“You perceive, Monsieur, that you are offending me.”

“If in requiring the viscount to delay his marriage your Majesty’s only object was to remove the gentleman to whom Mademoiselle de la Valliere was engaged-”

“Monsieur! Monsieur!”

“I have heard it said so in every direction, Sire. Your Majesty’s love for Mademoiselle de la Valliere is spoken of on all sides.”

The King tore his gloves, which he had been biting for some time. “Woe to those,” he cried, “who interfere in my affairs! I have chosen my course; I will crush all obstacles.”

“What obstacles?” said Athos.

The King stopped short, like a runaway horse whose bit being turned in his mouth bruises his palate. “I love Mademoiselle de la Valliere,” he said suddenly, with nobleness and with passion.

“But,” interrupted Athos, “that does not preclude your Majesty from allowing M. de Bragelonne to marry Mademoiselle de la Valliere. The sacrifice is worthy of so great a monarch; it is fully merited by M. de Bragelonne, who has already rendered great service to your Majesty, and who may well be regarded as a brave and worthy man. Your Majesty, therefore, in renouncing the affection you entertain, offers a proof at once of generosity, gratitude, and good policy.”

“Mademoiselle de la Valliere does not love M. de Bragelonne,” said the King, hoarsely.

“Does your Majesty know that to be the case?” remarked Athos, with a searching look.

“I do know it.”

“Within a short time, then; for doubtless had your Majesty known it when I first preferred my request, you would have taken the trouble to inform me.”

“Within a short time.”

Athos remained silent for a moment, and then resumed: “In that case I do not understand why your Majesty should have sent M. de Bragelonne to London. That exile, and with good reason, is a matter of astonishment to all who love the honor of the King.”

“Who presumes to speak of my honor, M. de la Fere?”

“The King’s honor, Sire, is made up of the honor of his whole nobility. Whenever the King offends one of his gentlemen,- that is, whenever he deprives him of the smallest particle of his honor,- it is from him, from the King himself, that that portion of honor is stolen.”

“M. de la Fere!” said the King, haughtily.

“Sire, you sent M. de Bragelonne to London either before you were Mademoiselle de la Valliere’s lover or since you have become so.”

The King, irritated beyond measure, especially because he felt that he was mastered, endeavored to dismiss Athos by a gesture.

“Sire,” replied the count, “I will tell you all; I will not leave your presence until I have been satisfied either by your Majesty or by myself,- satisfied if you prove to me that you are right, satisfied if I prove to you that you are wrong. Oh, you will listen to me, Sire! I am old now, and I am attached to everything that is really great and true in your kingdom. I am a gentleman who shed my blood for your father and for yourself, without ever having asked a single favor either from yourself or from your father. I have never inflicted the slightest wrong or injury on any one in this world, and have put kings under obligations to me. You will listen to me. I have come to ask you for an account of the honor of one of your servants whom you have deceived by a falsehood or betrayed through weakness. I know that these words irritate your Majesty; but on the other hand, the facts are killing us. I know you are inquiring what penalty you will inflict for my frankness; but I know what punishment I will implore God to inflict upon you when I set before him your perjury and my son’s unhappiness.”

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