“That is truly an unfortunate man!” murmured the musketeer, in a hollow whisper, pointing out to Raoul the chamber inhabited by the Prince.
Chapter LXI: Promises
SCARCELY had d’Artagnan re-entered his apartment with his two friends, when one of the soldiers of the fort came to inform him that the governor was seeking for him. The bark which Raoul had perceived at sea, and which appeared so eager to gain the port, came to Ste. Marguerite with an important despatch for the captain of the Musketeers. On opening it, d’Artagnan recognized the writing of the King: “I should think,” said Louis XIV, “that you must have completed the execution of my orders, M. d’Artagnan; return then immediately to Paris, and join me at the Louvre.”
“There is the end of my exile!” cried the musketeer with joy; “God be praised, I am no longer a jailer!” and he showed the letter to Athos.
“So then you must leave us?” replied the latter, in a melancholy tone.
“Yes; but to meet again, dear friend, seeing that Raoul is old enough now to go alone with M. de Beaufort, and will prefer that his father should go back in company with M. d’Artagnan, rather than that he should travel two hundred leagues solitarily to reach home at La Fere; would you not, Raoul?”
“Certainly,” stammered the latter, with an expression of tender regret.
“No, no, my friend,” interrupted Athos, “I will never quit Raoul till the day his vessel shall have disappeared on the horizon. As long as he remains in France, he shall not be separated from me.”
“As you please, dear friend; but we will, at least, leave Ste. Marguerite together. Take advantage of the bark which will convey me back to Antibes.”
“With all my heart; we cannot too soon be at a distance from this fort, and from the spectacle which saddened us so just now.”
The three friends quitted the little isle, after paying their respects to the governor, and by the last flashes of the departing tempest they took their farewell of the white walls of the fort. D’Artagnan parted from his friends that same night, after having seen fire set to the carriage-case upon the shore by the orders of De Saint-Mars, according to the advice the captain had given him. Before getting on horseback, and after leaving the arms of Athos, “My friends,” said he, “you too much resemble two soldiers who are abandoning their post. Something warns me that Raoul will require being supported by you in his rank. Will you allow me to ask permission to go over into Africa with a hundred good muskets? The King will not refuse me, and I will take you with me.”
“M. d’Artagnan,” replied Raoul, pressing his hand with emotion, “thanks for that offer, which would give us more than we wish, either Monsieur the Count or I. I, who am young, stand in need of labor of mind and fatigue of body; Monsieur the Count wants the profoundest repose. You are his best friend. I recommend him to your care. In watching over him, you will hold both our souls in your hands.”
“I must go; my horse is all in a fret,” said d’Artagnan, with whom the most manifest sign of a lively emotion was the change of ideas in a conversation. “Come, Count, how many days longer has Raoul to stay here?”
“Three days at most.”
“And how long will it take you to reach home?”
“Oh, a considerable time,” replied Athos. “I shall not like the idea of being separated too quickly from Raoul. Time will travel too fast of itself to require me to aid it by distance. I shall only make half-stages.”
“And why so, my friend? Nothing is more dull than travelling slowly; and hostelry life does not become a man like you.”
“My friend, I came hither on post-horses; but I wish to purchase two animals of a superior kind. Now, to take them home fresh, it would not be prudent to make them travel more than seven or eight leagues a day.”
“Where is Grimaud?”
“He arrived yesterday morning with Raoul’s appointments; and I have left him to sleep.”