Austria trembled to evoke. England, that was her hatred of
Richelieu and her love for Buckingham; a Treville musketeer,
that was the whole Odyssey of the triumphs which had made
the heart of the young woman throb, and of the dangers which
had been so near overturning the throne of the young queen.
These words had much power, for they rendered mute and
attentive all the royal personages, who, with very various
sentiments, set about recomposing at the same time the
mysteries which the young had not seen, and which the old
had believed to be forever effaced.
“Speak, monsieur,” said Louis XIV., the first to escape from
troubles, suspicions, and remembrances.
“Yes, speak,” added Mazarin, to whom the little malicious
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thrust directed against Anne of Austria had restored energy
and gayety.
“Sire,” said the comte, “a sort of miracle has changed the
whole destiny of Charles II. That which men, till that time,
had been unable to do, God resolved to accomplish.”
Mazarin coughed while tossing about in his bed.
“King Charles II.,” continued Athos, “left the Hague neither
as a fugitive nor a conqueror, but as an absolute king, who,
after a distant voyage from his kingdom, returns amidst
universal benedictions.”
“A great miracle, indeed,” said Mazarin; “for, if the news
was true, King Charles II., who has just returned amidst
benedictions, went away amidst musket-shots.”
The king remained impassible. Philip, younger and more
frivolous, could not repress a smile, which flattered
Mazarin as an applause of his pleasantry.
“It is plain,” said the king, “there is a miracle; but God,
who does so much for kings, monsieur le comte, nevertheless
employs the hand of man to bring about the triumph of His
designs. To what men does Charles II. principally owe his
re-establishment?”
“Why,” interrupted Mazarin, without any regard for the
king’s pride — “does not your majesty know that it is to M.
Monk?”
“I ought to know it,” replied Louis XIV., resolutely; “and
yet I ask my lord ambassador the causes of the change in
this General Monk?”
“And your majesty touches precisely the question,” replied
Athos, “for without the miracle of which I have had the
honor to speak, General Monk would probably have remained an
implacable enemy of Charles II. God willed that a strange,
bold, and ingenious idea should enter into the mind of a
certain man, whilst a devoted and courageous idea took
possession of the mind of another man. The combinations of
these two ideas brought about such a change in the position
of M. Monk, that, from an inveterate enemy, he became a
friend to the deposed king.”
“These are exactly the details I asked for,” said the king.
“Who and what are the two men of whom you speak?”
“Two Frenchmen, sire.”
“Indeed! I am glad of that.”
“And the two ideas,” said Mazarin; — “I am more curious
about ideas than about men, for my part.”
“Yes,” murmured the king.
“The second idea, the devoted, reasonable idea — the least
important, sir — was to go and dig up a million in gold,
buried by King Charles I. at Newcastle, and to purchase with
that gold the adherence of Monk.”
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“Oh, oh!” said Mazarin, reanimated by the word million. “But
Newcastle was at the time occupied by Monk.”
“Yes, monsieur le cardinal, and that is why I venture to
call the idea courageous as well as devoted. It was
necessary, if Monk refused the offers of the negotiator, to
reinstate King Charles II. in possession of this million,
which was to be torn, as it were, from the loyalty and not
the royalism of General Monk. This was effected in spite of
many difficulties: the general proved to be loyal, and
allowed the money to be taken away.”
“It seems to me,” said the timid, thoughtful king, “that
Charles II. could not have known of this million whilst he
was in Paris.”
“It seems to me,” rejoined the cardinal, maliciously, “that
his majesty the king of Great Britain knew perfectly well of
this million, but that he preferred having two millions to