acquainted with it, and consequently pleased with his having
so willingly rendered him a service. To send the letter was
an easy matter; to recover it again, after having
communicated it, that was the difficulty. Letellier cast his
eyes around him, and seeing the black and meager clerk with
the scowling brow, scribbling away in his office, he
preferred him to the best gendarme for the execution of this
design.
Colbert was commanded to set out for Sedan, with positive
orders to carry the letter to Mazarin, and bring it back to
Letellier. He listened to his orders with scrupulous
attention, required the instructions to be repeated twice,
and was particular in learning whether the bringing back was
as necessary as the communicating, and Letellier replied
sternly, “More necessary.” Then he set out, traveled like a
courier, without any care for his body, and placed in the
hands of Mazarin, first a letter from Letellier, which
announced to the cardinal the sending of the precious
letter, and then that letter itself. Mazarin colored greatly
whilst reading Anne of Austria’s letter, gave Colbert a
gracious smile and dismissed him.
“When shall I have the answer, monseigneur?”
“To-morrow.”
“To-morrow morning?”
“Yes, monsieur.”
The clerk turned upon his heel, after making his very best
bow. The next day he was at his post at seven o’clock.
Mazarin made him wait till ten. He remained patiently in the
ante-chamber; his turn having come, he entered; Mazarin gave
him a sealed packet. On the envelope of this packet were
these words: — Monsieur Michel Letellier, etc. Colbert
looked at the packet with much attention; the cardinal put
on a pleasant countenance and pushed him towards the door.
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Dumas, Alexandre – Ten Years Later
“And the letter of the queen-mother, my lord?” asked
Colbert.
“It is with the rest, in the packet,” said Mazarin.
“Oh! very well,” replied Colbert, and placing his hat
between his knees, he began to unseal the packet.
Mazarin uttered a cry. “What are you doing?” said he,
angrily.
“I am unsealing the packet, my lord.”
“You mistrust me, then, master pedant, do you? Did any one
ever see such impertinence?”
“Oh! my lord, do not be angry with me! It is certainly not
your eminence’s word I place in doubt, God forbid!”
“What then?”
“It is the carefulness of your chancery, my lord. What is a
letter? A rag. May not a rag be forgotten? And look, my
lord, look if I was not right. Your clerks have forgotten
the rag; the letter is not in the packet.”
“You are an insolent fellow, and you have not looked,” cried
Mazarin, very angrily, “begone and wait my pleasure.” Whilst
saying these words, with perfectly Italian subtlety he
snatched the packet from the hands of Colbert, and
re-entered his apartments.
But this anger could not last so long as not to be replaced
in time by reason. Mazarin, every morning, on opening his
closet door, found the figure of Colbert like a sentinel
behind the bench, and this disagreeable figure never failed
to ask him humbly, but with tenacity, for the queen-mother’s
letter. Mazarin could hold out no longer, and was obliged to
give it up. He accompanied this restitution with a most
severe reprimand, during which Colbert contented himself
with examining, feeling, even smelling, as it were, the
paper, the characters, and the signature, neither more nor
less than if he had to deal with the greatest forger in the
kingdom. Mazarin behaved still more rudely to him, but
Colbert, still impassible, having obtained a certainty that
the letter was the true one, went off as if he had been
deaf. This conduct obtained for him afterwards the post of
Joubert; for Mazarin, instead of bearing malice, admired
him, and was desirous of attaching so much fidelity to
himself.
It may be judged by this single anecdote, what the character
of Colbert was. Events, developing themselves, by degrees
allowed all the powers of his mind to act freely. Colbert
was not long in insinuating himself into the good graces of
the cardinal: he became even indispensable to him. The clerk
was acquainted with all his accounts without the cardinal’s
ever having spoken to him about them. This secret between