you not to do as I do? Come!”
“And what do you do, sire?”
“I wait.”
“Your majesty may do so, because you are young; but I, sire,
have not time to wait; old age is at my door, and death is
behind it, looking into the very depths of my house. Your
majesty is beginning life, its future is full of hope and
fortune; but I, sire, I am on the other side of the horizon,
and we are so far from each other, that I should never have
time to wait till your majesty came up to me.”
Louis made another turn in his apartment, still wiping the
moisture from his brow, in a manner that would have
terrified his physicians, if his physicians had witnessed
the state his majesty was in.
“It is very well, monsieur,” said Louis XIV., in a sharp
voice; “you are desirous of having your discharge, and you
shall have it. You offer me your resignation of the rank of
lieutenant of the musketeers?”
“I deposit it humbly at your majesty’s feet, sire.”
“That is sufficient. I will order your pension.”
“I shall have a thousand obligations to your majesty.”
“Monsieur,” said the king, with a violent effort, “I think
you are losing a good master.”
“And I am sure of it, sire.”
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“Shall you ever find such another?”
“Oh, sire! I know that your majesty is alone in the world;
therefore will I never again take service with any king upon
earth, and will never again have other master than myself.”
“You say so?”
“I swear so, your majesty.”
“I shall remember that word, monsieur.”
D’Artagnan bowed.
“And you know I have a good memory,” said the king.
“Yes, sire, and yet I should desire that that memory should
fail your majesty in this instance, in order that you might
forget all the miseries I have been forced to spread before
your eyes. Your majesty is so much above the poor and the
mean that I hope —- ”
“My majesty, monsieur, will act like the sun, which looks
upon all, great and small, rich and poor, giving luster to
some, warmth to others, and life to all. Adieu Monsieur
d’Artagnan — adieu: you are free.”
And the king, with a hoarse sob, which was lost in his
throat, passed quickly into the next room. D’Artagnan took
up his hat from the table upon which he had thrown it, and
went out.
CHAPTER 15
The Proscribed
D’Artagnan had not reached the bottom of the staircase, when
the king called his gentleman. “I have a commission to give
you, monsieur,” said he.
“I am at your majesty’s commands.”
“Wait, then.” And the young king began to write the
following letter, which cost him more than one sigh,
although, at the same time, something like a feeling of
triumph glittered in his eyes:
“My Lord Cardinal, — Thanks to your good counsels and,
above all, thanks to your firmness, I have succeeded in
overcoming a weakness unworthy of a king. You have too ably
arranged my destiny to allow gratitude not to stop me at the
moment when I was about to destroy your work. I felt I was
wrong to wish to make my life turn from the course you had
marked out for it. Certainly it would have been a misfortune
to France and my family if a misunderstanding had taken
place between me and my minister. This, however, would
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Dumas, Alexandre – Ten Years Later
certainly have happened if I had made your niece my wife. I
am perfectly aware of this, and will henceforth oppose
nothing to the accomplishment of my destiny. I am prepared,
then, to wed the infanta, Maria Theresa. You may at once
open the conference. — Your affectionate Louis.”
The king, after reperusing the letter, sealed it himself.
“This letter for my lord cardinal,” said he.
The gentleman took it. At Mazarin’s door he found Bernouin
waiting with anxiety.
“Well?” asked the minister’s valet de chambre.
“Monsieur,” said the gentleman, “here is a letter for his
eminence.”
“A letter! Ah! we expected one after the little journey of