dismal expression, — “Call M. de Brienne,” said he. Five
minutes afterward the secretary entered.
“Monsieur,” said Mazarin, “I have just rendered a great
service to the monarchy, the greatest I have ever rendered
it. You will carry this letter, which proves it, to her
majesty the queen-mother, and when she shall have returned
it to you, you will lodge it in portfolio B., which is
filled with documents and papers relative to my ministry.”
Brienne went as desired, and, as the letter was unsealed,
did not fail to read it on his way. There is likewise no
doubt that Bernouin, who was on good terms with everybody,
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approached so near to the secretary as to be able to read
the letter over his shoulder; so that the news spread with
such activity through the castle, that Mazarin might have
feared it would reach the ears of the queen-mother before M.
de Brienne could convey Louis XIV.’s letter to her. A moment
after orders were given for departure, and M. de Conde
having been to pay his respects to the king on his pretended
rising, inscribed the city of Poitiers upon his tablets, as
the place of sojourn and rest for their majesties.
Thus in a few instants was unraveled an intrigue which had
covertly occupied all the diplomacies of Europe. It had
nothing, however, very clear as a result, but to make a poor
lieutenant of musketeers lose his commission and his
fortune. It is true, that in exchange he gained his liberty.
We shall soon know how M. d’Artagnan profited by this. For
the moment, if the reader will permit us, we shall return to
the hostelry of les Medici, of which one of the windows
opened at the very moment the orders were given for the
departure of the king.
The window that opened was that of one of the rooms of
Charles II. The unfortunate prince had passed the night in
bitter reflections, his head resting on his hands, and his
elbows on the table, whilst Parry, infirm and old, wearied
in body and in mind, had fallen asleep in a corner. A
singular fortune was that of this faithful servant, who saw
beginning for the second generation the fearful series of
misfortunes which had weighed so heavily on the first. When
Charles II. had well thought over the fresh defeat he had
experienced, when he perfectly comprehended the complete
isolation into which he had just fallen, on seeing his fresh
hope left behind him, he was seized as with a vertigo, and
sank back in the large armchair in which he was seated. Then
God took pity on the unhappy prince, and sent to console him
sleep, the innocent brother of death. He did not wake till
half-past six, that is to say, till the sun shone brightly
into his chamber, and Parry, motionless with fear of waking
him, was observing with profound grief the eyes of the young
man already red with wakefulness, and his cheeks pale with
suffering and privations.
At length the noise of some heavy carts descending towards
the Loire awakened Charles. He arose, looked around him like
a man who has forgotten everything, perceived Parry, shook
him by the hand, and commanded him to settle the reckoning
with Master Cropole. Master Cropole, being called upon to
settle his account with Parry, acquitted himself, it must be
allowed, like an honest man; he only made his customary
remark, that the two travelers had eaten nothing, which had
the double disadvantage of being humiliating for his
kitchen, and of forcing him to ask payment for a repast not
consumed, but not the less lost. Parry had nothing to say to
the contrary, and paid.
“I hope,” said the king, “it has not been the same with the
horses. I don’t see that they have eaten at your expense,
and it would be a misfortune for travelers like us, who have
a long journey to make, to have our horses fail us.”
But Cropole, at this doubt, assumed his majestic air, and
replied that the stables of les Medici were not less
hospitable than its refectory.