account, and five minutes afterwards they were within sight
of the Hotel de Ville. The first thing which struck them was
the number of people assembled in the square. “Excellent,”
said De Guiche; “our apartments, I see, are prepared.”
In fact, in front of the Hotel de Ville, upon the wide open
space before it, eight tents had been raised, surmounted by
the flags of France and England united. The hotel was
surrounded by tents, as by a girdle of variegated colors;
ten pages and a dozen mounted troopers, who had been given
to the ambassadors, for an escort, mounted guard before the
tents. It had a singularly curious effect, almost fairy-like
in its appearance. These tents had been constructed during
the night-time. Fitted up, within and without, with the
richest materials that De Guiche had been able to procure in
Havre, they completely encircled the Hotel de Ville. The
only passage which led to the steps of the hotel, and which
was not inclosed by the silken barricade, was guarded by two
tents, resembling two pavilions, the doorways of both of
which opened towards the entrance. These two tents were
destined for De Guiche and Raoul; in whose absence they were
intended to be occupied, that of De Guiche by De Wardes, and
that of Raoul by Manicamp. Surrounding these two tents, and
the six others, a hundred officers, gentlemen, and pages,
dazzling in their display of silk and gold, thronged like
bees buzzing about a hive. Every one of them, their swords
by their sides, was ready to obey the slightest sign either
of De Guiche or Bragelonne, the leaders of the embassy.
At the very moment the two young men appeared at the end of
one of the streets leading to the square, they perceived,
crossing the square at full gallop, a young man on
horseback, whose costume was of surprising richness. He
pushed hastily through the crowd of curious lookers-on, and,
at the sight of these unexpected erections, uttered a cry of
anger and dismay. It was Buckingham, who had awakened from
his stupor, in order to adorn himself with a costume
perfectly dazzling from its beauty, and to await the arrival
of the princess and the queen-mother at the Hotel de Ville.
At the entrance to the tents, the soldiers barred his
passage, and his further progress was arrested. Buckingham,
hopelessly infuriated, raised his whip; but his arm was
seized by a couple of officers. Of the two guardians of the
tent, only one was there. De Wardes was in the interior of
the Hotel de Ville, engaged in attending to the execution of
some orders given by De Guiche. At the noise made by
Buckingham Manicamp, who was indolently reclining upon the
cushions at the doorway of one of the tents, rose with his
usual indifference, and, perceiving that the disturbance
continued, made his appearance from underneath the curtains.
“What is the matter?” he said, in a gentle tone of voice,
“and who is it making this disturbance?”
It so happened, that, at the moment he began to speak,
silence had just been restored, and, although his voice was
very soft and gentle in its tone, every one heard his
question. Buckingham turned round; and looked at the tall,
thin figure, and the listless expression of countenance of
his questioner. Probably the personal appearance of
Manicamp, who was dressed very plainly, did not inspire him
with much respect, for he replied disdainfully, “Who may you
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be, monsieur?”
Manicamp, leaning on the arm of a gigantic trooper, as firm
as the pillar of a cathedral, replied in his usual tranquil
tone of voice, — “And you, monsieur?”
“I, monsieur, am the Duke of Buckingham; I have hired all
the houses which surround the Hotel de Ville, where I have
business to transact; and as these houses are let, they
belong to me, and, as I hired them in order to preserve the
right of free access to the Hotel de Ville, you are not
justified in preventing me passing to it.”
“But who prevents you passing, monsieur?” inquired Manicamp.
“Your sentinels.”
“Because you wish to pass on horseback, and orders have been