he were to meet De Wardes, the shell would explode.”
“We will prevent the explosion.”
“Not I,” said Athos, “for I must return to Blois. All this
gilded elegance of the court, all these intrigues, sicken
me. I am no longer a young man who can make terms with the
meannesses of the day. I have read in the Great Book many
things too beautiful and too comprehensive, to longer take
Page 575
Dumas, Alexandre – Ten Years Later
any interest in the trifling phrases which these men whisper
among themselves when they wish to deceive others. In one
word, I am weary of Paris wherever and whenever you are not
with me; and as I cannot have you with me always, I wish to
return to Blois.”
“How wrong you are, Athos; how you gainsay your origin and
the destiny of your noble nature. Men of your stamp are
created to continue, to the very last moment, in full
possession of their great faculties. Look at my sword, a
Spanish blade, the one I wore at Rochelle; it served me for
thirty years without fail; one day in the winter it fell
upon the marble floor on the Louvre and was broken. I had a
hunting-knife made of it which will last a hundred years
yet. You, Athos, with your loyalty, your frankness, your
cool courage and your sound information, are the very man
kings need to warn and direct them. Remain here; Monsieur
Fouquet will not last as long as my Spanish blade.”
“Is it possible,” said Athos, smiling, “that my friend,
D’Artagnan, who, after having raised me to the skies, making
me an object of worship, casts me down from the top of
Olympus, and hurls me to the ground? I have more exalted
ambition, D’Artagnan. To be a minister — to be a slave, —
never! Am I not still greater? I am nothing. I remember
having heard you occasionally call me `the great Athos;’ I
defy you, therefore, if I were minister, to continue to
bestow that title upon me. No, no; I do not yield myself in
this manner.”
“We will not speak of it any more, then; renounce
everything, even the brotherly feeling which unites us.”
“It is almost cruel what you say.”
D’Artagnan pressed Athos’s hand warmly. “No, no; renounce
everything without fear. Raoul can get on without you. I am
at Paris.”
“In that case I shall return to Blois. We will take leave of
each other to-night, to-morrow at daybreak I shall be on my
horse again.”
“You cannot return to your hotel alone; why did you not
bring Grimaud with you?”
“Grimaud takes his rest now; he goes to bed early, for my
poor old servant gets easily fatigued. He came from Blois
with me, and I compelled him to remain within doors; for if,
in retracing the forty leagues which separate us from Blois,
he needed to draw breath even, he would die without a
murmur. But I don’t want to lose Grimaud.”
“You shall have one of my musketeers to carry a torch for
you. Hola! some one there,” called out D’Artagnan, leaning
over the gilded balustrade. The heads of seven or eight
musketeers appeared. “I wish some gentleman who is so
disposed to escort the Comte de la Fere,” cried D’Artagnan.
“Thank you for your readiness, gentlemen,” said Athos; “I
regret to have occasion to trouble you in this manner.”
“I would willingly escort the Comte de la Fere,” said some
one, “if I had not to speak to Monsieur d’Artagnan.”
Page 576
Dumas, Alexandre – Ten Years Later
“Who is that?” said D’Artagnan, looking into the darkness.
“I, Monsieur d’Artagnan.”
“Heaven forgive me, if that is not Monsieur Baisemeaux’s
voice.”
“It is, monsieur.”
“What are you doing in the courtyard, my dear Baisemeaux?”
“I am waiting your orders, my dear Monsieur d’Artagnan.”
“Wretch that I am,” thought D’Artagnan; “true, you have been
told, I suppose, that some one was to be arrested, and have
come yourself, instead of sending an officer?”
“I came because I had occasion to speak to you.”
“You did not send to me?”
“I waited until you were disengaged,” said Monsieur
Baisemeaux, timidly.