house, by my faith. Being a general in England is better
than being a marechal in France, please to know.”
Athos allowed himself to be led along, quite saddened by
D’Artagnan’s forced attempts at gayety. The whole city was
in a state of joy; the two friends were jostled at every
moment by enthusiasts who required them, in their
intoxication, to cry out, “Long live good King Charles!”
D’Artagnan replied by a grunt, and Athos by a smile. They
arrived thus in front of Monk’s house, before which, as we
have said, they had to pass on their way to St. James’s.
Athos and D’Artagnan said but little on the road, for the
simple reason that they would have had so many things to
talk about if they had spoken. Athos thought that by
speaking he should evince satisfaction, and that might wound
D’Artagnan. The latter feared that in speaking he should
allow some little bitterness to steal into his words which
would render his company unpleasant to his friend. It was a
singular emulation of silence between contentment and
ill-humor. D’Artagnan gave way first to that itching at the
tip of his tongue which he so habitually experienced.
“Do you remember, Athos,” said he, “the passage of the
`Memoires de D’Aubigny,’ in which that devoted servant, a
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Dumas, Alexandre – Ten Years Later
Gascon like myself, poor as myself, and, I was going to add,
brave as myself, relates instances of the meanness of Henry
IV.? My father always told me, I remember, that D’Aubigny
was a liar. But, nevertheless, examine how all the princes,
the issue of the great Henry, keep up the character of the
race.”
“Nonsense!” said Athos, “the kings of France misers? You are
mad, my friend.”
“Oh! you are so perfect yourself, you never agree to the
faults of others. But, in reality, Henry IV. was covetous,
Louis XIII., his son, was so likewise; we know something of
that, don’t we? Gaston carried this vice to exaggeration,
and has made himself, in this respect, hated by all who
surround him. Henriette, poor woman, might well be
avaricious, she who did not eat every day, and could not
warm herself every winter; and that is an example she has
given to her son Charles II., grandson of the great Henry
IV., who is as covetous as his mother and his grandfather.
See if I have well traced the genealogy of the misers?”
“D’Artagnan, my friend,” cried Athos, “you are very rude
towards that eagle race called the Bourbons.”
“Eh! and I have forgotten the best instance of all — the
other grandson of the Bearnais, Louis XIV., my ex-master.
Well, I hope he is miserly enough, he who would not lend a
million to his brother Charles! Good! I see you are
beginning to be angry. Here we are, by good luck, close to
my house, or rather to that of my friend, M. Monk.”
“My dear D’Artagnan, you do not make me angry, you make me
sad; it is cruel, in fact, to see a man of your deserts out
of the position his services ought to have acquired; it
appears to me, my dear friend, that your name is as radiant
as the greatest names in war and diplomacy. Tell me if the
Luynes, the Ballegardes, and the Bassompierres have merited,
as we have, fortunes and honors? You are right, my friend, a
hundred times right.”
D’Artagnan sighed, and preceded his friend under the porch
of the mansion Monk inhabited, at the extremity of the city.
“Permit me,” said he, “to leave my purse at home; for if in
the crowd those clever pickpockets of London, who are much
boasted of, even in Paris, were to steal from me the
remainder of my poor crowns, I should not be able to return
to France. Now, content I left France, and wild with joy I
should return to it, seeing that all my prejudices of former
days against England have returned, accompanied by many
others.”
Athos made no reply.
“So then, my dear friend, one second, and I will follow
you,” said D’Artagnan. “I know you are in a hurry to go
yonder to receive your reward, but, believe me, I am not
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