could then no longer hesitate. That look was for me — the
order was for me. I cried out instantly, `His Majesty’s
musketeers!’ And, besides, that was shown to be true, sire,
not only by your majesty’s not saying I was wrong, but
proving I was right by going out at once.”
The king turned away to smile; then, after a few seconds, he
again fixed his limpid eye upon that countenance, so
intelligent, so bold, and so firm, that it might have been
said to be the proud and energetic profile of the eagle
facing the sun. “That is all very well,” said he, after a
short silence, during which he endeavored, in vain, to make
his officer lower his eyes.
But seeing the king said no more, the latter pirouetted on
his heels, and took three steps towards the door, muttering,
“He will not speak! Mordioux! he will not speak!”
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Dumas, Alexandre – Ten Years Later
“Thank you, monsieur,” said the king at last.
“Humph!” continued the lieutenant; “there was only wanting
that. Blamed for having been less of a fool than another
might have been.” And he went to the door, allowing his
spurs to jingle in true military style. But when he was on
the threshold, feeling that the king’s desire drew him back,
he returned.
“Has your majesty told me all?” asked he, in a tone we
cannot describe, but which, without appearing to solicit the
royal confidence, contained so much persuasive frankness,
that the king immediately replied:
“Yes, but draw near, monsieur.”
“Now then,” murmured the officer, “he is coming to it at
last.”
“Listen to me.”
“I shall not lose a word, sire.”
“You will mount on horseback to-morrow, at about half-past
four in the morning, and you will have a horse saddled for
me.”
“From your majesty’s stables?”
“No, one of your musketeers’ horses.”
“Very well, sire. Is that all?”
“And you will accompany me.”
“Alone?”
“Alone.”
“Shall I come to seek your majesty, or shall I wait?”
“You will wait for me.”
“Where, sire?”
“At the little park-gate.”
The lieutenant bowed, understanding that the king had told
him all he had to say. In fact, the king dismissed him with
a gracious wave of the hand. The officer left the chamber of
the king, and returned to place himself philosophically in
his fauteuil, where, far from sleeping, as might have been
expected, considering how late it was, he began to reflect
more deeply than he had ever reflected before. The result of
these reflections was not so melancholy as the preceding
ones had been.
“Come, he has begun,” said he. “Love urges him on, and he
goes forward — he goes forward! The king is nobody in his
own palace; but the man perhaps may prove to be worth
something. Well, we shall see to-morrow morning. Oh! oh!”
cried he, all at once starting up, “that is a gigantic idea,
mordioux! and perhaps my fortune depends, at least, upon
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Dumas, Alexandre – Ten Years Later
that idea!” After this exclamation, the officer arose and
marched, with his hands in the pockets of his justacorps,
about the immense ante-chamber that served him as an
apartment. The wax-light flamed furiously under the effects
of a fresh breeze which stole in through the chinks of the
door and the window, and cut the salle diagonally. It threw
out a reddish, unequal light, sometimes brilliant, sometimes
dull, and the tall shadow of the lieutenant was seen
marching on the wall, in profile, like a figure by Callot,
with his long sword and feathered hat.
“Certainly!” said he, “I am mistaken if Mazarin is not
laying a snare for this amorous boy. Mazarin, this evening,
gave an address, and made an appointment as complacently as
M. Dangeau himself could have done — I heard him, and I
know the meaning of his words. `To-morrow morning,’ said he,
`they will pass opposite the bridge of Blois. Mordioux! that
is clear enough, and particularly for a lover. That is the
cause of this embarrassment; that is the cause of this
hesitation; that is the cause of this order — `Monsieur the
lieutenant of my musketeers, be on horseback to-morrow at
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