at the appointed place. The prince awaited him there. As he
had foreseen, Lens had fallen into the hands of the enemy
immediately after Raoul’s departure. The event was announced
by the cessation of the firing.
As the shadows of night deepened the troops summoned by the
prince arrived in successive detachments. Orders were given
that no drum should be beaten, no trumpet sounded.
At nine o’clock the night had fully come. Still a last ray
of twilight lighted the plain. The army marched silently,
the prince at the head of the column. Presently the army
came in sight of Lens; two or three houses were in flames
and a dull noise was heard which indicated what suffering
was endured by a town taken by assault.
The prince assigned to every one his post. Marshal de
Grammont was to hold the extreme left, resting on Mericourt.
The Duc de Chatillon commanded the centre. Finally, the
prince led the right wing, resting on Aunay. The order of
battle on the morrow was to be that of the positions taken
in the evening. Each one, on awaking, would find himself on
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the field of battle.
The movement was executed in silence and with precision. At
ten o’clock every one was in his appointed position; at
half-past ten the prince visited the posts and gave his
final orders for the following day.
Three things were especially urged upon the officers, who
were to see that the soldiers observed them scrupulously:
the first, that the different corps should so march that
cavalry and infantry should be on the same line and that
each body should protect its gaps; the second, to go to the
charge no faster than a walk; the third, to let the enemy
fire first.
The prince assigned the Count de Guiche to his father and
kept Bragelonne near his own person; but the two young men
sought the privilege of passing the night together and it
was accorded them. A tent was erected for them near that of
the marshal.
Although the day had been fatiguing, neither of them was
inclined to sleep. And besides, even for old soldiers the
evening before a battle is a serious time; it was so with
greater reason to two young men who were about to witness
for the first time that terrible spectacle. On the evening
before a battle one thinks of a thousand things forgotten
till then; those who are indifferent to one another become
friends and those who are friends become brothers. It need
not be said that if in the depths of the heart there is a
sentiment more tender, it reaches then, quite naturally, the
highest exaltation of which it is capable. Some sentiment of
this kind must have been cherished by each one of these two
friends, for each of them almost immediately sat down by
himself at an end of the tent and began to write.
The letters were long — the four pages were covered with
closely written words. The writers sometimes looked up at
each other and smiled; they understood without speaking,
their organizations were so delicate and sympathetic. The
letters being finished, each put his own into two envelopes,
so that no one, without tearing the first envelope, could
discover to whom the second was addressed; then they drew
near to each other and smilingly exchanged their letters.
“In case any evil should happen to me,” said Bragelonne.
“In case I should be killed,” said De Guiche.
They then embraced each other like two brothers, and each
wrapping himself in his cloak they soon passed into that
kindly sleep of youth which is the prerogative of birds,
flowers and infants.
35
A Dinner in the Old Style.
The second interview between the former musketeers was not
so formal and threatening as the first. Athos, with his
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superior understanding, wisely deemed that the supper table
would be the most complete and satisfactory point of
reunion, and at the moment when his friends, in deference to
his deportment and sobriety, dared scarcely speak of some of
their former good dinners, he was the first to propose that