Twenty Years Later by Dumas, Alexandre. Part one

court, mounted the great staircase and addressed the guard

in the first chamber.

“Cardinal Mazarin?” said he.

“Pass on,” replied the guard.

The cavalier entered the second hall, which was guarded by

the musketeers and doorkeepers.

“Have you a letter of audience?” asked a porter, advancing

to the new arrival.

“I have one, but not one from Cardinal Mazarin.”

“Enter, and ask for Monsieur Bernouin,” said the porter,

opening the door of the third room. Whether he only held his

usual post or whether it was by accident, Monsieur Bernouin

was found standing behind the door and must have heard all

that had passed.

“You seek me, sir,” said he. “From whom may the letter be

you bear to his eminence?”

“From General Oliver Cromwell,” said the new comer. “Be so

good as to mention this name to his eminence and to bring me

word whether he will receive me — yes or no.”

Saying which, he resumed the proud and sombre bearing

peculiar at that time to Puritans. Bernouin cast an

inquisitorial glance at the person of the young man and

entered the cabinet of the cardinal, to whom he transmitted

the messenger’s words.

“A man bringing a letter from Oliver Cromwell?” said

Mazarin. “And what kind of a man?”

“A genuine Englishman, your eminence. Hair sandy-red — more

red than sandy; gray-blue eyes — more gray than blue; and

for the rest, stiff and proud.”

“Let him give in his letter.”

“His eminence asks for the letter,” said Bernouin, passing

back into the ante-chamber.

“His eminence cannot see the letter without the bearer of

it,” replied the young man; “but to convince you that I am

really the bearer of a letter, see, here it is; and kindly

add,” continued he, “that I am not a simple messenger, but

an envoy extraordinary.”

Bernouin re-entered the cabinet, returning in a few seconds.

“Enter, sir,” said he.

The young man appeared on the threshold of the minister’s

closet, in one hand holding his hat, in the other the

letter. Mazarin rose. “Have you, sir,” asked he, “a letter

accrediting you to me?”

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Dumas, Alexandre – Twenty Years After

“There it is, my lord,” said the young man.

Mazarin took the letter and read it thus:

“Mr. Mordaunt, one of my secretaries, will remit this letter

of introduction to His Eminence, the Cardinal Mazarin, in

Paris. He is also the bearer of a second confidential

epistle for his eminence.

“Oliver Cromwell.

“Very well, Monsieur Mordaunt,” said Mazarin, “give me this

second letter and sit down.”

The young man drew from his pocket a second letter,

presented it to the cardinal, and took his seat. The

cardinal, however, did not unseal the letter at once, but

continued to turn it again and again in his hand; then, in

accordance with his usual custom and judging from experience

that few people could hide anything from him when he began

to question them, fixing his eyes upon them at the same

time, he thus addressed the messenger:

“You are very young, Monsieur Mordaunt, for this difficult

task of ambassador, in which the oldest diplomatists often

fail.”

“My lord, I am twenty-three years of age; but your eminence

is mistaken in saying that I am young. I am older than your

eminence, although I possess not your wisdom. Years of

suffering, in my opinion, count double, and I have suffered

for twenty years.”

“Ah, yes, I understand,” said Mazarin; “want of fortune,

perhaps. You are poor, are you not?” Then he added to

himself: “These English Revolutionists are all beggars and

ill-bred.”

“My lord, I ought to have a fortune of six millions, but it

has been taken from me.”

“You are not, then, a man of the people?” said Mazarin,

astonished.

“If I bore my proper title I should be a lord. If I bore my

name you would have heard one of the most illustrious names

of England.”

“What is your name, then?” asked Mazarin.

“My name is Mordaunt,” replied the young man, bowing.

Mazarin now understood that Cromwell’s envoy desired to

retain his incognito. He was silent for an instant, and

during that time he scanned the young man even more

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