her at the palace, which she had inhabited for a long time
and which she had only left because their poverty seemed to
them more difficult to bear in gilded chambers.
Mordaunt followed the carriage, and when he had watched it
drive beneath the sombre arches he went and stationed
himself under a wall over which the shadow was extended, and
remained motionless, amidst the moldings of Jean Goujon,
like a bas-relievo, representing an equestrian statue.
39
How, sometimes, the Unhappy mistake Chance for Providence.
“Well, madame,” said De Winter, when the queen had dismissed
her attendants.
“Well, my lord, what I foresaw has come to pass.”
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“What? does the cardinal refuse to receive the king? France
refuse hospitality to an unfortunate prince? Ay, but it is
for the first time, madame!”
“I did not say France, my lord; I said the cardinal, and the
cardinal is not even a Frenchman.”
“But did you see the queen?”
“It is useless,” replied Henrietta, “the queen will not say
yes when the cardinal says no. Are you not aware that this
Italian directs everything, both indoors and out? And
moreover, I should not be surprised had we been forestalled
by Cromwell. He was embarrassed whilst speaking to me and
yet quite firm in his determination to refuse. Then did you
not observe the agitation in the Palais Royal, the passing
to and fro of busy people? Can they have received any news,
my lord?”
“Not from England, madame. I made such haste that I am
certain of not having been forestalled. I set out three days
ago, passing miraculously through the Puritan army, and I
took post horses with my servant Tony; the horses upon which
we were mounted were bought in Paris. Besides, the king, I
am certain, awaits your majesty’s reply before risking
anything.”
“You will tell him, my lord,” resumed the queen,
despairingly, “that I can do nothing; that I have suffered
as much as himself — more than he has — obliged as I am to
eat the bread of exile and to ask hospitality from false
friends who smile at my tears; and as regards his royal
person, he must sacrifice it generously and die like a king.
I shall go and die by his side.”
“Madame, madame,” exclaimed De Winter, “your majesty
abandons yourself to despair; and yet, perhaps, there still
remains some hope.”
“No friends left, my lord; no other friends left in the wide
world but yourself! Oh, God!” exclaimed the poor queen,
raising her eyes to Heaven, “have You indeed taken back all
the generous hearts that once existed in the world?”
“I hope not, madame,” replied De Winter, thoughtfully; “I
once spoke to you of four men.”
“What can be done with four?”
“Four devoted, resolute men can do much, assure yourself,
madame; and those of whom I speak performed great things at
one time.”
“And where are these four men?”
“Ah, that is what I do not know. It is twenty years since I
saw them, and yet whenever I have seen the king in danger I
have thought of them.”
“And these men were your friends?”
“One of them held my life in his hands and gave it to me. I
know not whether he is still my friend, but since that time
I have remained his.”
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“And these men are in France, my lord?”
“I believe so.”
“Tell me their names; perhaps I may have heard them
mentioned and might be able to aid you in finding them.”
“One of them was called the Chevalier d’Artagnan.”
“Ah, my lord, if I mistake not, the Chevalier d’Artagnan is
lieutenant of royal guards; but take care, for I fear that
this man is entirely devoted to the cardinal.”
“That would be a misfortune,” said De Winter, “and I shall
begin to think that we are really doomed.”
“But the others,” said the queen, who clung to this last
hope as a shipwrecked man clings to the hull of his vessel.
“The others, my lord!”
“The second — I heard his name by chance; for before
fighting us, these four gentlemen told us their names; the