Twenty Years Later by Dumas, Alexandre. Part one

must be admitted, were for the present sufficiently vague

and uncertain, there was a beginning of vengeance which

filled his heart. In the first place his escape would be a

serious misfortune to Monsieur de Chavigny, whom he hated

for the petty persecutions he owed to him. It would be a

still worse affair for Mazarin, whom he execrated for the

greater offences he had committed. It may be observed that

there was a proper proportion in his sentiments toward the

governor of the prison and the minister — toward the

subordinate and the master.

Then Monsieur de Beaufort, who was so familiar with the

interior of the Palais Royal, though he did not know the

relations existing between the queen and the cardinal,

pictured to himself, in his prison, all that dramatic

excitement which would ensue when the rumor should run from

the minister’s cabinet to the chamber of Anne of Austria:

“Monsieur de Beaufort has escaped!” Whilst saying that to

himself, Monsieur de Beaufort smiled pleasantly and imagined

himself already outside, breathing the air of the plains and

the forests, pressing a strong horse between his knees and

crying out in a loud voice, “I am free!”

It is true that on coming to himself he found that he was

still within four walls; he saw La Ramee twirling his thumbs

ten feet from him, and his guards laughing and drinking in

the ante-chamber. The only thing that was pleasant to him in

that odious tableau — such is the instability of the human

mind — was the sullen face of Grimaud, for whom he had at

first conceived such a hatred and who now was all his hope.

Grimaud seemed to him an Antinous. It is needless to say

that this transformation was visible only to the prisoner’s

feverish imagination. Grimaud was still the same, and

therefore he retained the entire confidence of his superior,

La Ramee, who now relied upon him more than he did upon

himself, for, as we have said, La Ramee felt at the bottom

of his heart a certain weakness for Monsieur de Beaufort.

And so the good La Ramee made a festivity of the little

supper with his prisoner. He had but one fault — he was a

gourmand; he had found the pates good, the wine excellent.

Now the successor of Pere Marteau had promised him a pate of

pheasant instead of a pate of fowl, and Chambertin wine

instead of Macon. All this, set off by the presence of that

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Dumas, Alexandre – Twenty Years After

excellent prince, who was so good-natured, who invented so

droll tricks against Monsieur de Chavigny and so fine jokes

against Mazarin, made for La Ramee the approaching Pentecost

one of the four great feasts of the year. He therefore

looked forward to six o’clock with as much impatience as the

duke himself.

Since daybreak La Ramee had been occupied with the

preparations, and trusting no one but himself, he had

visited personally the successor of Pere Marteau. The latter

had surpassed himself; he showed La Ramee a monstrous pate,

ornamented with Monsieur de Beaufort’s coat-of-arms. It was

empty as yet, but a pheasant and two partridges were lying

near it. La Ramee’s mouth watered and he returned to the

duke’s chamber rubbing his hands. To crown his happiness,

Monsieur de Chavigny had started on a journey that morning

and in his absence La Ramee was deputy-governor of the

chateau.

As for Grimaud, he seemed more sullen than ever.

In the course of the forenoon Monsieur de Beaufort had a

game of tennis with La Ramee; a sign from Grimaud put him on

the alert. Grimaud, going in advance, followed the course

which they were to take in the evening. The game was played

in an inclosure called the little court of the chateau, a

place quite deserted except when Monsieur de Beaufort was

playing; and even then the precaution seemed superfluous,

the wall was so high.

There were three gates to open before reaching the

inclosure, each by a different key. When they arrived

Grimaud went carelessly and sat down by a loophole in the

wall, letting his legs dangle outside. It was evident that

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