Broussel’s party, nor of Blancmesnil’s, nor am I with Viole;
but with the Duc de Beaufort, the Ducs de Bouillon and
d’Elbeuf; with princes, not with presidents, councillors and
low-born lawyers. Besides, what a charming outlook it would
have been to serve the cardinal! Look at that wall —
without a single window — which tells you fine things about
Mazarin’s gratitude!”
“Yes,” replied De Comminges, “more especially if it could
reveal how Monsieur d’Artagnan for this last week has been
anathematizing him.”
“Poor D’Artagnan'” said Athos, with the charming melancholy
that was one of the traits of his character, “so brave, so
good, so terrible to the enemies of those he loves. You have
two unruly prisoners there, sir.”
“Unruly,” Comminges smiled; “you wish to terrify me, I
suppose. When he came here, Monsieur D’Artagnan provoked and
braved the soldiers and inferior officers, in order, I
suppose, to have his sword back. That mood lasted some time;
but now he’s as gentle as a lamb and sings Gascon songs,
which make one die of laughing.”
“And Du Vallon?” asked Athos.
“Ah, he’s quite another sort of person — a formidable
gentleman, indeed. The first day he broke all the doors in
with a single push of his shoulder; and I expected to see
him leave Rueil in the same way as Samson left Gaza. But his
temper cooled down, like his friend’s; he not only gets used
to his captivity, but jokes about it.”
“So much the better,” said Athos.
“Do you think anything else was to be expected of them?”
asked Comminges, who, putting together what Mazarin had said
of his prisoners and what the Comte de la Fere had said,
began to feel a degree of uneasiness.
Athos, on the other hand, reflected that this recent
gentleness of his friends most certainly arose from some
plan formed by D’Artagnan. Unwilling to injure them by
praising them too highly, he replied: “They? They are two
hotheads — the one a Gascon, the other from Picardy; both
are easily excited, but they quiet down immediately. You
have had a proof of that in what you have just related to
me.”
This, too, was the opinion of Comminges, who withdrew
somewhat reassured. Athos remained alone in the vast
chamber, where, according to the cardinal’s directions, he
was treated with all the courtesy due to a nobleman. He
awaited Mazarin’s promised visit to get some light on his
present situation.
83
Strength and Sagacity.
Page 555
Dumas, Alexandre – Twenty Years After
Now let us pass the orangery to the hunting lodge. At the
extremity of the courtyard, where, close to a portico formed
of Ionic columns, were the dog kennels, rose an oblong
building, the pavilion of the orangery, a half circle,
inclosing the court of honor. It was in this pavilion, on
the ground floor, that D’Artagnan and Porthos were confined,
suffering interminable hours of imprisonment in a manner
suitable to each different temperament.
D’Artagnan was pacing to and fro like a caged tiger; with
dilated eyes, growling as he paced along by the bars of a
window looking upon the yard of servant’s offices.
Porthos was ruminating over an excellent dinner he had just
demolished.
The one seemed to be deprived of reason, yet he was
meditating. The other seemed to meditate, yet he was more
than half asleep. But his sleep was a nightmare, which might
be guessed by the incoherent manner in which he sometimes
snored and sometimes snorted.
“Look,” said D’Artagnan, “day is declining. It must be
nearly four o’clock. We have been in this place nearly
eighty-three hours.”
“Hem!” muttered Porthos, with a kind of pretense of
answering.
“Did you hear, eternal sleeper?” cried D’Artagnan, irritated
that any one could doze during the day, when he had the
greatest difficulty in sleeping during the night.
“What?” said Porthos.
“I say we have been here eighty-three hours.”
“‘Tis your fault,” answered Porthos.
“How, my fault?”
“Yes, I offered you escape.”
“By pulling out a bar and pushing down a door?”
“Certainly.”
“Porthos, men like us can’t go out from here purely and
simply.”
“Faith!” said Porthos, “as for me, I could go out with that
purity and that simplicity which it seems to me you despise