“Are you a large party?”
“Sixty.”
“Let him know.”
“This moment, sir.”
And believing that no one could execute the commission
better than himself, Grimaud set off at full speed; whilst,
enchanted at being all together again, the friends awaited
his return.
There was no one in the whole group in a bad humor except
Cardinal Mazarin.
87
In which we begin to think that Porthos will be at last a
Baron, and D’Artagnan a Captain.
At the expiration of ten minutes Aramis arrived, accompanied
by Grimaud and eight or ten followers. He was excessively
delighted and threw himself into his friends’ arms.
“You are free, my brothers! free without my aid! and I shall
have succeeded in doing nothing for you in spite of all my
efforts.”
“Do not be unhappy, dear friend, on that account; if you
have done nothing as yet, you will do something soon,”
replied Athos.
“I had well concerted my plans,” pursued Aramis; “the
coadjutor gave me sixty men; twenty guard the walls of the
park, twenty the road from Rueil to Saint Germain, twenty
are dispersed in the woods. Thus I was able, thanks to the
strategic disposition of my forces, to intercept two
couriers from Mazarin to the queen.”
Mazarin listened intently.
“But,” said D’Artagnan, “I trust that you honorably sent
them back to monsieur le cardinal!”
“Ah, yes!” said Aramis, “toward him I should be very likely
to practice such delicacy of sentiment! In one of the
despatches the cardinal declares to the queen that the
treasury is empty and that her majesty has no more money. In
the other he announces that he is about to transport his
prisoners to Melun, since Rueil seemed to him not
sufficiently secure. You can understand, dear friend, with
what hope I was inspired by that last letter. I placed
myself in ambuscade with my sixty men; I encircled the
castle; the riding horses I entrusted to Grimaud and I
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Dumas, Alexandre – Twenty Years After
awaited your coming out, which I did not expect till
to-morrow, and I didn’t hope to free you without a skirmish.
You are free to-night, without fighting; so much the better!
How did you manage to escape that scoundrel Mazarin? You
must have much reason to complain of him.”
“Not very much,” said D’Artagnan.
“Really!”
“I might even say that we have some reason to praise him.”
“Impossible!”
“Yes, really; it is owing to him that we are free.”
“Owing to him?”
“Yes, he had us conducted into the orangery by Monsieur
Bernouin, his valet-de-chambre, and from there we followed
him to visit the Comte de la Fere. Then he offered us our
liberty and we accepted it. He even went so far as to show
us the way out; he led us to the park wall, which we climbed
over without accident, and then we fell in with Grimaud.”
“Well!” exclaimed Aramis, “this will reconcile me to him;
but I wish he were here that I might tell him that I did not
believe him capable of so noble an act.”
“My lord,” said D’Artagnan, no longer able to contain
himself, “allow me to introduce to you the Chevalier
d’Herblay, who wishes — as you may have heard — to offer
his congratulations to your eminence.”
And he retired, discovering Mazarin, who was in great
confusion, to the astonished gaze of Aramis.
“Ho! ho!” exclaimed the latter, “the cardinal! a glorious
prize! Halloo! halloo! friends! to horse! to horse!”
Several horsemen ran quickly to him.
“Zounds!” cried Aramis, “I may have done some good; so, my
lord, deign to receive my most respectful homage! I will lay
a wager that ’twas that Saint Christopher, Porthos, who
performed this feat! Apropos! I forgot —- ” and he gave
some orders in a low voice to one of the horsemen.
“I think it will be wise to set off,” said D’Artagnan.
“Yes; but I am expecting some one, a friend of Athos.”
“A friend!” exclaimed the count.
“And here he comes, by Jupiter! galloping through the
bushes.”
“The count! the count!” cried a young voice that made Athos
start.
“Raoul! Raoul!” he ejaculated.
For one moment the young man forgot his habitual respect —