“Certainly,” D’Artagnan said to himself, “he wishes to make
me speak out. He’s not more cunning than De Richelieu was!
Devil take him!” Then he said aloud:
“The queen, my lord? I don’t comprehend.”
“You don’t comprehend that I want you and your three friends
to be of use to me?”
“Which of my friends, my lord?”
“Your three friends — the friends of former days.”
“Of former days, my lord! In former days I had not only
three friends, I had thirty; at two-and-twenty one calls
every man one’s friend.”
“Well, sir,” returned Mazarin, “prudence is a fine thing,
but to-day you might regret having been too prudent.”
“My lord, Pythagoras made his disciples keep silence for
five years that they might learn to hold their tongues.”
“But you have been silent for twenty years, sir. Speak, now
the queen herself releases you from your promise.”
“The queen!” said D’Artagnan, with an astonishment which
this time was not pretended.
“Yes, the queen! And as a proof of what I say she commanded
me to show you this diamond, which she thinks you know.”
And so saying, Mazarin extended his hand to the officer, who
sighed as he recognized the ring so gracefully given to him
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by the queen on the night of the ball at the Hotel de Ville
and which she had repurchased from Monsieur des Essarts.
“‘Tis true. I remember well that diamond, which belonged to
the queen.”
“You see, then, that I speak to you in the queen’s name.
Answer me without acting as if you were on the stage; your
interests are concerned in your so doing.”
“Faith, my lord, it is very necessary for me to make my
fortune, your eminence has so long forgotten me.”
“We need only a week to amend all that. Come, you are
accounted for, you are here, but where are your friends?”
“I do not know, my lord. We have parted company this long
time; all three have left the service.”
“Where can you find them, then?”
“Wherever they are, that’s my business.”
“Well, now, what are your conditions, if I employ you?”
“Money, my lord, as much money as what you wish me to
undertake will require. I remember too well how sometimes we
were stopped for want of money, and but for that diamond,
which I was obliged to sell, we should have remained on the
road.”
“The devil he does! Money! and a large sum!” said Mazarin.
“Pray, are you aware that the king has no money in his
treasury?”
“Do then as I did, my lord. Sell the crown diamonds. Trust
me, don’t let us try to do things cheaply. Great
undertakings come poorly off with paltry means.”
“Well,” returned Mazarin, “we will satisfy you.”
“Richelieu,” thought D’Artagnan, “would have given me five
hundred pistoles in advance.”
“You will then be at my service?” asked Mazarin.
“Yes, if my friends agree.”
“But if they refuse can I count on you?”
“I have never accomplished anything alone,” said D’Artagnan,
shaking his head.
“Go, then, and find them.”
“What shall I say to them by way of inducement to serve your
eminence?”
“You know them better than I. Adapt your promises to their
respective characters.”
“What shall I promise?”
“That if they serve me as well as they served the queen my
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gratitude shall be magnificent.”
“But what are we to do?”
“Make your mind easy; when the time for action comes you
shall be put in full possession of what I require from you;
wait till that time arrives and find out your friends.”
“My lord, perhaps they are not in Paris. It is even probable
that I shall have to make a journey. I am only a lieutenant
of musketeers, very poor, and journeys cost money.
“My intention,” said Mazarin, “is not that you go with a
great following; my plans require secrecy, and would be
jeopardized by a too extravagant equipment.”
“Still, my lord, I can’t travel on my pay, for it is now
three months behind; and I can’t travel on my savings, for
in my twenty-two years of service I have accumulated nothing