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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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