Deuce take ’em, what a popular commotion!” continued the
giant, in his quiet manner; “but I knocked down more than
twenty with the hilt of Balizarde. A draught of wine,
D’Artagnan.”
“Oh, I’ll aswer for you,” said the Gascon, filling Porthos’s
glass to the brim; “but when you have drunk, give me your
opinion.”
“Upon what?” asked Porthos.
“Look here,” resumed D’Artagnan; “here is Monsieur de
Bragelonne, who determined at all risks to aid the arrest of
Broussel and whom I had great difficulty to prevent
defending Monsieur de Comminges.”
“The devil!” said Porthos; “and his guardian, what would he
have said to that?”
“Do you hear?” interrupted D’Artagnan; “become a Frondist,
my friend, belong to the Fronde, and remember that I fill
the count’s place in everything;” and he jingled his money.
“Will you come?” said he to Porthos.
“Where?” asked Porthos, filling a second glass of wine.
“To present our respects to the cardinal.”
Porthos swallowed the second glass with the same grace with
which he had imbibed the first, took his beaver and followed
D’Artagnan. As for Raoul, he remained bewildered with what
he had seen, having been forbidden by D’Artagnan to leave
the room until the tumult was over.
45
The Beggar of St. Eustache.
D’Artagnan had calculated that in not going at once to the
Palais Royal he would give Comminges time to arrive before
Page 305
Dumas, Alexandre – Twenty Years After
him, and consequently to make the cardinal acquainted with
the eminent services which he, D’Artagnan, and his friend
had rendered to the queen’s party in the morning.
They were indeed admirably received by Mazarin, who paid
them numerous compliments, and announced that they were more
than half on their way to obtain what they desired, namely,
D’Artagnan his captaincy, Porthos his barony.
D’Artagnan would have preferred money in hand to all that
fine talk, for he knew well that to Mazarin it was easy to
promise and hard to perform. But, though he held the
cardinal’s promises as of little worth, he affected to be
completely satisfied, for he was unwilling to discourage
Porthos.
Whilst the two friends were with the cardinal, the queen
sent for him. Mazarin, thinking that it would be the means
of increasing the zeal of his two defenders if he procured
them personal thanks from the queen, motioned them to follow
him. D’Artagnan and Porthos pointed to their dusty and torn
dresses, but the cardinal shook his head.
“Those costumes,” he said, “are of more worth than most of
those which you will see on the backs of the queen’s
courtiers; they are costumes of battle.”
D’Artagnan and Porthos obeyed. The court of Anne of Austria
was full of gayety and animation; for, after having gained a
victory over the Spaniard, it had just gained another over
the people. Broussel had been conducted out of Paris without
further resistance, and was at this time in the prison of
Saint Germain; while Blancmesnil, who was arrested at the
same time, but whose arrest had been made without difficulty
or noise, was safe in the Castle of Vincennes.
Comminges was near the queen, who was questioning him upon
the details of his expedition, and every one was listening
to his account, when D’Artagnan and Porthos were perceived
at the door, behind the cardinal.
“Ah, madame,” said Comminges, hastening to D’Artagnan, “here
is one who can tell you better than myself, for he was my
protector. Without him I should probably at this moment be a
dead fish in the nets at Saint Cloud, for it was a question
of nothing less than throwing me into the river. Speak,
D’Artagnan, speak.”
D’Artagnan had been a hundred times in the same room with
the queen since he had become lieutenant of the musketeers,
but her majesty had never once spoken to him.
“Well, sir,” at last said Anne of Austria, “you are silent,
after rendering such a service?”
“Madame,” replied D’Artagnan, “I have nought to say, save
that my life is ever at your majesty’s service, and that I
shall only be happy the day I lose it for you.
“I know that, sir; I have known that,” said the queen, “a
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190