step, or some place in the government?”
“Sir, will you grant me my request?”
“Let us hear what it is, first.”
“Sir, when you have told me to obey an order did I ever
answer, `Let me see that order ‘?”
“If, however, your wish should be one impossible to
fulfill?”
“When you have cherished a wish and have charged me with its
fulfillment, have I ever replied, `It is impossible’?”
“But a request preferred with so much preparation —- ”
“Ah, do not fear, sir,” said Mordaunt, with apparent
simplicity: “it will not ruin you.”
“Well, then,” said Cromwell, “I promise, as far as lies in
my power, to grant your request; proceed.”
“Sir, two prisoners were taken this morning, will you let me
have them?”
“For their ransom? have they then offered a large one?”
inquired Cromwell.
“On the contrary, I think they are poor, sir.”
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Dumas, Alexandre – Twenty Years After
“They are friends of yours, then?”
“Yes, sir,” exclaimed Mordaunt, “they are friends, dear
friends of mine, and I would lay down my life for them.”
“Very well, Mordaunt,” exclaimed Cromwell, pleased at having
his opinion of the young man raised once more; “I will give
them to you; I will not even ask who they are; do as you
like with them.”
“Thank you, sir!” exclaimed Mordaunt, “thank you; my life is
always at your service, and should I lose it I should still
owe you something; thank you; you have indeed repaid me
munificently for my services.”
He threw himself at the feet of Cromwell, and in spite of
the efforts of the Puritan general, who did not like this
almost kingly homage, he took his hand and kissed it.
“What!” said Cromwell, arresting him for a moment as he
arose; “is there nothing more you wish? neither gold nor
rank?”
“You have given me all you can give me, and from to-day your
debt is paid.”
And Mordaunt darted out of the general’s tent, his heart
beating and his eyes sparkling with joy.
Cromwell gazed a moment after him.
“He has slain his uncle!” he murmured. “Alas! what are my
servants? Possibly this one, who asks nothing or seems to
ask nothing, has asked more in the eyes of Heaven than those
who tax the country and steal the bread of the poor. Nobody
serves me for nothing. Charles, who is my prisoner, may
still have friends, but I have none!”
And with a deep sigh he again sank into the reverie that had
been interrupted by Mordaunt.
58
Jesus Seigneur.
Whilst Mordaunt was making his way to Cromwell’s tent,
D’Artagnan and Porthos had brought their prisoners to the
house which had been assigned to them as their dwelling at
Newcastle.
The order given by Mordaunt to the sergeant had been heard
by D’Artagnan, who accordingly, by an expressive glance,
warned Athos and Aramis to exercise extreme caution. The
prisoners, therefore, had remained silent as they marched
along in company with their conquerors — which they could
do with the less difficulty since each of them had
occupation enough in answering his own thoughts.
It would be impossible to describe Mousqueton’s astonishment
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Dumas, Alexandre – Twenty Years After
when from the threshold of the door he saw the four friends
approaching, followed by a sergeant with a dozen men. He
rubbed his eyes, doubting if he really saw before him Athos
and Aramis; and forced at last to yield to evidence, he was
on the point of breaking forth in exclamations when he
encountered a glance from the eyes of Porthos, the
repressive force of which he was not inclined to dispute.
Mousqueton remained glued to the door, awaiting the
explanation of this strange occurrence. What upset him
completely was that the four friends seemed to have no
acquaintance with one another.
The house to which D’Artagnan and Porthos conducted Athos
and Aramis was the one assigned to them by General Cromwell
and of which they had taken possession on the previous
evening. It was at the corner of two streets and had in the
rear, bordering on the side street, stables and a sort of
garden. The windows on the ground floor, according to a