第22章

"Ifwehadknownyouhadaladyupstairs，"repliedAthos，withhiscustomarycoolness，"wewouldhaveaskedpermissiontopayourrespectstoher。"

Planchetwassodisconcertedbythislittleextravagance，thatheforcedthepassage，andhimselfopenedthedoortoadmitthecomteandhisson。？Tr點henwasquitedressed:inthecostumeoftheshopkeeper\'swife，richyetcoquettish;GermaneyesattackingFrencheyes。？Shelefttheapartmentaftertwocourtesies，andwentdownintotheshop—butnotwithouthavinglistenedatthedoor，toknowwhatPlanchet\'sgentlemenvisitorswouldsayofher。？Athossuspectedthat，andthereforeturnedtheconversationaccordingly。？Planchet，onhispart，wasburningtogiveexplanations，whichAthosavoided。？But，ascertaintenacitiesarestrongerthanothers，AthoswasforcedtohearPlanchetrecitehisidylsoffelicity，translatedintoalanguagemorechastethanthatofLongus。？SoPlanchetrelatedhowTr點henhadcharmedtheyearsofhisadvancingage，andbroughtgoodlucktohisbusiness，asRuthdidtoBoaz。

"Youwantnothingnow，then，butheirstoyourproperty。"

"IfIhadonehewouldhavethreehundredthousandlivres，"saidPlanchet。

"Humph！

youmusthaveone，then，"saidAthos，phlegmatically，"ifonlytopreventyourlittlefortunebeinglost。"

ThiswordlittlefortuneplacedPlanchetinhisrank，likethevoiceofthesergeantwhenPlanchetwasbutapiqueurintheregimentofPiedmont，inwhichRocheforthadplacedhim。？AthosperceivedthatthegrocerwouldmarryTr點hen，and，inspiteoffate，establishafamily。？ThisappearedthemoreevidenttohimwhenhelearnedthattheyoungmantowhomPlanchetwassellingthebusinesswashercousin。？Havingheardallthatwasnecessaryofthehappyprospectsoftheretiringgrocer，"WhatisM。d\'Artagnanabout？"saidhe;"heisnotattheLouvre。"

"Ah！

monsieurlecomte，Monsieurd\'Artagnanhasdisappeared。"

"Disappeared！"

saidAthos，insurprise。

"Oh！

monsieur，weknowwhatthatmeans。"

"ButIdonotknow。"

"WheneverM。d\'Artagnandisappearsitisalwaysforsomemissionorsomegreataffair。"

"Hashesaidanythingtoyouaboutit？"

"Never。"

"YouwereacquaintedwithhisdepartureforEnglandformerly，wereyounot？"

"Onaccountofthespeculation。"saidPlanchet，heedlessly。

"Thespeculation！"

"I

mean—"interruptedPlanchet，quiteconfused。

"Well，well;neitheryouraffairsnorthoseofyourmasterareinquestion;theinterestwetakeinhimalonehasinducedmetoapplytoyou。？Sincethecaptainofthemusketeersisnothere，andaswecannotlearnfromyouwherewearelikelytofindM。

d\'Artagnan，wewilltakeourleaveofyou。？Aurevoir，Planchet，aurevoir。？Letusbegone，Raoul。"

"Monsieurlecomte，IwishIwereabletotellyou—"

"Oh，notatall;Iamnotthemantoreproachaservantwithdiscretion。"

Thisword"servant"struckrudelyontheearsofthedemi—millionnairePlanchet，butnaturalrespectandbonhomieprevailedoverpride。？"Thereisnothingindiscreetintellingyou，monsieurlecomte，M。d\'Artagnancameheretheotherday—"

"Aha？"

"Andremainedseveralhoursconsultingageographicalchart。"

"Youareright，then，myfriend;saynomoreaboutit。"

"Andthechartisthereasaproof，"addedPlanchet，whowenttofetchfromtheneighboringwall，whereitwassuspendedbyatwist，formingatrianglewiththebarofthewindowtowhichitwasfastened，theplanconsultedbythecaptainonhislastvisittoPlanchet。？Thisplan，whichhebroughttothecomte，wasamapofFrance，uponwhichthepracticedeyeofthatgentlemandiscoveredanitinerary，markedoutwithsmallpins;whereverapinwasmissing，aholedenoteditshavingbeenthere。？Athos，byfollowingwithhiseyethepinsandholes，sawthatD\'Artagnanhadtakenthedirectionofthesouth，andgoneasfarastheMediterranean，towardsToulon。？ItwasnearCannesthatthemarksandthepuncturedplacesceased。？TheComtedelaF鑢epuzzledhisbrainsforsometime，todivinewhatthemusketeercouldbegoingtodoatCannes，andwhatmotivecouldhaveledhimtoexaminethebanksoftheVar。？ThereflectionsofAthossuggestednothing。？Hisaccustomedperspicacitywasatfault。？Raoul\'sresearcheswerenotmoresuccessfulthanhisfather\'s。

"Nevermind，"saidtheyoungmantothecomte，whosilently，andwithhisfinger，hadmadehimunderstandtherouteofD\'Artagnan;"wemustconfessthatthereisaProvidencealwaysoccupiedinconnectingourdestinywiththatofM。

d\'Artagnan。？ThereheisonthecoastofCannes，andyou，monsieur，will，atleast，conductmeasfarasToulon。？Beassuredthatweshallmeetwithhimmoreeasilyuponourroutethanonthismap。"

Then，takingleaveofPlanchet，whowasscoldinghisshopmen，eventhecousinofTr點hen，hissuccessor，thegentlemensetouttopayavisittoM。deBeaufort。？Onleavingthegrocer\'sshop，theysawacoach，thefuturedepositoryofthecharmsofMademoiselleTr點henandPlanchet\'sbagsofcrowns。

"Everyonejourneystowardshappinessbytheroutehechooses，"saidRaoul，inamelancholytone。

"RoadtoFontainebleau！"criedPlanchettohiscoachman。

ChapterXXX:

TheInventoryofM。deBeaufort。

TohavetalkedofD\'ArtagnanwithPlanchet，tohaveseenPlanchetquitParistoburyhimselfinhiscountryretreat，hadbeenforAthosandhissonlikealastfarewelltothenoiseofthecapital—totheirlifeofformerdays。？What，infact，didthesemenleavebehindthem—oneofwhomhadexhaustedthepastageinglory，andtheother，thepresentageinmisfortune？？Evidentlyneitherofthemhadanythingtoaskofhiscontemporaries。？TheyhadonlytopayavisittoM。deBeaufort，andarrangewithhimtheparticularsofdeparture。？ThedukewaslodgedmagnificentlyinParis。？Hehadoneofthosesuperbestablishmentspertainingtogreatfortunes，thelikeofwhichcertainoldmenrememberedtohaveseeninalltheirgloryinthetimesofwastefulliberalityofHenryIII。\'sreign。？Then，really，severalgreatnobleswerericherthantheking。？Theyknewit，usedit，andneverdeprivedthemselvesofthepleasureofhumiliatinghisroyalmajestywhentheyhadanopportunity。？ItwasthisegotisticalaristocracyRichelieuhadconstrainedtocontribute，withitsblood，itspurse，anditsduties，towhatwasfromhistimestyledtheking\'sservice。？FromLouisXI。—thatterriblemower—downofthegreat—toRichelieu，howmanyfamilieshadraisedtheirheads！？Howmany，fromRichelieutoLouisXIV。，hadbowedtheirheads，nevertoraisethemagain！？ButM。deBeaufortwasbornaprince，andofabloodwhichisnotsheduponscaffolds，unlessbythedecreeofpeoples，—aprincewhohadkeptupagrandstyleofliving。？Howdidhemaintainhishorses，hispeople，andhistable？？Nobodyknew;himselflessthanothers。？Onlytherewerethenprivilegesforthesonsofkings，towhomnobodyrefusedtobecomeacreditor，whetherfromrespectorthepersuasionthattheywouldsomedaybepaid。

AthosandRaoulfoundthemansionofthedukeinasmuchconfusionasthatofPlanchet。？Theduke，likewise，wasmakinghisinventory;thatistosay，hewasdistributingtohisfriendseverythingofvaluehehadinhishouse。？Owingnearlytwomillions—anenormousamountinthosedays—M。deBeauforthadcalculatedthathecouldnotsetoutforAfricawithoutagoodroundsum，and，inordertofindthatsum，hewasdistributingtohisoldcreditorsplate，arms，jewels，andfurniture，whichwasmoremagnificentinsellingit，andbroughthimbackdouble。？Infact，howcouldamantowhomtenthousandlivreswereowing，refusetocarryawayapresentworthsixthousand，enhancedinestimationfromhavingbelongedtoadescendantofHenryIV。？？Andhow，afterhavingcarriedawaythatpresent，couldherefusetenthousandlivresmoretothisgenerousnoble？？This，then，waswhathadhappened。？Thedukehadnolongeradwelling—house—thathadbecomeuselesstoanadmiralwhoseplaceofresidenceishisship;hehadnolongerneedofsuperfluousarms，whenhewasplacedamidsthiscannons;nomorejewels，whichtheseamightrobhimof;buthehadthreeorfourhundredthousandcrownsfreshinhiscoffers。？Andthroughoutthehousetherewasajoyousmovementofpeoplewhobelievedtheywereplunderingmonseigneur。？Theprincehad，inasupremedegree，theartofmakinghappythecreditorsmosttobepitied。？Ever

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