第30章

"Saint—Aignan，"

continuedtheking，"youwillhaveanyoneshotwhoshallattempttospeakprivatelywithM。Fouquet，duringthejourney。"

"Butmyself，sire，"saidtheduke。

"You，monsieur，youwillonlyspeaktohiminthepresenceofthemusketeers。"？Thedukebowedanddepartedtoexecutehiscommission。

D\'Artagnanwasabouttoretirelikewise;butthekingstoppedhim。

"Monsieur，"

saidhe，"youwillgoimmediately，andtakepossessionoftheisleandfiefofBelle—蝜e—en—Mer。"

"Yes，sire。？Alone？"

"Youwilltakeasufficientnumberoftroopstopreventdelay，incasetheplaceshouldbecontumacious。"

A

murmurofcourtlyincredulityrosefromthegroupofcourtiers。？"Thatshallbedone，"saidD\'Artagnan。

"I

sawtheplaceinmyinfancy，"resumedtheking，"andIdonotwishtoseeitagain。？Youhaveheardme？？Go，monsieur，anddonotreturnwithoutthekeys。"

ColbertwentuptoD\'Artagnan。？"A

commissionwhich，ifyoucarryitoutwell，"saidhe，"willbeworthamar閏hal\'sbatontoyou。"

"Whydoyouemploythewords，\'ifyoucarryitoutwell\'？"

"Becauseitisdifficult。"

"Ah！

inwhatrespect？"

"YouhavefriendsinBelle—Isle，Monsieurd\'Artagnan;anditisnotaneasythingformenlikeyoutomarchoverthebodiesoftheirfriendstoobtainsuccess。"

D\'Artagnanhunghisheadindeepestthought，whilstColbertreturnedtotheking。？Aquarterofanhourafter，thecaptainreceivedthewrittenorderfromtheking，toblowupthefortressofBelle—Isle，incaseofresistance，withpoweroflifeanddeathoveralltheinhabitantsorrefugees，andaninjunctionnottoallowonetoescape。

"Colbertwasright，"thoughtD\'Artagnan;"formethebatonofamar閏halofFrancewillcostthelivesofmytwofriends。？Onlytheyseemtoforgetthatmyfriendsarenotmorestupidthanthebirds，andthattheywillnotwaitforthehandofthefowlertoextendovertheirwings。？Iwillshowthemthathandsoplainly，thattheywillhavequitetimeenoughtoseeit。？PoorPorthos！？PoorAramis！？No;myfortuneshouldshallnotcostyourwingsafeather。"

Havingthusdetermined，D\'Artagnanassembledtheroyalarmy，embarkeditatPaimb渦f，andsetsail，withoutthelossofanunnecessaryminute。

ChapterXLII:

Belle—蝜e—en—Mer。

Attheextremityofthemole，againstwhichthefuriousseabeatsattheeveningtide，twomen，holdingeachotherbythearm，wereconversinginananimatedandexpansivetone，withoutthepossibilityofanyotherhumanbeinghearingtheirwords，borneaway，astheywere，onebyone，bythegustsofwind，withthewhitefoamsweptfromthecrestsofthewaves。？Thesunhadjustgonedowninthevastsheetofthecrimsonedocean，likeagiganticcrucible。？Fromtimetotime，oneofthesemen，turningtowardstheeast，castananxious，inquiringlookoverthesea。？Theother，interrogatingthefeaturesofhiscompanion，seemedtoseekforinformationinhislooks。？Then，bothsilent，busiedwithdismalthoughts，theyresumedtheirwalk。？Everyonehasalreadyperceivedthatthesetwomenwereourproscribedheroes，PorthosandAramis，whohadtakenrefugeinBelle—Isle，sincetheruinoftheirhopes，sincethediscomfitureofthecolossalschemesofM。d\'Herblay。

"Ifisofnouseyoursayinganythingtothecontrary，mydearAramis，"

repeatedPorthos，inhalingvigorouslythesaltbreezewithwhichhechargedhismassivechest，"Itisofnouse，Aramis。？Thedisappearanceofallthefishing—boatsthatwentouttwodaysagoisnotanordinarycircumstance。？Therehasbeennostormatsea;theweatherhasbeenconstantlycalm，noteventhelightestgale;andevenifwehadhadatempest，allourboatswouldnothavefoundered。？Irepeat，itisstrange。？Thiscompletedisappearanceastonishesme，Itellyou。"

"True，"

murmuredAramis。？"Youareright，friendPorthos;itistrue，thereissomethingstrangeinit。"

"Andfurther，"addedPorthos，whoseideastheassentofthebishopofVannesseemedtoenlarge;"and，further，doyounotobservethatiftheboatshaveperished，notasingleplankhaswashedashore？"

"I

haveremarkeditaswellasyourself。"

"Anddoyounotthinkitstrangethatthetwoonlyboatswehadleftinthewholeisland，andwhichIsentinsearchoftheothers—"

Aramishereinterruptedhiscompanionbyacry，andbysosuddenamovement，thatPorthosstoppedasifhewerestupefied。？"Whatdoyousay，Porthos？？What！—Youhavesentthetwoboats—"

"Insearchoftheothers！？Yes，tobesureI

have，"repliedPorthos，calmly。

"Unhappyman！？Whathaveyoudone？？Thenweareindeedlost，"criedthebishop。

"Lost！

—whatdidyousay？"exclaimedtheterrifiedPorthos。？"Howlost，Aramis？？Howarewelost？"

Aramisbithislips。？"Nothing！

nothing！？Yourpardon，Imeanttosay—

"

"What？"

"Thatifwewereinclined—ifwetookafancytomakeanexcursionbysea，wecouldnot。"

"Verygood！andwhyshouldthatvexyou？？A

preciouspleasure，mafoi！？Formypart，Idon\'tregretitatall。？WhatIregretiscertainlynotthemoreorlessamusementwecanfindatBelle—Isle:whatIregret，Aramis，isPierrefonds;Bracieux;leVallon;beautifulFrance！？Here，wearenotinFrance，mydearfriend;weare—Iknownotwhere。？Oh！？Itellyou，infullsincerityofsoul，andyouraffectionwillexcusemyfrankness，butIdeclaretoyouIamnothappyatBelle—Isle。？No;ingoodtruth，Iamnothappy！"

Aramisbreathedalong，butstifledsigh。？"Dearfriend，"repliedhe:"thatiswhyitissosadathingyouhavesentthetwoboatswehadleftinsearchoftheboatswhichdisappearedtwodaysago。？Ifyouhadnotsentthemaway，wewouldhavedeparted。"

"\'Departed！\'？Andtheorders，Aramis？"

"Whatorders？"

"Parbleu！？Why，theordersyouhavebeenconstantly，inandoutofseason，repeatingtome—thatweweretoholdBelle—Isleagainsttheusurper。？Youknowverywell！"

"Thatistrue！"murmuredAramisagain。

"Yousee，then，plainly，myfriend，thatwecouldnotdepart;andthatthesendingawayoftheboatsinsearchoftheotherscannotproveprejudicialtousintheveryleast。"

Aramiswassilent;andhisvagueglances，luminousasthatofanalbatross，hoveredforalongtimeoverthesea，interrogatingspace，seekingtopiercetheveryhorizon。

"Withallthat，Aramis，"continuedPorthos，whoadheredtohisidea，andthatthemorecloselyfromthebishophavingapparentlyendorsedit，—"withallthat，yougivemenoexplanationaboutwhatcanhavehappenedtotheseunfortunateboats。？IamassailedbycriesandcomplaintswhicheverwayIgo。？Thechildrencrytoseethedesolationofthewomen，asifIcouldrestoretheabsenthusbandsandfathers。？Whatdoyousuppose，myfriend，andhowoughtItoanswerthem？"

"Thinkallyoulike，mygoodPorthos，andsaynothing。"

ThisreplydidnotsatisfyPorthosatall。？Heturnedawaygrumblingsomethinginill—humor。？Aramisstoppedthevaliantmusketeer。？"Doyouremember，"saidhe，inamelancholytone，kneadingthetwohandsofthegiantbetweenhisownwithaffectionatecordiality，"doyouremember，myfriend，thatinthegloriousdaysofyouth—doyouremember，Porthos，whenwe

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