第31章

"Then，"

saidthehonestseigneurofBracieux，"youhaverenderedmeaservice，andIthankyouforit;forifyouhadnotdeceivedme，Imighthavedeceivedmyself。？Inwhat，then，haveyoudeceivedme，tellme？"

"InthatIwasservingtheusurperagainstwhomLouisXIV。，atthismoment，isdirectinghisefforts。"

"Theusurper！"saidPorthos，scratchinghishead。？"Thatis—well，Idonotquiteclearlycomprehend！"

"HeisoneofthetwokingswhoarecontendingfrothecrownofFrance。"

"Verywell！？ThenyouwereservinghimwhoisnotLouisXIV。？"

"Youhavehitthematterinoneword。"

"Itfollowsthat—"

"Itfollowsthatwearerebels，mypoorfriend。"

"Thedevil！thedevil！"criedPorthos，muchdisappointed。

"Oh！

but，dearPorthos，becalm，weshallstillfindmeansofgettingoutoftheaffair，trustme。"

"Itisnotthatwhichmakesmeuneasy，"repliedPorthos;"thatwhichalonetouchesmeisthatuglywordrebels。"

"Ah！

but—"

"Andso，accordingtothis，theduchythatwaspromisedme—"

"Itwastheusurperthatwastogiveittoyou。"

"Andthatisnotthesamething，Aramis，"saidPorthos，majestically。

"Myfriend，ifithadonlydependeduponme，youshouldhavebecomeaprince。"

Porthosbegantobitehisnailsinamelancholyway。

"Thatiswhereyouhavebeenwrong，"continuedhe，"indeceivingme;forthatpromisedduchyIreckonedupon。？Oh！？Ireckoneduponitseriously，knowingyoutobeamanofyourword，Aramis。"

"PoorPorthos！pardonme，Iimploreyou！"

"So，then，"continuedPorthos，withoutreplyingtothebishop\'sprayer，"sothen，it？seems，IhavequitefallenoutwithLouisXIV。？"

"Oh！？Iwillsettleallthat，mygoodfriend，I

willsettleallthat。？Iwilltakeitonmyselfalone！"

"Aramis！"

"No，no，Porthos，I

conjureyou，letmeact。？Nofalsegenerosity！？Noinopportunedevotedness！？Youknewnothingofmyprojects。？Youhavedonenothingofyourself。？Withmeitisdifferent。？Ialoneamtheauthorofthisplot。？Istoodinneedofmyinseparablecompanion;

Icalleduponyou，andyoucametomeinremembranceofourancientdevice，\'Allforone，oneforall。\'？MycrimeisthatIwasanegotist。"

"Now，thatisawordIlike，"saidPorthos;"andseeingthatyouhaveactedentirelyforyourself，itisimpossibleformetoblameyou。？Itisnatural。"

Anduponthissublimereflection，Porthospressedhisfriend\'shandcordially。

Inpresenceofthisingenuousgreatnessofsoul，Aramisfelthisownlittleness。？Itwasthesecondtimehehadbeencompelledtobendbeforerealsuperiorityofheart，whichismoreimposingthanbrilliancyofmind。？Herepliedbyamuteandenergeticpressuretotheendearmentofhisfriend。

"Now，"

saidPorthos，"thatwehavecometoanexplanation，nowthatIamperfectlyawareofoursituationwithrespecttoLouisXIV。，Ithink，myfriend，itistimetomakemecomprehendthepoliticalintrigueofwhichwearethevictims—forIplainlyseethereisapoliticalintrigueatthebottomofallthis。"

"D\'Artagnan，mygoodPorthos，D\'Artagnaniscoming，andwilldetailittoyouinallitscircumstances;but，excuseme，Iamdeeplygrieved，Iamboweddownwithmentalanguish，andIhaveneedofallmypresenceofmind，allmypowersofreflection，toextricateyoufromthefalsepositioninwhichIhavesoimprudentlyinvolvedyou;butnothingcanbemoreclear，nothingmoreplain，thanyourposition，henceforth。？ThekingLouisXIV。hasnolongernowbutoneenemy:thatenemyismyself，myselfalone。？Ihavemadeyouaprisoner，youhavefollowedme，to—dayIliberateyou，youflybacktoyourprince。？Youcanperceive，Porthos，thereisnotonedifficultyinallthis。"

"Doyouthinkso？"saidPorthos。

"I

amquitesureofit。"

"Thenwhy，"saidtheadmirablegoodsenseofPorthos，"thenwhy，ifweareinsuchaneasyposition，why，myfriend，dowepreparecannon，muskets，andenginesofallsorts？？ItseemstomeitwouldbemuchmoresimpletosaytoCaptaind\'Artagnan:\'Mydearfriend，wehavebeenmistaken;thaterroristoberepaired;openthedoortous，letuspassthrough，andwewillsaygood—bye。\'"

"Ah！

that！"saidAramis，shakinghishead。

"Whydoyousay\'that\'？？Doyounotapproveofmyplan，myfriend？"

"I

seeadifficultyinit。"

"Whatisit？"

"ThehypothesisthatD\'Artagnanmaycomewithorderswhichwillobligeustodefendourselves。"

"What！

defendourselvesagainstD\'Artagnan？？Folly！？AgainstthegoodD\'Artagnan！"

Aramisoncemorerepliedbyshakinghishead。

"Porthos，"

atlengthsaidhe，"ifIhavehadthematcheslightedandthegunspointed，ifIhavehadthesignalofalarmsounded，ifIhavecalledeverymantohispostupontheramparts，thosegoodrampartsofBelle—Islewhichyouhavesowellfortified，itwasnotfornothing。？Waittojudge;orrather，no，donotwait—"

"WhatcanIdo？"

"IfIknew，myfriend，Iwouldhavetoldyou。"

"Butthereisonethingmuchmoresimplethandefendingourselves:—aboat，andawayforFrance—where—"

"Mydearfriend，"saidAramis，smilingwitha？strongshadeofsadness，"donotletusreasonlikechildren;letusbemenincouncilandinexecution。—But，hark！？Ihearahailforlandingattheport。？Attention，Porthos，seriousattention！"

"ItisD\'Artagnan，nodoubt，"saidPorthos，inavoiceofthunder，approachingtheparapet。

"Yes，itisI，"repliedthecaptainofthemusketeers，runninglightlyupthestepsofthemole，andgainingrapidlythelittleesplanadeonwhichhistwofriendswaitedforhim。？Assoonashecametowardsthem，PorthosandAramisobservedanofficerwhofollowedD\'Artagnan，treadingapparentlyinhisverysteps。？Thecaptainstoppeduponthestairsofthemole，whenhalf—wayup。？Hiscompanionsimitatedhim。

"Makeyourmendrawback，"criedD\'ArtagnantoPorthosandAramis;"letthemretireoutofhearing。"？Thisorder，givenbyPorthos，wasexecutedimmediately。？ThenD\'Artagnan，turningtowardshimwhofollowedhim:

"Monsieur，"

saidhe，"wearenolongeronboardtheking\'sfleet，where，invirtueofyourorder，youspokesoarrogantlytome，justnow。"

"Monsieur，"

repliedtheofficer，"Ididnotspeakarrogantlytoyou;Isimply，butrigorously，obeyedinstructions。？Iwascommandedtofollowyou。？Ifollowyou。？Iamdirectednottoallowyoutocommunicatewithanyonewithouttakingcognizanceofwhatyoudo;Iamindutybound，accordingly，tooverhearyourconversations。"

D\'Artagnantrembledwithrage，andPorthosandAramis，whoheardthisdialogue，trembledlikewise，butwithuneasinessandfear。？D\'Artagnan，bitinghismustachewiththatvivacitywhichdenotedinhimexasperation，closelytobefollowedbyanexplosion，approachedtheofficer。

"Monsieur，"

saidhe，inalowvoice，somuchthemoreimpressive，that，affectingcalm，itthreatenedtempest—"monsieur，whenIsentacanoehither，youwishedtoknowwhatIwrotetothedefendersofBelle—Isle。？Youproducedanordertothateffect;and，inmyturn，I

instantlyshowedyouthenoteIhadwritten。？Whentheskipperoftheboatsentbymereturned，whenIreceivedthereplyofthesetwogentlemen"（andhepointedtoAramisandPorthos），"youheardeverywordofwhatthemessengersaid。？Allthatwasplainlyinyourorders，allthatwaswellexecuted，verypunctually，wasitnot？"

"Yes，monsieur，"stammeredtheofficer;"yes，withoutdoubt，but—"

"Monsieur，"

continuedD\'Artagnan，growingwarm—"monsieur，whenImanifestedtheintentionofquittingmyvesseltocrosstoBelle—Isle，youdemandedtoaccompanyme;Ididnothesitate;Ibroughtyouwithme。？YouarenowatBelle—Isle，areyounot？"

"Yes，monsieur;but—"

"But—thequestionnolo

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