第36章

"No，but—"

"But—IshallbesenttokeepcompanywithunfortunateM。Fouquet。？Mordioux！？Thatisagallantman，aworthyman！？Weshallliveverysociablytogether，Iwillbesworn。"

"Hereweareatourplaceofdestination，"saidtheduke。？"Captain，forHeaven\'ssakebecalmwiththeking！"

"Ah！

ah！youareplayingthebravemanwithme，duke！"saidD\'Artagnan，throwingoneofhisdefiantglancesoverGesvres。？"Ihavebeentoldthatyouareambitiousofunitingyourguardswithmymusketeers。？Thisstrikesmeasasplendidopportunity。"

"I

willtakeexceedinggoodcarenottoavailmyselfofit，captain。"

"Andwhynot，pray？"

"Oh，formanyreasons—inthefirstplace，forthis:ifIweretosucceedyouinthemusketeersafterhavingarrestedyou—"

"Ah！

thenyouadmityouhavearrestedme？"

"No，Idon\'t。"

"Saymetme，then。？So，youweresayingifyouweretosucceedmeafterhavingarrestedme？"

"Yourmusketeers，atthefirstexercisewithballcartridges，wouldfiremyway，bymistake。"

"Oh，astothatIwon\'tsay;forthefellowsdolovemealittle。"

GesvresmadeD\'Artagnanpassinfirst，andtookhimstraighttothecabinetwhereLouiswaswaitingforhiscaptainofthemusketeers，andplacedhimselfbehindhiscolleagueintheante—chamber。？Thekingcouldbehearddistinctly，speakingaloudtoColbertinthesamecabinetwhereColbertmighthaveheard，afewdaysbefore，thekingspeakingaloudwithM。

d\'Artagnan。？Theguardsremainedasamountedpicketbeforetheprincipalgate;andthereportwasquicklyspreadthroughoutthecitythatmonsieurlecapitaineofthemusketeershadbeenarrestedbyorderoftheking。？Thenthesemenwereseentobeinmotion，andasinthegoodoldtimesofLouisXIII。andM。deTr関ille，groupswereformed，andstaircaseswerefilled;vaguemurmurs，issuingfromthecourtbelow，camerollingtotheupperstories，likethedistantmoaningofthewaves。？M。deGesvresbecameuneasy。？Helookedathisguards，who，afterbeinginterrogatedbythemusketeerswhohadjustgotamongtheirranks，begantoshunthemwithamanifestationofinnocence。？D\'ArtagnanwascertainlylessdisturbedbyallthisthanM。deGesvres，thecaptainoftheguards。？Assoonasheentered，heseatedhimselfontheledgeofawindowwhencewithhiseagleglancehesawallthatwasgoingonwithouttheleastemotion。？Nostepoftheprogressivefermentationwhichhadshownitselfatthereportofhisarrestescapedhim。？Heforesawtheverymomenttheexplosionwouldtakeplace;andweknowthathisprevisionswereingeneralcorrect。

"Itwouldbeverywhimsical，"thoughthe，"if，thisevening，mypr鎡oriansshouldmakemekingofFrance。？HowIshouldlaugh！"

But，attheheight，allwasstopped。？Guards，musketeers，officers，soldiers，murmurs，uneasiness，dispersed，vanished，diedaway;therewasanendofmenaceandsedition。？Onewordhadcalmedthewaves。？ThekinghaddesiredBriennetosay，"Hush，messieurs！youdisturbtheking。"

D\'Artagnansighed。？"Allisover！"saidhe;"themusketeersofthepresentdayarenotthoseofhismajestyLouisXIII。？Allisover！"

"Monsieurd\'Artagnan，youarewantedintheante—chamberoftheking，"proclaimedanusher。

ChapterLIII:

KingLouisXIV。

Thekingwasseatedinhiscabinet，withhisbackturnedtowardsthedoorofentrance。？Infrontofhimwasamirror，inwhich，whileturningoverhispapers，hecouldseeataglancethosewhocamein。？HedidnottakeanynoticeoftheentranceofD\'Artagnan，butspreadabovehislettersandplansthelargesilkclothheusedtoconcealhissecretsfromtheimportunate。？D\'Artagnanunderstoodthisby—play，andkeptinthebackground;sothatattheendofaminutetheking，whoheardnothing，andsawnothingsavefromthecornerofhiseye，wasobligedtocry，"IsnotM。d\'Artagnanthere？"

"I

amhere，sire，"repliedthemusketeer，advancing。

"Well，monsieur，"saidtheking，fixinghispellucideyesonD\'Artagnan，"whathaveyoutosaytome？"

"I，sire！"repliedthelatter，whowatchedthefirstblowofhisadversarytomakeagoodretort;"Ihavenothingtosaytoyourmajesty，unlessitbethatyouhavecausedmetobearrested，andhereIam。"

ThekingwasgoingtoreplythathehadnothadD\'Artagnanarrested，butanysuchsentenceappearedtoomuchlikeanexcuse，andhewassilent。？D\'Artagnanlikewisepreservedanobstinatesilence。

"Monsieur，"

atlengthresumedtheking，"whatdidIchargeyoutogoanddoatBelle—Isle？？Tellme，ifyouplease。"

Thekingwhileutteringthesewordslookedintentlyathiscaptain。？HereD\'Artagnanwasfortunate;thekingseemedtoplacethegameinhishands。

"I

believe，"repliedhe，"thatyourmajestydoesmethehonortoaskwhatIwenttoBelle—Isletoaccomplish？"

"Yes，monsieur。"

"Well！

sire，Iknownothingaboutit;itisnotofmethatquestionshouldbeasked，butofthatinfinitenumberofofficersofallkinds，towhomhavebeengiveninnumerableordersofallkinds，whilsttome，headoftheexpedition，nothingprecisewassaidorstatedinanyformwhatever。"

Thekingwashurt:heshoweditbyhisreply。？"Monsieur，"saidhe，"ordershaveonlybeengiventosuchaswerejudgedfaithful。"

"And，therefore，Ihavebeenastonished，sire，"retortedthemusketeer，"thatacaptainlikemyself，whorankswithamar閏halofFrance，shouldhavefoundhimselfundertheordersoffiveorsixlieutenantsormajors，goodtomakespiesof，possibly，butnotatallfittoconductawarlikeexpedition。？ItwasuponthissubjectI

cametodemandanexplanationofyourmajesty，whenIfoundthedoorclosedagainstme，which，thefinalinsultofferedtoabraveman，hasledmetoquityourmajesty\'sservice。"

"Monsieur，"

repliedtheking，"youstillbelievethatyouarelivinginanagewhenkingswere，asyoucomplainofhavingbeen，undertheordersandatthediscretionoftheirinferiors。？YouseemtoforgetthatakingowesanaccountofhisactionstononebutGod。"

"I

forgetnothing，sire，"saidthemusketeer，woundedbythislesson。？"Besides，Idonotseeinwhatanhonestman，whenheasksofhiskinghowhehasill—servedhim，offendshim。"

"Youhaveill—servedme，monsieur，bysidingwithmyenemiesagainstme。"

"Whoareyourenemies，sire？"

"ThemenIsentyoutofight。"

"Twomentheenemiesofthewholeofyourmajesty\'sarmy！？Thatisincredible。"

"Youhavenopowertojudgeofmywill。"

"ButIhavetojudgeofmyownfriendships，sire。"

"Hewhoserveshisfriendsdoesnotservehismaster。"

"I

sowellunderstandthis，sire，thatIhaverespectfullyofferedyourmajestymyresignation。"

"AndIhaveacceptedit，monsieur，"saidtheking。？"BeforebeingseparatedfromyouIwaswillingtoprovetoyouthatIknowhowtokeepmyword。"

"Yourmajestyhaskeptmorethanyourword，foryourmajestyhashadmearrested，"saidD\'Artagnan，withhiscold，banteringair;"youdidnotpromisemethat，sire。"

Thekingwouldnotcondescendtoperceivethepleasantry，andcontinued，seriously，"Yousee，monsieur，towhatgravestepsyourdisobedienceforcesme。"

"Mydisobedience！"criedD\'Artagnan，redwithanger。

"ItisthemildesttermthatIcanfind，"pursuedtheking。？"Myideawastotakeandpunishrebels;

wasIboundtoinquirewhethertheserebelswereyourfriendsornot？"

"ButIwas，"repliedD\'Artagnan。？"Itwasacrueltyonyourmajesty\'sparttosendmetocapturemyfriendsandleadthemtoyourgibbets。"

"ItwasatrialIhadtomake，monsieur，ofpretendedservants，whoeatmybreadandshoulddefendmyperson。？Thetrialhassucceededill，Monsieurd\'Artagnan。"

"Foronebadservantyourmajestyloses，"saidthemusketeer，withbitterness，"therearetenwho，onthatsameday，gothroughalikeordeal。？Listentome，sire;Iamnotaccustomedtothatservice。？MineisarebelswordwhenIamrequiredtodoill。？ItwasilltosendmeinpursuitoftwomenwhoselivesM。Fouquet，yourmajesty\'spreserver，imploredyoutosave。？Stillfurther，thesemenweremyfriends。？Theydidnotattackyourmajesty，theysuccumbedtoyourblindanger。？Besides，whyweretheynotallowedtoescape？？Whatcrimehadtheycommitted？？Iadmityoumaycontestwithmetherightofjudgingtheirconduct。？Butwhysuspectmebeforetheaction？？Whysurroundmewithspies？？Whydisgracemebeforethearmy？？Whyme，inwhomtillnowyoushowedthemostentireconfidence—whoforthirtyyearshavebeenattachedtoyourperson，andhavegivenyouathousandproofsofmydevotion—foritmustbesaid，nowthatIamaccused—whyreducemetoseethreethousandoftheking\'ssoldiersmarchinbattleagainsttwomen？"

"One

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