47. The Council of the Musketeers
As Athos had foreseen, the bastion was only occupied by a dozen corpses, French and Rochellais.
âGentlemen,â said Athos, who had assumed the command of the expedition, âwhile Grimaud spreads the table, let us begin by collecting the guns and cartridges together. We can talk while performing that necessary task. These gentlemen,â added he, pointing to the bodies, âcannot hear us.â
âBut we could throw them into the ditch,â said Porthos, âafter having assured ourselves they have nothing in their pockets.â
âYes,â said Athos, âthatâs Grimaudâs business.â
âWell, then,â cried dâArtagnan, âpray let Grimaud search them and throw them over the walls.â
âHeaven forfend!â said Athos; âthey may serve us.â
âThese bodies serve us?â said Porthos. âYou are mad, dear friend.â
âJudge not rashly, say the gospel and the cardinal,â replied Athos. âHow many guns, gentlemen?â
âTwelve,â replied Aramis.
âHow many shots?â
âA hundred.â
âThatâs quite as many as we shall want. Let us load the guns.â
The four Musketeers went to work; and as they were loading the last musket Grimaud announced that the breakfast was ready.
Athos replied, always by gestures, that that was well, and indicated to Grimaud, by pointing to a turret that resembled a pepper caster, that he was to stand as sentinel. Only, to alleviate the tediousness of the duty, Athos allowed him to take a loaf, two cutlets, and a bottle of wine.
âAnd now to table,â said Athos.
The four friends seated themselves on the ground with their legs crossed like Turks, or even tailors.
âAnd now,â said dâArtagnan, âas there is no longer any fear of being overheard, I hope you are going to let me into your secret.â
âI hope at the same time to procure you amusement and glory, gentlemen,â said Athos. âI have induced you to take a charming promenade; here is a delicious breakfast; and yonder are five hundred persons, as you may see through the loopholes, taking us for heroes or madmen Âtwo classes of imbĂ©ciles greatly resembling each other.â
âBut the secret!â said dâArtagnan.
âThe secret is,â said Athos, âthat I saw Milady last night.â
DâArtagnan was lifting a glass to his lips; but at the name of Milady, his hand trembled so, that he was obliged to put the glass on the ground again for fear of spilling the contents.â
âYou saw your wi Ââ
âHush!â interrupted Athos. âYou forget, my dear, you forget that these gentlemen are not initiated into my family affairs like yourself. I have seen Milady.â
âWhere?â demanded dâArtagnan.
âWithin two leagues of this place, at the inn of the Red Dovecot.â
âIn that case I am lost,â said dâArtagnan.
âNot so bad yet,â replied Athos; âfor by this time she must have quit the shores of France.â
DâArtagnan breathed again.
âBut after all,â asked Porthos, âwho is Milady?â
âA charming woman!â said Athos, sipping a glass of sparkling wine. âVillainous host!â cried he, âhe has given us Anjou wine instead of champagne, and fancies we know no better! Yes,â continued he, âa charming woman, who entertained kind views toward our friend dâArtagnan, who, on his part, has given her some offense for which she tried to revenge herself a month ago by having him killed by two musket shots, a week ago by trying to poison him, and yesterday by demanding his head of the cardinal.â
âWhat! by demanding my head of the cardinal?â cried dâArtagnan, pale with terror.
âYes, that is true as the Gospel,â said Porthos; âI heard her with my own ears.â
âI also,â said Aramis.
âThen,â said dâArtagnan, letting his arm fall with discouragement, âit is useless to struggle longer. I may as well blow my brains out, and all will be over.â
âThatâs the last folly to be committed,â said Athos, âseeing it is the only one for which there is no remedy.â
âBut I can never escape,â said dâArtagnan, âwith such enemies. First, my stranger of Meung; then de Wardes, to whom I have given three sword wounds; next Milady, whose secret I have discovered; finally, the cardinal, whose vengeance I have balked.â
âWell,â said Athos, âthat only makes four; and we are four Âone for one. Pardieu! if we may believe the signs Grimaud is making, we are about to have to do with a very different number of people. What is it, Grimaud? Considering the gravity of the occasion, I permit you to speak, my friend; but be laconic, I beg. What do you see?â
âA troop.â
âOf how many persons?â
âTwenty men.â
âWhat sort of men?â
âSixteen pioneers, four soldiers.â
âHow far distant?â
âFive hundred paces.â
âGood! We have just time to finish this fowl and to drink one glass of wine to your health, dâArtagnan.â
âTo your health!â repeated Porthos and Aramis.
âWell, then, to my health! although I am very much afraid that your good wishes will not be of great service to me.â
âBah!â said Athos, âGod is great, as say the followers of Mohammed, and the future is in his hands.â
Then, swallowing the contents of his glass, which he put down close to him, Athos arose carelessly, took the musket next to him, and drew near to one of the loopholes.
Porthos, Aramis and dâArtagnan followed his example. As to Grimaud, he received orders to place himself behind the four friends in order to reload their weapons.
âPardieu!â said Athos, âit was hardly worth while to distribute ourselves for twenty fellows armed with pickaxes, mattocks, and shovels. Grimaud had only to make them a sign to go away, and I am convinced they would have left us in peace.â
âI doubt that,â replied dâArtagnan, âfor they are advancing very resolutely. Besides, in addition to the pioneers, there are four soldiers and a brigadier, armed with muskets.â
âThatâs because they donât see us,â said Athos.
âMy faith,â said Aramis, âI must confess I feel a great repugnance to fire on these poor devils of civilians.â
âHe is a bad priest,â said Porthos, âwho has pity for heretics.â
âIn truth,â said Athos, âAramis is right. I will warn them.â
âWhat the devil are you going to do?â cried dâArtagnan, âyou will be shot.â
But Athos heeded not his advice. Mounting on the breach, with his musket in one hand and his hat in the other, he said, bowing courteously and addressing the soldiers and the pioneers, who, astonished at this apparition, stopped fifty paces from the bastion: âGentlemen, a few friends and myself are about to breakfast in this bastion. Now, you know nothing is more disagreeable than being disturbed when one is at breakfast. We request you, then, if you really have business here, to wait till we have finished or repast, or to come again a short time hence, unless; unless, which would be far better, you form the salutary resolution to quit the side of the rebels, and come and drink with us to the health of the King of France.â
âTake care, Athos!â cried dâArtagnan; âdonât you see they are aiming?â
âYes, yes,â said Athos; âbut they are only civilians Âvery bad marksmen, who will be sure not to hit me.â
In fact, at the same instant four shots were fired, and the balls were flattened against the wall around Athos, but not one touched him.
Four shots replied to them almost instantaneously, but much better aimed than those of the aggressors; three soldiers fell dead, and one of the pioneers was wounded.
âGrimaud,â said Athos, still on the breach, âanother musket!â
Grimaud immediately obeyed. On their part, the three friends had reloaded their arms; a second discharge followed the first. The brigadier and two pioneers fell dead; the rest of the troop took to flight.
âNow, gentlemen, a sortie!â cried Athos.
And the four friends rushed out of the fort, gained the field of battle, picked up the four muskets of the privates and the half-pike of the brigadier, and convinced that the fugitives would not stop till they reached the city, turned again toward the bastion, bearing with them the trophies of their victory.
âReload the muskets, Grimaud,â said Athos, âand we, gentlemen, will go on with our breakfast, and resume our conversation. Where were we?â
âI recollect you were saying,â said dâArtagnan, âthat after having demanded my head of the cardinal, Milady had quit the shores of France. Whither goes she?â added he, strongly interested in the route Milady followed.
âShe goes into England,â said Athos.
âWith what view?â
âWith the view of assassinating, or causing to be assassinated, the Duke of Buckingham.â
DâArtagnan uttered an exclamation of surprise and indignation.
âBut this is infamous!â cried he.
âAs to that,â said Athos, âI beg you to believe that I care very little about it. Now you have done, Grimaud, take our brigadierâs half-pike, tie a napkin to it, and plant it on top of our bastion, that these rebels of Rochellais may see that they have to deal with brave and loyal soldiers of the king.â
Grimaud obeyed without replying. An instant afterward, the white flag was floating over the heads of the four friends. A thunder of applause saluted its appearance; half the camp was at the barrier.
âHow?â replied dâArtagnan, âyou care little if she kills Buckingham or causes him to be killed? But the duke is our friend.â
âThe duke is English; the duke fights against us. Let her do what she likes with the duke; I care no more about him than an empty bottle.â And Athos threw fifteen paces from him an empty bottle from which he had poured the last drop into his glass.
âA moment,â said dâArtagnan. âI will not abandon Buckingham thus. He gave us some very fine horses.â
âAnd moreover, very handsome saddles,â said Porthos, who at the moment wore on his cloak the lace of his own.
âBesides,â said Aramis, âGod desires the conversion and not the death of a sinner.â
âAmen!â said Athos, âand we will return to that subject later, if such be your pleasure; but what for the moment engaged my attention most earnestly, and I am sure you will understand me, dâArtagnan, was the getting from this woman a kind of carte blanche which she had extorted from the cardinal, and by means of which she could with impunity get rid of you and perhaps of us.â
âBut this creature must be a demon!â said Porthos, holding out his plate to Aramis, who was cutting up a fowl.
âAnd this carte blanche,â said dâArtagnan, âthis carte blanche, does it remain in her hands?â
âNo, it passed into mine; I will not say without trouble, for if I did I should tell a lie.â
âMy dear Athos, I shall no longer count the number of times I am indebted to you for my life.â
âThen it was to go to her that you left us?â said Aramis.
âExactly.â
âAnd you have that letter of the cardinal?â said dâArtagnan.
âHere it is,â said Athos; and he took the invaluable paper from the pocket of his uniform. DâArtagnan unfolded it with one hand, whose trembling he did not even attempt to conceal, to read:
De, 1627,<br>It is by my order and for the good of the state that the bearer of this has done what he has done.
âRichelieuâ
âIn fact,â said Aramis, âit is an absolution according to rule.â
âThat paper must be torn to pieces,â said dâArtagnan, who fancied he read in it his sentence of death.
âOn the contrary,â said Athos, âit must be preserved carefully. I would not give up this paper if covered with as many gold pieces.â
âAnd what will she do now?â asked the young man.
âWhy,â replied Athos, carelessly, âshe is probably going to write to the cardinal that a damned Musketeer, named Athos, has taken her safe-conduct from her by force; she will advise him in the same letter to get rid of his two friends, Aramis and Porthos, at the same time. The cardinal will remember that these are the same men who have often crossed his path; and then some fine morning he will arrest dâArtagnan, and for fear he should feel lonely, he will send us to keep him company in the Bastille.â
âGo to! It appears to me you make dull jokes, my dear,â said Porthos.
âI do not jest,â said Athos.
âDo you know,â said Porthos, âthat to twist that damned Miladyâs neck would be a smaller sin than to twist those of these poor devils of Huguenots, who have committed no other crime than singing in French the psalms we sing in Latin?â
âWhat says the abbe?â asked Athos, quietly.
âI say I am entirely of Porthosâs opinion,â replied Aramis.
âAnd I, too,â said dâArtagnan.
âFortunately, she is far off,â said Porthos, âfor I confess she would worry me if she were here.â
âShe worries me in England as well as in France,â said Athos.
âShe worries me everywhere,â said dâArtagnan.
âBut when you held her in your power, why did you not drown her, strangle her, hang her?â said Porthos. âIt is only the dead who do not return.â
âYou think so, Porthos?â replied the Musketeer, with a sad smile which dâArtagnan alone understood.
âI have an idea,â said dâArtagnan.
âWhat is it?â said the Musketeers.
âTo arms!â cried Grimaud.
The young men sprang up, and seized their muskets.
This time a small troop advanced, consisting of from twenty to twenty-five men; but they were not pioneers, they were soldiers of the garrison.
âShall we return to the camp?â said Porthos. âI donât think the sides are equal.â
âImpossible, for three reasons,â replied Athos. âThe first, that we have not finished breakfast; the second, that we still have some very important things to say; and the third, that it yet wants ten minutes before the lapse of the hour.â
âWell, then,â said Aramis, âwe must form a plan of battle.â
âThatâs very simple,â replied Athos. âAs soon as the enemy are within musket shot, we must fire upon them. If they continue to advance, we must fire again. We must fire as long as we have loaded guns. If those who remain of the troop persist in coming to the assault, we will allow the besiegers to get as far as the ditch, and then we will push down upon their heads that strip of wall which keeps its perpendicular by a miracle.â
âBravo!â cried Porthos. âDecidedly, Athos, you were born to be a general, and the cardinal, who fancies himself a great soldier, is nothing beside you.â
âGentlemen,â said Athos, âno divided attention, I beg; let each one pick out his man.â
âI cover mine,â said dâArtagnan.
âAnd I mine,â said Porthos.
âAnd I mine,â said Aramis.
âFire, then,â said Athos.
The four muskets made but one report, but four men fell.
The drum immediately beat, and the little troop advanced at charging pace.
Then the shots were repeated without regularity, but always aimed with the same accuracy. Nevertheless, as if they had been aware of the numerical weakness of the friends, the Rochellais continued to advance in quick time.
With every three shots at least two men fell; but the march of those who remained was not slackened.
Arrived at the foot of the bastion, there were still more than a dozen of the enemy. A last discharge welcomed them, but did not stop them; they jumped into the ditch, and prepared to scale the breach.
âNow, my friends,â said Athos, âfinish them at a blow. To the wall; to the wall!â
And the four friends, seconded by Grimaud, pushed with the barrels of their muskets an enormous sheet of the wall, which bent as if pushed by the wind, and detaching itself from its base, fell with a horrible crash into the ditch. Then a fearful crash was heard; a cloud of dust mounted toward the sky Âand all was over!
âCan we have destroyed them all, from the first to the last?â said Athos.
âMy faith, it appears so!â said dâArtagnan.
âNo,â cried Porthos; âthere go three or four, limping away.â
In fact, three or four of these unfortunate men, covered with dirt and blood, fled along the hollow way, and at length regained the city. These were all who were left of the little troop.
Athos looked at his watch.
âGentlemen,â said he, âwe have been here an hour, and our wager is won; but we will be fair players. Besides, dâArtagnan has not told us his idea yet.â
And the Musketeer, with his usual coolness, reseated himself before the remains of the breakfast.
âMy idea?â said dâArtagnan.
âYes; you said you had an idea,â said Athos.
âOh, I remember,â said dâArtagnan. âWell, I will go to England a second time; I will go and find Buckingham.â
âYou shall not do that, dâArtagnan,â said Athos, coolly.
âAnd why not? Have I not been there once?â
âYes; but at that period we were not at war. At that period Buckingham was an ally, and not an enemy. What you would now do amounts to treason.â
DâArtagnan perceived the force of this reasoning, and was silent.
âBut,â said Porthos, âI think I have an idea, in my turn.â
âSilence for Monsieur Porthosâs idea!â said Aramis.
âI will ask leave of absence of Monsieur de Treville, on some pretext or other which you must invent; I am not very clever at pretexts. Milady does not know me; I will get access to her without her suspecting me, and when I catch my beauty, I will strangle her.â
âWell,â replied Athos, âI am not far from approving the idea of Monsieur Porthos.â
âFor shame!â said Aramis. âKill a woman? No, listen to me; I have the true idea.â
âLet us see your idea, Aramis,â said Athos, who felt much deference for the young Musketeer.
âWe must inform the queen.â
âAh, my faith, yes!â said Porthos and dâArtagnan, at the same time; âwe are coming nearer to it now.â
âInform the queen!â said Athos; âand how? Have we relations with the court? Could we send anyone to Paris without its being known in the camp? From here to Paris it is a hundred and forty leagues; before our letter was at Angers we should be in a dungeon.â
âAs to remitting a letter with safety to her Majesty,â said Aramis, coloring, âI will take that upon myself. I know a clever person at Tours Ââ
Aramis stopped on seeing Athos smile.
âWell, do you not adopt this means, Athos?â said dâArtagnan.
âI do not reject it altogether,â said Athos; âbut I wish to remind Aramis that he cannot quit the camp, and that nobody but one of ourselves is trustworthy; that two hours after the messenger has set out, all the Capuchins, all the police, all the black caps of the cardinal, will know your letter by heart, and you and your clever person will be arrested.â
âWithout reckoning,â objected Porthos, âthat the queen would save Monsieur de Buckingham, but would take no heed of us.â
âGentlemen,â said dâArtagnan, âwhat Porthos says is full of sense.â
âAh, ah! but whatâs going on in the city yonder?â said Athos.
âThey are beating the general alarm.â
The four friends listened, and the sound of the drum plainly reached them.
âYou see, they are going to send a whole regiment against us,â said Athos.
âYou donât think of holding out against a whole regiment, do you?â said Porthos.
âWhy not?â said Musketeer. âI feel myself quite in a humor for it; and I would hold out before an army if we had taken the precaution to bring a dozen more bottles of wine.â
âUpon my word, the drum draws near,â said dâArtagnan.
âLet it come,â said Athos. âIt is a quarter of an hourâs journey from here to the city, consequently a quarter of an hourâs journey from the city to hither. That is more than time enough for us to devise a plan. If we go from this place we shall never find another so suitable. Ah, stop! I have it, gentlemen; the right idea has just occurred to me.â
âTell us.â
âAllow me to give Grimaud some indispensable orders.â
Athos made a sign for his lackey to approach.
âGrimaud,â said Athos, pointing to the bodies which lay under the wall of the bastion, âtake those gentlemen, set them up against the wall, put their hats upon their heads, and their guns in their hands.â
âOh, the great man!â cried dâArtagnan. âI comprehend now.â
âYou comprehend?â said Porthos.
âAnd do you comprehend, Grimaud?â said Aramis.
Grimaud made a sign in the affirmative.
âThatâs all that is necessary,â said Athos; ânow for my idea.â
âI should like, however, to comprehend,â said Porthos.
âThat is useless.â
âYes, yes! Athosâs idea!â cried Aramis and dâArtagnan, at the same time.
âThis Milady, this woman, this creature, this demon, has a brother-in-law, as I think you told me, dâArtagnan?â
âYes, I know him very well; and I also believe that he has not a very warm affection for his sister-in-law.â
âThere is no harm in that. If he detested her, it would be all the better,â replied Athos.
âIn that case we are as well off as we wish.â
âAnd yet,â said Porthos, âI would like to know what Grimaud is about.â
âSilence, Porthos!â said Aramis.
âWhat is her brother-in-lawâs name?â
âLord de Winter.â
âWhere is he now?â
âHe returned to London at the first sound of war.â
âWell, thereâs just the man we want,â said Athos. âIt is he whom we must warn. We will have him informed that his sister-in-law is on the point of having someone assassinated, and beg him not to lose sight of her. There is in London, I hope, some establishment like that of the Magdalens, or of the Repentant Daughters. He must place his sister in one of these, and we shall be in peace.â
âYes,â said dâArtagnan, âtill she comes out.â
âAh, my faith!â said Athos, âyou require too much, dâArtagnan. I have given you all I have, and I beg leave to tell you that this is the bottom of my sack.â
âBut I think it would be still better,â said Aramis, âto inform the queen and Lord de Winter at the same time.â
âYes; but who is to carry the letter to Tours, and who to London?â
âI answer for Bazin,â said Aramis.
âAnd I for Planchet,â said dâArtagnan.
âAy,â said Porthos, âif we cannot leave the camp, our lackeys may.â
âTo be sure they may; and this very day we will write the letters,â said Aramis. âGive the lackeys money, and they will start.â
âWe will give them money?â replied Athos. âHave you any money?â
The four friends looked at one another, and a cloud came over the brows which but lately had been so cheerful.
âLook out!â cried dâArtagnan, âI see black points and red points moving yonder. Why did you talk of a regiment, Athos? It is a veritable army!â
âMy faith, yes,â said Athos; âthere they are. See the sneaks come, without drum or trumpet. Ah, ah! have you finished, Grimaud?â
Grimaud made a sign in the affirmative, and pointed to a dozen bodies which he had set up in the most picturesque attitudes. Some carried arms, others seemed to be taking aim, and the remainder appeared merely to be sword in hand.
âBravo!â said Athos; âthat does honor to your imagination.â
âAll very well,â said Porthos, âbut I should like to understand.â
âLet us decamp first, and you will understand afterward.â
âA moment, gentlemen, a moment; give Grimaud time to clear away the breakfast.â
âAh, ah!â said Aramis, âthe black points and the red points are visibly enlarging. I am of dâArtagnanâs opinion; we have no time to lose in regaining our camp.â
âMy faith,â said Athos, âI have nothing to say against a retreat. We bet upon one hour, and we have stayed an hour and a half. Nothing can be said; let us be off, gentlemen, let us be off!â
Grimaud was already ahead, with the basket and the dessert. The four friends followed, ten paces behind him.
âWhat the devil shall we do now, gentlemen?â cried Athos.
âHave you forgotten anything?â said Aramis.
âThe white flag, morbleu! We must not leave a flag in the hands of the enemy, even if that flag be but a napkin.â
And Athos ran back to the bastion, mounted the platform, and bore off the flag; but as the Rochellais had arrived within musket range, they opened a terrible fire upon this man, who appeared to expose himself for pleasureâs sake.
But Athos might be said to bear a charmed life. The balls passed and whistled all around him; not one struck him.
Athos waved his flag, turning his back on the guards of the city, and saluting those of the camp. On both sides loud cries arose Âon the one side cries of anger, on the other cries of enthusiasm.
A second discharge followed the first, and three balls, by passing through it, made the napkin really a flag. Cries were heard from the camp, âCome down! come down!â
Athos came down; his friends, who anxiously awaited him, saw him returned with joy.
âCome along, Athos, come along!â cried dâArtagnan; ânow we have found everything except money, it would be stupid to be killed.â
But Athos continued to march majestically, whatever remarks his companions made; and they, finding their remarks useless, regulated their pace by his.
Grimaud and his basket were far in advance, out of the range of the balls.
At the end of an instant they heard a furious fusillade.
âWhatâs that?â asked Porthos, âwhat are they firing at now? I hear no balls whistle, and I see nobody!â
âThey are firing at the corpses,â replied Athos.
âBut the dead cannot return their fire.â
âCertainly not! They will then fancy it is an ambuscade, they will deliberate; and by the time they have found out the pleasantry, we shall be out of the range of their balls. That renders it useless to get a pleurisy by too much haste.â
âOh, I comprehend now,â said the astonished Porthos.
âThatâs lucky,â said Athos, shrugging his shoulders.
On their part, the French, on seeing the four friends return at such a step, uttered cries of enthusiasm.
At length a fresh discharge was heard, and this time the balls came rattling among the stones around the four friends, and whistling sharply in their ears. The Rochellais had at last taken possession of the bastion.
âThese Rochellais are bungling fellows,â said Athos; âhow many have we killed of them Âa dozen?â
âOr fifteen.â
âHow many did we crush under the wall?â
âEight or ten.â
âAnd in exchange for all that not even a scratch! Ah, but what is the matter with your hand, dâArtagnan? It bleeds, seemingly.â
âOh, itâs nothing,â said dâArtagnan.
âA spent ball?â
âNot even that.â
âWhat is it, then?â
We have said that Athos loved dâArtagnan like a child, and this somber and inflexible personage felt the anxiety of a parent for the young man.
âOnly grazed a little,â replied dâArtagnan; âmy fingers were caught between two stones Âthat of the wall and that of my ring Âand the skin was broken.â
âThat comes of wearing diamonds, my master,â said Athos, disdainfully.
âAh, to be sure,â cried Porthos, âthere is a diamond. Why the devil, then, do we plague ourselves about money, when there is a diamond?â
âStop a bit!â said Aramis.
âWell thought of, Porthos; this time you have an idea.â
âUndoubtedly,â said Porthos, drawing himself up at Athosâs compliment; âas there is a diamond, let us sell it.â
âBut,â said dâArtagnan, âit is the queenâs diamond.â
âThe stronger reason why it should be sold,â replied Athos. The queen saving Monsieur de Buckingham, her lover; nothing more just. The queen saving us, her friends; nothing more moral. Let us sell the diamond. What says Monsieur the Abbe? I donât ask Porthos; his opinion has been given.â
âWhy, I think,â said Aramis, blushing as usual, âthat his ring not coming from a mistress, and consequently not being a love token, dâArtagnan may sell it.â
âMy dear Aramis, you speak like theology personified. Your advice, then, is Ââ
âTo sell the diamond,â replied Aramis.
âWell, then,â said dâArtagnan, gaily, âlet us sell the diamond, and say no more about it.â
The fusillade continued; but the four friends were out of reach, and the Rochellais only fired to appease their consciences.
âMy faith, it was time that idea came into Porthosâs head. Here we are at the camp; therefore, gentlemen, not a word more of this affair. We are observed; they are coming to meet us. We shall be carried in triumph.â
In fact, as we have said, the whole camp was in motion. More than two thousand persons had assisted, as at a spectacle, in this fortunate but wild undertaking of the four friends Âan undertaking of which they were far from suspecting the real motive. Nothing was heard but cries of âLive the Musketeers! Live the Guards!â M. de Busigny was the first to come and shake Athos by the hand, and acknowledge that the wager was lost. The dragoon and the Swiss followed him, and all their comrades followed the dragoon and the Swiss. There was nothing but fĂ©licitations, pressures of the hand, and embraces; there was no end to the inextinguishable laughter at the Rochellais. The tumult at length became so great that the cardinal fancied there must be some riot, and sent La Houdiniere, his captain of the Guards, to inquire what was going on.
The affair was described to the messenger with all the effervescence of enthusiasm.
âWell?â asked the cardinal, on seeing La Houdiniere return.
âWell, monseigneur,â replied the latter, âthree Musketeers and a Guardsman laid a wager with Monsieur de Busigny that they would go and breakfast in the bastion St. Gervais; and while breakfasting they held it for two hours against the enemy, and have killed I donât know how many Rochellais.â
âDid you inquire the names of those three Musketeers?â
âYes, monseigneur.â
âWhat are their names?â
âMessieurs Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.â
âStill my three brave fellows!â murmured the cardinal. âAnd the Guardsman?â
âdâArtagnan.â
âStill my young scapegrace. Positively, these four men must be on my side.â
The same evening the cardinal spoke to M. de Treville of the exploit of the morning, which was the talk of the whole camp. M. de Treville, who had received the account of the adventure from the mouths of the heroes of it, related it in all its details to his Eminence, not forgetting the episode of the napkin.
âThatâs well, Monsieur de Treville,â said the cardinal; âpray let that napkin be sent to me. I will have three fleur-de-lis embroidered on it in gold, and will give it to your company as a standard.â
âMonseigneur,â said M. de Treville, âthat will be unjust to the Guardsmen. Monsieur dâArtagnan is not with me; he serves under Monsieur Dessessart.â
âWell, then, take him,â said the cardinal; âwhen four men are so much attached to one another, it is only fair that they should serve in the same company.â
That same evening M. de Treville announced this good news to the three Musketeers and dâArtagnan, inviting all four to breakfast with him next morning.
DâArtagnan was beside himself with joy. We know that the dream of his life had been to become a Musketeer. The three friends were likewise greatly delighted.
âMy faith,â said dâArtagnan to Athos, âyou had a triumphant idea! As you said, we have acquired glory, and were enabled to carry on a conversation of the highest importance.â
âWhich we can resume now without anybody suspecting us, for, with the help of God, we shall henceforth pass for cardinalists.â
That evening dâArtagnan went to present his respects to M. Dessessart, and inform him of his promotion.
M. Dessessart, who esteemed dâArtagnan, made him offers of help, as this change would entail expenses for equipment.
DâArtagnan refused; but thinking the opportunity a good one, he begged him to have the diamond he put into his hand valued, as he wished to turn it into money.
The next day, M. Dessessartâs valet came to dâArtagnanâs lodging, and gave him a bag containing seven thousand livres.
This was the price of the queenâs diamond.
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