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The Vicomte De Bragelonne
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The Vicomte De Bragelonne 499 at Prostate Health
inevitable, duchesse."
"Oh! he only receives twelve thousand francs pension."
"Yes, but the king of Spain has some influence left; advised by M.
Fouquet he might get M. Laicques shut up in prison for a little while."
"I am not very nervous on that point, my dear friend; because, thanks to
a reconciliation with Anne of Austria, I will undertake that France
should insist upon M. Laicques liberation."
"True. In that case, you will have something else to apprehend."
"What can that be?" said the duchesse, pretending to be surprised and
terrified.
"You will learn; indeed, you must know it already, that having once been
an affiliated member of the order, it is not easy to leave it; for the
secrets that any particular member may have acquired are unwholesome,
and carry with them the germs of misfortune for whoever may reveal
them."
The duchesse paused and reflected for a moment, and then said, "That is
more serious, I will think over it."
And, notwithstanding the profound obscurity, Aramis seemed to feel a
burning glance, like a hot iron, escape from his friends eyes, and
plunge into his heart.
"Let us recapitulate," said Aramis, determined to keep himself on his
guard, and gliding his hand into his breast, where he had a dagger
concealed.
"Exactly, let us recapitulate; good accounts make good friends."
"The suppression of your pension--"
"Forty-eight thousand francs, and that of Laicques twelve, make,
together, sixty thousand francs; that is what you mean, I suppose?"
"Precisely; and I was trying to find out what would be your equivalent
for that."
"Five hundred thousand francs, which I shall get from the queen."
"Or which you will not get."
"I know a means of procuring them," said the duchesse, thoughtlessly.
This remark made the chevalier prick up his ears; and from the moment
his adversary had committed this error, his mind was so thoroughly on
its guard that he seemed every moment to gain the advantage more and
more; and she, consequently, to lose it. "I will admit, for arguments
sake, that you obtain the money," he resumed; "you will lose the double
of it, having a hundred thousand francs pension to receive instead of
sixty thousand, and that for a period of ten years."
"Not so, for I shall only be subjected to this reduction of my income
during the period of M. Fouquets remaining in power, a period which I
estimate at two months."
"Ah!" said Aramis.
"I am frank, you see."
"I thank you for it, duchesse; but you would be wrong to suppose that
after M. Fouquets disgrace the order would resume the payment of your
pension."
"I know a means of making the order pay, as I know a means of forcing
the queen-mother to concede what I require."
"In that case, duchesse, we are all obliged to strike our flags to you.
The victory is yours, and the triumph also is yours. Be clement, I
entreat you."
"But is it possible," resumed the duchesse, without taking notice of the
irony, "that you really draw back from a miserable sum of five hundred
thousand francs when it is a question of sparing you--I mean your
friend--I beg your pardon, I ought rather to say your protector--the
disagreeable consequences which a party contest produces?"
"Duchesse, I will tell you why; supposing the five hundred thousand
francs were to be given you, M. Laicques will require his share, which
will be another five hundred thousand francs, I presume? and then, after
M. de Laicques, and your own portions have been arranged, the portions
which your children, your poor pensioners, and various other persons
will require, will start up as fresh claims; and these letters, however
compromising they may be in their nature, are not worth from three to
four millions. Can you have forgotten the queen of Frances
diamonds?--they were surely worth more than these bits of waste-paper
signed by Mazarin, and yet their recovery did not cost a fourth part of
what you ask for yourself."
"Yes, that is true; but the merchant values his goods at his own price,
and it is for the purchaser to buy or refuse."
"Stay a moment, duchesse; would you like me to tell you why I will not
buy your letters?"
"Pray tell me."
"Because the letters you say are Mazarins are false."
"What an absurdity!"
"I have no doubt of it, for it would, to say the least, be very
singular, that after you had quarreled with the queen through M.
Mazarins means, you should have kept up any intimate acquaintance with
the latter; it would look as if you had been acting as a
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