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Books
The Three Musketeers
Twenty Years Later
The Vicomte De Bragelonne
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Twenty Years Later 15 at Prostate Health
well for me. Well,
what is the matter?"
"The matter is that you have proposed to me what is
impossible," said Rochefort, shaking his head with an air of
disappointment.
"What! impossible? And why is it impossible?"
"Because Monsieur de Beaufort is one of my friends, or
rather, I am one of his. Have you forgotten, my lord, that
it is he who answered for me to the queen?"
"Since then Monsieur de Beaufort has become an enemy of the
State."
"That may be, my lord; but since I am neither king nor queen
nor minister, he is not my enemy and I cannot accept your
offer."
"This, then, is what you call devotion! I congratulate you.
Your devotion does not commit you too far, Monsieur de
Rochefort."
"And then, my lord," continued Rochefort, "you understand
that to emerge from the Bastile in order to enter Vincennes
is only to change ones prison."
"Say at once that you are on the side of Monsieur de
Beaufort; that will be the most sincere line of conduct,"
said Mazarin.
"My lord, I have been so long shut up, that I am only of one
party -- I am for fresh air. Employ me in any other way;
employ me even actively, but let it be on the high roads."
"My dear Monsieur de Rochefort," Mazarin replied in a tone
of raillery, "you think yourself still a young man; your
spirit is that of the phoenix, but your strength fails you.
Believe me, you ought now to take a rest. Here!"
"You decide, then, nothing about me, my lord?"
"On the contrary, I have come to a decision."
Bernouin came into the room.
"Call an officer of justice," he said; "and stay close to
me," he added, in a low tone.
The officer entered. Mazarin wrote a few words, which he
gave to this man; then he bowed.
"Adieu, Monsieur de Rochefort," he said.
Rochefort bent low.
"I see, my lord, I am to be taken back to the Bastile."
"You are sagacious."
"I shall return thither, my lord, but it is a mistake on
your part not to employ me."
"You? the friend of my greatest foes? Dont suppose that you
are the only person who can serve me, Monsieur de Rochefort.
I shall find many men as able as you are."
"I wish you may, my lord," replied De Rochefort.
He was then reconducted by the little staircase, instead of
passing through the ante-chamber where DArtagnan was
waiting. In the courtyard the carriage and the four
musketeers were ready, but he looked around in vain for his
friend.
"Ah!" he muttered to himself, "this changes the situation,
and if there is still a crowd of people in the streets we
will try to show Mazarin that we are still, thank God, good
for something else than keeping guard over a prisoner;" and
he jumped into the carriage with the alacrity of a man of
five-and-twenty.
4
Anne of Austria at the Age of Forty-six.
When left alone with Bernouin, Mazarin was for some minutes
lost in thought. He had gained much information, but not
enough. Mazarin was a cheat at the card-table. This is a
detail preserved to us by Brienne. He called it using his
advantages. He now determined not to begin the game with
DArtagnan till he knew completely all his adversarys
cards.
"My lord, have you any commands?" asked Bernouin.
"Yes, yes," replied Mazarin. "Light me; I am going to the
queen."
Bernouin took up a candlestick and led the way.
There was a secret communication between the cardinals
apartments and those of the queen; and through this
corridor* Mazarin passed whenever he wished to visit Anne of
Austria.
*This secret passage is still to be seen in the Palais
Royal.
In the bedroom in which this passage ended, Bernouin
encountered Madame de Beauvais, like himself intrusted with
the secret of these subterranean love affairs; and Madame de
Beauvais undertook to prepare Anne of Austria, who was in
her oratory with the young king, Louis XIV., to receive the
cardinal.
Anne, reclining in a large easy-chair, her head supported by
her hand, her elbow resting on a table, was looking at her
son, who was turning over the leaves of a large book filled
with pictures. This celebrated woman fully understood the
art of being dull with dignity. It was her practice to pass
hours either in her oratory or in her room, without either
reading or praying.
When Madame de Beauvais appeared at the door and announced
the cardinal, the child, who had been absorbed in the pages
of Quintus Curtius, enlivened as they were by engravings of
Alexanders feats of arms, frowned and looked at his mother.
"Why," he said,
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