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Books
The Three Musketeers
Twenty Years Later
The Vicomte De Bragelonne
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Twenty Years Later 21 at Prostate Health
they serve me as well as they served the queen my
gratitude shall be magnificent."
"But what are we to do?"
"Make your mind easy; when the time for action comes you
shall be put in full possession of what I require from you;
wait till that time arrives and find out your friends."
"My lord, perhaps they are not in Paris. It is even probable
that I shall have to make a journey. I am only a lieutenant
of musketeers, very poor, and journeys cost money.
"My intention," said Mazarin, "is not that you go with a
great following; my plans require secrecy, and would be
jeopardized by a too extravagant equipment."
"Still, my lord, I cant travel on my pay, for it is now
three months behind; and I cant travel on my savings, for
in my twenty-two years of service I have accumulated nothing
but debts."
Mazarin remained some moments in deep thought, as if he were
fighting with himself; then, going to a large cupboard
closed with a triple lock, he took from it a bag of silver,
and weighing it twice in his hands before he gave it to
DArtagnan:
"Take this," he said with a sigh, "tis merely for your
journey."
"If these are Spanish doubloons, or even gold crowns,"
thought DArtagnan, "we shall yet be able to do business
together." He saluted the cardinal and plunged the bag into
the depths of an immense pocket.
"Well, then, all is settled; you are to set off," said the
cardinal.
"Yes, my lord."
"Apropos, what are the names of your friends?"
"The Count de la Fere, formerly styled Athos; Monsieur du
Vallon, whom we used to call Porthos; the Chevalier
dHerblay, now the Abbe dHerblay, whom we styled Aramis
---- "
The cardinal smiled.
"Younger sons," he said, "who enlisted in the musketeers
under feigned names in order not to lower their family
names. Long swords but light purses. Was that it?"
"If, God willing, these swords should be devoted to the
service of your eminence," said DArtagnan, "I shall venture
to express a wish, which is, that in its turn the purse of
your eminence may become light and theirs heavy -- for with
these three men your eminence may rouse all Europe if you
like."
"These Gascons," said the cardinal, laughing, "almost beat
the Italians in effrontery."
"At all events," answered DArtagnan, with a smile almost as
crafty as the cardinals, "they beat them when they draw
their swords."
He then withdrew, and as he passed into the courtyard he
stopped near a lamp and dived eagerly into the bag of money.
"Crown pieces only -- silver pieces! I suspected it. Ah!
Mazarin! Mazarin! thou hast no confidence in me! so much the
worse for thee, for harm may come of it!"
Meanwhile the cardinal was rubbing his hands in great
satisfaction.
"A hundred pistoles! a hundred pistoles! for a hundred
pistoles I have discovered a secret for which Richelieu
would have paid twenty thousand crowns; without reckoning
the value of that diamond" -- he cast a complacent look at
the ring, which he had kept, instead of restoring to
DArtagnan -- "which is worth, at least, ten thousand
francs."
He returned to his room, and after depositing the ring in a
casket filled with brilliants of every sort, for the
cardinal was a connoisseur in precious stones, he called to
Bernouin to undress him, regardless of the noises of
gun-fire that, though it was now near midnight, continued to
resound through Paris.
In the meantime DArtagnan took his way toward the Rue
Tiquetonne, where he lived at the Hotel de la Chevrette.
We will explain in a few words how DArtagnan had been led
to choose that place of residence.
6
DArtagnan in his Fortieth Year.
Years have elapsed, many events have happened, alas! since,
in our romance of "The Three Musketeers," we took leave of
DArtagnan at No. 12 Rue des Fossoyeurs. DArtagnan had not
failed in his career, but circumstances had been adverse to
him. So long as he was surrounded by his friends he retained
his youth and the poetry of his character. He was one of
those fine, ingenuous natures which assimilate themselves
easily to the dispositions of others. Athos imparted to him
his greatness of soul, Porthos his enthusiasm, Aramis his
elegance. Had DArtagnan continued his intimacy with these
three men he would have become a superior character. Athos
was the first to leave him, in order that he might retire to
a little property he had inherited near Blois; Porthos, the
second, to marry an attorneys wife; and lastly, Aramis, the
third, to take orders and become an abbe. From that day
DArtagnan felt lonely and powerless,
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