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Twenty Years Later
The Vicomte De Bragelonne
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Twenty Years Later 269 at Prostate Health
us call one of these
lackeys, with a demi-pistole in the left hand."
"Exactly so," cried Aramis. "Ah! if Im not mistaken heres
Bazin. Come here, fellow."
Bazin, who was crossing the ante-chamber majestically in his
clerical dress, turned around to see who the impertinent
gentleman was who thus addressed him; but seeing his friends
he went up to them quickly and expressed delight at seeing
them.
"A truce to compliments," said Aramis; "we want to see the
coadjutor, and instantly, as we are in haste."
"Certainly, sir -- it is not such lords as you are who are
allowed to wait in the ante-chamber, only just now he has a
secret conference with Monsieur de Bruy."
"De Bruy!" cried the friends, "tis then useless our seeing
monsieur the coadjutor this evening," said Aramis, "so we
give it up."
And they hastened to quit the palace, followed by Bazin, who
was lavish of bows and compliments.
"Well," said Athos, when Aramis and he were in the boat
again, "are you beginning to be convinced that we should
have done a bad turn to all these people in arresting
Mazarin?"
"You are wisdom incarnate, Athos," Aramis replied.
What had especially been observed by the two friends was the
little interest taken by the court of France in the terrible
events which had occurred in England, which they thought
should have arrested the attention of all Europe.
In fact, aside from a poor widow and a royal orphan who wept
in the corner of the Louvre, no one appeared to be aware
that Charles I. had ever lived and that he had perished on
the scaffold.
The two friends made an appointment for ten oclock on the
following day; for though the night was well advanced when
they reached the door of the hotel, Aramis said that he had
certain important visits to make and left Athos to enter
alone.
At ten oclock the next day they met again. Athos had been
out since six oclock.
"Well, have you any news?" Athos asked.
"Nothing. No one has seen DArtagnan and Porthos has not
appeared. Have you anything?"
"Nothing."
"The devil!" said Aramis.
"In fact," said Athos, "this delay is not natural; they took
the shortest route and should have arrived before we did."
"Add to that DArtagnans rapidity in action and that he is
not the man to lose an hour, knowing that we were expecting
him."
"He expected, you will remember, to be here on the fifth."
"And here we are at the ninth. This evening the margin of
possible delay expires."
"What do you think should be done," asked Athos, "if we have
no news of them to-night?"
"Pardieu! we must go and look for them."
"All right," said Athos.
"But Raoul?" said Aramis.
A light cloud passed over the counts face.
"Raoul gives me much uneasiness," he said. "He received
yesterday a message from the Prince de Conde; he went to
meet him at Saint Cloud and has not returned."
"Have you seen Madame de Chevreuse?"
"She was not at home. And you, Aramis, you were going, I
think, to visit Madame de Longueville."
"I did go there."
"Well?"
"She was no longer there, but she had left her new address."
"Where was she?"
"Guess; I give you a thousand chances."
"How should I know where the most beautiful and active of
the Frondists was at midnight? for I presume it was when you
left me that you went to visit her."
"At the Hotel de Ville, my dear fellow."
"What! at the Hotel de Ville? Has she, then, been appointed
provost of merchants?"
"No; but she has become queen of Paris, ad interim, and
since she could not venture at once to establish herself in
the Palais Royal or the Tuileries, she is installed at the
Hotel de Ville, where she is on the point of giving an heir
or an heiress to that dear duke."
"You didnt tell me of that, Aramis."
"Really? It was my forgetfulness then; pardon me."
"Now," asked Athos, "what are we to do with ourselves till
evening? Here we are without occupation, it seems to me."
"You forget, my friend, that we have work cut out for us in
the direction of Charenton; I hope to see Monsieur de
Chatillon, whom Ive hated for a long time, there."
"Why have you hated him?"
"Because he is the brother of Coligny."
"Ah, true! he who presumed to be a rival of yours, for which
he was severely punished; that ought to satisfy you."
"Yes, but it does not; I am rancorous -- the only stigma
that proves me to be a churchman. Do you understand? You
understand that you are in no way obliged to go
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