LITMIR.BIZ

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      “Planchet,” said d’Artagnan, “I commit the corpse of this poor devil to your care. Let him be interred in holy ground. He committed a crime, it is true; but he repented of it.”

      And the four friends quit the room, leaving to Planchet and Fourreau the duty of paying mortuary honors to Brisemont.

      The host gave them another chamber, and served them with fresh eggs and some water, which Athos went himself to draw at the fountain. In a few words, Porthos and Aramis were posted as to the situation.

      “Well,” said d’Artagnan to Athos, “you see, my dear friend, that this is war to the death.”

      Athos shook his head.

      “Yes, yes,” replied he, “I perceive that plainly; but do you really believe it is she?”

      “I am sure of it.”

      “Nevertheless, I confess I still doubt.”

      “But the fleur-de-lis on her shoulder?”

      “She is some Englishwoman who has committed a crime in France, and has been branded in consequence.”

      “Athos, she is your wife, I tell you,” repeated d’Artagnan; “only reflect how much the two descriptions resemble each other.”

      “Yes; but I should think the other must be dead, I hanged her so effectually.”

      It was d’Artagnan who now shook his head in his turn.

      “But in either case, what is to be done?” said the young man.

      “The fact is, one cannot remain thus, with a sword hanging eternally over his head,” said Athos. “We must extricate ourselves from this position.”

      “But how?”

      “Listen! You must try to see her, and have an explanation with her. Say to her: ‘Peace or war! My word as a gentleman never to say anything of you, never to do anything against you; on your side, a solemn oath to remain neutral with respect to me. If not, I will apply to the chancellor, I will apply to the king, I will apply to the hangman, I will move the courts against you, I will denounce you as branded, I will bring you to trial; and if you are acquitted, well, by the faith of a gentleman, I will kill you at the corner of some wall, as I would a mad dog.’”

      “I like the means well enough,” said d’Artagnan, “but where and how to meet with her?”

      “Time, dear friend, time brings round opportunity; opportunity is the martingale of man. The more we have ventured the more we gain, when we know how to wait.”

      “Yes; but to wait surrounded by assassins and poisoners.”

      “Bah!” said Athos. “God has preserved us hitherto, God will preserve us still.”

      “Yes, we. Besides, we are men; and everything considered, it is our lot to risk our lives; but she,” asked he, in an undertone.

      “What she?” asked Athos.

      “Constance.”

      “Madame Bonacieux! Ah, that’s true!” said Athos. “My poor friend, I had forgotten you were in love.”

      “Well, but,” said Aramis, “have you not learned by the letter you found on the wretched corpse that she is in a convent? One may be very comfortable in a convent; and as soon as the siege of La Rochelle is terminated, I promise you on my part—”

      “Good,” cried Athos, “good! Yes, my dear Aramis, we all know that your views have a religious tendency.”

      “I am only temporarily a Musketeer,” said Aramis, humbly.

      “It is some time since we heard from his mistress,” said Athos, in a low voice. “But take no notice; we know all about that.”

      “Well,” said Porthos, “it appears to me that the means are very simple.”

      “What?” asked d’Artagnan.

      “You say she is in a convent?” replied Porthos.

      “Yes.”

      “Very well. As soon as the siege is over, we’ll carry her off from that convent.”

      “But we must first learn what convent she is in.”

      “That’s true,” said Porthos.

      “But I think I have it,” said Athos. “Don’t you say, dear d’Artagnan, that it is the queen who has made choice of the convent for her?”

      “I believe so, at least.”

      “In that case Porthos will assist us.”

      “And how so, if you please?”

      “Why, by your marchioness, your duchess, your princess. She must have a long arm.”

      “Hush!” said Porthos, placing a finger on his lips. “I believe her to be a cardinalist; she must know nothing of the matter.”

      “Then,” said Aramis, “I take upon myself to obtain intelligence of her.”

      “You, Aramis?” cried the three friends. “You! And how?”

      “By the queen’s almoner, to whom I am very intimately allied,” said Aramis, coloring.

      And on this assurance, the four friends, who had finished their modest repast, separated, with the promise of meeting again that evening. D’Artagnan returned to less important affairs, and the three Musketeers repaired to the king’s quarters, where they had to prepare their lodging.

       43 THE SIGN OF THE RED DOVECOT

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      MEANWHILE THE KING, who, with more reason than the cardinal, showed his hatred for Buckingham, although scarcely arrived was in such a haste to meet the enemy that he commanded every disposition to be made to drive the English from the Isle of Re, and afterward to press the siege of La Rochelle; but notwithstanding his earnest wish, he was delayed by the dissensions which broke out between MM Bassompierre and Schomberg, against the Duc d’Angouleme.

      MM Bassompierre and Schomberg were marshals of France, and claimed their right of commanding the army under the orders of the king; but the cardinal, who feared that Bassompierre, a Huguenot at heart, might press but feebly the English and Rochellais, his brothers in religion, supported the Duc d’Angouleme, whom the king, at his instigation, had named lieutenant general. The result was that to prevent MM Bassompierre and Schomberg from deserting the army, a separate command had to be given to each. Bassompierre took up his quarters on the north of the city, between Leu and Dompierre; the Duc d’Angouleme on the east, from Dompierre to Perigny; and M. de Schomberg on the south, from Perigny to Angoutin.

      The quarters of Monsieur were at Dompierre; the quarters of the king were sometimes at Estree, sometimes at Jarrie; the cardinal’s quarters were upon the downs, at the bridge of La Pierre, in a simple house without any entrenchment. So that Monsieur watched Bassompierre; the king, the Duc d’Angouleme; and the cardinal, M. de Schomberg.

      As soon as this organization was established, they set about driving the English from the Isle.

      The juncture was favorable. The English, who require, above everything, good living in order to be good soldiers, only eating salt meat and bad biscuit, had many invalids in their camp. Still further, the sea, very rough at this period of the year all along the sea coast, destroyed every day some little vessel; and the shore, from the point of l’Aiguillon to the trenches, was at every tide literally covered with the wrecks of pinnacles, roberges, and feluccas.

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