The Three Musketeers (The Modern Library) - Alexandre Dumas [118]
“Be constantly and steadfastly on your guard. The Cardinal has a long memory and a long reach. Take my word for it, he will play you some sorry trick.”
“But what can he do, Monsieur?”
“Good Heavens, how can I tell? His Eminence has all the devil’s calendar of tricks at his command. The best you can possibly hope for is to be arrested.”
“Even His Eminence would not dare to arrest a soldier in His Majesty’s service?”
“Did they hesitate about arresting Athos!” Monsieur de Tréville sighed. “Advice is cheap, but I beg you to take that of a man who has been at Court for thirty years. Do not lull yourself in security or you are done for. On the contrary, I insist, look out for enemies on every hand. If anyone picks a quarrel with you, even a child of ten, avoid it . . . if you are attacked, day or night, take to your heels shamelessly . . . if you cross a bridge, test every board of it for fear that one might give way under-foot . . . when you pass a house being built or repaired, look up lest a stone fall on your head . . . if you stay out late, be sure your lackey follows you and be sure he is armed, if, incidentally, you are sure you can trust your lackey. . . . Suspect everyone: your friend, your brother, your mistress—especially your mistress!”
D’Artagnan blushed, and mechanically:
“My mistress? Why should I suspect her more than anyone else, Monsieur?”
“Because the Cardinal uses mistresses to the best advantage; they are his most efficient agents. Women have been known to sell their lovers down the river for ten pistoles. Witness Delilah, or do you remember the Bible?”
D’Artagnan thought of his appointment with Madame Bonacieux that very evening. But, to his credit, Monsieur de Tréville’s misogyny could not prejudice him against his pretty landlady.
“By the way,” Monsieur de Tréville inquired, “what of your three comrades?”
“I was about to ask you, Monsieur, if you had news of them?”
“No. None.”
“Well, Monsieur, I lost them by the wayside: Porthos at Chantilly with a duel on his hands . . . Aramis at Crèvecoeur with a bullet in his shoul-der . . . and Athos at Amiens accused of counterfeiting. . . .”
Monsieur de Tréville pointed out that these three instances were proof of the Cardinal’s long reach:
“How in the devil’s name did you get away?” he concluded.
“By a miracle, Monsieur, I must confess. The Comte de Vardes pinked me in the chest but I nailed him down to a Calais byroad like a butterfly on a tapestry.”
“De Vardes, eh? A cardinalist, a cousin of Rochefort’s, I know them! But stop, my friend, I have an idea.”
“Ay, Monsieur.”
“Were I you, I would—”
“What, Monsieur?”
“I would get away while His Eminence was looking for me in the city . . . I would very quietly take the road to Picardy . . . I would enjoy myself riding over a pleasant countryside . . . and I would make inquiries about the fate of my comrades who, I dare say, richly deserve that courtesy on your part. . . .”
“Monsieur, your advice is excellent and I promise to set out tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? Why not tonight?”
“Tonight, Sir, I am unavoidably detained in town.”
“Come, lad, I know: some bird of amorous passage, eh? Heigh-ho, youth will be served! Still, I repeat, please take care of yourself: it was woman by whom we fell when Adam fell, frail as we are, and woman will ruin us one and all, so long as we draw breath!” (Monsieur de Tréville was of Gascon and Protestant stock but a good soldier withal.) “Take my word for it, lad,” he concluded. “Away with you this evening.”
“Impossible, Monsieur.”
“You have pledged your word to spend the night in town?”
“Yes, Monsieur.”
“Well, that puts a different complexion upon present matters.” Monsieur de Tréville stroked his beard. Then suddenly: “If you’re not killed tonight—and well you may be—will you set out tomorrow?”
“Absolutely, Monsieur, on my word of honor.”
“Do you need any money?”
“I still have fifty pistoles. That should certainly serve my needs.”
“And your friends?”
“I doubt whether they need money, Monsieur. Each of us had seventy-five pistoles when we left