The Three Musketeers (The Modern Library) - Alexandre Dumas [223]
Milady begged His Eminence to quote some such historical event: it might bring her to share his confidence in the future.
“There are plenty of such incidents,” the Cardinal replied, “nor have we to look too far back to find them. In 1610, for instance, our own King Henry IV of glorious memory was about to invade both Flanders and Italy in order to attack Austria on both flanks. He was inspired to do so for a cause similar to that which now inspires Buckingham. And what happened?” Milady made no answer. “What saved Austria? One of those historical events!” Still Milady said nothing. “Why should not the present King of France profit as much today by a lucky accident as the Emperor profited in 1610?”
“Your Eminence refers to the stabbing in the Rue de la Ferronnerie?”
“Exactly.”
“But Ravaillac was tortured and mutilated for killing King Henry IV,” Milady argued. “His punishment should deter anyone who might dream of following his example.”
“In all times and in all countries, particularly in countries torn by religious strife, there are always fanatics who ask nothing better than to become martyrs. Just as Ravaillac killed Henry IV, so Jacques Clément, twenty years before, killed Henry III. Surely England today offers another case in point. Are not the Puritans furious against the Duke of Buckingham? Do not their preachers describe him as Antichrist?”
“Well?”
“Well!” the Cardinal continued in an indifferent tone, “we need but find some beautiful and clever young woman who has personal reasons to take revenge on the Duke. Such women are legion, for the Duke has had many love affairs. If he has fostered many loves by promises of eternal constancy, he must also have inspired as many hatreds by his eternal infidelities.”
“Undoubtedly such a woman could be found,” Milady replied coldly.
“Such a woman, placing the knife of Jacques Clément or that of Ravaillac in the hands of a fanatic, would save France!”
“Yes, but she would become the accomplice of an assassin.”
“Has anyone ever discovered the accomplices of Ravaillac or of Jacques Clément?”
“No, but perhaps they were so high placed that no one dared look for them. It is not everyone who can get the Palais de Justice burned down, Monseigneur.”
As though the question were of no importance:
“So you think the fire at the Palais de Justice was not an accident?” Richelieu asked.
“Monseigneur, I do not think anything. I quote an historical fact, no more. I can only add that were I Mademoiselle de Montpensier or Queen Marie de’ Médicis, I could afford to be less cautious than I am. But I am merely Lady Clark.”
“True. What do you require, then?”
“I require an order ratifying beforehand whatever act I may consider proper for the greatest good of France.”
“Ah, but we must first find some woman who wishes to avenge herself upon the Duke of Buckingham.”
“She is found,” Milady assured him.
“Next, we must find a miserable fanatic willing to serve as an instrument of the justice of God.”
“He will be found.”
“When that is done, it will be time to write the order you ask for.”
“Your Eminence is right,” Milady granted, “and I was wrong in seeing in the mission with which you honor me anything but what it actually is. To sum up my instructions, I am to tell His Grace of Buckingham that you know the various disguises he used in order to approach the Queen at the fête given by Madame la Connétable . . . that you have proofs of the interview at the Louvre granted by the Queen to a certain Italian astrologer who was no other than the Duke of Buckingham . . . that you have ordered a very satirical little romance to be written on the adventures at Amiens, along with a map of the garden where the affair took place, and portraits of the actors who figured in it . . . that Montagu is in the Bastille and that torture may make him tell what he remembers and even what he has already forgotten . . . and finally that you possess a certain letter from Madame de Chevreuse, which not only compromises its sender but also its addressee. . . . Then,