The Three Musketeers (The Modern Library) - Alexandre Dumas [28]
“Monsieur, you are wrong in trying to humiliate me,” D’Artagnan replied, his natural aggressive spirit gaining the upper hand over his pacific resolutions. “I am from Gascony it is true; since you know this, I need not tell you that Gascons are anything but patient. When a Gascon has begged to be excused once, even for a foolish act, he is convinced that he has already done once again as much as he should have.”
“Monsieur, what I said was not said in order to pick a quarrel with you. I am no bravo, thank God! I am but a temporary musketeer; as much, I fight only when I am forced to and always with the greatest repugnance. But this time the affair is serious because you have compromised a lady.”
“Because we have compromised a lady, you mean.”
“Why were you so tactless as to give me back the handkerchief?”
“Why were you so clumsy as to drop it?”
“I said and I repeat, Monsieur, that the handkerchief was never in my pocket.”
“Well, Monsieur, you have lied twice, for I saw it fall.”
“Ha! so that’s the tone you assume, Monsieur the Gascon. Well, I shall have to teach you how to behave yourself.”
“And I shall send you back to Mass, Monsieur l’Abbé, to a Mass said over your corpse. Draw, if you please, and instantly—”
“No, no, if you please, my fair friend, at least not here. Can’t you see that we are opposite the Hôtel d’Aiguillon which is filled with a rabble of Monseigneur Cardinal’s servants? How do I know that His Eminence has not deputed you to procure him my head? To tell you the truth, I am ridiculously attached to this head of mine; it seems to fit so symmetrically upon my shoulders. Of course I intend to kill you, don’t worry on that score. But in a cosy, remote place where we will not be interrupted lest you be inclined to boast about your death in public.”
“I agree, Monsieur, but do not be too confident. And bring along your handkerchief; whether it belongs to you or to somebody else, you will probably need it.”
“Monsieur is a Gascon?”
“Yes, this monsieur is a Gascon and he never postpones a duel through prudence.”
“Prudence, Monsieur, is a somewhat useless virtue for musketeers, I know. But it is indispensable to churchmen. Therefore as I am only a musketeer pro. tem., I intend to remain prudent. At two o’clock I shall have the honor of waiting for you at the Hôtel de Tréville. There, I shall apprise you of the best place and time we can meet.”
The two young men bowed and parted. Aramis went up the street which led to the Luxembourg. D’Artagnan, having suddenly noticed the time, set out toward the Carmes-Deschaux.
“Decidedly, I shall not return,” he mused. “But at least if I am killed, I shall be killed by a musketeer.”
V
HIS MAJESTY’S MUSKETEERS AND THE CARDINAL’S GUARDS
D’Artagnan did not know a soul in Paris. He therefore went to his appointment with Athos without a second to support him, let alone two, content with those whom his adversary would have chosen for him 0self. Besides, he fully intended to offer the brave musketeer all suitable apologies—without weakness or servility of course—for he feared the usual outcome of an affair of this sort, when a young, vigorous man fights against one who is weak from his wounds. If conquered, he doubles the value of his adversary’s triumph; if victorious, he is accused of having taken an unfair advantage of a handicap.
Now unless we have painted the character of our seeker after adventures unsatisfactorily our readers must already have noted that D’Artagnan was no ordinary man. Therefore while he kept repeating to himself that his death was inevitable, he was not going tamely and submissively to death as a man less courageous might have done in his place. Thinking over the different characters of the men he was about to fight against, he gained a clearer view of the situation. By offering sincere apology, he hoped to make a friend of Athos, whose lordly air and austere bearing