The Three Musketeers (The Modern Library) - Alexandre Dumas [304]
“Ah, God, what evil! I vow my senses fail me amid this chaos of iniquities! If this continues, I shall go mad!”
“One moment! Wait!”
“What is it?”
“I hear a horse’s hoofs; that must be my brother setting off again. I shall wave him farewell. Come to the window.”
Motioning to the novice to join her, she threw open the window and leaned out, the novice joining her. Below, Rochefort galloped by.
“Good-bye, brother,” Milady called.
The Chevalier looked up, perceived the two young women and without stopping raised his hand in friendly salute.
“Bless his heart!” Milady said closing the window, her expression at once melancholy and affectionate. And she returned to her chair as if she were plunged in purely personal reflections.
“Forgive me for interrupting you, dear Madame,” the novice ventured. “But I implore you to tell me what you advise me to do. You have so much more experience than I. Speak and I shall obey you.”
“To begin with, I may be wrong,” Milady said confidently, “and it is barely possible that D’Artagnan and his friends are really coming to your rescue.”
“That would be too wonderful!” the novice exclaimed. “Surely so much happiness is not in store for me!”
“Well, if your friends are coming, the whole thing boils itself down to a question of time, a kind of race. Who will reach there first? If your friends are the speedier, you are saved; if the Cardinal’s henchmen outride them, you are lost.”
“Yes, hopelessly lost! But what shall I do, Madame, what shall I do?”
“There is one quite simple, quite natural way—”
“What way, Madame?”
“You might wait in hiding somewhere in the neighborhood until you made sure exactly who was coming to fetch you.”
“But where can I wait?”
“That is easy! I myself am going to hide a few leagues from here until my brother can join me. Suppose I take you with me and we wait in hiding together.”
“But I will not be allowed to leave, Madame,” the novice objected. “I am virtually a prisoner here.”
“As they think I am leaving on orders from the Cardinal no one will dream that you wish to follow me.”
“What then, Madame?”
“My carriage is at the gate . . . you are bidding me adieu . . . you mount the step to embrace me for the last time . . . suddenly my brother’s lackey signals to the postillion and we drive off. . . .”
“But D’Artagnan, Madame? What of D’Artagnan, if he comes?”
“We shall know if he comes, my dear.”
“How, Madame?”
“We can trust my brother’s lackey . . . we will send him back to Béthune . . . he can assume a disguise and take lodgings opposite the convent . . . if the Cardinal’s emissaries turn up first, he makes no move . . . if it is Monsieur D’Artagnan and his friends, he brings them to us. . . .”
“The lackey knows Monsieur d’Artagnan?”
“Certainly. Has he not seen him often at my house?”
“Yes, yes, Madame, I had forgotten. All is for the best, I am sure. But let us not go too far away from here.”
“Eight leagues at most, child. We shall settle close to the border. At the first sign of danger, we can leave France.”
“But what in the meantime?”
“We must wait patiently. It will not be long.”
“But what if D’Artagnan and his friends arrive?”
“My brother’s carriage will be here first.”
“What if I should be away when the carriage calls for you?” the novice asked. “I might be in the refectory at dinner or supper for instance.”
“Why not ask our good Mother Superior to allow you to share my meal?”
“Will she permit it?”
“Why should she object?”
“Yes, that is a splendid idea, Madame. We need not be separated for an instant.”
“Quite so, my dear. Now run down to make your request. I feel dizzy; my head is spinning; I think I shall go for a stroll in the garden.”
“Where shall I meet you, Madame?”
“Right here in an hour.”
“Very well, Madame; right here in an hour from now. Oh, how kindly and gracious you are and how thankful I am to you!”
“Why should I not be interested in you? You are