The Three Musketeers (The Modern Library) - Alexandre Dumas [307]
Milady suddenly paused, looming over the other; a livid flame flashed from her eyes. Then, running back to the table, she twirled open the bezel of her ring with extraordinary speed, and emptied its contents into Madame Bonacieux’s glass. The ring contained a tiny reddish pill which dissolved immediately. Then grasping the glass firmly:
“Drink,” she said, “this wine will give you strength. Drink!”
And she pressed the glass to the lips of the young woman who gulped obediently.
“That was not the revenge I planned!” Milady mused, smiling and replacing the glass on the table. “Ah, well, we do our best!” And she rushed out of the room.
Madame Bonacieux watched her disappear without being able to follow her; she was like the victim of a nightmare in which she was being pursued but was pinned down helpless to her bed. Several minutes passed but she did not move. Then there was a great tumult at the convent gate and she expected Milady to reappear at any moment but in vain. In her terror and dismay, she felt an icy sweat break over her burning forehead.
At length she heard the grating of hinges as the gates swung open with a crash. There was a trampling of boots, a rattling of spurs and a hubbub of voices on the stairs. And then she heard or dreamed she was hearing someone call her by name.
Suddenly she uttered a great cry of joy and darted toward the door for she had recognized the voice of D’Artagnan.
“D’Artagnan, D’Artagnan! Is it you?” she cried. “This way, this way!”
“Constance, where are you?”
The door of the cell sprang open. As several men rushed in, Madame Bonacieux sank back into an armchair unable to move. D’Artagnan tossed a pistol, still smoking, to the floor and fell on his knees before his mistress. Athos replaced his pistol in his belt. Porthos and Aramis, who had entered sword in hand, returned the weapons to their scabbards.
“Oh, D’Artagnan, my beloved D’Artagnan! Here you are at last! You kept your word! It is you, is it not? Tell me it is you I see!”
“Ay, Constance, we are together again!”
“She told me you were not coming. I knew you were, but she seemed so sure. I hoped in silence. I did not want to flee with her. How right I was, darling, and how happy I am!”
At the word she, Athos, who had sat down quietly, started up.
“She?” D’Artagnan asked. “Who do you mean?”
“Why, my companion and friend . . . the lady who tried to get me away from my persecutors . . . the lady who mistook you for Cardinalist Guards and has just fled. . . .”
D’Artagnan turned paler than the white veil of his mistress.
“Your companion, dear Constance?” he asked, utterly baffled. “What companion do you mean?”
“The lady whose carriage was at the door! She told me she was a friend of yours, D’Artagnan. She said you had told her everything.”
“Her name, her name! Can’t you recall her name?”
“Yes, I think so. The Mother Superior told me but I forget. It is a strange name. Oh, God, my head swims—I cannot see—”
“Help, help, my friends, her hands are icy cold,” said D’Artagnan. “She is ill. Dear God! She is losing consciousness!”
While Porthos bellowed for help, Aramis moved toward the table for a glass of water. But he stopped suddenly at the sight of Athos. A terrible change had come over Athos as he stood before the table, his hair bristling, his eyes frozen in a stupor. Staring into one of the glasses, Athos appeared to be a prey to the most horrible doubt.
“No, no, it is impossible,” he muttered. “God would not permit such a crime.”
“Water,” cried D’Artagnan, “bring some water!”
“Poor woman!” Athos murmured brokenly.
Madame Bonacieux opened her eyes under the kisses of D’Artagnan.
“She is coming to!” cried our Gascon. “Thank God!”
“Madame,” Athos asked, “in the name of Heaven, whose is that empty glass?”
“It is mine, Monsieur,” the young woman answered in a dying voice.
“But who poured you the wine that was in it?”
“She did—”
“But who is she?”
“Oh, I remember now . . . she is the Comtesse de Clark . . .” She gasped for breath, then, having spoken, she turned livid, a sharp spasm passed over her frame and she