The Three Musketeers (The Modern Library) - Alexandre Dumas [34]
“Come, Monsieur le Capitaine, come here so I may chide you. Do you know that His Eminence has been complaining again about your musketeers, ay, Captain, and with such passion that he is out of sorts this evening? These musketeers of yours are devils incarnate and gallowsbirds all!”
Seeing at first glance how things would turn, Monsieur de Tréville hastened to deny the accusation. On the contrary, he insisted, his soldiers were kindly creatures and meek as lambs. He would personally warrant that they had but one desire, namely to draw their swords only in His Majesty’s service. But what were they to do? The Cardinal’s Guards were forever picking quarrels with them and they were obliged to defend themselves, if only for the honor of the corps.
“Hark at Monsieur de Tréville,” the King commented. “Hark at the man! Anybody would imagine he was speaking about the members of a religious order. In fact, my dear Captain, I’ve a good mind to take away your commission and give it to Mademoiselle de Chemerault, to whom I promised an abbey. But I do not think I will take you at your word. I am called Louis le Juste and justice shall prevail, Monsieur. By and by we shall see. . . .”
“It is because of my faith in that justice, Sire, that I shall calmly and patiently await the good pleasure of Your Majesty.”
“Wait then, Monsieur, wait; I shall not keep you long.”
Luck was turning against the King. As his winnings began to shrink, he was not sorry to find an excuse whereby to faire Charlemagne, to use a gambling term whose origin I do not know but which means to leave the table when one is in pocket. His Majesty rose and pocketing his winnings, turned to a courtier:
“La Vieuville,” he said, “take my place, for I must speak to Monsieur de Tréville about an urgent matter. Ah, I had eighty louis before me! Put down the same sum so that those who have lost money will have no cause for complaint. Justice comes first!”
Then, turning to Monsieur de Tréville, he walked toward the window.
“Well, Monsieur, you say that His Most Illustrious Eminence’s Guards sought a quarrel with Royal Musketeers?”
“Yes, Sire, just as they always do.”
“How did it happen? Tell me all about it. A judge must hear both sides of any question.”
“Well, Sire, it was like this. Three of my best soldiers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis, decided to go on a jaunt with a young fellow from Gascony to whom I had introduced them that morning. The party was to take place at Saint-Germain, I believe, so they decided to meet at the Carmelite convent. Here they were molested by De Jussac, Cahusac, Bicarat and two other guardsmen who certainly did not repair to such a place in such numbers without intending to flout the laws against dueling.
“I do not accuse them, Sire. But I leave Your Majesty to judge what five armed men could possibly want in so deserted a place as the convent pasture.
“Seeing my musketeers, the cardinalists changed their minds; their private grievances gave way to party hatred.”
“Ay, Tréville, how sad to see two parties in France, two heads to one kingdom. But this can’t go on forever!”
“Your Majesty’s servants devoutly hope so.”
“So the Cardinal’s Guards picked a quarrel with the King’s Musketeers?”
“That probably happened but I cannot swear to it, Sire. Your Majesty knows how difficult it is to arrive at the truth, unless a man be gifted with that admirable instinct which has caused Louis XIII to be named Louis the Just. . . .”
“Right again, Tréville. But your three musketeers were not alone. They had a youth with them.”
“True, Sire, but one of the three was wounded. Thus the Royal Musketeers were represented by three soldiers, one of whom was wounded, plus a mere stripling. They stood up to five of the Cardinal’s stoutest guardsmen and laid four of them low.”
“What a victory for us!” The King beamed. “A complete victory!”
“As complete a victory, Sire, as Caesar won over Vercingetorix at the Bridge of Cé.”
“Four men, you say . . . one of them wounded . . . and a mere lad. . . .”