The Three Musketeers (The Modern Library) - Alexandre Dumas [35]
“A lad ridiculously young, Sire. But he behaved so proudly on this occasion that I take the liberty of recommending him to Your Majesty.”
“His name?”
“D’Artagnan, Sire . . . the son of one of my oldest friends . . . the son of a man who served throughout the Civil War under His Majesty, your father, of glorious memory.”
“He acquitted himself well, eh?” The King placed one hand on his hip and twirled his mustache with the other. “Tell me more, Tréville. You know how much I enjoy tales of fighting and warfare.”
“As I told you, Sire, D’Artagnan is little more than a boy. As he has not the honor of being a musketeer, he was in civilian dress. The Cardinal’s guardsmen, realizing at once that he was very young indeed and that he did not belong to the corps of musketeers, invited him to withdraw before they attacked.”
“Aha! you see, Tréville, it was they who attacked, eh? That is quite clear, eh?”
“It is, Sire. Well, when they called on him to withdraw, he told them that he was a musketeer at heart, that he was wholly devoted to the King, and that he chose to remain with His Majesty’s servants.”
“A brave lad!”
“He was as good as his word, Sire. Your Majesty can be proud of him. He pinked De Jussac, to the Cardinal’s vast annoyance.”
“He wounded De Jussac? He, a mere boy? De Jussac, one of the top swordsmen in the kingdom.”
“Well, Sire, this youth felled De Jussac.”
“I want to see him, Tréville, I want to see him. If anything can be done, we shall make it our business. . . .”
“When will Your Majesty deign to receive him?”
“Tomorrow at noon, Tréville.”
“Shall I bring him alone?”
“No, bring all four of them, I wish to thank them at once. Loyal servants are rare; they deserve to be rewarded.”
“We shall report at noon tomorrow, Sire!”
“Good!” the King said. Then fidgeting nervously: “Er—the back staircase, Tréville, come up the back staircase. There’s no point in letting His Eminence know—”
“Of course, Sire.”
“You understand, Tréville, an edict is an edict and, after all, dueling has been banned.”
“But this was no duel, Sire, it was a brawl. The proof is that five of the Cardinal’s Guards set upon my three musketeers and Monsieur d’Artagnan.”
“Quite so,” the King agreed. “All the same, Tréville, make sure to take the back staircase.”
Tréville smiled at the monarch’s weakness but there was satisfaction in his smile, too, for he felt he had accomplished something by prevailing upon this child to rebel against his master.
That evening the four stalwarts were informed of the honor bestowed upon them. Having been long acquainted with the King, the musketeers were not particularly impressed, but D’Artagnan, his Gascon imagination aflame, saw in this summons the making of his future fortune. All night long, he dreamed golden dreams.
By eight o’clock next morning he was calling for Athos; he found him fully dressed and ready to go out. As their audience with the King was not till noon, Athos had arranged to play tennis with Porthos and Aramis at a court near the Luxembourg stables. He invited D’Artagnan to join them. The Gascon, ignorant of a game he had never played, nevertheless accepted. What else was he to do during the next four hours?
Porthos and Aramis were already on the court, playing together; Athos, who was an excellent athlete, passed over to the other side and, with D’Artagnan as a partner, challenged them. But though Athos played with his left hand, his first shot convinced him that his wound was still too recent to permit of such exertion. D’Artagnan therefore remained alone and, as he declared his complete ignorance of the game, they simply tried rallying, without scoring their points. A smashing ball from Porthos just missed hitting D’Artagnan in the face; had it done so, D’Artagnan would have been compelled to forego his audience with the King. As in his Gascon imagination his whole future life depended upon this meeting, he bowed politely to Porthos and Aramis, declaring that he would not resume the game until he knew enough about it to play with them on equal terms. Then he returned to a seat in