The Three Musketeers (The Modern Library) - Alexandre Dumas [40]
“Against whom?”
“Against slanderers.”
“Well, well, here is something new! I suppose you are going to tell me that your three damned musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis, plus your lad from Béarn, did not fall upon poor Bernajoux like so many maniacs? I suppose they didn’t treat him so roughly that by this time he is probably dead? I suppose they didn’t lay siege to the mansion of the Duc de La Trémouille and even attempt to burn it? This would be no great misfortune in time of war, for the place is a nest of Huguenots. But in times of peace, what a frightful example! Come now, can you deny this?”
“Who told you this fine story, Sire?”
“Who told me this fine story? Who but one who watches while I sleep, who labors while I amuse myself, and who governs everything at home and abroad, in France and in all Europe.”
“Your Majesty is doubtless referring to God, for I know of no one save God who stands so high above Your Majesty.”
“No, Monsieur, I mean the prop of the State, my only servant, my only friend, the Cardinal!”
“His Eminence is not His Holiness, Sire.”
“What do you mean by that, Monsieur?”
“I mean that only the Pope is infallible and that his infallibility does not extend to cardinals.”
“Do you propose to tell me that the Cardinal is misleading me? You are accusing him, eh? Come, speak up; tell me frankly, are you accusing him?”
“No, Sire, but I say that the Cardinal has been misled. I say that he is ill-informed. I say that he was over-hasty in accusing His Majesty’s Musketeers, that he is unjust to them, and—I repeat—that he has not gone to the proper sources for his information.”
“The accusation comes from Monsieur de La Trémouille himself. What do you say to that?”
“I might answer, Sire, that he is personally too much involved in the matter to be a very impartial witness. But I shall do nothing of the kind, for I know Trémouille to be a loyal gentleman. I therefore refer the whole thing to him—but on one condition, Sire!”
“Which is—?”
“That Your Majesty will summon him here, that you will question him in private, and that I may see Your Majesty as soon as you have seen him.”
“What? You will subscribe to anything Monsieur de La Trémouille may say?”
“Yes, Sire.”
“You will abide by his advice?”
“Absolutely.”
“And you will agree to any conditions he sets?”
“Certainly.”
“La Chesnaye!” the King called. “La Chesnaye!” The monarch’s confidential valet, who never left the door, entered the room. “La Chesnaye,” said the King, “send somebody immediately to find Monsieur de La Trémouille. I wish to speak to him this evening.”
As the valet withdrew, the Captain of Musketeers turned to the King:
“Your Majesty promises not to see anyone else in the meantime.”
“I promise.”
“Tomorrow, then, Sire?”
“Until tomorrow, Monsieur.”
“At what time, if it please Your Majesty?”
“At any hour you will.”
“But if I came too early, I would be afraid of awakening Your Majesty.”
“Afraid of awakening me? Do I ever sleep? No, Monsieur, it is a long time since I had a good night’s rest. I sometimes doze, that is all. Come as early as you like, say at seven. But heaven help you if your musketeers are guilty.”
“If my musketeers are guilty, Sire, the culprits shall be delivered into Your Majesty’s hands for you to dispose of them at your pleasure. Does Your Majesty require anything further? You have but to speak, Sire, I am ready to obey.”
“No, Monsieur, no. I am not called Louis the Just without reason. Tomorrow, then, Monsieur, until tomorrow.”
“Till then, and God preserve Your Majesty.”
Poorly though the King might sleep, Monsieur de Tréville slept still worse. At half-past six next morning, the three musketeers and D’Artagnan were awaiting him; he took them with him but gave no encouragement and made no promises nor did he hide the fact that their luck, and even his own, depended on a throw of the dice. At the foot of the rear stairway, he asked them to wait. If the King was still angry at them, they could depart unseen; if His Majesty consented to receive them, they had only to be called.