The Three Musketeers (Translated by Richard Pevear) - Alexandre Dumas [114]
“I need to know the road I’m to follow,” said d’Artagnan.
“Go from here to Blangy, and from Blangy to Neufchâtel. At Neufchâtel, go into the inn of the Golden Harrow, give the innkeeper the password, and you will find a saddled horse ready, as you did here.”
“Do I owe you anything?” asked d’Artagnan.
“It’s all paid for,” said the host, “and generously. Go on, then, and God be with you!”
“Amen!” replied the young man, setting off at a gallop.
Four hours later, he was in Neufchâtel.
He followed the instructions he had been given to the letter. At Neufchâtel, as at Saint-Valery, he found a mount already saddled and waiting for him. He went to transfer the pistols from the saddle he had just quitted to the one he was about to take: the holsters were already furnished with identical pistols.
“Your address in Paris?”
“Hôtel des Gardes, company of des Essarts.”
“Very well,” replied the man.
“What road must I take?” d’Artagnan asked in his turn.
“The road to Rouen; but leave the city on your right. You will stop at the little village of Ecouis. There is only one inn, the Shield of France. Don’t judge it by its appearance; there will be a horse in its stables equal to this one.”
“Same password?”
“Exactly.”
“Good-bye, master.”
“Good journey, sir! Is there anything you need?”
D’Artagnan shook his head and set off at full speed. At Ecouis the same scene repeated itself: he found a host just as obliging, a fresh and well-rested horse. He left his address as before, and set off at the same speed for Pontoise. At Pontoise he changed mounts a last time, and at nine o’clock he came galloping into M. de Tréville’s courtyard.
He had made nearly sixty leagues in twelve hours. M. de Tréville received him as if he had seen him that same morning; only, shaking his hand a bit more warmly than usual, he announced to him that M. des Essarts’s company was on guard at the Louvre, and that he could report for duty.
XXII
THE BALLET OF THE MERLAISON
The next day, all the talk in Paris was about the ball that the city aldermen were giving for the king and queen, and at which Their Majesties would dance the famous ballet of the Merlaison, which was the king’s favorite.88
Indeed, for eight days everything at the Hôtel de Ville had been in preparation for this solemn evening.89 The city carpenter had set up scaffolding on which the invited ladies were to sit; the city grocer had furnished the halls with two hundred white wax torches, which was an unheard-of luxury for that time; finally, twenty violins had been called in, and the fee granted them had been fixed at double the ordinary rate, seeing that, according to this report, they were to play all night.
At ten o’clock in the morning, the sieur de La Coste,90 ensign of the king’s guards, followed by two police officers and several archers of the corps, came to ask the city clerk, named Clément, for all the keys to the doors, rooms, and offices of the hôtel. The keys were handed over to him at once; each bore a tag to identify it, and from that moment on the sieur de La Coste was charged with guarding all the doors and all the drives.
At eleven o’clock, Duhallier,91 captain of the guards, came in his turn, bringing fifty archers with him, who immediately scattered through the Hôtel de Ville to the various doors assigned to them.
At three o’clock, two companies of guards arrived, one French, the other Swiss. The company of French guards was made up half of M. Duhallier’s men and half of M. des Essarts’s men.
At six o’clock in the evening, the guests began to arrive. As they went in, they were placed in the main hall on the prepared scaffolding.
At nine o’clock, Mme la Première Présidente arrived.92 As she was the most notable person after the queen, she was received by the city fathers and placed in a loge facing that which the queen was to occupy.
At ten o’clock, a light meal of preserves was set out for the king in the little hall on the side of the church of Saint Jean, facing the dresser containing the city silver, which was guarded by four archers.
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