The Three Musketeers (Translated by Richard Pevear) - Alexandre Dumas [120]
But d’Artagnan was already too far away to hear, and if he had heard, given the mood he was in, he would certainly not have noticed.
He headed for M. de Tréville’s hôtel. His visit the evening before, it will be remembered, had been very brief and not very explicative.
He found M. de Tréville in the best of spirits. The king and queen had been charming to him at the ball. It is true that the cardinal had been thoroughly glum. He had retired at one o’clock in the morning, under the pretext of feeling indisposed. As for Their Majesties, they had not returned to the Louvre until six o’clock.
“Now,” said M. de Tréville, lowering his voice and questioning all corners of the apartment with his eyes to see if they were quite alone, “now let’s talk about you, my young friend, for it’s obvious that your happy return has something to do with the joy of the king, the triumph of the queen, and the humiliation of His Eminence. You must watch out for yourself.”
“What do I have to fear,” replied d’Artagnan, “as long as I have the good fortune to enjoy Their Majesties’ favor?”
“Everything, believe me. The cardinal is not a man to forget a trick, as long as he hasn’t settled accounts with the trickster, and the trickster seems to me to be a certain Gascon of my acquaintance.”
“Do you think the cardinal has gone as far as you and knows that it was I who was in London?”
“Devil take it! So you were in London? Is it from London that you brought back that handsome diamond sparkling on your finger? Take care, my dear d’Artagnan, an enemy’s gift is not a good thing; isn’t there some Latin verse about that?…Wait a moment…”
“Yes, no doubt,” said d’Artagnan, who had never been able to stuff the barest rudiments into his head, and for ignorance had been his tutor’s despair, “yes, no doubt, there must be one.”
“There certainly is,” said M. de Tréville, who had a smattering of letters, “and M. de Benserade94 recited it to me the other day…Hold on…Ah! I’ve got it:
timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.
“Which means: ‘Beware the enemy who gives you presents.’”95
“This diamond does not come from an enemy, Monsieur,” d’Artagnan picked up, “it comes from the queen.”
“From the queen! Oho!” said M. de Tréville. “Indeed, it is truly a royal jewel, worth a thousand pistoles if it’s worth anything. Through whom did the queen give you this gift?”
“She gave it to me herself.”
“Where was that?”
“In the dressing room adjoining the room where she changed costume.”
“How?”
“By offering me her hand to kiss.”
“You have kissed the queen’s hand?” cried M. de Tréville, gazing at d’Artagnan.
“Her Majesty did me the honor of according me that grace!”
“And that in the presence of witnesses? Imprudent, three times imprudent!”
“No, Monsieur, rest assured, no one saw her,” said d’Artagnan. And he told M. de Tréville how things had gone.
“Oh, women! women!” cried the old soldier. “I can tell them very well by their romantic imagination. Everything with a whiff of mystery charms them. So you saw an arm, that’s all. You’ll meet the queen and not recognize her; she’ll meet you and not know who you are.”
“No, but thanks to this diamond…” the young man picked up.
“Listen,” said M. de Tréville, “do you want me to give you some advice, some good advice, some friendly advice?”
“I would be honored, Monsieur,” said d’Artagnan.
“Well, then, go to the first goldsmith you come upon and sell that diamond for the price he offers. Jew though he be, you’ll always get eight hundred pistoles for it. Pistoles have no name, young man, but that ring has a terrible one, and it may betray the man who wears it.”
“Sell this ring? A ring that came from the queen? Never!” said d’Artagnan.
“Then turn the stone inwards, you poor fool, for everybody knows that a cadet from Gascony doesn’t find such gems in his mother’s jewelry box.”
“So you think I have something to fear?” asked d’Artagnan.
“Let’s say, young man, that somebody sleeping on a mine with a lighted fuse should consider himself safe compared to you.”
“Devil take it!” said d’Artagnan, who was beginning to be worried by the