The Three Musketeers (Translated by Richard Pevear) - Alexandre Dumas [300]
“Go up to your room,” she said to Mme Bonacieux. “You must have some jewelry you wish to bring with you.”
“I have letters,” she said.
“Well, go and fetch them, and come to join me in my room. We’ll have a quick supper. We may be traveling for part of the night; we’ll need to fortify ourselves.”
“Good God!” said Mme Bonacieux, putting her hand to her breast, “my heart is failing me, I can’t walk.”
“Courage, now, courage! Just think that in a quarter of an hour you’ll be safe, and consider that what you’re about to do, you are doing for him.”
“Oh, yes, all for him! You’ve given me back my courage with a single word. Go on, I’ll join you.”
Milady quickly went up to her room, found Rochefort’s lackey there, and gave him his instructions.
He was to wait at the gate. If by chance the musketeers should appear, the carriage would set off at a gallop, circle around the convent, and go to wait for Milady in a small village located on the other side of the wood. In that case, Milady would go across the garden and reach the village on foot. As we have already said, Milady knew that part of France perfectly.
If the musketeers should not appear, things would go as agreed: Mme Bonacieux would get into the carriage on the pretext of saying good-bye to her, and Milady would carry her off.
Mme Bonacieux came in, and to remove her last suspicions, if she had any, Milady repeated before her the entire last part of her instructions to the lackey.
Milady asked a few questions about the carriage. It was a post chaise harnessed to three horses, driven by a postilion. Rochefort’s lackey was to precede them as a courier.
Milady was wrong to fear that Mme Bonacieux might have suspicions: the poor young woman was too pure to suspect such perfidy in another woman. Besides, the name of the countess de Winter, which she had heard spoken by the abbess, was perfectly unknown to her, and she was even unaware that a woman had played such a great and fatal part in the misfortunes of her life.
“You see,” said Milady, when the lackey had left, “everything’s ready. The abbess suspects nothing and believes they have come for me from the cardinal. This man is going to give the last orders. Eat a little something, drink a sip of wine, and let’s be off.”
“Yes,” Mme Bonacieux said mechanically, “yes, let’s be off.”
Milady made a sign for her to sit down opposite her, poured her a small glass of Spanish wine, and served her a chicken breast.
“See,” she said to her, “how everything assists us: night is falling; by daybreak we will have reached our refuge, and no one will suspect where we are. Come, have courage, eat something.”
Mme Bonacieux mechanically ate a few mouthfuls and dipped her lips into her glass.
“Come, come,” said Milady, bringing hers to her lips, “do as I do.”
But as she brought the glass to her mouth, her hand stopped suspended: she had just heard what sounded like the distant drumroll of hoofbeats approaching along the road; then, at almost the same time, she seemed to hear the whinnying of horses.
This noise roused her from her joy, as the sound of a storm awakens one in the middle of a pleasant dream. She turned pale and ran to the window, while Mme Bonacieux, getting up all atremble, supported herself on a chair so as not to fall.
Nothing could be seen yet, only the hoofbeats could be heard coming closer and closer.
“Oh, my God!” said Mme Bonacieux, “what is that noise?”
“Our friends, or our enemies,” said Milady, with terrible coolness. “Stay where you are, I’ll go and see.”
Mme Bonacieux remained standing, mute, motionless, and pale as a statue.
The noise grew louder, the horses could not have been more than a hundred and fifty paces away; if they still could not be seen, it was because of a bend in the road. However, the noise became so distinct that one could have counted the number of horses by the staccato beating of their iron shoes.
Milady looked with all the power of her attention. It was just light enough for her to recognize those who were coming.
All at once, around the turning of the road, she saw the