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82 - Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas · Twenty Years After

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  Speaker 1: Recording by Gauzino, twenty years after by Alexandre Dumas, Chapter
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  Speaker 1: eighty two Precautions. After quitting Anne, Mazarin took the road
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  Speaker 1: to Rie, where he usually resided in those times of disturbance.
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  Speaker 1: He went about with numerous followers, and often disguised himself
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  Speaker 1: in military dress. He was, indeed, as we have stated,
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  Speaker 1: a very handsome man. In the court of the old
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  Speaker 1: Chateau of Saint Germain, he entered his coach and reached
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  Speaker 1: the Seine. At chateau, the Prince had supplied him with
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  Speaker 1: fifty light horse, not so much by way of guard,
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  Speaker 1: as to show the deputies how readily the Queen's generals
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  Speaker 1: dispersed their troops, and to prove that they might be
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  Speaker 1: safely scattered at pleasure. Athos, on horseback, without his sword
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  Speaker 1: and kept in sight by commages, followed the Cardinal in silence. Grimaud,
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  Speaker 1: finding that his master had been arrested, fell back into
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  Speaker 1: the ranks near Aramis, without saying a word, and as
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  Speaker 1: if nothing had happened. Grimaud had, indeed, during twenty two
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  Speaker 1: years of service, seen his master extricate himself from so
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  Speaker 1: many difficulties that nothing less than Athos's imminent death was
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  Speaker 1: likely to make him uneasy. At the branching off of
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  Speaker 1: the road toward Paris, Aramis, who had followed in the
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  Speaker 1: cardinal's suite, turned back. Mazarin went to the right hand,
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  Speaker 1: and Aramis could see the prisoner disappear at the turning
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  Speaker 1: of the avenue. Athos, at the same moment, moved by
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  Speaker 1: a similar impulse, looked back. Also. The two friends exchanged
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  Speaker 1: a simple inclination of the head, and Aramis put a
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  Speaker 1: finger to his hat as if to bow Athos alone,
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  Speaker 1: comprehending by that sign that he had some project in
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  Speaker 1: his head. Ten minutes afterward, Mazarin entered the court of
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  Speaker 1: that chateau which his predecessor had built for him at Roue.
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  Speaker 1: As he alighted, Comminges approached him, My lord, he asked,
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  Speaker 1: where does your eminence wish, Monsieur Comte de la fere,
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  Speaker 1: to be lodged in the pavilion of the orangerie. Of course,
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  Speaker 1: in front of the pavilion where the guard is. I
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  Speaker 1: wish every respect to be shown to the Count, although
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  Speaker 1: he is the prisoner of her Majesty the Queen, my lord,
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  Speaker 1: answered Comminges. He begs to be taken to the place
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  Speaker 1: where Monsieur d'Artagnan is confined, that he is in the
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  Speaker 1: hunting lodge opposite the Orangerie. Mazarin thought for an instant.
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  Speaker 1: Comminges saw that he was undecided. Tis a very strong post,
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  Speaker 1: he resumed. And we have forty good men, tried soldiers,
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  Speaker 1: having no connection with Frondeurs or any interest in the Fronde.
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  Speaker 1: If we put these three men together, Monsieur Commages, said Mazarin,
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  Speaker 1: we must double the guard. And we are not rich
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  Speaker 1: enough in fighting men to commit such acts of prodigality.
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  Speaker 1: Commges smiled. Mazarin read and construed that smile. You do
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  Speaker 1: not know these men, Monsieur Comminges, but I know them
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  Speaker 1: first personally, also by his say. I sent them to
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  Speaker 1: carry aid to King Charles, and they performed prodigies to
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  Speaker 1: save him. Had it not been for an adverse destiny,
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  Speaker 1: that beloved monarch would this day have been among us.
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  Speaker 1: But since they serve your eminence so well, why are they,
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  Speaker 1: my Lord Cardinal in prison? In prison, said Mazarin, And
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  Speaker 1: when has Reie been a prison ever since? There were
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  Speaker 1: prisoners in it, answered, Commages, these gentlemen, Commages are not prisoners,
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  Speaker 1: returned Mazarin, with his ironical smile. Only guests, but guests
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  Speaker 1: so precious that I have to put a grating before
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  Speaker 1: each of their windows and bolts to their doors, that
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  Speaker 1: they may not refuse to continue. My visitors. So much
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  Speaker 1: do I esteem them, that I am going to make
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  Speaker 1: the Comte de la fere a visit, that I may
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  Speaker 1: converse with him tete a tete, and that we may
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  Speaker 1: not be disturbed at our interview. You must conduct him
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  Speaker 1: as I said before, to the pavilion of the Orangerie
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  Speaker 1: that ye know is my daily promenade. Well, while taking
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  Speaker 1: my walk, I will call on him and we will talk.
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  Speaker 1: Although he professes to be my enemy, I have sympathy
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  Speaker 1: for him, and if he is reasonable, perhaps we shall
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  Speaker 1: arrange matters. Commandes bowed and returned to Athos, who was
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  Speaker 1: awaiting with apparent calmness but with real anxiety. The result
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  Speaker 1: of the interview, well, he said to the lieutenant. Sir,
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  Speaker 1: replied Comminges, it seems that it is impossible, Monsieur de Comminges,
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  Speaker 1: said Athos, I have been a soldier all my life,
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  Speaker 1: and I know the force of orders. But outside your
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  Speaker 1: orders there is a service you can render me. I
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  Speaker 1: will do it with all my heart, said Comminges, for
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  Speaker 1: I know who you are and what service you once
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  Speaker 1: performed for her majesty. I know too, how dear to
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  Speaker 1: you is the young man who came so valiantly to
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  Speaker 1: my aid when that old rogue of a brousseau was arrested.
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  Speaker 1: I am entirely at your service, except only for my orders.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, sir. What I am about to ask will
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  Speaker 1: not compromise you in any degree. If it should even
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  Speaker 1: compromise me a little, said Monsieur de Comminges, with a smile.
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  Speaker 1: Still make your demand. I don't like Mazarin any better
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  Speaker 1: than you do. I serve the Queen, and that draws
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  Speaker 1: me naturally into the service of the cardinal. But I
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  Speaker 1: serve the one with joy and the other against my will. Speak,
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  Speaker 1: then I beg of you. I wait and listen. Since
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  Speaker 1: there is no harm, said Athos. In my knowing that
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  Speaker 1: d'artagnan's here, I presume there will be none. In his
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  Speaker 1: knowing that I am here, I have received no orders
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  Speaker 1: on that point. Well, then do me the kindness to
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  Speaker 1: give him my regards and tell him that I am
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  Speaker 1: his neighbor. Tell him also what you have just told me.
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  Speaker 1: That Mazarin has placed me in the pavilion of the
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  Speaker 1: Orangerie in order to make me a visit, and assure
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  Speaker 1: him that I shall take advantage of this honor he
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  Speaker 1: proposes to accord to me, to obtain from him some
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  Speaker 1: amelioration of our captivity, which cannot last. Interrupted Comminges, the
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  Speaker 1: cardinal said, so there is no prison here, but there
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  Speaker 1: are obliettes, replied Athos, smiling. Oh that's a different thing. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: I know there are traditions of that sort, said Comminges.
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  Speaker 1: It was in the time of the other cardinal, who
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  Speaker 1: was a great nobleman. But our Mazarin impossible. An Italian
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  Speaker 1: adventure would not dare to go such lengths with such
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  Speaker 1: men as yourselves. Oubliettes are employed as a means of
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  Speaker 1: kingly vengeance, and a low born fellow such as he is,
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  Speaker 1: would have no recourse to them. Your arrest is known,
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  Speaker 1: that of your friends will soon be known, and all
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  Speaker 1: the nobility of France would demand an explanation of your disappearance. No, no,
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  Speaker 1: be easy on that score. I will, however, inform Monsieur d'Artagnan,
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  Speaker 1: of your arrival here. Comminges then led the count to
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  Speaker 1: a room on the grand floor of a pavilion at
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  Speaker 1: the end of the rangerie. They passed through a courtyard
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  Speaker 1: as they went, full of soldiers and courtiers. In the
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  Speaker 1: center of this court, in the form of a horseshoe,
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  Speaker 1: were the buildings occupied by Mazarin, and at each wing
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  Speaker 1: the pavilion or smaller building where d'Artagnan was confined, and
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  Speaker 1: that level with your hondery where Athos was to be.
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  Speaker 1: From the ends of these two wings extended the park. Athos,
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  Speaker 1: when he reached his appointed room, observed through the gratings
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  Speaker 1: of his window walls and roofs, and was told on
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  Speaker 1: inquiry by Commages that he was looking on the back
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  Speaker 1: of the pavilion where d'Artagnan was confined. Yes, tis true,
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  Speaker 1: said Comminges, tis almost to prison. But what a singular
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  Speaker 1: fancy this is of yours, count, you who are the
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  Speaker 1: very flower of our nobility, to squander euvalor and loyalty
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  Speaker 1: amongst these upstarts the Frondistes really count, If ever I
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  Speaker 1: thought I had a friend in the ranks of the
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  Speaker 1: royal army. It was you a frond'eur, you, the Comte
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  Speaker 1: de la Fere, on the side of Bousel blonmeisnill and villol.
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  Speaker 1: For shame you of Frondeur on my word of honor,
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  Speaker 1: said Athos. One must be either of mazarinist or of Frondeu.
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  Speaker 1: For a long time I had these words whispered in
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  Speaker 1: my ears, and I chose the latter. At any rate,
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  Speaker 1: it is a French word, and now I am of Frondeur,
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  Speaker 1: not of Bousel's party, nor of Blantme miisniods. Nor am
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  Speaker 1: I with Viole, but with the Duc de Beaufort, the
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  Speaker 1: Duc de Bouillon and dau berf with princes, not with presidents,
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  Speaker 1: counselors and low born lawyers. Besides, what a charming outlook
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  Speaker 1: it would have been to serve the cardinal look at
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  Speaker 1: that wall without a single window, which tells you fine
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  Speaker 1: things about Mazarin's gratitude, yes, replied de Comminges. More especially
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  Speaker 1: if it could reveal how Monsieur d'Artagnan for this last
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  Speaker 1: week has been anathematizing him. Poor d'Artagnan, said Athos, with
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  Speaker 1: the charming melancholy that was one of the traits of
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  Speaker 1: his character, so brave, so good, so terrible to the
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  Speaker 1: enemies of those he loves. You have two unruly prisoners there, Sir,
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  Speaker 1: and ruly commard smiled. You wish to terrify me. I
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  Speaker 1: suppose when he came here, Monsieur d'Artagnan provoked and braved
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  Speaker 1: the soldiers and inferior officers in order I suppose to
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  Speaker 1: have his sword back. That mood lasted some time, But
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  Speaker 1: now he is as gentle as a lamb, and sings
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  Speaker 1: Gascon's songs, which make one die of laughing. And de
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  Speaker 1: Vallon asked Athos, Oh, he is quite another sort of person,
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  Speaker 1: a formidable gentleman. Indeed, the first day he broke all
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  Speaker 1: the doors in with a single push of his shoulder,
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  Speaker 1: and I expected to see him leave Rouere in the
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  Speaker 1: same way as Samson left Gaza. But his temper called
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  Speaker 1: down like his friends, only gets used to his captivity,
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  Speaker 1: but jokes about it so much the better, said Athos.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think anything else was to be expected of them?
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  Speaker 1: Asked Comminges, who, putting together what Mazarin had said of
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  Speaker 1: his prisoners and what the Comte de la Fere had said,
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  Speaker 1: began to feel a degree of uneasiness. Athos, on the
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  Speaker 1: other hand, reflected that this recent gentleness of his friends
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  Speaker 1: most certainly arose from some plan formed by d'Artagnan. Unwilling
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  Speaker 1: to injure them by praising them too highly, he replied,
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  Speaker 1: they they are two hot heads, the one Gascon the
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  Speaker 1: other from Picardi. Both are easily excited, but they quiet
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  Speaker 1: down immediately. You have had a proof of that in
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  Speaker 1: what you have just related to me. This, too was
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  Speaker 1: the opinion of Comminges, who withdrew somewhat reassured. Athos remained
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  Speaker 1: alone in the vast chamber, where, according to the cardinal's direction,
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  Speaker 1: he was treated with all courtesy due to a nobleman.
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  Speaker 1: He awaited Mazarin's proposed visit to get some light in
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  Speaker 1: his present situation. End of chapter eighty two.