Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas (free e books to read online .TXT) 📕
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- Author: Alexandre Dumas
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“I certainly know those two,” he said to himself, pausing upon the top step of the small staircase. Then, as with the instinct of a bloodhound he was about to follow them, one of the servants who had been running after him arrested his attention.
“Monsieur,” he said, “the courier has arrived.”
“Very well,” said the chevalier, “there is time enough; to-morrow will do.”
“There are some urgent letters which you would be glad to see, perhaps.”
“Where from?” inquired the chevalier.
“One from England, and the other from Calais; the latter arrived by express, and seems of great importance.”
“From Calais! Who the deuce can have to write to me from Calais?”
“I think I recognize the handwriting of Monsieur le Comte de Wardes.”
“Oh!” cried the chevalier, forgetting his intention of acting the spy, “in that case I will come up at once.” This he did, while the two unknown beings disappeared at the end of the court opposite to the one by which they had just entered. We shall now follow them, and leave the chevalier undisturbed to his correspondence. When they had arrived at the grove of trees, the foremost of the two halted, somewhat out of breath, and, cautiously raising her hood, said, “Are we still far from the tree?”
“Yes, Madame, more than five hundred paces; but pray rest awhile, you will not be able to walk much longer at this rate.”
“You are right,” said the princes, for it was she; and she leaned against a tree. “And now,” she resumed, after having recovered her breath, “tell me the whole truth, and conceal nothing from me.”
“Oh, Madame,” cried the young girl, “you are already angry with me.”
“No, my dear Athenais, reassure yourself, I am in no way angry with you. After all, these things do not concern me personally. You are anxious about what you may have said under the oak; you are afraid of having offended the king, and I wish to tranquillize you by ascertaining myself if it were possible you could have been overheard.”
“Oh, yes, Madame, the king was close to us.”
“Still, you were not speaking so loud that some of your remarks may not have been lost.”
“We thought we were quite alone, Madame.”
“There were three of you, you say?”
“Yes; La Valliere, Montalais, and myself.”
“And you, individually, spoke in a light manner of the king?”
“I am afraid so. Should such be the case, will your highness have the kindness to make my peace with his majesty?”
“If there should be any occasion for it, I promise you I will do so. However, as I have already told you, it will be better not to anticipate evil. The night is now very dark, and the darkness is still greater under the trees. It is not likely you were recognized by the king. To inform him of it, by being the first to speak, is to denounce yourself.”
“Oh, Madame, Madame! if Mademoiselle de la Valliere were recognized, I must have been recognized also. Besides, M. de Saint-Aignan left no doubt on the subject.”
“Did you, then, say anything very disrespectful of the king?”
“Not at all; it was one of the others who made some very flattering speeches about the king; and my remarks must have been much in contrast with hers.”
“Montalais is such a giddy girl,” said Madame.
“It was not Montalais. Montalais said nothing; it was La Valliere.”
Madame started as if she had not known it perfectly well already. “No, no,” she said, “the king cannot have heard. Besides, we will now try the experiment for which we came out. Show me the oak. Do you know where it is?” she continued.
“Alas! Madame, yes.”
“And you can find it again?”
“With my eyes shut.”
“Very well; sit down on the bank where you were, where La Valliere was, and speak in the same tone and to the same effect as you did before; I will conceal myself in the thicket, and if I can hear you, I will tell you so.”
“Yes, Madame.”
“If, therefore, you really spoke loud enough for the king to have heard you, in that case—”
Athenais seemed to await the conclusion of the sentence with some anxiety.
“In that case,” said Madame, in a suffocated voice, arising doubtless from her hurried progress, “in that case, I forbid you—” And Madame again increased her pace. Suddenly, however, she stopped. “An idea occurs to me,” she said.
“A good idea, no doubt, Madame,” replied Mademoiselle de Tonnay-Charente.
“Montalais must be as much embarrassed as La Valliere and yourself.”
“Less so, for she is less compromised, having said less.”
“That does not matter; she will help you, I dare say, by deviating a little from the exact truth.”
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