The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane by Alain René le Sage (good books to read in english .TXT) 📕

my secretary, they advised me to go to Madrid and offer my

congratulations to the new king, as one of his former

acquaintances, with the merit of having rendered him even such

services, as the great are apt to reward more willingly than some

which are performed with cleaner hands. For my part, said Don

Alphonso, I have no doubt but they will be liberally

acknowledged. Philip the Fourth is bound in honour to pay the

Prince of Spain’s debts. I consider the affair just in the same

light as you do, said Don Caesar; and Santillane’s visit to court

will doubtless prove the occasion of his arriving at the very

first employments.

In good truth, my noble friends, exclaimed I, you do not consider

what you are talking about. It should seem, were one to give ear

to the soothing words of you both, as if I had nothing to do but

to shew my face at Madrid, and receive the key of office, or some

foreign government for my pains; but you are egregiously

mistaken. I am, on the contrary, well persuaded that the king

would pass me over as a stranger, were I to throw myself in his

way. I will make the experiment if you wish it, merely for the

sake of undeceiving you. The lords of Leyva took me at my word,

so that I could not help promising them to set out without loss

of time for Madrid. No sooner did my secretary perceive my mind

fully made up to the prosecution of this journey, than his

ecstasies were wound up to the highest pitch: he was satisfied

within himself that if I did but present my excellent person

before the new monarch, he would immediately single me out from

the crowd of political candidates, and weigh me down under a load

of dignities and emoluments. On the strength of these

conjectures, puffing himself out and amusing his fancy with the

most splendid extravagances of device, he raised me up to the

first offices of the state, and pushed forward his own preferment

in the path of my exaltation.

I therefore made my arrangements for returning to court, without

the most distant intention of again sacrificing at the shrine of

fortune, but merely to convince Don Caesar and his son of their

error, in imagining that I was at all likely to ingratiate myself

with the sovereign. It is true that there was some little lurking

vanity at the bottom of all my philosophy, sprouting up in the

shape of a desire to ascertain whether my royal master would

throw away a thought on me, now in the spring time of his new and

blushing honours. Led out of that course solely by that tempter,

curiosity, without a dream of hope, or any practical contrivance

for tuning the new reign to my own individual advantage, I set

out for Madrid with Scipio, consigning the management of my

household to Beatrice, who was well skilled in all the arts of

domestic economy.

CH. II. — Gil Blas arrives in Madrid, and makes his appearance

at court: the king is blessed with a better memory than most of

his courtiers, and recommends him to the notice of his prime

minister. Consequences of that recommendation.

WE got to Madrid in less than eight days, Don Alphonso having

given us two of his best horses, that we might lose no time on

the road. We alighted at a ready-furnished lodging, where I had

lived formerly, kept by Vincent Ferrero, my old landlord, who was

uncommonly glad to see me again.

As this man prided himself on being in the secret of whatever was

going forward either in court or city, I asked him after the best

news. There is plenty of it, whether best or worst, answered he.

Since the death of Philip the Third, the friends and partisans of

the Cardinal Duke of Lerma have been moving heaven and earth to

support his Eminence on the pinnacle of ministerial authority,

but their efforts have been ineffectual: the Count of Olivarez

has carried the day, in spite of all their industry. It is

alleged that Spain will be no loser by the exchange, and that the

present premier is possessed of a genius so extensive, a mind so

capacious, that he would be competent to wield the machine of

universal government. New brooms, they say, sweep clean! But, at

all events, you may take this for certain, that the public is

fully impressed with a very favourable opinion of his capacity:

we shall see by and by whether the Duke of Lerma’s situation is

well or ill filled up. Ferrero, having got his tongue into the

right train for wagging, gave me all the particulars of all the

changes which had taken place at court since the Count of

Olivarez had taken his seat at the helm of the state vessel.

Two days after my arrival at Madrid, I repaired to the royal

palace after my dinner, and threw myself in the king’s way as he

was crossing the lobby to his closet; but his notice was not at

all attracted by my appearance. Next day, I returned to the same

place, but with no better success. On the third day he looked me

full in the face as he passed by, but the stare was perfectly

vacant, as far as my interest or my vanity was concerned. This

being the case, I resolved in my own mind what was proper to be

done: You see, said I to Scipio, who accompanied me, that the

king is grown out of my recollection; or if his memory is not

become more frail with the elevation of his circumstances, he has

some private reasons for not choosing to renew the acquaintance.

I think we cannot do better than make our way back as fast as

possible for Valencia. Let us not be in too great a hurry for

that, sir, answered my secretary: you know better than myself,

having served a long apprenticeship, that there is no getting on

at court without patience and perseverance. Be indefatigable in

exhibiting your person to the prince’s regards: by dint of

forcing yourself on his observation, you will oblige him to ask

himself the question who this assiduous frequenter of his haunts

can possibly be, when memory must come to his aid, and trace the

features of his cheapener in the purchase of the lovely

Catalina’s good graces.

That Scipio might have nothing to reproach me with, I so far lent

myself to his wishes as to continue the same proceeding for the

space of three weeks; when at length it happened one day that the

monarch, noticing the frequency of my appearance, sent for me

into his presence. I went into the closet, not without some

perturbation of mind at the idea of a private interview with my

sovereign. Who are you? said he: your features are not altogether

strange to me. Where have I seen you? Please your majesty,

answered I trembling, I had the honour of escorting you one night

with the Count of Lemos to the house of … . Ah! I recollect

it perfectly, cried the prince, as if a sudden light had broke in

upon him: you were the Duke of Lerma’s secretary; and if I am not

mistaken, your name is Santillane. I have not forgotten that on

the occasion alluded to you served me with a most commendable

zeal, but received a left-handed recompense for your exertions.

Did you not get into prison at the conclusion of the adventure?

Yes, please your majesty, replied I: my confinement in the tower

of Segovia lasted six months; but your goodness was exercised in

procuring my release. That, replied he, does not cancel my debt

to my faithful servant Santillane: it is not enough to have

restored him to liberty, for I ought to make him ample amends for

the evils which he has suffered on the score of his alacrity in

my concerns.

Just as the prince was uttering these words, the Count of

Olivarez came into the closet. The nerves of favourites are

shaken by every breath, their irritability excited by every

trifle: he was as much astonished as any favourite need be at the

sight of a stranger in that place, and the king redoubled his

wondering propensities by the following recommendation — Count,

I consign this young man to your care, employ him, and let me

find that you provide for his advancement. The minister affected

to receive this order with the most gracious acquiescence, but

looked me over from head to foot, with a glance from the corner

of his eye, and was on tenterhooks to find out who had been so

strangely saddled upon him. Go, my friend, added the sovereign,

addressing himself to me, and waving his hand for me to withdraw;

the count will not fail to avail himself of your services in a

manner the most conducive to the interests of my government, and

the establishment of your own fortunes.

I immediately went out of the closet and made the best of my way

to the son of Coselina, who, being overrun with impatience to

inquire what the king had been talking about, fumbled at his

fingers’ ends, and was all over in an agitation. His first

question was, whether we were to return to Valencia or become a

part of the court. You shall form your own conclusions, answered

I; at the same time delighting him with an account word for word

of the little conversation I had just held with the monarch. My

dear master, said Scipio at once in the excess of his joy, will

you take me for your almanac-maker another time? You must

acknowledge that we were not in the wrong! the lords of Leyva and

myself have our eye-teeth about us! a journey to Madrid was the

only measure to be adopted in such a case. Already I anticipate

your appointment to an eminent post: you will turn out to be some

time or other a Calderona to the Count of Olivarez. That is by no

means the object of my ambition, observed I in return; the

employment is placed on too rugged an eminence to excite any

longings in my mind. I could wish for a good situation where

there could be no inducement to do what might go against my

conscience, and where the favours of my prince are not likely to

be bartered away for filthy lucre. Having experienced my own

unfitness for the possession of patronage, I cannot be

sufficiently on my guard against the inroads of avarice and

ambition. Never think about that, sir! replied my secretary, the

minister will give you some handsome appointment, which you may

fill without any impeachment of your integrity or independence.

Induced more by Scipio’s importunity than my own curiosity, I

repaired the following day before sunrise to the residence of the

Count d’Olivarez, having been informed that every morning,

whether in summer or winter, he gave audience by candlelight to

all comers. I ensconced myself modestly in a corner of the

saloon, and from my lurking-place took especial notice of the

count when he made his appearance; for I had marked his person

but cursorily in the king’s closet. He was above the middle

stature, and might pass for fat in a country where it is a rarity

to see any but lean subjects. His shoulders were so high, as to

look exactly as if he was hump-backed, but appearances were

slanderous; for his blade-bones, though inelegant, were a pair;

his head, which was large enough to he capacious, dropped down

upon his chest by the unwieldiness of its own weight; his hair

was black and unconscious of a curl, his face lengthened, his

complexion olive-coloured, his mouth retiring