“My lord, have you any commands?” asked Bernouin.
“Yes, yes,” replied Mazarin. “Light me; I am going to the queen.”
Bernouin took up a candlestick and led the way.
There was a secret communication between the cardinal3’s apartments and those of the queen; and through this corridor* Mazarin passed whenever he wished to visit Anne of Austria.
*This secret passage is still to be seen in the Palais Royal.
In the bedroom in which this passage ended, Bernouin encountered Madame de Beauvais, like himself intrusted with the secret of these subterranean5 love affairs; and Madame de Beauvais undertook to prepare Anne of Austria, who was in her oratory6 with the young king, Louis XIV., to receive the cardinal.
Anne, reclining in a large easy-chair, her head supported by her hand, her elbow resting on a table, was looking at her son, who was turning over the leaves of a large book filled with pictures. This celebrated7 woman fully8 understood the art of being dull with dignity. It was her practice to pass hours either in her oratory or in her room, without either reading or praying.
When Madame de Beauvais appeared at the door and announced the cardinal, the child, who had been absorbed in the pages of Quintus Curtius, enlivened as they were by engravings of Alexander’s feats9 of arms, frowned and looked at his mother.
“Why,” he said, “does he enter without first asking for an audience?”
Anne colored slightly.
“The prime minister,” she said, “is obliged in these unsettled days to inform the queen of all that is happening from time to time, without exciting the curiosity or remarks of the court.”
“But Richelieu never came in this manner,” said the pertinacious10 boy.
“How can you remember what Monsieur de Richelieu did? You were too young to know about such things.”
“I do not remember what he did, but I have inquired and I have been told all about it.”
“And who told you about it?” asked Anne of Austria, with a movement of impatience11.
“I know that I ought never to name the persons who answer my questions,” answered the child, “for if I do I shall learn nothing further.”
At this very moment Mazarin entered. The king rose immediately, took his book, closed it and went to lay it down on the table, near which he continued standing12, in order that Mazarin might be obliged to stand also.
Mazarin contemplated13 these proceedings14 with a thoughtful glance. They explained what had occurred that evening.
He bowed respectfully to the king, who gave him a somewhat cavalier reception, but a look from his mother reproved him for the hatred15 which, from his infancy16, Louis XIV. had entertained toward Mazarin, and he endeavored to receive the minister’s homage17 with civility.
Anne of Austria sought to read in Mazarin’s face the occasion of this unexpected visit, since the cardinal usually came to her apartment only after every one had retired18.
The minister made a slight sign with his head, whereupon the queen said to Madame Beauvais:
“It is time for the king to go to bed; call Laporte.”
The queen had several times already told her son that he ought to go to bed, and several times Louis had coaxingly19 insisted on staying where he was; but now he made no reply, but turned pale and bit his lips with anger.
In a few minutes Laporte came into the room. The child went directly to him without kissing his mother.
“Well, Louis,” said Anne, “why do you not kiss me?”
“I thought you were angry with me, madame; you sent me away.”
“I do not send you away, but you have had the small-pox and I am afraid that sitting up late may tire you.”
“You had no fears of my being tired when you ordered me to go to the palace to-day to pass the odious20 decrees which have raised the people to rebellion.”
“Sire!” interposed Laporte, in order to turn the subject, “to whom does your majesty21 wish me to give the candle?”
“To any one, Laporte,” the child said; and then added in a loud voice, “to any one except Mancini.”
Now Mancini was a nephew of Mazarin’s and was as much hated by Louis as the cardinal himself, although placed near his person by the minister.
And the king went out of the room without either embracing his mother or even bowing to the cardinal.
“Good,” said Mazarin, “I am glad to see that his majesty has been brought up with a hatred of dissimulation22.”
“Why do you say that?” asked the queen, almost timidly.
“Why, it seems to me that the way in which he left us needs no explanation. Besides, his majesty takes no pains to conceal23 how little affection he has for me. That, however, does not hinder me from being entirely24 devoted25 to his service, as I am to that of your majesty.”
“I ask your pardon for him, cardinal,” said the queen; “he is a child, not yet able to understand his obligations to you.”
The cardinal smiled.
“But,” continued the queen, “you have doubtless come for some important purpose. What is it, then?”
“It is likely,” he replied, “that we shall soon be obliged to separate, unless you love me well enough to follow me to Italy.”
“Why,” cried the queen; “how is that?”
“You jest, sir!” answered the queen, endeavoring to assume something of her former dignity.
“Alas! I do not, madame,” rejoined Mazarin. “Mark well what I say. The whole world conspires to break our bonds. Now as you are one of the whole world, I mean to say that you also are deserting me.”
“Cardinal!”
“Heavens! did I not see you the other day smile on the Duke of Orleans? or rather at what he said?”
“And what was he saying?”
“He said this, madame: ‘Mazarin is a stumbling-block. Send him away and all will then be well.’”
“What do you wish me to do?”
“Oh, madame! you are the queen!”
“Queen, forsooth! when I am at the mercy of every scribbler in the Palais Royal who covers waste paper with nonsense, or of every country squire29 in the kingdom.”
“Nevertheless, you have still the power of banishing30 from your presence those whom you do not like!”
“That is to say, whom you do not like,” returned the queen.
“I! persons whom I do not like!”
“Yes, indeed. Who sent away Madame de Chevreuse after she had been persecuted31 twelve years under the last reign32?”
“A woman of intrigue33, who wanted to keep up against me the spirit of cabal34 she had raised against M. de Richelieu.”
“Who dismissed Madame de Hautefort, that friend so loyal that she refused the favor of the king that she might remain in mine?”
“A prude, who told you every night, as she undressed you, that it was a sin to love a priest, just as if one were a priest because one happens to be a cardinal.”
“Who ordered Monsieur de Beaufort to be arrested?”
“An incendiary the burden of whose song was his intention to assassinate35 me.”
“You see, cardinal,” replied the queen, “that your enemies are mine.”
“That is not enough madame, it is necessary that your friends should be also mine.”
“My friends, monsieur?” The queen shook her head. “Alas, I have them no longer!”
“How is it that you have no friends in your prosperity when you had many in adversity?”
“It is because in my prosperity I forgot those old friends, monsieur; because I have acted like Queen Marie de Medicis, who, returning from her first exile, treated with contempt all those who had suffered for her and, being proscribed36 a second time, died at Cologne abandoned by every one, even by her own son.”
“Well, let us see,” said Mazarin; “isn’t there still time to repair the evil? Search among your friends, your oldest friends.”
“What do you mean, monsieur?”
“Nothing else than I say--search.”
“Alas, I look around me in vain! I have no influence with any one. Monsieur is, as usual, led by his favorite; yesterday it was Choisy, to-day it is La Riviere, to-morrow it will be some one else. Monsieur le Prince is led by the coadjutor, who is led by Madame de Guemenee.”
“Therefore, madame, I ask you to look, not among your friends of to-day, but among those of other times.”
“Among my friends of other times?” said the queen.
“Yes, among your friends of other times; among those who aided you to contend against the Duc de Richelieu and even to conquer him.”
“What is he aiming at?” murmured the queen, looking uneasily at the cardinal.
“Yes,” continued his eminence37; “under certain circumstances, with that strong and shrewd mind your majesty possesses, aided by your friends, you were able to repel38 the attacks of that adversary.”
“I!” said the queen. “I suffered, that is all.”
“Yes,” said Mazarin, “as women suffer in avenging39 themselves. Come, let us come to the point. Do you know Monsieur de Rochefort?”
“One of my bitterest enemies--the faithful friend of Cardinal Richelieu.”
“I know that, and we sent him to the Bastile,” said Mazarin.
“Is he at liberty?” asked the queen.
“No; still there, but I only speak of him in order that I may introduce the name of another man. Do you know Monsieur d’Artagnan?” he added, looking steadfastly40 at the queen.
Anne of Austria received the blow with a beating heart.
“Has the Gascon been indiscreet?” she murmured to herself, then said aloud:
“D’Artagnan! stop an instant, the name seems certainly familiar. D’Artagnan! there was a musketeer who was in love with one of my women. Poor young creature! she was poisoned on my account.”
“That’s all you know of him?” asked Mazarin.
The queen looked at him, surprised.
“You seem, sir,” she remarked, “to be making me undergo a course of cross-examination.”
“Which you answer according to your fancy,” replied Mazarin.
“Tell me your wishes and I will comply with them.”
“Well, madame,” said Mazarin, bowing, “I desire that you give me a share in your friends, as I have shared with you the little industry and talent that Heaven has given me. The circumstances are grave and it will be necessary to act promptly42.”
“Still!” said the queen. “I thought that we were finally quit of Monsieur de Beaufort.”
“Yes, you saw only the torrent43 that threatened to overturn everything and you gave no attention to the still water. There is, however, a proverb current in France relating to water which is quiet.”
“Continue,” said the queen.
“Well, then, madame, not a day passes in which I do not suffer affronts44 from your princes and your lordly servants, all of them automata who do not perceive that I wind up the spring that makes them move, nor do they see that beneath my quiet demeanor45 lies the still scorn of an injured, irritated man, who has sworn to himself to master them one of these days. We have arrested Monsieur de Beaufort, but he is the least dangerous among them. There is the Prince de Conde----”
“The hero of Rocroy. Do you think of him?”
“Yes, madame, often and often, but pazienza, as we say in Italy; next, after Monsieur de Conde, comes the Duke of Orleans.”
“What are you saying? The first prince of the blood, the king’s uncle!”
“No! not the first prince of the blood, not the king’s uncle, but the base conspirator46, the soul of every cabal, who pretends to lead the brave people who are weak enough to believe in the honor of a prince of the blood--not the prince nearest to the throne, not the king’s uncle, I repeat, but the murderer of Chalais, of Montmorency and of Cinq-Mars, who is playing now the same game he played long ago and who thinks that he will win the game because he has a new adversary--instead of a man who threatened, a man who smiles. But he is mistaken; I shall not leave so near the queen that source of discord47 with which the deceased cardinal so often caused the anger of the king to rage above the boiling point.”
Anne blushed and buried her face in her hands.
“Endeavor to remember the names of those faithful servants who crossed the Channel, in spite of Monsieur de Richelieu, tracking the roads along which they passed by their blood, to bring back to your majesty certain jewels given by you to Buckingham.”
Anne arose, full of majesty, and as if touched by a spring, and looking at the cardinal with the haughty49 dignity which in the days of her youth had made her so powerful: “You are insulting me!” she said.
“I wish,” continued Mazarin, finishing, as it were, the speech this sudden movement of the queen had cut; “I wish, in fact, that you should now do for your husband what you formerly50 did for your lover.”
“Again that accusation51!” cried the queen. “I thought that calumny52 was stifled53 or extinct; you have spared me till now, but since you speak of it, once for all, I tell you----”
“I will tell you all,” replied Anne. “Listen: there were in truth, at that epoch55, four devoted hearts, four loyal spirits, four faithful swords, who saved more than my life--my honor----”
“Ah! you confess it!” exclaimed Mazarin.
“Is it only the guilty whose honor is at the sport of others, sir? and cannot women be dishonored by appearances? Yes, appearances were against me and I was about to suffer dishonor. However, I swear I was not guilty, I swear it by----”
The queen looked around her for some sacred object by which she could swear, and taking out of a cupboard hidden in the tapestry56, a small coffer of rosewood set in silver, and laying it on the altar:
“What relics are those by which you swear?” asked Mazarin, smiling. “I am incredulous.”
The queen untied58 from around her throat a small golden key which hung there, and presented it to the cardinal.
“Open, sir,” she said, “and look for yourself.”
Mazarin opened the coffer; a knife, covered with rust4, and two letters, one of which was stained with blood, alone met his gaze.
“What are these things?” he asked.
“What are these things?” replied Anne, with queen-like dignity, extending toward the open coffer an arm, despite the lapse59 of years, still beautiful. “These two letters are the only ones I ever wrote to him. This knife is the knife with which Felton stabbed him. Read the letters and see if I have lied or spoken the truth.”
But Mazarin, notwithstanding this permission, instead of reading the letters, took the knife which the dying Buckingham had snatched out of the wound and sent by Laporte to the queen. The blade was red, for the blood had become rust; after a momentary60 examination during which the queen became as white as the cloth which covered the altar on which she was leaning, he put it back into the coffer with an involuntary shudder61.
“It is well, madame, I believe your oath.”
“No, no, read,” exclaimed the queen, indignantly; “read, I command you, for I am resolved that everything shall be finished to-night and never will I recur62 to this subject again. Do you think,” she said, with a ghastly smile, “that I shall be inclined to reopen this coffer to answer any future accusations63?”
Mazarin, overcome by this determination, read the two letters. In one the queen asked for the ornaments64 back again. This letter had been conveyed by D’Artagnan and had arrived in time. The other was that which Laporte had placed in the hands of the Duke of Buckingham, warning him that he was about to be assassinated65; that communication had arrived too late.
“Sir,” replied the queen, closing the coffer and leaning her hand upon it, “if there is anything to be said, it is that I have always been ungrateful to the brave men who saved me--that I have given nothing to that gallant68 officer, D’Artagnan, you were speaking of just now, but my hand to kiss and this diamond.”
As she spoke she extended her beautiful hand to the cardinal and showed him a superb diamond which sparkled on her finger.
“It appears,” she resumed, “that he sold it---he sold it in order to save me another time--to be able to send a messenger to the duke to warn him of his danger--he sold it to Monsieur des Essarts, on whose finger I remarked it. I bought it from him, but it belongs to D’Artagnan. Give it back to him, sir, and since you have such a man in your service, make him useful.”
“Thank you, madame,” said Mazarin. “I will profit by the advice.”
“And now,” added the queen, her voice broken by her emotion, “have you any other question to ask me?”
“Nothing,”--the cardinal spoke in his most conciliatory manner--“except to beg of you to forgive my unworthy suspicions. I love you so tenderly that I cannot help being jealous, even of the past.”
A smile, which was indefinable, passed over the lips of the queen.
“Since you have no further interrogations to make, leave me, I beseech69 you,” she said. “I wish, after such a scene, to be alone.”
“I will retire, madame. Do you permit me to return?”
“Yes, to-morrow.”
The cardinal took the queen’s hand and pressed it with an air of gallantry to his lips.
Scarcely had he left her when the queen went into her son’s room, and inquired from Laporte if the king was in bed. Laporte pointed71 to the child, who was asleep.
Anne ascended72 the steps side of the bed and softly kissed the placid73 forehead of her son; then she retired as silently as she had come, merely saying to Laporte:
“Try, my dear Laporte, to make the king more courteous74 to Monsieur le Cardinal, to whom both he and I are under such important obligations.”
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1
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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rust
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| n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退 | |
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subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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8
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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9
feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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pertinacious
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| adj.顽固的 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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13
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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15
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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18
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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coaxingly
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| adv. 以巧言诱哄，以甘言哄骗 | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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dissimulation
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| n.掩饰，虚伪，装糊涂 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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conspires
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| 密谋( conspire的第三人称单数 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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29
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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30
banishing
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的现在分词 ) | |
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persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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cabal
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| n.政治阴谋小集团 | |
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assassinate
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| vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤 | |
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36
proscribed
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| v.正式宣布（某事物）有危险或被禁止( proscribe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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avenging
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| adj.报仇的，复仇的v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的现在分词 )；为…报复 | |
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40
steadfastly
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| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
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41
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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44
affronts
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| n.（当众）侮辱，（故意）冒犯( affront的名词复数 )v.勇敢地面对( affront的第三人称单数 )；相遇 | |
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45
demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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conspirator
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| n.阴谋者，谋叛者 | |
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47
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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48
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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49
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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50
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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51
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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52
calumny
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| n.诽谤，污蔑，中伤 | |
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53
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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54
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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55
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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56
tapestry
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| n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面 | |
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57
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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58
untied
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| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
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59
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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60
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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61
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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62
recur
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| vi.复发，重现，再发生 | |
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63
accusations
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| n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名 | |
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64
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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65
assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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66
gainsay
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| v.否认，反驳 | |
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67
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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68
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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69
beseech
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| v.祈求，恳求 | |
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70
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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71
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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72
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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74
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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