Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas (books for 6 year olds to read themselves TXT) đ
![](/uploads/posts/books/2/7/0/8/7/twenty-years-after.jpg)
- Author: Alexandre Dumas
- Performer: 0192838431
Book online «Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas (books for 6 year olds to read themselves TXT) đ». Author Alexandre Dumas
âSir,â said Planchet when he saw DâArtagnan on the summit of the ladder, âthis way is easy for Monsieur Aramis and even for you; in case of necessity I might also climb up, but my two horses cannot mount the ladder.â
âTake them to yonder shed, my friend,â said Aramis, pointing to a low building on the plain; âthere you will find hay and straw for them; then come back here and clap your hands three times, and we will give you wine and food. Marry, forsooth, people donât die of hunger here.â
And Aramis, drawing in the ladder, closed the window. DâArtagnan then looked around attentively.
Never was there an apartment at the same time more warlike and more elegant. At each corner were arranged trophies, presenting to view swords of all sorts, and on the walls hung four great pictures representing in their ordinary military costume the Cardinal de Lorraine, the Cardinal de Richelieu, the Cardinal de la Valette, and the Archbishop of Bordeaux. Exteriorly, nothing in the room showed that it was the habitation of an abbe. The hangings were of damask, the carpets from Alencon, and the bed, especially, had more the look of a fine ladyâs couch, with its trimmings of fine lace and its embroidered counterpane, than that of a man who had made a vow that he would endeavor to gain Heaven by fasting and mortification.
âYou are examining my den,â said Aramis. âAh, my dear fellow, excuse me; I am lodged like a Chartreux. But what are you looking for?â
âI am looking for the person who let down the ladder. I see no one and yet the ladder didnât come down of itself.â
âNo, it is Bazin.â
âAh! ah!â said DâArtagnan.
âBut,â continued Aramis, âBazin is a well trained servant, and seeing that I was not alone he discreetly retired. Sit down, my dear friend, and let us talk.â And Aramis pushed forward a large easy-chair, in which DâArtagnan stretched himself out.
âIn the first place, you will sup with me, will you not?â asked Aramis.
âYes, if you really wish it,â said DâArtagnan, âand even with great pleasure, I confess; the journey has given me a devil of an appetite.â
âAh, my poor friend!â said Aramis, âyou will find meagre fare; you were not expected.â
âAm I then threatened with the omelet of Crevecoeur?â
âOh, let us hope,â said Aramis, âthat with the help of God and of Bazin we shall find something better than that in the larder of the worthy Jesuit fathers. Bazin, my friend, come here.â
The door opened and Bazin entered; on perceiving the musketeer he uttered an exclamation that was almost a cry of despair.
âMy dear Bazin,â said DâArtagnan, âI am delighted to see with what wonderful composure you can tell a lie even in church!â
âSir,â replied Bazin, âI have been taught by the good Jesuit fathers that it is permitted to tell a falsehood when it is told in a good cause.â
âSo far well,â said Aramis; âwe are dying of hunger. Serve us up the best supper you can, and especially give us some good wine.â
Bazin bowed low, sighed, and left the room.
âNow we are alone, dear Aramis,â said DâArtagnan, âtell me how the devil you managed to alight upon the back of Planchetâs horse.â
âIâfaith!â answered Aramis, âas you see, from Heaven.â
âFrom Heaven,â replied DâArtagnan, shaking his head; âyou have no more the appearance of coming from thence than you have of going there.â
âMy friend,â said Aramis, with a look of imbecility on his face which DâArtagnan had never observed whilst he was in the musketeers, âif I did not come from Heaven, at least I was leaving Paradise, which is almost the same.â
âHere, then, is a puzzle for the learned,â observed DâArtagnan, âuntil now they have never been able to agree as to the situation of Paradise; some place it on Mount Ararat, others between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates; it seems that they have been looking very far away for it, while it was actually very near. Paradise is at Noisy le Sec, upon the site of the archbishopâs chateau. People do not go out from it by the door, but by the window; one doesnât descend here by the marble steps of a peristyle, but by the branches of a lime-tree; and the angel with a flaming sword who guards this elysium seems to have changed his celestial name of Gabriel into that of the more terrestrial one of the Prince de Marsillac.â
Aramis burst into a fit of laughter.
âYou were always a merry companion, my dear DâArtagnan,â he said, âand your witty Gascon fancy has not deserted you. Yes, there is something in what you say; nevertheless, do not believe that it is Madame de Longueville with whom I am in love.â
âA plague onât! I shall not do so. After having been so long in love with Madame de Chevreuse, you would hardly lay your heart at the feet of her mortal enemy!â
âYes,â replied Aramis, with an absent air; âyes, that poor duchess! I once loved her much, and to do her justice, she was very useful to us. Eventually she was obliged to leave France. He was a relentless enemy, that damned cardinal,â continued Aramis, glancing at the portrait of the old minister. âHe had even given orders to arrest her and would have cut off her head had she not escaped with her waiting-maid â poor Kitty! I have heard that she met with a strange adventure in I donât know what village, with I donât know what cure, of whom she asked hospitality and who, having but one chamber, and taking her for a cavalier, offered to share it with her. For she had a wonderful way of dressing as a man, that dear Marie; I know only one other woman who can do it as well. So they made this song about her: `Laboissiere, dis moi.â You know it, donât you?â
âNo, sing it, please.â
Aramis immediately complied, and sang the song in a very lively manner.
âBravo!â cried DâArtagnan, âyou sing charmingly, dear Aramis. I do not perceive that singing masses has spoiled your voice.â
âMy dear DâArtagnan,â replied Aramis, âyou understand, when I was a musketeer I mounted guard as seldom as I could; now when I am an abbe I say as few masses as I can. But to return to our duchess.â
âWhich â the Duchess de Chevreuse or the Duchess de Longueville?â
âHave I not already told you that there is nothing between me and the Duchess de Longueville? Little flirtations, perhaps, and thatâs all. No, I spoke of the Duchess de Chevreuse; did you see her after her return from Brussels, after the kingâs death?â
âYes, she is still beautiful.â
âYes,â said Aramis, âI saw her also at that time. I gave her good advice, by which she did not profit. I ventured to tell her that Mazarin was the lover of Anne of Austria. She wouldnât believe me, saying that she knew Anne of Austria, who was too proud to love such a worthless coxcomb. After that she plunged into the cabal headed by the Duke of Beaufort; and the `coxcombâ arrested De Beaufort and banished Madame de Chevreuse.â
âYou know,â resumed DâArtagnan, âthat she has had leave to return to France?â
âYes she is come back and is going to commit some fresh folly or another.â
âOh, but this time perhaps she will follow your advice.â
âOh, this time,â returned Aramis, âI havenât seen her; she is much changed.â
âIn that respect unlike you, my dear Aramis, for you are still the same; you have still your beautiful dark hair, still your elegant figure, still your feminine hands, which are admirably suited to a prelate.â
âYes,â replied Aramis, âI am extremely careful of my appearance. Do you know that I am growing old? I am nearly thirty-seven.â
âMind, Aramisâ â DâArtagnan smiled as he spoke â âsince we are together again, let us agree on one point: what age shall we be in future?â
âHow?â
âFormerly I was your junior by two or three years, and if I am not mistaken I am turned forty years old.â
âIndeed! Then âtis I who am mistaken, for you have always been a good chronologist. By your reckoning I must be forty-three at least. The devil I am! Donât let it out at the Hotel Rambouillet; it would ruin me,â replied the abbe.
âDonât be afraid,â said DâArtagnan. âI never go there.â
âWhy, what in the world,â cried Aramis, âis that animal Bazin doing? Bazin! Hurry up there, you rascal; we are mad with hunger and thirst!â
Bazin entered at that moment carrying a bottle in each hand.
âAt last,â said Aramis, âwe are ready, are we?
âYes, monsieur, quite ready,â said Bazin; âbut it took me some time to bring up all the â- â
âBecause you always think you have on your shoulders your beadleâs robe, and spend all your time reading your breviary. But I give you warning that if in polishing your chapel utensils you forget how to brighten up my sword, I will make a great fire of your blessed images and will see that you are roasted on it.â
Bazin, scandalized, made a sign of the cross with the bottle in his hand. DâArtagnan, more surprised than ever at the tone and manners of the Abbe dâHerblay, which contrasted so strongly with those of the Musketeer Aramis, remained staring with wide-open eyes at the face of his friend.
Bazin quickly covered the table with a damask cloth and arranged upon it so many things, gilded, perfumed, appetizing, that DâArtagnan was quite overcome.
âBut you expected some one then?â asked the officer.
âOh,â said Aramis, âI always try to be prepared; and then I knew you were seeking me.â
âFrom whom?â
âFrom Master Bazin, to be sure; he took you for the devil, my dear fellow, and hastened to warn me of the danger that threatened my soul if I should meet again a companion so wicked as an officer of musketeers.â
âOh, monsieur!â said Bazin, clasping his hands supplicatingly.
âCome, no hypocrisy! you know that I donât like it. You will do much better to open the window and let down some bread, a chicken and a bottle of wine to your friend Planchet, who has been this last hour killing himself clapping his hands.â
Planchet, in fact, had bedded and fed his horses, and then coming back under the window had repeated two or three times the signal agreed upon.
Bazin obeyed, fastened to the end of a cord the three articles designated and let them down to Planchet, who then went satisfied to his shed.
âNow to supper,â said Aramis.
The two friends sat down and Aramis began to cut up fowls, partridges and hams with admirable skill.
âThe deuce!â cried DâArtagnan; âdo you live in this way always?â
âYes, pretty well. The coadjutor has given me dispensations from fasting on the jours maigres, on account of my health; then I have engaged as my cook the cook who lived with Lafollone â you know the man I mean? â the friend of the cardinal, and the famous epicure whose grace after dinner used to be, `Good Lord, do me the favor to cause me to digest what I have eaten.ââ
âNevertheless he died of indigestion, in spite of his grace,â said DâArtagnan.
âWhat can you expect?â replied Aramis, in a tone of resignation. âEvery man thatâs born must fulfil his destiny.â
âIf it be not an indelicate question,â resumed DâArtagnan, âhave you grown rich?â
âOh, Heaven! no. I make about twelve thousand francs a year, without counting a little benefice of a thousand crowns the prince gave me.â
âAnd how do you make your twelve thousand francs? By your poems?â
âNo, I have given up poetry, except now and
Comments (0)