| 2 THE ANTECHAMBER OF M. DE TREVILLE M. de Troisville , as his family was still called in Gascony , or M. de Treville , as he has ended by styling himself in Paris , had really commenced life as d'Artagnan now did ; that is to say , without a sou in his pocket , but with a fund of audacity , shrewdness , and intelligence which makes the poorest Gascon gentleman often derive more in his hope from the paternal inheritance than the richest Perigordian or Berrichan gentleman derives in reality from his . His insolent bravery , his still more insolent success at a time when blows poured down like hail , had borne him to the top of that difficult ladder called Court Favor , which he had climbed four steps at a time . He was the friend of the king , who honored highly , as everyone knows , the memory of his father , Henry IV . The father of M. de Treville had served him so faithfully in his wars against the league that in default of money--a thing to which the Bearnais was accustomed all his life , and who constantly paid his debts with that of which he never stood in need of borrowing , that is to say , with ready wit--in default of money , we repeat , he authorized him , after the reduction of Paris , to assume for his arms a golden lion passant upon gules , with the motto FIDELIS ET FORTIS . This was a great matter in the way of honor , but very little in the way of wealth ; so that when the illustrious companion of the great Henry died , the only inheritance he was able to leave his son was his sword and his motto . Thanks to this double gift and the spotless name that accompanied it , M. de Treville was admitted into the household of the young prince where he made such good use of his sword , and was so faithful to his motto , that Louis XIII , one of the good blades of his kingdom , was accustomed to say that if he had a friend who was about to fight , he would advise him to choose as a second , himself first , and Treville next--or even , perhaps , before himself . Thus Louis XIII had a real liking for Treville--a royal liking , a self-interested liking , it is true , but still a liking . At that unhappy period it was an important consideration to be surrounded by such men as Treville . Many might take for their device the epithet STRONG , which formed the second part of his motto , but very few gentlemen could lay claim to the FAITHFUL , which constituted the first . Treville was one of these latter . His was one of those rare organizations , endowed with an obedient intelligence like that of the dog ; with a blind valor , a quick eye , and a prompt hand ; to whom sight appeared only to be given to see if the king were dissatisfied with anyone , and the hand to strike this displeasing personage , whether a Besme , a Maurevers , a Poltiot de Mere , or a Vitry . In short , up to this period nothing had been wanting to Treville but opportunity ; but he was ever on the watch for it , and he faithfully promised himself that he would not fail to seize it by its three hairs whenever it came within reach of his hand . At last Louis XIII made Treville the captain of his Musketeers , who were to Louis XIII in devotedness , or rather in fanaticism , what his Ordinaries had been to Henry III , and his Scotch Guard to Louis XI . On his part , the cardinal was not behind the king in this respect . When he saw the formidable and chosen body with which Louis XIII had surrounded himself , this second , or rather this first king of France , became desirous that he , too , should have his guard . He had his Musketeers therefore , as Louis XIII had his , and these two powerful rivals vied with each other in procuring , not only from all the provinces of France , but even from all foreign states , the most celebrated swordsmen . It was not uncommon for Richelieu and Louis XIII to dispute over their evening game of chess upon the merits of their servants . Each boasted the bearing and the courage of his own people . While exclaiming loudly against duels and brawls , they excited them secretly to quarrel , deriving an immoderate satisfaction or genuine regret from the success or defeat of their own combatants . We learn this from the memoirs of a man who was concerned in some few of these defeats and in many of these victories . Treville had grasped the weak side of his master ; and it was to this address that he owed the long and constant favor of a king who has not left the reputation behind him of being very faithful in his friendships . He paraded his Musketeers before the Cardinal Armand Duplessis with an insolent air which made the gray moustache of his Eminence curl with ire . Treville understood admirably the war method of that period , in which he who could not live at the expense of the enemy must live at the expense of his compatriots . His soldiers formed a legion of devil-may-care fellows , perfectly undisciplined toward all but himself . Loose , half-drunk , imposing , the king 's Musketeers , or rather M. de Treville 's , spread themselves about in the cabarets , in the public walks , and the public sports , shouting , twisting their mustaches , clanking their swords , and taking great pleasure in annoying the Guards of the cardinal whenever they could fall in with them ; then drawing in the open streets , as if it were the best of all possible sports ; sometimes killed , but sure in that case to be both wept and avenged ; often killing others , but then certain of not rotting in prison , M. de Treville being there to claim them . Thus M. de Treville was praised to the highest note by these men , who adored him , and who , ruffians as they were , trembled before him like scholars before their master , obedient to his least word , and ready to sacrifice themselves to wash out the smallest insult . M. de Treville employed this powerful weapon for the king , in the first place , and the friends of the king--and then for himself and his own friends . For the rest , in the memoirs of this period , which has left so many memoirs , one does not find this worthy gentleman blamed even by his enemies ; and he had many such among men of the pen as well as among men of the sword . In no instance , let us say , was this worthy gentleman accused of deriving personal advantage from the cooperation of his minions . Endowed with a rare genius for intrigue which rendered him the equal of the ablest intriguers , he remained an honest man . Still further , in spite of sword thrusts which weaken , and painful exercises which fatigue , he had become one of the most gallant frequenters of revels , one of the most insinuating lady 's men , one of the softest whisperers of interesting nothings of his day ; the BONNES FORTUNES of de Treville were talked of as those of M. de Bassompierre had been talked of twenty years before , and that was not saying a little . The captain of the Musketeers was therefore admired , feared , and loved ; and this constitutes the zenith of human fortune . Louis XIV absorbed all the smaller stars of his court in his own vast radiance ; but his father , a sun PLURIBUS IMPAR , left his personal splendor to each of his favorites , his individual value to each of his courtiers . In addition to the leeves of the king and the cardinal , there might be reckoned in Paris at that time more than two hundred smaller but still noteworthy leeves . Among these two hundred leeves , that of Treville was one of the most sought . The court of his hotel , situated in the Rue du Vieux-Colombier , resembled a camp from by six o'clock in the morning in summer and eight o'clock in winter . From fifty to sixty Musketeers , who appeared to replace one another in order always to present an imposing number , paraded constantly , armed to the teeth and ready for anything . On one of those immense staircases , upon whose space modern civilization would build a whole house , ascended and descended the office seekers of Paris , who ran after any sort of favor--gentlemen from the provinces anxious to be enrolled , and servants in all sorts of liveries , bringing and carrying messages between their masters and M. de Treville . In the antechamber , upon long circular benches , reposed the elect ; that is to say , those who were called . In this apartment a continued buzzing prevailed from morning till night , while M. de Treville , in his office contiguous to this antechamber , received visits , listened to complaints , gave his orders , and like the king in his balcony at the Louvre , had only to place himself at the window to review both his men and arms . The day on which d'Artagnan presented himself the assemblage was imposing , particularly for a provincial just arriving from his province . It is true that this provincial was a Gascon ; and that , particularly at this period , the compatriots of d'Artagnan had the reputation of not being easily intimidated . When he had once passed the massive door covered with long square-headed nails , he fell into the midst of a troop of swordsmen , who crossed one another in their passage , calling out , quarreling , and playing tricks one with another . In order to make one 's way amid these turbulent and conflicting waves , it was necessary to be an officer , a great noble , or a pretty woman . It was , then , into the midst of this tumult and disorder that our young man advanced with a beating heat , ranging his long rapier up his lanky leg , and keeping one hand on the edge of his cap , with that half-smile of the embarrassed a provincial who wishes to put on a good face . When he had passed one group he began to breathe more freely ; but he could not help observing that they turned round to look at him , and for the first time in his life d'Artagnan , who had till that day entertained a very good opinion of himself , felt ridiculous . Arrived at the staircase , it was still worse . There were four Musketeers on the bottom steps , amusing themselves with the following exercise , while ten or twelve of their comrades waited upon the landing place to take their turn in the sport . One of them , stationed upon the top stair , naked sword in hand , prevented , or at least endeavored to prevent , the three others from ascending . These three others fenced against him with their agile swords . D'Artagnan at first took these weapons for foils , and believed them to be buttoned ; but he soon perceived by certain scratches that every weapon was pointed and sharpened , and that at each of these scratches not only the spectators , but even the actors themselves , laughed like so many madmen . He who at the moment occupied the upper step kept his adversaries marvelously in check . A circle was formed around them . The conditions required that at every hit the man touched should quit the game , yielding his turn for the benefit of the adversary who had hit him . In five minutes three were slightly wounded , one on the hand , another on the ear , by the defender of the stair , who himself remained intact--a piece of skill which was worth to him , according to the rules agreed upon , three turns of favor . However difficult it might be , or rather as he pretended it was , to astonish our young traveler , this pastime really astonished him . He had seen in his province--that land in which heads become so easily heated--a few of the preliminaries of duels ; but the daring of these four fencers appeared to him the strongest he had ever heard of even in Gascony . He believed himself transported into that famous country of giants into which Gulliver afterward went and was so frightened ; and yet he had not gained the goal , for there were still the landing place and the antechamber . On the landing they were no longer fighting , but amused themselves with stories about women , and in the antechamber , with stories about the court . On the landing d'Artagnan blushed ; in the antechamber he trembled . His warm and fickle imagination , which in Gascony had rendered formidable to young chambermaids , and even sometimes their mistresses , had never dreamed , even in moments of delirium , of half the amorous wonders or a quarter of the feats of gallantry which were here set forth in connection with names the best known and with details the least concealed . But if his morals were shocked on the landing , his respect for the cardinal was scandalized in the antechamber . There , to his great astonishment , d'Artagnan heard the policy which made all Europe tremble criticized aloud and openly , as well as the private life of the cardinal , which so many great nobles had been punished for trying to pry into . That great man who was so revered by d'Artagnan the elder served as an object of ridicule to the Musketeers of Treville , who cracked their jokes upon his bandy legs and his crooked back . Some sang ballads about Mme . d'Aguillon , his mistress , and Mme . Cambalet , his niece ; while others formed parties and plans to annoy the pages and guards of the cardinal duke--all things which appeared to d'Artagnan monstrous impossibilities . Nevertheless , when the name of the king was now and then uttered unthinkingly amid all these cardinal jests , a sort of gag seemed to close for a moment on all these jeering mouths . They looked hesitatingly around them , and appeared to doubt the thickness of the partition between them and the office of M. de Treville ; but a fresh allusion soon brought back the conversation to his Eminence , and then the laughter recovered its loudness and the light was not withheld from any of his actions . " Certes , these fellows will all either be imprisoned or hanged , " thought the terrified d'Artagnan , " and I , no doubt , with them ; for from the moment I have either listened to or heard them , I shall be held as an accomplice . What would my good father say , who so strongly pointed out to me the respect due to the cardinal , if he knew I was in the society of such pagans ? " We have no need , therefore , to say that d'Artagnan dared not join in the conversation , only he looked with all his eyes and listened with all his ears , stretching his five senses so as to lose nothing ; and despite his confidence on the paternal admonitions , he felt himself carried by his tastes and led by his instincts to praise rather than to blame the unheard-of things which were taking place . Although he was a perfect stranger in the court of M. de Treville 's courtiers , and this his first appearance in that place , he was at length noticed , and somebody came and asked him what he wanted . At this demand d'Artagnan gave his name very modestly , emphasized the title of compatriot , and begged the servant who had put the question to him to request a moment 's audience of M. de Treville--a request which the other , with an air of protection , promised to transmit in due season . D'Artagnan , a little recovered from his first surprise , had now leisure to study costumes and physiognomy . The center of the most animated group was a Musketeer of great height and haughty countenance , dressed in a costume so peculiar as to attract general attention . He did not wear the uniform cloak--which was not obligatory at that epoch of less liberty but more independence--but a cerulean-blue doublet , a little faded and worn , and over this a magnificent baldric , worked in gold , which shone like water ripples in the sun . A long cloak of crimson velvet fell in graceful folds from his shoulders , disclosing in front the splendid baldric , from which was suspended a gigantic rapier . This Musketeer had just come off guard , complained of having a cold , and coughed from time to time affectedly . It was for this reason , as he said to those around him , that he had put on his cloak ; and while he spoke with a lofty air and twisted his mustache disdainfully , all admired his embroidered baldric , and d'Artagnan more than anyone . " What would you have ? " said the Musketeer . " This fashion is coming in . It is a folly , I admit , but still it is the fashion . Besides , one must lay out one 's inheritance somehow . " " Ah , Porthos ! " cried one of his companions , " do n't try to make us believe you obtained that baldric by paternal generosity . It was given to you by that veiled lady I met you with the other Sunday , near the gate St. Honor . " " No , upon honor and by the faith of a gentleman , I bought it with the contents of my own purse , " answered he whom they designated by the name Porthos . " Yes ; about in the same manner , " said another Musketeer , " that I bought this new purse with what my mistress put into the old one . " " It 's true , though , " said Porthos ; " and the proof is that I paid twelve pistoles for it . " The wonder was increased , though the doubt continued to exist . " Is it not true , Aramis ? " said Porthos , turning toward another Musketeer . This other Musketeer formed a perfect contrast to his interrogator , who had just designated him by the name of Aramis . He was a stout man , of about two- or three-and-twenty , with an open , ingenuous countenance , a black , mild eye , and cheeks rosy and downy as an autumn peach . His delicate mustache marked a perfectly straight line upon his upper lip ; he appeared to dread to lower his hands lest their veins should swell , and he pinched the tips of his ears from time to time to preserve their delicate pink transparency . Habitually he spoke little and slowly , bowed frequently , laughed without noise , showing his teeth , which were fine and of which , as the rest of his person , he appeared to take great care . He answered the appeal of his friend by an affirmative nod of the head . This affirmation appeared to dispel all doubts with regard to the baldric . They continued to admire it , but said no more about it ; and with a rapid change of thought , the conversation passed suddenly to another subject . " What do you think of the story Chalais 's esquire relates ? " asked another Musketeer , without addressing anyone in particular , but on the contrary speaking to everybody . " And what does he say ? " asked Porthos , in a self-sufficient tone . " He relates that he met at Brussels Rochefort , the AME DAMNEE of the cardinal disguised as a Capuchin , and that this cursed Rochefort , thanks to his disguise , had tricked Monsieur de Laigues , like a ninny as he is . " " A ninny , indeed ! " said Porthos ; " but is the matter certain ? " " I had it from Aramis , " replied the Musketeer . " Indeed ? " " Why , you knew it , Porthos , " said Aramis . " I told you of it yesterday . Let us say no more about it . " " Say no more about it ? That 's YOUR opinion ! " replied Porthos . " Say no more about it ! PESTE ! You come to your conclusions quickly . What ! The cardinal sets a spy upon a gentleman , has his letters stolen from him by means of a traitor , a brigand , a rascal-has , with the help of this spy and thanks to this correspondence , Chalais 's throat cut , under the stupid pretext that he wanted to kill the king and marry Monsieur to the queen ! Nobody knew a word of this enigma . You unraveled it yesterday to the great satisfaction of all ; and while we are still gaping with wonder at the news , you come and tell us today , 'Let us say no more about it . ' " " Well , then , let us talk about it , since you desire it , " replied Aramis , patiently . " This Rochefort , " cried Porthos , " if I were the esquire of poor Chalais , should pass a minute or two very uncomfortably with me . " " And you--you would pass rather a sad quarter-hour with the Red Duke , " replied Aramis . " Oh , the Red Duke ! Bravo ! Bravo ! The Red Duke ! " cried Porthos , clapping his hands and nodding his head . " The Red Duke is capital . I 'll circulate that saying , be assured , my dear fellow . Who says this Aramis is not a wit ? What a misfortune it is you did not follow your first vocation ; what a delicious abbe you would have made ! " " Oh , it 's only a temporary postponement , " replied Aramis ; " I shall be one someday . You very well know , Porthos , that I continue to study theology for that purpose . " " He will be one , as he says , " cried Porthos ; " he will be one , sooner or later . " " Sooner . " said Aramis . " He only waits for one thing to determine him to resume his cassock , which hangs behind his uniform , " said another Musketeer . " What is he waiting for ? " asked another . " Only till the queen has given an heir to the crown of France . " " No jesting upon that subject , gentlemen , " said Porthos ; " thank God the queen is still of an age to give one ! " " They say that Monsieur de Buckingham is in France , " replied Aramis , with a significant smile which gave to this sentence , apparently so simple , a tolerably scandalous meaning . " Aramis , my good friend , this time you are wrong , " interrupted Porthos . " Your wit is always leading you beyond bounds ; if Monsieur de Treville heard you , you would repent of speaking thus . " " Are you going to give me a lesson , Porthos ? " cried Aramis , from whose usually mild eye a flash passed like lightning . " My dear fellow , be a Musketeer or an abbe . Be one or the other , but not both , " replied Porthos . " You know what Athos told you the other day ; you eat at everybody 's mess . Ah , do n't be angry , I beg of you , that would be useless ; you know what is agreed upon between you , Athos and me . You go to Madame d'Aguillon 's , and you pay your court to her ; you go to Madame de Bois-Tracy 's , the cousin of Madame de Chevreuse , and you pass for being far advanced in the good graces of that lady . Oh , good Lord ! Do n't trouble yourself to reveal your good luck ; no one asks for your secret-all the world knows your discretion . But since you possess that virtue , why the devil do n't you make use of it with respect to her Majesty ? Let whoever likes talk of the king and the cardinal , and how he likes ; but the queen is sacred , and if anyone speaks of her , let it be respectfully . " " Porthos , you are as vain as Narcissus ; I plainly tell you so , " replied Aramis . " You know I hate moralizing , except when it is done by Athos . As to you , good sir , you wear too magnificent a baldric to be strong on that head . I will be an abbe if it suits me . In the meanwhile I am a Musketeer ; in that quality I say what I please , and at this moment it pleases me to say that you weary me . " " Aramis ! " " Porthos ! " " Gentlemen ! Gentlemen ! " cried the surrounding group . " Monsieur de Treville awaits Monsieur d'Artagnan , " cried a servant , throwing open the door of the cabinet . At this announcement , during which the door remained open , everyone became mute , and amid the general silence the young man crossed part of the length of the antechamber , and entered the apartment of the captain of the Musketeers , congratulating himself with all his heart at having so narrowly escaped the end of this strange quarrel . |