Athos found much less difficulty than he had expected inobtaining an audience of Anne of Austria. It was granted,and was to take place after her morning's "levee," at which,in accordance with his rights of birth, he was entitled tobe present. A vast crowd filled the apartments of SaintGermain. Anne had never at the Louvre had so large a court;but this crowd represented chiefly the second class ofnobility, while the Prince de Conti, the Duc de Beaufort andthe coadjutor assembled around them the first nobility ofFrance.

The greatest possible gayety prevailed at court. Theparticular characteristic of this was that more songs weremade than cannons fired during its continuance. The courtmade songs on the Parisians and the Parisians on the court;and the casualties, though not mortal, were painful, as areall wounds inflicted by the weapon of ridicule.

In the midst of this seeming hilarity, nevertheless,people's minds were uneasy. Was Mazarin to remain thefavorite and minister of the queen? Was he to be carriedback by the wind which had blown him there? Every one hopedso, so that the minister felt that all around him, beneaththe homage of the courtiers, lay a fund of hatred, illdisguised by fear and interest. He felt ill at ease and at aloss what to do.

Conde himself, whilst fighting for him, lost no opportunityof ridiculing, of humbling him. The queen, on whom he threwhimself as sole support, seemed to him now not much to berelied upon.

When the hour appointed for the audience arrived Athos wasobliged to stay until the queen, who was waited upon by anew deputation from Paris, had consulted with her ministeras to the propriety and manner of receiving them. All werefully engrossed with the affairs of the day; Athos could nottherefore have chosen a more inauspicious moment to speak ofhis friends - poor atoms, lost in that raging whirlwind.

But Athos was a man of inflexible determination; he firmlyadhered to a purpose once formed, when it seemed to him tospring from conscience and to be prompted by a sense ofduty. He insisted on being introduced, saying that althoughhe was not a deputy from Monsieur de Conti, or Monsieur deBeaufort, or Monsieur de Bouillon, or Monsieur d'Elbeuf, orthe coadjutor, or Madame de Longueville, or Broussel, or theParliament, and although he had come on his own privateaccount, he nevertheless had things to say to her majesty ofthe utmost importance.

The conference being finished, the queen summoned him to hercabinet.

Athos was introduced and announced by name. It was a namethat too often resounded in her majesty's ears and too oftenvibrated in her heart for Anne of Austria not to recognizeit; yet she remained impassive, looking at him with thatfixed stare which is tolerated only in women who are queens,either by the power of beauty or by the right of birth.

"It is then a service which you propose to render us,count?" asked Anne of Austria, after a moment's silence.

"Yes, madame, another service," said Athos, shocked that thequeen did not seem to recognize him.

Athos had a noble heart, and made, therefore, but a poorcourtier.

Anne frowned. Mazarin, who was sitting at a table folding uppapers, as if he had only been a secretary of state, lookedup.

"Speak," said the queen.

Mazarin turned again to his papers.

"Madame," resumed Athos, "two of my friends, namedD'Artagnan and Monsieur du Vallon, sent to England by thecardinal, suddenly disappeared when they set foot on theshores of France; no one knows what has become of them."

"Well?" said the queen.

"I address myself, therefore, first to the benevolence ofyour majesty, that I may know what has become of my friends,reserving to myself, if necessary, the right of appealinghereafter to your justice."

"Sir," replied Anne, with a degree of haughtiness which tocertain persons became impertinence, "this is the reasonthat you trouble me in the midst of so many absorbingconcerns! an affair for the police! Well, sir, you ought toknow that we no longer have a police, since we are no longerat Paris."

"I think your majesty will have no need to apply to thepolice to know where my friends are, but that if you willdeign to interrogate the cardinal he can reply without anyfurther inquiry than into his own recollections."

"But, God forgive me!" cried Anne, with that disdainful curlof the lips peculiar to her, "I believe that you areyourself interrogating."

"Yes, madame, here I have a right to do so, for it concernsMonsieur d'Artagnan - -d'Artagnan," he repeated, in such amanner as to bow the regal brow with recollections of theweak and erring woman.

The cardinal saw that it was now high time to come to theassistance of Anne.

"Sir," he said, "I can tell you what is at present unknownto her majesty. These individuals are under arrest. Theydisobeyed orders."

"I beg of your majesty, then," said Athos, calmly and notreplying to Mazarin, "to quash these arrests of Messieursd'Artagnan and du Vallon."

"What you ask is merely an affair of discipline and does notconcern me," said the queen.

"Monsieur d'Artagnan never made such an answer as that whenthe service of your majesty was concerned," said Athos,bowing with great dignity. He was going toward the door whenMazarin stopped him.

"You, too, have been in England, sir?" he said, making asign to the queen, who was evidently going to issue a severeorder.

"I was a witness of the last hours of Charles I. Poor king!culpable, at the most, of weakness, how cruelly punished byhis subjects! Thrones are at this time shaken and it is tolittle purpose for devoted hearts to serve the interests ofprinces. This is the second time that Monsieur d'Artagnanhas been in England. He went the first time to save thehonor of a great queen; the second, to avert the death of agreat king."

"Sir," said Anne to Mazarin, with an accent from which dailyhabits of dissimulation could not entirely chase the realexpression, "see if we can do something for thesegentlemen."

"I wish to do, madame, all that your majesty pleases."

"Do what Monsieur de la Fere requests; that is your name, isit not, sir?"

"I have another name, madame - I am called Athos."

"Madame," said Mazarin, with a smile, "you may rest easy;your wishes shall be fulfilled."

"You hear, sir?" said the queen.

"Yes, madame, I expected nothing less from the justice ofyour majesty. May I not go and see my friends?"

"Yes, sir, you shall see them. But, apropos, you belong tothe Fronde, do you not?"

"Madame, I serve the king."

"Yes, in your own way."

"My way is the way of all gentlemen, and I know only oneway," answered Athos, haughtily.

"Go, sir, then," said the queen; "you have obtained what youwish and we know all we desire to know."

Scarcely, however, had the tapestry closed behind Athos whenshe said to Mazarin:

"Cardinal, desire them to arrest that insolent fellow beforehe leaves the court."

"Your majesty," answered Mazarin, "desires me to do onlywhat I was going to ask you to let me do. These bravoes whoresuscitate in our epoch the traditions of another reign aretroublesome; since there are two of them already there, letus add a third."

Athos was not altogether the queen's dupe, but he was not aman to run away on suspicion - above all, when distinctlytold that he should see his friends again. He waited, then,in the ante-chamber with impatience, till he should beconducted to them.

He walked to the window and looked into the court. He sawthe deputation from the Parisians enter it; they were comingto assign the definitive place for the conference and tomake their bow to the queen. A very imposing escort awaitedthem without the gates.

Athos was looking on attentively, when some one touched himsoftly on the shoulder.

"Ah! Monsieur de Comminges," he said.

"Yes, count, and charged with a commission for which I begof you to accept my excuses."

"What is it?"

"Be so good as to give me up your sword, count."

Athos smiled and opened the window.

"Aramis!" he cried.

A gentleman turned around. Athos fancied he had seen himamong the crowd. It was Aramis. He bowed with greatfriendship to the count.

"Aramis," cried Athos, "I am arrested."

"Good," replied Aramis, calmly.

"Sir," said Athos, turning to Comminges and giving himpolitely his sword by the hilt, "here is my sword; have thekindness to keep it safely for me until I quit my prison. Iprize it - it was given to my ancestor by King Francis I.In his time they armed gentlemen, not disarmed them. Now,whither do you conduct me?"

"Into my room first," replied Comminges; "the queen willultimately decide your place of domicile."

Athos followed Comminges without saying a single word.