After the austere lesson administered to De Wardes, Athosand D'Artagnan together descended the staircase which led tothe courtyard of the Palais-Royal. "You perceive," saidAthos to D'Artagnan, "that Raoul cannot, sooner or later,avoid a duel with De Wardes, for De Wardes is as brave as heis vicious and wicked."

"I know such fellows well," replied D'Artagnan; "I had anaffair with the father. I assure you that, although at thattime I had good muscles and a sort of brute courage - Iassure you that the father did me some mischief. But youshould have seen how I fought it out with him. Ah, Athos,such encounters never take place in these times! I had ahand which could never remain at rest, a hand likequicksilver, - you knew its quality, for you have seen meat work. My sword was no longer a piece of steel; it was aserpent that assumed every form and every length, seekingwhere it might thrust its head; in other words, where itmight fix its bite. I advanced half a dozen paces, thenthree, and then, body to body, I pressed my antagonistclosely, then I darted back again ten paces. No human powercould resist that ferocious ardor. Well, De Wardes, thefather, with the bravery of his race, with his doggedcourage, occupied a good deal of my time; and my fingers, atthe end of the engagement, were, I well remember, tiredenough."

"It is, then, as I said," resumed Athos, "the son willalways be looking out for Raoul, and will end by meetinghim; and Raoul can easily be found when he is sought for."

"Agreed; but Raoul calculates well; he bears no grudgeagainst De Wardes, - he has said so; he will wait until heis provoked, and in that case his position is a good one.The king will not be able to get out of temper about thematter; besides we shall know how to pacify his majesty. Butwhy so full of these fears and anxieties? You don't easilyget alarmed."

"I will tell you what makes me anxious; Raoul is to see theking to-morrow, when his majesty will inform him of hiswishes respecting a certain marriage. Raoul, loving as hedoes, will get out of temper, and once in an angry mood, ifhe were to meet De Wardes, the shell would explode."

"We will prevent the explosion."

"Not I," said Athos, "for I must return to Blois. All thisgilded elegance of the court, all these intrigues, sickenme. I am no longer a young man who can make terms with themeannesses of the day. I have read in the Great Book manythings too beautiful and too comprehensive, to longer takeany interest in the trifling phrases which these men whisperamong themselves when they wish to deceive others. In oneword, I am weary of Paris wherever and whenever you are notwith me; and as I cannot have you with me always, I wish toreturn to Blois."

"How wrong you are, Athos; how you gainsay your origin andthe destiny of your noble nature. Men of your stamp arecreated to continue, to the very last moment, in fullpossession of their great faculties. Look at my sword, aSpanish blade, the one I wore at Rochelle; it served me forthirty years without fail; one day in the winter it fellupon the marble floor on the Louvre and was broken. I had ahunting-knife made of it which will last a hundred yearsyet. You, Athos, with your loyalty, your frankness, yourcool courage and your sound information, are the very mankings need to warn and direct them. Remain here; MonsieurFouquet will not last as long as my Spanish blade."

"Is it possible," said Athos, smiling, "that my friend,D'Artagnan, who, after having raised me to the skies, makingme an object of worship, casts me down from the top ofOlympus, and hurls me to the ground? I have more exaltedambition, D'Artagnan. To be a minister - to be a slave, - never! Am I not still greater? I am nothing. I rememberhaving heard you occasionally call me `the great Athos;' Idefy you, therefore, if I were minister, to continue tobestow that title upon me. No, no; I do not yield myself inthis manner."

"We will not speak of it any more, then; renounceeverything, even the brotherly feeling which unites us."

"It is almost cruel what you say."

D'Artagnan pressed Athos's hand warmly. "No, no; renounceeverything without fear. Raoul can get on without you. I amat Paris."

"In that case I shall return to Blois. We will take leave ofeach other to-night, to-morrow at daybreak I shall be on myhorse again."

"You cannot return to your hotel alone; why did you notbring Grimaud with you?"

"Grimaud takes his rest now; he goes to bed early, for mypoor old servant gets easily fatigued. He came from Bloiswith me, and I compelled him to remain within doors; for if,in retracing the forty leagues which separate us from Blois,he needed to draw breath even, he would die without amurmur. But I don't want to lose Grimaud."

"You shall have one of my musketeers to carry a torch foryou. Hola! some one there," called out D'Artagnan, leaningover the gilded balustrade. The heads of seven or eightmusketeers appeared. "I wish some gentleman who is sodisposed to escort the Comte de la Fere," cried D'Artagnan.

"Thank you for your readiness, gentlemen," said Athos; "Iregret to have occasion to trouble you in this manner."

"I would willingly escort the Comte de la Fere," said someone, "if I had not to speak to Monsieur d'Artagnan."

"Who is that?" said D'Artagnan, looking into the darkness.

"I, Monsieur d'Artagnan."

"Heaven forgive me, if that is not Monsieur Baisemeaux'svoice."

"It is, monsieur."

"What are you doing in the courtyard, my dear Baisemeaux?"

"I am waiting your orders, my dear Monsieur d'Artagnan."

"Wretch that I am," thought D'Artagnan; "true, you have beentold, I suppose, that some one was to be arrested, and havecome yourself, instead of sending an officer?"

"I came because I had occasion to speak to you."

"You did not send to me?"

"I waited until you were disengaged," said MonsieurBaisemeaux, timidly.

"I leave you, D'Artagnan," said Athos.

"Not before I have presented Monsieur Baisemeaux deMontlezun, the governor of the Bastile."

Baisemeaux and Athos saluted each other.

"Surely you must know each other," said D'Artagnan.

"I have an indistinct recollection of Monsieur Baisemeaux,"said Athos.

"You remember, my dear, Baisemeaux, the king's guardsmanwith whom we used formerly to have such delightful meetingsin the cardinal's time?"

"Perfectly," said Athos, taking leave of him withaffability.

"Monsieur le Comte de la Fere, whose nom de guerre wasAthos," whispered D'Artagnan to Baisemeaux.

"Yes, yes, a brave man, one of the celebrated four."

"Precisely so. But, my dear Baisemeaux, shall we talk now?"

"If you please."

"In the first place, as for the orders - there are none.The king does not intend to arrest the person in question."

"So much the worse," said Baisemeaux with a sigh.

"What do you mean by so much the worse?" exclaimedD'Artagnan, laughing.

"No doubt of it," returned the governor, "my prisoners aremy income."

"I beg your pardon, I did not see it in that light."

"And so there are no orders," repeated Baisemeaux with asigh. "What an admirable situation yours is captain," hecontinued, after a pause, "captain-lieutenant of themusketeers."

"Oh, it is good enough; but I don't see why you should envyme; you, governor of the Bastile, the first castle inFrance."

"I am well aware of that," said Baisemeaux, in a sorrowfultone of voice.

"You say that like a man confessing his sins. I wouldwillingly exchange my profits for yours."

"Don't speak of profits to me if you wish to save me thebitterest anguish of mind."

"Why do you look first on one side and then on the other, asif you were afraid of being arrested yourself, you whosebusiness it is to arrest others?"

"I was looking to see whether any one could see or listen tous; it would be safer to confer more in private, if youwould grant me such a favor."

"Baisemeaux, you seem to forget we are acquaintances of fiveand thirty years' standing. Don't assume such sanctifiedairs; make yourself quite comfortable; I don't eat governorsof the Bastile raw."

"Heaven be praised!"

"Come into the courtyard with me, it's a beautiful moonlightnight; we will walk up and down arm in arm under the trees,while you tell me your pitiful tale." He drew the dolefulgovernor into the courtyard, took him by the arm as he hadsaid, and, in his rough, good-humored way, cried: "Out withit, rattle away, Baisemeaux; what have you got to say?"

"It's a long story."

"You prefer your own lamentations, then; my opinion is, itwill be longer than ever. I'll wager you are making fiftythousand francs out of your pigeons in the Bastile."

"Would to heaven that were the case, M. d'Artagnan."

"You surprise me, Baisemeaux; just look at you, acting theanchorite. I should like to show you your face in a glass,and you would see how plump and florid-looking you are, asfat and round as a cheese, with eyes like lighted coals; andif it were not for that ugly wrinkle you try to cultivate onyour forehead, you would hardly look fifty years old, andyou are sixty, if I am not mistaken."

"All quite true."

"Of course I knew it was true, as true as the fifty thousandfrancs profit you make," at which remark Baisemeaux stampedon the ground.

"Well, well," said D'Artagnan, "I will add up your accountsfor you: you were captain of M. Mazarin's guards; and twelvethousand francs a year would in twelve years amount to onehundred and forty thousand francs."

"Twelve thousand francs! Are you mad?" cried Baisemeaux;"the old miser gave me no more than six thousand, and theexpenses of the post amounted to six thousand five hundredfrancs. M. Colbert, who deducted the other six thousandfrancs, condescended to allow me to take fifty pistoles as agratification; so that, if it were not for my little estateat Montlezun, which brings me in twelve thousand francs ayear, I could not have met my engagements."

"Well, then, how about the fifty thousand francs from theBastile? There, I trust, you are boarded and lodged, and getyour six thousand francs salary besides."

"Admitted!"

"Whether the year be good or bad, there are fifty prisoners,who, on an average, bring you in a thousand francs a yeareach."

"I don't deny it."

"Well, there is at once an income of fifty thousand francs;you have held the post three years, and must have receivedin that time one hundred and fifty thousand francs."

"You forget one circumstance, dear M. d'Artagnan."

"What is that?"

"That while you received your appointment as captain fromthe king himself, I received mine as governor from MessieursTremblay and Louviere."

"Quite right, and Tremblay was not a man to let you have thepost for nothing."

"Nor Louviere either: the result was, that I gaveseventy-five thousand francs to Tremblay as his share."

"Very agreeable that! and to Louviere?"

"The very same."

"Money down?"

"No: that would have been impossible. The king did not wish,or rather M. Mazarin did not wish, to have the appearance ofremoving those two gentlemen, who had sprung from thebarricades; he permitted them therefore, to make certainextravagant conditions for their retirement."

"What were those conditions?"

"Tremble...three years' income for the good-will."

"The deuce! so that the one hundred and fifty thousandfrancs have passed into their hands."

"Precisely so."

"And beyond that?"

"A sum of one hundred and fifty thousand francs, or fifteenthousand pistoles, whichever you please, in three payments."

"Exorbitant."

"Yes, but that is not all."

"What besides?"

"In default of the fulfillment by me of any one of thoseconditions, those gentlemen enter upon their functionsagain. The king has been induced to sign that."

"It is monstrous, incredible!"

"Such is the fact, however."

"I do indeed pity you, Baisemeaux. But why, in the name offortune, did M. Mazarin grant you this pretended favor? Itwould have been far better to have refused you altogether."

"Certainly, but he was strongly persuaded to do so by myprotector."

"Who is he?"

"One of your own friends, indeed; M. d'Herblay."

"M. d'Herblay! Aramis!"

"Just so; he has been very kind towards me."

"Kind! to make you enter into such a bargain!"

"Listen! I wished to leave the cardinal's service. M.d'Herblay spoke on my behalf to Louviere and Tremblay - they objected; I wished to have the appointment very much,for I knew what it could be made to produce; in my distressI confided in M. d'Herblay, and he offered to become mysurety for the different payments."

"You astound me! Aramis become your surety?"

"Like a man of honor; he procured the signature; Tremblayand Louviere resigned their appointments, I have paid everyyear twenty-five thousand francs to these two gentlemen; onthe thirty-first of May every year, M. d'Herblay himselfcomes to the Bastile, and brings me five thousand pistolesto distribute between my crocodiles."

"You owe Aramis one hundred and fifty thousand francs,then?"

"That is the very thing which is the cause of my despair,for I only owe him one hundred thousand."

"I don't quite understand you."

"He came and settled with the vampires only two years.To-day, however, is the thirty-first of May, and he has notbeen yet, and to-morrow, at midday, the payment falls due;if, therefore, I don't pay to-morrow, those gentlemen can,by the terms of the contract, break off the bargain; I shallbe stripped of everything; I shall have worked for threeyears, and given two hundred and fifty thousand francs fornothing, absolutely for nothing at all, dear M. d'Artagnan."

"This is very strange," murmured D'Artagnan.

"You can now imagine that I may well have wrinkles on myforehead, can you not?"

"Yes, indeed!"

"And you can imagine, too, that notwithstanding I may be asround as a cheese, with a complexion like an apple, and myeyes like coals on fire, I may almost be afraid that I shallnot have a cheese or an apple left me to eat, and that myeyes will be left me only to weep with."

"It is really a very grievous affair."

"I have come to you, M. d'Artagnan, for you are the only manwho can get me out of my trouble."

"In what way?"

"You are acquainted with the Abbe d'Herblay and you knowthat he is a somewhat mysterious gentleman."

"Yes."

"Well, you can, perhaps, give me the address of hispresbytery, for I have been to Noisy-le-Sec, and he is nolonger there."

"I should think not, indeed. He is Bishop of Vannes."

"What! Vannes in Bretagne?"

"Yes."

The little man began to tear his hair, saying, "How can Iget to Vannes from here by midday to-morrow? I am a lostman."

"Your despair quite distresses me."

"Vannes, Vannes!" cried Baisemeaux.

"But listen; a bishop is not always a resident. M. d'Herblaymay not possibly be so far away as you fear."

"Pray tell me his address."

"I really don't know it."

"In that case I am lost. I will go and throw myself at theking's feet."

"But, Baisemeaux, I can hardly believe what you tell me;besides, since the Bastile is capable of producing fiftythousand francs a year, why have you not tried to screw onehundred thousand out of it?"

"Because I am an honest man, M. d'Artagnan, and because myprisoners are fed like ambassadors."

"Well, you're in a fair way to get out of your difficulties;give yourself a good attack of indigestion with yourexcellent living, and put yourself out of the way betweenthis and midday to-morrow."

"How can you be hard-hearted enough to laugh?"

"Nay, you really afflict me. Come, Baisemeaux, if you canpledge me your word of honor, do so, that you will not openyour lips to any one about what I am going to say to you."

"Never, never!"

"You wish to put your hand on Aramis?"

"At any cost!"

"Well, go and see where M. Fouquet is."

"Why, what connection can there be - - "

"How stupid you are! Don't you know that Vannes is in thediocese of Belle-Isle, or Belle-Isle in the diocese ofVannes? Belle-Isle belongs to M. Fouquet, and M. Fouquetnominated M. d'Herblay to that bishopric!"

"I see, I see; you restore me to life again."

"So much the better. Go and tell M. Fouquet very simply thatyou wish to speak to M. d'Herblay."

"Of course, of course," exclaimed Baisemeaux, delightedly.

"But," said D'Artagnan, checking him by a severe look, "yourword of honor?"

"I give you my sacred word of honor," replied the littleman, about to set off running.

"Where are you going?"

"To M. Fouquet's house."

"It is useless doing that, M. Fouquet is playing at cardswith the king. All you can do is to pay M. Fouquet a visitearly to-morrow morning."

"I will do so. Thank you."

"Good luck attend you," said D'Artagnan.

"Thank you."

"This is a strange affair," murmured D'Artagnan, as heslowly ascended the staircase after he had left Baisemeaux."What possible interest can Aramis have in obligingBaisemeaux in this manner? Well, I suppose we shall learnsome day or another."