Alexandre Dumas

“ Monsieur de Canolles," said Cauvignac, following, upon the visible portions of the young man's face and in the convulsive movement of his whole body, the revolution which was taking place in his mind. "Do you know Monsieur de Canolles, too? In God's name, do you know everybody?"
"A truce to jesting," faltered the young man, who was trembling all over, and seemed on the point of fainting.
"Where is this lady?"
"In that room yonder; look, the third window from this,—where the yellow curtains are."
"I want to see her!" cried the traveller. ”

“ What was there so fascinating and lovable in the little cavalier of the Golden Calf? Was Madame de Cambes so vastly superior to Nanon? Are golden locks so much to be preferred to black that one should be a perjured ingrate to his mistress, and a traitor to his king, all for the sake of exchanging black locks for golden? And yet, oh, pitiable human nature! Canolles brought all these eminently sensible arguments to bear upon himself, but Canolles was not convinced. The heart is full of such mysteries, which bring happiness to lovers and despair to philosophers. ”

“ As she spoke, she handed the inn-keeper one of her own gloves.
"No," said Biscarros, "a man's glove."
"A man's glove? Monsieur de Canolles staring at a man's glove, and passionately smelling it? You are mad!"
"No; for it belonged to the little gentleman, the pretty little blond cavalier, who neither ate nor drank, and was afraid of the dark,—a tiny glove, in which madame could hardly put her hand, although madame certainly has a pretty hand—"
Nanon gave a sharp little cry, as if she had been struck by an invisible arrow. ”

“ Turning to his servant, who had halted when his master halted, he said,—
"Come here, Castorin!"
At the same time he put his hand to his holsters, as if to make sure that his pistols were in good condition.
"Ah, monsieur!" cried the young man at the window, putting out his arms as if to stop him, "monsieur, in Heaven's name do not risk your life in such an adventure! Rather come into the inn, and thereby avoid arousing the suspicion of the men who are waiting for you; consider that the honor of a woman is at stake." ”

“ Canolles shrugged his shoulders.
"Go and wait in the antechamber," said he; "when I have need of you I will ring."
"I forewarn monsieur that if he delays long, he will not find me in the antechamber."
"Where shall you be, I pray to know?"
"In my bed. It seems to me that after travelling two hundred leagues it is high time to go to bed."
"Monsieur Castorin," said Canolles, "you are a clown."
"If monsieur considers a clown unworthy to be his servant, monsieur has but to say the word, and I will relieve him of my services," rejoined Castorin, with his most majestic air. ”

“ As for Nanon, with pallid cheeks, and a convulsive smile frozen upon her lips, she listened to every word that fell from the inn-keeper's lips, with that devouring faith which leads the jealous to drink freely to the dregs the poison which destroys their lives.
"What leads you to think," said she, "that your little gentleman is a woman, and that Monsieur de Canolles is in love with her, rather than that he is riding about the country because he is bored, or to gratify a whim?" ”

“ Madame de Cambes, if he had been in error as to her feeling for him, if her distress was mere comedy,—Madame de Cambes might then openly make sport of him; he would have to endure the jeering of the lackeys and of the soldiers hidden in the forest; the wrath of Mazarin and the queen; and worse than all, his new-born passion would be nipped in the bud, for never did woman love a man whom she designed, though but for an instant, to make ridiculous. ”

“ It was the fact that Master Biscarros had outdone himself; the dishes were not numerous, but delicious and exquisitely served. The yellow wine of Guyenne, and the red Burgundy fell from the bottles like golden pearls and cascades of rubies.
Cauvignac ate very heartily.
"The boy handles his knife and fork very cleverly," said the duke. "But you do not eat, Nanon."
"I am no longer hungry, monseigneur."
"Dear sister!" cried Cauvignac; "to think that the pleasure of seeing me has taken away her appetite! ”

“ To describe him to you is a simpler matter: he is a slender youth, fair-haired and delicate, hardly more than sixteen; he seems to have just about enough strength to carry the little parlor sword which hangs at his baldric."
The stranger knit his brow as if searching his memory.
"Ah, yes!" said he, "I know whom you mean,—a light-haired, effeminate young dandy, riding a Barbary horse, and followed by an old squire, stiff as the knave of spades: he's not the man I seek."
"Ah! he's not the man monsieur seeks?" Biscarros repeated. ”

“ Canolles walked up to him, and took one of the buttons of his doublet between his thumb and forefinger,—the familiar trick, long afterwards, of a much greater man than poor Canolles ever was.
"Say that again," said he.
"I say," rejoined Castorin with unabated impudence, "that if monsieur is not content with me I will relieve monsieur of my services."
Canolles let go the button, and went gravely to get his cane. Castorin was not slow to grasp the meaning of that manœuvre.
"Monsieur," he cried, "beware what you do! I am no longer a common valet; I am in the service of Madame la Princesse!" ”

“ I am simply a passing fancy for Monsieur de Canolles. He met me on the road just when he was obliged to leave Guyenne, and followed me as the traveller follows a jack-o'-lantern; but his heart is in that little house among the trees, whither he was going the evening that I met him. It is impossible for me to keep by my side a man who loves another, and whom I might perchance be weak enough to love myself, if I were to be longer in his company. Oh! not only should I betray my honor, but the interests of Madame [Pg 262] la Princesse, were I to sink so low as to love the agent of her persecutors. ”

“ How insulting the espionage of the Duc d'Épernon, and the necessity imposed upon him, Canolles, of looking on, so to speak, at his rival's triumph! Nanon was so deeply in love herself that, attributing this prank to a paroxysm of jealousy, she not only forgave Canolles, but pitied him, and congratulated herself, perhaps, on being loved so well as to have incited him to take this petty revenge upon her. But the evil must be cut off at its root, and the progress of this incipient passion must be checked at all hazards. ”

“ Canolles felt the fever rising from his trembling fingers to his confused brain.
"I thought it was the princess," he said; "I didn't know her."
"Who was it, pray?"
"A maid of honor, I think."
"Ah, my poor boy! it's that traitor Mazarin's fault. What the devil! when a man is sent upon a delicate mission like that, they should give him a portrait. If you had had or seen a portrait of Madame la Princesse, you would certainly have recognized her. But let us say no more about it. Do you know that that awful Mazarin, on the pretext that you had betrayed the king, wanted to throw you to the toads?" ”

“ I will join you in a moment."
"It's a large sum to expose to the risks of a journey at night," said Pompée, lifting the bag.
"There's no risk; at all events, Richon says so. Are the pistols in the holsters, the sword in the scabbard, and the musket slung on its hook?"
"You forget," replied the old squire, drawing himself up, "that when a man has been a soldier all his life, he doesn't allow himself to be caught napping. Yes, Monsieur le Vicomte, everything is in its place."
"The idea," observed Richon, "that any one could be afraid with such a companion! A pleasant journey to you, viscount!" ”

“ The viscountess seemed to be touched, and gazed at the baron with almost tender compassion.
"Have you not the best of all excuses," said she, "the impossibility of doing otherwise? Could you, alone, stop Madame la Princesse's imposing escort? Do your orders bid you to fight fifty gentlemen single-handed?"
"I was not alone, madame," said Canolles, shaking his head. "I had, and still have, in the woods yonder, not five hundred yards away, two hundred soldiers, whom I can summon in a moment by blowing my whistle. ”

“ Canolles started back, and made a rapid mental effort to distinguish between the words and the thought that prompted them. He realized that the moment had come to stake his all upon a single cast.
"Madame," said he, "the words that you have just uttered, with such evident sincerity that there is no mistaking their meaning, have removed all uncertainty from my mind. You shrieking, you a slave! I detain a woman who does not love me, who detests me! ”

“ I am going to Mantes, where the court now is."
"Adieu, monsieur."
The young man could hardly utter the words, and sank upon a chair, not daring to meet his companion's eye.
Canolles stepped up to him.
"I shall never see you again in all probability," he said, with deep emotion.
"Who knows?" said the viscount, trying to smile.
"Promise one thing to a man who will never forget you," said Canolles, laying his hand upon his heart; and his tone and his gesture alike indicated absolute sincerity. ”

“ Who are you?" demanded the person in question, in a frightened voice.
"Pardieu!" said Canolles, "who are you yourself, who prowl about this staircase like a spy?"
"I am Pompée."
"Madame la Princesse's intendant?"
"Yes, yes,-Madame la Princesse's intendant."
"Ah! that's a lucky chance; I am Castorin."
"Castorin, Monsieur de Canolles' valet?"
"Himself."
"Ah! my dear Castorin," said Pompée, "I'll wager that I gave you a good fright."
"Fright?"
"Yes! Dame! when one has never been a soldier—Can I do anything for you, my dear friend?" continued Pompée, resuming his air of importance. ”

“ We mustn't ask a woman to do the impossible."
"That is no answer, baron. I ask you how it is that you could bear to leave Mademoiselle de Lartigues, being so fond of her as you are."
Canolles gazed at the viscount with eyes which already saw too clearly, for it was quite light by this time, and there was no other shadow on the young man's face than that cast by his hat.
The baron felt a mad impulse to reply by speaking his thoughts; but the presence of Pompée and Castorin, and the viscount's serious expression held him back; moreover, he was not yet absolutely free from doubt. ”

“ Do you think that the people about us can much longer avoid detecting the understanding between us? Our relations, you will agree, are not those of a persecuted princess with her persecutor. But if this separation is so painful to you as you pretend, let me tell you, Monsieur le Baron, that it rests with you to make it unnecessary that we should separate."
"Say what you mean! oh, say!" cried Canolles. ”

“ Madame de Tourville bit her lips.
"And so," said the princess, "you induced us to fly from Chantilly, you caused us to travel a hundred and fifty leagues, to expose us at the last to insult from the Bordelais?"
"What you style an insult, madame, is an honor. Indeed, what could be more flattering to Madame la Princesse de Condé than to be assured that it is she who is made welcome at Bordeaux, and not these others?" ”

“ Richon smiled.
"I can well believe it," he said; "one doesn't meet young gentlemen of your type every day."
"He seemed to me a jovial sort of fellow," said the viscount, after a brief pause.
"A jovial fellow and a good fellow, too; he has a charming wit and a great heart. The Gascon, you know, is never mediocre in anything; he is in the front rank or is good for nothing. This one is made of good stuff. In love, as in war, he is at once a dandy and a gallant officer; I am sorry that he is against us. ”

“ Nations are reluctant to expel a tyrant who would carry away their money, and depart with smiling face. Nanon de Lartigues had two millions.
And so she lived in a species of security over the volcano which was unceasingly shaking everything about her to its foundations. She had felt the popular hatred rise like the tide, increase in force, and assail with its waves the power of Monsieur d'Épernon, who, when hunted from Bordeaux in a day of wrath, had carried Nanon in his wake, as the ship carries the skiff. Nanon bent before the storm, ready to stand erect again when it should have passed ”

“ The three ladies, in their lugubrious promenade, bent their steps toward the main door of the château, and seemed to be expecting the arrival of some messenger with important news. Several times the princess dowager had said, shaking her head and sighing:—
"We shall fail, my daughter! we shall be humiliated."
"We must expect to pay something as the price of the great glory we are to win," said Madame de Tourville, without relaxing the stiffness of her demeanor in any respect; "there is no victory without a combat!" ”

“ Richon, my friend, I consider you an ill-favored villain!"
Richon began to laugh.
"In this mood, baron," said he, "you would be quite capable of winning a hundred pistoles from me this evening, if we should play. Luck, you know, always favors the disappointed."
Richon knew Canolles, and designedly opened this vent for his ill-humor.
"Ah! pardieu!" he cried; "let us play. You are right, my friend, and the suggestion reconciles me to your company. Richon, you are a very agreeable fellow; you are as handsome as Adonis, Richon, and I forgive Monsieur de Cambes.—Cards, Castorin!" ”

“ Now, my dear Barrabas, we haven't that desirable enough which is equivalent to too much."
"How much it costs to appear to be an honest man!" said Cauvignac; "all that we took from the royal tax-gatherer has gone into equipments, doublets, and trimming. We cut as fine a figure as any nobleman, and we carry luxury so far as to have purses; to be sure, there's nothing in them. Oh, appearances!"
"Speak for us, captain, and not for yourself," said Barrabas. "You have the purse and ten thousand livres to boot." ”

“ As he spoke, the viscount, with his small white hand, gave the poor devil a half-pistole, and he walked away, thanking Heaven for the lucky meeting.
"You were wrong, Monsieur le Vicomte, you were very wrong," said Pompée, a few steps farther on.
"Wrong, wrong! wherein, pray?"
"In giving that man a half-pistole. At night you should never admit that you have money about you; look you, wasn't it that coward's first cry that he hadn't a sou?"
"True," said the viscount, smiling; "but he's a coward, as you say, while we, as you also said, are fighting men, who fear nothing." ”

“ On my word of honor, I suspected as much."
"There can be no doubt now," murmured Nanon.
"Give me some wine, sister mine," said Cauvignac. "I can't imagine who emptied the bottle that stands beside me, but there's nothing in it."
"Go to!" exclaimed the duke; "his complaint can be cured, as his love doesn't interfere with his eating or drinking; and the king's business will not suffer."
"The king's business suffer!" cried Cauvignac. "Never! The king's business first of all! the king's business, is sacred. To his Majesty's health, monseigneur."
"I may rely upon your loyalty, baron?" ”

“ Nanon therefore was awaiting Canolles, as a woman who loves is wont to await the loved one, consulting her watch ten times a minute, walking to the window again and again, listening to every sound, gazing questioningly at the sun as it sank in ruddy splendor behind the mountain, to give place to the first shades of night. ”

“ I am a man, and, as Plautus says: 'Homo sum et nihil humani me alienum puto;' which means: 'I am a man, and nothing pertaining to mankind is strange to me.' I do know what fear is, therefore, but that does not prevent my being courageous on occasion. I handle a sword or a pistol prettily enough when I am driven to it. But my real bent, my decided vocation, is diplomacy. Unless I am sadly mistaken, my dear Nanon, I am on the way to become a great politician. A fine career is politics; Monsieur de Mazarin will rise very high if he's not hanged. And I am like Monsieur de Mazarin ”