Translator's Preface
This text has not been edited after machine translation. This is an introductory event.
The preface to the novel “The Three Musketeers” by Alexandre Dumas states that this novel is not fiction, but the publication of the true memoirs of Athos, also known as Comte de La F;re. You can easily see this for yourself by opening the book.
The said memoirs of Athos are allegedly entitled as follows: “Memoirs of the Comte de La F;re of certain events that occurred in France towards the end of the reign of King Louis XIII and at the beginning of the reign of King Louis XIV.”
It follows from this that Dumas himself decided to inform readers that this book is only the beginning of existing memoirs, the remaining parts of which will be published later. Since the novel “Twenty Years Later” does not refer to “the beginning of the reign of King Louis XIV,” and this can only be said about the novel “The Vicomte de Bragelonne, or another ten years later” (in the Russian translation the word “still” is omitted), then, consequently , Dumas himself intended to pass off all three novels as genuine memoirs of Athos.
Apparently, he forgot this subtlety of his preface almost immediately after he wrote it, because already in the first novel, in the book “The Three Musketeers” we encounter such inaccuracies that Athos could not have allowed (for example, the indication that that Athos is almost twice as old as d'Artagnan), and such detailed details that Athos simply could not have known. In addition, there are assessments of Athos’ behavior by other people, for example, it is written that d’Artagnan considered Athos a drunkard, and in the novel “Twenty Years Later” he went to meet him with bated breath, expecting to see a completely drunken alcoholic. But d'Artagnan would never admit this to Athos, so Athos could not describe this in his memoirs. Additionally, the final novel of the trilogy describes the death of Athos, as well as many of the events that followed.
Either we should have attributed this to the forgetfulness of Alexandre Dumas, or another explanation should be found for these inconsistencies.
"Memoirs of Aramis" has as its source the same information as the novel "D'Artagnan and the Iron Mask". This story is described in the preface to the novel “D'Artagnan and the Iron Mask,” which you can find here on the Proza.Ru website.
We, of course, understand that the author of all three books is Alexandre Dumas. He creatively used at least two books by Gacien de Courtille de Sandre, one of which is mentioned in the preface - this is supposedly “The True Memoirs of d'Artagnan”, the other is “Memoirs of the Comte de Rochefort”. We find plenty of evidence of this. Dumas also used, at a minimum, the memoirs of Fran;ois La Rochefoucauld, Tallemant de Reo, Cardinal de Retz, and probably some other sources. This doesn't make said trilogy any worse. But Dumas could not use the memoirs of Comte de La F;re, since they did not exist.
Here is what Dumas writes in the preface to “The Three Musketeers” in relation to these memories: “One can imagine how great our joy was when, leafing through this manuscript, our last hope, we discovered on the twentieth page the name of Athos, on the twenty-seventh - the name Porthos, and on the thirty-first - the name of Aramis." He further states: “We now offer to the attention of our readers the first part of this precious manuscript, restoring its proper title, and we undertake, if this first part has the success it deserves and of which we have no doubt, to immediately publish the second.” Therefore, if we believe the statement that this manuscript is precisely brought to our attention, we can expect to find “on the twentieth page the name of Athos, on the twenty-seventh the name of Porthos, and on the thirty-first the name of Aramis.” However, it is not. In fact, on page twenty-four we first meet the name of Porthos and almost immediately, a few lines later, the name of Aramis. Athos' name appears later, about a page and a half later. We can only conclude: “Accuracy is not about Dumas.”
Writing on behalf of another author was normal in those days, as it was long before them, and after them as well. The novel about Robinson Crusoe indicated in the title that this story was told by himself, and, by the way, the entire novel was written in the first person. The same can be said about Courtille's novels, which claim to be authored by Comte de Rochefort and d'Artagnan, and are also written in the first person. Dumas doesn't even smell of this, which doesn't make them any worse. It’s just that neither the author himself nor the editors noticed this discrepancy. But it also extends to the novel Ten Years Later, which describes the death of Athos from the outside, and also describes the events after his death.
Of course, we agree with Dumas’s statement that his books are the memoirs of Athos, we cannot help but see all these inconsistencies. Most readers simply forget this statement of the preface, or do not read it at all, but perceive the novel “The Three Musketeers” and the two subsequent novels as solely the result of the creative imagination of the author, that is, Alexandre Dumas. And they do it right!
We were told that we would read memoirs, but were given an adventure novel to read. We were deceived. It’s as if they were invited to play checkers, but instead they played giveaway or chess. We did not receive what was promised to us, but we forget what was promised to us. And what's the difference? After all, reading this novel is a pleasure!
In those days, it was quite acceptable to attribute the authorship of a book to anyone, a fictional person, or a historical person. It was not Dumas who invented this, and it was not Dumas who stopped it. But, as you can see, he let it slip. In any case, Athos could not describe his death. Either he did not die and wrote a fiction, or it was not Athos who described it. Dumas did not bother to give an answer to this oddity. However, he indicated that only he, Alexandre Dumas, was personally responsible for everything published in the novel, thereby confirming his authorship of this novel and the two subsequent ones.
Indeed, at the end of the preface we read: “In the meantime, since the recipient is the second father, we invite the reader to see in us, and not in the Count de La F;re, the source of his pleasure or boredom.” Thus, Dumas asserts himself as the author of everything that he brings to our attention. Let us turn to the book “The Princess of Monaco” and see that there Dumas claims that he is only publishing the memoirs of the princess, which did not stop him from putting himself as the author of this novel on the title page. As we see, all readers understood that this was just such a game, the statement that the book tells about true events is the first stage of the storyteller’s action, which invites us to take it at face value only in the sense that our attention should be drawn to it the work as genuine memories, and therefore completely true, historically accurate and honest. But the question of accepting this game is only for the reader, and from a legal point of view, it is Alexander Dumas who is, of course, the author of these books, he alone had copyright, and no heirs of the non-existent Count de La F;re could make claims against him in the field copyright infringement. The text that is written in a literary work should not be understood as indicating the actual origin of the manuscript, and no indication of infringement of the copyrights of others should be sought from this text. This is a game that the reader is invited to accept. In this sense, I, being the author of works in the fan fiction genre, continue the game that Alexandre Dumas began with his readers.
So, the book brought to your attention is a translation of sheets entitled “Memoirs of Henri-Ren; d'Herblay (Aramis), a former musketeer of King Louis the Thirteenth, as well as a former bishop of Van, who later became a general of the Jesuit Order, a cardinal and pontiff, written by him with his own hand." These sheets of paper made up the second part of the folder, which was entitled “Deux ans plus tard par Alex Dumas.” I have already translated the first two books with ease and published them with many abbreviations, releasing at my own discretion scenes describing cities, nature, battles, battles, duels and travel on horseback and in carriages. All this seemed tedious to me, and I did not even bother to translate these fragments. Based on the acquisition made, as well as on the basis of the gigantic translation work done, and in full accordance with the completed transaction for the acquisition of the manuscript, I have the right to consider myself the author of everything that was published in the form of two books, with the general title "D'Artagnan and the Iron Mask" or two more years later."
The last sheets turned out to be the most difficult for me. Firstly, different chapters were written in different languages - despite the general predominance of French, there were still chapters written in Italian and Spanish. In some places I also found Latin, and in some places I came across a language completely unknown to me, which I could not translate even with the use of the most modern automatic translators, which helped me cope with Spanish, Italian and Latin. It was probably some kind of code, and those places that the author did not want to make public under any circumstances, he encrypted with this code. I did not mark these places, but tried to connect the resulting fragments into a more or less consistent narrative.
What happened as a result - judge for yourself.
The first book has been translated, which gives me a break.
It is published here for the convenience of readers in two versions - as a single book in one file in a folder called “Memoirs of Aramis Book 1” and in parts, that is, separate chapters in a folder called “Memoirs of Aramis in parts Fanfiction”.
As I wrote earlier, I am being persistently offered to purchase, under the same conditions or even slightly better, a similar folder called “Three Henri”, which tells about the adventures of Henry the Third, Henry the Fourth and Henry de Guise, as well as about the great jester Chicot. I don't think I should do this since I've already neglected a lot of things with this extremely difficult translation.
However, I have not made a final decision yet.
Book 1
Chapter 1
I was born in 1602...
To hell! I am writing these notes for myself, and not for some descendants who would read them and judge me. Therefore, should I set out my biography, starting from birth? Of course you shouldn't. If I want to write about this, it will only be for my own memory. Perhaps I will remember some episode from my youth or even from childhood. Who will forbid me to violate the chronology and omit what I consider desirable to omit, if I am writing this exclusively for myself. That's why I allowed myself to curse. It’s not appropriate for me, a clergyman, to do something like that. I'm not some kind of Porthos!
Richelieu was right, he was right when he said that any paper that could serve to incriminate him should be immediately destroyed. But he also left a lot behind! In my secret room there is a lot of things stored that expose him, and his friends, and his enemies, and his servants and those who rule over him, although, however, there were not so many of them on earth.
Perhaps I myself will someday burn these memoirs if I decide that it would be better that way. In the meantime, I have extremely reliable hiding places, and from time to time I have a dozen free minutes in order to write down what, perhaps, should no longer be stored in my memory. To write down in order to forget, to free up memory for more important information, that’s why I undertook this work.
I will talk to myself. Where else can I find an interlocutor of equal intelligence to me, with whom I could freely talk about everything?
Life turned out in such a way that everything I knew, as a rule, I had to keep secret from everyone with whom I came into contact; I had to make all decisions myself, without consulting anyone.
True, I had friends. But I couldn’t discuss much with them either.
Porthos was the person for whom it would be difficult to understand my train of thought and share my aspirations. D'Artagnan could understand me too well, even before I realized that I had given him enough information for him to reconstruct in his tenacious brain all the connections between individual events and facts. It’s not that I was afraid that he would find out the truth in all its details, but sometimes it seemed to me that he shouldn’t know it, at least not when he could have already found out about it. He understood me so quickly that sometimes it simply scared me. Therefore, I preferred not to tell him anything, because even in my gaze he managed to read my thoughts and understand me even before I managed to understand myself. I can only hope that sometimes d'Artagnan failed to fully see through me, but perhaps he simply did not show it. Now it doesn't matter anymore.
As for Athos, he rather tried not to fully understand me, as soon as he understood that the matter might concern too delicate issues. He always tried to see the best in me and not see the worst, although perhaps he did not always succeed, but I can testify that he tried very hard.
My maternal grandfather was the same Chicot who served as a jester first for King Henry III and then for Henry IV . His position was quite worthy of the nobleman that he was, so there was nothing to be ashamed of. I got his diaries from my mother. Who would have thought that Chico kept diaries! I learned them by heart. They should be destroyed, since they will never be erased from my memory, and others should not read this. It was Chicot who taught me with his diary the main foundations of my worldview, and it was from him that I inherited my character. I understood the main thing. The whole country revolves around the royal family. Not necessarily around the King. Sometimes, and even more often than everyone thinks, everything is decided not by the King, but by someone else who is constantly with him. And this person influences the politics of the country, its finances, the army, the navy, the construction of cities and the destruction of fortresses, the declaration of wars and the conclusion of peace.
If you want to achieve something, know that it is easier to do it near the King. Sometimes it just won't work out any other way. But we must also remember that the closer you are to the King, the closer you are to death, since both royal favors and royal anger can arise not only as a result of reasons visible to you, but also without reason, or as a result of such reasons, you can recognize which is not possible.
But it also happens that all the reasons can be clarified and managed by one person. And then this person can control the monarch, and, consequently, the entire monarchy.
Such was Richelieu. We fought with this man without understanding him, but now I bow to his intelligence and insight, to his ability to work, to his memory, capable of retaining the most important things, and things that seem insignificant, and even those that are perhaps insignificant are in reality, but can become the most important in a single moment. He kept everything in his mind, and compiled the most complex chains of influence on the state machine not only within France, but throughout Europe, and even beyond its borders. Its influence extended to the New World, and to Asian countries, and even to such an incomprehensible country as Russia, which is neither in Europe nor in Asia, but is stuck somewhere in the middle and influences both of these parts of the world so that it is impossible to predict its future influence.
I will probably remember many of our affairs with Marie de Chevreuse. I will call her Goat, that is, Chevrette, as Anna of Austria called her. She did not allow me to call her that, but here I can allow myself this freedom, because she will no longer read my memoirs, and thank God.
Chapter 2
What in my grandfather’s notes prompted me to engage in intrigue? Yes, yes, since I am writing these notes solely for myself, there is no need to pretend to myself. I told some people that I was half a musketeer, half an abbot, and others that I was more an abbot than a musketeer, but why should I lie to myself? My main profession is the same as Chevrette’s – intrigue. If intrigues are directed against one person, they are called that; if they are against an entire state, it is politics, or, if you like, diplomacy. If they are aimed at changing the government, it is a conspiracy. A conspiracy that succeeds should be called a coup, but it is called the fall of a rotten regime, or even better, if it passed so quietly that it is not called anything, since for all the uninitiated everything remains as if nothing had happened. One monarch quietly passed away, or at least retired, another took his place, and that’s all. What kind of conspiracy is this? Where is the conspiracy, who are the conspirators, gentlemen?
And only that conspiracy that failed is called a conspiracy, rebellion, rebellion.
The perfect conspiracy occurs as if it never existed.
When, after the death of Henry the Third, Henry of Navarre declared himself the new King of France under the name of Henry the Fourth, the Catholics of Paris did not recognize him, and named Charles of Bourbon as their king under the name of Charles the Tenth. This relative of Henry the Fourth said that he did not agree to such an election, he, they say, did not ask for this, did not intend to, refuses, he protests. Thus, he did not succeed as King Charles the Tenth. And there was no conspiracy. No one seemed to influence him. Everything happened quietly and peacefully. No events, no disturbances. Henry the Fourth of Bourbon was and remains the king. And only my grandfather knew why Charles the Tenth did not come to fruition, and he will never go down in history under this name. There was no such King in France, that’s the whole story.
Even Henry the Fourth did not know why Charles of Bourbon renounced the French crown.
De Treville was my cousin. It is not customary to talk about this, since every Gascon wants to achieve everything that is due to him. The most important Gascon who conquered Paris was our glorious King Henry IV . Paris conquered him, and he conquered Paris. When his troops surrounded the rebellious capital of France, victory was too difficult. Although food had already run out in Paris, a thousand citizens had died of hunger, the residents came up with the idea of making food from the corpses of their fellow citizens, which doubled the mortality rate. The King's comrades told him that victory was near, because although Paris had decided not to surrender until at least one living Parisian remained in the city, the time would soon come when not a single living person would remain in it. Henry was indignant, saying that he did not need Paris at such a price. He ordered that food convoys be allowed to enter the besieged city. No military leader would have acted as Henry IV did , but he did so precisely because he was not an ordinary military leader. He entered Paris without resistance, the heralds shouted “Forgiveness to all!” Forgiveness to everyone!” and Paris submitted to its King.
Together with Henry, as many Gascons came to Paris as Paris could accommodate.
Of course, Henry could not help but appoint someone who was not his countryman as the captain of his bodyguards. He appointed his fellow countryman de Praslin, and de Sully, also a Gascon, to the post of superintendent of finance. Now is the best time for Gascons to move to Paris.
The legal heir of Henry IV , Louis XIII , also welcomed the Gascons, therefore, under him, de Treville, also a Gascon, was appointed captain of the royal musketeers. I named Louis XIII as the legitimate heir of Henry IV , but I did not call him the son of that king. Alas, although he was considered as such, the only certainty remains that he was born from Queen Marie de' Medici at a time when she was the legal wife of King Henry IV . Our glorious Henry visited many ladies in their beds, but he was not the cause of the birth of King Louis, and this explains the fact that Henry, who was extremely fond of all his children born to him by his mistresses, did not love Louis, but ordered him to be flogged as much as possible more, for his own good, and for the good of France, apparently.
Well, in this case, we will no longer be surprised why Henry, who loved women and even very young girls so much, did not transfer his temperament to Louis, who hated women. If the King had not been obliged to leave an heir, Louis would probably never have married.
Everything that happens in the marital bedroom should remain there, especially if this bedroom is a royal one. So I fall silent. At least here and now.
I told this only in order to give myself an explanation for the fact that, on arrival at the royal court, I entered de Treville, and the fact that most of my interests were connected with ladies, despite the fact that I myself was more I just wanted to make a career as soon as possible. I just realized that the best career can only be made by those who understand the influence of women on almost all events in this world, or, at least, in Paris.
At this time, the King had his own musketeers who wore blue cloaks decorated with embroidered silver lilies, the symbol of the Bourbons, and Richelieu had his own musketeers who wore red cloaks decorated with gold crosses embroidered on them. Some called them guardsmen. This is a mistake, they were musketeers just like us. It’s just that we were the King’s musketeers, and they were Richelieu’s musketeers, the only difference was this, and also in the color of the cloaks and the color of the horses we rode.
The cunning Bezmo got a job in a repair platoon. These people had one responsibility - purchasing ammunition to replace worn-out ones and purchasing new horses, but at the same time they received all the privileges of real musketeers. Because of such repairmen, the musketeers became famous as darlings of fate, ladies' lovers, brute-forcers, gamblers, duelists, drunkards, and so on and so forth. Having received money from their superiors for the corresponding purchases, they sometimes tried to make these purchases cheaper in order to pocket the difference. Cheaper means worse. This rule always applies when purchasing for the army. By buying in bulk from some swindler, sometimes stolen property, sometimes property obtained as a result of looting, and more often just bad property, instead of being preoccupied with finding the best property, these scoundrels acquired both extra money and extra time, which allowed them to spend both , and more in taverns, creating the worst fame about the musketeers. It’s good if they didn’t lose money intended for purchases at cards!
And yet the musketeers were loved. As soon as there was a skirmish between us and the Musketeers of Richelieu, the people came to our aid, and not to them. So they took revenge on Richelieu, considering him the culprit of ever-increasing taxes and, in general, all the troubles that they encountered in their lives. I will say that they were only half right, or even only a quarter, but this did not stop us from enjoying people’s love, and Richelieu’s musketeers from meeting people’s hatred, although they received a salary twice as high as ours, and their horses were better, as well as saddles, spurs, and clothing. However, no one complained about this, since de Treville told us: “My children! To be the King's musketeer is the highest happiness. When I received a patent, I bought all the necessary equipment, including a horse, with my own money, and I never regretted it. Do the same.” In private, he said the following to each of us: “If you don’t have enough money, I can borrow it for you, but just don’t tell anyone about it, because I can’t borrow money for all my musketeers. You will easily repay the debt, since service to the King brings rewards to the brave, and in the event of your heroic death, I will forgive this debt to your heirs.”
I don’t know a single musketeer who would not have acquired all the necessary ammunition after such a speech.
Skirmishes with Richelieu's musketeers... I remembered them because the King's edict was in force, strictly prohibiting duels. They were subject to the death penalty, and the same punishment awaited both sides, including the seconds. Richelieu initially urged the King to sign such a decree, believing that it was impossible to allow the death of nobles for such insignificant reasons as quarrels between them, and when his elder brother, who had done so much for the career of Richelieu himself, died in one of the duels, he began to treat this edict as one of the most important matters of his life.
It must be said that clashes were punished more leniently. The difference between a duel and a skirmish is clear from their names. If the opponents quarreled and immediately drew their swords in the heat of the quarrel, this is a skirmish. It can be explained by simple ardor. Even Richelieu could forgive the skirmishes, although he had no inclination to be generous towards the violators of this edict. With a duel, everything is different. The offended person and the offender agreed to meet in another place and at another time, and each brought with him at least two seconds. The seconds on both sides not only ensured that the duel took place according to all the rules, but also took an active part in it. Imagine, if four against four are fighting, then it is enough for one of them to hit his opponent so that he leaves the battle, dead or seriously wounded, then this fourth could join the battle of the remaining three pairs and help any of his supporters. In this case, the two of them could defeat the next one, and then the four of them could defeat the remaining two. So the duel was relatively fair only until the first seriously wounded participant.
By the way, Count Rochefort lost two of his brothers in his youth. Although his opponent in this duel would be killed by him, after which they dealt with two seconds, one of Rochefort's younger brothers was also killed, and the other was mortally wounded. Truly a Pyrrhic victory! Rochefort himself barely managed to escape punishment, since Richelieu himself stood up for him, knowing him as a brave and dutiful officer on special assignments, but he finally fell out with his family - with his father, who deprived him of his inheritance, and with his stepmother, since he caused his death two half-brothers.
So in a duel where seconds are involved, as soon as one wins, the opponents’ defenses collapse like a house of cards.
This is approximately what happened with d'Artagnan. As soon as he hit his opponent, the advantage was on our side. At first I could not understand whether this was a fluke, or whether he really was extremely skillful with a sword. But all subsequent duels with his participation proved that his victory was far from accidental. He was dexterous, his sword flashed in the air so that it was sometimes impossible to see. Although I myself wielded this weapon quite well, I think that if we had to fight to the death with him, he would have defeated me. Fortunately, it never occurred to me or him to test this assumption, and we always stood on the same side with him.
Or almost always...
Well, yes, almost always. I remembered that incident. I'll tell you about it later.
When d'Artagnan appeared in Paris in 1626, I had already been a musketeer for seven years, and had already lived in Paris for ten years. And I knew Chevrette for five and a half years.
She had a character almost the same as mine. More precisely, it was she who made me what I became, she instilled in me a passion for intrigue, for political games.
I can't say that I didn't want it. Reading my grandfather’s diaries, I was ready to follow this path, but readiness alone is not enough. It was necessary to enter the Louvre. But entry there is not open to everyone. Outside the Louvre, intrigue is worthless. More precisely, they are worthless if they are not directed to the Louvre or do not come from the Louvre, or are not connected with the Louvre in one way or another.
You can be a thousand leagues from the Louvre, but be connected with it, or you can walk directly nearby, but have nothing to do with it, and, therefore, be as far from the King, from the court and from your career, as from the Moon, or even further. Chevrette not only belonged to the Louvre, she was part of it, one of those springs that control the Queen and, therefore, the King, although the King did not love the Queen, he was dependent on her opinion, and, most importantly, was jealous of her. And jealousy is a form of weakness. Tell me what is the weakness of this or that person, and I will teach you how to manage this person.
Chevrette controlled the King and Anna, she also controlled Richelieu, but she played so much in these games that all three turned away from her. More precisely, they, without saying a word, decided to get rid of her. Even if not physically, but, in any case, to get rid of dependence on it.
As I write this diary, I realize how inconsistent I am in reporting my thoughts and events. However, I did not intend to present the events in a certain sequence, but thoughts come in the sequence in which they want, without asking whose head they visit.
Chapter 3
Chevrette was two years older than me, but she could have been given five years less. In any case, for a long time I mistakenly believed that she was much younger than me, she was so fragile, slender and pretty. It must be said that Marie Emme was very proud of her origins from the de Rohan-Montbazon family. Indeed, if I had the same brilliant origin, I would not have become what I became, but, apparently, would have been completely satisfied with what was given to me from birth. But I was a simple Gascon, whose family only had the abbey of Herblay, whose second name was Aramitz. My friends so rarely called me by name that I am inclined to think that some of them simply did not know it, or had forgotten. This was our custom. Count de La F;re came up with the name Athos for himself, du Valon came up with a name for himself, slightly altering one of the family surnames of de Porto, so that he began to be called Porthos, and I only corrected the last letter of the name of the abbey, which allowed me to enter the resulting nickname into this series of fictitious names so that everyone around him perceived him as some kind of secret nickname, suitable only for use among the musketeers.
Indeed, if one had to shout during a battle “Chevalier du Valon, attention, the enemy on the left!”, it would be too long, whereas “Porthos! Left!" it would be simpler and clearer. My nickname already turned out to be a whole syllable longer than that of Athos and Porthos. It would probably be better to take something like “Orestes,” but then everyone would be looking for “Pylades” next to me. However, names with two syllables are too reminiscent of dog names, so my involuntary choice of name suits me quite well, and even now, when I write this, the name Aramis is much dearer to me than Monsignor Bishop of Vannes, or Monsignor Duke d'Alameda, or Your Grace Cardinal San Pancrazio Fuori le Mura. Did poor Henri d'Herblay think that he would someday become a bishop, a general of the Jesuit Order, or a cardinal? Will my vanity stop there, or perhaps I will have to take the sacred throne? What name will I call myself then? Empty dreams! I think in this case I will begin to be called Innocent. What does Innocent the Twelfth sound like? It sounds. However... Empty dreams!
In 1616 I arrived in Paris, in 1620 I met her. She was not yet Chevrette, she was the wife of Charles d'Albert de Luynes, Duchess de Luynes, wife of the constable of France. This title, which previously belonged to such great military leaders as Anne de Montmorency, was abolished, but Louis XIII specifically restored this rank for his favorite. So Maria was the constable's wife, a kind of constable.
But when I met Chevrette, I believed that she was young, naive, pure, beautiful. The only thing I wasn't wrong about was her appearance.
She was already one of the representatives of the highest French nobility of that period; after the Queen, to be honest, she was the second most important.
It was one, so to speak, “four-bed”, in which the King, Queen, Duke Charles de Luynes and Duchess Marie de Luynes fit in pairs (in all combinations) or together. The Duke then had just over a year to live. He was twenty-two years older than his charming wife, who was only a year older than the King and Queen. In this “bed for four” those who ruled France were getting closer and closer together. Charles de Luynes mentored all three of his companions in debauchery, using Mary to influence the Queen, and using his impressive appearance to influence all three, including the King, whose strange tastes at times resembled the unconventional hobbies of Henry III, James I of England and Henry I of England . . However, these predilections also manifested themselves later in relation to his attachment to the Bishop of Luzon, who went down in history under the name of Cardinal Richelieu, as well as in relation to de Saint-Mars, who was made chief equerry, after which his position gradually began to sound simply like “ Chief,” and not only in its sound, but also in its degree of importance on all decisions made by the King.
At one time, Henry IV , the father of Louis XIII , had with him exactly the same Chief, and it was said about him that his rapid advancement up the career ladder is not surprising, given the pressure that the King puts on him from behind.
Something funny happened to this other Chief. His arrival was expected in Paris and on this occasion the city guards were ordered to open the gates for him even if he arrived at night. On this very night it happened that a certain unimportant nobleman arrived, whose name was Le Grand. Having been delayed on the way, this same Le Grand should have understood that he would not be allowed into Paris in the middle of the night, but he, however, decided to try his luck and knocked on the gate. When asked by the chief of the guard who had arrived, he answered simply, saying his name: “Le Grand.” The head of the guard thought that the Chief he was expecting had arrived (“Le Grand” in French means “The Chief” - translator’s note), so he opened the gate and reported to the commandant about the arrival of the Chief. The Commandant ran out to meet the guest, but seeing some unknown nobleman instead of the Chief, he asked him: “What’s the matter? Who are you?". The arrival replied: “My name is Le Grand!” The commandant objected to this: “You should be called Le Grand Blockhead!” (" Le Grand Imbecile "), after which he turned around and returned to his place.
However, the era of Henry IV is known to me only from the diaries of contemporaries, including from the memoirs of my grandfather Chicot. I am constantly distracted by these details because they are stored in my memory, and my goal was to put on paper everything that I do not need to remember in order to forget about it and give my mind more space to store there are things in my memory that are more important for my future activities as a cardinal.
Chapter 4
Richelieu... Corneille wrote about him:
“He was so kind to me that even words
I have no evil power to write about him.
He was so cruel to me at the same time,
That I couldn’t even remember him kindly.”
This mysterious man will become more understandable if we consider that he had one aspiration: to guide and lead the most powerful power in Europe. Therefore, he made every effort to ensure that France was the strongest power and to remain at the helm of this power. Justice in relation to a private individual in his understanding was that if there is doubt about guilt, the suspect should be acquitted. Justice in relation to state interests in his understanding was that France should be protected from any danger at any cost, and if this requires innocent people to suffer, this price is acceptable. Consequently, in order to sentence anyone upon whom even just suspicion fell, this suspicion itself was sufficient. He did not separate the interests of France from the interests of religion, the monarchy and, no matter how arrogant it may seem, his own interests, which consisted solely in holding the reins of government of this country more firmly. Thus, anyone who plotted against him was in his eyes an enemy not only of him, Richelieu, but also an enemy of France, an enemy of Catholicism, and, finally, an enemy of the King. And only when he was gone, everyone agreed that he was right in this opinion.
But at the time when Chevrette, as the wife of de Luynes, approached the throne, Richelieu was still very far from the power that he later received from Louis XIII .
He was not lucky. His father was a close assistant to Henry IV , which in the future would have brought Armand himself and his brothers closer to the throne, however, Henry IV died as a result of the fatal blow with a knife from Ravaillac, power passed into the hands of his widow Maria de Medici, as well as into the hands of her lover, Marshal d'Ancre. Marie de Medici at first disliked Father Richelieu because he was an adherent of her husband, whom she had every reason not to love, since he loved many other ladies much more strongly than the one whom his duty as a husband told him to love.
Father Joseph introduced Marshal d'Ancre to Richelieu, after which young Armand had the opportunity to read a sermon, which the Queen Mother also heard. It is believed that Marie de Medici liked the text of this sermon. Maybe. But few people know that she liked Richelieu himself. Yes Yes! He was twelve years younger than her, you say? So what? Doesn’t it bother you that de Luynes was twenty-two years older than his charming wife, as I already wrote above? And Catherine de Medici, who was born in 1519, could not see a man in Henry of Navarre, born in 1553, you tell me? The thirty-four year difference was a sufficient argument for Henry himself to ignore the ambiguous hints and calls of the elderly Queen Mother, but these thirty-four years were not taken into account by her, just as the difference in age was not taken into account by Elizabeth of England when she selected her lovers. If it were not for the love of Catherine de Medici, Henry would not have emerged alive from the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Night. Catherine de Medici was even jealous of her own daughter Margarita of her favorite, which is why she showed obvious hostility towards her, a Catholic, like Catherine herself, and sometimes showed incomprehensible tolerance towards Henry, who at heart always remained a Huguenot, which did not prevent him from repeatedly converting from Protestant faith to Catholic and vice versa, right up to the very time when he said his famous phrase “Paris is worth a mass,” which meant that so be it, he agreed to become a Catholic and regularly listen to Catholic services, provided that he obeyed Paris, and, therefore, he will become the King of France not nominally, but in reality. So, Catherine de Medici loved the young Henry of Navarre, and her relative Maria de Medici loved many, but least of all her husband, the same Henry of Navarre, who had already become the King of France, Henry the Fourth, however, she loved Concino Concini and other Tuscans who came with her , which is impossible to count. Richelieu used these feelings of hers for him, which allowed him to get closer to the throne. Then he acted exactly as he should have to strengthen his power. While Marie de' Medici was in power, he was close to her and supported her in everything, including her personal little war with her own son, Louis XIII . When Louis ordered the removal of Marshal d'Ancre, declaring that from now on he would rule the country himself, power was divided into two approximately equal parties. In this situation, Richelieu carried out the functions of reconciliation and was a messenger of peace between mother and son. When power was completely concentrated in the hands of Louis XIII , Richelieu completely went over to the side of the King and even supported him in his decisions to expel the Queen Mother. He approved of the King and gave advice on how best to deprive her of not only power, but also the slightest hope of returning to power.
What surprises you, gentlemen? Surely this was exactly the same as the philosopher Seneca, whom even the Catholic Church considers the wisest despite the fact that he was a pagan? Many of his philosophical teachings were adopted by Catholicism and became canonical. Then remember that Seneca raised Nero, receiving the position of mentor to this future princeps precisely because of his connection with Livia, the mother of the future emperor. But when the young lion cub grew claws and teeth, he felt that his mother was preventing him from ruling Rome, because she was interfering where no one asked her to interfere, that is, in absolutely everything. Seneca taught Nero to build a ship that could be disassembled into pieces if several locking parts were knocked out. On this ship, at the instigation of Seneca, Nero sent his mother on a voyage, ordering the trusted person accompanying her to knock out the locks so that the ship would be dismantled into pieces and sank in the middle of the bay. Doesn't remind you of anything? Yes, my friends, Richelieu, who was kind enough to the Queen Mother Marie de' Medici to become confessor to the young King Louis, subsequently morally justified sending the Queen into exile and in every possible way contributed to ensuring that this action was irreversible. So, our Richelieu is the new Seneca, in all respects, since he also felt a craving for writing and reasoning on the topic of philosophy, religion and morality. However, regarding religion, he had a simple view: what is approved by the Pope is true. If any bull from the Pope asserts that such and such a verse in the Holy Scriptures should be understood in such and such a way, therefore it is the truth. If what is called white in the Gospel, according to the papal bull, should be called black, therefore it is black. This is how the great Richelieu understood religion, and he considered everyone who understood it differently to be heretics. That did not prevent him from concluding any alliances with any heretics, even with entire heretical countries, such as England or even Turkey, against completely Catholic states such as Spain, Italy, the Holy Roman Empire.
And this same Richelieu quarreled with Chevrette, because they did not share influence over the Queen. Chevrette wanted to single-handedly influence the Queen, while Richelieu wanted the same thing.
Chevrette wanted influence for her own good - fun, debauchery, enrichment. Richelieu wanted influence on the Queen for the good of France - strength, unity, the strength of the state. He wanted France to enter into alliances that were beneficial to it and avoid unfavorable alliances. He wanted the monarchy to be strong. And for a strong monarchy, a Dauphin was required, that is, the Queen’s son, the heir to the throne, a boy born in marriage. Moreover, the conception of such a boy did not necessarily have to take place from the King. There was a time when all of France doubted Louis XIII 's ability to have children. The late King Henry IV gave no reason for such doubts, since his mistresses regularly gave birth to both boys and girls. Louis XIII avoided outside relationships; it seemed that he completely hated women. Therefore, the long-term infertility of Anna of Austria by all subjects was attributed to him, which fueled the hopes of numerous princes and dukes close to the throne, and, of course, especially the King’s brother, Gaston of Orleans, who was considered the official heir to the throne in the event that the King died childless . Obviously, Anna of Austria had to give birth to a boy as soon as possible. If the King did not help her with this, then someone else should have helped. De Luynes was no longer there, so the man closest to the throne was the one who considered himself most responsible for ensuring that the birth of the Dauphin took place, this man was Richelieu, the Queen’s confessor. His proposal to the Queen was thus a salvation for her and for France. However, it came too early. Anna of Austria still considered herself to belong only to the King, and to no one else; for herself, she allowed only platonic love for anyone other than the King to be possible. Platonic love cannot produce a Dauphin. Richelieu tried to explain this to her, as a result of which he finally quarreled with her. Chevrette took a different route - first she explained to her how wonderful Buckingham was in bed, which she knew from her own experience. She went on to explain to her how much he was in love with her. Finally, she presented Buckingham himself to her, so to speak, in person. The Queen hesitated. Richelieu had spies everywhere, so he could not help but know all this intrigue, and could not help but understand where this could lead. England was sometimes an ally of France, but on the whole it was more of a competitor than a reliable ally. Richelieu could not allow the Queen to fall under the spell of the First Minister of England, its de facto ruler. He could not allow France to become an appendage of England. This platonic or non-platonic love should have been stopped. The path that Richelieu chose assumed that he would go to the end, right up to the expulsion of the Queen, divorce, and, of course, the expulsion of Chevrette. Chevrette could not do this.
Chapter 5
So, Chevrette...
When I met her, I didn't know she was married.
Here is how it was.
I was walking down the street, returning from duty, when I suddenly heard a lovely female voice.
- Mister Musketeer! - said the lady. -Will you lend me your cloak?
I looked around and saw a slender girl with a fragile build. She was dressed modestly, but I felt that she was a noblewoman, and a rather significant person at that. This was felt in the tenderness of her hands, and in the elegance of her movements, and in her speech, and in the manner of wearing clothes. However, her clothes were simple only in appearance, but a trained eye, such as I had, saw, of course, that these clothes were not at all the clothes of a bourgeois woman, but clothes sewn from the best fabrics according to such patterns as to give her the appearance of a bourgeois woman . I would say that in such a dress the Queen would not be ashamed to go on stage to portray a shepherdess.
“Why do you need my musketeer’s cloak, madam?” - I asked. “This type of clothing is not typical for ladies, and it is not proper for me to violate the form of clothing, so I will lose what is necessary, and I will give you what is unnecessary if I agree to give you my cloak.”
“I need your cloak to get rid of my annoying pursuer, but you don’t need it now, since you’re already returning from duty,” answered this playful girl. “But if you help me hide from him, I will not only return your cloak to you, but also thank you.”
At the same time, she made such a cute face that I almost threw off not only my cloak, but also something else, however, I pulled myself together.
- Madam! - I objected. “It’s not becoming for a musketeer to undress in the middle of the street, but for a noble lady like you to put on a man’s cloak in front of everyone.” In addition, the person from whom you are going to hide, apparently, has already noticed that you and I are talking so nicely, so such dressing up will no longer help you. Let me just pierce your pursuer, it will be more reliable, and I won’t have to part with my cloak.
“Are you ready to kill a man like that in the middle of the street?” - she asked, and I noticed admiration in her face.
“Exclusively for your sake, madam,” I replied. “Besides, it won’t be a banal murder, but a duel.”
- But duels are prohibited! -she exclaimed. “Aren’t you afraid that you will be executed for violating the royal edict?”
“I am ready to give my life for a price much less than your sweet smile, madam,” I answered. “Sometimes we get involved in a duel just because someone we don’t care about said something about us that we don’t care about at all!”
“But you can be executed just for standing up for a girl you don’t know!” -she exclaimed.
“ However, if I don’t stand up for such a sweet girl like you, then I will execute myself for the rest of my life, and after death the devils will fry me in hell!” - I answered.
Apparently, she liked my answer. She pointed out to me the man who, as she said, was following her.
- Should I kill him? - I asked. “Or, on the occasion of the holiday, we will give him life, and it will be enough for him that I will deprive him of the opportunity to follow you?”
- What holiday is it today? she asked.
“That holiday that I met you,” I answered and, without waiting for her answer, headed towards the nobleman whom she pointed to.
- Let him live! - she exclaimed after me.
Without turning around, I made a gesture with my hand, depicting the flight of a butterfly with my right hand.
“Sir, don’t you think today is especially sunny?” - I turned to this man.
“Go about your business, sir, and don’t bother me with mine,” he replied.
“Everything about today is harmonious, except for one thing,” I continued.
“I don’t care about your views on what is harmonious and what is not,” he replied, intending to move on.
“But the problem is that the harmony of today is disrupted by your sour face,” I answered him. “If it weren’t for her, today could be called the best day not only this year, but also in the previous two!”
“Sir, if you can’t wait to go to the other world, if you please, tomorrow we will cross swords with you, but now get the hell out!” - he exclaimed.
“I, sir, am impatient to make some corrections today, and therefore I intend to make sure you get the hell out and take your sour face with you,” I replied.
At that very moment, this stranger drew his sword, after which he drew his own and stood in the welcoming pose adopted by fencers before the start of a duel.
The rage of this spy was such that he was ready to kill me with the first blow, but I deftly fought him off and with a return blow tore his sleeve and slightly wounded his left arm just above the elbow.
- Sorry, sir! - I exclaimed. “I had absolutely no intention of wounding you in the arm!” I intended to wound you in the leg so that you and your face would remain as long as possible where I met you both!
- I'll kill you, puppy! - exclaimed the stranger. “I’ll show you how to duel with His Eminence’s musketeer!”
“I gave you the honor of fighting His Majesty’s musketeer, which you could recognize by my cloak,” I answered, without stopping the fight. “Where did you leave your red guardsman’s cloak?”
- It doesn’t concern you, puppy! - the stranger exclaimed with frenzy, again trying to inflict a fatal blow on me.
This time I not only deftly parried his blow, but also delivered a blow to my left leg, exactly the way I wanted. The blow was accurate and strong, after such a blow he probably lost the ability to run for at least two weeks.
- Damn it! - he exclaimed. - I don’t give up, I will continue the duel!
“Don’t make a fuss,” I replied. “I have already forgiven you for your sour expression and consider the incident settled, however, if you insist that I kill you, come when your leg is healed to Monsieur de Treville’s regiment and ask for Aramis.” It's me. I'm ready to continue the battle, but not with a cripple.
After these words, I bowed dramatically and left the stranger. This skirmish marked the beginning of my deep dislike for the Guardsmen. The man I wounded was called De Bedo.
In the evening, my servant, Bazin, told me that a lady had given me a note, hiding her face under a thick black veil.
The note said:
“Mr. Aramis, you did me a very important service, I want to thank you. Be at the entrance to your barracks tomorrow at eight o'clock in the evening, my page will come for you, follow him. The lady to whom you did not give your cloak.”
I still don't know how she knew my name, but I believe she knew it before she asked me to lend her my cloak.
Chapter 6
I must say that relations in the Louvre were the most frivolous, which was inherited from Catherine de Medici. The Queen, who came from a noble Tuscan family, made full use of all the methods of achieving goals that were traditionally used by the Tuscan nobility. These are, of course, poisons and debauchery. If the desired person cannot be seduced from the true path and directed to where it is required, he can be eliminated with the help of poison mixed into food, drink, or even simply entering the body with inhaled air. But Catherine did not often use poison, but very often resorted to her flying squadron. The stern and selfish Henry II showed her through her own sad experience how much a man can forget not only about his own duty, but also about his own interests, seduced by a woman and becoming dependent on the signs of attention she provides, demonstrating her voluptuousness and complaisance.
The abandoned Queen was puzzled by how to control her husband, and, realizing that her body was no longer so tempting for the royal husband, she decided to use her own ladies-in-waiting in order to influence those men who, without this means, seemed hard and uncontrollable, however, with the use of this means they all fell under its direct or indirect influence. Starting with a few girls who were flexible in all respects and suited the taste of the King, she expanded her squadron first to thirty girls, then to sixty, and subsequently to several hundred. Knowledgeable people claimed that the squadron of her full-time seductresses numbered up to six hundred flexible ladies, and the La Bourdaisiere family alone put twenty-six Amazons on her staff. One of them, Madame d'Estr;e, managed to catch Henry IV himself in her net. It was not for nothing that the coat of arms of this family included vetch, a berry that has symbolized corrupt love since ancient times. That is why they began to say “vetch seed” about the coat of arms of the La Bourdaisiere family, because in this coat of arms, by a funny coincidence, there is a hand sowing vetch. The following quatrain was written about their coat of arms:
"Blessed be the hand,
Why I’m not tired of sowing vetch,
Giving us, generous, easy,
There are a lot of whores in this sowing.”
Catherine selected ladies for the staff of her Amazons on the basis of personal devotion, which could only be guaranteed by the fact that each of these girls had sins that could destroy her life if they came out. Having a corresponding list of sins for each of her Amazons, Catherine forced each to act exclusively in her interests. Having achieved obedience, she placed these girls under her husband, and under her own children, and under her son-in-law, Henry IV .
Debauchery in royal circles reached such a degree that intercourse ceased to be something special; the courtiers pleased themselves with these joys as easily as with other common pleasures. In order to go to the ombre, it was necessary to have at least money that the player was ready to lose; in order to connect physically with some charming woman, it was enough that she was not busy that evening, since it was necessary to achieve consent as easy as pie. Even the hunchbacked dwarf Prince Cond; tasted the joys of this universal feast of love. Marriage, therefore, ceased to be a prerequisite for a man to “unpack gifts” intended exclusively for the legal husband. Even a special terminology arose. For example, the term “sight reading,” used exclusively by musicians, has come to mean a man’s easy readiness to prove his masculinity without unnecessary foreplay. The word "prelude", meaning the introductory part in a piece of music, began to mean preliminary caresses aimed at warming up the desire of lovers, the love act itself began to be called "score", hence "sight reading" meant the readiness to perform the male part without any preparation with almost any girl who opened “her pages with notes” in front of this “musician”. Therefore, when the elderly constable asked one of the court “moths” whether he was sight-reading, receiving the answer “of course!”, he sighed and said sadly: “You are lucky! I have not had these talents for a long time , so my wife’s house is open to moths of all colors and sizes.” It must be said that his wife’s “flower” did not go unnoticed by these insects, so much so that even the constable himself, when giving money to his wife, used to say: “This is for your outfits, this is for your jewelry, and this is for your friends,” Moreover, instead of the word “friends,” he used such a strong word, derived from a verb, which denotes a certain action performed by a man at the time of greatest intimacy, which we do not dare to reproduce in this book.
So, such freedom of morals was present in court circles exactly until the time when Louis XIII matured and became an incredible prude. Anna of Austria contributed a lot to this, since his gradually developing hostility towards his own wife grew into hostility towards women as such, so Louis was a faithful husband to the extent that this was generally possible at the French court, and demanded the same from everyone else.
Until then, Charles de Luynes took patronage over a married couple who did not burn with passion for each other, since their marriage was concluded without taking into account their personal preferences and tastes at a time when they did not and could not have erotic aspirations.
Maria de Medici wanted to achieve “eternal peace” with Spain, for which she entered into this double marriage, which Henry IV would never have allowed if he had still been alive by that time. The young Dauphin was married to the daughter of the Spanish King, Anna of Austria, who was so called because on her mother’s side she had the right to inherit the Austrian crown. The sister of Louis XIII was given in marriage to the son of the Spanish King , the wedding took place on the same day, and the young princesses were exchanged on the border of the two kingdoms. So a French princess appeared at the Spanish court, and the Spanish princess Anna appeared at the French court. No one cared about her beauty, only her origin mattered. Agree, origin is a weak argument in the King’s bed.
The Queen, meanwhile, did not see anything attractive for herself in the King’s caresses. “Men are so rude!” - she said, and this phrase was her assessment not only of Buckingham, who tried to master her in every sense during a walk right in the gazebo, but also in relation to Louis XIII, who was not at all prone to affection, and could only fulfill the most important biological male function, without paying any attention to foreplay.
- I have other places on my body, Your Majesty! - she said to the King, who was directed towards only one of these places.
“You won’t bring me an heir through other places,” Louis answered, from which the Queen concluded with horror that he did not understand her hints in the sense that she tried to put into them.
If Anna wanted ordinary tenderness, wanted Louis to admire her entire figure, to caress not only what constitutes the final interest of her husband, then the King believed that we were talking about those methods of expressing love that were sometimes used by satiated lovers, as well as the minions of Henry III , who, not having the object of attraction of men with whom the Lord has awarded women, used for this purpose those entrances and exits that every person has, regardless of gender. Ladies who used the full extent of this arsenal were called ladies with two poles, although one wit said about them: “The only trouble is that such creatures think, as a rule, through the lower pole.”
Chevrette had the advantage over Louis that she was not as rude as other men. If the Queen had no experience with Mary, would she have said that men were so rude? After all, in order to say something like this, you need to know that women are not like that, that is, to know how rude women are, in other words, you need to know how gentle and affectionate they are. Of course, Chevrette provided Anna with all the evidence that she knew better than men how to treat a woman. The experienced Charles de Luynes taught her this. This skill was one of her main means of controlling both women and men, so that not a single one of those men who ever fell under Chevrette’s charm subsequently not only did nothing bad to her, but also never refused to do anything for her. everything she asked for. Such was the Duke de Chevreuse, such was Buckingham, such was Fran;ois La Rochefoucauld, and many others. I was the same for a long time, but in the end I managed to free myself from her corrupting influence, however, when this happened, we were both already well over fifty years old.
I didn’t know all this, and my first date with Chevrette seemed to me like some kind of romantic flight to heaven. The reason for this was that Chevrette was the first noble lady I knew. Dating with simpletons doesn't turn us on that way, and they, it must be said, don't teach us anything, because they are so submissive and accommodating that we don't manage to find out what they actually want. They fulfill our whims, we believe that it cannot be otherwise, since our position as master over them excludes anything else. Our hearts do not flutter when we receive from them evidence of higher inclination, because we did not have to achieve it, they come to us of their own accord without any effort.
And although I cannot say that I spent too much effort to conquer Chevrette, she still made me feel resistance, doubts, the thrill of unpredictability and the joy of victory. She could do that.
Chapter 7
King Louis XIII was born on September 27, 1601. It is no coincidence that his birth occurred within the shortest possible time after the arrival in 1600 of the Queen Mother, Marie de Medici, to her now legal husband, Henry IV.
Henry was not too fond of fat women; this marriage was concluded for political reasons, like most royal marriages. But an even more important motive was the extraordinary wealth of the Medici family and the extreme poverty of the French King. It was no coincidence that Henry called her a fat banker.
The arrival of the banker herself was not as important for Henry as the arrival of her treasury, so we will not be surprised that before he began to fulfill his marital duty, he began to fulfill his state duty in terms of calculating the results of replenishing the treasury .
Since Henry divorced his first wife, Queen Margot, due to her alleged infertility, which was extremely selective, Marie de' Medici was forced to take note of the danger of repeating the unfortunate precedent. Margot was by no means barren; it is known that at least two children were born, but all of them were not from Henry, so their birth was carefully hidden. However, she did not give birth to an heir to the King, and this was precisely what was infertility from the point of view of state necessity. Thus, formally, Henry needed not so much the money of Marie de Medici, but her womb, which was obliged to provide France with an heir to the throne.
For this reason, Maria's uncle, ex-Cardinal Ferdinando, who poisoned his brother Francesco and his daughter-in-law Bianca Capello in order to ascend the Tuscan throne, gave his niece extremely useful advice:
“Dear niece,” he said. — You are going to marry the King of France, who the day before divorced his first wife because she had no children. King Henry IV needs money much more than women, of which he has plenty, while France itself is in greater need of an heir. The king is greedy for slender young women, and almost married one of them, disdaining her insufficiently high nobility. For the sake of this marriage, and not for the sake of marrying you, he divorced his wife Queen Margot, daughter of the King of France and sister of three successive Kings. If you do not bear the King a son, the same fate may await you. Remember that you have a month's journey on a beautiful and comfortable ship, as well as three young, handsome and stately gentlemen in your retinue: Virginio Orsini, Paolo Orsini and Concino Concini. Do so to exclude the possibility of divorce even before your arrival in France, after which all you have to do is convince the King that he is involved in this achievement, or at least put him into bed with you, having given him a drink of this before a potion, after which he will not be able to reliably claim that he was not involved in the birth of this child.
After these words, the worthy uncle handed his niece a drink that would enable her to force the King to spend the night where she pleased, and not have any opportunity to remember the details of that night.
In fact, the ship with the newlywed sailed for an extremely long time, which allowed Maria to fulfill her uncle’s plans not just once, but as many times as would be required to guarantee the result. True, the court poet Malherbe, in disgusting verses, justified the length of the Queen’s journey by the fact that Neptune, who was in love with her, did not let go of the ship for a long time, not wanting to part with such a charming beauty as Maria was, which makes a bad compliment to Neptune’s taste. So, nine months after the wedding, Grand Duke Ferdinando could be calm, since the reason for divorce, which he feared, had already been ruled out . The world learned of the birth of the Dauphin Louis, who was immediately named the Just, since he was born under the sign of Libra.
From childhood, Louis XIII displayed all the traits of the Orsini family, such as melancholy and thoughtfulness, a penchant for music, painting, small crafts, indifference to power, and lack of interest in state affairs. At the same time, he did not reveal any hereditary traits of the Bourbons, primarily concentrated in Henry IV , such as extreme love of life, love and irresistible craving for women, passion for fun, jokes and pranks, lack of jealousy and rancor. From his youth, Louis was not distinguished by his warmth, he was callous and rude, jealous and touchy, sometimes even cruel. Henry IV flogged him twice with his royal hand. For the first time, the hostility that Louis felt towards one nobleman could be calmed only by shooting at this nobleman with an unloaded weapon and reporting to the Dauphin that he was killed on the spot. And the second time because Louis crushed the head of a lively sparrow with a wooden hammer. The Queen reproached him for the fact that the King never flogged his bastards, but always loved and caressed them very much at every opportunity, to which Henry IV , who was attentive to the word “his own,” replied that if necessary, Louis would flog them, while No one can flog Louis himself except him, Henry IV .
However, Henry was such an accommodating husband that even if he not only suspected, but also knew for certain that Louis was not his son, he never showed it, at least in public.
After Henry's death, the Queen's lover, Concino Concini, Marshal d'Ancre, treated Louis as if he really stood above him in nobility, although all his power rested only on his connection with the Queen. Perhaps Concini considered Louis his son, but, be that as it may, Louis, having reached adulthood, ordered to deal with his mother’s hated lover.
Like all melancholic natures, Louis XIII was excellent at hiding his feelings. To those whom he wanted to destroy, he smiled the most captivating smile.
In 1613, Marshal d'Ancre de Luynes himself was assigned to Louis. De Luigne was promoted to chief falconer. Then the falcons, hawks, kites, shrikes and parrots belonging to Louis were declared birds of the royal cabinet, so that de Luynes could not leave the king for a minute; from that time on, Louis XIII began to feel such friendship for him that he did not part with his chief falconer even at night; moreover, he raved about de Luyne in his sleep and called him loudly, fearing that he had left.
And in fact, de Luyn managed, if not to amuse him, then at least to entertain him, instilling a taste for hunting, as far as possible with the limited freedom that the royal children enjoyed. In his apartment, Louis set a parrot and shrikes on small birds. Luynes trained him to hunt rabbits with greyhound puppies in the ditches of the Louvre and to falconry on the Grenelle plain. Then de Luynes taught Louis the science of love, and finally taught him how to hunt people. The first and most important hunting catch of young Louis was his mother's lover, Marshal d'Ancre, Concino Concini. A trusted man, namely Captain Vitry, shot Concini in front of Louis on his orders.
The day after the death of Marshal d'Ancres, the same court poet Malherbe asked Madame de Bellegarde, whom he found getting ready for mass: “How, madam, is there really anything left to ask God for after he has delivered France from Marshal d'Ancre?
So, Louis XIII became the King of France, which formally continued the Bourbon dynasty, however, the Tuscan princes, who knew Maria de Medici better than others, remained confident that a Tuscan had ascended to the throne not only on his mother’s side, but also on his father’s side. The night after this event, Louis slept soundly and happily. He announced that from now on he would rule the country independently, after which the Queen Mother was exiled to Blois.
She was forbidden to see her young daughters and Gaston d'Orl;ans, her favorite son; her ministers were dismissed, and only the Bishop of Luzon, the future Cardinal Richelieu, was allowed to accompany her into exile, where he won her heart, which did not recognize emptiness, in order to replace Concini in it.
But if Louis XIII became King, he was in no hurry to become a man, neglecting to visit Anne of Austria, whom he received as a wife at too young an age to be inflamed with male desire for her. In addition, Anna was forced on him by his mother, with whom he was now in a quarrel, enjoying the freedom that was for him, first of all, in the absence of oppression from his mother, he also moved away from Anna, who personified the desire of the Queen Mother. For a long time he was Anna's husband only in name.
If the king visits the spouses’ bedroom, it is only to take a nap or talk on abstract topics, after which he calmly returns to his bachelor’s bedroom. Queen Anne thus risks sharing the fate of Queen Margot, since in order to give birth to an heir, she lacks the most important thing - attention to her person from His Majesty.
Incited by the Spanish ambassador and the papal nuncio, de Luynes takes on the important task of laying the foundations for the future monarchy, not hiding from his inspirers that he risks losing the trust of the King.
On the twenty-fifth of January 1619, the King, as always, lay down and was about to fall asleep, de Luynes entered the bedroom and invited him to get up and visit the Queen. The king objected. But de Luynes insisted. Seeing that all his arguments were in vain, de Luyne simply picked up the King in his arms and carried him to the Queen’s bedroom.
As a result of this persistence, the King finally became more closely acquainted with the Queen, finding in her those charms that were intended for him alone. The experience, presumably, was successful in terms of spending time, since de Luigne did not lose confidence, but, on the contrary, acquired the title of constable. But state interests did not receive due support, since a closer acquaintance between the King and Queen did not result in conception. De Luyne's feat was rewarded too late; the constable himself did not get to see the fruits of it. The Dauphin was born not nine months after this meeting, but only nineteen years later, in 1638. And de Luynes was not lucky enough to see the fruits of the tree he planted: in 1621 he died of nettle fever. This death allowed the Queen Mother Marie de' Medici to return to court. She brought Richelieu with her and achieved his inclusion in the State Council. For a year now he had been applying for the title of cardinal, although the Pope had not yet granted this petition, written by Louis at the request of the Queen Mother, since the King had attached a note to the letter asking him to refuse this petition. And yet, very soon Richelieu was to become a cardinal and first minister.
From this time on, Richelieu began his sharp rise. Being an opponent of Austrian and Spanish policies, he immediately quarreled with Anna of Austria and Maria de Medici. Marie de Medici, like the King, subsequently had her own ministry, also headed by a cardinal: his name was B;rul. The difference is that de Richelieu was a man of genius, and de B;rul a complete fool. In addition, Monsieur, the King's brother, whom Richelieu married and to whom, hoping to find support in him, he gave a huge fortune to Mademoiselle de Montpensier, did not become Richelieu's friend; on the contrary, he constantly plotted against him, hoping to become the King. These conspiracies continued until Anne's son, the future Louis XIV, was born.
From what has been said it is clear how necessary the birth of Louis was. The King was interested in this, but he did not seem to take any interest in it. He seemed to be indifferent to what would happen to France after his death, and he seemed to refuse to understand that the presence of the Dauphin not only ensures the future of the monarchy, but also contributes to the peace of citizens in the present, since confidence in the future (even erroneous) is very beneficial peace. Anna was also interested in the birth of the Dauphin, however, since the conspiracies were directed not against her, but against those who infringed on her, she did not feel the urgent need to quickly fulfill her marital destiny. In fact, he was most concerned about the appearance of Richelieu's heir, since only by depriving Monsieur of any hopes of occupying the throne could he be made to calm down. While the King remained childless, given his poor health, the hope that the throne would soon become vacant forced Gaston to live in anticipation. The Queen Mother loved Gaston much more than Louis. However, she did not love Louis at all since he sent her to Blois. Therefore, she hoped to transfer the throne to Gaston and become regent under him, or at least take a more significant position in the kingdom. It was easy to push Gaston around, which she did, and after her this was easily done by any woman who happened to be near him, be it his wife or daughter-in-law.
The first conspiracy against the King and Richelieu, who by that time had already become a cardinal, and he became one in 1624, was the Chalet conspiracy. The Privy Council, led by the doctor Bouvard, selflessly devoted to Marie de Medici and Anne of Austria, failed, like all the subsequent ones, and cost the heads of all participants except the royal persons. It began when the doctor informed the Queens about the poor health of the King, who had to undergo bloodletting every week. The King's mother and wife began to seriously hope for the King's quick death and planned the destruction of Richelieu in order to get along well under the reign of Gaston the First. Princess de Conti is also in on the action, she even buys daggers to kill Richelieu, but at the last moment the kind Queen Anne of Austria weakly objects to the murder of the cardinal: “He is a priest.” If he were not a priest, one must assume that Anna would not have objected to this method of resolving disagreements. Let me remind you that he was also Anna’s confessor and first minister.
Reflecting now, as I write these memoirs, I believe that the connection between Anna and Armand was much deeper than we all imagined at the time. Anna never took the last decisive step to crush the cardinal, and only this saved him. The cardinal never took that decisive step that would have sent Anna into eternal exile, and only his mercy sometimes saved her. What happens? It turns out that the enmity between Anna and Arman was just an appearance? It was not for nothing that when the cardinal died, the Queen, who no longer needed to hide her thoughts, looking at the portrait of Richelieu, said: “Great man! If you had stayed alive now, you would have gotten more than what you had, much more!”
Did she mean the power of the First Minister, or the man's affection for her, which he had apparently sought in vain all his life?
Be that as it may, Richelieu was the first person who told Anne in private and without witnesses what Marie de' Medici's uncle had said at one time, namely: he opened her eyes to the fact that the Queen's first concern should be the birth of a son, that Until this happens, her future is vague and uncertain, but as soon as this happens, her future will be secured. He, presumably, explained to her that if the King does not pay enough attention to her for the birth of the Dauphin, then she herself should take care that the conception occurs, and also that the King does not resist recognizing the child as his own. .
Remember that Richelieu was Anne's confessor, which gave him many opportunities to talk to her alone, while she should have listened to him with respect, as she would have listened to the Pope himself, whose representative in this case was Richelieu. From Chevrette I know for certain that Richelieu told the Queen how Julius Caesar, when he first saw Cleopatra’s son, hesitated a little before taking the child in his arms, however, since the clever Cleopatra guessed to call her son Caesarion, which means “Son of Caesar,” Caesar still took her son in his arms. According to the laws of Rome, this meant that the father recognized his son as his own. Richelieu also explained to the Queen that the King does not have to take his son in his arms for the people to recognize him as the Dauphin, since, being married to the King, the Queen will give birth not to some bastard, but to the heir to the throne, while any other girls, no matter how many boys they did not give birth, they cannot hope that any of them will one day take the French throne.
- You must give birth to a boy and name him Louis, this will be enough for him to become the King, and you will thus become the Queen Mother, which, believe me, is hundreds of times more reliable than being just a Queen without children, - Richelieu told her as a confessor.
“Your Eminence,” Anna objected. “What can I do if the King doesn’t pay enough attention to me?”
“The Holy See forgives you in advance the sin of adultery if it is aimed at saving France,” answered Richelieu.
Should we believe that Richelieu hoped that Anna would see him as a man and take advantage of this opportunity? Oh, yes, but only for the simple reason that Chevrette assured him of it. Do not forget that Richelieu owes his approach to the King to de Luyn, Chevrette’s husband. At first, Richelieu not only favored her, but also considered himself obliged to her. Reckless Maria decided to play Richelieu. She told him, supposedly on behalf of the Queen, that she favored him and was ready to provide him with the highest evidence of her most tender relationship, but would first ask him to please her with a tarantella dance. Richelieu believed it because in his youth he was a wonderful dancer. He just asked how it would be possible to provide music? Chevrette said she would invite musicians to sit behind a screen so they wouldn't see who was dancing. Chevrette said that the Queen would also watch the dance from behind the screen, through a narrow slit for the eyes.
Richelieu got hold of a dancer's costume and, dressed in it, arrived at the room indicated to him, where he noticed a screen. At his signal, the music began to play, Richelieu began to dance, but what was his surprise when, at the end of the performance, he heard cheerful laughter and realized that it was not only the Queen who was laughing. Looking behind the screen, he found behind it not only Anna, but also Chevrette and Gaston. Offended in his best feelings, Richelieu left the room in anger. Of course, after this peace there could no longer be peace between the Queen and Richelieu, at least not an obvious peace. As I have already noted, it seems to me that they have found a common language, which is confirmed by their constant intercession for each other. I also note that Richelieu did not lose his position as the Queen’s confessor, from which we must conclude that the unfortunate episode was forgotten by both sides.
And yet, Chevrette did not rest on this. Having quarreled between Anna and Richelieu, she did her a disservice, so she decided to make amends by doing her such a service as is never forgotten. She decided to help Anna fulfill the very destiny that her confessor persistently reminded her of. For these purposes, she offered different options. The most famous option is the unsuccessful idea with Buckingham. But no one knows that there was another idea, for which the true son of King Henry IV, Caesar, Duke of Vend;me, son of Gabriel d'Estr;es, was chosen to participate. Is it unsuccessful? Judge for yourself!
The cunning Chevrette convinced Anna that her duty to France was to correct the evil committed by Marie de Medici, that is, to return to the throne a descendant of the legitimate King Henry IV . The Duke de Beaufort, proposed by Mary, was rejected because he was not the son, but the grandson of the King, so he was not sufficiently a bearer of royal blood, like the true son of the King, one could say that he was only a quarter of royal blood, then as in the sons of the King there were half of them, as required for a true King.
Chevrette laid out portraits of Henry's illegitimate but legitimized children in front of Anna like solitaire. Among them were Caesar, Duke de Vend;me, who was five years older than Queen Anne, Alexandre de Vend;me, who was only two years older than Anne, Henri de Bourbon, Duc de Verneuil, Bishop of Metz, the same age as Anne, son from Henriette d' Antrag, and finally Antoine de Bourbon, Comte de Moret, six years younger than Anne, son from Jacqueline de Bayle de Moret.
“Tell me, dear Chevrette, why do you think that the birth of the Dauphin by the illegitimate son of King Henry would somehow excuse me?” - Anna asked.
- How could it be otherwise? - asked the cunning Chevrette. - After all, you, Your Majesty, will not deny that every child is sent by the Lord?
“I won’t deny this,” Anna agreed.
“A son sent by God, and officially recognized and legitimized by the King, is both the legitimate son and the son of the King, isn’t it?” - Chevrette continued.
“Apparently so,” Anna agreed.
- Well, if the King had a legitimate son, and if he married the mother of this son, he could even achieve recognition of him as heir to the throne, having received the consent of Rome, isn’t it? - Chevrette asked.
“If the King had time to do this, then it would probably have been so,” Anna said doubtfully.
“Well, King Henry was going to do it, but he just didn’t have time because he was killed!” - Maria exclaimed with such confidence, as if Henry himself had shared this revelation with her.
- It turns out that in order for the illegitimate son of the King to become the King himself, only a very small thing was not enough - a few acts? - the Queen was surprised.
- That's right, Your Majesty! “You can see for yourself how things are,” Maria answered.
“In that case, the right to the throne would belong only to the eldest of these true sons of the King that you spoke of,” answered Anna. “So take away all these portraits except one.”
After these words, Anna picked up the portrait of Caesar, Duke de Vend;me, who, alone among all, could, apparently, become King if Henry not only legalized the birth of all his illegitimate children, but also achieved rights for all of them to inherit the throne. He would be the first hand in this right; everyone else would be junior, therefore, they would not have this right.
- If Louis, my husband, really should not have received the crown of France, since even if he is not the son of Henry IV , and if Henry IV himself had brought order to the succession to the throne, excluding Louis from it, then only he, Caesar.
Anna thought that the name “Caesar” was not accidental. She remembered the example that Richelieu told her about. Caesar - this name means first among others, princeps, head. The family name of the Caesars after Gaius Julius Caesar became a word meaning emperor. The Duke de Vend;me was called Caesar. It was a sign.
If anyone ever fulfills what Louis XIII does not want or cannot do in relation to her, then this will be a person worthy in all respects to influence the future fate of the Bourbon dynasty in France, a person who has the most direct relation to this dynasty.
- God, what nonsense you told me! - Anna exclaimed. - Take it all away! Get away from me. I belong only to my husband, King Louis XIII , and I will never belong to anyone else!
Chevrette didn't believe her exclamation.
Anna herself didn’t believe herself either.
But the appearance of purity of intentions was maintained.
Chevrette drew her conclusions.
Anna too.
Chapter 8
Mary's audacity lay in the fact that she decided, without the consent of the Queen, to take the first steps to solve the difficult task she had set for herself. Her idea was to set up a blind date. It was necessary to charm the duke approved by the Queen blindly. This method of meeting was practiced in Italy and apparently began to be used in France as well. Its essence was that a noble lady sent her chosen one a perfumed letter on paper of the highest quality, written in calligraphic handwriting and having other signs that the letter was written by a noble lady. The imagination of the recipient of this letter should have completed the portrait of the beautiful correspondent. As a rule, the recipient of such a letter always believed that it was written by a young, noble, beautiful and passionate lady, and, by the way, he was rarely mistaken in this assumption, although, of course, he risked falling into a trap. This cunning method of luring young noble men could be resorted to by not so beautiful ladies, or not so noble ones, or both, or, finally, simply robbers or hired killers. But in those days it was not customary to doubt. Doubts of this kind were close to cowardice, and not a single nobleman would risk doing something that could be considered a coward. It could also be assumed that such a letter was written by friends as a joke in order to test the courage of the recipient of such a letter, and if, out of fear, the man had not shown up for a mysterious date appointed by a stranger, the anecdote about this would have become known to everyone the next day , and in this case, even a duel with the one who started such a joke would hardly restore the former respect in the score to the unfortunate man who dared to be careful. Therefore, there was only one possible answer to such insolence - consent.
So, Chevrette decided to write a passionate letter informing the recipient that a beautiful stranger was inflamed with love for him and was inviting him on a date, provided that he agreed to put a blindfold on his eyes, take him at night in a carriage to a place that he should not find out about , he, for his part, must give the nobleman his word not to try to remove the mask and find out his place of stay or, even more so, find out the name of the lady who invited him to such a date. If these conditions were met, the daredevil was promised an unforgettable night of love, which subsequently had the chance to be repeated as many times as both parties wished.
Of course, Chevrette could not present the Queen on the first date; she could only, at her own risk, test the passion and assertiveness, as well as the complaisance and tenderness of the intended lover, and then recommend this daredevil to the Queen for the next date, which could help achieve her goal.
Chevrette, to her disappointment, did not have the opportunity to drag the intended prince into this dangerous game the first time, but she decided to practice on more accessible noble gentlemen, who seemed to her worthy of the supposed mercy no less than the chosen one, against whom Anna protested the least. degrees.
It must be said that she was already openly attacked by Mr. Bellegarde, who held a very high position both under Henry III and Henry IV , who was a very attractive man in all respects, but by the standards of the Queen, he was already quite old. And it is not surprising, because at one time he was the lover of Mademoiselle d'Estr;e herself, the mistress of Henry IV . King Henry IV even intended to deal with him for such insolence, however, he decided that the murder of his lover would upset his adored Gabrielle too much, so he not only abandoned jealousy, but also retained Bellegarde for all his high positions, including the one for which he was called Mr. The main one.
This same Mr. Chief (in the past) now assumed that from Anna, who was old enough to be his daughter, he could achieve the same proofs of love that he easily received from the ladies from Catherine de Medici’s flying squadron. He made an unambiguous hint to the Queen, asking her a question about what she would do if he decided to ask to be her comrade. “I would kill you,” answered the Queen, “as well as any other man except the King who dared to make such an offer to me!” Bellegarde, who quite often used to say, “I should die in this very place!” to express supreme surprise, upon hearing such an answer, uttered his favorite phrase, which in this case turned out to be very appropriate. Fortunately or unfortunately, Bellegarde did not die, but forever abandoned his intentions regarding the Queen.
This demonstration of inaccessibility so successfully created the impression of true inaccessibility and innocence of the Queen that her reputation for a long time remained impeccable in spite of even almost obvious evidence against her innocence. However, the King easily forgave her intrigues if they were directed only against Richelieu, not realizing that absolutely all the intrigues directed against him were always also directed against the King himself, and the Queen’s correspondence with relatives from Spain or Austria contained not only family conversations about the weather or health, but also always touched upon political aspects, in any case, at least in the subjunctive mood, they reported what the Queen and people devoted to her would have done if, God forbid, the King and Richelieu , some misfortune happened, which, of course, presupposed their physical elimination.
Chevrette chose Antoine de Bourbon, Comte de Moret, a handsome young man, son of Henry IV . A relationship with such a noble person could in no way be blamed on any court lady; such a relationship would only elevate any woman in the eyes of the entire court. The Duke was single, so he could dispose of himself quite freely, and for any lady this gave, if not a brilliant prospect, then at least justification in the possibility, even the most illusory, that such a prospect could arise. Of course, Chevrette herself was at that time married to de Luynes, this match was very profitable, but the constable was not jealous, on the contrary, he pushed Maria to adventures of this kind, so she finally decided to do something that would the heart trembled in fear and the blood ran cold in the veins, but what could later be told with laughter to the best friend who was the Queen. Chevrette reasoned that if her idea was successful, she would be able to influence the Queen so that she too would experience a similar adventure, but if the idea failed, then she would at least gain experience in similar adventures and draw the necessary conclusions for the future.
Having prepared a scented letter, Maria sent it to the Duke through trusted people. The letter said that if the handsome prince (as de Moret was called in this letter!) gives his consent, he should ride along such and such a street at such and such a time, having a blue ribbon on his hand. Chevrette was on her way to see if the Duke would agree to further adventures.
Richelieu, through his informants, learned that the Duchess de Chevreuse had given a letter to the Duke de Moret, and he even learned what was contained in this letter. Therefore, he arranged it so that the Duke de Moret had no opportunity to appear at the agreed place at the agreed time, while he sent his man to keep an eye on the duchess. Unfortunately for Richelieu, at that time he did not yet have enough experienced spies, which he acquired very soon after this unfortunate failure for him. The narrow-minded de Bedo did not even bother to change into civilian clothes, so he spied on the duchess, dressed in a guardsman's cloak. Of course, Chevrette noticed him and tried to hide, for which she decided to resort to my help. This is how our acquaintance with her began. Looking ahead, I will say that Chevrette decided that Moret ignored her invitation, so in the future she abandoned the idea of \u200b\u200bseducing this son of Henry IV .
Well, while trying to catch the Duke de Moret, she caught the musketeer d'Herblay. Perhaps at that time she could not yet appreciate the acquisition that fate had given her, but without false modesty I will say that she received a devoted friend for many years, until she decided to betray him, which is why the word “devoted friend” “in my eyes took on a completely new coloring.
Chapter 9
In the evening I went on a date with Maria.
- So, my glorious musketeer, have you come for your reward? she asked.
- Not in the slightest! - I answered. - I came to your call. You invited - I showed up. I have nothing to ask for a reward for, I did what I thought was necessary, and I am not going to receive anything from anyone for this.
- Ah, noble knight! - Maria exclaimed. “I had no idea that in France you could still find selflessness and valor of this kind!”
“Perhaps we move in different circles,” I replied. — Among the musketeers, of whom I have the honor to be a member, such a view of things is not uncommon.
“And among the courtiers, of whom I am one, such a look is rare!” - Maria answered. “I still intend to thank you for your intercession on behalf of a weak woman.”
“I don’t take money or gifts from women, madam,” I objected.
“And I don’t intend to offer you anything material!” - Maria answered.
“Oh, madam, if you want to offer me something intangible, then I feel embarrassed,” I said.
Indeed, I myself did not understand my condition. Young nobles, and even more so musketeers, whose lives can be cut short any day, do not neglect the opportunity to receive the highest evidence of favor from ladies. So was I. If Maria had feigned unavailability, I would probably have gone out of my way to get from her everything that she had no intention of providing. Here, it seemed to me, she offered herself quite unequivocally. It was as if a rabbit had caught a boa constrictor and forced it into its mouth. This was a violation of all rules of conduct. The prey does not hunt the hunter! On an intuitive level, I felt some kind of catch, so I lost any desire to flirt with her.
- Sir! - Maria exclaimed. “You obviously misunderstood me.” Do you think I'm offering you my love? But that's not true! I offer you my friendship, which is much more valuable, believe me. You don't know who I am, so I'll tell you.
At that moment I felt that I wanted to achieve her love again. Everything fell into place, the prey did not hunt the hunter, but again avoided him, which forced the hunter to again strive to hunt this prey.
“Madam, don’t you love me?” — I asked, trying to feign coldness. “In that case, forgive me for misinterpreting your words.” I do not renounce friendship with you, but friendship involves many mutual obligations, so first I must find out who you are, what kind of friendly services you may need from me. I must remind you that I am in the service of the King, and any actions or inactions that conflict with my duties as a musketeer are unacceptable to me, and requests for such are insignificant, I refuse in advance to accept any obligations of this kind.
“Friendship with me will in no way interfere with your service to the King, my knight!” - Maria answered. — On the contrary, these responsibilities coincide in almost everything.
“This “almost” of yours worries me,” I answered as softly as possible, but insistently.
—Who do you think rules France? - asked Maria.
“Of course, His Majesty the King,” I replied.
- How naive you are! - Maria laughed. — France is currently ruled by three men and three women. The three men are King Louis XIII , the constable Duc de Luynes and the Bishop of Lu;on, Monsieur de Richelieu. The three men are the Queen Mother Marie de' Medici, Queen Anne and her closest friend, de Luynes's wife, Marie de Luynes.
“Let’s assume so, madam,” I said. “I’m far from the court, so I agree in advance that you know better.” So what?
“And the fact is that soon one man and one woman will be excluded from this list,” Maria continued. “The Queen Mother is rapidly losing power, and with her, this vile Richelieu will lose it too. Four will remain.
“So be it,” I agreed. - What does this have to do with me?
“If you agree with what I said,” Maria continued, “then you will also agree that the King, who was raised from childhood to hate government activities, relies in everything on his best friend and confidant, to his most important adviser, the Duke of Luynes. The Queen consults with her best friend, the Duchess de Luynes, on everything. Thus, France is actually governed not by six or four, but by two. Moreover, the Duke de Luyne will never do anything to harm his wife, Marie de Luyne.
“Everything you said is probably very interesting, but I still don’t understand why you’re telling me this,” I said.
“At the moment you are in the house of the Duke de Luynes and talking with the mistress of this house, Marie Aim;e de Luynes,” said Maria solemnly.
“Chevalier d'Aramitz, Abbot d'Herblay, madam,” I answered with a bow.
- Abbot, is that so? - Maria was surprised. -I was told that your name is simply Aramis. Was my information inaccurate?
“Quite accurate, madam, since among the musketeers that’s what they call me, Aramis,” I answered.
“But you didn’t tell me your name, Mr. Aramis,” said Maria. - What should I call you if you really are my friend? Jean? Rene? Charles?
“Relatives who call me by name call me what my parents christened me, that is, Henri,” I answered. “But I don’t think that such treatment is appropriate on the part of the Duchess, who, according to her own statement, rules France.”
“You don’t believe me, Aramis,” Maria laughed. “But how can you call me Maria if you don’t allow me to call you Henri?”
“I didn’t mean to call you Maria, madam,” I answered as coldly as possible.
“It doesn’t matter,” Maria waved it off. - What you were going to do or what you weren’t going to do is no longer so important. What matters is what you do. And you will be my friend, and therefore I will call you Henri, and you will call me Maria.
“What a woman wants, even God will not resist,” I said modestly.
“Everything would be so if God knew what she really wants,” Maria laughed. - Or at least if the woman herself knew it! At the moment I would like to slap you on the cheeks for all the insolence that you said to me, Mr. Aramis, but instead I will just kiss you, Henri!
With these words, she came up and gave me the sweetest kiss in the world.
From that moment I was subdued to her. I responded to her kiss, and not only that. The next day I was almost late for the morning formation. If Maria had not given me a fresh shirt from her husband’s countless wardrobe, I would have had to show up at the barracks in a stale shirt, which has never happened to me. Fortunately, the Duke de Luynes and I were about the same height and volume, and also, fortunately, the Duke spent the night in the Louvre more often than at home. However, Maria assured me that the Duke was not jealous. That night I had the opportunity to verify Maria’s extreme passion and experience. This relationship lasted for thirty-five years. God knows, if Mary had not been married to her husband, and if I had been a duke in those years, then after that night I would have decided to connect my whole life with her. Fortunately, these conditions were not met, so our relationship was not sanctified by the Lord; it remained something more than friendship, but less than marriage. How could I have known then that Maria entered into such a relationship not only with me?
- Henri! - Maria said to me goodbye this morning. “I beg you, get rid of that Gascon accent of yours and don’t tell anyone that you are a Gascon.” Even King Henry IV , your namesake, did this. Take his example.
I wanted to object, but Maria sealed my mouth with her lips. There was no time to object. I nodded and rushed to the barracks.
Maria supplied me with a bunch of books on history, on politics, even on fortification, and, in addition, books in Spanish with parallel translations into French, so that I could learn this language. Whenever I pretended to pray, I read these books. Prayer is a waste of time. If the Lord had listened to them, the world would have been different. The fact that saints who devote all their time to prayer always ask for the same thing proves that they do not receive it. However, prayers should not be heard by the Lord, otherwise they would no longer be prayers, but conversations.
Chapter 10
Regarding books, one funny episode came to mind.
One day, Maria laughingly showed me a rare edition of Nicolo Machiavelli’s book “The Prince. History of Florence. Discourses on the first decade of Titus Livy." This was the first edition of three famous books by the great historian and philosopher, very rare and expensive. The only trouble is that it was hopelessly damaged. Maria's little dog chewed the spine, chewed off all the corners, in other words, the book was unpleasant to pick up.
- Look what this obnoxious Mimi has turned into one of my favorite books! -she exclaimed.
“I’ll get you the same one,” I replied.
- A dog or a book? - Maria asked with a laugh. - Don’t worry about the dog, I forgave her. As for the book, don’t make unfulfillable promises. There were only three such books in France. The first is with me, the second is with the Duke of La Rochefoucauld, the third is with some count unknown to me.
“Ask the Duke for this book,” I suggested.
“He loves books so much that he will not part with such a bibliographic rarity for any money,” answered Maria. - Wait a minute! I came up with a funny joke!
Her joke was that she asked the Duke for his book for a while, supposedly in order to read it. The Duke, of course, could not refuse her this, but asked her to handle the book as carefully as possible. The Duchess promised to do this, after which a week later she brought him a book, chewed by a dog. The Duke was killed, it was a pity to look at him.
“Will you forgive my dog for treating your book so disrespectfully?” - said Maria, making a pitiful grimace.
- Oh, of course, Duchess! - exclaimed the Duke.
At the same time, if you believe Maria’s story, he was simply depressed. His face did not depict such grief even at the hour of the death of King Henry IV . Having thoroughly enjoyed the suffering of her boyfriend, Maria finally admitted to him that his book was not damaged at all, and that the book that she showed him was another one that belonged to her, and that it was all a simple joke.
- Oh, my God! - exclaimed La Rochefoucauld. “Accept from me this book, which belongs to me, as a gift, and throw away the one that your dog chewed up.”
“No, Francois,” Maria objected. “I will not accept such a great sacrifice from you!”
The Duke feigned disappointment, but the cunning Maria was sure that he was greatly relieved that his collection of rare books had not suffered any damage.
Subsequently, Maria learned that the third owner of the same rare specimen was the Count de La F;re. She suggested that I play the same joke with him.
I asked Athos for this book, which he gave me without any conditions. When a week later I returned to him the dog-gnawed book, Athos indifferently took it and threw it in the corner of the room he rented, where there were other books, whose value, I believe, was no lower than the value of this rare copy.
“Count, aren’t you angry that I’m returning the book to you in a slightly different form from the one in which I took it from you?” - I asked.
“Obviously, you had reasons to do this, and let’s forget about it,” answered Athos.
“The thing is that one dog…” I tried to justify myself.
“Don’t continue, my friend,” answered Athos. -You don’t keep dogs, therefore, you didn’t take this book from me for yourself. But I don’t want to know anything about the lady for whom you took this book, and that’s enough about that.
Here I was forced to admit that it was just a joke, after which I returned Athos his own book safe and sound.
-Which of the two do you want to take for yourself? - asked Athos, pointing alternately to his own book and to Mary’s damaged book.
“None of them,” I answered. “The joke no longer seems funny to me, forgive me, Athos.”
Athos, without saying a word, threw his own book into the same corner where he had previously thrown the damaged copy.
“Whoever suggested that you test our friendship in this way did not give you the best advice,” Athos said softly. “Everything I own, you can take if you need it.” I was not upset that the book was damaged, for the simple reason that when you asked me for it, I gave it to you, I just did not specify this. When you returned it to me, or rather, what was left of it, I did not experience a feeling of loss, but felt proud of you. I thought how awkward it must have been for you to return the damaged item, and that it would be much easier to pretend that you forgot about it than to admit your sloppiness. At that moment I was proud of you. This torn and damaged book should have been sent to the fireplace, but in my eyes it became for some time a symbol of your honesty and, if you like, sacrifice, so I took it from you. If it was just a joke, its value would drop to zero again, and it would go into the fireplace at the first opportunity.
“Athos, now for me this book has become a symbol of our friendship, a symbol of your selfless generosity,” I said. “I ask you to give it to me, this dog-gnawed copy, and I will keep it in memory of the lesson I learned.”
- What is this lesson? - asked Athos.
“The lesson is that friendship should not be tested,” I replied. - And another thing is that you don’t feel sorry for anything for a friend.
Athos hugged me, after which I carefully took the book with the chewed spine and corners. You will not believe! She is still with me. I never part with it during all my moves!
For this, apparently, reason, I reread it hundreds of times. I know it by heart. If I hadn't read so much, I wouldn't have written a memoir. As you can see, everything has its reasons.
Chapter 11
Today my faithful servant Bazin passed away. For a long time he was just a servant, then became a secretary, and finally a friend. He carried out any of my orders with greater diligence than if this order had been given to him by the King or the Pope himself. He didn’t start a family, I was his family, and he was mine.
Once he survived an attack by robbers, pirates, and received two bullets. I believed that he would not recover from these wounds, but I could not stay with him. Duty called me in pursuit of the pirates, I had to rescue the kidnapped prince from their hands, as well as one lady to whom my friend d'Artagnan was not indifferent. I left poor Bazin in the care of worthy people, and my heart was in the wrong place all the time when I had no opportunity to inquire about his condition. I was afraid to write, afraid to find out the worst. But my dear Bazin survived. This was six years ago. He continued to serve me faithfully all these six years, although his strength was no longer the same. He was with me for almost sixty years! We'll see you soon, my friend!
We were four musketeers, and each had his own servant. These servants also became friends. The first of them we lost was Mousqueton, who, for reasons unknown to me, in his old age, asked to be called Muston, since the name Mousqueton seemed to him not aristocratic enough. Yes, he joined the aristocracy, at least in his lifestyle. Poor Muston died at the hands of the scoundrels hired by Colbert to kill d'Artagnan. Then Grimaud, Athos' servant, left. He looked very old, for he was completely gray and had deep wrinkles on his face, but he remained as strong as possible for his age. Now here is Bazin. Is d'Artagnan's former servant Planchet still alive? God knows. He was the first to stop being a servant, started his own business, ran an inn and a grocery store, where everyone could buy fruits, nuts, tea and other small things. It seems that Planchet was the only truly family man among all four of our servants. And that is to say, d'Artagnan did not so much need a servant as a friend after our separation some time after the siege of La Rochelle. After all, the position of captain-lieutenant of the royal musketeers gave him an orderly, or even two, so there was no point in keeping a servant at his own expense. It seems that Planchet was active during the Fronde, almost one of the leaders of the Fronde from the common people. Of course, there were other leaders from the ruling party. I will write about this someday, but not today. Today I mourn for my dear Bazin. He was to me what Father Joseph was to Cardinal Richelieu. However, no. After all, Father Joseph initially contributed to the rise of Richelieu by introducing him to the Queen Mother. I don’t owe my career to Bazin, he simply served me conscientiously and decently, worked for me, was completely devoted to me . But in all other respects he was my “eminence grise.” I even wanted to make him a bishop! By God, it could have burned out! In any case, he could have been an abbot. But for selfish reasons, I did not offer this to him for a long time, but when I decided to offer it, he was so offended that he spoke to me extremely dryly for a whole week. “Yes, monsignor,” “no, monsignor,” “I obey, monsignor.” So - for a whole week! Because I intended to part with him! He decided that I had found myself a more efficient servant, that I was not satisfied with his services. Poor fellow! Could he imagine that such an inveterate egoist like me could do something not for himself personally and not for his own benefits, but in order to simply do good to someone who is dear to him?
How easily we all assume the worst traits in others! And how difficult it is for us to assume that someone next to us may turn out to be better than we think about him! We most easily attribute our own shortcomings to others. The evil one sees malice in everyone, the greedy one considers everyone a miser, the envious one believes that everyone envy him, the one who is susceptible to adultery suspects everyone and everyone of the same thing. But Bazin wasn’t selfish, was he? Or did I just imagine it? Be that as it may, he knew me well, and he was right, it was indeed difficult for me to decide to offer him something that I myself was not interested in!
Sleep in peace, my dear Bazin!
I won't write anything else today.
Amen!
Chapter 12
In the evening the next day after my visit to Mary, I decided to reflect on the situation that had arisen and did not notice how I arrived at the southern end of the Henry IV embankment . Suddenly I saw in front of me two young men with drawn swords, who were approaching me with an appearance that left no doubt that they intended to attack me. I confess that, despite the gathering dusk, I was not too excited about this, since I had a very high opinion of my own fencing art, which I learned from my father, as well as from two very good fencers. However, I put my hand on the hilt of my sword and walked a little slower. For this reason, my steps began to sound quieter and less frequent, and I immediately heard the sound of two pairs of boots from behind. Having quickly looked back, I was convinced that I was not mistaken.
Four against one - such a confrontation could be fatal for me.
I noticed that if I continued my journey at the same pace, the place where I would meet the people coming towards me would be the darkest and most secluded. Preferring to meet in a more illuminated place, where, moreover, there was a gate to a certain secluded garden, I decided to slow down even more and stop when this gate was behind me . There was little hope that the gate would be open, but it was better than nothing.
So, approaching the gate, I leaned my back on it and looked with interest at four armed people approaching me from both sides.
- What a meeting! - exclaimed one of those who walked towards me. “Is this really the same Mr. Royal Musketeer who so likes to interfere in someone else’s business?!”
“It’s hard to call it a meeting, Monsieur de Bedo,” I replied, for this was the same man from whom I helped Chevrette escape, and whose name she had already told me. “However, I will be glad to meet with you at any time that you deign to appoint, with an equal number of seconds on both sides.”
- Why put it off, Mr. Aramis? That's your name, if I'm not mistaken? - answered de Bedo. “My time is extremely valuable, and I may not have the opportunity to talk to you a second time.” Right now I am free to talk with you and put an end to all differences, and at the same time with you.
Two of my pursuers, who were walking behind, had also already approached and stood in poses that left no doubt about their intention to join in the reprisal against me.
- Well, gentlemen! - I answered. - I see that, apparently, you all have some questions for me?
- Yes! - answered de Bedo. - And we will talk in the language of swords!
- All four of them are with me alone? - I asked, maintaining a serene expression on my face despite some confusion, which, I admit, gripped me. “If to you, Monsieur de Bedo, the present moment seems most suitable for conversations of this kind, then, although I do not have a single second on my side, I am ready to begin the conversation in the language of the sword.” I hope that you will draw lots yourself or in some other way decide the issue of the order of our conversations.
— Queues?! - exclaimed de Bedo and burst out laughing. - Do you mean the question of whose sword will be the first to stick into your chest? This will decide the case!
“So you’re going to fight me with all four of you at the same time?” - I clarified. - Well! In this case, I no longer consider you nobles and will use all the techniques known to me!
Fortunately I had a dagger with me, with which I could hope to repel the blows of one attacker, while with a sword I could repel the blows of another. I admit, I didn’t have to fight with four at the same time, but there’s a first time for everything! I realized that I had to kill or wound at least one of the attackers, or better yet two, as soon as possible, then my chances of victory would be quite tolerable. The one on the right among the four standing in front of me was the most dangerous, since his sword was already pointed at me, and his face expressed determination to kill me as quickly as possible.
In an instant, I ducked under the sword of this enemy and plunged my sword into his chest near the heart. At the same moment, I threw my dagger with my left hand at the one standing next to him, and tried to snatch the sword from the hands of the robber I had just killed. I succeeded. Thus, my situation improved slightly, since I had two swords in my hands, and now I had only two opponents. To my chagrin, the dagger I threw did not inflict a significant wound on my opponent, but only shallowly pierced his thick leather belt.
And yet it was much easier to repel the blows of three attackers with two swords than to repel the blows of four with only a sword and a dagger. In addition, it seemed to me that the attackers did not expect that they would lose one of their comrades so quickly, which made them act more carefully.
I hoped to hit at least de Bedo, since he was clearly the leader of the attackers, and if he was killed, the other two would probably leave me alone. Nevertheless, the battle began in earnest, and I already began to feel that my strength was leaving me, I began to get tired, I no longer had enough dexterity to hold back the pressure of three night killers. In addition, I received two minor wounds, one in the arm, the other in the leg, which significantly weakened me, and I understood that soon my strength would completely leave me.
- Damn it, what's going on here?! - someone exclaimed behind me. - Three for one! Here I am, you devils!
The next moment I saw to my left some huge man with a long sword in his hands, who attacked my opponents with such fury that within ten seconds one of them was defeated, and my unexpected savior and I found ourselves two on two with my enemies. Only de Bedo remained my opponent, while the opponent of my giant partner turned out to be the one who walked with him towards me.
I was already quite tired, and de Bedo was a very good swordsman, moreover, his pressure increased due to the rage that gripped him at the sight of the loss of two of his men. Fortunately, my tall partner quickly and very easily dealt with his remaining opponent.
So, soon only de Bedo remained alive. Even if the duel between us had been conducted according to all the rules, my partner could well have helped me defeat this remaining opponent, but in this special case I would not allow it. However, he did not try to do this either. Having entered into a fight due to the inequality of strength of the two opposing sides, he would have changed his rules if he had taken advantage of the resulting ratio of the number of fencers in favor of the other side. He calmly sheathed his sword and waited for the battle to end.
Having made sure that de Bedo was not going to give up, I decided that it was necessary to end his life. What saved me was that I still had the second sword in my hands. I gathered all my strength and, making two deceptive lunges with my right hand, plunged the sword in my left hand into de Bedo’s throat. At that very moment he wheezed, collapsed to the ground and soon gave up the ghost.
“ Sir, I am infinitely grateful to you for coming to my rescue!” - I said to the man who took my side. - Allow me to introduce myself, Abbe d'Herblay, or Aramis, as my comrades in arms call me.
- Aramis? - my savior was surprised. “I think I’ve heard this name before.” And I am Isaac de Porto. I just arrived in Paris yesterday and am about to join the musketeers. But I haven’t decided where exactly yet. I heard that in Paris there are the King's Musketeers and Richelieu's Musketeers, whom we call the Guards. The Musketeers of Richelieu are paid more.
“But the King’s musketeers are four times more noble than the guards, as you could see today,” I said. “After all, those people who attacked me are Richelieu’s guards, while I am the King’s musketeer!”
“Well, it means that fate itself made its choice for me!” - exclaimed de Porto. “If I managed to quarrel to death with Richelieu’s guards on the second day of my stay in Paris, it means that my path lies with the King’s musketeers.”
“Tomorrow I will talk with the captain of the royal musketeers, M. de Treville,” I said. - You know, we have short nicknames in order to quickly address each other in battle. Perhaps the name Porthos would suit you better?
— Tell me, how long have you served in the King’s musketeers? - asked my interlocutor.
“A year and a half,” I answered.
“If a musketeer with such respectable experience tells me that it’s better for me to be called Porthos, then from now on that’s what they call me!” - he exclaimed. - Your hand!
- I am your debtor and your friend forever! - I exclaimed and gave Porthos my hand.
This was quite reckless on my part. My hand hurt for three days after that, because Porthos shook it quite vigorously. I must say that he tried to be delicate while doing this, because if he had squeezed it with all his strength, he would have broken all the bones in my hand. I say this not presumptively, but with full knowledge of the matter, since I have had countless opportunities to learn the full power of Porthos and his handshake, fortunately not on my own hand.
Chapter 13
As a result, Porthos, whom I had just met, saved me from an inglorious death on the embankment at night at the hands of attackers.
If this event had happened a day later, when Richelieu achieved the signing of an edict banning duels, both of us would have been seriously threatened with the death penalty - if not for murder, then for a duel, since we would not have been able to prove that it was neither one nor the other, but there was only a forced defense. After all, we had no witnesses that we were attacked. If it had been discovered that we had killed these four guardsmen, Richelieu would have personally taken charge of sending us to the next world. He had long advocated a strict ban on dueling, and after his beloved older brother died in one of the duels, he became an even more vehement hater of dueling.
Fortunately, this edict has not yet been signed. The king signed it the day after this event, February 6, 1621. However, even without that it was clear that we were in the greatest danger. For this reason, we arranged the corpses in such a way that it could be assumed that it was a two-on-two duel, and as a result of the battle, all opponents killed each other. To be more convincing, I placed his sword in the hands of the attacker whom I killed first, and took my dagger.
Later, from Chevrette and from other sources, I reliably learned that it was this incident that forced the King to sign the previously prepared edict banning duels. Richelieu was furious that he had lost four of his guards in one evening. Fortunately, he did not suspect the true reason for this loss, otherwise the effect of this decree would probably have been extended to us retroactively. In those days, Richelieu had not yet managed to subjugate the judicial system so much that all decisions were made only the way he wanted, however, hardly anyone would have believed that I was attacked by four fencers alone, after which I got away with two minor injuries, while all four were killed, even taking into account the unexpected help of Porthos. I had to make every effort to hide my wounds, for this I needed the help of the most skillful doctor de Cleru, who treated all the wounds of de Treville's musketeers. Fortunately, I already had two spare sets of uniform, one of which I put on the next day, since the uniform in which I was attacked was damaged by two holes and stained with my blood.
I will say, by the way, that in duels the winner could take the sword of the vanquished. In this case, we did not do this, for obvious reasons, which I outlined above. By the way, if an officer was arrested, he was supposed to surrender his sword, but he could also break it and keep the hilt with him. The reason for this was that the hilt was often decorated with precious stones, retained other features of the individuality of the owner of the sword, and such a hilt was often inherited from father to eldest son. The blade could be replaced by an experienced craftsman with a new one.
I read that the custom of decorating weapons with gold and diamonds was introduced by Gaius Julius Caesar. Having learned that the fighting warriors were abandoning their weapons and retreating, he ordered the hilt of his sword to be decorated with as expensive diamonds and other precious stones as possible. When one of the patricians he knew asked him if he was afraid of losing such a precious weapon in battle, he replied: “Do you really think that my weapon can be taken from me without taking my life?” Since then, warriors began to decorate their sabers as expensively as possible in order to prove to everyone that under no circumstances would they part with their weapons in battle. Since then, there have been almost no cases when combatants would throw their weapons. I believe this tradition has come down through the centuries to our times; musketeer weapons were very expensive, so a trophy in the form of a sword was very valuable. If it was impossible to take the entire sword, they took the hilt. And yet we left our spoils on the battlefield. I was doubly happy, firstly, that I was saved, and secondly, that I had found a friend. As for Porthos, he had just arrived in Paris, his sword was the simplest, and he did not even suspect the possibility of acquiring such a trophy. By the way, very soon Porthos acquired an extremely richly decorated sword, and in accordance with all the rules of military valor. But that is another story.
That same evening, despite the late hour, I invited Porthos to celebrate my miraculous salvation and our acquaintance in one of the taverns not far from the barracks. Porthos showed an excellent appetite, dinner cost me four times more than I had expected, but I did not regret the money spent. D'Artagnan later said very correctly: “You can endlessly and with pleasure look at three things: how the fire burns, how the young girl dances and how Porthos eats.” Porthos crushed turkey bones, which ordinary people gnaw, with his magnificent teeth as if they were bread crumbs. As for the wine, he emptied the goblet with one gulp as if nothing had happened.
Chapter 14
I think it would be appropriate here to remember how I met Athos. This happened in 1619. For three years I tried unsuccessfully to combine the duties of an abbot with the duties of a guardsman. At times it seemed to me that I was unsuited for either calling, and at times it seemed to me that both callings were extremely suitable for me. Giving up the abbey meant losing a stable source of income; giving up military service would mean for me to finally become a priest. Both prospects did not satisfy me. I could not completely become just an abbot, since serving the Lord was not so much a life choice for me as one of many possible fascinating puzzles, because I was not so much serving God as searching for him. Reading the so-called wise books about God, where I found many discussions about Him, but did not find Him, was an exciting chase along the tracks that no one had left. For a long time I wasn’t serious about being a soldier either. I put on the uniform of a guardsman and felt free from church vows and restrictions. Only as a guardsman could I look at the beauties I met the way I would like to look at them. As soon as I had almost convinced myself that I was just a soldier, I remembered my duties as a confessor, and since such young and tender beauties very often came to me for confession, looking at them was a joy for the eyes, I abandoned this part of my I couldn't live. As soon as I seriously devoted myself to the life of an abbot, I felt an urgent need not to suppress my emotions, but to let them out, not to hide in a fragile cell, but to ride on a hot stallion with a sword in my hands, delighting the young townswomen.
One day, leaving the confessional, I came face to face with the king's musketeer with noble features and a slender figure.
- Let me ask you, Mister Abbot, which of your two professions is the main one? - he asked with such a benevolent smile that his question could not be considered an insult.
In addition, at that moment I was in the clothes of an abbot, and abbots, as you know, do not challenge musketeers to a duel.
“I wish I could find the answer to this question myself,” I answered with a grin. - Excuse me, sir, do you know me?
“I have seen you many times in the abbot’s clothes, but I have also met you among the guards,” answered the musketeer. “It seems to me that you would have made a magnificent musketeer, judging by the battles in which I saw you, but when I see you in the abbot’s clothes, it seems to me that my vision deceived me, and that dashing guardsman was a different person.” Perhaps you have a twin brother?
“No, sir, it was me,” I answered in a calm voice, which is the only way an abbot should speak. “The Lord has not yet been vouchsafed to guide me on the right path, but I am flattering myself with the hope that he will soon count me among his servants, so that I will forever leave my absurd passion for army affairs.”
—Did I understand you correctly that you prefer to be a full-time abbot rather than a military man? - the musketeer asked, as it seemed to me, with some disappointment.
“I think that a cassock would suit me better than a guardsman’s uniform,” I answered.
“In that case, Holy Father, please forgive me for daring to suggest that you might need my advice,” answered Athos, after which he left so quickly that I did not have time to answer him.
The next day I was in the fencing hall, where I was improving my skill, which, as we know, requires constant practice.
“Holy Father, as I see it, your intention to become an abbot has not yet crystallized into a final decision?” — I heard the voice of the same musketeer, already familiar to me. “In this case, would you like to do me the honor of crossing rapiers with me?” Perhaps I can show you some techniques, or, what would be better for me, perhaps you can teach me something?
- Oh, with pleasure! - I answered. - Abbot d'Herblay, at your service!
“Forgive me, sir, I cannot cross a sword with the abbot,” answered the musketeer.
“In that case, sir, I hope that you will not refuse to fence with His Majesty’s guard Aramis?”
“His Majesty’s Musketeer Athos is at your service, Mr. Aramis,” answered my fencing partner and bowed politely, as is customary between fencers in training battles with blunt rapiers.
Athos missed three injections, while I missed as many as four from him.
- Now let's try with our left hands? - Athos suggested.
- Left? - I was surprised. “But I never trained to fight with my left hand!”
“In vain, Mr. Aramis,” answered Athos. “This can come in handy in a fight or a duel.”
- You are apparently right, but in any case I will fencing with my left hand much worse than with my right, isn’t it? - I asked.
“Firstly, your opponent may turn out to be left-handed, in which case it will be extremely difficult for you to fight him with your right hand, whereas he has trained all his life to fight with a right-hander,” Athos objected. - If you know how to fence with your left, then your skill will be a wonder for him, he, most likely, will not be ready for this, which gives you a significant advantage.
“You convinced me, and from today I will begin to train in fencing with my left hand as well,” I answered. - But since you said your “firstly”, I assume that there is also a “secondly”?
“Of course,” answered Athos. “Secondly, you may end up wounded in your right hand, because any duelist first of all aims at the right hand, and not at the left hand, believing that your left hand is not so dangerous for him. Then all you have to do is continue the battle with your wounded hand, or grab the sword with your left but healthy hand. Judge for yourself what will be best for you.
— Your “secondly” is no less convincing than “firstly”! - I admired. - Why don’t fencing schools take this into account?
“There are different schools,” Athos answered with a soft smile. - There is also “thirdly”. After all, two opponents, or even more, can take up arms against you. In this case, you will really need your left hand.
- This argument is even more convincing! - I exclaimed. - How come he didn’t come to my mind?
“Fourthly, the ability to use your left hand gives you the ability to fight with both hands at the same time if necessary,” Athos continued.
“Yes, I know that, when you have a dagger in your left hand, it can serve as additional protection against a sword,” I said. - In the event that its hilt, that is, the limiter, has the shape of a cross, an arch, a shield, a half-basket, a basket, a half-cup or a cup.
“You will do this much more effectively if you learn to use your left hand as well as your right,” said Athos, nodding. - But this is not enough.
- Not enough? - I asked.
- Of course! - Athos answered. — The next step after you learn to fence with your left hand is to learn to fence with both hands simultaneously and independently of each other.
- Let's start the lesson immediately! - I exclaimed passionately.
- But it seems that you intended to leave the military career and finally become an abbot? - Athos asked with a smile.
- Yes you! - I exclaimed. “It’s the cassock that has that effect on me.” When I'm dressed in it, I don't feel like myself.
“Then don’t wear it anymore,” Athos advised.
— And lose the income I inherited from my father? - I asked.
“I do not undertake to advise you in financial matters,” said Athos extremely seriously.
“Perhaps I will be an abbot only from time to time, very rarely,” I said.
“Whatever you decide, it’s your life and your choice,” said Athos, softening. “If your passion for religion does not take up more than two days a month, I could perhaps recommend you to our regiment of royal musketeers.” There is real business there, not like the guards.
“I will be happy if this happens, but I have one request,” I said. “Don’t call me Mister Abbot and Mister Aramis anymore.” For you, I'm just Aramis.
“In that case, for you I’m just Athos,” answered Athos. - Your hand, Aramis!
We shook hands, which marked the beginning of our friendly couple, which later became a trinity, and then, after d'Artagnan arrived in Paris, an inseparable four.
Chapter 15
Still, I’ll return to the story of how I met Porthos and how he became a musketeer.
So, I suggested that Porthos the next morning come to the musketeers' barracks at half past seven in the morning, while I myself went there, as usual, at six o'clock.
“Aramis, de Treville is looking for you,” Athos told me after we exchanged the usual greetings.
- Do you know for what reason? - I asked.
“I suppose the occasion was not a pleasant one, since he said: “As soon as this one appears...” said Athos and faltered. - Let me not convey exactly the words he used, they mean abbot, but these words are not customary to be uttered in noble society. His vocabulary was approximately the same as that usually used by Marshal de Breze.
- Wow? - I exclaimed.
Marshal de Breze was the standard of foul language even among the military. He probably did this in order to further anger M. Desmarais, known for his hypocrisy. Indeed, the aforementioned Desmarais once ordered the burning of a large number of extremely valuable paintings by famous artists for the reason that they depicted naked women. For a long time these paintings decorated the best halls of the castle of Fontainebleau, where he, unfortunately, was appointed caretaker. The mentioned microcephalus put a lot of effort into making the castle look “decent” in his, Demar’s, understanding of the word, which, of course, reduced the value of the castle’s furnishings, since he destroyed the priceless masterpieces that adorn it. Even the most hardened hypocrites of the Vatican did not allow themselves to do this. The said Desmarais demanded that everyone use only the most refined vocabulary, and therefore, every time he received papers from Marshal de Breze, he lost his temper, after which, with great effort, he put on an air of polite tolerance and asked the marshal to rewrite the document, using only acceptable vocabulary. “Go with your orders!” answered de Breze, adding further addresses that I also do not dare mention here. So, if de Treville spoke about me using the vocabulary of de Breze, I should have been prepared for a serious thrashing.
Having thanked Athos, I resolutely headed “into the heat,” that is, to de Treville’s apartment.
- Listen, Aramis! - exclaimed de Treville when he saw me. — What happened there on the Henry IV embankment ?
“I don’t quite understand what you’re talking about, Mr. Captain,” I said.
“Don’t try to deceive me,” de Treville objected. - I was there. Do you understand me? If you could still hope to mislead the Richelieu guards, then you will not deceive me. I saw their wounds. At least two of them were killed by you. In any case, this is a blow from below with a sword in the throat... None of the guards would have delivered such a blow. I agree, the corpses lay as if they were having a two-on-two duel. But the catch is that these four were four ravens from the same nest, and I am of the opinion that a raven will not peck out a crow’s eye. Are you silent?
“I don’t know what to say, Mister Captain,” I hesitated.
“It’s better to be silent than to lie further,” agreed de Treville. “Fortunately, Richelieu’s fools decided that the situation was exactly as you wanted them to think.” But I see how it was. Four guardsmen attacked you. You probably annoyed them with something, and they, I admit, intended to kill you.
“Then am I responsible for not approving their plan?” - I asked. “I didn’t like him from the very beginning.”
“I admit that you do not agree with these four,” de Treville agreed. - But how did they dare to attack the four musketeers of the King? And who were the three who helped you deal with the others? And, besides, if your forces were equal, then why kill them? Wouldn't it have been easier to simply wound them, take their swords and drive them away in shame?
“Mr. Captain, four friends were not with me,” I answered.
“I don’t believe you,” de Treville objected. “I would be convinced that Athos was with you if I did not know for sure that he was not with you, since yesterday he was with me all evening and carried out my instructions.” So who are these three?
“I assure you, there was not a single musketeer with me,” I replied, “so none of the King’s musketeers is responsible for the fact that I am still alive.”
- So, there were three guards with you? - asked de Treville, calming down a little. “Well, that explains why Richelieu’s guards dared to attack you.”
“There was not a single soldier with me, not a musketeer, not a guardsman, not a recruit,” I answered.
- Do you want to tell me that you were alone? - asked de Treville with disbelief.
“At first, yes, but after I dealt one of them the very blow that gave me away...” I answered.
“Do you mean to say that, fighting against four people, you killed one of them with the first blow?” - asked de Treville with disbelief.
“Athos taught me to use two hands, which allowed me to hit the first one who attacked me, and at least temporarily neutralize the second one,” I said sincerely.
- What are you saying? - de Treville admired. “In that case, it would really be a pity if, after such a glorious beginning, they still killed you.”
“I decided so too, Mr. Captain,” I agreed. “This consideration made me fight further.”
“You said that at first you were alone,” de Treville reminded. - When did these three, or perhaps two, come to your rescue?
“Almost at the same moment, but there were not two of them, but one,” I answered.
- One?! - de Treville was surprised. - Do you want to say that there was someone who was not a career military man who took your side despite the fact that even in this case there were only two of you against three?
“That’s exactly what happened, Mr. Captain,” I answered.
“Judging by the two blows he inflicted on two of your three opponents, he must be a very strong and tall man,” suggested de Treville.
“You have extremely accurately determined the texture and strength of this savior of mine from the wounds,” I agreed.
“Well, two against four,” muttered de Treville. “And you both didn’t receive any injuries?”
- None, Mister Captain! - I exclaimed decisively.
De Treville looked at me carefully, fixing his gaze on my left hand and left leg.
- Or, perhaps, completely trivial wounds? - asked de Treville.
“Perhaps quite trivial,” I agreed.
- Which, hopefully, will heal in three weeks? - asked de Treville. - Or in five?
“In three, Mr. Captain,” I answered.
- What do you want from me? - de Treville suddenly exclaimed with ostentatious anger. “For what purpose did you come to me this morning?” To brag about your exploits?
“I was told that you were looking for me,” I said.
“I was looking for you, but you were looking for me too, weren’t you?” - asked de Treville. - Let me guess. Have you come to ask me to accept your savior into the King's Musketeers?
“I thought that...” I hesitated.
— Do you know that the King is not accepted into the Musketeers without a strong enough recommendation? - De Treville asked angrily.
“Yes, Mister Captain,” I agreed.
“So, I cannot accept this nobleman, unknown to me, even though he has remarkable strength and is a good fencer, as a musketeer today,” replied de Treville, who seemed to be arguing with himself.
“It turns out that’s true, Mr. Captain,” I confirmed.
- And what do you think I should offer this nobleman to join the guard of my son-in-law Dezzesar before the time comes? - continued de Treville.
“This will probably be the only possible solution,” I agreed.
- And thus allow someone, but not me, to have such a strong and dexterous swordsman, is this what you are suggesting to me, Mr. Aramis? - asked de Treville, again feigning indignation.
“That would be unfortunate,” I said.
“Can I at least take a look at this giant?” - de Treville finally asked after a long thought.
“He should arrive at the entrance to the barracks right this very minute,” I answered.
“Bring him,” said de Treville.
I went out and returned a few minutes later, accompanied by Porthos.
“Your name...” said de Treville.
- Porthos! - Porthos exclaimed so loudly that de Treville winced, probably from pain in his ears.
“I thank you for the help you provided to one of my best musketeers,” said de Treville, “but I ask you not to dwell on this episode.” Believe me, this is in your best interests.
“I did what anyone in my place would do,” Porthos answered modestly.
“It is commendable that you think so, but it is unfortunate that you are mistaken,” replied de Treville. — People for the most part are not the type to stand up without a significant chance of saving their own lives and their own health.
“Our chances were quite good,” Porthos countered. “But you’re right, I would have stood up even if there were twice or three times as many attackers.” In this case, our chances would actually be a little worse.
“Are you saying that you were sure that you could defeat three people together?” - asked de Treville.
“I could defeat three even on my own,” Porthos waved him off. “At home I often amused myself in this way, having a rapier with blunt ends instead of a sword, fighting against four, or even six. But soon I had to stop these funs, because I broke too many bones, although, God knows, I didn’t want to.
- Is that so? - de Treville was surprised. “Well, you probably hope to become the King’s musketeer?”
“I already became one, just yesterday evening, from the minute I made this decision,” Porthos answered innocently.
“Well, it doesn’t happen that quickly,” de Treville laughed. “I haven’t made a decision about enrolling you yet, but even after I make such a decision - if I accept it - it will still need to be approved by the King.
“The king will approve any decision you make regarding admission to the musketeers, because he trusts you,” Porthos said carefree. - So it's up to you.
“Why do you think that the King trusts me so completely with everything?” - asked de Treville incredulously.
- Is a person who is not trusted appointed captain of the royal musketeers? - Porthos asked naively.
- You're right, damn it! - exclaimed de Treville. “Of course, His Majesty will approve my decision, but I haven’t made it yet!”
“Then accept it,” said Porthos. - Why put off such a good thing for later?
“But you don’t have any recommendations,” de Treville said doubtfully.
“It will be in five minutes,” Porthos answered serenely.
- Who will write it? - asked de Treville in surprise.
- Aramis! - Porthos answered.
De Treville looked at me in surprise. I nodded.
- Damn it, you've gone around me on all sides! - he exclaimed and burst out laughing. “And this had to happen just when I had a vacancy.”
It must be said that here de Treville lied without blinking an eye. Of course, vacancies arise from time to time, but I knew for sure that at that moment de Treville did not have any vacancy. Obviously, he decided to hire Porthos in excess of the regular number, rightly believing that a vacancy might soon arise.
So Porthos became a musketeer.
Chapter 16
Maria’s conspiracies, as I already said, were taught to her by her first husband, the Chevalier de Luynes. Yes, yes, at first a simple chevalier, from the seedy Tuscan family of Alberti. He was quite handsome, and for this reason he served as a page to Henry IV , who was also his godfather. At the court of King Henry IV after his marriage, many Tuscans hung around, arriving in France with his bride, Marie de Medici. As I already said, one of these Tuscans greatly helped the future Queen to fulfill her main duty as a Queen, namely, to give birth to an heir to the French throne. Well, the Tuscan de Luigne helped rid France of the most obnoxious Tuscan, Concino Concini.
I must say that the Dauphin Louis XIII, unlike his nominal father, Henry IV , not only did not like women, as I already mentioned, but he loved handsome men. In this he was very similar in his preferences to Henry III , which could have served the same unfortunate outcome as that which befell this monarch, because there was no heir left from Henry III . Louis also avoided not only too close communication with women, but in general did not like to communicate with them, even not too intimately. He made an exception for several ladies, such as Mademoiselle d'Hautefort, with whom he started purely platonic relationships. He wasted his masculine passion on men, of whom, to tell the truth, none of them were worth not only love, but even friendship.
Neither the King Father nor the Queen Mother was seriously involved in raising the Dauphin. The King understood, apparently, that this was not his son, but the Queen loved his younger brother Gaston, later the Duke of Orleans, or Monsieur, more. In addition, Queen Marie de' Medici preferred to rule herself, so she did not intend to instill in the Dauphin a love or habit of state affairs, but rather instilled in him an aversion to such activities. The Dauphin's mentor did not even pay attention to the fact that Louis signed his name with an error, missing one letter; he signed Loys , not Louys . If it were not for Malherbe, who pointed out the mistake to him, then perhaps no one would have paid attention to this mistake.
It was no coincidence that Queen Marie de Medici was suspected of being involved in the murder of the King, or, in any case, she was accused of knowing about the impending assassination attempt, but did not act, or acted deliberately slowly and indecisively. Another strong reason to believe that she was involved in this is the fact that the King was killed almost immediately after he crowned his wife, which was completely unnecessary, I mean, of course, the coronation of the Queen. By the way, the Queen convinced Henry to crown her for the reason that he was going to war, so the said coronation made her automatically regent in the event of Henry's death. Indeed, after the coronation, she received strong reasons for becoming regent under the young Dauphin, so that Henry IV , as a result of this action, turned from a means of achieving her goals into a hindrance. If he had died in the war, she would have remained ruler, but if he had not died, this coronation would have given her nothing. Henry IV did not take into account that as a result of the coronation, such a situation was created that his death became desirable for the Queen, and she did not wait for such a denouement as a result of hostilities. Despite Henry’s courage and even sometimes recklessness in battles, he was still lucky, he came out of them alive and practically unharmed. So, the Queen can be suspected, at a minimum, of inaction, because the Marquise l'Escomant tried to warn Henry about the impending assassination attempt through her, but her warning had no effect. According to the Queen, she conveyed this warning to the King, but he did not pay attention to it. But this is only according to the Queen’s testimony, made only after the assassination attempt took place and Henry was gone. Who can check whether she actually conveyed this warning to the King or not? No wonder they say: “Look for who benefits from it.” Of course, it was beneficial for the Queen to get rid of the King, become the de facto ruler of France, elevate her lover Concini, and in relation to the young heir, Louis XIII, apply the policy that King Henry IV, if he were alive, would never have allowed. Contrary to his explicit intention to become related to the House of Lorraine, which would serve to strengthen France, she linked the French house with the Spanish house in a double marriage, marrying the young Louis Thirteenth to the daughter of the Spanish King, and marrying off her daughter to his son. This double marriage between two pairs of children was based on nothing but politics, which led nowhere: France never received peace with Spain. Louis, of course, could not have any feelings for Anne of Austria. However, he was curious, so he sent his own coachman to look at how the Spanish princess was built and report to him, as if it was not about female beauty, but about examining the mare.
But the matter is explained more simply: the young King already treated his own coachman with the telling name Saint-Amour, not at all as a coachman, but as a dear friend, showing real loving feelings towards him. Subsequently, he was inflamed with similar feelings towards his own huntsman named Aran. The list of men whom he favored excessively includes the Grand Prior of Vend;me, the Commander de Souvres, and Montpuyan-La-Force. Thus, his father’s former page, the Chevalier de Luynes, did not appear as a lover out of nowhere. Among this list of favorites, one can also recall the captain of the guard of the Royal Doors, Nozhan Beautru. He managed, by the way, to be on good terms with de Richelieu, so he benefited greatly from Richelieu’s rise. Looking ahead, I will say that he was not the last in this series of lovers; already in his old age, Louis XIII became his favorite de Saint-Mars, a young man whom Richelieu introduced to him, hoping through him to strengthen his influence on the King, but de Saint-Mars was a completely different kind of person to allow someone else to use what he preferred to use only personally.
However, I’ll get to the story of de Saint-Mars’ conspiracy, God willing, but now I’m writing about the times when Louis was ruled by de Luynes. Perhaps Louis was also shy about women because of his stuttering. Everyone around pretended that this deficiency did not exist. However, one day, when Louis first saw Monsieur d'Alembon, who also stuttered badly, and turned to him with some question, in response to which he heard exactly the same stutter, he decided that the impudent courtier dared to imitate him. If he had not been assured that Monsieur d'Alembon was a stutterer, he would have been in trouble; at best he would have been expelled. To complete the portrait of Louis, all that remains is to add that he often behaved extremely timidly, hesitantly, which did not correspond to his high rank, and sometimes he was irritated and overly harsh. He studied dancing and horse riding, so he was quite slender, danced well and easily stayed in the saddle, knew how to build an army in battle order, in campaigns and hunting he seemed to not know fatigue, but he did not know the basics of strategy and tactics, how , however, almost no one in his time. This science was given to generals, marshals and princes only as a result of difficult combat experience.
Louis did not shy away from performing not only in ballet, but also in home theater productions, preferring comic roles or roles without words, which is natural, given his stutter. However, I think that if he had decided to play tragic or sublime roles, no one would have dared to say that he portrayed Titus Andronicus or Julius Caesar poorly.
So, taking advantage of the King’s affection for himself, de Luynes instructed him as he saw fit. And he considered it necessary to make him a real King and a true sovereign, and not a nominal one, which he was while the country was ruled by his mother Queen Maria de Medici and her lover Concino Concini, who was made a marshal and received the titles of Count della Penna and Marquis d'Ancra. De Luigne strengthened his position by introducing the Bishop of Lu;on, Jean Armand du Plessis de Richelieu, to the King. Previously, Richelieu had made his way into circles close to the ruling powers, thanks to the recommendation of Father Joseph; Queen Marie de' Medici and Marshal d'Ancre favored him, so Louis initially avoided Richelieu. But de Luynes convinced him that Richelieu could be useful in establishing peace between him and the Queen. Thus, Louis strengthened his position, after which he finally decided to follow the advice of de Luynes to eliminate Marshal d'Ancre, and then take away from the Queen Mother the power that she should have already given to him as a result of Louis reaching adulthood. Let me remind you that Louis was born on September 27, 1601. Consequently, on September 27, 1617, he should have become a full-fledged King, receiving full power. He was no longer obliged to show obedience to his mother, who from the Queen Regent would have to turn into just the Queen Mother when the King came of age, that is, into one of his subjects. Louis waited almost two months. Without waiting for the transfer of power, he, at the instigation of de Luynes, finally decided to take it himself. To take power, it was necessary to take it away from the one who possessed it, that is, to crush Marshal d'Ancre. The easiest and most reliable way to crush an enemy is to destroy him physically. This was proposed in order to finally convince Louis, de Luynes brought into the case another of the King’s closest friends, Charles d’Albert. On the morning of April 24, 1617, Marshal d'Ancre, accompanied by 50-60 people, entered the Louvre; Guards captain Vitry killed him with a shot on the spot.
“Now I myself will rule France,” Louis said after that. - From now on I am the King.
He ordered the execution of the dwarf Leonora Dori Galigai, the favorite of Catherine de Medici, whom she married to Marshal d'Ancre even against his wishes (since she was not jealous of such a wife of the marshal, and he had no choice but to receive everything that a man needs from a woman , not from this nominal wife, but from the Queen). The dwarf was executed, the Queen was sent into exile in Blois.
In Concini's place, de Luigne was immediately appointed, who became a duke, after which he quickly began to receive all sorts of titles and ranks, for him the title of constable of France was even restored, which is higher even than the marshal of France, higher only than the King himself. Of course, there were those dissatisfied with this rapid growth of de Luyne’s influence, which gave rise to the first plans for conspiracies against the King. It was even rumored that the King's favorite was a bad statesman. Be that as it may, he was an excellent intriguer, and at the same time he married a representative of one of the highest families of France, Marie de Rohan, the same Marie Michon. For Mary, this would be a misalliance if she took into account his origin and high birth. But taking into account his current position, this was already a misalliance for him, the constable, duke and marquis, the second person after the King in all of France, and in fact even the first. So Chevrette was absolutely right in telling me that France was actually ruled by four people, two of whom, King Louis and Queen Anne, ruled only nominally, and its real masters at that time were de Luynes and his wife Marie.
This year the star of Richelieu began to rise. This ascent was greatly facilitated by two acts of de Luynes. The first act was, as I already wrote, that he perfectly recommended Richelieu to the King. His second act was that less than a year after I met Maria, de Luigne died.
To ensure that no one doubted the legality of the reprisal against the marshal, Louis tried in the first year to confirm the name Louis the Just, given to him at birth.
Since Louis was born under the sign of Libra, he was called Louis the Just as a child, however, many court henchmen were looking for an opportunity to confirm this unspoken title with some episode. Richelieu succeeded in this. When she, one of the very attractive ladies, the wife of Madame Gemadec, wife of the Governor of Foug;res in Brittany, stood up for her husband, she looked so charming that she aroused sympathy from all those present. The fact is that her husband, Baron Thomas de Gemadec, killed Baron de Neve in 1616, for which he was sentenced to death. The baron's wife hoped to pity Louis XIII, however, he was not inclined to fall under the charm of women's charms, no matter how young and charming the petitioners were, so he refused her request to pardon her husband. Who knows, if the Baron had a charming son, perhaps he could beg the King to forgive his father? The Baron tried to save himself by turning the city of Foug;res, where he was governor, into the rebellious fortress of Foug;res, hoping that the inhabitants would not hand him over to the King, however, he was forced to surrender, was arrested and executed in Paris on September 27, 1617. Subsequently, Richelieu put an end to the vile practice of separatism, when individual fortresses, cities or provinces opposed the will of the King. To this end, he abolished the elections of governors, replacing them with appointments by the King, i.e. in fact, the appointment of Richelieu as first minister. This made it possible to put their own people at the head of all provinces. In addition, Richelieu ordered the demolition of all fortresses turned against France in all provinces, leaving only castles of historical value, as well as border fortresses. However, this order was not fully carried out, since Mr. Fouquet not only retained the border island of Belle-Ile, but also erected a fortress on it, not without my active help, protecting the island not only from the ocean, but also from the coast, thereby turning it into an island-fortress capable of holding a perimeter defense , so that Richelieu’s successors, first Mazarin, then Colbert, finally dealt with separatism. However, I won’t get ahead of myself. So, Louis XIII refused the Baroness to pardon her husband, Baron de Gemadec, while all the courtiers who saw the Baroness were convinced that her beauty and youth would touch the King, and already considered her matter decided. Richelieu was the first to realize that this episode could be used to proclaim that Louis had reaffirmed that he was not called Louis the Just for nothing. He later resorted to this technique many times, when Louis had to make decisions on punishing the enemies of Richelieu, in relation to whom the cunning cardinal convinced him that they were, first of all, enemies of the King and France.
- Your Majesty! - said Richelieu. “This is a great opportunity to remind the people of France that you are not called Louis the Just for nothing!”
After that, he gave an order to sign the execution of the guilty or the pardon of the closest relatives of the King, which included only the Queen and Monsieur, and Louis, touched and flattered, signed such orders that he would not have signed for anything if Richelieu had not had such great argument.
Chapter 17
After two years of stay in Blois, in 1619, Queen Mother Marie de Medici fled from her place of forced stay, after which, having enlisted the support of the Duke d'Epernon, a former minion of Henry III, and later a very skilled military leader compared to others, the Queen raised an army against his son Louis. It was a riot, a crime against the state that could cost anyone's head, except, of course, the Queen herself. But the King was still weak, so he was forced to compromise, for which he really needed Richelieu. As a result of negotiations, the Treaty of Angoul;me was concluded on April 30, 1619. The king ceded the cities of Angers and Chinon to the mother, but at the same time forbade her to return to the Council. In 1620, Marie de Medici started a civil war, which ended in her complete defeat following the Battle of Pont de Seis, which took place on April 7, 1620. This battle was personally commanded by King Louis. I took part in it on the King's side, of course, but we, the King's musketeers, had to remain in reserve most of the time, forming His Majesty's personal guard in case anything went too badly. Nevertheless, in the finale and as a result of this battle, our contribution was quite significant, which I would still remember with pride, if not for the realization that I had to fight with my own compatriots, whose only guilt was that they were forced to obey the Duke d'Epernon simply for the reason that at one time they were assigned to his part. We fought against them, who belonged to the side that we called right for the reason that it happened that way. Are soldiers supposed to talk about who is right and who is wrong? And after a battle, the winner is right. If the Queen and d'Epernon had won, everything would have turned out differently, and all of France would have glorified her and condemned Louis. However, according to France, the Queen could not have legal supreme power in the presence of a legal adult heir, but between the concepts of “shouldn’t” and “doesn’t” there is sometimes a gap of colossal proportions.
Fearing that the Queen Mother would continue her plots, the King agreed to her return to court. Indeed, it is better to have a strong enemy nearby and under supervision than to remove him to a place where he can again accumulate forces and again begin open hostilities. The King was taught this by the wise Richelieu, who gained the favor of both sides during these negotiations. When I spoke about how the fate of France would have developed if the Queen had won, I should have added that in any case Richelieu would not have lost. This cunning courtier preferred to serve the stronger side, and during a period when the power of the two sides was approximately equal, he managed to openly serve both sides, at least as a peacemaker. Looking ahead, I will say that when the Queen Mother finally lost her power and strength, Richelieu was the first to deny the slightest involvement in her, and even recommended that the King bring her into an even more insignificant state as soon as possible. Of course, the Queen eventually found out about this and hated him even more, so while she was alive, she invariably participated in every plot against Richelieu, and therefore against King Louis, her son. All conspiracies were drawn up in the hope of bringing Gaston of Orleans, her second son, to power.
So, no one knows about the first conspiracy, but this does not mean that it did not happen.
I have already described how I unwittingly contributed to him.
Mary decided to set Queen Anne up with Caesar de Vend;me, the eldest son of Henry IV . This was her intention. First, she decided to find out how susceptible this noble bastard would be to adultery. Maria hoped to persuade him to meet incognito, which would take place in the dark, so that Caesar de Vend;me would not be able to find out the name of the one who bestowed upon him the signs of the highest favor. After this, Maria intended to inform Anna about his masculine talents, which she expected to manifest in him, since his father probably possessed similar talents, since the number of his mistresses cannot even be estimated. She hoped to captivate Anna with a fascinating story about this fairy-tale prince, and then to convince the Queen to repeat Mary’s daring experience at least once, which would be enough for the birth of the Dauphin, and, consequently, to establish Anna’s position as the Queen Mother.
Maria arranged a secret meeting with Caesar Vend;me in an anonymous letter and began to carry out her plan. Richelieu suspected something was wrong and sent his people to watch her, one of whom she noticed and asked me for help. I already wrote how this episode ended.
The great danger for me was that Richelieu might have guessed that I was involved in the death of his spy, since he might have already told him my name. Fortunately for me, Richelieu was very busy with many other matters related to strengthening his power, as a result of which he did not pay due attention to this event and did not order an additional investigation, but limited himself to only getting the edict to be signed banning duels.
It must be said that Caesar Vend;me ignored Maria’s letter, so the whole intrigue failed.
"Well! - Maria said to herself. “We’ll leave this option for the future, but for now let’s turn our attention to other possible candidates to help the Queen give birth to the Dauphin!”
Her choice fell on the Duke of Buckingham, since this handsome and rich man was supposed to arrive at court on the occasion of the marriage of the King's sister to the King of England, Charles I.
It must be said that at this very time the innocence of Anne of Austria was subjected to many attacks from Mr. Roger de Bellegarde, who had previously been in great power. Under Henry IV , he served as Chief Equerry, that is, in fact, he was a very important person simply because he was a personal friend of the King, a drinking companion, and much more. They even shared mistresses among themselves. Therefore, the position of “Chief Equerry” began to be called simply “Chief”, and in fact it began to mean that he was in charge of everything that concerned the King. Without his consent, it would not only be difficult to get any decision from Henry, but it would also be difficult to simply obtain the right to an audience. This formerly handsome de Bellegarde, who was old enough to be Anna’s father, for some unknown reason decided that he would be good enough to be her lover too. His attempts to gain her favor became another farce at court.
This man was courteous and generous, but at the same time cowardly, which, however, he managed to successfully hide, since sometimes he committed unexpected acts that required a fair amount of courage. He did not look for danger, but he did not risk avoiding it explicitly. This gave him the reputation of being a brave enough man, brave enough to remain a friend of the King, for Henry could not stand cowards, since he himself was not one. As a courtier, he knew how to say wonderful nonsense that only young ladies-in-waiting could like, and he, to admit, never counted on more.
Having had success in the field of attacking female virtues, it was de Bellegarde who imagined that his time had not yet passed. In the saddle and in battle armor, with weapons, he was appropriate only in parades and tournaments, rather than in battles, and this suited him quite well. He did not spare money on gifts to the ladies who showed him favor, but he kept his own servants in a black body and for a long time delayed paying them their salaries, which were not very tempting anyway. De Bellegarde began his career under Henry III , and it was about him that the same joke was first said, which was later told about other similar minions: “He doesn’t even need to think about promotion, since he is pushed enough from behind.”
I have already written that he asked an indiscreet question to Queen Anne, who answered him that if anyone had made such an offer to her, she would have killed him. "I'm killed!" - de Bellegarde exclaimed then, but did not give up his hopes.
After Queen Anne did not kill the Duke of Buckingham, who pushed Roger de Bellegarde aside on all fronts, Voiture wrote the following poem on this occasion (I quote from memory, so excuse the possible inaccuracy):
“Shining like a falling star,
Bellegarde fell to pieces:
Peacock from the Louvre steeple,
Zamorsky was shot down by the Rooster.”
So, Buckingham’s success was already in the fact that he very unambiguously and more than once confessed his love to the Queen, and was not only not killed, but also not completely rejected. However, Anna tried to remain firm and modest, and perhaps if Buckingham had another opportunity, her resistance would not have been so decisive. But a second opportunity did not arise, since at the instigation of Richelieu, Buckingham was immediately expelled from France, which angered him so much that he went to war against France, not hiding the fact that his goal was not the conquest of France, but the conquest of the French Queen.
Chapter 18
“I want to tell you my story,” said Maria. -Are you ready to listen to me?
- Do you want to make me your confessor? - I inquired.
- A confessor? - Maria exclaimed. - What a strange fantasy! However, I haven’t confessed for a long time, an unacceptably long time. And you are the abbot. My confessor, de Richelieu, who is also Queen Anne's confessor, I swear, will never hear my confession again. We parted ways after the vile proposals he made to the Queen. Moreover, he did them while being a confessor! Not to mention that he made them for me too. Can a confessor be anything other than a confessor for a woman? Never! As soon as a woman begins to see a confessor in a man, she ceases to see a man as a confessor. If this vile proposal did not seem blasphemous to him, then, knowing Anna, I am convinced that no connection between her and Richelieu was possible from the very minute when she told him the first word of her first confession. Yes, I really need a confessor, but if I took you as my confessor, then never again, under any circumstances, would anything different between us be possible than, for example, what happened in our last meeting . No, no, I don’t want to confess to you! Perhaps, in your eyes, in the eyes of men, with the kind of relationship that arises between the confessor and the woman confessing to him, there are no obstacles to intimacy of a different kind, but, believe me, for every woman this forms an insurmountable taboo!
“It’s the same for everyone! — I thought with an internal grin. “If only you knew, madam, how many people in Paris are not as ‘all sorts’ as you believe, your self-confidence would be blown away like the wind!”
“Obviously, you are right, Duchess,” I said with a resigned look.
“Maria,” the one to whom I addressed so respectfully, despite the closeness that arose between us in our last meeting, corrected me. “Didn’t we agree that from now on I am Maria for you, and you are Henri for me?”
“Obviously, you’re right, Maria,” I corrected.
“Simply put, Henri, I don’t want you to be my confessor,” Maria snapped. “But I will tell you my story as a dear friend.” I hope this name doesn't offend you?
Instead of answering, I kissed both of Maria's hands, and then planted a kiss on her lips.
“That’s better,” she answered with a lively laugh. - Just don’t be zealous, otherwise a conversation of a completely different nature will begin between us!
“I don’t mind at all,” I whispered.
“Me too,” she answered me in the same tone. - But later. First the conversation.
“Whatever you say,” I agreed.
- You probably realized that despite the fact that I am married, I am not too experienced in matters of intimacy with men? she asked.
“I can’t ask about this, but, truly, there is something amazing in what seemed to me...” I muttered.
- Don't continue! - Maria interrupted me. - The fact is that this is really so. I had quite frivolous relationships and even affection with men even before marriage, but I never reached such confidential and carnal contacts as you and I had. As for my husband, other than our wedding night, we had so few truly conjugal dates that we could count them on one hand.
- My God! - I exclaimed. - I had no idea that...
“Yes, that’s true, and don’t interrupt me,” Maria continued impatiently. “You will hear from me everything that you should know, and even, perhaps, something that you should not know.” My husband, the Duke of Luynes, was a page for so long... I'm not sure you understand the double meaning of this word... In other words, he stopped needing women. Or perhaps he never needed them. Marriage is what every man who aspires to a worthy position in the world must do. A page elevated to the dignity of constable, marquis or even duke remains a former page until he becomes related to a truly noble family. My family is very suitable so that no one else has any doubts about the nobility of the de Luynes family. De Rogan! How much more noble?! Is it just Bourbon? Or Conde? Conti? But Liuyin is not so crazy as to aspire to be a prince. A dukedom is quite enough for him. So, marriage was a matter of career for de Luynes, just as it was for me. It was concluded for mutual convenience, and therefore this marriage is very happy. At least until now. A person who has learned that the joys of love can be obtained not necessarily in communication with a person of the opposite sex, most often makes his choice in one direction or another. Either he will become close only with representatives of the opposite sex, or only with representatives of his own sex. It is rare that someone retains a truly deep interest in both types of relationships. I must admit that there are reasons for the choice, which I would call non-trivial. Indeed, a man, sometimes better than a woman, knows what another man wants and how to give him the best pleasure. The same, as I have personally seen, can be said for women. One woman understands the other better, she is more tender, softer, more affectionate... However, it is not without reason that society condemns such relationships, and I would have condemned them too, if not for my special feeling for the Queen, which combined respect and adoration. No, don’t think, I haven’t crossed over to the other side! After all, you could see for yourself that I am a completely normal woman who is able to appreciate the love of a man. But you must understand that they exist, others. And I became partially involved in this area.
Here I miss some lyrical digression that Maria allowed herself in this unusual conversation. I must say that Maria simultaneously justified and condemned herself and everyone she was talking about, which was quite understandable to me. Some of the details she said quite lightly were disgusting to me. However, since we men easily forgive women for relationships with other women, here, I believe, there is no reason for jealousy. This, I believe, is not love at all, but rather stupid entertainment that those women who lack truly gentle male caress allow themselves.
- So, I must admit that there are motives for very close communications between men who like each other, as well as between women who understand each other too well not to be tempted to be something more than just friends in the traditional sense of the word . However, it must be said that this happens much less often than one might expect, and I believe that only people who are sufficiently relaxed, devoid of prejudices and superstitions, who have made pleasure the highest ethical value and measure of any morality, can afford to go through this path and not stumble, to extract all the delights of such intimacy without falling into the abomination of debauchery. Of course, only people belonging to the highest strata of society have access to all the joys of such forms of communication, without fear, without fear of excommunication, without painful soul-searching and self-condemnation. Such is de Luynes, such is I, such are the King and Queen.
“I’ll never be like that,” I said.
- Oh, my friend! - Maria laughed. - Don’t renounce, because you seem to be an abbot, and among persons of clergy such liberations are more common than anywhere else! Richelieu, while he was still my confessor, told me what was going on in the monasteries, not only in men’s, but also in women’s! So he argued to me his opinion that I could afford intimacy with the Queen for the good purpose of influencing her. Of course, Richelieu was sure that he himself would forever exert a guiding influence on me, and I on the Queen. He also did not at all object to de Luynes influencing the King, being to a large extent a prot;g; of de Luynes himself. Showered with favors from my husband, Richelieu is pleased that he receives these favors from the hands of His Majesty Louis XIII , and the methods by which de Luynes maintains his influence over the King are beyond condemnation.
“But you, Maria, said that all four of you were quite close,” I said.
“So I didn’t express myself quite accurately,” Maria objected. “De Luynes is close to the King, I’m close to the Queen, the King and Queen are spouses, me and de Luynes are too.” But this does not mean that de Luynes is close to the Queen, or that I am close to the King. There are no diagonal connections in this love square. We don't all sleep together, the four of us. However, sometimes we had fun... And how! But these were just ordinary pranks! So let's say, acceptable. Considering everything I said. But the important thing here is that the connection between Charles and Louis and my connection with Anne is much stronger than the connection between the King and Queen, or the connection between me and Charles. I hope it doesn’t bother you that I call my husband by his first name?
“Nothing that comes from you bothers me,” I answered and kissed Maria’s hands again.
“Wait, Henri, it will come to that,” Maria replied slyly, gently releasing her hands from mine. - I will continue my story, but don’t interrupt me. I must tell you that while a marriage like mine, or like the one concluded between the King and Queen, cannot remain a simple residence of two people in a common palace with the unification of titles and possessions. From such a marriage the birth of heirs is expected. Therefore, I must someday give an heir to my husband, and even more so such a duty is assigned to the Queen. Otherwise, such a marriage may be dissolved. Therefore, a husband who is not even at all interested in his wife must still at least once show her such signs of attention that are sufficient for the appearance of heirs. Not all spouses are so flighty that they leave their wives to take care of resolving this issue themselves, as Henry IV was . Therefore, they sometimes deign to visit their wives. Perhaps some of them are in no hurry with such visits, or perhaps the first visits do not lead to conception, and subsequently the spouse loses the feeling of novelty, which is quickly replaced by indifference. I will not hide that two healthy people of the opposite sex, under certain conditions, can enter into such a relationship even if they did not plan it an hour before. Or, at least, one of the parties did not even think about this possibility. This is the art of the other side. It is believed that men are masters in this area. They crush all bastions of resistance to female virtue and achieve their goal. Perhaps this is so. But believe me, women are capable of this too. If a woman decides that this evening she will have intimacy with the man she has planned for herself, the devil himself will not be able to stop her.
“I’ve seen this from my own experience,” I thought. “However, I didn’t mind!”
“Every woman should be able to do three things,” Maria said decisively. - Firstly, she must be able to say: “No” so that the man who hears this will no longer have any desire to argue with her. Secondly, she must be able to behave in such a way that the man she has chosen seeks and achieves that she says to him: “Yes.”
“I can’t admit the justice of this,” I said. - What's third?
- Thirdly, she must be able to say “No” so that it sounds like “Maybe another time”, or like “Yes, if only...”. A woman’s “No” should have many nuances. To master them all so that even such a stupid animal as a man understands that one should hear not the word itself, but the music that sounded in it, that there are such “No” that do not mean this at all, this is the highest art of a woman high society.
“More precisely, this is the art of a woman of the demimonde,” I thought. “However, probably, even in the most noble lady there is something of a woman with the lowest social responsibility.”
- Do you understand what I'm getting at? - Maria finally asked.
“I’m not sure that I’ve come to the conclusions that you expect from me, Maria, so I would be grateful if you could clarify, if possible, what conclusions I should draw from your frank story?” - I said.
“The conclusions that you should have drawn, my slow-witted gentleman, are that, unlike the unnatural dates of lovers of the same sex, the most natural dates of lovers of different sexes sometimes cause such consequences that after a while it is very difficult to hide,” said Maria with with fur. - And in this case, a married woman, but deprived of healthy attention from her husband, can get into trouble if she does not take care in advance that changes for the better arise in her married life.
“Are you saying that you may soon become a mother?” — I was surprised and almost delighted.
“I just want to say that now it depends only on the will of God, since everything that is in the will of man, you and I, Henri, have already done for this,” Maria answered. - And in this case, every married woman should take care that if the Lord blesses such a love union with the birth of a child, the husband should have every reason to attribute this God's blessing to his own labors, so that he does not look around his wife for helpers who without his consent they performed his marital duty for him.
— So you need to resume close marital relations with your husband in the near future? - I asked.
- No, stupid! - Maria said with a laugh. “There’s no need to do this anymore, because I’ve already done it!” And for this reason we are completely safe. Whatever happens between us now, and whatever consequences it may lead to, Charles has every reason to take these consequences personally , and therefore our meetings can proceed without fear.
I was so confused that I could only kiss Maria’s hands again.
“It’s so good that I’m not married! — I thought at that moment. “After all, just as Maria and I are now teaching her dear Charles his nose, someday, perhaps, some other sister of Eva will teach you, my dear Aramis!”
- Henri, you have to promise me something! - Maria exclaimed.
- Anything, my dear! - I answered lightheartedly.
“First, swear that you will do this,” she said capriciously, freeing her hands from mine.
- I swear to God! - I answered.
“No, it’s unreliable,” Maria objected, pouting her lips. - Is your mother alive?
- Yes thank God! - I answered.
“Then swear by the life and health of your mother while she is alive and by the bright memory of her after she is gone, that you will fulfill my request,” said Maria.
“Before I make such an oath, I must know what your request is, my dear,” I answered, thinking that she would ask me to challenge de Luynes to a duel and make her a widow, which, however, did not frighten me. She was frightened by the unknown and the possibility of any extravagance that went beyond the usual norms, like this theory of hers about non-trivial connections between people of the same sex.
“Okay,” Maria agreed. “I ask you to swear that if I have a child, you will never find out who it is from, and you will never dare to consider it your child.”
“This is strange, however, Maria,” I said. - After all, if you have a child from me...
- Don't continue! - Maria exclaimed sharply. “Either you take the oath that I ask, nay, demand from you, or you will immediately leave me and never see me again, and if we meet somewhere by chance, I will pretend that I don’t know you.”
I was taken aback because I was not prepared for such a turn of events. I must admit that Maria was wonderfully good. I didn't want to lose her.
“Darling, if you insist on this, I give you this oath,” I said. “I swear to my mother that I will never consider your children, no matter how many there are, as my own, and I will never inquire about whether they could have had another father other than your lawful husband.” Just tell me, should I do it for life?
“Even if we quarrel, even if we part forever,” Maria answered. “Even if my husband dies, you will not have to discredit my honor or contribute to anything that would cast a shadow on my children.” My children are only my children, not yours.
“You speak as if we already have some children together,” I tried to joke.
- Henri! Be careful! - Maria exclaimed. - After all, you are already breaking our oath by saying “our children”!
- Sorry, Maria, I won’t do it again! - I said.
I must admit that at that moment I believed that I had made a very easy oath, which would not be difficult for me to fulfill. How wrong I was! If there was even the slightest possibility that someone else would read my manuscript, I would not write about this conversation and this oath. Now this oath has almost completely lost its power, because now, when I write this, Mary has already passed on to another world. She died on August 12, 1679. Less than a year after this conversation, in 1620, she gave birth to a son, who was named Louis-Charles, now Louis-Charles d'Albert, Duke of Luynes. I wish him well as long as possible. Him and his children. Less than six months after the death of her husband, de Luynes, Maria gave birth to a girl. This happened in 1622. The girl was named Anna-Marie. She was a beauty. Unfortunately, at the age of twenty-four, illness suddenly took her away. For me, the year 1646 is the most miserable year of my life.
Our meeting ended as we both planned, with the most tender displays of love. I was young and ardent, and although, I admit, I was somewhat upset by her confessions, which even I, a seasoned musketeer (as I already thought to myself then), should have accepted lightly and cheerfully, quite puzzled me. Why this disgusting relationship between people of the same sex? I remembered that Mary said: “My special feeling for the Queen, which combines respect and adoration.” Well! Any abomination can be justified by two considerations. For the King, this consideration is that he himself is the law for his subjects. And for others, this consideration is that subjects should not resist the will of their monarch.
Therefore, I promised myself to stay as far as possible from the King, or, in any case, to avoid de Luynes’ situation with all my might. No amount of charms of power or wealth will make me change my sex. Musketeers are not some pages, and not bishops! Let Maria play these games without me. For me, she is a woman, and only a woman. It even seemed to me that I loved her. In those years I was simply sure of this. However, even now I don’t know how to evaluate the feelings that possessed me then. I couldn't refuse her even if I found out something even more vile about her. This lady made me what I am. I don’t have the slightest grudge against her, although at times she caused me unbearable pain. Especially when the Duke de La Rochefoucauld came to Paris in 1630. But that's a completely different story.
I forgot to add the most important thing. This relationship of mine with Mary and her deception of her husband - all this was just a rehearsal for the plan that she prepared for Queen Anne.
Chapter 19
One day, in front of me, Maria took out a cambric handkerchief decorated with a gold monogram in the form of two intertwined letters “M”.
— Maria, what does the second “M” on this monogram mean? - I asked.
“Oh, that’s...” Maria said absentmindedly. - It’s all not important, don’t pay attention.
-Are you hiding something from me? - I asked. - Do you really have secrets from me?
“Okay, so you don’t come up with anything unnecessary, I’ll tell you,” she agreed reluctantly. “But, I assure you, there is nothing interesting in this.”
“In that case, there is nothing mysterious,” I answered.
“Judge for yourself,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. — I had a friend named Michonne when I was a child. She and I had a lot of fun and were very friendly.
- So where do you get your talents for female friendship? — I tried to joke.
- Nothing like this! - Maria protested. - We were still children! Well, of course, we kissed and sometimes caressed each other, but in a completely childish way.
“I don’t blame you,” I encouraged my narrator.
- If only you could try! - she answered with a laugh. - Nothing that could arouse your interest.
“Or maybe it wasn’t Michonne, but Michelle?” - I asked jokingly.
“I’ll shut up and won’t tell you anything more, you disgusting one!” - Maria flared up, pouting her lips.
“You are so charming when you are angry, dear Maria, that I allowed myself an innocent joke,” I hastily said in such a gentle voice that Maria melted, especially after I kissed her tenderly.
“Okay, I’ll continue, but on the condition that you don’t make such nasty jokes,” Maria said in a tone that was more playful than condescending.
“I promise to be absolutely serious,” I said in the most serious voice, deciding for myself that both times I had hit the mark, the notorious Michonne was male, and the friendship between him and my Maria was not so childish, which, however, did not bother me at all didn't upset me.
“So, I continue,” said Maria. “Remember, Michonne was a girl, like me, and we were very close, very friendly.” Poor Michonne!
- She died? - I asked.
“Drowned while swimming in a pond,” Maria said with a nod. “They say that she got her foot tangled in some underwater grass, got scared and swallowed water out of fear. I wasn't there, otherwise I would have made every effort to save her, or I would have drowned with her. After that, I decided that in order for my sweet Michonne to always be with me, I would make her name my second secret name. But no one knows this, not even my husband. To you I can always be Marie Michonne, and you will know that the letter signed with this name is from me.
“Didn’t your husband ask the same question I asked about what the two “Ms” on your scarves mean? - I asked.
“At times it seems to me that my husband doesn’t care about me,” Maria answered. “Even if there were letters on my scarves that are not in my name at all, that wouldn’t surprise him either.”
- What if he did ask? - I asked.
“Oh, in this case any answer would do,” Maria waved it off. “For example, I could say that two M’s are better than one.” That would satisfy him. Or I would say it's in honor of my mother. What's the difference? He has absolutely nothing to do with this. But one incredible thing happened with these scarves. More precisely, not with these scarves, but with other scarves that also have a double “M” on them. For this reason, I am forced not to show my scarves in public.
- What kind of case is this? - I asked.
- Richelieu’s vile intrigue, like all his intrigues! - Maria exclaimed. - In this example, you can see how easily you can disgrace a person.
“For this it is necessary that you tell me everything about this incident,” I said.
“It’s very simple,” Maria answered. — Richelieu somewhere accidentally got hold of women’s cambric handkerchiefs with two “Ms” on them. Perhaps someone gave them to him, which I think is most likely. And this vile Richelieu decided to arrange the next provocation. He ordered one of his spies to soak these handkerchiefs with horse sweat or something even more vile, and then lay them out in one of the halls of the Louvre, most frequently visited by the King, and lay them out so that these two letters “M” were on mind. I think it was a lilac hall. Of course, as soon as the King entered this hall, he immediately noticed the unpleasant aroma, and identifying the cause and source of the stench was not difficult. Louis immediately left this room, despite the fact that he loved hunting and such smells were not unusual for him, but, of course, he did not want to tolerate such things in the palace. He asked Richelieu if he knew the reason for such a stench, and who laid out these scarves in the lilac hall. Richelieu, as if nothing had happened, said that it was better to ask Mr. Chief about this, that is, the same Bellegarde who allowed himself to hit on Queen Anne. After all, he was not just and not only Chief, but also Chief Equer, Chief Huntsman, Chief Falconer, and Chief Houndmaster, so any sources of odors from domestic animals fell under his jurisdiction.
“Then invite him to me,” said Louis.
The King smiled at Mr. Chief who came to him much less affably than usual.
“Monsieur de Bellegarde,” said the King. “I ask you to make sure that from now on there will be no spirit of these vile “MMs” in the Louvre!
After that, the King waved his hand, making it clear that the conversation was over.
De Bellegarde bowed and in amazement left the hall where the King was receiving him; the cunning Richelieu also bowed to the King and followed him out with the softest cat-like gait.
- Do you understand anything about all this? - asked de Bellegarde, who could not understand what was being said, since the foul-smelling handkerchiefs had already been carried away and burned, and the lilac hall was thoroughly ventilated.
“I don’t undertake to solve such a complicated riddle,” Richelieu muttered with the most innocent look. — The only two “M’s” that come to my mind are, excuse me, Her Majesty Queen Marie de’ Medici. But I don't understand why this would be mentioned.
- But I think I understand! - exclaimed de Bellegarde.
He decided that the King was telling him to ban the Queen Mother from appearing in the Louvre. Of course, if the King had made such a decision, he would most likely have entrusted it to Mr. Chief, as a man of the appropriate rank and dignity, and also as a very skillful and courteous person with the ladies, who would be able to do this most delicately. In addition, de Bellegarde was elevated to all the statuses belonging to him by Henry IV himself , so that his positions seemed unshakable to everyone.
“And yet it seems to me that I am mistaken,” Richelieu hastily added. - In any case, I ask you not to refer to me if my assumption turns out to be a mistake, because it is just an assumption!
Richelieu knew de Bellegarde's character traits very well. Such a request was identical to the oath promise received from de Bellegarde himself.
Richelieu's calculation was perfectly accurate. As a result, either the Queen Mother will fall out of favor, or de Bellegarde will fall into disgrace. In both cases, this provided excellent opportunities for further career advancement for Richelieu himself. And so it happened. De Bellegarde hinted to the Queen as delicately as possible that her presence in the Louvre was no longer desirable for the King, in response to this the Queen burst into an angry tirade, after which she threw a scandal at her son. Fortunately for Richelieu, this scandal took place without witnesses, so there was more passion on both sides than a desire to find out the reason for such a misunderstanding.
Later, when everything was clarified, except for the question of where the ill-fated scarves came from, and who gave the idea to de Bellegarde to interpret the King’s order in this way, Louis even deigned to laugh at this incident.
- And what! - he said. “By the way, it’s not such a bad idea to evict my mother from the Louvre!” With her, I constantly feel under her tiresome tutelage!
Two days after this, Louis actually ordered the Queen Mother to retire to Blois. The king, meanwhile, has somewhat cooled towards M. de Bellegarde, so that he will probably soon be removed from the court. So the insidious Richelieu achieved two goals at once, that is, as they say, he killed two partridges with one shot.
At this point Maria finished her story, but the story of the handkerchiefs with two “M”s does not end there.
Chapter 20
Something as small as a handkerchief can have significant consequences. The story with the scarf, on which two intertwined letters “M” are embroidered in gold, did not end with what Maria told us.
About a week after this conversation, she asked me if I knew a good perfumer.
“In the abbey, which I visit a couple of times a week, there is a perfumer who makes incense,” I answered. - What's the matter?
- Oh, my bottle of wonderful Cologne water with an indescribable aroma broke! - Maria exclaimed. “I have never encountered this smell of fresh lilac anywhere else.”
“You can visit him and order any perfume, I’ll make an appointment,” I answered.
“No, that wouldn’t be convenient,” Maria objected.
- Do you want me to talk to him myself? - I asked. - Okay, I’ll do it, but how can I explain to him what kind of scent you need?
“My handkerchiefs still retain the smell of this perfume,” said Maria. - I'll give you one of them.
After these words, she went to her dressing table, took out a box and took out from it exactly the same scarf with two letters “M”, which gave rise to the conversation I described above.
— Two "M"? - I said with a smile.
“Yes, this is your Marie Michonne,” Maria answered, responding to my smile with an even more tender gaze. - After you get me a similar perfume, you can keep the scarf as a souvenir. Just don't show it to anyone because of the story I told you.
- Indeed, a wonderful smell! - I exclaimed, putting the handkerchief to my face. “I had no idea that such a scent was possible!”
“That’s why I’m upset by my loss,” Maria agreed.
“I promise to get you such perfume, if only there is at least one bottle in all of France!” - I said, meaning that I would fulfill this promise if the perfumer Roger would help me.
The perfumer, fortunately, managed to compose for me the perfume I required, which I solemnly handed over to Maria. After that, her scarf remained with me as a reminder of our relationship. For some time it still retained that wonderful aroma, the carrier of which it was supposed to serve when communicating with the perfumer. Of course, I did not use it for its intended purpose, but wore it only as a souvenir. I also carried my own handkerchief in the same pocket.
One day, quite hot, I took my own handkerchief out of my pocket to wipe away the sweat. At the same time, Maria’s handkerchief fell out of my pocket, which I did not notice.
- Mister Musketeer! - Someone exclaimed behind me. - You seem to have dropped your handkerchief!
I turned around and saw that Maria’s handkerchief had indeed fallen out of my pocket. I intended to pick it up, but the man in the uniform of the Richelieu Guardsman who called to me was much closer to him, so he picked it up and, before handing it to me, noticed the two letters “M”.
We called Richelieu's musketeers "guards" to avoid confusion and for brevity, although they were the same musketeers as we were, but they differed in the color of their cloaks and in their subordination. In the future, I will call them guards, since the word “musketeer”, without specification, over time became synonymous with the word “musketeer of the King.” It must be said that the Musketeers of Richelieu themselves sometimes called themselves guards.
- What a beautiful scarf! - he exclaimed. - And what an extraordinary monogram on it! Two intertwined letters "M", embroidered in gold! It seems to me that such a scarf could belong to the Queen herself! And, by the way, this monogram is so similar to the Queen Mother’s monogram! And the letters fit!
It seemed to me that the stranger was paying too much attention to something that did not belong to him, and, in addition, he was delaying me. It would have been more appropriate to simply return the scarf to me and leave. Nevertheless, I felt some gratitude to this stranger for not allowing this loss to happen, which I would later regret, because I was so sentimental in those years! So I tried to be as patient as possible.
“Yes, sir, thank you, this scarf is indeed beautiful, and I am grateful to you for pointing out my loss to me,” I replied and extended my hand to get the scarf back.
“Do you know, sir, that a musketeer like you cannot, for no apparent reason, have the Queen Mother’s scarf?” - the stranger asked this time in a very stern tone. - Of course you know about this!
- Listen, sir, this is too much! - I exclaimed. “Would you be so kind as to return my loss to me?” And let's leave it at that!
- Don't rush, sir! - answered the stranger. “I am Philippe de Joncier, lieutenant of Richelieu’s personal guard.” I have the authority to detain anyone who may be suspected of plotting against His Eminence.
“In my opinion, having a handkerchief in your pocket, or accidentally dropping it on the pavement does not mean participating in a conspiracy,” I answered, beginning to lose patience, but still maintaining a calm and polite tone, which, however, , intended to throw it away if it came to a duel.
“All this, of course, would be true if it weren’t for one small circumstance,” answered Joncier. “It’s hard for me to believe that you don’t know that the conspirators used exactly the same scarves as an identification symbol for their supporters.”
“I think you called me a conspirator?” - I asked. - Wonderful! In that case, I will call you a liar, and if you do not agree to draw your sword here and now, I will add the word “coward” to this name!
“Your words about a challenge to a duel are enough to arrest you and try you for violating the edict prohibiting duels,” Joncier said, as it seemed to me, with joy.
- So arrest me! — I answered, taking the sword out of its sheath.
- Come to me, guardsmen! - Joncier exclaimed.
After these words, two guards appeared around the corner of the nearest house, who, apparently, were casually walking there. They ran decisively towards us.
- Come to me, the King's musketeers! - I exclaimed without much hope of success.
The doors of the nearest tavern opened, and four musketeers, who had barely managed to start dinner, jumped out.
- What's happened? - asked one of the approaching guards.
“I call you to witness that this musketeer intended to violate the royal edict,” Joncier said in a conciliatory tone, realizing the disadvantage of his position. “This time I will yield to force and will not arrest him, but next time...
“Next time, go in groups of at least four people, Monsieur de Joncieux,” I said. “And don’t pick up from the ground what doesn’t belong to you.” However, why put it off until next time? Shall we continue the conversation one on one, or three on three, as you wish?
Joncier angrily threw the handkerchief on the ground, turned around and left.
-Aren't you going to catch up with him? - asked one of the musketeers named de Bezmo who came to my rescue.
- Thank you, friends! - I said. - Instead of chasing cowards, wouldn’t it be better for us all to drink a glass of Burgundy for the health of the King and another one for the health of de Treville? I'll treat you.
“And that’s the point,” agreed de Bezmeaux. - And you will meet this coward again! Don't really chase after him!
The other two guardsmen, whose names I later learned were Cahuzac and Bicara, shrugged their shoulders and went on their way.
I picked up Maria’s scarf and thought that perhaps similar scarves actually once served as symbols for the conspirators against Richelieu? The double "M" indicated that they were supporters of the Queen Mother, who in those years supported Queen Anne and Monsieur against Richelieu. This would not have surprised me at all, especially since, as I knew, Maria had a large number of such scarves.
“I need to take better care of my scarves,” I told myself. “Next time if some upstart tries to point out to me the handkerchief I dropped, I should definitely challenge him to a duel and kill him, since only Richelieu’s spy can do such a thing.”
I didn’t know then that I would only half fulfill the promise I made to myself that day. The next person who tried to return the handkerchief that had fallen out of my pocket turned out to be d'Artagnan. I actually challenged him to a duel, but I didn’t kill him. And I am very glad that things turned out this way, and that I only half fulfilled this promise to myself.
When I told Maria about this event and demanded an explanation, she replied with the most innocent expression on her face:
“Once upon a time, I actually remember, I proposed using such scarves in order to distinguish supporters of the Queen Mother from supporters of Richelieu. But it was a long time ago. A long time ago.
- More than six weeks ago? - I asked ironically. - Have you been calling this for a long time?
Maria blushed deeply.
“A little more than two months,” Maria corrected, realizing the insignificance of this clarification.
- Why didn’t you tell me about this in advance? - I asked.
- But I asked you not to show this scarf to anyone! - Maria objected heatedly, moving from excuses to accusations. “Why were you so careless that our enemy saw him?”
“I don’t divide the soldiers and officers of France into friends and enemies,” I objected. “Each of them fulfills his duty and is faithful to his oath. Although, it seems, thanks to meeting you, the world of musketeers around me has become bipolar, and I find myself on one side of this polar world, as a result of which I will be forced to confront the other side.
“You still don’t understand a lot, Henri!” - Maria answered. — The world was bipolar long before you and I were born. Here in Paris and throughout France. You would still have to join one side against the other. But if you are so embarrassed by meeting me, we can stop it.
“I had no intention of ending our relationship with you, Maria,” I answered. “But I would like to see and have more trust on your part, especially in those issues that could drag me into one intrigue or another.”
- Intrigue, that's how it is? - Maria exclaimed. -Are you saying that I am an intriguer?
“That’s exactly what I wanted to say,” I thought, but remained silent. “With you, beauty, you should keep your eyes open!”
“Mary, your closeness to the King and Queen probably draws you into such matters that force me to use this word, not in relation to you, believe me, but in relation to what may happen to you and to me,” said I'm as gentle as possible.
“You have no idea what the royal court is!” - Maria exclaimed. - A terrarium filled with poisonous snakes, spiders, scorpions! Everyone strives to kill everyone. I don't mean physically destroying him, but pushing him out of the place he occupies.
- Why don’t you leave the yard if it’s so bad here? - I asked.
“I belong to my husband, where he goes, so do I,” Maria lied to me with a modest look.
“Okay,” I replied. “You wanted to find out whether Richelieu’s spies knew about your secret symbol, without telling me these details.” You've got it figured out. Now I return your handkerchief to you.
With these words, I took out Maria's handkerchief with two golden letters "M" and placed it on the table next to her.
- You are leaving me, Henri! - said Maria.
“No, like I said, I’m not going to break up with you,” I replied. “But I am not part of the circle of conspirators, so I have no need to have a symbol of belonging to them with me.”
- Do you also consider me a conspirator? - asked Maria. - After all, I have a lot of such scarves! They just have my initials on them!
“You can see for yourself how easy it is to explain to you the presence of such scarves, and how difficult it is for me to explain the possession of one such scarf,” I grinned.
“Who are you going to explain this to, Henri?” - asked Maria.
“First of all, to myself,” I answered coldly.
“Didn’t we agree with you that this scarf symbolizes your possession of me?” - Maria asked playfully with a flirtatious smile.
“This symbol is not enough,” I replied.
- What symbol of your power over me would you like to receive from me? - Maria asked even more playfully.
“Trust and truth, Maria,” I answered. - This is the symbol I need.
- Did I deceive you, Henri? - Maria asked in a tone of surprised innocence. — Name at least one example.
“Oh, yes, and more than once! - I thought. “And in the story about Michonne, and, perhaps, in the story about handkerchiefs!”
“You didn’t say a lot, convincing me that you told me everything,” I answered. “I prefer either to know nothing or to know everything.” To know only something selective about a subject means not to know the truth about that subject. From now on, please, if you are not going to tell me the whole truth, don’t tell me anything. If you decide to tell me something, tell me everything you know, completely and immediately. Under these conditions we will remain friends.
- And if I violate the conditions, then who will we be to each other? - asked Maria. - Enemies?
“We will not be enemies,” I answered. “We will be neither enemies nor friends, but only lovers.”
- Lovers?! - Maria exclaimed playfully. - Excuse me, sir! What do you have in mind?
- That's what! - I answered and grabbed Maria into my arms.
Out of modesty, I omit the description of further events of this meeting.
Chapter 21
One of the important conclusions that I made as a result of communicating with Maria is that if a woman did not act quite decently with some man, then this woman can do the same with you. This thought arose in me when Maria was talking about how she was going to fool her husband. Therefore, listening to her story about how she used one of her fans, I promised myself never to succumb to such provocations, and not to take every request that Maria deigns to make seriously.
Judge for yourself how decently she acted.
Maria had, as I understood, many admirers who, even if they did not achieve from her what every young man achieves from a young and attractive woman who interested him in this sense, they nevertheless fell under her influence. That is, they tried to serve her in the hope of complete favor, they served her and were left with nothing. In any case, Maria described the outcome of such episodes to me exactly like this.
One of these young, helpful and narrow-minded admirers of Maria agreed to help her in a story that I could call “The Coin Exchange Story.”
Maria asked him to replace the bag of gold, which he was supposed to find in one designated place, with another bag, much larger and filled with silver. She presented this promotion as an exchange of money.
The bag of gold coins, as she said, will be brought and left in a designated place where no stranger will think to look for it. The young man was to take it away without prying eyes noticing, and in return leave a much larger bag of silver. Maria explained this by saying that, in agreement with one kind person associated with the church, who wished to remain anonymous, the money collected on his instructions at the entrances of various churches and monasteries must be used for the construction of a new temple, for which they will need to be transported to the construction site . It is inconvenient to transport money in bags, so copper coins have already been exchanged for silver, as a result of which about half a pound of silver coins have accumulated. Now you need to exchange them for gold. This must be done secretly, since it is intended that the temple will be presented to the King as a gift. Maria said that this has been done many times before, but those who helped her are currently far away, so she needs a new assistant. She assured the young man that this was a reliable business, it had been done many times, so there was no need to come up with any other method of exchange. The young man should not have used the help of any servants; he had to do everything himself.
You can imagine by what means a young nobleman must secretly deliver half a pound of silver. He had to come up with a special strong leather bag with straps, which he carried on his back, disguised as a city dweller.
Having reached the secret place, he actually found in a niche at a height of two meters a bag of gold, covered with leaves and other debris. The weight of the bag was something like half a pound. It was not difficult to get the bag, but in order to throw half a pound of silver to this height, he had to work hard. He was even forced to buy a small ladder from a gardener not far from this secret place, after which he wandered around for a long time to make sure that no one was following him.
According to Maria, she thanked him only by allowing him to kiss her on the cheek, after which the young man, according to her assurances, was very pleased and ready for the next similar assignments, confirming the seriousness of his intentions.
It turned out that by leaving the gold in the cache, Richelieu was actually paying off his spy-informant in this way. I know his name, but I believe that there is no need to write it down here in these memoirs. This man is indeed very noble, and the thought of his collaboration with Richelieu now, after the death of both, does not offend me at all. Maria accidentally learned about this cooperation, the method of payment and the amount that would be transferred from some of her informants.
The first thing she planned was to steal this money. Not for enrichment, of course, but only to annoy Richelieu. However, after mature reflection, she realized that in this case the informant would report that there was no money, an investigation would begin, and the culprits might be found. In addition, stealing money is, whatever you say, a clear crime. Then she decided to exchange the money for others that would be completely equivalent in value. She reasoned that if the money found by those to whom it was intended were in silver and not gold, but at the same time in exactly the amount that Richelieu had promised, this would greatly anger the informant, but he would not will not suspect that someone, against Richelieu’s will, made the exchange. He will decide that Richelieu decided to mock the recipient by giving out the money in such an inconvenient form. The informant, as Maria reasoned, would not condescend to complain to Richelieu or otherwise express his dissatisfaction, but, being offended, would stop supplying information to Richelieu.
It was a clever idea, and it was carried out with the greatest skill.
Maria told this story to the Queen, and they had a lot of fun, imagining how a noble person, having reached the hiding place, would be disappointed and angry, finding instead of a bag of gold a huge bag of silver, how difficult it would be for her to get this bag from a height, how difficult she will take away this silver.
However, Maria was mistaken. The informant in question, having found a much larger bag in the agreed hiding place, did not even begin to untie it. He left without taking anything. After this, he informed Richelieu in an encrypted letter that there had been a mistake, and the amount he found was apparently intended not for him, but for someone else, since the weight and volume of the bag did not correspond to the agreement.
Richelieu sent one of his guarantors to find out what was going on, to pick up the bag of money so that he, Richelieu, could personally count the money and make sure that the amount corresponded to the agreement. How amazed he was when, instead of a small bag of gold, his messenger delivered him a huge bag of silver!
He appointed another place for the transfer of money, instructed to take another bag of gold to this place and instructed to secretly and continuously monitor it so that no one would replace it.
The informant was satisfied and continued to provide Richelieu with the necessary information, but Richelieu suspected that the method of payment and the location of the hiding place had become known to one of his ill-wishers.
He already had a sizable staff of servants and spies, so his interrogation of everyone in the area made it possible to establish the appearance of the young man who had bought a ladder from the gardener the day before.
Fortunately, Maria was warned about Richelieu’s actions; she managed to inform the young man that he was in danger, and the young man had to leave Paris for a long time. His career was ruined forever, and it’s even luckier for him that he remained alive and free. The only thing that saved him was that there was no theft, but only a so-called exchange, so even if he had been caught, he would probably have survived, but he most likely would not have escaped prison.
This is an insignificant episode for me and I would not cite at all, but it is important for explaining that my relationship with Maria, even if it could be called friendly, this friendship was no stronger than the friendship of two lions: each of us always remembered danger, but continued to look closely at the actions of the other side, and sometimes we could unite to achieve common goals. Sometimes I forgot myself, succumbed to romantic moods, but each time I subsequently scolded myself for this, becoming more and more less trusting and naive.
Chapter 22
Louis-Charles, as I already wrote, was born to Mary in 1620. He was baptized by King Louis XIII himself . Therefore, his first name is Louis. The second name is from the nominal father, de Luyn, this name is Charles. He has nothing from Aramis. If only Henri, or my rarely used middle name Rene. But no. Maria forbade me to consider this child as my own!
This year and the next, France fought on the side of the Holy Roman Emperor. We maintained a Catholic environment because it made sense to do so due to the shared values of Catholicism. However, this was completely inappropriate from the standpoint of the values of the state. In this case, state interests came into conflict with spiritual values. With Richelieu coming to power, everything changed, state interests prevailed. Already in 1620, France ceased to support the Holy Roman Empire, and since 1630 it became one of the main opponents of the Empire, or rather, the most implacable and strongest opponent of the Holy Roman Empire. Based on this, looking back, we have to recognize France’s military actions in these two years, from 1620 to 1621, as completely meaningless.
It all started when Holy Roman Emperor Matthew died on March 20, 1619. Louis, on the advice of de Luynes, supported the election of Ferdinand as the new emperor. Ferdinand was also supported by the Catholic League. Louis also used his influence on the Elector of Trier so that he would also support Ferdinand, but Bohemia, Lusatia, Silesia and Moravia refused to recognize him. That did not stop Ferdinand from becoming Emperor. The childlessness of both his older brothers, Rudolf II and Matthew, greatly contributed to this.
Having assumed power, the young Emperor Ferdinand began to zealously defend Catholicism with all the passion of which he was capable. This forced establishment of Catholicism as the only acceptable religion effectively became the active persecution of all other religions. Ferdinand launched a persecution of Protestants with the aim of reviving the final hegemony of the Roman Catholic Church. Ferdinand ordered all non-believers to leave the Empire. He loved to repeat the words of his uncle Philip II of Spain: “Better a desert than a country inhabited by heretics.” As a result of such an active religious policy, within a few years there was not a single Protestant church left in the Austrian possessions, although before that almost half of the population of these possessions consisted of Lutherans and Calvinists.
Perhaps it would not be amiss here to remind myself and possible readers, whom I hope will never exist, of some important dates in the life of France. However, at this time the life of France began to closely depend on the stages of the career of the great Richelieu.
For convenience, I will start with its temporary fall.
In 1618, at the beginning of April, de Luigne sent Richelieu, as well as his older brother, the Marquis, and some other people close to him to Avignon, into exile. These lands did not belong to France, they belong to the possessions of the Pope. I still hope that someday they will become part of France. In May of that year, the war began, which we now call the Thirty Years' War. It began with the fact that in Prague, imperial advisers were thrown out of the window by the rebel Czechs. This war was always the focus of attention of the great Richelieu, it contributed to his rise, it gave him a reason and reason for tireless work. Finally, in the same year, Richelieu published a revised long-standing work, “Instructions for a Christian,” in which he outlined his main religious and political views. This literary and religious work greatly contributed to his career, but, of course, this was primarily facilitated by his personal relationships, first with Marshal d'Ancre, with Father Joseph, with the Queen Mother, then with de Luynes, with the King and even with Mary. He maintained warm relations only with Father Joseph. I cannot say that the relationship between Richelieu and Louis was warm. Both of them needed each other, but, as it seems to me, the King, if he did not hate Richelieu, then, in any case, rejoiced like a child at any trouble that happened to him, and especially at his death. Fate, however, decreed that during the year and a half that Louis XIII survived Richelieu, he more than once regretted his absence, since there was no such person next to him to whom he could shift the state affairs he hated. However, Mazarin was a completely acceptable recipient of the state troubles that he inherited from Richelieu, as well as the family troubles that he inherited from Louis. More on this later.
The year 1918 was marked by many interesting events. In the winter, Richelieu, who was only 33 years old, felt so bad that he wrote a will and seriously prepared for death. At the beginning of February, the marriage of the youngest daughter of Marie de' Medici with Prince Victor Amadeus, heir to the Duchy of Savoy, took place. This marriage was exclusively a political action. This marriage was first decided against the wishes of the Queen Mother, who was already in exile in Blois. She was not even invited to the celebration of this marriage. Thus, Louis's victory over the Queen Mother was marked by a significant political event, although it, however, was not yet final. Just ten days after this marriage, at the end of February, the Queen Mother left Blois. She fled to Angouleme with the help of her conspiratorial supporters. This event contributed to the beginning of Richelieu's rise, since Louis sent a courier to him, instructing him to organize a reconciliation with the Queen Mother. Negotiations were necessary in order to avoid a rebellion in which Louis might be defeated. Louis made the decision to resort to the help of Richelieu largely thanks to the recommendation of Father Joseph, who enjoyed the trust and respect of the King and was in his inner circle. The choice was a good one, since the Queen Mother still continued to see Richelieu as a brilliant man, and he, in turn, had not yet managed to upset her in any way. Moreover, he and his friends and relatives even suffered as a result of their proximity to the Queen Mother, and it was for this reason that they were sent into exile in Avignon.
At the end of March, Richelieu arrived in Angouleme, and within a month he prepared and completed the signing of an agreement between the King and the Queen Mother. As a result, Richelieu became a confidant of the Queen Mother, and also acquired a certain authority in the eyes of the King, since he successfully completed the most important assignment. According to the Angouleme Agreement, the Queen gets control of Angers and the province of Anjou, where Marie de' Medici arrived in October of the same year. What else can you say about 1619? Except this: on July 8, Richelieu’s elder brother, Marquis Henri de Richelieu, died in a duel. As a result, the Richelieu family lost a male heir in a direct line, this strengthened the position of Armand, who became the heir of the first hand. Also for this reason, Armand Richelieu strengthened his hatred of noble duels even more; he had already expressed this disgust in one of his speeches, but now life itself confirmed his rightness. Richelieu tried to instill this hatred in the King, however, although Louis actually supported this opinion and signed, as I already mentioned, an edict banning duels and punishing by death for its violation, in his heart he did not condemn duelists as strongly as he did Richelieu. Thanks to this attitude of the King and thanks to the intercession of de Treville, we several times avoided the terrible fate that subsequently befell several high-ranking duelists.
Chapter 23
In 1620, with which I began my memoirs, the second stage of the confrontation between Louis XIII and his mother Queen Marie de' Medici began.
This real war began with an active protest of the Queen’s supporters against the omnipotence of Louis XIII’s favorite , the Duke of Luynes. He was called incompetent in the issues that he decided. The Queen's supporters, who were afraid to directly express their displeasure, recognized each other by handkerchiefs with two embroidered "Ms". An additional incentive for the Queen Mother's renewed ambitions was the joint military success of the two united Habsburg dynasties. Spanish troops occupied Valtellina, a valley located between the Austrian Habsburgs' Tyrol and the Spanish Habsburgs' Lombardy. Thus, the two Habsburg empires united, gaining an excellent opportunity for maneuvers and unification of military forces. The Queen Mother, supporting the Habsburgs, hoped for their reciprocal support in the confrontation against her own son. She turned to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the Duke of Savoy and the King of Spain for financial and military assistance. It had at its disposal thirty thousand infantry and three thousand horsemen. Thus, in the summer a threatening situation arose for the King. On her side were Longueville holding Normandy, Vend;me holding Brittany, Rohan with his Poitou, d'Epernon with his Angoul;me, Onis, Saintonge and Limousin, the Dukes of Mayenne and Roquelor holding Guienne, the Duke of Montmorency and his Languedoc, and La Valette, who was firmly established in Metz, where he could easily call on troops from Germany for help. Marie de Medici was able to receive such support for the reason that she managed to be crowned shortly before the death of King Henry IV , so many grandees considered her a more legitimate ruler than her son, King Louis XIII . Of course, the motives for recognition or non-recognition of this or that ruler always lie far from such considerations, which act only as a screen covering intentions. Any such military alliances are concluded solely on the basis of military interests, which depend on the geopolitical situation, on military and political ambitions in relation to certain lands. The more valuable from a political, strategic and other point of view this or that piece of land, coastline, or island, or isthmus is, the more fiercely the countries located nearby strive to appropriate this piece for themselves, and the more reasoned their reasons for appealing to considerations of morality, religion, justice or other ethical or spiritual values that justify military action or military assistance, the conclusion or breaking of alliances.
At the very beginning of July of this turning point in 1620, at the direction of the King, the Royal Council met in the Louvre. The old guard of advisers was represented by de Luynes, as well as the Bourbons and other former associates of the late Henry IV . They persuaded the King to make greater concessions and make peace with the Queen Mother. Their opinion was opposed by the Prince of Cond; and his supporters, who proposed immediate and most decisive military action. Conde assured the King that on the way to Normandy he would meet more and more of his supporters, so that his army would grow like a snowball. The former ministers of Henry IV assured that the King’s forces were weak, that a direct military clash with the Queen Mother was fraught with defeat, and, moreover, that during the King’s absence in Paris, a riot could break out in the capital. This discussion was a pitiful spectacle. The former ministers of Henry IV showed such caution that the late King, who was always distinguished by his exorbitant courage and desperate determination, would not have tolerated. As I already said, Louis XIII , who did not particularly like to engage in state affairs, was still a frantic hunter and an equally determined warrior. He decided to give battle. To weak objections that there were too many enemies, and they were from almost all sides, he replied that in this case it was necessary to attack those of them who were most dangerous, that is, those who were more numerous and who were closest.
With troops ten times smaller than those of the Queen Mother, Louis left Paris, dressed in a white doublet, also having a white scarf of the commander-in-chief and a hat with a white feather, that is, he dressed exactly the same as Henry IV dressed on similar occasions. I happened to see him, and I must say that if at that moment someone had told me that Louis XIII was not the son of Henry IV, I would have killed him on the spot.
The victory that Louis XIII won over his mother was not only and not so much military as moral. At the sight of the King in White leading the army, the noble military leaders of France did not dare to resist fiercely, realizing that they were wrong, although there were battles.
Rouen was taken without a single shot, since the Duke de Longueville, who did not dare to fight the King, decided to retreat. Louis entered Rouen amid the shouts of wild jubilation of the inhabitants and announced that he was depriving the Duke of Longueville of all rights, including the right to this city.
That part of the entourage that tried to dissuade the King from military action now began to congratulate him on the victory and persuade him to limit himself to this achievement, so as not to lose what he had achieved.
But Louis was inexorable.
- More danger, less danger! - he said. - We're going straight to Caen!
It must be said that Louis III was far from a brilliant commander, but he was an excellent warrior. Where knowledge of military art was lacking, he inspired the troops by personal example. The soldiers, admiring his endurance and disregard for bad weather, his determination, reaching the point of stubbornness, and his steadfastness in achieving his goals, followed him, walked ahead of him, to win or die for the King.
Arriving at Escoville, near Caen, he ordered that scouts be sent to survey the area and find the best approaches for cavalry and infantry. This work was entrusted to us - Athos, Porthos and me.
The information we obtained was complete and accurate, because, acting carefully but decisively, we not only saw everything that was necessary with our own eyes, but Porthos also captured one officer prisoner, I sketched several very accurate maps and sketches of the fortress walls and their defensive structures , and Athos gave a couple of great ideas about a future operation to capture the city. The king was so pleased that he asked our names and promised to remember them. However, he had an excellent memory for names, he knew the names of many officers, and the King’s musketeers were entirely composed of nobles, the rank of a simple musketeer was no less worthy than the rank of an army officer, it was officially equivalent to the rank of military lieutenant. The attack was swift and victorious, the defenders of Caen surrendered.
At this moment, Louis was able to show his mercy towards the vanquished, which was still inherent in him at that time.
“I don’t want any ceremonies,” he said to the commandant of the surrendered city. “Become my obedient subjects and do your duty, in which case you can be sure that I will be a kind and fair King to you.” God save you from rebellion again.
Two days later, troops led by the King moved to Perche, without encountering any resistance on its approaches, occupied it and headed further to Anjou.
The Queen Mother was, of course, a weak commander, or rather none at all, but quite experienced military leaders took her side, such as the Duke d'Epernon, the Duke de Rohan, and the Duke de Mayenne. However, they led and defended the rebellious provinces that supported the Queen, and in her troops, located directly with her, there were inexperienced but ambitious young commanders, such as Soissons and the Duke of Nemours, or not so young, but still not worth anything capable, like Marshal de Bois-Dauphin. Therefore, the actions of her troops were sometimes quite reasonable, while her royal orders sometimes brought only harm. So, for example, the Queen Mother, being under the protection of the walls of Angers, managed to turn this city against herself, because she ordered to raise taxes, drove the peasants to dig a ditch and trenches, and ordered the townspeople to arm the army at their own expense.
Under these conditions, the King could easily have taken Angers, but he was afraid of a direct clash with the Queen. It is difficult to say what he feared more, his own defeat, or the humiliation of his mother, but he chose to create conditions for her troops under which they would be forced to surrender. Therefore, he ordered all military forces to be sent to the Pont de Seux crossing. This crossing consisted of two half-destroyed bridges, nevertheless protected by quite tolerable redoubts. The defense in this position was held by troops under the command of the Duke de Retz.
Captain de Treville, who was present at the King's headquarters, later said that His Majesty behaved very naturally, and, as it seemed to him, before a dangerous battle he seemed no more excited than on the evening before the hunt. This excitement of the upcoming battle deprived him of any fear. During these few victorious military actions, he learned in practice to better understand maps and comprehend military science in real life. On the evening before the battle, the King once again decided to familiarize himself in detail with the map of the upcoming military operations, and, checking the deployment of troops, discovered that the cavalry was poorly placed. He ordered to move it to a more favorable place. With five thousand infantry and six hundred cavalry, as well as two cannons, he was confident of victory, but hesitated in the hope that the Queen would send envoys with proposals for peace. Probably, this could have happened, but Maria de Medici did not change her habits even in the face of the upcoming battle, so she slept, as usual, until almost noon. Her young commanders were timid and did not dare to wake her up, so the King, without waiting for offers of peace, ordered an attack on Angers. De Luynes begged him to wait a little longer. I think that this twice demonstrated indecision on the part of de Luynes marked the beginning of the King's cooling towards him. Many believe that if de Luyne had not died of illness, he would have ruled the King for a long time, that is, he would have actually ruled France. I don't think so. The cooling that arises in the heart of the monarch very quickly fills his entire heart. It was exactly the same later in his attitude towards de Saint-Mars, but more on that later. Let me return, however, to the description of the King’s campaign against the Queen Mother.
The Queen, in desperation of her situation, generously distributed positions and promises, since she had less and less real power and real money. So her associates Louis de Marillac, brother of the Intendant of Justice of Anjou, received from her the title of chief marshal of France on the eve of the battle. Perhaps he would have justified this title with great victories if he had not had to spend all his time exclusively on disputes with his envious people and rivals, and he had practically no time left for the deployment of military forces and for commanding them.
The Duc de Retz, intending to defend the Pont de S;e with twelve hundred infantry and three hundred horse, was ordered by the Queen to defend himself only, and under no circumstances to attack the King's troops. Then de Retz stated that either he would be guided by the requirements of military science, or he was not responsible for anything, after which, not finding understanding from the Queen Mother, he left her along with his people. If before this the Queen could still hope for victory, or at least for peace with favorable conditions for herself, then the departure of de Retz became a real disaster for her and for all the rebels supporting her. The Queen was left with a measly two thousand infantry, one hundred horsemen and three cannons.
In this confrontation between Catherine de Medici and her son, the heroes who sided with the Queen looked like cowards, the cowards who abandoned her looked like sages, and the sages who sided with the King seemed like heroes. So covered with dust, blood and gunpowder, de Vend;me, returning to the Queen’s headquarters in Bordeaux for reinforcements and not receiving it, exclaimed:
- Your Majesty, I would like to die for you!
To this one of the Queen’s stupid ladies-in-waiting replied:
“To fulfill your wish, all you had to do was remain on the battlefield.”
Taking the Queen's silence as approval of these words, Vendome returned to the battlefield in order to die, however, seeing the futility of this, he nevertheless escaped by swimming through Laura.
The commander of the light cavalry, de Saint-Aignan, resisted the King's troops with all his might, but was eventually captured. The result of the three-hour battle was the complete defeat of the Queen, which cost France several hundred killed, as well as several dozen drowned who tried in vain to save their lives by swimming. There were those who tried to hide in the overgrown banks of the Loire, but became victims of local peasants who were eager to take revenge for their raids and raised taxes, which was another consequence of the Queen's unwise actions.
The result of the defeat of the Queen's troops was her escape with a handful of bodyguards further south, while the King rode his horse into Angers victorious.
In the end, the Queen had to admit defeat and surrender to the mercy of her son. Soon peace was signed largely thanks to the diplomacy and dexterity of Richelieu. The Treaty of Angoul;me was again partially restored, and all the grandees involved in the rebellion were granted forgiveness. Even the captive Saint-Aignan escaped the death penalty despite the fact that he fought against the King in front of him. The king was so kind that he even paid off the Queen Mother's debts, which required three hundred thousand livres. The queen was promised that she would subsequently join the royal council. Richelieu, who was working for peace, made concessions for himself personally, as well as for his relatives. On the margins of the agreement it was said that Richelieu would marry his young and lovely niece Marie-Madeleine de Vignereau, Mademoiselle de Pont-Courlet, the daughter of his sister Fran;oise du Plessis, to Antoine de Roure de Combalet, the nephew of the royal favorite.
This idea was suggested by Father Joseph, a constant supporter of Richelieu.
Richelieu was also promised a cardinal's cap, which the Queen, still in love with him, insisted on. This reckless love was, apparently, a continuation of her love for his older brother, who died in a duel. Louis reluctantly signed a formal petition to the Pope in August 1620, including a note asking the Pope not to rush into granting the request. Therefore, in the next lists of cardinals published by the Pope, Richelieu did not find his name.
De Luynes, who seemed to recommend Richelieu to the King in every possible way, in fact accompanied these recommendations with such comments, as a result of which Louis was in no hurry to support his receipt of the cardinal title, since in this case Richelieu would certainly be introduced to the royal council, and Louis would still continue to consider his supporter of the Queen Mother. Therefore, de Luynes and de Richelieu showed each other complete love and mutual understanding, swore to each other eternal friendship and sincere love, which neither of them believed. Secretly, de Luynes and de Puisier convinced the King to support the candidacy of La Valette, Archbishop of Toulouse, son of the Duke d'Epernon. Therefore, in January 1621, it was he who became a cardinal. I explain this by the fact that de Richelieu, as a result of this campaign, became very attractive to the King, while de Luynes, who proposed a more cautious policy, showed Louis that he should not always listen to the advice of this favorite, who had the highest military rank possible, whereas the Prince de Cond; completely justified herself. Both Richelieu and Luyne felt that the first was beginning his ascent, and the second might lose his splendor and glory, so Richelieu, sensitive to such changes, prepared to distance himself from his former patron, and de Luyne tried to strike a sneaky blow to his former prot;g;.
In mid-August 1620, Mary met her son again at the Ch;teau de Brissac near Angers. She emerged from her litter forty paces from the dismounted king. The Queen Mother and the King approached each other without showing any emotion, imitated a kiss without touching each other and silently went their separate ways, the Queen into her litter, the King onto his horse. They then proceeded to one of the rooms of the castle, where they exchanged a few meaningless words. The queen understood that any requests to her son were useless, she would no longer receive anything beyond what had been agreed upon earlier, but Louis believed that he no longer had to fear his mother, so she became history for him. All that remained was to observe politeness and ostentatious justice, which later became a habit for Louis. The Queen moved to the castle in Fontainebleau, which had been given to her, while awaiting her return to Paris, Louis XIII signed a document entitled “Declaration of Innocence of My Most Honorable Lady and Mother.” Maria this time decided not to get involved in intrigues and follow the advice of de Richelieu, who was still the bishop of Luzon, who once again saved her from complete defeat.
Meanwhile, Mary gave birth to a boy, who, as I said, was baptized by the King himself, and who was christened Louis-Charles. According to custom, the boy had two godfathers and one godmother.
Charles de Luynes, to celebrate, gave Mary a magnificent ring, in the center of which was a huge ten-carat clear diamond with a blue tint, and along the rim of the ring were colorless diamonds of half a carat of the same shade . He still drew a handful of wealth from the state treasury as if from his own pocket.
Mary showed the ring to Queen Anne and boasted that she would receive the same one with a pink tint after the birth of her daughter, whose birth she had no doubt about, having all the means at her disposal for this.
“You see, Your Majesty, this is proof that my dear husband took this child entirely at his own expense, although, to be honest, he did nothing for his birth, but I did everything so that he would consider himself the reason for this addition to the world.” our family? - she said cheerfully.
- Tell me everything in detail, dear Maria! - the Queen answered just as cheerfully, as it seemed, noting to herself that the King had not given her a reason for a long time for a similar event to happen to her, realizing that in order to conceive the long-awaited Dauphin she would have to literally force the King into bed.
At this very moment, apparently, for the first time a drop of coldness arose in the Queen’s heart in relation to her “best friend.” It's rare that a woman doesn't feel jealous of her best friend. Even, oddly enough, the Queen is capable of envying a simple duchess if she beat her to the birth of an heir, and even boasts of a ring that the Queen did not have.
I believe that the frivolous rhyme, which I happened to hear several times by chance, was composed by some court writer from a prose drawing invented by Queen Anne herself. It sounded like this:
"Our constable is infallible,
Just like his wife.
He is tireless in bed,
As does she, by the way.
Blessed was this marriage
Offspring, finally.
Even a fool can figure it out,
Who is the child's father?
But the Duke decided to prove it:
He is not a grouch at all.
He gave his wife a ring
As a reward for the horns."
However, Maria was a smart woman, she quickly realized the indelicacy of her act and hastened to explain it to the Queen with the desire to make sure that if a woman gives birth in marriage, then her husband is the father of her child, no matter what and no matter who says about it, and, moreover, , as she herself was able to verify, it costs nothing for an intelligent woman to convince her husband of the paternity of her child.
- Don’t be upset, my dear Anna! - said Maria tenderly, who sometimes allowed herself the most relaxed familiarity towards the Queen. - I will ask Charles to bring the King to your bedroom!
Indeed, at one of the convenient moments, de Luynes, who had long and unsuccessfully persuaded the King to spend the night with his legal wife and try to conceive an heir, he, unable to bear Louis’s excuses, simply grabbed him in his arms and dragged him into the Queen’s bedroom, laying him on the bed next to Anna , after which, wishing them a restless night, he left, expecting that the next morning he might be sent to the Bastille for such insolence. Indeed, after several unsuccessful attempts to ensure the birth of an heir, which did not bring Louis the glory of a strong lover in the eyes of the Queen, Louis hastened to lay the blame for his failure on the Queen, finding her unattractive, or unpassionate, or who knows what else. The birth of an heir required drastic measures, which de Luynes allowed himself to apply.
However, the King, forced to spend the night in the Queen's bed, was not angry with de Luynes, since he twice carried out that good intention, which he would not have even thought of if not for the decisive actions of his favorite. These attempts were almost crowned with success, but de Luyn was never able to reap the fruits of his efforts. The Queen actually became pregnant, but did not give up her wild and childishly active entertainment with her friend Maria. This led to a miscarriage; the King was so angry with Mary that he intended to send her into exile. The Queen stood up for her, taking the blame upon herself. However, this happened after the death of de Luynes, and, moreover, Maria managed to marry the Duke de Chevreuse, without tiring herself too much with mourning for her first husband. But before he died, de Luyne managed to commit actions that he believed led to Mary's new pregnancy. I cannot and do not want to write about who I consider to be the cause of this second pregnancy. For some reason my eyes are tired and watery... Mary’s daughter, born after the death of de Luynes, was named Anne-Marie... The first name is in honor of Queen Anne of Austria’s best friend. The second name is in honor of the mother, Mary herself. And again nothing from the Abb; d'Herblay.
Chapter 24
I wrote above that the King entrusted us with reconnaissance to survey the area and find the best approaches for the cavalry and infantry. I reported that, acting carefully but decisively, we not only saw everything that was necessary with our own eyes, but Porthos also captured one officer, I sketched several very accurate maps and sketches of the fortress walls and their defensive structures, and Athos gave a couple great ideas about a future operation to capture the city.
I guess I didn't pay enough attention to this episode, so now I'm filling in the gap.
At first, we secretly approached the fortress wall and examined everything that was possible to see without giving away our presence.
“I don’t see a single observer on the fortress wall,” I said. -Maybe we can get closer?
“Twilight is beginning,” answered Athos. “Now you can see little with your eyes.” I think they listen more than they look.
“We can check,” I suggested. - Let's throw some larger pebble and see who looks out from where. You might even be able to shoot one or two listeners.
“We won’t bring the stone to the wall,” Athos objected. “You won’t be able to get any closer, the ditch won’t allow it.” It’s also not worth shooting, because this will reveal ourselves, and we are here not for battle, but for reconnaissance.
“I can roll some larger cobblestone into the ditch,” said Porthos. - I guarantee a loud splash.
- Great idea! - said Athos. “That cobblestone over there would fit if the three of us managed to move it.”
“I’ll move it alone,” Porthos resolutely objected.
“In that case, try it, Porthos,” agreed Athos. “And Aramis and I will keep an eye on those who look out from the fortress wall.” If he decides to shoot you, we will beat him to it. But I still ask you, be sure to immediately lie down on the ground as soon as the stone rolls down.
Athos and I lay down, agreeing that he would take aim at the left part of the space above the fortress wall, and I would take aim at the right.
Porthos, at our sign, easily turned out of the ground and pushed a huge stone towards the ditch, which, it seemed, was beyond the power of four ordinary people to turn out. To do this, he did not use any tools, acting only with his strong arms and pushing into the ground with even stronger legs. Frankly, I did not expect that such strength was hidden in him, although I had already become convinced that he was much stronger than an ordinary person. The stone rolled, Porthos apparently forgot that he should immediately lie down on the ground. Two people appeared on the fortress wall, Athos shot one of them, and I shot the other.
- Porthos, on the ground, quickly! - I exclaimed.
Porthos looked at me in bewilderment, and then reluctantly lay down on the ground.
I thought that he valued his magnificent suit more than his own life, and to this day it seems to me that this thought was not so stupid.
- Now what? - I asked Athos.
“We learned that they don’t sleep even at dusk, but listen to the slightest rustle. - Athos answered. “It’s our luck that they can hardly see us, while they are clearly visible against the backdrop of the sunset sky.”
- How do we capture the prisoner? - I asked.
“I think we did the main thing for this - we excited them and, I hope, aroused their curiosity about the reasons for this excess,” answered Athos. “Probably their scouts will make a sortie soon.”
- For what purpose? - asked Porthos.
“They may think that a tunnel is being dug right under the fortress wall,” Athos explained. “You can put gunpowder into such a tunnel and blow up part of the fortress wall in order to rush into the resulting gap.”
- Not a bad option! - exclaimed Porthos. - Why don’t we do this?
“If there is a team, the sappers will take care of it,” Athos answered. “Right now we’re just doing reconnaissance.”
- Shh! - I whispered. - It seems you are right. Someone is coming out.
Indeed, the gates of the fortress opened slightly and two or three people were released. They were no longer visible in the darkness under the fortress wall. We decided to wait, listening to every sound. Some kind of fuss was heard under the wall, Porthos suggested shooting at the sound, but Athos stopped him.
“We don’t need corpses, but a living prisoner,” he said.
“It’s a pity that we won’t be able to cross the ditch silently,” I said.
“Aramis, you sneak to the right along the ditch, perhaps you will see the possibility of crossing,” said Athos. “I’ll also definitely try to sneak to the left.” And you, Porthos, stay here and continue to monitor them. If they poke their head across the ditch, do not kill at least one of them, remember, we need a prisoner, preferably an officer.
Porthos nodded and we began to carry out Athos' plan.
After some time, I suddenly heard a dull knock coming from the place where Porthos was staying, which forced me to stop and try to secretly return to his aid. Then the sound of some kind of fuss reached me, after which I heard two more blows, and then another.
It turned out that those who came out of the fortress gates were just distracting extras. The real enemy reconnaissance team descended the rope ladder a little further away. Two soldiers and an officer crossed the ditch using a wooden ladder they had brought with them, lowered at the end of a rope ladder. They did it in the distance, we couldn't notice them. Having bypassed Athos, they went to the place where they heard a splash, crept up to Porthos and decided to capture him alive. For this purpose, they decided to stun him with a musket blow to the head. The blow was designed to render the person receiving it unconscious. After this, two soldiers, believing that Porthos was stunned, grabbed him by the legs and tried to drag him away. They were ruined by differences of opinion. Although they thought Porthos was stunned, Porthos did not at all consider himself to be stunned, so he suddenly bent down and hit each of the soldiers on the head with his huge fists. To complete his counterattack, he grabbed each of them by the chest and smashed their attackers' heads together, doing it as easily as if he had a goblet in each hand, which he hit as goblets are hit during toasts. After this, he awarded the blow to the officer, who wisely stayed away, but relaxed after hearing the dull sound of a musket hitting Porthos' head.
- Porthos, what happened? - I exclaimed.
A moment later, Athos arrived with the same question.
“Three people attacked me,” Porthos answered. “I hit this one very lightly, I hope he’s alive.”
At the same time, he pointed to the officer.
All three were lying on the ground without signs of life.
-What did you hit them with? - Athos inquired.
“Just with fists,” answered Porthos.
- And they hit you with a musket, it seems? - I asked.
“Probably this,” Porthos answered, picking up the musket from the ground.
Fortunately, it was already so dark that those people who came out of the fortress gates did not see us. But they heard us. They each sent a musket ball in our direction, from which we were convinced that there were only two of them. We were lucky that both shots missed us. We sent back shots from the muskets of the attacking enemies, as well as from Porthos' musket, since Athos's and mine were already unloaded. I don’t know if our shots hit the target, but that doesn’t matter anymore. No one appeared on the fortress wall, because they understood the pointlessness of firing into the darkness.
“We must leave,” said Athos. - Porthos, can you go?
“Of course,” replied Porthos. “True, I seem to have a bump, but it’s okay.”
“Anyone else would have lost consciousness from such a blow,” Athos was surprised.
We collected the enemy's weapons and captured the officer, who, as we hoped, remained alive. As for the soldiers whom Porthos hit harder, I cannot guarantee that they survived. However, it was their own fault - they attacked Porthos from behind. If you want to stay alive, make one of three decisions: either do not attack Porthos, or, having attacked, kill with the first shot, or run away as best you can. Everyone who violated this rule will definitely not be able to express their grievances about the consequences of this stupid act.
Fortunately, the officer survived, although the next day he complained of a pain in his head, he was vomiting and feeling drowsy. The lump on Porthos’s head received tender care on our part in the form of a lotion with ice, and the very next day not a trace remained of it.
I'll say a few more words about our musket shots. We had special bullets cast for us by our physician, Jean de Ruchot, who experimented with bullet shapes in his spare time. For his experiments, he used up a couple of kegs of gunpowder, but the result was worth it. The bullets he invented were not round, but cylindrical, and their ends on both sides tapered slightly towards the ends, and on the sides there were longitudinal notches that wriggled a little, like ivy wriggles around the branches on which it is wound. I cannot explain what caused the effect that he achieved, but our bullets flew further and hit more accurately.
When the medic showed his bullets to Athos, he immediately appreciated them and ordered him twenty dozen of them. But de Treville doubted the effectiveness of this form. He appointed de Bezmo and du Chantet to test these bullets. Both were good marksmen, but each of them reported that the bullets they tested hit less accurately than ordinary ones.
“They should aim a little lower than usual,” Athos told me. — Regular bullets lose their speed, so they don’t fly as straight. If these bullets are aimed the same way as regular bullets, since these trick bullets fly more straight, they will overshoot the target.
“Will you tell de Treville about this?” - I asked.
“De Treville does not recognize me as an authority on shooting,” answered Athos. “You know what our captain is like.” If he once decided about you and me that we are the best fencers, then he does not consider us authorities on musket shooting.
“But we could convince him,” I objected.
— Convince a senior officer? - Athos asked and smiled bitterly. “Give up such fantasies once and for all, Aramis!” You and I will test these bullets in battle, after which we will draw the attention of our comrades to this advantage, if it is confirmed in practice.
Unfortunately, although these bullets showed their best performance, during military operations we had no time to prove their superiority. When peace came, Athos wanted to return to this issue, but it turned out that Jean de Ruchau had already died of lung disease. Apparently, constant work with lead without consulting skills had a bad effect on his health.
But in these lines I want to express my gratitude to him, because his bullets helped us out more than once, including the battle of La Rochelle. Peace to your ashes, physician and self-taught gunsmith, Jean de Rucho.
Chapter 25
Perhaps I have written enough about the year 1620, which was full of such important events. It’s time for me to turn to the year 1621. First, I’ll remember what special happened this year. So, in January, a list of new cardinals was published, in which Richelieu did not find himself. He remains Bishop of Luzon. But he achieved the main thing: the King appreciated his ability to negotiate and even his managerial talents and efficiency, he began to trust him more. Nine years of his voluntary departure from Paris to Luzon had an effect, where he took up the work of bishop with all the utmost zeal.
At the end of March, King Philip III of Spain, the father of Queen Anne of Austria, died, after which her brother, Philip IV, became King of Spain. Like almost every King of Europe, he had a favorite who, as First Minister, actually ruled Spain. His name was Olivares.
A little less than a month later, on April 25, the Treaty of Madrid was concluded between France and Spain. With his help, the two kingdoms tried to resolve the controversial issue of Valtellin . This agreement remained a fiction, an empty phrase; it brought nothing, since the parties did not fulfill it. I will say more, the agreement concluded five years later in Monson also brought nothing. This mountain valley in the north of Lombardy, north of Bergamo, on the border of Italy and Switzerland, at the foot of the Bernine Alps, has always remained too tasty a morsel for all the countries in contact with it. I think this dispute will not be resolved even in two hundred years. But, of course, no one will allow them to remain an independent small state, a Republic of three leagues, indefinitely.
Between these two events, namely on April 9, the truce between the Spanish Habsburg and United Provinces expired. A new truce was not concluded. Means war.
In August, the King attempted to besiege the Protestant fortress of Montauban. His father (or the one who was considered his father), King Henry IV , was himself a Protestant who twice renounced the Protestant faith under pressure of circumstances, that is, completely not of his own free will. At heart, of course, he always remained a Protestant. And now his son and heir, Louis XIII , is waging war against the Protestants. Of course, not without the influence of Richelieu, since the Queen Mother no longer had any influence on the King by this time. But this Richelieu himself was very tolerant of foreign Protestants, entering into alliances with them against even French Catholics, such as the Duke of Lorraine and many others. This once again proves that religion recedes when the geopolitical interests of states come into play. But the fight against one's own Protestants was a fight for the unity of France, as well as the fight against one's own rebellious Catholics.
The Edict of Nantes, signed by Henry IV , seemed to bring about reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants. But the magnificent plan did not end as planned. The Huguenots were allowed to practice their religion, but were prohibited from doing so in Paris and many other large cities. For the sake of fairness, they were allowed to do this in some not so significant cities on the outskirts of France. This led to the fact that all the Huguenots came to these cities, and there, being in the majority, they elected their proteges to the positions of governors. These cities became Huguenot, good Catholics were forced to leave them, after which these Huguenot fortified cities became a stronghold of separatism. Being on the outskirts of the state, they had the opportunity to enter into defensive alliances with nearby Protestant states. Thus, fortified cities like Montauban, Montpellier, La Rochelle became a source of incredible danger to the integrity of the state, since such cities could be freely used as springboards for further warfare by such historical opponents of France as, for example, England, Spain, etc. not to mention the small German states that constantly sought to snatch this or that province from us. However, it was sometimes possible to conclude fragile temporary alliances with some of them.
At the very end of the year, on December 15, de Luigne died, and Maria became a widow. The very next year she married Claude of Lorraine, the fifth son of Duke Henry of Lorraine, who was the third Duke of Guise. As a result of his marriage, Claude received not only Mary, but also the titles of Grand Chamberlain and Grand Falconer of France, which, given Louis’s extreme love for falconry, immediately brought him into the circle of courtiers close to the King. However, he was already quite noble and loved by Louis XIII , who back in 1611, being quite young himself, had already made him Duke de Chevreuse and peer of France. So Mary passed from the hands of one duke and peer into the hands of another duke and peer, passing on as her dowry the offices of grand chamberlain and high falconer of France. It must be assumed that Claude de Chevreuse intended to receive all the other positions of de Luyne through Maria. But he never became constable. And no one did. However, Mary did not lose out, since in 1657 Claude de Chevreuse died without leaving behind any male heirs, so his title of Duke de Chevreuse passed to Mary's son from his first marriage, Louis-Charles d'Albert. Oh, my Louis-Charles, I'm so happy for you!
It must be said that Duke Claude de Chevreuse tried to stay away from Mary’s intrigues. This was very smart of him. However, perhaps it would be wiser not to marry Maria? What then of the offices of Grand Chamberlain and Grand Falconer of France? And is the King really refused when he himself undertakes to woo his wife’s friend, the Queen? Maria did her best to pretend to mourn and, apparently, overdid it. Louis was tired of seeing the sour face of his wife’s friend, since the sour face with which he was married was enough for him. Two fastings are too much even for such a prude sovereign as Louis XIII was or tried to be . At the time, it must have seemed to him that marrying Maria off to Claude de Chevreuse was a brilliant idea. Perhaps Richelieu gave him this idea. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that this was the case.
Chapter 26
Memoirs are good because they are written about those years about which the writer can think carefully. It’s nice, of course, to mentally return to those years when you were young, full of strength and hopes for a better life. You considered wealth, position, power to be the best life. But now, when you are writing these memoirs, you have wealth, position, and power, but you would not hesitate to give it all to regain your youth, health, and hopes. Even if they are accompanied by naivety, ignorance, and even sometimes hunger, cold, and poverty. The most valuable resource is time. When you were young, you had more than enough time, but you didn’t value it. Now you would give anything for ten extra years, but no one will give or sell you one extra hour of life, not even a minute.
Of course, now, from the height of everyday experience, I perceive differently the events that I am trying to describe. It’s very easy for me to put myself in the place of Richelieu, or Mary, or Louis, or the Queen Mother in order to understand the reasons for their actions and even in some way predict them. But what's the point? What has happened has already happened, and what is happening around me now hardly worries me.
Of course, Richelieu was furious that he did not become a cardinal. Of course, he could not know the reason for this, but he could guess. He could not know exactly what Louis asked the papal nuncio to tell the Pope not to appoint Richelieu as a cardinal, saying that he could not help but write this request, since the Queen Mother was very insistent on this. But he would not want the Pope to fulfill this request. At the same time, the papal nuncio received from the Queen the task of conveying to Pope Paul V that the appointment of Richelieu as a cardinal was urgently necessary. Catherine de' Medici herself wrote letters to the Pope in support of this request. Not surprising, because she belonged to a noble Tuscan family and was almost a fellow countrywoman with the Pope. So, a Florentine (Florence, as you remember, is the main city of Tuscany), a compatriot of Petrarch and Boccaccio, Masaccio and Donatello, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, she, not without reason, considered herself more civilized than her late husband, Henry IV, and on this reason I thought it was possible to write to the Pope. Well, perhaps she was right, because among the representatives of the Medici family there are four popes (Leo X, Pius IV, Clement VII, Leo XI), as well as two Queens of France, one of whom she herself was. The king was set against Richelieu de Luigne, both Richelieu and the Queen Mother understood this. It was necessary to rid France of this favorite. This was the desire of Richelieu and the Queen. The Marshal of France, who did not lead a single battle, received the title of Constable of France under the pretext of the need to lead the campaign against the Huguenots. But he did not lead this campaign either. Discontent began to brew against de Luynes, and pamphlets ridiculing him began to appear among the people. The anger that boils thickly among the people is always brewed from above, from the very top of power. If you don't understand this, you haven't understood anything in the history of states. It is known for certain that Richelieu personally wrote most of these pamphlets; others were written on his orders. The most famous was his pamphlet “Welcome speech and impressions of dying France. A spell addressed to the King, and a call to all good Frenchmen." Comparing the times that had come with the times of the “good King Henry IV ,” Richelieu denounced bad advisers (alluding, first of all, to de Luynes), and wondered why the King ruled without the support of the Queen Mother.
Louis's military successes in the fight against his own citizens of another religion turned his head. Despite the fact that the Queen Mother had already been removed from power, he decided to finally cleanse France of the Huguenots. The newly appointed constable also sought to confirm the validity of his highest military rank. But at the end of the summer of 1621, successes gave way to failures, the Huguenots organized themselves better and better, perhaps because they were no longer led by the Queen Mother, who only got in the way. In the midst of the siege of the small Huguenot fortress of Moneur, the favorite constable suddenly fell ill, after which he died suddenly on the night of December 14-15.
Let me reflect on this event. Shortly before this, the Queen learned that, by order of de Luynes, she was under surveillance. Spies were also assigned to de Richelieu. The jealous de Luynes, it seems to me, could have guessed that Maria was not the only one who was extremely nice to him. And finally, tired of reproaches from all sides and shaken in his complete trust in de Luynes, King Louis XIII himself , it seems to me, became disillusioned with his favorite. De Luyne continued to interfere in everything and everyone, appeared where he was not welcome, did what absolutely everyone did not like, not realizing that everyone was tired of him. It would be fine if he disgusted everyone except the King, but even the King was already burdened by his company. So, first de Luynes became a political corpse in the eyes of the King, after that he became a corpse in the full sense of the word.
I wonder how Maria treated him at this time? Did she continue to love him? Judging by our relationship with her, no. However, perhaps she could love several men at the same time? Why do I write “maybe”? I know she was capable of it. Always. Could she combine love for two, three, or more men? Easily! However, what is “love” in relation to Mary? It seems to me that she was not capable of loving a person whom she knew well. Her mind was too masculine. She analyzed everything. And everyone. Now, looking back at her whole life, I am beginning to suspect that she did not love me either, but only used me for her own purposes, for her intrigues. It seems to me that she truly loved Athos. Comte de La F;re. It came to her with old age, with sentimentality. When she almost stopped intriguing. However, she would be intriguing even if she had one foot in the coffin, and even at the moment of death, she would probably try to fool the old woman around her finger. But her attitude towards Athos was something special. Perhaps she understood that she would never be his wife? I got off topic again. But my topic is connected in one way or another with the character of Mary, which for me has not been fully solved. I ask myself these questions in order to try to understand, firstly, whether de Luyne was helped to leave this mortal coil? And secondly, is Mary involved in this?
No, no, Maria never used poison. She would prefer to persuade as many men as she wanted, using her charms, they would challenge him to a duel and kill him. And why would Mary want to start this? He was a completely flexible husband, and, it seems to me, he fully believed that he was the father of his son, and was the cause of that second pregnancy, the end of which he did not have the chance to wait for.
Poisoning an unwanted opponent is a Medici line. Did Marie hate de Luynes? Undoubtedly! Did she know how to use poisons? Without a doubt! Did she have the opportunity to carry out such a daring plan? Obviously! And here's another consideration. If not for this, if not for the goal of hastening de Luynes to the next world, then why did Maria come to the military camp? Just to be close to his son during the fighting? Well no, it can't be! After all, he fought with her former allies, the rebellious Huguenots. It would be better for her to watch the battle from afar. If the King had won, her position would no longer have worsened, and if the Huguenots had won, she could have counted on an improvement in her position, since the King, led by de Luynes, had become almost an open enemy of her. In all likelihood, she should not have been present where the King and de Luynes were, unless she had a need to personally visit de Luynes in order to help him become fatally ill at the first opportunity.
I ask myself one more small question. Could the Queen decide to do this from a moral point of view? Why not? Put yourself in the place of the Queen Mother, who ruled the entire country, and who was expelled by her own son from the palace, excommunicated from power, and who understands perfectly well that the reason for her disgrace was precisely this very de Luynes?! It also occurred to me that it was at the instigation of de Luynes that Louis ordered de Vitry to kill Marshal d'Ancres, her lover, after which his wife Galigai was executed, and the Queen herself was exiled to Blois. If it turned out that the Queen was the cause of de Luyne’s death, then such a death should be recognized as the result of revenge for the murder of a lover, almost a husband, for the murder of a favorite, and also for the fact that he took his own son from her. And because he, no one else but him, he took away her crown and kingdom, took away France!
I wouldn't even dare to blame her for this if it turned out to be true.
Tonight I will light a candle for the repose of Marie de Medici and read a prayer to atone for her sins. No matter what, she was our Queen!
So, Paul V did not make Richelieu a cardinal. But on January 28, 1621 he died. So the Bishop of Luzon had no one to be offended by.
Gregory XV made him a cardinal only in 1622. Well, Richelieu was right when he said: “In France, the best cure for all ills is patience.”
Four months after de Luyne's death, Mary married the Duke de Chevreuse and became Duchess de Chevreuse. From now on, I will quite rightly call her Chevrette. Indeed, this name suited her very well. She really was bouncy and active, like a young Goat, Chevreau, C h e vre.
Chapter 27
Now I remember some interesting details that Maria told me.
In his youth, Louis, under the influence of his father, Henry IV , began to become involved in carnal pleasures, which at first manifested themselves only in external imitation of his father’s actions. He spanked the loin parts of the maids, slept under the same blanket with his teacher, Madame de Mongla, and even indulged in the amusements of the biblical Onan, which Henry IV treated with humor, believing that any manifestation of masculinity, even this, only benefits the Dauphin. After Henry's death, the Queen Mother tried to eliminate any signs of licentiousness in her son, instilling in her son Puritan views, even to the point of bigotry. Therefore, having matured, Louis turned into an overly bashful young man who could not stand greasy jokes and was offended even by the sight of a woman’s cleavage, which was accepted as the norm in those years. He viewed a woman as a messenger of sin, and was not so much pious as he was afraid of the influence of the devil, he did not so much think about heaven as he was afraid of hell. However, when he realized that the Queen Mother herself was living in sin with Concini, he was ashamed of her and significantly distanced himself from her spiritually, which, as we know, subsequently led to an irreconcilable gap between mother and son. Having completely excellent male health, and treating male needs with contempt and bashfulness, Louis, of course, suffered from such a discrepancy. He switched to hunting, a passion for weapons, and training domestic animals, which he, however, treated quite ruthlessly, and sometimes simply cruelly.
I came across a saying about him: “What an excellent servant this worthless monarch would make!” Maria categorically disagreed with him, and I also believe that idle gossips simply adapted a statement about the Roman emperor Caligula, who, indeed, was the best slave and the most worthless emperor. The fact is that Caligula had to adapt to the character of Tiberius, and until he inherited power in Rome, he could not even be sure that he would live to see tomorrow, since Tiberius easily dealt with any of his relatives. Louis's childhood was completely different, he did not have to be a servant, he knew in advance that he would inherit the crown of France, he was never a servant to anyone. If the word “servant” could be applied to him, it would only be in the combination “servant of his own whims,” which would be a completely accurate definition of his character.
He amused himself by shaving the mustaches and beards of his nobles, but he did this not so that they would be neater or look better, but because he liked this activity, and they could not refuse him this. Holding a sharp razor near the throats of his grandees, he did not think about slaughtering them, as Caligula would have done, but it seemed funny to him to see their frightened faces covered with soap, or to see a face shaved on only one side. By the way, while having fun, he left one of the courtiers a small beard and a miniature mustache. He liked this result so much that he ordered himself to be shaved in the same way, after which this fashion took root throughout France, and unkempt chin-length beards a la Henry IV forever sunk into oblivion.
Carried away by hunting, he acquired a special interest in watching the agony of shot game, which later turned into an ugly addiction to watching dying people and even mimicking their grimaces. He enjoys drawing, playing music, and poetry. Among theatrical performances, he prefers comedy; other plays tired him and made him drowsy. But he did not become a patron of art, unlike his first minister Richelieu. Patronage comes with expenses, and Louis was stingy, like his father. In addition, Louis very often suffered from indigestion, which left its mark on his daily routine and on his perception of life. He was treated with bloodletting and a diet that probably only aggravated his diarrhea, and, consequently, his melancholy. For this reason, he experienced fainting spells, he was sometimes extremely hot-tempered and cruel, although, however, sometimes he turned into a condescending good-natured man. He could not sit still, he easily went on trips, and was tireless on the road.
I have already said that friendship with de Luyne was not just friendship, but almost a family merger. All this, by the way, happened in the presence of a legal wife, since Louis and Anna were married at a young age, after which Anna settled in the palace, and they even had something resembling a wedding night. This intimacy, unnatural for such an early age, caused Louis shame and disgust, which he transferred to Anna herself. Naturally, the young Queen Anne could not come to terms with the fact that Louis spent all his free time with de Luynes, and had high hopes for his marriage. She hoped that the favorite would be distracted by his young wife, and the King, perhaps, would be imbued with jealousy, which would lead him to bed with the Queen. But this didn’t happen at first. Maria entered this intimate circle without taking Anna into it. The King spent his time in the company of de Luynes and his wife Mary, so it was not the King who was jealous, but the Queen.
However, Louis did not encroach on Mary’s honor; he liked her purely as a friend, as he sometimes liked other young women at court. He admired fragile and flexible women with pretty faces, not claiming anything more than just contemplating them, but if it came to something more, he was horrified, apparently believing that the devil was tempting him. Imbued with friendly tenderness for Mary, Louis appointed her superintendent of the Queen's court and finances and head of her council. Thus, Mary began to lead the entire staff of Queen Anne. Previously, this position belonged to the constable's widow, Madame Montmorency, who retired to her estate in frustration. De Luyne's sister, Antoinette du Vernet, was given the position of keeper of the Queen's wardrobe and jewels. Thus de Luynes gained influence not only over the King, but also over the Queen through his wife and sister. However, the tender friendship between Mary and Louis seemed to de Luigne too tender, so his attempts to switch the King’s attention to Anna also had a very solid egoistic basis. Having carried Louis to the Queen's bedroom, de Luynes wanted to finally be alone with his wife.
Anna tried to attract Louis with playful outfits and an overly daring neckline, but this only frightened the King and alienated him even more.
The rapprochement between the King and Queen was facilitated by Anna's sudden illness. Being himself a very sick person, Louis was imbued with sympathy for Anna, about whom the doctors were already thinking that she did not have long to live in this world. Louis no longer looked at Anna as a messenger of hell, but saw in her a suffering angel, so he promised to fulfill any of her wishes, just to please her, and just to ease her suffering. Gradually, Louis’s coldness towards Anna faded away, they finally began to live as a spouse should live, however, their meetings remained rare. The Queen's recovery occurred almost immediately after the King made a vow to Notre-Dame de Lorette and ordered the relics to be brought. This forever convinced him of the effectiveness of such vows and relics, so appropriate sacrifices were made for the birth of an heir and on other special occasions. Since the heir was subsequently born after the sacrifices to the Virgin Mary, Louis decided that all of France should be dedicated to Our Lady, which was legitimized by the corresponding act.
Since Mary realized in time that promoting good relations between the King and Queen was the best way for her to win the hearts of both royal spouses, she showed so much agility and enthusiasm in this direction that she regained Anne’s favor and strengthened Louis’s confidence.
I learned all this from Maria much later, but I present it here, in this chapter, in order to put an end to this topic forever.
So, de Luynes departed to a better world, Maria became a widow.
At first, the King even expressed joy at the death of de Luynes.
- Finally, I have become completely free! - he admitted to one of the courtiers.
The courtiers felt this, because it was not for nothing that no one visited the dying de Luynes.
But feeling the full weight and abundance of state responsibilities, Louis XIII panicked and began to seek reconciliation with the Queen Mother. Richelieu advised her to recommend accepting de Marillac to the court, who enjoyed the respect and unquestioning trust of both the King and the Queen. This was done. Immediately the most influential members of the State Council became concerned that the Queen's influence would return. The Chancellor and Keeper of the State Seal Nicolas Brulard de Sillery, his son, Secretary of State Pierre Brulard Viscount de Puyze, members of the royal council Janin, de Vic and Cardinal de Retz began to persuade the King not to let the Queen get involved in the affairs of governing the state. All of them were afraid not so much that the Queen Mother would join the Royal Council, but that Richelieu would join the Royal Council after her, and then he would bring the entire Royal Council under his control. However, this is exactly what happened later, which proves the validity of their fears and the inadequacy of the measures they took against this. The intolerance of Sillery and his son Puisier towards Richelieu was understandable, because Puisier took the position of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, which Richelieu had held before Concini's assassination. If Richelieu rose again, he would not only regain this position, but also go much higher, in which case he would try to push Sillery and Puisier into the shadows. Actually, this is what happened later. Poor Sillery was already sent into honorable retirement in January 1624 and went to live out his life on his family estate in Pontoise, where he died the same year.
Simultaneously with the group of Sillery and Puisier, but for his part and on his own side, the Prince of Cond; joined the struggle for influence on the King with even greater enthusiasm. His activity was reinforced by the understanding that if the King and his brother died childless, the throne of France would go to him.
Based on these contradictions, Richelieu played a brilliant “chess” combination. He persuaded the Queen to influence Sillery and other members of the royal council so that they recommended Richelieu as cardinal. Sillery understood that Richelieu was trying to achieve both the cardinal's hat and membership in the royal council. He decided to choose the lesser of two evils, and thereby chose both. In the hope that Richelieu would prefer the more realistic goal of becoming a cardinal, he advised the Queen to persuade him to go to Rome himself and there persuade the Pope to give him this position. He hoped that Richelieu would seize this opportunity and leave for Rome, which would prevent him from taking an active part in the affairs of governing the state, and during this time he hoped to gather supporters to weaken his influence on the King. But Richelieu was not so simple. He tried to convince everyone that he intended to go to Rome, as a result of which the signing of the petition to the Pope went like clockwork. The petition went to Rome, and Richelieu remained in Paris, the Queen was introduced to the royal council, which comprehensively strengthened the position of the Queen’s party, to which Richelieu still belonged, and weakened the party of the royal council members led by Sillery and Puisier, and also contributed to the weakening of Cond;’s influence.
Sillery and Puisier hoped that Richelieu would now go to Rome to receive the cardinal's cap and robe from the hands of Pope Gregory XV . But Richelieu found two reasons to refuse the trip. Firstly, there were cases that the elderly Pope was dying, so Richelieu’s visit would be inappropriate. Secondly, the war against the Huguenots continued in the country. In the spring of 1622, for a month and a half, the King's army of thirty thousand besieged Montpellier, defended by the Duke de Rohan (or de Rohan - translator's note), who had at his disposal four thousand infantry and three hundred horsemen. But Montpellier was superbly fortified, all attempts to storm were repulsed. This time the king did not throw his musketeers into battle, leaving them in reserve, so we were forced to remain inactive. As a result of a six-week unsuccessful siege, the King decided to enter into negotiations, which dragged on until mid-autumn. At the beginning of October, peace agreements were signed, according to which the Huguenots were prohibited from convening assemblies and strengthening fortresses, with the exception of the fortresses of Montauban and La Rochelle. In return, many concessions were made for their leaders. The Duke of Rohan received control of the cities of N;mes, Uze and Castres in Provence and Languedoc, as well as fifty thousand crowns from the King. The Duke de Soubise was granted a pension of forty-five thousand livres. This created a fragile and short-lived peace only as long as both sides kept their promises, which neither side intended to keep forever.
Cardinal Henri de Gondi, son of Catherine de Medici's favorite Albert de Gondi, Duke of Retz, died unexpectedly in Paris . His successor at the Parisian see was his younger brother Jean-Fran;ois de Gondi, but another vacant cardinal's hat appeared. The Queen Mother began to act more decisively, putting pressure on Secretary of State Puisier. At the same time, Richelieu managed to win over old Janin. Finally, the King himself intervened in the matter, and Richelieu was elevated to the rank of cardinal. Everyone was in a hurry to congratulate the newly-made cardinal, his friends, if there were any, were sincerely happy for him, his enemies, of whom there were undoubtedly many, hastened to portray sincere goodwill and delight at the appointment of the new cardinal. The enemies hoped in vain that Richelieu would go to Rome to receive the cardinal's mantle. King Louis XIII , exercising his right, personally carried out the mission of ordination by placing on the new cardinal a purple cap and robe, delivered from Rome by the papal envoy Count Giulio. The entire court was present, including the Queen Mother. The Cardinal made a ritual speech in which he thanked the King and Queen Mother and promised to serve the faith and the fatherland. At the end of his speech, he addressed the Queen Mother: “Madam, this robe, which I owe to Your Majesty’s favor, will always remind me of my solemn promise to spare no life in your service.”
The thirty-seven-year-old cardinal had reached such a position that even members of the royal council were now forced to reckon with him. After this, he began to have an attack of severe headache, which confined him to bed for several days. After his recovery, Richelieu handed over his bishopric of Luson to Abbot Aymeric de Bragelonne in exchange for the position of dean of Saint-Martin-de-Tours and the abbey of Notre-Dame-de-Saint-Vast. This deal increased his income. At the same time, the cardinal spread a rumor that he was retiring from state affairs and was going to go to Rome to participate in the upcoming elections for a new Pope in connection with the death of Gregory XV .
Chapter 28
She came running to me, scared and trembling. She visited my house for the first time.
- Henri, save me! - she said desperately.
- Calm down, Maria, what happened? — I answered in a tone as calm and gentle as possible. - You are safe, no one will touch you.
- Oh, Henri, I'm lost! - Maria did not let up. - What have I done, God! I ruined myself! I destroyed the Queen, the King, France! I killed the heir to the throne!
“For God’s sake, calm down and speak in order,” I said, kissing her cold hands. - How could you destroy the whole of France? Don't blame yourself. Everything must not be as scary as you make it out to be in your lamentations. What actually happened?
- We started having fun, and she fell! - Maria said with despair, after which she threw herself on my bed and sobbed.
- Calm down, you can’t worry so much! — I continued to console her. - You forgot that you are pregnant, you should take care of yourself for the sake of your unborn child.
“It all doesn’t matter anymore,” Maria said sadly. - My child, being born healthy, will only worsen my situation. After all, I am guilty of the death of the Queen’s child! I deprived France of an heir!
- Is it really that serious? — I asked, seriously alarmed. - How did this happen?
I brought Maria a glass of water, splashed some wine in it, she frantically drank a soothing drink, pulled herself together and told the following story.
So, there were three of them: Queen Anne, Mary and their other inseparable friend, Gabrielle Angelique de Verneuil, the illegitimate daughter of Henry IV from his favorite Catherine Henrietta de Balzac d'Entragues, Marquise de Verneuil. Two of them were pregnant, the third, the Marquise de Verneuil, was still a girl. All three were not yet twenty years old. Returning from yet another cheerful gathering through a large and poorly lit hall in the Louvre, in which the royal throne was usually installed on the days of ceremonies, they noticed how beautifully the parquet was polished to a shine, and it occurred to these fools to ride on it at full speed, which they immediately And so they did, forgetting about the pregnancy, as well as the fact that Queen Anne had already had one miscarriage. In the darkness, Anna runs into the dais on which the throne is installed; she could not stay on her feet and fell to the floor. The next day, March 16, she goes into premature labor. The heir, whose birth was expected by all of Europe, dies from the stupidest fun, which, as Maria assures, was not started by her at all, which I, however, did not believe. How could two pregnant women have such fun! It’s good that Mary herself did not fall and no such misfortune happened to her, although what does this child mean on the scales of history in comparison with the unborn eldest son of the King? For me, of course, this child was more valuable, since I felt a serious involvement in the expected birth of him. But the King, of course, had a different opinion. He was seriously angry. Maria’s happiness was that he was away, he just had to find out about everything in detail. A letter came from him ordering Mary to be expelled from the palace forever.
“All is not lost yet, Maria,” I said. — How exactly is the King’s order formulated?
“They ordered me to be expelled from the palace,” Maria answered.
- Not from Paris, not from France, but just from the palace? — I grinned.
“I don’t understand your irony, Henri,” Maria said indignantly. - Isn't it the same thing?
— The order didn’t say that you were being removed from your positions? - I asked calmly.
- What positions are you talking about, Henri? - Maria asked, gradually realizing my words and calming down.
“As far as I know, you are Superintendent of the Queen’s Finances, Superintendent of the Queen’s Household, Head of the Queen’s Council,” I listed. — Have you been ordered to hand over these positions?
“Nothing has been said about this,” Maria answered, perking up.
“Do I understand correctly that if Queen Anne needs any sum of money, she should turn to you for it, since it is not proper for the Queen herself to be her own treasurer?” - I inquired. — And no one else has been appointed to this position instead of you?
- Rene, you bring me back to life! - Maria exclaimed.
I had already noticed that when Maria called me Henri, it meant that she was simply flirting with me, but when she called me Ren;, her feelings were almost truly tender.
“You should simply be in the farthest room of the palace, as far as possible from the Queen, but so that if necessary, she could meet with you,” I clarified. - In this case, you will explain your position by the need to fulfill your duties. In a week the King will calm down.
- Will he calm down? - Maria objected doubtfully. “He decided to ban me from seeing Anna forever.”
“He said it in the heat of the moment,” I muttered, doubting my own words. - Listen, Maria, you need an influential intercessor.
— An influential protector? - Maria grinned. - Where can I get it? Luyne died, I quarreled with Richelieu, Puisier hates me, like his father Sillery.
“I believe that you did not quarrel with Richelieu forever, because his niece is married to your nephew, isn’t that right?” - I asked.
“Oh, he, of course, dotes on his niece, but her husband is by no means my nephew, he is the nephew of my late husband de Luynes,” answered Maria. “Such a relationship means almost nothing.”
“You told me that the Duke de Chevreuse is very favorable to you,” I prompted.
“De Chevreuse is favorable to every skirt that has ever passed through the doors of the Louvre,” Maria waved it off.
- But you, too, seemed to reassure him? - I asked.
“The old pimp and cocotte Cond; really advised me not to be too strict with him,” Maria answered, shrugging her shoulders. “I believe she did this at the instigation of the Queen Mother, who wants to influence all more or less influential people, of which I was one just yesterday.
“That’s great,” I said. - Enlist the support of the Duke de Chevreuse, the King loves him. If the Duke stands up for you, your high position will be restored without any loss.
“Why on earth would he stand up for me?” - Maria objected, sticking out her lips. - I’m nothing to him! “Such intercession on my behalf could cost him the King’s favor.” He would most likely prefer to disown me forever rather than contradict the King.
“Marry him,” I suggested.
- Married?! - Maria exclaimed in surprise. - Why on earth?
- Listen, Maria, he doesn’t yet know that you can be disgraced! — I spoke with conviction. “If you resolve this issue this evening, tomorrow it will be impossible for him to go back on his word.” The Gizas do not go back on their words!
- But he hasn’t proposed to me yet? - Maria said confused.
“Go to him, get a couple of compliments from him, and then tell him that you agree to give in to his pressure,” I answered.
- Oh, that's how it's done? - she asked flirtatiously.
“Don’t pretend, you yourself know perfectly well how it’s done,” I grinned.
“And what, do you think that the Duke de Chevreuse will intercede for Mary before His Majesty?”
“The Duke de Chevreuse will stand up for the Duchess de Chevreuse not only before the King, but also before the Pope, before the Lord and before Satan,” I answered with conviction. “And this evening the future Duchess de Chevreuse must promise the Duke, her future husband, that she intends to make him chief falconer, chief chamberlain, constable, in the end.”
- But I can’t do this! - Maria objected.
“But he doesn’t yet know that you can’t do this,” I objected. “And then, if he stands up for you before the King, you will most likely be able to make him, if not a constable, then at least a chief falconer and chief chamberlain, or whatever?” Superintendent of Finance? Keeper of the Royal Seal? We'll think about it some more.
“Oh, Rene, you consoled me so much,” said Maria.
“Go to your future husband, Maria,” I answered. “By the way, the name Duchess de Chevreuse suits you very well.” The Duke will no doubt intercede for you, and you will be forgiven.
- What will happen to the Marquise de Verneuil? - Maria asked purely out of politeness towards her absent companion. - After all, the King was angry with her too.
“You will marry her to Bernard de Nogaret de la Valette, Duke d'Epernon,” I replied, blurting out this without any reason.
-Who is nine years older than her? - Maria exclaimed.
- Lord, who is saying this? - I was surprised. “After all, your late husband, the Duke of Luynes, was almost twenty-two years older than you, isn’t that right?” Your future husband, Claude of Lorraine, Duke de Chevreuse, is the same age as de Luynes, he is also twenty-two years older than you! What bothers you?
“A nine-year difference is not convenient,” Maria laughed. “With a difference of twenty-two years, you can, without a twinge of conscience, cuckold your husband, since he is old enough to be his wife’s father.” With a difference of five years, you can enjoy your husband no less than your lover. But a nine-year difference is neither this nor that. He's too young to be a cuckold, too old to be a lover!
“I believe that the Marquise de Verneuil will somehow understand her age-related contradictions,” I waved it off. “Besides, I’m not good at math at all.” Go to your future spouse, don’t waste time!
“Okay, Rene, if you insist, I’ll be nice to him,” Maria answered, looking down. - But keep in mind that I will only think about you.
“I had no doubt about it, my dear!” - I answered, kissed Maria on the lips and gently pressed her to me. “Believe me, Maria, if I were the Duke of Chevreuse, Claude of Lorraine, I would marry you without the slightest doubt.”
- If you were twenty-two years older than me? - Maria asked capriciously. - Fi, Henri, you probably wouldn’t be interesting to me.
“Well, I would allow you to cuckold me,” I lied easily.
Chapter 29
I was in a bad mood on Maria's wedding day. Yes, I agree, it was I who advised her about this marriage, but in those years I was still so young that I allowed myself such a stupid feeling as jealousy. Yes, you can love and be jealous, or love and not be jealous. Love has many colors and shades. Perhaps it seems strange to love a woman and advise her to get married. What was left for me? I met her when she was already married. This did not interfere with our relationship, it did not bother me or her. Now she has become a widow, but this did not create any bright prospects for our even greater rapprochement. I was not noble enough and certainly not rich enough to marry her, even if I wanted to. But I would not want this, because I have seen how easily Mary deceives people whom she assures of her love and devotion for them. I didn't want to be one of them. Not trusting her in anything, or almost nothing, is the only way not to be deceived by her, although I would not vouch for its reliability. Maria managed to deceive even those who did not believe a single word she said, such as Louis XIII . Indeed, if you know that they never believe you in anything, then you can deceive, for example, by telling the pure truth from time to time. I would rather carry poisonous spiders and scorpions in my pockets than marry Mary. Of course, I was not invited to the wedding celebration; we did not advertise our acquaintance.
At the very time when, according to my assumptions, Mary should have retired with her new husband to her wedding bed, I heard a cautious knock on my door.
- Come in, Bazin, you know the door is not locked! - I answered.
- This is not Bazin, Monsieur Musketeer! - answered a charming female voice that I had never heard before. -Will you let me in?
“The owner of such a wonderful voice can come to me without asking permission!” — I answered, hoping that the visitor’s appearance would not disappoint me.
The doors opened and she did not disappoint me.
- Madam! - I exclaimed. - It’s still so far before Christmas. Why do such miracles happen?
-What do you call miracles, Mr. Musketeer? — the stranger asked playfully.
“Isn’t it a miracle that a charming fairy visits the musketeer abbot’s room, which is something between a barracks and a monastic cell?” - I asked.
- And in what church school are novices taught the art of compliments and lies? — the visitor asked with a laugh.
“When I called you a fairy, I was hardly lying one iota, for you are as sweet as you are courteous, as beautiful as you are young, and as slender as you are brave,” I replied.
“If you consider me brave only because I entered a bachelor’s house without an invitation and without an entourage, then I know in advance that nothing bad threatens me in this house,” the stranger answered carefree.
“So, it follows that you know me so well that you know that I will not harm you, or so badly that you consider me a schema-monger,” I suggested. -Which of the two assumptions is correct?
“I know you, Monsieur d’Herblay, from my cousin’s stories,” she answered.
“Oh, yes, of course,” I answered with an absent-minded look. “If your cousin told me about me, then you are well aware of me, because cousins usually do not hide anything from each other.”
“How long will we continue to play this game where we have to guess the name of the visitor? - I thought, starting to feel annoyed. “At least she told me the name of this cousin of hers so that I could know what to expect from her!”
“Madam, but I don’t accept confessions at home,” I answered. “Our charter strictly prohibits this.” Wouldn't it be better for you to come to the confessional while I'm there?
- Oh, I didn’t come to you for confession at all! - the stranger exclaimed. - Why do you think so?
“Then I don’t quite understand,” I muttered.
“Camille Bois-Tracy, cousin of Marie de Luigne, who from now on is called the Duchess de Chevreuse,” the beautiful visitor finally introduced herself.
“I’m extremely flattered and extremely surprised at the same time!” - I exclaimed with sincere surprise and pride. “I am, indeed, somewhat acquainted with your cousin, as you seem to know.” We agree with her on some issues, so sometimes we talk about these abstract topics.
- What is it called now? - Camilla said with the most serious look, after which she looked into my eyes and laughed with the most cheerful look.
“Forgive me, madam, I am not used to visits from noble ladies and my house is not suitable for receiving such high-ranking persons, so wouldn’t it be better for us to choose a more dignified place for the conversation that you apparently came to have with me? ” - I said, wondering how much money I had, and which of the nearest taverns was more suitable for a conversation with the wife of Monsieur de Bois-Tracy.
- Listen, I don’t intend to talk to you at all! - Camilla exclaimed. - I came to satisfy my curiosity!
- Well, have you satisfied him yet? - I asked coldly.
- Don’t sulk like that, it doesn’t suit you! - Camilla said with a laugh. - The fact is that Maria had no secrets from me. None or almost none. Exactly until the moment when, as I understood, she met you.
- How did you understand this? - I asked.
“Oh, not everything can be hidden, but that’s not the point,” Camilla replied. “I thought that if Maria doesn’t tell me about you, then you are a very interesting person.”
“I understand,” I said. - That's the reason for looking at me.
- Of course! - Camilla exclaimed. “I was curious, who are you?” A mysterious conspirator, like Father Joseph, a kind of Jesuit, shrouded in mystery, or, on the contrary, a hero-lover, courteous and gallant, whom Maria values so much that she is afraid that I will take him away from her.
- And who did you find in me? - I asked with a grin.
- You know what? - Camilla said thoughtfully. “I expected to find a mysterious Jesuit, but after your first remark I decided that I had found a skilled lover after all.”
“I think you’re mistaken, madam,” I waved him off with a smile. “I am neither one nor the other, and Maria simply decided that meeting me is not an event that should be boasted about, or which makes sense to remember in front of anyone else.”
“If you hadn’t said this, I would have doubted it for some time, but now I know for sure!” - Camilla exclaimed. “You are, indeed, neither one nor the other, since you are both at the same time!”
- Well, you know! — I exclaimed, taken aback by her conclusion.
- Yes, you are a mysterious Jesuit, who is also the best lover that Maria could find, and she has exceptional intuition about this! - Camilla answered in a tone that did not allow for objections.
“I don’t dare argue with you, madam, but I also can’t agree,” I muttered with ostentatious embarrassment, wondering what gave her the reason for such far-reaching conclusions.
“Oh, leave this “madam,” for God’s sake,” she said with the air of a tired listener, as if I had recited to her the first fifty verses of Homer’s Iliad. - Camilla. I told you my name is Camilla. And you, it seems, Henri?
“Henri, or Rene, as you wish,” I answered.
- Henri, don’t you think that you are wasting your time on useless conversations? she asked.
After these words, she resolutely entered the room, took off her hat and gloves, instantly determined where the bedroom was and resolutely entered it.
This is how my acquaintance with Camille de Bois-Tracy began.
This meeting was unforgettable, and not at all because of this bold and unexpected dialogue that I have just described.
Chapter 30
The next morning two noblemen came to me.
“Sir, please follow us,” said one of them, the taller one, threatening me with a musket.
- What is this musket for? - I asked. - If you force me, I reserve the right to resist, if you force me to duel, I will go without coercion, but if you are going to kill me, why are you hesitating, what is stopping you?
“I’m going to kill you,” confirmed the tall nobleman. “But I respect the code of honor, so I will kill you in a duel.”
“In that case, put away your musket,” I replied, “after all, a duel presupposes that the opponents have the same weapons, and I am not armed.” Besides, I am not aware of the reasons for dueling with you, this is not how it is done.
“It is enough that I am aware that you are showing excessive attention to the lady who is related to me by marriage,” the tall nobleman almost shouted with anger. “This will be over very soon, and you will no longer resume your treacherous approaches to her in my absence.”
In response, I smiled as brightly as I could muster. Only Maria's husband or Camilla's husband could express their complaints to me. But Mary’s first husband had already appeared before the Creator, making her a widow, while her second husband only became one last night, and, of course, they spent the previous night together. Also, it couldn’t be Camilla’s husband, since I only met her yesterday and didn’t visit her at home. However, I have never met married women in their homes, so the accusation made was ridiculous.
“So that you do not consider me a coward, I accept your challenge without any conditions,” I replied. “But now that we both know that the duel will take place, I consider it my duty to inform you that you have the wrong address.” I have no part in knowing your wife, and I hope I never will, unless you yourself come to introduce me to her. And I did not have the honor of visiting your house, since I do not have such a habit, and never in my entire life have I been on a date with a married woman in her house. My dates take place on neutral territory.
- This can’t be! - my opponent cried. - You are Mr. Aramis, aren’t you? My wife herself confessed to me that she is having an affair with you!
“Reverend sir,” I answered. “I have often had the opportunity to confess to women of very different ages, so I know their manners somewhat better than you.” Quite often, I assure you, they ensure that their husbands are jealous of them only in order to receive additional confirmation that their husbands have not lost interest in them. And then they all regret that they awakened the beast in their spouse, and they come to me with repentance, and some even for advice.
“But why did she point specifically at you?” - asked the tall nobleman doubtfully.
“Since my name is known, it easily comes to mind, because, frankly, I sometimes noticed that some parishioners look at me not only as a clergyman,” I suggested. - Besides, I sometimes wear the clothes of a musketeer, which is what I am at my core. I assume that this double and somewhat contradictory image attracts them. Perhaps, in your mind, your wife imagined me... How I was trying to make a closer acquaintance with her than is permissible for a confessor. But, believe me, such an acquaintance does not appear in my fantasies. I do not exclude the possibility that I saw your wife in the temple, or perhaps near it, but I do not have the slightest idea who we are talking about, and I am not trying to find out.
“And yet I think that there is no smoke without fire,” the offended nobleman said doubtfully. “Would she start slandering you if there was nothing between you?”
“Only in this case would she begin to slander,” I said. - Think for yourself! Who can a woman accuse of harassment when seeking protection from her husband? Only the one she's angry with! Therefore, it cannot be a man with whom she has too close and intimate a relationship. A woman can only blame the one who abandoned her, or the one who rejected her advances, or, in extreme cases, if she has neither one nor the other, then a completely stranger to her, or someone who, perhaps, himself Unknowingly, he offended her in some way. Perhaps I accidentally stepped on her beloved dog, or did not bring her holy water when she expected it from me, or smiled at her more beautiful friend.
- My wife has no friends who are more beautiful than her! - the tall nobleman retorted arrogantly.
“Listen, sir,” I said. “Since we are going to fight a duel, I have the right to know your name, and this would greatly facilitate my communication with you.”
“I am the Marquis de Brenvilliers,” answered the tall nobleman. “And this is my friend, Comte de Ronchamp.”
“Well, it’s very nice to meet you,” I said with a bow. - Dear Count, I have a proposal for you. Because if I bring my second, you will also have to cross swords with him, or perhaps the Marquis prefers a duel with muskets? In this case, the duel could end badly not only for the Marquis and me, the issue of the duel between whom has already been resolved, but also for you and for my friend. I would not want to expose either you or my friend to needless danger, especially since, in fact, we have no reason to quarrel.
- But let me! - The Marquis was indignant. - How is it possible - a duel without seconds? Who will monitor compliance with the dueling code?
“You probably forgot, gentlemen, that duels have been prohibited for almost a year now, so being killed in a duel is not the worst outcome, since the scaffold awaits the survivors,” I said with a smile. “If my fate is to die from the blow of the executioner’s ax on my neck, since I do not allow the possibility that the Marquis will kill me, then let me, in any case, take care that the same fate does not share with me.” one of my best friends and one of the most worthy nobles of France.
— One of the most worthy nobles of France? - asked the Marquis in surprise. - Is your friend Mister de Sully, or Mister de Bassompierre? Or perhaps de Marillac? Or perhaps Monsieur de Schomberg?
“My friend is the Comte de La F;re,” I answered.
- Count de La F;re is your friend?! - exclaimed the Marquis. “In that case, I believe every word you say, because Count de La F;re would not be friends with a liar.”
“That’s wonderful, Monsieur Marquis, but I hope you’re not going to apologize to me?” — I asked with concern. “Be that as it may, although I do not enjoy meeting the executioner on the Place de Greve, I cannot allow one of us to apologize after such an ardent expression of hostility.” It seems to me that the issue of a duel can hardly be resolved by agreeing to the point that our conversation did not exist at all, or by forcing one of us to apologize to the other.
“But I believe that, taking into account the elimination of the reasons for a serious fight, we will not sin against the code of dueling if I offer to fight with rapiers,” suggested the Marquis.
“Fighting with rapiers will look like buffoonery; it cannot in any way replace a real battle, in which the parties risk their lives, or at least their health,” I objected.
“Our battle will be serious if both sides risk something that would be no less significant for them than their health,” continued the Marquis. “We'll bet something big.” I am ready to bet my entire fortune against your entire fortune, and the winner will take the entire bet. In this case, no one will dare to say that our battle has turned into buffoonery.
“But that would be unfair, since my capital is very modest, while your marquisate, I believe, brings in very significant income,” I objected. “Besides, you are a family man, I cannot take upon myself the sin of being the cause of your ruin.”
- What do you propose? — the Marquis asked in bewilderment.
“Monsieur Marquis, you and I have found ourselves in an absurd situation thanks to your wife’s invention,” I said. “For this reason, it is only fair that you bet all her jewelry against my entire fortune.”
“But in this case, I risk very little, while you risk your entire fortune!” - exclaimed the Marquis. “I can’t afford to be so unfair to you!”
“Believe me, Marquis, you risk no less than I,” I objected. -So, let's go to the hall where the musketeers practice fencing. There we will find Count de La F;re, who we will need not as a second, but as a witness to our bet. I hope that the royal edict does not prohibit such competitions, so that neither the winner nor the loser faces a meeting with the executioner.
Need I say that I dealt the Marquis five blows to the chest with a rapier with a blunt tip, each of which would have been fatal if we had fought with swords? The mark himself only barely touched my left hand before receiving the fifth injection. The Marquis was as pale as a sheet.
“Mr. Aramis,” he said. - I'm stunned! I have always considered myself a good swordsman, but if it weren’t for your indulgence in my sincere delusion, I would have been killed five times already! Of course, all my wife’s jewelry is now yours!
- Mister Marquis! - I answered. “I beg you to leave your jewelry to your wife, except perhaps some ring, which could serve as a reminder to me of this unexpected acquaintance with you.” Believe me, this will be quite enough.
- What nobility! - exclaimed the Marquis. - But I cannot accept your self-sacrifice!
“Marquis,” said Athos. - Believe me, I know M. d'Herblay very well. If he has decided something, then it is completely useless to argue with him. He is not one of those people who can afford to profit from jewelry belonging to some noble lady. I'm sure your spouse just wanted to flirt with you a little, so forgive her this little prank. It would be too cruel to leave the marquise without all her jewelry.
- Gentlemen, I am visiting you, and for this reason I obey your rules, but with one condition! - answered the marquis. “I won’t give you a ring, but this little thing.”
After these words, the Marquis unbuttoned the collar of his caftan and took off his golden crucifix, decorated with magnificent diamonds, which hung on a magnificent cord of twisted silk and gold threads.
I must say, this crucifix could adorn the chest of a prince of the blood and even a king. I wanted to refuse, but Athos made a convincing gesture with his eyes and a nod of his head, which meant: “Take it, Aramis, because in the end this jealous person must be punished for his suspiciousness!”
“If you refuse to accept this crucifix, our duel will continue,” said the Marquis, either jokingly or seriously.
“I will not offend you by refusing, Marquis,” I said, accepting the crucifix and putting it around my neck.
“Gentlemen, I believe that tonight we should celebrate our acquaintance and the wonderful resolution of all misunderstandings!” - Athos exclaimed.
“Your proposal has been accepted,” said the Comte de Ronchamp.
- Count, during all this time you have not uttered a single extra word and almost not a single phrase! - I admired.
“I speak only when it is required,” replied de Ronchamp with a bow.
After these words, Athos looked very carefully at the Comte de Ronchamp, after which he warmly shook his hand.
“I wonder, Monsieur d’Herblay, how our duel would have ended if I had preferred muskets?” - asked the marquis.
“We can find out easily,” I replied. - Let's go to the shooting range.
The Marquis shot first. Out of ten shots from fifty steps, he scored eighty points, after which he looked at me with pride. I hit ninety nine. The first shot from an unfamiliar musket hit the nine, the rest hit the ten.
After this, the Marquis shook my hand, but could not resist hugging me.
In the evening, another surprise awaited the Marquis. Everyone who sees Porthos eating and drinking for the first time remembers this spectacle for a long time.
Chapter 31
Two days later I received a letter sent through Bazin, signed by the Marquis de Brenvilliers. I quote it from memory:
“Dear Chevalier d'Herblay! I hope you will agree that I consider and call you my friend? I invite you to my apartment at seven o’clock this evening for an important conversation. I need your advice because I recognize your assertion that you are a much better judge of a woman's character and woman's heart than I am. I would be grateful if you respond to my request. You may bring with you your friends, the Comte de La F;re and the Chevalier du Valon, if you see fit.
Yours sincerely, Marquis de Brenvilliers."
Below was a note about how best to find the marquis’s apartment and what to say to the gatekeeper at the entrance.
We served in Athos at the same time, so we agreed on a joint visit there. Porthos was not on duty at the time.
After completing all the work at work, there was little time left, but we expected to find Porthos in one of the taverns where he loved to dine, since the pig with horseradish there had the most golden brown and crispy crust, which did not allow the fat to leak out onto the plate ahead of time. However, the wine they served there was also quite decent, five-year-old Bordeaux.
When we passed this tavern, dusk had already fallen.
“I’ll look into the inn, I hope to find Porthos there.” - said Athos. - If he is there, I will bring him.
“Okay, I’ll wait at the entrance,” I agreed.
Athos disappeared through the door. I decided that, obviously, Porthos had not yet finished his dinner, which was not surprising given his usual appetite.
- Monsieur d'Herblay? — a ringing and melodic female voice came from the darkness. - Is it really you? What destinies?
“Madam, it’s really me, but do I know you?” - I answered.
“How can you not know someone whose life you have had such a significant impact on?” - asked a voice in which I thought I heard a grin.
- Me, madam? - I was surprised. “Would you mind saying your name in that case?”
“You should hardly know my name,” answered the lady from the darkness. “What you really should know is that you were supposed to kill my husband in a duel, freeing me from him, and instead you turned him against me.”
—Are you the wife of the Marquis de Brenvilliers? - I asked. “Perhaps you will come out of the darkness if you want to talk to me?”
- This minute, sir! - she answered.
I expected a woman to emerge from the darkness, but my expectations were only partially realized. A hand appeared from the darkness, holding a small musket, pointed directly at me. A shot rang out, I felt a strong blow to my chest and fell.
As if through a dream, I heard: “You are mistaken, Aramis, I am not the wife of the Marquis de Brenvilliers, but his widow.” After that I lost consciousness.
I woke up in the barracks. Our doctor de Cleru bent over me and brought a disgusting-smelling bottle to my nose. Apparently, his smell brought me to my senses.
- How are you feeling, Aramis? - he asked.
“My chest hurts,” I answered and didn’t recognize my voice.
“You are very lucky,” replied de Cleru. “You were shot from a small musket, the destructive power of which is small, since the bullet itself is small. But still, you would have already appeared before St. Peter if it were not for this wide and rather thick golden cross, which took the blow of this bullet. Your ribs may be sore, I cannot rule out cracks, but I have carefully examined and palpated you, so I guarantee that there is no fracture, and you will probably soon recover completely, although, of course, you will need complete rest for the next few days.
“Yes, some lady shot at me, whom I didn’t see, but I heard her voice,” I said in a voice that seemed weak and cracked to me.
“It is obviously difficult for you to speak, since every breath is not easy for you,” said de Cleru. - Try to breathe with your stomach.
“It seems to me that I feel even better than you described, although I don’t recognize my voice and the place of the blow, of course, hurts,” I said. - I think that in a couple of days I will fully recover.
“Five days, no less,” de Cleru objected categorically. “And thank God for this cross.” It looks as if the Savior himself protected you from this bullet, as if Satan himself fired it at you.
“You have no idea, dear de Cleru, how close your assumption is to the truth,” said Athos, whom I did not see, but I could not help but recognize his voice.
-Have you seen her, Athos? - I asked, rising from the bed and fixing my gaze on Athos, next to whom Porthos was also sitting.
“Gentlemen, forgive me, I have to leave you, as other patients are waiting for me,” said de Cleru. “Aramis, if you follow my instructions and remain calm, perhaps three or five days will be enough for you to fully recover.” If you immediately get into the saddle and ride, as usual, about your musketeer duties, your ribs will hurt for at least another two weeks.
“Thank you, Mister de Cleru, we will make sure that our friend follows the regimen you prescribed,” Athos answered for everyone, after which the doctor left to go about his business.
“Tell me, Athos, did you manage to see this lady?” - I asked again.
“I only saw the silhouette of your would-be killer rapidly disappearing in the darkness,” answered Athos. “I fired, and you know that I can’t complain about my accuracy, but the musket ball did no harm to this ghost, this fiend of hell.” I call her that because I heard her last words and am convinced that I know that voice.
“It was the wife of the Marquis de Brenvilliers,” I said. “But I don’t understand the reason why she wanted to kill me.”
“Her last words were that she was not his wife, but a widow,” Athos clarified. “And she was apparently right, because the Marquess was killed, so if she was married to him, she is now his widow.
-Who killed him? - I asked.
“The case is being investigated by the Crown Prosecutor's Office, and they believe it is a robbery,” Athos replied. — The marquis’s summer house burned down, the charred corpses of a man and a woman were found in it, investigators believe that the marquis’s house was robbed, after which the marquis himself and his wife were killed in this summer house, and the house was set on fire. But in this case, his widow could not shoot at you and call herself his widow. I think that one of his maids was killed along with the Marquis, and this was done so that the investigators of the royal prosecutor's office would decide that not only the Marquis, but also the Marchioness, had died. Obviously, she had reasons to avoid meeting with law enforcement officials.
“The woman who shot me probably thought I was dead when she uttered her ominous phrase,” I remembered. -This probably confirms your assumption, Athos. She was not afraid of exposure on my part.
“Of course, you are right, Aramis, and, besides, she did not expect that in response to the shot someone would run out of the tavern so soon, and there was no one on the street except you,” said Athos . “I ’ll ask Count Ronchamp to get me a portrait of this woman.”
- What do you need it for, Athos? - I was surprised. “If she died, we should forget about her, but if she escaped and it was she who shot at me, then, most likely, she will leave France and we will not have to meet with her again.”
“I wish you were right, Aramis, but I believe that you are three times wrong in your assumptions,” said Athos gloomily.
Knowing that Athos is not given to metaphors, I was very surprised by this remark that I was wrong three times, so I asked a question that escaped me involuntarily.
- Why three times? - I asked ironically.
“First of all, you are mistaken in believing that she will leave France,” answered Athos. “Secondly, you are mistaken in thinking that if she is alive, then we will not have to meet with her again.” Thirdly, you are just as mistaken as I was in thinking that someone you consider dead should be forgotten.
“That sounds extremely mysterious,” I said.
Porthos, who had not previously taken part in our conversation, but had only listened attentively, nodded and looked at Athos expectantly.
“My friends,” said Athos. “Like I said, I recognized that voice.” It belonged to a woman, smart, young, beautiful and equally cunning, with whom I was well acquainted. I sincerely considered her dead. I believed that she was cast into the very abyss of hell. But there are, apparently, such sinners whom even hell itself does not want to accept into its bosom. Not otherwise than Satan himself cast her out, not wanting to accept her. I admit, of course, that at the thought of this my hand trembled and I missed. It’s not easy to shoot in the back, and even at a woman, especially one whom he knew and whom he considered dead. And yet I believe that I did not miss.
“Perhaps she was wearing chain mail because she was plotting murder?” - asked Porthos.
“Not every chain mail will protect against a bullet from a good musket,” Athos doubted. “I’m talking about the one I had, not the one she shot from.” But, of course, it cannot be ruled out that she wore some kind of shields or something similar under her cloak.
- Yes, even if she were Satan himself, we will find her and avenge the death of such a glorious marquis! - exclaimed Porthos.
“We’ll look for her,” Athos agreed. “And we will try to neutralize it.” But if she chose Aramis as her victim, I believe it was no coincidence. If this monster is alive, its main target is me, and it has decided to strike my friends first and then take revenge on me. From now on, my friends, you are in mortal danger.
“Danger is a common state for a musketeer,” Porthos said philosophically. - One more danger, one less danger - what difference does it make? But why would some woman, whom we don’t even know, seek to harm us, and even kill us?
“The actions of this woman cannot be understood from the standpoint of common sense, for her there are no commandments of God, her understanding of expediency is not too different from the opinion of a poisonous snake disturbed in a clutch of eggs,” answered Athos. “She will bite everything she can reach with her poisonous teeth.” She is infuriated by the very thought that someone next to her could be happy, and if this someone is at least somehow connected with the one against whom she harbors a mortal grudge, she will not stand up for the means of dealing with him.
“It turns out that you, Athos, inflicted a mortal insult on her?” - I asked.
“Yes, that’s true, my friends, I really offended her,” Athos agreed.
“If she herself was not respectful enough to you, she should not be offended by your lack of respect for her,” answered Porthos.
“Yes, dear Porthos, I was not respectful enough to her after the same action on her part,” Athos answered with a small grin.
“Well, if you inflicted equal insults on each other, then your equal insults could ultimately be forgiven,” I said innocently.
“She offended me because she tried to take away from me something that I value much more than life,” answered Athos. “She almost destroyed my life and my honor.” After that, she also tried to take my life, which, however, I might have allowed her to do if the issue of honor had already been settled. But I could not allow her to kill me before I had removed the consequences of the shame she had brought upon my family. My reciprocal offense that I inflicted on her was that I killed her, without attempting, however, to sully her honor, since there was nothing left to sully there.
- You say that you killed her, Athos, meanwhile, she is alive, and she herself can kill anyone she wants! - I objected.
“If it was not hell that returned her, then my attempt to cleanse the Earth of her was not as successful as I thought,” Athos answered. “Perhaps I should thank fate that my attempt failed, if this fact helps me to be reconciled with the Lord after my death, but there is no doubt that this same fact will probably hasten my meeting with Him, since this woman delivers her blows in the most treacherous way, so that I will hardly be able to escape from her revenge. I only pray to the Lord that her revenge will be limited to me and will not affect you, my friends.
- Athos, stop, I beg you, these gloomy predictions! - I exclaimed, and only the deepest respect for the count kept me from calling it “grandmother’s lamentations.” “I, like, I suppose, Porthos, does not at all smile at leaving you alone with danger, no matter who it comes from, even from Satan himself.” I propose that our motto be “One for all, and all for one!” So if any danger threatens you, for Porthos and I it is exactly the same as if it threatened us.
Athos silently looked into my eyes, then into the eyes of Porthos, and hugged us both.
Porthos wanted to hug Athos and me in response, but I exclaimed in a timely manner:
- Porthos! I beg you! Half-heartedly! Otherwise my ribs will never grow together again! After all, you promised Dr. de Cleru to take care of my compliance with the rest regime!
Porthos patted me on the back so tenderly that one might have thought that it was just a small and quite tame bear striking me with the most friendly intentions.
Chapter 32
In the next four years, Richelieu's career reached its peak; as a result of several successful political combinations, he became the first minister and the de facto head of political power in France. This was greatly facilitated by the support of the Queen Mother, Father Joseph and two influential Jesuits, which made me want to understand for myself the role of the Jesuits in the political events of France and Europe. I became convinced that I should take a closer look at this community and, if possible, enter it and make some kind of career within it, which, as I realized, may turn out to be far from useless.
But first things first.
Richelieu became a cardinal, his enemies were angry, but some were happy about this, or pretended to be happy, realizing that such loyalty to someone who is rapidly moving towards higher power is good for health. The poet Malherbe compared France to a ship that needs the valiant hand of Richelieu in order to cope with the storm.
Meanwhile, the King, who had become estranged from the Queen, found himself a new favorite in the person of the Marquise de La Vieville. The former captain of the royal musketeers now occupied the place of the kingdom's chief falconer. Just think, could anyone call such a move career growth? Go from commanding a valiant company of royal bodyguards to commanding the hunting birds and those who support and train them! But the King could be seen much more often on the hunt than in war! What do you want?
Meanwhile, Richelieu began his literary work. He began to write pamphlets ridiculing Puisier's policy, showing its destructiveness. Indeed, under this first minister, the affairs of France were no better than under de Luynes (I recalled that the then unknown my Lord Guy, arriving with an embassy, addressed not the King, but de Luynes, which outraged even the soft-hearted Louis). Subsequently, it was this my Lord Guy who became Earl of Carlyle, whose wife, Countess Carlyle, was very friendly with Milady, the one who caused us so much trouble, and about whom I have already written something in the previous chapter. However, under Puisier, foreign diplomats also said that they saw Puisier, but did not see the King of France. His policy in Northern Italy was a complete failure, a betrayal of French interests. Richelieu successfully used this, recalling Henry IV in his pamphlets , and gently hinting that the current policy was in no way worthy of the son of such a great King. At the same time, such verbal turns were chosen that did not in any way diminish the greatness of the current King, but only called on him to engage in politics himself, expressing the confidence that such a great King as Louis XIII , which he, of course, never was, would have decided everything much better tasks of government than its stupid ministers. Of course, behind this there was a proposal for the King himself to take full power into his hands, that is, first of all, to drive out all the current ministers. The cunning Richelieu understood that in this case he would only advise the King on what to do, which was tantamount to direct management of all matters, since Louis never rejected a single piece of Richelieu’s advice, and in the future he always acted only as his all-powerful first minister advised. Richelieu's pamphlets were signed by other authors, or were not signed at all, and only now do I know exactly who their author was. They had the effect they were intended to have. The king was dissatisfied with the diplomacy of Sillery, the first minister, and his son Puisier, the chairman of the royal council, these gentlemen were dismissed, and the Marquis de La Vieville was called in their place, whom until that time Sillery had mistakenly considered his ally and like-minded person. In addition, Louis XIII discovered, not without the help of Richelieu, that the very significant sums allocated by him to help the allies of France lingered in the hands of the Sillery family and his son Puisier, after which the King dismissed both of them, and entrusted the leadership of the royal council to de La Vieville . Well, that’s exactly what Richelieu wanted. It would be difficult for him to overthrow this couple, while taking power from the weak hands of de La Vieville was no more difficult than taking candy from a child. Worthless La Vieville mistakenly saw Richelieu as a friend, not yet knowing that the formula “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” only works until the time when your enemy should be feared and must be overthrown. After the former all-powerful common enemy is defeated, everyone acts exclusively for himself. Naive La Vieville turned to Richelieu for advice, and received such advice, following which, he dug himself deeper and deeper.
But in giving this advice, Richelieu did it so skillfully that de La Vieville could not suspect a trick; he saw the reasons for his failures not in bad recommendations, but in their poor execution, so he blamed himself more than his adviser. As a result, he was forced to turn to Richelieu for help, inviting him to join the Royal Council without the right to vote.
Realizing what was behind this, Richelieu resolutely refused. The Queen Mother stood up for him, demanding that her favorite be given a worthy place corresponding to his high rank of cardinal. In response to this, de La Vieville uttered perhaps the last clever phrase of his entire life, prophetically exclaiming: “Madame! You are demanding of me something that will inevitably lead to my ruin, and I am not sure that the time will not come when Your Majesty will repent of having so recklessly promoted to such a high position a person whom he did not know well enough!”
Prophecies come true because those to whom they are spoken do not pay any attention to them. So Marie de Medici did not pay attention to what de La Vieville told her, since she still continued to adore her favorite Richelieu, not realizing that for him she was only a bridge to the pinnacle of power , passing along which, it is not only possible to destroy him, but and it is necessary to do this.
Richelieu rejected the offer to join the royal council with an advisory vote, and also rejected two tempting offers of lucrative appointments to diplomatic posts, after which the King intervened, who granted Richelieu a post in the royal council with the right to a decisive vote in discussing all issues. The cardinal had no specific duty on the council, so he could intervene in all matters, which he did, and this in turn convinced all the other members of the royal council that he had a special duty, which was in control of everyone and everything. All members of the council recognized his leadership; La Vieville himself became so afraid of the all-powerful cardinal that his mere glance simply paralyzed the poor fellow. Remaining nominally first minister, he became afraid to make any decisions without Richelieu's sanction. At this moment, a new wave of pamphlets arose, denouncing the mediocrity of de La Vieville. We know that the author of these pamphlets was again Richelieu himself, as well as his assistant Fancan.
The king increasingly began to consult with Richelieu on an increasing range of issues, inviting him to his office; their conversations became longer and more meaningful. Richelieu took advantage of this to replace the ministers most opposed to him with his own people, after which, in a note to the King, he substantiated the need for a radical change in French policy in Northern Italy, especially in the case of Valtellina, that is, the area through which the two Habsburg empires could unite to act together. Louis XIII was finally convinced that foreign policy should be left to Richelieu, while he simply began to ignore his first minister La Vieville. Finally, he invited Richelieu not only to head the royal council, but also to completely determine its composition himself. The new line-up included Schomberg, Marillac, Chapminy, Molay and others. The king approved this council without a single amendment.
In addition, Richelieu put forward one more condition. He convinced the King that the problem with all previous councils was that the composition changed too often, which did not allow the work to be organized properly. He asked the King for a promise not to change the composition of this approved royal council without reason, to which he received full consent.
La Vieville, realizing that he had lost everything, decided on one last trick. He achieved an audience with great difficulty, and declared to the King: “I know, Sir, that Your Majesty no longer needs my services!” He probably expected a denial of this news, but the King only looked at him coldly, not deigning to object or soften this bitter pill for his former favorite.
However, the King did not remain indifferent to his former favorite. The next day, La Vieville was arrested by the captain of the royal musketeers, de Treville, after which La Vieville, who had not yet been officially removed from office, was taken to Aboise prison, where he spent 13 months while an investigation was underway on charges of fraud and bribery. Of course, this accusation had a basis, and who was free from such accusations among those who soared so high? I don't know any of them.
With the arrest of La Vieville, Richelieu's eighteen-year reign as the first minister of France, in fact the main person in the kingdom, began. These eighteen years, in their consequences, could be called an entire era.
You ask me, what do the Jesuits have to do with it? Who do you think has been instilling in the King all this time that he should reconcile with his mother, listen to her advice, accept Richelieu recommended by her, give him a worthy place in the royal council, put in a good word for him with the Pope so that he can be made a cardinal? His friends were Jesuit confessors, whom Richelieu’s closest friend, Father Joseph, helped to properly set up. Richelieu made it clear to the papal legates that the new policy of France would be fully consistent with the interests of the Holy See, that the Supreme Pontiff would only benefit from the fact that Cardinal Richelieu would become the first minister of France. And indeed, France, under the influence of Richelieu, supported the Pope exactly until Richelieu established himself in his new position, until he strengthened himself, appointing his people as ministers, removing or depriving all of his enemies of any strength. Immediately after Richelieu's power became unshakable, he ceased to pay any attention to the interests of the Pope, concentrating all his efforts exclusively on the interests of France, fighting for her power and unity, strengthening her wealth and political influence in Europe, that is, for the weakening of the Holy Roman Empire, for the weakening of the two Habsburg dynasties, for depriving the regions of their significance. This was achieved by many methods and for this France paid a high price. He abolished the elections of governors, replacing the elected representatives of the provinces with governors appointed by himself. The fortresses that allowed the governors to feel safe were torn down at his behest. The next logical step was a march on La Rochelle in order to deprive the separate Huguenot regions of the opportunity to pursue their own independent policies, and in particular, to exclude their union with England. This did not stop Richelieu from seeking an alliance with England himself, for which purpose the younger sister of Louis XIII , Henrietta, was offered as a wife to the heir to the English Crown, Prince Charles. At the same time, Spain intended to arrange the marriage of Charles with the Spanish princess, so a serious struggle began on this field. Richelieu won it brilliantly. But more on this in the following chapters.
Chapter 33
- Henri, I need advice! - Chevrette exclaimed at our next meeting.
“Thank God, you noticed that I still have brains, and not just...” I chuckled.
- No, you're wrong, Henri! - Maria objected. “Our close relationship, of course, brings me a lot of joy, but I value you not only for your gallantry.
“I only meant a strong hand, able to wield a sword and a musket equally well,” I finished with a smile. “And also a brave heart, as I believe you can already see.”
“Oh, if I need the help of a military man, I will find where to ask for it, and I will not risk you so recklessly again,” Maria waved it off. “What I appreciate about you is that I can completely trust you, and not that you can be drawn into an intrigue where, God forbid, you could be killed.”
- So what did you want to consult with me about? — I asked, returning to the beginning of the conversation.
“Anna is starting to grow cold towards me,” Maria said with despair.
“In this sense, I can hardly advise anything,” I said dryly.
“You don’t understand, Henri!” - Maria objected and burst out laughing, realizing what I was hinting at. - No, in the respect you are talking about, everything is fine with us. I mean, I can't entertain her enough.
— What kind of entertainment does the Queen like? - I asked.
“Very different, but most of all – those that flatter her pride,” answered Maria.
- Do you mean compliments from men? - I asked.
- Oh, she’s used to this, because she’s the Queen! - Chevrette objected. — I mean those of her personal achievements that can be boasted, for example, among her closest people.
- Do you want to give her a reason to brag about something to you? - I was surprised.
“She considers the closest people to her not me at all, but her brother, the King of Spain!” - Maria exclaimed.
“And I thought that the closest person to her was the King of France!” - I was surprised.
“King Louis is close to her before the Lord, and King Philip is close to her in spirit, in the common childhood in the family,” Maria said with a sigh. “Unfortunately, she doesn’t have too many topics for letters to him.” All of her correspondence has recently come under suspicion. Richelieu inspired Louis that such letters could contain information that would harm French foreign policy.
- And from now on, His Majesty reads her letters before they are sent? - I asked.
“No, he just asked her not to write anything that concerns the interests of the state, that is, not to touch on issues of politics and religion in letters to Spain,” Maria answered. “After all, the King cannot stoop to read letters from his wife that are not addressed to him!”
Maria was wrong. Subsequent events showed that the King could very well stoop to such an action. But at the time when this conversation took place, such an assurance was quite plausible.
“So, you need to give the Queen a reason to brag to her brother Philip about something that is not related to politics or religion,” I concluded. - What, for example, do other Kings brag about?
“For example, the Duke of Buckingham boasted that in England he had the oldest man in the world, and the tallest man, and the shortest man in the world,” said Maria.
“This raises a lot of questions,” I said. - First of all, who is this Duke of Buckingham? Secondly, why does he call what is available in England his own? Thirdly, what gives him such confidence?
“The Duke of Buckingham, dear Henri, is the actual uncrowned King of England, since the crowned King James I turns into his wife from time to time,” answered Maria.
- Even so? - I was surprised. - How inventive Kings can be! I believed that the inventions of Henry III , which were sometimes used by both Henry IV and our crowned Louis XIII , went far beyond the ordinary! Using a favorite as a spouse is a strange fantasy. But using him as a spouse is an incredible fantasy!
- You should have seen this Buckingham! - Maria exclaimed enthusiastically. “I don’t know what it is about men, but not a single woman can resist his slender figure, strong hands, and refined fingers.” No one will remain indifferent in front of his noble face! And his manners, and his noble bearing! He has almost no accent and speaks French very fluently!
- Do you know him? - I asked, and a sharp needle of jealousy, not without reason, pierced my heart.
- Not yet, but Count Holland told me about him and showed me his portrait! - Maria answered.
- And you also could not resist his charm, even though you only know about him from other people’s lips? - I asked sarcastically.
- Yes, it’s impossible to resist his charm! — Maria answered enthusiastically, and then thought about it.
“Listen, Maria, I think I’ve figured out how you can entertain the Queen,” I said.
- Yes, I agree with you! - Maria exclaimed. - Thank you for the great idea! I just realized that I couldn’t think of anything better!
- What are you talking about, Maria? - I asked in surprise.
- What is this about? - Chevrette was surprised and looked at me in surprise.
- I said that in England there is the tallest and the shortest man in the world, but what are you talking about? - I asked.
“Well, yes, of course,” said Maria. “But nothing can be done about it.” If the tallest and the shortest and the oldest man are in England, one can only envy.
“You came up with something else,” I guessed. “Tell me what it is, and I’ll tell you whether it’s a good idea or not.”
“First I need to think it over thoroughly myself,” Maria waved it off, after which I realized that she was not inclined to be frank. - So what did you say about the shortest, tallest and oldest man?
“I can’t think of anything about the oldest person, since only the Lord knows who has what age, and only by his will we come into this world and leave it,” I said. “As for the tallest and the shortest person, something can probably be done.” True, the result will not be immediate, but this idea may entertain the Queen for a while.
“Tell me,” said Maria, and I saw from her abstracted face that all my ideas in this direction did not interest her at all.
“Well, to begin with, we could order to find the highest men and women in the state, as well as the lowest,” I said.
“Suppose they are found, but they will not be the tallest or the shortest in the world,” Maria answered. - What's next?
“It will be possible to marry them, and then she will have the tallest family in the state, or the shortest family, or a family in which the difference between the heights of husband and wife is the greatest in the world,” I answered.
“Yes, you’re right, Henri, there’s probably something in this,” Maria answered, continuing to think about something of her own.
“I see that my idea did not interest you,” I said with disappointment.
“No, Henri, she interested me very much, I’ll think about it too in my spare time,” said Maria.
- Her too? It seems that you have another idea of your own, another? - I asked. - I'm right?
- Oh, it’s all empty! - Maria exclaimed, and I sensed a complete lack of sincerity in her answer. - However, I was glad to see you, I have to go home, all the best!
Since the most emotional part of our meeting occurred before this conversation began, I did not delay it.
We said goodbye in the most cordial way, as usual, after which Maria went to her place, and I went to mine, since we met in a rented apartment.
This seemingly insignificant conversation led to several results. The least significant result was that Maria actually interested Anna in my project, as a result of which two weddings were celebrated - the tallest man with the tallest woman in France, and the shortest man with the shortest woman. The more significant result was that the lowest man was Monsieur Pr;val, who from that time on received the position of court jester to the Queen, as did his wife, Madame Pr;val. They subsequently had a son, who was even shorter than each of his parents. This Pr;val was also the jester and favorite dwarf of Queen Maria Theresa, daughter-in-law and niece of the current Queen Anne. This Preval, as I later learned, was also a spy for the First Minister Colbert, who spied on Louis XIV himself . But this happened much later, more than thirty years after this conversation.
The most significant result of this conversation was that Mary came up with the idea of making Queen Anne fall in love with the Duke of Buckingham in absentia. To do this, she used all the information about Buckingham that she received from Earl Holland, also used his portrait, and her friend, a very intimate friend, as I later learned, Earl Holland, who very often made up for her lack of affection from her husband, influenced with his sides on the Duke of Buckingham himself, showing him a portrait of Anna, telling him about her caring attitude towards him. Both of these pimps acted extremely persistently. While Chevrette was singing into the ears of Queen Anne that on the other side of the English Channel there was a brilliant Duke, a noble handsome man, noble and rich, holding all of England in his hands, in love with Anne in absentia, Earl Holland at the same time was telling similar stories to the Duke of Buckingham himself about how attentive Queen Anne is to all information about him, which probably indicates that she is far from indifferent to the brilliant Duke. Neither Mary nor Holland cared that Buckingham had a family, that is, a wife and children, and Anne of Austria also had a family that did not yet have children, but had a husband, the King of France. However, Buckingham was not distinguished by scrupulousness towards such an empty concept for him as marital fidelity. Chevrette, as I already knew, was not distinguished by this scrupulousness. So was Earl Holland. Regarding Queen Anne, I could not say anything definite then. All the facts pointed to Anna’s sufficient chastity in relation to any admirers around her, which should be given all the more credit to her because, although the King himself visited her from time to time, which was even enough for two unsuccessful pregnancies, but still these visits had nothing to do with the concepts of “tenderness”, “affection”, not to mention such concepts as “passion” or “love”, which did not provide sufficient grounds for marital fidelity, which rested solely on the Catholic upbringing and piety of the Queen.
So, Chevrette ensured that the Queen began to pay attention to any news about the Duke of Buckingham. At the same time, Buckingham himself imagined that it was his destiny to master Queen Anne in every sense, since for this man there were no unattainable goals at all, but only those that had already been achieved and those that were to be achieved in the near future.
Chapter 34
Some time later, I received a letter similar to the one Maria wrote to me, inviting me on a first date. The letter was scented with a wonderful perfume, the handwriting was very elegant and the capital letters were decorated with lovely curls. The text of the letter stated that a noble, young and very attractive lady was imbued with high feelings of true love for me and was inviting me on a date, the place of which she could not tell, so I was invited to come at the appointed time to a designated place, get into an unmarked carriage with the curtains drawn and allow myself to be taken to where an unforgettable meeting awaits me.
I was by no means a prude, and if such a letter had arrived before I met Maria, as well as Camilla, I would most likely have rushed headlong into this adventure. But in the situation I was in, this unknown adventure did not attract me at all.
Yes, of course, I was young, and sometimes, as they say, “read from a sheet,” and my vision was still far from dull. However, you don’t know the terminology that, with the light hand of the dissolved courtiers of the previous King, was used everywhere. A musical duet was a gallant relationship between a man and a lady, that is, one that the church prescribes only for spouses. Based on this, it is easy to understand what a trio, quartet, solo, and so on meant. Improvisation, therefore, was an intimate meeting, in which neither party had any initial intentions, and sight reading was a meeting that the lady hinted at, that is, “showed the notes,” in the event that the man responded in the same way. moment and the duet took place without any preparation on his part. Accordingly, by sight and ear for music, gallant gentlemen named among themselves talents of a completely different kind than those required when performing the most ordinary piece of music.
So, I was offered “sight reading”, which I was not inclined to do, since two married ladies arranging spicy rendezvous with me from time to time was enough for me, considering that I was also an abbot and a musketeer, which also took a lot of time and effort. Moreover, I could not imagine a more noble lady than Chevrette, given her extreme closeness to the Queen and Maria’s still quite strong influence on her. On occasion, it was quite convenient for the musketeers to have short-term affairs with commoners, both during campaigns and in the breaks between them, but at that time, for obvious reasons, I no longer had such needs, for which I thank Chevrette and her cousin, despite the fact that This letter indicated that its sender was far from a commoner. If we talk about marriage, then I would not even think of connecting myself with such a lady who takes the initiative in getting acquainted, and even surrounds it with such a secret that this clearly indicates that either the lady has a husband, or a strict father, and maybe also brothers, looking after her and taking care of preserving her honor, however, apparently, not very successfully. In addition, I did not intend to tie the knot at such a young age, at the very beginning of a military or other career.
I thought about leaving this letter completely unattended, but decided that in this case the lady would consider me a coward and laugh at me, or send another letter, more persistent. Both options didn’t make sense to me, so I decided that I was going on a date, but I would tell the person who arrived that I didn’t want any new relationship, I would return the letter and say goodbye forever.
However, I also shouldn’t have angered the unknown lady, since I didn’t know how noble and influential she was. Well, I decided that I would try to use all my eloquence in order not to anger this lady, but at the same time not to enter into another new relationship that would oblige me to anything.
But perhaps I have already forgotten the details and am mistaken in the details. It seemed to me for a minute while I write this that perhaps I was only deceiving myself then, saying that I would not start this new relationship, but in fact I went on this date out of curiosity, deciding that if the lady would blow my mind and will evoke reciprocal feelings in me, then perhaps I will not be as cruel as I promised myself? Do you see what life is like? It turns out that even then I did not fully know myself, and only now, thinking about it, I assumed that I had secret thoughts that I did not admit even to myself. Truly, a man’s heart is like a dormant volcano, and no one knows at what time it will wake up and seethe, and with what force the lava of love will bubble within it.
Well, I remember that I dressed up in such a way that if I decided to accept the stranger’s proposal, my outfit would not compromise my honor. I was without a sword, since the letter recommended not to take weapons with me, and I reasoned that this was a trap, then the attackers, taking advantage of the surprise, could easily take possession of my sword, so taking it with me would only mean in vain additionally arming the attackers. However, I took with me a dagger, which I hid in my belt and covered with my cloak.
I find myself justified in what I stated above, that is, in the lack of desire to establish new connections, in the fact that the letter still seemed suspicious to me, and contrary to the custom of gallant men of that time, I even thought that it was not bad I would like to share the information received with Athos, since I did not rule out that this letter was a trap set for me by the lady who shot at me. However, pride took over. No man shares the contents of letters written by a woman only to him, and I did not want to be the first to break this rule.
So, I showed up at the appointed hour at the place indicated in the letter and found there a carriage with curtains drawn. The coachman was wearing a mask and had a thick beard, possibly fake. Approaching the door, I knocked on it, intending to make a speech about my little interest in creating a new duet. The door opened slightly and I saw two muskets pointed at me. At the same time, I felt that a sharp dagger was being pointed at my back near my heart.
- Get into the car, Chevalier, quickly! — I heard an order from a man standing behind me.
Realizing that upon entering the carriage I would be completely at the mercy of the attackers, I began to act quickly and decisively. Rushing forward and sideways with a turn, I grabbed the one who was standing behind me and pushed him inside the carriage right into the muskets aimed at me, into the arms of those two who were pointing their weapons at me.
Obviously, the attackers did not expect such a quick and decisive rebuff, since the two people sitting in the carriage did not have time to fire shots, and the one standing behind, apparently, was not going to plunge a dagger into my back, at least immediately and right on the street, but wanted just to force me into the carriage. Since the attackers hesitated, I grabbed a dagger from my belt and threw it as hard as I could, with its hilt forward, at the croup of a horse harnessed to a carriage. The horse, feeling the blow, rushed forward, the carriage jerked off, and I, picking up the dagger that had bounced off the horse’s croup, prepared to defend myself in case my opponents stopped and came back for me. Fortunately, at that moment another carriage came around the corner at high speed, in which, apparently, some nobleman was riding, who was in an extreme hurry, and therefore his coachman was not careful. The horses crashed into each other, the carriage of the scoundrels attacking me fell on its side, and I, taking advantage of the created commotion, thought it best to hide in one of the gates of the nearest yard, which turned out to be unlocked. I quickly crossed a small garden and came out on the other side of the street, for which I had to climb over a fence. When the attackers got out of the carriage, there was no trace of me. In addition, they had to explain with the owner of the carriage they encountered.
I asked myself whether it was cowardice on my part to leave the battlefield? But remembering that there were four attackers along with the coachman, and I was armed only with a dagger, I considered that retreating from the battlefield in this case would in no way diminish my honor.
I saw the face of one of the attackers, who was sitting in the carriage, as best as possible. I had already seen this man, although he was wearing a mask, but it only covered a small part of his face around the eyes. Without a doubt it was the Comte de Rochefort!
I knew that he had recently entered the service of Richelieu.
So, I again crossed the path of that same Richelieu, who, as I already knew, was at that very time making a rapid career, crushing the royal council under himself. Having such a powerful enemy was very unhealthy.
“What could I do that would make Richelieu himself turn against me? - I thought. “This attack is probably connected with the affairs of Maria, or with the affairs of the lady who shot me.”
Of course, now I know for sure that Rochefort acted at the instigation of Milady, who did not like to lose. If she fired once at a person, that person should have died, even if she missed or the bullet for some other reason did not kill the person at whom the shot was aimed.
I decided to show the letter to Athos, because now it was already obvious that it was forged, and I was not invited to a date, but to reprisal.
Seeing the letter, Athos shuddered and turned pale, something I had never noticed in him before.
“My friend, I know this handwriting well,” he said. “I made a mistake, and that means you are in great danger.” You must promise to never go on any dates alone.
“That’s impossible, Athos,” I objected. “I have meetings where even such a devoted friend as you would be superfluous.”
“Okay, we’ll make exceptions for those dates in which you are completely confident,” Athos said with a soft smile. “I won’t be able to change you, but at least promise not to go without me or Porthos to those meetings that you didn’t arrange.” Better yet, we all stick together until this problem is resolved.
- How can this problem be solved? - I asked.
“Everything is in God’s hands,” answered Athos. “But we must not give the Lord too much work to protect our lives.” The gunpowder must be dry, the swords sharp, the heads sober, and the hands steady. Then the Lord will take care of the rest, and if we are not guilty before Him, then I believe that He will not leave us.
“Well, your faith, Athos, commands respect, and someday, if you change your mind about being a musketeer, you must make a magnificent abbot, and maybe someone higher,” I said.
“Anything can happen in this world,” Athos answered with a smile. “But for now, if you don’t change your mind about becoming an abbot, I can see that you will make an excellent musketeer.”
- We'll settle it on that! - I answered, after which we shook hands.
Chapter 35
I decided that I was deeply involved in the adventures of people close to the royal court, or, as they call it, in internal politics. I had to think carefully about the situation. If I just sit idly by, then, given that, against my wishes, I had powerful enemies, I was not expected to live not only to old age, but even to the next anniversary, my thirtieth birthday. This didn't suit me. I decided that the best way to defend was to attack, for which I had to understand the subtle springs that set in motion various groups of influential people.
As a mentor and teacher, I could only turn to Mary. Indeed, if there was someone in Paris at that time who was well versed in all the motives of the actions of the opposing camps, and, in fact, knew how many of these camps had formed at court, then it was Marie de Chevreuse or Cardinal de Richelieu. For obvious reasons, I could not, and would not want to, seek clarification from de Richelieu, to whom I was like the Sun, and fate decreed that I unwittingly joined the camp of his opponents. But Maria was quite accessible to me and even considered me her ally in these political affairs, which I was not yet, but decided to become.
No matter how much I hated the prospect of assisting Maria in her intrigues, I no longer saw any other way out of the situation. Our opponents were not the kind that could be crushed with blows of a sword. These people could kill with the stroke of a pen, or a shot from around the corner, or poison, and, in the end, they could simply throw me into the Bastille, where I would spend the rest of my days, dying of consumption ten years after my arrest.
This is what Maria explained to me.
The king has no heir, which inspires his younger brother Monsieur with hopes of inheriting the throne. This hope was reinforced by the illness of the King, who had already been so seriously ill several times that everyone was almost sure that the throne would soon be empty. The most sensitive court noses turned towards Gaston, who was officially listed as the Dauphin, that is, the heir to the throne of the first hand. Even the Queen Mother herself seemed resigned to the idea that Louis did not have long to live, in which case she would not have been at all opposed to the throne passing to Gaston. But Louis recovered, and all the court noses again turned in his direction and bowed before him in the lowest bow.
Some of them had already begun to feel annoyed that Louis did not die from another attack of illness, and the most desperate heads began to think that it would not be superfluous to help him leave this mortal world. Having rehearsed plans for the transfer of power to Gaston many times in their heads, they no longer wanted to part with them for the ridiculous reason that the King did not deign to die.
Most of all, this entire court camarilla was irritated by the growing power of Cardinal Richelieu. And Louis remained the guarantor of this power. Consequently, everyone who was dissatisfied with Richelieu was automatically dissatisfied with Louis. The Queen Mother also began to enter this circle, and began to feel some incipient neglect of her interests on the part of her protege and favorite. This aggravated the grievances she had accumulated against her eldest son, so she would also be glad if his brother Gaston d'Orl;ans ascended the throne. Of course, the mother did not want her son to die, but for now she only thought that Louis could abdicate the crown for health reasons. In this wild idea, Mary saw the naivety of the Queen Mother, which was extremely surprising to see in a representative of the Medici family.
Maria also told me that she does not trust Gaston d’Orl;ans too much, that is, she is not convinced that she will be able to influence him if Queen Anne remains just Louis’s widow. It will be a completely different matter if she manages to give birth to the Dauphin, because then Gaston will be left out of work, since the maximum he can count on is to join the regency council with the King’s young son.
I was surprised that Maria so easily talks about the possible death of the King, who is still young and full of strength, because the attacks of his illness pass, after which he goes hunting or even on military campaigns, where he shows tirelessness and remarkable willpower. Maria brushed aside my words, telling me that his willpower has nothing to do with participation in political decisions, that our current King in political matters is a blind executor of Richelieu’s will, and that if this continues, the Queen may even end up in exile in some distant castle, or even in a monastery, since Richelieu is too decisively pitting the King against her.
“You only care about your well-being, which is based on the influence of the Queen!” - I thought.
And so it was, of course.
“But is the King really seriously ill?” - I asked.
“For three times now he has been so seriously ill that the court physician expected him to die,” Maria answered. - In this case, Gaston would become King! Anna's fate would depend on how she could get along with him.
- Could she get along with him? - I asked, emphasizing the last word.
“I’m working on it,” Maria answered proudly. - But for now this question is very raw.
- What led to the emergence of such a large number of Gaston’s supporters and enemies of the King? - I asked.
— There are perhaps many fewer adherents of Gaston than Gaston himself thinks! - Maria exclaimed. “Perhaps there are none at all, except the Queen Mother and a few madmen.” And the rest are probably making their own plans, like Prince Cond;. But there are too many of Richelieu’s opponents among the nobility, and they all understand that they cannot remove him except by murder.
At that moment I heard the word “murder” for the first time in relation to Cardinal Richelieu. Is it really that serious?
— Will there be people who will dare to do this? - I asked.
- In order to save the King from Marshal d'Ancre, people were found! - Maria said proudly. - Why don’t there be people who will save him from Richelieu?
I remembered that the reprisal against Concino Concini actually took place on the orders of Louis, who gave it, succumbing to the persuasion of de Luynes, Mary’s first husband. So Mary knew what she was talking about.
I realized that if Marie de Chevreuse really decides to organize the murder of de Richelieu, she will succeed.
- But why do you have such enmity with him? - I asked. - It seems like you are related to him?
“Yes, his beloved niece was married to my first husband’s nephew,” Maria agreed. - But this marriage is almost fictitious. They don't live like spouses. A marriage can break up at any moment.
I was surprised at Maria’s knowledge of such intimate issues.
- So, Richelieu is pitting the King against the Queen? - I asked. - Why does he need this?
“The Queen dissuades the King from quarreling with Spain, while Richelieu’s policy is based on an alliance with England against Spain,” Maria answered. — Richelieu’s plans are to arrange the marriage of the King’s younger sister, Princess Henrietta, with the Dauphin of England, Prince Charles of Wales.
- Is this marriage possible? - I asked.
“There were many obstacles, but they were all eliminated,” Maria answered with such pride, as if she was the one who eliminated them.
- In this case, Richelieu can be pleased! - I concluded.
- No matter how it is! - Maria exclaimed. “If this marriage takes place, the Duke of Buckingham will certainly come to Paris to meet Princess Henrietta and escort her to England.”
- And what does this mean? - I asked.
“This means a chance for the Duke of Buckingham to win Anne’s favor,” replied Mary. “I mean a very specific form of favor, since platonic love between these two noblest and representatives of the best houses of Europe has practically arisen!”
- Thanks to the efforts of you and your friend Earl Holland? - I asked with coldness in my voice.
- Don't be jealous, Henri! - Maria cooed. - Count Holland is a business relationship, but with you everything is serious, with you I have love.
- Is that so? - I asked. - Business connection? Is that what you call it now?
- How I like it when you get angry with jealousy, Henri! - Maria exclaimed and hugged me tenderly.
This ended our conversation regarding the internal politics of France, since a conversation began between us without words of a different kind and on a completely different topic.
- By the way, I wanted to ask you, what do you know about Count Rochefort? — I asked after our heated conversation ended.
- Count de Rochefort?! - Maria exclaimed. - Why do you ask, Henri?
“It seems to me that he was going to kill me, or, in any case, kidnap me, using numerical superiority, surprise and treachery,” I answered.
“This is indeed a very insidious person,” answered Maria. - And he serves Richelieu. But why he took up arms against you, I don’t understand. After all, you are still so little involved in our affairs with the Queen that I do not assume any cause-and-effect relationship here.
She pronounced this “ours with the Queen” so naturally, as if the affairs of the Queen and the affairs of Marie de Chevreuse were really one whole. I noted this to myself, without letting on that this phrase hurt my ears.
- What then could be the reason? - I asked.
—Have you had any disagreements with him or any of his friends before? - asked Maria.
“I don’t remember anything like that,” I answered.
- Oh yes, I completely forgot! - Maria exclaimed with a grin. — All your conflicts, most likely, could arise not in connection with Rochefort’s friends, but in connection with women somehow connected with him.
- With women? - I asked and shuddered.
Indeed, before that, one woman tried to kill me - the wife, or now the widow of the Marquis de Brenvilliers.
“You’ve turned pale, Aramis!” - Maria exclaimed. - Shame on you to cheat on me! I forgive you my cousin Camilla, but I didn’t imagine that you had someone else besides me and her!
- I swear to God that I have no one but you and... How did you know about Camilla? — that’s all I could say.
- She told me herself! - Maria answered with a laugh. - Don't be afraid, I'm not angry! I think she became interested in you after my stories about you.
-Did you tell her about me? - I was surprised. - And about you and me? For what?
“Ah, Henri, sometimes women can be so lonely, so sad, so bored!” - Maria sighed languidly. - Don’t deprive us of this little joy - to gossip in your spare time about our little women’s secrets, about our modest victories and defeats. And with whom else if not your dear cousin?
- But you said that you have a best friend - Queen Anne, didn't you? - I asked.
“Queen Anne has a best friend, Maria de Chevreuse,” Maria snapped. “She has someone who worries about her, who takes all her sorrows to heart as if they were her own, and even stronger. Who would give her life for her!
Here, of course, Maria boasted a little.
“But I don’t have a friend who would give not only her life for me, but at least...” Maria continued, choosing her words. “At least she agreed to endure even the slightest inconvenience.” Yes, Henri, that's right! There is no such thing as friendship with those in power! There is only the appearance of such friendship, and both parties understand that this is just a game. Look at the King! How many favorites has he changed, and how many more will he change! They all think that they are pushing the King around and can use him as they please! But that's not true. It is the King who bosses them around and can use them as he pleases. If the favorite loses interest in the King, he will continue to act as he did. However, it is impossible for the favorite to lose interest in the King. It can only happen that the favorite crosses a line that he should not cross, imagining that everything is allowed to him. But if the King loses interest in the favorite, this will be a disaster for the favorite. Because every favorite puts his hand into the royal treasury, offends the royal entourage, and turns everyone at court against him. And everyone tolerates him as long as the King tolerates him. But if the King even just turns away from his favorite, the courtiers will simply tear him to pieces.
I must admit that Maria studied court morals very well and her words were prophetic. It is unlikely that even she herself at that moment understood that she had predicted the fate of many. Among them, of course, were Chalet and Saint-Mars. But among them there were already those whose names should have been forgotten, such as La Vieville and others, of whom there were already about a dozen.
Chapter 36
“You, Maria, have become quite comfortable in matters of politics,” I said, having listened to a lot of information from her, after which I began to understand a little better the intricacies of intrigue at court. — Who currently makes up the circle of the most significant persons determining state policy?
“You already know about Richelieu,” Maria answered. — Along with His Majesty’s family, I’m talking about the Queen, Monsieur and the Queen Mother, as well as the Prince of Cond; and other relatives, this is, first of all, Mr. Schomberg. After he was returned to the royal council in August, he was also given back the post of superintendent of finance and received the marshal's baton. But he is a cardinal's man. Next is Michel de Marillac, Schomberg's assistant and also Richelieu's man. Also Keeper of the State Seals and Chancellor d'Aligre. Moreover, Marshal de Couvres. As for the members of the Council of State, these are extras compared to Richelieu; they will support him even in what they disagree with, since any decision, even the most dangerous one for them, will seem less terrible to them than openly opposing the cardinal. It is also important to remember that, on the advice of Richelieu, the King created a chamber to investigate financial abuses. The previous First Minister Le Vieville has now not only been dismissed, but arrested, and all his financial affairs are being investigated in detail. This means that from now on it will no longer be possible to simply resign from a high position. Such a departure would only be the beginning of a detailed investigation into the financial abuses of the deceased, and such investigations always find something. Therefore, losing favor will now mean not just the loss of a profitable position, but also a great danger of ending up in the Bastille, or something worse.
— Do you think that this will force the favorites to give up abuse? - I asked doubtfully.
“No, of course, they’ll just do it more carefully, although I’m not sure about that either,” Maria answered. “They will simply be more afraid of angering the King and losing his trust.”
- What does Richelieu’s power rest on? - I asked. “He doesn’t seem to be afraid of His Majesty’s wrath, does he?”
“It seems to me that he delves so deeply into all the intricacies of political events, understands all the connections and interdependencies so well that he has no equal in the sphere of political plans and intrigues,” answered Maria. “At the same time, this is precisely the area about which the King knows two things. First, he understands that this difficult work must be done properly. Secondly, he himself does not want to take this into his own hands, because he is frightened by the need to delve into all the details. However, he would like to maintain the appearance that he is doing all this himself. In addition, Richelieu has already demonstrated that if these matters are dealt with unprofessionally, like Le Vieville, or with a fair amount of commercialism, like Sillery and de Puisier, then the damage from this is too great, it is comparable to a military defeat and even more.
- It seems that Richelieu is very useful to the King and France? - I asked.
- Even if so, I do not intend to put up with his dictates! - Maria exclaimed sharply. - He imagines himself equal to the King, he tyranns Her Majesty the Queen, he crushes even the princes of the blood , not to mention the King and both Queens! No, even if the path he has chosen for France and is implementing in every way available to him is the only true path, the cardinal is in too much of a hurry to drag our country along this path. It seems to me that he is ready to rear up even the whole of Europe to achieve his goals, if only he manages to seize enough power for this through various alliances, secret and overt. And with regard to this person, I cannot exclude that someday this will happen.
- But perhaps everything he does is useful for France and the King? Perhaps it is high time for Europe to stand on its hind legs? - I asked. - Believe me, Maria, I’m not defending Richelieu, but I just want to understand everything thoroughly.
- Even if you are right, and Richelieu’s intentions are to strengthen the monarchy and the state as a whole, as well as to heal Europe from the domination of the House of Habsburg or from the religious schism, or from both, even in this case I will say that the cardinal - this is a doctor whose medicines are more dangerous and severe than the disease itself! - Maria exclaimed passionately.
“Even though I didn’t object to you, my dear, you convinced me even more that we should resist this man,” I agreed. - If only so that too easy victories would not lead him to the idea that he is the new Messiah and messenger of the Lord, to whom everything is permitted and everything will be forgiven.
— Henri, you very accurately described the very essence of the problem and my goals! - Maria answered and confirmed her agreement with a tender kiss. “Indeed, even if our resistance to the cardinal does not serve as an obstacle to his achieving their most ambitious plans, then this resistance is necessary so that his rise does not turn out to be too easy for him, and too destructive for France.”
“So, you and I look at this the same way,” I concluded. “Tell me, what else should I know about this man’s most important achievements?”
“His methods of eliminating opponents are pamphlets that are written quite cleverly, and he carefully hides his authorship,” answered Maria. — Regarding his ideas, I must say that they are accepted by the King and sometimes work quite effectively. So, about fifty rich people have already passed through the created chamber of control over financial abuse, that is, people who have become rich very quickly and very significantly. It must be said that in almost all cases it was revealed that they got rich by robbing the treasury. Not surprising! Any wealth that arises quickly is most often criminal. The return of stolen money to the treasury significantly replenished the state budget. Now, in any case, the King has money for the most urgent matters.
— What matters are the most urgent? - I asked.
- War, of course! - Maria exclaimed. — Didn’t you know that any war is a project for enrichment? And like any project, this action must be carefully thought out and fully prepared before its implementation begins. And preparation is, first of all, money and again money, a lot of money, as much as possible. If a war has begun and is going well, with an advance into enemy territory , then the means to continue it are in the occupied lands. The winner imposes indemnity on the occupied territories, even if it is a civil war. The loser feeds the army that entered this new land. If the war degenerates into a long siege, then it exhausts and ruins both sides. And in this case, again, large resources are needed so that your enemy exhausts his funds before you and asks for peace on your terms, that is, capitulates.
— Are we facing another war? - I inquired.
- Why another one? - asked Maria. — The war is always going on and does not stop, it just moves from one phase to another. We are waging an internal war with the Huguenots, that is, against them. We are in an external war with Spain, that is, against it, so any alliances with its enemies are part of this same war, as are any opposition to its allies. All this requires money. Often, if a fortress cannot be taken in battle, it can be bought. By the way, Richelieu has already done this several times. An example of this is the victory over de Rogan.
— What are his military achievements to date? - I asked.
— What do you know about Valtellina? - asked Maria.
“This is a territory where two Habsburg dynasties can unite their troops in order to continue acting in a coordinated manner, in particular against France,” I answered.
“This issue was not resolved effectively enough by his predecessors,” Maria answered. “Now the cardinal himself has taken charge of this.” Previously, an agreement was concluded that was not fulfilled. The new Pope Urban VIII added additional articles to it at the beginning of 1624, including free passage from Italy to Germany for the Spaniards.
“This is very undesirable for us,” I noted.
“Exactly,” Maria agreed. - The French Ambassador to Rome, Commander de Sillery, a relative of the former first minister and his son, either out of stupidity or for worse reasons, accepted these amendments, but after the removal of his relatives, fortunately, he was also recalled. At the end of November, Richelieu sent Annibal d'Estr;e, Marquis de Couvres, father of Henry IV's late mistress, to Switzerland. The Marquis de Couvres behaved decisively and energetically. He personally and at his own expense recruited troops and achieved the transfer to him of forts occupied by papal garrisons. Valtellina again came under the rule of the Grisons, our allies, and the Marquis de Couvres received a marshal's baton for this. Thus, Richelieu, with the hands of the marshal, cut the Gordian knot of intrigue, treachery and complicated negotiations that lasted several years. What could not be untied was cut with a sword in a few months.
“Well, I see that Richelieu is an enemy worthy of respect,” I said. “Of course, we won’t be able to defeat him, but we must protect ourselves from him.”
“Help me protect the Queen from him, Henri, and I will try to protect you from Rochefort,” Maria exclaimed.
- Oh, you misunderstood me, Maria! - I answered heatedly. “I would cease to respect myself if I sought your protection from a nobleman with a sword.” Ask for protection from any woman, even one as sweet as you, and even more so, one as charming as you? No never! I only needed information, as for protection, I have a hand in which there is a sword, and, if necessary, a musket. In addition, I have two faithful friends, Athos and Porthos. These are two more swords.
- Two friends is so little! - said Maria.
“Of course, if there were three of them, it would be better,” I agreed.
- Why not four, not ten, not fifty? - asked Maria.
“My dear, there are never too many true friends,” I answered. - Two friends is already a lot, this is a whole wealth. I wish I had three friends. But I can't expect to have four, five or more. In this case, I would think that being friends with me constitutes some kind of calculation for them, but in this case I would decide that I cannot trust any of them, that is, this would mean that I have no friends at all .
- So you don’t believe in friendship based on some kind of interest? - asked Maria.
“No, I don’t believe it,” I answered decisively. — Just like I don’t believe in love based on interest. Friendship and love do not require interest, and interest for them is dangerous, deadly dangerous. Only selfless friendship and selfless love can attract me. Everything else is bargaining, self-interest, intrigue and, ultimately, meanness. Self-interest will pass, and ostentatious betrayal will take the place of ostentatious friendship. Well, no, many friends are not my thing. I'm not talking about comrades in arms, for whom, indeed, the more the merrier.
“Maybe you’re right, Henri,” Maria answered thoughtfully. “But I can’t say the same about myself.” In any case, I need to think carefully about your words.
“As do I, my dear,” I said, kissed Maria’s hand and left.
Chapter 37
Mary's further intrigues are widely known. She, together with Count Holland, conceived and carried out this mutual romantic passion that arose between Anne of Austria and Buckingham. Holland, it must be said, was on very and, I would say, even too friendly relations with Chevrette, and if I had been even a little jealous, I would probably have killed him. However, perhaps that’s what should have been done. The vile Englishman seduced Maria, or, more precisely, he gladly allowed her to seduce him. Let it be only this! But this whole intrigue with Buckingham was sheer madness.
In short, having been warned that the Queen was very good, and also having been deceived that she was in love with him, Buckingham imagined himself to be the new Paris, Cupid and Adonis rolled into one. I must say, he was handsome and stately, but all his wealth was acquired through influence first on King James I , and then, when just about this very time that I am writing about, James I died, Buckingham did exactly the same thing influenced his son, King Charles I. I must say that this alone is enough for me to treat both of these English monarchs with a very fair amount of contempt. If Henry III , Henry IV and Louis XIII allowed themselves to take beautiful young men and men for pleasure, then these English monarchs allowed themselves to be taken for pleasure by some pathetic Villiers, and were at the same time very pleased with the created situation. It is no coincidence that Charles I was eventually thrown off the throne and even had his head cut off, which, however, was discussed in due time. In the meantime, Buckingham arrived in France in full confidence that he would have to conquer the Queen of France just as he had conquered the King of England (his son was not yet King at that time). He arrived formally for an embassy purpose, but had prepared a very nice joke for the courtiers of the French court. His tailor, on his special instructions, trimmed his suit with a string of pearls, which was arranged in such a way that as soon as Buckingham broke one loop, all the pearls scattered from him in a fan all over the parquet floor of the reception hall. Chevrette said that Buckingham read in an Arabian fairy tale, which was then imported, it seems, from India. The collection of fairy tales was called, it seems, something like “A Thousand Nights”, or, however, no, it was called “A Thousand and One Nights”, because in India there was a superstitious fear of round numbers, which, as they believed, were at the disposal of the Devil . Therefore, when they wanted to name a large number, they named it by adding another unit to it, so that it turned out to be “One Thousand and One Nights,” or, for example, “Five hundred and one slaves,” something like that. This is as absurd as if some jeweler, trying to attract as many stupid buyers as possible, indicated on the price of a diamond necklace, for example, not “Five hundred livres”, but “Four hundred and ninety-nine livres”! You can't think of anything more stupid. I don't think this will ever work. So, Buckingham read these Arabic tales translated into English and imagined himself as a kind of oriental wizard, a shah or padishah, to whom everything is available and anything is allowed. In addition, there was one fairy tale in which a certain fairy princess was so magically charming that when she smiled, pearls fell from her lips, and when she cried, instead of tears, pure diamonds of six carats each flowed from her eyes. Even Buckingham would not have been able to afford to scatter diamonds, but the idea of scattering pearls seemed very ingenious to him. So, he, appearing before the Queen, and it must be said that the King was ill at that time and could not attend the audience, Buckingham pretended that he awkwardly touched a thread with pearls, it broke, and pearls the size of a good pea jumped across the colored parquet reception hall right under the feet of the courtiers.
All those present, of course, began to raise these pearls out of respect for the Duke. The Queen was, perhaps, the only one in this room who could not, according to etiquette, bend down for pearls even if her life depended on it. In addition, she, of course, had seen plenty of jewelry in her time, so it was difficult to surprise her with pearls, even the most selected ones. She was brought up in such a way that even if she herself had dropped the diamond diadem, and even if diamonds worth several million livres had rolled under the feet of the courtiers, she would not have blinked an eye. That's why there are servants to pick up what has fallen, and that's why there is the keeper of the Queen's jewelry, the Duchess de Chevreuse, to take care of the safety of the jewelry. This is exactly what the Queen decided - if the Duke dropped the pearls, then this concerns only his jewel keeper, because naive Anna believed that every nobleman should have his own jewel keeper. So, all the courtiers bowed down to collect the pearls, while only Buckingham and Anna remained unshaken, continuing to stand evenly and serenely in front of each other, fixing their gaze on each other. Anna was politely attentive to the foreign ambassador, Buckingham considered this a sure sign of love, because his conceit did not allow him to assume that the Queen would have looked at the wrinkled and hunched old man in the same way if he had arrived on behalf of the English King on a diplomatic mission, although that is exactly what would happen.
When all or nearly all the pearls were collected, the first impulse of those who collected them was to return every single one of them to Buckingham. However, Buckingham pretended not to pay any attention to this crush and its consequences. He rejected the pearls collected and offered to him, presenting them with a broad gesture to all those who picked them up. It must be said that Porthos, who served as a bodyguard there, risked picking up a couple of pearls, which he later sold for two hundred pistoles apiece. For one hundred and fifty pistoles he ordered an elegant sword hilt, and fifty he ate and drank together with his friends, that is, with me and Athos.
The formal meaning of the conversation between Buckingham and the Queen is not significant, because Buckingham only thought that his love for the Queen was mutual. The Queen was considering her attitude towards him, which, of course, was prepared by Chevrette’s whispers, but Anna herself was extremely averse to adultery. To be more precise, she completely ruled it out. Moreover, whatever one may say, Buckingham was much lower in position than her, which he did not understand and would not want to understand. He was just the actual ruler of England, but formally - only the first minister, but not the King. Anna was a Queen, even if only nominal, even if she did not have any real power in France, but still, she was a Queen. She was the daughter of the King, the sister of the King, the wife of the King, and she was destined to become the mother of the King, which she firmly counted on. Buckingham was just George Villiers, a native of a poor noble family in Leicestershire. A trifle! Let him have all these titles - First Minister, Duke, Master of the Horse, Chief Justice of the Assize, Lord Steward of the Westminister, Lord High Admiral of England. Anne's husband, Louis XIII , could do these trifles in relation to any resident of France and did in relation to his favorites, raising them from insignificance to unattainable heights. Indeed, he made pages or grooms, or falconers dukes and peers! So the duchy, donated by King James I for “battles” in bed, did not elevate the applicant too much , but for special treatment in the eyes of the intelligent Queen Anne of Austria. However, etiquette required a polite and appropriate attitude, since formally the Duke represented England.
Since a walk through the garden in Amiens was already planned, Buckingham took advantage of the fact that in the labyrinths of trimmed trees and bushes, you can easily hide from all prying eyes. His scheme was aided by Chevrette and Holland, who forced the rest of the party to stand slightly behind the Queen and the Duke, ostensibly to allow them to discuss confidential matters of state. As soon as they turned the corner, where they met a small gazebo, hidden from prying eyes, the Duke imagined that all this remarkable coincidence of circumstances was specially arranged for the closest communication between him and the Queen, which, he hoped, could become the sweetest memory of his trip to France, which would satisfy not so much his physiological needs, the possibility of satisfying which he had no problems with, being married and having enough ladies with a low degree of social responsibility or with a high degree of readiness to serve England, but such a victory would please his vanity. Just think about it! After all, he imagined that he could crush not only all the monarchs of his island homeland, but also European Queens! But such freedom was not part of the Queen’s plans. Before she realized that she was left without the support of her subjects, she was subjected to a very unequivocal onslaught from the English ambassador, which not only surprised her, but also frightened her, simply shocked her. She never expected such a gross violation of etiquette! With his pants embroidered with diamonds, he even managed to scratch the royal legs! Of course, the Queen screamed - both from pain, and from fear, and from resentment, from everything together. The lagging servants immediately ran to help their Queen, but Anna realized in time that she should not report all the details of what happened, since it would be humiliating for all parties. She just said that she tripped and almost fell, so she screamed in surprise. At the same time, she reprimanded her courtiers that they were not fulfilling their duties if they allowed their Queen to remain alone with the ambassador, who was by no means her husband, and therefore could not be allowed to have a tete-a-tete conversation, no matter how much he liked it. I wanted to. As a result, some had to leave their positions, and this was also a good thing for them, because if the Queen had given her version of everything that happened, the King would have been furious, and the Cardinal would certainly have allowed him to be harsh on everyone responsible for this incident , except, of course, the Queen, who, even when left alone with the overzealous ambassador, defended her honor. However, some spiteful critics even claimed that Buckingham managed to advance his attacks so far that the Queen was even worried about whether she would become pregnant as a result of such a rendezvous. All this is fiction. She did not allow him to come near her, although, perhaps, much later, after his death, she regretted it.
The inability to distinguish politeness from falling in love ultimately destroyed the Duke. His confidence in victory had already failed him in Amiens, but he did not give up. However, he managed to evoke a certain belated response in Anna's heart, which was sufficient for her to breathe about him after his death, but clearly insufficient to reward him with those favors that he so brazenly sought that he was immediately expelled from England . Apparently, the Queen decided that all the inhabitants of the island state were so wild that such courtship was in the order of things, which made her look a little more leniently at the wildest prank of her ambassador and first minister. Even La Porte noticed that Buckingham was simply trying to take possession of the Queen. Chevrette noticed this too, but did not see anything wrong with this action.
Apparently, Buckingham assumed that he could simultaneously conquer not only the Queen, but also, if necessary, the King, since he behaved as if nothing threatened him under any circumstances. But being accused of insulting the Queen could cause an international scandal. Richelieu's plans did not include a war with England, so he did not want an international scandal. He simply pointed out to the King all the inconveniences of the current situation and advised him to quietly explain to the Duke that his mission could be successfully carried out by another representative of the island state, or, if he does not agree to this, then France will allow itself to do without the English embassy for some time. rather than having such a restless ambassador at hand.
Buckingham did not understand absolutely anything, but pretended that he understood everything, and even what he was not told. He interpreted the undesirability of his stay in France as proof of his complete victory over the Queen’s heart and left not so much offended as proud of his irresistibility.
Neither Count Holland nor the Duchess de Chevreuse, my Chevrette, understood anything or drew any conclusions from the situation.
Under King James I , it was almost agreed that the Prince of Wales would marry Henrietta of France, the younger sister of King Louis XIII . However, the death of King James I slightly postponed this marriage, although it made it almost inevitable, since the Prince of Wales, having become King Charles I , would like to fulfill the intention of his royal father, since he had already familiarized himself with the portrait of Henrietta and found her appearance charming. Rumor has it that Charles came to France incognito to see Henrietta in person and form his own opinion about her. Perhaps it was so, I don’t know whether to believe this gossip. Knowing the extravagance of this monarch, I cannot exclude that such an adventure was carried out.
One way or another, Henrietta had to go to her betrothed, and Buckingham arrived to carry out all the formalities on behalf of Charles I , after which Henrietta had to go to her new kingdom to her new husband and King. Queen Anne accompanied her daughter-in-law to the borders of the state. The King, as always, was ill, so he did not participate in seeing off his sister. Buckingham saw this as a new chance for further rapprochement with the Queen. However, the Queen behaved strictly and dryly, so Buckingham took the bride of his King under his protection and was forced to say goodbye to the Queen, however, a day later he commits another crazy act . Leaving Henrietta in the care of his people, he returns to Queen Anne under the pretext that he forgot to sign some papers with her and give her some small gift from King Charles I. The Queen, meanwhile, was in bed, as her position required. This does not bother the Duke, he bursts into her bedroom, falls to his knees in front of her bed and wets her hands and sheets with his tears. Countess Lannoy offers him a chair, the Duke does not seem to see or hear her, continuing to remain on his knees, after which the Countess almost forcibly seats him on the chair, since the Duke took an inappropriate position in front of Her Majesty. The scene drags on, the Duke doesn’t even pretend that he really should sign something from the Queen or give it to her. The Queen insists on Buckingham's immediate departure to continue his mission. With pain and disappointment, real or ostentatious, we will never know, Buckingham returns to Princess Henrietta, his future Queen, as well as to his own wife, who is waiting for him, whom Buckingham took with him on this trip, but with honor and whose desires he didn't count at all.
Chevrette and two other ladies of the court went with Henrietta to England. There she replaced Queen Anne for Buckingham in gratitude for the fact that he received her on a truly royal scale, the way he would have liked to receive Queen Anne if she had been with him in Chevrette’s place. Chevrette's rapprochement with Buckingham was so obvious and so close that it even aroused jealousy in Count Holland, who, however, was also married, but counted, for some reason, on exclusive attention from Chevrette. If only he knew that among those whom she honored with special attention, he was not only not the first and not the second, but also far from the fifth! And this is not counting the two legal spouses. However, no one was jealous of the spouses, neither Holland Chevrette, nor Chevrette Holland or Buckingham. And yet Holland finally quarreled with Buckingham and left the court.
In the meantime, two events happened that occurred just before the arrival in Paris of the young Gascon Charles d'Artagnan, who dreams of becoming a musketeer and has everything necessary for this: a Gascon temperament, a strong and dexterous hand, excellent with a sword, exorbitant ambitions, however, quite justified , and almost complete lack of money.
Chapter 38
The first of the two events that I have reported is the first real plot of the Duchess de Chevreuse to overthrow the cardinal.
Since the royal couple still did not have a male heir, the main contender for the throne in the event of the King's death was considered the King's younger brother Gaston d'Orl;ans, called Monsieur. Everyone who considered themselves an offended cardinal, as well as those who simply did not like the King or hoped for an improvement in their affairs in the event of a change of power, formed a circle of like-minded people, the center of which was considered Monsieur, but in fact it was the Duchess de Chevreuse. However, they were like-minded only on the issue of a hostile attitude towards the cardinal, and in their views on the future of France in the event of the overthrow of Richelieu, they differed significantly. Some believed that it was enough just to alienate the cardinal from the King, like Queen Anne, for example, others believed that the King should also be tonsured and sent to a monastery, as Monsieur probably hoped, Chevrette herself hatched an insane plan for Anne’s marriage to Gaston d’Orl;ans, followed by the accession of this couple to the throne of France. The Prince of Cond;, unlike Monsieur's supporters, himself hatched plans to take this throne, which did not prevent him from entering into a temporary alliance with this group of conspirators.
At the same time, Chevrette, not without reason, feared serious punishment if the conspiracy failed, since she had already been guilty twice in the eyes of the King, firstly, in connection with the Queen’s miscarriage, and secondly, in connection with Buckingham’s antics. Therefore, she preferred to “pull chestnuts out of the fire” with someone else’s hands. She encouraged everyone she could influence to take action, using the main weapons of an attractive woman, as well as cunning and resourcefulness - two qualities in which she had no equal.
First of all, she attracted to her side the mentor of Gaston of Orleans, Marshal Ornano. In addition, she captivated the Vend;me brothers with her ideas. Let me remind you that the elder brother, Duke Cesar de Vend;me, was the eldest of the two illegitimate sons of Henry IV from Gabrielle d'Estr;es. Born in 1594, he was at that time in the prime of his life, a handsome thirty-year-old, married to Fran;oise of Lorraine, Duchess of Mercoeur and de Pentiereux, daughter of Philippe-Emmanuel of Lorraine, Duke of Merceur. They had three children: thirteen-year-old Louis I de Bourbon-Vend;me, eleven-year-old Elisabeth de Bourbon-Vend;me, later Duchess de Nemours, and nine-year-old Fran;ois de Bourbon-Vend;me, later the well-known Duke de Beaufort, who became famous as the King of the Markets during the Fronde. . I will tell you a lot of amazing things about him.
The second brother was Alexandre de Vend;me, also known as the Chevalier de Vend;me, also the son of the mistress Gabrielle d'Estr;es, born in 1598. This brother chose the career of a Catholic priest, so he was unmarried.
They also had a sister from the same parents, Catherine Henriette, born in 1596, who was for a long time known as Mademoiselle de Vend;me, until in 1619 she married Charles II of Lorraine, second Duke d'Elboeuf, Comte d'Harcourt , who was two years younger than her. Subsequently, in marriage she gave birth to six children. Of course, she sympathized with the brothers in everything and supported them. This family, as you see, was closely connected with the House of Lorraine, that is, the House of Guise, whose representatives always got involved in all the intrigues aimed at overthrowing the King, since their ambition was matched only by their arrogance. Considering their origins to be equal to those of the ruling dynasty, they became the most arrogant ever since a representative of their family married King James V of Scotland, and her daughter, Mary Steward, married Francis II and became Queen of France, although very briefly . But Mary's son Steward reigned in England, so the blood of the Guises was present in the English dynasty.
So, these two brothers and sister had quite a high position at court, since their father, King Henry IV, legitimized both sons and daughter by granting the eldest, Cesar, the ducal title. The younger, Alexandre de Vend;me, served as governor of Caen and was a member of the Order of Malta. In 1614, King Louis XIII appointed him as ambassador to Rome to Pope Paul V. However, later relations between Louis and his half-brothers deteriorated.
But Richelieu had an instinct for ripening conspiracies, or perhaps he had already created a reliable network of spies at court. He developed an ideal system in which his spies did not know each other, but understood that there were other sources of information, so he checked the reports of some with the reports of others. Therefore, each spon was afraid not only of not reporting fully enough or quickly enough about the information he knew about the impending conspiracy, but moreover he was afraid that another spy would get ahead of him, so that the information he provided would be considered belated, which would undermine confidence in him. Losing the cardinal's trust for them meant losing income and acquiring a powerful enemy at the same time. This double incentive forced them to obtain information day and night, and report it lukewarm, hot from the heat, not yet losing its relevance and timeliness.
So, the cardinal was aware of the brewing conspiracy and decided to strike first. To this end, he exposed Marshal Ornano to the King as the mastermind and one of the most active executors of the conspiracy, arrested him and placed him in the Castle of Vincennes. Of course, the cardinal explained to the King that the conspiracy was directed not only at himself, but also at His Majesty, which was true, but was not received by the King with due confidence.
After eliminating Marshal Ornano, the conspirators decided that the danger had passed, since almost no one except the marshal was hurt.
The second event I spoke of was Chevrette's second attempt to depose the cardinal. This second attempt was the de Chalet conspiracy, also organized by the Duchess.
De Chalet, this handsome young man took Le Vieville's place in the heart of Louis XIII . All these young men with whom the King surrounded himself once again prove that it would be better for the monarch to be debauched with the ladies of the court than to give in to such an unnatural desire for representatives of his own sex. No lady would cause such damage to state affairs as ambitious pages claiming the post of informal but actual head of state, as has already been proven by the disgusting example of England, especially the tragic outcome of the fate of Charles I. Louis XIII 's false shyness in dealing with ladies gave rise to his shameless relationships with pages and grooms, whom Louis elevated to the rank of first ministers or Chief Equerry (simply called Chief), and made them dukes and peers. However, who can tell the King what is worthy of his dignity and what is unworthy?
So, the handsome de Chalet was recommended to the King by Richelieu himself, that is, he actually gave him his protege in fear that this place would be taken by a protege from the camp of his enemies. His full name was Henri de Talleyrand de P;rigord. He, of course, received the County of Chalets from the hands of King Louis XIII as a reward for the very intimate services he provided.
This de Chalet very quickly received very great wealth and almost the highest power, such that Richelieu’s power noticeably faded against his background. But this was not enough for him, he began to be burdened by the obligation to be grateful to his benefactor, and, as usual, he came to the point where he decided to remove him in order to strengthen his influence on the King, he wanted to achieve sole power over the King and over the kingdom. Of course, if this had succeeded, he would not have gotten better, since he himself would not have been able to cope with the numerous tasks that Richelieu performed brilliantly, but by no means with ease, since his working day, as a rule, was from nineteen to twenty-one hours , because he sometimes slept no more than three or four hours a day, allowing himself to rest only during a short game with his favorite cats and cats, of which there were at least two dozen in his palace.
Chevrette decided that she could seduce Chalet, and she succeeded. The handsome courtier decided to add it to the number of his victories. A few passionate glances, perfumed letters and a little eloquent silence, and now Chalet is convinced that he sincerely loves Maria, and Maria is convinced that she can use him. And so it happened.
Complaints about unfounded persecution, tears and a trembling voice, insulted innocence, an appeal to the Lord to send a deliverer from the cruel tyrant, Cardinal Richelieu, and now de Chalet sees himself as a kind of Saint George the Victorious, piercing with his spear a vile monster with three heads, spewing flames from a mouth with forked tongues. One modest kiss as a guarantee of a reward for the feat, and now she’s spinning it as she wants.
By the way, I accidentally found out that de Chalet was distantly related to d'Artagnan. However, if d'Artagnan had been in de Chalet's place, he, of course, could have entered into a fight with the cardinal, but not so stupidly and not so unsuccessfully. However, d'Artagnan could not possibly have been in the place of his relative, given the way in which this relative achieved his high position.
So, Chevrette complained to de Chalet that Richelieu was pestering her with his passion and threatening her with violence if she refused. Knowing her artistry, I understand that de Chalet believed everything that she told him, and was fired up with a thirst for noble revenge in order to protect his chosen one. Holy simplicity! If Richelieu had been harassing Chevrette, she would have given in to him in order to then dictate her terms to him.
However, now I'm thinking. Was there a case of a connection between Chevrette and Richelieu? Damn it! Everything indicates that this could have happened between these two not so distant relatives, who became related through his nephew and her niece. This needs to be thought about, but my guess has nothing to do with the presentation of what I began to describe.
So, Chevrette persuaded de Chalet to kill the cardinal, convincing him that this would make him a hero not only in her eyes, but also in the eyes of the entire French nobility.
Chalet offered to challenge the cardinal to a duel, but Maria, barely holding back her laughter, tried to be serious and explain that such a challenge would lead to nothing. Even if there had not been an edict prohibiting duels, the cardinal, as a clergyman, would not have responded to such a challenge, but as the first minister would have declared him a troublemaker. But since the edict was in effect, Richelieu would simply have ordered the arrest and execution of the daring Chalet, who was so clearly violating an important state edict, that is, demonstrating disobedience to the King.
“My dear Henri, you will only sacrifice your life in vain without achieving anything,” Maria concluded.
“For your sake, I am ready to sacrifice my life a thousand times!” - de Chalet passionately exclaimed, which proved his deceit, but flattered Mary’s pride.
If he had calmly said that he was ready to make such a sacrifice to protect Mary, perhaps such a promise would be worth something, but when a lover counts his promises into thousands, it is never worth taking note of it.
“Our plan will be different, my dear,” said Maria. “Not only will you not lose your life, but you will increase your power and also receive my love as a reward!”
Chapter 39
So, Chevrette promised that de Chalet would have her if he killed Cardinal Richelieu. Thus, she exploited not only his feelings for her, but also his pride, because if a nobleman achieves the love of a noble lady, and this lady shows him the path by which he can achieve what he wants, it is impossible to retreat, even if the coveted prize is no longer attractive, or attracts, but not so much that it makes sense to make such sacrifices. No one would want to be seen as a coward in the eyes of a woman to whom they have just confessed their love. Moreover, if this woman is a duchess, and you are just a count, no matter how much actual power you have. Moreover, de Chalet constantly felt that his power had limits, which were set for it by his benefactor, Cardinal Richelieu.
De Chalet did not doubt for a minute that the cardinal should be killed, and if anything confused him in this mission, it was only the way in which he could achieve what he wanted and, if possible, save his life in order to take advantage of the prize promised for this in the sight of the love and favor of the Duchess de Chevreuse.
If de Chalet had planned to simply waylay Richelieu and kill him, with a dagger or a bullet, he most likely would have succeeded in this, since the cardinal in those days was not yet too much afraid for his life, he often walked around without any security at all, or with little security , which could be distracted. But for infantile conspirators, such as all these princes, dukes and duchesses, the conspiracy was more of an exciting game, unknown and adventurous, than a clear plan of action to achieve extremely specific goals. Therefore, they became overly carried away by creating a community of conspirators, carried away by a joint discussion of all their plans, drawing up a program of action that all participants would have to approve. Moreover, often not everyone who was invited to such gatherings shared the views of the most radical initiators of this venture. Perhaps the cardinal's spy happened to be at one of these gatherings, or it may be that some of the conspirators lost their nerve. Maria said that M. de Valence, a relative of de Chalet, who, of course, should not have been drawn into this conspiracy, much less invited to the meeting, doubted the moral side of the matter when he learned that it could be about an attempt on Richelieu’s life. Apparently, when he agreed to join the conspirators, he believed that it was only about preparing a petition to the King asking for the limitation of Richelieu’s powers, or, perhaps, for the resignation of the cardinal from the post of first minister. Hearing that the conspirators were going to achieve their goals through violence, he was indignant, realizing that he was being drawn into an activity that was technically criminal, so that the participants could pay for it with their lives.
- Do you realize, Count, that if you fail you will be sent to the scaffold? — Valence asked the young count face to face after the next meeting.
“I’m ready for this,” de Chalet answered firmly.
“Count, you are young, and apparently you have never thought about what death is,” de Valence continued. “Death is terrible in itself, and even more so at such a young age.” Think about what you have now and who you are, compare it with what you strive to achieve, and weigh your life. Is it worth it? After all, behind the gravestone there is no wealth, no power, no feasts, no wine, no falconry, no rattling of weapons, no prancing on a horse, no admiring glances of ladies, no favor of His Majesty. And the Duchess de Chevreuse, whose love you are trying to achieve in this way, will not be there. And, besides, believe me, young man, a woman who demands to sacrifice or at least risk her life in order to achieve it does not love you and will never love you. True love does not require sacrifices, but makes them itself.
De Chalet thought deeply, but did not answer anything, or answered something to the effect that he had already thought about everything and was not afraid of anything, since his Gascon pride would not allow him to give any other answer.
“Even if I changed my mind, it’s already too late to give up,” said Chalet doubtfully, apparently finally admitting that de Valence was right.
“Everything will be lost for you when the executioner’s ax lands on your neck,” answered de Valence. - The point of no return will be the moment you do what you agreed to.
- How can I refuse after I gave my consent and so many people trusted my promise? - Chalet asked.
“This is your life, and this is your choice,” de Valence continued. “I would advise you to confess everything to the cardinal and repent.” A cardinal is a priest, and all priests are obliged to forgive, especially since the crime has not yet been committed. A plan that is abandoned and not fulfilled is not yet a crime. Repent and he will forgive you.
Chalet spent the whole night in thought. By morning he fully realized how strongly he was attached to life, and how sorry he would be to part with it. In addition, he realized how great the danger he was exposing his life to, essentially, because of trifles. Therefore, he went straight to Richelieu, confessed everything to him, after which Richelieu promised him complete forgiveness, provided that Chalet completely repented. It was proposed to confirm the completeness of his repentance by having him completely and completely side with the cardinal and, to prove his loyalty, name all his accomplices. Chalet named everyone except the Duchess de Chevreuse, hoping that she would appreciate it. The Cardinal guessed that the Duchess was involved in this, but pretended to believe Chalet and even promised him a reward. However, Richelieu had no doubt that all the other named conspirators were really conspirators.
After talking with Chalet, the cardinal immediately went to Gaston d'Orl;ans and told him everything he knew about the conspiracy, naming all its participants.
Frightened to death, Monsieur agreed to do anything just to save himself, so he immediately confirmed the participation in the conspiracy of everyone whom Richelieu named, recognized all the accusations as fair and accurate, so he made every effort to turn the accused into a witness to the accusation of all his like-minded people. conspiracy. He admitted that the plans also included the arrest of the King, which freed the cardinal’s hands. With the testimony of Gaston d'Orl;ans, Richelieu went to the King to receive from him the broadest powers to stop the conspiracy and punish the conspirators.
- Your Majesty, I am extremely upset and defeated! - exclaimed Richelieu. - Is it conceivable? Such noble and eminent persons conspired to carry out a coup d'etat!
— What kind of persons are we talking about, and what was their plan for this very coup? - asked the King.
- That's the whole point! - Richelieu exclaimed, demonstrating an extreme degree of chagrin. “If it was only a question of distrust in me, and the conspirators would only plan to remove me from the high post to which Your Majesty appointed me, I would immediately ask for your resignation in order to satisfy the desires of these noble persons standing so close.” to the throne, that for me these faces are almost sacred, and their desire is almost a law. I say “almost” because even the opinion of a dozen princes is nothing for me in comparison with the opinion of Your Majesty, the sole and authorized ruler of France. But my grief is that they were plotting not only against me, which, as I have already said, I would humbly accept. Their insolence extended to the point that they intended to arrest Your Majesty.
At these words, the cardinal placed his right hand on the left side of his chest and showed that he could barely contain the beating of his heart and was almost suffocating with despair.
“Calm down, monsignor, you shouldn’t worry so much, take care of yourself,” said the King with feigned concern. “Whatever the purpose of the conspiracy, and whoever the conspirator may be, I thank God that you have revealed this conspiracy in a timely manner, and I am convinced that you will be able to clip the wings of all the attackers.” So what exactly were they up to? Arrest me, you say? Who can dare to commit such a crime?
- Have mercy, Your Majesty! - the cardinal begged. “My lips do not open to mention the sacred names of your closest royal relatives.
- You are probably talking about Prince Conde? - asked the King.
“You are right, Your Majesty,” Richelieu answered modestly. “But, unfortunately, this is only an insignificant person in comparison with the other conspirators.” The most dangerous conspirators should be looked for much closer.
- Are we really talking about the Vendome brothers? - guessed the King.
- Yes, Your Majesty! - exclaimed Richelieu. “I have all the evidence sufficient to accuse them of vile treachery.”
“In that case, they should be arrested, and I give you my consent to this,” replied Louis.
“Thank you, Your Majesty, but to my greatest regret, the circle of conspirators is not limited to these people,” replied Richelieu.
- Not limited, you say? — the King became wary. - Who else? A! I think I understand! Are you talking about my mother? Well, we'll send her even further from Paris!
“I’m afraid to assume that you, as always, are right, Your Majesty, and Her Royal Majesty played a certain role in drawing up the plans for this coup, but, unfortunately, the circle of attackers is not exhausted by adding her highest person to the previously mentioned conspirators. Unfortunately, the conspiracy is even closer than you deigned to assume.
- Even closer, you say? - the King exclaimed in surprise. - But how much closer? After all, you won’t claim that my brother Gaston took part in the conspiracy?
- Alas for me, Your Majesty, look at his own confession! - Richelieu replied, handing the King a paper entitled “List of conspirators tempting me to eliminate my highest brother His Majesty King Louis XIII and his first minister.”
- There are so many names here! - exclaimed Louis. “I never expected such deceit from Gaston!” Wait a minute, right here!.. It can’t be! Anna? Queen? Was my wife plotting against me? God!
- Let me tear up this list and resign, Your Majesty! - exclaimed Richelieu.
- Wait! What are you saying? - objected the King. - Do you want to leave me when I find out that there is not a single reliable person around me except you? What will I do then? Who will I stay with?
“Your Majesty, order that first of all others arrest me, the unworthy first minister, who, with his excessive gullibility and insufficient vigilance, allowed such insidious plans to mature near the most brilliant throne of Europe!” - Richelieu exclaimed with such despair that one might think that he really wanted to be arrested.
- What should I do, cardinal? - asked the King. - Will you order the arrest of my brother and my wife? Who will I stay with?
“This cannot be done under any circumstances, Your Majesty,” answered the cardinal. - Your brother has already repented, he promised not to repeat this mistake in the future. Your wife will also repent, I'm sure.
“It’s the scoundrel Duchess de Chevreuse who is setting her up against me,” the King guessed.
“Your Majesty will deign to see that the duchess’s name is not on this list,” replied Richelieu. “Believe me, if I had reason to suspect the duchess, I would have already arrested her.”
- This can’t be! - the King exclaimed and began to carefully look through the list, first from top to bottom, then from bottom to top. - In fact, she is not here! How so?
“I will assign my people to her to know about her every step, Your Majesty, and if I have even the slightest information about her conspiracies, I will immediately order her arrest,” Richelieu replied.
“Okay, we’ve sorted that out,” replied the King. - So, what do you propose in relation to those on this list?
“By your order, Your Majesty, I will order the immediate arrest of the Prince of Cond;, both Vend;me brothers, and all those below. But I ask you to speak to Her Majesty Queen Anne and bring her to reason, and also to speak to your brother Gaston, severely reprimand him, and then ask him to forgive. I also ask for Her Majesty the Queen Mother's forgiveness. The names of members of your royal family should not be heard in connection with the exposure of the conspiracy, otherwise the shadow of the conspiracy will overshadow your royal house.
“Okay, act as you suggest,” the King agreed. “But I don’t want to discuss this issue with my wife, my brother and my mother.” I instruct you, cardinal, on my behalf to reprimand them and set them on the right path. After all, you are the Queen’s spiritual mentor. It will be easier for you, as a clergyman, to call all three to repentance. This, believe me, is not my topic. It would be easier for me to gallop into an attack against hundreds of enemies and expose myself to bullets than to explain myself to the Queen Mother, or the Queen. I don’t like it, believe me, it’s beyond my strength.
The cardinal bowed silently and left.
He did not have time to arrest Cond;, who, having been warned, was the first to come to him with the same list of conspirators, sincerely repented and made peace with the cardinal, based on his recognition of Richelieu’s primacy in all matters. Marie de Medici was forced to sign a document of repentance, in which she renounced any claims to power and recognized the primacy of Louis XIII , promised to obey him unquestioningly in everything, remain faithful to him and not enter into any alliances against him. Something similar was done with both Gaston and Anna, so that Richelieu, as it were, brought the lost lambs back into the family. The Vend;me brothers hastened to escape from Paris, but the cardinal, with the help of letters written by other exposed conspirators under the dictation of the cardinal, lured them to Paris, where they were arrested and thrown into prison.
The cardinal began to act actively and widely. He used all sources of information and found out that the plans of the conspirators included the murder of Richelieu himself and the kidnapping of Louis XIII, after which it was planned to raise the whole of Paris in rebellion, and this plan was also promised the full support of Austria and Spain. Richelieu's intelligence service, led by Father Joseph, traced the threads of the conspiracy and obtained letters in which its participants discussed plans not only to assassinate Richelieu, but also, if necessary, to assassinate Louis XIII himself. Richelieu had correspondence for Chalet from Madrid, Brussels and Vienna in his hands.
While Richelieu was carrying out the King’s instructions to stop the conspiracy and arrest the conspirators, Louis summoned de Treville.
“Tell me, de Treville, who do you think could arrest me?” - he asked.
“Only a madman who would immediately be torn to pieces by my musketeers!” - answered de Treville.
- Even if it was a very high-ranking person? - asked the King.
“In all of France, or whatever, in the whole world there is no such high-ranking person that she could afford to give or carry out such an order,” answered de Treville without batting an eyelid.
- What if the Queen Mother gave such an order? - asked the King.
“She would have been arrested and brought to you, Your Majesty,” replied de Treville.
- What if the Dauphin gave such an order? - asked the King.
In the absence of a son, the King's brother, Gaston d'Orl;ans, also known as Monsieur, was called the Dauphin.
“As I already said, neither Monsieur, nor Madame, nor your wife Queen Anne, no one in all of France and in the whole world can give an order for your arrest,” replied de Treville.
— Do your musketeers think exactly the same as you? - asked the King.
- Of course! - answered de Treville. “They report directly to you, and to me only insofar as I represent your person in the company of the royal musketeers.” Your Majesty, you can ask them about it yourself.
The king rang the bell. Secretary La Chesnais entered the office.
“La Chesnay, invite one of M. de Treville’s musketeers to join me.”
“Invite Athos, Porthos and Aramis,” de Treville clarified in response to La Chene’s questioning glance . “They’re on duty today, guarding the front doors.”
“Call me,” confirmed the King.
We entered His Majesty's office.
“I’m glad to see you, gentlemen, in good health,” said Louis. - I would like to clarify with you what you will do if you receive an order to arrest one of the noble persons?
“We will fulfill it, Your Majesty,” Athos answered for everyone.
- From whom should such an order come? - asked the King.
“We usually receive orders from Monsieur de Treville,” replied Porthos.
“Okay,” replied the King with a nod. “If Monsieur de Treville orders you to arrest Monsieur, or the Queen Mother, or Queen Anne?”
“It will be very sad for us to carry out this order,” I said, “but we will carry it out to the letter.”
“Will you carry out such an order even if it is given to you orally and not by me, but by M. de Treville?” - asked the King.
“We are soldiers, Your Majesty,” answered Athos. “We don’t choose the form in which the order is given. Orally or in writing, from de Treville, or from Your Majesty, any such order will be carried out.
“What if Monsieur de Treville orders you to arrest the cardinal?” - asked the King with a joyful smile.
- Let me do it? - asked Porthos.
“No, no, gentlemen, I’m just asking you in a hypothetical sense,” the King answered with obvious approval and a laugh.
“We'll arrest him,” I replied.
“What if I order you to arrest de Treville?” - asked the King.
“In this case, Monsieur de Treville will be immediately arrested, but it will be very difficult for us to do this,” I said.
“What if Monsieur de Treville orders you to arrest me?” - the King did not let up.
“In this case, Monsieur de Treville will be immediately arrested,” answered Athos.
- Do you, gentlemen, think so too? - the King asked me and Porthos.
We bowed our heads silently.
“Well, gentlemen, I see that I can completely rely on my musketeers!” - exclaimed the King. -Wait a minute! That's what. What if I order you to arrest the King of some other state? King of England? Or the King of Spain?
- Yes, even the Pope! - Porthos answered with a laugh. “But we would ask for passes to get to the place.” You understand, horse, fodder...
- Well done! - exclaimed the King. - So, if I need to arrest Cardinal Richelieu, I can count on you?! Excellent, excellent, de Treville! Give these fellows ten pistoles each in my name!
We bowed and left the reception area.
“It seemed to me that your fellows were just waiting for me to order them to arrest Richelieu, didn’t it, de Treville?” - asked the King. — I heard great enthusiasm in their responses to this topic.
“Your musketeers will enthusiastically carry out any order of Your Majesty, and I only monitor their constant combat readiness and organize their execution of your orders and daily duties to protect Your Majesty,” de Treville answered modestly, emphasizing the words “your musketeers.”
The king was very pleased.
Meanwhile, the Cardinal had a conversation with the Duchess de Chevreuse.
“Duchess, I have enough reason to immediately imprison you in the Bastille, and I am not sure that you will leave it in at least thirty years,” he said with a soft, kind smile.
- Your Eminence, how did I anger you? - Maria asked with trepidation.
“The Chalet Conspiracy,” replied Richelieu. “I know all the threads, and they all lead to you.”
- I am not guilty of anything! - Maria exclaimed. -You were misinformed.
“I am not obliged to believe you, since my sources of information are very reliable,” the cardinal objected. “Besides, they are diverse and unaware of each other’s existence. So I can verify them, whereas they cannot consistently deceive me. But I’m ready to believe you, you know, on one small condition.
- Believe me, monsignor! - Maria exclaimed. - Believe me, you have no better friend at court than me!
- Is there no better friend than you? - Richelieu repeated and laughed cheerfully. - In the whole court I have no better friend than you! Well, you have to! What a cheek! What a charming lie! You gave me the greatest pleasure to listen to such utter nonsense! But you yourself have no idea how close your lies are to the truth. More precisely, it must become incredibly close to the truth, Duchess, otherwise I will simply destroy you.
Maria shuddered and almost fainted.
“Calm down, Duchess, nothing threatens you provided you obey,” the cardinal replied, offering the Duchess a bottle of smelling salts.
“Thank you,” Maria replied, thanking the cardinal either for the bottle of salt or for the assurances of her safety. - I think you wanted to tell me something else? About some conditions? But keep in mind, I don't know anything and I'm innocent!
“If you shut yourself up and deny, duchess, we will not agree on anything,” Richelieu replied. “I need your active help, and for this there should be no omissions between us.” So, either you help me defend the interests of France and the King, or you will spend the rest of your days in the Bastille.
- My God, isn’t my most important desire to help the King and France in every possible way? - exclaimed the Duchess. “After all, all I think about is the interests of the King, Queen and France!”
“Leave the Queen’s interests to me, Duchess,” replied the cardinal. “And I suggest to you that you follow my friendly advice, which, believe me, can save you from imprisonment in the Bastille, but only if the execution is as precise as possible, and if not a single soul knows about this agreement of ours.” .
- Do you want me to sign some kind of agreement? - the Duchess asked with trepidation.
“You don’t need to sign anything,” the cardinal reassured the duchess. “I only need obedience.” First, you will make sure that Buckingham comes to Paris secretly, and so that I know where and when to look for him.
Without waiting for the duchess's answer, the cardinal stood up and left.
Chapter 40
Of course, Chevrette did not tell me about this conversation with the cardinal. I learned about it much later from sources, which I may report on in the future. However, why should I dedicate my diary to this secret? Yes, I got many of Cardinal Richelieu’s documents, including his memoirs, which were not written for strangers. They were written only for a person in the position in which I received them. Everything has its time, towards the end of the book I will write about this too. Until then, my memoirs will in some places report events that I could not know about at the time when they occurred, but which I still know very accurately and reliably. My knowledge is more reliable than the memoirs of other so-called witnesses of time, since these witnesses sometimes forget the sequence of events, sometimes their evidence is replaced by false memories, and in some cases the authors simply want to look better in their books than they really were. Well, enough of that.
So, Chevrette, of course, agreed to Richelieu’s terms, and he, in turn, shielded her from this conspiracy.
At first the Cardinal did not touch de Chalet, hoping to make him his agent in the enemy’s camp. But Chalet did not understand this, and the arrest of the Vend;me brothers frightened him beyond measure. Chalet felt that the cardinal had not completely forgiven him, and decided to save himself by bringing the plot to an end and getting rid of Richelieu, tried to strengthen his position by attracting additional allies, wrote several letters carelessly, and made other mistakes. It was his vacillation from one extreme to the other that ruined him. In addition, his allies themselves were not firm in their actions. Chalet began to persuade Gaston d'Orl;ans to hide and continue the conspiracy from the territory of one of the neighboring countries that could give him help. At the same time, Chalet did not even think that the conspirators left at large could not continue to communicate as if nothing had happened, without arousing suspicion, since all the conspirators could be under surveillance. Of course, surveillance of them was established, and the very fact of Chalet’s secret communication with Monsieur exposed both. In addition, discord began in the camp of the conspirators; everyone suspected everyone else and accused everyone, protecting themselves. As a result of such quarrels, each of the quarrels often feared that this conversation would become known to the cardinal and hurried to get ahead of his interlocutor with a denunciation to Richelieu. Thus, Richelieu learned about everything, even about what he was not primarily interested in, and to find out what he would not have bothered to acquire spies. In fact, all the conspirators served as spies for the cardinal, hoping in this way to insure their fate. Is it a joke? Even with regard to Queen Anne, we have to admit that some of her actions were such that they revealed her as an indecisive woman inclined to compromise, capable of betraying yesterday’s comrades and going over to the side of yesterday’s enemy. I don’t blame her, because she had the most difficult time of all, she balanced on the brink of the King’s love and hatred, and until, through the joint efforts of the spouses (or in another way, let’s say between the lines!), an heir appeared, that is, the Queen’s son, the future Louis XIV , her position was not completely defined, the danger of repeating the fate of Queen Margot, whom King Henry IV divorced with the consent of the Pope due to her infertility, hung over her like a sword of Damocles. Although we know that Margot was not at all barren in her youth, she cleverly hid the fruits of her sinful love and handed them over to strangers to raise so that no one remembered them. Apparently, the Lord himself punished her with infertility at a time when a son from her legal spouse would have greatly strengthened her position and changed her fate for the better. However, it may also be that it was not the Lord who punished her, but Henry IV himself , who deliberately made no effort to fertilize the womb of his plump wife, since he had been fertilizing completely different wombs for many years.
Let us return, however, to the development of the second stage of the Chalet conspiracy.
All participants who were not arrested immediately because they allegedly repented discredited themselves in the eyes of Richelieu, and, consequently, in the eyes of the King, by continuing secret meetings and discussions of further actions. At least one of them, presumably Roger de Louvigny, decided to hand over all the conspirators in more detail, revealing all the details of a conspiracy that had previously been only partially revealed and the events of which were still only superficially known to the cardinal. Now all the details of the planned actions have fallen into the hands of the cardinal, and most importantly - irrefutable evidence that the conspirators have not calmed down and continue to hatch plans to eliminate the cardinal and the King. Based on this written evidence, the cardinal again summoned Gaston d'Orl;ans for questioning, who provided new details in order to shield himself and achieve leniency.
Regarding this conspiracy, it remains only to talk about the participation of Rochefort and Milady in its exposure. The Duchess de Chevreuse at one time introduced one of her dear friends, the Marquis de Laic, as a reliable person to participate in the conspiracy. It was de Chalet who instructed him to deliver several letters to Brussels, and also return with answers to them. The talk, of course, was about an agreement on joint actions on the part of the leadership of the border countries in the event of the success of the planned coup. De Laik coped well with the first half of the assignment, but abandoned the idea of returning to Paris with reply letters. The fact is that in Brussels he met Milady, the same Marquise de Brenvilliers who shot at me. In conversations with de Laic, she scolded the cardinal so fiercely that he became convinced that she was his like-minded person and decided to involve her in the conspiracy. This was all she needed, since by this time she was already in the service of Richelieu, carrying out some particularly delicate assignments together with Rochefort. Milady persuaded de Laic to travel further from Brussels in order to replenish the list of future participants in the conspiracy and make allies of as many influential persons of neighboring countries as possible. She convinced him that delivering reply letters was not as important as expanding the list of those who would support the cardinal's future overthrowers. She also introduced de Laic to Count Rochefort, presenting him as one of the conspirators and friends of the Duchess de Chevreuse. At this time, Rochefort was carrying out the cardinal’s instructions with her in Brussels, according to which they were to try to gain the confidence of people included in the circle of conspirators. They succeeded in this as well as possible, so much so that de Laic agreed with milady’s proposals and instructed Rochefort to forward reply letters from Brussels to Paris. The letters were addressed to a certain lawyer Pierre, who lived near Place Maubert. Upon Rochefort's arrival in Paris, the letter was first opened by the cardinal's people, a copy was made of the text, after which the envelope was sealed so neatly that it would be impossible to guess that someone had already opened it. Rochefort handed the letter to Pierre, and at the very moment when the lawyer took it, the cardinal's spies established surveillance of him and made sure that he was heading specifically to de Chalet. It turned out that Pierre, who called himself a lawyer, was actually de Chalet's servant. De Chalet's answer, written in his own hand, was handed over to Rochefort and immediately went to the cardinal's table. From this answer it also followed that de Chalet had not abandoned his plans, and continued to harbor the idea of killing the cardinal and arresting the King. The letter, among other things, reported that the Queen was in no way involved in the plans of the Duchess, who intended to marry Gaston of Orleans to her. On the contrary, she wanted to marry him to her sister, another Spanish princess, and it was for this purpose that she had already written letters to the King of Spain. Thus, the Queen could not be accused of plans to kill or arrest the King, although her support for the idea of assassinating the cardinal did not raise any doubts.
The angry cardinal sent de Chalet to prison, at first temporarily, in fear that the King would still forgive his favorite. But after the cardinal had explained all the clarified circumstances to His Majesty, the King's anger at Chalet proved to the cardinal that he had won this round. It became obvious that de Chalet would only leave prison at Place de Greve to meet the executioner.
The Duchess de Chevreuse was formally exiled, or at least such a rumor was spread at court. In fact, she went to England to carry out orders from de Richelieu. She was not punished, but she went to England not on her own initiative, but on the instructions of Richelieu, convincing the Queen that it was necessary to say hello to Buckingham so that he would not do anything stupid.
Maria renewed her relationship with Buckingham, which allowed her to gather information about England's plans for France and other countries. For Richelieu this information was priceless, but he also demanded Maria's help in his fight against his internal enemies. Maria agreed for the sake of appearance.
However, the duchess did not abandon her enmity towards the cardinal. She hoped, on occasion, to free herself from him and stop following his instructions. Well, this is the fate of many informants, or rather everyone, except those who themselves chose this path by vocation or out of self-interest. Maria, of course, was not like that, she felt like a fish on a hook and hoped to bite the line and go into the depths. From that time on, her soul split into two like the tongue of a snake. On the one hand, she tried to follow the cardinal’s instructions and not give him any reason to doubt her devotion; on the other hand, she was painfully looking for a way to get rid of her addiction, which could only be achieved at the cost of the physical elimination of Richelieu, and she would not have been satisfied with the arrest of the all-powerful first minister, since in this case, even being arrested, he could use his knowledge of the duchess’s betrayal against her, which would allow him to control her through blackmail. So, Mary, like a wild predator submitted to force, carried out the orders of the cardinal and waited with hope for the opportunity to inflict a fatal bite on him.
She did not resort to my help, because she understood that not a single musketeer obeys anyone except de Treville, and de Treville himself will not obey anyone except the King. The king will not give an order for the arrest of the cardinal without compelling reasons. Therefore, neither the captain of the musketeers nor the musketeers themselves are suitable for participating in secret conspiracies against anyone, much less against the first minister.
Meanwhile, the cardinal personally interrogated Chalet once again and received such detailed and extensive information that there could no longer be any talk of acquittal. The poor fellow was sentenced to death. Unfortunately for him, the execution was carried out by an inexperienced novice executioner; he was unable to complete the job with one blow; he struck again, but again inaccurately. It was only the fourth time that it was over. There was not a single spectator who would not sympathize with the executed man, because this method was not provided for by the sentence. It was rumored that the cardinal had deliberately chosen such an executioner, which, of course, was slander. But this spectacle did not benefit Richelieu, since many spectators of this execution hated the first minister after it.
Regarding Mary’s actions, I will supplement my description with what I learned much later, and which at that time I could not have known.
The Duchess de Chevreuse was not as simple as the cardinal thought. Having agreed to inform him about the most important events, she decided to take advantage of the situation, since knowledge of what the cardinal was primarily interested in and what instructions he gave her could be used against him. Mary told the Queen not the whole truth, but only part of the truth, namely, she presented the matter in such a way that the cardinal did not demand obedience from her, but begged her to carry out his instructions, to which she agreed only for show, keeping in mind, first of all, the benefit of the Queen . Presenting herself as something of a converted spy for the cardinal who had decided to work for the Queen, she reported to the Queen and Buckingham what she considered possible to communicate, which increased her credibility with them. In turn, the Queen and Buckingham considered her their ally and revealed all their cards to her. Of the information received, the duchess did not convey everything to the cardinal, but only that information that was enough for the cardinal to harbor the illusion of the duchess’s obedience and her faithful service to him. Thus, portraying an ally to both opposing sides, she deftly maneuvered between them, remaining protected from each side and aware of the plans of each side. I admit that she did it well, even I considered her to be a supporter exclusively of the Queen. The Cardinal believed that the Duchess was helping him in everything. He even hinted to the Duke de Chevreuse not to restrict the freedom of his wife, since she was carrying out important government assignments. However, the Duke had long ago realized that it was better for him not to meddle in the Duchess’s affairs, and in every possible way avoided any contact with people included in her circle of acquaintances, that is, with the conspirators from her circle.
So, while in England, Maria informed Buckingham that Anna would like to see him in France, which fulfilled Richelieu’s instructions, but immediately told him to beware, since this message could be a trap, since she knows that Richelieu would like his return in order to expose his machinations to the King. She also warned Buckingham that Richelieu would not hesitate to kill the Duke, since if he arrived unofficially and incognito, such a murder would not cause an international scandal.
- Be careful, sir! - she said. “Instead of the Queen, another lady may appear for a secret meeting, and her husband may turn out to be the killer, so the case will be presented as a murder motivated by jealousy caused by the husband of a simple bourgeois woman.” This death will be shameful for you, and, of course, such an incident will not cause an international scandal.
Maria knew that by making such assumptions, she was not risking anything. Buckingham will only be able to tell the Queen about this, which will convince her that the Duchess is her most faithful friend. Maria also understood that Buckingham would not give up the idea of arriving incognito in Paris for a short meeting with Queen Anne, since he had already done even greater nonsense before, and she knew that Buckingham belongs to that breed of people in whom separation from the woman he loves is only strengthens their love many times over, or what they, deceiving themselves, take for love, and the inaccessibility of the object of such love makes it a hundred times more desirable. Buckingham did not recognize the word “impossible,” so given the slightest excuse for traveling to Paris to meet the Queen, he could not refuse it. It seems to me that even if Mary had said that the Queen did not write any letter, but that it was written by a specialist in forging handwritings from a draft dictated by the cardinal, then in this case Buckingham would have rushed to Paris, contrary to common sense .
It must be said that at this very time we, the King’s musketeers, were entrusted with only minor arrests of people whom we clearly recognized not so much as the enemies of the cardinal, but as the enemies of the King. It was at this time that the King began to clearly distinguish his musketeers from the background of the cardinal’s guards. Despite the fact that, as a result of the uncovered conspiracy, the cardinal had the opportunity to significantly increase the staff of his personal bodyguards, which the King insisted on, who was not ready to lose Richelieu, Louis himself nevertheless concluded that his best defense against such conspirators was the King’s musketeers. Louis expressed his complete confidence in de Treville, pointed out to him that the post of captain of the royal musketeers in the eyes of the King corresponded to the post of marshal of France, and promised to make de Treville a marshal immediately after the first battle in which the musketeers showed themselves properly. I know for certain that once in a conversation with the Queen he said: “For all problems in government, I have Richelieu, and in case I have problems with Richelieu, I have de Treville!”
I even know that I wanted to answer, but Queen Anne did not answer him. She told Chevrette about this, and Chevrette conveyed these unspoken words to me.
“That’s it, sir! - she wanted to answer, but the Queen did not answer. “As I see it, of all the government duties you have only one left - to conceive the Dauphin.” I hope that you will not shift this responsibility to either Richelieu or de Treville!”
When Anna told this joke to Chevrette, they both roared with laughter. Chevrette laughed so hard that she even began to hiccup. However, this was after her return from England, and with her came the reckless Buckingham, who could not, of course, appear in the Louvre as easily as the completely forgiven Duchess de Chevreuse did.
So, Buckingham arrived in Paris, Chalet was executed, and at that very moment Charles d'Artagnan arrived in Paris from Gascony.
Chapter 41
Maria arrived in Paris with Buckingham, incognito. She secretly met with me and told me in confidence that Buckingham had arrived with her and wished, through the Queen, to make very advantageous offers to France for cooperation. Of course she was lying, but I didn't know about it.
— Since when are political proposals made through the Queen? - I asked. — Isn’t it the King who deals with politics in France? And not Richelieu?
“The king and the cardinal are the official authorities,” Maria answered. “All important issues are first resolved at an informal level, at which all the details are discussed, after which proposals are made officially and ratified by joint agreements,” Maria answered.
- Oh, this is how it’s done, it turns out? - I said ironically. “And why does the Duke consider a secret meeting with the Queen to be the best option for an informal discussion of diplomatic proposals?”
“He hopes that he will get along better with her than with Richelieu,” Maria answered.
- This is what I believe! - I exclaimed with a smile. “I believe that he hopes so, but is the Queen so reckless that she is going to get along with Buckingham in secret from the King?”
- Henri! - Maria said sharply. “If you pose the question this way, I will probably agree that the lot of every woman is to be a servant to her husband and support him in everything, and never,” do you hear? - never date any man other than your husband. Oh, I guess I should go...
“Wait, Maria,” I held her back. - I do not at all condemn those women who allow themselves to communicate with people they like, in addition to their husbands. I just didn't expect this from the Queen.
- And I didn’t tell you anything about her, except that she, being a royal person who has many relatives among the ruling families of Europe, has the right to have her own opinion on the issue of concluding alliances with friendly states in order to give from time to time good advice to your husband, who has the right to listen to it, as well as, of course, the right to completely ignore it! - Maria said defiantly.
“So, you are helping Buckingham to secretly meet with the Queen for the good of France,” I concluded with subtle irony.
Maria pretended not to notice my irony, or she really didn’t notice it.
“I’m glad you understood everything so well, Henri, because I will need your help,” she said. - I ask you to rent one, or better yet, two apartments for this. These apartments should not be too far from the Louvre, but not too close either. The houses where they are located should not attract anyone's attention. It is desirable that the inside should be furnished quite comfortably, but from the outside they should look like the most ordinary houses.
- Will the Queen really meet with Buckingham in a secret apartment? - I was surprised.
“The apartment is needed not for meetings, but for Buckingham to live,” Maria answered. — I will live in the second apartment, since I returned to Paris incognito and cannot show up at my home.
-Where are you staying now? - I asked.
“Oh, it doesn’t matter at all, at the moment I left Buckingham in an inconspicuous inn far from the center of Paris, but it’s not convenient,” Maria answered.
- So you need an apartment immediately? - I was surprised. “In that case, I’ll give up my apartment to you this very minute and go find a second apartment for Buckingham.” I myself can live for a while with one of my friends, Porthos or Athos.
- Henri, you are a miracle! - Maria exclaimed.
At that time I lived between Rue Casset and Rue Servandoni, not far from Rue Vaugirard. I described to Bazin what kind of apartment I needed, and he found a suitable one on La Harpe Street. Maria provided the money to pay for this apartment, so I made a deal immediately, paid a week in advance, received two sets of keys and gave them to Maria, explaining how to find this house. The beauty of both apartments was that each of them had two exits to two different streets. From my apartment it was possible to exit both Kasset Street and Servandoni Street, and during the day I only used the exit to Kasset Street. I do not intend to explain in detail why I used the exit to Servandoni Street at night. Yes, of course, I made it a rule not to meet at home with my spiritual daughters, whom I sometimes confessed, so to speak, privately. But sometimes life makes its own adjustments to everyday rules, so in this case, the presence of a second exit was the greatest convenience, since those who saw me entering and leaving through Kasset Street believed that the apartment was rented by a young musketeer, and those who saw my guests , entering and leaving via Servandoni Street, it was believed that the apartment was rented by a young parishioner, which excluded unwanted rumors regarding the use of my apartment. I warned Maria to use the different exits for the purposes I had set for them, and she greatly appreciated my resourcefulness.
The apartment on Rue Laharpe had a similar advantage, so I rented it without haggling.
As far as I know, Maria used my apartment for herself, and she settled Buckingham in the apartment on La Harpe Street.
After this, Maria asked me if I knew a reliable musketeer who could be trusted. I replied that I consider myself such, and moreover, all musketeers are reliable, and all of them, or almost all of them, can be trusted in almost everything. Maria clarified that she would like to arrange a musketeer as a guest for one of her friends, who, on occasion, could protect her from those who show unwanted interest in her.
“I don’t do matchmaking,” I objected.
- This is not about matchmaking at all! - Maria exclaimed. - She is a married lady. She is a good friend of mine, the goddaughter of the Queen's valet, Mr. La Porte, and a very honest, decent and devoted servant of the Queen. She sometimes has to fulfill Her Majesty's very delicate requests, and the Queen appreciates her very much for this. Unfortunately, the cardinal wants to surround the Queen with his people in order to know about her every step, and it seems that he almost succeeded. Judge for yourself how important it is for Her Majesty to have at least someone else beside her, besides me and La Porte, whom she could trust unconditionally. This lady, her name is Constance Bonacieux, is the wife of a haberdasher. But her husband is a weak-willed rag. Lately she has noticed that she is being followed. She is afraid that one day, intruders will simply break into her house and commit violence against her. She would be calmer if she managed to hand over part of her house to some brave musketeer. The price in this case will be very small. This would allow her to feel at least a little calmer, since she is well aware that the cardinal’s guards will not enter the house where the musketeer lives.
“Well, I find her desire reasonable and her arguments convincing, and I will try to find her a lodger,” I replied. “At the present time I cannot immediately name the right person, since, as I know, those of the musketeers who do not live in the barracks rent apartments somewhere nearby, and I have not heard that any of them are concerned about finding a new one.” housing. But rest assured, in the coming days they will appear, since the owners of apartments who rent them out are sometimes so tactless that they deign to evict the musketeers due to a delay in rent payments for just a couple of years!
- Absolutely outrageous! - Maria answered with a laugh. - How can you be so impatient?
I caught the irony in her voice. Maria did not know what poverty was, she could not understand that musketeers’ salaries were sometimes delayed, so that a delay in payment was not a whim, but a forced necessity. We very often got into debt, but as soon as we received a salary or bonus, the first thing we did was treat all our friends, the second thing we did was pay off those debts that were enough to cover the remainder of this salary, after which we immediately got into new debts. There was simply no other way to do it.
In the evening, Athos and Porthos and I and three other musketeers, de Lorme, de Chantin and du Fierval, met in a tavern on the Rue Ferou. On the occasion of his name day, Porthos received from a lady a gift of a baldric, decorated with a magnificent golden pattern. He also received a gift basket containing a dozen bottles of Bordeaux, and decided to share them with us to celebrate this double acquisition. Athos and I, for our part, scraped together the rest of our money so that the dinner would suit Porthos’ appetites and the quality of the wine, so that the dinner promised to be wonderful. We drank twice to the health of the beautiful lady who provided Porthos with such a wonderful sling and an equally wonderful basket.
Dinner went great. At the end we were in such a wonderful mood that we decided to sing a funny song about the cardinal.
The song sang about what a wonderful dancer in the costume of an Italian jester dances the sarabande superbly. He performs steps that even a professional dancer at the Verona fair would not do. Sweat streams down this dancer's neck, but he doesn't notice because he is in a frenzy of delight and admiration for his own skill. It would be good if this dancer continued to dance, and dance, and not give up his dance. But what kind of laughter is heard from behind the screen? These are the ladies who know the dancer's name and are amazed at the skill and courage of the sarabande dancer. And they think about what they would say in the Vatican if they saw who was dancing this dance. Wouldn't the red cap fly off the head of this obscene actor?
Porthos sang the last chorus especially loudly:
“If the Pope could see,
How the cardinal dances
He would have this satrap
He drove me away from the prelates!”
At that moment, the doors opened and de Jussac entered the tavern, accompanied by Bernajoux, Lanou, Davout and two more of the cardinal’s guards, whose names I don’t remember.
- Gentlemen Musketeers! - said de Jussac. —We accidentally heard the song, but we didn’t hear its words very well. Could you please repeat them?
“We have already finished our musical exercises,” answered Athos. — Musketeers don’t sing to order. We sing when we feel like it and what we want. If you have come to greet us, we invite you to drink with us to the health of His Majesty the King and to the health of our glorious Captain de Treville.
“We don’t drink on duty,” replied de Jussac. “However, if you propose to drink to the health of His Eminence Cardinal Richelieu, we will probably make an exception to this rule.”
- The toast is offered by the one who treats! - exclaimed Porthos. “Bring here a dozen bottles of Bordeaux and if it turns out to be no worse than ours, perhaps we’ll drink to your cardinal.”
- This is unheard of impudence, Mr. fat man! - exclaimed de Jussac.
“It’s unheard of insolence to show up at a name day without an invitation just to insult the birthday boy,” Athos answered calmly. - Gentlemen, we are resting now, but if you have a desire to discuss topics of etiquette, you will find us tomorrow morning in the barracks, where we can agree on the time of the discussion and its rules. Now leave us.
Athos's voice was so calm and confident, at the same time firm and majestic, that de Jussac did not find what to answer, and, making a sign to his entourage to follow him, he was the first to leave the tavern.
We slowly finished our meal and about an hour later we left the tavern in an excellent mood, after which we headed down the street towards Porthos’s house, intending to see him off and continue a pleasant conversation along the way. The evening was magnificent and everything was conducive to a walk.
As soon as we reached the crossroads, all six of the cardinal’s guards under the leadership of de Jussac attacked us from around the corner. Unfortunately, de Jussac and Bernaju acted decisively and coolly, so that de Lorme and de Chantin received mortal wounds in the back and barely had time to understand what was happening before they gave up the ghost. Lanu's sword slid along Du Fierval's side and wounded him, however, not seriously. Davout also managed to seriously wound Athos in the right shoulder. Blood immediately began to flow from the wound so heavily that Athos almost immediately fell unconscious. Porthos and I were luckier. We walked with him somewhat ahead of the others, so the attackers could not kill us with the first treacherous blow. Hearing the sounds of the attack, we instantly turned to face the attackers and drew our swords, which, fortunately, were with us.
A serious battle ensued. Unfortunately, the wounded Fierval could not fight against two, like me or Porthos, so the two guardsmen he tried to resist forced him to surrender, after which he broke his sword. Porthos and I were left alone against six. I told Porthos to surrender. He didn’t want to agree, but I shouted to him “Quadrata cum fonte!” He understood me and agreed. The fact is that recently we passed by a fountain, and he asked me how to say “Square with a fountain” in Latin and I told him “Quadrata cum fonte”. After that, I asked him why he did this, to which he replied: “There are always so many people here. If I were a pickpocket, I would be here and no one would catch me. I recently had a dream that I was hiding from pursuit among a crowd of people. The guards shouted something after me, and I thought that maybe it was Latin? But they were shouting something else.” I asked him what they were shouting, to which Porthos replied: “Adipem asinum.” I said I didn't know what that meant because I didn't want to offend my friend. After that, Porthos asked me what the name of “The Square with the Fountain” was called and he said this phrase to himself several times, so that I was sure that he remembered it. So, I hinted to Porthos that we should try to free ourselves when we passed the square with the fountain, and he agreed to a temporary surrender. We broke our swords so as not to give them to the enemy. I have already written that it is better to break a sword and keep the hilt, for which you can later order a new blade, than to give the weapon into the hands of the enemy.
So, six guardsmen celebrated the victory. Each of us was surrounded by two guardsmen on both sides, after which the convoy led us in the direction opposite to the one in which we were originally heading. I believed that Athos had died, like de Lorme and de Chantin, and mentally mourned him. Porthos was also very worried about his comrades, as well as about the humiliating position in which we found ourselves. Our path passed through Place Joachin Du Bellay, where the Fountain of the Innocents is located.
Walking past the fountain, I noticed that, as usual, some people had gathered near it.
- Jacques! Jean-Paul! Pierre! Camille! Musketeers come to me! - I exclaimed, pretending to recognize several musketeers in the crowd of revelers.
The guards were confused and all simultaneously looked in the direction where I was shouting.
Taking advantage of this, Porthos took a step back, grabbed his guards by the collar with his powerful hands and slammed their foreheads against each other. I heard such a crunch that I think these two will never get up again. I did the same maneuver, but less successfully. However, although my guards did not fall, they were for some time brought into a state in which they barely understood what was happening. Fierval snatched the sword from the scabbard of de Jussac, who was walking to his right, and jumped to the side, threatening Bernage, who was standing on his left, with it.
Porthos, meanwhile, had already picked up the swords of the guards he had defeated and threw one of them to me, hilt forward, so that I easily caught it. Bernaju and Jussac realized that they could not resist the three of us and retreated. This gave us the opportunity to escape. It would have been simply unwise to start a battle in the Place Joachin-du-Bellay, so we were content to regain our freedom.
The first thing we did was return to the place where we had left de Lorme, de Chantin and Athos.
De Lorme and de Chantin lay in the same positions in which we had left them. Athos was not among them, but a huge stain of blood marked the spot where he had fallen.
“You can’t help the dead, Porthos,” I said. - Let's try to find Athos. Meet me at his house.
That's what we did. We split up and followed the three paths that Athos could have taken to his home, hoping to catch up with him. I chose the left road, Porthos - the central one, Fierval - the right one. But in vain. Athos was also not at home. We didn't know where to look for him or what happened to him.
“Well, friends, we can only go home and hope that Athos was picked up by friends,” I said. - Tomorrow everything will become clear.
Unfortunately, as I later learned, Fierval again met de Jussac, Bernajou and the other cardinal's guards that same evening. There were only four of them, since those whom Porthos knocked together were at least out of action for a long time, if not forever. I regret that I did not have as much strength as Porthos, otherwise what happened would not have happened. Bernaju again invited Fierval to surrender, but he refused, believing that once for one day was enough. He decided to fight against four and wounded Lana and Davout, received many wounds, including in the arm, and, as a result, was severely wounded in the chest by a treacherous attack by de Jussac, after which he was considered dead and left at the scene of the battle. The nuns picked him up and left. He survived, but left the musketeers forever, because his right hand could no longer hold a sword. Athos was picked up by an elderly pharmacist living nearby. Fortunately, he had medicine, in addition, he had the skills of a surgeon, so he stopped the bleeding, stitched and treated Athos’s wounds, and also gave him a refreshing drink. I learned about this much later.
The next day we attended an appointment with de Treville to report on the events that had happened to us.
Chapter 42
The next day we showed up at de Treville’s reception and began to wait for the call. In the reception room I noticed a young man of eighteen to nineteen years old, thin and tall, dressed rather poorly, but from the sharp look of his black eyes it was easy to guess that the fire of Gascon pride and ardor was bubbling in his chest, this explosive mixture of qualities was observed in almost everyone a musketeer of those times, since de Treville preferred to recruit his fellow Gascons as musketeers first of all.
De Treville's secretary looked out of the office and said:
- Monsieur d'Artagnan! Monsieur de Treville is waiting for you.
The young man immediately, almost stumbling, rushed through the office doors, as if if he were only a second late, the doors would close on him forever.
“A very funny fellow,” I said to Porthos. “He’s probably also asking to become a musketeer, and probably has at least three letters of recommendation from old women from the time of Charles IX , smelling of lavender and geranium, and all of them are distant relatives of our glorious de Treville.” Seventh water on jelly.
“Now de Treville will throw him out,” Porthos answered with a laugh.
At that moment, La Chesnay, the King’s secretary, appeared in the reception room and entered de Treville’s office, of course, without knocking or asking permission. He must have said something, because we heard de Treville shout: “What?!” Can't be?! What are you saying! I will deal with this immediately!”
The door opened, La Chesnay left, followed by de Treville himself, who looked around at those waiting, noticing me and Porthos, and said:
- Aramis, Porthos and Athos, come in immediately!
Since Athos was not with us, Porthos and I entered de Treville's office alone.
At first de Treville did not even notice that Athos was not with us, since he did not deign to look at us. It was clear that he was noticeably nervous.
Meanwhile, the young Gascon apparently did not understand that de Treville had something more important to do than a conversation with him, so instead of leaving, he calmly sat down on one of the armchairs, as if the conversation that should have been to take place between us and de Treville, was a performance specially organized for him. De Treville, meanwhile, was so excited that he completely forgot about the young man and did not pay any attention to him. Porthos and I made a sign to him with our eyes, indicating the presence of a stranger, but the captain did not pay any attention to this. He began his tirade right off the bat, pouncing on us like a hungry tiger on a piece of meat.
- Well, well, well, gentlemen musketeers! What will I learn about you? Did I know that I would ever live to see such shame?! - he exclaimed, throwing up his hands theatrically. — My glorious musketeers, it turns out, allow themselves to be rowdy? They drink themselves into oblivion, shout obscene songs, and are then arrested by a patrol of their Cardinal Guards! Good, nothing to say! Well, okay, I understand that sometimes you can afford to spend the evening somewhere in a greasy tavern! Maybe I would forgive your drunkenness too. Obscene songs, gentlemen, are also not so bad. But allow yourself to be arrested by some of the cardinal’s guards!? How many were there? Don’t answer, I know that there were as many of them as you, namely six. The Cardinal's six guards calmly arrest the King's six musketeers, like little children, because they allowed themselves to sing something obscene! How much wine did you have to drink for six pathetic guards to arrest you as some kind of street drunk? Perhaps I haven't drilled you enough? I spoiled you, I spoiled you too much! Musketeers rent apartments, sleep on lace underwear and soft mattresses, drink fruit juices and cakes in the morning, and have turned into pampered girls? How else can one explain that six musketeers allowed themselves to be arrested by just six of the cardinal’s guards? Why are you silent? And I also thought that my best musketeers - Athos, Porthos and Aramis, would never make me blush. And now, admire them! They allow themselves to be arrested and taken away from the tavern like boys who have become too naughty!
- But if we were arrested, then why are we free? - I asked.
- And where then are those fellows who arrested us? - Porthos picked up.
“Wait a minute,” de Treville thought. - So you weren't arrested? But where is Athos in this case? Is he killed? Well, of course, he was killed, I didn’t realize it right away! How did he allow himself to be killed? And how did you, gentlemen, allow this to happen?
“We were six against six, that’s true,” I said. “But we were attacked from behind, without warning, and we realized that this was an attack when Athos, de Lorme and de Chantin received mortal wounds, they were struck down by treacherous and sudden blows in the back.
- Stabs in the back, you say? - asked de Treville with alarm. “Are you saying that Athos, de Lorme and de Chantin received mortal wounds?” Are they killed?! Can't be!
“It is possible that Athos was not killed,” answered Porthos. “But de Lorme and de Chantin were killed, that’s certain.” Only Aramis and I and du Fierval were saved, who could not resist two guardsmen who attacked him from two sides.
“That’s how it was,” I said. “Porthos and I each fought off two of them until those who had attacked du Fierval before came to their aid.” Sorry, captain, we couldn't cope with two against six.
- Two against six? - asked de Treville. — Attacked without warning, from behind, you say? What scoundrels! If everything was as you say, that changes things!
“It was exactly like that,” answered Porthos. - I'm ready to swear on the Bible.
- Why did it all start, gentlemen? - asked de Treville much softer. “I now know about the details of the battle, but I must also know about its reason in order to justify myself before His Majesty.”
“We had a quiet, peaceful dinner with wine, crayfish and some other food,” I answered. - Porthos took one of the crayfish and began to play with it, pretending that the crayfish was dancing a saraband.
- Sarabande, you say? - asked de Treville with animation. — Boiled crayfish? All so red? This reminds me of something!
“This also reminded us of a funny song about how one clergyman, who was supposed to wear all red, from head to toe, dressed up in a Venetian jester’s costume and performed a sarabande,” I answered.
- Dancing cancer! Nice idea! - exclaimed de Treville with a laugh. - And what next?
“Our song was probably too loud, ” I continued. — These six arrived at the sounds of this singing.
“Sometimes my voice is too loud,” said Porthos, embarrassed.
— Did they ask you to stop singing? - de Treville clarified.
“On the contrary, they demanded that we sing the entire song again from beginning to end,” I replied.
- A strange request! - exclaimed de Treville.
“And we thought so too,” I supported. - Athos replied that the king’s musketeers do not sing to order, but sing only when it occurs to them, but now we are no longer in the mood and not in the voice.
- Nice answer! Well done! - de Treville praised Athos. “Did they really attack you after that?” Right in the zucchini?
“They refused to drink to the King’s health,” answered Porthos.
- But they were probably on duty? - asked de Treville.
“But at the same time they offered us a drink to the cardinal’s health,” I added.
- What a cheek! - exclaimed de Treville. - Refuse to drink to the King and immediately offer to drink to the Cardinal - but this is a riot!
- Yes, sir! - I answered. “Now you see what these scoundrels deserved.” But Athos said that we were having dinner now, but we could resolve our dispute regarding toast the next morning. After these words, the guards left the tavern.
- So you separated amicably? - de Treville clarified. - I do not understand anything! How then did this duel arise?
“It was not a duel, but an insidious attack from around the corner, about an hour after this conversation, when we left the tavern and were heading towards Porthos’s house, suspecting nothing and not expecting such meanness,” I answered.
“The sword that pierced poor de Lorme’s chest came out from the other side and hit me!” - exclaimed Porthos. “When we realized that this was an attack and we had to defend ourselves, there were no longer six of us, but only three.
- Enough, gentlemen! I've already heard this! - Porthos de Treville abruptly interrupted. “I can no longer listen to a story about such base deceit, about such meanness!” I will immediately report everything to the King! But where is Athos? Was he killed too?
At that moment, the doors of de Treville's reception room opened and Athos appeared in them. He was pale as a sheet, but alive! Porthos and I were stunned.
- Athos! You are alive? - exclaimed de Treville.
“I apologize for being late, Mister Captain,” Athos said in an even voice, and only those who knew him like me and Porthos heard from the timbre of this voice how weak Athos was. - I am ready to carry out any of your orders.
- Your hand, our glorious Athos! - exclaimed de Treville and rushed to hug Athos.
At the same time, he accidentally touched the wound of Athos, who turned even more pale, involuntarily screamed and would have fallen to the floor if Porthos had not caught him.
- What about him?! - exclaimed de Treville. - Doctor! See a doctor immediately!
I rushed out the door and told the secretary to immediately call the doctor.
The doctor ordered Athos to be transferred to the sofa in de Treville’s rest room, adjacent to his office, where he took care of Athos. Porthos and I left the office to discuss the situation. I expected that the young Gascon would come out with us, but he remained in de Treville’s office as if nothing had happened. This alarmed me.
— Have you noticed this young Gascon? - I asked Porthos. — He listened to our conversation all this time.
“If this is the cardinal’s spy, I will strangle him with one hand!” - Porthos exclaimed passionately.
“We need to find out everything first,” I answered. “We’ll test it, and then we’ll see what kind of bird it is.” In the meantime, just be careful with him and don’t talk about anything if possible.
After some time, Athos came out of the door of de Treville’s reception room. He looked much better, and Porthos and I were so happy about this that we already forgot about the young Gascon.
- Do you need help? - I asked Athos.
“It’s okay,” he replied. “De Treville gave us leave for two days, however, we must be nearby, since he may need us to confirm your story to the King.” Do you know what happened to du Fierval? I don't see him anywhere. Maybe the villains killed him?
“I haven’t heard anything about him either,” I replied. - Let's try to find out his fate.
After that, we split up to ask the other musketeers if they had seen Fierval.
I was just talking to two of my comrades and felt it getting hot. Perhaps the excitement of that day took its toll on me. I decided to wipe off the sweat and took my handkerchief out of my pocket, completely forgetting that I had Camille de Bois-Tracy’s handkerchief in the same pocket. She gave it to me so that I could use it as a password when meeting with Buckingham, who was told not to trust anyone who did not have such a scarf. The fact is that Camilla sometimes helped her cousin Maria in her intrigues, but she did it very carefully, rarely and reluctantly. Maria was afraid to use her handkerchief as a password, since it had already appeared once in a similar case, which I described above.
I saw that I had dropped the handkerchief only after it fell on the pavement. I didn’t dare lift such a noticeable thing in front of my interlocutors, so I stepped on it with my foot so that it would not be blown away by the wind and so that it would not attract the attention of my interlocutors, but its edges stuck out from under my foot.
My interlocutors did not pay any attention to this scarf, or pretended that they had not noticed anything, but then, as luck would have it, that same young Gascon appeared.
He approached me and addressed me in the most impudent manner, despite the fact that we had not been introduced to each other.
- Sir, you dropped your handkerchief! - he said and pointed to the scarf under my foot.
“You are mistaken, sir,” I replied. “I have my handkerchief with me, so go on your way.”
- Wait a minute! - said one of my interlocutors, de Juardo, literally tearing the handkerchief from under my foot by force and lifting it. - But he’s right! This is really a scarf! And if it is not yours, then whose is it? Yes, here is a coat of arms in the form of a crown and the letter “K.” B."! I think I know whose it is! After all, this is the coat of arms of Camille de Bois-Tracy!
“In that case, he fell out of the carriage in which she apparently passed here,” I said.
“Well, I’ll give it to her husband, with whom we are on friendly terms,” answered de Juardo.
“ It’s not worth it,” I replied. “I myself can convey it to Madame de Bois-Tracy’s husband, since I am also on friendly terms with him.”
- But why you and not me? asked de Juardo.
- But why not me, but you? - I asked in response.
- Mister Aramis is right! - the young Gascon intervened. “He has the right to return the handkerchief, since he was the one who dropped it.”
My interlocutors burst out laughing, and I felt a strong desire to stab him right there.
“Young man,” I said as softly as I could. “Go on your way and don’t interfere in the musketeers’ conversations.” And in particular, refrain from asserting anything you do not know for sure.
- Do you think I'm lying? - the young man flared up. “How can you say that you didn’t drop the handkerchief if I myself saw that you dropped it?”
Here a wave of anger rose in me even stronger. I remembered how I almost got into trouble because of Maria’s same scarf. I also remembered that the man who showed extreme interest in my scarf was a spy for the cardinal.
“What a great thing! - I thought. “So we found out who you really are!”
- Sir! - I said. - Go your way and make sure it doesn’t intersect with mine!
De Juardo realized that perhaps a challenge to a duel was about to take place, so he touched the sleeve of our third interlocutor, it seems it was de Bezmo, and nodded his head to the side, inviting him to end the conversation.
- I completely forgot, we’re in a hurry! - exclaimed de Bezmo.
After this, both my interlocutors, de Bezmo and de Juardo, left us, leaving me and the young Gascon to finish our explanations.
“So, sir, do you consider it acceptable for yourself to poke your nose into other people’s affairs so deeply as to be interested in the contents of the pockets of a stranger?” - I said, trying to remain calm.
“I just wanted to suggest to you that you must have accidentally dropped the handkerchief, the loss of which you would probably later greatly regret,” answered the young Gascon with the most innocent look.
It seemed to me that after the phrase about the nose, not a single Gascon would remain silent, and our duel was already a foregone conclusion, but this young man seemed to know how to control himself, which convinced me even more that he was the cardinal’s spy.
- Do you know that if a musketeer considers it necessary to drop a handkerchief and step on it, then no one in the whole world can forbid him to do this? - I asked.
“If your plans regarding this scarf were exactly as you say, I regret that I violated them,” replied the Gascon. - You can freely drop this scarf again and step on it. Rest assured, I will not interfere with you.
- Are you laughing at me? - I exclaimed. - If you are not smart enough to realize that Paris is not paved with cambric handkerchiefs, and that if one of them lies under the foot of the royal musketeer, then this is not at all accidental, and, therefore, it should lie there until then until the right time comes to raise it, then you should not come to Paris at all.
“Perhaps I will leave Paris, but not before we are finished with you,” the Gascon answered boldly. “You are probably in a hurry to return the scarf to its owner, but I hope that tomorrow at two o’clock in the afternoon behind the Luxembourg Palace we can discuss all the subtleties of your views on what a Gascon should do in Paris and what he should not do.”
I must say, I liked his answer, and he assigned the place very sensibly.
— Why behind the Luxembourg Palace? - I asked. - Do you know this place?
- Not at all! - answered the young Gascon. “I only know that conversations of this kind that lie ahead of us are best conducted there.”
After these words, he turned sharply on his heel and walked in the direction opposite to de Treville’s house, looking as if he had just hit a squirrel in the eye with a musket from a distance of one and a half hundred steps.
Chapter 43
In the evening, Athos asked me to be a second in a duel, which he appointed at twelve o'clock the next day.
- Athos! You are wounded, and the wound is far from healed! - I objected.
“Yes, my friend, that’s true, but the duel was inevitable, and my opponent is not one that will require a lot of strength,” answered Athos. “However, it is not my plan to kill him.” I just want to give him the exact same wound that I received yesterday, so that he will know that a person with a similar wound should not be pushed into the wounded shoulder.
- Exactly like this? - I was surprised. - But you were attacked from behind!
“Really, it would be a pity if he showed me his back,” agreed Athos. “But as far as I could see, the boy is not a coward, so I will be content with inflicting a similar wound on his front.” I'll try not to hit any vital organs. So, do you agree?
- Of course, Athos! - I answered. “I agree in any case, but I regret that you will have to fight without properly recovering from yesterday’s wound.”
“Nothing,” answered Athos. - I can handle.
We all knew that if Athos decided something, it was useless to dissuade him, and if he promised something, then it would be so.
The second second was Porthos. We agreed to meet at the place designated for the duel, that is, at the Desho monastery.
When I approached the meeting place, Athos and Porthos were already there, standing next to them was a tall young man whom I recognized even before he turned around and showed his face. This was the same young Gascon with whom I had a duel scheduled for two hours.
- That's the story! - I exclaimed. - And you, young man, didn’t waste your time! It seems that you managed to quarrel not only with me, but also with Athos?
“And with me too,” added Porthos.
“Yes, but with you, Mr. Porthos, only at one o’clock in the afternoon, and with you, Mr. Aramis, at two o’clock, so the present time completely belongs to Mr. Athos,” answered the Gascon.
“We all know about the reasons for the duel with Athos, but why didn’t you please good-natured Porthos?” - I asked.
“It takes a long time to explain,” answered Porthos.
“We do not agree on tastes in clothing,” answered the young Gascon.
- And you, Aramis, why are you fighting with him? - Porthos asked in turn.
“We have a disagreement in the interpretation of one text from Scripture,” I answered.
“Yes, yes, we argued about one place with St. Augustine,” answered the Gascon.
Everyone knows that in his youth Blessed Augustine was very debauched, so the impudent fellow dared to hint at my relationship with the fair sex. It seems to me that from surprise I even blushed slightly, and Athos grinned and looked at the young man with approval, while Porthos did not understand absolutely anything.
I was annoyed, because if Athos wounded the boy the way he himself was wounded, then the fight with him would not be a duel, but a simple murder. Besides, he still had to fight Porthos, who would finish him off even if he was not wounded. I decided that if the young man was wounded, we would postpone the duel until he fully recovered. Although I considered him a spy for the cardinal, and longed to deal with him forever, still a nobleman should not kill an unarmed nobleman, and being wounded the way Athos was wounded, he would be absolutely helpless. Having made this decision, I completely calmed down about him.
“Messrs. Porthos and Aramis,” said the Gascon. - I ask you to humbly forgive me...
- Ugh! What a rag! - exclaimed Porthos.
- Yes, it was worth coming here to hear something like that! - I supported Porthos.
- Gentlemen, please do not interrupt me! - the young man objected and straightened up proudly. - I haven’t finished saying it yet! I ask you to forgive me only for the fact that if Mr. Athos is lucky enough to kill me, my obligations regarding the duty of honor towards you will not be fulfilled. At the same time, your chances of getting satisfaction from me, Mr. Aramis, turn into almost nothing. I asked you to forgive me only for this. Now that all is said, let's get started!
With these words, he threw away his hat, pulled out his sword and took a fighting stance.
- Athos, leave me a piece of this braggart! - exclaimed Porthos. “I, in turn, promise to leave something from him for Aramis.”
“Well, gentlemen, are we going to take turns killing this little sucker, who’s almost still a child?” - asked Athos. “Really, Porthos, will you fight with a wounded man?”
“I was joking,” said Porthos. “I am sure that my chances of a duel are zero, since I have to fight with what will remain of him after Athos gives him a good beating.”
- Shouldn't we cast lots? - I asked. - Any of us will kill him, without a doubt, so why should we line up in which only one will get the prize?
“No, gentlemen, we will not break the dueling rules,” answered Athos. “I called him first, our meeting was scheduled for twelve, and now it’s already ten minutes past twelve.” To battle!
And he pulled out his sword. I could see that even this simple movement caused him great pain.
At that moment, Porthos and I saw a small detachment of the cardinal’s guards, consisting of five people, including their commander de Jussac, appear around the corner.
- Sheathe swords, gentlemen! - I exclaimed.
- Cardinal's guards! - Porthos exclaimed almost simultaneously with me.
But we were too late, since de Jussac had already noticed that Athos and the young Gascon had taken up positions for a duel.
- Gentlemen Musketeers, you are under arrest for violating the royal edict! - exclaimed de Jussac. - Be kind enough to give us your swords!
“Damn Gascon! - I thought. “This cunning man warned the cardinal’s guards to come and stop this duel!” Now it’s clear why he started this conversation with an apology for the fact that Porthos and I won’t have the chance to fight him. He was simply stalling for time, since the cardinal's guards were slightly delayed! He led us through!”
Apparently Porthos thought the same thing, because with a face full of anger he looked not at the guards, but at the young Gascon.
“There are five of them, and there are only three of us,” Athos remarked in a low voice. “We will be defeated, but we have no other choice.” I would sooner allow myself to be killed than to be seen by de Treville after allowing myself to be arrested.
- What are you up to, gentlemen? asked de Jussac. - You seem to be conferring? Are you really going to resist and disobey our legal demands?
- You are mistaken, gentlemen! - exclaimed the young Gascon. - We are a party of four!
- What? - Porthos was surprised. - You? Boy! Do you compare yourself with experienced musketeers?
“Young man, you can leave,” said de Jussac. “You are not a musketeer, and these three probably provoked you to come here with a sword for a duel.” It is quite obvious that you did not do this of your own free will, so be glad that you were not killed this time, get out quickly and do not interfere in the affairs of experienced military personnel.
“Now everything has been clarified,” I thought sadly. “The provocateur has done his job, the provocateur can leave, and we, like stupid mice, have fallen into an insidious mousetrap!”
- Gentlemen, I'm with you! - the Gascon exclaimed and looked expressively at Athos, intuitively sensing a leader in him.
“Young man, your help will only worsen our situation,” he answered sadly.
“There are only three of us, one of whom is seriously wounded, and a young man, almost a boy, but they will say that there were four of us,” I said.
- But retreat? No impossible! - exclaimed Porthos.
- Hand over your weapons, gentlemen! - de Jussac did not let up. - Do not aggravate your guilt by disobedience.
We would probably still have hesitated, but the young Gascon resolved all doubts with his desperate act.
- Mister insolent! - he turned directly to de Jussac. “How dare you speak in such a tone with His Majesty’s musketeers?!” I have the honor to attack you immediately!
With these words, he drew his sword and jumped up to de Jussac with the most warlike air, so that his intentions to fight for life and death left no doubt.
- Puppy! - exclaimed de Jussac. - Well, just wait! I'll teach you a lesson! Grab these three and I'll deal with this sucker!
At his sign, four of the guards rushed into battle with us, while de Jussac himself pointed his sword at the young Gascon and made the first attack very seriously with the most decisive intentions of finishing off the insolent one with one blow. But it was not there. The young Gascon deftly dodged his sword, feinted himself, then jumped to the right, made another lunge and then moved to the left. I did not see the further course of their battle, since four guardsmen advanced on the three of us. Porthos and I tried to pull the three of us over so that the wounded Athos would feel better.
I knew all these guards by name. De Lenoy and de Zidi were advancing on me, Porthos got de Bicara, and Athos got de Cahuzac. Fortunately, I was able to deal with Lenois fairly quickly, but Bicara managed to wound Porthos, but Athos, who had not yet recovered from a serious wound, was doing the worst. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that de Jussac collapsed as if he had been knocked down. The lively Gascon struck one of the cardinal's best swordsmen. He did not think long, seeing how difficult it was for Athos, and immediately came to his aid. After some time, Cayuzak was killed by a blow from Athos, who found the strength in himself for this blow, after which he himself almost fell to the ground. I knocked Zidi’s sword out and invited him to surrender. Only Bicara remained, who firmly decided to die, but not to give up, despite the fact that there were already four of us against him, although Athos and now Porthos were wounded, while de Jussac was a pitiful sight, so serious was his wound .
“Surrender, Bicara, I order,” de Jussac wheezed and lost consciousness.
After this, Bikara broke his sword.
In this battle we took four swords, and left the battlefield victorious, leaving Bikar and Zidi to take care of their wounded and dead.
- What is your name, young man? - I asked. “I think I heard your name in de Treville’s reception room, but I didn’t remember it.”
“My name is Charles d'Artagnan,” the Gascon answered proudly. - If you forget it again, don’t hesitate to ask, I’ll remind you.
“No, now I’ll remember it,” I answered.
“Why didn’t you want to be saved, Charles d’Artagnan?” - asked Athos.
“Such an act never occurred to me!” - exclaimed the Gascon. - How could I leave the King’s musketeers in trouble?
- So, for you, musketeers are far from an empty phrase? - Porthos asked in a condescending tone.
- That's all for me! - the Gascon exclaimed hotly. - My father was a musketeer, I will definitely be one myself! In my heart, if you want to know, I have been a musketeer for a long time!
- Well! - Athos exclaimed. - Good morning! Today you saved at least one musketeer from death, and I am in your debt. Your hand, Charles d'Artagnan!
- Your hand! - I repeated and shook d’Artagnan’s hand after Athos.
- Your hand! - Porthos exclaimed, extending his wide palm for a handshake.
- Be careful, Porthos! - I exclaimed. - Remember that this is just a human hand, not a bear's paw! Stop hurting our new friend!
Hearing the words "to our new friend," d'Artagnan shuddered, looked at me gratefully and heartily shook hands with all of us, after which we embraced, being careful not to disturb the wounds of Athos and Porthos.
This is how our inseparable four were born - Athos, Porthos, me and d'Artagnan.
Chapter 44
Then events occurred that Athos described in his memoirs, entitled "Memoirs of the Comte de La F;re of some events that occurred in France towards the end of the reign of King Louis XIII and at the beginning of the reign of King Louis XIV."
Perhaps, in relation to the events that have already been described by Athos, I will only add what he did not describe.
D'Artagnan settled in the house of the grocer Bonacieux on my recommendation, since Maria asked me to select a guest from among the musketeers. Although d'Artagnan was not yet a musketeer, in all other respects he met Mary's requirements, since she needed a brave warrior capable of protecting Constance in the event of persecution by the cardinal's spies. I did not tell d'Artagnan about those characteristics of the owner of this apartment that I myself knew, since this was Maria's condition. I assumed that d'Artagnan would deal with these problems himself, and so it turned out. However, if he had not fallen in love with Constance and had not plunged headlong into her problems as if they were his own, it is unlikely that we would have gone to England in order to deliver to the Queen her diamond pendants, which she so recklessly gave to Buckingham, without even thinking about the fact that she did not have so many similar diamonds that this loss could be hidden.
Doesn't it seem strange to you that the Queen, having learned that Richelieu found out about the transfer of the pendants to Buckingham, was mortally afraid, especially after the King appointed a ball at which he asked the Queen to wear these pendants?
I was surprised by this myself. Indeed, it is worth remembering that the keeper of the Queen's jewels was Messrs. de Chevreuse. So as soon as the Queen declared that she did not know where the ill-fated pendants had gone, this question would have been redirected to Mary, who could hardly have diverted suspicion from herself by declaring that the Queen herself had given the pendants to Buckingham. Firstly, the King and the Cardinal at this time already treated Mary very badly, and would only be happy to blame the Duchess for the disappearance. Secondly, who should the King believe - his own wife, Queen Anne, or some duchess? Thirdly, it is known that Chevrette traveled to England, so even if it turned out that the pendants were in Buckingham’s possession, this would only increase suspicions about Mary, and would once again clear the Queen of suspicion. Fourthly, it was believed that Buckingham did not secretly visit Paris, so the Queen, it would seem, had no opportunity to give the pendants to the Duke. Thus, in answer to the question “Where did the twelve diamond pendants go?” she might answer: “Ask the keeper of my jewels, she should know.” No matter what Mary said in this case, no one would believe her if the Queen insisted that she was not involved in the disappearance of the pendants.
The explanation for this strange sacrificial behavior of the Queen, who was completely inclined to self-sacrifice, is that there were motives or springs for these events, which Athos did not fully understand and describe. Indeed, returning the diamonds was not so much in the interests of the Queen as in the interests of the Duchess. It is for this reason that I did not explain to my friends that we were setting off not in order to save the Queen, but in order to save the Duchess de Chevreuse, who, by the way, was already officially in England at that time, and only few of her friends and some of her many enemies knew that she was secretly in Paris. The bottom line was that the Queen had been too friendly with Mary for a long time, and for this reason, due to excessive gullibility, she told her too many of her own secrets and secrets, which allowed Mary to keep her on the hook, without even announcing out loud the possibility of blackmail. The Queen understood that it was better to save Chevrette than to use her for her own salvation, that is, to get away with it by slandering her former friend. Anna of Austria was restrained in this regard not by moral principles, but by the fear of exposure. Maria could expose Anna to the King, which would certainly lead to divorce. In this situation, it would be better for the Queen to take the blame rather than acquire such an enemy as the Duchess de Chevreuse. It would be even better to make an excuse, that is, return the pendants. But still, I am convinced that if the Queen were threatened with divorce due to the lack of pendants, she would prefer to blame the Duchess, come what may, rather than admit that she gave them to Buckingham, because in this case the King would regard such a gift as a pledge of love, which he may have been. No amount of Maria's revelations would have made the situation worse. Athos did not delve into all these subtleties, and if someone had opened his eyes to Mary’s character, it would certainly not have been me. I saw that in his old age he had become sentimental, and I did not want to be the person who would cause him mental trauma by exposing the character of the Duchess de Chevreuse and her pragmatic and mercantile approach to any relationship, even the most friendly, as she called them. It seems to me that Chevrette did not know the meaning of the concepts of friendship and love, since her main feature was extreme selfishness. However, outbursts of noble aspirations sometimes occurred in her, as a result of which she could be considered one of the most noble and selfless ladies of the court.
Yes, I must admit, during these events I felt much more positive about Maria in the weeks afterwards. Athos, during these events with the pendants, was not familiar with her, but at the time when he wrote these memoirs, he was too biased towards Maria, I would even assume that he loved her, if I could assume that Athos is capable to love a woman. And in any case, Athos was grateful to Mary for the birth of their common son Raoul, Viscount de Bragelonne.
In relation to these memoirs of Athos, I also have to pay attention to this. The memoir is divided into three separate books, one of which is subtitled The Three Musketeers. From which it should have followed that Athos did not seem to be writing the story of d'Artagnan, but was writing the story of the three of us, his own, Porthos and me. But when reading this book, it is clear that it is more likely a description of d'Artagnan's adventures than ours, or in any case he is the main character in it. For this reason , I believe that the title of this part of his memoirs does not correspond to the content. The second book of Athos' memoirs is called "Twenty Years Later." Athos omitted from his description twenty years of his and our lives. At the same time, he tried to separate the second book even more from the presentation of his own life, focusing the description on the life of d'Artagnan. He decided to exclude those twenty years while he raised and raised Raoul from his memoirs. But too much happened during this period to ignore these events. In addition, he did not explain his own motives for participating in the Fronde movement, but he paid a lot of attention to the motives of d'Artagnan's actions. Finally, the third book of his memoirs, which he called “Another Ten Years Later, or the Vicomte de Bragelonne,” causes the greatest surprise. Indeed, in this book of memoirs, Athos managed to describe his own death, as well as the events that occurred after it. I will reveal the secret of this book here in these pages. The fact is that the events described by Athos are somewhat different from the true ones, which he did deliberately, hoping that this book would one day be read by descendants who would not know everything that the four of us know. Namely, they will not have to know that for some time, and not just one night and one day, the throne of France was occupied not by Louis IV, but by his twin brother Louis Philippe, who was elevated to this throne not by me, but by our friend d'Artagnan. Athos's accounts deviate significantly from the truth, starting from the point where he describes how the King was kidnapped, for what reasons d'Artagnan guessed my plan and realized that they were realized, in what way and why he returned the King to his place, and , finally, why then, after some time, Louis returned to his throne, and Louis Philippe was removed from the throne. He also did not describe where exactly Louis-Philippe was eliminated. I tried to describe all this in the same style in which Athos described our adventures, and these descriptions are attached here, they are filed with my memoirs at the very beginning. I entitled them "D'Artagnan and the Iron Mask, or two more years later." Together with the memoirs of Athos, which, as I have already said, are called "Memoirs of the Comte de La F;re of certain events that occurred in France towards the end of the reign of King Louis XIII and at the beginning of the reign of King Louis XIV", these manuscripts present a fairly detailed and accurate description those events that I will no longer write about. In the following chapters I will describe only what happened after the events described by Athos in the first book, before the events described by him in the second book, and, of course, I will also write about what happened after those events, the description of which ends my appendices .
At present I have time to think in detail and describe everything that I would like to describe, and, as I already said, to free my memory from these memories, or from the unpleasant part of them, since I still have much to remember in connection with that high the post of pontiff, in which I found myself by the will of God and, to some extent, by my own efforts.
I will have something to talk about without interfering with the descriptions that my dear friend Athos has compiled. Even in those places where I find noticeable deviations from the truth in him, I, perhaps, will not be overly intrusive with my corrections.
I will only outline the general picture. As I have already said, the Duchess de Chevreuse played a much more significant role in all events than one might think when reading the memoirs of Athos. She, as I already said, was not so categorically at enmity with Cardinal Richelieu, as it seemed outwardly, and it was for this reason that the cardinal always sought forgiveness for her, which allowed her to survive him for a long time and remain at the court of first Louis XIII, then Louis XIV , who allocated her special rooms in the Louvre so that she could live near the King and attend all the most important palace events, although she also had her own palace, for the maintenance of which she always managed to find money. Louis XIV , it must be said, had a lot to thank her for, and Louis XIII tolerated her as a friend and comrade-in-arms of his own wife, Queen Anne, and, moreover, retained the remnants of tender feelings for her from those times when she was still Duchess de Luynes and was one of that merry four, which besides her included her husband, as well as the King and Queen. Cardinal Richelieu was convinced that if the worst thing was being prepared for him, the duchess would warn him and not allow it. So it was, so the uninitiated thought that the Lord himself was protecting the cardinal from all conspiracies. It was not the Lord, it was his informants, among whom the Duchess of Chevreuse took third place, since I certainly give the first place to the Queen, and the second to the King’s brother, Monsieur, Duke Gaston of Orleans. All of them gladly entered into all sorts of conspiracies against Richelieu, but when the very last and decisive step remained to be taken, they preferred to enlist his forgiveness and support, revealing to him all the secrets of the conspiracy, rather than deciding to bring the matter to an end. A very remarkable case was when the cardinal, through negligence, arrived in the very midst of the conspirators, who had previously conspired to kill him. Gaston only needed to give the agreed sign for the cardinal to be killed. But he did not give this sign, explaining later that he was under some kind of hypnotic influence, experiencing animal horror and constraint. In fact, of course, he simply did not dare to complete the matter, realizing that the matter would not be limited to the murder of the cardinal, after which only one of two events could happen. Or King Louis was also overthrown, as a result of which Gaston would not necessarily have ascended the throne, since there were also the Prince of Cond; and other contenders. And although the prince had fewer rights, he was more decisive and could probably gather more supporters. If the King had not been overthrown, he, of course, would have begun to conduct an investigation, and in this case Gaston’s guilt would not have been hidden, and there would have been no one to stand up for him, since only Richelieu always so decisively came to the Queen’s defense and Monsieur, that the King only shrugged his shoulders and yielded to the First Minister in everything.
Athos showed unconditional trust in all royal persons, he idolized the King, Queen and Monsieur, at least before Louis XIV committed the act that forced Athos to reconsider his priorities in life. Indeed, everyone knew how easily the Kings of France took mistresses from among maidens, married women, and, especially, from their wives' maids of honor. Therefore, when Louise Lavaliere received the position of maid of honor to Madame, that is, Princess Henrietta, wife of Gaston d'Orl;ans, he had to understand that she was one of those ladies who make the mistresses of the King or Prince. Athos did not want to understand this, and continued to consider his son Raoul’s love for Louise as something significant that the King, in his opinion, should have taken into account. He, of course, was cruelly mistaken. The king treated Louise very delicately, and could have treated her as he did with many other favorites. He even legitimized the children he shared with her. But Athos saw in this only an insult to the honor of his son, and, consequently, his own honor, without attaching any importance to the fact that the main culprit of what happened was Louise de La Valliere herself, her choice, her crush or even love. If Louise had not experienced those feelings for the King, which she felt, as it seems to me, sincerely, which does not change things at all, the King would not have made her a mistress and the mother of his children. Nothing would simply happen. So, as I already said, do not expect objectivity in assessing the actions and motives of the actions of Raoul, Louise, the Duchess de Chevreuse, Queen Anne, King Louis XIV and some other participants in those events that Athos tried to present objectively, but in a number of cases suffered a complete fiasco . Also, do not expect that the description of the death of Athos in the memoirs of Count de La F;re has at least some remote relation to reality. In the last part of his third book, Athos created a myth about the events of those years; he described not what happened in reality, but what he would like people to consider the events of those years to be. He wanted to describe his death from grief, and he described it in the brightest colors.
In the next chapter, I intend to skip over those events that are connected with the story of the return to Paris from England of twelve diamond pendants, about which too much is already said in Athos’ memoirs. I do not want to disturb my memory by describing the struggle with Milady, whom, as I said, I first recognized under the name of the Marquise de Brenvilliers, and whom I first saw at the very moment when she shot me in the chest. She has many murders on her conscience, including the murder of her husband, the Marquis de Brenvilliers. She also killed her own maid only so that everyone would think that she herself had died and, considering her dead, would not look for her. She got along with the Comte de Rochefort in order to help Richelieu and harm us, which, of course, I would not blame her for, but she several times attempted to kill all four of us, as well as d'Artagnan separately. She is guilty of the death of Buckingham, as well as the death of Felton, whom she seduced from the true path. In general, Hell has been waiting for this lady for a long time, and I do not regret at all that we sent her there. Her son was exactly as evil and cunning as she was, so I really regret that my friends did not let me shoot him when I had such a wonderful opportunity to do so. He is guilty of the death of his uncle, Lord Winter, and many other honest and decent people, but if I had shot him, there would be fewer deaths on his conscience, and these people could still serve faithfully for their fatherland . All this has already been described by Athos, and I am not going to repeat it. So, I will begin the next chapter, as promised, from the moment of our parting after the siege of La Rochelle.
In order not to return to this topic, I will only say that the siege of this fortress was necessary for Richelieu in order to end the fragmentation of the country and destroy the last stronghold of the Huguenots inside France. The residents of La Rochelle intended to unite with England against France, the King and the Cardinal. Richelieu made a crescent-shaped dam that prevented English ships from approaching La Rochelle and providing assistance to them. For these purposes, he even sacrificed many ships, although, however, not all of them were of any value. Most of them were already quite dilapidated and outdated, so the idea of flooding them and covering them with earth was not a bad idea. She allowed him to leave the city without naval support, causing La Rochelle to surrender. Our good King Louis XIII was not as kind to the citizens of the fallen city as his father, King Henry IV was to the Parisians. Let me remind you that when Henry IV was informed that Paris would soon fall, since the Parisians had nothing to eat, he was indignant and said that he did not want to conquer the capital of his state with the help of such cruelty, from which he could lose a significant part of its population. He ordered food carts from rural areas to be allowed into Paris. Louis XIII , unlike Henry IV , not only did not allow any food into the besieged fortress of La Rochelle, but also showed great cruelty towards the inhabitants of the defeated fortified city, ordering not to provide any assistance to the wounded and even enjoying the sight of the dying hungry and wounded residents, mimicking their martyr's groans with their disgusting grimaces, finding it funny. With this alone he gave solid reinforcement to the rumors that he was not at all the son of the glorious Henry IV , and that Maria de Medici gave birth to him from one of her lovers. Since I know for sure the name of this lover, I am ready to confirm the validity of this opinion. Well, this is where I end my description of the events that preceded the acquaintance of our brave four musketeers, and I write at the end:
The End of Book One
Afterword to the first book
The second book tells about the events between the novels “The Three Musketeers” and “Twenty Years Later”.
In it you will also meet Athos, Porthos, Aramis and d'Artagnan, as well as Cardinal Richelieu, King Louis XIII, Queen Anne of Austria, Duchess de Chevreuse and Duke de Rochefort. You will also learn the story of Milady before she met the Count de La F;re.
You can also find both books on the author’s page on the Proza.Ru website.
http://proza.ru/avtor/vadimzhmud
There you will also find both books of the novel “D'Artagnan and the Iron Mask or Two Years Later”