Chapter 10 Chapter 8: The Conspiracy in the Court

The forty pistols bestowed by King Louis XIII, like everything in this world, has a beginning and an end.From this point on, our four companions were in dire straits.At first, Athos supported everyone for a few days with his own money.Then came Porthos, who, by taking advantage of a familiar disappearance, made some money to keep us going for another fortnight.Aramis, in his turn, also gladly fulfilled his obligations, and acquired a few pistols which, according to his own account, he had earned from the sale of his books of theology. At last, they were obliged, as usual, to turn to M. de Treville for help.M. de Treville gave them a small salary advance.This salary will not last long, because the three musketeers are already in a lot of debts, and they have a custodian who is not yet paid.

In the end, seeing that they were about to lose a penny, everyone tried their best to collect eight or nine pistols and asked Porthos to gamble.Unfortunately, Porthos was unlucky, and lost everything, and owed twenty-five pistoles, which he promised to pay in due time. Thus, poverty has become a predicament.Hungry, they took their attendants with them, and ran around along the river and between the headquarters of the forbidden army, trying their best to find food with their friends outside.As Aramis said, when a person is rich, he doesn't care about giving others a few meals; in this way, in case of bad luck in the future, he can also eat a few meals.

Athos was invited four times, each time with several friends and their attendants.Porthos has had six chances and always brings friends along to share.Aramis was invited eight times.As we have seen, he is a man of no words and nobility of action. As for d'Artagnan, he had no acquaintances in the capital, except for a breakfast of chocolates at the house of a priest from the same country, and a lunch with a trumpeter of the Custodian.He led the group to the priest's house, and ate their food for two months; in the trumpeter's house, the host was very considerate.But as Planchet said, no matter how much you eat, it is only one meal.

D'Artagnan found only half a meal for his companions, and felt it was a shame that the breakfast at the priest's was only half a meal compared with the feasts that Athos, Porthos, and Aramis had found.He was still young and kind-hearted, and felt himself a burden to everyone, forgetting that he himself had supported them for a month.His mind, full of urgency, began to be active.He thought that the four of them who had become close friends were young, brave, hard-working, and active, and they should have other goals besides hanging out, practicing martial arts, and talking and laughing every day.

In fact, the four people like them are so loyal to each other, they don't care about each other from money to life, they always support each other, never shrink back, and the decisions made together can be firmly implemented, no matter whether they are alone or together, regardless of the four hands. Whether to attack in all directions or concentrate on one point, whether secretly or openly, whether from tunnels or trenches, whether by cunning or strength, they will surely open a way to achieve the goal they want to achieve, No matter how far away this goal is, how many difficulties and obstacles there are.The only thing that surprised d'Artagnan was that his companions did not think of it at all.

He thought over and over again, and even seriously racked his brains, trying to find a direction of struggle for the unrivaled force twisted together by four people; he believed that as long as he found this direction, it would be like Archimedes found the lever Just as he was thinking that this power could overturn the whole world, he heard a soft knock at the door, and woke Planchet up, asking him to open the door. When it is mentioned here that D'Artagnan woke up Planchet, the reader may think that it was either already dark or it was not yet dawn.wrong!The clock had just struck four o'clock in the afternoon.Two hours before, Planchet had come to ask his master for lunch. D'Artagnan borrowed a proverb and said: To sleep is to eat.Planchet slept instead of eating.

Planchet brought in a simple-looking citizen. Planchet wanted to hear the conversation between the guest and the host, and enjoy it as dessert and fruit after dinner, but the citizen claimed that what he wanted to talk about was important and confidential, and he wanted to talk with d'Artagnan alone. D'Artagnan told Planchet to go away, and invited the guest to sit down. The two were silent for a while, looking at each other as if they were trying to find out, and then d'Artagnan bowed to show that he was listening. I have heard that M. d'Artagnan is a very brave young man, said the townsman, and it seems that his reputation is well-deserved. I have come here to tell him a confidential matter.

Please, sir, please.D'Artagnan felt intuitively that the matter would be profitable, so he said. The townsman paused again, and then continued: My wife is the queen's maid, sir, and she is clever and pretty.I have been married to her for nearly three years. Although she had no property at the time, Mr. Laporte, the servant of the queen's coat, was her godfather and protector. So what happened, sir?asked d'Artagnan. What happened, replied the townsman, what happened, sir, the bitch was kidnapped yesterday morning when she came out of her studio. Who kidnapped your wife? Of course I know nothing of that, sir, but I suspect one.

Which do you suspect? Someone who had been following her for a long time. oh! But would you like me to make it clear, sir?The citizen added, I believe there are more political factors than romantic factors in the whole matter. There are more political factors than romantic factors, d'Artagnan asked in a thoughtful manner, so what do you suspect? don't know if i should tell you my doubts I must remind you, sir, that I did not ask you at all, you came to me.It was you who told me that you were going to tell me a confidential matter.Go ahead, there is still time for you to leave now.

No sir, no.I think you are a righteous young man, and I can trust you.I don't think Jianai was kidnapped because of any private love of her own, but because of the love problem of a lady with a higher status than her. oh!oh!Was it because of Madame Bois Tracy's love problems?asked d'Artagnan, wishing to appear to the citizen familiar with the palace. Higher, sir, higher. Madame Aegion? Even higher. Mrs. Shefflers? Higher, much higher! Then it was d'Artagnan who hesitated to speak. Yes sir.The townsman, terrified, spoke in a voice so low that it was almost inaudible. So with whom?

Who could it be with, if not with the duke. the duke Yes sir.replied the citizen, his voice lowered. But how do you know all this? ah!how do i know Yes, how do you know?Don't hesitate, or you get it. I've heard it from the bitch, sir, from the bitch's own mouth. So, who did she listen to? Mr. Laporte had told her.Did I not mention to you that the Bitch is the goddaughter of M. Laporte, and Laporte is the Queen's confidant.Therefore, La Porte arranged her with the queen, so that our poor queen had at least one trustworthy person by her side.Indeed, the queen was so ruthlessly abandoned by the king, so closely watched by the cardinal, so shamefully betrayed by all. oh!oh!Things are looking a little better. The bitch came home four days ago, sir!One of the conditions she promised me was to come back to see me twice a week.It is my great honor to tell you, sir, that my wife loves me very much.So she came back that day and told me that the Queen is very worried these days. Really? real.It seems that Mr. Cardinal is monitoring and intimidating her more than ever.He couldn't forgive her about the saraband.Do you know about the saraband dance? Do I know or not? I still have to ask!D'Artagnan didn't know anything about it, but he pretended to be acquainted with the palace. So far, the cardinal is no longer resentful, but seeking revenge. real? Queen believes Oh, what does the queen believe? The Queen believed that someone had written a letter to the Duke of Buckingham in her name. In the name of the queen? Yes, the purpose was to bring him to Paris, and, as soon as he arrived, to lure him into a trap. God!But, my dear sir, what is your wife's share in this matter? People knew that she was loyal to the queen, and kidnapping her was either to separate her from the mistress, or to threaten her, to try to get the queen's secret from her, or to seduce and use her as a spy. this is possible.D'Artagnan said, but do you know the man who kidnapped her? As I told you, I am sure I will recognize him. What's his name? I don't know the name, I only know that he is the cardinal's confidant and the cardinal's relentless minion. You have seen him. Yes, my wife pointed it out to me one day. Does he have any features that can be recognized at a glance? Well!Of course, this was a haughty lord, with black beard and hair, dark skin, bright eyes, white teeth, and a scar under the temple. There's a scar under the temple!dArtagnan shouted, with white teeth, piercing eyes, swarthy skin, black beard and hair, and haughty demeanor, this is the man I met in Moen Town! What, have you seen this man? Yes, I have, but it has nothing to do with the matter.Nothing to do with it, it was my mistake.If the man you're talking about is the man I've met, it'd be a lot easier on the contrary, and I'd get double revenge, that's all.But where to find this man? have no idea. You don't know anything about his residence? Not at all.One day, I took my wife to the Louvre, and my wife was about to go in when he came out, so my wife pointed him out to me. Why!hell!D'Artagnan murmured that this is too imprecise.Who told you about your wife being kidnapped? Mr Laporte. Did he tell you the details? He didn't know the details. You haven't heard from others? got it.i have received What have you received? I don't know if it's too imprudent to say it. Here you go again, but this time I remind you that it's too late to back down. So I didn't want to back off at all, fuck it!The townspeople cursed themselves for self-motivation, and Bonacieur assured Your name is Bernard?d'Artagnan interrupted him. Yes, exactly the nickname. You said just now that Bonacieur promises!Sorry to interrupt you.However, the name does not seem unfamiliar to me. It is possible sir, I am your landlord. oh!oh!D'Artagnan lifted half his body, saluted and said, You are my landlord! Yes, sir, yes.You have lived in my house for three months, and you are probably busy doing important things all day long, and forgot to pay the rent to me.I never chased after you to beg.I think you must have noticed my reasonableness. how!Believe me, my dear Monsieur Bonacieur, replied d'Artagnan, I am very grateful to you for this, as I have told you, if you are of any use to me. I believe in you, sir, I believe in you.I was about to tell you that, in Bonacieur's conscience, I can trust you. Please finish what you have begun to tell me. The citizen took a sheet of paper from his pocket, and handed it to d'Artagnan. a letter!said the young man. I received it this morning. D'Artagnan opened the letter.As it was almost dusk, he went to the window.The townspeople followed him. Don't look for your wife, d'Artagnan read, we will give her back to you when we no longer need her.As soon as you set out to find her, you're screwed. This is not at all ambiguous.But, said d'Artagnan, it was only a threat after all. Yes, but the threat terrifies me.I'm not a soldier, sir, and I'm afraid of going to the Bastille. Um!said d'Artagnan, I do not want to go to the Bastille any more than you do.However, if you only play with swords, it's okay. As for me, sir, I would like to have such an opportunity and count on your reliability. Yeah? I saw you always with the heroic musketeers, and I recognized them as M. de Treville's men, and therefore enemies of the cardinal.So I thought you and your friends would be delighted to have a joke with His Excellency the Cardinal while doing justice to our poor Queen. Maybe. Besides, I thought, you owe me three months' rent and I never even mentioned it to you Yes, yes, you have already mentioned this reason, and I think it is very correct. Let's go further, as long as you are willing to continue to live in my house, you don't even have to mention the rent in the future. very good. Besides, if need be, I intend to send you another fifty pistols, since you are probably in short supply at the moment? great!My dear Monsieur Bonacieur, you are rich after all. Well-to-do, sir, is more accurate.I opened a haberdashery shop, and saved two or three thousand crowns, and especially invested a little in the latest voyage of Jean Moquet, the famous navigator.So you understand, sir!That's when the citizens cried out. What?asked d'Artagnan. Who is there? where? In the street, opposite the window where you stand, outside the door, a man in a cloak. It's him!D'Artagnan and the citizen cried out at the same time, and at the same time they recognized the person they were looking for. snort!This time d'Artagnan cried out and seized his sword, this time he cannot escape! He drew his sword and rushed out of the apartment. On the stairs he met Athos and Porthos who were visiting him.They moved aside, and d'Artagnan shot between them like an arrow. Hey, where are you running to?asked the two musketeers loudly at him. Go after that man in Morn Town!D'Artagnan disappeared after answering. D'Artagnan's quarrel with the stranger, of which he had more than once told his three friends, and the presence of that pretty lady traveler, to whom the stranger seemed to have delivered a very important letter. Athos thought that d'Artagnan's letter had been lost during the fight; and from d'Artagnan's description of the stranger's appearance, the man could only have been a gentleman, and in his opinion a gentleman I wouldn't do dirty tricks like stealing letters. In Porthos's view, it was just a date between lovers, either a lady asked a knight, or a knight asked a lady, and d'Artagnan and his yellow horse The appearance of her disturbed her date. Aramis said that such matters are so mysterious that it is best not to delve into them. Athos and Porthos understood what was going on from the words d'Artagnan yelled, and thought that d'Artagnan would come back anyway, whether he could catch up with the man or not, so they continued upstairs. . They entered d'Artagnan's room, which was empty.The landlord believes that young people may be able to catch up with strangers, and the consequences of their meeting are really worrying.In the nature of his own display, he thought it best to get away.