Chapter 14 Chapter 12 George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham

Madame Bonasseur and the Duke entered the Louvre without much trouble.Madame Bonacieur was known in the court as the Queen's servant; the Duke wore the uniform of the Treville Fusiliers, and Treville, as has been stated, was on guard that night.In addition, Germain also worked for the queen. If any accident happened, he would accuse Mrs. Bonacieur of bringing her lover into the Louvre, and the matter would stop here; But in this world, what is the reputation of a small clothing store proprietress? Once in the inner courtyard, the duke and the young woman walked about twenty-five steps along the base of the wall.At the end of this distance, Madame Bonacieur opened a door through which the servants could enter and exit.This small door is open during the day and usually closed at night.After the door was pushed open, the two of them stepped onto the threshold, surrounded by darkness, but Madame Bonacieur knew very well that the winding paths in this part of the Louvre were reserved for servants.She closed the door behind her, took the prince's hand, groped a few steps, grabbed a section of the railing, touched a step with her foot, and ascended a staircase.The Duke counted them, and they went up two floors.Then Madame Bonacieur turned to the right, went down a long corridor, went down another flight of stairs, went a few more steps, inserted the key in a lock, opened a door, and pushed the Duke into a room.There was only a small vigil lamp burning inside.The young woman said: Please stay here, my lord, someone will come soon.So saying, she withdrew by the door by which she had come in, and locked it, so that the duke was quite a prisoner.

It must be said, however, that the Duke, though alone, was not at all frightened; one of the prominent aspects of his character was his search for adventure and romantic love.He was brave and bold, dared to break through and do it. It was not the first time he risked his life to make such an attempt.He received the letter pretending to be Anna Austria, believed it to be true, and came to Paris. After knowing that it was a trap, he did not return to England. Instead, he used his tricks and declared to the queen that he would never leave Paris until he saw her. .At first, the queen resolutely refused him, but she was afraid that he would do absurd things in a fit of anger, so she finally decided to see him and begged him to leave France at once.However, on the evening of the day when the decision was made, Madame Bonacieur, who was in charge of picking up the Duke and taking him into the Louvre, was suddenly kidnapped, and within two days there was no news of her whereabouts, so everything stopped temporarily.And once she was freed and established a bond with Laporte, things resumed.The adventure she just completed, if she hadn't been kidnapped, would have been completed three days ago.

Buckingham, left alone, went to look in a mirror, and the musketeer suit suited him perfectly. He was thirty-five years old, and he was rightly recognized as the handsomest gentleman and the most gallant knight in both England and France. He is the favorite of the kings of two dynasties, a millionaire, and a totalitarian figure in a kingdom.The kingdom was disturbed by his whims, and subdued by his whims.The life of George Villiers, duke of Buckingham, was full of legends and still amazes the world hundreds of years after his death. Confident in himself, confident in his own power, convinced that the laws that govern other men are not bound to him, he presses forward to the goal he has set, however lofty and splendid it may be, and no ordinary man even thinks of it. , is also extremely absurd, just like this, he approached the beautiful and proud Anna Austria several times, and made her fall in love with him with his incomparable charm.

As mentioned above, Georges Villiers stood in front of a mirror, brushed his beautiful fair hair, restored the waves flattened by his hat, curled his beard again, and was full of joy in his long-awaited moment. Feeling happy and proud that it's coming, smiling at yourself proudly and hopefully. At this moment, a door hidden in the tapestry opened, and a woman entered.Buckingham saw her coming in from the mirror, and couldn't help but exclaimed: "It's the queen." Anna Austria is twenty-six or seven years old, that is to say, she is in the period of beauty and radiance.

She has the demeanor of a queen or a goddess, a pair of jasper-like eyes, looking forward, very beautiful, very gentle and very solemn. Her small cherry mouth is just like the heirs of the Austrian royal family, with a slightly protruding lower lip, but when she smiles, she is extremely charming, and when she expresses contempt, she appears extremely arrogant. Her skin was fine and creamy, and her hands and arms were surprisingly beautiful. The poets of the time sang and praised her as incomparable. Her hair was golden yellow when she was a girl, but now it has become maroon. It is quite fluffy and has a lot of powder (Note: powdering hair is a kind of makeup for Europeans in those days.), Falling down from both sides of her face, it shows how charming it is !The most critical connoisseur can only wish for a lighter rouge; the most demanding sculptor can only hope for a slightly slimmer nose.

For a moment, Buckingham was stunned: in his eyes, Anna Austria had never been so beautiful, whether at a ball, at a festival, or in the stands of the racetrack.She was dressed in a plain white satin gown, accompanied by Madame Estefania.Due to the king's jealousy and Richelieu's persecution, all the Spanish maids around the queen were driven away, leaving only this one. Anna Austria took two steps forward, and Buckingham hurriedly knelt down in front of her, and kissed the hem of her robe regardless of the queen's stop. You already know, duke, that I did not send you a letter.

ah!Yes, ma'am, yes.cried the duke, Sire, I know that I am a madman, a man out of reason; to believe that snow and ice can affect emotion, and marble can become hot.But what do you tell me to do, one is credulous in love when one is in love, and my journey was not entirely in vain, because I saw you. Yes.Anna replied, But, my lord, do you know why and how I came to see you?I meet you out of pity for you; I meet you because you are indifferent to my pain and obstinately want to remain in a city where your own life is in danger, And I might be ruined; I have come to tell you that the depth of the Channel, the antagonism of the two kingdoms, the sanctity of marriage vows, All these things separate us.To rebel against so many things is sacrilege, my lord.In short, I am meeting you to tell you that we should not meet again.

Speak, ma'am!Speak, queen.Buckingham said, The softness of your voice belies the harshness of your words.What sacrilege do you say!It is blasphemy to separate two hearts that God made to love each other! My lord, cried the queen, you forget that I never said I loved you. However, you never said that you don't love me at all.To be honest, His Majesty is too ruthless to say such things to me.May I ask, where can you find a love that can rival mine?A love that neither time nor parting nor disappointment can quench; a love that needs but a forgotten ribbon, a casual look, or a spoken word, to suffice.

It has been three years since I first saw you, ma'am, and I have loved you for three years. You want me to tell you what you were wearing the first time I saw you?You want me to tell you in detail, every embellishment on your clothes?ah!I see you now: you sit on a square cushion, according to the Spanish custom; you are dressed in a green satin gown embroidered with filigree; There are big diamonds; you have a ruff buttoned around your neck, and a little round cap of the same color as your robe, with a heron's feather in it. ah!Look, look, when I close my eyes, I can see what you were then, and when I open my eyes, what I see is what you are now, a hundred times more beautiful than then!

What madness, how well the Duke kept his portrait in his heart, Anna Austria did not have the courage to reproach him, but murmured, what madness, to use such memories to maintain a fruitless passion! What do you tell me to live on?I only have memories.This is my happiness, my fortune, my hope.Every time I see you, I add a precious diamond to my jewel box.This is the fourth one you dropped and let me pick it up today.In three years, ma'am, I saw you only four times: the first time, as I told you; the second time at Madame Chevreuse's; the third time in the Gardens of Amiens. Duke, said the Queen, blushing, don't mention that evening again.

ah!Instead, mention it, ma'am, mention it.It was a happy and brilliant party in my life.Do you remember that wonderful night?How warm and fragrant the air is, how clear the night sky is, and how bright the stars are!ah!Madam, that time I had the honor to be alone with you for a while; that time you were ready to tell me everything, including the loneliness of your life and the pain and sorrow of your heart.You were leaning on my arm, and look, that's the one.As soon as I turn my head towards you, I feel your hair caressing my cheek; every time I touch it, I can't stop shaking from head to toe.ah!queen, queen!ah!You don't know, in those moments, I feel the bliss of heaven, the joy of heaven.Oh, for such an hour, for such a night, my family, my property, my honor, what is left of my life!Because that night, ma'am, you loved me that night, I'm sure. My lord, it is possible, yes.The influence of circumstances, the charm of that beautiful evening, the allure of your gaze, in short, all the circumstances which sometimes overwhelm a woman, surrounded me at that unfortunate evening.But you saw, my lord, the queen rescue the weak-willed woman: to your first bold word and first bold act, my answer is to call immediately. ah!Yes, yes, it is.However, if it were another person, his love would undoubtedly be extinguished when it encountered this test.However, my love has been tested, but it has become more intense and more durable.You thought you escaped me by returning to Paris, you thought I had no courage to leave the treasure my lord set me to guard.ah!All the treasures of the world, all the kings of the earth, are nothing to me!I'll be back in a week, ma'am.You were relatively speechless when you saw me that time.I ran here, risking my favor and my life, and saw you for a second without even touching your hand.But you forgive me for seeing me so obedient and so repentant. Yes.But all sorts of gossip rages against these infatuations, for which, you know, my lord, I take no responsibility.At the instigation of the Cardinal, the king was furious, Madame Vernet was driven out of the palace, Pitange was exiled, Madame Chevreuse fell out of favor, when you wanted to come to France as ambassador, remember, my lord, king I object. Yes, the king's refusal cost France a war.I can never see you again, ma'am.Well then, I'm going to let you hear people talk about me every day. I plan to march on the Isle of Ré and form an alliance with the Protestants of La Rochelle.What do you think I am doing this for?For the pleasure of meeting you!I knew that I could not enter Paris with arms in hand.But this war may bring peace, and peace needs to be negotiated, and the negotiator will be me.At that time, no one will dare to refuse me. I will return to Paris, meet you again, and have another moment of happiness.Yes, thousands of people will pay with their lives for my happiness.However, I don't care so much, as long as I can see you again!It may all be mad, it may be utterly insane, but tell me, which woman has a more passionate lover, and which queen has a more passionate vassal? My lord, my lord, in your own defense you have brought up things that would further condemn you; my lord, of all these proofs of love that you wish to present to me, there is scarcely a single one that is not a crime. Because you don't love me, ma'am.If you loved me, you would see all this in a different light.If you love me, ah!If you loved me, I would be so happy that I would be mad.Well!Mrs. Scheverus, the Mrs. Scheverus you just mentioned, she is not as cruel as you. Oran fell in love with her, and she accepted his love. Mrs Scheverus is no queen.Anna Austria murmured.She could not help being overwhelmed by the duke's expression of such great love. Would you love me if you were not queen, ma'am?Say, will you love me?I may therefore believe that it is only your great position that makes you so cruel to me; so may I believe that, if you were Mrs Scheverus, there is hope for poor Buckingham?Thank you for these tender words, my beautiful sire, let me say thank you a hundred times! ah!My lord, you have heard wrong, you have misunderstood, what I want to say is not do not talk!do not talk!The Duke said, if I am happy because I heard it wrong, don't deprive me of this happiness ruthlessly.You said it yourself that someone tried to lure me into a trap into which I might have left my life, because, alas!It is strange that for some time now I have had the premonition that I shall not be alive soon.There was a sad but charming smile on the Duke's face. ah!God!Anna Austria cried out in horror, which proved how much she cared about the Duke, but she just refused to say it. I don't say this to frighten you, ma'am, no.What I said to you was even ridiculous.Believe me, I do not take such dreams to heart at all.But what you just said, the hope you have almost given me, will surely make up for everything, even my life. cough!Anna Austria said, I too, Duke, have premonitions and dreams.In my dream, I saw you were wounded and fell to the ground dripping with blood. It's a stab in the left rib, isn't it?asked Buckingham, interrupting the Queen. Yes, that's right, my lord, that's right, a stab in the left rib.Who told you I had this dream?I only report to God, and only when I pray. I have no more expectations, madam, you love me, that's enough. do i love you, me? Yes, you.If you don't love me, you and I have the same dream, is God entrusted to you?If the two of us didn't have a good understanding, how could we have the same premonition?You love me, queen, and you will weep for me. ah!God!God!cried Anna Austria, this is driving me crazy.Listen, duke, for heaven's sake, go, get out.I don't know if I love you or not, all I know is that I will never break my promise to divorce, so please have mercy on me, please go.well!If an accident happened to you in France, if you died in France, and I could guess that the cause of your death was your love for me, I would never be comforted, I would definitely go mad.Please go, go, I beg you. ah!How beautiful you are now!ah!how i love you!Buckingham said. Go, go, I beg you.Come again later, come as an ambassador, come as a minister, and bring your guards with you, and your servants with you; then I will not be afraid of you every day, and I will see you again And feel happy. ah!Are you telling me the truth? Yes So please give me a token, something from you, something that tells me I'm not dreaming, something you wear and I can wear, like a ring, a necklace, a bracelet. I gave you what you asked for, and you go? Yes. leave now? leave now. Are you leaving France and returning to England? Yes, I assure you! So please wait, please wait. Anna Austria returned to her bedroom and came out again a moment later, holding a small fragrant wooden box in her hand with her initials inlaid with gold wire. Then, my lord duke, then, she said, please keep this as a keepsake for me. Buckingham took the locket, and knelt a second time before the Queen. You made a promise to me and left.the queen reminded. I keep my word.Your hand, please extend your hand, ma'am, I'm leaving now. Anna Austria closed her eyes and stretched out one hand, and put the other on Estefania's body, because she felt that her strength was about to run out. Buckingham pressed a kiss passionately to the beautiful hand, and stood up. If I hadn't died, he said, I'd see you again in half a year, madam.For this, even if the world is turned upside down, it will not hesitate. He kept his promise and hurried out of the room. In the corridor he met Madame Bonacieur.Madame Bonasseur waited for him, and led him out of the Louvre with the same care and excitement as she had come.